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THE PIONEERS OF UTICA: SKETCHES OF ITS INHABITANTS AND ITS INSTITUTIONS, WITH THE CIVIL HISTORY OF THE PLACE, THE EARLIEST SETTLEMENT Ihe year 182^, — the Era of the Opening of the Erie Canal ^ M. M. BAGG, A. M., M. D. " To me the lives of the instruments of human progress run into one another, and become so,- interivoven as to appear but the continuation of a single /«/%•"— Sabine. UTICA, N. Y. CURTISS & CHILDS, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS.. 1877. Entered according to Act of Congrese. A. D. 1877, by M. M. BAGG, in the Office of the Libiaiiaii of Congress at Washington, D. C. PREFACE. l^^'fB/ijo Beginning for liis own gratification to gather materials relat- ing to the earl}' history of his native place, the writer was subsequently led to extend his inquiries, and to shape their results for the benefit of his present and former fellow towns- men. They contain the record of no far-reaching and time- honored incidents, nor the lives of many illustrious personages ; but only the story of the incipient growth of a town that was begun since the close of the Revolution, and of those who first helped to form and build it up. Yet of these first inhabitants of Utica not a few were men of robust and cultured minds, and strong, practical virtue ; men of mark and influence not here alone but elsewhere in the State, and in whom an}' town might justly take pride as its founders. To obtain true and just j)erceptions of these founders from the testimony of a few surviving contemporaries, and transmit them, together with the public acts of these founders, fresh to those who shall succeed, has been the purpose of the author. Written records of the period are few. Aside, therefore, from such registers of the village and church corporations as are extant, such local news- papers as are accessible, an occasional manuscript or diary, and inquiries, ^^ersonal or by letter, for particulars especially desired, he has procured most of his subject matter by comparison and equation of the recollection of aged persons. It would be difii- cult to enumerate all the persons to whom he has been indebted for single items of information. But to the following, with whom he has had numerous interviews, he cannot forbear acknowl- edging his obligations, viz : Messrs. Harry Camp, B. W. Thomas, A. Gr. Dauby, James Sayre and Mrs. E. B. Shearman 1'10S127 11. PREFACE. of Utica, and Rev. John Barton of Clinton, all of whom are now deceased, and to Messrs. E. S. Barnum, James C. De Long, J. E. Warner and Mrs. Mary Wells, of Utica, who are living. From the late M. B. Scott of Cleaveland, Ohio, and from Hon. T. H. Powell, of Delaware, in the same State, he has received lengthy and interesting communications. To many others also he owes his thanks for the use of old papers and documents kindly placed in his hands. Published obituaries, so far as he could rely on their accuracy and justness, he has freely used, and often with little change in the language. * The portraits contained in the volume, and which to most of its readers may, perchance, prove its chief source of interest, have been generously furnished at the expense of the relatives and friends of the j^arties represented. The order adopted is chronological : sketches of the men who successively arrived in the place, or took part in its affairs, are appended to the civil chronicle of the year when they came while the institutions that arise are, in general, linked with the lives of their principal manager, and are described no further than the duration of liis management. Despite some inconveniences, this plan has the advantage of exhibiting the actors, and only those, of any particular era, and of keeping in view the actual size and population of the town. Perhaps, also, it forms the most desirable basis for the labors of the historian who is to come. June, 1877. THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. CHAPTER I. OLD FORT SCHUYLER. The original settlement made at Utica took its name of Old- Fort Schuvler, from a fort which had been erected here during the French and Indian war. This fort, which was designed to guard the fording place in the Mohawk river above it, was situ- ated on the south bank, a very little distance south-east of the present intersection of Second street and the Central Railroad. The left bank of Ballou's creek, which joins the river just be- low, was formerly much depressed a short distance above its mouth, so as to form, in high water, a lagoon that must have reached almost to the walls of the fort, and thus have facilitated the landing and embarkation of troops. The fort consisted of an embankment surrounded by palisades, nearly all traces of which had disappeared at the time of the arrival of the first settlers, although its site could still be distinguished less than thirty years ago by the presence of a large apple tree that had been planted within the enclosure. It was named in honor of Colonel Peter Schuyler, an uncle of General Philip Schuvler of the Revolution. During, and subsequent to this war, it went by the name of Old Fort Schuyler, to distinguish it from an- other fortress erected at Rome, and which was sometimes known as Fort Schuyler, though it had been christened, and was there- fore more correctly called, Fort Stanwix. The choice of this spot as a place of settlement after the war was probably determined by the following circumstances : The presence of the hills which confine the Mohawk at Little Falls, and their close approximation for some way above that point, restricted the range of the earlier immigrants into Central New York, and concurred with the fertility of the soil along the val- ley, to fix them within the limits of the latter. Toward Old 6 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Fort Schuyler these hills decline in height, and begin to melt away to the right and the left. Here, therefore, was the first place where facilities appeared for a divergence from the former course, while the beautiful valleys that open southward at this point and at Whitesboro, tempted settlers who found the lands below^ already in occupation to depart from the line of the river in search of homes more remote. The old Indian path from Oneida Castle here intercepted the jDath along the river side leading to the portage at Fort Stanwix. Both crossed the Mohawk at the only place in the neighborhood where fording was easily practicable ; and this W'as at the site of the present bridge at the foot of Genesee street. As a place of trade with the outlying settlements beyond, which required supplies that could best be brought by the river, the spot seemed an advan- tageous one. The soil along the stream was, it is true, wet and marshy, and the same was the case with nearl}^ all the land in the vicinity, with the exception of a low, gravelly ridge lying parallel w^ith the soutliern bank, some dozen rods distant, and from w^hose upper end diverged a slighter ridge southward. There were no })romising mill privileges, no quarries of valu- able building stone, no mines of metals or useful minerals, no salt springs, or other special features of the spot that pointed it out as an attractive site for a settlement and gave assurance of extended growth. The Mohawk was indeed navigable for ves- sels of small tonnage from Schenectady to Fort Schuyler, and even to Fort Stanwix, whence, after a short jDortage into Wood creek, water passage was continuous, by way of Oneida lake, Oneida and Oswego rivers, to Ontario and the farthest west ; and this, in fact, had from the earliest period in the country's history formed the principal thoroughfare of travel and of trade. The real and practical head of navigation on the Mohawk was at Fort Stanwix, and this place was looked upon, — to use the lan- guage of the Commissioners of the Inland Navigation Com- pany, — as "the future great city west of Albany," Even the mouth of the Sauquoit formed a much more natural and import- ant landing. Previous to the imj)rovement of the road extend- ing west from Old Fort Schuyler, both Eome and Wliitesboro, at the mouth of tlie Sauquoit, far exceeded the former place in the amount of their river transportation. The most that could have been expected by its earlier traders was to make it a land- OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 7 ing place whence goods could be conveyed to the places rapidly settling in its immediate vicinity. Thus it happened that for a long time its business was carried on near the river, or in the street wdaich ran parallel, a short distance above. This was called Main street, its extension toward Whitesboro being known as the AVhitesboro road. Nor did the settlement reach much above this line until the village had had several 3-ears of exist- ence. Not until after the appropriations made by the Legislature in 1794, '95 and '97, had been expended on the road to the "Genesee country," and especially not until after the incorj)o- ration of the Seneca Turnpike Company in 1800, and the con- struction by it of a more perfect road, which, starting at the ford, ran much to the southward of Eome and Whitesboro, did Utica increase materially, and become the virtual head of trade upon the Mohawk. The territory on which Old Fort Schuyler was settled, formed part of a tract of 22,000 acres, granted on the 2d of January^ 1734, by George II., King of England, nominally, to several persons, but in reality, to inure to the benefit of William Cosby, Colonial Governor of New York and New Jersey;"^ it was thence known as Cosby's Manor. In default of the pavment of arrears of quit rents, it was, on the 4th of July, 1772, sold by the sheriff under warrant from Daniel Hors- manden, the Chief Justice of the Colony, and was purchased by Col., afterwards General Philip Schuyler, for the joint benefit of himseK, General John Bradstreet, Kutger Bleecker and John Morin Scott. They paid for it £1,387, 4s., 7d., or at the rate of fifteen pence per acre. By them or their heirs it was held at the time the first settlements were effected. In the year 1786, a survey of the manor, together with a map of the same, was made by John R, son of Eutger Bleecker, and a division of the lots took place among the several owners. The whole tract extended easterly from the mouth of the Sauquoit creek, eleven miles, seventeen chams, and was six miles wide, three upon each side of the Mohawk river. It was divided into lots that ran back from the river three miles, and were * Among the persons named in the Royal Charter, in conjunction with William Cosby, and who held title of the land from the 2d to the 5th of January, when they transferred their title to the Governor, is Richard Shuckburgh, who, if he did not compose, introduced the popular air of Yankee Doodle into this country. 8 THE PIOXEERS OF UTICA. sixteen or seventeen chains in widtli. The city of Utica lies "wholly upon the south side of this stream, and, according to its present limits, is enclosed mostly between lots Nos. 82 and 101, the western boundary of so much of it as lies north of the Central Kailroad having recently been extended to the west line of lot No. 104. The more inhabited j)ortion of the city, is, in fact, included between lots Nos. 90 and 100. No. 90 is nearly coextensive in width with the neck of the Ox-Bow or Eiver Bend, and reaches west to the line of the Col. Walker (now the Culver) place; No. 91 reaches westerly nearly to Mo- hawk street, or, more exactly, to a point a little west of the brick house on Broad street once occupied by Col. Combe ; No. 92 reaches to a point near the west end of Broad street basin bridge ; No. 93 to a point a few feet east of First street canal bridge ; No. 94, to witliin a few feet of Charlotte street, cut- ting the east line of Genesee near where the latter corners on Catharine ; No. 95 to within a few feet of Broad wa}^ ; No. 96 to a few feet west of the foot of Cornelia street ; ]^.v97 to the southeast corner of Varick and Fayette streets ; No. 98 to the east side of the Vulcan works, near Wiley street ; No. 99 to a short distance west of Philip street, and No. 100 to the west corner of the State Lunatic Asylum. These lots were in the dis- tribution, apportioned as follows: Lots Nos. 90 and 91 to the heirs of General Bradstreet ; 92, 93 and 94 to Eutger Bleecker ; 95, 96 and 97 to General Bradstreet's heirs ; 98, 99 and 100 to General Schuyler. The very earliest notice I have met with of any settlements having been attem])ted on or near the site of Utica, is contained in the statement of a centenarian named Justus Ackley, who died at Rome, N. Y. March 22d, 1874, having been born at Coeyman's, August 14th, 1771 ; and though little reliance can be placed on a memory so ancient as his, yet this story is not inconsistent with written testimony of a little later date. He says, that when he was fourteen years of age (1785-6) he passed the site of the present Utica in company with his parents. There were then but two log houses, or "salt boxes," as they were called in the language of the pioneers. Ue describes them as made of split basswood, the spaces between being covered with bark. The front was from tw^elve to twenty feet high, with a roof slanting toward the rear, the lower end being but a few feet from the ground. OLD FORT SCHUYLER. \) Moses Foot, who began the settlement at Clinton in 1787, while on his way, slept in a log house belonging to one of these early settlers, who informed him that he had half an acre cleared in 1785.* Passing by this testimony, let us turn to that of the above mentioned map, which is still extant and which bears the date of October, 1786. It appears therefrom that two houses were located near the ford, on what is now the east side of Genesee street, and one on the west side. Im]:)rovements had been made a little further westward, somewhere between the present lines of Broadwa}' and State streets, and there were also improvements near the present eastern limits of the cit}^ Outside of these evidences of commencing civilization was an unbroken forest, consisting chiefly of beech, hemlock, maple and elm. The occupant of the house nearest the river on the eastern side of the road was John Cunningham, his neighbor beside him being George Damuth. The resident of the opposite side was Jacob Christman. The settler toward the west w^as a man named McNamee, and the clearings on the eastern border were designated as those of MclSTamee and Abraham Boom. An emigrant who passed through the place the following- year, likewise informs us that there were three log huts or shanties near the old fort. The statement furnished by a set- tler who arrived in 1788 confirms the evidence of the map, showing that Cunningham, Damuth, and Christman were liv- ing near the ford, while it adds to the list the name of Hendrich Salyea. Of these men we know little. JVIost of them were vi Palatine descent, and had probably removed hither from set- tlements lower down the jSIohawk. The name Damuth occurs in the Palatine Records of Herki- mer county, as we are informed by N. S. Benton, in his history of that county. It was variously spelled as Demath, Demooth, Demoth, Dimoth, Demot, &c., but by the Yankee settlers was Anglicized into Dame wood. During the Revolutionary war some of the family were living near Herkimer, and one George Damuth lived in the neighborhood of Little Falls. Prior to that struggle, Mark Damuth had settled near Deerfield Corners, whence with the other settlers, he was driven out by a threat- * Journal of Dr. Alexander Coventry, where the statement is given on the authority of Mr. Foot. 10 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA, ened attack of Indians. He returned in 178-i, and with him came another of the family named George. Whether these two George Damuths, the one of Little Falls and he of Deei-field, were the same, and the person who afterwards fixed himself on the south side of the Moliawk, is, though a conjecture, at least a probable one. The lease from Eutger Bleecker, of the city of Albany, to " George Demuth of Montgomery county,' (the name then applied to all of the State west of Albany county) is dated, July 28th, 1787. It demises 273-| acres, being part of lot No. 9-1, for the term of twenty-one years, at a yearly rent of one shilling per acre. The first payment was to be made on the 28th of July, 1793, and subsequent ones annually there- after. Mr. Damuth made assignment of his lease, and had prob- ably died ere 1790, as we hear at that date of a " widow Da- muth." One of his sons was a boatman, being in the employ of John Post, who, as we snail see, was the enterprising forwarder of his day. Another removed to Sacketts Harbor, and a third remained with his mother, and lived on the upper part of the Peter Smith farm, in a house that stood where is now Bethany Church. John Cunningham, we may presume from the name, was Scotch in his origin. He was the father of three daughters^ one of whom married another Damuth, whose surname was Rich- ard, and who had a residence in Deerfield. He would seem to have been almost as much Indian as white man in his habits, being accustomed to absent himself for long periods in order to consort with the rude children of the forest, and wearing a ring- in his nose after the Indian fashion. It was with, Cunningham that Moses Foot found a lodging, while on his way to effect a settlement at Clinton, in 1787. His legal title to the land he occupied he probably obtained about the same time with Da- muth, for though I have not met with a copy of his lease, I have seen a statement of the payments received thereon, from which it would appear that it conveyed 91^ acres of lot No. 94 for the term of ten years, at one shilling an acre each year, and that the times of paymeni were fixed on the 26th of July, 1798, and annually on the same day thereafter, that is to say, within two da3^s of the l)eginning of payments on the lease of George Damuth. As with the latter so with Cuniiiiighan, not OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 11 one of tlie payments were made by the original lessee ; Cunning- ham having alread}^, before 1793, sold his lease and his better- ments to John Post and departed. Of Jacob Christman's title we know nothing, nor whether, indeed, he ever had any. He found employment in boating on the river. Two of his sons became farmers, and one occupied for some years the farm in East Utica on which Boom had set- tled, and another the Devereu>: farm. Some of his descendants have been living in Utica within a recent period. Of McNamee our information is still less. Abraham Boom obtained from Oeneral Philip Schuyler in 1790, a life lease of the land on which he had located, and after his death his son, William Boom, disposed of it to the Christmans. Hendrich Salyea had a twenty-one years' lease fi'om Eutger Bleecker, dated on the same day with that of Greorge Damnth, namely : July 28, 1787. This lease, on the 19th of September, 1 789, he covenanted to sell to John Post, the purchaser of the interest of Cunningham and in part of that of Damuth. The improvements which he had made on a strip of land lying adja- cent, and like the. former ou lot No. 93, he sold on the 15th of March, 1790, to Peter Smith, for the sum of £5. He squatted again on a part of lot No. 90, occupying a log house that stood on the north side of the present Broad street, opposite the site of the subsequent farm house of Matthew Hubbell. The im- provements on the latter tract he sold the same year to Mr. Hubbell, but continued to live, a straggler, in the village for several years longer. He was the only one of these earliest settlers near the ford, who remained in the vicinity. 1788. The manor of Cosby formed a part of what was known as- the District of German Flats, in the county of Montgomery, the name of the county having been changed from that of Tryon county in 1784. On the 7th of March, 17S8, the District of German Flats was divided, and "White's town " was set off as a separate town. The new town was bounded on the east by a line crossing the Mohawk at the ford near Cunningham's house, and running thence north and south to the bounds of the state, a line which is perpetuated in the eastern boundaries of the towns of Paris and Bridgewater. ^ 12 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. It is prol)ablr that the east line of Whitestown was thus fixed tlirough Whitesboro influence, and was designed to exclude the Dutch settlement at Deerfield and prove a boundary between Dutch and Yankee. It cut the settlement of Old Fort Schuy- ler in the middle, leaving a part in Whitestown and a part in German Flats Upon the formation of Oneida county, in 1798, this east line was thrown eastwardly to the present line of the city and count}". In 1788 the whole of New York, west of the dividing line, constituted the town of Whitestown. This immense region, now teeming with people, then numbered less than 200 inhabi- tants. But the tide of immigration had already begun to flow. The reaction which slowly followed the exhausting struggle for the nation's independence, was awakening enterprise and direct- ing it into new paths of activity. The fame of " the Whites- town country " had reached New England, and was enticing thither the adventurous settler, as to a land of promise. The neighboring settlements of Whitesboro, Oriskany, Westmore- land, &c., had been commenced a year or two previously ; that of Deerfield, ])roken up and destroyed during the revolution, had also just been resumed. The settlers who successively came in to swell our quota of this now populous district, let us proceed to consider. I shall notice them, so far as I have been able to ascertain the truth, in the order of their coming, and shall mention every adult male whom I know to have been a resident in Old Fort Schuyler. In this same month of March, 1788, arrived Major John Bellinger, the first who effected a lodgment after the persons whose names occur on Mr. Bleecker's map. Such, at least, is the time of his coming as given by Nicholas Smith, his nephew, w^ho accompanied him ; although, according to Judge Jones (in his Annals of Oneida County), who is followed therein by Mr. Benton (History of Herkimer County), the date of their arrival was 1791. Major Bellinger was a native of the Mohawk val- ley, and with two other members of his family, was present at the battle of Oriskany, whei-e he stood by the side of the gallant Herkimer, when the latter received his mortal wound. At the time of his journeying hither, the ground was covered with four feet of snow. Immediately on his arrival, he constructed a hut of hemlock boughs, in which he lived four months. It was OLD FORT SCHUYLER, Ig placed near what is now the east corner of Whitesboro and Wash ington streets. The same year, as it is said, he began to clear up a piece of land and to build a small frame house, he being his own artificer. If it be true that the house now pointed out by old residents as Mr. B.'s, is the one he then erected, it is a noteworthy object, and does credit to the builder's skill. It stands in the rear of a wagon shop on the south side of Whitesboro street, third house east of Washington, and is a story and a half, gable-roofed house. It has a tough, weather- beaten look, that promises for it several years duration. Here, while Mr. Belhnger managed his farm, he entertained the stream of emigrants on their way to more distant homes. He after- ward erected a larger building nearly opposite, a part of which was known at the time it was burned, as the New England House. This he continued to keep as a public house until his death, in 1815. Major Bellinger was a clear-headed, shrewd Dutchman, and a man of some influence. He took part in the organization of the earliest banks, gave a lot as a site for the Presbyterian church, and when he died, was the possessor of a handsome property. His wife was a daughter of Nicholas Weaver, of Deerfield, and sister of the wife of John, son of George Damuth, already mentioned. She died in 1819. Sev- eral of his children died in infancy and youth. His son John, though favored with more instruction than his father had re- ceived, was unable or indisposed to make use of his advantages. He followed no regular business, but was something of a sports- man. He died in 1841. One of Mr. Bellinger's daughters be- came the wife of Joshua Ostrom, one of our earlier citizens ;. another, the wife of Smith Mott, of Hamilton. At this time, as we are told by Judge Jones,* a family named Morey, Philip, the father, and Solomon, Kichard and Sylvanus, his sons, from Ehode Island, were living as squatters on lot No. 97, and Francis Foster was then a squatter on lot No. 96. Philip Morey subsequently had a lease of his land. 1789. The following year came Uriah Alverson, native of Ehode Island. He had journeyed through the place some two years before, when he determined to locate here, and returned east * Annals of Oneida County, 14 THE PIOXEEKS OF UTICA. for bis family. On Ins second arrival he took up some land in what is now West Utica, on along lease from Gen. Schu\der, and built him a house. This house, after many changes, removals and repairs, was yet standing on Columbia street, as recently as 1870, but has now been destroyed to make room for the church of St. Joseph. He removed from the place about 1809; was living in Madison in 1815, and afterwards again in this vicinity. His daughter, Abigail Sayles, died in Utica, in 1821. His son, William Alverson, accompanied his father on his first visit, as well as when he came here to reside, and was then a youth of nineteen. He followed several different pursuits ; by trade a journeyman carpenter, he was also a farmer, a brewer, a grocer and a painter. He was a man of strict integrity, industrious, prudent and economical, but perhaps too confiding. He lived to the age of eighty, and died in 1849. At this age he was re- markably vigorous and would outwalk many a younger man. The house in which he lived the greater part of his life, is a story and a half one, on the north side of Whitesboro street, a few rods west of Hoyts lane. His first wife was the mother of the late Mrs. T. S. Faxton, his second was Matilda, daughter of Stephen Potter, and widow of Stephen Ford. His sons were Lewis, grocer; and William, Jr., currier. Some time during the year 1789, or the latter part of the pre- vious year, came one of those remarkable men that new coun- tries are apt to produce, and whose eminent success, especially in the acquisition of wealth, is not surpassed by the richest gains of Metropolitan commerce. This was Peter Smith, father of the more widely known Gerrit Smith. To the courtesy of the lattei' am I indebted for a knowledge of the main incidents in the life of his father. Peter Smith was a native of Eockland county, and was born in 1768. A])prenticed at sixteen as a clerk in the importing house of Abraham Herring & Co., he left them at the end of three j-ears, and, stocked with a supply of goods for a country store, settled liimself in trade at a small place called Fall Hill, a couple of miles bt'luw Little Falls. Here he remained but a single year, and while yet a minor came to Old Fort Schuyler. He put up a log store, which, as nearly as he could recollect in his latter years, stood where Bagg's Tav- ern was afterward built. J. F. Watson, in his Antiquities of the OLD FORT SCHUTLER. 15 Citv and State of New York, published in Philadelphia about 1848-50, says that Peter Smith, in 1787, bought of the widow Daniuth, for a few pounds of Bohea tea, her log house, that stood on the ground where was afterwards built Bagg's Hotel. He soon built another store of the same kind near the lower end of Main street, and not far from the handsome two-story dwelling he subsequently erected on the corner of Main and Third streets. The last mentioned house, he occupied as early as 1792, for there in that year, his eldest child, Mrs. Cochrane, was born. In its day, it was the most attractive private resi- dence the place contained, and was, perhaps, also the oldest frame building of much pretension. Occupied by Mr, Smith for a few years after his marriage, it next became the residence of James S. Kip, and afterward for many years that of Ju'lge Morris S. Miller. It was a frequent boast of the latter that " he lived under the oldest shingles in Utica." This once beau- tiful mansion having become untenantable by the very dregs of the city, was at length torn down. Mr. Smith's later residence was the house on Broad street, beyond the Grulf, afterward occupied by his son-in-law. Captain Walter Cochrane, and which, after many transformations effected by successive tenants, is now occupied by George Ellison. To this house was attached a farm of two or three hundred acres. Here, in March, 1797, was born his noted son, Gerrit. Mr. Smith's first successful ventures seem to have been made in trading with the Indians. In this direction he was soon fol- lowed by John Jacob Astor, and they became partners in the purchase of furs. Together the}' used to journey on foot from Schenectada to Old Fort Schujder, with their packs on their backs, stopping here and there to pick up furs at the Indian settlements on the way. At a later period they were united in buying lands. Partly by trade, but chiefly by a diligent and dextrous improvement of ever}' sale of public lands, Mr. Smith early acquired a large fortune, having become the possessor of extensive tracts in various counties of the State. To his early acquaintance with the language of the Indians, he owed it mainly that he obtained a large influence over them, and re- ceived grants of their territory. About the year 1794, he obtained from the Oneidas their possessory riglit to a tract of land containing about fifty thou- 16 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. sand acres, bounded west by Onondaga county and stretcliing across Madison county into Augusta, Oneida county. At this time a law bad been enacted by Congress which forbade the Oneidas from selHng their lands to the white settlers, but as there was nothing in the act to prevent their leasing them for any length of time, Mr. Smith obtained possession of this tract by a lease extending for a term of 999 years. One party of the tribe strongly objected to this disposal of their lands^ while another ])arty u])held tlie lessee in the right they bad given him. On the arrival of the sur\-eyors, an attack was made upon them, the compass and chain were broken, and one of them was injured in the hand by a hatchet thrown by a lios- tile Indian. The difficulty was, however, soon adjusted, and Mr. Smitli was no further molested by the Oneidas. Congress, in the mean time, had been watching his operations, and for the purpose of arresting his influence, Timothy Pickering was deputed to visit Oneida. There was a great gathering of the tribe and of the whites at the famous Butternut orchard, where Mr. Pickering addressed the assembly. His words, having to pass through an interpreter, were enfeebled to Indian ears, while Mr. Smith addressed them in reply, in a tongue which he had been accustomed to speak with fluency, and appealing to their long and intimate business relations, as well as to their sense of justice, sustained himself triumphantly, and reestablished his influence over both parties. This tract, at lirst called New Petersburgh, afterwards Peterboro, was confirmed to him in fee simple by the State. To this place he removed in 1806, after a brief residence of three years at Yorkville, then known as Wetmore's Mills. He had been sheriff of Hei'kimer in 1795, when that county included Oneida also. On the organization of Madison county, the same year of his removal thither, he was appointed one of its judges, and the following year became first judge. This, position he continued to hold until 1821, and, as it was said by the lawyers of the day, made an excellent magistrate. His school education was but small, although he wrote a bold and free hand, and his quick and penetrating mind and natural aptitude for affairs, had been early tempered to the practice of them. Before there were attorneys in Old Fort Schuyler, Mr. Smith would seem to haye been often called on to draft such OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 17 law papers as were required. But, says a contemporary, his knowledge of human nature was profound, and few words passed from him in conversation that were not worth recording. The following anecdote is, perhaps, as characteristic of him as any that have been told, furnishing the very key note of his history : A Mr. L , a fat, indolent and poor man, came, one day, into his office, and after witnessing for some time the ease and rapidity with which the judge despatched his business, he said, " Judge, I, too, want to be lich. How can I get rich ? " Mr. Smith instantly turned upon him, and with a look and manner emphatically his own, replied : " Mr. L , you must be born again."' His readiness of resource and his promptness to circumvent a rival, are well illustrated in a story that has already appeared in print, and which I give as it has been told to me. He was lodging one night at Post's Tavern, at the same time that Messrs. Phelps and Gorham were also guests. Mr. Smith oc- cupied a room which was separated from the other land specu- lators by a very thin partition. In the night he heard them whispering together about a certain valuable tract of land which they were on the point of buying. Rising from his bed, and summoning the landlord for his horse, he was soon on his way to the land-office at Albany. When Messrs. Phelps and Gorham had finished their night's rest and taken their break- fast, they jogged on leism^ely to the same destination. What was their surprise when near the end of their journey to- encounter, on his way back, Mr. Smith, whom they had so recently seen in Old Fort Schuyler, and how much more aston- ished to learn, on reaching the office at Albany, that the coveted prize was his. Sagacious and shrewd, he was also active and untiring in his^ efforts to accumulate, yet he was a man of his word, and too wise to be dishonest Independent and fearless, he was at the same time modest and unassuming, and held himself as no^ more than the equal of those of lesser means. Excessively- plain in his dress and equipage, and frugal in all his ways, he^ was even la\dsh where his feelings were enlisted. For these feelings were deep, and his domestic affection ardent In per- son he was short and stout. The most striking features were his curved nose and his hawk-eye, which latter was keen and pene- 18 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. trating. Several years before his death, Judge Smith conveyed his estates to his son Gerrit, and after spending some time in travelling, iinally settled in Schenectada, where he died April 17th, 1837. His estimable ^^^fe, as well remembered for her piety, as for her intellectual gifts and the graces tliat adorn the true lady, was Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel James Livingston, of the Revolutionar}^ army, and sister of the wife of the late Hon. Daniel Cady, of Johnstown. She died in Utica, August 27th, 1818. A fellow witness with Peter Smith to a conti-act made on the 19th day of September, 1789, by Henrj^ Sal yea, was Samuel Eusst. Of Mr. Russt we know only that he was a shoemaker, an elderly man wdth a large family, and that after tarrying in the place a few years longer, he moved to Onondaga. The contract referred to was in favor of John Post, of Schen- ectada, with whom Salyea agreed, in consideration of the sum of one hundred pounds, to surrender on the first of April fol- lowing, the lot he had leased from Rutger Bleeckerin 17S7. 1790. Accordingly in the spring of 1790, this John Post, with his wife, three young children and a carpenter, supplied with a stock of merchandize, furniture and provisions, embarked upon the Mohawk at Schenectada, and in eight or nine days landed at Old Fort Schuyler. Besides the purchase from Salyea, he had also the ownership of the lease of John Cunningham, and of a part of that of George Damuth. We are told by a settler of the Genesee countr)', who passed up the river the summer previous, that Mr. Post was then finishing his house on a half acre of land that he had cleared* The clearing was probably made by Cunningham, the ])revious settler. The house, as Mr. Post subsequently informed Dr. Alexander Coventry,f was probably the first frame house erected in the county. Judge White, of Whitcsboro. was still living in a log house. This 'house of Mr. Post, stood on the west side of what is now lower Genesee street, not far from Whitcsboro street. The farm that * Turner's History of the Phelps and Uorham Purchase. - f Dr. Coventry's Journal. OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 19 Tie bought of Saljea, was adjacent to Salyea's or Ballou's creek, known also as the Sulphur Spring creek. Mr. Post, was of Dutch extraction, as was likewise his wife. He was the son of Elias and Margarientje (Bellinger) Post, of Schenectada, where he was born December, 1748. He had faithfallj served his country during the entire period of the Eevolution, and was at the taking both of Burgojne and Corn- wallis. For some years prior to his settlement at old Fort Schuyler, he had been employed in trading with the Six Nations, and removed to this place to engage in the same business. At first he kept his goods for sale in his dwelling, which from necessity was made a house of entertainment also, and until the year 1794, there was besides this, and the extemporized lodging place of Major Bellinger, no other tavern in the place. In the year 1791 he erected a store beside his house, and near what now constitutes the north-west corner of Grenesee and "Whites- boro streets. His trade was principally with the neighboring Indians, who would bring him in the furs of the animals they killed, and also ginseng, a plant growing in the woods, and which was then in great request as an article of export to the Chinese. In return, he furnished them spirits, tobacco, blankets, ammunition, beads, &c. It is said by his daughter to have been a common occurrence that thirty or forty Indian men, women and children remained at his house through the night, and, if the weather were cold, surrounded the immense kitchen fire of logs, or in the milder season, lay upon the grass plats by the side of the log and brush fences of the vicinity. From the journal of travellers* who took dinner and supper here in No- vember, 1793, and then looked into his store, we learn that "it was well stocked, and a favorite place for tipplers and cus tomers." Of the entertainment he furnished his guests, the same travellers give an account yet more unfavorable, which we would lain set down to the quei'ulous spirit of the foreign tour- ist, and for the good name of the place as well as its worthy landlord, hardly credit in its literal truth. "Mr. Post," says the writer of their journal, " keeps the dirtiest tavern in the State of New York, which is not saying little. Following the custom of the country, the linen is changed only on Sundaj^s, to the misfortune of those who arrive on a Saturday ; and I * Journal of the Castor Land Company. 20 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. therefore resolved to sleep on tlie couch they gave me with my clothes on. The common table had little to m}' relish, so that I was obliged to live chiefly upon milk, a proceeding which shocked the self esteem of Mr. Post, who could not conceive how, with the cheer he provided his guests, they could call for milk in preference." Such unmeasured denunciation must surely be imputed to the prejudices of an over-polished and dainty Frenchman, illy fitted to cope with the privations of a new country, if not to the moroseness of a sick one, convalescing- from dysentery and yearning for the comforts of home. The animvis of the writer is betrayed in the fling at the other inns of the State conveyed in the expression, " which is not saying little," {qui nest pas de peu dire.) And the changing of the linen on Sundays onl}' — certainl}' no worst^ than " a sheet l)y night, a table-cloth by day" — was, it seems, the custom of the conntrv, and so lightens the onus of a special chai'ge against tliis ])articular hostelry. Unfortunately it was Saturday when the traveller put up therein, and hence his ire. Tradition informs us of a difficulty the company met with in getting supplies for their expedition, and that to overcome it they put in practice a sharp Yankee trick. Mr. Post was the only one in the settlement who could furnish them pork, and he asked for it more than they were willing to give. The store of James Kip, to be presently mentioned, had all the salt, and this too, as they thought, was held dearer than was just So^ buying of Kip the whole stock of salt, they had the monopoly, and were able to deal better with Post But Mr. Post, as we are told by his daughter, was an unwil- ling landlord ; he kept tavern with reluctance, and no longer tlian until others arrived to till the duty. General traffic by land and water was more siiited to his tastes. lie erected on the river bank a three-storied warehouse of wood, which was afterwards moved a few rods above the site of the bridge, and was still there at a comparatively recent period. Mr. Post owned several boats, which were em})loyed in taking produce to Schenectada, and in l>ringing back merchandise and the fami- lies and effects of persons removing into the new country. He ran three stage-ljoats, as they were called, fitted up with oil cloth covers and with seats, more especially for the accommo- dation of passengers. OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 21 The earlier boats in use upon the Mohawk were Canadian Ibatteaux, chnker-built, and capable of carrying one and a half to two tons up the stream, and live tons downward. They were known as three-handed or four-handed boats, according as they required three or four men to propel them, or, wath reference to their capacity, two or three hogshead batteaux. They were forced over the rapids with poles and rojjcs, the latter drawn by men on the shore. Such was the mode of transporting mer- chandize and Indian commodities to and from the west, until some time after the Revolution. An association incorporated by the State, known as the Inland Lock Navigation Company, constructed a dam and sluice at Wood creek, and several locks at Little Falls. These improvements, which were finished in 1795, enabled boats to pass without unloading, as they had previously been obliged to do, and admitted also of the use of those of fifteen tons burden. After the enlargement of the locks they carried twenty tons or more in high water, and eight to ten in what was called " full channel " water, which meant twenty inches over the rifts. These latter boats were known as Durham boats, and were in shape not unlike a canal scow, being low and open, fitted with a walking- board along the gun wale, and with a mast that could be raised when required. They were propelled by means of long poles thrust into the river and pushed from the shoulders of men, who walked from end to end of the boat, bowed almost to the face in their efforts to move it forward. The poles had heads that rested against tlie shoulder, which was often galled like that of a collar worn horse. Down the stream advantage was taken of the current, and along the sti'aight reaches of the channel, and when the wind was favorable, a sail was hoisted. The crew consisted of five or six hands, who considered themselves fortunate when they made ten miles in one day, but were often half a day in proceeding only a few rods. The delay of unloading at Little Falls had been obviated, but it was found more difficult to force large than small craft over the rapids. Several boats usually went in company, and if any arrived first at a rift, they awaited the approach of the others, that the united strength of many might aid in the labor before them.* From a Schenec- iada paper of 1803, we get an idea of the dimensions of one of * Simms' History of Schoharie County. 22 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA. these Durham boats then on her first trip : "She is sixty-three feet keel, eleven feet wide, and two feet three inclies deep. When loaded she draws two feet of water, and will carry twenty- four tons. She now brought down two hundred and tifty bush- els of wheat, and will next trip ])ring eight hundred." In 1791 it cost from $75 to $100 per ton for transportation from Seneca lake to Albany ; in 1796 the cost was reduced to $32 per ton, and to $16 on returned cargoes. Mr. Post's stage boats were propelled chiefly wuth oars, were consti'ticted to carry twenty passengers, and were tastefully curtained. Within a few years of his arrival, viz.: on the 13th of July, 1792, Mr Post purchased of the representatives of Gen. Brad- street, eighty-nine and a half acres of lot No, 95, which now includes the heart of the cit}". He had, by his trade and by the earlj^ purchase of lands, acquired what was deemed no little fortune, and it was said was about to cease from business. But Post had daughters, and the second one especially was a pretty and lively girl. As she possessed also attractions from her father's wealth, she had many admirers. She married Giles- Hamlin, who had been clerk to Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, and was deemed an expert merchant. Hamlin was taken into part- nership in May. 1803, and the business was recommenced on a large scale, for Hamlin's ambition was to do a wholesale trade. He went to New York, and purchased, on Post's credit, a large stock of goods, which he soon sold to small dealers in the neighboring settlements, receiving in return their promissory notes. A second trip was made to New York, and a still larger supply was bought and sold on credit. In 1803 Post & Hamlin advertise five tons of candles by the ton, box or jiound, also one thousand cwt. of cotton yarn. But just as their New York creditors were j^ressing them for payments, and when in making collections they had received a large amount of wheat and pork, together with a sum in bank notes, came a sudden end of all the prosperity of Mr. Post. Between two and three o'clock in the morning of February 4, 1804, a fire broke out in his stoi-e. which was so far advanced before it was discovered that nothing was saved but a ])art of their account l)Ooks and some silver money. Post behaved honorably and sold all his lands to secure some preferred debts, and became, in his old age, divested of all thej^roperty for which OLD FORT sc;huyler. 23 he had labored during his whole life. Much commiseration was felt for him, and he and his aged wife and his large fam- ily of daughters withdrew from Utica to a small farm at Man- lius. Nothing now remains of Mr. Post but a wretched street called by his name, on lands which he once owned, unless it be the large box stove which once heated his store, now to be seen in front of one of the hardware establishments, and which, per- chance, was the instrument of his ruin. We are told by those who remember him, that Mr. Post was a large, hearty-looking and sensible man, l)ut somewhat reserved. He did not seem to be confined very closely to his store, but when the Indians gave his wife more trouble than she was able to contend with, he would be on hand to assist. He died in 1830. The members of his family were : Eebecca (Mrs. Storm, of Schenectada) ; John, died at the age of 26 ; Mrs. (Hamlin) Petrie ; Catharine, died unmarried ; Mrs. Eose, of Geneva ; Mrs. Bettis; Mrs. Gregory; Mrs. Gillett. In April, 1790, a small colony of two or three families arrived here from Connecticut, prominent among whom was Captain Stephen Potter. He settled first on what is known as Gibbs' hill, three or four miles south of the settlement, but soon ex- changed his place for lot No. 97, the lot lying a little w^est of Bellinger's. The squatter who had first occupied it was anx- ious to give it up on account of the sickness his family had suf- fered there. The log house wdiich he occupied, and where was afterward built the house occupied by his son, was on the lower end of his farm, near Potter's bridge, so called. Captain Potter was born January 12, 1739. He served throughout the war of the Pevolution, and there is reason to think that, although then young, he was also a soldier in the old French war that preceded it. His several commissions as ensign, second lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain are still in existence, bearing respectively the stirring names of Jona- than Trumbull, John Hancock, John Jay and Samuel Hunt- ington. In July, 1775, he was second lieutenant in the regi- ment known as "Congress' Own," the same in which there was serving, under the same rank, the lamented Nathan Hale, who was executed by the British as a spy in the following year. Captain Potter was an excellent man and greatly esteemed. 24 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. His })iety was of the strict Puritan order, and himself a worthy ■descendant of the Potters who signed the ''Plantation Cove- nant" at New Haven in 1638. At a meeting held at Whites- boro in April, 1798, for the purpcjse of organizing a religious society, he was put on the committee to draft a constitution, and when the Society was incorjjorated, shortly afterward, by the style of the United Society of Whitestown and Old Fort Schuyler, he was elected one of its Trustees. When, in 1803, it was deemed advisable to elect a portion of the Session from that part of the church residing in the latter place. Captain Potter was created both deacon and elder. His manners were somewhat singular and his demeanor, as it seemed at least to those much younger than himself, rather stern, so that children stood in some awe of him. Moreover, his utterance was a little in- distinct and his |)ronunciation old fashioned. Having occasion at one time, in his prayer at a religious meeting, to use the word antemeridian he greatly }')erplexed a child wiio was present, and who, after the close of the meeting, appealed to its father to know who was the "Aunty Mary Hian " about whom the good elder had been praying. But whatever his austerity to the young, he was by no means averse to a joke with his equals. For the following anecdote we are indebted to Wm. Tracy, Esq.: Mr. Henry Huntington, of Pome, had a lawsuit against Abel French, for failure to perform a contract for the sale of some land on the hills south of the Mohawk, two or three miles from Utica. The question was what damages he should recover. He regarded the land as valuable, and wanted the difference between the contract price and the current value, and called Deacon Potter as a witness to prove their value. The latter was a wai-Hi friend of ]\Ir. II. When sworn and asked if he knew the land, he said ''yes, every foot of it." "What do you think it worth, Ca])tain Potter?" The old man jjaused a mo- ment, and then slowly said: "If I had as many dollars — as my ycjke of oxen — could draw — on a sled, — on glaze ice, — I vow to God — I would not give a dollar an acre for it." There was some noise in the court house on liearing the answer. Captain Potter died in 1810 ; his wife, Sarah Lindsley, in 1812. He had five children, all of whom were born before his arrival : and, with one excei)tion, they all married early settlers. Lucinda, born 1767, married Benjamin Phiiit: Sarah, Thomas OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 25 Norton; Matilda, Stephen Ford, and after liis death, William Alverson; Marj remained unmarried ; William Frederick occu- pied the homestead and cultivated the farm until long after the city had grown up around him. In company with Captain Potter came his son-in-law, Benja- min Plant, from Brantford, Ct. Purchasing a portion of the Potter lot, he settled thereon, remaining a farmer all his life. His house stood on the rear of the late residence of his son, James Plant, now occupied by M. C. Comstock. He was a good farmer and worthy man. He died in March, 1813; his wife in January, 18i8. Of his sons, one died young, and was the lirst person interred in the old burying ground on Water street ; one is still living, and one, "after having faithfully shared in the habits of frugal industry which characterized the early settlers, was able to sui-- round himself, during the latter years of his life, with the com- forts and luxuries of a happy home in a prosperous city." Among the reminiscences of Benjamin Plant, Jr., the eldest son, who was born in 179-i, and who resided on the New Hart- ford road for upward of fifty years, is of having once come very near to encountering a bear with her cub in the road near his father's. He was in company with the latter, who, seeing the bear approaching, advised the son to lie down and keep quiet. This he did, when the mother, being intent on getting her young- one through a brush fence that impeded their course, passed near and went on her way. Three brothers Garret, viz. : Samuel, Peter and Cheney, were also companions of Captain Potter in his immigration to this place. Two of them at least were carpenters, and worked a short time here, but soon removed , from the place. Samuel seems to have been the longest resident ; but was gone before 1810. Cheney Garrett was one of the first settlers of South Trenton, and was living there as late as 1850. Another settler of 1790, was Matthew Hubbell, from Lanes- boro, Mass. Born in 1762, he was drafted into military service at the age of fifteen, and took part in the battle of Bennington, Before he came to this place, he had occupied for a single season 26 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. a farm on the Phelps & Gorham purcliase. in Ontario county. But liis wife being discontented in so savage a wilderness, where bears were too plenty and neighbors too few, he sold at sixty- six cents per acre, the land he had bought at thirty-three cents, and leaving Bloonifield, returned eastward. Following the iiataral water courses, they traversed the ovitlets of Canandaigua and Seneca lakes, Seneca river, Oneida river and lake, and Wood creek, to the portage; thence the Mohawk to Old Fort Schuy- ler, which they reached in December. He bought Sal yea's in- terest in the River Bend farm, and subsequently obtained a deed of it from Agatha Evans and Sir Charles Gould, heirs of General Bradstreet. This purchase cost him at the rate of S2.50 per acre. Selling a part on the west, he continued to cultivate the remainder until his death, and here he reared a large family. Possessed of a fair share of New England energy and enter- prise, with the moral and virtuous habits there inculcated, Mr Hubbell was a useful and respected citizen. He was a member of the first grand jury that ever sat in this State west of Herki- mer. He was among the earliest and most prominent of the Baptist denomination in this section, having received immersion in 1803, at the hands of Elder Co veil, a Baptist elder, then on a tour of visitation and preaching throughout the State, and who has published a journal of his laV)ors. During some years Mr. H. was a respected magistrate of the town. He died Octo- T)er 12th. 1819, in consequence of sickness contracted at Sack- etts Harbor, whither he carried supplies in the war of 1812. Of liis family of twelve children, two of whom were born before their arrival at this place, and all of whom reached adult years, the late Alrick Hubbell, who died in January, 1877, was the last survivor. Yet another comer of the year 1790, was Benjamin Ballon. His native place was somewhere in Rhode Island, whence he came, bringing a family of gi'own u}) children. He had a lease from the Bleecker family in 1797 of one hundred and twenty-six acres of lot No. 92, and occupied a house east of the Big Basin, near the site of the boat yard. Beside farming, he also earned on a small tannery. He is represented as a tall, lank person, wearing a velvet suit much worn, and a hat that lacked at east a third of its bi-iin. His death occurrcer Bill for that pur- pose." Having then been committed to a committee of the House on the supplementary bill, favorable action was taken. The bridge had been raised, however, the })revious summer. It was placed on the line of Second street, where the banks were somewhat higher than at the site of the present bridge. The raising took })lace on Sunday, in order that more of the inhabitants of the vicinity might be at leisure to assist. There was living in Deerfiel( I a few months since a man who, when a child was present at the raising. This was Elder George M. Weaver, who was born in January, 1788, and was then in his fifth year. An incident which he related as connected with the event, must have contributed to hx the fact in his memoiy. On the way over with his parents from Deerlield they spied a bear in a tree by the side of the road. While Mrs. Weaver bravely remained OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 31 at the foot of the tree with her young son and another child in arms, keeping watch of the bear, the father returned home, procured a gun and shot the animal, after which they continued their course to the river. It is interesting to know that this bridge was inspected and judgment passed upon it by a young engineer, who, at a later ])eriod, became illustrious for his brilliant scientific achievements. This was Marc I. Brand, the engineer of Thames tunnel, and of manj^ other vast engineering works in England. For he formed one of a small party of agents sent out by a French company to form a settlement in the Black River country.* From their journal we learn that they slept at Post's tavern in November 1793, and in the morning went out to look at the bridge. These are their words : " This bridge, built after the English manner, is in the arc of a circle, with a very moderate curve, and is supported by beams placed like a St. Andrew's cross, and cov- ered with plank. The bridge has already bent from the carve intended and inclined to the oval, an effect due as much to the framing as to the quality and smallness of the timbers, which are of pine and fir. The main support which they have put in the middle would rather tend to its entire destruction when the ice is going off. The abutments are of timber, and are also settled, from miscalculation of the resistance, the one on the south side being built upon ground that is full of springs. This bridge has been built but a short time, and was erected by a country carpenter. We asked Mr. Post why, when they had such a work to execute, they did not employ an engineer or architect to draw a plan and the details, which a carpenter might then easily execute. He replied that this was not the custom, and that no carpenter would be wilHng to work after the plans of another man. He, however, appeared mortified at the prob- able fate of his bridge which we predicted." The bridge was in fact swept off within a few months, and in 1794 a new one was erected. * The Journal of the Castorlaud Company. This journal is a voluminous manuscript in the possession of Dr. Franklin B. Hough, of Lowville, to whose kindness I have been indebted for a cursory examination of its pages. Dr. Hough having been at the trouble to procure it from France, is now ready to publish a translation when he shall meet with sufficient encouragement to do so. 32 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA. From the preceding list of signers we gather a few additional names. They represent farmers who lived near rather than within the settlement, and some actually outside of the limits of Utica, as determined by the first village charter. These limits reached from the eastern line of lot No. 82 on the east to the western bounds of No. 99 on the west On or near the upper end of the former lot, and in the vicinity that is called Welsh-bush, lived Nathan Darling, Jeremiah Powell and Joseph Harris. Somewhat nearer, though at quite a remove from the central settlement, were John D. Petrie, Frederick Bowman and Henry Staring. Petrie occupied the farm next east of Matthew Hubl^ell, afterwards well known as the High Sch(X)l f^rm, until 1802, when he sold it to Alexander Cairns,, who resold in 1804 to Solomon Wolcott. Below him again, and at the end of the plain of Broad street, just where the road begins to descend to the hollow of the creek, was the house of Freder- ick BowmaiL Staring was his next neighbor on the east, if not at the date in question, certainly within a short time afterwards. Petrie, Bowman and Staring were all of German origin, and the names all occur among the patentees of the town of Grer- man Flats. Bowman's is the only famil}^ of which there are representatives still left in Utica and vicinitj'. Westward were found Claudius W^oolcot, a little west of Nail creek, on the present Court street, Archibald Bates and Aaron Clark on the lower or river end of lot No. 101, and Darius Sayles on the upper |)art of the same lot and in the rear of the ^'resent Asy- lum farm. Aaron Clark at first occupied a log house near the river, but afterwards built on the Whitesboro road. He had three sons and four daughters. Dying in 1803, he was suc- ceeded by his son Welcome, whose son, Alfred S., still lives on the same lot No. 101 though a little east of the homestead. Welcome Clark's wife was a daughter of Uriah Sayles. Both families were from Khode Island. Next west of Clark Ywed two men named Robert Whipple and Arnold Wells, and though their names are not to be found on the ])etition, we are assured they had already been a year or two established. The former occupied the gambrel roofed house which, up to the year 1870, stood on the northern side of the road : the latter was on the south side. They bore the relation OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 33 of father and son-in-law, having married, while still in Rhode [sland, a widow and her daughter. Of these one only engaged in business in the village. Mr, Wells was for a short time a merchant, furnishing the capital, about the year 1802, which gave a start to his more adventurous partner, Watts Sherman. His second wife, whom he married fifty years after his first nuptials, was Miss Mary Spurr, who is still living in Utica. Mr. Wells' father and brother, who were petitioners for the bridge, resided in Deerfield. Still further west on the Whitesboro road, Nathan Smith had a house on the south side that is still standing. He was one of the representatives of Herkimer county in the Legislature of 1798, and of Oneida — now set off from Herkimer — in the ses- sion of 1801-2. During the two subsequent sessions he was again a member from Herkimer, and was living at Fairfield. Mr. Smith had a share in organizing the Bank of Utica, in 1812,, and was one of its original trustees. 1793. In the year 1793, as we learn from the inscription on his tomb stone, came Gurdon Burchard, and Elizabeth his wife. They were from Norwich, Connecticut. Mr. Burchard was a saddle- and harness-maker, and occupied a lot fronting on Whitesboro street, south side, but reaching through to Genesee, a gore sep- arating it from the corner of the latter. About 1810 he aban- doned this business and opened a tavern, under the sign of the " Buck," nearly on the site of the present Dudley House. And here he continued, with the exception of a brief period when he was in the "mercantile line," until his death, August 17, 1832, at the age of sixty-four, he, as well as one of his daughters, hav- ing fallen victims to the cholera epidemic of that year. He was a public-spirited and a useful citizen, and for two or three years held the office of trustee of the village. Of his family, four or five of whom are still living, not a member remains in the place. He left his name to the lane which runs through, his former property. His children were : Susan (Mrs. Taintor) long the efficient, superintendent of the female department of the Presbyterian 34 THE PIOXEERS OF UTICA. Sunday school; Emil}^, died in 1832, aged twent^y-eiglit ; Ed- ward, for many 3'ears witli James Dana, and now in Beloit ; George, in Wisconsin ; Gnrdon, in New York. Gideon Burcbard, tlie father of Gurdon, came a little time after him, and became a journeyman in his employ. He died in 1810. James P. and Stephen Dorchester, who are known to have been living here in 1794, and who were related to Mr. Burch- ard, probably came at the same time with him. They were hatters, and occupied a shop on Genesee street, a short distance above the rear end of the Burchard lot. On this site, James P. erected the first brick store that was built on Genesee street. He soon left the place. Stephen Dorchester, who was born in Farmington, Conn., in 1756, died in 1808. Of his sons, one went to sea, the other was Eliasaph Dorchester, to be spoken of hereafter. 1794. "We come now to the year 1794, when we find that the hamlet is increased by the presence of several additional inhabitants. Inasmuch as their names are not to be previously met with, it is presumed they had newly arrived. Prominent among them was James S. Kip, who would seem to have been in his own house as early as May of this year, for therein was received the agent of the Castorland Company, who came, with a letter of introduction, to seek aid in securing workmen and wagons for the furtherance of the enterprise. Mr. Kip, who was for long 3'ears afterward a conspicuous mem- ber of society, was a native of New York, and the son of a Dutch gentleman, whose farm on Kip's bay had so increased in value with the rise of real estate in tliat vicinity, as to prove a fortune to the possessor. He was a nephew of Abraham Her- ring, with whom, as we have seen, Peter Smith liad been an apprentice, and we may surmise, therefore, that it was through the influence of the latter, that he was led to settle at this place. On the 19th of Jul}', in this same year, he ])Ought of Evans & Gould, — the daughter and devisee, and the executor of General Dradstreet, — lot No. 96, containing four hundred acres. This lot embraces, at this day, a very precious portion of the city, OLD FORT SCHL'YLER. 35 extending in width, from a few feet east of Broadway, to a lit- tle west of the line of Cornelia street, and stretching back from the river some three miles. The purchase of No. 96, Mr. Kip does not seem to have pro- ceeded at once to occupy, for after having parted with a fraction, —a portion, however, large enough to enrich the family of the purchaser, — he settled himself upon a leased farm of three hundred and sixty-six acres, in lot No. 93, which included the site of the old fort. Here he built a small log store, near the eastern end of Main street, establishing a landing on the river at the mouth of Ballou's creek, nearly in fi'ont of his house, and strove by these means to divert the commerce from Mr. Post and other rivals, who were located a little higher on the stream. He built also a pot ashery, and was soon a considerable manufacturer, although for his products he soon found in Bryan Johnson, and Kane & VanRensselaer, more successful vendors than he himself had been. But Mr. Kip was ambitious to shine in other spheres. Quite early he figured as a military man; and, at the very beginning of the century, he was making tours of the northern towns, as inspector of militia. Moi'eover, his public spirit and his ardent temperament, soon drew him into public life, and he became an •eager politician and a warm partisan. He was made sheriff in 1804, and continued to hold the office at intervals, and by re- peated appointments, for nine years. Prominent in social life, interested in all matters of a local nature, and endowed with enterprise and independence, he devoted himself assiduously to the general interests, and became more successful as a public man, than he was in acquiring property for himself. He was one of the first Board of Directors of the Utica Bank, and at its election, he was chosen as its first president. In 1812, he had the honor of being one of the Presidential Electors. "Sheriff," or "Major" Kip, as he was indifferently called, was portly in person, somewhat pock-marked, and wore glasses. He was gentlemanly in his appearance and address, dignified and stately. Affable and companionable among his equals, toward his family his intercourse was tender and affectionate. He was a generous liver, and a bountiful provider, and that not for himself alone, for he was " given to hospitality." and fond of making, as well as of attending the frequent dinner parties that 36 THE riONEEKS OF UTICA. characterized the social habits of tlie gentlemen of the earliest generation in Utica. As an illustration of the violence of party spirit which equally marked those days, and of the extreme to which it carried men of standing and self-respect, we may relate the particulars, as they have come down by tradition, of a personal encounter Major Kip once had with Judge Morris S. Miller, a man as hot- tempered as himself. It occurred the day before election, in 18- -, and arose out of a newspaper article, which Judge Miller was thought to have written, and which Mr. Kip felt called on to resent. Armed with a cow-hide, he accosted the judge, wha was on horseback, and after charging him with the authorship of the article in question, drew him from his horse, or induced him to dismount, when they joined in a fierce and bloody strug- gle. It was arrested by the bystanders, but not until both were dreadfully pummeled. After being carried home, Judge Miller was plied with beefsteak poultices, through the advice of Mrs. Bradstreet, who ha])})ened to be present, and who had been ac- customed to such affrays among Irish gentlemen in her own country. By this means the swelling was kept down, and the judge was rendered fit to appear at the polls on the following day, whereby he earned the victory over his antagonist, who had not been so scientifically managed. Major Kip's earlier residence was on Main street, where he occupied, for a time, the handsome house on the corner of Third street, which was subsequently the home of Judge Miller. About the year 1809, he built and occupied, on a portion of his first purchase, the finest mansion in the village. This, which was of cut stone, stood on the westerly side of Bi-oadway, within a very short distance of where the canal was afterward laid out. It was surrounded by handsome grounds, which formed on the south a fine esplanade for military parades. When the canal was constructed, Mr. Kip was anxious to save his garden and grounds. Accordingly he induced the commissioners to run the line where they did, instead of south of the building, as they had intended to do. The consequence was, that they were forced to ])ring the channel so close to the rear of his house as to greatly injure it in beauty and value, and to interfere with its comfortable use, by the intrusion of water into the cellar. Thus, in place of being made richer by the canal, as he probably OLD FORT SCHUYLER. S7 would have been, had the original design been adhered to, he was seriously damaged. This circumstance doubtless tended to •discourage and embitter Mr. Kip, but did not, as some have thought, lead to his removal from the place. He was concerned in a large landed interest, that had been willed to him, but which was in litigation ; and, by the ad^ace of his counsel, he removed to another State, in order to bring the suit in the United States courts. He went to New Haven in 1825, but returned in five years, and died at the house of his son-indaw, •on Chancellor square, August, 1831, aged sixty-four years. His wife was Eliza, daughter of Mrs. Dakin, an English lady, who, at first, took up her residence on Paris Hill, but subse- •quently removed to this place, and whose four accomplished daughters became the wives of four of Utica's earlier settlers. She died, August, 1809. His children were Ann, who married Theodore S. Gold ; Mary, who married Charles P. Kirkland ; Samuel K., of New York, recently deceased; and Elizabeth, who married J. Munson Landon. In Mr. Kip's second mar- riage, to Miss Meirin, in 1812, he was not so fortunate. One Joseph Peirce was an occupant of a part of the territory -acquired by Mr. Kip, in his purchase of July, 1794, and is known to have been living thereon in April, previous ; how much longer, it is impossible to sa}'. Mr. Peirce had been a soldier of the Revolution, and bore the title, if not the rank, of ■captain. His farm-house was near the eastern line of Broad- way, a little way up from Whitesboro street. After Broadway had been opened hy Mr. Kip, the house was pulled down, to make way for a new house erected b}'- Mr. Inman, the well that had been in the rear of the first one, being left in the street, where, in recent times, it has dispensed its waters to all who sought them. Captain Peirce afterward lived in Deerfield, and built the covered bridge across the river, which, in 1810, suc- ceeded the two earlier structures. His sons were Joseph, Jr., John and Parley. The former removed to Cayuga county. John was constable and village tax collector, and afterwards ■deputy sheriff. As constable, he was often travelling over the •county and serving processas in what are now Lewis, St. Law- rence and Jefferson. He once went to Ogdensburg to serve a summons. His wife was a daughter of Christopher Roberts, a 38 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. farmer, early settled in the eastern precincts. He moved from this place to Trenton, where he owned the mills below the Falls, Parley was a carjienter, and in 1817 was living on Broad street. Captain Peirce's two daughters married husbands who proved intemperate and shiftless. Thomas Norton, who married Sarah, second daughter of Stephen Potter, had been a sea captain, and afterward returned to a sea faring life. His residence while here was on the upper end of the Potter lot, and subsequently on the turnpike, near the residence of Mrs. Butterfield, where he kept a public house. Another resident of this date, whose singular histor}^ we have often heard related by the earlier citizens, was the village physician, Dr. Samuel Carrington. He was a young man of very gentlemanly appearance and manners, and of good literary education. Pie was a druggist, though he was titled doctor, and may have taken the degree. In an advertisement of his drugs, paints and dye woods, dated November, 1800, he says- he has " determined to sell them at very low prices for ready pay. Having found, from sad experience, that credit is the bane of trade, he declines granting that indulgence in the future,, and would rather cry over than after his goods." He succeeded Mr. Post as postmaster on the first of April, 1799, and was a very prosperous man in a pecuniary way, though his emolu- ments from his office could not have been ver}' pi'otitable. He had become somewhat of an old bachelor, when, at that early period of the country, almost every person married quite young. But now he was going to tlie East to be married, and his friends- crowded around the stage coach that was to carry him to his bride, in order to congratulate him on the somewhat unexpected event. He departed, and Utica never saw him more. He arrived at his place of destination and the ceremony was per- formed ; but early the next morning he got up, left his bride and disappeared, no one ever knew why or whither. The mys- terious flight has never been solved. His brother, John Car- rington, came and settled up his affairs, entering for a short time into partnership with Dr. Marcus Hitchcock. The latter, however, bought John out, and in turn became postmaster. In 1802 Dr. Carrington was one of the trustees of the Presby- terian church ; but in June of the same year we lind his name OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 39 on tlie list of jurors that were disqualified by reason of death, removal, &c. Dr. Benjamin Woodward lived a short time in the vicinity of the present Globe Hotel, and also on Main street, and here he was married to Hannali Ellis, sister of the wife of Judge Cooper, to be presently noticed. Stephen Ford, a merchant, occupied for a short time a store on the south corner of Genesee and Whitesboro streets his lot being the larger end of the gore, next Mr. Burchard. He mar- ried the third daughter of Stephen Potter. He failed and left the place. After his death, his widow married William Al- verson. Aaron Eggieston was a cooper, whose shop, during most of his residence, stood at a long distance from other buildings, viz. : near the site of Charles Millar s new store, on the east side of Genesee. With the exception of a brief stay in Clin- ton, whence he returned in 1804, he lived here in the exercise of his trade until his death, in December, 1828. He was a man of some enterprise, and was respected as a good citizen. About 1820 he was doing business on the south side of Broad street, midway between Genesee and John. His sons were Henry and Moses T., whose home w^as in New Hartford. John Hobby was a blacksmith, his shop being just above the site of the Central Railroad depot. He had a brother Epene- tus, a tall, stout man with but one eye, who was a good hand at fires ; and another brother whose name was Elkanah. The three formed the chorus of a song that was a favorite with the jolly band which sometimes met of an evening at the village inn. The song was entitled, " All on Hobbies." At the end of the first verse all would shout, "That's John Hobby;" after the next, " That's Neet Hobb}^" &c. John died Feb. 6, 1812. Thomas Jones was a black and white smith, who sometimes worked for Hobby. He was a superior workman, and is said to have been so expert a picklock as to have been in durance in England, for the unlawful exercise of his skill. The writer has seen a key of a rather complicated form that was made by him, and has heard others report of his skill. A passing trav- 40 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. t -1- ■•• r " €ller of 1794, "in looking through the rooms at Mr. Post's, fortunately came across one Tom Jones, an Englishman, who helped him in spending the evening less gloomily." He was not English, however, but came from Caernarvonshire. He €nlisted during the war of 1812, though he did not serve, as peace was declared very soon afterwards. A daughter of his, born in 1796, died Feb. 18, 1876, having lived more than sixty years within the shadow of Trinity church, and almost under protection from the bolts of heaven by the lightning rod which her father had constructed for the church. Another Jones, Simeon by name, lived in a liouse on stilts that stood upon a knoll in a swamp. That swamp was near the eastern end of the site of the Globe Hotel. Barnabas and Eoger Brooks were braziers, who lived and carried on their trade on Whitesboro street, next west of Mr. Burchard. Vacating this lot within a few years to Francis A. Bloodgood, they moved to the corner of Seneca, where they were again displaced b}" Nathan Williams, who bought and built upon the place. The parties who are known to have been new comers of the year 1794, were Moses Bagg, John House Jason Parker and Apollos Cooper. Moses Bagg, of Westlield, Mass., with his wife and two sons, landed from the river, about two miles above the ford, in the autumn of 1793, and after tarrying through the winter at Mid- dle settlement, arrived at Old Fort Schuyler on the 12th of the following March. In August, Mr. Bagg obtained from Joseph Ballou, four acres of his leased farm, — for which he subsequently got a title from Mr. Bleecker, — and began to practice his trade of blacksmith on what is now Main street, a little east of the corner of the square. His house, a log structure, or as one eye- witness avers, a shanty made of hemlock' boards nailed to the stubs of trees, stood directly on the corner ; and this he opened for the accommodation of traA-ellcrs. Shoitly afterwards he put up a two story wooden building on the same site. This house was sul)scquently removed by his son aci'oss the street, and in conjunction with the farm house of Mr. Ballou, made up the late Northern Hotel; a hotel, which after having been held in succession by niinici-ous tenants, has now given ])laceto OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 41 tlic Ballon block. Mr. Bagg continued to keep tavern while lie lived, and is said to have been an accommodating landlord, as well as an amiable and upright man, possessed of a fair share of good sense and native shrewdness, managing his own affairs with prudence, and making many friends and no enemies. He died in September, 1805, his wife in March of the same year. James, his eldest son, moved al^out 1809 to Denmark, in Lewis county, and thence to Lowville, where he died in 1851. Moses, the other son, will be noticed hereafter. Shortly after the arrival of the preceding family came anoth- er inn-keeper, who opened a house on the south-east corner of Oenesee street and the public square. This was John House, of whom we know little beside the fact that he was a pleasant man and a popular tavern-keeper. He removed early from the place, and by the year 1802 his house was kept by another. His daughter became the wife of Myron Holley, of Ontario county. Wm. House, his son, was a merchant in Lockport, N. Y. One of Utica's most useful and best remembered citizens ap- peared on its stage when, in 1791:, Jason Parker took up his abode therein. Married in 1790 to EoxanaDay, of Will)raham, Mass., — he himself being a native of the neighljoring town of Adams — he settled the same year in New Hartford. Here he cleared up two farms, and was progressing with the same energ}^ that he afterward evinced in a different calling, when his health gave way, and he was advised to relinquish fanning and engage in some other pursuit. He came to this place about 1794, and undertook the em^oloyment of post-rider between Canajoharie and Whitestown. These journeys were made on horseback and sometimes on foot. His wife would occasionally assist him, when needed, eking out the trip between this place and Whites- boro. The contract from the government for the transportation of the mail, which had been given, the year previous to one Simeon Pool, soon passed into his hands. It is related that when on one occasion, Mr. Parker arrived with the great west- ern mail from Alban}^, it was discovered that it contained six letters for the inhabitants of Old Fort Schuyler. This remark- able fact was heralded from one end of the settlement to the other, and some were incredulous until assured of its truth by 42 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. the postmaster, Jolin I^ost. In August, 1795, he began to run a stage between the uLove mentioned phices, and thus announces his undertaking : " The mail leaves Whitestown every Mon- day and Thursday, at 2 o'clock P. M., and proceeds to Old Fort Schuyler the same evening; next morning starts at -i o'clock, and arrives at Canajoharie in the evening, exchanges passengers with the Albany and Cooperstown stages, and the next day re- tarns to Old Fort Schuyler. Fare for passengers, $2.00 ; way passengers four cents per mile, fourteen pounds of baggage gratis ; one hundred and fifty pounds weight rated the same as a passenger. Seats may be had by applying at the post-office, "Whitestown, at the house of the subscriber, Old Fort Schuy- ler, or at Captain Roof's, Canajoharie." That his experiment was a difficult and a doubtful one when left unaided by the fostei'ing care of go^-ernment we may justly infer, and we are not surprised to find him joining with eastern proprietors in a call for legislative help. Their petition, which is dated Jannary 18, 1797, sets forth that " at an early da}^ and when no other persons could be prevailed on to hazard so pre- carious an undertaking, they set up a line of stages from Alba- ny to Lansingburg, and another from Albany to Whitestown, and for several years ran them at great loss to themselves, in anxious hope and expectation that, by persevering in so laudable an undertaking, they should at some future time receive a com- pensation, when the population of this new and growing country would admit." Then adverting to the embarrassing and destruc- tive consequences of opposition which had been set up on some of the eastern lines, the petitioners continue as follows: The western line must inevitably share tlie same fate unless your petitioners can obtain the interference of the honorable the Legis- lature. And although they are desirous of continuing to prose- cute their present concerns in the stages, particularly on the western routes, they dare not flatter themselves in being able to do it, unless they can obtain an act of exclusive privilege for a certain number of years." Whether their petition achieved them any good we are unable to say, l)ut in November, 1799, we find that the mail stage between Schenectada and Utica is still run twice a week by "the public's most humble servants," Moses Beal and Jason Parker. In 1802 the public are further informed that, in addition to the above arrangements, "a stage OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 43 for the conveyance of the mail, and those who wish to travel by stage, will start from Utica for Onondaga twice a week." In March, 1 803, Mr. Parker is again before the Legislature in company with Levi Stephens and other associates, suing for the exclusive right of running stages from the village of Utica to the village of Canandaigua for the term of ten years, and averring that "the present emoluments are inadequate to reimburse the expenses by the proprietors." Accordingly an act was passed tlie following year granting to Jason Parker and Levi Stephens the exclasive right for seven years of running a line of stages, for the conveyance of passengers, at least twice a week, along the Genesee road, or Seneca turnpike, between the above men- tioned villages. They were bound to furnish four good and substantial covered wagons or sleighs, and sufficient horses to run the same. The fare was not to exceed five cents per mile, and they were to run through in forty-eight hours, accidents ex- cepted. They were forbidden to carry more than seven passen- gers in any one carriage, except by the unanimous consent of said passengers. If four passengers above the seven applied for passage, they were obliged to fit out and start an extra car- riage for their accommodation ; an}^ number less than four might be accommodated by paying the rate of four. By September 1810, a greater degree of expedition was at- tained on the eastern route, so that we read of a daily line of stages between Albany and Utica, and in September, 1811, of another line three times a week in addition to the daily one. In January of the latter year the route westward had been extend- ed to Buffalo and Niagara Falls. Thus he commenced by such humble beginnings a business which, partly alone and partly in association, he prosecuted throughout his lifetime, and which within that time increased so as to become one of the largest business organizations ever formed in the place. At the time of his decease there were eight daily lines of stages running through Utica, east and west, besides twelve daily, semi- weekly or weekly lines running north and south, in most of which he was or had been interested. But Mr. Parker's activity was not wholly expended in the running of stages. Besides serving as a trustee of the village, and besides bearing a share in the public undertakings of the day that concerned him equally with his fellow-citizens, he also 44 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. carried on milling and flouring. Al)out 1817 this was done at New Hartford, in company with his nephew, David Miller, and after 1823, when the navigation of the Mohawk had ceased, in a mill which he constructed bel(^w the bridge. He also at an earlier period had an interest with Stalham Williams in mercan- tile business. To Mr. Parker, Messrs. T. S. Faxton, S. D. Childs and John Butterlield were all indebted for the impetus which set them forward in a career of success, the former having joined him as his outside assistant in 1813, Mr. Childs as his book-keeper in 1816, and the latter in 1822, at first as a runner, and eventually as his successor in the stage and transportation business, though he was never, as Messrs Faxton and Childs were, one of the Arm of J. Parker & Co. Remarkable for his business capacity, his enei'gy and his skill in dealing with others. Mr. Parker was not less noted for his unswerving integrity and his kind and liberal disposition. Well do I remember the benevolent features of the old man as they kindly beamed upon the children of his acquaintance, as well as the quaint attire in which he appeared abroad — the broad- brimmed beaver, the spencer worn outside his coat, and the long church warden pipe, only laid aside when he took the reins for a drive in his chaise. He lived, on his first coming, in a log house on Main street, a little west of First street. His next residence was on the south side of Whitesboro street, near Seneca, his carriage and black- smith shops, stahles, &c., being adjacent He subsequently built a house on the opposite side of the street, where the late E. M. Gilbert afterwards built and resided. Mr. Parker died in 1830, his wife the former part of the same year. Two or three of his children, of whom he had seven in all, were born before his arrival in Utica, Those who attained adult age were Cynthia, (Mi's, George Maconiber,) Roxana, (Mrs. S. D. Childs,) Milton D. and Patty Ann, (Mrs. John Hastings). Apollos Cooper was born at Southampton, L. I., February 2d, 1767, was a carpenter by trade, and had come into Oneida county in 1790. Before coming to Old Fort Schuyler, he had lived at Johnstown, and was also in the employ of Mr. Scriba, OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 45 at Oneida Lake. On the 1 1th of A|)ril, 1795, he bought of James S. Kip one hundred and seventeen acres of Great Lot No. 96, which the latter had bought the year previous. This land con- stituted a narrow strip, extending from the river nearly to the' intersection of Genesee and State streets. Early in the fall of 1794 he had gotten possession of the land, and built the rear part of the house on Whitesboro street, where he afterwards re- sided throughout his life. The homestead yet remains, while the farm has long since been swallowed up by the encroaching city. Mr. Cooper does not seem to have long pursued his trade, but when not engaged in official duties, was chiefly busied with farming. The bridge across the river, at the foot of Genesee street, which replaced the earlier bridge, is, however, said to have been the work of his skill. A peculiarity of this bridge consisted in the long covered avenue of trestle work that led down to it, reaching back half way to Main street — a proof, as it would appear, that the river bank was then much lower than at present, and the bridge, in consequence, more difficult of approach. This bridge had a stone abutment in the centre, and was of more substantial construction than its more immediate predecessor. Mr. Cooper was also the artificer of Hamilton Oneida Academy, the precursor of Hamilton College. As time rolled on, his property increased greatly in value, and enabled him to realize all the comforts of a thriving farmer, and to bestow upon his children the advantages of an educa- tion, which in his own case had been limited, but whose value he well knew how to estimate. His early location in the county secured to him an extensive acquaintance, and obtained for him no small share of public favor, manifested by his appoint- ment, at various periods, as Judge, Representative and Sheriff, and by his filling also many subordinate stations in the place of his residence. If there were differences among his neighbors, Judge Cooper was a man to whom such differences could be referred with all the confidence that a sound head and an honest heart will always command. He was simple in habit, and un- pretending in manners ; of vanity he had not a particle, honest pride he possessed to a fault. Self-reliant and positive in his opinions, he was frank and outspoken, and his convictions were stated with plainness and force. After a long period of suffer- ing, he died March 2d, 1839 ; his wife (Sybel Ellis) ten years 46 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. before. His sons were Elias, Benjamin F. and Charles. His only daughter is the wife of E. A. Graham. John Cooper, a relative of the preceding, and a farmer, occu- pied, until the marriage of the judge, the portion of the house the latter had first built. Later he lived in a house near Hojt's lane, on the north side of Whitesboro street. His son Abra- ham, who pursued his clerkship with Br^-an Johnson, became afterward a prosperous merchant at Trenton, and was the father of the late Hoel Cooper, of Watertown. On a farm next west of Nathan Smith, and half way to Whitesboro, lived William Inman, a gentleman who was in habits of constant intercourse with the people of the settle- ment, though he did not move into it until a few years later ; but as this farm has, by a recent legislative ordinance, been included within the domain of Utica, we introduce him here. Dr. Hough, in his History of Lewis county, informs us that *' ]\L-. Inman was a native of Somersetshire, England, and in earl}^ life was a clerk of Lord Pultney. He first sailed to America March 13, 1792, and arrived in June. He soon after was entrusted witli the interests of certain Europeans, promi- nent among whom was Patrick Colquhoun, High Sheriff of London, for whom he purchased in trust the tract of land called Tnman's Triangle, including the towns of Leyden and Lewis, in Lewis county, N, Y. The following j^ear he returned to Eng- land, but ere long was again in this countrj'-," In 1793, he obtained of Eutger Bleecker two leases of land in lot No. 104, containing in all one hundred and fifty-three acres, and not long after came to reside in Oneida county. He lived at first in the house that is situated on the north side of the Whites- boro road, opposite the bridge over the canal. But disgusted with the "Yankee dust" which reached him from the neighboring highway, he built the large house that stands quite back from it on the south side, and which has been of late years known as the Champlin house. Possessed of ample means, he hired laborers and lived upon his farm as a ])rivate gentleman. " He had con- siderable knowledge of English literature, was fond of books, and exhiV^ited in his conversation the superiority which results from culture and from intercourse with refined societ}^ His hand- OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 47 writing was handsome ; he was accurate and methodical ; un- derstanding well his own interests, and apt in drafting all legal papers relating to his property and dealings." He consequently maintained a high social standing, and participated in the best society which the neighborhood afforded. He rode in a heavy English carriage, and wore powdered hair with short clothes and knee buckles. As earl}^ as 1804: he erected a brewery on the site of what is now the northwest corner of Broadway and Whitesboro streets, where, with Edward Smith and Aylmer Johnson, under the firm name of E. Smith & Co. he commenced business as brewer and malster. In April, 1805. the partnership was dissolved, and the brewery was thereafter for some years conducted by Mr. Inman alone. He built a house for his own use on the east side of Broadway, a short distance above the corner of Whites- boro, which house is now occupied by William N. Weaver. Mr. Inman was among the foremost of those who took a part in founding Trinity church ; he was placed on the subscription and also on the building committee, and while he lived in Utica served either as vestryman or warden. But, with this exception, it does not appear that he manifested much interest in the prosperity of the place, or exerted the influence which from his wealth and high social position he might have com- manded. Unfortunately his temper was harsh and uncom- promising, his bearing haughty and domineering, and he could ill adapt himself to the plain people and the unpolished man- ners of a new country. It is said that when his goods were being brought up the Mohawk, Sam. Carey the boatman, taking ■offence at some overbearing conduct in Mr. Inman, tumbled him into the river. About 1813 he removed to New York, where he became a merchant, but met with heavy reverses. About 1825 he w^ent to Leyden, in Lewis county, and there he died February 14, 1843, aged eighty-one years. His wife, Sarah, died in the same place, July 24, 1829, aged fifty-six. She, says her son, the distinguished artist, was gentle and persuasive. His sons were William, John, Henry and Charles, of whom the three first attained distinction in paths quite diverse. William entered the navy January 1st, 18 1 2, rose by succes- sive steps to the rank of Commodore, and after sixty-two years 4S THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. of gallant and deserving sen'ice, died October 23d, 1874 ; he served on the lakes during the war of 1812-15, commanded one of two boats that captured a pirate vessel on the coast of Cuba, in 1823 ; commanded a steamer on the lakes in 1845, a steam frigate of the E I. squadron in 1851, and was at the head of the squadron on the coast of Africa in 1859-6L (Drake's Dictionary of American Biography.) John, born at Utica, 1805, having taught school in North Carolina, passed a year in Europe and studied law on his return, became editor of the Standard^ afterwards of the Spirit of the Times^ then of the N. Y. Mirror. In 1834 he was assistant editor of the Commercial Advertiser^ and in 1844, on the death of William L. Stone, became editor-in-chief. He was for some years editor of the Columbian Magazine^ and was a frequent contributor to the periodicals of the day. He died August 30, 1850. (Drake's Am. Biog.) Henry, born at Utica, October 28, 1801, early manifested a taste for art, entered the studio of Jarvis, and at first devoted himself to miniature painting, but afterwards turned his talents to good advantage in portrait, landscape and (/ew re painting, and attained such distinction as to be chosen Vice President of the National Academy of Design. He visited England in 1844, and painted portraits of Wordsworth, Chalmers, Macaulay and others. He afterwards undertook a series of pictures for the National Capitol, illustrating the settlement of the west, but did not live to complete the first of them. Among his best efforts are his portraits of Chief Justice Marshal and Bishop White, his "Kip Van Winkle waking from his Dream," " Mumble the Peg," and " Boyhood of Washington." He was one of the most versatile of American artists. He possessed the choicest social quahties and the finest sensibilities. His conversational qualities were of a high order, and he had a fund of anecdote and wit. He died in New York, January 17, 1846. (Drake's Am. Biog.) Charles, a cabinet maker, died in Cincinnati. The youngest daughter of Mr. Inman married Bryan Collins, of Lewis county ; the eldest died unmarried. An inhabitant of whom we get the first hint in 1795, at this time a carpenter, but who afterwards developed into a merchant OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 49 as successful as any that Utica has produced, was Watts Slier- man. He came from Newport, K. I. His means were small, so that while he followed his trade — and was but a botch at that — his wife kept a small shop on Main street, where she sold cake and beer. He soon obtained the office of constable, and, as we are assured, manifested unusual zeal in the discharge of his duties, having, on one occasion, descended into a chimney in order to seize a silk dress which the party having it was de- termined he should not come at, and so debarred him other entrance into his house. But it is likewise reported that at that period he was rather too prone to visit the tavern, and that his wife adopted the following means to cure the failing. One evening, after her work was done, she took her knitting and repaired to the tavern, where she sat down and assumed the air of being at ease. The embarrassment of the other parties pre- sent was soon relieved by the Avife addressing her husband thus: " Mr. Sherman, I married you for the sake of your company, and I have come here to enjoy it'" This visit sufficed to reform the wa3's of the wanderer ; and he was ever after not only closely devoted to business, but a man of marked and exem- plary habits in respect to temperance. I retail the gossip as I have heard it; but whether true or not the incident is deemed sufficiently characteristic of Mrs. Sherman to have deserved to be so. This lady, whose maiden name was Olivia Jillson, was of excellent judgment, and a notably faithful counsellor to her husband throughout his life. In 1802 Mr. Sherman formed a partnership in trade with Arnold Wells, the latter furnishing the m st of the capital. In this new sphere he evinced unusual capacity, for he was uncommonly shrewd and stirring. Being too ambitious for Mr. Wells, they separated, while Mr. Sherman enlarged his busi- ness and directly took rank among the leading merchants. With others, he bestirred himself in the creation of the first glass works of the county, the factory at Yernon, and was one of its directors. Under date of May, 1813, he informs the community that he has taken into partnership Henry B. Gribson and Alexander Seymour, under the name of Sherman, Gibson & Co. While the junior member remained in Utica, the twO' former established themselves in New York, where their skill- 60 THE PIOXEERS OF UTICA. ful conduct of trade secured an independent fortune for eacli of them. Mr. Slierman died about the year 1820. He was a tall, fine looking person, extremely neat of attire. Although close and sharp in business, he was, up to a certain standard, unexceptionally moral, and gave freely to objects of benevolence or public utility. His place of business, while in Utica, was on Genesee street, a little below the line of Broad, and afterward nearly opposite Catherine. For his residence he erected the house which was afterwards the home of General Joseph Kirkland, and is now that of Mrs. Susan Gridley His wife lived until her eighty-second year, and died in Albany, Jan- uary 26, 1860. In all the relations of life she performed well her part and was deservedly esteemed. Her second husband was Paul Hochstrasser, and him she survived thirty years. One of Mr. Sherman's daughters married Henry B. Gibson ; a second, Bobert Shearman, a merchant of a somewhat later residence ; and two lie interred in Forest Hill Cemetery, whither they were removed from the old ground. One son, Chas. A. W., is living in Albany. Watts Sherman, late of the banking house of Dun- can, Sherman & Co., was a nephew. Two additional farmei's of this date were Aaron Adams and Benjamin Hammond. The latter, commonly known as Pump- kin Hammond, lived near the present intersection of South and Bridge streets. He was gone by 1802. The tailor of the time, one Daniel Banks, lived alone on Whitesboro street, opposite where now is Hotel street. . He was taken with a fever, became delirious, and, having been denied water to quench his thirst, seized the opportunity when his at- tendant was away to go for it himself. He was missed, and search being made he was found drowned in the well. This occurred in August, 1799. His tMinbstone in the old burying ground bears the oldest inscription that can be deciphered there. Samuel Jewett was one of the pioneer settlers of New Hart- ford, and used to say that he had helped to raise the first barn, the first frame house, and the first meeting house, that were built in that town. He removed hither in 1795, and purchased OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 51 of Stephen ISTorton a part of the Potter farm. His late resi- dence on the line of the Seneca turnpike, built before that road liad been worked, but not before it was laid out, forms at this day almost the only remaining landmark of its generation. Of Mr. Jewett, his contemporaries report that his word was "like apples of gold, in })ictures of silyer." In confirmation they relate the following anecdote : He once bargained with Jason Parker to fuiiiish him the ensuing winter one hundred tons of hay at fiye dollars per ton. The winter set in early and proved an unusually bleak and cheerless one. Hay was in great demand and had largely risen in value. Without a mur- mur Mr. Jewett faithfully executed his contract ; and, as he urged his laboring cattle o\''er the bare and rough corduroy which formed the only road between him and his purchaser, he was often accosted to know the price of his hay. "Sold," was his brief response. Mr. Jewett had a family of nine children, all of whom reached adult age. The oldest and the youngest daughters are still living on the homestead, and near by lives Benj. F., the only son who is still a resident. A. vigorous old man, named Lewis Crandall, observed his centennial birthday in Utica, April 13, 1872. He said that when he was twenty-two or twenty-three, he and his father-in- law, John Shute, lived one year on the farm east of the hollow below Frederick Bowman, more recentl}^ known as the Dever- eux farm. If his memory was not at fault this must have been in 179-1 or '95. His subsequent life had been passed chiefly in Westmoreland, where as well as in Utica he has descendants, and where he died the following summer. The Western Centinel^ of September 23, 1795, records the fact that sickness was then prevailing throughout the whole of the western country beyond what had ever before been experi- enced since its first settlement. " Scarce a family escapes," it says. " and numbers of whole families labor under the inflic- tion. The diseases most prevalent are the lake (or Genesee) fever, and the intermittent or fever and ague. We have author- ity to say that the lake fever is not confined wholly to lake towns, but is frequent in the most inland ones," 52 THE PIOXEERS OF UTICA. Following down the course of our annals, the first I have to note in the jear 1796 is Ezekiel Clark. By the settlers who are known to have arrived at this time, Mr. Clark was found essaying to do business as a merchant, and his shop was in a room of Bagg's tavern. He continued a resident almost, if not quite, until the hamlet became a city, and was by turns mer- chant, innkeeper, baker, cooper and merchant again. In 1817 — the era of the publication of the first village directory — his store was at No. 10 Genesee street. And twenty years later he was striving to earn a living by the making of bandljoxes. An industrious and a reputable man, but easy and careless, from want of prudence he was frequently in trouble, and from too much change, he, like the rolling-stone, gathered little. His first wife (Miss Tafft), who died in 1803, was the mother of four children, all of whom are deceased. His second (Mrs. Mehitable Parmelee) was the mother of the late Mrs. V. V. Livingston. Of other inhabitants whose names are now first found our scanty information permits us to add but two, John Hopkins and Rufus Harris. The one was a farmer or teamster ; the other was a laboring man. Of the new comers, one was a merchant, but did not remain long a merchant. With him there was abundant reason for the change ; his educational training had been in a totally dif- ferent direction, and was too complete a one to admit of sacri- fice ; this, together with his natural bias and the needs of his neighbors, soon inclined him to pursuits more congenial. This was Dr. Alexander Coventry, whose character and career desei've a fuller consideration. From a carefully written obituary by Dr. John McCall, are derived many of the particulars herewith given. He was born near Hamilton, in Scotland, August 2V, 1766, and was the son of Capt. George Coventry, who had served un- der his Majesty George III., in the old French war. The son attended medical lectures at Glasgow and at Edinburgh, and imbibed the instruction of those eminent teachers, Monro, Cul- len, Hope and Gregory. In July, 17S5, he sailed for America, and first settled at Hudson, in this State, where he became en- gaged in agricultural pursuits in conjunction with the practice of his profession. Thence he removed to Romulus, on the east Lyy^y^y^ Qo-t/i^^^T^^^^ OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 53 side of Seneca lake, wliicli "place be left in 1796 on account of the sickness of himself and his famil}^, and came to Old Fort Schuyler. At first he entered into mercantile business with Mr. John Post, but soon separated from him, and opened a physician's office just above, that is to say, on the west side of the Genesee road, about two doors above the corner of Whites- boro street. About 1804 he had for a partner Dr. David Has- brouck ; but having purchased a farm in Deerfield, he removed thither and once more engaged in agriculture. The doctor pursued farming, and especially fruit-growing, with all the ardor of more modern amateurs, and his grafted ■apples and other fruit w^ere famous the country round. From this period onward until his death, his time and attention were divided between his farm, his books and the practice of his pro- fession, although during his latter years the demands of his profession were paramount to all beside. The greatest disad- vantage of this division of employment was the difficulty of procuring his assistance on any sudden emergency, and espe- cially as the road to his residence was sometimes almost impass- able. He had formed a partnership in 1817, with the late Dr. John McCall, then also residing hi Deerfield. In the following year, when the latter came to this place, tlieir office was in a small wooden building on the north-west corner of Broad and John streets. And here joined him his next and last pai-tner, his son. Dr. Chas. B. Coventry. As a family physician and obstetrician. Dr. Coventry was eminently distinguished ; and not only in our own but in the adjoining counties he maintained a standing no less respectable as a consulting one. His uniformly courteous and sympathiz- ing manner wuth the sick, cooperating with his clear and dis- criminating judgment, obtained for him unrivaled esteem and -affection. Every one felt safe when his skill and experience could be secured. In person he was muscular, and moderate in height ; in manners without pretence, but affable and engag- ing ; in tastes, social ; in temper, sometimes irascible. The doctor could ill brook opposition, and sooner than yield to an adversary, his Scotch blood would assert itself after the most approved pugilistic method. More than one story has been told of his resort to blows where he could not readily com- pass his ends in a more peaceful way. The most characteristic 64 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA. of tliese incidents, thougli not so successful in its issue as some others, occurred one winter when he was on his way to Albany to attend, a meeting of the State Medical Society. He was at the same time carrying a load of grain to market, and was in a double sleigh accompanied by his hired man. Meeting another loaded team in a narrow place, its driver, an obstinate Dutch- man, was unwilling to give him any part of the road. Both claimed the track and insisted that the other shpuld turn out. "Words proving of no avail, the doctor got out of the sleigh,, determined to give the other a threshing. His man offered to assist him, but belie-^nng himself competent for the work, the Doctor declined his aid. After one or two sharp rounds of fisticuff, he found himself decidedly worsted, having received some damaging blows about the face and eyes, so that the man again proffered his assistance. The Doctor refused his help, declared that he was fairly whipped, and generously ordered his driver to turn out and give the Dutchman the whole of the way. Arrived at Albany he sold his grain, but was so disfigured in person that he did not venture to appear at the Society. Although quite reasonable in his charges. Dr. Coventry was sometimes annoyed, as others of his profession are apt to be, by the tardiness or delinquency to pay of ungrateful patients. He himself told the following story with relation to a neighbor of his whose family he often attended, but who, after the occasion of the visit was over, would neglect to pay the bill. The fellow was notoriously bad and the doctor was determined to frighten him ; so meeting him one day in the village, Dr. Coventry asked him if he felt well. He replied " Yes," and asketl the reason for such a question. The doctor responded that he looked sick, and at the same time felt his pulse. Then, assuming a very grave countenance, he said, you are a })ad fellow, and have treated me ill ; but I will not see you kill yonrself, so I advise you to go home immediately and take to your bed. The man was young and vigorous, but he at once became livid with fright, gasped for breath, and almost staggered into a chair. The doc- tor, becoming himself alarmed at the effect of his joke, now laughingly told him that nothing ailed him, that he wanted only to frighten him for not paying his long standing account. The public appreciation of the science and standing of Dr. Coventry, is shown by the offices he held. Besides presiding- OLD FORT SCHUYLER, 55 for several successive years over the Medical Society of his own county, he was twice elected president of the Medical Society of the State. He was a trustee of the Fairfield Medical Col- lege, a member of the Society for the Promotion of Agricul- ture, Art and Manufactures, a member of the Albany Lyceum, and a corresponding member of the Linn^ean Society, of Paris. He was an occasional contributor to the political and agi-icultural journals of the day, and was also the author of some profes- sional papers for the medical serials. From the period of his studentship to the last year of liis life he kept a diary in which he noted at length his medical and agricultural employments, with references now and then to social and other current events of the day. About the year 1817 he led the way in the formation of the first Agricultural Society of the county, and was its Secretary and presiding genius. While attending a dangerous case of .sickness in the family of Nicholas Devereux, he fell a victim to an epidemic influenza, and died December 9, 1831. His wife, Elizabeth Butler, of Brantford, Conn., had deceased some j^ears before. He left a family of seven sons and four daughters. Of these the late Dr. Chas. B. Coventry was the only one who made a home in Utica. A merchant who may be set down as of this date was Talcott Camp, for he visited the place in the fall of 1796, bringing with him a portion of goods, though he returned east for the winter, to come again with his famih^ the following spring. Shortl}' before the date above named he was in New York city, and a sight he there beheld determined, it is said, his course to the new settlement. This was a barrel or two of silver coin which William G. Tracy of Whitesboro, had brought down to ex- change for the goods he needed in his trade. Returns like these betokened a market that was worth the seeking, and he sought it. Talcott Camp was born in Durham, Conn., March 1-1, 1762, and was the son of Elnathan Camp and Eunice Talcott, daughter of one of the original proprietors of the town. His collegiate course at New Haven being interrupted by the war of the Revolution, he entered into the service of his country and held during the greater part of the contest, a post in the Commissary Department. Settling afterward in Glastonbujy, he was engaged chiefly in mercantile pursuits, although he was 56 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. also associated with a partner in the manufacture of iron. Here, hi 1785, he married Nancy Hale, and here all but the youngest one of his children were born. For a few _years after his removal to Old Fort Schuyler he devoted himself to trading, and was not all unsuccessful in the pursuit, though he ere long disposed of his interest, and engaged in the purchase and sale of lands. But it is as an ujjright and esteemed magistrate, as he long was, that Squire Camp is best know^n, and there are those living who can recall the impartial dignity with which he was wont to pronounce " the opinion of the Court." In 1809 he was made President of the village, a station which he held for five successive j'ears. This was in part during the turbulent period of the war, when troops were often marched through the village or quartered in the neigh- borhood, and when aggressions and quarrels were rife. Much responsibilit}' and care were of course devolved upon him. One occasion of tlie time is especially remembered. A shot fired b}^ a soldier either accidentally or by design, entered the house of an unoffcPxding citizen. The people were indignant and a mob was preparing to avenge the wrong. But the calm and judicious measures of the chief officer appeased the excite- ment and brought the offender to justice. He was some time Trustee of the Presbyterian Church, and bore a part, as one of the original Board, in the founding of the Utica Academy. Prominent among those who made honorable the beginnings of Utica, he was a man of intelligence and integrit}', of sterling sense and judgment, " of marked and dignified aj3j)earance and courteous manners, who always commanded respect, and in his later years veneration." A casual or undiscerning sj^ectator might, perhaj^s, have deemed him pi-oud, and it is the likeli- hood that such an impression might seize u})on the mind of a stranger whicli formed the basis of the following incident. We relate it for the sake of the story merely, and without intending to detract from the esteem wdiich is due to the subject of it A raw apprentice of James Delvin, struck with the trim aspect and erect, soldierly air of this I'lilllc-shirted gentleman of the old school, appealed to his master to know who he was. "That,'' said Jemmy, wlio saw his chance for a joke, " that is Talcott Camp, and he beai's a commission from the President of the United States to shoot down the first man he meets who is u^ &. OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 57 prouder than lie is." Neat, Squire Camp certainly was, to extremes, and self-respecting also, chary of his associates and of his honor, but unassuming, and inclined to diffidence rather than to undue exaltation of himself. And if he held, as he often did, positions of public confidence, they were not of his own seeking, but unasked tributes to the merits of this worthy Chris- tian gentleman. He retained through life some of the modes of pronunciation that were in use in Connecticut when he was young ; for change he would say charnge, for sugar, sooger, and for Tomas, T/iomas. He lived a little west of Mr. Burchard, on the same side of Whitesboro street, and afterward on Main street, on the same lot where stood the village school house. He died September 3, 1832, aged seventy ; his wife August 31, 1806. He had five sons and three daughters, all of whom have since their maturity, been residents of Utica, \az : John and Harry to be noticed hereafter ; Nancy and Horace twins, the former, wife of Ira Merrell ; George, removed to Sacketts Harbor ; Eunice died in in infancy ; a second Eunice, wife of William F. Potter; Charles, a merchant associated with his older brothers, who died about 1834 ; Harriet, widow of Andrew Merrell, who still survives. 1797. Before I go on to speak of the new comers of 1797, let me, in my attempts to preserve a chronological order, notice a few individuals who were already located when the settlers of 1797 themselves appeared. The exact time of their arrival I am unable to determine, and it is not impossible that some of them may have been ere this, two or three years on the soil, but records we have not, not even a tax list. Besides other merchants than tnose we have mentioned, Clark & Fellows kept at this time the largest store in the place, that is to say, for the benefit of the inhabitants, Post's trade being chiefly with the Indians. It was situated on the north side of the Whitesboro road, near the present Division street, and was, in fact, but a mere hut, Silas Clark, the elder partner, was a stirring man, and made money. He owned a farm in the Gulf below Bowman's, known afterward as the Devereux farm, also a house and lot between Bowman and 58 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Petrie, besides the house in wliich he Hved on the south side of Whitesboro street, and almost opposite his store. He was quite an admirer of horse-flesli, and was also a major of militia. He was onl\- thirty -seven when he died, of inflammation caused, as it was said, by wearing tight boots, while on parade. Starr and Silas Clark, two of his sons, were in business here at a later date. The former moved to Mexico, Oswego county, and has been a member of the Assembly ; the latter, after living some years in Watertown, is now iti Kenosha, Wis. William Fellows, after the death of his associate, formed a connection with Moses Bagg, Jr., for the sale of the miscella- neous goods of a country store. This connection was closed in the year 1807, when John Camp, who had been their clerk, purchased Mr. Fellows' interest. The latter continued to do business a short time longer, but died in 1809, leaving one son, William H. Fellows, now residing in Ohio. His wife was a daughter of Samuel Hooker, a settler of the ensuing year. She afterwards married Killian Winne. Kichard Smith sold lime juice. Muscovado, and East India sugar, molasses, soap, tobacco, Spanish and American cigars, Cephalique and Eappee snuff, hair powder and pomatum, curl- ing irons, combs, &c., kc. His store is believed to have been at the lower end of Genesee street, on the east side. He soon departed. Daniel Budlong, a shoemaker and leather dealer, had a shop next door to John Post, where he was burned out in the lire that destroyed the latter. Two years later his store was broken o]ien and robbed. About 1808 he joined another townsman in the purchase of the " medical apparatus" of Dr. D. F. Launay, a medical adventurer, and travelled off to the west, engaged in what was termed the "Launay business," but returned, and was here in 1832, as a physician. William Halsey was a carjienter. In November, 1800, he advertises the sale of " that large two-storj^ house now occupied by the subscriber, fronting Main street (Whitesboro), between the hotel and John House's tavern, together with half an acre of land and the outhouses standing on the same ; it being an OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 59 excellent stand for a tavern or any kind of mechanic." It was purcliased by Bryan Johnson, and was his home thronghoat the remainder of his life. Mr. Halsey, who was well thought of by his fellow citizens, removed at this time from the place. A brother of his, Hezekiah Halsey, had a blacksmith shop for a short time a little farther west, near the corner of Burchard's lane. He removed to Westmoreland, where he lived until 1872. Jeptha Buell was another carpenter, who lived in the place a few years longer than Halsey, but was gone before 1810. Joseph Dana was the first schoolmaster of Old Fort Schuy- ler, and kept in a building on Main street, about midway between First and Second, which was also used as a place of worship as well as for secular assemblies. The majority of Mr, Dana's pupils used to speak of him as an excellent teacher, remarkable for the order and discipline he maintained. He was pedagogue both here and in Deerfield before the year 1800. In the latter year, in consequence of some trouble in his school for which his respectable patrons attached no blame to the teacher, he accepted a call to Westmoreland. In Deerfield he taught also a singing school, and on his departure concluded the exercises by a song, whose final verses ran somewhat as follows : Fare ye well, my friends and foes; I'll take my staff and travel on, 'Till better worlds I view. Having brought up at Westmoreland, he taught there three years. At an exhibition which closed his term, he was ad- dressed by one of his pupils in " most beautiful, feeling and commendatory terms." The address was the production of the elder Judge Dean, father of the youthful speaker. Of Mr. Dana's later history we know only that he was a sergeant in the regular army in the war of 1812. Other residents, to be barely mentioned, were Timothy Lam- son, a book-keeper, and a skillful one, as his books attest ; a man named Scates, who had a home on Main street, in the rear of the present premises of Mrs. Emma Mann ; Isaiah Johnson, a farmer on the upper end of Post's farm, — for Mr. Post made improvements fast, and as early as 1792 extended them back to the hills, skipping over a low part of the intermediate ground ; 60 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Jeriy Tibbits, barber, who spent most of his time at the tavern, could shave or 'tend horses equally well, and in 1807 had a new, impnn'cd liquid blacking ; and Pel eg Hale, boatman. A man of higher mark than these, and deserving a fuller notice, was Nathan Williams. For the following sketch I am in large part indebted to a published obituary prepared by the late A. B. Johnson, at one time his pupil, and throughout life his personal and political friend. " Judge Williams was born on the 19th of December, 1773, in Williamstown, Mass., of patriotic parents, whose property was lost in the vicissitudes of the Eevolution. Hence, at the age of thirteen, with only the simplest rudiments of an English edu- cation, he left the parental shelter to acquire his own subsistence. He arrived at Troy a stranger and with only a few cents in his possession ; yet with no recommendation but the development of his character, he acquired the profession of the law and ad- mission to the bar." When it was he made his way to this place no one is able to tell us, though we are assured it was not later than 1797. At the first term of Common Pleas held in Oneida county, in 1798, he was admitted to practice in the Court, as he had already found admission to the bar of Herkimer. The same year he was received in the Courts of Chenango, of which county he was appointed District Attorney in the year 1802. Nor was it long before Mr. Williams was engaged in extensive business as attorney and counsellor, and as solicitor in chancery. Although it is said that such was the undeviating purity of his conduct and his strict integrity towards his clients, that he aided them to avoid law suits rather than undertake them. " Prompt and exemplary in all that related to local or general benevolence, his contributions of time, influence and property entered largely into nearly every measure that elevated the town of his adoption. At an early jDcriod of his residence he assisted in the establishment of a well selected public library. Of this he was for many years librarian." An active partici- pant in the services of the united and but partially sectarian Congregation of Whitesboro and Old Fort Schuyler, in due time he zealously cooperated with others of his sect in the or- ganization of Ti'inity church, and, when this had an existence, f^wm^. OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 61 became a warden. The pul^lic chai'ities of the Episcopal body and the plans set on foot for church extension, had throughout his life no more faithful and steadfast friend. He was president of the village corporation and president of the Manhattan Bank. " During the war of 1812 he aided essentially the general government by his influence and his fervor in this region. Moreover, he left his professional business, which was then at its height, and his numerous family, and with gun and knap- sack marched as a volunteer to Sacketts Harbor, then under the command of his brother-in-law. Gen. Jacob Brown, and threatened with invasion." " The people and the government often honored him with many important stations. He was Dis- trict Attorney of the sixth district in 1801-13, and again of Oneida county in 1818-21, Eepresentative in Congress, 1805-7, and Member of Assembly, 1816, 1818 and 1819. He was also a member of the convention of 1821 for the reform of the con- stitution." But it is as circuit judge, to which laborious and responsible office he was appointed in April, 1823, and which he held for many years, that Nathan Williams is most vividl37- and respect- fully remembered. "As a judge," says Mr. Johnson, "his ad- dresses were fervently moral. Few men could attend his court in any capacity and not obtain instruction in the duties of life, and encouragement for their cultivation." Perhaps by nature somewhat austere, "even his failings leaned to virtue's side," "for toward vn-tue he had an apparently intuitive bias; while its constant exercise exalted beneficially the standard of pri- vate character among those he encountered." He was at one period counsel for the Oneida Indians, and the epithet they gave him does honor to the man, while reveahng the justice of their discrimination ; in their tongue he was the " Upright Friend." One incident will I give in illustration of the sterner traits of his character. On an occasion when his official duties required him to ask a young married lady whether the deed she had signed was executed by her without any fear or com- pulsion of her husband, she laughed and said that she was not afraid of her husband. " Then madam," replied her questioner, "you have not learned the first duty of a wife, which is to fear her husband." But lest my story should leave too hard and repellant an im- pression of the man, I cheerfully adopt the summary contained 62 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. in the words of finother of his eulogists: " every part of his hfe was filled up with something to render his memory dear to his kindred, and honored b}' his countrj^" Though not great in intellect, he was respectable, and always adequate to the occa- sion. In person, he was tall and commanding ; in expression, grave and impressive. It was charged by the political opponents of Mr. Williams, that he neglected to resign his judgeship at the end of the con- stitutional term. When he did retire, the following paragraph appeared in an Albany paper : " Judge Nathan Williams, hav- ing at length arrived at the age of sixt}', has resigned his ofhce of Circuit Judge." A few months before his death, he removed to Geneva, upon receiving the appointment of clerk of the Supreme Court. His death occurred September 25, 1835. His remains were brought to Utica for interment. Judge Williams was twice married, and the father of a large family. His first wife, to whom he was married in 1800, and who died in 1807, was Mar}^ Skinner, of Williamstown ; his second, Maria Watson, an adopted daughter of her uncle, James Watson, of New York, to whom he was married in 1809, sur- vived him many years, and died in 1851. Of his numerous family who have occupied honored posts in the church, at the bar, and in various walks of business, the most are now deceased. They were as follows : Thomas Skinner, Henry Hunt, Edward Temj^leton, Nathan Thompson, James Watson, Mary Eliza (Mrs. David Wager), John Douglass, Hobart, Brown How, Sarah Watson (Mrs. Theo. Dimon), Helen (Mrs. Kathern). The three daughters, John D. and Rev. Hobart Williams alone survive. The second lawyer wlio falls within our list, and the first per- son we shall enumerate as among the actual arrivals of the year 1797, is Erastus Clark, who, like his predecessor, has left an im- perishable name on the history of Utica. To them both, we mav, in comparison with those who have followed them in the same calling, award a high meed of })i'aise. Erastus Clark was the son of Dr. John Clark, and was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, on the lltli of May, 1763. His mater- nal grandmother was a sister of the illustrious Jonathan Edwards. At an early age he entered Dartmouth College, and after gi'adu- OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 63 ation, applied himself with diligence to the study of the law, and was admitted to the bar. In the year 1791 he removed to Clinton, and having gained admission to the courts of this State, commenced the practice of the law. His learning, his industry, and, above all, his character for probity, gradually raised him to a highl}^ respectaljle rank in his profession. In the year 1 797, he changed his residence to Old Fort Schuyler. "Here he filled various offices of public trust, with strict fidelity and disinterested zeal, and with independent firmness." Ejected as a village trustee at the first election held under the charter of 1805, he continued many years to fill that once honored post, and was also among the earlier local presidents. In 1817, when a new and enlarged charter was accorded the village, again was he called to guide in its administration. In the meantime he had twice represented this district in the State Assembly. Associated with Alexander Hamilton, Egbert Ben- son, Jonas Piatt, Thomas R Grold, and others, he was named a trustee in the original charter of Hamilton College. And jet, so long as he lived, few of his profession were more diligent at the courts, or more relied on for the wisdom and soundness of their legal counsel. For although he was not endowed with the fascination of popular eloquence, in the learning of the law he was unsurpassed. The following estimate of the character of Mr. Clark by Judge Jonas Piatt, who had long enjoyed his friendship, I make no apology for reproducing in full : For originality and decision of character, his name was j^ro- verbial. An enlightened conscience was his habitual guide ; and if from precipitancy or irritation his head sometimes erred, there was a redeeming principle in his heart which reclaimed and reg- ulated his erring judgment and passions with magnetic influence. His frankness was sometimes ill-timed and excessive. What others thought he spoke, and this naked and unreserved habit of mind and expression frequently gave ofi:ence when he was not conscious of it, and sometimes betrayed apparent vanity. But of no other man can it be more truly said that those who knew' him best, esteemed him most. His liberal charity and his gen- erous spirit in promoting benevolent objects and public institu- tions were ever leading and consj^icuous, while no man was less indulgent to his own appetites, or more self-denying in his pleas- ures and personal gratifications. His habit of living was simple, plain and frugal ; and yet his house was the abode of cheerful, cordial and familiar hospitality. In the more intimate and ten- 64 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. der relations of domestic life, the virtues of this excellent man shone with peculiar lustre. His religious character was free from ostentation, but uniform, consistent, sincere and ardent. To the foregoing, from one who signs himself, "A friend to whom he was closer than a brother," I would add the following terse synopsis from the pen of our late fellow citizen, James Watson Williams. It is contained in a historical address, deliv- ei-ed on the oceasi(m of the reopening of the Utica Academy. He says of Mr. Clark : '' He was a man of strongly-marked character, of noted integrity, and of shrewd, sharp sense; of fine classical attainments, which he kept up fresh to the close of his life ; of thorough historical knowledge, and a wonderfu memory ; sparing of w^ords, but not of point or })itli ; a man to the purpose, but somewhat cynical ; not quite bland enough to be popular, but esteemed for his independence and force of mind." Judge Ambrose Spencer said of him, that he was the only man he ever knew who could split a hair and show tlie parts. Mr. Clark's reputation for keen wit and shai-p repartee is still fresh, and has caused his sayings to be more frequently reported than those of any other of his brilliant contemporaries of the Oneida County Bar. When asked, on one occasion, how he would make a Dutchman out of a Yankee, his ready answer was, "Break his jaw and knock his brains out." To the ques- tion how, then, he w^ould make a Yankee out of a Dutchman, he retorted, " Can't do it, sir ; ain't stock enough !" Judge Yates, of Albany, and Erastus Root, of Delaware, (who was noted for his excessive drinking,) had been placed on the democratic ticket for Governor and Lieutenant Governoi'. Mr. Clark's opinion of the nomination having been asked, he respcjnded, " Excellent 1 Albany sturgeon needs brandy to wash it down." When Judge Morris S. Miller became a convert to a new party, he congratu- lated himself before Clark on the conversion of another: "I have made a bucktailthis morning ;" to w^hich the latter replied : '■^Fcicilis descensus Averni, sed revocare gradum.^^ For the benefit of those who may not have studied Virgil, I give a translation by the late Judge Ezekiel Bacon, which api)eared in the papers of that day : " Easy to fall to Pluto's gloomy den, But a hard scrabble to get back again." OLD FOET SCHUYLER. 65 Mr. Clark resided for many years on the west side of Genesee street, nearly opposite the mouth of Catherine. Subsequently, when this site became valuable for business purposes, he built and occupied a house on Seneca street, where Mrs. Greenman's house now is, and a little later removed to the one that had been built by George Macomber, and where Mr. C.'s son now lives. He died November 7, 1825. His first wife, who died in 1810^ was Sophia Porter, of Lebanon, Connecticut. She was intelli- gent, dignified, charitable, and conscientious. After her mar- riage, she learned to learn the Greek Testament with ease, merely from religious motives, and was otherwise notable for her piety. It was chiefly through her zealous exertions that the Female Missionary Society was instituted in the year 1806. July 1, 1812, Mr. Clark married Sophia, '^daughter of Eoyal Flint, of Hartford, Connecticut. She was a lady of extreme gentleness and sweetness of disposition combined with much strength of character, and unusual culture. Her children were Sophia (Mrs. John S. Walton, of New Orleans), Elizabeth and Erastus, all of whom are living, and James, who died in infancy. But we have yet another lawyer of the present year to chron- icle. This is Francis A. Bloodgood, who was admitted as an attorney of the Supreme Court, August 5th, 1790, but whose debiit before a Fort Schuyler audience, was made on the anni- versary of our nation's independence, 1797. His address was delivered in a grove in the rear of the shingle-sided house here- tofore mentioned, and on whose site was erected, the following year. The Hotel, as it was called, par eminence. Mr. Bloodgood was a native of Albany, and a graduate of Union College. What headway he made in the practice of his profession, we are unable to declare; but two years later he was appointed county clerk, and herein he found what was almost his life-work ; at least, during nearly the whole period of his residence, did he hold, by successive reappointments, this remunerative and re- sponsible station. He was an upright man, of scholarly tastes and considerable culture, with the courteous refinement of a gentleman. His political feelings were strong, and his influence, both by means of his pen and by personal efforts, was consider- able. Neither was he by any means indifferent to all that re- lated to the interests of the town. He was a village trustee in 66 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. 1805, and on tlie organization of the Bank of Utica, became one of its trustees. In 1810, as Senator, he represented the district at Albany, where he was a zealous follower of De Witt Clinton. He resided on Whitesboro street, within a short dis- tance eastward from the office over which he presided. Of me- dium height and rather slight of figure, he was a little lame, and carried always a heavy gold-headed cane. His features were intellectual and handsome. His wife was Louisa Dakin, sister of the wife of James S. Kip, and of the wife of his own brother, Lynott. She was a little over-nice as a housekeeper, but his household was a well-ordered and attractive one. Mr. Bloodgood died in Ithaca, whither he removed about 1823. His son, Simeon De Witt, graduated at Union College, studied law, and settled in Albany. He acquired some reputation as a man of letters. His daughter Elizabeth was one of the five founders of the Utica Sunday school. Besides these he had other children. As notable a person as any we have yet mentioned, conspic- uous alike for his past eminent service to the country as for high social position, and influence and example in the village lie chose for his later residence, was Col. Walker. Colonel Benjamin Walker, was born in 1753, in England, and it is be- lieved in the city of London, and was a pupil in his youth of the Blue Coat School. He did not receive a brilliant but a solid education, though having afterward passed some time in France, he became a master of the French language. At an early age he entered the service of a respectable mercantile house in London, under whose patronage he came, while yet a youth, to this country, and resided with an eminent merchant in New York. He was still in the service of this gentleman when the Revolutionary war commenced. At the beginning •of the contest he entered warmly 'into the cause of American independence. He was serving in the rank of captain in the Second regiment of New York when he was appointed to act as aid-de-camp to the Baron Steuben. It was at Valley Forge, on the 25th of April, 1778, that Steuben took him into his fam- ily as his first aid. In this situation he gained the warmest friendship and most intimate confidence of the Baron, and was ever after regarded by him with the affection of a son. Mr. OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 67 Frederick Kapp, in his life of Steuben, informs us that Walker superintended all bis correspondence and writing from 1778 to 1782. Steuben dictated to liim in French, and Walker wrote it out in English. Thus almost all the drafts of Steuben's reforms and plans are written in Walker's neat handwriting. He accompanied his General to all the inspections and reviews, acted as translator in case of need, and often extricated him from difficulties. There is an old anecdote, somewhat exagger- ated perhaps, which, while it pictures the utter despair of the inspector general in presence of his awkward, undisciplined soldiery, characterizes his dependence on Walker during the first year of his service in America. After having exhausted his rich store of German and French oaths, he is said to have called Walker to his assistance, vociferating, "Viens, Walker, mon ami, viens, mon bon ami, sacre, God dam de gaucheries of dese badauts, je ne puis plus, I can curse dem no more." But be this as it may, continues Mr. Kapp, we know that even in the most difficult matters Steuben relied chiefly on Walker's sound judgment, and that the success of Steuben's reforms is in a great measure due to his able and indefatigable aid- de-camp. In the year 1781-2, Walker joined General Washington's suite, and acted as his aid to the close of the war. " He was one of the persons so strongly recommended to the patronage of Con- gress in the letter of Washington accompanjang his resignation ; and was for many years honored with an epistolary correspond- ence with that great man." "After the conclusion of peace he was at first secretary to the Governor of New York, but soon after established himself " in the wholesale hardware and com- mission business in company with Major Benjamin Ledyard. He was also naval officer of the port of New York, and con- tinued to hold the place until 1797. In the latter year when he was appointed agent of the Earl of Bath's great estate, a landed property lying chiefly in Madison county, he removed to Old Fort Schuyler, where he resided the remainder of his life. The management of this estate as well as the care of the lands devised to liim by Baron Steuben, and which were situ- ated chiefly in the northern part of this county, occupied much of his attention. He was in 1800, chosen to represent this dis- tricfin Congress, but could never afterward be prevailed upon to enter on the duties of public life. But although he dechned 68 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. the public services of his country, he was by no means inatten- tive to the welfare of his fellow citizens. Among those who took part in the organization and erection of Trinity Church, he was perhaps the foremost. The Bleecker family had promised the donation of a site to the first church of any kind that should be erected in this place. Lady Bath, of England, had also pledged the gift of several hundred acres of her land in Madison county to the first church of an Episco- palian character that should be built in this part of the State. Not only was it through the agency of Col. Walker that this latter gift was realized, but his name also heads the list of indi- vidual subscriptions made for tlie church, and, in association with Nathan Williams and William Inman, he was appointed on the building committee. He built for himself the mansion on Broad street, now occu- pied b}' Abraham E. Culver, which then had a large farm attached. His house was the seat of refined and elegant hos})i- talit}^, and he a model gentleman. " He gave much of his time to the society of his friends, to whom his gay good sense, his unassuming manners, his open, generous temper, his independ- ent spirit, and his extensive acquaintance with the world, ren- dered him a most enlivening and instructive companion." For those days his style was considerable : he kept three slaves, employed several men on his garden and grounds, had a good deal of plate, and was the first inhabitant who owned a coach. Of Col. Walker it is said that " it was his peculiar delight to search out merit m distress, to cheer the poor man in despon- dency, to prove himself a father to the fatherless, and to restore hope and comfort to the breast of the widow. To these benev- olent purposes he appropriated a large share of his income ; and it is confidently believed that no individual in this part of the country distributed more in charity than he. And yet in all this there was no ostentation of beneficence." In person he was rather short and fleshy, having a decided English physiognomy, and an expression of benevolence coup- led with some degree of sternness. He had a fine voice, and when he presided at one time at a meeting of citizens called to express their disapprobation of Mr. Jefferson's embargo, he ad- dressed them in a loud tone, and with a curt, martial air, as he woidd have issued oixlers on the Held of battle. OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 69 His death took place on tlie 13tli of January, 1818. His remains, which from that time had lain in the village burying ground, were, on the 17th of June, 1875, reinterred with pub- lic and befitting ceremonies, in Forest Hill Cemetery. His por- trait is preserved in the picture of Washington resigning his commission, painted by Trumbull for the Rotunda in the Capitol. Miss Robinson, his wife, who was from New York, and a sister of Capt. Thomas Robinson of the Navy, had died the year previous. With respect to his earlier acquaintance with her, the following anecdote is related by Peter S. Duponceau, another of Steuben's aids, who says he had it from Walker himself: While he was in the family of General Washing- ton, he asked the General's leave of absence for a few days to go and see this lady, to whom he had already been long engaged. The General told him that he could not at that time dispense with his services. Walker insisted, begged and en- treated, but all in vain. " If I don't go," said he, "she will die." "Oh, no," said Washington, " women do not die for such trifles." "But, General, what shall I do?" "What will you do? why, why write to her, to add another leaf to the book of sufferings." Baron Steuben, who had friendl}^ nicknames for his aids and sub-inspectors, used to call Colonel W. and his wife, '■'' le petit Walker eisa grande fenime.'" After her death, her sister-in-law, Mrs. Robinson, became the housekeeper, a son of her's being installed as secretary. Col. Walker had a niece and adopted daughter, who became the wife of Peter Bours, and a natural daughter, who at first married a French gentleman, the Marquis de Villehaut, who fled from France at the time of the great revolution in that country. He settled at Morris, in Otsego county, where he kept a store. She Was divorced from him, and after her father's death she visited Fi'ance, where she mar- ried Col. Combe, an officer of the first Napoleon. Upon the accession of Louis Phillippe to the throne of France, Colonel Combe returned to his native country, and was soon after dis- patched to Algiers, where he was killed at the head of his reg- iment. Mrs. Combe continued to reside in France until her death, June 5, 1850. The next to be chronicled is Bryan Johnson, widely known afterwards as one of the foremost merchants of Utica. He, too, 70 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. was a native of England, and was born about the middle of the last century. His literary education was neglected, although he wrote a large, free and rather conspicuous hand, and was well grounded in the cardinal rules of arithmetic. In his early manhood he travelled over Europe, and thereby acquired a fund of practical information, w^as improved by contact with persons of cultivation, and gained some fluency in the German- language. During the period of our Revolutionary war, he was married and living in Gosport. Shortly after that event he removed to Loudon. A brother of his had lived some time- in this country, and was an enthusiast in all that related thereto. Influenced by his representations, Mr. Johnson was induced ta relinquish his trade in Loudon, and to embark for America. Leaving his family, then consisting of his wife and one son, ta remain until he should have secured for them a permanent home, he departed for Dublin, whence he sailed for New York. War at this time existed between France and England, and the ship had not been long at sea when it was captured by a French privateer. Some of the passengers were taken on board the latter, which sailed in quest of further captures. Others, among whom was Mr. Johnson, were left in the prize, which received a small crew of French ofi&cers, and was ordered to put into Brest A few days after the vessels had been thus parted, the passengers and the original crew took advantage of the French- men while they were at dinner, and, with knives and other impromptu weapons, overpowered them and headed the vessel toward New York. This port they safely reached without fur- ther misadventure. Proceeding to Albany, and thence up the Mohawk on his way to Canada, Mr. Johnson arrived at Old Fort Schuyler on the -ith of July, 171*7. He was so much pleased with the appearance of the place that he decided to remain here, and soon established himself in a small building on the Whitesboro road, near where is now Division street Ilis earliest advertisement acquaints the {)ublic that he will advance ready cash on all kinds of produce. He kept a good assortment of goods, which he sold at prices unusually low. His ambition, for some time, seems to have been directed more to the transaction of a large business than to make great gains. To attain his object he sought the reputation of selling goods cheaper than his village competitors, and to purchase country OLD FORT SCHUY£eR. 71 produce at higher prices. His greatest competitors were, how- ever, outside the village. Messrs. Kane & Van Rensselaer, a highly respectable and rich firm, were established at Canajoharie, and were transacting a great business, extending far beyond this plaice. Their store at Canajoharie was near the Mohawk, and as their business kept declining, they would hail the boats passing down the river with wheat and potash, in order to as- certain to whom the freight belonged. The answer was, to Bryan Johnson of Old Fort Schuyler. And as boats re- turning up the river loaded with merchandise gave the same answer, when questioned as to the ownership of the goods, Messrs. Kane & Van Rensselaer resolved to go to the new em- porium and to share in the same trade. The rivalry thus pro- duced continued with unabated force after Messrs. Kane & Van Rensselaer had established themselves here, and as long as Mr. Johnson remained in business. In the meantime, however, there arrived from England the son of the latter, the late A. B. Johnson, who became an asso- ciate of his father. The following is their advertisement of 18021: " New universal cheap wholesale and retail store. B. Johnson takes this opportunity of informing the public that he has, in addition to his former store, opened the above, adjoining the printing office on the Genesee road, where he has received a large and fashionable assortment of dry goods, &c., &c. He continues paying, as usual, the highest prices in cash for sea- soned fars, flax seed, wheat, pot and pearl ashes." The son never participated in the rivalry so far as to disregard the great object of trade, the acquisition of property, and wielding a very considerable influence over his father — notwithstanding he was yet much under age — he succeeded in impressing him with his own views. The result was that more money was realized in the last few years of Mr. Johnson's business than in all the former. But in 1809, soon after the son had attained his ma- jority, and several years before his own death, he thought best to retire. He had now, for many ^^ears, maintained his posi- tion as a leading merchant, and by trade as well by some for- tunate purchases of real estate, had acquired a property rising- of $50,000. His earliest place of residence was over his store, which stood where is now the corner of Whitesboro and Division streets. In 72 THdh'lONEERS OF UTICA. 1800 he bought and reconstructed a house standing a httle further west on the opposite side of Whitesboro street, and which had attached a half acre of Land, and here he lived until his death. This house and lot, which cost him $1,200, his son sold in 1863 for $5,000. Mr. Johnson was a man of superior judgment, of great activity of intellect, and profoundly versed in mankind. Thorough-going in his business, he was invariably truthful and trustworthy. Friendly with all, his social rank was high by reason of his agreeable qualities as a companion, and with his family his place was yet more endeared by his remarkable do mestic affection. A more devoted father scarce lived. Son and father were constantly together, and rarely seen abroad unless united. As they walked the streets, the father, a hale, vigorous and fresh old gentleman, with exuberant silvery locks, leaning on the arm of his slighter son, both dressed with ex- tremest care, and the former especially conspicuous by his short breeches and silk stockings — the costume of a then expiring generation — they presented a picture never to be forgotten b}- • one who had once beheld them. Twenty years before his death he placed his property at the disposal of his son by legal trans- fer, and made himself dependent for the means to live. U]) to the middle of life his temper was hasty and his manner sometimes gruflf, and thence arose the waggish soubriquet of '' Old Bear and Cub" by which they occasionally went. But during his latter years his temper was materially subdued. To compare him with the son who has so lately taken his de- parture, and who was so well known to all of this generation, I would say, that the father was more genial, more vivacious and more impulsive ; the son more equable, more self-reliant, and more cultured. At a joeriod wlien intemperance was the rule, Mr. Johnson's habits formed a striking exception, since he was abstemious in the extreme. He died, rather suddenly, April 12th, 1824, aged seventy-five. His wife survived him twenty years, and died at the age of eighty-five, yet coidd perform needle work hand- somely, and without spectacles, as long as she lived. Her name of Leah is still perpetuated in one of our populous streets. Major Benjamin Hinman was a native of Southbur}", Conn. He served several years, and with much credit, in the army of OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 73 the Ee volution, as captain, commissary, wagon master, and aid to General Greene. He was one of the thirteen Hinmans who held commissions in that war from the town of Woodlniry. On one occasion, when the British threatened to attack the fort at Kome, he was sent thither, and was so much pleased with the character of the country through which he passed, that he de- termined, on the expiration of the war, to settle there. He came accordingly, about 1787, and purchased a tract of about two thousand acres, at Little Falls. There he married the daughter of John Keyser, who had furnished supplies to the army at Stone Arabia, and had distinguished himself during the war. This tract he soon exchanged with Lord Ellis, and took land at Grave's Hollow, near Trenton. He built a house, a saw mill, and a trip hammer, and stayed a short time. Li 1797 or '98, he removed to Fort Schuyler. After occupy- ing two or three different residences on this side of the river, and keeping a public house a few years across the bridge in Deerfield, he finally took up his residence in Main street, a few doors east of the square. He was principally occupied with his works at Grave's Hollow, all of which were destroyed by a thunderstorm attended with a devastating flood, whereby the buildings were consumed, and the dam washed away. While living in Deerfield, he superintended the construction of the dyke across the flats. The former road had been an ungraded and meandering one, following the course of the higher portions of land. He died while on a visit at Mount Pleasant, Pa., April 7th, 1821, in his sixtj^-sixth year. "It is related of him, that he never drank a gill of spirituous liquor during his life." Mrs. Nancy Hinman, his widoAv, died at Rushville, LL, August 20th, 1863, in her ninty-hfth year. His sons were John E., Benjamin, Jr., John Ja}', and William. His daughter (Annis), married Dr. Munroe, of Rushville, Illinois. Rev. John Hammond was a Baptist minister. He was born in England, about the year 1740, and came of pious ancestry^ his grandfather having been also a minister. As early as 1795 he was pastor of the Baptist church in Schuyler, and in Septem- ber of that year, as the records show, he was sent as a delegate to the Otsego Association, which met at Springfield. In 1797 he was living in this place, his house being on the public square, a little below Bagg's tavern. While here he 74 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA. preached at Deerfield and elsewhere in this vicinity. At tliis time, he is said to have conducted a class on Sunday for instruc- tion m the Scriptures, and may, therefore, be regarded as a pioneer in the work of Sunday scliool teaching. He also labored occasionally among the Indians. He used himself to tell of a squaw, who was one of his converts, but whose knowledge of the English language was so extremely limited that, however much she might comprehend, she could speak little more than the words "January and February." These words she would shout on occasions of spiritual excitement with a degi'ee of heartiness that showed her fervor as plainly as if expressed in plainer terms. He continued to preach until toward eighty years of age, and a sermon delivered at Albany, elicited expres- sions of commendation in the public prints as the effort of so aged a minister. Just before his death, in 1819, he was one of seventeen persons, who, seceding from the First or Welsh Bap- tist, united in establishing the Second Baptist or Tabernacle Church. But Elder Hammond was not solely and exclusively devoted to ministerial labors. He was also a land surveyor, as were his tliree sons. Assisted by these sons, he surveyed the tract in the northern part of the State, purchased by John Brown, of Providence, and known as Brown's tract. His wife, about the year 1804, kept a school for children, near the lower end of Hotel street. His sons lived here during the greater part of their lives, and all were chiefly occupied in surveying. Many a conveyance of land in this and adjoining counties bases its description on the maps of Calvin, Worden and John D. Hammond. Competent authority bears testimony to the accuracy of their work. In the course of this year Captain George Macomber, con- ducts hither his eldest son, and leaves him to manage for him- self, while he goes back to Taunton, in Massachusetts, and after a year or more, comes again, bringing with him the remainder of his family. This family claim to be descendants of one of the his- toric company of the Mayflower, and still cherish as a sacred heir loom a ring that bears the name of Mary Standish. Captain George Macomber had previously followed the sea, but leaving this hazardous pursuit, now that he is past middle life and responsible for the settlement of a family of ten child- OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 75 ren, he immigrates with them to the new countiy. As for him- self, it being too late to acquire a new profession, he spends the remainder of his days in gardening. His house and garden were on the lower end of Genesee street, a little below Post's. Here he died April 5, 1813, in his sixty-second year — his wife four days afterward. His sons were George, Levi, Stephen, Hor- ace, Calvin and David O. There came as assistant to Talcott Camp, a carpenter named Hiel Hollister, who presently returned to Connecticut, in order to bring his family. He built a house on "Whitesboro street, adjoining the one occupied by Abijah Thomas, and afterward by his brother, B. W. Thomas, This house he sold to the former about the year 1803, and went back to his native State. After the deed was signed, the parties were all day journeying to and from Whitesljoro, whither the^^ were obliged to go in order to have the deed acknowledged : from which we raaA^ jiidge of the character of tlie roads of this vicinity, as well as of the dependence of Utica upon Whitesboro at the period in question. Samuel Hooker was another carpenter who at this time took up his residence here. Originally from Barre, Mass., he had settled in Albany and was engaged in his chosen calling, wdien he was induced to come to Old Fort Schuyler to superintend the erection by the agents of the Holland Land Co., of a large brick hotel on Whitesboro street. His son Philip remained in Albany, and became emijient as an architect, having been era- ployed in the erection of St. Peter's and the Lutheran churches as well as the State Capitol. The remainder of Mr. Hooker's family removed with him, including his son John, who was also a carpenter and builder. These two were the only persons resident who were competent to project and carry on so impor- tant a structure as the Hotel. It was probably begun in 1797, and was finished near the close of the year 1799. A more jmrticular account of it will be given hereafter. In June, 1803, when a subscri]3tion had been started, looking toward the build- ing of Trinity Church, the Messrs. Hooker presented plans which w^ere accepted, and they were engaged to go on with the work until the money had been expended. Besides these and other more private undertakings, Mr. Hooker, was in 1808 acting as agent for two Fire Insurance Companies. He was an 76 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. unassuming, industrious and upright man. That he was much respected in his own church at least, may be inferred from the fact that for twenty-one years he was anually elected one of its officers, two-thirds of which time a Warden. His residence was at first on Whitesboro street near the corner of the present Division, and afterward on the site of the store of O. O'Neil, 84 Genesee. He died October 19, 1832, at the age of eighty -six. His wife, (Rachel Hine) outlived him three years and was ninety-three at her death, having been totall}'- blind nearly twenty years. In her affliction she was a remarkable example of christian patience and resignation. John Hooker, son of the foregoing, after following some years his trade of carpenter and builder, went into the sale of lumber with Mr. Seth D wight. Their yard was on the upper part of tbe gore formed by the junction of Genesee and Hotel streets, about where Liberty now runs. They also engaged in an auction and commission business, and were for a time pros- perous, but failed in the end. Mr. Hooker's residence was op- posite Catherine, on the west side of Genesee. This house, in 1815, he moved back to Hotel street, and erected on its site three brick stores, now standing, one of which (No. 102) he occupied at the time of his failure. His latter years were clouded by his reverse of fortune, and by occasional attacks of insanity. Practical, stirring and benevolent, he had so far the confidence of his fellow citizens as to be thrice elected as a village trustee. Possessed of considerable inge- nuity, lie invented several useful articles, among which is a window spring still in common use. Once, at least, he made his escape from the insane asylum in New York by adapting to the door-lock a spoon or some other utensil that he turned into a key. He died here July 31st, 1829, aged sixty. His wife Ann, daughter of Matthew Derbyshire, of Hartwick, Otsego county, to whom he was married in 1802, died three years be- fore him, August 17, 1826. Their children were William, lost at sea in 182-1 ; Rachel (Mrs. G. H. Starr, Pleasant Prairie, near Kenosha, Wis.) ; Sophia Ann (relict of Geo. D. Foot, of the .same place) ; Phillip J., of Camden, Nebraska. The remaining children of Samuel Hooker were as follows : James, a merchant here and a military man, wIk^ married a daughter of Silas Clark, and subsequently removed with his family to New York ; William, went early to New York, and OLD FORT SCHUYLER. 77 became a hydrographer and engraver; Samuel R, a resident of various places, merchant here in 1815 ; Susan, widow when she came of Caspar Hewson, of Albany, became afterwards the second wife of Seth Dwight ; Sarah, married William Fellows, and after his death, Killian Winne. Seventy acres of lot No. 96 were, on the 2d of January, 1797, bought by Eichard Kimball from Jedediah Sanger, of New Hartford, who had himself bought of James S. Kip. This farm, which Mr. Kimball occupied until 1804, lay chiefly on the eastern side of Grenesee hill, but extended in part across to the western side nearly as far as the present Aiken street, where it bordered on the southern line of Judge Cooper's purchase. The farm house, which since Mr. Kimball's day has been the home of numerous successive tenants, stood nearly on the site of the sumptuous mansion of Irvin A. Williams. At present it stands on the street which in after years was named in allu- sion to the early owner of the territory it traverses, though in allusion merely, since contempt for a name so wanting in hon- orable belongings as Kimball has changed it to Kemble. This owner, having sold his farm, went back to Connecticut. And now I have brought forward all the men of Old Fort Schuyler of whom I am at all assured that they were residents. And yet there is one, who, though his home was outside the limits, was seen daily within them, and whose service was so useful that he cannot in justice be omitted. This is James Fhisky who lived next above the ford on the high bank at the north side of the river. He brought fish into market, served sometimes as a cooper, and still more as cartman, be- sides acting as ferryman when the river was too much swol- len for fording. By way of opposition, his domicil was known as Fort Flusky. The occurrences of years that immediately succeed reveal additional names, which it may be, should of right, here be re corded. Not to trust to conjecture where positive knowledge is wanting, I pass them by for the present. We have arrived at the spring of 1798, — a period, which, to their successors, is an entirely arbitrary one, yet which to the in- habitants of our settlement, was the beginning of a new epoch. 78 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. They had begun to realize the need of a more formal civil organization, and moreover, aspired to have their place recog- nized by a name tliat should be both more distinctive and more easy to speak than the accidental one it had thus far borne. As a curious illustration of the nature of fame, the originator of the name of Utica cannot be admitted as past all doubt. The common report goes, that the inhabitants were assembled in the public room of Bagg's tavern, and the question was raised of a designation for their soon-to-be-incor})orated village. A number of names were pro})osed. Some of those present were in favor of retaining the present one ; one individualliked Indian names, and wished that the village should take the patron3an.ic of the noble Oneida chief, Scenandoa ; another pre- ferred a more national hero, and would have it called Washing- ton ; another, who was in search of briefness, would call it Kent, a euphonious term, and full of pleasing memories to the descend- ant of English ancestry. This latter had strong advocates, but was defeated by the ridicule of a citizen, of whom we now hear for the first time, but of whom I can pick up nothing more, ex- cept that his name was Little, and that he afterward went and drowned himself. Finding agreement by other means impossiljle, it was resolved to decide the name l^y lot. Each person present deposited in a hat, the name of his preference, written on a slip of paper, and of these there were thirteen. The name first drawn was to be the accepted one. And so the lot fell u])on the heathen name of Utica, the choice of that eminent classical scholar, Erastus Clark. In due time, came from tlie State Legislature, the act of incor- poration, already applied for. This act, passed April 3d, 1798, defined the boundaries of the village, and gave the citizens the right of self-government under five freeholders, dulj^ elected as trustees, and who were invested with tlie powci's usually granted to small incorporated vilkiges. And yet these powers were quite restricted, amounting to little more than protection against nuisances on the highways, and the jirevention and extinction of fires, fn its title the village is named by the name it had previously borne, in the body of the act it is named only by its new one. And thus was Old Fort Schuyler merged into Utica ! CHAPTER 11. THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. Not the settlement of Old Fort Schuyler alone dropped at this time the name which had previously attached to it, the ter- ritory in which it was located received likewise a new christening in the spring of 1798. The former county of Montgomery had already, by successive acts of the Legislature, been curtailed of its vast dimensions, and the counties of Chemung, Ontario, Tioga, Otsego, Herkimer and Onondaga had been, one after another, erected. Whitestown, at the date in question, was still a part of Herkimer count}^, though diminished in size by the setting off of several independent towns. But by an act, passed March 15th, 1798, Herkimer was itself divided, and the additional counties of Chenango and Oneida were formed. Whitestown now fell to the belongings of Oneida, and Utica was but an in- considerable, though incorporated village, in this still extensive township. The inner life of the hamlet let us continue to follow. Of the first seven years of its corporate life all records are lost ; they were burned in the fire which, on the 7th of De- cember 1848, consumed the council chamber and the most of its contents. A like fate has befallen the early town records of Whitestown. The times of adoption of a few streets of Utica, which were copied from the latter before their destruction, are the sole items saved. The newspapers of that date are quite bar- ren of news merely local ; engrossed with foreign concerns, their editors gave little heed to events that hkppened directly around them, still less did they think to cater for those who at this day might study their sheets to seek out the past. Thus of village affairs our ignorance is nearly complete, and we know scarce one of the names of those who then were in rule. From a manuscript saved we gather that Francis A. Bloodgood was Treasurer in 1800 and 1801, and Talcott Camp in 1802. We know also from subsequent minutes that at the first free- holders meeting held under the charter of 1805 the Trustees were present. But who the Trustees were and what had been 80 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. their official acts, has perished forever. On the occasion of the fire which burned the store of Messrs. Post and Hamlin in Feb- ruary, 1804, a card was issued by the Trustees of the village, in which they present " their warm thanks to the Fire Com- pany, and to the citizens and strangers in general, for their eager exertions in saving the property of the sufferers, and in extin- guishing the flames." So far as we know this card is the only evidence left us that as a corporate body the Trustees ever existed, and the thanks accorded the firemen the only proof that their powers had once been in exercise, as they would seem to have been in organizing the company. For associate enter- prise the time was much too new, and institutions, commercial, manufacturing or benevolent, awaited a more established order of things. Dismissing, then, the expectation of obtaining any light from records, written or printed, upon this infantile portion of the civic life of Utica, we must go on as we have begun with the narrative of the component parts of the population, and be con- tent to infer the tenor of the public acts from the character of the actors. To notice in full every member, of whatever de- gree of standing and importance, would be manifestl}^ useless and irksome, even were the data at hand to elaborate the task. Their names and occupations must serve as the whole story of many. Yet as the smaller the household the more potent the influence of each of its inmates, historic interest requires that we devote a certain space to some who, in larger communities, would fail of a notice, and that we develop them the more in proportion to their nearness in time to the origin of the settle- ment Moreover, as no register, either written or printed, of the constituent people of Utica before tlie year 1817, has ever existed, it is not wholly idle to gather up and preserve as many names even as can now be unearthed. It so happens, besides, that the period of the first charter covers the advent of many whose healthful influence was felt throughout the entire village history, who, like some already sketched, were men of nerve, fortitude and energy, honest in principle and in conduct, wise and diligent in their own behalf, yet zealous for the interests of the place of their adoption. These, for their private worth and their public deeds, should be held in peqjetual honor. And though of the period in THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 81 question there is little of the heroic to relate, though it may have been "a day of small things," its actors were steadily lay- ing the foundation of a greater future, were forming for them- selves and their village a reputation for thrift, enterprise and virtue which their descendants glory to inherit, and were pre- paring to become partakers in most of those local and general undertakings that have given prosperity to town and county. While thus following out the career of individuals, I shall turn aside, as occasion ma}^ present, to view the aggregate and its surroundings as these may have presented themseKes to foreign eyes, and are recorded in the traveller's note book. Notices of public affairs and institutions will be interwoven with those of the persons who were the principal participants therein. Resuming, then, where we left it, our account of individual citizens, I find that during the year 1798 the following, in addi- tion to those before mentioned as men of Old Fort Schuyler, made their home in the newly incorporated village. For aught we know to the contrary, they may have lived here before its incorporation ; indeed, from the nature of their callings, their presence would seem to have been indispensable. Jonathan Evans, a mason, lived near the present residence of John Thorn, and at one time, though this was at a somewhat later period, he kept the tavern which once stood on that site, known formerly as the Globe, and afterward as Pegg's. He was an honest man and a careful and good workman, and laid the brick for several of the stores on Genesee street, below the canal. In 1812 he advertises the sale of rights in an improved pump. This was a force pump of his invention. One of these pumps he engaged to put up at Salt Point, which, it is said, worked well ; but, because the maker, in breach of his patent, for its valve substituted a ball as a clapper, payment was refused and a law suit ensued, whereby Evans was ruined. He moved then to Westmoreland. Another brick-layer was Enoch Cheney, and he acted as stone mason, plasterer, and dauber of whitewash. He was thought to be rather feeble of intellect, but this was accounted for, as he was stunned at one time by lightning while plastering a house. Barnard Coon was a cooper, and followed Nathan Williams as a drummer boy to Sacketts Harbor. On his return he lived 82 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. in the fii-st house erected by Major BelHnger before he put up his tavern. He was introduced to Governor Tompkins, when the Governor was a guest at this tavern, as " de man dat makes . de major's dubs and baiTels, and a tam goot democrat." After hving manv years in the place and rearing a family, Coon moved to Whitesboro, and there, in 1822, he died. The painter and glazier of the time was Charles Easton, Jr., and he continued in the business for thirty-five years at least, though it was conducted throughout on a limited scale. He was a^ood natured man, quite moderate of capacity and scanted in his education. One of his sons, who lived afterward in New York, was, if not the founder, at least a very eai-ly and fortunate adept in the trade in yankee notions. A tailor named Thomas Davis is remembered by the older inhabitants as preaching at times. He did not stay long. Somewhere in Lewis county he was turned out of church, when a meeting was held of indignant townsmen and the offender replaced. He came back to Utiea in 1818 and opened anew, opposite the Ontario Bank; in 1821 he turned auctioneer, but the next year was again at his trade. His brother Sylvanus, also here, soon settled near Graefenljerg. Another tailor, named William S. Warner, left the place in November. John Watley, barber, was gone before 1804 ; and Jemmy Howdle, gardener, and a stalwart son- of Erin, lived here much longer. Turning from these, who perchance were earlier residents, to the fresh comers of the newly named village, the first we notice is Thomas Skinner, a student of law. He was the son of Thompson Skinner, of Williamstown, Mass., where he was born in the year 1778. A graduate of Williams College in the year 1797, we find him the next year prosecuting his studies, and boarding at the house of Talcott Camp, on Whitesboro street, in company with his prec^cptor and former fellow-townsman, (at Wil- liamstown.) Nathan Williams. It was not long before they were partners in practice, and were still further united by the marriage of the latter to Mary, the sister o^ Mr. Ski nner. Far short of Mr. Williams in force, learning or legal acumen, he sui-passed him in fluency and grace as a speaker. He had a line imagination, and a classical taste improved by the choicest reading. Possess- THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 83 ing skill also as a writer, he became one of tlie principal contrib- utors to the Columbian Gazette. In 1807 he was the attorney of the village, and somewhat later, held similar relations to the Utica Bank. For some years he acted as treasurer of the Pres- byterian church, and was also a village trustee. His oratorical repute, and his skill as an advocate, secured him at one time a nomination to Congress, but he was beaten by that much abler man, Thomas R Gold. Unfortunately, Mr. Skinner was infirm of resolution, became addicted to habits of intemperance, and lost his business and his property. Aside from this infirmity, Avhich caused his partial retirement from active life, and dark- ened his declining years, he was a man of pure morals and ami- able disposition, nor did he ever relinquish the studies that had given culture and elevation to his character. To the last he panctuall}^ attended the meetings of the trustees of the Utica Academy, of w4hch he liad been a member thirty-five years, and whose orator he was at the first annual exhibition. But, in the language of a later orator of this same institution, — " by the prime of life, though still an interesting talker, and a shrewd observer, he was a discomfited man, and rusted away like an unused weapon, despite the excellence of his quality." His earlier residence was on Whitesboro street, near the Bank of Utica. He likewise lived many years on Broadway just above Whitesboro street, and afterward at No. 82 Broad street. Here his excellent wife, by making her house a most desirable home for a few aspirants of the law and others, procured for them a livelihood which the profits of a justiceship held by her husband scarcely afforded. This wife, who was Fanny Smith, of Litchfield, Conn., was a lady of uncommon intelligence, benevolence, cheerfulness, and courage. She died Dec. 3d, 1844, aged sixty-four. Mr. Skinner survived her three years and a half, and died June 19th, 1848. They had no children. The year 1798 is signalized as that in which was established the first newspaper of Utica. This was the Whitesix)wn Gazette, which its publisher, Wm. McLean, had first set up at New Hartford in 1794. Four years later he removed it here, chang- ing its name to the Whitestoum Gazette and Catos Patrol^ the addition having reference to the younger Cato, who was the defender of ancient Utica. Mr. McLean was a native of Hart- ford, Conn., where he was born Dec. 2d, 1774, and could not 84 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. have been long f)Ut of his apj)renticcslii|i wlicn he started liis paper. He was assiduous in his devotion to business, until the year 1803, when he sold out to two of his apprentices, Messrs^ Seward and Williams, and moved back to New Hartford. In. that place, and in the village of Cazenovia, he was for many years a tavern keeper. But in 1818 he removed to Cherry Val- ley, where he started the Cherry Valley Gazetfe, a paper that is still puljlished, and until recently Ijy his son Charles. He acted also as })ostmaster of that place. Mr. McLean died there March 12th. 1848, where he had " enjoyed to an unusual degree the good will and esteem of the community."' His first wife was Susan Williams, by Avhom he had Albert, born in Utica, 1798, and who died about 1872, Adaline, born in 1802, who still resides here, Thos. Dana, who died in 1833, and one daughter, who died in infancy. Mr. McLean afterwards married Louisa Andrews and had six children, of whom five were hving in 1871. Under date of November 22, 1798, John C. Hoyt " begs to- inform the public" (through the columns of the Wldtedown Gazette^) "that he has commenced business as a toyfor, at the shop formei'ly occupied by William S. Warner, opposite Bagg's inn, Utica, where he hopes to give satisfaction to all who may favor him with their commands," His shop was on the south west corner of the Genesee and Whitesboro roads. That he did give satisfaction is to be inferred from the fact that he stuck faithfully to his business, nearly on the spot where he began, for upwards of twenty years, during which he was the foremost man thcn-ein, that he married and reared a family, acquired prop- erty, and, what is more, acquired the respect and confidence of his fellow townsmen. He was twice a trustee of the village, and was likewise a trustee of the Presbyterian Church, and was an upright and benevolent man. His native place was Danbury, Coim. Mr. Hoyt, died in August 1820, aged forty- four. His wife was Sarah Hicks, sister of the wife of John House before mentioned. His children were Franklin C, Eliz- abeth (Mi-s. Sylvanus Holmes), Sarah Ann (Mrs. E. M. Gilbert), Adaline, (Mrs. Roundey, of Bound Brook, N. J.) Elisha Burchard, brother of Gurdon Ijefore noticed, was another who arrived in 1798, bringing with him a 3'oung family. He was a farmer, and lived near what is now the corner of Court THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 85 and Schuyler, a little west of Claudius Woolcot, that portion of Court street being then on the line of the only road to Whitesboro. He was prominent as a fireman, and was for some years foreman of the fire company. His four sons were Peleg, Jedediah, Jabez and Elisha. The former, after being- clerk for John C. Devereux and others, went into business in Jefferson count}^ He was for many years clerk of that county, and a man of standing and influence. Jedediah, at first a clerk for the Messrs. Bloodgood, became subsequently the noted revival preacher. Of the daughters, Jerusha and Eunice, the latter is living in Jefferson county, whither the family all removed. The mother was a somewhat eccentric woman, w^ith many redeeming qualities. Elisha Burchard died in March, 1811. The appearance of the place at the period in question, we have a picture of from the pen of an intelligent and trustworthy traveller. In the year 1798, Rev. Timothy Dwight, D. D., President of Yale College, made a tour through this portion of the State, and in the published volumes of his travels, wherein he has condensed the results of this and a somewhat later jour- ney, he thus discoui'ses of Utica : " TJtica, wdien we passed through it, was a pretty village containing fifty houses. It is built on the spot where«Fort Schuyler formerly stood. Its site is the declivity of the hill wliich bounds the valley of the Mohawk; and here slopes easily and elegantly to the river. The houses stand almost all on a single street parallel to the river. Generally those which were built before our arrival w^ere small, not being intended for permanent habitations. The settlers were almost wholly traders and mechanics ; and it was said that their business had already become considerable. Their expectations of future prosperity were raised to the highest pitch ; and not a doubt was entertained that this village would at no great distance of time become the emporium of all the commerce carried on between the ocean and a vast interior. These apprehensions, though partially well founded, appeared to me extravagant. Commerce is often capricious, and demands of her votaries a degree of wisdom, moderation and integrity, to fix her residence and secure her favors, which is much more frequently seen in old, than in new establishments. " We found the people of Utica laboring, and in a fair way to labor a long time, under one very serious disadvantage. The 86 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA, lands on which they live are chiefly owned by persons who reside at a distance, and who refuse to sell or to rent them except on terms wdiich are exorbitant. The stories which we heard concerning this subject it was difficult to believe, even when told by persons of the best reputation. A company of gen- tlemen from Holland, who haye purchased lai-ge tracts of land in this State and Pennsjdvania, and who are known b}^ the name of tlie Holland Land Company, have built here a large brick house to serve as an inn. The people of Utica are united with those of Whitesboro in their parochial concerns." With reference to the sanguine and seemingly fallacious expectations of the settlers, and to the obstacle which in the opinion of this author hindered the I'apid growth of their place,. I add a single sentence from the recorded notes of an early res- ident. He says : " 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 witholding from sale of the Bleecker estate, which covered a large part of Utica." A noteworthy fact mentioned by Dr. Dwight is the existence of a large brick house then recently erected for an inn. The magnitude of the structure for the time and place, the expec- tations of its owners, and the fact that it remains to day almost the only landmark of Utica as it was eighty years ago, will justify us in devoting a few paragraphs to its histor}^ On the second of November 1795, the agents of the Holland Land Co., bought of Thomas and Augustus Corey, two hun- dred acres of Great Lot No. 95, which purchase, or a part of it, was commonly known afterwards as the Hotel lot. Within two years the company proceeded to erect upon it a large brick hotel, which was not only the first brick house in the village, but the first of its size in the county and prolnibly in the State west of Albany. Indeed it may be scarcely an exaggeration to say there was not its like any where between the Hud- son and the Pacific Ocean. The site selected was near the shingle-sided farm house of the Coreys on Whitesboro street, and was probably as swamp}' a spot as any in the village, a ver- itable flag pond. It is related that the workmen, while excav- ating for a foundation, lost a crowbar by leaving it during their THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 87 absence at dinner, standing on the spot where they had been dig-ging. According to one story, not merely this tool, but the corner stone itself, which the gentlemen of the Company in the mornino- laid with due form and ceremony, had in the afternoon disappeared from mortal ken. The contract for the erection of the building was made with Samuel Hooker, and John his son. As we have seen they were carpenters and architects of Albany who, being invited to undertake the job, came here and made the place their subsequent home. The bricks were made by Heli Foot of Deerfield, but who was the mason that superin- tended the laying of them we are unable to say. After suffi- cient earth had been removed, there w^ere laid, as foundations for the superincumbent stone and brick, hemlock logs placed lengthwise along the sides and ends. It is well known that in soils like that of New Orleans, or the marshy city of Amster- dam, some such anchorage for buildings is required, though not often necessitated here. But that tlie practice was a customary one with the Hooker family may bejnferred from the proced- ure of Philip Hooker, the architect of St. Peter s in Albany,, who laid down planks to support the weight of that structure. And if the. Cathedral of Antwerp was based, as it is said to have been, on nothing more durable than a layer of hides, and the church of Albany on one of planks, why should not a less pretentious editice be secured on a layer of hemlock logs? Perishable as it seems, it served well for a while, but in pro- cess of time these timbers settled considerably. Fortunately this settling was uniform, so that while it diminished the height of the building, it did no material injury to the walls or the flooring. The thorough repairs made upon it from time to time, and more especially by its late owner, William Baker, and the measures he took to improve its substructure, have, it is hoped, insured it a goodly future. When completed it was a square, three storied structure, with a four-sided roof. It contained besides the usual public rooms and numerous lodging apart- ments of a house of this nature, a large ball room in the second story of the west end, and a room which was soon occupied by the Masonic Lodge. It was an immense edifice for the time and place, and loomed above all the story and a half wooden houses of the village like a palace among hovels. Upon its front was displayed in chiselled letters which no subsequent oo THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. repamtings have been able to wholly obliterate: Hotel. Its chief purpose was, of course, to entertain travellers. For this the four other inns of the place might seem, perhaps, in view of the smallness of the settlement, and the comparative scanti- ness of the neighboring population, ampl}^ sufficient. But when it is remembered that Utica formed a resting place on the only line of transit to the west, and when we consider the flood rtf emigration that was now setting thitherward, we may realize the need of houses of entertainment for the numerous travel- lers who daily passed. Ten years before, in July, 1788, Messrs. Phelps and Gorham bought from the State of Massachusetts, the title to the Genesee countrj', so called, containing more than a million of acres, now included in several counties, and began to offer these lands foi- sale. Within two years, as w^e learn from the census of 1790, there were already settled upon them a population of u]jwards of one thousand; and this amount w^as annually augmenting. The Military Tract, southw^est from Utica, and the Holland Land Company's Purchase, lying beyond that of Phelps and Gorham, were, soon after, likewise thrown upon the market, and like it were being speedily peopled. The rapidity, in fact, with w^hich Western New York w^as now filling up is without a par- allel in the history of new settlements. Another evidence of the tide of emigration that was now flowing tow^ard this w^estern El Dorado may be seen in the following, culled from the "An- nals of Albany" : In the winter of 1795, twelve hundred sleighs, loa^led with furniture and with men, women and children, passed through Albany in three days, and five hundred were counted between sunrise and sunset of February 28th of that year. All of them were moving westward. We are not then surprised to leai-n that, in the experience of the small taverns of Utica, it was by no means uncommon to have not only all the beds of the bouse, but the floors also crow^ded with guests, and are ready to believe that a hotel of large dimensions was a thing (»f necessity. But the Holland Land Company had another object in view. They were owners of extensive tracts of land north and also southwest of Utica, and still broader ones at the west, and it is to be presumed they were desirous of a house where they could detain some of these many emigrants and more easil}^ tempt them to a pui'chase and a settlement. THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 89 The precise era when work w^as begun upon the hotel cannot be accurately determined, though it was probably in 1797. A new comer of that year, who was then a boy, remembered the piles of brick and lumber that were lying in readiness, and re lated also an accident that occurred during the erection. By the fall of a scaffold three men were thrown to the ground, and one of them was killed. The narrator attended the funeral of this hod-carrier, who was buried on the land of Mr. Alverson in West LTtica, near what is now Wiley street, this being an early burial place. But if there is a doubt as to the time of commencement of the work, there is none as to the date of its completion and occu- pancy as a hotel. On the second of December, 1799, it was formally opened by its iirst landlord, Philip J. Schwartze. He was a fat Dutchman, who had previously been in the employ o£ the company, and, as steward or cook, had accompanied Mr. John Linklaen, one of their agents, in his expedition made in ] 793, to effect a settlement at Cazenovia. For a short time pre- vious to the date now under consideration, he had occuj)ied the shingle sided house of the Coreys, where he boarded the work- men employed on the building. Mr. Schwartze informs the public that " the hotel in the village of Utica is now open for the reception of such ladies and gentlemen as choose to honor the proprietor with their patronage.'' About three weeks later the opening was celebrated by a ball, which, as appears from the card of invitation, was to be the first of a series of such entertainments given at the hotel, though not under the auspices of its keeper. The following is a copy of one of these cards now lying before me : ''TVhiteftoivii Dancing AJfemhly. i % X HE HONOR OF 'S COMPANY IS REQUESTED, AT Q^ (J) THE Hotel Assembly Room in Utica, for the Season. \ J B. Walker, W. G. Tracy, ^ |f, $J. S. Kip, C. Platt, > Alanagers. ^ )^ A. Breese, N. Williams, ) Dec. 2oth, 1799. % 90 THE nONEEKS OF UTICA. These managei'S, if it will be observed, were prominent citi- zens of Utica and Wliitesl)oro, tliree from eacb place. Though not otherwise connected with the Holhmd Land Company than as personal friends of its agents, their assembly was in harmony with so august an event as the opening of a great hotel, having a room large enough to accommodate, and to invite to social enjoyment, the leading inhabitants of the county. That such were gathered on the occasion may well be inferred from the later and better known experience of the house, wherein many a gay and joyous gathering has been held, as well as from the character of the managers, and the high social standing they maintained throughout the neighborhood. Not long after the inauguration of the hotel, probably in the year following, a street was opened southward from it, and in- tersecting the Genesee road at the upper part of the village. This it was hoped would divert the travel from the west, and bring it directly to the doors of the comj^any. Naturally it took the name of Hotel street. The proprietorship of Mr. Schwartze was of short continu- ance, for within a year he was succeeded by Mr. Hobart Ford, a gentlemanly man from Norwich in Connecticut, and was him- self soon after installed in the House tavern, on the corner of Grenesee and Main. The stay of Mr. Ford would seem to have been as brief as that of his predecessor, since he died on the first of December, 1801. The subsequent history of the house will be resumed when we come to speak of its later landlords. Returning once more to the Joui-nal of Dr. Dwight, we observe that he speaks of the people of Utica as united with those of Whitesboro in their pai'ochial concerns. Up to the year 1801, the only existing (and continuous) religious society was that w^hich had been organized at Whitesboro in 1793 under the title of The United Society of Whitestown and Old Fort Schuyler ; and over this there was settled on the twenty - first of August, 1794, the Rev. Bethuel Dodd. One-third of the services were to be bestowed at Utica, and two-thirds at Whitesl)oro, and tlie salary of the minister was to be raised in rateable proportion from the two parts of his parish. After a few months the connection seemed to be dissolved ; the preaching at Utica was discontinued, because there was no place in which THE FIRST CHARTER OP UTICA. 91 public worship could be attended. In '1797 this obstacle was removed by the enlargement of a scliool-house on Main street- And to this building for a period of several years repaired all the church-going inhabitants of Utica of whatever denomina- tional persuasion. Up to the 3'ear 1800 there were not above four members of the church who resided in the place, but as this number increased, Mr. Dodd preached here more frequently, and before his death, in 1804, onedialf of the time. On days when his duty called him elsewhere, the congregation were as- sembled to listen to the reading of a sermon by Talcott Camp, Hiel Hollister, Solomon P. Goodrich, or others. Nathan Wil- liams, with becoming taste and propriety, conducted the sing- ing, and was assisted in the bass by the stentorian lungs of Richard Kimball. Rev. Bethuel Dodd was a native of Bloom- field, N. J., and was born in 1767. He was graduated at Queens? now Rutgers, College in 1792, and then devoted himself to the study of theology. Licensed the following year by the Pres- bytery of New York and New Jersey, he followed the tide of emigration to the " Whitestown country," where his preaching being received with favor, he was called to assist in forming the first Presbyterian church that was established in Oneida county, those of Clinton and New Hartford being Congregational. Re- turning eastward, he married Sarah, daughter of Dr. Pierson, of Orange, N. J., and then came to Whitesboro to enter upon his duties. With Jonas Piatt and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Dodd began house-keeping in a log house, but ere long erected a large house which is still standing. He continued in charge of the united societies during the remainder of his short but useful career, and died April 12th, 180'!. He is represented as an amiable, judi- cious, systematic and intelligent man, of pleasing appearance and polite manners, and eminentl}^ pious and devoted in his calling. Dr. Dwight, who knew him personally, and heard him preach at Whitesboro, says " he was a very worthy and excellent person, who left behind him a name which is as the odor of sweet incense." From one who was but a child during his pas- torate we learn that for a few months Mr. Dodd held at Utica? during the intermission between the morning and afternoon ser- vices, a meeting for the children. Requiring of them lessons from the New England Primer, and especially the catechism, he commented and taught them thereupon. 92 THE PIOXEEKS OF UTICA. The old school house, once the sanctuary of the fathers of Utica, and the seat of learning for their sons, as well as the or- dinary place of assembly for secular as well as sacred purposes, still exists, now degraded to a shed. This lingering memento of the past stands on the south side of Main street about mid- way between First and Second streets. AVheeled around from Its former position it now stands endwise toward the street. Then its longer side was parallel thereto, and its entrance was on the northwest corner. The desk or pulpit was at the eastern extremity, and was a ])lain slab or shelf. The seats were in part actual slabs of rough boards, without backs, and resting on legs inserted in auger holes ; though some were a little more finished. The room was imperfectly warmed by a box stove, the counterpart of the one which stood in the store of Mr. Post. The teacher who presided on week days over the village school ensconced himself in a seat at the left of the entrance. As a place of worship the building was used until the completion of Trinity Church, in 1806, when, for a brief period, the two con- gregations alternately worshipped in the latter edifice. As a school house, and for town meetings, it held out a little longer, but after its stove and lamp had been sold at auction in 1808, its usefulness, we may presume, had departed. But there was another religious society that worslii]~)]ied for a time in the old school house. Not quite so early as the society just noticed, it dates its origin from the year 1798, the very period we now contemplate. This was Trinit}^, whose history has latel}' been shown in the very full and interesting discouivses of its rector, Eev. S. H. Coxe. D. J). Its actual beginning he gives us in the words of its founder, Eev. Philander Cliase, after- wards Bishop of Illinois. In 1798, Mr. Chase was occupied in missionary labors in this State, and while thus engaged arrived at Utica. " This now flourishing cit}^ was then," he says, " but a small hamlet. The stumps of the forest trees were yet stand- ing thick and sturdy in the streets, if streets they may be termed, where scarcely two of them were fenced out Even Colonel Walker's house, for some time the best in the place, was not then built. That worthy christian gentleman received the writer in a small tenement which he then occupied, and it was by his encouragement that the writer succeeded in organizing a THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 93 parish, according to the act of tlie Legislature passed two or three winters before. The parish was named ' The Rector, Wardens and Vestrymen of Trinity Church, Utica.' " Mr. Chase having thus formed the few Episcopalians of the place into a society, persuaded them to meet together every Sabbath and read the prayers of the church and sermons. This, the church record assures us, was for some time done. "But the people of other persuasions increasing fast, and having engaged the Presbyterian minister of Whitesboro to attend regularly, the meeting of the Episcopalians was discontinued." And thus the society would appear to have slumbered until the year 1803, when a reorganization was effected, and measures were taken to erect a church building of their own. The settlement, as we have learned from Dr. Dwight, was mainly confined to a single street. This was known as Main street, the western end being called the " Whitesboro road." A few settlers were located on the lower end of the " Genesee road," and a few- were scattered about in the vicinity. Manuscript maps of this date show two or three additional streets, bat as yet unoccupied and without a name. The principal difference, as respects its course, between the Main street of that day and the present one is this, that instead of ending where is now the intersection of Bridge and Third streets, it was continued south- easterly until it reached the line of the present Broad street, where descending into the gulf formed by Ballou's creek, and crossing the creek at the site of the basin bridge, it turned east- ward along the path of Broad street, which at this end is its true successor. The westward course of the road to Whitesboro was, after leaving Potter's, along the lines of the present Varick and Court streets. The public square formed at the intersec- tion of the Genesee and Whitesboro roads, and now known as Bagg's square, was then more deserving of the name of square ihan in recent times, since its western side instead of diverg- ing from the eastern one as it now does, ran up from the river nearly parallel with it, until it reached a point a little short of the northern line of Main, when it curved west-ward in a quarter circle towards the Whitesboro street corner. Thus its shape, in place of being triangular as at present, approxi- mated to that of an oblong whose greatest length was east and 94 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. west, and having an arm extending from its eastern end toward the river. 1799. Of the 3'ear 1799 the folhjwing are to he reckoned additional residents, though it is impossible to assign a date for their coming : Nathaniel Butler was at this time an inmate in the family of Ezekiel Clark and in this year he married Miss Tafft, a sister of Mrs. Clark. He was a watchmaker and established him- self on the southwest corner of Genesee and Whitesboro streets, his shop being on either side of Mr. Hoyt, who occupied the actual corner. Thence he removed within a few years to the corner of Genesee and Broad. His earliest partner was John Osborn, but after their dissolution, in 1807, he remained alone some years and then connected himself with Cliarles J. J BeBerard. Neither of these latter partners was al^le to speak without a stutter, and a story like the following was currentl}^ reported of them. A stranger dropped in at the store one day and asked directions to some place he was in search of. The watch- maker soon became confused, and referred the apphcant to his partner. The latter made no better work than the former, and after struggling to reply, at length burst out with vehemence : "go along — you'll get there, before I can tell yoiu'' In 1815 Mr. Butler gave up his watchmaking and became a merchant in company with Truman Smith. But goods fell in value after the war, othei's undersold him and his trade died out. He had laid the foundation of a fine property, having in addition to his store at the lower end of Genesee street, become possessed of quite a tract above Bleecker. Tliis reached from the corner of Charlotte and Bleecker along the latter to Genesee, as fai' up Genesee as the Bradish block, and thence through to Cliarli)tte. Here he had his residence, which was a two story wooden house fronting on Genesee, but standing back from the street and with considerable open ground about it. But Mr. Butler could not bear the thought of being in debt, and to relieve his embarrassment, he sold all his property at a low figure, and removed to Madison county, and thence to Mexico THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 95 in Oswego county. Here he pnrcliased fourteen or fifteen acres, of wliicli lie retained only a corner lot and disposed of tlie remainder, too earl}/-, however, to realize any thing from the sul)sequent rise of the propert3\ In 1803 he was made a Trus- tee of the Presbyterian Church, and continued throughout his residence in Utica to be recognized as a prominent member and officer of that society, and was moreover greatly respected for his uprightness and his consistent religious character. When on a visit to the city after he had ceased to live here, a friend was conversing with him of the changes that had taken place since the time of his residence. In view of the greatly increased value of the property that had once been his, the friend re- marked that he might have been better off had he remained all this time asleep. To this Mr. Butler replied in his stumb- ling way, but with a pathos that was touching to one who knew his history, that "he thought he might have been better off — had he remained asleep all his life." His children were George, who was interested in the stage business between Mexico and Oswego, and failed. Eawson, merchant in Mexico ; Maria, an invalid, who died young ; and Mary Ann. A Scotch merchant named John Smith, who during the Eev- olutionary war had been living in New Brunswick, came here some time afterward and commenced business. The first of his advertisements that we have seen, is dated December 1799, and in this he announces a fresh assortment of goods. In 1802 he removed to the Ked Store next above Kane & Van Eensse- laer, that is to say, about the site of the lower corner of Broad and Genesee. Before the end of the year his store is occupied by another, though Mr. Smith remained some time longer. But on the prospect of a war with England, he returned to Canada. He was a man of much intelligence and integrity. He had a son Eobert, who was his clerk, and a daughter, Han- nah, who married Thomas Wentworth of St. John's, and some years later was living with her husband near where Fayette opens into Genesee. Pharez Barnard, a machinist by trade, a man of good abilities and well informed, erected a house nearly opposite the present Lunatic Asylum, where he made fanning mills. He was gone 96 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. before 1S16. and died at Pulaski, Tenn., Nov. 9. 1819. His sons were John and David, the former a merchant here in 1816, and the latter a Baptist minister, and the author of "Light on Masonry." Sjdvanus P. Dj^gert, gunsmith, early moved down the Mo- hawk; Evan Owens, butcher and tallow chandler, was a short time in })artnership with John Roberts, a much longer resident ; Asa Sprague, carpenter and Avheel-right, lived here many years, and has grandchildren still in Utica ; Preserved Hickox was a mover of buildings, &c., and David Brebner a journeyman baker. John Bissell arrived in the village in July 1799, and soon opened a store on the corner of Genesee and Whitesboro. In December he offers cash for shipping and hatting furs. The following year he has "just received an assortment of dry goods and groceries, which will be sold low for cash or flax seed. Cash paid for wheat, pot and pearl ashes, and all kinds of hat- ting and shipping furs." His brother, Heman Bissell, a hatter, was at this time established in manufacturing hats, in a little shop on the north side of Whitesboro, near the present corner of Seneca. It was for his use, doubtless, that the hatting furs were in request. The latter removed to Water ville. In 1802, John Bissell, as we learn from his annonncement, "has estab- lished business in the town of Bridge water, "and two years later he dissolved partnership with Henry Ward of New Hartford, and is again settled in Utica, his place of business being oppo- site Watts Sherman. He remained until 1812, but having failed the year previous, he removed to New York. He was a stirring business man, although not always success- ful, and stood well in ])ublic estimation. It is said that while on the limits at Whitesboro, where debtors were then restricted of their liberties, he once trespassed two or three feet beyond his allotted bounds, in order to avoid a snow bank that lay in his path. For this his bail was obliged to pay, and was ruined in consequence. His wife was the daughter of a clergyman living in the vicin- ity of Litchfield, Conn,, and there Mr. Bissell died. Two of his sons were baptized in Trinity Church, John and Edward. One of them became a lawyer in New Yoi'k cit3\ THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 97 1800. The year 1800 furnislies the first tax hst of the popnhxtion of Utica that is now extant. Merely as a hst of inhabitants it is of interest, and more especially, as the names follow pretty nearly in the order of residence, beginning at the eastern limits of the settlement and proceeding along Main street and the northern side of Whitesboro as far as Potter's, thence back on the southern side, and a little way up Genesee. The extreme smallness of amount of the tax, when compared with the course of modern taxation, would lead one to question whether it com- prises the whole levy of the year, or whether it is not rather some special assessment. -It is entitled, however, "Utica Village Tax List for 1800," and is as follows : Silas Clark, J. D. Petrie, .... Matthew Hubbell, . Beujamiu Walker, Esq., . 1 J. Bockiug, Peter Smith, Esq., Benjamin Ballon. James S. Kip, Esq., Widow Dawson (Murphy,) Samuel Carriugton, . . 1 Sylvauus P. Dygert, . Samuel Forman, Clark, John Curtiss, John Hobby, . . .1 Benjamin Ballou, Jr., Jere. Cowden, Richard Smith, . . 1 Joseph Ballou, 0.& J. Ballou, . John House, . . . 1 John Post, ... 2 Daniel Badlong, . . . 1 William Pritchard, . Nichols, Bagg's house, James Bagg, Moses Bagg, . . . 1 Worden Hammond, John Smith, Bryan Johnson, . . 1 Administrator of Dan"l Banks, Clark & Follows, Remsen, Proprietors of Hotel, . 1 cu. 50 25 25 00 25 75 25 121:^ 371? 37^ 37 lo 131.? 371;-^ 25" 12i.< 75" 87i.< 00 00 25 123:^ 75 " 1232' 00 50 873^ 00 621.^ 871? 50 " 00 Nathan Williams, Barnabas Brooks, J. Bissell, John Bellinger, John C. Hoyt, Samuel Rugg, . Barnabas Coon, John Cooper, Jeptha Buell Stephen Potter, Ramsey & Co., Gurdou Burchard, Francis Bloodgood, William Halsey, Nathaniel Butler, William Williams, Peter Cavender, Jan Garrett, Jonathan Foot, Simon Jones, Joseph Peirce, G. Boon's house Apollos Cooper, John Watley, Gurdon Burchard, William McLean, Jas. P. Dorchester Samuel Hooker, Watts Sherman, . Erastus Clark, Charles Easton, |. Van Sykes, D0II3. Cts. 75 50 25 62M 50 25 ■ 1-^M 25 25 . 1 25 75 . 1 00- 1 00 . 1 12K 75 50 25 25 12K 25 25 25 25 25 75 50 mi 50 50 37M 12M $40 00 A few names, as will be observed, occur on this list that have not before been met with. Two or three are the names of non- residents ; some are of parties who made but a brief stay ; and 98 THE PIOXEEES OF UTICA. of some we can get no trace. Clark doubtless represents Ezekiel Clark, already mentioned. Remsen is Simeon Rem- sen, a tailor, near the hotel, wliose house was advertised for sale in 1802, and who is not rememljered bj settlers of two years later, for he had gone to Cazenovia. Simon Jones should be Simon Johns, who lived many years in Marcy, and whose daughter, (Mrs. Llewellyn Howell,) is still in LTtica. Peter Cavender (or Cavana) also moved to Marcy, where his son, a prosperous farmer, still resides. Samuel Rugg, a jeweler, has likewise, as a Utican, but a brief history, not remaining over four or five years longer, and in September, 1806, having a shop in the vil- lao^eof Hamilton, with "lots for sale in the centre of the town." The longest resident of any of them was William Williams, a Welshman, wlio occupied for many years the house still stand- ino; on the south-east corner of Whitesboro and Hotel, where he manufactured tallow candles. An industrious and quiet man in general, he was made very indignant when in the course of the war of 1812-15, a rifle company was quartered in the hotel opposite him, and wanted them driven out by force of cannon. He died in 1824. One of his daughters, who was considered quite handsome, married Dr. James Douglass, and went to Quebec. After her death, the doctor sent for another of the family, educated and married hei'. A third married Elisha Lee. There was a son, Henry, and a daughter married in Detroit. A more noticeable person in one particulai- than any of the preceding was John Curtiss, the baker. He weighed from two hundred and eighty to three hundred pounds, and was remark- able for his great strength. It is related of him that on one occasion when a carman asked more than he was willing to pay for the transpoi'tation of two barrels of flour to his bakery, he raised a barrel endwise to each hip and carried them safely h(jme. At another time, when a man was about to transfer a barrel of beer from his cart to a cellar, and had set up a board at the tail of the cart in order to roll it to the ground, Curtiss being at hand, and j)erha])s asked to assist, grasped the barrel by the chimes and did not halt until he had deposited it on the floor of the cellai-. He was an Englishman and had once lived on the estate of Elwes the miser, but left him because Elwes insisted on liis taking charge of some of his sick hounds. Here he lived THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 99 for tlie most part in the neighborhood of Division street, at one time at its upper end and at another at its lower, though in 1805 he occupied a tavern stand on the Deerlield side of the river with several acres of meadow. He died December, 1819. A few other persons not included in the preceding list should likewise be here enumerated, since we have proofs that they had already obtained a residence. That their names were not on the list may be due to their recent arrival, or to their lack as yet of worldl}' goods subject to taxation. A carpenter and joiner of this date was a Welshman named John Adams. He li^-ed here some dozen years, and found con- siderable work to do, having been the builder, among other houses, of the row of brick ones on the west side of Washington, below Liberty street, where, in 1810, he had a lumber yard, and of a st(n-e which replaced the House tavern on the lower j^art of Genesee street. His partner, William Francis, lived much longer in Iltica, and has left descendants still resident. He was the son of Eich- ard Francis, who had been a midshipman in the British navy, and sailed to this countrv in the expedition of Sir Peter Parker. Obtaining afterwards a two years' leave of absence, he travelled in the United States, and in 1798 came here to settle. He fixed himself on Frankfort Hill, and was a surveyor and justice of the peace. His son William, after the end of his connection with Adams, formed a second one with John Reed, and was a carpenter and builder, or a sash-maker, until his death, in 1845. He was one of the original trustees of the Utica Savings Bank, and was otherwise a trusted and respected citizen. In 1803 he married Eleanor James and became the father of a large familj^, of whom the late John J. Francis was one. Another carpenter who may be set down as of this date, though not yet out of his apprenticeship, was Abraham Culver. He came from the same place as William Halsey, before men- tioned ; with him he learned his trade, and from 1800, at least, was working under his direction. He became afterwards, and continued for many years, a leading builder of the place, exe- cuting man}' important works. His brother, John, was, after the year 1806, for many years associated with him. Not less as a man than as a workman Mr. Culver was esteemed. Quiet and retiring in manners, he could be trusted for his integrity 100 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA. and his sense. He lived on Whitesboro street, next west of. Burcliard. of which row of buildings he was the fabricator and the owner. His shop, at first, in the rear, was afterwards on Water street, nearly 0}>pGsite. His grave but amiable counte- nance and his one sided progression many present residents must remember. He died January Gth, 1852, aged seventy-three. His first wife, Ruth Ellis, and the mother of his son Abraham E., now resident, died June 1st, 1814, in her twenty-fourth year. His second wife died April 19th, 1839, aged fifty-eight. Yet another man of this era who dealt in lumber was a for- eigner who had been bred to a wholly different pursuit. This was Moses Marshall, once chaplain to some German prince. He was sufficiently educated to translate from a German Bible aloud to his congregation, into English, or with an English Bible to read off good German. He preached occasionally in Deerfield,, receiving a dollar a day for his services. He also taught a Sunday school there somewhere between 1801 and 1806. But though a minister in practice, he was not, it would appear, above betting, or even an oath ; for it is reported that he boasted once that "he bet |50 that he would be dominie at Stone Arabia," and said he, "By Gott, I beat." Another story goes that he was called at one time to Deerfield to baptize a ch'ing child, when others were brought in for the same purpose, and although his price was fifty cents, 3'et, in consideration of the numbers, he did it at three shilHngs a head. Besides his lumber deal- ings, Dominie Marshall kept a toy store aboat on the site of the store of James Sayre's Sons, which property he sold to Chas. C. Brodhead. On removing from here he bought land in Steuben county, where his son became afterward a man of standing. William Smith, commonly known as " nailer Smith," manu- factured wrought nails on the edge of Nail creek, where is now the south side of Varick street. Purchasing the iron in the vil- lage, he carried it home on his back, and returned laden with the product ; but it was probably not his factory as it certainly was not the dog nail factory of Joseph Masseth in after years that gave the name to this creek. It bore the name before either of them. Settlers of 1794 and 1797 tell us that it came from the circumstance of a wagon loaded with nails having been overturned in the creek and the nails spilled out during the war of the Revolution, (if not in the French war.) It was THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 101 known to tlie Germans as Nagel (Nail) creek. However, it should be added that there is reason to believe that Smith was himself a resident early in the nineties. He occupied a leased farm of toward a hundred acres adjoining Potter and Alverson, of which a large part was at this time under cultivation. About 1810 he removed to Scipio in Cayuga county, and from thence to Scipio in Ohio, where on his death a large landed property was divided among several descendants. John Koberts was a butcher and tallow chandler, long located on the lower end of Genesee street, west side, and afterward on Division street. At first in company with Evan Owens, he sep- arated from him in 1805, and continued his craft alone, being also inspector of beef and pork. An upright man he was held in mueli credit as well for his character as for the meats he fur- nished. His son is now president of a bank in Detroit, and ( thers of his family living in the same neighborhood are pros- perous. Another Welshman named John Nicholas, and among the most intelligent of his countrymen, took a part the following j^ear in the organization of the Welsh Baptist Church, though his residence was in Frankfort rather than in Utica, being in the the neighborhood of Welshbush. He died about 1810, and his widow a few years after married Watkin Powell. For some cause a dispute arose between him and Dr. Coventry and hard words were exchanged between them. Soon after Nicholas met Col. Walker, wdio said to him, '' I understand that you and Dr Coventry have had some hard words between you.'" "Some- thing of the kind has happened,"' said Nicholas. " Wh}^," said the Colonel, " you ought to have remembered that the doctor is a Scotchman.'" "Yes, sir," replied Nicholas, "and he ought to have remembered that I am a Welshman." Windsor Stone, a shoemaker, was better known as the father of two stalwart sons than for any thing that respected himself alone. These, Luther and Windsor by name, were twins, weigh- ing some two hundred pounds apiece, and so much alike as to be distinguished with difficulty. As boatmen, rather coarse in stamp and given to gambling, tliev were Victorious up and down the Mohawk. There remain two or three more of whom it must suffice to sav that Jacob Blackden was the colored fiddler, and an import- 102 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. ant personage on occasion of festivities, and that Jcnimy Bnrns was a store porter, rather addicted to tlie cnj). Before proceeding to treat of the new-comers of the year, let us pause to consider the brief notes of another traveller, and to add a few words by way of comment and elucidation. This was an Englishman, named John Maude, whose " visit to the Falls of Niagara in 1800" was published at Wakefield and Lon- don in 1826. And this is what his journal contains under date of Thursday, July 3d, 1800 : " Utica, (Fort Schuyler) ninety- six miles. Schwartz's hotel ; excellent house and miserably kept ; built by Boon & Linklaen, (agents for the Holland Land Company,) the proprietors of a considerable number of the ad- joining building lots. Those east of these are the property of the Bleecker family, on which the principarpart of the present town is built, — built, too, on short leases of fourteen years, after which the houses become the property of the owners of the soil, to the certain loss and proljable ruin of the present residents. Utica is in the township of Whitestown, and contains about sixty houses. No genteel family, save Col. Walkers, and he resides at a small distance east oi the village. The great Gen- esee road turns off at this place. An act has lately passed for making it a turnpike road to Genesee and Canandaigua, a dis- tance of one hundred miles and upwards ; the expense is esti- mated at $1,000 per mile ; the road to be four rods in width. The inhabitants of Utica subscribed to finish the first mile ; they formed twenty shares of fifty dollars each ; these shares they afterwards sold to Col. Walker and Mr. Post for forty-four cents the dollar, who have finished the first mile ; thirty miles it is expected will be finished before the winter sets in. Bridge here over the Mohawk ; the river narrow, clear and shallow ; no fish ; seven boats at the w^harf ; heai'd a bull frog ; groves of sugar maple, a tree very common here." Friday, Jul}'' 4th, Mr. Maude, " mounted his horse, passed Inman's at noon, and arrived at Whitesboro, 100 miles." With reference to the great Genesee road here spoken of by Mr. Maude, and whose construction was so important, not to Utica alone, but to the whole western country, a few additional / facts may be subjoined. -^As earlv as 1790 a road along the course of the Great ^J"'rail liad been opened by Wm. and Jas. Wadswoi'th on their way to the Genesee country, where they THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 103 planted a colony. The State afterward, in the year 1794, appointed three commissioners to lay out a road from Utica, by Cayuga ferry and Canandaigua, to the Genesee river at Avon, and in this and the following year made appropriations for its construction. Though laid out, it seems not to have been con- structed at this time, for in June, 1797, Col. Williamson, of Ontario, represents the road from Old Fort Schuyler to the Genesee as little better than an Indian trail. In this latter year a law was passed by the State authorizing the raising of $45,000 by lotteries, which was to be expended in improving various roads in the State, of which sum $13,900 was to go toward the betterment of the Genesee road in all its extent. The improve- ments now made uj)on it were such that on the 30tli day of September, 1797, a stage started from Old Fort Schuyler and arrived at Geneva in the afternoon of the third day. The ex- tension of this thoroughfare to the most westerly county of the State, and the unexampled passage of a stage in three days a dis- tance of nearly one hundred miles, sixty of which had been the same season in their original state, were to the dwellers along the western terminus just causes of gratulation. This road was as yet a simple highway of earth ; and through swamps and in low places the crossing was made over layers of logs, such cause- ways occurring even within the limits of the village. There was therefore great need of still further improvement; and in the year 1800 the Seneca Turnpike Company was chartered to effect it. The capital stock was to be $110,000 in shares of fifty dollars eacli. Jedediah Sanger, of New Hartford, and Benj. Walker, of Utica, were associated with Messrs. Chas. Wil- liamson and Israel Chapin, of Ontario, as commissioners. Ac- cording to our traveller, one mile of the road was finished in July, 1800. A citizen, who rode over it in April following as far as New Hartford, tells us that he met squads of men at work along the way, and that this portion of it was then a good pass- able road. The thoroughfare leading eastward from the settlement would seem to have been at this time in no greater forwardness than the western one, if we may infer the truth from an advertise- ment of the Mohawk Turnpike and Bridge Company that ap- peared in tlie village paper, bearing date Oct. 21st, 1800. The company therein solicits pi'oposals until the first of January fol- 104 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. lowing for the building of a bridge across the Mohawk at Schen- ectada, and also for completing ten miles of turnpike road, or any ])art of the said ten miles, beginning at the bridge at the village of Uticaand running easterly, as well as for completing other portions of the road towards its eastern end. As the re- sult of the efforts of this company a beneficial change was effected. The portion of the road lying between Utica and Deer- field was straightened, it having before been a devious way that meandered carefully from point to point along the swampy in- tervale. But it was not until after many years had elapsed that this section of the road was ]:)ut in a state fit to be traversed with ease and comfort. Another work of tlie year 1800, wholly local in its nature and perhaps trivial in comparison with those just considered, is yet entitled to mention. This was an attempt of the citizens to supply themselves with water, and it was accomplished through 1 the agency of two men named Samuel Bard well and Oliver I Bull By means of hollowed logs they brought water into the ' village from two springs located on its western borders, one near wdiere now stands the Oneida Brewery, and the other on the 1 Asvlum hill. To these men each inhabitant enjoying the ben- efit paid a quarterlv tax. Besides Messrs. Bardwell and Bull, Colonel Benjamin Walker and Silas Clark were members of this so called aqueduct company. Among the new arrivals of the year we notice, lirst, one whose remarkable previous experience, his long residence of fifty years and the conspicuous position he held, as well as his marked and singular character justify ample consideration. We refer to Charles C. Brodhead. Our notice is based upon an obituary article which ajopeared in the Christian Intelligencer^ to which are added facts obtained from various sources. Mr. Brodhead's ancestry, originally from Holland, had for some years found a home ill Yorkshire, England, whence one of the family came to this country in 1664 in company with Colonel Richard Nichols, who took New Amsterdam from the Dutch. The grandfather of the sul>ject of our sketch, Daniel Brodhead, removed from Marble town in Ulster County, to Northampton, Penn., in 1737. He was a man of considerable political importance in the colony, being one of the royal superintendenis of In- dian affairs. His son Charles was an officer in the British THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 105 arm}', and was with Braddock at the time of liis memorable' defeat. He afterwards commanded with, the rank of captain at Fort Pitt, which he defended against a desperate attack of Indians. On the breaking out of the Eevolution he took the colonial side in the struggle, although he declined a colonelcy which was offered him by the government ; his scruples with regard to the oath he had taken when he received his royal commission forbidding him to serve in opposition. His five brothers, however, joined the army and held continental com- missions. Just before the war Captain Brodhead removed to New Paltz, Ulster county, where his son Charles C. was born November 10th, 1772. He was the fourth son of a family of eight children, one of whom was afterward a member of Con- gress from Ulster county. Their mother's maiden name was Oliver. Charles, while jet a lad, began the business of survey- ing, serving under the instructions of W. Cockburn, an eminent surveyor of Kingston in his native county. Iu_J/793i Messrs. Desjardins and Pharoux, agents of a French company, owning a large tract of land on the Black river, and known as the Cas- torland Company, employed him to assist in laying out this tract. This appointment was regarded as a high com23liment to young Brodhead both as a surve^^or and an honorable man ; and the manner in which he fulfilled his engagements pleased his employers so well that, in addition to the covenanted remu- neration, they gave him a valuable lot of land as a testimonial of their appreciation of his scientific and moral worth. In the course of this survey, wdiich occupied about three seasons, Mr_ B. encountered several hazardous adventures, and made more than one hair-breadth escape from death. Once his life was attempted b}^ an Indian in the service, and he was onl}^ saved by the prompt action of another of the part}' who knocked down the savage while in the act of striking at Mr. Brod- head's back. But the most perilous adventure, and the one of which he spoke with the greatest reluctance, because it involved an act of personal heroism, was this : In running the great lines of division, the party had to cross the Black river several times, the men and instruments being ferried across. On one occa- sion, when having journeyed through the woods without noting tlieir course by the compass, they arrived at a part of the river which they thought they recognized, and knew to be a safe 106 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. place for crossing. Makiug a raft of logs, they started from the bank and began to pole their way over. When in the midst of the current their poles failed to reacli bottom, and, simultaneously with the discovery, the noise of the waters below them revealed the fact that they had mistaken their fer- rying place and were at the head of the Great Falls of the river, now known as Lyons Falls. Thus threatened with almost certain death, Mr. Brodhead ordered every one who could swim to make for the shore, and he liimself prepared to swim for his life. But the jtiteons appeals of M. Pharoux, who could not swim, arrested him, and he remained to assist him, if possiVjlc, in the awful passage. Directing M. Pharoux, and the others who remained, to grasp firmly to the logs, he laid himself by the side of his friend. The raft passed tlie dreadful falls and was dashed to pieces. The Frenchman and others of the party were drowned. Mr. Brodhead was himself thrown into an eddy near the shore, whence he was drawn senseless b}' an Indian of the party. After the expiration of his term of service with the Castor- land Company, he was employed as a dejmty by the Hon. Sim- eon DeWitt, Surveyor General of the State of New York, and to him were confided all important surveys and negotiations. He likewise canned on one or more treaties with the Indians, and these he conducted with singular ability and discretion, in every case winning the confidence of the red men. After a negotia- tion of this kind with the St. Regis Indians of the northern border of the State he was adopted as a member and honorary chief of the tribe. The name conferred u])Ou him was a com- pound one, being derived in part from the name of their prin- cipal chief, and in part having reference to his rapid move- ments in running lines, and also to his skill in settling disputes. It was as follows : Onogauleus Jacawbus Sadatalate. When not engaged elsewhere Mr. Brodhead's headquarters during this period would seem to have been at Whitesboro. In the year 1800 he received from the Governor and Couneil the appoint- ment of sheriff of the county. To this office he was com- mended by several of the leading men of the county as in every resj;)ect qualilied, "b}* possessing ability, property, repu- tation and integrity." The fact that he was a bachelor was, it is said, a cause cf hesitation on the part of Governor Jay, THE FIEST CHARTER OF UTICA. lOT who "disliked a man that did not boil his own pot.'' The appointment was conferred, however, and soon afterward Mr. Brodhead removed to Utica. In August of the following year, it was required of him to officiate at the first execution which took place in the county. The criminal was an Indian, a na- tive of Montauk Point, but who with the remnant of his tribe and the fragments of other coast tribes, formed a new one called the Brothertons. He was convicted of having killed his wife and was hung on the hill west of Whitesboro in presence of a large assembly of people. Rev. Samuel Kirkland, the celebra- ted Indian missionary, was the spiritual comforter of the crim- inal, and prayed for him in the Oneida language, while several Indians were near and sang psalms in their native tongue. The sheriff had scruples about evading a duty, and rather than have the execution performed by a deputy, he himself attached the halter to the neck of the prisoner and let go the drop. When the construction of the Erie canal was resolved on, the surveyor general was charged with the preliminary surveys, and Mr. Brodhead was, in the year 1816, entrusted by him with the eastern section, extending from Albany to Rome, a part of the work of greater extent, importance and difficulty than any other, and requiring great discretion, science and practical skill. That his report and plan evinced the judgment and ability which Mr. DeAYitt expected of him, no practical engineer will, at this day, deny. One fact will fully demonstrate this, after Mr. Brod- head had made his preliminary survey and report, he retired from the work, and it was committed to other hands. His suc- cessors changed several of his levels, bringing them down nearer to the level of the Mohawk river ; but in the progress of the enlargment of the canal, the rectification of the levels brought them whei'c Mr. B.'s report had suggested. He was himself fully persuaded that his original suggestions must, in the end, be adopted, and that a large amount of money would have been saved to the State had there been no deviation from his plan. From the earliest period of his residence here, Mr. Brodhead was often called on to survey lands for individuals both in town and county. His accuracy of work was much confided in, and numerous are the land holders of the vicinity who are indebted to him for the carefully executed and trustworthy maps which define the limits of their property. His familiar accjuaintance 108 THE PIOXEERS OF UTICA. witli lands lying within the confines of the city, and tlieir suc- cessive ownerships and partitions rendered him an undisputed authorit}^ on all questions of local boundaries In la3ung out the lines of the Bleecker and other estates, which Utica now embraces, he manifested ingenuity, as well as care, in attaining correctness of measurement At that time the instruments chiefly employed in measuring, were the rod and the chain. For the purpose of determining horizontal distances on an inclined surface, he devised an expedient of his own : he used rods with sliding upright pieces at either end. To one of these perpen- diculars he attached a cord beset with pins at equal intervals, and stretched it over the rod, as the latter lay upon the ground, towards its further end. And thus he ascertained from the cord the horizontal distance, at the same time that he learned fi'om the rod the distance along the surface of the ground. Mr. Brod- head was one of the commissioners, who, with William Jones, Morris S. Miller, E. S. Cozier and E. S. Barnum, ran the lines of the town of Utica when it was set off from Whitestown, in 1817. From this period he ceased to act professionally, except when Mr. DeWitt, in the fullness of his confidence, pressed him into the service of the State to execute some work demanding great accuracy and prudent negotiations. For a few of his more cherished friends, he would consent to run the lines of their estates, but otherwise engaged in no occupation, and for thirty years lived almost a recluse. Previous to the war of 1812, he had accumulated a com23etent fortune, but had invested a large jDortion in business, becoming a partner with "William B. Savage, a merchant of this village and of Ellisburgh. The reaction of the peace caused the failure and dissolution of the firm. By economy and prudence, as well as by the rise in tlie value of real estate, he however retrieved his loss, so that for the last twenty years of his life he lived in comparative affluence. His character was a singular one, and full of contradictory qualities : while there was much that was praiseworthy, there were blemishes also, and these ofttimes so obscured the picture as to hide from view its real excellence. Possessed of a high sense of honor and inflexible in integrity, he spurned anything that deviated from rectitude. When, on one occasion, there was pending in one of our Legislatures a bill, wholly reasonable and just, the enactment of which would be especially beneficial THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 109 to himself, he was strongly urged to aid its passage by the gift of some small douceur to those who might be likely to oppose it. To all entreaty he was resolute in refusal, and while admitting that he had much at stake in the bill, declared that he would not give one cent for a bribe. At another time, such was his conscientiousness, that he parted with his interest in the canal packet boats, because the company would run their boats on Sunday, sold stock that was bringing three hundred per cent., and took part in a new week-day line. lie knew men well and selected his friends with judgment. His own mind was too noble to treat with friendship any one devoid of honesty, or regardless of the great moral obligations. Strongly social in his tastes, when in his prime he was a favorite with the gentle- men who were his compeers, and his ringmg laugh might be heard at all the dinner parties that were so abundant in days gone by. A note from Colonel Walker to one of his friends, inviting him to come and take a dish of asparagus with him, seems incomplete without the added injunction to bring Brod- head along, for Brodhead was in truth a companion to be de- sired.* And if in later years his visits were more restricted, his relish for the society of his intimates was still unabated, and his com- pany, so long, at least, as he was in humor, as highly prized. For, if the truth must be told, he was, as age advanced, cheer- ful only when the fit was on him ; but when his moodiness was in the ascendant, he was crusty in the extreme, and fell out even with his dearest friends. With or without sufficient cause, he would take a pique, which for months together would restrain him from the commonest courtesy towards the ofiiender, and then as suddenly he would resume the old relations. In the fits of despondency to which he was subject, there was no one who could cheer him like the sister of his landlady, and on her he was accustomed to call, insisting at times on her presence when * And when we read of the dinner he is to have and reflect upon what a delicacy asparagus must have been in a country where gardens were rare, and markets for vegetables not yet in being, we bethink ourselves of the meal of dog's meat he once partook of while among the Indians. Never suspecting what he had eaten, he spied while getting into a canoe to take his departure, the head and entrails of the animal still lying on the shore, and in response to his inquiry, learned that they were the remains of what had been prepared for his breakfast. 110 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. . her duties made it inconvenient that she should respond. On one of these occasions, ^vord came that she must go at once to Mr. Brodliead, that he was dying and would sec her immedi- ately. "Tell him," said she in reply, "that he must wait 'till I get my tarts out of the oven." The tarts w^ere baked and taken out, and when Miss D. started to minister to the afflicted suf- ferer, she found that his hufhness had woi'ked a cure, for he was below stairs in the reading room. When past middle life, and under the influence of the revival that attended the preaching of Rev. Mr. Finney, Mr. Brodhead made a profession of re- ligion, and became beyond doubt a sincere and humble follower of his Saviour. He united with the Presbyterian Church, and when shortly afterwards the Reformed Dutch Church was or- ganized, he attached hmiself to it and was one of its ardent sup- porters. Yet so emotional and impulsive was he, so little were his feelings under control, that his surliness would betray itself in the most unseemly times and places ; and even his church associates were not beyond the range of his testy outbursts. A single incident will show the estimate formed of him by a casual acquaintance. He was sitting one day in the bar room of Bagg's Hotel in company with several gentlemen, who were engaged in animated conversation. Among them was M. Yicat, a polished Frenchman, then temporarily resident, who took a prominent part in the conversation, and was gesticulating with all the animation of his countrymen. During a brief pause, Mr. Brodhead was overheard to mutter: "Monkey !" "Vat is dat you say — monkey?" retorted the Frenchman, "monkey is bet- ter dan cross old bear." By way of apology for his humiliating infirmity, let it be borne in mind that much of his earlier life was passed chiefly among his subordinates, accustomed to yield in everything to his commands ; moreover, he was never mar- ried, and thus taught, by the discipline of mutual forbearance and support, to shape his inclinations to those of others. In his declining years, while feeling keenW the void occasioned b}' the departure of the associates of middle life, there was none to com- fort him in his loneliness, to calm his perturbations, and to assist him. in the exercise of that self-control, the want of which caused him many bitter regrets and much humble penitence. These years were passed in public boarding houses, where those he met, intent each on his individual interests, were apt to be neg- THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. Ill ligent of the courtesies of domestic life, or perchance took pleas- ure in wounding the morbid sensibilities of a solitary old bachelor. Mr. Brodhead died at the National Hotel, after a ]»ainful illness, September 10, 1852, aged eighty. Under date of July iOth, 1800, there appeared in the Colum- hian Gazette the following announcement : ''Archibald Kane and Jeremiah Van Eensselaer, Jr., under tlie firm name of Kane & Van Rensselaer, have opened a house at Utica, where may be had a general assortment of dry goods and gi'oceries on moderate terms." This brief announcement preludes the establishment here of one branch of a wideh' ramified and prosperous mercan- tile house that long held a leading place in the village, and which, from its far-reaching and successful enterprise, was well known throughout the State. Its resident member and his fam- ily were conspicuous in society, and contributed Ijy their intel- ligence and refinement, by their liberality, pulilic spirit and moral purity, not less than by their wealtli and aristocratic con- nections, not a few of tliose traits that gave a charm to early Utica. Mr. Kane, it is true, never lived in the place, and was known to its inhabitants only in his business relations. But as elder member of the firm, and still more as intimately allied in marriage both with Jeremiah Yan Rensselaer and his brother James, an adjunct of the house, his memory is linked with our annals. The courtesy of John C. Van Rensselaer, son of the last named, has supplied me with many of the particulars of the family story. Those which concern the Kanes he has drawn from a communication made to him by the Hon. Chancellor Kent, their near relation. A few years before the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, there was living in the southeast of Dutchess, now a part of Putnam county, N. Y., witliin the compass of a dozen miles, a polished and delightful familj- connection. Its head, and the venerable patriarch of the parish, was Rev. Elisha Kent, a Pres- byterian minister. He was educated at Yale College, and had been minister of the Oblong, so called, near the town of South- East, since about the year 17-10. Near him lived his son, Hon. Moss Kent, the father of Chancellor Kent, and not far distant his four sons-in-law. Three of these were thrifty country ti-aders, and one a Scotch officer of the lr2d Highlanders, livine" on his lialf 112 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. pay. Among the former were John Kane, father of the Kane of whom we are to treat, and Charles Cullen, whose daughter became afterwards the wife of James Van Rensselaer. They were both natives of Ireland, and both had been brought up as merchants. " Here, then,'' says the Chancellor, "on a line of twelve miles lived uncle Cullen, on Croton river, where he had a very pleasant and, for that day, elegant house and store, — next grandfather Kent, on a fine farm with house and orchard situated on high ground, — next my father, — next uncle Mor- rison, a Scotch merchant, — next uncle Grrant, and next uncle Kane, a prosperous merchant in Pawling Precinct, near (Quaker Hill. From 1760 to 1776 they were living most respectable and happ3^ as a family circle ; but alas ! tlie American war came on and dispersed them. All of them, (my grandfather exce})ted, who died in 1776,) were shipwrecked in their business and for- tunes by the tempest of the Revolution.'' The Kents and the Cullens took sides with the Color ies. Grrant, recalled to service, fell at the storming of Fort Montgomery. Mi-. Kane adhered to the crown and forfeited his possessions, for which he was in part remunerated by the British Government. After the war he removed to the Province of New Brunswick, whence after a time he returned to settle in New York city. His sons in their turn embarked in commerce. John Kane, the eldest, established an extensive business in New York ; his brother James located himself in Albany, Charles in Schenectady, while Archibald, associating himself with Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, who had married his sister, opened a branch of the house at Canajoharie. Another brother of this adventurous and thriving family was Elisha Kane, who married Alida, sister of the Van Rensselaers, and settled himself in Philadelphia. He was the father of Hon. John K. Kane, and grandfather of Dr. Kane, the Arctic ex- plorer. Still another l)rother was Elias wlio was also doing bus- iness as a merchant at Whitesboro, as early at least as 1792, and was the father of Hon. Elias K. Kane, of Illinois. Of the sis- ters of this family, Maria married Judge Joseph C. Yates, after- ward Governor of New York, and anotlier Thomas Morris, son of the famous banker of the Revolution, and himself a law3'erof much personal consequence at Canandaigua. Having thus traced one member of the firm until they were united in business at Canajoharie, let us now see who was his THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 118 partner. Jeremiali Van Rensselaer, Ji-., was descended from tlie Greenbush braiicli of the noted proprietary family of Rensse- laerswyck. His father, the grandson of the fourth Patroon, was General Robert Van Rensselaer, of Claverack, who fought in the Revolution, and afterward filled with honor many public offices. Jeremiah, when a boy, lived for a time with Major General Philip Schuyler, who was the husband of his father's sister. General Schuyler, who was an adej)t in the exact sci- ences and versed in them from an early age, wished to train him as an engineer. But the youth found the stud}^ and exercise in figures distasteful and irksome to him, and one day, being examined by his uncle, proved so untractable or indifferent that the General, Mdio was a stern man and impatient of any lack of effort or want of success, became vexed and called him "block- head." This so enraged the high-spirited nephew that he at once left the house and returned to his father's to continue his education in company with his brother. We have seen that Elisha Kane, of Philadelphia, had married his sister ; he himself was afterward united to Sybil Adaline Kane ; John Kane was now a prosperous merchant in New York. Some one or moj'e of these circumstances resulted in Jeremiah's engaging in mer- cantile pursuits. Uniting with Archibald Kane, he settled at Canajoharie, Montgomery county, in 1795. Here they soon commanded a trade which was the largest in the interior of the State. Their house and store, known as " Arch Hall,'" was still standing a very few years since. With them as as- sistants were James Van Rensselaer and John Cullen, nephew of Mr. Kane. Ere long, however, encroachments were made upon their custom by stirring rivals at Utica, and they deter- mined to repair thither. Mr. Kane did not, as we have said, himself remove, though he contimied a partner in the house. The store here was conducted by Mr. Van Rensselaer, assisted at the outset by his brother James, with whom was presently associated Fortune C. White, and subsequently many later clerks. It was situated on the east side of Genesee, a little north of the corner of Broad, and was graced by the sign of the "Eagle."' It was oblong m shape, presenting its broader side to the street. When on the laying out of Broad street, its upper end was found to encroach upon the projected higlnvay, and it became necessary to turn it half way round, this was H 114 THE pioxep:rs of utica. accomplislied by balancing the building on a cannon ball as a pivot, after which it was easily swung into place. The store soon became popular and the business an extended one. From the relations maintained with the parent house in New York and its several branches, the partners must have had facilities in importing goods and in shipping and selling produce, as well as in the use of capital, which were enjoyed by few if any of their competitors. Theirs, too, was the fountain head whence many a country store drew its constant supplies. They adver- tised freely and constantly, occupying a conspicuous place in the weekly papers for a long series of 3'ears. At the begirming of their career in Utica the most dangerous rival with whom the}' had to contend was Bryan Johnson, and old settlers relate with zest the strife that prevailed between them. That the con- testants could sometimes unite in pursuance of their common interest, the following expedient to bring down the jDrice of wheat, if it is to be relied on as true, may be cited as a sample. "When wheat, at one time was, through competition, rated much above its real value, Messrs. K. & V. E. sent out by night upon the New Hartford road several wagon loads of the article. These coming in by daylight were driven to the store of Johnson, who, after considerable chaffering, would become the purchaser. Mr. Van Kensselaer built himself an elegant mansion on what were then the outskirts of the village, on grounds as remarkable for then* extent as for the taste expended upon them. They were situated on the east side of Genesee street, and included nearly the whole space that is now bounded by Devereux, Genesee, Caruahan and Charlotte. The main entrance to them was by a large gate- way at what is now the junction of Genesee and Devereux. The house which was a wooden one, painted white, with two oval wings, was situated some hundred feet back from the street and was approached by a circular drive to the right and the left. The grounds were well laid out and ornamented with shade irees. In the rear were stables and a nicely kept garden. Here Mr. A^an Rensselaer lived during the most of his career, in the enjoyment of am})le means, dispensing abundant hospitality, and making the nearest ap- proach of any person to Colonel Walker in his personal and family equipments. But when several years of prosperity had rolled over him tliere came at length a chan the Columbian Gazette : " His knoMm integ- rity, his independence of sentiment, his unassuming manners^ and practical good sense, were equalities which recommended him to the electors of Oneida, as their representative in the State Assembly for many years and (lualitied liini for the seat which he some time held in the Court of Connnon Pleas. For a considerable period he executed the duties of a mtigistrate in this village with great correctness and to universal acceptance." As early as Febi-uary, 180-1, he was installed as landlord of the THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 151 Cofiee House, a well-known public house which occupied the ground now covered by the Devereux block, and therein remained a number of years. Later he lived nearly opposite, on the site of the Franklin House, now covered by the Arcade. And there he died March 17, 1821, at the age of sixty-five. As he had lived with the uninterrupted respect and kind regard of his fellow citizens, so his sudden departure by a stroke of apoplexy was followed by unaffected regret. His sons were Joshua, John H. and Nicholas ; his daughters, Harriet J. (Mrs. Walter Grerman, of Norwich,) died 1819; Clara, died of cholera in 1832 ; and Maria. Dr. Marcus Hitchcock came with his father from New Haven ^ Conn., to New Hartford. N. Y., and there studied medicine with Dr. Amos G. Hull. After removing to Utica he began to prac- tice, but was not satisfied with the profession, and soon opened a drug store in company with Dr. John Carrington. The latter was a brother and brief successor of Dr. Samuel Carrington, whose abrupt departure in 1802 has been previously told. When Dr, John gave up to him. Dr. H's store was on the east side of Genesee street below Broad. But soon afterward, that is to say, in 1805^ he moved across the street, to No. 38, a few doors above the corner of Whitesboro. Here was kept also the post office, which fell to him with the drug business of his predecessor, and of which he was the official head from July 1, 1803, down to January 21, 1828. And here was the chief place of gathering of all the inhabitants of Utica and its immediate surroundings. At the coming of the daily mails all who looked for letters or papers, all who sought to hear or to tell what was new, repaired to the office, and clustering about the more knowing or voluble talkers, assisted in the discussion of matters local, national or cosmopolitan ; appointments were made or kept, bargains nur- tured, nominations counselled, candidates pilloried and election- eering furthered. Strangers became known among the cits,. young men were informed and encouraged by their elders, and a friendly oneness of interest was constantly fostered. And here it was, as tradition asserts, that once when Utica was young, though how young we are not quite assured, there occurred an incident like this : A group of townsmen were talking of the advancement of their place and wondering whereto it yet might 152 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. grow, when Erastus Clark, that sage and trusted senior, ven- tured boldly to declare that lie expected the town would yet contain live thousand people. A prophecy so wild, out-reach- ing far their fondest hopes, encountered only universal laughter and derision. During the war Dr. Hitchcock acted at times as agent and paymaster of the government. For twenty-five years he continued to deal in drugs, and was largel}' concerned in the sale of patent medicines. Among others which he sold were the Welsh medicamentum, catarrh snuff, odontica, and many, many more. The first named article, which was in considerable demand and for a long time held in high repute, was an inven- tion of his own, but named, by permission, in honor of Dr. Roberts, of Steuben, a physician of celebrity among the Welsh settlers of the northern part of Oneida county. Dr. Hitchcock was stout, corpulent and phlegmatic. He failed in l)usiness, and was charged with being a defaulter to govern- ment. A suit was brought against him but the verdict went in his favor. In 1836 he removed to Ten-e Haute, Ind., where he died about 1853. His wife, to whom he was married July 1, 1807, was daughter of David Trowbiidge, to be noticed shortly. They went to house-keeping in the house yet standing on tlie southeast corner of Main and First. He afterwards built the house that stands on the south-west corner of Whitesboro and Washington. His children were John W., a physician of Mount Vernon, 111. ; Marcus, a druggist, deceased ; Cornelia, (Mrs. Wood,) deceased ; James,, deceased ; Andrew, a lawyer in New York, deceased ; Mary, (Mrs. Cookerl}-,) also de- ceased. In July, 1803, a partnership in the practice of medicine and in the sale of drugs was effected between Dr. Francis Guiteau, Jr., and Dr. Solomon Wolcott, Jr. This Dr. Wolcott, a native of Colchester, Conn., and born on the first of March, 1769, was a son of Solomon, and a descendant in the sixth generation of the Henry Wolcott who came from Somersetshire, England, with Winthrop's emigration in 1630, and in 1636 took part in the founding of AVindsor, Conn., — the head of the numerous family of AVolcotts in the United States, the progenitor of two or three governors of C< )niK'Cl icut, and of other eminent persoiis. Study- ing medicine with ])r. Hastings, of New London, Dr. Wolcott THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 153 settled himself in Williamstown, Mass. There by the exercise of his profession and by the purchase and sale of bounty lands given to the soldiers of the Revolution, he acquired some prop- erty, and there he was married. Thence he was drawn to Utica, chiefly by the persuasion of his former fellow townsman, Nathan Williams, although his coming in 1803 was not his first visit to " the Whitestown country," nor this his first acquaintance with Dr. Guiteau, having already seen him in 1792, when the latter was located in Rensselaer county. Their partnership formed, the shop and office they occupied was situated near where once stood the office of the county clerk, that is to say close to the intersection of Burchard and Whites- boro streets. On the opposite side of the latter street and ad- joining the site of the present Globe hotel, each built himself a house. After Dr. Guiteau withdrew. Dr. Wolcott removed to the east side of Genesee, a few doors above the corner of the square, where his store was known by the sign of the Good Samaritan. Within less than two years he had taken with him his brother Waitstill H., and another remove brings him to the stand now occupied by B. F. Ray, on the corner of Genesee and Whitesboro. During this time, he had been physician and druggist, but more of the latter, his advertisements finding a place in every newspaper issue. But relinquishing his trade in 1813 to his brother, who now had John Williams as an associ- ate, he devotes himself rather to practice. In 1814 he had a brief partnership with Dr. Daniel Barker, and in April, 1815, was appointed garrison surgeon's mate in charge of the hospital, established for the relief of the government soldiers, the care of whom he had already had for some months. About the same time, he was made one of the judges of Common Pleas. Toward the close of the war he became interested as a silent partner with William Gaylord in dealings in crockery. They made exports of cotton and imported crockery and other articles in return, for which purpose Mr. Gaylord visited England and brought out the goods, but mysteriously disappeared shortly after his arrival. The venture was ill-timed, for money had become exceedingl}^ scarce and a remunerative sale was out of the question. To aid him in his operations and in building a house, Dr. W. had borrowed at the Bank of Utica, of which he was a director, $16,500, giving his note and ample security. 154 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Unable to meet it at maturity and pressed bv liis endorser, he gave him judgment, by the advice of a friend, and thereby alien- ated an estate that was appraised at §100,000. In 1801 he had bought the farm originally settled by John D. Petrie, next east of Matthew Hubbell, and to it had added another by a subse- quent purchase. There, about the time of his embarrassment, he built the large wooden house where some ten years afterward was opened the Utica High School, the building that is now oc- cupied by William Brady. From the date of his failure, he declined in cheerfulness and in strength, and, being seized wath acute illness, he sank to his grave the same year in which he moved into his house. His death occurred October 30, 1818, at the age of forty-nine. A previous erection of his was the brick house still standing on the south-west corner of Broad and Second streets. An obituary notice declares of Dr. Wolcott, that he was "a steady friend and firm supporter of all the religious, moral and political institutions of our country," and that "he discharged with fidelity all the social and public duties of life." To this we can only subjoin that he was a much valued member of the community, that in person he was large and fine looking, of staid habits and grave demeanor, and that among the institu- tions wholly local in which he was most deeply interested were the Bank of Utica, the Utica Academy, and the Presbyterian Church. His wife, Abigail Butler, of Pittsfield, Mass., filled a useful place in the church aforesaid, and was a woman of character. She afterwards became the wife of Rev. William Woodbridge, of Utica, and died May 20, 1835. The children of Dr. Wolcott, besides the three oldest, who died in childhood, were Horace B., who died at twenty-two in 1829 ; Sidney H., now living at Addison, Steuben county, N. Y., and Solomon B., who resided at Addison until his death, September 11, 1860. His parents made a home witli him during the latter years of their life, and here his mother died July 17, 1822. Waitstill H., his brother, removed early from the [)lace, and died in 1833. Thomas Walker was born in Rehoboth, Mass., November 18, 1777. He was of an old New England family, and his father held a lieutenant's commission in the war of the Revolu- tion. After acquiring an education whose solidity and thor- THE FIEST CHARTER OF UTICA. 155 oiigliness adorned his life, he learned the trade of a printer with Isaiah Thomas of Worcester, one of the most eminent of the craft, and author of the well known History of Printing in America. He came to Oneida county with enterprise and in- dustry, here to seek his fortune and help in building up the nascent civilization. In conjunction with his brother-in-law, Ebenezer Eaton, also of Worcester, he started, at Rome, a news- paper called the Columbian Patriotic Gazette. This was on the i7th of August, 1799. The Western Centinel had been estab- lished at Whitesboro in 179-1, the Whitestown Gazette at Xew Hartford in 1796. This was, therefore, the third newspaper published in the county. They brought the printing materials with them, and hired a man in Rome to make a Ramage press, and on this the paper was printed. The publication price was one dollar and a half. Advertisements not exceeding twelve lines were inserted three weeks for seventy-five cents, and con- tinued for twelve and a half cents per week. Mr. Eaton was connected with the paper about eighteen months. In March, 1803, through the influence of personal and politi- cal friends, Mr. Walker removed his paper to Utica, called it the Columhian Gazette, and made it a supporter of the adminis- tration of Thomas Jefferson. The first number of this weekly sheet appeared March 21. Its dimensions were ten and a half by twelve inches, and the paper was coarse and dingy. The second page and about one half of the third, was devoted to for- eign news, editorials, and communications ; the remainder was filled with advertisements. The office was located about 14 Genesee street. Its sign was a large square one, containing a portrait of Benjamin Franklin,— the familiar one, which repre- sents him with his chin resting on his hand, and his spectacles pushed back upon the forehead. As editor as well as publisher^ Mr. Walker conducted the Gazette for twenty-two j^ears, secur- ing success by his enterprise and faithful devotion to business. He wrote little himself, but exercised good judgment in his selections, and was assisted by able contributors. He also dealt to some extent in the sale of books. A large share of the population whom he wished to reach with his paper, resided at the north as far as Lewis and Jeffer- son counties, and there were then no post routes, and no com- munication thither, except by chance passengers. In order to 156 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. surmount these difficulties and circulate the paper, lie set about establishing post routes to these far northern settlements. From Post Master General Granger he obtained authority to establish them -wherever the}' could be self-sustaining. Commissions were made out in blank and sent to Mr. Walker, who, with Silas Stowe, a prominent resident of what is now Le^Yis county, and for some years a meml)erof congress of the district in which he was a resident, was clothed with full power to designate post masters and contract for the conveyance of the mails. Few pub- lications were issued from his office besides the paper. The only ones of which we have any knowledge were some almanacs and pamphlets, a Western Gazetteer (1817), and a translation of Rodolph Tillier s Justification of the Administration of Castor- land. About 1815-16, Eliasaph Dorchester was for a time associated with him. As apprentices he had nearly at the same time a Milo, a Thurlovv and a Pliilo. These were Milo Tracy, Thurlow Weed and Philo White. Other apprentices were 'Thomas H. Clark, William Sickles, &c. During the war of 1812-15, Mr. Walker held the position of •collector of United States revenue for this district ; a position which it so happened that his son, Thomas R, was the first to hold after the late war of the Rebellion. He was a democrat in all the forming days of the government. In the Clintonian struggle in this State, he took sides with DeWitt Clinton, was afterwards a whig, and latterly a republican. In 1825 Mr. Walker sold the Gazette to Samuel D. Dakin and William J. Bacon, l)y whom it was united with the /Shitinel, under the title of the Sentinel and Gazette. These gentlemen having purchased also the Patriot^ the successor of Mr. McLean's paper, there were thus brought together the remains of the three earliest papers of the county. Mr. Walker was one of the directors named in tlie charter of the Bank of Utica. For several years he was its vice-president, and in 1845, when Henry Huntington declined a reelection, he was chosen its president, and was annually reelected up to the time of his death. He was also, for many years, president of the Savings Bank, and was the first treasurer and the fourth president of the trustees of the Utica Academy. He was a man of singular modesty, simplicity and purity of character. So unobtrusive was he, that few of those who met THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 157 him knew how warm hearted and public spirited he was. x\.nd yet in these particulars, as well as in his strong practical sense and his sterling integrity, he had few superiors. His method and accuracy in business were remarkable. He cared well for his own affairs, but declined any investment that promised more than seven per cent ; deeming this the only just as well as safe return. A man of strict religious principle, his practice accorded with his profession. For many years he was trustee of the Pres- bvterian Church. He was also prominent among the fraternity of the Free Masons. His death occurred June 13, 1863, in his eighty-sixth year. Mrs. Walker, his wife, was Mary Eaton, of Worcester, Mass.^ sister of his first partner, and related to General Eaton, who dis- tinguished himself in the war in Tripoli. Her death took place many years before that of her husband ; but not before she had been the mother of seven children, all of whom filled positions of respectability and usefulness. They were Mary (Mrs. John H. Ostrom), William, a hardware merchant in Utica, and after- wards a banker in New York, where he still resides ; Louisa (Mrs. Charles E. Hardy), now of Ithaca; Thomas R, until re- cently of Utica, and now of New Haven, Conn. ; George, still residing in Utica ; James, a civil engineer of much promise, who died September 30, 1843 ; Susan (who married the Eev. Dr. Alexander M. Mann, of the Reformed Dutch Church), died December 6, 1833, three months after her marriage. John H. Lothrop,- — lawyer, farmer, editor, merchant, the sec- ond time a lawyer, and last and longest a banker, — found in the exercise of his pen the calling most suited to his genius, and which he most persistently practiced ; while he followed banking for his bread, it was in the role of editor that he chiefly excelled, as it is in that of the genial and polished gentleman, the witty man of society, that he is the longest and most lov- ingly remembered. Born May 1, 1769, in New Haven, Conn., he was educated at Yale College, graduating in 1787. A classmate therein of Dr. Azel Backus, who became president of Hamilton College, he was associated with him in the management of a school at Weathersfield. He studied law with Judge Hosmer of Hart- ford, practiced a short time at Middletown, and then bent his 158 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. course to the south. There he was engaged chiefly in land speculation, and spent much time in the neighborhood of Savan- nah, sojourning in part with General Greene, of revolutionary menior}'. Acquiring some landed estate, he returned to the north, and influenced, as is probable, by his friendly association with Col. George W. Kirkland, son of Eev. Samuel Kirkland of Clinton, whom he had met at the south, he came to Oneida county. This was in 1795 or 1796. In Februaiy 1797, he married Miss Jerusha Kirkland, and began the career of gentle- man farmer at Oriskan}', occupying the house aftei'wards well known as the Green place. Within less than a year he became insolvent b}^ indorsing for his brothei'-in-law. Col. Kirkland, and parting with his farm, went upon the limits. His first employ- ment afterward was that of copyist in the office of the county clerk. In 1803 he assumed the editorship of the Whitesiown Gazette and Catds Patrol., at that time relinquished by Mr. McLean. Its name he changed to the Utica Patriot., and settled hunself in Utica to conduct it The following year, in company with Ralph W. Kirkland, he seems to have made a short essay in trade, at least their names appear in a single announcement to that effect. The editorship of the paper filling up neither his time nor his pockets, he served also as deputy in the office of the supreme court clerk. His residence at his coming, was in the rear of the printing office opposite Broad street, and next on the east side of Genesee, a couple of doors above where the canal afterwards i-an. But, getting more prosperous, he built about 1809, the fine house which has of late been the home of A. B. Johnson, and now of his sou. This he sold in 1811. when having disposed of his interest in the })aper, he removed to New Hartford. He remained there about five years, striving to earn his livelihood by the practice of law ; but having been appointed cashier of the Ontario Branch Bank, he came back to Utica to assume the duties. And these formed his principal enqDloy- ment for the remainder of his days, whfle he still continued to contribute to the Patriot or its successor almost to the close of his daj's. Mr. Lothrop was not fond of legal pursuits, though he had the capacity which might have given him eminence in them. For, as the possessor of rare natural gifts, improved by diligent reading, he had few superiors in the county. He was expert THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 159 as a writer of fluent and graceful English, enlivened by playful fancy and lively wit, and chastened by a cultured taste. He had facilit}^ also in the making of verse and considerable repute in its exercise. The following conplet, alleged to be his, that has long floated in the memory of one of his contemporaries, is cer- tainly worth}' of preservation : "Man Lurries on, too busy to be wise, 'Till sage reflection in bis bosom dies." The only one of Mr. Lothrop's poetical pieces we have seen, is a rhyming liistory of a re-union of the democrats of Oneida county in 1801, to make merr}- over the election of Mr. Jefferson, and of the sad mishap that blocked their fun. Its interest is rather political than literary, yet the verse is smooth and the humor quite amusing. 'After having shown us how "Tbe rabble all in council met To plan a democratic fete," it tells how, at earlj- dawn, "Crawl'd forth two demos, torcb in baud, To roar their thunder through the land," and how, — "The gun, — a fed'ralist, I trow, A terror to Columbia's foe, Took its flight Protected by the friendly night. Without the aid of cart or carter, And dove six feet right under water." A messenger was despatched and another cannon obtained, but "0 transient gleam! misfortunes new Befell the democratic crew! A rat-tail file dropt from the skies, And plug'd the gun before their eyes." Mr. Lothrop's social tastes led him much into company, and his cheerful temper, his well stored mind, his flashing wit and magnetic humor, made him an ever favored visitor, and his house a delightful place of resort. He was often called on to sing, to play, or to enact the mimic, in all of which he had un- usual skill, and heav}- though he was, he danced with a light and springy step. Many of his pleasant stories, told in the presence of Hackett the Utica merchant, were afterwai'ds re- hearsed on the stage by Hackett the actor. He would, says Judge Bacon,* at any time have set not the table onlj', but the * Early Bar of Oneida. 160 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. largest masses in a roar of uncontrollable merriment. These "fine -powers and capacities would have given him, he thinks, high reputation as a jury lawyer, and he is persuaded that had Mr. L. remained in the profession, he would have made a distin- guished mark. Such engaging talents concurring with real excellence of character bn^ught him popularity and influence. Yet he was not often in office. He was one of the first board of trustees of Hamilton College and for a long time their secre- tarv. The family intercourse was tender and affectionate, where he was as loving as beloved. His jiersonal appearance was- strikmg, and would anywhere have marked him as conspicuous am -ng his fellows. He was not above the medium height, though his figure, from his generally credited love of the good things of life, was unusually large ; but his features were regular and handsome, and his expression intelligent, benevolent and refined. He died June 15, 1829. Mrs. Lothro|), the daughter of the Rev Samuel Kirkland, tlie well-known missionary to the Oneidas, was also a direct descend- ant, in the maternal line, from Captain Miles Standish, the pil- grim. She was born at Stockbridge, Mass., January 8, 1776. She inherited, in a lil)eral measure, the uncommon constitu- tional strength and vivacity of her father, and also partook largely of his spirit of love and charity to all men. No lady ever filled a more prominent position in the society of Utica, and her contemporaries used to tell with fond remembrance, of the brilliant combination of wit, beauty, vivacity and vigor, which, in her prime, centred in Mrs. Lothrop. When she died, February 20, 1862, age and its infirmities had long obscured the relations she once bore to general society. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Lothrop, for the most part little less conspicuous than their parents, were as follows : Charles Kirkland, died Septem- ber 1819, at the age of twenty, just as he had graduated with eclat at Hamilton College; Cornelia Greene (first wife of Chas. P. Kirkland) ; Hev. Samuel Kirkland, D. I)., pastor since June, 183-4, of the Brattle Street Church, Boston, author of history of that Church, Life of Rev. Samuel Kirkland, Proceedings of an Ecclesiastical Council, &c. ; Mar}^ Ann (widow of Ednmnd A. Wetmore); Frances Ehza (widow of John IF. liathrop, late president of Missouri University); William Kirkpatrick, secre- tary of Washington Lisurance Company, N. Y. ; John Thorn- THE FIEST CHARTER OF UTICA. IGl ton, former commander of Texan navy, died August 14, 184-i; Sarah Parsons (Mrs. Grage), died 1856. One of the printers and pubhshers of Mr. Lothrop's paper was Ira Merrell. He was the son of Bildad Merrell, who came into the county in 1798, and lived at first in New Hartford and afterward in Holland Patent. This was the first of four of his sons who made their home in Utica, and who all reared fami- lies, of which scarce a member now remains. Ira learned the printer's art with William McLean, and when the latter dis- posed of his paper in 1803, he joined his fellow apprentice, Asahel Seward, in printing it under the editorship of Mr. Lothrop, and continued with him about three years. Some time afterward he was for five or six years foreman of Seward & Williams, and printed for them this same Patriot^ when they w^ere its proprietors. A later paper on which he did the press work was the Western Recorder^ published by Merrell & Hastings, — that is to say his brother Andrew and Charles Hast- ings — and edited b}^ Thomas Hastings, the brother of Charles. He also printed a good deal on his own account. Among his issues were a Welsh hymn book (1808) that was edited by Eev. Daniel Morris, with the assistance of other Welsh preachers of the Independents ; a catechism also in Welsh ; a reprint of Divine Hymns and Spiritual Songs, by Joshua Smith and others, with additions and alterations by William and Emanuel Nor- throp (1809) ; an Abridgment of Milnor's Church History, by Rev. Jesse Townshend ; a volume of Sermons by Rev. Bell, &c. Though a very industrious person, Mr. Merrell was wanting in force. His eye-sight becoming poor he was forced to labor only as a compositor. He lacked skill also in jiecuniary manage- ment and failed to accumulate. He was eminent, however, for his piety and his amiability of temper, and in his domestic relations was a model worthy of imitation. He was a ruling elder of the Presbyterian Church. He lived in Utica thirty years, at least, and then removed to Geneva to take charge of the Geneva Courier. His wife was Nancy, daughter of Talcott Camp. His sons were John, Horace and Andrew ; his daugh- ters Ann and Harriet. Asahel Seward, eldest son of Colonel Nathan Seward of' New Hartford, was born in Waterbury Conn., August 19, 1781. L 162 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Apprenticed when iifteen years of age to William McLean, printer at New Hartford, he afterwards worked as a journe_T- man in different offices in New England and N. Y., — in that of Isaiah Thomas of Worcester, Mass., in an office in Boston, and in that of the Morning Chronicle of New York, of which the father of Washington Irving w^as then the proprietor. In the year 1803, in company with Ira Merrell, he bought of Mr. McLean, his interest in the Utica Patriot^ and removed to Utica to publish it. In this paper, under its varj-ing names of Patriot, Patriot and Patrol, and Utica Sentinel, \\e retained an, interest until 1824, successively with Mr. Merrell. with William Wil- liams, and still later, as one of the firm of Seward & Williams, with William H. Maynard. At this last named date the paper was sold to Samuel D. Dakin and William J. Bacon, the sellers giving a bond never to publish another paper in Utica. Under a claim that this bond had been violated, in consequence of permission having been given by their foreman, without their knowledge, to use their types and press in the preparation of a new paper, of which, however, only a single number appeared, the firm was subjected to a protracted and expensive litigation, that was terminated at the expense of Mr. Seward after the failure of his former partner. In October, 1806, he established a book printing house and bindery, and soon afterward opened also a book store. About the year 1814, he was joined in this enterprise by Mr. Williams, till then associated with him as a printer only. The house was a prosperous one, and for many years the chief publishing house west of Albany, or, if rivalled at all, it was by that of H. and E. Phinney of Cooperstown. The foundation for a respectable competency was early laid by the purchase from Noah Webster of the right to publish, in the western district of New York, his elementary spelling book. For fourteen years this was the leading feature of their busi- ness, affording an annual income of two thousand dollars. The other works they issued were chiefly school books, though not exclusivel}' so. The following, which are all that can now be recalled, form but a moderate number of their issues : Journal of William Moulton, containing an account of a four years voyage in the Pacific and South Seas, and bearing the imprint of 1804 ; Watts' Divine Songs, to which are added the Principles of the Christian Keligion expressed in j^lain and easy verses, THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 163 by P. Doddridge (1810); a poem entitled The Wanderer, or Horatio and Letitia (1811), a Livy (1813), two editions of the Musica Sacra of Thomas Hastings (2d, 1819), and the Spiritual Songs of the same author ; a Life of Cunningham ; a DaboU's Arithmetic ; Murray's English Grammar (1822), two editions of Murray's English Reader, (first in 1823), one of which was edi- ted by M. R. Bartlett, and contained an introductory essay on elocution; Sermons b}^ the Rev. Azel Backus, D. D.; Mont- gomery's Wanderer in Switzerland ; several stereotyped editions of the New Testament in the Houay version ; and numerous toy books and primers illustrated with wood cuts that were the product of Mr. Williams. An undertaking with which Messrs. Seward & Williams were connected, though fraught with much good to the reading public, was a formidable one for the times, and eventually proved the ruin of the parties most deeply engaged in it. As early as 1814 the firm became interested with a publishing house in Philadelphia, which, with an inadequate capital, began the republication of the Edinburgh Encyclopedia. From the narrowness of their means the work was necessarily slow in its progress, a volume appearing only at long intervals, so that its completion was protracted to about the year 1834. In the mean time subscribers died off or fell away, and the publishers were bereft of much of their anticipated profits. . After caus- ing the ruin of one firm, the work came into the hands of a second in the same city, which also gave way. Mr. Seward, in the mean time, had retu-ed, so that with the fall of the second house, Mr. Williams only was involved. After his withdrawal in 1824, Mr. Seward was not again actively engaged in business, but lived a quiet life in the beau- tiful place once occupied by Colonel Walker, and after him by Peter Bours. He and other members of his famih^ at New Hartford, were largely interested in the Capron Cotton Mills, established in 1814, and he was secretary of the compan}^ Though Mr. Williams was a strenuous advocate of anti-masonry, Mr. Seward was, on the contrary, the very back bone of the Masonic Lodge, and presented to it the Bible they still use. His death occurred January 30, 1835. His character is thus depicted in the Oneida Whig of that date, by Theodore S. Gold, its editor. " It would be easy to delineate Mr. Seward's charac- 164 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. ter; his integrit}' of conduct, liis singleness and benevolence of feeling, his purity of motive and simplicity of manner, could all be described wnthin a small compass. But it would be far more difficult to exhibit these qualities as illustrated throughout his life, and interwoven like " tlireads of gold" through the entire fabric of his existence. Religion was with him an ever-living and pure principle of action, prompting not alone his duties as a professed Christian, but controlling, tempering and chastening all the intercourse between him and his fellow men. Through the many years he lived among us no spot or blemish ever rested on his name. His integrity as a man, an4 his pietN' as a Christian were alike unquestioned. All the duties which soci- ety imposes he discharged with scrupulous fidelity; as a hus- band and a father no one could be more tender; as a friend few were found as faithful."' His wife, Martha Williams, was a native of Franiingham^ Mass., and a sister of his partner. She survived him thirty years, and died January, 1865. Their children were Thomas W., Alexander, James H., Nancy S., Amelia and Susannah W- The three sons are still in Utica. The daughters died young. William Williams was the son of Deacon Thomas Williams,, of Hoxbury, Mass., though he was born inFramingham in that State, October 12, 1787. With his father's family he migrated to New Hartford, in this county, and with Asahel Seward he remov- ed to Utica in 1803, and learned of him the trade of printing. About 1808 he became a partner in the business of printing, and at a later period the partnership was made to include bookselling likewise. Together they published the Ulica Patriot, and its successors, the Patriot and Patrol, and the Utica Sentinel, down to tlie year 1824. As publishers and dealers in a great variety of books, the firm were widely known, and were distinguished for their enterprise and their probity. The place of business was at No. 60 Genesee street, nearly on the site of the Utica Morning Herald. Their partnersliip was terminated in 1824, by the withdrawal of Mr. Seward, but the business in all its de- partments was actively carried on several years longer. Among the books issued by Mr. Williams, in addition to those which emanated fi-om the firm of Seward & Williams, were these: an edition of the New Testament (1832) ; Questions on the Gospel THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 165 Harmony, by Walter King ; Proceedings of tlie Synod of Dort ; Thomas Y. Howe's Letters in Vindication of Episcopacy ; Me- moir of Harriet Newell; Memoir of Andrew Sherburne ; a romance by Captain Charles Stewart, entitled, Parual of Liini Sing ; Artist's and Tradesman's Guide, by John Shepberd, (1827) : Light on Masonry ; a Young Lady's Astronomy, by M. R Bartlett; a Welsh hymn book, (1829), &c. About 1828 Mr. W. associated himself with Messrs. Balch and Stiles, who had commenced business in Utica as engravers. The firm issued bank notes for the L^tica and some western banks, and also maps of New York, Michigan, &c. Mr. Williams entered heartil}^ into the cause of anti-masonry, and became about 1829-30 the publisher of the Elvcidator^ a paper designed to advocate its p]-inci|)les, wliich was edited by B. B. Hotchkin. The EJucidator, like the '"Light on Masonry,"' above mentioned, detracted from in lieu of increasing his revenues ; but when to these causes of embarrassment there was added, as the consequence of the ill success of the American edition of the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, the failure of its pubhshers, Mr. Wil- liams was forced to succumb also. Two years later he removed to Tonawanda in Erie county. Some years before his death his brain became diseased, as the result of an injury received b}^ the overturning of a stage coach in which he was a passen- ger. From this time he declined gradually, and was for several y-ears shut off from society. He died on the 10th of June, 1850, in this city whither he had returned two or three j^ears before. Mr. Williams, while in health, was conspicuous among his townsmen for his warm interest and his efhciencv in all matters that concerned the general welfare. His time was all given either to business, or to some public enterprise, or to some relig- ious or moral mission. Though a lover of peace, and fruit- ful in the works of peace, he was an ardent patriot, and could not be negligent of his countrj^'s claim in time of war. When in 1813, an attack on Sacketts Harbor was expected, and vol- unteers were called for, he was the first and most active man in Utica in raising a company. '' So prompt were his move- ments," says one of his companions of the companj", " that in thirt}^ hoars after the requisition was received, we were on our wa}^ in sleighs for the Harbor." " And here, as in a subsequent 166 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. campaign when Le was on the lines in the staff of General Col- lins, Colonel Williams was as highly valued as a soldier, as- he was through life esteemed as a citizen." The war at an end, he became a stirring member of the fire department, and as its chief executive officer. 'he was much relied on for his energy, his self-possession and his fertility of expedient. In 1832 he performed a part far more indicative of self- devotion and j)ersonal courage under circumstances which re- vealed also his genuine benevolence. Says a contemporary who knew of what he spoke : '' Those who survive of the inhabi- tants of Utica, during the first visitation of the cholera will never foi-get his services to the sick and dying, as well as to those who from poverty were unable to fly from the pestilence, and whose daily earnings were cut off b}^ the suspension of business. It was not only from morn to night, but from early morn to early morn, that he was seen driving from house to house, prescribing for, comforting and encouraging the sick? smoothing the pillow of the dying, and distributing to the needy, until he was himself stricken down with the disease, and narrowly escaped with his life." Mr. Williams was early identified with the religious movements of the place, and in his life he was the very pattern of a Christian gentleman. From 1812 to 1836, he occupied the post of elder in the Presbyterian Church, and was one of its most honored office-bearers. On the organization of the Utica Sunday School in 1816, he be- came its first superintendent, and for years afterward, and until he was summoned to act as an instructor in the Bible class, he was its ruling spirit. Nor were his services in the higher de- partment less devoted or valuable. He was also president of the Western Sunday School Union. As a friend and benefactor he was wise and helpful ; as a citizen, public spirited beyond his means ; his counsels, his exertions and his purse were ever at the service of individual want, and proffered in the promotion of every enterprise calcu- lated to benefit the place. In short, in every relation Mr. Wil- liams ranked high for his purity and integrity, his cheerful and equable tcm])er, his self-sacrificing spirit, and his practically useful life. All who knew him in the vigor of his manhood will recall with gratitude his noble presence, his clear dark eye,, beaming with benevolence, and the magnetism and attractive- THE FIEST CHARTER OF UTICA. 167 ness of his winning manners, so consonant with the traits of character we have endeavored to depict. He lived on Broad street, in the house now occupied by Mer- • ritt Peckham. Every one of its bricks was made by his friend, and relative by marriage, Amos Seward, who was devotedly attached to him. His wife, Sophia, daughter of Samuel Wells of New Hartford, was a lady in whom the natural graces of a lovely disposition and a bright and cultivated mind were enno- bled by high and active Christian principle. She consecrated all to the service of her Master, and was in truth zealous in well-doing. Not long before her death she attended a religious meeting where a collection was taken up in behalf of Foreign Missions, and into the plate she dropped a slip of paper on which was written : " I give two of my sons." After she had been called to her home, two of her sons became missionaries in the foreign field. She died November 12, 1831. Of her large family the following lived to maturity : S. Wells, distinguished for his services to his country while acting as its interpreter and secretary of legation in China, and still more for his long con- tinued and useful labors as a missionary printer, for his multi- farious learning, and the important contributions he has made to a knowledge of the language of China, now professor of Chinese language in Yale College ; H. Dwight of New York ; William Frederick, a zealous and faithful worker as a missionary in Turkey, died at Mardin, February 1:, 1876; Sophia (Mrs. J. V. P. Gardner) ; Edward, a twin with the former, deceased ; James C, and John P., deceased; and Eobert S., cashier of the Oneida National Bank. The second wife of Mr. Williams was Catherine, daughter of Henry Huntington, of Rome. Naturally conscientious and humble-minded, her piety made her most unselfish and devoted, compassionate and benevolent. " It was a piety of experience and of action, of feeling and of works, piety that read and prayed and thought, and piety that labored and gave, piety towards herself, towards man and towards Grod." She died September, 1856. A year previous, she lost the only child that reached adult life, George H. Williams, an unusually amiable and inter- esting youth. A bibliopole in advance of either Seward or Williams, and whose career in Utica was nearlv run when the former besfan 168 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. to deal in books, was George Richards, Jr. If we rightly infer his aucestrj' from one of his advertisements, he was son of Geo. Richards, a printer at Portsmouth, IST. H. In November, 1803, he opened the " Oneida Book Store," so called, in the store lately occupied b}' B. Johnson, adjoining the store of Post & Hamlin. In December he offers to open a circulating library, to the un- dei'taking of which he is encouraged by several gentlemen of the village ; proposals were to be seen at his store, and were also left with parties in various surrounding villages. In February following, he narrowly escapes being burned out, and returns his thanks to his fellow-citizens for the assistance they rendered him. He takes good care to keep before the public mind the existence of the " Oneida Book Store," and the works that may there be purchased. But in December, 1809, dissatisfied M'ith his business here, or in expectation of improving himself else- where, he announces that he has sold his establishment and is preparing to leave town Mr. Richards was a small, but active and intelligent man. He was much respected, and his store a favorite lounging place for readers. For two years and a lialf he was clerk of the vil- lage trustees, and on resigning theofhce at the time of his depart- ure, addressed a letter to the board, which, with the reply of the president, is recorded in the minutes of the secretary. In the lat- ter, Mr. Talcott Camp, the president, expresses himself as happy to have "the opportunit}', in part, to discharge our duty by ren- dering 3^ou our best thanks for the very faithful and persever- ing manner in which you have discharged your duties. The laudable desu-e you express for the rising prosperity of our vil- lage, while it gives us pleasure, we hope may prove a useful stimulus to our infant exertions for its future welfare. Heartily wishing the brightest sunshine of Heaven may rest on your future da^'s, we remain," &c. Mr. Richards, who was a single man, went, it is said, to Washington, where he found employ- ment as a stenographic reporter. A female relative of both Mr. Seward and '^\\■. Williams, and who, in early life, was foi- a time emploj'ed as a stitcher in their bindery, was Miss Martha Dana. For the rare experience of Miss Dana, and a cliaracter yet rarer she deserves a record. She w^as the daughter of Thomas Dana, an early settler of New THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 169 Hartford. He was not liimself an agent in the destruction of the tea in Boston harbor, though two of his brothers were, but, as a matter of principle, he would never drink a drop of tea afterward. From the obituary which appeared at her death, in 1860, I extract the following : "At the age of fifty, after a life of much activity, as the result of severe sickness, she was visited with a failure of vision that in a short time was followed by total blindness. In this condition she remained until her death, a period of nearly forty years. Deprived of eye-sight, her ear and touch became the more acute, and she took in at these ave- nues of sense a large share of happiness, in the social circle and the public ministrations of the sanctuary. After her removal from Utica, she was accustomed for many years, to make an annual visit to quite a circle of friends and relatives therein ; and so far from being an incumbrance, her presence was felt to be an occasion of felicitation, for the whole atmosphere in which she moved was permeated with the very spirit of cheerful res- ignation, active benevolence and warm-hearted piety. Her hands never forgot their skill, but seemed to have an increased facult}' for ingenious and useful effort. She was ever employed in designing and fabricating something for those she loved to aid, or who were more needy than herself.'' To this it may be added that, as mementoes of her kindness and her handiwork, she presented to each of the sons of William Williams a patch- work bed quilt of her own make. That of Rev. W. F. Williams, the missionary to Turkey, he carried with him when he went abroad. Showing it on one occasion to an intelligent Shah of the country as a specimen of the skill of a blind woman, so in- credulous was the dignitary, so confident of the untruth of the assertion, that he declared America needed missionaries sent to it from Turkey, rather than that the East should receive them from the West. Miss Dana in her younger years was a tailoress. As an illus- tration of her skill, before the loss of sight, the following has been related : A citizen of the village was to be married and needed a dress coat for the wedding. The cloth, an invisible green, was procured from New York, a tailor did the cutting, and the work was handed over to Miss Dana to be completed by the Monday following. By Saturday evening the coat was fin- ished, and finished to her satisfaction, except that the central 170 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. seam of the back required, as she thought, a Httle additional pressing. Her goose was heated for the purpose, but unfortu- nately too much heated, for, on placing it on the garment, it burned its way through in an instant. Repairing to the tailor's, she could lind only three or four insignificant scraps of the cloth, not a quarter the size that was needed. But she set to work with them, and by dint of the extremest care, toiling late on Saturday night, and early on Monday morning, she incor- porated them so nicely in the void made by the goose, that the owner never discovered the repair, and would scarcely believe it when told ; but some time later, when the lining of the coat was removed, the stitching was observed on the back. It should be added, however, that the cloth of those days admitted of turning better than most modern stuff, and coats were often taken to pieces and turned. An observer standing on the square, at the period of which we discourse, might have seen very early in the morning and long after night fall, light issuing from a little shop on the north side of Whitesboi'o street, near the present corner of Seneca. This w^as the shop of Samuel Stocking, a young hat- ter from Ashfield, Mass. Born in the last named place, June 10, 1777, and having acquii-ed his education and his trade, he worked for a while in Westfield, and came to Utica on the 17th of June, 1803. He possessed no property, but purchased on credit a lot of furs to begin the business, and from that period until his death he prosecuted it with signal industry and devo- tion. Within a year of his arrival he erected a building on the east side of Genesee a short distance above the corner, which was known as Mechanic Hall, and was soon filled with tenants, and into this his own shop was ere long transferred. But in 1816 he removed to the brick store fronting Broad street where he was to be found during the rest of his residence. For many years after his first establishment he continually enlarged his operations, until they assumed a magnitude in his particular line never before or since attained in any part of the State. His purchase of furs for the manufacture of hats brought him early to the acquaintance of John Jacob Astor, then in the zenith of his usefulness, Astor soon appreciated tlie ])erson with whom he thus dealt, and yielded to him implicit confidence and un- THE FIEST CHARTER OF UTICA. 171 bounded credit. Mr. Stocking acquired gradual!}^ by bis busi- ness, and by sagacious purchases of land in Utica and other places, a very large property, amounting, it is said, to half a million of dollars before its partial reduction by the revulsion of 1837. The simplicity of his personal manners continued, however, unabated together with his perseverance in the business to which he had been educated. As a trustee of the village, as director of the Bank of Utica and of the Utica Savings Bank, as trustee of the Utica Acad- emy, and a liberal donor to the Female Academy, the Oneida Institute and other educational and benevolent institutions, he was largely identified with the charities and the well-being of the neighborhood. Nor was there a public charity ever com- menced, a college, church or academy instituted, but he was one of the first to be solicited for its aid. For a long time he was treasurer of the Central Agency of Missions here, and continued to his death an interested member of the board, Mr. Stocking was short of person and full in flesh. When a young man his weight scarcely exceeded one hundred and twenty pounds, but later in life he became heavy. He wore,, it is said, a larger hat than any of his customers. This round head, prematurely whitened, this short, stout figure and delib- erate gait, and the placid face with its quiet smile and self- poised, contented expression, gave him a physiciue as char acteristic as were his industry and practical shrewdness, his gifts in the making of money and his generosity in dispensing it. His residence for many years was the house now occupied by Dr. Tourtellot, on the corner of Broad and First, which house he built about 1825. Just as twenty years before when his labors were not restricted to the hours of daylight, but began ere its dawn and were not finished at its close, so now while building his house he holds the candle for the masons and en- courages them to protract their employment far into the night. His wife, Phoebe Sheldon, of Northampton, Mass., died De- cember 15, 1854 ; his own death occurred in 1858, on the 1st of March. Their children were Mary (Mrs. Josiah T. Marshall), James M,, a merchant of this city, now deceased; Elizabeth H. H., and Cornelia (widow of William P. Clark), now resi- dent ; Phoebe (Mrs. John Stitt, of Chicago), and a daughter who died in infancy. 172 THE riOXEERS OF UTICA. As closely given to business as the preceding, as charitable and as useful, though as meagre of person, and anxious of coun- tenance as the former was portly and composed, was James Dana, who attained at least a competence of worldly goods, while securing an unusual share of public respect for his straight forward honesty, and his earnest and consistent religious life. He was born in Ashburnham, Mass., May 29, 1780, was the son of George Dana, and the grandson of a Huguenot exile. Soon after attaining his majority, he started for what was then the west, and after tarrjdng a year at Schenectady, he arrived in Utica in 1803. At first an assistant and soon a partner of Gur- don Burchard, who was then carrying on the saddlery and hardware business, he set up alone in June, 1806. His trade as a saddler he abandoned after some years, but continued to prosecute the sale of hardwai-e until his retirement in 1850, the latter portion of this time in connection with his son George S. Dana. " Mr. Dana was a careful business man, and suc- ceeded in building up a handsome fortune. Often did he re- hearse with honest pride the steps by which the trade, neces- sarily small in a hamlet such as Utica was eighty years ago, grew for him as for others into proportions that rewarded him for years of industry.'' He was for a long period, and down to his decease, a director of the Bank of Utica. Those who knew him best will regard his moral and Chris- tian character as his chief distinction, for he was a man of ex- treme simplicity, humble-mindedness and purity of character. His religion was not a Sunday affair merely, it was inwrought into the whole texture of his mind and life. He delighted to converse on religious subjects, and was active in the practical, personal duties of a Christian. He was long a teacher in the Sabbath school, and for upwards of thirty years an officer in the Presbyterian Church. His death occurred January 9, 1860, in his eightieth yeai-. Harriet Dwight, his wife, was daughter of Seth Dwight, and was born at Williamsburgh, February 21, 1792. Venturing rarely outside her own family circle, she M'as chiefly known as a faithful M'ife and devoted mother. She died Se})tember 13, 1870. Their cliildi-en, beside three who died in childhood, were as follows : James Dwight Dana, the distinguished scientist, Professor of Natural Science, Yale College., George Strong Dana, a merchant of Utica, died THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 173 March 30, 1859 ; John White Daua, a physician of K Y., died August 27, 1849 ; Harriet D wight Da.na, (Mrs. J. Wyman Jones, of Englewood, N. J.) Corneha Elizabeth Dana, died September 7, 185-1 ; "William Buck Dana, a lawyer, now proprietor and editor of the Merchants' Magazine, IST. Y. ; Delia White Dana, (Mrs. K Curtiss White.) Already we have mentioned a Hoyt, from Danbury Conn.^ as coming to Utica in 1798. Five years later came his brother David P., who married in Octolier 1802, and migrated the fol- lowing spring. And here he continued to live until his death, June 3, 1828, with the exception of about eighteen months spent in Chittenango. By trade he was a tanner and currier and a shoemaker. Possessed of decided energy and persever- ance, with an excellent judgment in matters of business, he was successful therein to a greater degree than any other person in the same employment. For many years he carried on his trade in shoes and leather on Genesee street, a little way above Wliitesboro. His tannery was on the latter street beyond Broadway, and adjoining the lane called by his name. Here he had one hundred and ten vats covered wuth buildings, and a little below them on the lane a windmill to grind his bark. Besides his tannery, he had, after the construction of the canal, a warehouse on its southern bank^ next west from Washington street, and a basin beside it. Mr. Hoyt was always a prominent man in the affairs of the place, and by his industry as well as by his interest in its good, assisted much in promoting the prosperity and growth of Utica. He was treasurer and afterwards trustee of the village, a direc- tor of the Bank of Utica, and in 1819, he represented the dis- trict in the chamber of the assembly. He died quite suddenly at the age of forty-nine years and a half, having been born November 17, 1778. Much of his success may be ascribed to his good fortune in having a wife remarkable for that high order of intelligence and virtue which, three fourths of a cen- tury since, Connecticut sent out into the new settlements. Left a widow with nine children, she met her responsibilities bravely and with a degree of business capacity which justified her self-reliance. In 1834 she married Alexander M. Beebee, and in 1856 was again bereft of her support. The remainder 174 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. of an unusual]}' healthful and protracted life she passed with her 3'oungest sou, where she was not only the beloved centre and pride of a numerous family of children and grandchildren, but was honored also by her acquaintance as a woman of positive and sterling worth. This life was terminated August 5, 1876, in her ninety-second year. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt were Julia Ann (Mrs. Friend Humphrey, of Albany) deceased ; Joseph B., of Cazenovia; James M., of Cleveland, Ohio; Mary Emeline (Mrs. George W. Beebee of Eavenswood, L. I.) Sarah Ellen (Mrs. James B. Colgate, of N, Y.) deceased; and John C, of Utica, besides three daughters who died in youth. David Trowbridge, of Albany, under date of May 2, 1803, announces that he has " taken possession of that well known, elegant brick building in the village of Utica called the Hotel. From his former standing in Albany, he flatters himself that he will be entitled to some attention, not only from his old friends and customers, but from the public in general. The building is capable of accommodating every description of travellers ; and those who wish it, can always be furnished with the best lodgings and most convenient private rooms for any length of time. A most excellent pasture and the best stabling will always in their proper season, be found at this place." Mr. Trowbridge was a plump, good-tempered Boniface, of respectable character and standing, who, though he did not prove very successful in his undertaking, yet gained the respect of the community Two of his daughters married professional men of the village, and a third was united to a non-resident, who was a member of the third of the learned professions. They were Susan (Mrs. David W. Childs), Sally (Mrs. Marcus Hitchcock), and Emily, wife of Kt. Eev. Bishop Williams, of Conn. Mr. Trowbridge had also a son, who built and o|>ened a tavern on the corner of Hotel and Liberty, the latter being then known as Maiden lane. He was a somewhat longer resident than his father, but like him, removed to Albany, and was there the keeper of the Albany Museum. During the administration of the hotel under this proprietor, we again read of a public ball, in Trowbridge's assembly room, given by T. Shepherd, dancing master, of a meeting of parties interested in the Old Fort Schuyler libraiy, and of meetings of THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 175 citizens for other purposes. In January, 1806, there was held at the hotel, a meeting for the installment of officers of the Oneida Masonic Lodge, and this was followed by an address before the members of the lodge by Rev. James Carnahan, which was delivered in Trinity church. It was during tlie last. named year that Mr. Trowbridge would seem to have left the hotel. Another new comer of this date, a blacksmith by trade, but who afterwards opened a tavern, was Oliver Babcock, a native of Rhode Island, and last from Tro}^ At first employed by Moses Bagg, Sr., he was in 1S05-6 selling warranted ploughs. Next, a partner with Benjamin Ballon, Jr., be failed and his partner got the title to his property. While on the limits at "Whitesboro he worked at his trade and succeeded in partially paying off his indebtedness, so that in December, 1812, he re- turned to Utica. During the war some work was thrown into his hands by the officers of government, for whom he put new irons on their wagons. But before its close he gave up black- smithing, and began keeping a tavern on Main street, near the site of his former property, and opposite the present entrance to the Central Railroad. In a little over four years he was sold under execution, and moved into Madison county, but returned to Troy to die. He left a family of eight children, some of whom are now living in Indiana and some in Tro}^ An inci- dent of his experience as a landlord, quite in keeping with the many disappointments of this unfortunate man, is as follows : A farmer of Litchfield hill, familiarly known as Judge Grunt, called one day to sell him a quarter of lamb. Babcock was not desirous to buy, but the seller was urgent, and so, after some persuasion, the former consented, provided the judge would remain to dinner. He did so, and ate up all the lamb. Of two merchants who appeared in Utica in 1803, a word will suffice. Moses Johnson, in June, announces another new whole- sale and retail store, two doors north of M. Bagg's inn. Then, after a removal in January following, he removes altogether from the place, and goes to Onondaga. Dr. Thomas Wilson in May, has just received dry goods, groceries and medicines at the store lately occupied by John Smith, and will also practice physic and surgery. He is soon sold out by the sheriff. 176 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Two carpenters, of good repute, and with considerable work on hand, who lived in Utica at this time, as well as se^'eral years longer, were Augustus White and Eobert Wilson. The former was a pious and exemplary person, and an elder of the Presby- terian Church. He acquired property, and was the owner of the ground covered by the lower end of the Tibbits block. He lived here until 1820, and removed eastward. At his death, without heirs, he left his money to the American Bible Society and other benevolent institutions. Wilson was skilled in fine work, and made the stairs of the second church edifice erected by the Presbyterians. The houses of Nathan Williams, Thomas Walker and others were works of his hands. His early partner (1806) was Brown, his later, his own l)rother Thomas. He re- moved to Trenton, where he died. Caleb and Thomas Hazen were hatters on the square, below J. C. Devereux. Their names are met with between December, 1808, and December, 1805, but later traces we cannot find ; Michael Campbell, a barber next door to Post & Hamlin, was damaged when they were burned : Tuttle & Lynde had a shop w^here were to be seen grave stones made in AVhitesboro : Caleb Banci'oft was a butcher ; Archibald Shaw, a brief staying tailor. The name of Robert Stewart we find in the notes of the pi-esid- ing elder of the Albany district, who, passing through the place, .stopped and dined with him. And Oliver Brownson, a singing master, is strongly suspected to be the same who settled in Madison county, and was the father of the distinguished Judge Greene C. Bronson. A worthy Welshman who tarried much longer was a laboring man named Jenkins Evans. And about the same time with him came a William James, who worked with him as a gardener, &c. 1804. As we proceed, in the order of time, with the recoi'd of addi- tional citizens, we find that the catalogue of those living in Utica in the course of the year 1804, and not yet enumerated, is a numerous one. But many of them were transient residents, and others filled humble and inconspicuous positions. Few will warrant extended notice. Let us begin with the fifth law- yer of the place. THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 177 David Wells Childs was a native of Pittsfield, Mass., and son of Dr. Timothy Childs, an eminent physician of that town. He was born in 1781, and was graduated at Williams College in 1800. Four years later he established himself in the profession of law in Utica. At the meeting of the first board of trustees held under the new charter of 1805, he was appointed their clerk, and continued to record the meetings until September of the following year, when ill-health obliged him to withdraw. On the organization of the Bank of Utica, in 1812, Mr, Childs, who was a director, obtained also a more profitable office, being made its attorney and notary. In suits by the bank for notes that were not paid, it was the duty of the attorney to issue writs for each of the endorsers, and for these writs he received a handsome fee. By means of his office and by other business, for he was a sound and industrious lawyer, he acquired a valu- able property. He owned the land on the south side of Liberty street, extending from the corner of Washington midway to Seneca and lying on both sides of the canal. He built thereon the tavern and other buildings fronting on Liberty street, and the warehouse above the canal. For his residence he built the house on Whitesboro street next west of the Hotel, the same that is now occupied by John F. Seymour, and kept his office in its basement. By his integrity and fidelity he obtained a high standing in the community ; but in the midst of these bright prospects he became the victim of a lingering consumption, which forced him to retire from the active pursuits of life. He finally returned to his native town, where he died July 27, 1826. In his last illness he had ample opportunity to prove the bless- edness of that religion which he had before this time heartily embraced. He was patient and resigned. Among the pro- visions of his will was a legacy to the Utica Sunday School of two hundred and fifty dollars ; while to the Theological Sem- inary at Auburn, to the Western Education Society, and to the American Bible Society he also gave five hundred dollars each. His wife, Susan, daughter of David Trowbridge, died December 14, 1820, aged thirty-four. Their children were Rachel (Mrs. Bui'ch, of New York or Brooklyn), Sarah, Mary and Susan. Another member of this profession, though conspicuous, chiefly for his business enterprise and the magnitude of his un- M 178 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. dertakings, and who was long an honored citizeii of Utica, was Abraham Yarick, Jr. His ancestral home was in Hackensack, N. J., but he was the son of Abraham Yarick of New York, and nephew of Colonel Richard Yarick, of revolutionary mem- ory, former mayor of that city and attorney gonei'al of the State. He was bora in 1780, graduated at Columbia College in 1799, and studied law with Peter Jay Munro. In the summer of 180-i he came to Utica to settle. Though educated to the bar, he was never an attendant on the courts, nor took in hand the suits of others. For many years he acted as agent for the Hol- land Land Company, and was busied in selling for them the lands they owned to the north of Utica. Being an active and capable business man and full of enterprise, he devoted himself throughout his life to dealing in lands, to the management of fac- tories and furnaces, and to other financial projects. As early as September, 1804, he bought the large farm lying at the heail of Genesee street, which was known as the Kimball farm, pay- ing for it the sum of $5,500. It was plotted out for building purposes, and within two years sales were made at prices which were then deemed quite high. Subsequentl}', Mr. Yarick be- came possessed, at various periods, of a luunber of lots and buildings in different parts of the village. But his largest in- vestments were made in West Utica. About i 827. in connec- tion with A. B. Johnson, he bought the Jason Parker farm, which extended from the river to Court street, op])ositc the Asy- lum. And, together with Charles E. Dudley of Albany, he bought, about the same time, from Philip Schuyler, a part of Great Lot No. 99, being the farm adjacent to the preceding, on the east. These were also converted into building lots, and yielded rich returns to their owners, while they opened the way for the extension of the city toward the west. His name is pre- served in the main avenue of these western domains. He was largely interested in many factories of different kinds, as in the Cotton Mills at Clinton, the Oneida Facte ly at Yorkville, the Oriskany Factory, the Utica Glass Factory, &c. An iron furnace at Constantia was chiefly controlled by him, as well as mills and a rope-walk at Denmark in Lewis county, and he was a heavy stockholdei- in one of the eailiest niilroads of the State, that known as the Ithaca & Owego, His latest and most con- siderable o] aerations were carried on at Oswego, where he came THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 179 in possession of a property which included no small part of the business section of the town. There he built a fine cotton fac- tory, of which the machinery alone cost him $60,000 and had also a dry dock and a marine railway. His office in Utica he kept in Washington Hall, which building he erected about the year 1822, and where James Lynch was an early associate, and Charles A. Mann a later one. He lived on the corner of Broad and First streets, in the house which was built and occupied by Peter Bours, and is now owned by T. K. Butler. His wife, to whom he was united in 1814, was Ann, daughter of General William Floyd, and widow of George W. Clinton, only son of Governor George Clinton. His home was a centre of refine- ment, and his family a leading one. In 1833 he took up his residence in New York, where he died in 1842, leaving three children, a son, since deceased, and two daughters. The integrity of Mr. Varick in his business dealings, his read- iness to respond to the many calls that were made on his pub- lic spirit or his charity, and the purity of his life were never questioned. As a man of kind and amiable temper, refined in taste and feeling and upright in act, he was universally respected. Early in his career he was sometimes called on to take a part in public afiiairs, as in the organization of the Utica Academy and the Ontario Bank. But for the most part, and especially during the latter jears of his residence, his attention was ab- sorbed in his own weighty concerns. In the Presbyterian Church he was a prominent person, and when measures were set on foot to establish a Reformed Dutch Church, no one was more zealous or liberal than he. He was one of its first elders. For a time he was president of the Oneida County Bible Society. In person he was tall and imposing ; in demeanor dignified and sedate. Dr. David Hasbrouck was a native of Shawangunk, Ukter county, N. Y., and was the son of General Joseph Hasbrouck and his wife, Elizabeth Bevier, both descendants of Huguenot families. General Hasbrouck had taken a part in the Revolu- tionary war, and subsequently became a general in the service of the State. He was a man of acknowledged ability and great influence in the community where he lived. The son studied medicine with Dr. James G. Graham, of Shawangunk, and at- 180 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. tended lectures in New York. He came to Utica in 1804, and formed a partnership in practice with Dr. Alexander Coventry, he occupying the office on the west side of Genesee, next door below the mouth of Broad, while Dr. Coventr}^ continued to re side in Deerfield. There, also, he sold drugs. His practice, was, for the most part, restricted to a few leading families. He was the first secretary of the County Medical Society on its or- ganization in 1806. About 1815, he removed to Kingston, Ulster county, but died in Schenectady in October, 1823, at the age of forty-five. Dr. Hasbrouck was bright in intellect and well versed in his profession; active in person, amiable and companionable; but from his very social qualities he contracted habits that inter- fered with his usefulness and his standing. He was, in the opinion of Dr. Coventry, who remained eleven 3^ears in connec- tion with him, one of the most gentlemanly, obliging and kind- hearted man he had known. His wife was Miss Abby Lawrence of Fort Edward, a woman of stylish appearance and superior character, whom he met at the house of her relative, Jeremiah Yan Eensselaer, and married in 1811. He left a son and a daughter the former, John L., of New York, and the latter, wife of Eev. Scoville, of Brookh^n. " Dr. Christian Stockman, from Germany, and last from Albany, where he has resided for the last ten years, has opened in Utica on Genesee street, a general assortment of drugs and medicines. He will likewise attend to any calls in the line of his profession as physician, and give advice at his store in all cases, and when requested, visit any patient who may favor him with a call." So runs his advertisement of July 9, 1804. He was installed on the east side of Genesee street, not far from the present Catherine, his family living in the rear and upper part" of the building. Here at the sign of the Gilt Mortar, he was selling a year later the following articles '' not generally im- ported," viz : " lichen islandicus, flores arnicae, cremor tartari solubilis, English wormseed, Gebhart's patent castor oil, alkali, fluor," &c. Besides drugs he kept also German toys for sale. His announcement a few years later, of a German almanac, must liave seemed to the readers of the Gazette, outlandish and strange; in staring German characters, the lirst that hrfd as THE FIRST CHAllTER OF UTICA. 181 yet appeared in a Utica print, he advertises a „§od) !I)cutfd)er ^[merifarufd)^- Salcnber an\ bag 3a^r 1812." His written lan- guage was passably good, but his spoken English was quite broken. With respect to his literary and scientific acquire- ments he was decidedly sensitive. He was small in stature, petulant and passionate. Of German oaths the doctor had a full vocabulary, and, when these were exhausted, he would re- sort to English to finish the anathema. With these traits, it was natural that he was often the sport of mischief-makers too much bent ou their own amusement to heed the doctor's oiiended dignity. One bright September night, Enos Brown, George L. Tisdale, and other sportive young men of the village, were returnino- from a carousal in the "wee sma' hours." As they passed Stockman's, Brown rolled over his vinegar cask that stood by the door, smashed the glass bottle in the bung hole, and passed on with the party, who were making a good deal of noise. Tis- dale, who was somewhat in the rear, discovered the condition of the cask, as he came up, and being considerate of the vinegar, fast gurgling away, he seized the cask and was in the act of placing it bung upward, when the doctor appeared at the door in his night clothes. Seeing Tisdale in such suspicious circum- stances, he gave him chase as he was, venting his curses mean- while. At full speed they plunged down Genesee, and then along Main, Stockman apparently gaining upon his victim, but when not far from Judge Miller's, toward the end of the street, Tisdale sprang over a fence into a cornfield, confused his pursuer and threw him from the track. Although thus much has been said to the disparagement of the doctor, it is to be added that he was a regular member of the profession, had some skill in his calling, and enjoyed a good share of public confidence. He was neat in person and in the main correct in depoi'tment. He lived in Utica until after 1820, but taking it in his head that he could make money by con- ducting a party of Indians to Europe for exhibition, he set out with them. He failed in his expectation and became greatly reduced in means. Weighed down by disappointment, he leaped overboard while on his return, and was lost. His wife came back to Utica and was miserably poor. They had one son, Christian, Jr., and two daughters 182 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Into the growing hamlet there came in the course of the- year two brothers from Connecticut, antl with them there came one who has generally passed as a third brother, but who was in reality a cousin, and the brother-in-law to each of them, each having mai-ried one of his sisters. These were Abijah and Anson Thomas and their relative, B. W. Thomas. All survived by many years the early period of our history, and contributed by their honorable career as merchants and their responsible posi- tion in the church, to the fair name and prosperity of Utica. The two former were sons of Abijah Thomas Sr., of Lebanon, Windham county, Conn., who, at the age of eighty-eight, was gathered to his fathers, leaving the odor of a good name to hal- low his memory. Their mother, Kachel McCall, also born in Lebanon, though of Scotch descent, possessed a fair proportion of those virtues which adorn New England mothers. After the- death of the father, his son Abijah remained at home a few years to manage the farm and assist in the care of the younger members of the family. He married, and in the fall of 180S travelled to Utica, bought a lot and returned. This lot, which was on Whitesboro street, and was occupied by Hiel Hollister, contained about one acre of land, and had a house thereon. A part only of the jDayment was made, and the balance was to be- come due on the lirst of April next ensuing. Late in March,. 1804, B. W. Thomas, then a youth of eighteen, was des]iatched to complete the payment. The previous season had been an unfavorable one, hay and indeed fodder of any kind, was ex- tremely scarce, so that horses were fed on hemlock boughs, and many died for want of sustenance. Horses, then, could not be had, and public conveyances were as yet known only to the older settled parts of the country. He must, therefore, go on foot, and accordingly, though he had never walked five miles from home, he set out, with his pack on his back, and his money stitched into his shirt, to make the journey to Utica. He was accompanied by a step-brother and an apprenticed carpenter, named Gifl'ord ; but the fatigue was too great for the former and he was forced to return. Five or six days of toil brought them to Green bush, opposite Albany, where they had expected to meet Mr. Parker's stage. The stage had started, and some time must elapse before they could avail themselves of the next (jne. But, grown more accustomed to walking, and somewhat. THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 183 r efreshed by a rest and a ride they had picked up while pass- ing among the Shakers of New Lebanon, they pushed on, in the hope that the coach woukl overtake them. In this they were disappointed, since they reached their destination, limbered and supple, half a day before it. It was Saturday, and the day when the money was to be paid. This was tendered in bills of Boston banks ; but Mr. Hollister had become dissatisfied with his bargain, and in order to evade its completion, would have the payment in specie only. With considerable difficulty, this was obtained and the sale confirmed. The whole of the follow- ing Monday, — such was the wretched state of the roads at that period, — was consumed in journeying in a hack to and fi'om Whitesboro, whither it was necessary to go to have the deed duly acknowledged. On the 2oth of 'May following, Mr. Abijah Thomas arrived and took wp his abode in his newly purchased house. On this lot he remained until his death, performing at all times his duties as a man, a citizen and a Christian, and enjoying during the whole period the esteem and the confidence of the commu- nity: A carpenter by trade, he built for himself, after the lapse of some years, a larger house, adjoining the former on the west, it being the one recently occupied by B. W. Thomas. His first employment was changed for that of wagon and coach maker. He was at one time treasurer of the Utica Glass Company, and for many years served, without compensation, as treasurer of the A. B. C. F. M. This office was, at that time, no desirable sinecure, as many of the contributions to the board were sent in the form of clothing, which required repacking that it might be forwarded to some distant missionary station. Other gifts were of herbs or some produce of the farm, which were to be sold in order that their value might be realized and properly credited. One old deacon of a neighl:)oring town, sent every year a fatted missionary pig, for which it was incumbent on Mr. Thomas to find a purchaser. '^^ During a long term of years *It was this same deacon of whom is related the following: He was present as a delegate at a meeting of presbytery, which happened to be an unusually stormy one, and being grieved at its disputatious character, he essayed to mollify its acrimony by a proposition that presbytery should unite in prayer ; whereupon he was invited to lead them in such service, his prayer to be followed by one from another lay member. His prayer 184 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. •►-J**.- he was an officer in the Presbyterian Church, and was a con- scientious and faithful, if somewhat rigid and uncompromising- one. Himself and wife were familiarl}^ known as Uncle Abijah and Aunt Lydia. He died September 25, 1846 ; his wife, November 5, 1854, aged eighty-three. They left no children. Abijah's l)rotlier Anson, born November 24, 1779, made his first ventm-e in Richmond, Va., where he succeeded to the busi- ness of two other brothers, who had gone there before him. Soon selling out, he returned to Connecticut, was married in August, 1802, and thence came to Utica in the fall of 1804. In company with Abijah, he bought of John Post for $150, a fifty foot lot on Genesee street, where the National hotel was afterwards built, and where is now the store of Charles Millar. The following year they erected thereon a store, which they rented to John Steward, Jr. & Co. Mr. Thomas also built in 1805 as a residence for himself, the house on Gen- esee street now occupied by Sylvester Dering. Disposing of this within less than two years, he built one still further up street and quite distant fi'om all neighbors, that is to say, on the site of the residence of Dr. William H. Watson. He re- moved it in 1831 and put up the Watson house itself, in which he lived until his death. Mr. Thomas engaged in no business until about 1815, when he began as a merchant in compan}^ with B. W. Thomas, which partnership lasted fifteen years. The store they occupied, and which they built for themselves, was on the site of the First National Bank and extended around the corner into Catherine street. And here, after the dissolution of the firm, he continued to do business luitil he sold to James Dutton and retired: As a merchant he was successful, though beginning when numbers were failing. Among all the ups and downs of commercial life it never ha])])eiied to him to be unable to meet with promptness his every engagement. He was close in his dealings, saving and careful in the management of his })ro})erty, and when he withdrew he was possessed of ample means to live at ease. In was as follows : " Have marcy, O Lord, have marcy upon us, and keep the devil out of these ministers," and was succeeded by that of the other good deacon, who prayed thus : "O Lord, thou hast heard the sujjplication of our brother, and now, we beseech thee, grant us an answer in peace." The oil was effectual upon the troubled waters and quiet was restored. * THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 185 March, 1839, be was cliosen president of the Bank of Central New York, which ofl&ce he held while he lived, discharging its ■duties with watchful fidelity. But the unostentatious and noise- less path of a private citizen he preferred to pursue, avoiding all controversies, and choosing rather to suffer wrong than wrangle about what was withheld from him. In the circle of his family he was tenderly loved, for he was amiable and con- siderate, and at the altar of his church a sincere and consistent worshipper. He died September 2, 1856. His wife (Anna Thomas) a person of unusual strength and dignity of character, combined with gentleness and purity, was born May 20, 1783, and died May 12, 1862. Their children were eight daughters, viz: Maria (Mrs. Thaddeus Spencer) died September 18, 1831 ; Emeline (Mrs. William Kuowlson) died November 18, 1870; Lydia Ann (widow of Samuel P. Lyman), still resident; Cor- nelia died unmarried, July 10, 1839; and four who died in childhood. " Some twenty years since, might frequently be seen sitting by the bar room fire of Burchard's tavern, a man more than six feet tall, with broad shoulders, large trunk, heavily limbed, and altogether built for "service," with a face full of good humor, and a blue eye that sparkled with kindness and fun. A scar or two on the forehead proved that sometime during his life, he had received as well as given tokens of mettle ; and a voice that rose clear in the song, with a touch of the brogue, showed that hard knocks come by inheritance to an Irishman. Do any of our old cocked hats remember Hugh Cunningham?" Thus discoursed long since of this lively, loud-talking, rollicking Irishman, one who seems to have been familiar with the subject of the picture. Doubtless the writer has ere this followed his compeer to the grave, and has left us little wherewith to fill out the portrait. The eaj'liest hint we have of Cunningham is fur- nished by himself in 1801, when he informs the newspaper readers that Hugh Cunningham & Co. have opened a new store in the village opposite the post office, which was lately that of William Fellows. Next we get a telescopic peep at him through the memory of one of his contemporaries. A group of citizens are gathered around the pump in the public square gazing at the great eclipse of 1806, and prominent among them sits Cun- 186 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. * ningham astride the pump handle, enlivening the company with his waggeiy. In 1810 he built himself a store on the east cor- ner of Genesee and the square, the site of the early House tav- ern ; but hardly was it complete, when, on the night of the 3d of October, it was burned to the ground. Presently rebuilt, he is in it by the middle of January ensuing, and ready to wait on purchasers of dry goods. Shortly afterward he put up the brick house on Main street that was successive!}^ occupied by Drs. Hull and Pomeroy, and now by William Dunn. With the Vernon Glass Company and the Utica Insurance Company he was connected officially, being a director in both. And that he was a fair business character it is but just to presume, though it must be confessed we hear less of his business than we do of the man. This is what we are prepared to expect after reading the sketch presented above, and with still greater reason should we be so could we have heard and given due credit to the remark of his sagacious and thrifty fellow countryman, John C. Devereux. For he it was who is reported to have said of Cunningham that "he is a cunning Irishman, who has brought a good deal of money to the place, but will cany little out" Since 1805 he had been one of the " twenty -five able-bodied men" who formed the efficient fire-police of the time, and whose place was so cov- eted by the best of their townsmen. But in 1813 his |)lace is filled by a substitute, and the reason given is, that he had re- moved from the village. And yet this is not tlie last of him in Utica. A little later he turned distiller and set up a distillery on Nail creek, wdiere it is crossed by Whitesboro street. There followed, in due course, an overweening personal love for the products of his still, decayed respect, poverty, insanity, an asy- lum, death. The last event occurred in February, 1820. Such sympathy was felt for him by the town that a few months before his decease the village trustees meditated sup- plying him with the means to get back to Ireland, and some- what later they voted to refund the money which John C. Dev- ereux had advanced to relieve his necessities. • '' To point a moral and adorn a tale," let us quote with personal application to himself a single one of his funny speeches. In describing the restless activity of a partner he had i-ecently had in a dance, he said of her: "She is aft' in a gallop, before a man can get his fut in the stirrup." Cunningham was for himself at least ioofasl\ Fortunately he left no family. THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 187 In July, 1804, that long established merchant Ezekiel Clark took into partnership Isaac Coe. In September of the follow- ing year they dissolved, and Mr. Coe went on alone. He soon removed to a store on the west side of Genesee just above where is now Broad street. The same month, October 1805, he mar- ried Hebecca Cook of Canandaigua, and took up his residence in a house on tlie site of the Bradish block, a house that was noticeable from its having stairs on the outside, leading up to the parlors on the second floor. He was made village treasurer at the first election held under the charter of 1805, and con- tinued in the office, by annual reelections, as long as he re- mained in Utica. Possessed of decided enterprise, an active mover in the project for establishing a glass factory at Yernon, and the largest subscriber to the stock of the company, he was. if not the first, at least one of its earliest presidents. But his ambition outran his resources, and his career ended like that of many another ; he failed and went west. In September, 1810, a new treasurer was appointed "in lien of Isaac Coe, who has left the place.'' The next year there appeared a card in the village papers from the secretary of the glass company which would seem to cast a shade upon the memory of its late president. It con- tained a resolution of the directors in which they declared that " Whereas Isaac Coe, late president of said company, issued to himself, under the seal of the company, thirty-eight shares on which the requisite pa)auent of sixty dollars per share bad not been paid, they will not transfer said shares to any person un- til the whole of the arrearages are paid." Without further knowledge of the facts in the case, we read this card with a certain degree of distrust of the absconding one. We couple it with the resolution of the village authorities, passed the pre- vious year, wherein at the same time that they create a new treasurer to succeed Mr. Coe, they make a peremptory caU upon the latter for the books and papers in his possession. From the two acts thus read in connection we are led to pre- sume that his straitened means had tempted him to peculate upon funds entrusted to his keeping, or at least, that he had gone off in such haste as to neglect to place himself ai-ight with respect both to the glass company and the board of ti'us- tees. Yet it would scarcely be proper to betray such suspicions. 188 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. — and which are but suspicions — were there not a sequel to the story. Fortunately there is a later chapter in the life of the seeming defaulter. And this reveals an honesty of purpose and a regard for his honor that should be recorded to his credit, and cause his name to live in our local history like that of the honorable merchant, Mr. Denham, whom, for a similar reason, Dr. Franklin has embalmed in his delightful Autobiography. Upwards of fifty years after the abrupt de})arture of Mr. Coe, and when nearl}" all who had once known him had gone down to their graves, he reappears on the scene of his youthful expe- rience to make good his delinquencies. Calling upon the son of one of his former creditors, he deposits with him the means with which to pay with interest his old indebtedness, and a similar sum for the discharge of all that he owed to another and now needy creditor. Other men have made restiiution after years of pecuniary indebtedness ; not many have carried a burdened conscience for fifty years, without the power to ab- solve themselves, and yet have lightened it at the last. Judah Williams, Jr., was a brother of Judge Nathan Wil- liams. In May 1804, he commenced mercantile business with E. B. Shearman, next door to Schwartze's inn. The firm con- tinued at least until 1809, after which Mr. Williams was alone, opposite Shearman. He was a reputable man, but quiet and not remarkable for enterprise. He was still at the old stand No. 34 Genesee, below the post office, as late as 1817 at which time he was treasurer of the village. Not long after he failed and removed to the neighborhood of Cape Vincent, where he acted as a light house-keeper, in which employment he was suc- ceeded by one of his sons. Eather late in life he married a daughter of Benajah Merrell and had several children, Judah Williams, Sr., spent the latter years of his life with his sons, and died here March 4, 1807. He was a man of ex- traordinar}^ vigor and energy, thin and spare but very erect He travelled considerably and always on foot. Having on one occasion journeyed from the east as far as Onondaga and then returned to Utica. he discovered immediately on his arrival that he iiad lost his pocket book, but thought he knew where he had left it. Without halting to refresh himself, he started THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 189 immediately to retrace his steps to Onondaga, and never rested until he had found the missing article. August 13, 180J:, the firm of Walton, Turner & Co., took possession of a store below Bagg's, and at the same time opened the forwarding business in two warehouses situated a little dis- tance below the river bridge, where the Central Railroad now runs. Duncan Turner was a Scotchman, who came from Nova Scotia to Albany, where he sold little notions and accumulated about five hundred dollars. Joining Mr. Jonathan Walton, of Schenectady, he engaged in forwarding and came to Utica to manage the business at this end of the line. The warehouses were set on upright posts which were undermined by a freshet about 1807. The buildings were secured by being fastened to a tree, but the wheat stored therein was so much damaged that it was sold to Mr. Gilbert to be made into starch. Their later store was on Genesee where Broad street enters it. At the be- ginning of the war of 1812, Mr. Turner removed to Lowville and shortly after to Ogdensburg, which was still nearer the Canadian line, and there he lived long after the war. All we know of him is that he was a very methodical man, leaving his store every day at ten o'clock for his lunch, and retiring at an early hour every night, even though company were pres- ent. He had two sons, and a clerk named Richard Hardiker, who lived here some years after Mr. Turner's departure, and was still engaged in loading boats on the Mohawk. There were other merchants who commenced in 1804, yet failed of sufficient encouragement to remain, or found more prom- ising openings elsewhere ; such as Ralj^h W. Kirkland, who dealt in European and India goods in company wath the subse- quent editor, lawyer, and banker, John H. Lothrop ; Elijah Ran- ney, who, besides selling liquor, groceries and leather, was also a watch repairer and kept a few articles of jewelry for sale ; John B. Murdock, who, in December, 1805, yielded up his store to a much more enduring citizen ; Henry Drean, an Irishman, who within two years was off for Canada ; Wells & Warren, who stayed not much more than one. From the traders in dry goods let us pass to a worker and trader in hardware. This was the first of three brothers Brown, 190 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. who, coming from Wliitesboro, found a lodgment in Utica. William, their father, a minute taan of the Revolution, had re- moved from Rhode Island in 1796. and was serving the country about him with meat. His son Enos, was for a while similarly emplo3^ed, both at Wliitesboro and at Utica. But having mar- ried in 1809 Isabella, daughter of Joab Stafford the copper- smith, who died the next year, he joined Daniel Stafford, the son and successor of Joab, and entered their pursuit Prospered therein, Stafford & Brown soon enlarged their establishment, and made a name as dealers in hardware. And thus they went on until 1820, when the tide turned against them, and they signed over their interest to Spencer Stafford & Co. of Albany. To Albanv Mr. Brown went and lived for a while, but was back again by 1825. He was a second time a butcher, and a second time a dealer in hardware, but never enjoyed his former prosperity. He became infirm in health, and before his death much impoverished. His decease occurred July 3, 1856. In his better days he was tall, athletic and wiry ; fond of fun and mischief, and jovial in temper, no one of his age was more of a leader than Enos Brown. He was so unerring a shot that he would cut off the line from the pole of a boy fishing, and he so far away that the boy could have no suspicion of his tor- mentor. He built for himself the house on Broad street, now occupied by E. S. Barnum, and at a later period a brick house on Main street, east of second. After the death of his first wife he married Mercy, daughter of David Stafford, and a cousin of the first one. She died January 5, 1869. The offspring of the first are all deceased. Bj'- the second he had four children, of whom a son is living in Michigan, and one in Brookh^n, and & daughter in Fredouia. An humble mechanic of the year, but who manifested habits of activity and industry and of zeal for the pul)lic weal that in time brought him to the front, was Augustus Hickox. In 1804 he was tinman, coppersmith and nailer in company' with David Stafford. Before the war he built for himself a store a short distance below Bagg's. During and after the war (August, 1815), he was in a general hardware trade ; and at the same time he had become president of the village. He remained in business as late, at least, as 1832, his partner at that time being THE FIEST CHARTER OF UTICA. 191 Enos Brown, but finally removed to Michigan. As a public spirited and stirring man Mr. Hickox was much esteemed. His wife, Wealthy, daughter of David Stafford, died July 6, 1817. Of two cabinet makers, Savage and Tillman, who, in 1804, were located on the east side of Genesee, above the present canal, one only made a protracted stay. William Tillman was in 1807-8 in the block known as Mechanic hall. Ten 3^ears later he was on Whitesboro street, opposite Division. In Octo- ber, 1820, " about to extend his business in the hardware line," he has taken into partnership Charles E. Hardy. He was after- wards again a cabinet maker, and had as associate Eli F. Benjamin. About 1832 he moved to Geneva. Mrs. Tillman had a share in the good deeds done by the women of her day. Their son James, who was settled at Seneca Falls and afterwards at Detroit, died in 1867. An exemplary and trusted citizen of many years was Ara Broadwell, a mason, much employed both on private and pub- lic constructions. He built the houses of Nathan Williams and D. W. Childs on Whitesboro street, a house for himself on Broad street, in which Alexander Seymour and many later ones have hved, stores now covered bj^ the Marble block and the two above them, &c., &c. As contractor for the masonry on a large part of the central division of the Erie canal, he built the locks at Cohoes, the aqueduct at Little Falls, locks at Nine Mile creek, besides numerous culverts and bridges. A contract for similar work upon a canal in New Jersey proved a source of serious loss. But though he failed, he paid every cent of his dues. He was the father of six daughters, M^ho are all living, — two of them in Utica, — and three sons who are all deceased, viz: Phoebe (Mrs. Harvey Barnard), Susan (Mrs. Han^ey Mason), Maria (Mrs. Edward Eames), James (Mrs. Francis D. Penniman), Ann E. (Mrs. H. T. Miller), Mary (Mrs. Joseph Delezenne), Calvin, Stephen and Edward. A mason who remained only three^ years in the place was V" Timothy Foster. He stayed long enough, however, to put up a brick house on Hotel street, the second brick one of the vil- lage ; and long enough, too, to leave reminiscences of childish days in the memory of his more eminent son, Henry A Foster. 192 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. The latter was a pupil of Dame Hammond, wife of the elcler^ who kept a school near the lower end of Hotel street. A somewhat marked indi\adual who began at this era was Elisha Spurr, the busy politician and the popular office holder, the jolly tapster and the liberal-hearted man. He was born in Dorchester, Mass., in 17(iO. About the beginning of the cen- tury he went to Troy, where he married Catharine Heartt^ a sister of the wife of Olis^er Babcock. He was a hatter by trade, and after coming to Utica worked for a while as journeyman and then as partner with Frederick White. Next he was an auctioneer, and at a later period a bar-keeper for Amos Gray. But his principal trade was politics, and he held in succession many minor offices ; he was deputy sheriff under Mr. Kip, cor- oner, deputy marshal, crier of the courts, &c., &c. Good at a joke and corpulent enough to make a butt for the jokes of others, he was in his element on election and training days and like occasions of public assemblage. He died January 11, 1828 ; his wife October 1, 1822. His children were Mary (second wife of Arnold Wells), Catharine (Mrs. Ormsby and afterwards Mrs. Purcell), John, who, after having been for thirty years a wan- derer in the Southern States, Texas and California, has lately returned to his friends; Margaret (Mrs. Loomis), Lucretia and Abraham. As noteworthy a man in his own department as Mr. Spurr, was Chauncey Phelps. In 1804 he was employed on a farm on what is now Pleasant street. Not long afterwards he became a carman, carting for Abraham Van Santvoort and others, and serving ;is a watchman by night. All through the war he hauled luggage and ammunition toward the lines. Then he was a pavior, and superintended the street improvements of his time, having numerous men and horses under his direction. His home was on Division street, where he lived until 1848, and died at the age of seventy-four. His wife was a daughter of William Ladd. A daughter was the first wife of the late Morgan Gardner. His sons died young. Kufus Brown and Ii-a Dickinson were wheelrights and wagon makers on Main street near the square, but dissolved in the THE FIRST CHAETER OF UTICA. 195 summer of 1806. The former departed, the latter remained a short time longer. Two brothers Wells, Alfred and Solomon, were carpenters, who came here from Colchester, Ci)nn. The former, a hard- working, unassuming and very worthy man, lived the most of his life on Broad street, next east of the late residence of J. J. Francis, and his brother Solomon a little west of him. Alfred lived in Utica upwards of sixty years, Solomon upwards of twenty. The former had three sons and a daughter, the latter but one son. The children of Alfred were Alfred L., for many years a dry goods merchant, and father of Mrs. S. Townsend Peck- ham ; Elizabeth (Mrs. Lansing Swan, of Eoch ester) ; Eichard H., who succeeded his brother m trade, popular in manners and exemplary in character, but died young ; and James C, a drug- gist of Utica, and now of New York. Jacob Sterling had been an English soldier during the Amer- ican Eevolution ; but while in Canada he deserted, swam the Niagara river and made his way through the forest to Canan- daigua, and thence to Alban_y. He set up as a baker, and from that place came to Utica. He began his trade at the lower end of Hotel street, and built the wooden house on the south-east- ern corner of that street and Wliitesboro, which is still stand- ing, the same which was long the home of William Williams, the tallow chandler. Here he dealt in flour and cai-ried on baking until his removal to New Hartford where he became a miller. He was an amiable and worthy person, and endowed with more penetration than his son Jacob. For of the latter it used to be said by people of New Hartford that he was al- ways puzzled to know his age, because he found, on looking into the family records, that Jacob Sterling was put down as born at two widely different epochs. Elisha Eose was a blacksmith, and had two sons who suc- ceeded him in the same business, Hiram and Ehsha, of whom the latter practiced it quite lately on Bleecker, near to Char- lotte street. Briefer residents were John Stoddard, cabinet maker ; Eufus Eddy, who made " Suwarrow boots ;" Jolm and Henry Shapley, two other shoemakers ; Leonard Klinck, a tailor ; John Mar- ls' 194 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. till, who was "capable of making all kinds of ro])e, from a cord to a cable :" and Captain Elijah Strong of the First U. S. Infantry, who was enlisting soldiers for the garrisons of Niag- ara, Detroit and Michilimackinac. There remains yet another arrival to be chronicled for the year 1804, and tins was a clergyman to administer the services of the Episcopal Church. The members of this congregation having taken steps towards providing themselves with an edifice, determined, while still worshi])ping in the school house, to organize a church and to call a minister. In j^ursuance of previous notice, a meeting was held at which Benjamin Walker presided, when the church was legally incorporated under the name and style of Trinity Church, in the village of XJtica, &c. ; officers were chosen, and the time agreed on for the annual meeting for the election of their successors. These first officers were Abraham M. Walton and Nathan Williams, war- dens : William Inman, Charles Walton, John Smith, Benjamin Walker, Samuel Hooker, Aylmer Johnson, James Hopper and Edward Smith, vestrymen. A few days later. Rev. Jonathan Judd was invited to come and serve as minister. He came, and officiated part of the time here and part at Paris Hill, until the fall of 1806, when he removed to Johnstown. Of the style and measure of success of his ministrations, we have been unable to obtain information. In approaching the year 1805, we begin, as it were for the first time, to meet with evidences of united interests among the villagers, and we find these evidences in the expression of a de- sire for a more perfect corporate life. Their wishes in this re- spect are contained in a jjetition to the Legislature for a new charter, which was received in the Assembl}' February 12, 1805. Tlieii- reasons are so fully set forth that we make no apology for copying the document in full, together with the appended names : To the Honorable the Legislature of the State of New York in Sen- ate and Assembly convened : The petition of the freeholders and inhabitants of the village of Utica, in the County of Oneida, humbly sheweth : That the rapid increase of buildings, business and popula- tion in said village, seems to demand a police better regulated THE FIRST CHARTER OF UTICA. 195 and more enlarged than at present the said village enjoys, par- ticularly with respect to fires and the prevention of public nuis- ances ; That your petitioners have already, in many instances, experienced a want of power in the inhabitants of said village, and the Trustees elected by virtue of the law under which the affairs of said village are now regulated ; That a greater number of firemen are requisite than is at present allowed ; That the population of the village is very rapid toward the w^est and south, so that the bounds of the same as now settled in these directions are too much limited ; That a great portion of the inhabitants of said village are in the habit of consum- ing baker's bread, and there being no assize of bread, the poor as well as others are obliged to pay for that necessary article a greater price than is paid in New York and Albany ; That it is found impossible in many cases to cany into effect the laws respecting swine, &c., running at large in the streets, having no power to distrain and impound, and the owner being frequently unknown. For these and other reasons, your Petitioners therefore pray that your Honorable body will grant to the freeholders, inhab- itants and Trustees of the said village powers similar to those enjoyed by the village of Poughkeepsie ; in order that the -above and many other existing evils may be avoided ; That the bounds of said village may be extended, and that the an- nual meetings of the inhabitants of said village may be here- after on the first Tuesday in April in each year. (Signed by the following :) B. Walker, Erastuf Clark, N. Williams, Tho8. Skinner, Daniel Thomas, S. P. Goodrich, Talcott Camp, Wm. Fellows, M. Hitchcock. David Hasbrouck, Frederick White, David W. Childs, Watts Sherman, James Dana, Thomas Walker, J. Ballou. Apollos Cooper, Benj'n Ballou. Jason Parker, Jadah Williams, Jr., Willett Stillman, John Mayo, Rufus Brown, Ira Dickenson, Elkanah Hobby, William Webster, Samuel Webster, Thaddeus Stoddard, Caleb Hazen, Augustus Hickox, Sam'l Ward, Benajah Merrell, Abraham Williams, John Adams, Ab'm Varick, Jr , N. Butler, Jer.VanRensselaer,Jr. Christian Stockman, Bryan Johnson, Francis A. Bloodgood John B. Murdock. Francis Guiteau, Jr . John Hobby, Charles C. Brodhead, Ezekiel Clark, Aylmer Johnson, Moses Bagg, Jr., John C. Hoyt, B. Brooks, Gnrdon Burchard, D. Turner, E. B. Shearman, Phillip J. Schwartze, Joseph Ballou, Elisha Capron, James Brown, Thomas Ballou, Joseph Ballou, Thomas Jones, Eli^'ha Rose, Obadiah Ballou, ,James Hazen, David Stafford, Eph'm Wells, John Bissell, Evan Davies. CHAPTER III. UTICA IX EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIVE. Having thus sccinned the population of the nascent village, and passed in review nearly all of its members, from the origin of the settlement down to the beginning of extant historic rec- ords, let us, before taking up the thread of these annals, con- sider the people as a whole, and the appearance of Utica at the date in question. Such a survey is the more desirable, inasmuch as while following the experience of individuals throughout the course of their career, the attention is often carried forward many years, and we are liable to lose sight of the condition of things when these individuals first became resident. The village, it is evident, had now taken a start and was growing with some degree of vigor; and this start would seem to have begun from about the year 1794:, as will be seen from a glance at the few data we possess. The three log shanties of the Bleecker map of 1786, and as observed by a passing settler in '87, had, in 1790, hardly increased in number, for this is the sum of tliem given by Morse in his earlier Gazetteer, and William Miller of Trenton, found no more in 1793, when he first passed through the place. In 1794 there were, according to Judge Jones,* about ten resident families, or according to a settler of that date, seven or eight houses, although two Welsh emigrants on their way to Steuben counted, the next year, only four houses and a barn on the main street. In 1796 the number of houses, says Morse, had increased to thirty-seven, and in 1798 Dr. D wight estimates their number at fifty. Maude, two years later, tells us there were sixty, while another authority f rates the population of 1801 at two hundred souls. In 1802 the number of houses, as we learn from Rev. M)-. Tayloi-, had grown to nearly ninety, and in 180-1, when Dr. Dwightwas here again, he found "one hundred and twenty. houses and a long train of merchant's stores and other l)uildings." * Annals of Oneida County. f A. B. Johnson. UTICA IN EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIVE. 197 The actual narrowness of confine of tlie Utica of 1805, and the small progress it had made towards its present measure of prosperity, will be evident when we know that the only streets in use were Main. Whitesboro, Genesee, Hotel and a portion of Seneca, the latter having been added to the preceding in the year 1804 Others were laid down on the manuscript maps of proprietors, but unrecognised by authority, and as yet without houses. Business found its way from the river as far up Whites- boro as Hotel street, as far up Grenesee as the upper line of Broad, and a little way along Main ; beyond these limits shops .and stores were sparingly intermingled with private residences. The business was conducted in little wooden buildings of whose style and dimensions a flattering estimate may be formed from a sample that still remains, transported many years ago to the corner of Fayette and State streets, from the west side of Gene- see just above Whitesboro, and which, when it w^as erected in 1806, was deemed the glory of the street. And even this has lost most of its significant look since the repairs recently put upon it. Xot more than two brick stores had 3'et found a place. The dwelling houses of Main and Whitesboro streets may be judged of by a few specimens still to be seen east of First street and west of Broadway. The road along Genesee street consisted of a log causeway barely wide enough for teams to pass one another, and having a ditch on either side, into which if the hinder wheels slipped, a vigorous pull was required to raise them again to the track. Some idea may be had of the condition of what is now one of the busiest and most thriving quarters of the city, from the building experience of Anson Thomas, during the summer of 1805, when he put up a store on Genesee street, nearly opposite Liberty, and also a house higher up on the former. The work- men engaged on these buildings had board with their employer on Whitesboro, between Broadw^ay and Washington. The last named streets were unopened, and the old corduroy road that once started between then- lines, and pursued its winding way to New Hartford, was at this time abandoned. The course of the men to and from their work lay through a swamp and along prostrate logs. To call them to their meals the house keeper hung a towel on the door post. Within less than two years, Mr. Thomas built another house, and this was nearly on 198 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. the site of the one now occupied by Dr. Watson. Here a for- est confronted him, and a forest approached close to his rear, the lands about were unfenced and neighbors were distant, the nearest on the north being Judge Cooper, at the upper part of Whitesboro street Between Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Cooper in- vitations to an interchange of visits were made, as in the former case, by the display of the white signal, the passage between them being along a lonely cow path. The transient occupancy of many of the stores and houses, and the general floating habit of the traders and and artisans, cannot but have been observed in the sketches already given of the inhabitants up to this time, a habit which marks new countries everywhere. Having sundered the ties of home and formed no dm-able attachments in their new abode, they were easily unsettled by chance prospects of better things in some other locality. Or, inexperienced in business, and having little capital to work with, they soon failed, and changed their place to gain new credit where their ill fortune was unknown. At this time as well as for some years longer, there was doubtless much of the rawness of a new people living apart from populous cen- tres, and almost destitute of schools and churches. ' Yet there was on the whole an unusual amount of intelligence and good morals. Some of the settlers had been bred at college, others had enjoyed a wide experience abroad and had moved in pol- ished circles ; and the majority had been trained under elevat- ing and purif^'ing influences. )>< Utica was surpassed both b}^ Whitesboro and New Hartford, and at least equalled by Rome, its later and more enduring rival. Of New Hartford, writes Dr. Dwight, "no settlement, merely rural, since we left New Lebanon, can be compared with it for sprightliness, thrift and beauty. The lands were in an excel- lent state of cultivation; the business of tamiing was carried on upon a large scale, and everything wore the appearance of rapid improvement." Of the " pretty village" of Whitesboro, he says that " the houses, about sixty in number, are, for a new settle- ment, uncommonly good ; the}- stand on a single street, straight, smooth and beautiful. It contains two churches, and several genteel families who are eminently hospitable, and furnish each other the pleasures of polished society." These places were not only earlier in their origin and had already become centres of UTICA IN EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIVE. 199 trade, but Whilesboro, in 1802, became, with Rome, a half-shire town of the connty. Here the courts were held, and here the chief officers and many of the leading lawyers had their abode. Already there were clustered in it a few legal gentlemen of mark- ed ability, who would have been distinguished in any communi- ty, whether for their eloquence and skill as advocates, their sound learning or their just estimate and successful practice of the dig- nity and duties of their profession. There was Jonas Piatt, soon the leader of the federal party, who, after four years of influen- tial service in the Senate of the State, was raised to the bench of its Supreme Court, and honored the place by a long series of wise and learned decisions and a career of stainless judicial integ- rity, — a man of pure morals and a high sense of personal honor, of courteous marniers and refined and flowing hospitality. There was his partner, Arthur Breese, soon to be transferred to Utica, a lawyer of more than respectable standing, a citizen of influence in the county, and as a high-minded gentleman, not less generous than the former in dispensing the civilities of his house and his table. There was Thomas R, Gold, an oracle in equity juris- prudence, and who by reason of his "keen logic, sharp analysis and learned mastery of cases, argued more of them in the old Supreme Court than any lawyer in Central New York." And at a little later date there was Henry R. Storrs, who won for himself a na- tional repute *' as one of the most forcible debaters and eloquent orators of his day," and who in the opinion both of Mr. Clay and Mr. Buchanan, — an opinion uttered separately and on different occasions, — had not his equal for eloquence in the halls of Con- gress. As they increased in celebrity these men drew towards them, as pupils and as associates, others whom they trained to the same excellence of scholarship and influenced to emulate the same noble ambition. Men such as these, with the lawyers of Utica already named, and others who followed them, here and elsewhere in the county, conspired to give at an early day a reputation to the bar of Oneida for learning purity and bril- liancy of character which it has since faithfully maintained. But as yet these heads of the profession were not only founders of this bar, they had also a monopoly of its privileges, so that in legal as in other needs, Utica was but secondary and depend- ent. If an order were to be procured from the courts or any other business to be transacted therein, or even if it were wished 200 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. that a deed should be acknowledged, a journey to Whitesboro was necessar}^ in matters of household convenience and daily consumption a like dependence was also, though not so imperi- ously, felt. If a fastidious citizen despaired of getting from the stores of his own traders the finest loa£ sugar, or a nicer kind of tea than the Bohea then in common use, he would be sure of finding them with William G. Tracy of Whitesboro; and both this place and New Hartford had for many years thriving mer- chants who drew custom from Utica. New Hartford, too, in the cultivation and pohsh of such families as the Sangers, the ■Kirklands, the Stanleys, the Snowdons, the Kisleys, &c., had 'social advantages that were little short of those possessed by Whitesboro. A natural characteristic of the small and sparse population of the vicinity was the very great fi-eedom of intercourse which existed. Dependent on one another for fellowship and assist- ance, they were knit by the closest of bonds, and found much of their enjoyment in the exchange of hospitable visits. Banks and degrees in society there were, as at present, but these dis- tinctions were less marked, and the bars easily broken down. Thus each was impressed by his fellow, and happily there were enough of ennobling agencies at work to chasten and exalt the whole. Moreover, distances were of little account, and bad roads so trifling an impedmient, that if congenial associates were deficient or unsatisfying at home, they were sought in the cultured and high toned families of the neighboring settle- ments ; and so it was that Utica was scarcely more indebted to its own leaders than to the foremost peo])le of Whitesboro and New Hartford for the influences that formed and enriched its character. Other manners or habits that might be set down as in any w^ise peculiar to a people so recently congregated as were the Uticans of 1805, it is diflficult if not impossible to detect ; these habits were yet to be formed, and for their clearer development we must wait many years longer. Certain youthful amuse- ments there were, but these had little that was characteristic either of time or place. Scrub races found a field for their exercise along the Main street ; more ambitious sport was sought on the river road in Deerficld. The jockeys of the lesser course, whose names tradition has handed down, were Nicholas Smith, UTICA IN EIGHTEEN HUNDEED AND FIVE. 201 ne]»hew of Major Bellinger, hereafter to be met with as a veii- ei'able relic from the founders, and a colored boy, familiar to everybody as "Mr. Kip's nigger." If there were many con- testants in the race on foot, one only has been remembered, for he surpassed them all in agility. And he was none other than Henry B. Gibson, as yet a clerk, bat in after times a banker of fame and fortune. That ball playing was considerably prac- ticed we are convinced by the stringent ordinances which the village fathers soon enacted to forbid it within the streets. As to the kinds of game in vogue, doubtless they were simpler than the present national one of base ball, since we know that the western wall of the hotel was a favorite place for play. As we have seen, a goodly number of stores and shops were dispersed along the principal street. Yet there was room enough outside of it for the operations of farmers, and some of these were cultivating the soil of what are now the oldest parts of the city. As luxuriant a crop of wheat, said an eye-witness, has been grown in the second ward of Utica, as he afterwards met with in the famous wheat region of Genesee ; and as for potatoes, the most abundant growth he remembers to have wit- nessed in all his life time was the product of this same neigh- borhood. The few simple manufactories as yet in existence have been mostl}^ already glanced at. There was the shop of William Smith, for the making of wrought nails, on the east bank of Nail creek. There was a small shop for cut nails on the south side of Main, a little east of the scjuare. Its begin- ning was early, but precisely how early the writer is uninformed ; it was followed by the similar shop of Delvin, on Genesee. These were worked by no other power than the hand and foot, the nails being cut by one process and headed by another. There was lire's brewery on Nail creek, opposite Smith, and there was the new one of Inman, just- opened on the corner of Broadway. There -were four tanneries, viz.: those of Ballou, Hopper, Hubbard and Hoyt. There was the wagon shop of Abijah Thomas, the hat factory of Samuel Stocking. There were a few places where chairs and other furniture was made, and there were shops where other mechanical trades were con- ducted. And these constituted the whole manufacturing in- terests. 202 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. It was trade that chiefly commanded the enterprise which is at present enlisted in a great variety of pursuits. And it found a vastl}^ wider field for its exercise than is enjoyed by the local merchants of to-day. From Lewis and Jefferson, from Onon- daga, Madison and Chenango, farmers and country dealers sent hither their wheat and other grains, their pot and pearl ashes, and the surplus of their farms and dairies, to receive in ex- change, for consumption or for sale, goods from tlie east that were best attainable by transport on the river. Comparatively little money was in use, and business was largely a system of barter and credit,wherein the merchants on the Mohawk held toward the outlying settlements relations akin to those now ex- isting between the importers of the metropolis and inland deal- ei"s all over the country : they found a market for these fron- tier producers, and supj^lied them in return with the manufac- tures of Europe and the groceries and liquors of New England and the West Indies. The following are a few only of the prices of articles in common use, both imported and native. A kind of East India muslin, that would scarcely hold together to be measured, was sold for two shillings. This was called Bafters. A somewhat finer variety, known as Gurrers, com- manded a sixpence more. Calicoes were six shillings and six pence per yard ; better and handsomer can now be bought for one shilling. West India sugar sold at from ten to fourteen cents. Maple sugar in its season at sixpence. Board was two dollars a week ; a single meal two shillings. The very names of the goods sold by the mei'chants sound strangely to modern ears ; they were known by such titles as Shallows, Durants, Calimanco, Black Mode, Wildbore, Rattinetts, &c., and among the hardware and miscellaneous articles. Brass Nubs, Iron Dogs, Franklin Stoves, Drawn boot-legs. Rub stones, &c. Let us not imagine that the streets were thronged with traf- fickers or that they ever presented a scene analogous to those so often witnessed now-a-days. Many years yet elapsed ere one of them was paved or lighted, while the side-walks, not yet taken in hand by the trustees, were scarce distinguishable from the road-ways. A single constable formed the total police, and he was often called, in the discharge of his duties, to distant points of the State, for Madison, Lewis, Jefferscjn and St. Law- rence formed parts of his bounds. No bank had yet been estab- UTICA IN EIGHTEEN HUNDEED AND FIVE. 203 lislied. The Welsh had the only church actually erected. Trinity was in progi'ess, but not ready for use, and the sole mode of access to it was by a lane, known as Church lane, which anticipated the present First street ; and even this was entered through a gate. On the map of Whitestown, made by Peleg Giiford in 1806, of which a part is shown above, this church is represented as standing quite alone in the rear of the row of houses that line the course of Main street. The other church pictured on his map was not yet begun. For most wor- 20-i THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. shippers tbe scliool hoiise was the customary place of resort. Baptists who did not understand Welsh attended the Welsh Baptist Church when there was preaching in English, and some- times made a journey to Herkimer in order to worshij). Meth- odists gathered on the New Hartford road. Besides the school house and the churches thus far specified the only known build- ing or institution of this era, that was in any sense public in its character, was a market-house. All that can be learned of it is to be found in a remonstrance against it, addressed to the commissioners of highways of the town of Whitestown, a document that has accidentally escaped the general wreck. In this remonstrance the dwellers in the vicinity of the market denounce it as unnecessary, and "not accordant with the cus- toms of marketing to which the inhabitants were used," as wholly an individual project, " in the emoluments from which the corporation had no share," as "encroaching upon the too narrow streets," and, lastly, as instead of answering the design and ends of a regular market, being converted into an aleshop, and a rendezvous for the idle, the noisy and the tippler." This is not the same market house which a few years later was ordered by the public vote, and which was the cause of long years of controversy between those living near it and those more remote. But from the names and residence of the remon- strants we may infer that its site was nearly the same, that is to say the public square. The village had its burying ground, and in 1806 a deed of the premises was obtained from Stephen Pottei", the owner, but with a reserved clause that savors little of the modei-n taste and sentiment that is exercised in providing for tlie last resting place of our departed friends, as it reserved to the former owner the right of })asturing sheep and calves therein. Utica had not yet seen its first menagerie, or caravan as such shows were formiCi'ly called. That, too, came in 1806, and was on exhibition three days at Tisdale's tavern. The only object it contained was a " Live Elephant, " " the largest and most sagacious animal in the world." We are informed that "the peculiar manner in which it takes its food and drink of every kind with its trunk is acknowledged to be the greatest natural ■cui'iosity ever offered to the public. She will draw the cork UTICA IN EIGHTEEN HUNDRED AND FIVE. 205 from a bottle, and with her trunk will manage it in such a manner as to drink its contents, to the astonishment of the spectators. Will lie down and rise at command," &c. The amusing simplicity of the boastful showman reveals, as one cannot but think, a like simi^licitj on the part of his public, and hints at a condition of society that seems an age behind the forwardness of the present. CHAPTER IV. THE SECOND CHARTER. The petition heretofore recorded, which the citizens had ad- dressed to the Legislature was granted, and a new and more comprehensive charter was accorded them. By order of Talcott Camp, clerk, the inhabitants were called to meet at the school house on Tuesday May 7, 1805, in order to choose five trustees and do any other necessary business, at which time "the law is to be read." This charter, which bears date April 9, 1805, secured all of the privileges that were asked. The bounds of the village on the east were fixed as they now exist. Those of the west ex- tended to the west line of Lot No. 99. Tlie freeholders were declared a body corporate with power to raise among them- selves a tax not exceeding one thousand dollars in one year, for public buildings, fire expenses and necessary improvements. Five trustees were to be elected annually at a meeting of free- holders to be held on the second Tuesday of May. Any per- son who declined to serve when so elected was liable to a fine of twenty-five dollars. To these trustees it was given to fix the price of bread, assess all taxes, appoint twenty-five firemen, make all by-laws necessary for protection against nuisances and for the general regulation of municipal afi^airs, and to them was entrusted full power to enforce the same. The president whom they should appoint was required, in addition to his duties as presiding officer of the board and superintendent of the public interests, to look after the utensils used at fires, while the trus- tees were to serve also as fire wardens. There was to be ap- pointed also at the annual meeting a treasurer and a collector, who were to receive a compensation for their services. The foregoing is an outline of the charter which the inhabitants were now met to hear, and in accordance with whose provisions they were to organize. Their proceedings as well as those of subse- quent annual meetings, and those also of the monthly meetings THE SECOND CHARTER. 207 of tlie trustees then elected, are preserved to us in the records which still remain, so that we may from this time onward, trace the official history of the place, and are no longer restricted to the individual histories of its citizens. At this first annual meeting the former trustees presided, and Abraham Varick acted as secretary. The following were chosen trustees for the ensuing year, viz : Jeremiah Yan Eens- selaer, Jr., Nathan Williams, Francis A. Bloodgood, Jerathmel Ballou and Erastus Clark. Isaac Coe was chosen treasurer and Worden Hammond collector. It was resolved that the sum of three hundred dollars be raised by assessment on the freeholders, of which two and one half per cent was to go to the collector, and one per cent, to the treasurer for their compensation, and the residue be devoted by the trustees to the payment of the expenses of digging wells, procuring pumps and fire utensils and the contingent expenses. At the first meeting of trustees, which was held at the Hotel four days afterward, Jeremiah Yan Rensselaer, Jr., was ap- pointed president, and D. W. Childs, clerk. At their second one, twenty-five able bodied men were appointed firemen, with power to appoint their own captain, who was to manage their affairs and to exercise the men on the last Saturday in every month, and also to select five who were to control the ladders and fire-hooks. These first firemen were selected from among the prominent lawj^ers and merchants, which was true also during many subsequent years, for the position was held to be one of responsibility and honor, and, besides, it relieved the holder from militar}^ service. Hence the office was much sought, and applicants were more abundant than vacancies to be filled. At the same meeting the trustees adopted a seal, which was a heart with the letter F in the centre, and also passed an ordinance to restrain horses, hogs and neat cattle from running at large. At the third meeting of trustees, an ordi- nance was passed in relation to fire-buckets. Its provisions, which seem now so singular, but which with some modifications were in force for several years, were substantially the following : The owner of every dwelling, store or work-shop, or occupant of the same if the owner were a non-resident, was required to keep hung up in the principal hall, or in some conspicuous place in the building, one or more leathern fire-buckets of the 208 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA. capacity of eight quarts, and in number proportioned to the- fire j^laces or stoves the building might contain, though no tone was ex])ected to have more than six. These buckets were not to be used for any other purpose than to carr\^ water at fires. For non-compliance with the ordinance the owner or occupant was subject to fine. The operation of the ordinance was to extend fi-om the east line of Great Lot No. 93 to the west line of Lot No. 96, that is to say, from First street to the present State street, and as far south as the residence of Jeremiah Van Eensselaer, Jr., or the line of the modern Blandina street. The next meeting was held on the 3d of June, when the assize of bread was fixed. The price being regulated in accordance with the price of wheat, this first assize, which was made when wheat was selling at fourteen shillings the bushel, was as fol- lows : A loaf of superfine wheat flour to weigh two pounds ten ounces, for one shilling. A loaf of superfine flour to weigh one pound five ounces, for sixpence. A loaf of common wheat flour to weigh three pounds three ounces, for one shilling. A loaf of common wheat flour to weigh one pound nine ounces, 'for sixpence. It might be presumed from the desire the citizens had ex- pressed for power by their charter to adjust the price of bread, and the prompt exercise of this power by the trustees, that baker's bread was the only kind in use ; and that few, if any, families baked their own. And this was probably the case to a much greater extent than at present. The practice arose chiefly from the difficulty of getting brewer's yeast with which to leaven their bread. The very earliest settlers made their own beer from wild hops they gathered in the woods, and the emptyings were used for yeast ; but such yeast was trouble- some to make and soon soured. After the erection of a brew • ery, and especially after Mr. Inman, the brewer, announced through the papers that private families would be waited on with fresh yeast every Tuesday and Friday, domestic bread, as we may conclude, came more into use. But that manufac- tured by the bakers was always in demand. Its assize was renewed, or newly regulated, at each montlily meeting, and was published in the weekly papers over the signature of the pres- ident. Any baker wlio violated the ordinance was subject to a fine of five dollars. THE SECOND CHARTEE. 209* In July, it was determined to dig three public wells for the supply of the village with water. "One of them was to be in the middle of Genesee street, near Schwartze's inn (the old House tavern), one on the north side of Grenesee, where Maiden Lane (now Liberty) intersects the same, and one in the middle of Hotel street, where the same intersects the road leading to Whitesboro." These wells were all dug, were fitted with pumps and in use for some time. The lower one on Genesee street was found to afford excellent water, and was so great a conven- ience to man and beast as to be kept open. It served as a nota- ble place of rendezvous for the inhabitants nearly, if not quite, down to the time when the village became a city. At the same meeting laws were passed forbidding the deposit of firewood any further in the street than fifteen feet from the sides, and requiring its removal within twenty-four hours after purchase ; requiring the removal also of building material, potash kettles,, hogsheads, standing wagons and rubbish ; excluding slaughter- houses between Lots 90 and 97 ; forbidding the burning out of chimneys on other than rainy days, or the burning of combus- tibles in the street before sunrise or after sunset. A week later, the money raised by assessment was apportioned according to a schedule agreed on. The above was, in substance, all that was done by the Trus- tees during the year, although they met eveiy month to declare the assize of bread. The firemen held also monthly meetings, and were duly ex- ercised at each of them. At the first one, Gurdon Burchard was chosen captain, John Hooker and Moses Bagg, Jr., lieuten- ants, and E. B. Shearman clerk. At subsequent ones, they re- solved to procure painted hats, lettered and numbered, as direc- ted by the trustees, and to wear them at each meeting. Mem- bers absent at roll-call, which was to take place immediately after the engine was drawn to the water, and who were unable to offer a reasonable excuse, were fined by a judge selected for the occasion. And those who failed in their attendance for three consecutive months were to be reported to the trustees. They supped together on the first of January, 1806, at the small cost to the company of one dollar. Though it would seem that they presently devised another mode of expending the fund arising from the accumulated fines ; for in February 210 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. they voted that tickets in the Lottery for the Encouragement of Literature, to the amount of monies in fund, be purchased, and numbers recorded by the clerk, for tlie use of the company. The amount thus expended was $19.50. Tht,' freeholders of Utiea lield, likewise, two other meetings during the current .year, beside tlie annual one ah'eady men- tioned. The first was for the election of a new collector in place of Worden Hammond, who resigned; and it resulted in the election of John Pierce as his successor. The second was called to consider the means of supporting a night watch, and was to be held at the hotel. Of the proceedings had on the occasion no record is left ; the result we may infer from the following voluntar}' pledge which bears date the following day. The original, a time-stained and much-worn paper, has attached the signatures of the trustees and a large number of the active men of the era, ninety-eight in all. This pledge reads thus : "Utica, Dec'r 10, 1805. "We the subscribers, esteeming a Night Watch in the Vil- lage of LTtica as necessary to guard us against the dangers of tire, do hereby associate ourselves for that purpose, and mutually pledge our honor to each other to act during the winter ensu- suing as good and faithful watchmen, under the dii'ection and superintendence of the Trustees of said village." These watchmen, as we learn from other sources, were dis- tributed into squads of five or six each, and took their turns in patrolling the vdlage from end to end of its two prin(dpal streets. Doubtless the place was more effectually guarded than it has been at any later period. This ample provision both of watch- men and of firemen, and this extreme vigilance on the part of all the inhabitants to protect themselves against destruction by fire, though in part due to the fact that the buildings were mostly of wood, must have had some more cogent reason peculiar to this special time. And we are ready to believe, as is reported, that the settlers were in terror from the attemjjts of incendiaries, and therefore the more i-eady to sacrifice their ease to o])pose such evil-minded marauders. The system, once inaugurated, was continued for some time longer, as appears by a later, though undated list of volunteers, and it is not until the ^^ear 1810, as we learn from the I'ccords, that jiaid watchmen were employed by the trustees. THE SECOND CHARTER. 211 Believing that the history of a town to be in any degree graphic and satisfactor}^, must be largely made up of sketches of those who dwelt in it, we shall continue to present details of the former denizens of Utica. But inasmuch as too great par- ticularity would render such history tedious, and as with the increase of the place its institutions increase in numbers and im- portance, and these demand the chief consideration, special biographies must needs be confined to those who had the main ]jart in afi'airs, or were in some way conspicuous or worthy of note. Of some a word or two may be given in the effort to characterize ; of numbers the simple enumeration is all that most readers- will tolerate. Rev. Bethuel Dodd, the first Presbyterian minister, died, as has been said, in April, 1804. In October his successor, Rev. James Carnahan, arrived to succeed to his charge, though it was not until Januaiy following that he was ordained and in- stalled. If the former is remembered with gratitude for his earnest piety and his faithful discharge of the pastoral office, the latter is held in deeper and more general respect, because to these high merits he added also a natural vigor of intellect and a ripeness of scholarship which gave him i-ank among the foremost of his calling, and in after years gained him distinction as the president of Princeton College. The biographical details we present of this second minister of the United Society of Wliitesboro and Utica, are, for the most part, condensed from the discourse preached at his funeral by his successor in the college. Rev. Dr. Macdonald. James Carnahan was of Scotch-Irish descent on both his father's and mothers side. His grandparents came from the north of Ireland, near the beginning of the last century, and set- tled in Cumberland county. Pa., and there he was born on the 15th of November, 1775. In the autumn of 1780 his father, who was a farmer, removed his family over the mountains to Westmoreland county, and about eight years afterward lost his life in attempting to cross the Alleghany river. From that period until he was seventeen years of age, James performed light work on the farm in summer, and went to school in winter. His mother having now entered into a second marriage and removed from the countv at an age when he was too young 212 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. to assume the care of his father s farm, he determined after some^ hesitation to stud}'- for a profession. This hesitation, whicb arose from the idea that he was too old to commence Latin, was- finally overcome through the urgency of two sons of his step- father then in the academy at Canonsburg, and on the 10th of August, 1793, he entered this academy and began to learn the Latin grammar. His teacher was James Mountain, a young Irishman, who was the nephew of Arthur Murphy, the accom- plished translator of Tacitus and the Dialogues of Lucian. Murphy was not a teacher by profession, but he had himself instructed Mountain in the Greek and Eoman languages, and so thoroughly had he done this, that the latter, in hearing his classes recite from Horace or Homer, very rarely took a book into his hands, so perfect was his knowledge of the text. It was doubtless to the instruction of this finished scholar, not less than to his own aptness, that young Carnahan was indebted for the accurate and thorough knowledge of the classic languages which afterwards distinguished him. All educated men know more or less of Latin, but he was at home in it ; to him it was a second vernacular. He also read Greek well, and would sometimes in family worship read in English a chapter from the Septuagint, translating with fluency a passage fi'om Ezekiel or any of the prophets. It was while at Canonsburg that Mr. Car- nahan made a public profession of his faith in Christ. He re- mained here, as pupil and as teacher, until 1798, when, having exhausted this fountain of learning, he wistfully looked toward Princeton. Accepting from his pastor, Rev. Dr. John McMillan, a loan of the money which was to support him while there, and which his father's encumbered estate was unable to sup})ly, he entered the junior class in the college of New Jersey, and re- ceived his first degree in the arts in September ISOO. He read theology during one year with Dr. McMillan, and then having been appointed a tutor in tlie college, continued at Princeton his ])reparations for the ministry. In April 1804, he was licensed by the presbytery of New Brunswick, and immediately afterward ministered a few weeks to some vacant congregations of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Having been invited to preach to the Reformed Dutch Churches in Albany, lie went thither about the fii-st of June and complied with their request. With the view, merely, of seeing the country, he extended his jour- THE SECOND CHARTER. 213 nej up tlie Mohawk to Whitestown, and preached in New Hart- ford, Whitesboro and Utica, spending not more than a week. On his way back to New Jersey, he preached another Sunday at Albany. From the Dutch Church of that city he received a call, with a salary of fifteen hundred dollars, and another from the United Society of Whitesboro and Utica, with a salary of seven hundred. He accepted the latter, and returning to Oneida county, commenced his parochial labors in the latter part of October. On the 5th of January, 1805, he was ordained and installed pastor of the United Churches. His residence he •established at Whitesboro, but after the lapse of a few 3'ears he removed it to Utica, occupying the house which bad been the farm house of Richard Kimball, and which stood nearly on the spot where is now the residence of Irvin A. Williams. It was afterwards removed to Kenible street, a little north of Hobart, and is there still. Like his predecessor, he preached in turn at Whitesboro and at Utica, one half of each Sunday at each place from the first of May to the first of November, and one whole Sunday at Whitesboro and Utica alternately during the remainder of the year. Each branch of the societ}^ now transacted business sep- arately, and each was liable for one half of the salary, the whole amount being seven hundred dollars. His place of preaching at first was the school house on Main street, then the new edifice of Trinity, until the congregation provided a building of their own. Measures for this purpose were taken early in his pas- torate. A lot was given by Major John Bellinger, on the sole condition that he should have a pew in the church. This lot was situated on Washington street, corner of Liberty, the former street having just been opened as far as its intersection with the latter. A building committee, consisting of Apollos Cooper, Benjamin Ballou, Jr. and Jeremiah Yan Rensselaer, Jr. advertised in March 1806, for proposals for the construction of a wooden building sixty by forty-five feet and having a cupola. It was begun at once, and finished in the summer of 1807. Though a plain, unpretending structure, it was adequate for the needs of the congregation, and underwent no change during the ministry of Mr. Carnahan. This congregation was small and increased but gradually. Up to the year 1807, the whole number of persons received into communion with the church was one hundred and 214 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. twenty-one, of whom but eight3'-eiglit were then in actual fel- lowship, and of these not more than one-half, and probably not much more than a third, were residents of Utica. Shortly after the close of his term, fifty-seven were set off to form the Pres- byterian Church of Utica. His discourses were logical, well written and faithful, and his manner solemn and impressive. He had none of those salient and show}' qualities of mind that at once captivate, even on the slightest acquaintance. He was constitutionally reserved, and to strangers his manners appeared stiff, and his address con- strained ; yet they, even, could not be insensible to his intelligent features, and the dignity of his tall and striking form. Bat when in the societ}^ of intimate friends lie was fluent, genial and courteous, abounding in anecdote and humor. His scholarship was extensive and accurate; of his accomplishments as a lin- guist I have already spoken ; in mental and moral science he was -equally versed, having studied them from every stand- point. His judgment was admirable, and no man was ever bet- ter supplied with what, by misnomer, is called common sense. He possessed in a remarkable degree, for a literary and profes- sional man, a knowledge of the ordinary affairs of life, and was exceedingly acute and of great practical ability in the manage- ment of those lesser things which go to make up the sum total of life An eminent citizen has remarked that he never engaged in conversation with him for the space of five minutes without gaining valuable information upon some subject either great or small. And in the words of his son-in-law, he was a safe coun- sellor upon any topic where advice was needed, whether that were the tillage of a field, the construction of a house or a horse shoe, or the choice of a pi'ofession. He was remarkably inde- pendent in the formation of his judgments; while at the same- time he respected the o])inions of others, and cheerfully availed himself of whatever assistance he could derive in the formation of his judgments. He was in the highest degree an honest man, honest with his own conscience, and true and faithful to the interests of those even to whom he was not bound by any ties of express obligation or expected favors. He never shrank from responsibilty, but was perfectly reliable, and fearless as a lion in the path of duty. His equanimity was unsurpassed ; his bene- factions were liljeral yet unostentatious. He had an artless,. THE SECOND CHARTER, • 215 child-like simplicity wliicli led hiin to confide in tlie truth and good intentions of others. Modest to a fault, he not merely never sought to put himself forward or call attention to himself, he was actually distrustful of his own abilities and ever ready to concur with those who underrated them. This fault, rare and refreshing as it is, was the only failing in the rounded and finished character of this wise and good man, this humble dis- ciple of Jesus Christ. The foregoing outline of the character of Dr. Carnahan we give from the completer picture drawn by one who knew him intimately in his later years, and amid scenes where the chief labor of his life was performed. Here in this place of his early settlement, his learning, ministerial faithfulness and genuine worth were already felt and marked with commendation. It is not forgotten that he was foremost in the organization of that agent for the good of the spiritually destitute of this newly-set- tling region, the Oneida Bible Society ; of the committee which submitted its constitution he was the chairman ; he also prepared the introductory address to the public, and served as secretary of the society so long as he remained in the county. In 1821, two years before he was chosen president at Princeton, he received from Hamilton College, of which he was already a trustee, the degree of Doctor of Divinity. And here, too, after the lapse of more than sixty years, his memory is still affectionately revered. His ministry in this vicinity lasted a little more than six years. In November 1811, he was taken with an acute disease of the throat, from which he suffered greatly, and was confined to his room more than three months. In the last of the following March be sought a warmer climate, and remaiued about a year unable to do anything. His dismission from his charge took place November 4, 1812. The subsequent career of Dr. Carnahan as an eminently suc- cessful teacher of youth and his incumbency for over thirty years of the presidential chair of the College of New Jersej-, during which time there were graduated over seventeen hun- dred students, belongs rather to the history of that State or tliat College than of Utica. It must suffice to say that he proved himself not unworthy to be a successor of Dickinson, Burr, Edw^ards, Davies, Finley, Witherspoon, Smith and Green, — those illustrious men whose names reflect such renown on 216 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. PriiKieton. His death occurred on the 3d of March, 1859. His last connected words, which he proclaimed with energy, M^ere these: "Oli! the glorious gospel of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. " His wife was Mary, daughter of Matthew Van Dyke of Maple- ton, neai Kingston. N. J. She is represented as a pattern for her sex in every thing tliat ennobles womanhood, — in fidelity, in love, in humility and zeal : while as a house keeper, there was nothing which contributed to the comfort of her family that she did not know how and when to do. Her death took place on the 15th of August, 1854. The first master who ruled the village school after the depart- ure of Mr. Dana, was a brother of Silas Clark, and next after him the first of whom we hear was R.'Holcomb. The position of school master w^as not in those days a very permanent one, and this Koswell Holcomb, during the year 1797, taught at first at Whitestown, and afterwards in Westmoreland, as appears from the report of John Post, treasurer of the county of Herki- mer. After Mr. Dana and Mr. Clark he was again in Utica. The teacher of whom we next get any intimation was Gideon Wilcoxson. And of him little is known as a pedagogue, though we have a better acquaintance with him as a lawyer. He was born in Winchester, Conn., in 1781, but removed with the fam- ily of his father, Elisha Wilcoxson, a Revolutionarj' captain, to Vernon in Oneida county. He was a student of Hamilton Oneida Academy, and in November 1805, he opened the school house on Main street for pupils. But he soon took to the law, becoming a student of D. W. Childs. Admitted to the practice of his profession, he exercised it in Utica until 1818, and then fifteen j^ears in Elbridge, Onondaga county. From the latter place he was twice sent to the Legislature, and was a justice of the peace. In 1827 he migrated to Ann Arbor in the Territory of Michigan, where he was prosecuting attorne}', and again a justice, and where he died August 24, 1830. His wife, who was Abigail Graves of Vernon, is still living (1876), aged ninety- two. Of his six cliildren, three were born iii Utica, viz. : Amelia A., John R, deceased, and James M., now of Ann Arbor. He is declared to have been thoroughly honest, and a huinane christian gentleman. THE SECOND CHARTER. 217 Another lawyer who spent a few years m Utica was Abra- ham D. Van Home, a native of Montgomery county, who ])ui-- sued his studies with Joseph Kirkland at New Hartford, and then T)egan practice in Utica as the partner of A. M. Walton. In July 1807, he was made village attorney, but resigned in October, and returned to New Hartford to join his preceptor. In 1814, he was a member of assembly from Madison county, and in 1821 he died at Loudon, Ohio. Of the merchants the first to be mentioned is John Steward, Jr., who came here from Orange county. He rented of Aljijah and Anson Thomas, the store they had newly erected on Gen- esee nearh' opposite Liberty street, where is now the store of the sons of James Sayre. Here he began the miscellaneous trade of the time, which, however, was chiefly confined at a later period to hardware. And here he remained until his removal to New York, about the year 1813. Obtaining money from his uncle Gilbert Steward, of Albany, on which he paid no interest, he had an advantage in the purchase of produce that was enjoyed by few of his contemporaries. To this was joined, a handsome person and fine address, an active and enter- prising spirit, judgment, skill and strict integrity. In business matters he was much relied on, for as a high-toned and trusty person no one stood higher. He was one of the incorporators of the Oneida Glass Factor}^, and was made a director. He assisted also in the establishment of the Bank of Utica, and became a director in behalf of the State. Mr. Steward made a good deal of money while in Utica, but this was largely in- creased after his removal to New York, where his mercantile standing was eminent. He was single during most of his resi- dence in Utica, but in October 181 L, he married Miss Martha Jackson of Chester, Orange county, N. Y. She died in Octo- ber 1821. He outlived her many years. Elisha E. Sill, and Jesse W. Doolittle, opened in December 1805, in the store lately occupied by John B. Murdock, a dry goods house which, with some changes of its members, held an enduring and a highly creditable position among the merchants of Utica. Mr. Sill was the son of Dr. Elisha Sill, of Goshen, Conn., where he was born July 18, 1774, and was an older 218 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. brother of Theodore Sill, who became a prominent lawyer of this count}', and lived at Whitesboro. He remained in busi- ness until his death, October 16, 1812. His wife was Susan, daughter of Sanuiel Hopkins of Goshen. After his death she man-ied Kev. Henry Dwiglit, the successor of Dr. Carnahan. Mr. Sill's sons were William Eaton and Samuel Hopkins Sill, both residing in Geneva. A daughter died in youth. Jesse W. Doolittle, who was some ten years younger than his partner, was son of General George Doolittle, of Whites- boro, and served his clerkship with William G. Tracy of that place. His stay in the house was much longer than Mr. Sill's, and he had in succession as partners, Tlieodore S. Gold, and his own brother Charles E. The place of business was for many years one of the stores now filled by Charles C. Kings- ley, w^hither it had been removed from lower down the street. "A ver}- synonym of gentleness and integrity," Mr. Doolittle's virtues were not hid from his townsmen, for he was the friend of every body, and they were glad to place him in positions of responsibility and usefulness, both religious and secular. He died September 18, 1845, aged sixty-one. His wife, Jerusha,. daughter of Jabez Clark of Windham, Conn., was a gentle, loving, and fit companion. She outlived him many years, and died October 20, 1866, aged seventy-one years and seven months. Their children were John of Buffalo, Edwards of Chicago, Charlotte, (widow of James Norris,) Frederick of Chicago, Qeorge of Washington, D. C, William of Chicago, Grace, (Mrs. Storrs Barrows,) deceased. Moses Bagg, son of an early settler just deceased, entered at this time into mercantile business in company with William Fellows, already mentioned. He had been previously employ- ed in surve^'ing, had assisted in laying out the Seneca turn pike, and in surveys in the southwestern counties of the State, and had afterwards aided his father in the management of his affairs. His connection with Mr. Fellows was presently ex- changed for one with John Camp, when the latter had bought Mr. Fellows' interest. Three years after the death of his father, or about the year 1808, Mr. Bagg assumed the charge of the tavern which his father had kept, though he still retained for some years longer an interest in the firm of John Camp & Co. ^/^£, y THE SECOND CHARTER. 219^ This tavern was, as we have said, a two story wooden build- ing standing on the corner of Main street and the square. Its meagre dimensions when compared with the present enormous pile known as Bagg's Hotel may be judged from the following i when the iii'st board of canal commissioners in the course of their preliminary survey visited ITtica in July 1810, two of them, Messrs. Stephen Yan Eensselaer and Gouverneur Morris,, who had made the journey by land, occupied, with their ser- vants, the whole of the tavern, while the rest of the commis- sioners who came on b}^ the river were forced to seek quarters elsewhere. In 1812-15, Mr. Bagg erected on the site of this wooden structure the central portion of the brick hotel which bears his name, and to it he subsequently added on either side. BAGG'S HOTEL IN 1815 This he conducted, with brief intermissions, until the year 1836, when it was sold to a company of individuals. In the latter part of his career in the hotel he was associated with Alfred Churchi]l,"who eventually bought out the company and joined also the Bleecker house on the north. Soon after the erection of the earlier portion, J. Parker & Co., established their office in the basement corner, and thus the house became the princi- pal stopping place for the stages from all directions, and was more generally resorted to by travellers than any other public '220 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. liouse of the village. On the opening of the Utica and Schen- ectady Railroad the nearness of the hotel to the terminus of the road gave it an advantage that was enjoyed by no other house but the one adjoining it, with which, as has been stated, it was shortly united. The part taken by Mr. Bagg in influ- encing the proceedings of a meeting that was held at Congress Hall, in Albany, to decide upon the termination of this road, is thus stated in a letter addressed to the author by Rutger B. Miller, Esq. " The power of location w^as vested by the charter of the road in the canal board, of which Stephen Van Rens- selaer of Albany, was president. But Mr. V. R. had been con- fined to his room for a long time, and it was doubtful whether he would ever leave it. The board without him were a tie "upon the question, and the chairman pro tern, having the casting vote, was opposed to the present location. Hence the import- ■ance of obtaining the vote of Mr. Y. R., who as president might turn the scale. But who could tell how he would vote, and who could obtain his j^i'esence? To this question there was no response, until after a solemn pause, Mr. Bagg, (who, with -other parties deeply interested in the result, was present at the meeting) quietly but confidently answered : " I will see the Patroon." He saw him in his sick room, and after stating his case, retired with the assurance that the patroon would take the chair at the canal board. His appearance, leaning on the arm of an attendant, operated like a bomb shell. The die was cast ; and the last vote of tlie patroon was given in favor of locating the road on Water street!" " One of the board," Mr. Miller a,dds, " who had voted for the \\\) town route afterwards con- fessed to me that he had never fully examined the question, and felt ashamed of his vote after comparing the routes by ■actual observ^ation." In 1824. Mr. Bagg built the house now occupied by Mrs. Mann, on the corner of Broad and Second streets, into which he removed his family, and there, after his own retirement from the hotel, he spent the latter years of his life. He died Janu- ary 9, 1844. He was a man of few words and staid demeanor; unostentatious yet dignified and self-respecting, whose judg- ment was deliberate but weighty ; his standard of conduct higli, and his life unsullied ; his benevolence warm and freely exercised, though guided less by instinct than by strict justice THE SECOND CHARTER. 221 and strong principle. Ready in sympathy and social in tastes, his self -distrust kept him silent, and made him an actor rather than a talker. Earnest in his own affairs, he was alive also to the public interests, and faithful in such obligations as fell to his lot. In his younger years he was active as an officer of the fire department, and took his turn also as a village trustee ; later, he was successively trustee of the Ontario Branch, the Bank of Utica, and the Savings Bank of Utica, and treasurer of the Presbyterian Church and the Female Academy. His hospitable gifts were best exhibited in his ability " to keep a good tavern," the report of which was extended throughout the country. In its management Air. B. was greatly aided by his wife, who was a woman of more than common strength of mind and of rare executive ability. " To a clear and discriminating j udgment she added a firmness of purpose and an energy of execution that fitted her to discharge with fidelity all her domestic and social duties." Her matronly presence at the head of the pub- lic table long after so purely domestic a custom had ceased at similar houses, her care for the wants and the enjoyment of her guests, and the sense of C[uiet English comfort she inspired within them, caused her to be remembered with i-espect and kindness by many an old-time traveller, and contributed, with the excellence of the fare provided, to the earl}^ celebrity of the house. " At the same tune, as an eminent Christian phi- lanthropist, she was enabled to enlarge the sphere of her benev- olence, and to leave behind her substantial memorials of her usefulness. To her efforts and to the peculiar adaptation of her faculties to the promotion of such an enterpj-ise the Utica Orphan Asylum chiefly owes its existence and much of its present capacity for good." From its inception she gave to it her affections and endeavors, and when for years its prospects were still dubious, when its resources were whollj' dependent on the diligent fingers of a few ladies, she directed their efforts, cut and distributed most of the garments that were made, and with her own hands produced numerous articles of taste and skill. Of the Asylum she was first directress up to the time of her death. This took place September 19, 1833, when she was aged fifty-three. She left one daughter and three sons, all of whom are now living in Utica: Emma (widow of Charles. A. Mann) ; Dr. Moses M., Matthew D. and Egbert. "222 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. A few years after the death of this wife — who was Sophia, daughter of Matthew Derbyshire, and a native of Yorkshn-e, Eng- land — Mr. Bagg was again married. His second wife was Susan, daughter of William G. Tracy, of Whitesboro ; and if he had been fortunate in his first companion, he was not less so in his later one. Mrs. Bagg united a number and variety of ex- ■cellencies. Noble in person, with " a well poised and well dis- ciplined mind, with a delicate and cultivated taste, with fervor of feeling and coolness of judgment, with energy and unflag- ging zeal, she combined a Christian benevolence that was pre- eminent and controlling. Usefulness was the end of her life. In every relation and in every sphere she merged herself in others." While she shone in societ}^ by her intelligence and cheerfulness, she gave dignity and honor to humble labors of usefulness. As a member of a sewing society, by her presence and example she encouraged charity to the poor ; as a teacher in a mission Sunday school, she faithfully and successfully in- structed the children of parents of German birth ; as principal directress of the Orphan Asylum, she copied the career of her predecessor and watched over motherless children with mater- nal tenderness and assiduity. Her later years were passed in New York, but she died at Saratoga Springs July 17, 1859, in her lifty-ninth year. There is another name on our list of one wlio was by turns mercliant and hotel keeper, though at this time but a clerk. This was Seth Dwight, who was born in Williamburgh, Massa- chusetts, December 15, 1769, and was the son of Josiah Dwight and Tabitha Bigelow. He was for a short time a merchant at Williamsburgh, but emigrated to Utica in 1805, His first po- sition was that of clerk to William Fellows, succeeding John Camp when the latter went into business on his own account. But in January 1809 Mi'. Dwight opened a store on the square, next door below Bagg & Camp. Two yesivs later he formed a connection with William Pitt Shearman, and they began the auction and commission trade. In June 1815, the firm was Dwight & Hooker, and the business, which was of similar char- acter, was carried on at the brick store (No. 98 Genesee) that Mr. Hooker had just built on the west side of Genesee, oppo- site Catherine. They also dealt in lumber, having a yard near THE SECOND CHARTER. 223 where the c.mal cuts Genesee and Hotel streets. They encoun- tered a disastrous failure, from which neither of them ever fully recovered himself. The next we learn of Mr. Dwight is from his advertisement of August 1818, that he is about to open a boarding house at his residence, x^o. 18 Hotel street. The following year (June 1, 1819) he took the York House, (the old ''Hotel,") and fitted it up for a boarding house and reading room, Avith newspapers of the principal cities. We have one more public announcement, and this time it is from his wife, who tells us in August 1820, that she is prepared to do mantua making and millinery. And then we learn of his death at Buffalo, whither he had removed a short time previ- ous, and this occurred April 80, 1825. Mr. Dwight was a man of handsome features, and he bore himself handsomely, being showy of presence and agreeable in manners. He was, however, less a man of business than of strong and even gay social instincts and visionary tempera- ment. To some extent he was a public character, having been village clerk for }■ ears, and afterwards trustee. His wife was Hannah, daughter of E,ev. Joseph Strong, of Granby, Connect- icut, and was " the opposite of her husband in all her natural characteristics and cherished habits of feeling, having a charac- ter fall of solid qualities, and being earnestly religious in her aims and aspirations." She was remarkable for her gentle spirit, and, in the estimation of her son, the missionarj^, "the holiest woman he ever met." She died April 16, 1813, from an epi- demic then prevalent. Their children who reached adult life were Harriet (Mrs. James Dana) ; Delia J. H. (Mrs. Jolm White, of Dedham, Massachusetts) ; Cornelia Strong, (Mrs. William J. Buck) deceased; Eev. Harrison Graj" Otis, D. D., the widely known and much respected missionary to Constantinople, who was born at Conway, Massachusetts, Nov. 22, 1803, graduated at Hamilton College in 1825, and at Andover in 1828, and em- barked for the east in January 1830, where for nearly thirty years he preached, superintended schools and edited a religious paper, and was the author of " Christianity Brought Home from the East," and of a Memoir of his Wife, Mrs. E. O. Dwight. He was killed on the Trov and Bennington railroad, January 25, 1862. Mr. Dwight married, in 1815, Mrs. Susan Hewson, widow of Caspar Hewson of Albany, and daughter of Samuel Hooker 224 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. of Utica, and by ter he had three children : Susan H. (Mrs. Phineas M. Crane), William H. and Eliza K. (Mrs. William B. S. Gay). George Tisdale, who had removed the year previous fi'om Taunton, Massachusetts, to "Schuylertown," in this vicinity, came in the spring of 1805 to take charge of the tavern of Moses Bagg, Sr., who had just lost his wife, and who not long- after died also. In this house Mr. Tisdale remained two 3'ears or more, and then for a 3^ear conducted the House tavern, whence he removed to Division street. He was afterwards the owner of the tavern stand in Deerfield, which was kept during the war of 1812 by his son Eladsit He moved to Sacketts Har- bor. His Avife was Kanah Hicks ; his sons George L. and Elad- sit ; his daughter Kanah, (Mrs. Benjamin Hicks, and afterwards Mrs. J. G. Weaver.) Nearl}- on the site of the store of Post & Hamlin, burned down the winter previous, there started as " ironmongers," in February 1805, James A. & Lynott Bloodgood. They were brothers of Francis A., already sometime a resident, and sons of Abraham Bloodgood, of Albany. The father was a highly respectable man and once an Alderman of that city. He would seem to have had a turn for mechanical invention, for it is re- lated in the American Historical Record (April 1874,) that in 1807, when Fulton had just obtained his great trinm])h in nav- igation by steam, Abraham Bloodgood suggested the construc- tion of a floating battery not unlike, in its essential characters, the turret of Captain Ericsson's monitor of 1862. He is said also to have been somewhat stern in charactei*, or at least stern in the management of his boys. For when his son Ljaiott dis- appointed him by not taking to study as he had wished, he bound him to the trade of silversmith, holding the while av raw- hide over his head. This Lynott was exceedingly jovial in disposition, delighted in amusement, and could cut a pigeon- wing to perfection. Coming home at one time in dancing cos- tume from some frolic he had been engaged in, the father broke forth upon him : " What ! an apprentice with pumps and white silk stockings! Out of my sight!" His trade learned, he came here with his brother James, and they began business as- THE SECOND CHARTER. 225 ironmongers, though they sold also gold and silver ware, and James acted as assistant State sealer of weights and measures. They continued here about five years, long enough for each to marry a wife and acquire a reputation as honorable citizens, and then returned to Albany, taking with them their clerk, Jedediah Burchard. James married Miss Lucy Marsh, and when he died left three children. Lynott's wife was Ruth, youngest daughter of the Mrs. Dakin, who had given wives to his brother Francis A. and to James S. Kip and his brother, Henry Kip. After liv- ing at Albany a few years, he moved to Mechanicsville, but spent his later years with his daughter in Utica. His old age found him as mirthful and as fond of a practical joke as he had been in his youth. His children were Elizabeth (Mrs. P. Shel- don Root) ; Louisa, (Mrs. Dr. Grant of Hartford, Conn.) de- ceased ; Abraham, Presbyterian minister, settled in Monroe, Michigan ; Margaret (Mrs. William Wallace McCall, afterwards, Mrs. Robert W. Chubbuck.) A watch maker of taste and enterprise and a much respected person, who came from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, was Joseph Barton. He succeeded to the shop and goods of Flavel Bing- ham, which shop was on the west side of Grenesee, below Broad. In 1811 he took into the concern Joseph S. Porter, and after their separation in 1816, Mr. Barton became a dry goods mer- chant, and lived in Utica until August 23, 1832, when he died of the epidemic of that season, at the age of sixty-eight. His wife survived him until the following May. Mr. Barton built and occupied the house on Broad street now occupied by D. L. Clarkson, the first three story brick house in Utica. Of his family of eight cliildren the only one who lived of late in this vicinity was Rev. John Barton, of Clinton. He died in May 1877. Walter Morgan, a native of Chepstow, in Monmouthshire, an educated and gentlemanly man, had been in business in two or three places in this State before coming to Utica. He joined John Hooker in trade in 1806, but within a few months took his departure to Denmark, in Lewis county. Coming back again, he remained until 1815, and then settled in Madison, where he died in January 1820. He was a brother-in-law of p 226 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. John Hooker and Aloses Bagg, Jr., they having married sisters. Mrs. Morgan returned to Uticain 1826, and was here some years. Of fonr surviving children, Jane, wife of Dr. Alonzo Churchill, is the only present resident. The father of three brothers Sn^^der, who successively made Utica their home, was William H. Snyder, a Holland immi- grant, who came with some money to Virginia, bore an humble part in the old French war, and subsequently settled in New York, wdiere he was a jobber and shipping merchant. Ru- dolph, the eldest of these brothers, was born in New York in 1778, and was a short time a member of Kings, now Columbia College. But not being willing to accede to his father s wishes, who would have him become a minister, while he was himself equally bent on the study of medicine, he was removed from college before graduating. He entered into business with his father, and for this purpose went to Albany, whither his father made him shipments of goods, and while there he married Ra- chel Barneveldt Storm, of Easton, Pennsylvania. Dissatisfac- tion witli the paternal management, and perhaps an unusual amount of self-will on both sides, soon caused a separation, and the son, after short service at cabinet making, came to Utica to tr}^ the world anew. He accepted a proposal from William Tillman, a practical mechanic, to join him in the manufacture and sale of cabinet ware. This connection, shortly terminated, was followed by one with Demas Robbins, who died not long afterward. The business Mr. Snyder continued, however, to pursue many years longer, and until he had obtained what he deemed enough, when he retired. His education and his tastes led him to spend much time in self-improvement, while his strong sense and jjractical talent, his independent spirit and his concern for matters of general interest, brought him into public estimation and justified the part he was called to take in all that related to the common good. He was long a trustee of the village, and for two terms its pres- ident For live successive years he was pi-esident of the Me- chanics Association, and for two years one of the commission- ers of common schools. In the Methodist society he was a per- son of consideration and influence, and was elected one of the first trustees on the incorpoi'ation of the society and the erec- THE SECOND CHARTER. 227 tion of their chapel in 1815. At an earher ])eriod he had put up a school house on ground adjacent to the Pkrker block which was used by them as a place of worship. Later in life, and after the settlement of Eev. Heni}^ Anthon as rector of Trinity Church, Mr. Snyder returned to the Episcopal com- munion with which he had been first connected. High in per- sonal character, of varied information, cheerful and companion- able, he was decided in his opinions, obstinate in their main- tenance, and could tolerate no contradiction. He built and oc- cupied the house on the corner of Liberty and Seneca streets that is now occupied by his son-in-law. This was in 1816 — the cold summer — and during the month of August the mortar was at one time so stiff with frost as to compel a temporary suspension of the work. And here he died August 11, 1861, his wife having depmrted the year previous. Their only child, an adopted daughter, is Mrs. James M. Weed. Benjamin Payne was a fashionable tailor, and the principal rival of John C. Hoyt. He came to Utica from Oriskany. and "was for some time prosperous. While Mr. Hoyt did more cut- ting and making for the villagers, Mr. Payne's circuit of custom was the widest. Not a few were the yards of butternut home- spun as well as of English broad cloth that he made up into shapely garments. But not content with his sphere, nor satis- fied with being captain of the Utica Fire Company, he was am- bitious to be on a footing with men of larger means and greater abilities. And this led him to spend his money freely. His first shop had been opposite Kane & Van Rensselaer, on the west side of Grenesee. In 1810, he moved into a new. store beside them on the corner of Broad and Genesee. At the same time he occupied a new brick house on Broad street, a little east from the corner, and set up his carriage. This broke him and he never rallied. He died March 6, 1821, aged thirty-nine. Two of his daughters still live in Utica. William Hayes made earthenware near what is now the north-east corner of Liberty and Washington streets. Ere many years he and his son William Hayes, Jr., both of whom were accomplished penman, were posting books and giving in- structions in these accomplishments, and in various branches of 228 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. mathematics on Broad street near Genesee ; and at a still later period the father was writing master in the Academy, where we shall again meet with him. A gardener in the service of Colonel Walker, was like the preceding, an Englishman, and one who had seen better days. This was William Baxter, late of Brooklyn, and more recently of Eemsen. He became a baker, lived on Main street, about where Mi-. Butterfield keeps his livery, and carried on the busi- ness for several years, as did his sons John and William, after he became disabled by infirmity. He visited England and was absent a year, but on his return was struck by a bridge while on the canal, and was killed almost within sight of his home. Among the clerks of 1805, was Alexander Stewart, a Scotch- man who had been a peddler, but was now in the service of John C. Devereux. A few years later he and Augustus Hickox each built a store below Bagg's, and while Hickox went into his own, the other was taken by Abraham Van Santvoort, with Stewart as his clerk. He was still a clerk when he died Jan- uary 15, 1810. Elijah Boardman, from Whitesboro, at first with William Fellows, and subsequently with one of the Burch- ards, had a further clerkship in Troy, whence he removed to Tennessee, was an importer and breeder of horses, and became wealthy. His wife was Lucretia, sister of Morris S. Miller. Erastus Hunt with his brother Flavel was at work for Bryan Johnson. They for a short time carried on a store of their own, but soon left. Loring Buss, while living on Frankfort hill, came often to Utica to peddle, but afterwards removed and trafficked here. He v/as a man of some stir and was once deputy sheriff. A few other persons belonging to the mercantile class, may be barely enumerated for their residence was short. These were J. Mayo, brewer, and who dealt likewise in corn-meal and flour; John D. Cunningham, in dry goods ; Daniel Marshall, in combs, indigo, &c. ; Smith Bartlett, and Joseph Bow'es. Among the mechanics not before enumerated were Samuel Stow, cabinet maker, who removed in about three years to Eaton, Madison county ; John H. Fisher, coppersmith ; Reuben Brown, saddler; Avery Bi-own, carpenter; John George and THE SECOND CHARTER. 229 *Garrett Vreeland, journe3niien wagon makers; Seth Board- man, tailor ; Joel Vizor, laborer in Mr. Inman's brewery ; John Hull, shoemaker, and so rabid a tory that he illuminated his house on occasion of the ill-sifccess of his namesake, General Hull, toward the beginning of the war of 1812 ; Moses Kams- dale, farmer on the south-eastern border; Lewis Hubbell, an- other farmer, at the east end of Broad street ; and Samuel Hickox, who, it is said, was the builder of Cayuga bridge, that noted line across which politicians in after years exulted in lead- ing their forces, a bridge that has been as famous in the politi- cal campaigns of the State of New York, as was the bridge of Lodi in the campaigns of Napoleon. The volunteer watchman's pledge of December, 1805, furnishes us the following names of parties who were but temporary stayers, viz : Charles Bartles, Joseph Chapel, Jr., W. Fryatt, B. B. Rathbun. It contains also that of Theophilus Morgan, who kept tavern in Herkimer in 1808, and went thence to Oswego, where he represented his dis- trict in the State Legislature. Below Bagg's, toward the line of Water street, were two saloons, kept, the one by George Calder, and the other by J. Wharton, and kept as such places are apt to be where the keeper is his own best customer. Wharton's sign read as fol- lows : " Cakes and Beer sold here," and on the reverse : "Bread and Cider if you please." Of this shop the mainstay was the wife. Wharton himself, — when himself, — was crier of auctions, his cry being, " Walk up, walk up, gentleman, to Dwight & Hooker's auction rooms, where they have every thing to sell, and what they don't sell they mean to give away." 1806. At the annual meeting of freeholders and inhabitants held in May 1806, the former trustees were reelected. The pro- ceedings of five of their monthl}^ meetings are duly recorded, those of the remaining seven months being wanting in conse- quence of the sickness and absence of Mr. Childs, the clerk, The sum of two hundred dollars was deemed sufficient for the expenses of the year, including the digging of a well on the ^corner of Main and Church (now First) street, which, however, 230 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA. was never dug. Tlie detennination of the assize of bread! seems to have been the only business occupying the attention of the trustees that is deemed worthy of a place in their min- utes. By direction of the Whitestown commissioners of highways,. "Washington street, which had been just opened on the property of Mr. Bellinger, was now declared a public street as far as the- present Liberty, and the last named street, extended from Hotel to meet it, was also recognized as public. The first benevolent association of the county of which we have any knowledge had its inception at this time in Utica, and if we may credit a writer in the Wesie7m Recorder of 1824, it owes its beginning to the pious zeal of the first wife of Erastus Clark. This was the Female Charitable Society of Whitestown, Its constitution, bearing date September 23, 1806, provides for- the holding of the first annual meeting at the house of Mr. Clark,. on the third Tuesday of the ensuing month. In its preamble- the object of the society is thus set forth : " The subscribers, believing that a portion of the bounties of Providence can be applied in no better wa)^ than in administering to the spiritual necessities of our fellow creatures, and convinced of the utility and importance of missionary societies, by whose benevolent exertions the glad tidings of redemption are carried to multi- tudes who perish for lack of knowledge ; and wishing to coop- erate with such societies by contributing our mite toward the advancement of so good a cause, do agree to associate ourselves- for that purpose under the following regulations." The society was made up of females who paid one dollar annually, and was managed by six of their number as trustees who were to meet at least twice in each year. The funds were to be transmitted to such missionary institutions as might be there- after agreed on. The address accompanying the constitution was signed by the following as trustees : Elizabeth Breese, Helen Piatt, Susan B. Snowden, Sophia Clark, Sibella A. Van Eens- selacr, Mary K. Stanle}". From time to time meet with public amiouncements of the time of holding the annual meeting, but have seen no report of the doings of the society until after the year 181-i, when the association was rc-constituted under the title of the Female Missionaiy Society of Oneida. THE SECOND CHARTER. 231 Agreeably to an act of the Legislature tlien recently passed, the physicians of Oneida county met at Eome, in July 1806, and organized a County Medical Society. This society has con- tinued in being to the present time and has been to its mem- bers, as well as to the community, a source of much good — to the former as an oft recurring means of mutual encouragement and instruction, and to the latter as a monitor in matters of public and private hygiene. But aside from the fact that a goodly number of its members have been residents of Utica, and that its anniversary meetings have, for the most part, been held in the place, its history has too little relation to that of Utica, to justify us in enlarging upon it here. The interest in this his- tory is of course the greatest to these physicians themselves,, and for them it has been already written. It has been heretofore stated that in the year 1803 the Epis- copalians took measures for the erection of a church edifice, and that having raised a little more than one-half of the funds required for the purpose, they had entrusted the work to the Messrs. Hooker. These builders began it, and continued to prosecute it until the funds were exhausted, when there ensued a temporary suspension. On the promise of a gift of two thou- sand dollars from Trinity Church in New York, the building committee anticipated the gift by a loan, and early in 1805 en- gaged the services of James Watson to go on with the building begun by the Hookers. Tliis Watson of whom I meet with no previous mention, was an Englishman, wdio had the name of being a first-class workman, and was possessed of intelligence and a certain degree of polish. We hear of him afterward as en gaged in erecting several other wooden buildings, and as enjoy- ing the confidence of the community for his skill as an architect and his merits as a man. In 1811 he was superintendent of the Utica Glass Works, situated in Marcy. Being now author- ized to assume the work on the church and render the building fit for use, he put in the sashes, laid the floors, built the pews, desk and chancel, placed a temporary roof on the tower, and brought the building to such a state of forwardness that in Sep- tember 1806, it could be used for divine service. In the month of September it was duly consecrated by Bishop Moore of New York, who came to Utica for the purpose, accompanied by sev- ■232 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. eral of the clergy. Greater deference was then paid to rank and station than at present, and the visit of the bishop, then venera- ble with years, was quite an event in the obscure village. He confirmed eighteen persons. In the same month Eev. Amos G. Baldwin of Stockbridge, Mass., then a missionary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, was invited to officiate until Easter following, in place of Rev. Mr. Judd, who had received a call elsewhere. In September of the following year, Mr. Baldwin was tendered a perma- nent call, though the vestry were unable to offer him a salary which should compensate him for devoting his full time to the service of the church. Being then a young man and full of interest in his calling, he did not confine his labors to the church •of Utica, But officiating here one-half his time, he devoted one- quarter to Paris, and one-sixth to Fairfield. He continued rector of these various societies until 1814, while in 1811 was added the rectorship of Christ Church in Eaton, Madison county. His duties in Utica must have been prosecuted amid serious discouragements, for the church building was, during several years, in an unfinished state, being in fact but a mere shell, and of course, very uncomfortable in the winter season. It was in- adequately warmed, and the congregation in severe weather was but scanty. Earl}^ in 1810 a fresh contract was made with Samuel Hooker to finish the church, in consideration of the sum of $2,540, payable in ten 3'ears with interest annually. As soon as the season would permit, he began the work, and finished it in December followin*?, the cono^reo-ation meanwhile holdino- their services in the Presbyterian Church. In redemption of a promise made by Trinity Church of New York, three lots in that city were given the struggling society, the avails of whicli were to be devoted to the support of the minister. A donation of two hundred and sixty-five acres of land in the town of Eaton, Madison county, had been made two 3'ears before b}* Lady Bath, who owned lands there, the administration of which were entrusted to Col. Benjamin Walker, and it was b}^ his interven- tion that the gift was obtained. This gift did not, however, prove a profitable one, and was a soui'ce of trouble rather than of substantial assistance. But the prosperity of Trinity was now established. At Easter 1813, the rectors salary was raised by the contributions of the congregation, the rectorships of the THE SECOND CHARTER. 233 Madison and Herkimer county churches were relinquished, and thus Mr. Baldwin was enabled to give more care to the duties of his parish. He remained rector until Ma}^ 1818. By his in- fluence with friends in New York, he procurred the means to establish a theological library for the benefit of the clergy and students of divinity. This library was taken in charge by the vestry of Trinity, and the pastor became its librarian. He also, with his own hands, constructed an organ for use in the church. In addition to his parochial services here, he preached frequently in Holland Patent and at the glass works in Marcy. He also cooperated in promoting the interests of the Western Education Societ}", of which be was one of the vice presidents. When he withdrew from the parish, his zeal and fidelity, his purity of doctrine and of conduct during the long exercise of his rectorship, were commended b}^ resolutions of the wardens and vestr}-. He is represented as an amiable man, and though moderate in ability as a preacher, warmly devoted to the church, and zealous for its advancement. He continued man}^ years longer to serve as a missionary among the churches, and in later life was familiarly known as Father Baldwia He died at Auburn, N. Y., December 25, 1844, and was administered to in his last illness by Eev. Dr. Coxe, who succeeded to his rectorship after long years of interval. He had a wife, but no children. Her maiden name was Eupbemia Van Kirk. Their residence was at first on Whitesboro street, a httle west of Washington, and afterwards on Broad street, east of J. C. Devereux. One who as an effective friend of Trinity may be rightly mentioned next after its rector, and who for other reasons holds a strong claim upon the kindly remembrance of his fellow townsmen, was Judge Morris S. Miller. He was born in 1780, and was the son of Dr. Matthias Burnett Miller of Long Island, a surgeon during the war of the Eevolution, attached to the regiment of Col. Rutgers. On the death of Dr. Miller, while still in the service, his widow opened a boarding house in the city of New York, and thus obtained the means to support her family and educate her son. He was sent to Union College, where he was graduated with valedictorian honors in 1798. He studied law with Coi'nelius Wendell of Cambridge, Washington county, and then became private secretary to Governor Jay. 234 THE pk)Xep:ks of utica. About 1802, Nicholas Low, a wealthy landholder in Lewis county, who had been one of his mothers boarders, appointed him as his agent to superintend the sale of lands at Lowville and its vicinity. There Mr. Miller resided until his removal to Utica in 1806. During the course of that residence he was united to Miss Maria Bleecker of Albany, a lady whom he had met for the first time at a ball given on his Commencement night. The match was not a pleasing one to the conservative old Dutch family to which the lady belonged. And it was not until after their first visit home from Lowville, when he presented his eldest child, then an infant of six weeks, as a sample of a Black River trout, that the friends became fully reconciled. Upon his arrival m Utica, Mr. Miller began the practice of his profession, and being a man of decided ability, well versed in the law, and conciliating in manner, he soon established him- self in the public confidence. Within two years he was made president of the village, and within four years he received the appointment of first judge of the county. The latter office he continued to hold, by successive reappointments, until his de- cease, discharging its duties with credit and public approval. In 1813-15 he represented his district in the thirteenth Con- gress. His first speech received the warm commendation of John Randolph. By it and by others directed, likewise, against the war measures of the administration, he gained some reputa- tion. He was then a Federalist, but some years later he de- serted his former political friends and became a bucktail demo- crat, being one of the so-called " higli-minded gentlemen" who opposed the nomination of DeWitt Clinton. Having decided to attach himself to the new party, he addressed a letter to Erastus Clark (>;iN'inf»; his reasons therefor. There had been a conversation between the judge and Mr. Clark relative to call- ing together the Federal committee, and in his letter Judge Miller said he could not attend this committee meeting because he had left the Federal party. This letter was published in the Albany Argus. The letter of Mr. Clark in reply, which was also published, was in its original form extremely caustic, but was very much modified and softened, as it is said, by the request of his wife, to whom he read it, and whom he afterwards thanked for her advice. Thei'e continued to be friendliness between these gentlemen while they lived, but their former political in- timacy was not, of course, renewed. THE SECOND CHARTER. 235 In July 1819, Judge Miller was sent by Mr. Calhoun to Buf- falo to repi-esent the United States Government at the negotia- tion of a treaty between the Seneca Indians and the proprie- tors of the Seneca Reservation. The conference was held in a barn on the treat}^ grounds, six miles from Buffalo ; the war- riors, some three hundred in number, being closely crowded upon the mow and in the corners of the floor, of which the greater part was occupied by Judge Miller and his party, including his wife, Charles E. Dudley of Albany, Peter B. Porter of Buffalo, Mr. Ogden and others. The rosy and beautiful boy Mrs. Miller held asleep in her arms, fixed the admiring gaze of the Indians, and was probably of more inter- est than the Judge or his speech. It is said that Eed Jacket,, the chief, on being asked what he thought of Judge Miller s address, replied b}'- puffing out his cheeks and sending forth a tremendous blast of air. Whether the gesture was simply in- dicative of opposition to the arguments made use of and an attempt to discredit them with the listeners, or whether the chief really regarded the oration as mere ivind^ " sound and fury sig- nifying nothing," is best interpreted by those who are conver- sant with Indian character and usages. Certain it is that in other respects he showed no lack of consideration for the com- missioner, and having been presented to his squaw, insisted on knowing \k\G papoose also. To the honor of the Judge it should be added that the only comment made upon his work by Mr. Calhoun was a comment upon the smallness of his account. Besides the offices we have mentioned, and a trusteeship of Hamilton College, he held other positions of trust and honor. For his public spirit and liberality were active, and his merit •acknowledged ; capable and conscientious, intelligent and re- fined, courteous to all, and hospitable almost to excess, he was deservedly esteemed, and his standing was one of mark and influence. His character is well depicted in a commemorative discourse by his pastor. Rev. Henry Anthon, from which I ex- extract a passage : " He possessed an ardent and well cultivated mind, a frank, humane and generous disposition. To the more solid qualities of the mind were added a singleness and warmth of heart, an affability and cheerfulness of deportment, and an ur- banity of manners which were not confined to his friends only,, but diffused around him. Blessed bv Providence with the 236 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. means of relieving the wants of others, his benevolence was active and uniform. His purse was always open at the call of the needy. From sordid parsimony and narrowness of spirit no man was ever more perfectly free. In his address and de- portment he was affable and kind to all. To his particular friends Judge Miller's social intercourse added grace and de- light. The cheerfulness of his welcome, the assiduity of his attentions, the kindness and open-hearteduess of his reception, were features conspicuous in his character." " In his friend- ships he was wai-m and sincere, sometimes to a degree border- ing on enthusiasm." " To the church especially," says Mr. An- thon, "it is a time to mourn. In him she has lost one of her founders ; one of her warmest friends ; one of hei' firmest and most liberal supporters. A striking trait in his character was his attachment to the Episcopal Church, — an attachment not hastily formed, but the result of a rational, diligent and well- matured inquirj^ ; 3'et whilst he valued his church before every other, he freely conceded to all that liberty of conscience which he required for himself," and willingly cooperated with tlioseof a different faith in efforts to promote good morals and extend evangelical religion. An elderly person still living relates the following incident: "I happened to be at Kome in the winter of 1815-16 where the Judge was holding the Court of Common Pleas. A trial was going on which excited much interest and in which two important witnesses had been examined on oppo- site sides of the case, whose testimony was so directly opposed to each other's that either one or the other must have been per- jured Judge Miller, in his elo(|uent charge to the jury, said that they must reconcile the lamentable conflict of testimony the best way they could to secure the ends of justice, and so warmly ex])ressed his feelings in witnessing such an unfortu- nate scene of human frailty as to draw tears not from himself alone but from the whole audience." It may be added that he was prompt in his affairs, neat to fastidiousness in his j)erson and his grounds, and though neither tall nor s])are, being rather midway of extremes, his frame was both delicately and firmly knit and his features regular and pleasing. Throughout his residence he managed the interests of the Bleecker family in Utica — an estate which was thought to be worth four hundred thousand dollars, and of this Mr=;. Miller owned one quarter. THE SECOND CHARTER. 237 They occupied the house at the lower end of Main street, al- ready spoken of as the earlier residence of Peter Smith and also of James S. Kip. It was a two story house of wood, painted yellow and having a piazza on the front or north end. The grounds about it were ample, and the garden well stocked with fruit trees, especially the Bleecker or Orange plum, which the Judge first introduced here from Albany. Free as he was in dispensing this choice plum among the gardens of his neighbors,, he was equally free in disseminating the products of his extensive orchard of grafted apples. This orchard filled the space now bounded by West, Rutger, Steuben and South, and from it any farmer who would be at the trouble to plant them might take fifty young trees. Before his death Judge Miller had made j^repara- tions to build at the head of John street, had put out the shrub- bery and shade trees, and had erected a wall in front of the site where his son, Rutger B. Miller, erected in 1830 the fine stone -mansion which now forms the central building of the Rutger place. His death occurred while he was still in the prime of his years, November 19, 1824. His remains were taken to Al- bany for interment. Mrs. Miller survived him upwards of a quarter of a century, living in the house he was himself preparing to build, and died March 15, 1850. She was in her turn a zealous cooperator, and indeed the principal agent in the organization, in 1830, of the Reformed Dutch Church. " She remained to the last a lady of the old school, simple in her manners, grave and dignified in her deportment. To a quiet resolution and energy of mind that fitted her foj- trying and difficult occasions, she added," says her pastor, Rev. Charles Wiley, " a grace and gentleness of female propriety that were never for a single instant forgotten, and that enabled her to command the respect of those around her, without at the same time repelling their aft'ections." Their children were Rutger Bleecker, still living in Utica ; Morris Smith, Brevet Brigadier General United States Army, who was educated at West Point, bore a part in the Florida and Mexican wars, and in that for the Union, and died in Texas March 11, 1870; Sarah, (Mrs. E. S. Bray ton), died May 10, 1853 ; Charles Dudley of Geneva, New York ; and John B., editor and lawyer, who died while consul at Hamburgh, April 22, 1861. 238 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. In the 3^ear 1798 John Post had received as an inmate of his household his nephew, Abraliam Van Santvoort, who beeame_ eventually his successor in the business of transporting on the Mohawk. He was a native of Schenectad}', and was baptized December 26, 1784 He was the son of Cornelius and the great grandson of Rev. Cornelius Van Santvoort, wlio emigrated fromi Holland, and died pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church of Schenectady, in 1752. After a few years residence with his uncle, Abraham was sent b}^ Mr Post to Schenectady to super- intend the forwarding of goods. In 1806 he was again a resi- dent of Utica, as we learn from the following announcement of September 23 : " The subscriber informs the public that he has commenced the storage and forwarding business to and from Schenectada, Albany and New York, and any part of the west- ern country, for which purpose he has taken one of the large and convenient stores of Mr. John Post on the dock in Utica. He has made arrangements with Mr. Eri Lusher for convej'ing by water between this place and Schenectada, and with Mr. David Boyd between Schenectada and Albany." Two years later he took for his store the old stand of Bryan Johnson, near the corner of Genesee and Whitesboro, whence he afterwards moved to the east side of Genesee, below Bagg's, and in April 1816, back again to the west side, to the new brick store next J. C. Devereux. The storehouse he at first occupied was originally above the bridge, but ^'ery near to it. It was afterwards moved up the stream U) the foot of Division street. And nearly on the last named site Mr. Van Santvoort in company witli Mr. Lusher and others, erected toward the close of the war of 1812 a brick warehouse, which has remained standing until a com- paratively recent period. About this time Eri Lusher & Co. were running, during the season, a weekly line of boats from Schenectady for Cayuga, Seneca Falls and Oswego, and by means of wagons also, which were kept in constant readiness they were enabled to " trans] )ort from Albany to an};^ part of the western country, either by land or water, whatever property migiit be directed to their care." Parties living at a distance from the water communication were assured that their goods • would be delivered at any place the}^ might designate. They advertised also stage boats to run between Utica and Schenec- tady for the accommodation of passengers, which leaving Utica THE SECOND CHARTER. 239 twice a week at 5 A. M. were to arrive in Schenectady the fol- lowing morning in time for breakfast, and from thence the pas- sengers were to be conveyed in carriages to Alban}-. Mr. Van Santvoort held during tlie war the office of sub- contractor for the supply of provisions for the soldiers, and acted as government storekeeper. About the same time, or shortly afterward, he was interested with Peter Sken Smith, son of Peter Smith, and William Soulden, in the manufacture of glass at Peterboro, and acted as agent for the companj^ in the sale of the glass. The project proved unsuccessful, and resulted in the failure of Messrs. Soulden and Smith as w^ell as of Mr. Van Santvoort. His affairs with the government had beside proved embarrassing, for his returns were slow and rare in coming, so that he depended largely on the bank and spent much money in the payment of interest. On the 17th December, 1818, the forwarding firm with which he was connected, — known at this time as that of Abraham Van Santvoort & Co., — was dissolved. It had consisted of Eri Lusher, Jonathan Walton and John I. DeGraff of Schenectady, and Abraham Van Santvoort, John Beggs and Harry Camp of Utica. Leaving his warehouse in the care of Mr. Camp and Mr. Beggs, Mr. Van Santvoort returned to Schenectady to en- gage anew in forwarding. Thence he went to Dunkirk, and after a short residence, and a still shorter one at Eochester, he moved to New York. Here he was concerned in steamboats, became quite successful, and so far won the confidence of the people of Jersey Citj^, which was his final home, as to be made mayor of the cit}^ and here he died. While living in Utica Mr. V. S. was much esteemed, for besides the respect felt for his enterprise in business he was admired for his pleasing face and form, his social excellence, his jovial humor and his uniform uprightness of conduct. Though he lacked some of the essentials of a good mercantile education, especially a S3'stematic skill in the keeping of books, he held a high place among the merchants and was a leader in his department. During some je^rs he was a trustee of the village, and in 1815-16 he was its president. His wife, who was Sally, sister of Dr. Marcus Hitchcock, w^as living in 1873, at the age of 83. His son Cornelius is a lawyer in New York ; Abraham died young ; Alfred has for many years been engaged in running steamboats on the Hudson, and lives in New York. 240 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. In further illustration of boat travelling on the Mohawk in former times, I insert the following from the journal of travels lAade through several of the inland states in the year 1807-8 by Christian Schultz, Jr. '' I have noticed but three different kinds of boats used in nav- igating this river. Those called Schenectady boats are gener- all}'' preferred ; and will carry about ten tons burthen when the river is high ; but when it is low, as at this time, they will not take more than from three to four; they generally advance against the stream at the rate of from eighteen to twenty or twenty- five miles a day. These boats are built very much after the model of our Long Island round bottom skiffs, but proportion- ately larger, being from forty to fifty feet in length, and steered by a large swing oar of the same length. They have likewise a moveable mast in the middle. Wlien the wind serves they set a square sail and top sail, which, at a few miles distance, give them all the appearance of small square-rigged vessels com- ing down before the wind. Our galley, which I am just now informed, is called the 'Mohawk Regulator,' has gone at the rate of six miles an hour against the stream ; and during this time, believe me, nothing can be more charriiing than sailing on the Mohawk. "It is not often, however, that a fair wind will serve for more than three or four miles together, as the irregular course of the river renders its aid very precarious ; their chief dependence, therefore is upon their pike poles. These are generally from eighteen to twenty-two feet in length, having a sharp pointed iron, with a socket weighing ten or twelve pounds afhxed to the lower end ; the upper has a large knob, called a button, mounted upon it, so that the poleman may press upon it his whole weight without endangering his person. This manner of impelling the boat forward is extremely laborious, and none but those who have been for some time accustomed to it, can manage these poles with any kind of advantage. Within the boat on each side is fixed a })lank running fore and aft, wath a number of cross cleats nailed upon it, for the purpose of giving the pole- man a sure footing in hard poling. The men, after setting their poles against a rock, bank or bottom of the river, declining their heads very low, place the upper end or button against the back (front ?) part of their right or left shoulders, (according to the side on which they may be poling,) then falling down on their hands and toes, creep the whole length of the gang-boards, and send the boat forward with considerable speed. The first sight of four men on each side of a boat, creeping along on their hands and toes, apparently transfixed by a large })ole, is no small curi- osity, nor was it until I had observed their perseverance for two or three hundred yards, that I became satisfied they were not -=^ ^ > THE SECOND CHARTER. 241 playing some pranks. From the general practice of this method, as hkewise from my own trials and observations, I am convinced that they have fallen upon the most powerful way possible to exert their bodily strength for the purpose required. The posi- tion, however, was so extremely awkward to me that I doubt whether the description I have attempted will give you an ade- quate idea of the procedure. I have met with another kind of boat on this river, which is called a dorm or dorem : how it is spelt I know not [Durham]. The only difference I could ob- serve in this from the former one is that it is built sharp at both ends, and generally much larger and stouter. They have likewise flats, similar to those you have seen on the Susque- hanna, but much lighter built and longer. On all these they occasionally carry the sails before mentioned. "The Mohawk is by no means dangerous to ascend, on account of the slowness of the boat's progress; but, as it is full of rocks stones and shallows, there is some risk in descending it of stav- ing the boat ; and, at this season, is so low as to require it to be dragged by hand over many places. The channel in some in- stances IS not more than eight feet in width, which will barely permit a boat to pass by rubbing on both sides. This is some- times caused by natural or accidental obstructions of rocks in the channel ; but oftener by artificial means. This, which at first view would appear to be an inconvenience, is produced by two fines or ridges of stone generally constructed on sandy, grav- elly or stony shallows, in such a manner as to form an acute angle were they to meet, the extremities of which widen as they extend up the river; whilst at the lower end there is iust space enough left to admit the passage of a boat. The water beino- thus collected at the widest part of these ridges, and continually pent up withm narrower limits as it descends, causes a rise at tfie passage ; so that where the depth was no more than eiffht inches before, a contrivance of this kind will raise it to twelve- and strange as it may appear, a boat drawing fifteen inches will pass through it with ease and safety. The cause is simply this • the boat being somewhat below the passage is brought forward with considerable velocity, and the moment it dashes into the passage, its resistance to the current is such as to cause a swell ot tour or five inches more, which afliords it an easy passaffe over the shoal." ^ A citizen whose stay in Utica was short, though long enough to secure to him the regard of his contemporaries, was Jonathan Child. Elsewhere in the course of an active and useful life, Mr. Child identified himself with work in preparation for the Erie canal, as Mr. Van Santvoort had done with navigation on the Mohawk. A son and a grandson of a Eevolutionary 242 . THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. soldier, he was boi"n at Lyiie, New Hampshire, Januaiy 30, 1785. Coming to Utica a young mau of twenty-one, he beeame, in Sep- tember 1806, the teacher of its children in a scthool that was kept in the Welsh church on the corner of Washington and AVhitesboro streets. Little is to be said of his mastership, for though it was satisfactory he remained but a short time in the office, and was soon installed as a clerk of Bryan Johnson. But in 1810, in company with a fellow clerk named Gardner, he left the vil- lage altogether, and settled himself with a small stock of goods at Charlotte. Coing thence to Bloomfield and tarrying there briefly, he finally fixed himself more permanently at Roches- ter. He was one of the contractors for cutting the Erie canal through the mountain ridge at Lockport, a formidable part of the whole work. He was twice a trustee of the village of Rochester, and in 1834 its fii'st mayor under the city charter. A Rochester paper says of him ; " No man among his towns- men was more respected. He had no enemies and was beloved by all." The loss of all the gains of his early life, a loss which he encountered tow^ards its close, he " met with fortitude, and moved on with the same cheerfulness and equanimity that had characterized him in youth." He was a sincere Christian, and for many years a member of St. Luke's Church. His wife was a daughter of Colonel Nathaniel Rochester. Another person who was a few years in Utica, and then went elsewhere to fill up the measure of a busy and honored life, was Bennett Bicknell, from Mansfield, Conn. In 1806 he was a comb-maker, and an occupant of Mr. Stocking's Mechanic Hall. In 1808 he established himself in Morrisville, Madison county. There he was successively member of Assembly, State senator, county clerk and representative in Congress ; enjoyed a wide and enviable reputation in his business and public ca- pacity, and in his private character was unreservedly commen- dable. Calvin Bicknell, his brother, continued the manufacture of combs some years longer, on the west side of the way nearly opposite the former stand, but in 1811 became insolvent. Af- ter this there are no further traces of him. The first mention we have seen of Henry Ki[) is contained in the Castorland Journal, under date of May 1794. From this THE SECOND CHARTER 243 it would seem that he was at that time in charge of the busi- ness of his brother, James S. Kip, then temporarily absent. That he continued to live in Utica from that time onward is probable though not assured. On the 3d of July, 1806, he married Miss Christiana Dakin, sister of his brother's wife, and of the wives of two of the Bloodgoods. He took up his resi- dence in the house on the Whitesboro road that had been just va- cated by William Inman. In July 1811 he announces that the Oneida Rope Factory is now in complete operation. This factory was situated a little east of the half-way bridge and ran across the line of the canal. It was therefore destroyed when the canal was opened. Mr. Kip removed to Buffalo, and set up another rope walk, which was in like manner invaded by the canal when the latter was extended through to that place. Mr. Kip was over six feet in height and large in proportion ; full of fun, courtesy and benevolence ; and bore his full share in the socialities of his time. As a business man he was not very efficient. He was an early vestryman of Trinity. His family was a numerous one. Among the temporary sojourners in Utica, traders and others, are to be reckoned Hugh Goif, merchant near the corner of Genesee and Main, who remained, at least, until 1810 ; Wil- liam Ward, book seller, who issued one single lengthy adver- tisement of the " Utica Bookstore," and then sold out to George Richards, Jr. John B. Nazro, who opened a store in October 1806, and died in December, and whose family returned to Troy, whence they came ; two brothers Oudenaarde, Henry and Marinus, who coming from New York, traded in Marcy, (then Deerfield) in 1800-2, and removed to Utica about 1806, Henry alone attempted business, but made an assignment in 1812, and died in 1819. He was a smart and active man, de- spite the fact that prosperity did not crown his endeavors. His wife was a daughter of Thomas Sickles. Marinus was very decrepid. Two tavern keepers, named Nathaniel Scott and Otis Dexter, conducted the House tavern in partnership. The former, a Rhode Islander, had lived in Deerfield since 1798, on a farm which he had bought of one of the Damuths. This he sold 244 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. when he came to Utica in 18U6, to ArabeUa Graham, who on the delivery of the deed took from her thimble and handed ta Mr. Scott, three one thousand dollar notes on the Manhattan Bank. He kept tavern only about two years, and moved to a farm on the Trenton road where he died, an old man, February 1, 1847. A son of his was the late Martin B. Scott, of Cleve- land, Ohio, and a daughter, Cynthia, who married Eladsit Tis- dale, became some years afterward t'lc wife of James C. DeLong, of Utica. Another Scott, (James) a foreigner by birth, was a l)aker on Main street. His daughter married John Baxter, and has left descendants still in Utica. Charles Brewster, wheelwright, who had served his apprenticeship with Gurdon Huntington of Rome, associated himself with Abijali Thomas, but had failed, and was gone by 1810 ; Demas Bobbins, from Stockbridge, cabinet maker and an early partner of Rudolph Snyder, died in 1809 ; John Taggart, shoemaker, is known only by his one announce- ment, and a like report may be made of J. Bedlock, writing master. Thomas Gimbrede, took likenesses in miniature or pro- file, and taught dancing and fencing as well as painting. Of one of his accomplishments he has left proofs that are still ex- tant. Three mechanics, much less transitory in their stay were John Culver, Thomas James, John Queal. John Culver, joiner, worked in 180H upon the First Presbyterian Church," and in 1826 he worked upon tlie l)rick one which succeeded it. For many years in partnership with his brother Abraham, he was a builder in good repute, and an honest straightforward man. His wife was a Miss Flint of Rome, and he had a son named Amos. Tliomas James, from Pembrokeshire, blacksmith, en- tered Utica on the first day of January, 1806, and continued in it until his death, October 30, 1837. He is still remembered as an industrious, hard-working mechanic, and his shop, near the corner of Whitesboro and Washington streets, is one of the few lingering mementoes of the past. His son Thomas is probably the oldest resident of the second ward, if not of the city. John Queal, Irish, and a shoemaker, survived until 1851, doing business during nearly all of the intervening time. His descendants are still here. THE SECOND CHARTER. 245 1807. At the freeholder's meeting of May 1807, the trustees who were elected were the same as those of the two preceding years, except that John Hooker was substituted for Francis A. Blood - good. The board made Erastus Clark their president. The principal business recorded as done by them throughout the year related to the fire company. Having in July examined the books of the clerk of this compan}', and discovered frequent absences, they resolved that every fireman noted as absent from the monthly meetings seven times between May 1806, and June 1807, should be ordered to appear before them. Twelve ap- peared agreeably to such citation, and after a full examination of their several excuses, all were excused except one who had been absent twelve times ; he was removed. The clerk of the company was directed to report thereafter every quarter such firemen as were absent from the monthly meetings ; and as a consequence a few were subsequently removed, and their places supplied from the list of ready candidates. The coming of the Fourth of July brought its troubles to the officials of 1807, just as its approach entails anxiet}^ and care upon the authorities of 1877 ; and trivial as would seem the prank which now occupied their attention, the author of it was not thought unworthy of detection and punishment by the village fathers. Under date of July 6, we find the following: Resolved^ that five dollars be given to any one who will dis cover the person who took away the bolt from the pump at the lower end of Genesee street, on the evening of the 3d instant, so that the offender may be prosecuted ; and that the same be advertised three weeks in both the papers. In order to judge righth^ of the gravity of the oft'ence, it should be remembered that the town pump was an important auxiliary in the extinguishment of fires, as it was the usual place and means of drill for the firemen at their monthly meetings ; and though a miss- ing bolt could be easily replaced, it might be lacking when most it was needed, and hence exemplaiy punishment was required. An ordinance was passed in amendment of a previous one, wdiich was designed to prevent the erection of buildings on a street, and to cause the removal of buildings already so erected. Besides the foregoing proceedings, the board granted a license. 246 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. for the erection of a slaughter house, and considered an appli- cation for a recommendation to the board of commissioners of excise to enable the applicant to obtain a license as an inn- keeper. But as the president remarked that a complaint had, to his knowledge, been made of the petitioner's having heretofore kept a house unfavorable to good morals, thej^ advised the lat- ter to wait on the commissioners and learn the ground of com- plaint, with leave to report again to themselves, intimating also a disposition to do him justice. There is no evidence that he returned. Before the expiration of the year they resolved that, with their consent, seven persons and no more be licensed to keep tavern in the village during tlie ensuing year. Having witnessed the watchful care exercised by the trustees over the firemen of their creation, it is pleasing to see that these firemen were equally watchful in their own behalf. The book of their clerk shows us lists of delinquents at each meeting, not only of such as were absent during the exercise with the en- gine, and of those absent at roll call before the engine was drawn out, but likewise of such as appeared without their lire- men's hats. The three classes of dehnquents were amenable to fines, differing in amount in the respective cases. These were adjudged at the ensuing meeting by a judge appointed for the occasion, and those firemen who suffered their fines to remain unpaid three months after such adjudication, were presented to the trustees with a request for their removal. Towards the end of winter the company solaced themselves for their diligence by a supper at Tisdale's ; at wdiich,— as the certified bill assures us^ — twenty three were present, who consumed one gallon of beer, three pints of brandy, three pints of whiske)', thirteen bottles of wine and one hundred cigars, at a total cost of £10, 17s. Another traveller has left us his impressions of the appear- ance of Utica in the summer of 1807. This was Christian Schaltz, Jr., Esq., whose account of Mohawk navigation has been before quoted. He speaks of it as a flourishing village, and tells us it " contains, at present, about one hundred and sixty houses, the greatest part of which are painted white, which gives it a neat and lively appearance. Foreign goods are nearly as cheap here as in New York, which, I presume, is owing to the merchants underselling each other; for this, like all other THE SECOND CHARTER. 247 country towns, is overstocked with shop-keepers. Most of the goods intended for the salt works are loaded here in wagons and sent on over land, a distance of fifty miles. The carriage over this portage is fifty cents a hundred weight." The newly come shop-keepers of the year, or those at least of whom we now get the earliest intimation, were Peter Bours^ Stalham Williams, Winne & Evertsen, William Pitt Sherman and Luke Devereux. Peter Bours was another Ehode Islander, having b'een a na- tive of Newport, where his father and his grandfather had lived before him. He was born May 5, 1782. In October 1807 he opened in Utica what he termed a " new cheap store" at the sign of the golden eagle. His stock was large, and consisted of the miscellaneous assortment then kept by others of the time, including dry goods, groceries, crockery, hardware, &c. Some three years later lie gives notice of his intention to close his present concern, and offers his stock at cost. Taking into partnership Stalham Williams, he devotes himself exclusively to the sale of hardware. They characterize their establishment as the first of the kind in the western district, and declare that they import direct from the manufacturers in London, Birm- ingham and Shefiield. In August 1811 the firm is dissolved, and early the following year the creditors of Mr. Bours are invited to show cause why he should not be discharged from his debts. Meanwhile he had married Mary Eobinson, niece of the wife of Colonel Benjamin Walker, and was living in the house which he had built for himself on the north west corner of Broad and First streets, the same which is now occupied by T. K. Butler. This house, which was an uncommonly expen- sive and stylish one for the time, had been begun before Broad street was fully opened. As it was heavily mortgaged, and in May 1814 was to be sold under foreclosure, it was now given up. But Mr. Bours had found a new occupation and with it a new residence. He was very active in organizing the Utica Glass Factory, a manufactory started at Glassville, so called, in the present town of Marcy. He acted for some time as its superintendent, and moved thither with his famil}^ The fac- tory proved unsuccessful, as will be shown in a future notice of its operations, and in 1818 Mr. Bours opened a land office in 248 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Utica for recording and exliibiting for sale unsettled lands and improved farms. This, too, bringing liim no compensation, be next entered upon the profession of an auctioneer, a profession in which his active spirit and his plausible address soon secured liim plentiful employment. The frequent noisy cries of his sturdy negro, as he patrolled the streets, bell in hand, proclaim- ing a sale, and calling bystanders to walk up to Mr. Bours' auc- tion rooms, are recollections fast in the memor}^ of all older citizens of Utica. After the death of Colonel Walker, the house of this gentleman, with thirteen acres of land attached, was sold at auction, and was bought by Mr. Bours. Here he took up his residence, and here, towards its latter part, he raised vegetables for the village market. His next cliange, which took place about the year 1826, carried him away to Geneva. He had boundless activity and enterprise, but was specula- tive and visionary. Having a good opinion of himself and be- ing fond of making a show, he came much into public notice and position, though his opinions did not carry the weight of others of sounder judgment who were less forward. Making money readily during a part at least of his career, he spent it as freely, and consumed a large share of his commissions in advertising and ofhce hire. He was rather stocky, light com- plexioned, wore glasses, a flowing, ruffled shirt and large gold cliain and seal. For many years he was a vestryman of Trini- ty Church, and in 1822 he was its treasurer. He died at Ge- neva, October 30, 1860. Mrs. Bours was a daughter of Captain Thomas Robinson of the United States Navy, who in 1799 com- manded the frigate John Adams. He became a paralytic and was several years disabled. Before his death, in 1812, he spent some time in Utica. His daughter, Mrs. Bours, was a tall, vig- orous looking lady, and a truly noble domestic character, straight forw?rd and independent. After their removal to Geneva, and when her husband had lost his eyesight, she contributed in va- rious ways to their su])port. Her death occurred October 1, 18o9. The following children are now living : Mary Robinson, (Mrs. Joseph Stow), at Stockton, California; Thomas Robinson, at Alamos, Mexico; Benjamin Walker, at Stockton; John H. H., at Jacksonville, Florida; Allen Lee, at Lansing, Michigan; Caroline, (Mrs. Hugh W. Taylor), at Stockton. THE SECOND CHARTER. 249 Stalham Williams caine to ITtica in 1807, and died there April 8, 1873, at the age of almost one hundred years, having been born October 3, 1773, at Hatfield, Massachusetts. An experience so lengthened was naturally varied, covei'ing numer- ous changes in the career of its subject as well as in the town and among the people with whom he dwelt. Fitted for Har- vard College at the expense of his grandfather, Hon. William Williams, the sudden death of his benefactor deprived him of the expected liberal education, and he returned to his father's farm. After removing to Utica, he began as a book-keeper for John C. Devereux, and then was similarly employed by Peter Bours. He was next a pai'tner with the latter. Then, after being for awhile a dry goods merchant on his own account, he shifted to an association with Jason Parker, and was interested with him until September 1817. In June 1820 he was ap- pointed collector on the newly opened middle section of the Erie canal, and served some time as such. From the expira- tion of this service until he again entered the employ of the Messrs. Devereux, he was a short time a book-keeper for James Dana, and during a still longer period acted as secretary and treasurer of the Erie Canal Packet Boat Company. He also cooperated with his wife the leading milliner and fancy dealer of her time, and supervised her books and accounts. After Messrs. John C. and Nicholas Devereux had retired from active business, they retained an office on Bleecker street, and managed a sort of unchartered savings bank. Here the scant savings of poorer citizens, who confided in the integrity of these gentlemen, were sacredly guarded, and regular inter- est was paid on all accumulated balances. The routine work was performed by Mr. Williams, and was performed with rare fidelity. When in process of time the deposits had grown so large that it was deemed best, for the accommodation of all classes of depositors, that a savings bank should be organized, Mr. Williams was made its secretary and treasurer. This was in 1839, and the office he continued to hold until his death. When lie had reached the age of seventy he tendered his resig- nation to the directors of the Bank, fearing that age had im- paired his usefulness. But they refused to part company with their faithful officer, and he remained long after he had passed his ninetieth year in the daily performance of his duty. 250 THE PIOXEERS OF UTICA. Modest and retiring almost to a fault, his life was marked bj perfect purity, honor and probity, and rounded into such noble christian grace that his memory will be tenderly cherished in the cit}' which was so long his home. The i^eople of Utica, when he entered it, he computed at about five hundred in num- ber ; he left them at least sixty times as numerous. The suc- cessive changes he observed with interest, and took a melan- choly pleasure in chronicling the times of decease of his early associates. When he died he was almost the last link of its older class of business men. His wife, who from the year 1808 for twenty years and more was the chief importer and artificer of ladies' dresses for the head, and was invaluable for her taste, her skill and her business capacity, was, moreover, in all re- spects a woman of excellent qiialities; refined, dignified and gentle, she commanded respect and affection. She was Miss Mary Augusta Barron, of Amherst, Massachusetts, but had been tenderly and thoroughly educated by her step-father, Judge Simeon Strong, who succeeded to the place of her father while she was still quite young. She died June 1, 1863, at the age of eighty-five. Their only son, William Barron, resided most of his life at Eochester, where he died in 1861. The daughters were Frances Lucretia (widow of Richard W. Sherman) ; Caroline Sophia (widow of Francis W. Sherman of Marshall, Michigan) ; Sarah (Mrs. David Scoville of Rochester, and afterwards Mrs. Thomas H. Wood of Utica) ; and Lucy Jane, who died in child- hood. Killian Wiiine and John E. Evertsen, from Albany, began in the white store opposite Watts Sherman, which had been be- fore occupied by John Bissell. They remained together until Septcml)er 1812, and soon after, the former was selling cari)ets on the corner of Grenesee and Main, while his quondam asso- ciate kept the original store. Wiinie was in Utica until his death in April 1823, and in his latter years had a lottery and exchange office. His first wife dying in May 1809, he married two years later the widow of William Fellows. He was driv- ing in business, bat loved company and a frolic; ball playing was one of his special pleasures. Evertsen kc})t on at the old place until after the war, but continuing to hold his goods at war })rices, he could not sell THE SECOND CHARTER. 251 them, and so failed and returned to Albany. Barney Evertsen, his brother and clerk, and a very expert book-keeper, remained some little time longer, and was in the service of E. B. Shear- man. William Pitt Shearman arrived this year from Rhode Island, and became assistant of his brother Ebenezer. A few years later he was in company with Seth Dwight, but in 1815 formed a business connection with his brother Robert. This connection was of some years standing, and though the elder brother ere long moved to Rochester, Robert remained his partner, the firm name being at one place William P. & Robert Shearman, while at the other the order of the names was reversed. Striking in personal appearance, possessed of decided enterprise, he took a high stand as a merchant, and accumulated a handsome prop- erty. Politically he was of the notorious twenty-one high- minded gentlemen. He died rather suddenly in New York City when not past thirty. His wife was Miss Marietta Andrews of Rochester. His children were Julia (widow of Charles H. Doo- little of Utica), and Ebenezer, of Rochester. Luke Devereux, who had been a clerk for his brother John C, was taken into partnership in 1807. Four years later the house was conducted in his name only. He remained in Utica until 1814, but died of yellow fever in' Natchez, in February 1818, at which place he was then living. He was a man of genteel carriage and brilliant parts. Another long continued establishment started in November 1807, was that of Bagg & Camp. John Camp, eldest son of Talcott Camp (of 1796), was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, February 11, 1786, and was in his eleventh year when he came with his father to this place. He soon became a clerk for Wil- liam Fellows, and two years after the latter had associated him- self with Moses Bagg he bought out the interest of Mr. Fel- lows and the new firm was formed. Under the name of Bagg & Camp the two carried on for some years the usual miscella- neous business of the time. When the former ceased from its active prosecution, retaining only a pecuniary interest, the firm assumed the name of John Camp & Co. Next it was changed to John Camp & Brothers, and under this name the three Messrs. 252 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Camp, John, Harry and Charles, continued their business until about the 3'ear 1834, the period of the death of Charles, when John withdrew. The store, which at first had been kept in the building next adjoining Bagg's tavern on the north, was in later years on Genesee street, nearly opj^osite Catherine. Mr. Camp continued to act as director of the Bank of Utica the remainder of his days. He was a man of unobtrusive and rather retiring manners, clear and calm in judgment, kind and benevolent in disposition, awake to public and to private interests, and of unblemished private character. He survived to reach the age of eighty, and died July 21, 1867. Among the last of the older class of mer- chants, not one of them left behind a fairer reputation for hon- esty in dealing or freedom from personal failings. Somewhat late in life he married the widow of Charles R Doolittle, who was the daughter of Captain Obear. Mrs. Camp is still living, as also their only child Harriet (Mrs. George D. Dimon). Jacob Snyder, brother of Rudolph previously described, has a history which in its beginning is very like to his. He was born in New York, September 28, 1781 ; was engaged in ship- ping stores in that city, whence he went to Albany and was similarly engaged ; dissatisfied with business, he learned the trade of chair making and came to Utica to practice it. This was in 1807, about two years after Rudolph. He had a shop near the site of the Bradish block, his dwelHng being on the side street. Subsequently he conducted business on Catherine street near Genesee, and in later years on Liberty near Seneca. The chairs he made have not their match in modern times for strength and durability, and in the sale of them he liad almost the monopoly of the market until after the war of 1812. Some thirty years before his death he withdrew from business, because, as he believed, it was no longer carried on as honestly as it should be. He was a leader among the society of Methodists, and his house a coveted place of rest and refreshment for the travelling preachers of the sect. With a voice like rolling thun- der, he exercised it often in exhortation and in prayer, wherein his language was clioice and scriptural. Temperance and anti- slavery were reforms which were near to his heart, and formed themes for liis tongue and his pen. He was one of the delegates to the convention of abolitionists, which was opened in Utica THE SECOND CHARTER. 253 in 1835, and which was broken up by a mob instigated by some of the best of its citizens. Mr. Snyder was one of those who went home covered with the filth of misbegotten fowls. Some- what of a reader, he was principled against fiction, " Uncle Tom's Cabin " being the only novel he ever looked into. He died April 24, 1863. His wife, to whom he was united in 1810, and who was some ten years his junior, still survives. Three sons and two daughters of a large family are still living, viz. : William H. of Galena, 111., Eudolph D. of Utica, and F. L. of Chicago. The daughters are of Utica. January 27, 1807, AVilliam Haywood advertises that he has taken the Hotel at Utica, which he intends to open by the name of the Mohawk Hotel. As brief an occupant as some other proprietors of this house, he was cut ofi; by death on the 14th of August following. The next March a successor is in his place, and the original name is resumed. His son John lived with the family in Utica until 1819, and two years after- ward went to Rochester, which was his home until he died in July 1873, at the age of seventy-six. There he was alderman^ supervisor, first treasurer of the Eochester Savings Bank, and vestryman of St Luke's Church. A brother, William, went with him to Eochester, a sister was married in Utica. Another temporary proprietor of a public house was Joab Stafford. ■ Brother of the David Stafford already noticed, and seventh son of Col. Joab Stafford of Coventry, E. I., he came from Albany to Peerfield sometime previous to 1798. There he had a brewery, an ashery and a store, and there he married Hannah Biddlecom. In 1807 he succeeded Scott k Dexter as keeper of the House tavern in Utica. Next he began to man- ufacture tin and copper ware, having a shop on the west side of the square, and a home in Seneca street He was thus employed until his death. May 10, 1810, in his forty-fifth year. His chil- dren were Daniel, who followed him in coppersmithing ; Isabella^ first wife of Enos Brown; George, a hardware merchant in Geneva; and Hannah, wife of Eev. William B. Lacey, D. D.^ rector of St Peter s Church in Albany. Bildad and Isaac Merrell, brothers of the Ira Merrell before noticed, had both a lengthened abode in Utica. The former 254 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. kept a livery stable on Hotel street, was godly in life, and head of a respectable family. In the fall of 1814, by direction of Postmaster Hitchcock, he went with men and horses to or- ganise an express system between Sacketts Harbor and our army at Plattsburg. The battle of Plattsburg soon followed, the enemy withdrew, and but one express was ever carried. After the opening of the middle section of the Erie canal, he drew up a boat from the river and kept it on livery for pleasure excursions. Something later, when he had gotten together a moderate ])roperty, he engaged in staging, running lines north and south of Utica. His conscientious objections to Sunday travelling led him to take a pecuniary interest in the Pioneer line, which was run on weekdays only. But in this, he with other stockholders, was borne down by su})erior competition, and lost the most of his gains. Poverty he preferred to wealth obtained at the expense of his principles. H e died September 28, 1851, aged seventy four. An unostentatious man, he was em- phatically an upright one, and a zealous and consistent Christian. As his father and his grand-father before him had been church elders, so he as well as his brothers Ira and Andrew, performed for many years the duties of this office in the Presbyterian Church of Utica. His son, Bildad, jr., died a few months before him. Of two daughters one only survives, Mrs. Piatt of Newark, N. J. Isaac was long the sexton of the Presbyterian Church, and grave digger of the old burying ground. How devout may have been his part in the service of the sanctuary, we are unable to say ; the sanctuary and its vessels he worshipped with slavish and unvarying devotion. He, too, died an old man in May 1860. An a])prentice or journeyman hatter of some two years resi- dence was Levi Barnum. He now entered on business inde- pendently, and continued in it long enough to become old, — most of the time on the west side of the square, — pursuing a quiet but industrious course, and leaving sons to honor him. John B. Harrington, butcher, though he did not ask the trus- tees for a license until 1814, was before that time a caterer to the necessities of the soldiers at Sacketts Harbor. He kept up THE SECOND CHARTER, 255 the trade for a long course of years. He was eighty when he died in 1852. Mrs. Bethiah Williams, widow of a sea captain, sustained herself and family by the making of millinery. Of this family one was for a time a teacher and afterwards the second wife of Thomas Eockwell ; another, Elhanan W. Williams, was a law- yer, whose decease is but a recent event, and whose family are still in the city; yet another son died many years since. Just over the eastern frontier, John Gilbert, an Englishman, began in 1807 to make starch. He was joined in 1812 by his brother Edward ; and there the manufacture was kept up until within a few years. There came with John a most ingenious and accomplished macliinist, a Welshman, named Evan Thomas, who was much resorted to for advice and assistance. He built a mill near the Starch Factory in which he had many ingenious contrivances. He aided Mellen Battle, to be hereafter mentioned, in construct- ing a machine for the making of wagon wheels. A comical character of this date was Jacob Barker, a barber, liberal to recklessness, and uj) to all sorts of capers. It is said of him that having drawn a prize in a lottery, he was so elated b}^ it, that one Fourth of July he hired a sleigh with a team of six horses, and thus equipped drove about the village, distrib- uting handfuls of coin among the boys who followed him, or casting it into the river for the pleasure of seeing them dive after it. He drove his horses into the hall of the Hotel, called for a " gin twist," and paid the bar keeper fifty dollars. He was ac- customed to wear white cravats, and when one was soiled he covered it with a clean one, until his neck was so encumbered that he was forced to take them off and begin anew. Pennies he despised, and such as were given him by his customers he thrust into a hole in his shop wall, which was not plastered but ceiled. When the house was taken down over a pint of cop- pers was gathered. Residents for a period comparatively brief, were John B. Mitchell, butcher in 1807, starch maker in 1809 ; Calvin Lin- coln, who wrought nails for Augustus Hickox; William Pitt- 256 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. man, blacksmith, who moved to Slaj^ton's Bush on the borders of the village, but whose descendants are now in the city ; George Spitzenburger, furrier; Eappelyea, a retired or broken merchant from the east ; Freienmoet Van Buren, farmer, who went to Canandaigua; E. G. Gridlej, engraver; G. W. Vaughan, shoemaker; James Murray, soap boiler; Mandeville Tuttle, hostler, a character unique enough for remembrance, if not for pei'petuation. 1808. In May 1808, the freeholders met to elect trustees, and for the last time in the old Main street school house, the furniture of the building having been advertised for sale shortly afterward. The new trustees were Morris S. Miller, Jerathmel Ballou, John Hooker, Nathaniel Butler, and John Bellinger. Morris S. Miller was made president of the board. Of their proceedings there is not mucit that is.noteworthy ; the meetings were held regularly every month, and the assize of bread made out and published. The usual vigilance is evinced with respect to danger from fires and to faithfulness on the part of the firemen; absentees being duly reported and those of them who were unexcused removed from position. It was ordered that firemen exi^ecting to be ab- sent from a regular meeting of the company should notify the clerk of the fact with the reason for their absence, or if suddenly called away give their excuse immediately afterwards, which notice and excuse were to be reported to the corporation. An ordinance was passed forbidding the use of firearms, rockets or squibs between the east line of Lot No. 92 and the west line of No. 96, and the southern boundary of the village ; also forbid- ding fast driving and ball playing between 90 and 96. A sub- scription was set on foot to fence the burying ground, and an- other to procure a hearse, and these moneys so subscribed the collector was directed to collect. One special meeting was called to consider the case of John C, Hoyt, who had raised his house in order to under-pin it, and he was advised to move the house back. The firemen likewise met monthly for practice with the engine, but did nothing else except to mark the absent ones and assess them with fines the next time thcv came. THE SECOND CHARTER. ' 257 As yet I have made no mention of tlie society of Metho- dists in Utica, because they had, until now, no place of worship within the village hmits. They were in existence, however, and were meeting often together, and exhorting one another to good works ; as where do they not, wherever there is a pioneer settlement formed or missionary enterpi-ise to be achieved ? At first the members residing in Utica were attached to a class that met in a small church on the road to New Hartford. This was a centre for the members living at New Hartford, Slayton's Bush and Utica, The relic of that church remains, and may be identi- fied as a part of the small white dwelling house directly opposite the west end of Pleasant street. In 1808 Solomon Bronson, a man of means and influence, living near this church, was con- verted, and being earnest and zealous, a good singer and a fer- vent exhorter, he used to come down to Utica and hold meet- ings in a building back of the line of Genesee street, and in the rear of where the store of Newell & Son now stands, which building, it is said, was designed and used as a school house. This then was the first place of meeting, and here the society had occasional preaching. J. Huestes, Benjamin Gr. Paddock and Charles Giles preached in that school house while they travelled the circuit which included Utica, and which was known as the Westmoreland Circuit. But very soon, — probably in the year 1808, — Rudolph Snyder built for the society a house of worship on ground situated where the southern end of the Bradish block now stands, beside the shop of his brother Jacob, which occupied the corner of Elizabeth street. Tt was a small wooden building of a single story, and was intended for a school house as well as a church. It was occupied by the society about six years. Through the influence of Solomon Bronson,, quite a number were converted, and the influence of Methodism: in Utica began to be strongly felt and its adherents respected. During the summer of 1808 an additional street was opened. This was Broad street, which, though laid out and partially worked a little time before, was now extended to Genesee street. Two brick houses were commenced upon it. A small brook, coming in from a south-easterly direction, formerly crossed the course of this street between John and First streets, aud entered the river just below the bridge. Trout were sometimes taken near its outlet. R 258 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. A meeting was held this year of the electors of the county to take into consideration the expediency of petitioning the President oj the United States to suspend the operation of the embargo. Tlie meeting was held at the Hotel on the 3d of Septend^er, and was, according to the federal paper, the lai-gest assemblage of farmers and citizens that had, up to that time, been witnessed in the county. The wdiole country was excited by the depressed condition of affairs resulting from the embargo policy of Mr. Jefferson, and similar meetings were held elsewhere in order to petition the government for the suspension of this policy. At the gathering in Utica, Col. Benjamin Walker was called to the chair and Bezaleel Fisk, of Trenton, was chosen secretary. After the meeting had been organized and its object stated in a few })ertinent remarks by the chairman, Thomas R. Gold, of Whitesboro offered resolutions, prefaced by a speech of considerable length, in which, — as sa_ys the reporter, — in a very candid and dispassionate manner he took a view of the alarming situation of the country, of the present effects of the embargo, and of its probable consequences, if continued. These resolutions after being warmly seconded by Judge Vanderkemp, of Trenton, M^ere unanimously adopted. Jonas Piatt of Whites- boro, offered to the consideration of the meeting a draft of a petition to the President, which was agreed to with enthusiastic unanimity. After the appointment of a committee of highly respectable and influential citizens of the county to procure tlie printing of the petition and its circulation by sub-committees from each town in the county, and to recommend other counties of the western district to adopt similar measures, the meeting adjourned. In this petition the memorialists say that "the losses and embarrassments which had arisen from the existing embargo they had thus far submitted to without opposition or complaint, in the hopes that the avowed policy of the meas- ure might be realized." Yet " after eight months endurance of the rigorous system, they feel constrained by the most ardent patriotism, as well as by the imperious duty of providing for their families and satisfying their engagements, respectfully to declare that the embargo has failed of the effects wdiich were ^ticipated. Instead of restraining or a})pcasing the lawless violence and domineering pretensions of the Em[)eror Napoleon, the embargo has furnished him with an apology for still greater THE SECOND CHARTER. 259 insults and hostility towards our country." Reviewing the ef- fects upon England of this weapon of coercion, the memorial- ists believe that " its further continuance will greatly favor her ■commercial interests, and prove subservient to her views of ex- clusive maritime dominion." As farmers they are firmly per- suaded that " the value of the soil depends in a great degree on the unrestrained privilege of sending their surplus pi'oduce to foreign markets through the agency of American merchants and shipowners;" that "the value of their territorial rights de- pends essentially upon the maintenance of their rights upon the ocean." A paragraph or two is expended in deprecation of the expediency of employing the industry of a large portion of the citizens of the United States in manufactures, however honor- able may be the calling when voluntarily and naturally fol- lowed. And in conclusion, with " all the respect due from freemen to rulers of their own choice," they earnestly request the Pres- ident " to suspend the further operation of the embargo and the laws supplementary thereto, and that he take the earliest op- portunity to recommend to Congress a I'epeal of the existing laws on that subject." The reply of President Jefferson to the Oneida petition was received about six weeks after the meeting. In this he tells the petitioners that he "should with great willingness have executed their wishes, if peace, or a repeal of the obnoxious edicts, — with which the belligerent powers had beset the highway of commercial intercourse, — or other changes, had produced the case in which alone the laws have given him that authority. But while these edicts remain the Legislature alone can prescribe the course to be pursued." It was during this same exciting era that a military company was drafted in Utica to serve in case hostilities should ensue. The drafting took place in the public room of the Hotel. Ma- jor John Bellinger was chosen captain, the second and third officers being Silas Clark and Benjamin Ballou, Jr. But their military prowess was not then called to the test. The proprietor of the Hotel at this time was one who had himself experience in military matters. This was Thomas Sick- les, who during the war of the Revolution was attached to the staff of Col. Morgan Lewis, and bore the rank of Major. He resided for some time in Rensselaer county, being a Judge of 260 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. the Court of Common Pleas, and four times representing the- coiinty in the Legislature between the 3'ears 1787 and 1794. How soon he came to XTtica to live is not accurately known. There was a letter to him advertised by the postmaster in 1804. February 27, 1808, he informs the public that " on Saturday next he will take possession of the Hotel in Utica ; and he hopes that it will be in his power to accommodate his friends and the public in general." He, too, like some of his prede- cessors, was in person a recommendation of his skill as a caterer of good things, being large and fleshy. And like them his stay was short, for he was not prospered. He opened a house in Her- kimer, and died there in 1811. His wife, a dignified woman of con- siderable strength of character, afterwards kept a boarding house- on Main street. Of their eleven children, the last, Miss Mary Ann. Sickles, died August 16, 1873. Other daughters were Eliza (Mrs. John Williams) ; Joanna (Mrs. Silas Clark, Jr.) Amelia (Mrs. Ma- rinus Oudenaarde). Of the sons, William was an apprentice with Thomas Walker, then a printer in Shepardstown, Va , where he studied theology, became a Presbyterian minister, and settled at Terre Haute, Indiana ; one (George) was a grocer in Utica ; and one a livery keeper in Oswego. During Mr. Sickles' brief occupancy of the Hotel, it was a witness also of some tranquil occurrences. On the anniversary of the festival of St. John, June 24, 1809, the Oneida Lodge- held therein their Masonic festival, assisted by the lodges of this and the adjoining counties, about one hundred being present, from the Herkimer Lodge. Thence a procession moved to the Presbyterian " meeting house," where a discourse was delivered by Rev. Amos G. Baldwin, rector of Trinity. Three or four days previous- there had been announced to be held at the Ho- tel the semi-annual meeting of the " Utica Uranian Society."' Of this society I have no information. Was it astronomical in its aims, and were there star-gazers among the early settlers of Utica as among the Chaldeans of old, and did they assume the name from Urania, the astronomic sister of the nine, as signili- caut of tlieir pursuit, or, ]>erciiance, from Uranus the latest great planet that had been discovered ? Or was the name de- rived from the god Ouranos of Greek mythology, who having married Terra might be presumed to feel some interest in landed estate, and had it thus a mystic reference to the proceedings of an association of land speculators ? THE SECOND CHARTER 261 But leaving useless conjectures and mythological fictions aside, let us turn to the veritable men and women of the era, and m- •quire who came in the year 1808 to dwell in Utica. One of the prominent men of Oneida county while the county was yet new was Arthur Breese. He was born in Shrewsbury, N. J., September 16, 1770, and was the second son of Samuel and EHzabeth Breese. His paternal grandfather, a native of Shrewsbury, in England, and of Welsh parentage, had been an officer in the Bitish navy, and a Jacobite, but resigned his com- mission after the Pretender's defeat, and came to America. An ■extremely social man in his lifetime and noted for giving good •dinners, at which he always sang songs and told stories with much spirit,— he lies buried in Trinity Church yard. New York, beneath an epitaph made by himself, and which reads as fol- lows : Ha ! Sidney, Sidney, Lyest thou here? I here lye Till time is flown To its extremity. Arthur Breese's mother was the grand-daughter of Eev. James Anderson, first minister of the Wall Street Presbyterian Church, New York. He was graduated at Princeton, studied law with Elias Boudinot, and was admitted an attorney of the Supreme •Court in August 1792. As early as 1794 he removed to Whites- boro, where he became a partner in practice with Jonas Piatt. He acted also as deputy clerk of the county, Mr. Piatt being clerk, was a master in chancery, and in 1796-7 was a represent- ative in the Legislature. Upon the organization of the new county of Oneida he was appointed surrogate, and lield the of- fice so long as he remained at Whitesboro. But when a clerk- :ship of the Supreme Court was established at Utica, in 180S, he was made clerk and removed thither. The building he occu- pied stood where now stands the office of the county clerk, to which it has but recently given way. He soon built for his dwelling a large stone house directly opposite, and next above Jeremiah Van Rensselaer's, a site now filled by the Miller, or .step-ladder row. On the death of its first jn-esident, Mr. Breese held also for a time the position of president of the Ontario Branch Bank. He was himself cut down in the very 262 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. prime of life, having died August 14, 1825, at tlie age of fifty- three, in the city of New Yorlv, whither he had gone to seek for the restoration of his health. By nature inactive in temperament and easy of disposition, Mr. Breese was yet possessed of strong sense and much per- sonal worth, of sterling integrity, of large hospitality, and gen- erous in his care for the religious, educational and other impor- tant interests of the town and neighborhood. He bore his part among the founders of the Oneida Bible Society and the Utica Academy, and as trustee of the village corporation, and of the Presbyterian Church, of which latter he was a communicant. He was somewhat of an epicure, and fond of the delicacies of the table, his larder and ice-house being always well supplied, and he never so happy as when surrounded by his friends, to enjoy with him his good cheer. A capital judge of wines, his cellar was liberally stocked with choice kinds, of his own im- portation. In manners he was quiet and rather taciturn, thougli cheerful and genial, with the looks and bearing of a thorough gentleman. His features were regular, his eyes large and ex- pressive, and though, in later life, a little beyond embojijjomt, he was in his younger days remarked for his personal beauty. Mr. Breese, was twice married, and the father of a large family of whom some have risen to distinction, and all were highly respectable and well connected. Catharine, his first wife, was the daughter of Harry Livingston, of Poughkeepsie. She died August 21, 1808, very soon after their removal to Utica, in her thirty-third year. She is represented to have been a faithful guide to her household in the path of duty, and an example of Christian meekness and piety. Endeared to all her acqiiaintances, she died universally lamented. Her children were Samuel Livingston, rear admiral of the Navy of the United States, who entered the navy in 1810, and after sixty years of dut}^, including the war of 1812, the Mexican war, service at the Norfolk and Brooklyn navy j^ards, and as commander of the European Squadron, was placed on the retired list; he died December 17, 1870; Sarah (Mrs. B. B. Lansing, and afterwards Mrs. James Piatt:) Elizabeth (wife of AVilliam Malcom Sands, purser of the United States Navy ;) Catharine Walker, (widow of Captain Samuel B. Griswold, of L^ni ted States Army); Sidnc}^, Chief Justice of the Supreme THE SECOND CHARTER. 263 Court and United States Senator from Illin'ois ; Susan (Mrs. Jacob Stout, then Mrs. P. A. Proal, died 1863.) Henry Liv- ingston, died at the age of 1-1 ; Arthur, died in Florida, 1838 ; Mary Davenport (Mrs. Henry Da^ds, of Waterford). Mr. Breese married the second time in 1810, Miss Ann Car- pender, of New York, of English descent. She survived her husband many years, and died May 17, 1857, in the seventy- third year of her age. A woman of marked vigor as well as vivacity of intellect, she managed her property with skill and prudence, so that, left a widow with no superabundance of means, she greatly increased her income, and reared a lai'ge family, with all the SLiri'oundings l:)eiitting the position that was always accorded her. Though her habits and tastes were emi- nently domestic, her society even to the last was desired by both old and young, for she shone among the most refined in social life, was admired for her playful wit, her dignit}^, culture and grace, and esteemed for her consistent discharge of Chris- tian duty. She had six children, as follows : Sarah Ann (Mrs. Thomas R Walker ;) Josiah Salisbury, merchant of New York, died February 11, 1865 ; William Grregg, merchant of Cincin- nati, afterwards and until his death, which occurred June 15, 1861, a resident of the city of New York; Frances Helen, died June 4, 181:7 ; Robert Lenox, died July 15, 1835 ; Aquila Stout, died August 31, 1825. Henry W. Livingston, brother of the first Mrs. Breese, was born about 1777, and was admitted an Attorney of the Supreme Court, October 1790. He lived in Utica and carried on law business from the year 1808 until 1813 or '14 As the agent of John B. Church, he sold lands in Cosby's Manor, and dealt also in land elsewhere in the State. He died in Hartford, Conn. He is represented as of tall and showy physique, and altogether a gentleman of the old school. A lawyer of standing in his profession, and an eminently pure and devout man was Walter King ; grave, sedate and reserved, but, instinct with love toward God and justice toward his fellows, he was faithful to both, and fearless in the performance of every dictate of an enlightened conscience. He was born January 6, 1786, in Norwich, Conn., of the Congre- gational Church of which town his father was pastor. Grrad- 264 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. uated at Yale College in 1805, be came shortly afterward to Utica, and commenced a course of law studies in the office of Brastus Clark. With Mr. Clark he then became a partner, and continued this connection until the death of the latter gen- tleman in 1825. He subsequently pursued the practice of his profession until the year 1832, a part of the time as a partner of James Dean, and was a good office lawyer. Failing health, induced by confinement to the duties of his office, rendered it necessary for him to seek a restoration of strength in the active exercise of agricultural pursuits. He purchased a small farm in Marcy, and for twenty years busied himself in its cultiva- tion. He died suddenly in the year 1852, in a boat upon the Genesee valley canal, while returning from a visit at Dunkirk. Of Mr. King an associate remarks as follows : " Few men sustained a more stainless and consistent religious character ; and the writer has never known one whose Christian life was more universally respected by all his acquaintances, whether of his own or of other denominations, and as well by those who felt no personal interest in religious truth as by professing christians." Before his removal from the city he had been for a long time the most trusted elder in the Presbyterian Church and a favorite teacher in a Bible class connected with it. His knowledge of sacred literature was varied and exact. The Scriptures he studied in their original languages and by the aid of abundant critical authorities. He prepared for the press a series of questions upon the gospels for the use of Bible classes, whicli was published under the title of " Questions on the Grospel Harmony." It was regarded as a work of eminent utility, and passed through four editions. Mr. King was twice married, his first wife being Elizabeth Clark, of Windham, Conn., a niece of Erastus Clark. The only issue ot; this mar- riasre was Elizabeth, first wife of James Dutton. His second wife, who still survives, was Electa Jones, of Berkshire county, Mass., to whom he was united in October 1815. The children were a daughter, who died in infancy, and Walter Edwards King, who died in Marseilles, 'France, in 1867. Mr. King at first lived on Whitcsboro near Seneca street Subsequently he purchased and occupied a house on the east side of Genesee, near where John Thorn now resides. He lived afterwards in a house he built on the site of the one he had at first occupied, remaining there until his removal to Marcy. THE SECOND CHARTER. 265 About this time came the first of two brothers Malcom of most honorable connection, and pending their few years stay, their pohshed and engaging famihes held a notable place in the society of Utica, They were sons of Col. William Malcom of the Revolution. This Col. Malcom, who was of Scotch descent, and by profession a lawj^er, raised and commanded the First Regiment of artillery from this State, a regiment which bore a prominent part in the battle of White Plains, and whose lieu- tenant colonel was Aaron Burr. Col. M. proved himself a re- liable and worthy officer, served also as delegate in the Third Provincial Congress in 1776 from Charlotte county. New York, and was member of Assembly from the City of New York in 1784, '86 and '87. His wife was Miss Sarah Ayscough. He left two sons and three daughters. Of these two sons, the first who resided in Utica was Samuel Bayard Malcom. He was born in New York, November 1, 1776, was private secretary of John Adams during his adminis- tration, studied law and entered u]3on practice in the metropolis, but about 1808 removed to Oneida county. The law did not much occupy him while here, his sole business being the care and sale of lands in Cosby's Manor, the property of his wife. She was Catharine Yan Rensselaer Sell uyler, youngest daughter of General Philip Schuyler, and is reported to have received at her marriage $100,000 in money, and a like value in real estate, situated mosth" in this vicinity. They lived on the New Hartford road in a cottage designated in the advertisements of Mr. M. as " near Utica," the same cottage which in after years was known as the Thorn farm house, now the property of Egbert Bagg. Mi\ Malcom was far from being thrifty in his management, and was in fact a spendthrift ; he wasted the property and became embarrassed by involving himself for some of his relatives. " One hundred and forty acres of land being part of Lots Nos. 98, 99 and 100, also the farm of Jeremiah Powell, and a few acres next Uriah Alverson," were, on the 9th of March 1812, advertised to be sold by the sheriff. About three years later lie died at Stillwater, N. Y., leaving two sons, William Schuvler and Alexander Malcom. Mrs. Malcom bore her misfortunes with Christian resignation. From being accustomed to affluence and luxurj^, she was now reduced to submit to the deprivation of many of the comforts 266 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. and even necessaries of life. In 1820 she advertised her farm on the New Hartford road containing one hundred and eighty acres. In January 1822, she married Captain James Cochrane, and in 1827, with her sons and her husband's family, removed to Oswego. This remarkable woman was born at Albany on the 20th of February 1781, and at her baptism General and Mrs. Washington stood as two of her sponsors. The daughter of the great Revolutionary patriot, whose name is so illustrious in our annals, she was closely allied by blood to the families of Van Rensselaer, Van Cortland and Livingston, and sister-in-law of Alexander Hamilton. In 1794, in company with her father, she passed through the Oneida wilderness to Oswego, then still in occupation of a British garrison, and shared in the adventures of what was then a difficult and romantic expedition. Many years later, and when she had become a second time a widow, she filled the office of post mistresss at Oswego, now a flourish- ing city. Honored for her noble family connection, beloved for her estimable virtues, and her kind and courteous manners, re- spected for her mental culture and high intellectual accomplish- ments, adorning her Christian profession by a life of faith, obe- dience and resignation, she survived until the 26tli of August, 1857, and died among the oldest of the inhabitants of Oswego, as she was among the earliest of its residents. Her two sons were educated as civil engineers. The eldest, who for thirteen years had the superintendency of the public harbors on Lake Ontario, and afterwards the conmiand of some of the finest pas- senger steamers on that lake, now lives at Oswego. The home of Alexander, the younger, is also at that place, though he has been many years disqualified by ill licallh from engaging in any employment. Stephen Dorchester, the hatter of 1794, died, as I have said, in 1808. The same year his son Eliasaph, now at the ripe age of twenty-eight, was teaching a grammar school in the Welsh Church on Hotel street, and may possibly have been thus occu- pied for some time previous. This school he continued to keep, by night as well as by day, until he succeeded Henry B. Gibson in the Bank of Utica. There he remained but a short time, and then joined Thomas Walker in the management of the Columbian Gazette. And here, while writing for its columns, THE SECOND CHAETER. 267 he picked up some knowledge of printing. Near the commence- ment of the year 181<), he estabhshed, with some pecuniary assistance, the Utica Observer^ as the organ of the part}^ that elected Mr. Madison to the Presidenc}^, and in opposition to De Witt Clinton. Ere long he transferred the paper to Rome ; but in the latter part of 1819, or early in 1820, he brought it back to Utica, and continued to publish it. When his party gained the ascendency in this State there ensued a general re- warding of the faithful and a proscription of their adversaries. Mr. Doi'chester was appointed by the Governor to the office of county clerk in the place of Francis A. Bloodgood, its former long-contuuied incumbent. This post he filled during the j^ears 1821-23, his second term being by election to the office. Then he became once more a teacher, having charge of the Utica public school. Subsequently he was absent some time from the place, giving lectures on geology. On his return he again taught, and also amused himself with a printing press in his house on Lansing street. Mr. Dorchester was a constant reader, and had acquired quite an amount of knowledge; he had an acquaintance with some of the modern lansrua2;es, was an accurate sframmarian and an acute critic. His intelligence and his agreeable social qualities made his company to be sought by the cultivated men of his party, while his indolent habits, his indifference to pecuniary gains, and his lack of steadiness of purpose, kept him needy, as well as deprived him of the standing in the community to which his talents entitled him. His death occurred in July 1864, at the age of eighty-four. His wife was Abigail Allen of Fairfield, Conn. His only son died young. Two of his five daughters married residents of Utica, viz. : Elizabeth (Mrs. James P. Gil- more), and Hester E. (Mrs. Cyrus F. Palmer) ; two others were Mrs. Albert Ruloffsen, and Mrs. George A. Talbot of New York; one is unmarried. In speaking of the building erected for the use of the Meth- odists, I mentioned that it served also as a school house. It has sometimes been confounded with another school house which stood above Elizabeth street, where Grace Church now is. This latter, which was two storied and larger than the pre- ceding, belonged to Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, and was known 268 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. as the Dixon school house, the first teacher who occupied it having been Eev. David R Dixon. The Presbyterians for a while held their evening services in it. This Mr. Dixon was a son of Major Dixon of Sherburne, Chenango county, and hud graduated at Yale College in 1807, only a short time before he began his school. The first of his advertisements that I have met with is dated September 1809, but as he gave a pubHc exhibition of his school in the fore part of this same month, it is natural to presume that it was given at or near the close of a term, and that tlie school had, tlierefore, been some little time in progress. His exhibition was held in the Presbyterian Church, and was witnessed hy a ci'owded audience. Some of the pu- pils enacted the play of Barbarossa, the parts of Selim and Barbarossa being taken by Masters Camp and Norton. And, says our foreign born authority, " though both of them were of New England parentage, their accent was correct " In Febru- ary 1811, Mr. Dixon opened an evening school for instruction in singing, while continuing his grammar school through the day. At the same time he was privately carrying on a course of study in divinity. This he prosecuted under the direction of Rev. Mr. Carnahan, as is probable, for he was one of the elders in his church, and he never attended any theological seminary. In 1813 he left the place. As a teacher Mr. Dixon was capa- ble and good tempered. His school was the federal one in con- trast with that of Mr. Dorchestei', whose patrons were found among the democratic families. Among his pujnls he had two who were subsequently admirals of the navy, two State sena- tors, an eminent portrait and (jeiire painter, and others scarcely less celebrated. As a minister he was slow, but weighted with sound learning. In 1S19 he was moderator of the Presbytery of Oneida, being then settled at Mexico, Oswego county, in which county he was useful also as a missionary under the au- spices of the Female Missionary Society. His first wife died in 1811. For his second he married Miss Tafl't, sister of the wife of Deacon Nathaniel l^utler, who followed him to Mexico. His death took place in 1861. Shubael Storrs was froin Mansfield, Connecticut, and had al- ready'' worked as an a})prentice to silver-smithing in Sjjringfield^ Massachusetts, when he came in 1803 to Utica. It was five or THE SECOND CHARTER. 26^ six years longer before he opened a shop of his own. Yet he was in constant employment from that time onward, and was successively a watch-repairer and maker of spoons and other silver ware, a maker of mathematical instruments, of compasses and of trusses. Retiring and self-contained, he might be seen but was rarely heard ; yet, like his work, he was irreproachable, and what he commended was sure to be as he said. Credulous and trustful, he might be imposed on, but cause was never found to distrust him. He did not marry until 1820, and when he died, July 10, 1817, left a widow and two children. His widow still survives, and one son, William M. Storrs ; Harriet (Mrs. Battle) is deceased. Other residents of 1808 were J. H. Beach, a teacher, who studied law, afterwards lived in Auburn, and was concerned with his brother in the manufacture of flour, and was also a member of Assembly ; Asahel Davis, an apprentice to the printing business, who studied theology with Rev. Mr. Bald- win, teaching two or three pupils meanwhile, became an Epis- copal minister, was settled at Oneida, where he preached to the Indians, and went with them to Green Bay ; in 1817, he was president of the Utica Sunday school ; Royal Johnson, de{)uty county clerk ; John Ostrom, brother of Judge Ostrom, kept tavern on the eastern border of the village ; Rev. Morris Morris, Welsh Congregational minister, well educated and well connected, whose son Morris was killed in battle ; William Donaldson, baker and dealer in flour, remained until 1819, but being unfortunate in his aifairs, moved to Kingston, Canada, where he was a victim of the cholera ; Peter B. Markham, gun- smith : Lemuel Brown, blacksmith ; Richard Van Dyke, cabinet maker, insolvent about three years later ; John H. Deeper, his journeyman ; Samuel Hoyt, tailor: Chauncey Rawson, con- cerned in staging ; Oliver Goodwin, dealer in paints and oils ; Lewis Griffin, associated with William Hayes, Jr., in making earthern ware ; Eber Adams, who lost his life in the war of 1812, and whose son, Lyman Adams, lives still in Utica; Sim- eon Natten, travelling dentist ; T. Gladding, profile cutter ; and A. Philips, another wandering practitioner of the same art 270 THE PIONEERS OF ITTICA. 1809. The freeholders' annual meeting of 1809 was held at the Ho- tel. The trustees who held office during the year, w^ere Tal- cott Camp, president, Solomon Wolcott, John Hooker, Jerath- mel Ballon and John Bellinger. The amount assessed on the inhabitants was but three hundred and fifty dollars. Further measures were adopted to provide by subscription foi' a public hearse. A lot for an engine house, situated in the rear of Trinity church, was given by the Bleecker family through their repre- resentative, Morris S. Miller. An attempt to call the inhabi- tants together to consider the propriet}^ of selling the engine and buying a new one failed of result, inasmuch as few appeared, and no action was taken. The resignation of the clerk and the appointment of a successor seems to have been thought so pressing a matter as to require the holding of an extra meeting of the trustees on a Sunday evening. Occasion for another Sunday meeting was found when the president reported that in compliance with instructions previously given him, he had em- ployed three watchmen to serve from ten o'clock until day- light. A practice so difterent from the modern one, and ap- parently so little in accordance with the pious habit of our fathers is readil}^ explained when we remember that a mn jority of them were emigrants from New England, where the evening of Saturday, not that of Sunday, was looked upon as a pai"t of the sacred day of rest, and where sundown of the latter day still ushers in the secular duties of another week. Of the watchmen, whom the president now^ informs the trustees he had put on duty, two were to patrol the streets from Judge Cooper's to Morris S. Miller's, and from the bridge to Ai'thur Breese's, including the side streets, while the third was to re- main as a sentinel at the watch-house. The following were the instructions these watchmen were to observe: " In the event of an alarm of fire, you will first proceed to cry fire, and the place of its discover}^ Next, instantly (crying 'fire!' as you go,) knock at the door of each trustee, Mr. Macomber (the man who rings the bell), the captain of the fire company, Benjamin Paine, and the other firemen, and then to continue to alarm the in- habitants generally ; never forgetting, in every instance, to di- rect them to carry their buckets." They were also to arrest THE SECOND CHARTER. 271 and detain burglars and suspicious persons. Persons of this character, with bundles, were to be taken to the place where thej said they got the bundle, and if their story were found untrue they were to be kept in the watch-house. Besides these, there were other regulations relating to their deportment, &c. Broad street, we have seen, was opened the previous sum- mer. On the 27th of February, 1809, it was formerly adopted as a street by order of the commissioners of highways of the town of Whitestown, from Genesee street to its intersection with the road leading to Slayton's settlement (two thousand fifty two feet), that is to say, a short distance east of Third street. At the same time the following were also adopted, viz : First and Second streets from Broad to the river. Third street from Main to Broad, and from thence to be continued to the intersec- tion of the road to Slayton's settlement, and Water sti-eet from First across Genesee to Hotel vStreet. During the present year Bridge street — the present Park av- enue — was laid out and macadamized. This was a great un- dertaking, and involved much forethought and care as well as a very considerable pecuniary outlay. It was wholly executed at private expense, being, like Broad street, the work of Judge Morris S. Miller, with the cooperation of his father-in-law and brother-in-law, of Albany. Beginning opposite Mr. Plant's, at the head of Genesee street, it ran in a north easterly direction behind the southern margin of the village, crossed the river and tlie farm of Mr. George I. Weaver until it intersected the river road in Deerfield. Designed apparently to draw trade and travel from their present course along the Genesee road, it failed of wholly accomplishing its object; yet it did much to pro- mote the extension of the village in a southerly and easterly direction. It was not achieved without opposition, being op- posed not only by parties interested in the western part of the village, but more especially by Mr. Weaver, of Deerfield, who could nc^t appreciate the advantage the road would be to him- self, and was unwilling to part with the right of way across his land. And even after this right of way had been obtained and the land secured, the matter was not adjusted without an alter- cation and a personal affray, in which Judge Miller was charged by the son, Col. John G. Weaver, with cheating his father, and was so abusively treated that, in his indignation, he struck the" 272 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Golonel with some weapon at hand, and drove him, bleeding and threatening vengeance, from his office. But tlie road was finislied, and in a capital manner, and an excellent bridge was put up across the river. McAdara himself, as it is said, had a a job on this road, which was one of the first he had built, though not as good as many later macadamized ones. Across the flats, on the north side of the river especially, it traversed a piece of ground that seemed even wetter than the former road to Deer- field. Cedar boughs were first laid down, upon which was placed a course of fifteen inches of stone, and gi-avel upon the to]) of this. There were other enterprises that had their origin at this time and which enlisted the sympathy and the efforts of the leading men of the village and the county. One of these resulted in the creation of a manufacturing establishment ; another gave to Utica its first Bank. Stimulated by the offer of cooperation and assistance from Air. Lawrence Schoolcraft, superintendent of a glass factory near Albany, a company was formed at Utica to establish glass works in this vicinity. It was incorporated on the 17th of Feb- ruary, 1809, with a capital of $100,000, and was known as tlie Oneida Glass Factory Company. Books were opened and the stock soon taken up. The following were the subscribers and the amounts respectively subscribed to this first manufacturing enterprise that was unitedly entered upon by the citizens of the county, viz : Abraham Varick, . . . |5,000 Charles C. Brodhead, . 2,000 Peter Bours, .... 5,000 John Steward, Jr., . . 5,000 Watts Sherman, . . . 5,000 Nathaniel Butler, . . 2,000 Anson Thomas, . . . 2,000 Bryan Johnson, . . . 2,500 Alex'r B. Johnson, . . . 2,500 Frederick White, . . 2,500 John C. Devereux, . . . 2,500 Siil & Doolittie, . . . 2,000 Williams & Shearman, . . 2,000 James Dana, . . . 1,000 Walter Morj^an, . . . 2,500 Ez.kicl < lurk, . . . $1,500 Stalham VN'illiams, . . 500 John Hooker, . . . 5,000 Erastus Clark, . . . 500 Samuel Hooker, . . 1,000 Jason Parker. . . . 1,000 Solomon Wolcott & Co., . 1,000 Isaac Coe 9,500' Winne & Evertsen, . . 1,000' (All of the above being residents • of Utica.) Kichard Sanger, . . . 2,000 Frederick Stanley, . . . 5,000 Caleb C. Sampson, • . 1,000 Joseph Kirkland, . . . 2,000 Peter tV)lt and Koswell L. Colt, 5,000 Samuel Peck, . . . 1,500 Philip Hoagle, . . . 2,000 l.,awrence Schoolcraft, . . 2,500 Jonas Piatt, . . . 1,000 Elizur iMoseley, . . . 1,000 James Lynch, . . . 2,000 Hoval Johnson. . . . 1,000 Daiiiel Cook, .... 4,000 George Huntington & Co., . 2,500 George Bravton, . . . 1,000 R. Cook and David Cook, . 1,000 Blank, 1,000 THE SECOND CHARTER. 27S The first directors cliosen were Watts Sherman, Abraham Varick, John Steward, Jr., Alexander B. Johnson, and Eichard Sanger of New Hartford, the latter being president. In April, land was purchased at Vernon of Isaac Coe, Daniel Cook and Samuel Peck, and contracts for the supply of wood were made. Nor was it long before the making of cylinder glass was begun. Success speedily crowned their endeavors, and from that time onward the business was prosecuted with a fair measure of suc- cess until the 18th of August, 1836, when the company dis- posed of their real estate and closed up their affairs. Down to tlie period at which we have arrived, the money in nse was chiefly silver, and for the most part the Spanish milled coinage ; bank bills were comparatively few, and consisted of notes of eastern banks. For loans, men of business were de- pendent on Albany. The commencement of banking opera- tions in Utica dates from the arrival of Montgomery Hunt, in 1809, he having been sent hither by the Manhattan Bank of New York to organize a branch of that institution. Of Mr. Hunt an ample notice will be given hereafter in connection with the history of a bank of a later period and more continued existence than the Manhattan Branch, with whose concerns the chief part of his life was identified. Suffice it to say that he was well qualified for the business on which he was commis- sioned, having already had experience therein. The branch he started was at first located in a small building that stood back from the west line of Hotel street, a little south of Whitesboro. In July 1809, the lot on the corner of these streets was bought and the brick building erected for its use which still stands there, and which has of late been the resi- dence of John E. Hinman, but which is now owned by Richard Schroeppel. Mr. Hunt's only associate was Henry B. Gibson,, who acted as teller and book-keeper. The directors during the year 1810 were as follows : William Floyd of Westernville,. James S. Kip, Francis A. Bloodgood, Solomon Wolcott, John- Bellinger, Thomas Walker, Apollos Cooper, Marcus Hitch- cock, Henry Huntington of Home, Nathan Smith, Ephraim Hart as yet of Clinton, and Nathan Williams, who was the president. With one exception, all of these gentlemen seem to have left the Manhattan in 1812, and taken part in the Utica. 274 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Bank The directors of 1816, the only ones of a later date whose names I can learn, were Morris S. Miller, president, Nathan Williams, James Yan Rensselaer, Jr., John C. Dever- eux, Jolm C. Hojt, John H. Handy, James Dana, Windsor Maynard. After the withdrawal of Messrs. Hunt and Gibson, in order to enter the new institution, it was managed by James S. Kissam until he became cashier of the Ontario Branch, when his place was lilled by James Nazro. Of its internal affairs and general conduct I am unable to get much information. I know only that it ])rospered and remained in existence until 1818, but when two or three local banks adequate to the bus- iness of the place had gained a foothold, it was withdrawn. The Henry B. Gibson just spoken of as teller under Mr Hunt, and who afterwards became himself a banker of emi- nence, had been already some years in Utica, in the position of clerk. He was born in Reading, Pa., April 13, 1783. When nine years old he moved with his father, John Gibson, to Sara- toga, ISr. Y,, where he received his principal education. Find- ing that he excelled in mathematical studies and not in learn- ing Latin, he determined on being a merchant. His business life he began at the age of sixteen, at Cooperstown, as a clerk of Judge Cooper, the father of the novelist, and with the novelist himself he was a youthful associate. Thence he came to Utica as a clerk of Hugh Cunningham. In 1805 he was emploj'cd in the store of Watts Sherman, and in 1809 he was a writer for Francis A. Bloodgood, in the office of the county clerk. He had a quickness of perception and a corresponding quick- ness of action that were quite uncommon, and to these M^ere added undeviating industry, excellence of judgment, and an integrity beyond suspicion. These were the qualities which, when the Manhattan Bank was put in operation, secured him the position of teller. Three years later, when the Bank of Utica was organized, he followed his principal and became tel- ler of the new institution. While here, it was his practice' to accommodate persons coming to the bank for a renewal of their notes, by loaning them from his own purse the money they needed to take up their former ones, without which liquidation the bank would not give them further credit Mr. Hunt ob- jected to the practice, and a disagreement ensued, which even- tually led to the resignation of Mr. Gibson. Rejoining Mr. J THE SECOND CHARTER. 275 Sherman, lie went with him to New York in the spring of 1813. There as merchants they carried on an unusually successful business, having Alexander Seymour as their associate and rep- resentative at Utica. In this firm, and after the death of Mr. Sherman, in other connections, he remained in the city, until 1820, and had already acquired a property of $30,000, when a cashier being wanted for the Ontario Bank at Canaudaigua, he was called to the position. To retrieve its affairs, he removed to Canandaigua, assumed the duties and continued to perform them until the expiration of the charter in 1856. In this posi- tion it was not long before he gained a wide spread reputation, and became, in the opinion of A. B. Johnson, " the most uni- formly successful country banker the State has produced." His personal fortune, which was not the result of hazardous adven- turing, but the accumulation of a long and busy life, amounted at his death to moi"e than a million of dollars. Yet Mr. Gibson was not, as might be presumed, a cold and crafty man. He was of an ardent temperament, impulsive in his kindness and in his displeasui'e, artless and open in his intercourse, and tender though hasty in his feelings. He filled also other jDosts of trust and honor, having been president of the Auburn & Rochester Rail Road Co., and, after the consolidation, a director of the N, Y. Central. He lived six months beyond the age of eighty, and died November 20, 1863. His wife, to whom he was united on the 9th of December, 1812, was Sarah, eldest daughter of Watts Sherman. His surviving children are a son and three daughters, of whom one married Watts Sher- man 2d, nephew of the preceding, and late of the firm of Duncan, Sherman & Co., another, Henry L. Lansing, formerly of Utica, and now of Niagara, Canada. On the Fourth of July, 1808 or 1809, in a time when party spirit ran high, there w^as a great gathering of the Democrats at Bellinger's tavern, the head quarters of the party They had a large naval cannon to make a noise with, and Tom Jones, the blacksmith, who had been in the British service, and was well acquainted with the handling of great guns, was employed as the best engineer to manage it. Toward the close of the day, when the celebration was pretty much over, and the com- pany tolerably mellow and reckless, the young men were bent 276 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. on having anotlier firing of the cannon, and went to work to give it a heavy load. Over the powder they filled to the muzzle with turf and other soft material, which being well rammed would increase the resistance and give a louder report ; and the ramming was done with a will. Jones dared not risk such a load, and declaring that he would have nothing to do with it, he withdrew and took a seat on the horse block at the eastern end of the house. The young men were determined the gun should go off, and pointed it toward Bagg's, the quar- ters, as is presumed, of the opposite party. A ^^outh named Seymour Tracy, an apprentice in the office of the Gazette, and of strong political tendencies, volunteered to do the firing, and, with a live coal held in a pair of tongs, he proceeded to exe- cute his purpose. A terrible explosion ensued, which shattered the gun to fragments, leaving scarcel}^ a bit on the spot where it had stood. Though the street was filled with men aud boys, yet strange to say, Tracy and Jones were the only persons hurt, and the latter but slightly, his skin being scraped by the butt of the cannon that struck with violence the block on which he sat. Tracy was less fortunate : one of his legs was so badly smashed that amputation was necessary. The party took good care of him and showed him much kindness during his illness and after his recovery. For a time he was employed as a copy- ist in the office of the county clerk, and soon became the dep- uty. He afterward repaired to Fairfield, studied law, and returned to serve the Manhattan Branch Bank as its attorney and notary. He was a man of capacity and resolution, and ready as a speaker, and was active in the arena of politics. In ISTovember 1810, he married Olivia, daughter of Joseph Bar- ton. Before 1816 he moved to Batavia, but died in Albany, His sou Thomas and his daughter (Mrs. George Tracy,) have been residents of more recent date. The freshly starting mechanics of 1809 were the following: Kobert McBiide, mason, long held an honorable place among the workers of Utica. He built the nucleus of the present Bagg's hotel, — that is to say, the corner and central portion, — and did much other heav}'' work in the place ; completed some important contracts on the Erie canal, and was an alderman and an enter|)risiiig and respected citizen. He made his final home I THE SECOXD CHARTER. 277 with his son-in-law near Canandaigiia. Of his three sons and three daughters, none are now resident. Another mason was Thomas .Thomas, a Welshman, who built the stone house of James S. Kip, and afterwards one of the structures of Hamilton College. Two apprentices to the hatter's art indentured with Samuel Stocking were his brother Joseph Stocking and Samuel Bull. Thev estabhshed themselves in 1811 at Buffalo, where they were the earliest hatters of that place, and met with de- served success. When the w^ar came on. Bull took part in it, was a captain, and was wounded at Black Rock. Of furriers, there were three in 1809, viz. : Joseph Simons, Charles Blates, and Adolph Cotteriield. The first was the only one of them who remained long enough to leave a remembrance and a de- scendant. Charles Simons followed in the footsteps of his father and died in 1875, an old man, and unmarried. The saddlers, Eliphalet Tucker and Erastus Burchard, now began at the old stand of Grurdon Burchard, who went into tavern keeping. The tanner, Andrew P. Tillman, brother of William, succeeded to the tannery of Bela Hubbard, but in 1815 removed to Geneva. The fresh carpenters were Samuel Jones, C W. Harris and William Morris. Jones was engaged, some years later, to make the gallows on which John Tuhi, the Indian, was hung. He was not told for what it was intended, and was greatly surprised •and shocked when he learned its purpose : " They told me it was a ga-at," said he, "and it's a gallows." The cabinet makers were Asa Palmer, brother of Chauncey now resident, J. Andrews and Obadiah Cougar. The latter had a shop in Utica and an- other in New Hartford. Palmer moved to Racine about 18-12, and died in 1871. T H. Nurse, reed maker, had for some years a home in the house which preceded the residence of Justice Ward Hunt. He moved to a farm three miles east of Utica. Joel Hmckley, blacksmith, ai the sign of the " king's arms" on Whitesboro street, became insolvent three years later. Henry Bowen, another blacksmith, had a son who still carries on the trade of his father. Two young men, who came m 1809 from Danbury, Conn., bore the relations of brother-in-law and of mas- ter and apprentice to the trade of shoe making. The latter was Ezra S. Barnum, who, after finishing his apprenticeship, re- moved temporarily from the place to reappear some years later. The former, Levi Comstock, lived in Utica from that time on- 278 ' THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. ward for nearly fifty years, and then made bis home with a son in Cuvahoga Falls, Ohio, until his death, May 31, 1868. William Honghton was a stage proprietor, and for a time a partner with Jason Parker. A son of his was a harness maker. Paul Hochstrasser, gentleman, owned and occupied the house that became a part of the Franklin House, which has now given W'ay to the Arcade. Brother-indaw of Rudolph Snyder, he mar- ried the widow of Watts Sherman. Mrs. Flandrau, widow of Elias Flandrau of New Rochelle, was the mother of Thomas H. Flandrau, an acute and able lawyer of more recent times. One of her daughters had already married Thomas Dean of Deansville, Indian agent. Others of them were busy needle women, much relied on by the ladies of their generation, and one became subsequently the wife of Prof. Marcus Catlin of Hamilton College. Mrs. Sarah Van Syce was a milliner of many years experience. William Ladd, grocer, at No. 1 Gene- see, corner of Water, was long a resident of the eastern part of the village, and had sons and daughters, George Stewart practiced the tonsorial art at " The Blue Academy," as he termed it. "between Payne's and Barton's." He was a pompous negro, known by the title of Emperor, who had been servant to Admiral Hood, and was with him during the war between England and France. " He married into General Piatt's family," as he was accustomed to boast, that is to say, his wife had been a servant in it. In public processions he headed the colored people, dressed in the highest style, fre- quently in short clothes, and flourished a gold-headed cane. He died on Main street at an advanced age. Besides the foregoing we have the names of John Chi Ids, teacher, who died August 1814; of J. Wilkinson, teacher of sacred music ; of Samuel Haskell, dancing master ; of John Conway, another colored man ; and of J. Singer & Co., merchants, and S. Ammidon, grocer, who have left us no other token of remembrance than a single advertisement. 1810. On the first of Ma}^, 1810, the freeholders met at Mr. Dixon's school house and elected as their trustees for the ensuing year,. THE SECOND CTTAETER. 279 Talcott Camp, John C. Hoyt, John C. Devereux, Ka(:lol})h Snyder, and Abraham M. Walton, the former of whom was appointed president. The snm voted to be assessed was five Imndred dollars, which, after remunerating the treasurer and collector, was to be appropriated as follows : . First, to the sexton for ringing the bell in the Presbyterian meeting house ; second, to fencing the lot presented by M. S. Miller, and building an engine house thereon ; third, to digging and stoning a sewer on the east side of Genesee street from the corner of Broad ; fourth, to pay balance due the watch ; fifth, to pay the balance due for hearse and other contingent expenses. And these were accord- ingly the principal matters that occupied the attention of the trus- tees throughout the year. Mr. Macomber was engaged to ring the bell at 9 a. m., 12 m. and 2 P. M. ; the president and Mr. Devereux were authorised to contract for fencing the new lot and building an engine house thereon; Mr. Brodwell, in considera- tion of the sum of $1(30.85, built the proposed drain ; the balance due for hearse and for watch were liquidated. A new subscrip- tion was started to provide for the watch of the current year, and also a subscription for the purchase of a new engine, the avails of which, being deemed sufficient, were put into the hands of Watts Sherman, with authority to buy the same. In addition to the foregoing, as also the repairing of the fixtures about the wells, the appointment of a new treasurer (E. B. Sher- man), and the discharge of a few small accounts, the only other transaction of the board was the offer of a reward of one hun- dred and fifty dollars for the detection of the incendiary, who, on the night of the 2d of October, set on fire the new store of Hugh Cunningham. The Whitestown records inform us that in November 1810, C. C. Brodhead surveyed, and the commissioners of highways adopted, the following streets, viz. : part of First from Broad to Rutger, thence south-westerly to the bridge over the old road ;* Broad street extended to the lands of Col. Walker ; Catherine *Tliis was the old road to New Hartford, and which was quite circuitous in its course;— starting nearly on the line of Broadway, it crossed to the east side of the present turnpike, and afterwards recrossed it before reach- ing- New Hartford. The bridge must have been over one of the sources of Nail creek. 280 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. street from Third street to the Seneca turnpike (Genesee street) ; Eirst street extended to Bridge. Bridge sti-eet, \Adiich had been surveyed for the commissioners by Mr. Brodhead in 1801, and which, as we have seen, was laid out iu 1809, was also now adopted. A map made by Mr. Brodhead, in 1810, for the heirs of John R Bleecker, exhibited all the streets parallel to Broad as far upwards as South, laid down tliereon as they now exist. But we have no evidence of the acceptance by authority of any other than Catherine street, and it is certain that most of them were not in use until some years later. By a newspaper adver- tisement of September in this year, we are informed that the house situated on the corner of Catherine and Genesee was for sale and must be removed within ten days of date. It is reasonable to infer that Catherine street was now demanded by the growing necessities of the village, or at least its western end; further on, it remained a quagmire until after the opening of the canal. In this connection, and as bearing on the increased value of real estate in Utica, we quote a few self-gratulatory words contained in a village paper of this era, and constituting one of those rare occurrences for the era, an item of purely local interest. "We are informed," says the Patriot of October 9, 1810, ''that a small triangular lot on the corner of Genesee and Whitesboro streets in this village has been sold after the rate of $300,000 an acre, which same land, twenty-five yeoxs ago, might have been purchased for one dollar an acre." Utica contained at this time one thousand six hundred and fifry inhabi- tants and three hundred houses. A journalist records that he ^'counted fortj'-five liouses on the street leading to Judge Miller's." A beginning was made this 3'ear in the construction of two im- portant roads leading north and south from tlie place, viz. : the Utica & Black Eiver turnpike, andtlie Minden turnpike, known of late 3^ears as the Burlington plank road. In July 1810, the Erie canal commissioners visited Utica in prosecution of their fii-st survey of its route. Further continu- ance of tlie undertaking was soon suspended by the war with England which ensued in 1812, and it was not till after its close that this great work was carried on to its successful completion. THE SECOND CHARTER. 281 Encouraged bj the success of the Oneida Glass Factory, started the previous j^ear, Mr. Peter Bours uow took the lead in getting up a company to manufacture crown glass, which, it was proposed, should be superior to any made in the country. With him were associated Benjamin Walker, John Steward, Jr., Hugh Cunningham, John Hooker, Seth Dwight and others. A special charter was obtained fi-om the Legislature of 1809-10, and a capital stock was raised of $250,000. A tract of land was bought some three miles north of Utica, in the part of Deerfield now known as Marc}^ In the course of the ensaing season suitable buildings were put up, workmen were obtained from Boston, the only place where crown glass was then made, and the manufacture was begun. Within a year the stock had all been called in. Bours seemed to carry all he undertook. B}^ continuous boasting the new stock became a kind of south sea bubble, and sales were reported at a hundred per cent- though such sales were probably fictitious. A gentleman who visited the works in April 1813, was informed that the expenses were $30,000 annually, the value of glass made $50,000, amount of stock $100,000. That the works of the company were not in realit}" ver}" productive, and were, in fact, for a time sus- pended, we infer from the announcement of Mr. Bours, the superintendent, made in Fel:)ruary 181-1, a few months after the purchase of seven hundred and ninety additional acres of land, to the effect that the factory is again in operation, and that orders are received on the premises or at the store of Luke Dev- ereux. The company struggled on a fQw years longer. In March, 1819, they were in want of glass blowers, and made known their necessities by advertisement. But the renewed efforts proved futile ; it was found impossible to manufacture crown glass which could compete with that of English work- manship. Finally, on the 22d of March, 1822, the company leased their factory for four years to their predecessors, the Oneida Company of Vernon, and this is the last item of infor- mation the writer has been able to obtain about them. A good deal of money was sunk in the enterprise, and the losers were numerous. Another branch of business which dates its beginning from this era, is that of cotton and woolen manufacture. The ear- '282 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. liest attempt in this direction is exhibited in the following advertisement which emanated from Whitesboro, and which bears date November 13, 1809 : ''The subscribers, acting under the firm of Walcott & Co., have erected a manufactory for the spinning of cotton yarn in the village of Whitesboro, which is now in operation. Benja- min S. Walcott agent. The public are invited to aid and cherish an institution calculated to support the independence of the country. (Signed :) B. Walcott. Newton Mann, William M. Cheever, Theodore Sill, Asher Wetmore, Benjamin S. Walcott, Jr. " Thomas R. Gold, Seth Capron, Within a year, as we learn fi'om a visitor to the factory, it w^ as consuming one hundred weight of cotton per diem. This modest beginning, was the forerunner of all the similar under- takings of the vicinity, the first effort of those sagacious, pains- taking, persevering and skillful men, which has resulted in lining the course of the Sauquoit with pr(jductive and valuable fac- tories, in securing for the projectors and those who succeeded them the fortunes of princes, and for their goods a repute that extends the world around. The earliest intimation of a kindred project wherein were enlisted the sympathies and the capital of the people of Utica, I find in a subscription paper dated July 14, 1810, and enti- tled a subscription for tlie purpose of erecting a cotton, woolen and iron factory, on the Oriskany creek near the house of Col- onel Lansing. Annexed thereto was a plan for its construc- tion. The capital stock was to be $200,000, divided into shares of one hundred dollars each. Subscriptions were to be paid to Gerrit Gr. Lansing, Seth Capron and Samuel S. Breese, who were to be trustees until an incorporation had taken place, and were then to convey to the trustees who should be appointed. On this paper there are in all fifty-nine subscribers, of whom a little over one third were residents of Utica, representing $38,500 of the stock, the remainder being inhabitants of Whites- boro and capitalists from the cast Theodore Sill subscribes in behalf of the Oneida Manufacturing Society, from which we are to infer that the association known by this title was either already in existence or about to be inaugurated. The mill belonging to this society which stood between Yorkville and New York Mills was burned down many years since, and was THE SECOND CHARTER. 28S replaced with one of stone and brick. This subscription paper doubtless records the incipient movements in behalf of the Oriskanj factory, a three story brick building, one hundred and twenty feet in length which was commenced in 1810, incorpor- ated in 1811, and soon went into operation as a woolen mill on the site at first proposed. According to Judge Jones, (Annals of Oneida County) it is believed to have been the oldest woolen manufacturing company in l)eing in the United States. " At the time of the incorporation of this company" saj's he " our difficulties with Great Britain had assumed a threatening aspect, and a number of the prominent public men of that day were induced from truly patriotic motives to embark in the business of manufacturing woolen goods in the hope*)f doing something to render their country' independent of England for a supply of clothing." Without intending to underrate the cogency of this motive, which doubtless was a prevailing one, I venture to add other causes which are alleged by an English traveller of the period to have had their influence. This traveller, J. Mellish by name, visited the northern States in the years 1810-11, and in tlie published record of his journey has given us some notices of Oneida county, and of its "capital," as he des- ignates Utica. After alluding to the state of things that pre- vailed previous to about the year 1807-8, when Utica and the neighboring settlements of Whitesboro and New Hartford were almost the last outposts of trade, and when the newly settling country beyond was immediately dependent upon them for supplies, he intimates that the commerce of Utica, was at the time of his visit (1811) in a drooping condition, the spirit for building on the decline, and confidence in its future greatness seriously impaired. This decline he imputes to a threefold cause ; to the increased mercantile facilities of the western set- tlements and their consequent growing independence of eastern inland villages like Utica, to the change in the current of the market which had begun to traverse the lakes and the St. Law- rence, and to forsake the more tedious channel of the Mohawk, and lastly to excessive overtrading throughout the State, due to the indulgence of too free a credit both in New York City and in England. He then goes on to remark of the citizens of Utica that '"they have already begun to avail themselves of the advantages to be derived from the new order of things^ 284 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. and a good deal of the surplus capital of All)ain' and New York has also been invested in manufactures in and about this place, for which they are already getting in some success a hand- some return.'' Not to anticipate his account of the actual number of manufactures as he found them in 1811, I subjoin a single paragraph, expressive of his opinions of the future : "There are three branches that are likely to flourish in an emi- nent degree: glass, woolen and cotton: and they will all be of great importance to Utica. The cotton trade will, I think, flourish here beyond every other." The year 1810 is memorable for the birth of a local society, purely benevolent iji its purposes, which has received the appro- bation and enlisted the sympathies of all evangelical Christians throughout the county, and which, from its origin to the present time, has continued to diffuse light and blessings upon the sur- rounding region. This is the Oneida Bible Society. It was formed at Utica at a meeting convened for the purpose, at the Presby- terian Church, on the 15th day of November, 1810 ; and thus precedes by six j^ears the formation of the Ameiican Bible Society. At this meeting Rev. Amos G. Baldwin was called to preside. Bev. James Carnahan, George Huntington of Rome, and Erastus Clark were appointed a committee to prepare a constitution, and they forthwith reported the draft of one which was unanimously adopted, and which, with some few amendments since incorpo- rated, constitutes the organic law of its present existence. Its first article expresses the object of the society, and is made a fundamental law that cannot be repealed : this object is " the distribution of the Holy Scriptures in the common version, without note or comment." Of those who took part in its or- ganization, many served their generation with credit in stations of public trust ; but in few relations, perhaps, are they entitled to more honoi-able mention than in connection with the society thus launched forth upon its high and useful career. Those who held the four leading offices were, Jonas Piatt of Whites- boro, president; Rev. Asahel S. Norton of Clinton, vice presi- dent ; Rev. James Carnahan, secretary : and Rev. Amos G. Baldwin, treasurer. To these were added sixteen directors, rep- resenting equally the clerical and the lay element, viz. : George Huntincrton and Rev. Moses Gillet of Rome ; Rev. Abraham THE SECOND CHAETER. 285 Williams, Arthur Breese, Morris S. Miller, Erastus Clark, Jere- miah Yan Rensselaer of Utiea ; Rev. Oliver Wetmore of Hol- land Patent (and afterwards of Utiea), Dv. Elnathan Jndd and Henry McNiel of Paris ; Rev. James Eells of Westmoreland ; John Linklaen of Cazenovia; Rev. Israel Brainard of Verona ; Rev. Samuel F. Snowden of New Hartford; Rev. Caleb Doug- lass of Whitesboro ; and Rev. James Southworth of Bridge- water. At the commencement the society had no special or de- fined territorial limits within which its operations were to be conducted. It solicited subscriptions by the agents it appointed, who resided not merely in the county of Oneida, but in all the adjacent ones. Its allotments of Bibles extended also from Montgomery on the east to Steuben on the west, and from Chenango and Madison to Jefferson and St. Lawrence. It was not until the year 1849, that upon a revision of the constitution, its name w^as changed to that of the "Oneida County Bible Society," since which period, and indeed practically before tliat date, the field of its operations, both in respect to the solic- iting of funds and the supplying of the destitute with the Scrip- tures, has been Oneida county. The exploration and survey of the county has been four times undertaken, and, as far as possible, every reader w^ithin its bounds has been furnished with a copy of the Bible. The report of the fourth one made in 1861, shows that during the preceding year eighteen thousand five hundred and ninety-seven families were visited, that \vp- wards of twenty-one hundred Bibles or Testaments had been given away, and nearly sixteen hundred sold. The first meeting of the society was followed by an annual meeting in January 1811, since which time annual meetings have been held without interruption, to the present year, except during the years 1833-6, when there appeared to have been a suspension of them. The proceedings of the society and a state- ment of its future intentions were annually published in the form of a report. Many of the reports in the earlier years of its operations were drawn up by Erastus Clark, and are docu- ments of peculiar interest. The semi-centennial anniversary was observed in January 1861. On this occasion a commemor- ative address was delivered by William J. Bacon of the execu- tive committee, which elicited the cordial thanks of tlie society. To it the writer is mainly indebted for the facts herewith pre- 286 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. sented. From tliis address we learn further that Judge Piatt continued to act as })resident of the society, by repeated reelec- tions, until 1816, when he was succeeded by George Hunting- ton, whose term of service continued until the year 182-1, when Judge Piatt again resumed the office, and remained four 3'ears more in the discharge of its duties. To him succeeded Abraham Yarick, in 1828, continuing until 1832, when Asahel Seward was elected. He was followed in 1836, by John J. Knox of Augusta, who presided in the office until his death in 1876, and has been succeeded by Dr. J. C. Gallup of Clinton. The society has had but four treasurers, viz. : Amos G. Baldwin from its origin to the year 1811 ; William G. Tracy, from 1811 to 1830 ; Jesse W. Doolittle, from 1830 to 1842 ; and Jared E. Warner, from 1842 to the present time. During the first fifty years of its existence, the entire amount of its receipts and disbursements was over $40,000, " a sum small indeed, when compared witli those of our great national societies, but which faithfully and judiciously applied, as it has been, has produced an incalculable amount of good." Let us turn now from more general matters to take up the list of new arrivals and new business adventurers of the j^ear. It has already been mentioned that when Jeremiah Van Eens- selaer estaljlished himself in Utica, in 1800, there came with him, as his clerk, his brother James, then a youth of seventeen. This brother remained with him until 1810, when he set up on his own account in the multifarious trade of the period. In this he continued longer than his elder. In 1811 he married a niece of the wife of Jeremiah, Miss Susan DeLancey Cullen, who had been early left an orphan and had been brought up by her uncle, James Kane of Albany. He built and began house keeping in the brick house on Broad street, which is the fourth east from the Grouse block. After some years residence therein, he built and occupied the wooden house that covers the triangu- lar lot bounded b}^ John, Elizabeth and Park avenue. His place of business was for the most ])art on the southerly corner of Broad and Genesee, and hither his frequent advertisements summon customers who arc in need of dry goods, groceries or hollow ware, of powder from Do Chaumont's factory, or flour of Ely & Bissell's grinding. He encountered some reverses, THE SECOND CHARTER. 287 and entered on some undertakings which did not prove alto- gether profitable. Of the latter nature was the building of the row of brick stores, on the southerly side of Liberty, between Hotel and Seneca, for besides being imperfect in construction, these stores were not perhaps wisely conceived, being in advance of the requirements of the time. Though Mr. Van Rensselaer did not attain the exalted position in public affairs that was held by his brother, he was busy in his own ; he filled also posts of responsibility and usefulness, among others that of director of the Manhattan Bank ; and he and his family were respected and conspicuous. In 1837 he removed to Jasper county in Indiana, where he de- voted his energies to the laying out and improvement of a town which bore his name. He erected mills, a court house, &c., and succeeded in firmly securing what is now one of the most thriv- ing villages in northern Indiana. Here he died in the spring of 181:7, and was buried in the corner of the lot donated by the family to the Presbyterian Church of the village. After his death the family removed to New Brunswick, N.. J., where Mrs. y. R. died in 1863, and the second daughter, Susan (Mrs. Henry Weston), in 1870, and where the remaining daughters, Cornelia and Angelica, as well as the only son, John Cullen, now live. A new firm of the year was that of Nicoll & Dering, who began on Genesee street opposite Broad. It was composed of Richard F. Nicoll, who lived a short time in the A. B. Johnson house, and lived freely, but had money for public schemes as well as for his private use, and Charles T. Dering, his brother-in law, and brother of the late Dr. Nicoll H. Dering. The latter was, it is said, an exemplar}^ man, but neither of them remained long enough to leave a permanent reputation. Mr. Dering be- came an early settler of Hamilton in Madison county, and was collector of revenue in 1812, but afterwards returned to Sag Harbor whence he came. Mr. Nicoll stayed until 1815. Walter Flemmg, an Irishman, who sold boxes of tin in June of this year, lived on until the 26th of November, 1830. Fond of gayety and sport, he was a favorite with his companions, but his business dragged, and his social habits overcame him at the last 288 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Evan Davies lived in Utica in 1805, though he then did not get into business, but was trying to sell his farm in Deerfield. In 1810 he took the store vacated by the Messrs. Bloodgood, on the corner of Genesee and Whitesboro streets, and there he kept a wholesale and retail establishment, which was known as the Cheap Welsh Store. It displayed in front the image of a man leaning on a roll of linen cloth. This sign, after having done duty for one or two succeeding merchants, is still preserved by Mr. Eay at the original store. Mr. Davies failed in the course of a year, and became a farmer, but resumed business afterwards and in 1818 was again sold out He acted at times as a preacher among the Welsh Independents. Daniel Stafford has already been mentioned as the son of Joab Stafford, and succeeding to his interest in company with Bnos Brown. Stafford & Brown, coppersmiths, removed in 1815 to the east side of Genesee street above the square, and next to E. B. Shearman, where they dealt in all kinds of hard- ware. Al)out 1820 they failed and the business was assumed by Spencer, Stafford & Co. of Albany. Daniel became next a captain of a packet boat, being in command of one of the first packets upon the canal. His residence in his later years was the house now occupied by E. S. Barnum. His wife, wdio was Altheina Makepeace of Norton, Mass., is still alive. He had five children. Joshua Ostrom, eldest son of Judge David Ostrom before mentioned, entered upon the running of stages, and in 1810-11, he and his partners are in close competition with Jason Parker and his partners. A glance at their respective advertisements will be of interest, as illustrating not only the gradual advance in the business of staging, but showing also the rivalry and strife which then prevailed between opposing com2)anies. Thus, on the 20th of September, 1810, Joshua Ostrom, Baker & Swan, ,and J. Wetmore & Co. announce a new steamboat line of stages which will leave Albany Monday and Friday ; Utica, Monday and Thursday. Six days later the competing com23anies, Powell & Parker, Campbell & Co. " in order to prevent the delay at Utica " in their Western line, have determined to run their stages every day. Next Ostrom & Co. run theirs three times a week, THE SECOND CHARTER. 289 but " without the inounibnince of post office regulations." Then on the 21st of January, 1811, we have the following announce- ment from Parker & Powell : "Eight changes of horses. The mail stage now leaves Bagg's, Utica, every morning at four o'clock. Passengers will breakfast at Maynard's, Herkimer, dine at Josiah Shepard's, Palatine, and sup (on oysters) at Thomas Powell's Tontine Coffee House, Schenectady. Those ladies and gentlemen who will favor this line with their patronage may be assured of having good horses, attentive drivers, warm carriages, and that there shall not be any running or racing horses on the hue." Tlie rival proprietors, still unencumbered by post office regulations, are ready a week later, to " go through in one day, unless the extreme badness of the travelling render it utterly impossible." Passengers are to " have the liberty of breakfast- ing, dining and supping where^ when and on what they please." No more than eight passengers, unless by unanimous consent. Only one further advertisement of Mr. Ostrom and his associates appears, and this is dated April 1811, for he failed and wound up his affairs. He was afterwards constable, deputy sheriff, &c. Of Mr. Parker and his fellows we continue to read. His next, under date of May 1811, is as follows : " Powell, Parker, Baker & Co., Parker & Powell, Hosmer & Co., and Landon & Co. run a line of stages from Albany to Niagara Falls. N. B. The public will observe that this is the only line which reaches the Falls, and that the stages of the speculative oppositionists, who impose on travellers by assuring them that their stages extend to Canandaigua or the Niagara Falls, go no farther than Utica ; but that the present line of stages will afford them a safe and direct passage either to Utica, Canandaigua, Buffaloe, or the Falls, without subjecting the passenger to the trouble of apply- ing to another stage for conveyance. Fare from Albany to Utica, five dollars and fifty cents ; from Utica to Greneva, five dollars ; Utica to Canandaigua, five dollars and seventy -live cents; from Canandaigua to Buffaloe, six cents per mile." In September 1816, Jason Parker & Co., with half a dozen con- federates, in addition to their stages which left Utica and Can- andaigua six tmies a week, and ran through in a day and a half, were running a line three times a week between Albany and Canandaigua, going by the way of Auburn, Skaneateles, On- T 290 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. ondaga, Manlius, Cazenovia, Madison and Cherry Valley, and these stages went through in two days. Next after an owner and runner of stage coaches, it may be permitted to introduce one who painted them. This is John C. Bull, from Hartford, Connecticut. He succeeded to the shop of Thomas & Brewster, opposite the Utica brewery, but was during most of his residence near the corner of Seneca and Liberty. His sign represented the name of the artist and that of his art so closely approximated as to need not a li^qDhen to read Bull-Painter. This led Thomas Skinner, who was a bit of a wag, to call on him one day to engage him to paint a bull; it was not to be a cow, or anything else of the bovine family, but a veritable bull. But though Mr. Bull's calling was that of coach, sign and ornamental painting, he was in truth quite as notorious as an amateur violinist, and fiddled as faithfully as he painted. He was a pupil of one Henry J. Curphew, who gave lessons in instrumental music, terminating his course with a public concert that was a grand event for the times. At this concert Curphew and Bull took parts in a play entitled the "Scolding Wife," and chased one another around the room, causing a merriment that surviving spectators remember with delight. Mr. Bull died July 10, 1827. Mrs. Bull was a Miss Cross, To William Whitely music was by no means the amusement of an amateur ; on the contrary its making was the life work of fort}^ years and upward. In July 1810, he set up "a mu- sical factorj^" An industrious mechanic, an honest, quiet and exceedingly modest man, he prosecuted the manufacture of musical instruments until 1858, and then retired to spend the remainder of his days with a married daughter at Knox Cor- ners. He is to be remembered as the first organist of Trinity Church at a time when church organs were rarer than at present, and when Erben had not yet earned his fame as a builder of them. For we read that on the 20th of July, 1811, Mr. Whiteley leased to Trinity for two years, at sixty-eight dollars a year, an organ with three cylinders of fifteen tunes each, engaging to perform on the same at all the regular ser- vices. His wife was Miss Parmelee, sister of the wives of B. W. Thomas and A. G. Dauby. He had a son William, now THE SECOND CHARTER. 291 deceased, a daughter Mary (Mrs. Knox, of Augusta), and two named respectively Sarah and Emily. Thaddeus B. Wakeman was a capitalist, from Bridgeport, Connecticut, who subscribes for the building of the Oriskany factor}^ in 1810, speculates in Merino sheep in 1811, and has so much money to lend that he is called the walking bank, but is not known in Utica after 1815. He went to New York, made a venture in tea, and had a cargo freshly arrived, when news came of the declaration of peace. The price of tea fell and he was ruined. Another private banker we get merely a hint of in a letter from New York, written by Abraham M. Walton, after he had removed from the place, to a friend in Utica. It is dated October 1810, and contains in its postscript the provok- ing inipiiry : •' Who is ahead now, Bridge or the Manhattan?" And who, we ask, was Bridge, this daring competitor of the established bank? A teller of the Manhattan, named Alanson Jermaine, who was at first a clerk of E. B. Shearman, and a man of excellent repute, lived here from 1810 to 1815, then removed to Ontario county, and thence to Albany. His pres- ent home is in East Hampstead, L. I. Jarhes C. Winter, — believed to have been a lawyer, — was associated with Seymour Tracy in the publication of a paper called The Club. This was a weekly paper of a small size, which was issued under a fictitious name, and was rather lite- rary than political, being chiefly filled with stories. It was be- gun in 1812, but was not continued over a year, though it was resumed something later by another editor, and took a differ- ent stand. Winter is said to have failed and gone to South America. It is a little singular however, that a James C. Winter should have turned up about this time as a merchant in George- town, Madison county, as appears from the History of that county. Thomas Devereux, who arrived this year from Ireland, sold, the next, at the Utica Distillery, — now the Gulf Brewery of McQuade — " excellent whiskey in exchange for cash, wheat, rye or store hogs." In March 1815, his brother Nicholas ad- vertises the distillery as for sale. Thomas returned to his na- tive soil ; there he married Miss Mary A. Redmond of New 292 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Ross, and bad a isoii who was afterwards adopted by John C. Devereux, and bore his name. This son became a highly re- spectable lawyer of New York, and d3nng, left a widow and two sons, who are now domiciled in Utica, Robert Todd, Jr., tobacconist, sold also fish, and " kept a team running between Albany and Utica to furnish his cus- tomers with tobacco, snuff and segars, and also with t\vo sup- plies of salt fish a season." But it was for no long time that he kept it, and not beyond 1815 did he keep a residence in the place. J. Passenbronder, another tobacconist, was shorth^ set- tled in Eaton, Madison county. A tanner named William Pennimau was at this time and for several years longer foreman for David P. Hoyt. He was a native of Quincey, Mass., had lived in Philadelphia, and in various })laces in Massachusetts, but had been unsuccessful and lost his property. After some years connection with Mr. Hoj^t, he was next in the employ of Hubbell & Curran. On the death of his wife, in 1837, he removed to live with one of his sons. This wife was a superior person, and had been bred to a higher position than her husband's straitened circumstances ena- bled her to fill. The sons were eight in number, and two of them carriage makers. Of these two, Edward, after floating about, settled in Philadelphia, where he was editor of a Demo- cratic paper, a member of both branches of the Legislature, register of wills, &c. He died in 1887. Francis B. Penniman learned the trade of printer with Merrell & Hastings, was set- tled at Pittsburg, and is now an editor at Honesdale. He also was a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature, and likewise a member of Congress. Mellen Battle, living near the starch factory, advertised in December 1810, what he termed the American Wheelwright's Labor Saving Machine ; it being a machine for making all kinds of carriage wheels, and also spokes, axe helves, &c. He obtained a patent in 1809. This Battle deserves to be remembered as the man who built the only steamboat that has ever traversed the Mohawk above the falls at Cohoes. Other mechanics of longer stay than Battle, were Luther and Nathan Christian, blacksmiths ; John Bailey, coppersmith ; THE SECOND CHARTER. 293 Thomas Brodway, butcher; Baker McCo}^, carpenter. The Christians worked for years in the shop of ' Isaac Clough, and afterwards in their own. Thomas Christian, their brother, hav- ing seen six months service in the war of 1812, taught school afterwards on Hotel street, and was in 1821, teacher of the Lancaster school. Next he became a merchant and was located at No. 77 Genesee. January 15, 1830, he died in Florida whither he had gone to recruit his health. His widow and one son, William H., are yet in Utica. Mr. Bailey, a relative of the Delvins, and employed with them, had a numerous family, of whom Moses, James and William still make their home in the place. Their mother was living but two years since. Thomas Brodwa}-, lived but little above Oneida square, in the house of late occupied by Charles P. Davis, the maker of stained glass, and yet he was in New Hartford, the dividing line being then so near. Others of ISIO, whose residence was of short duration, were Haley Brown, butcher, brother of Enos and Nehemiah ; Joel Marble and Samuel Danforth, stone and marble cutters ; Wil- liam Staples, turner ; Russell A. Dickinson, tailor ; John Lewis, carman ; John D. Harrington, teamster ; Augustus W. Bing- ham, who superintended the laying out of Bridge street ; George Thomas, clerk for his brother Daniel ; and George Derbyshire for Watts Shearman ; Martin Langdon, also clerk ; J. W. Blackett, teacher ; Alexis Felix de St. Hilaire, French and dancing master ; William Moore, instructor in the broad sword exercise ; William Thomas and William James, village watch- men; Mrs. C. Hooker, mantua maker. 181L On the 7th of May, 1811, the citizens convened as usual at Mr. Dixon's school house. They elected as trustees, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Talcott Camp, Frederick White, John C. Dev- ereux and E. B. Shearman, and as treasurer, John C. Hoyt, in place of Mr. Shearman thus exalted to a trusteeship. Nich- olas Smith was elected collector. The amount of tax ordered to be raised was five hundred dollars. Very little was done by these trustees, in the course of the year, that is deserving of 294 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. remembrance. Thej held their meetings regularly, sometimes" at the Hotel, sometimes at tlie office of their president, Mr. Camp ; delinquent firemen were removed and their successors appointed, watchmen were procured, the ringing of the bell provided for, bills were paid and the assize of bread determined. The only noteworthy event was the arrival in the fall of the new engine for which payment to the manufacturers had been forwarded in the spring. On its arrival the duty was imposed on the captain of the fire company to take it out once a week, and to be careful also to keep the old one in repair. At th& same time a committee was appointed to make inquiry for a site for an engine house near the store of Hugh Cunningham, that is to say near the heart of the village. An intimation of the prevalence of a martial spirit at this time, and of a readiness on the part of young men to engage in military duty would appear from an announcement made early in April. Nathan Williams, captain of the Independent Infantry Company, in a newspaper call invites the band of the company to meet with " the members of the band of music" at the Hotel, and invites also young men who are inclined to become soldiers in the above company to attend and enroll their names. In the beauty of its uniform, in its discipline and drill, this company, which had probably been organized a year or two before, became the distinguished one of the county. It was at first commanded by Nathan Williams, and afterwards by Wil liam AYilliams, the bookseller and publisher. With their tight pants and tasselled boots these crack soldiers were wont to parade to the satisfaction of the villagers in front of the Hotel ; and there they had a public dinner on the Fourth of July, 1812, the tables being arranged under booths which ran along the street The company w^ent into the public service in the war of 18 i 2, and as an organization was disbanded. As a true chronicler of the gradual advancement of the place in all modern social characteristics, it becomes me to men- tion circumstances that partake of the simply trivial and amus ing as well as those which are serious and engrossing. Be it said then that in the fall of 1811, Utica witnessed its first circus performance. Mr. Stewart, formerly of the New York Com- pany, was, he says, at considerable expense in erecting a circus THE SECOND CHAKTER. 295 at the lower end of Bi'oad street. Here he and his wife and Mr. Franklin, who constituted the whole troupe^ enacted some few of what are now reckoned as the more stale of the " aston- ishing feats" of such performers. What ecstasy they inspired a venerable octogenarian delighted to recall ; another has not forgotten the curious gaze which followed the lady as she went riding by. Reference has already been made to the published notes of J. Mellish, an English tourist who visited Utica in 1811. His information about the place, derived, we may assume, from some one or more of its inhabitants, is probably in the main correct. Some of his statements savor, however, of the exag- geration not unnatural to a citizen proud of the rising impor- tance of his village, and should be received with caution. Such, for example, is the estimate he gives of the amount of popula- tion and of the educational facilities of the place, especially his statement of the existence of an academy, unless, forsooth, the appellation was intended for tlie school of Mr. Dixon, or the Juvenile Academy, so called, of Mr. Henry White. While noting, therefore, this source of error, we give the account of Mr. Mellish nearly in full : " Utica is the capital of Oneida county, and consists at present of about four hundred houses, containing two thousand inhabitants. It began to settle about twenty-three years ago, but it has been princi]\ally built since 1796, and two-thi rds of it since 1 800. The buildings are mostly of wood, painted white, but a good many have lately been built of brick, and some few of stone. The pub- lic buildings are four places for public worship, two of them ele- gant, an academy, clerk's office, &c., and there. are six taverns, fif- teen stores and two breweries. There are three printing offices, viz. : one for books and two for newspapers, one bindery, two morocco factories and one manufactory of musical instruments, three masons and a number of brickmakers and carpenters, four cabinet and chairmakers, two coopers, seven smiths and nailors, two tinsmiths, one coppersmith, four silversmiths and watch- makers, three tanners and curriers, one furrier, six butchers, two bakers, three hatters, four tailors, four painters and four druggists. " The village lots are from fifty to sixty feet front and one hun- dred to one hundred and thirty deep, and sell for from two hundred to one thousand dollars. The out-lots contain twelve acres and five hundred dollars is asked for them. House rent for mechanics is about sixty to one hundred dollars, wood one 296 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. dollar and twenty-five cents per cord, flonr eight dollars per barrel, potatoes two shillings per bushel, turnips thirty -one cents, cabbages four cents each, beans sixty-two cents per bushel, onions seventy-five cents, beef, mutton and veal five cents per pound, venison four cents, fowls nine cents each, ducks two shillings, geese four shillings, turkeys five shillings, butter one shilling, cheese seven cents, hog's lard six cents, beer five dol- lars per barrel, whiskey forty-five cents per gallon, boarding two dollars and fift}' cents per week. " The government of the village is vested in a board of five trustees chosen annually by the inhabitants. There are five schools in which are taught all the various branches of educa- tion, which is pretty well attended to ; and there is a very good seminary for young ladies. The expense of tuition is about from two to four dollars per quarter. The commerce of Utica consists of dry goods, groceries, crockery, hardware and cotton, imported; and of grain, flour, provisions, aslies, &c., ex- ported. The chief part of the commerce is with New York, but it is said a considerable smuggling trade has of late been carried on with Canada. Wheat is one dollar and twelve cents per bushel, corn forty four cents, barley seventy-five cents, ashes nominal, cotton twenty-one cents, horses fifty to one hundred dollars, cows fifteen to twenty- two dollars, sheep two dollars to two dollars and fifty cents. Lands on the turnpikes in the neighborhood sell for from fifty to one hundred dollars ; further off, forty to fifty dollars; but the lands in both village and country have greatly depreciated in money value." Reverting from the general Uv the special, from the present totality to the individual accretions of the period, let me speak first of two lawyers who entered on practice in the year 1811. These were Thomas E. Clark and Charles M. Lee. Thomas Emmons Clark was born February 11, 1788, at Colchester, Connecticut. He was graduated at Union College, where he acquired a thorough classical education, which was strengthened by a tutorship in the same institution. The study of law he commenced with Judge Jonas Piatt, of Whitesboro, and on its completion was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1811. He began practice with Charles M. Lee, admitted at the same time with himself, and with him and afterwards with oth- ers he practiced continuously for over forty years. As a law- yer his merits surpassed his reputation. If he was less con- spicuous as a speaker than some of his illustrious peers of the Oneida Bar, he made up in solid acquirements and strong native sense what he lacked of more showy qualities. He was rather THE SECOND CHARTER. 297 learned than brilliant — rather given to convincing the nnder- standing than exciting the imagination. He was a large reader, a laborious and profound scholar ; a man with whom it was im- possible to come into contact without feeling the impress of his learning and his worth. His knowledge of the classics, as of law, was thorough, while be was largely versed in metaphysics, theology and the Bible. He was singularly unambitious and unaffected. Earnest for his client, he never thought of himself, or uttered anything merely for effect. Without the least as- sumption of dignity, there was in him a dash and a directness of purpose that were equally evident in his brusque, nois}^ talk and wholesome laugh, his headlong gait and his swift and all but unreadable writing. Temperate and simple in his habits, he rose with the day, and often prepared with his own hands the Johnny cake and sage tea that formed his frugal breakfast. Integrity was in him a master principle, — so remarkable, indeed, as to rise at times into sternness. And so uniformly good na- tured was he that he could not be provoked into anger ; kind and genial, with a smile for all, and a frankness of manner that none could resist. Steadfast in doing what he thought he owed to his own party and his own church, he yet enjoyed the confi- dence of his fellow citizens of all parties and all creeds. And when elevated by them to positions of responsibility, he filled them faithfully and without ostentation. He was a member of Assembly in 1828, and of the Senate in 1848-9. Of the Pres- byterian and afterwards of the Dutch Eeformed Church he was long an elder and a Bible class teacher. For^ to a reputable and respected life he added the crowning grace of a consistent Christian discipleship. For many years Mr. Clark lived in the house now occupied by Sylvester Dering, and afterwards in East Utica, where a farm that adjoined his residence engaged much of the attention of his later years. He died at the house of his son-in-law, Mr. Wood, April 14, 1857. His wife, who was a daughter of Samuel Wells of Paris, New York, and a sister of Mrs. William Williams, had preceded him several years, having died March 10, 1844. Mrs. Clark was foremost in labors of Christian endeavor. Few ladies of the place have equalled her in active, and efficient charity. For the calls of society^ so called, she felt little interest, and bore but lightly the burdens of household care ; in the church, 298 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. in the Sunday scliool, in various forms of religious enterprise, she found enough and more than enough to command all her faculties. They had a son and two daughters, of whom the only survivor is Mrs. George W. Wood, of late a resident here and in CHnton, but now of New Jersey. Charles M. Lee, the partner for a time of Mr. Clark, studied with Thomas R Gold, of Whitesboro, married, in February 1812, Miss Elizabeth S. Gold of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, niece of the former, and began Ins professional life in Utica. On the death of his only daughtei-, in May 1820, he parted with his interests here* and went to Eochester. There he attained a lucrative practice and a prominent place in the legal annals of the State. He was a man of showy address and considerable talent. He died in 1857, a few days before Mr. Clark. One who was a student of his while here remarks as follows: "He was a good lawyer and understood his profession well. He was an active, shrewd man, disposed to make the most of what passed through his hands. His enemies charged him with being selfish, grasping and unscrujDulous in taking advantage of any position the law gave him. But I believe him to have been honest, and that his sharpness and shrewdness induced some to bestow upon him a character worse than he deserved. Withal, he had many good qualities. When Mr. Lee left Utica he was as far as any man from being a practical Christian. Wlien I met him, fifteen, and again twenty years later, he surprised me by mani- festing sincere and disinterested evidence of his being a pious and devoted mS.n." Mrs. Lee was also brilliant in person and dress, fond of society, and not unmindful of the claims her beauty gave her. She left one son, Eev. Charles G. Lee. Her husband subsequently married a lady from Philadelphia. One of the earliest and best remembered surgeons of the county was Dr. Amos G. Hull. In 1798 he was practicing in New Hartford, having been a student, as it is said, of a Dr. Hall who preceded him there. In the year above mentioned, with a zeal in behalf of science that was characteristic of a young and ambitious practitioner, lie was alert in obtaining for purposes of dissection the body of the first criminal of the county convicted for murder. And though on the morning of the day appointed THE SECOND CHARTER. 299 for the execution, the criminal was found dead in her cell at- Herkimer jail, having hanged herself with the expectation that she could thus evade the whole of her sentence, yet, says Judge Jones, in this she was mistaken, for science had its svbject. The annalist does not tell us, however, that when, many years after, the doctor was weighed down by severe domestic calamity, he recalled with bitterness the curse of this wretched creature, who? when it had been reported to her that " he would have the picking of her bones," threatened, that if he did so, she would visit him with the direst vengeance upon himself and his posterity. On the organization of the Oneida County Medical Society, in 1806, Dr. Hull took part therein, and was elected its first presi- dent. Four years later we find him announcing that he has fitted up an establishment next door to the Coffee House in Utica, for the sale of mineral waters. As his dissolution of partnership with Dr. Babcock of New Hartford, soon follows, it is probable that the latter event, in September 1811, was nearly simultaneous with his removal to Utica. The sale of Ballston and Saratoga salts in solution, which he would seem to have been the first to introduce into Utica, he continued some years longer in his office on Main street, adding thereto the practice of electricity and galvanism. A specialty that absorbed much more of his attention was the manufacture and sale of hernial trusses. These he first advertised in March 1817, but continued to modify and improve so long as he remained in the village. They were commended by his medical brethren as well as by several individuals of intelligence and standing, and were in general use among those requiring such appliances, being, in fact) almost the sole truss employed in this vicinity. Dr. Hull was esteemed by many as a wise physician, though he never failed to drench them with physic, and a daring and quick, if not very expert, surgical operator. He was a bustling man in his calling ; kept three horses, and drove them without mercy ; was officious, pragmatical and intermeddling. He had a pretty numerous clientage and an extensive professional cir- cuit. In sooth, "A besier man there n'as, And yet he seemed besier than he was." 300 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. His ride brought liim at times into consultation, or perchance into colhsion, with that celebrated surgeon and overbearing man, Dr. White of Cherry Valley, who delighted to browbeat and to ridicule him. Still it is a question whether the stories that have been current of the professional councils between these surgeons do not reflect more upon the discourtesy of Dr. White than upon the deficiencies of his rival. Dr. Hull's meddlesome spirit once got him into difficulty with a Dr. Buckner, a United States surgeon in charge of troops quartered here during the war. The latter was incensed that a plain country doctor, un- commissioned and inexperienced in affairs of war, should assume to prescribe for men entrusted to his especial care ; and deem- ing himself dishonoi'cd by such interference, soldier-like, he sent a challenge to Dr. Hull, which the latter was obliged to decline. But with his brother doctors nearer home his standing was ■creditable, and in 1820 they called him a second time to be the president of their society. He was also a permanent member of the Medical Society of the State. Personally Dr. Hull was amiable and upright, a Methodist in religious belief and an influential member of that body ; be" loved by his patients and a friend of every child who knew him. Eather short of stature, quick and impulsive in manner, neat in attire, he was withal a little vain of his appearance, and looked to it that the knee buckles which confined his silk stock- ings were each day carefully polished. His earliest partner in Utica was Dr. Ezra Williams, with whom he remained until Sep- tember 1816. In September 1821 he was bought out by Dr. The- odore Pomeroy, and after a brief association with him, removed to New York. He died about 1833-5 while on a visit in Con- necticut. His wife, Eunice, died in August 1812. His second wife was a sister of his partner. Dr. Williams ; his third, whose name was Cook, is said to have been a lady from Catskill. His sons, Amos G., Jr. and Cook became physicians of New York and Brooklyn respectively, and are both deceased. His daugliter Elizabeth, became the wife of Dr. John F. Gray, a prominent homoepathic physician of the metropolis, and is also dead. Kichard Montgomery Malcom, brother of Samuel B. Malcom already mentioned, had been a merchant in the city of New York, and was living there just before the outbreak of the war THE SECOND CHAETER. 301 of 1812. On the 8th of April, 1812, he received a commission as captain in the 13th Regiment of United States Infantry. On the 13th of October following, he took part in the battle of Queenston, and was wounded in the thigh by a musket ball. In March 1813, he was promoted to major, and in June of the next year to lieutenant-colonel of the same regiment. In June 1815 he was disbanded. His family meanwhile were living in Utica from an early period of the war. A few months after leav- ing the army we find Colonel M. announcing in a Utica paper that he will procure soldiers' bounties, and a year later that he is acting as commission broker and ready to serve any one living out of the village who will make him his agent to execute busi- ness at the banks or elsewhere. During much of his residence in Utica, which continued until about 1823, Colonel Malcom had but little business to occupy him, and lived upon his pension and the property of his w^ife. His home was at first on Whitesboro street above Washington, and afterwards on Catherine street, in the house recentl}^ occupied by Michael McQuade. His wife and her sister, Miss Henry, were thorough ladies and much beloved. The former, who was delicate in health, and a good deal confined at home, died June 14, 1819. Miss Henry was active in good works, as was also Sarah, the eldest daughter of Colonel M., w^ho became afterwards Mrs. Ball of Brooklyn. This daughter was one of the six young ladies who founded the Utica Sunday School. The other daughters were Rosetta and Catherine. The sons were Richard, who died young, and William. Colonel Malcom himself died in the island of Cuba. The enterprising successor of the Messrs. Wolcott, who in the end was more fortunate than either, was John Williams. He was the son of a Welsh farmer in easy circumstances, who came hither from Pembrokeshire in tlie year 1800, settled upon Frankfort hill, and died three weeks afterward. John, who was then ten years of age, was placed when quite a lad in the store of Dr. Solomon Wolcott and lived in the Doctor's family while acquiring a knowledge of his future business. Received into partnership by Dr. W. H. Wolcott when the latter separated himself from his brother, he soon became the real manager of the firm of Wolcott & Williams, and remained therein until its dissolution in 1817. He now opened a store of his own at ISTo. 34 Genesee street, where, and at liis later store, he carried on 302 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA, for many years a large trade in drugs and groceries. The later store was the checkered one now filled by Warnick & Brown. The later partners were successively his brother William, who was located in Buffalo, and Frederick Hollister, at first the clerk of Mr. W., and eventually his successor. His comraer. cial transactions, if not conducted on so large a scale as those of two or three of our present merchants dealing in like arti- cles, or even so ambitious in their aim as those of Mr. Hollister, certainly exceeded the transactions of any similar dealer among his cotemporaries. Partly through the steady accumulations of trade, partly by means of the privilege he held of furnish- ing supplies for the packet boats, and partly by his leading interest in the very productive stock of the packet boat com- pany, he gained a large fortune, and came to be one of the fore- most men of the place. His mental characteristics were sagacious judgment, an ener- getic and liberal spirit, elevated integrity, close economy and incessant devotion to business. It was by the exercise of these qualities, and without the aid of powerful friends or inherited wealth, that he attained fortune and influence. Aside from a service as alderman in the first common council of the city, he held no political or civic office, but in banking and com- mercial undertakings his opinion and his name were much accounted. His later residence was the house No. 34 Broad street, now occupied ])y J. T. Sj^riggs, which was built by him. And here he died on the 13th of June, 1843, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. His wife was Eliza, daughter of Thomas Sickles. Their children were Mary, who died in her eighteenth year, and Cornelia, who married E. T. Throop Martin, then (1837) a lawyer of New York, but now residing at Willow- brook on Owasco lake. Another quondam druggist's clerk who began dealing this year was Alfred Hitchcock, brother and assistant of Dr. Marcus. Having bought the interest of Bryan Johnson, he set up in general trade in the former store of Mr. Johnson. After fail- incr in this he was for a time cleric for Marcus. When he o resumed, his trade was narrowed down to drugs and groceries ; and with many removals and a varying though never very prosperous tide of success, he continued until a few years THE SECONTD CHARTER. 303 since. Mr. Hitclicock, his wife and two sons, all died recently, and within a short intei'val of one another, his own death occur- ring: August 3, 1872. This wife was a Miss Foster of Whites- boro. Joseph S. Porter, who had been an apprentice of Josepb Barton and then attempted watchmaking in Canandaigua, returned at this time and joined his former employer. He married his daughter, and remained in business with him about five years. After 1816 he was alone on the west side of Gren- esee a little below Broad, where Mr. Barton had been before him, and wdiere Mr. Murdock succeeded him. His home was on Catherine street, where Colonel Malcom had lived, until his increasing gains enabled him to erect the brick house on the corner of Broad and First, now owned and occupied by Theo- dore P. BalloiL Mr. Porter was a quiet, agreeable person of gentlemanly bearing, who kept a showy and attractive shop. At the time of his death he had relinquished business and broken up his residence in Utica. This occurred May 6, 1862, when he was seventy-nine years of age, in Monroe county. His wife and the mother of his two sons and two daughters died in her twenty-fiftli year, November 25, 1823. His second wife was Susan, daughter of Hugh White. Mrs. Porter and Miss Cornelia reside at Cohoes, Fitch, in Washington. Eliza- beth and George, are deceased. Among the newh^ elected officers of the year occurs the name of Nicbolas Smith, collector. This Nicholas Smith had been a resident of the place since 1788, having come into it in company with that pioneer settler Major Bellinger. But at that time he was a boy of only nine or ten years of age, and had been taken charge of by Major Bellinger, his uncle, after the death of his parents at the hands of the Indians. He him- self was born in the fort at Herkimer. He attended school one or two winters, and these were all the educational advan tages he ever enjoj'ed. He next served his uncle, and two or three of the earlier merchants as a clerk, and now he is made village collector. The next year, catching the enthusiasm en- kindled by the war, and which prevailed along the border set- tlements, he volunteered his services, and was six months on duty as a soldier. In 1814 he enlisted again and was made 304 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. adjutant of the 134tli Regiment, ^called for the defence of Sacketts Harbor. " Notwithstanding some pecuharities," says a comrade of the regiment, " his habits were temperate and his heart in the riglit place." This military service was followed, after the contest, by the command of a company of tltica militia, whence he was called by General Weaver to his staff, and, still retaining his raidc in the line, rose to the position of Colonel Returned from the war. Colonel Smith was a short time in trade, and next filled many local offices, being successively deputy sherifi', superintendent of the poor, and alderman, which latter post he held eleven years. He was conspicuous for his assiduity in the relief of the sick and the burial of the dead during the fearful visitation of the cholera in 1832. Soon after this time he removed to his farm in east Utica. When he died, February 26, 1865, he had been for many years the longest resident of the place. He was then eighty-six. Although Colonel Smith had but an imperfect education, his natural instincts were elevated. These made him somewhat aspiring, both as a politician and a military man ; as a consequence he was often put in contrast with men whose advantages were superior to his own — contrasts which to more sensitive natures, might have been at times embarrassing. Rarely balked in such encounters, his simple-minded good nature carried him through successfully, despite the laugh that was had at his mistakes and his strong Dutch brogue. Many anecdotes are current in illustration of these traits, and some which are told, are doubt- less greatly exaggerated. The following must be familiar to many. His uncle had as the device on his tavern sign, an eagle, with the motto: "jS/ pluribus U7mm." Being asked on one occasion what was the meaning of this inscription, his response was: "Dat means my uncle keebs de best davern in Utica." And here is a specimen of his defining a word of the people's English: A detachment of militia on their way to the frontier were stopping at Bellinger's. This was after the Colonel had completed his first term of military service, and he felt capable, from his experience, of giving the officers of the detachment some advice. Among other things he told them " to lay in well of stationary." One of the officers replied that he supposed the government furnished the necessary paper, ink and quills, when the Colonel very earnestly replied: "No, no, I don't THE SECOND CHAETER. 305 mean dese tings. I mean de rum and de brandy and de gin." Colonel Smith's wife, who was daughter of Silas Clark, died about three years before him. One son is still living in Utica, and two married daughters are residents within the State. But it is time that I should speak of another who had grown up in the place, who was now an officeholder, and who soon engages in his country's service. This is John Edward Hinman, son of Major Benjamin Hinman before noticed. He was born near Little Falls, June 2, 1789, and came to Utica with his father in 1797. He had the advantages of the common schools of the period, but was not brought up to any trade or profession, and in his younger days did " a little of everything." On the breaking out of the war he volunteered, served as quar- termaster of the 13-lth Eegimentof New York Militia, and was a popular and useful officer. By service then and after the war, he rose to the rank of colonel. He was deputy sheriff under James S. Kip, who held office for the third time from 1811 to 1815; and in February 1821 he was appointed sheriff. This post Colonel Hinman occupied until the new constitution took effect, which changed the office from an appointive to an elective one, when he was elected as his own successor, in November 1822. The constitution prohibiting a reelection, he retired at the end of his term, but in November 1828 was again made sheriff' and served another three yeai's. As sheriff he was dig- nified, orderly and efficient, and enjoyed a popularity in the county never held by any other in that office. After his retire- ment he engaged in business as a miller, carrying on a mill at Whitesboro. In the mean time he had married, in November 1827, Mary, daughter of G. C. Schroeppel, of New York, who brought him a handsome fortune. He now occupied the house on the corner of Hotel and Whitesboro streets, and there he and his wife exercised a generous hospitality. Colonel Hinman always took a deep interest in political mat- ters, and was tolerably ambitious ; the leading traits of his char- actei', — kindness of heart and a determined resolution that was overshadowed by much complaisance and plausibility of man- ner, — made him popular with the masses. After failing of an election as State Senator, for which he was nominated in 1849, he was in 1850 elected Mayor of the city, and by successive 306 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. reelections held the office three years. His energy and execa- tive abihty were tested at this time by the destructive opera- tions of an organized band of incendiaries. The Mayor's pro- clamations were frequent and lengthy. When the alarm of fire was sounded he hastened to the spot. If in the night time, he drew a white handkerchief about his hat to designate his offi- cial rank and distinguish him from the crowd, and while on the ground was no idle spectator, but prompt in directing and vocif- erous in his orders. .Retiring from the mayoralty he held no more offices. His strength of mind and body, which were both considerable in his best estate, gradually failed him, and many disappointments fell to his lot in the latter days of his life. His tall, manly form, his decided yet affable manners, will never be forgotten by those who knew him. About a year be- fore his death he took up his residence with his relatives at Rushville, Illinois, and there he died August 12, 1873. His wife survived him about a year. They left no children. A teacher who kept his school in the Welsh church on the corner of Whitesboro and Washington, a gentleman in manner and look, and who stood well with his fellows, lost his good name a little while later by a contemptible forgery. This was a crime that could not be borne in a community unused to such crafty ways ; and viewed, too, as the act of a teacher of youth and one so likely in person, it sufficed to set the whole village in commotion. This Mr. I. I. had been accustomed to draw up the receipts for the rent of his school room to be signed, when tlie money was paid, by Thomas James the blacksmith, a trus- tee of the church. The latter was but a moderate scholar and quite unfamiliar with the proper mode of putting his name to a paper, and so signed the receipt three or four lingers width below the writing above. Making use of the space thus afforded, Mr. I. I. tore off the receipts and wrote out some notes for vari- ous sums. These he sold for one hundred dollars and departed for Fairfield to finish his studies. A note for five hundred dollars was shortly presented for payment. Mr. James admitted the signatui-e, but denied making the note. Witnesses were found who recognized the hand of the teacher, and by feint of inviting him to a grand ball at Bellinger's, he came in tasselled boots and ruffles, was seized and conducted to the court of Judge THE SECOND CPIARTER. 307 Ostrom. Mr. Gibson, who was shortly to swear to the hand- writing, kindly went his bail for the night, and he was led back to Bellinger's. As the party entered the bar-room, he darted past the rest, through the hall and the yard, and made for the low grounds beyond. But escape was not easy with constable Pierce and two or three more in pursuit, and with the Van Rensselaers, the Breeses and some twenty eager citizens on hoi'se at the door. He was retaken and tried at Whitesboro. The efforts of Thomas R Gold were insufficient to save him, and he was sent for seven j^ears to prison in New York. At the expiration of three of them he was pardoned, with the con- dition that he disappear altogether from the State. He went to Texas, and in the course of time was elected to its Legislature, and became speaker of the house. As early as May 1811, a new tavern keeper, named Jonathan Hedges, was installed in a wooden building that stood on the west side of Genesee street, not far below Libert}^, and which, with its yard and stables to the north and the rear of it, covered the ground on which now stand four or five stores. Hedges, him- self a respectable man and a warden of Trinity, did not stay long ; but the tavern was continued by other landlords some fifteen years later. Thomas Harden, an Englishman, who was at fii'st in the em- ploy of William Inman, succeeded to his brewery on Broad- way. He was burned out in 1819, but recommenced within the year. Some years later he was still a resident of the place, but no longer a brewer. John, his son, lived in Clinton, and there most of the family lie intei'red. Erastus Cross, at this time selling headstones for another, began the following year to cut marble near the corner of Lib- erty and Genesee street. Thence he was driven successively to Bleecker street, to the neighborhood of the packet basin, and elsewhere, as his v\^orking ground was needed for permanent structures. Many is the headstone put up in memory of earlier citizens that bears the impress of his chisel. He came from Vermont, married Nancy Evans of Marcy, and had a numerous family. Riley Rogers, an apprentice of Shubael Storrs to the silver- smith art, presently commenced the making and repairing of 308 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. guns on Main street. And this he kept up for twenty years at least, but moved in the end to Jefferson county, where he died in 1876. He had several sons. Of two firms of morocco dressers who began to dress skins in 1811, viz. : Henry W. & William Clark, and Amos Camp & J. Downing, one of the Clarks is the only one wlio is left in 1816, and h6 but a little longer. Benjamin Wiltsie, upholsterer, we can trace until the year 1828, and his widow and sons a good while longer. Titus Evans, tailor, who was also a preacher, until 1820. A son of his, a dentist and a man of substance, is living in Brooklyn. Others whom we can barely mention were Elijah Brown, hatter ; Nathaniel Eells, hatter; J. C. Neunhoeffer, furrier; H. H. Sher- man, bookseller; Albert Backus, Garrison Marshall, John Beggs, William A. Lynde, Joseph Winter, clerks and apprentices ; H. Jefl'ers & Co., merchants; Levi Smith, carman and pavior, and saloon keeper in winter ; Ozias Gibbs, laborer; C. Brittin, mason, who went into the war. 1812. At the charter election held on the otli of May, 1812, there w^ere but four trustees elected on the first ballot, viz. : Talcott Camp, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, E. B. Shearman and Morris S. Miller. Mr. Frederick White, of the former board, had left the village, and Mr. Devereux was dropped for a reason which we may soon surmise. Mr. Miller was, however, excused from serving, and on a fresh ballot for two, Bryan Johnson and Thomas Skin- ner were elected. Mr. Johnson also asked to be excused, wlien Arthur Breese was elected to the vacant place. Mr. Hoyt was again made treasurer and Nicholas Smith collector. The sum of four hundred and fifty dollars was voted to be raised for the su})port of the watch, the ringing of the bell and for contingent expenses. But in addition it was voted t» build a market house on the public squai'e, between Bagg's tavern and the store of John C. Devereux, at a cost of three hundred dollars, which sum was to be assessed on the inhabitants. However conven- ient this market house might be to the citizens at large, it is natural to presume that it would not be deemed very desirable by those living or doing business in its immediate neighborhood, and the reason is obvious why Mr, Devereux was not placed on THE SECOND CHARTER. 309 the board. We are prepai'ed, also, to learn that within a few weeks, the president, Mr. Camp, is dii-ected to confer with Moses Bagg and Hugh Cunningham, and ascertain what sum thej will procure to be paid for the purchase of a lot on which to place the market, if it can be removed fi'om the place designed for it. No report appears from the president; but, instead, we learn of another public meeting of the inliabitants being held in July, to reconsider the action of the annual meeting with reference to the market house. A vote to repeal this action was lost. Next follows the payment of Mr. Culver's account for building the market, and in November the ordinance regulating the same, and the authority granted to the pi'esident, who was made clerk of the market, to lease seven of its stalls. By the provisions of this ordinance, butchers and victual ers, licensed by the payment of six shillings, were the only persons allowed to sell meat in quantities smaller than the quarter of the animal, and this only in the stalls of the market, at least during market hours ; butch- ers refusing for six days to supply their stalls with good meat were subject to penalties, and they were required to pay the clerk a tax of ten cents for every cow or ox, and two cents for every sheep or lamb they sold ; other provisions excluded stand ing carts, live animals, undressed carcases, hides, &c., and un- wholesome meat, and insisted on rigid attention to cleanliness. Aside from the usual routine, the foregoing were all the pro- ceedings of the board during the year. The Utica turn})ike, leading northward, was now in progress, and five miles of it already complete. The Minden turnpike running south easterly from the village, was opened the year pre- vious. Of the course of the war with England, which began in 1812, the inhabitants of Utica had abundant witness, though at a dis- tance from any place of action and undisturbed by hostile dem- onstrations. Companies of soldiers were frequently passing through on their way to or from some military post, and were quartered for a time in or near the village. Thus its residents had an opportunity of becoming cognizant of many of the reg- iments enlisted, while between these and the villagers who some- times suffered from their depredations, disturbances now and 810 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. then took place. The local papers were prompt to relate the battles and the military movements on both sides, and every- body was interested to learn the particulars of each important event. Some few people were busy in procuring and forwarding supplies to the nearer scenes of hostilities, and many others re- sponded to the call of their countr}^, and left business and fami- lies to serve in the ranks. But the greater portion pursued their usual duties as in times of peace, y As a picture, however, of the times, and a sample of some of the experiences of those who lived in Utica during this troublous period, we present from the diary of a resident* some notes of what then occurred. On the 22d of June, 1812, he records that two expresses passed through the place, one for Canada and one for the frontiers, bearing news of the declaration of war against England. Nothing more on the subject is to be found until August 13, when he sees about one hundred and thirty men and horses of the flying artillery, from Lancaster, on their way to action. They are described as very dirty and as brown as Indians, some in one dress and some in another, for the most part young, and made up largely of foreigners. A month later eight hundred drafted men from Albany are at Utica for a week. They robbed orchards, potato fields, and hen roosts. In the course of three days these eight hundred men increased to sixteen hundred, drafted and volunteers. They were from seven of the eastern and southern counties of this State, were young and able-bodied, but without discipline, and were under the com- mand of Major-General Dodge, a good looking and well-mounted officer. Their tents made a fine appearance^ and when they marched away on the afternoon of September 15, they were eight deep and filled the road for nearly a mile. They were followed by about one hundred wagons with tents and provisions. Five days later came the 5th Regiment, recruited in Maryland, and under the conmiand of Col Milton. They were dirty and in dishabille. Clamorous for ihcii* pay, which they had not re- ceived in five or seven months, and having been allowed half a pint of spirits each, they were saucy to their officers, and threatened to stacjk their arms; while the Colonel declared that the inhabitants had stirred up his men to mutiny, insisted that they were well disciplined, and while on the march had done * Dr. Alexander Coventry. THE SECOND CHARTER. 311 710 damage to any one, and moreover, talked fiercely of tories and British spies. He obtained some money from the bank and dealt them an allowance, when the regiment marched off in fine style. On the 22d, two companies of flying artillery, from Balti- more and Philadelphia, left Utica for the west. On the 30tb^ passed ninety sailors for Sacketts Harbor, one-third of whom were negi'oes, and the rest mostly foreigners. One hundred and fifty more, including the crew of the John Adams, Lieuten- ant Pettigrew in command, and fifty wagons, rested on the 5th of October and moved on to Buffalo on the 6th. There were among them some blacks, some foreigners, but "more long- spliced Yankees than in any other parcel." Yet, says the writer, they were worse than any other set : — they broke into barns, stole geese, and even stole from one another. Two of the men were whipped with the cat. On the day of their departure one hundred and thirty more with twenty wagons were on their way. As many marines, in uniform, and presenting a soldierly appearance, marched through on the 10th ; another company of them on the 13th, and these were succeeded, the next day,, by one hundred and ninety Republican Greens, destined for the west. On the 24th, arrived the 23d Regiment, three hundred strong, when they set out from Albany, though they had already suffered from desertion. These were well uniformed in drab with red facings, and warmly clothed with good great coats. Here they stacked arms, having received no pay. The officers raised two dollars per man, gave them a double allowance of grog, and they marched on the 27th, for Niagara. In the mean- time one hundred and thirty more flying artillery had come and gone. But approaching winter put a stop to further move- ments, and forced the military to seek for quarters. Many remained in this vicinity during this and the following winter, being quartered at the Coffee House, in Potter's barn, on the Hopper farm, at New Hartford, and in other places. On the 16th of February, 1813, a Captain Moore, with one hundred and ninety of the Baltimore volunteers, broke the door and took forcible entrance of the Hotel, which had been closed since the departure of its last tenant, Mr Sickles. A few horsemen were passing in February, but, with the opening of the season, soldiers are here again in numbers. By the 6th of April, one hundred and fifty light horse came into Utica from 812 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Sacketts Plarbor, whence they bad to move for want of pro- visions. On the 13th, one hundred and fifty more had arrived. On the 15th, two or three hundred artillerists with wagons marched westward. On the 24th and 25th, five hundred soldiers were in Utica, and one hundred sailors at Deerfield Corners, who had been drafted from the frigate Constitution. They came from Boston by carriage, and set out on foot for Sacketts Har- bor. The next day five hundred horse and foot went through westward, clean and well looking. And through the rest of April and May, soldiers were crowding in the same direction. Colonel Burn, of the 2d Regiment, a southern gentleman of • property and accomplishments, paraded two hundred men in Utica on the 12th, and on the 14th, the heights above the village were covered with tents. By the 15th, three hundred artillery came in from Massachusetts, under Major ]Srye,Mnd the next day six hundi-ed more of the 9th and 21st, from Massa- chusetts. They were dissatisfied with their rations, complain- ing that they did not get their twenty-two ounces of salt meat and one and a half ounces of biscuit, and had left almost one hundred sick and disabled along the road, nor did they approve of the invading of Canada. They marched four days later, as did also a troop of dismounted cavalry. Five or six hundred more, mostly of the 21st, slept in the barns of Deerfield on the 23d of May, and like their predecessors, grumbled at their two daily meals of salt beef and biscuit. On the 26th, passed sev- enty files from four to six deep, estimated to be five hundred in number, though claimed by their commander to be one thou- sand. On the same day an aid of General Pike was in town with the colors taken at York. A blackguard corps of one hundred spent two days, 4th to 6th of June, at Deerfield Cor- ners, and ])i-oke into a house and destro^'ed the fui-niture, pro- testing that its owner was a torj^ Ten days later came three hundred of the 14th with a rifle company. On the 16th, British pri-soners of the 49th (English) passed through. On the 27th and again on the 7th of July, there were sailors here bound for the Harbor, and on the 10th, two hiaidred and seventy of the 8d and 25th paraded the streets of Utica. Cannon were fired on the 22d, to welcome General Dearborn, who was present without his side arms and thought to be in disgrace, and on the 9th of the following month the village harbored ninety or one hun- THE SECOND CHARTER. 313 dred prisoners, mostly militia, bat some British regulars. Some twelve of these prisoners, most respectable inhabitants of New- ark, dined with Judge Miller. Tliroughout the months of August, September and October, militia and sailors were passing and repassing almost daily ; the Light Dragoons returning, artil- lery men from Montgomery and Madison counties and troops from Otsego going north. The two flank companies of Walle- ville's regiment (taken in two schooners,) went through as pris- oners on the 15th of October. There were among them many grenadiers, above six feet in height. They all spoke German and several French and broken English, having been, as it is said, captured while in the French service and thence enlisting into the English. On the 31st of October, when the roads were excessively bad, and the streets of Utica almost impassable, passed by seven or eight hundred soldiers, they being the last of the regular troops from Fort George. They had been twelve days on the march ; were dirty, be-draggled and sickly, and had left two hundi-ed of their conpanions on the road. The shoemakers' shops of the village were ransacked to supply them with shoes. Commodore Perry visited the place on the 3d of the next month, and was honored by the citizens with a public dinner. The writer has had access to no muster-roll or other military list of the tinaes, and is therefore unable to present a record of the recruits who went out from Utica to do battle for the coun- try. The few facts herewith submitted are mainly gathered from the perishing memories of two or three survivors of the war. In the latter part of February, 1813, about sixt}^ volunteers were I enrolled at Utica, among whom were included some members of its Independent Infantry Compau}-. They formed a new com- pany attached to the 13-lth Regiment, and were commanded by -^ Captain William Williams. Of its men the only names that '^ can be recalled were John Grove, orderly sergeant, John George ' and Theodore S. Faxton. The compan}- remained one month at Smith's Mills, when they were paid off and afterwards dismis- sed. Another company of the 1 3I:th Regiment, termed the Silver Greys, was commanded by Nathan Seward of New Hartford, and among its men was Thurlow Weed from Utica. It was probabl}^ at this time also that Nathan Williams went out as major of the regiment, Nicholas Smith as lieutenant becoming 314 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. adjutant, and John E. Hinman as quartermaster. Early in the war a drafting took place at the Hotel when a number of men were made soldiers. In September 1814, the regiment were called out en masse, but continued only a month in arms and without active service. At this time Benjamin Ballou was cap- tain of a company and Nicholas N. Weaver orderly sergeant, but subsequently promoted to the captaincy, Ballou having been tajvcn sick. To Thomas Skinner of Utica, was given the captaincy of a company in a regiment of artillery, under Colonel Ehjah Metcalf, but as he did not serve, the company was com- manded by its first lieutenant. Five or six from Utica, had })i'e- viously volunteered at Buffalo, and served in its defence. Six young men of the neighborhood were enlisted as mid- shipmen during the course of the war, viz : Samuel Breese and William In man of Utica, John G. Young of Whitesboro, Antill Lansing of Oriskany, and Edward and Benjamin Car- pender of Whitesboro. There was a recruiting station here under the charge of Captain P. Mills of the 23d regiment. The hospital, which was cared for by Dr. Solomon Wolcott, was on the Kimball farm. The foregoing will suffice to shew that the people of Utica, if not participants in the contest, could not have been unmind- ful of the various stages of its progress, and that their quiet settlement, while far removed from danger or alarm, was not wholly unused to the discomforts and the evils as well as to " the pomp and circumstance of war. Let us return to consider the avocations of these citizens, and with them to follow the ways of peace. One peaceful institution that was started at this time was foreshadowed by a newspaper call, made in February 1811, on all who were interested in the establishment of a bank to meet at the Hotel. Through the efforts of its friends this first purely local bank, known under the title of the Bank of Utica, received its charter of incorporation on the first of June 1812, and commenced business on the 8tli of December following. The charter was a liberal one, allowing all the usual privileges of a bank of deposit and of discount. Though it placed the capital stock at one million of dollars, this capital did not in reality exceed six hundred thousand, and on the renewal of THE SECOND CHARTER. 315 the cliarter, after its expiration in 1832, it was fixed at the latter sum. This second charter extended to 1850, since which time business has been done by an association under the gen- eral banking law of the State. In 1865 the institution was converted into a National Bank, with the title of the First National Bank of Utica. For a short time after its establish- ment banking was carried on upon the west side of Genesee street not far from Bleecker, but in 1813 the bank was set up in the brick building on the north side of Whitesboro street, next east of the Hotel, the same which is now converted into a double residence and occupied by J. E. Warner and others. It was the eastern part of it which then served both the bank and the family of the cashier ; and surmounting its front were two immense glittering, golden dollars. This building it con- tinued to occupy until February 1854, when it was removed to its present position on Genesee street, two doors below Catherine. The directors named in the charter were James S. Kip, Solomon Wolcott, Thomas Skinner, Thomas Walker, Henry Huntington, Nathan Smith, Francis A. Bloodgood, Ephraim Hart. Apollos Cooper, David W. Childs, Marcus Hitchcock, Samuel Stocking and John Bellinger, — nearly the same, be it observed as those who constituted the first board of the Manhattan Branch Bank. By its terms the privilege of subscribing to the amount of two thousand shares of the stock was retained by the State, and, with the intent, doubtless, of guarding this public interest, two additional direc- tors were named by the council of appointment. These State directors were Jedediah Sanger and John Steward, Jr. At a meeting of the board held July 27, 1812, James S. Kip was appointed president, and Montgomery Hunt cashier, Henry B. Gibson teller, and Thomas Colling bookkeeper. Mr. Kip kept his position but a short time, and retired from the board at the first annual election, his removal having been effected through the agency of Mr, Hunt, as was also that of Mr. Bellinger, which ensued shortly afterwards. Mr. Kip was succeeded as a director by Abraham Van Santvoord, and as president by Henry Hunt- ington of Rome, who continued to hold the office by annual re- elections until 1845. During the cashiership of Mr. Hunt, a period nearly cotemporaneous with the duration of the first charter, and which is as far as we now propose to note the history of the bank, the successive directors who filled the vacancies in 816 THE PIONEEKS OF UTICA. the board occasioned bv death or other causes, were as follows : Peiuy G. Ciiilds of Cazenovia, and Richard Sanger of New Hart- ford, succeeded Messrs. Bloodgood and Bellinger in 1814; E. B. Sliearman took the place of Thonias_Skinner in 1815; Thomas H. Hubbai'd of Hamilton, and Joseph Stebbins of Clinton, those of Messrs. Wolcott and P. G. Childs in 1818 ; David P. Hoyt, William G. Tracy of Wliitesboro, and Moses Bagg, those of Messrs. Van Santvoord, Smith and D. W. Childs in 1819; John C. Devereux that of Richard San ger in 1822; Charles Morris, Kellogg Hurlburt and William Walcott of Whitesboro, those of Messrs. HovJt,JBiigg.-iuid.IiH^c]icock in 1827 ; Josiah Bacon of Waterville that of Mr. Tracy in ; Milton Brayton and Holmes Hutchinson those of Messrs. Devereux and Morris_ in 1830; John Williams that of Milton^ Brayton in 1833, and S. Newton Dexter of Whitesboro that of Mr. St ebbms in 1834:- When John Steward, Jr., one of the State directors, left the vil- lage, his place was filled by George Brayton of Western. He was followed b}- A. B. Johnson, and some years later Mr. J. and his colleague were superseded by William Clarke of Utica, and Jacob Sherrill of New Hartford. The above named direc- tors were, for the most part, practical and safe business men; they were punctual in their attendance at the meetings;, of the board, cooperated zealously with the cashier, and were watchful of every means to pi'omote tlie good of the bank ^nd protect it from loss. In times of embarrassment and when contraction was called for, they first cut down the measure of their own per- sonal discounts before reducing those of the other stockholders. By their laws it was provided that four of their number should be present at every meeting for discounting, who balloted upon every application ; one negative, even without a reason, being deemed sufficient to exclude an applicant. As a sample of the dignity and decorum with which, at the outset of their career, their meetings were conducted, it may be mentioned that the by-laws made.it obligatory to address the president standing, and forbade that any member should speak more than twice to one question without leave from the president Such, at least, were the jirovisions of the code of laws at first in force, though from their impracticability, as is probable, they were soon amend- ed. A custom not so conducive to decorum, but which in those times was looked on as both proper and desirable, was the uni- THE SECOND CHARTER. 317 form introduction of brandy and cigars at every meeting of the board. This earher board was largely democratic in sentiment, and of course friendly to the war of 1812. Hence they did not hesitate to give encouragement to the government, by advancing large sums to the assistant paymasters, to enable them to pay of? the troops engaged in this war. Not a year had elapsed after the begirming of banking opera- tions before application was made to the directors by responsi- ble citizens of Canandaigua for the establishment of a branch of the bank at that place. These applications having been after- wards renewed, the directors decided to concur with these par- ties in petitioning the Legislature for leave to erect a branch. A charter for the purpose was obtained in 1815, and in January of the following year the branch at Canandaigua was opened. It continued in existence until 1850, the directors and officers being chosen by the parent bank, from which it received also its working capital, and to which it made returns. Similar ap- plications from Geneva and from Buffalo were declined. During the incumbency of Mr. Hunt matters went on harmo- niously in the board at Utica, and the institution was exceed- ingly prosperous. Its offspring at Canandaigua was the chief source of anxiety, and that because of the impossibility of giv- ing the concerns of the latter so direct a superintendence as was desirable. The calls made on the original subscribers to the stock for installments on their subscriptions w^ere rare and in small amounts,* and not more than twelve and a half per cent, was called in before a semi-annual dividend was declared. Until the year 1825 only twenty-five per cent, of this subscription had been asked for, though the privilege was early accorded the sub- scribers of paying in to the amount, at their option, of twenty- five or of fifty per cent. How many responded and what was the actual amount of working capital prior to 1832, we are una- ble to say. It was then certified to as $600,000. There was never a failure of a semi-annual dividend of four and a half per cent., besides the issue of numerous surplus dividends, amount- ing in the aggregate to sixty-one and a half per cent, during *Tlie amount subsribed by Bryan and A. B. Johnson was $25,000, on which they paid $10,000 in silver. Because it was in silver instead of bank notes, Mr. Hunt was annoyed and said that had he linown it would have been so paid, they would not have been allowed to take so much. 318 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. the lirst sixteen and a half years. The salaries of all the officers, including the few clerks employed, were, at first, small, and only graduall}^ increased as the success of the bank admit- ted. That of the president was originally five hundred dollars, though he came from Rome twice a week to attend the meetings for discount. The cashier's allowance at the outset was fifteen hundred dollars, the teller's eight hundred dollars, and the bookkeepers six hundred dollars. Mr. Gibson, the first teller, was followed for a brief period by Eliasaph Dorchester, who was succeeded in October 1813, by Orson Seymour, and he in 1815 by William B. Welles, assisted in 1816 by Henry T. Barto. In October 1824, when Mr. Welles was made cashier of the branch in place of Mr. Sey- mour, deceased, Mr. Bai-to became teller, and Henry K. Sanger asssistant teller Mr. Sanger was in 1830 succedeed by William S. Philpot. Tliomns Colling, the first book-keeper, continued at his post over forty-five years, outliving the incumbency of two cashiers. -As managing head of the bank, Montg.)merj Hunt filled the office of cashier- until December 30, 1834, when ill-health compelled him to resign. Montgomery Hunt was son of Ward Hunt of Westchester county. New York, and was born at Mt. Pleasant in that county. He was graduated at Columbia College in 1792, and was then placed as clerk in the Bank of America. After due appren- ticeship, and a short service in a bank in New Jersey, he came to Utica in the year 1809, in the employ of the Manhattan Bank, as the cashier of its branch. Now transferred to the Utica Bank, he was known throughout the period of his service as one of the ablest and most skillful financiers in the State. His early professional training and the liberal views gained by long experience in the great commercial centre of the country gave him much advantage at the start. A generous disposition and courteous and winning manners made him popular, and conduced, with his unquestioned integrity and honor, and his intelligent estimate of the wants of the community, to draw customers to the bank. While his zeal for its prosperity made him studious of its interests, and watchful of the pecuniary standing of individual borrowers. His assiduity never flagged, and his skill was equal to every emergency. During all the fluctuations of trade and the shocks and reverses to which THE SECOND CHARTER. 319 every country is exposed, he displayed judgment and sagacity tliat are rarely surpassed. At the period of the war of 1812, and the few years that followed, when so many of the banks succumbed, he maintained the credit of his, and pushed its notes into circulation as far distant as New Orleans. It was on the width and greatness of circulation that the banks in early times depended chiefly for their profits. The deposits of the Bank of Utica rarely exceeded two hundred thousand dollars, while the circulation was three times as large. To effect such distribution of its notes, a mode in frequent use was to entrust sums varying from ten to lift}^ tlKmsand dollars to individual directors to be by them exchanged for the notes of other banks ; or parties were hired to travel at a distance with the same ob- ject. The chief rival of Mr. Hunt was A. B. Johnson, than whom, if he had less caution, he had more courage and breadth of view and a not inferior degree of success. Mr. Hunt was of medium height and rather stout ; quite handsome in feature and complexion ; liberal and kind in sen- timent ; outspoken, courteous and polished in manners, and in his intercourse elaborately polite ; fond of talking and gifted with power as a talker, wherein he overflowed with anecdote and humor ; well-informed, though perhaps a little enamored of his acquirements ; social in his tastes and elegant in his en- tertainments ; interested and influential in politics ; useful as a citizen, and affectionate as a husband and a father ; giving freely to the support of his church, yet wedded rather to the form than the substance of church worship, and himself averring that while he gave more for religion than did others, he failed, as it seemed, to get as much good by it as did they. He was conspicuous among the Masons and held the rank of Master of the Utica Lodge. In 1816 he was one of the presidential elec- tors, and cast his vote for Mr. Munroe. After his resignation he lived about two years in New York, but died in St. Cruz, whither he had gone in quest of health, February 24, 1837. His remains were brought home for interment. His wife was Eliza, daughter of Captain Joseph Stringham of New York, sister of James Stringham of that city, and of the wife of Dan- iel Thomas, previously noticed. She was in every respect a superior person, a lady who, to the charm of a beautiful face, high culture and elegant manners, adde4 the superior endow- 820 thf: pioneers of utica. nient of an amiable and pious heart. She died April 14, 1824. She left him eight children, as follows : Frances H. (Mrs. George Throop of Detroit, Michigan), died August 1872 ; James S., resided in New York, died 1862 ; Ward, Justice Supreme Court United States, residing in Washington ; Lydia E. (Mrs. Stephen Sicard), is now a widow residing with her son in Buf- falo ; Montgomery, was captain in the United States navy and lost in the Albany, 1854; John, resided in New York until his death; Cornelia (Mrs. Egbert Bagg, of Utica) ; Eliza^ died in childhood, Thomas Colling, so long in the service of the Bank of Utica, was from Norton, Dnrham, England. He came to this country while still under age, and engaged in teaching. In 1810-11 he taught a night school in Utica and was at the same time a writer- in the office of the county clerk. There he was when, on the bank's organization, he received the appointment of book- keeper. Two or three of the veteran citizens of Utica, as T. S. Faxton, John Butterfield and A. G. Dauby, were among his pupils. He had a good mathematical education, was an expert accountant and a good penman. And being, besides, a person of steady industry and regular and punctual habits, his services in the bank were invaluable, and he was retained until his death, February 25, 1859, when he reached the age of seventy. He was also the first clerk of Utica after it became a city, bore for some years the office of treasurer as well as vestryman of Trinity Church, and was treasurer of the Steam Woolen Mills. As an offset to his so persistent absorption in books and fig- ures, Mr. Colling was very social in his tastes, and dearly loved the habits and the converse of the ''marines." His facility in story telling was remarkable ; when among his frioids he never tired of recounting wondrous incidents of hair-breadth escapes that had happened to himself or of which he was cognizant, wearing meanwhile a graveness of countenancak and demeanor that made them seem like reality itself, and of whose truth there could be no dispute. But these excursions were only the relaxation of his leisure hours ; on duty, he was as unaspiring and subdued, his course of life as small a dei)arture from the usual channel, as that of any of his neighbors. His wife was Eve- line, daughter of Chauncey Gridley oE Clinton. He had five THE SECOND CHARTER. 321 sons and one daughter who reached maturity, of whom all but two are now in Utica. If the career of Mr. Hunt, in his connection with the Bank of Utica, has carried us beyond the term of the village life of Utica, that of Alexander B. Johnson, of whom I am next to speak, is yet wider in its embrace. Beginning almost with the corporate existence of the place, it reaches down nearly to the present time ; for Mr. Johnson was a resident of Utica from the year 1801, and has but lately ceased to be numbered among its inhabitants. During sixty-six years he was identified with its business interests ; a director of one of its banks, a founder of another, and for thirty-six years the head of a third, in which posts of responsibility he gained an extended celebrity as a wise and skillful banker. A citizenship so protracted and inter- woven so largely with two principal institutions of the place, may well detain us to consider at length. ^ His life began in Gosport, England, May 27, 1786, and its ear- liest years were passed in this and the other seaport towns of Sheerness and Deal,— where his father's business was conduc- ted,— as well as at Milton in Kent, and in London. His early memories carry us back to the reign of George III, whom with Queen Caroline, he saw in Drury Lane Theatre, to the behead- ing of the French king Louis XVI in 1793, which he distinctly remembered, and to the mutiny of the channel fleet, terminated by the hanging of its leader in June 1797, which he witnessed from a small boat lying along side the vessel of the admiral. Bryan Johnson, his father, preceded the family by a few years in his migration to America, leaving the son at school in Lon- don, and when he had settled himself here and prepared a home for their reception, they also took ship, and after a passage of thirty days arrived in New York in April 1801. Alexander was at that time two months short of fifteen and small of his age, but intellectually premature. His education, which had been prosecuted in the various towns where he had lived, lacked system and thoroughness, though it had given him a fondness for reading which never forsook him. Soon after his arrival he began to keep books and at,tend store for his father, yet was not so engrossed with these duties as to be in want of time for read- ing and writing. He made diligent use of the old Fort Schuv- w 322 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. ler libraiy, and read solid and instructive works as well as ro- mances and poetry. By dint of earnest and sustained endeav- ors he made amends for youthful deficiencies, acquired a large stock of information, and became a vigorous and original thinker, and a terse and forcible wi'iter. Soon after he had at- tained his majority, his father disposed of his goods and his business interest and retired with a handsome competency. This fortune, during the life of the father, was held in common with the son, on whom devolved its general management. It was in the year 1810 that occurred his assumption in full of the cares and responsibilities of man's estate, two years previ- ous to the date at which I have preferred to enter upon the sketch of his life. His earliest personal enterprise w^as the es- tablishment, in 1810, of a large glass factory near the village of Geneva. A short time before he had been a director in the glass factory at Vernon. As a second one had lately been set up in Marcy, he feared the Legislature would be unwilling to grant the charter for a third in Oneida county, and so proposed to get permission to start one in Ontario county. This under- taking he engaged in with the activity, energy and quiet sa- gacity which distinguished him through life. And at length, after numerous journeyings to and fro, after much vexatious delay and many difficulties, the factory was put in operation and glass was made. But though he succeeded in his project, he was still subjected to annoyances and discouragements, so that he sold his stock to his associates at a price wdiich saved him from loss, and retired altogether from the concern. In 1811, Mr. Johnson went to New York, where he remained the greater part of two years, visiting Washington before his return, and being present at the second inauguration of President Madison. In New York he invested in bank stocks and interested himself in finan- cial matters generally. Early in 1812 he wrote and published a small volume entitled "An Inquiry into the Nature of Value and of Capital, and into the Operations of Government Loans, Banking Institutions and Private Credit, with an Appendix con- taining an Inquir}' into the Laws which Regulate the Rate of In- terest and the Price of Stocks " Tlie l)ook found a few ap- proving readers, and brought hini into notice as a thoughtful speculator on the subject of finance. Innncdiately that news came of the existence of war with England, filling the city THE SECOND CHAKTER. 323 with consternation, Mr. Johnson sold his bank stock at a sacri- fice, and returned to Utica. Here he invested his funds in the Bank of Utica, which was then organizing, and was ere long compensated many fold for the loss sustained by the panic sale of his New York stock. In April 1814, he married Miss Abi- gail Louisa, daughter of Charles Adams, who was the second son of President John Adams. Tlie lady's father had been a lawyer in New York City, but was now deceased, and she was living with her mother in Utica. Soon after, he was aj^pointed one of the State directors of the Bank of Utica, entering there- in in antagonism with Montgomery Hunt, its cashier. The latter had procured the removal from the directorship of Messrs. Kip and Bloodgood, for wliich they, in retaliation, obtained for Mr. Johnson tlie place of director for the State. And here it was that began his first practical acquaintance with banking, a subject which, as we have seen, had already occupied his thoughts. It was not long before his energies were enlisted in a scheme for a bank of his own, and these resulted in the creation of an institution now almost forgotten, yet whose history is of inter- est for the method by which it was achieved and the temporary success that attended it. About the year 1798, Aaron Burr had secured banking privileges for the Manhattan Company, of New York, under the plea of furnishing " pure and wholesome water,'' and for his management in getting such a charter through the Legislature he was greeted with boundless applause. His adroitness was not without its influence upon Mr. Johnson. Ambitious of securing a charter for another bank in Utica, he yet feared opposition from the law makers of Albany as well as hostility from the banks already in existence, both of which influences would be exerted to prevent his obtaining his end by direct and open application. Deluded by the successful ex- ploit of Mr. Burr, he resorted to means similar to those of the latter in order to compass his purpose. He drew up a charter for the Utica Insurance Company, which was so cunningly worded that while it seemed to convey only permission to insure property, it granted, as was manifest to a reader aware of its intent, the privilege of banking also. This charter, during the winter of 1815-16, he manoeuvred skillfully through the Legis- lature, eluding even the vigilance of that astute lawyer and politician, Martin Van Buren, who was chairman of the com- 324 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. mittee in the Senate that reported the bill. On coming home he called together Messrs. Kip, Bloodgood and others, who all agreed that the charter by its terms conferred the right of bank- ing, and in this opinion concurred also Thomas Addis Emmet and Kichard Harison of New York. A company was soon formed, and the $500,000 of capital was taken up. The direc- tors were James S. Kip, president, Francis A. Bloodgood, Na- than Williams (who soon, however, gave place to Nicholas Devereux), Bryan and Alexander B. Johnson, Charles C. Broad- head, Killian Winne, Hugh Cunningham and Eichard R Lan-- sing. Mr. Johnson was made secretary and treasurer as well as cashier, and A. D. Smith served as teller. Operations were begun in July, about where is now the Second National Bank, though the company afterwards bought of the Johnsons a part of the property on the corner of Division and Whitesboro streets, where their store had previously been, and erected thereon a suitable building. They made banking their principal busi- ness, and soon had in circulation $190,000 of their notes of one dollar and upwards, with about $3,500 of small fractional change. The loans ran up to nearly $300,000. They met with much opposition from the Utica and Ontario banks, which en- deavored in every possible way to embarrass them. These banks collected with avidity the notes of the Insurance Com- pany and returned them speedily. Mr. Johnson conducted the war with vigor and skill, sending out agents with the notes of the company who exchanged them for other bank notes. He insured also to the extent of a million of dollars, and for- tunately met with no losses by fire. Martin Van Buren had in the mean time become Attorney General of the State. Heap- plied to the Chancellor for an injunction against the company. The Legislature of 1818 amended tlie restraining law, as it was termed, which prevented individuals from banking, and made it apply to corporations also, affixing severe penalties for its infraction. «0n this account the company determined to sus- pend business on the 3d of August, 1818, the day before the act was to take effect. Both deposits and notes were paid in full, and the outstanding policies of insurance were transferred to a New York Insurance company. The court gave judgment against the Utica company, when a majority of the stockhold- ers, through their proxies obtained by Mr. Johnson, dissolved THE SECOND CHARTER. 325 tlie compaii}' on the 6th of July, 1819. By his sole unaided efforts he wound up its affairs with a trifling loss to the stock- holders. Some, who were dissatisfied, as James L}aich, John B. Yates and others, demanded the books and assets of the com- pany and again began business in New York City, calling in also fresh installments from the stockholders. Innumerable suits arose, and the new company was stopped by the courts. Though Mr. Johnson was b}^ many commended for the acute ness of the means he employed to secure a charter for the above described institution, they proved afterwards a source of deep regret to their author, and he has left behind him the declara- tion that no other act of his life gave him so much pain in the recollection. Near this time, April 1819, when thirty-three years of age, married and the father of two children, the possessor, moreover, of about fiftj^-five thousand dollars, he began the study of law, in the office of his friend, Nathan Williams, He continued it persistently until he was admitted to the bar — in three years as an attorney and in six as a counsellor. Though the study was entered upon to fit him with a calling, it was pursued as a pleas- sure and a solace from other cares, since, when the profession was achieved, he never practiced it, while its prosecution was almost from the commencement carried along simultaneously with other and responsible duties, duties which were henceforth the great business of his life. For in June of this year he was made a director of the Ontario Branch Bank, an appointment which was followed in September by his elevation to its presidency. This Ontario Branch Bank emanated from Canandaigua, where its parent had been established about a year after the Bank of Utica. By an act of the Legislature, passed April 15, 1815, the privilege was accorded to both the Utica and the Ontario to set up branches of their respective institutions in the place of busi- ness of the other. Both exercised this privilege, the Ontario having commenced its branch at Utica the 26th of December following. During a number of years the capital was divided equally between the parent and its offspring, but subsequently to 1843, three hundred thousand dollars were located in the branch, and the remaining two hundred thousand in the mother bank. The existence of the corporation was limited to June 1843, but in 1829 it was extended by legislative act to Jan- 326 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. "uary 1, 1856. A general supervisory and directing power re- mained of course with the board at Canandaigua, who appointed the principal officers of the branch, advised as to the selection of its directors, as well as with respect to the administration of its affairs, and to this board weekly returns were made of its condition and its doings. The first directors at Utica were as follows : Benjamin Walker, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Arthur Breese, Joseph Kirkland, William G. Tracy, Charles C. Brod- head, James Piatt, Kellogg Hurlburt, Jesse W. Doolittle, Abra- ham Varick, Moses Bagg, Jason Parker and James Lynch. Colonel Walker was the first president, and was succeeded after his decease by Arthur Breese. The appointment of Mr. Johnson as president, in 1819, was due to the confidence reposed in him by his friend, Mr. Greig, president of the corporation at Canandaigua. It had been at first intended to make him cash- ier ; but feelings of delicacy and personal respect on the part of the directors towards the incumbent of this office would not allow of his displacement. Accordingly Mr. Breese resigned m his favor and Mr. Johnson succeeded him, though under the title and guise of president, he became de facto cashier also. With him rested all the management of the bank, the care in selecting directors, attending to the sufficiency of notes and the security of those already in the bank, all the responsibility in the eyes of the public and the Canandaigua board for its gen- eral safety and prosperity, all the care of preserving harmony between the bank and its dealers, and among the members of its own board of directors. And he was daily present at the bank from its opening till its close. Its affairs when he assumed control were greatly depressed ; its notes were not taken at all in Utica, and were sold in New York at twelve and a half per cent, discount. In fact the bank was closed from the middle of July to the fore part of November. Such, however, was the pubhc confidence in his integrity and financial ability that the notes very soon rose to par and obtained an extensive circula- tion. From that day forward the Ontario Branch Bank was one of the most }U'()S})erous banks in this or any other State. It was conducted on sound principles, and experienced almost no losses. In 1852, by reason of severe domestic affliction and conse- quent incapacity for business, Mr. Johnson was obliged to take THE SECOND CHAETEE. 327 a voyage to Europe. Daring his absence, he could not, of course, exercise a personal supervision of the affairs of the bank, nor did he ever afterwards assume as direct a management of its concerns as he had previously done. Upon the expiration of its charter, in December 1855, its connection was severed with the mother bank at Canandaigua, and its capital and interests were merged in a new one formed under the general banking law, with the name of the Ontario Bank. Mr. Johnson took part in organizing it, and when, as he supposed, it was placed on a sure foundation, he ceased in part from his labors, and left details in the hands of others. But it was not in undisturbed repose that he was suffered to pass the evening of his days. Sad in- deed it was that now, when he had gained a reputation as a banker as high as any man's, the great misfortune of his life should befall him, and that this misfortune should consist in a blow struck at his very reputation itself. Without fault of his, the bank within eighteen months of its organization was insol- vent. The event in all its painful aspects, the ruin produced, the brief period of its accomplishment, constitute a case almost without a parallel in banking, and which is exceeded by noth- ing but the elaborateness of means by which the progress of the ruin was concealed from the president, who was constantly in the bank, and from the scrutiny of directors of experience and caution, sensitive to the interests of themselves and their friends and who met weekly as a board. Though overwhelmed by this great and unexpected calamity, Mr. Johnson devoted himself with the energy, industry and sagacity of his best years, t(j save all that could be saved from the wreck ; and it was owing in a great degree to the extraordinary labor which he performed, previous to the appointment of a receiver, that that officer was finally able to pay all the bill holders and other creditors of the bank in full and return a trifle to the stock- holders. He lived full ten years longer, overpassing by several months his eighty first year, and died on the 9th of September, 1867. But having seen the affairs of the Bank completely closed, he gave himself up to the indulgence of what had heretofore been his relaxation from official care and his most valued source of personal enjoyment. For prominent and distinguished as he was as a banker, Mr. Johnson regarded his reputation and sue- 328 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. cess in that character as a matter of secondary interest to him- self. He adopted that profession in order, as he himself has said, that he " might have time and opportunity to write^ '■' The labors of the counting room and the study were con- stantl_y intermingled, and often the sheet of a treatise in hand and a current balance sheet might be seen on his table together ; but the busines.s of the day was never for a moment sacrificed to its relaxations, and the Ijalance sheet always had tlie prefer- ence." He wrote treatises upon the subject of banking and finance which received high commendation from those who were best c|ualified to judge of their merits ; for few men in our country understood better than he the principles which should govern all financial affairs, or were more practical in applying them. Yet though he devoted so much time and study to such subjects, " the great and prominent study of his life was language with reference to its meaning in something other tliun words." As early as 1818, he issued proposals for the publication of a " Philosophy of the Human Mind, or a Treatise on Language." It was not published until 1828, though in the mean time he had presented an outline of his views in a course of lectures delivered before the Utica Lyceum. " The book interested a few minds deeply, and the}^ could hardly find words strong enough to express tlieir a])])robation ; but it was too abstruse for general readers, and its cii'culation was limited. Its style was condensed in a remarkable degree, and the con- secutiveness of the reasoning close sometimes to obscurit}^ It was assuredly an extraordinary book for a man to produce who made no pretensions to exact scholarship, and whose life seemed to be monopolized by a devotion to Plutus." In expansion and further elucidation of his topic, he ])ublished in 1836, his '' Trea- tise on Language, or the Eelation which Words bear to Things." Its object was to teach that men should not interpret by words the knowledge they derive from their senses ; but should inter- pret words by the sensible revelations to which the words refer ; or more briefly, and in the language of a reviewer, to teach us "to contemplate created things apart from words." In 1854 he put forth a third treatise on the subject, entitled " The Mean- ing of Words Analyized into Words and Unverbal Things ; Classified into 'Intellections, Sensations and Emotions." It re- cei^'ed commendations from the Wcstntinster Review and from THE SECOND CHARTER. 329 numerous correspondents of the author. Tliis Look, in con- junction with his " Physiology of the Senses" (1856), and liis " Deep Sea Soundings" (1861), affords, in his opinion, an ulti- mate analysis of liuman knowledge, and constitutes a philoso- phy that has gone deeper than language, and has sought to dis- cover the meaning of words in man's internal oi-ganism. In striving after conciseness in his writings, Mr. Johnson made a new dictionary upon new principles. The plan of it he an- nounced in 1830, under this title : " The Collated Dictionary, or a Complete Index to the English Language : designed to exhibit together all words which relate to the same subject; for the benefit of persons who are not acquainted with the whole com- pass of the language, and to assist the memor3' of persons who are acquainted." The author was engaged several years on the work of the dictionary, but he never quite completed his design. Several books issued by other writers supplied some of the requirements of his plan, among which the most re- markable approximation to that of Mr. Johnson was Roget's Thesaurus, published in London in 1852. In addition to the foregoing, he put forth, in 18-41, "Religion in its Relations to the Present Life," in a series of lectures before the Young- Men's Association of Utica, and designed to j^resent a summary of morality in a small compass ; and, in 1856, he issued an, " Encyclopedia of Instruction, or Apologues and Breviats on Men and Manners," being a condensation of letters he had addressed to his children. Mr. Johnson wrote much upon politics, though he was never a partisan or politician. A collection of such of his articles as had appeared from time to time in the public journals was reprinted in 1857, in the form of a book bearing the title : "A (jruide to the Right Understanding of our American Union." "That a man thrown early into the active, and what with most men would necessarily be the absorbing business of life, should accomplish so much in literature, and accomplish it so w^ell is indeed extraordinary." His philosophical writings were welcomed, as I have said, by an ardent though limited circle of admirers, and if they did not gain a more extended following the reason is chiefly to be found in the abstruseness of the sub- ject and the little interest it has for the general mind, as well as to the compact form in which he delivered his teachings, and their lack of harmon}^ with prevailing opinions. 830 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Mr. Jolmson left a copious and entertaining biograpli}' of him- self, which, with two well written obituary notices of him, pre- pared the one by E. A. Wetmore, and the other by J. Watson Williams, has not a little assisted the present writer. "He left also a voluminous and well preserved correspondence with per- sons of various degrees of distinction and influence, extending through at least half a century, which more than anything else might show the value that was given to his opinions, and what confidence was reposed in his judgment and integrity by men of high reputation in various departments of civil and literary life." He was once the orator of a Fourth of July celebration, once advocated from the platform the temperance that in his own person he rigidly practiced, once took part in a public discus- sion between the adherents of colonization and those of aboli- tion, and several times lectured before literary societies and young men's associations. He was a delegate to the Baltimore Convention in 1835, which nominated Mr. Van Buren as Presi- dent, and in the following autumn was offered the nomination of member of Congress ; but he declined its acceptance. " Mr. Johnson was recluse and studious, yet not of an unso- cial or gloomy temperament. He was diffident and sensitive in a degree painful to himself. His extreme reticence of char- acter, and his invincible repugnance to genei'al social intercourse he regretted : especially also he regretted his fixed habit of relying upon his own opinions without consulting the opinions of others, which prevented him from working harmoniously with other men. At the same time he possessed that passive courage which will face obloquy and misjudgment of motives with quiet endurance and a firm persistence in what he be- lieved to be right. He was aware that he had the reputation of being mainly devoted to making mone}^ He wanted money for independence, — to obtain time to write, and for the comfort of himself and family. The potency of wealth he thought wortliy of acquisition by all honorable means. Yet he did not aspire to its possession by the ignoble ^'''^ths of cunning- fraud or usury. He took care of his money, and it made itself. He left a large fortune, but it was the result of vigi- lant care, gradual accumulation and wise investment. He was scrupulously anlace of his final residence, that he died September 29, 1855. He was the father of thirteen cliildren, all of them the off- spring of the first Mrs. Lansing. They were as follows: Ed- ward Antill of Detroit, who died June 12, 1868, at the age of fifty-three years and eleven months, leaving five children ; Jonas Piatt, lieutenant in Texan navy, died at Sisal, Yucatan, 1843 ; Manette, widow of Bayard Boyd, now of Owego ; Gerrit, deceased ; Helen (Mrs. Sylvester Larned of Detroit), deceased ; Charlotte (Mrs. Willard Smith of Albany) ; Richard, deceased ; Richard, 2d, deceased ; Frances Tappan, deceased ; Cornelia P., deceased; Melancthon Woolsey ; PhillipinaS., deceased; Susan. John Bradish, for some time deputy in the office of the Supreme Court clerk, was the son of Dr. James Bradish, a skillful physician of Western Massachusetts, who, dui-ing the Revolu- tionary struggle, rendered efficient service as a surgeon. The son was born August 1, 1783, in Cummington, Mass. He en- tered Williams College in company with his cousin, Luther Bradish, late Lieutenant Governor of New York, but did not re- main to graduate. Then a clerk for a while in the mercantile house of Barent & John R. Bleecker at Albany, he removed to this county when his father came hither and settled. At Westmoreland he was engaged in teaching school, but in 1809 began the reading of law with Jonas Piatt, and at its close re- moved to Utica. From 1812 until 1 SI 6 h e served as deputy clerk under Mr. Breese, and, with the aid of cop3nsts, performed most of the clerical labor pertaining to the office. At that time notices of all suits begun in the Supreme Court, or enter- ing on new stages of their progress, wei'e sent to the office of the clerk, who transmitted them to the attorney of the opposing party, and in return transmitted the answers of the lattei'. All costs of suits were likewise taxed b}' the clerk. Lawyers throughout the State were obliged, therefore, to depend upon agents living near the offices of the clerks of this court to exe- cute the services required therein. Having secured such agency at Utica, Mr. Bradish continued to act in this capacity down to the time of the adoption of the new Constitution of 1846, and the abolition of the old Supreme Court. By the ex- ercise of tliese duties, which wei'e liberally paid for and by sue- THE SECOND CHARTER. 335 cessful undertakings in real estate, lie acquired a competency. In 1811 he married Miss Anna Camp of Marcy, daughter of Phineas Camp, and resided in a house that stood on the site of the present Bradish Block, which block- he put up not long before his death. Mr. Bradish was an elder of the Presbyterian Church from the year 1822 during the remainder of his residence, and was an early clerk of its session. In the religious enterprises of the day he took an active part. Eespectable in capacity and in standing, sincere in his principles and honest in his life, kind and indulgent toward his family and wedded to his church, he was content to manage his private and his ecclesiastical con- cerns, and expended little symjDathy on public matters of merely secular interest. His death occurred April 16, 1862, in his seventy-ninth jear. His wife died September 25, 1853. Their children were Frances I. (Mrs. W. H. Stoddard of North Hampton, Mass.), who died in 1850; Cornelia, died January 20, 1872 ; James P. of Whitesboro ; Mary A. (Mrs. Eli T. Manches- ter), died January 3, 1862 ; Charlotte I. (Mrs. James C. Wells), died August 5, 1853 ; John C. died July 11, 1845; Theodore H. of Whitesboro ; and Arthur M. of Clarinda, Page county, Iowa. Next door to the office of the Gazette there was started, in 1812, a wholesale and retail hat store, that was kept by Ezra S. Cozier, and Frederick Whiting. This Mr. Cozier had had a common school education only, but was endowed with strong- sense and a fondness for reading ; he was social and genial, could tell a good story, give good advice and do good deeds without blowing a trumpet before him ; and being, moreover, a man of ambition and of spirit, he soon won a large share of popularit3\ His earlier residence he signalized by the inauguration of a society for histrionic performance, led thereto by his passion for the plays of Shakespeare. The increasing estimation of his fellows, and notably those of the brotherhood of masons, brought him, later, into places of responsibility and honor. During one term of service his kindness of heart found full play as overseer of the poor. Next, for seven successive years, he was a trustee of the village board, and more than half that time (1819-23) its president. And when the village was ex- 336 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. alted to a city he was pressed by many for the mayoralty, but^ failing in this, he was made the treasurer. Not long after he was among the first of the victims of the cholera epidemic of August 1832. He was buried by the masons and to his monu- ment they affixed the epitaph: "An upright magistrate, a kind hearted friend, an honest man." His widow, a sister of E. S. Barnum, survived him full forty years, and died about 1873. Their four children died, all of them, in youth. Others whose coming dates from about the year 1812, and who held with Utica relations comparatively abiding, were as follows : Two coach makers in the emplojanent of Jason Parker, named William Grainer and John Grrove, exercised their craft on the corner of Whitesboro and Seneca streets. The former was English. He built and occupied the brick house on Washington street where Mrs. Jacob Snyder. now lives, and there he died of cholera in August 1832. His wife was Lucy Haywood. Mr. Grove lived until April 26, 1839, and left two sons and a daugh- ter, of whom one son is still resident, DeWitt C. Grove, editor of the Utica Observer. His daughter, Mrs. Nichols, lives in New York. He was a man of generous temper and fine native endow- ments. His first wife was Miss Elizabeth Cross ; his second. Miss Stevens, who was the mother of his children, died in 1851. A shoemaker who lived as long in Utica was John Newland. His son Henry, continued the business after the father had re- tired. Another son, Thomas J., is now of Utica, as is also the widow of Dr. Joseph P., who was many years in successful practice within the city. A daughter is the wife of Eev. Dr. E. H. Chapin of New York. Thomas Latimer, tailor, a fervent mason and a clever man, was a citizen until 1837, and then he moved to Jefferson county. Dr. George Morrison, a botanic physician, practiced on Catherine street some twenty -five years, and his widow after his decease. Though an ignorant man, he had a large following. One at least of his sons became a physi- cian. George Meartell, whose skill in testing liquors was learned while in the service of John C. Devereux, dealt in them until about the time of tlie coming of the cholera, when he died. It is said that he had been a subordinate officer in the British army, and that when he left the service he carried off the wife of the colonel. John Pocock was, in England, a Baptist minis- I THE SECOND CHARTER. 337 ter, and occasionally preached after coming here. In Utica he was a tinsmith, for many years at the lower end of Genesee street on the west side, until he moved up to the Devereux building above the canal. John McElwaine kept a livery sta- ble on Main street, a little east of the square. Robert, the well known police officer, is the only member of his family yet here. James Fay, carman, had likewise seen service under the Eng- lish flag. He has left no one to represent him but that very public character, William Dunn, who lived with him in his youth. David Donaldson, has, on the contrary, left numerous descendants, though his namesake is the only son that still lives. Joseph Costleman has left a son in Utica and another on Frank- fort hill. The one son of Mrs. Maria Rees is, like his mother, deceased ; the son's children remain. Tliomas George, wheel- wright, Robert Martin, cooper, Rebecca Dickens, teacher, Helena Roxbury, Lemuel Munrow, blacksmith, Jasper Cronk, laborer, had a more or less lasting residence. James S. Kissam managed the concerns of the Manhattan Branch Bank after the withdrawal of Montgomery Hunt, until he was called to be cashier of the Ontario Branch Bank, where, however, he did not stay longer than 1816. Nathan Under- wood kept a tavern on Broad street, next door east of the pres- ent Washington Hall. It is the same rickety building that stands there still. Designed to catch the travel that came into the place by the Minden turnpike, it was opened about the same time with that road, whose natural terminus it was deemed to be. Mr. U. left about 1822. Erastus Row kept the Coffee House. Ezra Wood, a weaver from Little Compton, R. L, lived in the place until 1818, driving only hand looms, but at that time he went to the lower mills at New York Mills, and there, in the employ of Benjamin Walcott, he started the first power loom in this part of the countrv. Here he had been con- nected with the Presbyterian Church, and was for a time its sexton ; there he took part in organizing another church of the same denomination, and labored almost alone in getting up a Sunday school. He died in 1870, in his ninetieth year ; his wife in 1874. Of his six children, one is still living at New York Mills. Robert Edmunds tarried a few months and then enlisted! and was killed in battle. His widow remained several years. Their son, John H, is now one of the prosperous and leading X 388 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. meu of L'tica. Two printers, apprentices of Ira Men-ell, Chauu- cey and Augustus Morgan, brothers, gave a good account of themselves in after years as editors in Oxford and Binghamton, respectively. Another printer's apprentice was the now vener- able Thurlow Weed, who joined William Williams in Decem- ber 1812, and was afterwards transferred to the office of Thomas Walker, having in the meantime seen two terms of militaiy service at Sacketts Harbor. Other temporary residents were : Perley Harris, leather dealer; John A. Bury, tobacconist; Z. B. Clark, painter; Cas- tle Southerland, gunsmith ; Israel Decker and Jacob Hart, tan- ner ; Isaac McChestney, tailor ; Peter Jones, farmer, who soon moved up to William Inman's first place of residence, but of whose sons two or three have done business in Utica ; Philip Smith and Robert Ansart, laborers ; Matthews, portrait painter ; J. Bond, dancing master ; Ryder, who kept a school near Hedge's tavern ; Willard Clark, J. S. Olmsted, Franklin Ripley, G-riffith Jones, whose occupation I cannot give. 1813. The most engrossing topic with the trustees, as well as with the freeholders generally during the year 1813, would ap- pear to have been the market, recently erected on the public square A determined opposition to its presence is revealed in the partial change now effected in the constituency of the board, which was made to consist of Moses Bagg, Montgomery Hunt, Seth Dwight, E. B. Shearman and Talcott Camp. It is still more evident in the resolution which was passed at the annual meeting, directing the trustees to sell the market at vendue after the rent of the stalls should have expired. At an early session of these trustees they passed an ordinance enacting that from the 25th of May to the 1st of October, anybody might sell meat without a license, provided that it be sold in the mar- ket square and conformable to the ordinances, and provided this should not impair any claim by the trustees for rent of stalls. But the friends of the market were aroused, and at a special meeting of the inhabitants, held in November, the vote of the annual meeting to sell this unwelcome neighbor was rescinded. A little later, the trustees ordered six of the market stalls to be THE SECOND CHARTER. 339 put up at auction. And here the matter rested for the j^ear. Aside from the above and other routine business, nothing was done b}" the board of 1813. Spafford's Gazetteer of New York, published at Albany, in 1813, contains a notice of Utica, though it adds little to the knowledge of the place we have obtained from other sources. From the initials attached to it, viz. : T. E. G., D. 0., and M. H., it would seem to have been furnished the editor by Thomas R. Gold, David Ostrom and Montgomeiw Hunt or Marcus Hitch- cock. The place is described as a flourishing incorporated post village, the commercial capital of the great western district of New York ; and though small in area, comprising a popula- tion of seventeen hundred souls, with three hundred houses and stores, a Presbyterian and an Episcopal Church, a grammar school, mills, factories, machine shops, printing offices, &c. "The Hotel is an elegant establishment, and the many fine pri- v^ate mansions of gentlemen of taste and opulence, give Utica a character in this respect worthy a great commercial town." The Manhattan Branch is the only bank mentioned as already in existence, but the fact is noted of the near prospect of another. To this the editor appends a note informing us that such bank was already chartered. The article itself would appear, there- fore, to have been prepared sometime previous to June 1812, the date of incorporation of the Bank of Utica. Rev. Mr. Carnahan, as we have seen, was dismissed from the pastorate of the United Presbyterian Society on the 4th of November, 1812. On the 3d of February, 1813, the United Church was divided, fifty-seven of its members with two elders were by act of Presbytery, constituted a church which took the title of the First Utica Presbyterian Society. And on the following day, February 4, Pev. Henrj^ Dwight, who had tem- porarily supplied the two pulpits, was ordained and installed their minister. This Mr. Dwight, — by turns merchant, minister and banker, a devout, humble and most useful man, an earnest preacher, and a prince of pastors, — served the church about as long as Mr. Carnahan, and was then disabled from the same cause. His historj^ is as follows: He was born June 25, 1783, in Spring- 340 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. field, Mass., and his family connections were of the first respec- tability. He was the youngest of four brothers, all of whom, were men of acknowledged ability and force of character, and occupied conspicuous positions as bankers and capitalists. Hav- ing graduated at Yale College, in 1801, he became a partner in the mercantile firm in his native town, of which his brother was the head, and in this capacity passed a year in England. Here it was, as we may presume, that his thoughts were first deeply engaged in matters of religion, and that he solved the c[uestion of his personal duty. For on his return, he abandoned a prosperous business to devote his talents and his life to the office of a Christian minister. His professional studies were begun in New Haven, with Rev. Dr. Dwight, and finished at Princeton Theological Seminary. And from Princeton he rode across the country, on horseback, to begin his ministry at Utica. Some six weeks after the settlement of Mr. Dwight, Rev. John Frost was ordained over the church at Whitesboro, and thus the independence of the two societies was established. Yet by vote of their respective trustees these ministers were requested to exchange regularly, and a further cooperation, if not an actual unity of financial interests, is intimated in the offer which was- made by Mr. Dwight, who was rich, and whose salary was fixed at seven hundred dollars, to share equally with his poorer pro- fessional brother, who, for three years at least, was to have but five hundred and fifty dollars. * But beyond the warm friend- ship which ever existed between their pastors, the frequent interchanges of these latter, and their common efforts for the good of the community, the severance of the two societies was now absolute and final ; and henceforth each enjoyed regular preaching every Sabbath. Almost immediately Mr. Dwight began to reap from the sowing of his predecessor ; and ere long his own faithful labors were crowned with yet happier results. No communion season passed without some accessions, and in one year more than a hundred were added to the previously small number of com- municants under his care. By his exemplary life and the affectionate interest he evinced in the real good of his people, * In February, 1814, it was resolved by the Trustees " to pay Mr. Dwight during the present war, in addition to his salary, the dividends on the shares in the bank of Utica belonging to the Society." THE SECOND CHARTER. 341 by Lis clearness and pungency in the pulpit, and especiall}' b}^ the useful instruction conveyed in his popular weekly lectures, an impression was made upon the community which is not jet erased. It was not long before the modest church edifice was insufficient for the congregation which frequented it. In 1815 it was elongated bj the addition of about one quarter to its length, and this, with the supplement of a porch at the endi somewhat marred its architectural proportions. Within it was still more unique, for its sentry box of a pulpit was perched against the wall in the middle of the north side, and had a can- opy or sounding board aboye. while the pews were for the most part so placed as to look one half westward and one half eastward, a few square ones being immediatel}' in front of the pulpit, and a few long ones under the chorister's gallery on the south side. But to the 3"oung eyes, espec- iall}^, of that generation it seemed a model of conyenience and a clief d'oeiivre of beauty. Mr. Dwight, who was single when he settled in Utica, boarded for a time w'ith Mrs. Susan, widow of Elisha E. Sill, and daughter of Samuel Hopkins, of Goshen, Conn. They were married, and lived in the double Avooden house still standing on the west side of Hotel street about midway of its length, until they moved into the Clarkson house on Broad street. The ministry was his delight, but after less than five years exercise of it, and when the number of his church members had increased from fifty-seven to two hundred and twenty-two. the failure of his voice compelled his reluctant return to secular pursuits. On the first of October, 1817, he was dismissed from his pastoral care, and soon after removed to Geneva, where he continued to reside for forty years, and where he died, September 6, 1857. He established the bank of Geneva, and as its president ■acquired an enviable fame throughout the State for probit}' and success. His banking operations embraced at one time not merely Western ISTew^ York, but extended to Michigan and Ohio, where he and his brothers were proprietors of similar institu- tions. His own bank, down to the expiration of its charter in 185B, never failed to divide ten per cent, per annum among its stockholders, besides a very large amount in extra dividends. Amid these professional cares and responsibilities Mr. Dwight never lost sight of those higher purposes of life which had 342 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. taken possession of his conscience and his affections. In his- connection Avith the church, as an elder, a Bible class and Sab- bath school teacher, a comforter of the afflicted, a guide to the- inquiring, a counsellor of the young, a helper of the poor, and a friend to all, he honored the religion of his Divine Master. In the great enterprises for the dissemination of religious truth and the establishment of Christian institutions, he took the deepest interest, and contributed largely of his wisdom, his per- sonal influence and his pecuniary bounty. Previous to the organization of the American Home Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church, Mr. Dwight had a leading agency in the formation and management of a Domestic Missionary Society in his immediate vicinity. He rendered important service in developing a national institution on substantially the same basis, and was at its organization constituted a director. In 1837 he was elected its president and continued to liold the office- until his death. Tlirough the medium of this societ}^ he had the happiness of preaching by the voices of others, and of ex- tending his influence more widely perhaps than if he had remained in the pulpit. For fifteen years, from 1814 to 1829, he was a trustee of Hamilton College, and for the last thirty years of his life a trustee of Auburn Theological Seminary. At his death his associates in the board of the latter institution, as well as those of the Home Missionary Society, recognized the event as a peculiary severe bereavement, and both put on record their deep sense of his ability and exalted worth. An- other effort of the active benevolence of Mr. Dwight connects him with Utica long after he had left it. He was much inter- ested in the establishment of an asylum for the insane, and having at his own expense employed agents to gather up stat- istics relating to the condition of the insane, and then prepared a circular setting forth the necessity of an asylum, he sent it to each member of the Legislature, and continued to urge them to favorable action for years before the passage of the act which gave origin to the asylum at Utica. His most marked char- acteristic was the predominance over him of Christian ])rin- ciple. Life to him was a serious scene of action and of duty. The idea of duty — of what he ought to do — was ever present in his mind, and exercised a coercive and repressing power upon his nature and its manifestations. Childlike in the simplicity THE SECOND CHARTER. 343 of his character, kind and affectionate in liis intercoiirse, care- ful in the observance of all the courtesies of life, but solemn of demeanor and with little gajety of spirit, he bore at times an aspect of sternness which, however repellant to strangers, those who knew him well knew was due only to his ever pressing conviction of duty. Through this -it was that his life was pecul- iarly fruitful of results, and marked by a constancy of useful- ness, and a judiciousness and a liberality in deeds and gifts of charity, which made him a benediction to his fellows. "Mrs. D wight, with her gentle, hopeful, courageous spirit, lightened her husband's cares, while her wit, intelligence, good breeding and benevolence, made her, for forty 3'ears, one of the principal attractions of the society of Geneva. Those only can know tlie important part which she performed in its religious interests who were the witnesses of the grace, intelligence, kindness and never-failing resources of this trul}- Christian lady."* They had three children, of whom two were born in Utica, viz. : Edmund^ Mary E. (Mrs. Henry L. Young) and Henry, Jr. While Oneida was still a part of Herkimer, there settled within its borders a yoang lawyer, who was acknowledged at once as an equal among the best of his associates at the bar, and who, since then, not more by rare excellence in his calling than by weighty sense and energy in action, uprightness, purity and benevolence of conduct, and much effective and unselfish official service, has made the name of Joseph Kirkland suggestive to" all of virtue, usefulness, power and honor. A native of Norwich, Conn., where he was born. January 18, 1770, and a graduate of Yale twenty years later, he qualified himself in legal studies with Judge Swift of Windham in that State, and then assumed their exercise in New Hartford in this county, where he was near to his uncle, Samuel Kirkland, the celebrated missionary to the Oneidas. At the first term of Common Pleas held in the county after its organization, in com- pany with Thomas R Gold, Jonas Piatt, Erastus Clark, Nathan Williams, Arthur Breese and others, all of whom had practiced in the courts of Herkimer, he was admitted to the same privil- ege in Oneida, and, together with those enumerated, he was ap- pointed to report a system of rules for the Court. The under- * Mrs. Bradford's History of Geneva. S44 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. taking to enter into professional rivalr}^ with men such as these, who, with others hke them, constituted the bar of Oneida at this time and for twenty years longer,called for qualities and efforts of no ordinary stamp. Mr. Kirkland, however, by his unremit- ting application, tenacity of purpose, and an integrity that, amid the fierce collisions of legal competition, was never called in •question, soon rose to an eminent rank. In 1801 he ran as a candidate for delegate to the State Constitutional Convention, ^nd received as many votes as his opponent, Henry Huntington of Eome, though the seat was accorded to the latter. In 1803 he was chosen by the Federal party to represent them in the State Assembly. Of his career while here it may be said, as of his like experience in later years, that no man ever sent from the county carried with him and preserved more completely the confidence of his constituents. From February 1813, to Feb- ruary 1816, he discharged, with ability and faithfulness, the duties of district attorney for the sixth district. That these duties involved much labor and care, in addition to no small amount of professional skill and acquirement, we are assured when we consider that this district then comprised Herkimer, Otsego, Chenango, Madison, Lewis and Jefferson as well as Oneida counties. It was in 1813 that Mr. Kirkland transferred his residence to Utica, and thenceforth, for thirtj^ years, he was identified with its prosperity and enterprises, with its charities, hospitalities, •and its municipal administration. Sent again to the Legislature during the sessions 1818-21, he vacated his seat in the latter year to fill a higher one in the seventeenth Congress, where he succeeded that eminent speaker, Henry R Storrs. After serv- ing a single term, with great acceptance to members of all par- ties, he was again elected to the Assembly of 1825. Mr. Kirk- land was the first mayor under the city charter of Utica, and was reelected in 1834, two years afterward. Without dispar- agement to his successors, it may be affirmed that no adminis- tration is remembered with a livelier gratification than the one of which he was the head. It was while he presided over the public councils, that the city was visited by that desolating calamity, the cholera, wliich in no part of the State bi'oke out in a more sudden and fearful manner, or swept into eternity, in jirojiortion to the po})ulation, such a crowd of victims. A large THE SECOND CHARTER. 845 number of the citizens left tlie place. Men much younger, and better able to contend against the ravages of disease, left their homes. Mr. Kirkland, although then sixty years of age, re- mained at his post, and continued during the entire period of this frightful visitation, to perform the duties which devolved upon him. He was ever devising measures to relieve those who were smitten, or to check the violence of the pestilence and prevent its spread. He manifested during tliis crisis the real boldness and energy of his character, and showed that there was in him a spirit which, in more auspicious circumstances and on a larger held, would have secured to him no ordinary amount of reputation. In the upbuilding of Hamilton College, the Utica Academ}^, the Presbyterian Church, the Ontario Branch Bank, the Oneida Glass Factory, the New Hartford Manufacturing Society, the Farmers' Factory, the Paris Furnace Compan}^ and other early institutions of the county, Mr. Kirkland bore a part from their inception. If not one of the originators, he was at a very early stage of the enterprise, a coadjutor in opening and constructing the Seneca turnpike, the great internal highway of commerce through Central New York, and was for many 3''ears and until his death, the president and treasurer of its corporation. And in schemes afterward projected to advance the educational, com- mercial or manufacturing interests of town or county, there was scarcely one in which this public-hearted man was not called to participate. To a large circle of individuals also, of various classes, he was the valued counsellor or compassionate friend. As his legal reputation was based, not on brilliant fancy, showiness in speaking, or the trickish arts of the advocate, l)ut rather on the sounder merits of the learned and painstaking jurist, intent on the right and studious for justice, so his stand- ing as a man depended not on qualities which dazzle and be- wilder, but on such as give steadiness, elevation, force and dignity to character, inspire confidence in all who behold them, and win for their possessor a claim on the respect and venera- tion of posterity. Moderate in height, and full, though not corpulent in person, with regular and pleasing features, he had a quiet and impressive dignity of carriage in harmony with the man. The title of general, which he always bore, he derived from early service in the militia, and however his deportment 346 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. might justif}^ the gravity of the title, he had none of the con- straint or punctiliousness of the soldier, but was eminently affa- ble and social, and, without unbecoming condescension, put at ease all who approached him. He owned a large wooden build- ing on Liberty street and the canal, confronting the Devereux block above it. Here was liis law office, wherein he was for many of the later years of his life associated with his son, Charles P. Kirkland. His residence was the house now occu- pied by Mrs. Susan Gridley, which house he altered and im- proved while still in New Hartford, and in anticipation of his removal. Greneral Kirkland's life was prosperous in no ordi- nary degree, having been subjected to few vicissitudes and to no serious calamity, and blessed with a competence for its de- clining years. So his death may be pronounced happy, being- tranquil and comparatively free from pain, and his bedside sur- rounded by numerous relatives and friends. This event occurred January 2, 1844. Mrs. Kirkland, whose maiden name was Sarah Backus, was in all respects worthy of her partner, a noble minded and effi- cient woman. Her son-in-law, William J. Bacon, describes her as follows : " She had a sound intellect, a clear judgment, and for her day was possessed of large and discriminating culture. The training of her numerous family, which devolved almost wholly upon her, was a task she met bravely and conscien- tiously, and it may be truly said she trained them in the fear of Grod, and in all manly and humane sentiments and tender and loving affections. She had the faculty to impress her own characteV strongly upon the minds and hearts of her children, and thus her influence, which was always on the side of truth, integrity, benevolence and charity, in the largest and noblest sense, has been perpetuated through her posterity, and may be for generations yet to come." Of this famil^^ of twelve children the ten who lived to manhood and womanhood were : Charles P., the business partner of his father and for some years longer a leading member of the Oneida county bar, now of New York City ; William, successively professor of Latin in Hamilton College, teacher of a private school at Goshen, Seneca county, resident of Michigan and of New York City, where with Rev. Dr. Bellows he commenced the Christian Inquirer^ died 1846 ; Edward, died a young man; Mary (widow of J. M. Holly) of A THE SECOND CHARTER. 347 Lyons, N. Y. ; Eliza (Mrs. William J. Bacon) deceased ; Sarah (Mrs. John Gr. Floyd) deceased ; Louisa (Mrs. Charles Tracy) of New York; John Thornton, of Cleveland, deceased; and Francis of Wisconsin. The only other professional man whose career in Utica begins with the year 1813 is Dr. Ezra Williams, the sometime partner of Dr. Amos Gr. Hull. This partnership terminating in Sep- tember 1816, Dr. Williams opened an office near Burchard's tavern, and was in practice abont four years longer, when he moved to Dunkirk. He bad studied with Dr. Hull, but was possessed of more acc[uirements than his preceptor, and was, besides, cautious, sedate and reflective ; in his relations to others he was unassuming and respected. Both he and his wife, who was a half- sister of Walter King, have been long deceased. A new mercantile firm was that of Piatt & Lansing. It remained in being only about three years, though its members bad each a somewhat lengthy residence. Both were honorable dealers and gentlemen in mien and breeding, and on their own account as well as by reason of their family connection filled a high social position. James Piatt was brother of Judge Jonas Piatt of Whites- boro, and was born in Pougbkeepsie, 1787. After his brief connection with Mr. Lansing he traded some years by himself, and then, having failed, withdrew temporarily from the village. On his return he set up, for forwarding purposes, a^ large ware- house situated on what was known as Bleecker's slip, a narrow basin extending from the canal to Catherine street wher'e is now the western end of DeLong's furniture house. And this Mr. Piatt carried on during the remainder of his stay in Utica, having during a portion of the time Harmon Pease for a part- ner. During the year 1828-9, he served also as post master, but was soon ousted by an in-coming administration. He removed the office to Catherine street, near its mouth on the south side. Going in 1835 to Albany and thence, the next year, to Oswego, he became quite prosperous. He was the first mayor of Oswego, and in 1852-3 he was State senator from the Oswego district. He was also president of the Lake Ontario National Bank. His death occurred May 8, 1870, at the age of eighty-three. 848 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Mr. Piatt was an earnest, affable, kind-hearted, public-spirited and high-principled man, rather small of stature, nervous in temperament and at times a little irritable, but deservedl_y poj:)- ular. As a business man his chief failing was his inability to say no ! Elizabeth, his first wife, was daughter of General William Floyd of Western. She died December 17, 1820. His second was Mrs. Auchmuty, sister of Commodore Melancthon T. Woolsey ; his third, whom he married after his removal from Utica, was Sarah, widow of Bleecker Lansing, his early partner, and daughter of Arthur Breese. Her home is with her daughter at Saybrook, Conn. His children, the off- spring of the first Mrs. Piatt, were William Floyd, James Augustus and Eobert. J. Augustus, now of Mineral Point, Wis., is the only one who is living. Parent Bleecker, second son of Colonel Garret G. Lansing, was born January 17, 1793, and had been a clerk for William G. Tracy, at Whitesboro, before joining Mr. Piatt in business in Utica. After their separation he was a short time in trade in Rome, but returned to Utica about 1822, and opened a store just below the Ontario Branch Bank. In this he was unsuc- cessful, and after a short service as bookkeeper of the United States Branch Bank, he became cashier, about 1835, of the Bank of Belleville, N. J. Thence he was called in December 1836, to the cashiership of the Oneida Bank, and filled the place until his death Honesty, truthfulness, charity, an affectionate and most lov- ing nature, these were the characteristics which made friends for Mr. Lansing of all who knew him, and forbade that be should ever have an enemy. As cashier it was said of him that it was more agreeable to be refused a favor than to receive it from another. His integrity was unsullied, and his charity outran his means. Qualities so winning, and which made him so loveable as a man, were ill calculated, — coupled, too, as they were, with modesty pure as childhood's, — to promote his suc- cess in public business, or to aid in the augmentation of his own estate. While he lacked tlie])ositiveness needed to refuse, he lacked also the energy needed to win, and the hardihood requisite to save. Or, perhaps, I may rather say, that contented with his social standing, his "troops of friends," and tbe smiles THE SECOND CHARTER. 349 of his lovely wife and children, he plucked life's pleasures as he went, and was deaf to the enticements of the goddess who demands entire devotion as the sole condition on which she will dispense her stores. Yet thej are qualities that ensure regard, and whose power and worth are realized only when they are lost. Their effect was evinced at his death. This took place December 3, 1853, at the house of his son-in-law in Brooklyn. His remains were brought to Utica for interment, and as they were borne to the Presbyterian Church, where he had been a trustee, the stores along the street were closed by their owners as a spontaneous tribute of respect to the memory of one whom they loved and were grieved to part with. The Utica Observer, in commenting upon his death, closes with these words : ''A good man has fallen, leaving behind him few who were his equals in qualities that do most become the man." In 1815 he had married Sarah, daughter of Arthur Breese, and to him were born the following children, all of whom are living and all heads of families : Arthur Breese, who was educated at West Point, served in the Mexican war, and as captain in the quarter- master's department, after which he resigned, and is now livino- in New York ; Henry Livingston, banker at Cahandaigua and at Buffalo, now resides at Niagara, Ontario county, Canada ; Henry Seymour, commanded the 17th Regiment, New York volunteers, at the beginning of the late war, and left the service in 1863 with the rank of brevet brigadier-general; is now audi- tor general of the Centennial Board of Finance, Philadelphia ; Manette Antill, married Charles W., eldest son of Professor S. F. B. Morse, and hves at Saybrook, Conn. ; Borent Bleecker of Buffalo. A merchant of much weight of character, both personal and mercantile, was Alexander Seymour,* who entered this j-ear into an arj-angement with Messrs. Watts Sherman and Henry B. Gibson, whereby he was to represent them in Utica while they conducted affairs in New York City. In 1816 the "Co." at- tached to his name, signified Ezekiel Bacon ; and thus it continued until the close of 1822, their store being at No. 66 Genesee street. After this time the principal was alone at 10-1 Genesee, until 1833, when he moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Seymour had but one price for his goods, and to this he 350 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. adhered, and so scrupulous was he hi his honesty, that if even a child was sent to make purchases of him, the superior might rest assured the business would l:)e as carefull}^ executed as though he traded in person. j\Iild and (|uiet in manner, he did not lack in efhciency, and was, moreover, kind hearted and emi- nently virtuous. In the Pj-esbyterian Church he was of much account, as he was afterward in the second church of that de- nomination. His house was on Broad street, next west of the present home of J. T. Spriggs, but before his departure he erected and lived in the house on Steuben park, now occupied by K. V. Yates. In February 1813, Mr. Seymour married Miss Mary Ann Bissell, who had one child that was buried with her. His second wife was Helen, sister of Rev. Dirck C. Lansing. Her children were Mary Ann, Alexander and Lansing. Other merchants were Hezekiah and John Hurlbut. After their ill-success in trade, the former became a teacher, went to Champion and died there. John, living afterwards many years* at Mackinaw, had quite recentl}^ a second residence in Utica ; was cashier of the Central City Savings Bank, and died in the place in the summer of 1874 Since then his family have re- moved. Thomas Eockwell was a native of Middletown, Conn., but came to Utica from Holland Patent in this county, where he was brought up by Bezaleel Fisk, an early settler and leading man of that place. After coming to Utica, Mr. Rockwell was at first a teacher, but in 1815 entered the service of the Ontario Branch Bank, as its book-keeper. For thirtj^-four years he served the bank with unvarying steadiness. "Much of its prosperity," says its president, A. B. Johnson, " was due to his vigilance and faithfulness. He was never a borrower from the bank, and never left his post for recreation or business, other than that of the bank. On a salary far too small for the value of his services, he maintained a family and left a sufficiency for their support at his death." This occurred August 16, 1849, after some months of failing health. He dropped at his post, and on being carried home, lingered for about three weeks. His first wife, who was Mehitable Wells of Wethersfield, Conn,, died November 5, 1832. He afterwards married Miss Elizabeth "Williams of this place, who still survives. He had three chil- THE SECOND CHARTER. 351 dreii, two daughters who died in their j^outh, and one son, Henry W., who has for some years been connected with a hard- ware house in Albany, but whose family are in Utica. Mr Rockwell lived for some time on Elizabeth street, but after Court street was opened, he built on the corner of this and Cornelia, the brick house now occupied by the Industrial Home, and here he was hving at the time of his death. About this time a private school was in operation, which was known as the Juvenile Academy. It may have been started two 37ears earher, and was, perha})s, the academy referred to^b}^ Mr. Mellish heretofore quoted. It was kept in the third story of the building situated on the north corner of Broad and Gren- esee, of which the first floor was occupied by Benjamin Paine, the merchant tailor, and the second by a law office. The room had been constructed for a masonic hall and consisted of a tol- erably sized hall and two small rooms in the rear. It was at- ••tended by many of the children of the principal families of the village, male and female, instruction being given in all the branches of a classical education, as well as in the elements of English learning. The first teacher was Henry White, a gentle, fair-haii'ed man, who afterwards became a minister. And he being taken with a fever and afterwards going away to recruit, the remainder of one of his years of teaching was completed by S. W. Brace, then a pupil of Hamilton College. The teacher in the year 1816 was Oded Edd}", son of the first Baptist preacher of Deerfield. Mr. Eddy subsequently lived on a farm in Deer- field. An incident of his farming life is told as follows : Dr. Hull called on him for a settlement of his account for medical attendance. "How much is the account?" he asked, and on being informed, exclaimed with most innocent surprise: "How singular ! that's just the price of the straw I sold to J'ou." I name together John Welles and Amos Gay, because they were two inn-keepers who began in Utica in May 1813, though quite unconnected in their affairs, and totally unlike in charac- ter. The former, son of Melancthon Welles of Lowville, had lived in Herkimer and in Whitesboro. He moved from Whites- boi'o to the yellow house next east of M. Bagg's, on Main street, and kept it for some time as a place of entertainment, but in April 1821, he took the Canal Coffee House, which had been 352 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. opened in November previous. This was a neat, white woodert building, on the berm bank of the canal, south of Genesee- bridge, where is now the Exchange building. It was for sev- eral years a popular stopping place for travellers by the packets, and its head was a well-mannered and estimable, though diffi- dent person, who, with his intelligent family, filled a creditable place in the community. In 1832, Mr. Welles was keeping the National, lower down the street, and opposite the mouth of Liberty. Not Ions; afterwards he removed to Detroit. His son, John A., at first in the Bank of Utica, went thence to- Yates county, and from there to the Farmers and Mechanics' Bank of Detroit, where he amassed a fortune and was highly respected for his public spirit and his benevolence. The daugh- ters (Mrs. Paine and Mrs. Alfred Hunt), followed their father to Michigan ; Kachel B. (wife of Vistus Balch), died in Utica, January 10, 1831 ; William J., after his clerkship here, was in business and a banker at Grand Eapids, Michigan : having* failed, be took up his residence at Topeka, Kansas ; Henry, a merchant at Ann Arbor, is deceased. Some men seem born to a particular calling, be it mechanical, artistic, ministerial, or other, and are fortunate when they early discover their bent and pei'sistently follow it. Amos Gay was born a landlord, l)ut he was a restless one, changing often his place and even his employment, and scarce finding one to his mind. Yet with all his vibrations he gravitated continually into tavern keeping. Born in Lebanon, Conn., in September 1778, he was at twenty-five a proprietor at Goshen Hill, in that State. Two years later, in 1805, he was living in Westmore- land, Oneida county. Successively a trader in Hampton, and an inn-keeper in Whitesboro, and then in Nevv^ Hartford, he found his way, in 1S13, to the house on the southeast corner of Main and John which had just been moved across the street from the site of the early Bagg tavern, and was now coupled with the former homestead of Joseph Ballou. He christened it Union Hall. Next he was in the National, but before 1828, he had built and was conducting the Fayette Street House, so called, which is still standing on the northeastern corner of this street and State. He was also at one time the owner of the pottery in West Utica, which has been of late in the pos- THE SECOND CHARTER, 353 session of Noah White & Son. A later structure, erected by Mr. Gay, was the large brick building which gave way to the City Hall as its successor. And this, though he built it for a theatre, became also a tavern. Long before it ceased to be so occupied, Mr. Gay removed to Albany. He was a contriving, changeful, though gentlemanly man. He had five sons, of whom one is now living in Philadelphia, and two in Brooklyn. It has been stated that Levi Comstock, shoemaker, when he came from Danbury, in L809, brought with him as an appren- tice, his brother-in-law, Ezra S. Barnum. This apprentice, his indentures completed, engaged in business for a brief term in Buffalo, in company with Timoth}^ McEwen, an apprentice of David P. Hoyt. The war had then opened, and minute men being called for, he volunteered, and was present at the first taking of Fort Erie. Having become ill, he returned to Utica; while here Buffalo was burned by the British, and he did not go back. He joined Mr. Comstock in December 1813, and in 1815 exchanged this connection for a like one with William Geere. The latter partnership lasted about a year, when he took charge of the shoe and leather store of Mr. Ho3='t, and subsequently did business on his own account At a later period he was with Z. B. Everson, confectioner and grocer, successor to Bryant & Everson, on the corner of Catherine and Genesee streets ; and buying out the interest in the concern on the death of his partner, he was a wholesale grocer. His next move was to a farm on East street, hoping thereby to improve his health, which was never rugged. After this he established the Bazaar on Genesee street, just above Broad, and, visiting Europe in 1849, he made arrangements for importing goods for the establishment. The Bazaar was long conducted by himself and Stephen 0. Barnum, his son, then by the latter, and since successively by others. 'Squire Barnum's chief claim to notice and remembrance comes from his long continued and varied services as a public ofhcer. He was first elected to office in 1817, and put into triple harness, as it were, from the outset, being made constable, collector and coroner. At one time, besides these three offices, he held also those of police officer and deputy sheriff. And when to these functions was added those of justice of the peace,. 35i THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. it was well said of liim by the editor of The Cluh, that Utica contains one officer of rare* qualifications, for lie can issue pro cess, serve it, try, convict, hang, hold inquest, and sell for taxes the effects of the convict. The office of justice, which he first received from the Council of Appointment in 1821, he con- tinued to hold for seventeen years. How well he did, notwith- standing his ignorance of law at the start, may be inferred from the fact that onl}^ two cases were ever appealed from his de- cision ; one of these, though reversed by the court of the county, was affirmed by the Supreme Court of the State, and the other was never tried on appeal. On retiring from the justiceship 'Squire Barnum was appointed deputy United States marshal, and commissioner of deeds. In 1832 he was elected to the board of aldermen, and was several times reelected. At the organization of the Oneida Bank, in 1836, he was chosen one of the directors, and he is to daj" the only member of the orig- inal board still living. There remains to add a record of long and eminent service and high honors in the order of Free and Accepted Masons. Few living masons have been so long connected with the order ; fewer, if any, have been so highly honored by it. He was elected a member of Utica Lodge, in January 1817, and having soon gone through the four chapter degrees, he was early induct- ed into official position. From that day to this he has not been released from the duties and the responsibilities of office, being promoted, from year to year, until the highest honor in the gift of the body was conferred upon him. He has filled nearly every office in the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of this State, and for twenty one 3rears served in one position or another in the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the United States, of which body he is now Past General Grand Captain General. In the troublous anti-masonic period, when the fraternity was the object of such suspicion that the attempt to hold their assemblages was attended with difficulty, and in some places with danger, and when most masonic bodies were broken up, Mr. Barnum held to the prin- ciples of the order, and labored to keep alive the organization in Utica. He has, since that time, presided at numberless con- secrations, dedications, funerals and layings of corner stones. He witnessed the ceremony attendant on the laying of the THE SECOND CHARTER. 355 foundation of the Washington monument and thsft of the com- pletion of the Bunker Hill monument, as well as those con- nected with the inauguration of the monument to Worcester, at Danbury, and the one in honor of Franklin, at Boston. In 1849, he was present at the completion of the monument to Frederick the Great, at Berlin, and was honored with a seat in the Grand Lodge of Germany. His present residence on Broad street Mr. Baruum has occu- pied forty years. And though he has no other duties to occupy him than his attendance on the directors' meetings of the Oneida Bank, he yet takes an earnest interest in affairs. His church connections have been with the Universalists since they first met as a society inUtica, in 1825. He was one of the orig- inal subscribers to the fund for establishing the Liberal Insti- tute, at Clinton, and was elected a member of the first board of trustees, an office that he has continued to hold for forty-five years. His wife, to whom he was married in May 1815, was Miss Mary Ostrom. She died in July 1875. He has two sons in Buffalo and one in Chicago, and one daughter (Mrs. I. C. Mcintosh). Mrs. D. Y. W. Golden and two sons being deceased. Comfort Butler was enrolled as a soldier at Unionstown, Pennsylvania, in August 1812, and after a year's service, he was discharged at Sacketts Harbor. In August 1813, he and William Jones commenced saddlery together in Utica. They dissolved their connection three years afterward. Mr. Butler carried on the business until 1828, when in cooperation with Mr. Peale, of Philadelphia, he opened a museum in what is now the Carton block, this building having been erected for such purpose. Within a few months he became totally blind. Aided by his family, he continued some years longer his attractive museum, with its numerous curiosities and its frequent exhibi- tions of various kinds, that made it the chief place of resort of its time. But about 1850, this worthy and much commiserated man moved, with his large family, to Brooklyn, and there he died ; his widow is still in Brooklyn. William, the eldest son, was for some time a crockery merchant in Utica, and two of the older daughters, Mrs. Eoth and Mrs. Bennett, found hus- bands in the place. William Jones became a grocer after his separation from Mr. Butler, apd kept a family grocery store at the lower end 356 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. of Genesee street. He appeared afterward as a surveyor, and served the village in this capacity, and when he died, at Nor- wich, he was making surveys for the proposed route of tlie Chenango canal. His wife was a daughter of Evan Owens (of 1799). After his death she married Richard Huntington. His daughter, Mrs. Erastus Blauvelt, is still in Utica. At some time during the residence of Mr. Jones, a brother of his, named Anson, was studying medicine with one of the village physicians. Of the further histor}' of Anson Jones, the writer can learn nothing but the single fact that he became president of Texas. James C. DeLong, a morocco dresser, who made his debut in Utica in January of this year, survives to this day, a hale and vigorous looking citizen, to all appearance as sprightly and youthful in feeling as he was then. In 1814 he entered into partnership with William Clark, their stand being opposite the old Coffee House of Judge Ostrum. His business, intermitted, a month for military service at Sacketts Harbor, was shortly renewed. Soon they were below Catherine, but still on the east side of Genesee. In 1820, Mr. DeLong had his factory in the gulf, now covered by the sluggish waters of the Big Basin. After being driven thence he dealt in wool and transformed skins into leather on Water street near Division, his house being above, on Whitesboro street. For several years he has been free of the cares of business. He was long in fellowship with the Methodists of Utica, was one of the trustees at the incorporation of the Church, and after the erection of the edifice on Bleecker street, he for some time held the title to the pro- perty. With the anti-slavery cause he was associated in its darkest days of ill-favor, and went as a delegate to the conven- tion of 1835. Having outlived two wives and raised two fami- lies, he has now a third. A younger member of his second famil}^ is M. B. DeLong, furniture dealer. A neighbor of Mr. DeLong, in the gulf, was Nehemiah Brown, butcher, brother of Enos Brown, before mentioned. At first he was on Whitesboro street, near Genesee, and was grocer as well as butcher, but the latter was his chief ofiice throughout his residence. After leaving the neighborhood of the basin, his THE SECOND CHARTER. 357 slaughtering was done lower down Ballou's creek and near its outlet, his house being then on Main, east of Second street Three houses of the brick row, at the lower end of Broadway, were built by him : he died about 1850. Big and burly in person, his " talk was of oxen," the town's talk of his oxen. Three of his sons are living. Elder David G-riffith, of the Welsh Baptist Church, though adequate for the duties that especially belonged to him, was not so conversant with the English language as to be at his ease in speaking it. On the occasion of the baptism of one of his flock at the river, he felt called on to address the numerous spec- tators who were standing near, and started oft' bravely enough, but was soon brought to a stand by his poverty of language, and was forced to end rather abruptly in pantomime. Having begun in a very loud voice, he screamed out, " My friends, you all heard of Philip and Eunuch ; they went down to water," and then, after a pause, " Did they stay there ? No ! Philip did as you see me." A plunge finished his speech. Other new comers of 1813 were Joshua M. Church and Stephen Herrick, carpenters and joiners — the former a builder and lumber dealer of prominence, and a popular and good citizen, some time supervisor and director of the Utica Savings Bank, and father of Joshua W. Church, who is now resident, the latter in the employ of Mr. Culver, and having a family of three or four children ; Orson Seymour, officer of the Bank of Utica, who was transferred to the cashiership of its branch at Canandaigua ; Ira J. Hitchcock, deputy to the county clerk, and a marvellously skillful penman, but whose accomplishment proved his snare and brought him to shame ; Ulysses F. Doub- leday, a journeyman printer on the press of Seward & Williams, afterwards an able journalist, and twice elected a member of Congress, the father of Major General and Colonel Doubleday, of the late war ; John and Jacob Schaefer, saddlers, of whom one only was resident in 1820, nor he a few years later ; John Todd, and Smead & Cable, cabinet makers ; George Green, boat- man ; Lemuel and Shuthelah Wilcox, the latter of whom drummed the enlisted men into rank, while the former trans- ported them in his boats on the river ; and after the war was over. 358 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. did bis boating on tbe canal ; Jedediab Marvin,- successor to Mr Macomber, as " the man who rings the bell ;" Cornelius Davis^ laborer; Mrs. Lois Wliite, mother of Olive and Susan, two well known dressmakers, and of John, a wheelwright ; William Lowell, Charles Smith, Susannah Howell, Rebecca Van Syce,, etc. 1814. At the annual meeting held in the spring of 1814, the Market house was still a matter of disagreement among the inhabitants. A motion to sell the same was lost by a majority of three. A motion to remove it to some other place was j)assed b}^ a majority of six ; but on reconsideration, this reso- lution was also lost by a vote of eighteen against eleven. The vexatious subject continued, however, to rankle in the minds of those who deemed themselves most incommoded by what others deemed so very essential. And when, in October, the trustees passed an ordinance allowing any, one to sell meat in any quantity and at any hour, provided it be done in the Market square, and in accordance with the ordinances, these dissentients appealed to the trustees to call another meeting of the inhabitants to consider the propriety of disposing of the market. Such special meeting was accordingly held, when D. W. Childs submitted the following preamble and resolution, which was carried, though not without a show of opposition from Arthur Breese, the original projector of the market : " Whereas, In the opinion of this meeting the market in the village of Utica, is situate in a very improper place, and whereas the removal of the same would be of public utilit}^, therefore, Resolved, That after the expiration of the term for which the stalls in said market are let, the trustees be, and the same are hereby authorized to cause said market to be removed to ." The blank was then filled by designating the corner of Division and Water street as its resting place, and seventy-five dollars were ap})ropriated for its removal. Marketing for the future w^as made free to everybody, and at all times and places. And at a meeting of trustees held on the following day, the by-laws relating to the market were rescinded, and thus was set at rest, for some j^ears at least, this most perplexing and faction- provoking question. THE SECOND CHARTER. 359 The trustees who held office during the year were Talcott Camp, Jeremiah Van Kensselaer, Natlian WilHams, Kilhan Winne, and Samuel Stocking. J. C. Hoyt was continued as treasurer, and Nicholas Smith as collector. When the board first met after their election, they again made Mr. Camp their president and Jolin H. Ostrom, clerk. At one of their meetings held later in the course of the year, they appointed William H. Maynard, village attorney, in the place of Thomas Skinner, the latter having become about this time captain of an artillery company, destined for Sacketts Harbor. The most important business of the board during the year, respects an improvement which we are surprised to learn has not been made before. That a thrifty village of seventeen hun- dred to eighteen huudred inhabitants, and which has already earned the appellation of commercial capital of the county, should be destitute of so common a convenience as sidewalks, seems to us, who enjoy so many rarer privileges, truly astonish- ing. Yet so it is, that not until the 23d of May, ISi-i, do' we find an ordinance passed " for the better improving the streets of Utica, and making the sidewalks in said village." This ordinance required the owners or occupants of houses on both, sides of Genesee street, from Bleecker to Water, on both sides of Whitesboro, from Genesee to the corner east of Inman's brewery (Broadway), on both sides of Main as far as First, and thence on its south side as far as Bridge, to make sidewalks for foot travellers within ninety days, in the manner prescribed, or be subject to a fine of twenty dollars, and a further one of two dollars and a half for every month of neglect thereafter. The sidewalks of Genesee street were to be fifteen feet in width, and to be constructed of smooth or cobble stone, from Whites- boro to Catherine, except between the stoops, where, at the owners option, they might be made of gravel. Elsewhere, that is to say, on Whitesboro and Main streets, these walks were to be ten feet from the front line of the lots, and of smooth or cobble stone, or of good clean gravel, at the option of the maker. The same liberty with respect to material, was allowed on Genesee, below Whitesboro and above Catherine to Bleecker, a street which seems now first to be officially recognized. The outer border of these walks was to be protected by timber and a line of posts, except where passages to barns were needed. 360 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. The ordinance likewise forbade driving upon the sidewalks, unless it were to leave or take away loading, the making of fires to heat wagon wheels, or the fastening of a horse or leav- ing of a wagon thereupon. In September, additional sidewalks ten feet wdde, but of optional material, were ordered to be con- structed on the north side of Liberty street, from the office of Joseph Kirkland, as far as the Presbyterian meeting-house, and on the south side of Broad street, from the corner of James Van Eenssalaer's store, to the Episcopal church. Pleased, appa- rently, with the improvements effected, and yet not satisfied that all had been done w^hich was necessary or becoming, the trustees, in October, proceeded to order at the public expense, the laying of crosswalks at all the principal intersections. Those of Gen- esee and Whitesboro streets were to be of flagging, two feet wide and protected by timbers, while a three foot width of gravel, similarly bordered, was thought to be sufficient for the intersections of less travelled highways. The work, thus or- dered by the trustees, involved an expense not anticipated by their constituents, and for which no funds had been provided, and it was the first instance in which the board had overrun their estimates. But at the special meeting o'f inhabitants which occurred shortly afterward, the latter sanctioned the act, requested the trustees to procure the stone that would be needed, and agreed to pay for the same. One further proceeding of this board of 1814, is worthy of mention, suggestive as it is of the war and the scai'city of currency wdiich this entailed. Having first obtained a promise from the officers of the Manhattan Branch Bank, that in case of the issue of notes by the board, the bank would redeem them, they passed, in February 1815, the following resolution: '■'■Resolved^ That corporation bills, not to exceed five thousand dollars, be issued, signed by the president, and made payable at the Man- hattan Branch Bank." The bills were all of fractional currency, and of six different denominations, ranging from three to seven- ty-five cents. Specimens are still preserved, which were issued during this and the two succeeding years, bearing the name of the president of the year. The Capron Cotton Manufacturing Company went into opera- tion at New Hartford, in the year 181-1. Of its capital rather more tlian one-third was subscribed by citizens of Utica ; the THE SECOND CHARTER. 361 heaviest subscribers being Seth Capron, of Whitesboro, and Jeremiah Van Kensselaer, and Asahel Seward, of Utica. It was in 1814, also, on the 28th of March, that the first charter was obtained of the Utica Academy. But the getting a charter was the simplest part of founding such a school ; and as much difficulty was encountered, and a long delay occurred before the building was erected and the school put in progress, I defer a further notice until we reach a more prominent era in its histor^^ A brief notice has already been taken of the Female Charit- able Society of Whitestown, founded in 1806. In 181-4, this society reappears under the title of the Female Missionary Society of Oneida. The preamble to its constitution, opens with the same language with that of the first one, viz. : '■ The subscribers, believing that a portion of the bounties of Provi- dence," etc., and to this succeeds, the following, viz. : " From the success this institution has been crowned with, we are encouraged to hope for stillgreater favor." The presumption is reasonable, therefore, that the newly named society was but a continuation of the former. In one of its annual reports it is stated that it was originally an auxiliary to the Hampshire Missionary Society, — which was an association organized at Northamton, Mass., in 1802, and designed to propagate the Gospel among the inhabitants of the new settlements of the United States — that it became independent in the year 1814, under the name of the Female Missionary Society of Oneida, and that in 1817, after having extended its operations, it took the title of the Female Missionary Society of the Western District. In the account given by Hotchkin* of the Grenesee Missionary Society, mention is made of several of its auxiliaries, that bore the title of Female Charitable Missionary Societies, and were designed to cooperate in missionary work with a central head. The association was made up of ladies from different towns in the county and having numerous branches in connection with it. It w^as governed, in 1814, by ten trustees, and had for its president Mrs. Susan B, Snowden of New Hartford, and for its secretary Mrs. Ann Breese of Utica. Forty-six of its sub- scribers were from Utica. The receipts into the treasury for the year 1819 amounted to more than thirteen hundred dollars. * History of Western New York. 362 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. The only annual reports which the writer has seen are those of 1822 and 1827. The former of these show^s that the parent society had then fift}^ branches scattered all over the western and northern portions of the State, numbering from thirteen to seventy four members each. The contributions of the year ending September 3, 1822, amounted to $1,175.62. The num- ber of missionaries employed from time to time iii the course of the year was eleven. Their whole time, had it been all thus consumed by one of them only, would have amounted to thirty months, for most of them were ministers who had engagements, more or less engrossing, with churches in the neighborhood of then- missionary fields, and could give but a few weeks of the year to the call of this society. The region of country covered by their labors extended to St. Lawrence countj^ on the nortli, to Otsego on the south and to Niagara on the west. The re- ports of the missionaries embraced in the general report, show that they were actively and usefully engaged, chiefly in preach- ing and in visiting from house to house. They established Sunday schools, helped destitute churches to get pastors, and afforded aid to numerous infant ones ; they encouraged the branches of the parent society and obtained j^atronage for the latter, besides setting in motion springs of benevolence that touched upon temperance, education, Bible and tract distribu- tion, and mission work in foreign countries. The greater part of the district embraced within the care of this society was, at the commencement of its operations, a moral wilderness; little had yet been done within its bounds in the wa}" of systematic and efficient missionary labor. The report of one of its em- ployes of the year 1821, shows that in the whole county of Gen- esee there was but one Presbyterian minister who had a pas- toral charge, and that there was but one in charge, likewise, in that part of the county of Livingston which lies west of the Gen- esee river. The sections included within the range of the other laborers were, in general, but little more favored in spiritual matters. The parent society, having its seat in Oneida county, was managed by fifteen trustees, all ladies, chosen from eight towns of the county. Hannah P., wife of President Davis of Hamilton College, was the president of the society, and Electa Eandal and Cynthia Risley, her mother, both of New Hartford, were the secretary and the treasurer respectively. Mrs. Joseph THE SECOND CHARTEE. 863 Kirkland, Mrs. Walter King and Mrs. William Tillman consti- tuted the trustees from Utica, which place contained a larger number of members than any other town. One of the mission- aries of the society, during the year 1821-2, was Kev. David E. Dixon, the teacher heretofore noticed : another was Eev. Sam- uel T. Mills, the first principal of the Utica Academy. In the year 1824, Rev. Charles Gr. Finney, the well known revival preacher, was one of the missionaries of this society, and this was his first ministerial duty. Some of the results of his efforts at this time are related in his Autobiography. From the society's report of 1827, we learn that Mrs. Davis was still the president and Mrs. Risley treasurer. The trustees from Utica were Mrs. King, Mrs. Alexander Seymour and Mrs. Oren Clark. Six missionaiies had been in service during the year, and the amount of money received was $637.22. In hope of more extended usefulness, it was determined at the annual meeting to become auxihary to the Western Domestic Mission- ary Society, an organization which was created June 7, 1S26,. which had similar objects and the same field of operations with their own, and employed a local agent at Utica. This connec- tion was continued until the dissolution of the Western Domes- tic Society, about two years later, and the supply of its place by the central agency of the American Home Missionary Society. A young people's missionary society was also formed in the county, about this time, in which the people of Utica bore only a part in conjunction with residents elsewhere ; but as Utica was the seat of its operations, some account of it belongs appro- priately to the place and the time. In the year 1813, some pious youth in Hamilton College conceived the design of a mis- sionary society, to be composed chiefly of young people, whose object it should be to send missionaries into the destitute parts of the western district of New York. They received the coun- tenance of the Presbyter}^ of Oneida, a few branch societies were formed, and in February 181-1, a meeting of delegates was held at New Hartford, and $58.25 were paid over to the treas- urer. In February 1815, the annual meeting was held at Clin- ton, and an address was delivered by Rev. Azel Backus, D. D.^ President of Hamilton College. Ten branch societies were rep- resented, and $289.84 was placed in the treasur}^ In June fob 36-1 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. lowing the society appointed Miles P. Squires, a student of the seminary at Andover, as a missionary. His more particular designation was to explore the more unsettled portions of the country, and form auxiliaries in the principal villages and towns in Western New York. This service he performed with inde- fatigable industry and success, and made so strong an impres- sion on the people of Buffalo, that they settled him among them. In February 1816, the annual meeting was held at Whitesboro, and the sermon delivered by Rev. Asahel Norton of Clinton. Thu'teen branches were reported, among which, for the first time, appeared one from ITtica. The amount raised was $-143.50. During this year several missionaries were appointed. Elisha P. Swift, a licentiate from Princeton, travelled through the south- western counties of the district, and describes them as, in general, deplorably destitute of religious instruction. Elam Clark, a theological student from Schenectady, who was also em- ploj^ed by the society, followed verj- nearly the route of Mr. Squires, preached over one hundred and fifty sermons, assisted in forming some branch societies, and obtained some' funds. The next annual meetino-, in 1817, was held at Onondaga, and the sermon preached by Rev. John Frost of Whitesboro. The amount of receipts reported was $839.34. The subsequent pro- ceedings of the association I am unable to trace, as the report of this year is the last I have seen. I know only, that as mis- sionary they appointed Rev. George A. Calhoun, from Salisbury, a man of fine abilities, whose classical education had been in part obtained at Hamilton College, but who had now just grad- uated at Andover. He, too, travelled through the western part of the State, and especially in Genesee county, and was success- ful in setting up auxiliary societies. From the report of 1817, it would appear that the next annual meeting was to be held at Auburn, and that the Reverends Henry Dwight, John Frost and Noah Coe were constituted a committee to prepare the re- port. Mr. Hotchkin * assei'ts that " for several years this society did considerable to supply the destitutions " of that part of the State. It was composed ])rincipally of young people, who paid twenty-five cents on admission to membership, and a quarterly tax of the same amount Individuals, over thirty years of age, might become advisory members for the term of two years on * History of Western New York. THE SECOND CHARTER. 365 the payment of one dollar, but were not allowed to vote. The principal officers of the parent society w ere adults, and for the most part Presbyterian ministers. Ebenezer Griffin, then of Clinton, though shortly afterward of Utica, acted as treasurer. The number of members of all the auxiliar}' branches, which were located throughout the western portion of the State, M-as fourteen hundred and fifty. This society, like the one just described, was eventually merged in the Western Domestic Mis- sionary Society. In April of this j'ear there was formed among the Welsh, an association for the support of its members in time of affliction and want. It was incorporated the following year, under the title of the Ancient Britons Benevolent Society. By virtue of a small monthl}- payment each member received, in case of sick- ness, two dollars per week ; and in case of death, twenty dol- dars was paid the widow or nearest relative, to defray the expense of the funeral. In 1828, the society had eighty-six members, and a fund of six hundred and fifty dollars. On the 23d of jSIay in the following year its charter was renewed. It had paid within the year three hundred dollars as benefits to its members. By the year 1845, its fund had increased to $1,225, and there was requu-ed an initiation fee of three dol- lars, and an annual payment of a like sum. It is now extinct. On the 16th of August, 1814, was organized the Utica Bap- tist Foreign Missionary Society. It is still in existence, and auxiliary to what was known as the Triennial Baptist Conven- tion, now the American Baptist Union. It will have been observed that the newly appointed officials of the year comprise two men not named before. These men were afterward conspicuous in the annals of both town and county, one of them, in fact, by reason of his great endow- ments and the influence he exerted, accpTiring a very much wider celebrity. Let me essay first a sketch of the latter, and, with befitting humility, do my best to set in order the facts I have been able to collect relating to the life and character of William Hale Maynard, one of the ablest lawyers and acutest and best furnished intellects of any that has ever made his home in S66 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. / Utica. He was the son of Malachi and Anna (Hale) Maynard, of Conway, Mass. His father was the second of tliirteen sons of Ebenezer Maynard, who was the grandson of John, one of the founders of Marlborough, Mass., and great-grandson of the John Maynard, who, corning from England in 1638, became one of the original grantees of the town of Sudbury in that State. Malachi Maynard, an intelligent farmer, " was a genuine old New Englander and a puritan, and a good specimen of both : strong in body and in mind, resolute, independent, upright, re- ligious, staying put in his place. He had but six weeks school- ing, was twenty six years town treasurer, figured in his head and figured right, and settled right after he had figured." He took a decided stand for the rights of the colonies and held positions on important committees. He was representative to the general court, 1799-1801, and a member of the convention of 1788 which adopted the Federal constitution. Anna Hale, his second wife and the mother of six of his ten children, was daughter of Captain Thomas Hale, of Brookfield, Mass., who was likewise a leading man in his town. Among her brothers there was a State Senator of Mass., a ca})tain of the Revolu tionary army, and two highly respected physicians, one of them a surgeon in the same army, who afterwards settled in West- chester county, N. Y., and married a daughter of General "William Paulding. William H, who was the eldest of the mother's children, was born in Conwa}^, November 23, 1786. His early years were characterized by filial obedience, strict integrity, studious habits, and an ever increasing thirst for knowledge. He fitted for college under the tuition of Rev. Mr. Hallock of Plainfield. In December, 1807, he was him- self emj^loyed in teaching in Plainfield, in the district school. One cold morning, as he entered the school room, he observed a boy whom he had not before seen. The lad soon made known his errand. He was fifteen years old ; his parents lived seven miles distant ; he wanted to obtain an education, and had come from home that morning to consult Mr. Maynard on the subject; his parents were unable to assist him, nor had he friends on whom he could rely for such assistance. Mr. May- nard was impressed with cool and resolute manner, which showed that the young man was willing to encounter difficul- ties that would intimidate common minds; he saw also that he 4\i^ ^-"T^^^^^ ^. .^^^a=^^--.*^^^^=^ THE SECOND CHARTER. 367 possessed good sense, but no uncommon brilliancy. He made provision for having him board in the family with whom he was himself lodged, the lad paj'ing his way by manual labor. This lad was Jonas King, who afterwards became a distin- guished and useful missionarj^ at Athens in Greece, and passed through trying persecution with singular courage and fortitude. Some credit for the success in after life of this remarkable person is surely due to his first instructor.* Mr. Mayuard him- self entered Williams College, and was graduated in 1810. He and Justin Edwards, were room-mates and rivals for the valedictory, and though it was assigned to Mr. Edwards, Mr Maynard bore off the second honor. Soon after his graduation he removed to New Hartford in Oneida county, and entered himself as a student of law in the office of General Joseph Kirkland. To some extent he con- tinued his employment of teaching, and was at the same time diligent and laborious in the study of his profession. Tn the 3-ear 1811, he purchased of John H. Lothrop his interest in the Uiica Patriot^ and at once assumed its editorshij^. With this paper he retained a connection, and was its chief contributor, down to the year 1824 While it schooled him to the facile use of the pen, and kept him informed of the political events and contentions of the day, its columns bore always the im- press of his clear and logical mind, and were marked b}' forci- ble argument and ample and pertinent illustration. About the time of the comj^letion of his course of legal stud}' he followed his preceptor to Utica. In December, 1814, we hear of what was probably his first suit. In behalf of one of the citizens of the place, he conducted successfully a prosecution for assault and batter}^ brought against the recruiting sergeant then tem- poraril}- established here. The diarist who mentions the inci- dent, and who witnessed the trial, speaks of Mr. Maynard as a young man of promising talents. In January following, as has been before stated, he is made attorney of the village. His first associate in practice was Samuel A. Talcott. Their office in 1816 was at No. 4 Broad street. Another attorneyship which he received about this time was of more importance to him pecuniarily than that of prosecutor for the village. He was appointed law officer of the Utica Insurance Company, which * Durfee's Biographical Annals of Williams College. 368 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA, it will be remembered was a banking company also, and here he laid the foundation of his property. In 1818, he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court. "But," says Judge Bacon,* "he rose rapidly after he had made his first mark, and was soon employed on one side or the other in most of the heavy litigation that engaged the attention of the courts of the count3^'' It was in the Supreme Court, and that for the correction of errors, that his talents found the best field for their exercise ; the preparation of a cause for trial in the inferio]- courts, the presentation of the evidence, and the artful moulding of the Jury to an opinion favorable to one's own client, were done as well by many others. But in logical acumen and in wealth and profundity of learn- ing, — in exact perception of the points at issue, and in thorough elucidation of them by all of law and of precedent that were citable and apposite, and that, too, in the j^resence of his com- peers, and where reason, and not prejudice or feeling, were to judge, — it was here that Mr. Maynard most excelled, and where his principal laurels were obtained. For these were his dis- tinguisliing traits, and which characterized him both as a speaker and a writer. He had little imagination ; he was not graceful in manner nor finished in elocution, though the language he used was always the pui-est and plainest Saxon. But his men- tal vision was clear and his reasoning cogent, and, in addition, he was possessed of a memorj'- wonderfully retentive, and whose stores were ever at command. He would try a cause for days together without touching pen to jDaper and 3'et in the end re- tain all the evidence that had been adduced. At one time he was associated with the late Hiram Denio in a suit in which six days had already been consumed in the taking of testimony. "While preparing to open his plea, he turned to his as&ociate and asked for a list of the witnesses. The latter, thinking he asked for an abstract of their evidence, intimated that it would require time to make it out. But this w^as not his request; all he wanted was the names of the difi'erent witnesses in the oi'der of their appearance. Furnished with such a list, he proceeded with his speech, and never tripped in his remembrance of every })article of testimony, nor in marshaling into place all that was relevant and effective. To the foregoing, communicated to the * Early Bar of Oueida County. THE SECOND CHARTER. 869 writer b}^ Hon. William J. Bacon, who had it from Judge Denio himself, I add another illustrative incident obtained from the lips of Hon. Henry A. Foster, who was associated with Mr. Maynard in the State Senate. During a session of that body, Senator N, P. Tallmadge introduced a bill for the creation of a whaling com])any at Poughkeepsie. Though Mr. Maynard had had no intimation of the intended introduction of any such bill, he rose at once and discoursed for nearly an hour upon the gen- eral subject of the whaling interest. Beginning with its earli- est experience in England, he stated in detail the various legis- lative acts relating to it, the successive bounties, with their amounts, that had been offered for its encouragement, and the issues of such action. Then turning to the United States, he recapitulated in like manner all that had been done by Congress with reference to whaling, together with the past and present condition of the business in this country. Accustomed to the patient vigils of the scholar, Mr. Maynard had laid up a large fund of general and historical knowledge. He could give all the details of Napoleon's several campaigns and the part taken by each one of his marshals, as well as the personal peculiarities of these subordinate oflficers. And this, let it be borne in mind, ' was when histories of these campaigns were rare, and news- papers and reviews furnished the most of what was known of tliem. A mind thus copiously furnished, and so clear in its convic- tions, could not be otherwise than instructive, and its possessor much sought both as a companion in private and as a speaker in public. His public addresses were spontaneous and free, and though often abounding in facts and statistics, were delivered without notes, and apparentl}^ without purposed preparation. To the confidence reposed in him as a wise adviser and a skill- ful manager of the concerns of individuals, he added also much in- fluence in matters of general and political interest. He was among the early trustees of the Utica Academy ; and we are informed by the historian of that institution tliat from his en- trance to the board, the marks of his vigor and activity are traceable in various suggestions and reports in writing, which, although not signed by him, are cognizable by his peculiar hand writing ; and also that he was one of a committee appointed z 370 THE PIOXEEKS OF UTICA. to make arrangements for the opening of tlie school, to procure a teacher, and devise a system of*instruction. In pohtics, Mr. Maynard was the leading spirit of tlie Adams administration in this county, his most formidable opponent being Samuel Beardsley. In 1819, when DeWitt Clinton was nominated as Governor in opposition to Daniel D. Tompkins, he left the Federal party, which had now almost ceased to exist as an organized faction, and took sides with the fifty-one "high- minded " gentlemen who befriended Grovernor Tompldna Nat- urally he soon began to manifest liis change of sentiment by a change in the tone and conduct of the paper which he managed. Messrs. Seward & Williams, the publishers and chief owners of the Patriot, were startled at this sudden revolution in the char- acter of their paper, and alarmed l>y the falling off of its sub- scribers. Legal advisers, whom they consulted, recommended the setting up of a new one as their onl}^ mode of relief ; and accordingly they started the Utica Sentinel. At once they were met by a prosecution from Mr. Maynard. How, and to what extent they rendered themselves liable for so doing, and which of the parties was most at fault in the whole transaction, de- pends, of course, on the terms of the contract between them, and of these I am ignorant. The case was submitted to three ref-' erees, and they rendered a verdict for the plaintiff of $7,500. Another suit of a personal and political nature in which he was once engaged, was one for libel, brought against him by Sam- uel Beardsley. The libellous words were contained in an arti- cle written by Mr. Maynard for the Utica Sentinel and Gazette^ and which appeared on the 20th of June, 1828. They were in the form of a letter, without signature, but intended to be un- derstood as written by Mi-. Beardsley, and addressed to a brother- in-law, and commencing with the words " Dear Friend and Brother Jay," and contained an admission that he, the writer, while acting as district attorney for the northern district of New York, had cliarged the government six hundred dollars as ex- pended by him, when in fact he had ])aid out only ninety-two. It also contained an admission of unworthy and selfish motives for his political conduct in not attending a convention at Herki- mer, to which he was appointed delegate. Of the alleged prov- ocations of the libel, one was a communication in the Utica Ohsei'ver^ signed " Old School," charging that Mr. Maynard edited THE SECOND CHARTER. 371 a paper during the late war, more rife with treason, and tending more to imbrue this country with low-bred treachery than all tlie other papers that haye eyer been published in this coun- try. Another, with the same signature, charged him with join- ing the Democrats for the sake of office, and of now being en- gaged in getting the Republicans to sign a call for a Federal State conyention, to oppose General Jacksoii. The hbel, as he offered to show on tlie trial, was a reply to these seyeral articles in the Observer, written by Mr. Beardsley, and meant to injure him, and it was so understood by witnesses whom he produced. But Judge Marcy held that in action of libel the defendant can- not giye in eyidence other hbels published of him by the plain- tiff, which do not distinctly relate to the same subject ; nor is it allowable for a witness to declare how he understood the libel, though he might be asked to show how it was generally un- derstood by others. The plaintiff accordingly recoyered a yer- dict of Ui^. Mr. Maynard had been a member of a masonic lodge, yet, when in consequencs of an atrocious crime committed in West- ern New York by some indiyiduals among the masons, there arose a strong opposition to the whole order, which, spreading through the State, resulted in the formation of the anti-masonic party, he took sides with that party. In 1828, he was by them elected Senator fi-oni his district, and continued to serye during the years 1829, '30, '31, and '32. By his election the Senate re- ceiyed a great accession of talent, and though he was one of a small pohtical minority, he exercised a high and commanding influence, and became in the latter portion of his career, the acknowledged leader of that body. " He was,'' says Proctor,* " the great intel - lectual light of the Senate — the Halifax of his party." In the different branches of the Legislature of 1832, to quote further from this author, " two future Governors of the State occupied seats : one of whom was William H. Seward and the other John Young. The former was eleyated from the gubernatorial chair to the Senate of the United States, and fi'om thence to be prime minister of two presidential administrations. Both of these gentlemen, in 1832, were overshadowed by the talents, position and influence of Maynard and Granger. The early death of the former opened a field for the splendid abilities of Mr. Seward, * Bench aud Bar of New York. 372 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. while the mental resources of John Young gradually removed all" opposition in his way, and he grasped the highest honors of the- Empu"e State." Among the projects advocated by Mr. Maynard^ while in the Senate, and one which was mainly effected through his advocacy, was the act for the creation of the Chenango canal. In its favor, he delivered a long and able speech, statesmanlike in its policy, and marked by careful research, unerring figures and wise deduction. During this period he continued to be actively engaged in the duties of his profession, and was so up to the time of his death. From the year 1822, his law partner had been Ebenezer Griffin. After 1828, this connection was exchanged for a partnership with Joshua A. Spencer. With such masters of legal practice as were his successive associates, a connection could not but entail a responsible standing and much laborious duty, even upon a common place lawj'er. But when this law- yer was himself a man of industry, attainment and rare intel- lectual vigor, it needs scarcely to be said, that the reputation of the firm was widely spread, and that their causes were heard: in all the courts. In August 1832, Mr. Maynard was in the city of New York, in attendance upon the Court of Errors, when he was suddenly stricken down with the cholera, the dire epidemic of that sea- son. He was attacked on the 12th, kept his bed until the 17th, when he was convalescent, but was taken with typhoid, and died on the 28th of the month. His remains, at first de})osited in New York, were, the following April, removed by direc- tion of the trustees of Hamilton College, and I'einterred with befitting ceremony in the College Cemetery in the presence of a large number of gentlemen and ladies. To Hamilton Col- lege, of which he was a trustee, Mr. Maynard was a liberal donor, having by his will bequeathed it a legacy, amounting, as he estimated, to $20,000, in order to found therein a Pro- fessorship of Law. At the grave, as says the record, " ex- Presi- dent Davis made a short but impressive address to those who stood around in silence, with heavy hearts and solemn coun- tenances, at seeing so much talent and learning, and goodness and benevolence, consigned to the cold, dark and silent tomb." I have little to add more. "We have seen his munificence in behalf of education ; an instance may be added of his liberality towards objects of a religious nature. Though a worshipper in THE SECOND CHARTER, 373 "the Presbyterian Church, when a Baptist societ}' in Utica, newly ■organized and needy, was in want of a lot on which to build, he sold them the lot on Broad street where they placed their church, for an almost nominal sum, about one third of what he had paid for it. Amiable and benevolent, his life was directed by principles of mtegrit}' and honor, and was for the most part free of reproach. If it is permissible to say that at one period he was not beyond the influence of the common vice of the time, it is to be said also that he gave heed to the counsel ■of friends who informed him of his danger, and mastered the habit before it had acquired a fatal ascendency. He was above the medium size, plain in his manners and in his attire, and not especially prepossessing in appearance, unassuming and easy of -approach. He was never married. A brief editorial notice of Mr. Maynard appeared in the Albany A^-gus immediately after his death. After adverting to his vigor of mind, thoroughly im- bued with the learning of the day, professional and political, his exactness of logic, and his remarkable facility of bringing out and applying his resources, Mr. Croswell continues as follows : "As a lawyer, as a debater in the Senate, and as a capable writer, he has left few superiors among his cotemporaries. Although of opposite politics with ourselves, we knew and estimated the power of his intellect, and, along with our friends, have felt the sharpness and force of an encounter with it. To his personal friends his death is a severe deprivation. In the political party to which he was attached he has left no equal, and none that can suppl}^ his place." John H. Ostrom, the newly appointed clerk of the village, was a son of Judge David Ostrom, heretofore noticed, and was still at his studies when called to record the public doings. He was born in New Hartford, in 1794, and was now a student at law with Walter King. Two years later, in February 1816, he opened an office, and about the same time was made village attorne}^ In 1820 he became a partner of Judge Morris S. Miller. A partnership of a later date, and which lasted until his death, he had with his brother-in-law, Thomas R Walker. But he was not so much to attain eminence in the law as by Iiis popular manners and personal influence to impress himself upon his fellows, to manage and direct the affairs of town and 374 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA, couuty, and to serve with credit in numerous public offices, AVithin his own municipahty he tilled successively, the posts of clerk, trustee and assessor of the village, and, after its incor- poration as a city, those of member of the Common Council and mayoi", besides discharging for several years, the duties of chief engineer of the fire department. He rose through the- various grades of military preferment to that of major general ; and was hkeways clerk of the county from 1826 to 1882. He was an original director in the Oneida Bank and was of service in the concerns of the Presbyterian Church. His life was one of constant activity, and the duties of his several offices were- performed with unvarj-ing fidelity. As a lawyer his standing was respectable, but he was chiefly distinguished as a political leader. His success in this regard was largely due to the enticement of his manners, which were elevated, graceful and insinuating. Affability was his most evident trait. For higli and low, young and old, he had a smile of recognition and a word of cheerful and sympathizing salntation ; nor did he ever forget the face or name of a person whom he once had met. Yet it was not the assumed urbanity of the artful seeker of office which he practiced ; his sincerity was undenied, his kind- ness genuine, prompt and overflowing. He was a trusty friend, a true patriot and a helpful citizen. Traits such as these — this conciliatory tact, and his readiness to serve and skill in serving,, on all occasions, whether as chairman of a public meeting, as manager at the funeral of a neighbor, or privately as counsel with any in need — made him popular in an uncommon degree,, and caused the regret at his loss to be profound and universal. Although overtaken by death while absent from home, it found liim not unpi-epared, and "in his dying hour, his faith was strong, and his soul replete with love to God and man." He died at Poughkee])sie, August 10, 1845, when aged fifty-one. His wife was Mary E., eldest daughter of Thomas "Walker. Nearly half a century of benevolent labons, unremitting and humble, and more than ordinarily efficacious, have secured for her a preeminent place in the history of the charities and relig- ious labors of Utica. In 1816, having then recently made a profession of religion, she was one of the four young ladies who originated Sabbath schools in the village. For more than forty years she continvied to labor in them, and for months THE SECOXD CHARTEK. 875 after she felt that the liand of death was "apon her, she attended ev.ery Sunday at a Mission school in prosecution of her self- denying labor. Yet this was but one of the many modes in which she exerted herself to do good. In tract distribution, in personal acts of benevolence, in zeal and energy in all matters relative to the church with which she was connected, and the cause of religion generally, she had no peer in the system, constancy, and disinterested fidelity of her labors. She pos- sessed a good degree of culture and accomplishments, which in another would have been conspicuous. Her one passion was to do good, to relieve sufferings and convert souls to ..Christ. Her death, which followed a lingering and painful disease occurred Septembei- 5, 1859, and was peaceful aiid triumphant. She was without a family. In the summer of 181-1, two lawyers from Schenectady set- tled in Utica, and after a residence of nearly two years removed to Chittenango. These were John B. Yates and William K. Fuller. The former had been already seven years at the bar^ had served as a captain in the campaign of 1813, had been elected a member of the fourteenth United States Congress, and was enjoying a well deserved reputation as an able lawyer, w^hen he took up his brief stay in Utica. Mr. Fuller, who was but just admitted to the practice of the Supreme Court, served while here as Master of Chancery and as attorney of the Oneida and Stockbridge Indians. Both of them in the place they selected as their subsequent home, filled important positions and rendered invaluable service, and in the history of Madison county their career is more ampl}^ detailed. Apropos of one of Mr. Fuller's offices, while in Utica, this incident is related : An Indian called one day at his place of business and inquired for him. Mr. Fuller was pointed out to the inquirer as one of a group of gentlemen on the opposite side of the street in front of the Utica Insurance office. The Indian approached him, when the following conversation ensued' " Are you Mr. Fuller ? " " Yes ; what can I do for you ? " "A man trespassed on my land.'' " Who was the man ; was he an Indian ? " " No." " Was he a negro ? " " No." " Was he a white man?" "No." "And pray what was he, if he was neither an Indian, a negro, nor a white man ? " " A Dutchmau," 376 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. As Mr. Fuller was from the old town of Durq), and was Dutcli in his maternal ancestry, and himself passed for a Dutchman, the reply was much relished b}' his companions. A merchant who filled a tolerably large place in the concerns of Utica, mercantile, social, ecclesiastical and charitable, was Nicholas Devereux. Coming from Ireland to New York in 1806, he landed in a strange country, and among a strange peo- ple. The capital he brought with him was a strong heart, a clear head, a solid and Christian education. Though alone in New York, Mr. Devereux found on his arrival in Utica, brothers who had preceded him and who had already secured a position in the community, and one of them, at least, a standing in its mart of trade. Received into the store of his brother John, he served him for a time as his clerk, and next in turn after Luke became a member of the firm. It was in May 1814, that the partnership was formed. Ere long it was interrupted, how- ever, by the death of their father, which recalled Nicholas to Ireland, to settle the estate and provide for the remaining mem- bers of the family. As war was then in progress with Great Britain, he sailed under a cartel, and in returning was obliged to proceed to Portugal, whence he embarked in a neutral vessel for this country. Again in Utica, he prosecuted with ardor his chosen calling, a calling beset for him with few reverses, and crowned in time with an ample fortune. In May 1816, the previous partnership was dissolved, and a new one under the title of N. Devereux & Co., was formed with George L. Tisdale, who had before been the clerk. This continued until June 1819. He had afterwards several later partners, as Horace Butler, James McDonough, Yan Yechten Livingston, and numerous were the changes that were rung in the appellation of this highl}?- respectable house. And though in these changes the name of the senior brother never appeared, a bonus was paid him meanwhile for the use of his capital and his credit, as well as a rent for his store. As a merchant Mr. Devercux's course was marlced by indus- tr}^ accuracy and econoni}'-. It was not until he had in part retii'ed, and when the management of matters was entrusted to Mr. McDonough, that such pecuniar}^ stress was encountered as obliged him to again resume the reins. At this time, the "/<^ /( ^ct.. half-grown sons and a daughter, was Mrs. Susan Winston. She became housekeeper for Gurdon Burchard, and likewise acted as nurse in some of the princij)al families. She was greatly valued in these capacities, and met with general esteem. This estimable lady passed her later years with her son in New York. Her son, Frederick Seymour, once a clerk with Doolittle & Gold, has enjoyed in the metropolis a degree of success that he well deserves, and is now president of the New York Mutual Life Insurance Company. A teacher in the Sunday school while at Utica, he is remembered with affection by man}^ former pupils who are now leading men in various parts of the country. Dennis Marvin, his brother, was a cotemporary and friend of H. G. 0. D wight. Together they prepared for college, under the instruction of Erastus Clark ; together they were graduated at Hamilton ; and together they passed through Andover. Ill health drove Winston to the South, and he died at an early age. A writer in the office of the clerk of the Supreme Court was William K3^te, a quaint, old-fashioned man and respected office- bearer of Trinity Church. He died July 20th, 1832, aged eighty- seven, leaving a daughter Jenny. THE SECOND CHARTER. 883 Nicholas N. Weaver, an apprentice of Shubael StoiTs was a captain in the war, and then was married. This Weaver, as was noted by the papers, married a Shoemaker, and had the ceremony performed by a Spinner. Setting up as a watchmaker, he carried on his trade for a few years, and then went to Cleveland, Ohio. He was back again by 1884, sold watches and jewelry ten or a dozen years, and returned to Cleveland to die. He was father of William N. Weaver, the persistent office-holder of the sec- ond ward. Among the grocers were Thomas and James Battle, the former killed after a few years, by being crushed between a canal boat and a bridge, the latter, temporarily absent, but return- ing about 1882, and remaining a dozen years ; William Shelton, butcher as well as grocer and saloon keeper ; Justin Cooley, who swapped land situated where is now the Parker Block, with Levi Thomas, and went upon the New Hartford road to keep tavern ; Daniel Brown, whose grand -children are still in Utica, and Braddock Loring, of short continuance. Among the mechanics, were Thomas Laney and Richard Lawrence, masons ; Greorge Van Syce, Micajah Pinckney and Morgan Truesdell, shoemakers, of whom the widow of the last has been living in Utica since 1806 — and, a girl when she came, has survived three husbands: WiUiam A. Tennery, morocco dresser ; John Lewis, tailor ; Jesse Kingsbury, tobacconist, suc- ceeded by his widow as keeper of a cigar and candy store ; Jonathan Ingersoll and Peter Mix, printer's apprentices, the first of whom revived and edited, as well as printed, The Club ; John Harrison, baker; Henry Sherman, butcher; John P. Hin- man and Henry Mesick, curriers; Nathaniel Lamson, wagon maker ; William Staples, chair maker — -who also boarded the village poor ; George Plato, tinner ; David Miller, machinist ; John Robinson, blacksmith. The latter was the father of the notorious Jack Robinson, circus proprietor. Not taking kindly to study, the boy slipped away from home one day, after a castigation from his father for absence from school, and walked to Albany. He soon got a situation in a menagerie, and four years experience in it shaped his subsequent career. He became celebrated as a performer, and his graceful and daring four-horse act was one of the principal attractions of the show. In turn he 384 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. was attached to several different companies, and at lengtli got up one of his own. With it he travelled extensively throughout the South and West, and in the management of a business that brought him more than a million of dollars, he showed great executive ability, and the power to govern and control. Since 1865 he has made his headquarters in Cincinnati ; and in 1875 he was the independent candidate for mayor of that city. His brother Alexander, who follow^s the same pursuit, lives in Utica, and during the winter season quarters his retinue in the neigh- borhood. Thomas Cornwall, barber, says in 1814, that " he is established in the line of his barberous profession, one door east of Messrs. Lee & Clark's law office, where all kinds of shaving that will not interfere with the regular business of his neigh- bors, will be carried on in the most genteel style." James Ingolls, another barber, kept also a fancy store and remained manv years in the place. The following were laboring men, viz. : Jacob Evertson, Elijah Root, John Hewson, and John Rowe. Francis Kent was a farmer. The occupation of James Little, Amos Gridley and Silas D. Strong is not known. 1815. The inhabitants, at the annual meeting held on the second of May 1815, ordered that one thousand dollars should be raised by tax, for the current expenses of the year, and they elected the following persons to serve as trustees, viz. : Abraham Van Santvoort, Augustus Hickox, Grurdon Burchard, Jason Parker, and William Geere. Mr. Yan Santvcort was subsequently chosen presulent. Mr. Parker neglected to qualify, and the board fined him twenty-five dollars for his neglect. Little was done throughout the year that deserves mention. Additional sidewalks w^ere ordered on both sides of Whitesboro street, as far west as Washington, and on both sides the latter street ; on both sides of Division ; of Main, as far as First ; a like dis- tance on the northern side of Broad, and on both sides of First between Main and Broad. The market was leased to Ilenry Sherman and John Roberts. And before the expiration of their term, the board resolved to discontinue the issuing of small bills, and appointed Harry Camp to redeem those already issued. THE SECOND CHAKTER. 385 In August 1814, Judge Morris S. Miller, joint owner of the Bleecker estate, and who looked after the family interest in Utica, addressed a letter to John R Bleecker of Albany, with reference to the extension of John street, which had been opened from Main to Broad some four or five years before. The letter contains some points of sufficient interest to justify the quoting of an extract : •' I would urge," he says, " that John street should be continued to Bridge street ; that Third street should be con- tinued to Elizabeth ; and that Elizabeth and all the streets par- allel to it, down to Catherine, should also be formed with the least possible delay. Now is the time particularly favorable for us to do something, as Mrs. Codd has commenced a suit against Mr. Kip, and this places our property altogether in a better situation than any other in the village. In regard to the streets which I allude to, even if the prospect of doing some- thing with the property was not so fair as I think it is, the ad- A^antage they would aiiord as a drain for the wet ground would do much toward compensating for the expenditure. Another object is the public square. People are pretty full of the idea that the Legislature wall sit here at no very remote period ; and are casting their eyes to that part of the town as the probable- site of the public buildings. This is an important circumstance of which we ought to avail ourselves. If the square should be distinctly marked by posts, the roads around it thrown up, and trees planted about it, the square would be seen by every body, and the consequent advantages to us need not be mentioned. For myself, I think that next to rebuilding the bridge (the bridge, he means, at the foot of Bridge street, known as Miller's bridge, w^hich had recently been swept away), the opening of this street is most important ; and in addition to the part of the lot wanted for the street, I would be contenfto give my proportion of $2,800 (say $700), provided it could not be efEected for less. John street would, I think, be the second street in the village." The improvements here proposed were probably entered upon the following year, and were completed in the course of the sea- son, for in the fall of 1816, when the first village directory w^as prepared, John street had about half a dozen residents, and Chancellor square and Jay street each half as many. For information relative to other matters of a public nature,, we are left to the inferences that mav be drawn from a few ad- A-1 386 THE PIOXEERS OF UTICA. vertisemeiits of this date. One of these informs us tliat, owine: to a stagnation of business, from thii'tv to forty carpenters and joiners were in want of employment, and ready to work on the most reasonable terms. Another advertisement announces an application as pending in tlie Legislature for the incorporation of a Western District Bank. A bank by this name was never incorpoi'ated, but the Utica Insurance Company now obtained. its charter, and had as directors nearly the same persons as those who were named in the above mentioned application. The branch of the Ontario Bank was also established the present year. Utica came near being at this time the scene of an event of some historic import, for here, as it had been arranged, was to take place the trial of Greneral Samuel Wilkinson. In expecta- tion of this trial, a letter was addressed by President John Adams to a friend residing in the village, in which occurs the following playful passage: "Nothing will be wanting to make 3^our Utica as famous as Ithaca in the kingdom of Ulj^sses. Homer could easily make out of Wilkinson, Dearborn, &c., Agamemnons, Achilles, Ajaxes, Nostors, or what he pleased. Who knows but Wilkinson, who has suffered as much perse- cution as Cato, and who has advertised Harper and John Ran- dolph as cowards, may be reduced to such a state of indignation at the disgrace of his country, as to fall upon his sword and become as famous or notorious as Cato?" These military heroes arrived, as did also Martin Van Buren, the advocate general, and other prominent counsel. But it so happened, fortunately or otherwise, — whether, as alleged, from the covetous spirit of Utica landlords, or, as also alleged, from the lack of due appre- ciation by the villagers of the honor intended them, and their slighting treatment of these distinguished worthies, — the jjlaceof trial was suddenly changed to Troy. Thus Utica was robbed of the glory that had been expected, as well as spared the spec- tacle of so tragic an event as the self-immolation of a second Cato. It promptly took its part in the joy that attended the declara- tion of peace with Great Britain, the first hint of whose coming reached the village on this wise: A stranger dropped, one evening, into the book store of Asahel Seward, and remarking THE SECOND CHARTER. 387 that he saw a newspaper was printed there, he left a printed slip which he said he had no further need of, but which might be of use to the editor, and then took his departure. The stranger had business in the neighborhood, the issue of which depended on the issues of the war. Desirous to complete it be- fore the news got abroad of the making of peace, he had ridden postdiaste from Albany, and had reached Utica four hours in advance of the mails. The slip he brought with him was an extra, announcing the fact that peace had been made. Mr, Seward repaired at once to his printing room above, to direct that the news be put in type, while his clerk stuck a few can- dles in the windows. By the time he re- appeared below an ex- cited crowd had gathered about the door, frantic to know the particulars. Despite tlie apprehensions of some, that the stage on its coming might not confirm the intelligence, the few can- dles of the store kindled up others, and soon lit the town in a spontaneous blaze. A more formal and thorough illumination was made a few days later, when, with scarce an exception, every house was lighted, and the streets were made brilliant with rockets and fire balls. From another advertisement, dated June 8, 1815, we learn that the trustees of the Utica Academy had employed Rev.' Jesse Townshend as its instructor, and in view of " his long ex- perience and well known talents," they commend him to pub- lic favor. And this reminds me that it is time I should give some notice of the founding of an institution which has obtained a reputation and permanence that make its history well worthy of reminiscence. In doing so, I am fortunately aided by the ample details contained in the genial, sprightly and graceful address of J. Watson Williams, delivered on the 31st of January, 1868, at the opening of the second or modern academy building. From this I shall freely draw. In the year 1813, nineteen citizens of Utica asked the Regents of the University to incorpo- rate an academy to be located in their village. A charter was granted on the 28th of March in the next year, in which char- ter the following persons were named as trusteees, viz. : Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Arthur Breese, Talcott Camp, David W. Childs, Francis A. Bloodgood, Bryan Johnson, A. B. Johnson, Thomas Skinner,Thomas Walker, ApoUos Cooper, Solomon Wolcott, An- 888 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. son Thomas and Ebenezer B. Shearman. They elected Mr. Van: Rensselaer their president, Mr. Walker treasurer, and Mr. Shear- man secretary. They also started a subscription to raise the means witli which to erect a building and create a fund that should yield an annual income of one hundred dollars, for these were the pre- liminaries on which depended the validity of their charter. After a little fruitless experiment in favor of their design, it was found necessar}^, as it would seem, to modify tlie terms of tlieir subscription in order to give it success ; and a marginal after-thought was appended, enlarging the original purpose of a mei'C academic building into that of a building for the accomo- dation of conrts of justice and public meetings. Though the circulation of the subscription ceased after only about one thousand six hundred dollars had been subscribed, the trustees formally accepted their trust, and, as we have said, requested Rev. Jesse Townshend, in June 1815, to take chai'ge of their "infant seminary." This Mr. Townshend was now in his fif- tieth year, having been born in 1766, at Andover, Conn. In 1790, he was graduated at Yale College, after which he pre- pared himself for the ministry, and took charge of a church in his native State. Subsequently he was for thirteen years a successful preacher and pastor at Durham in Dutchess county, and next for some years a teacher at Madison. Madison county. The repute of his school at the latter place had drawn thither several boys from Utica and its vicinity, and gained him a patronage wdiicli induced him to settle there. At the time of his appointment by the trustees, he was teaching a grammar school in the village. That he was scholarly in acquirement is evinced by his authorship of an abridgement of Milnor's Church History, a work by which he was well and favorably known. For the present he was to occupy the school-hoi;se " where Mr. Williams now is." His compensation, which was seven hun- dred and fifty dollars, was to be collected by himself from the tuition fees, and any deficiency was to be provided by the trustees. Mr. Townshend remained instructor about two years, and then became pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Palmyra, N. Y. With respect to his personal character, it is said that "few men have lived of more uniform and undissembled piety." In the meantime, a committee of citizens proposed to the trustees, in the year 1816, to aid them in erecting a building, THE SECOND CHARTER. 389 ^liicli should subserve the joint purposes of " an academy, town-house and court house," and fresh subscriptions were started. "At once," says Mr. WilHams, "there sprung up a famous con trovers}^ about a site for tlie proposed structure ; and Genesee road, Miller road and Whitesboro road had a street fight to settle that matter. The Van Eensselaers, the Bleeckers, Dudlej^s and Millers, the Coopers, Potters and Bellingers con- tested it so hotly, that it became necessary, as expressed in the new subscription paper, in order to ' secure harmony in the village,' that the subscriptions should be so made, as that every subscriber to the amount of five dollars, should have a vote for either of two sites designated; one of which was the site finally adopted, and the other a lot on Grenesee street, then ad- joining the old Van Rensselaer homestead. The final subscrip- tion, dated May -i, 1816, is a venerable document, the body of it printed, and both printing and signature done on a roll of parchment, a yard and a half long, well filled with names and subscriptions, from three hundred dollars down to five dollars. At the foot are two certificates, engrossed by Colonel Ben- jamin Walker, one of them purporting that subscriptions have been dul}^ made to the required amount within the prescribed time, (only twenty-six daj-s,) and the other, that on polling the votes for a site, as provided in the document, six hundred and sixty-seven votes were found in favor of the site on Chan- cellor square, and four hundred and forty -five in favor of that on Genesee street, being a majority of two hundred and twenty- two ; so that Genesee road had to retire from the great contest, satisfied with its private school and its Seneca turnpike, and Whitesboro road, with its York House and the graveyard. Chancellor square, with its capacity for possible glories, proved triumphant ; for, although, it was an unenclosed, boggy plain, with a dirtj^ ditch stagnating through the middle, yet a pre- scient eye might perceive that it had not only the present cer- tainty of a roomy playground, but that it might, in the course of time, when surrounded hj imposing domestic and public buildings, be a fine park and breathing place for crowded in- habitants, as we see it at the present day." The choice was strongly stimulated by an auxiliary subscription, containing the .significant signatures of John R. Bleecker, and Charles E. Dudley, who offered two village lots valued at five hundred 390 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. dollars, contingent on the selection of their favorite site. The- subscription amounted to five thousand dollars, but though strong in amount for that period, it was inadequate to finish the building and yield the requisite income of one hundred dollars a year. To this sum the village authorities at length voted an addition of three hundred dollars more, and this was followed in the summer of 1818, while the building was in process of erection, by a fresh subscription, on which was raised five hundred dollars more, and by a pledge of the Dudley & Miller lots to secure the annual income. Whence came the gradual accumulation wherewith the building was finally completed at an expense of eight thousand dollars, Mr. Williams finds, as- he tells us, no data to estimate. His description of the build- ing, which, after such serious discouragement and wearisome delay, was finally completed in the summer of 1818, and which occupied the very site of its beautiful and imposing successor^ is as follows : It was an unpretending brick edifice of two sto- ries, about fifty by sixty feet with a wide hall ; one large room on the north and two smaller on the south, on the first floor ; and the whole upper floor was the court room. The external appearance of the structure, was not such as would now suit the eye very favorably, although it was a well proportioned and S3mimetrical building, possessing more of the old breadth of style than is agreeable to modern eyes, accustomed to see only the beauty of height and narrowness. With suitable external embellishments, such as the economy of that day would not- tolerate, it would have been a tasteful edifice, if left to stand alone, without any towering neighbors to put it out of counten- ance. But it was never commodious for its purpose, and was ill calculated to serve the double use it was destined to. Con- stables were required to stand guard during play hours to stifle urchin shouts, while the sacred silence of study hours was inter- rupted by the tread and turmoil of throngs of jurymen, wit- nesses, attorneys and judges ; to say nothing of the pleasant grievance of being routed out of this 'and that recitation room to make way for jurymen about to cast lots or toss coppers for verdicts." And thus, with all its inconvenience and its hindrances, it stood for over forty years without change of purpose or planj never lacking of a teacher or of pupils, yet harboring from THE SECOND CHARTER. 391 term to term tlie followers of the Supreme, the National and the County Courts, and serving likewise the ends of citizens intent on matters of local or of general interest — a nursery for gener- ations of youth, a hall of judgment for the wrong doer, and a town-hall for a public spirited and intelligent people. But it is of the foundation only of the Academy, not of its later career as a completed and successful seminary, that I intended now to speak of it. Adding merely that is was duly opened in August 1818, under the preceptorship of Eev. Samuel T. Mills, we leave it. THE UTICA ACADEMY. It has been mentioned that the Methodists from about the year 1809 worshipped at times in the school house on Genesee below Elizabeth street. Preaching in this place was for several years only occasional, for the little house near the gate on the New Hartford road, was also maintained by them as a place of assemblage. In 1815, Utica was erected into a station of the recently formed Oneida district of the Genesee Conference. Eev. Benjamiij. G. Paddock was appointed preacher in charge, and a powerful revival was the result of his labors. The 392 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. society now centred in the village, and was legally incorporated under the title of The First Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Utica. Some of the first trustees were Eudolph Sny- der, Jacob Snyder, Eobert McBride, J. C. DeLong, Erastus Cross and Ara Broadwell. The building on the New Hartford road was sold to Levi Thomas, for seventy thousand brick, and with these and additional ones a new house was built under the super- intendence of Mr. Paddock, who raised the necessary funds. It •Stood on the north side of Main street, at its extreme eastern end, a little west of Ballou's creek and nearly opposite the extremity of Third street, and was a small, plain chapel, without spire or cupola. It was dedicated August 16, 1816, by Eev. Daniel Hitt, then general book steward at New York, Charles Giles being presiding elder. The pastors who were successively placed in charge during the years that this chapel was in use were as follows : 1816, B. G. Paddock ; 1817, George Gary ; 1818, W Barlow: 1819, Elias Bowen: 1820, Elijah King and EHas Bowen: 1821, B. G. Paddock ; 1822-3, George Peck; 1824, George Harmon. 1825, Paris and Utica were united under the charge of Z. Paddock and Ephraim Hall. The solemn scenes which this old chapel must from time to time have witnessed, the fervid discourses, the earnest prayers uttered there, time has swept from the remembrance of the living ; while their record is preserved on high, the substance of this record is gone from human inspection. As of men when they die, the good is apt to perish with them and the evil to live afterward, so with societies and commingled en- deavors, as they pass down the current of time, the graver and weightier elements subside and are lost from view, while the scum alone is left floating on the surface. Thus are we consti- tuted, we forget the momentous while the trivial is retained. Nay, it sometimes happens that on occasions of special serious- ness, and when we are awakened to matters of the highest interest, the trifling or the ludicrous will force itself upon us and take full possession of our thoughts. So it was with one of the early preachers of this church, a man of sensitive and risible make, and attuned as well to fun as to soberness, in accordance as the responsive note was struck. He was lodging with one of the officers of the society, and his term of service at an end, he was about to pi-each his farewell sermoiL While THE SECOND CHARTER. 893 silently reading it over on Sanda}^ morning in the presence of his friend, he suddenly broke into a laugh. The latter, sup- prised that such an exercise could be a source of merriment, asked him why he laughed. ''You know," said he, " that Mr. A. sits directly in front of the pulpit ; he comes to church tired, and soon after the sermon begins, he closes his eyes and seems to be asleep, except that now and then he breaks out most unexpectedly with a very loud ' Amen.' Now as I was review- ing my sermon and came toward the conclusion, in which I had introduced from St. James, the passage : ' Finally, mj- brethren, farewell,' I bethought m3'self of Mr. A., and seemed to hear him blurt out his vigorous Amen." The explanation was satis- factory. After amusing themselves over it together, the con- versation turned, and not long after the two took then* way to the chapel. The sermon was delivered with becoming unction, and, drawing to an end, was closed with the words, " Finally, my brethren, farewell." At once there followed an echoing " Amen." The preacher dropped to his seat, covered his face with his handstand bowed it behind the desk. The audience were touched by this proof of tenderness from their retiring min- ister, and some were moved to tears of sympathy. For some time they waited in suspense for him to rise and continue the service, which as he delayed to do, they were more and more overcome. The embarrassment was getting painful, when the minister's host, who alone divined the true state of affairs, rose and moved toward the door, at the same time beckoning to the audience to do the same. The hint was taken, and all sorrow- fully retired but the afflicted pastor. He, perchance, would have sooner recovered himself but for the incident of the morn- ing, the anticipation he had related and its exact fulfillment. It was the assurance, as he afterward said, of meeting the eye of his host, and thus renewing the cause of his mirth which kept him chained to bis seat. Again turning away from the general to the special, from the community to its individual parts, the next to be recog- nized as a denizen of Utica, is Ezekiel Bacon. Already, before his history becomes connected with that of Utica, Ezekiel Bacon had been some years in public life, and had attained high honor and exalted position. He was born Sep- 394 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. tember 1, 1776, and his earlier memories inclmle the hanging in e&.gj of Benedict Arnold, and the return of the soldiers from the war of the Eevolution. He was the son of Rev. John Bacon, pastor of the South Church of Boston, and sub- sequently a resident of Stockbridge in Massachusetts, a repre- sentative in the Legislature of his State, and in the Congress of the United States, and afterward for several years judge of the Berkshire Common Pleas. The son entered Yale College at the age of fourteen and was graduated in the class of 1794 ; read law in the law school of Judge Reeve of Litchfield, Conn., and then with Nathan Dane of Beverly, Mass., and practiced some years in Berkshire county. He was a member of the Massa- chusetts Legislaiure in 1806-7, represented his county in Con- gress from 1807 to 1813, serving on the Committee of Ways and Means, and for one year as its chairman. He was then ap- pointed Chief Justice of the Circuit Court of Common Pleas for the western district of his State, and immediately after assuming this office, was made first Comptroller of the Treasury, by Mr. Madison. Within two years he was obliged to resign by reason of ill health, when he removed to the State of New York and settled in LTtica. His first interest here was in merchandise, for he became a partner in the firm of Alexander Seymour & Co. In 1818 he was appointed associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas; in the following year he went as a representative to the As- sembly; and in 1821 he was one of the honorable men of Oneida who had seats in the Second Constitutional Convention ; and he took an earnest part in its deliberation. On the ques- tion of the final adoption of the proposed instrument he was in doubt, and " would have voted against it but for the pro- vision it contained for future amendment, which afi:orded the people the means of correcting what had been amiss, without resorting to the difficult and dangerous experiment of a for- mal convention, which no man, he believed, would wish to see again take place, so long as the acknowledged evils of our present system were at all tolerable." About the year 1824, he was nominated for Congress in opposition to Henry R. Storrs, but was defeated by a majority of less than one hundred votes in a poll of several thousand. In October of the following year he was selected by his fellow citizens to THE SECOND CHARTER, 395 do honor to Governor De Witt Clinton, and in a forcible and eloquent manner he tendered him their congratulations on the completing of the Erie canal. As chief of a packet boat com- pany, he already had in this canal an interest more personal and profound than that which was shared by other liberal and enter- prising men of his party. From that time onward he lived a retired life, and during a large portion of it, suffered from pro- tracted ill-health and manifold bodily infirmities. So that, though he lived down to extreme old age, surviving the asso- ciates not merely of juvenility, but of middle age also, this life was much of the time a blank as respects the community, and at its best, came short of the measure of his previous usefulness. Through long years of mental wretchedness he was either una- ble or indisposed to go abroad, saw nothing of general society, and was weighed down by the deepest depression. Or, if he ven- tured out, he moved shyly through the streets with feeble step, solemn visage and averted eyes, avoiding recognition and start- ing with alarm when addressed by an acquaintance desirous of tendering him the sympathy and respect which was felt by every one. Though much of the time he was thus recluse and de- spondent, there were lightnings amid his darkness, and long intervals when he was not wholly enchained in gloom, nor too ill for useful endeavor. At such times he wrote largely for the public press, and wrote with force and pungency. For a period he was the main editorial writer, and for a longer one, a regular contributor, of the Oneida Whig, and the Utica Daily Gazette. As an earnest political advocate, shrewd and penetrating in his discernment, well furnished with varied and accurate informa- tion, elevated in sentiment, refined in taste, and vivacious in style, his contributions never failed of zest and instruction. His aspirations were noble, his patriotism glowing, and his char- ity toward his race such as made itself seen and felt. His tem- perament was poetic ; he was familiar with the standard litera- ture of poetry, and indulged himself considerably in the com- posing of it ; though his compositions were mostly tinged with melancholy, — ^Egri Somnia, the dreams of a sick man, as he entitled them. As a debater. Judge Bacon is described as not ready or fluent, speaking extemporaneously with embarrass- ment ; but when he prepared himself for public discussion, he brought to the subject ample knowledge, sound logic, and clear,. 396 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. intelligible statement. Of the position he occupied when in public life, and the influence he exerted when in the vigor of health, we obtain some idea when we learn that with Mr. Madi- son he was on terms of great confidence and intimacy, and not with him alone, but also with Mr. Gallatin, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Monroe, John Quincey Adams, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, William Lowmdes, Elbridge Gerry, etc., and, in our own State, wnth Chancellor Kent, Ambrose Spencer, and De Witt Clinton, With Judge Story his intercourse was, from an early period, ■one of unbroken friendship and warm mutual regard, and the appointment of tlie latter to the position he so highly adorned is due to the personal effort and solicitation of Judge Bacon. During this most active portion of his career he was a democrat; after coming to this State he ranged himself with the whigs, but when the free-soil movement arose in 1848, his sympathies with the oppressed among his fellow creatures led him to take sides with that party. " In early and middle life his religious opinions were a good deal unsettled, though it was a subject on wdiich he thought and reasoned much. His long course of ill-health threw him much upon himself, and he struggled for many a painful year with doubts and fears. It was not until his ninetieth year that these struggles ceased, when, with the simplicity and loving attitude of a little child, he received the doctrine of the cross, ■comprehended the import of the atonement, and was at peace."' At the time of his death he was the oldest living graduate of Yale College, the oldest surviving member of Congress, and the last representative of the administration of Mr. Madison. This event occurred October 18, 1870. His wife was Abby, daugh- ter of Dr. Reuben Smith of Litchfield, Conn., and sister of the M'ife of Thomas Skinner. To her he was married in 1799, and for sixty three years she was his loving and devoted wife. Not to him alone, to her family, her friends, her neighbors and the church she was faithful and exemplary. And having use- fully served two generations at least, she fell asleep in her eighty- sixth year. During their later married life they lived on Broad street, in the house next west of the one occupied by General James McQuade, which latter house Judge Bacon erected for Mr. Skinner. Their children were: John H., wdio died several years since; William J., our present valued townsman, who, like his grandfather and his father, has been in turn member of i THE SECOND CHARTER. 397 the Legislature, member of Congress, and judge of a high court of judicature ; Francis, merchant of New York ; Elizabeth (Mrs. Henry Colt) ; and Fanny (Mrs. Pomeroy) now deceased. An English gentleman, named William Green, who, in early life, was connected with the navy of his country, remained here on the evacuation of New York, married, and after a few trad- ing voyages to India and elsewhere, and some further trial as a merchant, settled, in the spring of 1810, upon a large tract of land at Oriskany, which had become the property of his wife, Temperance Heatley. Of liis family of nine children, all well educated and trained to the judicious employment of wealth, as w^ell as to its rational enjoyment, five, at least, have at times been residents of Utica. Henry, the sixth of his family, was born in New York about 1793, and graduated at Columbia College. Coming with the family to Oneida county, he studied law with Judge Piatt, and set up an office in Utica As early as 1815 he was clerk of the vestry of Trinity Church. Not long afterward the Utica Insurance Company, closed by its origin- ators, was resumed by some of the directors, and Mr. Green was made secretary and attorney of the corporation. Pursuits so alien to the law as those of banking and insurance, drew him aside, and in a measure disqualified him for practice in a pro- fession in which he had been ably fitted. And thus it happened that after the concerns of the company had been closed, he found employment in the care of property in trust, and still later be- came the financial manager of a large estate. Herein he was regarded as a man of intelligent and accurate habits, neat and precise, and irreproachably honest. Somewhat of a recluse, he took little part in public affairs, but retained throughout life the scholarly tastes of his youth, amusing the leisure of middle and advanced life with studies that had once been his tasks. He delighted especially in the ^neid of Virgil, and has left, in manuscript, a pleasing translation of his favorite. Besides the classical authors, he read much in the best of French and Eng- lish books, and was conversant with periodical criticism. In other respects, too, he was refined and cultivated, had a more than common susceptibility to music, and was in early life an ad- mired vocalist. He died on the 9th of March, 1869, in his sev- enty-seventh year. Hisfirst wife was Miss Mary Clark, adopted 398 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. daughter of Major Satterlee Clark. By her he had a numerous family, of whom two daughters are still living in IJtica. George is living in Auburn and William in Brewerton. His second wife was Miss Bogart. Dr. Thomas Goodsell had Ijeen alread}^ some 3'ears in the county, and when he fixed his residence at Utica he was not altogether a stranger. He was born in Washington, Litchfield county, Conn., in June 1775, engaged in the study of medicine with Dr. Sheldon of Litchfield, and settled in Woodbridge, Xew Haven county. After some 3'ears of practice, he repaired to Philadelphia, attended a course of lectures at the University of Pensylvania, and received there his licentiate in 1809. On his return he passed a brief period in New Haven, and in 1810 removed to Whitesboro where he engaged m practice with Dr. Seth Capron. It was not long before he became satisfied that Utica would give him a better field, and he moved thither, mak- ing it his home so long as he lived. He soon acquired an exten- sive business. Affable and courteous, guided by high and hon- orable motives, with fair intellectual endowments, and a degree of medical education which was not usually attained by his breth- ren of the time, he was not long in acquiring the confidence of many of the best families of the place. He was a genial and witty companion, full of anecdote and storj^, and had a suavity of manner which gave him a ready access to the heart, and secured him a welcome reception ; while his honorable deport- ment, and his free and often gratuitous exercise of the benevo- lent gifts of his profession, gained him uni\'ersal respect. But his temperament was indolent, and his habits easy going and unsA'stematic. He lacked that undivided application to the de- mands of a jealous calling so essential to reach and maintain the widest success ; this caused him to relax his energies, and prevented him from rising to the full measure of his early promise. Haj)py in his domestic relations, possessed of an equable and quiet temper, and moderate in his ambition, he was content with the prosecution of such business as came in his way, looked pnmoved upon the struggle about him, and, as years wore on, glided by degrees from the active employ- ments of his profession. For one year (1827) he was professor of Materia Medica in the Medical College of Pittsfield, and was at a later })eriod a fellow of that of Albany. He received the THE SECOND CHARTER. 399 honorary degree of doctor of medicine from the medical depart ment of Yale College, and was a permanent member of the State Medical Society. For some years he was much interested in agricultural pursuits, was secretary of the earlier society of the county devised to foster such pursuits, and had himself a farm in Clinton. It is said that Dr. Goodsell was the first to introduce merino sheep west of the Hudson river. By his brethren he will be remembered for his uniformly kind and gentlemanly bearing, and for his just appreciation of the dig- nity and usefulness of their vocation, bj^ all for his pure and upright life, and his intelligent interest in matters that con- cerned the general welfare. He lived until his eighty-ninth year, and died January 11, 1864. His wife was a Miss Living- ston, niece of Mrs. Jonas Piatt. She survived him but a few weeks. He had three sons and two daughters, of whom the latter and one only of the former are still living. J. Piatt ranked high in his department, and was once Engineer of the' State. A physician, wh'o, coming in 1815, was for a short time a partner of Dr. Alexander Coventry, was his nephew, William M. Coventry. He soon removed to the south-western part of the State. * The local papers contained in September 1815, a fresh an- nouncement, which emanated from one William Clarke, and which was to the intent that in pursuance with the advice of his friends he had determined to open a lottery and exchange office at No. 2-4 Grenesee street. William Clarke was born in Danvers, Mass., in June 1776, and before the war was a carriage maker in Pittsfield. He was a lieutenant in the army of 1812, and was wounded and taken prisoner at the battle of Queenston, subsequently taking rank as cap- tain. At the time he came to Utica, lotteries enjoyed a fair reputation, and were extensively employed throughout the countiy, for many important and beneficial purposes. Colleges were founded, roads made, bridges built, ferries improved and hospitals erected by their aid. The lottery business which he established, in connection with Yates & Mclntyre of Albany, he continued to prosecute so long as it was a business that was countenanced by the State. At first below Broad street, he 400 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. moved before many years to the site of the Second National Bank. He was a man of much stir and enterprise, and kept the communit}^ fwlly acquainted with him and his dealings. He furnished the papers with co})ious, hope-inspiring announce- ments of prospective drawings b}^ lottery wherein he was the agent, and garnished his front windows with still more alluring temptations to those who would wait the turn of Fortune's wheel ; for here sat the goddess herself, giving motion to her golden circle, and pouring thence a stream of newly-minted coin, while bestrewed around were cornucopias bursting with the like precious store. His was the only lucky ofhce, the place where wealth flowed abundantly foi- every seeker. Its back part was fitted up as a reading room. But this not prov- ing remunerative, it was closed to such a purpose ; and in the course of time, when the State rejected the use of lotteries for itself, and forbade them altogether to others, his whole building was converted into a hotel that he leased for a Temperance house. Captain Clarke was possessed, as we have said, of much enterprise, and was never idle. Being also kind and generous in spirit, earnest, forward and useful in public undertakings, as well as intelligent, independent and honorable, he had a lead- ing place among the men of his time, and received from them repeated testimonials of their confidence. He was president of the village, and as such gave the address of welcome to La Fay- ette on his visit to Utica, in 1825. He was one of the State's directors in the Bank of Utica; and by State authority was appointed, in 1837, one of the commissioners who ^^lanned the building of the Asylum for the insane. The planning, it is true, was done on a scale of princely grandeur, that far out- ran the public requirements of the time, or even the compass of feasible use, for it contemplated four buildings similar to the front one, each five hundi-ed and fifty feet in length, connected by verandahs of glass, and forming a hollow square, or rather octagon, that enclosed some sixteen acres of ground ; and which, once filled, would have made a township of lunatics that no single })hysician could well have superintended. And yet by a laborious comparison of similar buildings in various parts of the country, he was able to introduce into his designs what, for those days, were valuable improvements in ventilation and struc- z THE SECOND CHARTER. 401 ture. And, unaccountable as it may now seem, the leading managers of asylums for the insane at that time, cordially ap- proved his whole plan. But though he realized fully the magnitude of his undertaking, and knew that he carried the State at his back, yet his plans were too extensive for practical purposes. Much to his grief, the Legislature withheld its sup- plies, and so put a stop to proceedings, after seventy-five thou- sand dollars had been expended on the foundations. Captain Clarke likewise superintended, in behalf of the owners, the erec- tion of the Bleecker House, afterwards a part of Bagg's Hotel. And for himself he erected the brick buildings Nos. 42 and 44 Genesee street, which he designed and for some time kept as a hotel. Beside the energy to do, he had also the ability to command. Yet he manifested, at times, a little of the fondness for ruling which military elevation is apt to engender ; at least, so thought village firemen, unused to the discipline of war, who could not brook the somewhat pompous bearing of their presi- dent, and excuse his stern dictation for the sake of his under- lying kindness, and his acknowledged zeal in the public good. Nor with all his energy and his execution, did his projects result, in general, to his own advantage ; though he planned much, and built much, he never grew rich, and was better toward the town than he was toward himself. As with the- town and with the State, so with the Church — he was always, responsive to its claims, and as unselfish and vigilant a trustee as he was while head of the village, or purveyor to a noble- State charity. During the memorable visit of the Rev. Charles G. Finney to Utica, in 1826, Captain Clarke made a profession of his faith in Christ, and carried into the church the same useful qualities that distinguished him in concerns of secular interest. Although of New England origin, for the sake of greater usefulness in a new organization, he united with others in the formation of the Reformed Dutch Church, and soon after was elected a member of its consistory. Not without cause did his townsmen value him, and take just pride in his open,, benevolent and impressive face, his stout manly frame, and the venerable gray hair that covered so much of capacity and dis- position to do for them. He died August 3, 1841. His wife was Beulah Allen, daughter of Rev. Solomon Allen of Pittsfield, Mass., who, as an officer signalized himself during B-1 402 'J'HE FJONEEKS OF UTICA. the war of the Revohition, as a bold defender of the rights of the people, and afterwards was as bold and brave a preacher. She was a woman of remarkable l)eanty of ])erson and character. To a gentleness of temper tliat responded well with the winning sweetness of her face, she added an aptness in the practice of man}^ domestic virtues, and a pure and controlling piety. Her death took place February 10, 1827. The\^ had two daughters and two sons, — Mary Fairbanks, wife of Dana J. Upson, of Philadelphia, and afterwards of James Dean, of Utica ; Elizabeth Allen, wife of Rev. A. D. Edd}^, D. D., of Lansingburgh ; William and Thomas A. ; of whom the last, now of New Orleans, alone survives. Captain Clarke, married in second nuptials, Mrs. Sarah K. Gridley, widow of Amos Gridley. She had been for several years the esteemed head of a youthful school. Together with the above, there came to reside in Utica, Mrs. Sarah K Clarke, the widow of his brother, Hobart Clarke, a lady who was distinguished for her clear, calm sense and vigorous understanding, her warm heart and enlightened conscience, and a Christian devotion that is rarely equalled. She kept a pop- ular day school for children, but is more widely remembered as the female superintendent of the early Sunday school of Utica. In this she labored while she lived with unflagging faithfulness, and was mourned when she died by all her associ- ates and scholars. Though this event occurred so long ago as 1827, her memory is still green with all who retain a recollec- tion of the early period of this now noted school. She left a son and dauglitei', Hovey K., and Hannah, who both reside in Detroit. A merchant who was a marked one among his fellows, was Ephraim Hart, — shrewd, self-reliant and diligent, original, out- spoken and witty, capital in the management of his own afl'airs and much trusted in those of others. He was one of a family of several sons, all moi-e or less distinguished for their ability and by the positions of prominence they attained. They came with their father, Thomas Hart, to Clinton in Oneida county, from Farmington, Conn., where E])hraim was born, December 27, 1774. Succeeding his father in business in 1801, he carried it on for some years in Clinton. His success, and the wise THE SECOND CHARTER. 403 conduct of affairs be evinc.ed, were generally recognized, and he was already a director of tlie Bank of Utica, and of the Mount Vernon Glass Company, and a trustee of Hamilton Col- lege, when he moved to Utica in 1815. He took the store just vacated by Abraham Van Santvoort, and at the outset dealt largely, though not exclusively, in hollow ware. Later he was at No. 58 Genesee street, and in partnership with Seth Gridley. They sold out in 1824 or '25, to Haynes Lord and Truman Eob- erts. In after years he was engaged in ii'on manufacture at the lower end of Cornelia street, in association with A. S. Pond, and then with his son, Henry Remsen Hart. He gained a handsome property, and toward the end of his life lived in the house on the corner of Fayette and Cornelia streets, now occupied by Dr. William Russell. This house, when he built it, in 1829, was deemed as fine a mansion as any in the place. The personal influence and the superior business qualifications of Mr. Hart were not suffered to go unimproved by the com- munity among which he lived, and in 1815 he was elected State Senator from the Western District. This office he continued to fill during the five last sessions held under the first State Constitution, 1816-1822, and during a part of this time he was also a member of the Council of Appointment. An ai'dent friend of De Witt Clinton, he gave a determined support to the Erie canal. Against the Federalists his prejudices were deep and bitter. Though not especially skilled in debate, and without training as a speaker, his opinion carried weight, but "as a party man, he was wanting in tact, caution and system."* In his comments on men and measures, he was, as has been said, free, pointed and unsparing. His pithy strictures have now, for the most part, fallen into oblivion, but not so the impress on his acquaintances of this vigorous and intrepid man. The passion for music, which had solaced his youth, he continued to exercise in his family, and the bass viol that he played on in the choir at Clinton, accompanied the voices of his daughters when they were grown to maturity. If, as hinted by the historian of Clinton, he was then but "half regenerate," we can hardly with safety affirm that, in a scriptural sense, he was ever much further advanced, though it is undeniably true that he was correct in his habits and straightforward in his dealings. *Hammoud's Political History. 4U4 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Mr. Hart died at St. Augustine, Florida, where lie had gone for the sake of his health. February 14, 1839. His first wife, and the mother of several of his children, was Miss Wealthy Kellogg^ whom he married in 1800, and who died July 19, 1819. Twoyears later he was united to Miss Martha Seymour of Hartford, Conn.^ who survived him more than thirty 3''ears, and died February 16, 1871. Possessed of uncommon energy and intelligence, she managed successfully her large family, consisting of her own and her husband's earlier children, and maintained in society a position of respect and consideration. These children w^ere eleven in num])er, of whom Miss Louise Hart is the only one now living in Utica. Two of the sons who wei'e recent residents of the place were Henr}^ Eemsen, who died at Whitesboro, December 18, 1868, and James S., who died at New Mexico, March 9, 1865. George lives in New Jersey. Another merchant, likewise born in Connecticut and begin- ning his business career in this county, but outside of Utica,. was John Hervey Handy. A clerk in New Hartford, and then in trade there, he was, in November 1815, selling cotton goods at No. 87 Genesee street, and had a house on Catherine street. He bought of Moses Eggleston, the cooper, the property nearly opposite the entrance of Liberty street, and put himself up a store, and after a time a hotel beside it. The store is now the crockery store of Hopson & Shepard ; the hotel occupied the site of the store of Charles Millar & Son and the adjoining one. This was then a good way removed from most of the other merchants of the place, but Mr. Haiidj- lived to see them jostling him on either side, and crowding past to reach the neighborhood of the newly opened canal. His hotel, known for the most part as the National, has been occupied by successive tenants down to a comparatively recent date. Mr. Handy was a director in the Manhattan Bank, a successful merchant and a social and jocu- lar man. When he died, July 12, 1823, he was in his thirty- eighth year. His widow, Abigail P., who reached her eighty- seventh year, died February 18, 1863. Two sons departed when recently out of college. One daughter, Jane, widow of J. Sidney Henshaw, still survives. The leading merchants (jf New llai'tt'oi'd at this time,- — -as for some years previous, — were Messrs. Willx)!' & Stanton, and THE SECOND CHARTER. 405 their trade was as extensive as that of any of their rivals on the Mohawk. On the loth of July, 1815, they announce that in addition to their store in that place, they had opened one in Utica. But finding competition strong in their new situation, and business declining in their own abode, they soon made a push for a more untrammelled market. Being courageous men and dextrous as managers, they found in the city of New York a more congenial place, where Mr. Stanton, at least, amassed a large fortune. Another short-lived firm was that of Ellery & Yernon, for the former made but a transient stay in the place. Edward Yernon had afterwards Timothy C. Dwight as a partner, and was suc- cessively a trader in dry goods at ISTo. 66 ( " don't forget the number,") and a dealer in books nearly opposite. Here, also, he kept a depositor}^ for the publications of the American Tract Societ}' and the Sunday School Union. Of unusually good family connections, amiable in disposition, irreproachable and strongly religious in character, he was yet not remarkable as a man of business ; he was chiefl}^ conspicuous as an elder in the Presbyterian Church. The three stores between the Carton block and the Grannis Bank were put up by him. About 1845-50, he moved to New York, and is now deceased. So also is his wife, who was Anna Clark of Windham, niece of Erastus Clark. His sons were Edward and Harwood ; his daughters Anna and Mary. Harwood is the only survivor. Eobert Shearman, brother of Ebenezer B. and William P., and some seven years the junior of the former, now migrated from Rhode Island, and joined the latter brother in business. They were long together at No. 64 Genesee, and kept up a union in trade after William P. had settled in Rochester. Fee- ble in health during the latter years of his life, Robert lived rather retii-ed, withdrew from business before his death, and made his home in Westmoreland. He died at the age of forty- eight, on the 6th of September, 1838, with the repute of a kind- hearted, amiable person. The wives he successively had were both related to early citizens of Utica, the one being Ann Maria, daughter of Watts Shearman, and the other a sister of Seymour Tracy. 4:06 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. The Harry Camp, who, as has been stated above, was deputed to redeem the village cm'reiicy, had come with his father, Tal- cott Camp, from Connnecticut to Old Fort Schuyler in 1797, when he was just turned of ten years of age. He had been trained b}- the earliest schoolmaster of the place, had served some years as clerk for Daniel Thomas, and some time longer for Abraham Van Santvoort, and was then received into part- nership by the latter. Mr. V. S., it will be recollected, was both forwarder and merchant, and during the war held also the office of sub-contractor of supplies for the counties of Oneida and Madison. While in his service, besides his ordinary duties of superintending the transportation of goods between Schenec- tady and the West, Mr. Camp was often deputed to go out and meet companies of soldiers destined to or from the seat of hos- tilities, and provide them with the necessaries of subsistence. He once made a journey on horseback to Buffalo in order to carry $2,200, with which to cancel orders for goods supplied to the troops. Not long after the close of the war, occurred the failure of the important transporting firm which was represented in Utica by Mr. Van Santvoort as its head, when this gentle- man moved away from the village, and it fell to Mr, Camp to close up its concerns. The latter then joined his brothers John and Charles in general trade, and formed an important factor in the good name of the honorable house of John Camp & Bros. After its dissolution, in 1834, Harry remained at the old stand and transacted a moderate business for some years longer. But, in time, advancing age chilled his early enterprise ; he could not keep pace with the requirements and the tastes of newer generations of customers ; and the push of younger rivals forced him from the field. For a while before his death he lived re- tired and free of all pursuits. Yet though retired, and even personally unknown to some later citizens, he was respected by all for his exemplary and useful career, venerated for his age, and still more as a link between the present and the past, for during many years he was the last male survivor of Old Fort Schuyler. Modest and unassuming, kind and obliging, judi- cious in his opinions and discreet in the utterance of them, ex- act in all his dealings and scrupulously faithful in the discharge of his obligations, pure in his morals, an upright man and a tender relative, — such was the verdict which a residence of THE SECOND CHARTER. 407 nearly eighty years had procured him among hi,s fellows. He died October, 1875, in his eighty-ninth year. He was never married, and with much of the shyness, had none of the crusti- ness of an old bachelor. The first hint I have of William Geere, tanner and leather dealei', is contained in an advertisement of May 1808, at which time he was living in Paris. In 1815 he entered into partner- ship in the shoe and leather trade with E. S. Barnum. The same year he was made a village trustee. With Mr. Barnum he was not more than a year in company, but as a dealer in leather, his name is met with as late as 1833, though he finally removed from the phice. A daughter and a son-in-law — Reu- ben Irons — still represent him. Major Geere was large and impressive in appearance and in manner, intelligent and re- spected both at Utica and at Paris. Collings Locke came hither from Schuyler in the fall of 1815, and opened a store for the sale of leather on Whitesboro street, next door to Mr. Geere, the same which had just been vacated by Hinman & Mesick. In 1817 he joined David P. Hoj't at No. 64 Genesee, and when they dissolved, two years later, Mr. Locke was left in the store. He moved to Middle Settlement, thence to Sherburne, where he died. Two of his grandchildren are still resident. Yet another tradesman in the same line was Zenas Wright, who is set down in the directory of 1817 as a farmer, though in 1818 he formed a connection, for the purpose of selling leather, with William Alverson. After its close he was a tanner and leather dealer some years longer. But about 1845 he was elected justice of the peace and continued to perform the duties of this office for the remainder of his life, which life was ter- minated May 9, 1856, at the age of seventy-four. He was un- obtrusive, quiet and correct. His son E. Z. Wright, and his daughter, Mrs. George S. Dana, are resident. Truman Smith, clerk for Mr. Van Santvoort in 1811, was four years later partner of Nathaniel Butler. By 1817-18, he had gone to New York to be in company with Roswell Keeler. He was afterwards mayor of Jersey City. 408 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Elisha Lovett, grocer, on the cornei- of Water street, illustrated in his death a characteristic of the past which seems strange enough at present, for death itself did not absolve the body of this debtor from his indebtedness, and so his corpse could not be carried out for burial until the claim of the creditor was sat- isfied ; such was then the cruelty of the law of New York. It was Dr. Hull who advanced the money and comforted the afflicted widow. Another grocer of the time was Alexander Quin. A fourth Merrell, son of the Bildad Merrell before mentioned as moving into the county in 1798, came in 1812 to the village of Utica, to learn the trade of bookbinding. This was Andrew. Three years latter he is ready to practice it over the bookstore of Camp, Merrell & Camp. Taking their place in 1817, he himself begins to sell books in company with Charles Hastings, and also opens a circulating library. The firm published likewise, and among other works, the following : McDowell's Bif)le Questions (1820), the third edition of Thomas Hastings' Musica Sacra, and the religious paper entitled the Western Recorder. Mr, Merrell had excellent business and personal qualities, and was deemed by every one so good a man, as to merit and receive at his death, Avhat was once so rare in the newspaper issues of Utica, an ample obituary notice. This event occurred January 26, 1826. From the notice, we extract the following : " Few men, in the ordinary walks of life, have been more distinguished for piet}^ His zeal, which was according to knowledge, never tired ; he was instant in season and out of season, doing the work of his Master. The friendly admonitions and Christian counsels which dropped from his lips will not soon be forgotten. He was amiable in disposition, fj^ank and kind in his manners — a, peacemaker — probabl}" without an enemy." As an elder in the church to which he belonged, he was a pattern of faithful- ness. Like his brother Ira, he married a daughter of Talcott Camp, Harriet. She is still living and makes her home in Sacketts Harbor. Their children were Henry, who managed a cotton factory in Georgia, before the late war, and is now in Arkansas ; Samuel, a Presbyterian minister ; and two daughters, DOW deceased, Lucretia (Mrs. George Camp), and Harriet, THE SECOND CHARTER. 409 Among those of the mercantile and banking class now serv- ing in subordinate posts, were Eurotas P. Hastings, Hun C. Beach, William B. Welles, Nathan D. Smith, John B. Marchisi, Harmon Pease. The two last named are still living in Utica, or its vicinity, and were I to enlarge u})on their career, the proper place for snch discourse would be after they became indepen- dent in their business affairs. Of the two former, whose resi- dence in Utica was transient, and who were known here only as clerks, a few incidents may be noted. Eurotas P. Hastings came with Ephraim Hart, and into his service, from Clinton. Remaining but a short time, he then accompanied Pev. Henrv Dwight, when the latter withdrew from his spiritual charge to assume the management of the Bank of Greneva. From this bank, where Mr. Hastings was cashier, he went into that of Michigan, at Detroit, and was afterwards its president until it was closed. He was also auditor general of the State of Michigan, and a conspicuous and useful man. He died June 1st, 1866. Hun C. Beach, at first a clerk of James Van Rensselaer, was next, for a short time, teller of the Ontario Branch Bank. Thence he moved to New York, and became a merchant. Subsequently an auctioneer and an insurance agent, he was never very successful, though amiable and accomplished. He died about 1870. The place, in our chronological order, for an ample notice of William B. Welles, would naturally be deferred many years longer. For it was not until 1835, that he entered upon his long and honorable career as cashier of the Bank of Utica. But as he had already been some years a denizen of the place, it is befitting to record liim here among the pioneers of Utica. Joining Asahel Seward as clerk about 1811, he remained with him three years, and then served Jesse Doolitt]e nearly a year in the same capacity. In 1814 he became teller in the Bank of Utica, at which time he was regarded as the best judge of monej- of any in the village. In 1 824 he succeeded Orson Seymour as cashier of the branch of this bank at Canandaigua, and in 1835 was called back to take the place of Montgomery Hunt, as cashier of the parent institution. For some years Mr. Welles has been living in Brooklyn. Nathan D. Smith was baptized and received into the com- munion of Trinity Church, April 23, 1815 ; he was received into the fellowship of the Utica Lodge of Masons in June 410 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. 1816; and, in the directory of 1817, he is set down as an instructor of the Qtica Sunday School. I have seen also one of his receipts for the government tax on a silver watch^ dated November 27, 1815, and signed l)y him as deput}^ collec- tor for the sixteenth collection district of New York. And this is the most I have been able to glean of his history from local sources. But from a correspondent, a native of Utica who has lived many years in the South, and who met Mr. Smitli in after years, we have received the following interesting par- ticulars of his subsequent experience. He writes from a sense of duty, and from a desire to rescue from oblivion the memory of a man who, while in Utica, wasjprobably misunderstood and may now be forgotten. " When I first went to Arkansas^ almost the first prominent person who called on me to encour- age me in my enterprise, was a Dr. Nathan Smith, a ridic- nlously small man, but fat. We shortly discovered that he had once lived in Utica. He was aged and decrepid, and died ere long. But so long as he lived he was my fast friend, and that at a time and in a region where friends had to stand by each other. He was literally the oldest resident of Southwest Arkansas, having gone there fifty j'ears ago, when what is now Texas was the territory of Mexico. Settling down within a day's ride of the frontier, and close up to the Indians, he remained, a sterling good man in the midst of a wild popula- tion, and a man of influence ; riding every trail and bridle-path, with his saddle bags and suigical implements, respected and unmolested, and growing rich in lands and cattle, while those around him were wasting their lives in raiding u])on the Mexi- cans, counterfeiting their silver dollars, and doing mischief generally. There he stayed, however, doing good in his way,, when Colonel Austin rallied around him almost the entire pop- ulation to follow his fortunes and aid him in taking possession and holding his Spanish grants ; all of which ended in Texan independence, but nearly depopulated Southwest Arkansas. This stout-hearted man was in stature scarcely more than four feet, six inches. Yet he enforced respect for his person by his gentlemanly deportment, qualified by a fierce temper, ready to blaze up at the slightest liberty or suspicion of insult. Al- though the first bowie knife ever made was forged at the black- smith shop that was nearest to him, he never was intimidated THE SECOND CHARTER. 411 b}' a bullv. He was especially a terror to all patients wlio dared to neglect or change bis prescriptions, and in tbis being- no respecter of persons, some queer incidents arose in bis prac- tice. I was told tbat once an armed bully and a stronger man tban be, but wlio did not know bim, insulted bim in the public square, expecting to escape the consequences by ait'ecting con tempt at tb£ doctor s diminutive stature, "Nevermind that" said the doctor, " I am heavy enough. When I'm angry, sir, I weigh a thousand pounds." Of course the " Eounders'" never suffered their little medicine man to be run over by ruffians. A visit to his home amused and biterested me in the highest degree. He had never rebuilt, but bad added on to bis home- stead as be increased in family and in worldly goods. A tum- ble-down castle it was, and yet there were evidences of good taste, and no sparing of pains or expense to have the best pos- sible floors, and doors and furniture. The fun was in bis mani- fest passion for size and grandeur in everything. His riding horse was the very largest to be had, and to see bim mount and ride never failed to remind me of the pony and the monkey in the circus. His rifle, which he told me he made himself, was a foot longer tban others. His wife was evidently selected for her tallness. The bedstead, tbat was most elaborate, was wider and longer than any other bedstead, and be could not possibly have got into it without climbing. So with the bureau, very fine, but so tall tbat his head scarcely reached the top drawer. Chairs, tables, all were on a scale fit for a race of giants. He was an accurate scholar, especially in certain departments of science ; had made known to the scientific world facts not known before, and bad drawn visits of scientific men sent to verify them. And be was the sole correspondent of bis region with the Smithsonian Institute. '• This Dr. Nathan Smith told me that he came to Utica on foot from Poughkeepsie, being then very young and needing employment. Judge Nathan Williaitis took him into bis office and set bim assessing the " War Tax," for the war was then progressing, and money was raised by direct taxation. The war over, be was teller in the Manhattan Bank, until one day his cash was short one hundred dollars. It was an accident of course, but high words ensued, which knowing his tempera- ment, I can quite understand. I think he said Mr. Bryan 412 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Johnson was particularly hard on him. So he went away in a rage, and turned up at the outmost verge of civilization, as far as he could go without losing his scalp. There he lived to a very old age an exemplary Christian, under circumstances to carry away by temptation any but a man of the most determined principles. So that if he left Utica as a defaulter, it is due to his memory that his subsequent career should be told to his credit." To the details of our correspondent an incident may be added from the fading memor}' of an aged citizen. She remem- bers something about a very little man of the same name desir- ing to take orders in the Episcopal Church, but that though otherwise unexceptionable, the bishop, when he came to set eyes upon him, could not bring himself to ordain so little a man. Another venerable relic of 1815 remembers that a little Mr. Smith, who had been in the employ of Bryan Johnson, studied medicine afterward with Dr. Hull, and was much con- fided in by his preceptor who often availed himself of his •counsel. Courageous little Dr. Nathan Smith, driven out from the civilized and the religious, 3^ou did valiantlj'' among the aliens ! Self-respecting and dignified as you were, is it any wonder that, " cheated of stature by dissembling nature," you came to worship it in all things around you ! Despite your want of it, your townsmen shall reverence you at the last! Josejoh Bunce and Horace Wadsworth began, in April, to mahe looking glasses on Genesee, opposite Catherine, and were also gold beaters. The latter I soon lose trace of, but Bunce was something later a partner in the same business with Flavel Gaylord. This Caylord, at first independent, and then asso- ciated with Bunce, continued the making of mirrors until his death, about 1885, and was an amiable man and a commendable officer of the Presbyterian Church. His brother William, has already been mentioned, as a temjiorary pai'tner of Dr. Solomon Wolcott, in selling crockerj^ William Blackwood, brass founder, had a shop at 134 Genesee, a few dooi's below the corner of Liberty, and after the opening of Fayette street, a little west of Washington, where also he lived. His final home he made in Buffalo, and died December 14, 1838. His wife was a daughter of William Rowe. A son worked with him. and another who THE SECOND CHARTEE, 41S studied medicine, settled in New York. George K. Anderson, followed a trade that is now obsolete, tin planishing being done bj machinery. William Bell was a plater, and Abraham H. Stephens, a gunsmith. Nathan Stephens, carpenter and joiner, lived in Utica until August 1875, and contributed many a build- ing that went to increase the dimensions of the place. His son, John T., his daughters, Mrs. Downer and Mrs. Woodland, and his grand-children, themselves heads of families, are still here. And so too are the children of his brother- in-law, Thomas Wilev, also a carpenter, who died before 1828. These are Mrs. Thomas Sharpe and Mrs. Mary Taylor. Seth Case and John Hewitt were likewise carpenters. Alexander Yates it is believed was a tailor ; John Whitney was a shoemaker ; Deratha Edgerton, a wheel-wright, Azor Brown, a hatter ; John Brown, post-office clerk ; John Flint, a baker ; Eleazer Tilden, butcher ; Newell Bostwuck, police officer ; Theodore Wilcox, boatman ; Ziba Tuttle, liquor dealer : John B. Smith, suspenders maker ; Miss White, teacher; Henry B. Clark, Gilbert Waters, Israel Williams, Pomp Tucker (colored), had pursuits not now known. 1816. The freeholders met as usual in May 1816, and at the usual place, the school house on Genesee street, which was at this time occupied by Eev. Mr. Townshend. As before, the sum of one thousand dollars was voted to be raised by taxation to de- fray the annual expenses. It was voted likewise to continue to issue small bills, but not to exceed the amount of those already issued. For trustees they chose Rudolph Snyder, Ezra S. Cozier, Augustus Hickox. Gurdon Burchard and Willim Geere, of whom Mr. Snyder was afterwards, by action of the board, made the president. The trustees in the course of the year ordered that the buildings on Genesee street should be num- bered, and that the names of tbe streets should be affixed to the corners. They likewise indulged in further legislation about the market and tiie vending of meat — selling six stalls of the former at auction, and forbidding the sale of meat outside of the market before nine o'clock a. m. in quantities less than a quarter of the animal. And this is all the record of the year. Indeed, it com- 414 THE PIONEEKS OF UTIGA. pletes the record of proceedings had nndei" the then existing charter. For in November, we read of a call for a public meet- ing of the inhabitants, at the school house of Mr. Bliss, to re- ceive the new charter. In tlie year 1816, there was started an institution which has l:»een of inestimable beneht to the inhabitants of Utica, past and present. This was the Utica Sunda_y School, already more than once adverted to. Its liistory is of interest not only by reason of the good it effected, bringing into haiTnonious coop- eration the membei'S of all the churches of the place in a pur- pose so useful as tliat of imparting religious instruction to the young, and diffusing its happy influence upon benefactors as well as beneficiaries, but because also it was a novel under- taking and almost without precedent in America. Or if, as w^as doubtless true, a verj^ few such schools were alread}^ in operation, they were so little known as to have no copyists, nor was there one that from the outset was carried on with so much fidelity and system, or was attended throughout its course with such fruitful results as this one. The w^ork of Sunday teaching in Utica is said to have grown out of the suggestion of a young lady from Troy, then tempo- rarih' visiting in the village. This lady, the daughter of a clergjauan of that place, became afterward the wife of one of the members of the firm of Brown Brothers & Co. of New York. Or, according to another tradition, it was two daughters of Divie Bethune of New York, then on a visit in the village, by whom the suggestion was first made. By the influence of one or other of these parties, five young ladies of Utica became in- terested in the project. These five were Alida M. Van Eens- selaer, Mary E. Walker, Sarah M. Malcom, Elizabeth Blood- good and Cathai'ine W. Breese, daughters respectively of Jere- iniah Van Eensselaer, Thomas Walker, Richard M. Malcom, Francis A. Bloodgood and Arthur Breese. And yet these were not absolutely the first of the village to engage in this good work, for in the S])]"ing of 1815, moi'C than a year previous, Miss Eunice Camp, daughter of ,Talcott Camp, gathered a few children, mostly colored, in order to give them Sunday instruc- tion. Carrying this on for a while alone, she was afterwards, when the young ladies above mentioned liad succeeded in estab- THE SECOND CHARTER. . 415 lisbing their school for white children, joined b_y them in the management of an evening school for people of color. Their own school they began in the wing of a frame building that still stands in Hotel street adjoining Mechanics Hall ; and here, on the 16th of October, 1816, thej assembled a group of twentj^- iive or thirty girls and boys. They sought at first only the children of the poor, providing them with clothing to encourage them to attend. In the course of time, a few gentlemen came to their aid, and a separate department was formed for boys. At the outset the propriety of employing the hours of the Sab- bath in teaching ignorant cliildren to read, even the Bible, was much questioned, and many were disposed to regard it as a desecration of the holy day. Even Rev. Mr. Dwight, pastor of the church to which these ladies, with one exception, all be- longed, as well as some of the officer's of this church, while not openly opposing the enterprise, gave it at first no encouragement. It was, however, after much discussion, finallj^ decided that relig- ious teaching was proper work for the Sabbath, and that all the children of tlie village of suitable age, should be invited and urged to attend. From this time, professing Christians, gener- ally, began to give it their cordial sjmipathy, and to feel a re- sponsibility resting upon them to labor therein, directly or in- directly. A regular organization, made up of representatives from the Presbyterian, Episcopal, Methodist and Baptist Soci- eties, was formed to watch over and care- for the interests of the school. It consisted of a president, vice president, secretary, treasurer, four directors, and four instructors of the male de- partment, two directresses, a superintendent and four teachers of the female department, and a superintendent and three teachers of the colored school. This formal redundancy of officers was ere long done away with, and the duties and responsibilities, in name as in fact, were left with the superintendents and their assistants, and the teachers. For some years the ruhng spirit of the whole was the superintendent. Colonel William Williams, the bookseller and publisher; and his influence continued to be felt long after the pressure of other duties required him to jneld the conduct to younger men. A few months after its inception, the school, now consid- erably increased in numbers, was removed to a room known as Minerva Hall, in the second story of a building situate on the 416 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. east side of Genesee street below the corner of Broad. In the- year 1821 or '22, it was again removed into a brick building on - the south side of Catherine street, nearly opposite the mouth of Franklin, and three years later to the west side of Hotel street, about midway of its extent, into a building then occupied as the- Presbyterian session room. And here it continued to be held until 1826, when it ceased to exist as the Union Sunday School of the different religious societies, and was broken up into three or four distinct ones. During the few first years the time of the teachers was principally taken up in teaching the children fi'om lessons on cards and in the spelling book. Then for some years the exercises consisted in recitations by the scholars of passages of Scripture which they had committed to memory daring the preceding week. Stimulated by promises of reward to increase the number of verses to the greatest possible extent, their ambition was excited, and it was no uncommon thing for them to learn and recite as many as one hundred verses, and these not of oft-quoted passages, but of chapters and books con- secutivel}^ Ten of them committed the whole of the New Testament. The result was inevitable, that so far as the exer- cises of the school were concerned, they consisted entirely of recitations, with no time for explanations or further instruction. The idea seemed to have been to incorporate bodily into the heads of the pupils the whole canon of the divine law, which they might draw upon for the regulation of all after life. But the work of Sunday teaching was new, and the teachers with- out chart or compass. Their good sense soon showed them the objections and difficulties attendant upon their then mode of teaching, and better ones were gradually introduced. In 1823 the scholars were required to commit fifteen verses which were explained to them by the teachers. In the year 1824, Truman Parmelee, who was about tliis time made the superintendent, prepared a series of questions on the historical parts of the New Testament, which were printed and introduced into use in the school. This was the first book of Scripture questions, ever compiled for Sunday schools ; it was adopted by the Amer- ican Sunday School Union, and almost universally introduced into the schools under its care. Its introduction here was attended with the happiest effect, and the attention of teachers and scholars was now especiall}^ directed to the careful study THE SECOND CHAKTER. 417 of tlie Scriptures, in order to understand their real import and connection, and the whole circuit of instruction thej include. Mr. Parraelee, who was afterward a merchant, had but just completed his apprenticeship as a book-binder when he entered upon the office of superintendent. He possessed qualities wdiich admirably fitted him for the position. He had energy, unfailing patience and abundant resource, a pleasant counte- nance and winning persuasiveness of address, and above all, ardent piet}^ and an enthusiastic consecration to the work of Sunday School teaching. His lessons were full of interest and never failed of engagmg attention. His manner w^as gentle and forbearing, so that he drew towards him the affection of the scholars, and maintained over them an influence of the purest and strongest kind. Moreover there were several teach- ers, male and female, who had excellencies scarcely inferior to- his own. Some of these have already or will hereafter be noticed in connection with other relations they sustained to the- village. We can name only George S. Wilson, — at this time a printer's apprentice,, but afterwards a Presbyterian minister,, conspicuous for piety, intelligence and aptness as well as zeal in teaching ; Frederick S. Winston, then a clerk, now presi- dent of the New York Mutual Life Insurance Company, an instructive teacher, of tender influence and a quiet enthusiast in the work ; Captain Charles Stuart, a retired half pay officer of the British army, but then pi'incipal of the Utica Academy, who "had all the virtues of humanity seemingly in excess;" and who, notwithstanding his eccentricity and his rigidness of discipline, won all hearts ; Charles Bartlett, another secular teacher, afterwards well known in this capacity, and whose skill in expounding the Scriptures was admirable ; and among the ladies, not already mentioned as the founders, there was ISIrs. Sarah K. Clarke, heretofore sketched, Miss Betsey Barker, Miss. Susan Burchard and others. In singing, the school had the benefit of the tuition of Thomas Hastings, eminent as a teacher and composer of sacred music, and some of whose earlier and popular pieces were prepared expressly for the anniversaries of the school. For there were annual exhibitions held in the Presbj^terian church when the progress made by the scholars in religious t?uth was shown to the satisfaction of crowded audi- c-1 418 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. ences, and the interest in the school on the part of the latter was fostered and increased. The earlier records of the school are unfortunately lost, so that it is now impossible to relate the successive improvements that were developed, to recount the number of scholars in attendance, or present anything like a perfect list of the work- ing force of the school. It attained, in the course of a few 3^ears a high degree of prosperity and elevation, so as to attract attention abroad, and to be looked upon as a model for imita- tion. Missionaries were sent forth from it to christianize the the heathen, and others were led by it to enter on ministerial labor at home ; many were trained under its purifying influ- ences for the posts of honor or usefulness they now fill, and many more were prepared for death. In 1826, as we have said, the school closed its existence as the Utica Sunday School, for the town had now become too large to admit of assembling all its children in one apartment or under a single corps of instructors, and moreover each society was desirous of directing the nurture of its own. From its dismembered parts three or four other schools sprang into a healthy life, of which the most continue to be promoters of blessing to the present generation of the young, and though these joined hands to form a Sunday School Union, the organization of each was separate and independent, and their history is that of the church to which they belonged. On the 25th of December, 1816, another Bible society was organized under the title of The Welsh Bible Society of Steuben and Utica with their vicinities. Its intention was to aid and cooperate with the American Bible Society in translating, printing and circulating the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, at home and in foreign countries. Its annual meeting was, in 1829, held in January, alternately in Steuben and Utica. Its president was Rev. Robert Everett, and he was still president in 1833. About this time William Williams imported for them a Duoglott Bible — Welsli and English. By the year 1843, the society had received about $6,000, and that year made a dona- tion of two hundred dollars to the American Bible Societ}^ It is in existence still. First among the persons now admitted to a residence comes one who was confessedly primus inter pares, eminent not here THE SECOND CHARTER. 419 alone, but throughout the country, whose transcendent abilities gave him a repute that was national, and a celebrity that is enduring. Samuel Austin Talcott was the son of Samuel Tal- ^ cott of Hartford, Conn., and Abigail, daughter of John Led- yard of Bristol, England, and sister of Colonel Ledyard, who so gallantly defended Fort Groton in the war of the Revolu tion. This Samuel Talcott was son of Colonel Samuel Talcott, who was sheriff, colonel &c., and grandson of Governor Joseph Talcott, the first governor of Connecticut born within its lim- its, and who occupied the chair seventeen years. Samuel Austin, who was born at Hartford, December 31, 1789, lost his father while yet a boy. At the age of four years he was sent to a school kept by a Mrs. Peterson, where he remained three years, and was then put under the care of Dr. McClure, of East Windsor. He continued with him until he was fourteen, when he went to Colchester Academy, and after a residence of two years entered the Sophomore class of Wil- liams College, in 1806, and was graduated in 1809, at the age of nineteen. Shortly after, he married Miss Rachel Skinner, daughter of Deacon Benjamin Skinner of Williamstown, and immediately began the stud}^ of law with Thomas R. Gold of Whitesboro. His course of study ended, he practiced in Low- ville, Lewis county, at first in j)artnership with Isaac W. Bost- wick. About 1816 he removed to Utica, and entered into a like connection with William H. Maynard, the contemporary of his college days. A vacancy having been created at New Hartford by the removal from that place to Utica of General ^ Joseph Kirkland, Mr. Talcott took up his residence in the < former village, and by the aid of his associate in Utica, main-) tained an office in both places. On the 12th of February, 1821, he received the appointment of Attorney General of the State, when he made his home in Albany, and continued to live there during his administration of this office. From Albany he repaired to New York, and carried on practice until his death, March 19, 1836, in his forty-seventh year. Such in brief terms are the main incidents in the life of one of the marked men of the county and of the State. Indeed, a friend of his youth, and who was competent to judge, has pro- nounced him one of the most extraordinary men of the age. The characteristics of Mr. Talcott, as they were seen in college, •i20 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. tliis writer* thus describes: "At this early age, all those ex- traordinar}' qualities were developed which marked his career, and so greatly distinguished him in after life, — towering genius and profound investigation ; astonishing facility in acquiring knowledge, and a memory which never lost what it had once acquired ; surpassing eloquence as a writer and speaker; a mind which could grasp and master whatever was most difficult in the abstruse sciences, and at the same time exhibiting powers of the imagination, wit, Immoi", raillery and sarcasm which have rarely been equalled. To all these were added the advan- tages of a commanding person, unri\-a]led address, a head, eye and countenance ' the pattern of a man.' He was in all respects most truly one of nature's noblemen. His heart was generous to a fault, and he had a soul which knew not fear." Eulogium so lavish one might impute to the partiality of a friend did it not accord with the written testimony of a few co- temporaries of his manhood, as well as with the traditionary report of all his generation. As a lawyer, all admit that he was born to the calling ; they join in praising the acuteness of his intellect and the cogency of his logic, his abundant learning and close and critical research, to which they add an eloquence of oratory seldom witnessed. Though from an early period in his professional life, Mr. Talcott was engaged in nearly every im- portant case that was tried at the Circuit, and often argued at the bar of the Supreme Court, yet scarce an impress of his commanding power is now to be traced. A few skeletons of argument are preserved in the Reports of the Couit, but this is all. In his day there was no reporting of the particular char- acter that we now have, and the public efforts of this great lawyer have perished with the occasion. In respect to his style of oratory, his sentences, we are told, were, for the most part, short and pithy ; he did not practice high wa-ought illustration or nicely balanced periods, nor call on Shakespeare or some other poet to assist him in his flight, and make good his own deficiencies ; graced with a fancy all his own, spoken in a deep- toned, resounding voice, and in a manner that was most impres- sive, his utterances were forceful and direct ; weighty with rea- son, they captivated the understanding while they charmed the *Hon. William H. Dillingham, in Durfee's Biographical Annals of Wil- liams College. THE SECOND CHARTER. 421 sense; or changing with magical transition, from the subtlest argument, they melted the hearer to the deepest pathos. He produced in the minds of his audience, says Proctor,* all the sympathy and emotion of which the mind is capable,- — all which the argumentative can produce — all which solidity, pathos or splendor, whether derived from original or assisted powers, can convey of pleasure or conviction. " But with all his ability, he had striking weaknesses and some lamentable vices. Among the former was a foolish vanity of having it thought that all his gifts and resources came by inspiration, and were not the fruit of careful study and laborious preparation. "f This led him to conceal every evidence of toil, and to pass his days in idle- ness or worse, while his nights were often consumed in diligent reading and laborious thought. He spurned the labor of others, and refused to appear in court with a brief that had been wholly or in part prepared by an associate. No 'cause was worthy of his handling that had not been subjected to his mid- night crucible, and worked up to the standard of his own con- ception. He never sought business, was not anxious for the pecuniary gains he might so easily have grasped, but, solicitous onl}^ for professional fame, he strove in what he did do, therein Mnthout seeming effort and as it were by sheer force of genius, to excel. In proof of some of these traits, and more especially of his simulated idleness, his accurate learning and its covert acquisi- / tion, is the narrative of the venerable Charles Dayan of Low-( ville, who, at the same time witli the late Kussel Parrish, was a \ student in the office of Messrs. Bostwick & Talcott. He says : 1 "Mr. Talcott was, I think, the laziest man I ever knew. He would lie in bed till ten oclock, and would lounge for hours. In fact, I seldom or ever saw him read a book ; and we began to set him down as an ignorant, clownish fellow. So Parrish and I one day laid a plan to trap and expose him, by asking about some principle of law on which we had been posting our- selves from the books. Mr. Talcott replied that the principle had been discussed some years ago, and referred us to a case in the English term reports, mentioning the judge, the year, vol- ume and page. Turning to the authority we found the matter fully stated and decision given. "Now," said he, "are you sat- * Bench and Bar of New York, f Bacon's Early Bar of Oneida County. 422 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. isfied?" "Yes, of course; it is quite plain." "But," said lie^ "in a case reported some 3^ears later, this same principle arose and was settled in a different way." Having recourse to tlie volume, page and name of parties indicated, we found the de- cision (this time by Lord Mansfield) as he had informed us. We again declared ourselves fully satisfied. But, remarking that the law was very uncertain, he cited another case some years later, in which a third decision had been rendered, differing from either of the former ones. We never again undertook to cross examine Mr. Talcott upon principles of law, but found him always ready to cite from memory upon any point on which we needed information." " In trying causes," says Judge Pom- roy Jones, "he seemed to take pride in making it appear that he was paying no attention to the testimony or the summing up of opposing counsel. I have seen him during the progress of a trial making pictures and passing them to members of the bar, — but when he came to sum up, all of the testimony, even tlie very words of the witnesses, as well as of the lawyer in op- position, seemed to have been photographed on his memory." His appointment by the Council to the high position of Attorney General, in place of Thomas J. Oakley, when he was but thirty- one years of age, is evidence of the estimate that was placed upon his talents. This appointment, remarks Mr. Hammond,* was considered peculiarly Mr. Van Buren's. " Mr. Talcott had been a federalist, but with many others of that party, had op- posed the election of Mr. Clinton ; and Mr. Van Buren no doubt felt that good policy required that some distinguished mark of attention and respect should be bestowed on some of the indi- viduals who had been ranked among the Federalists. Mr. Tal- cott, too, was a young man, and it was said to be a part of Mr. Van Buren's policy to appear as the patron (^f young men whose abilities and situation in life afforded a promise that they would become influential in society." But though the acuteness of this "sage" leader may have led to the selection of Mr. Talcott for this honor, it is also true that he was twice reelected to the office — once by the unanimous vote of the Leg- islature — that he held it during the greater part of nine years, and that he has been adjudged by competent authority as sec- ond in talent and ability to no former incumbent, unless it be Alexander Hamilton. * Hammond's Political History of New York. THE SECOND CHARTER. 423 Deeply pitiable it is to record that his own vices required his resignation : that habits of intemperance, which had fixed them- selves in his youth, became so strengthened by long years of indulgence, and were so gross in their manifestations as to dis- grace him in the eyes of the public, and disqualify him to retain so responsible an office. For a time he continued to practice in New York, and " such was his elasticity of body and mind that when he came out of his revels he would stand up and measure his strength with the ablest and best in the land." Its last and most memorable display we relate in the language of Judge Bacon. * " One of the last occasions on which he appeared was before the Supreme Court of the Uni-^ ted States in what was known as the " Sailor's Snug Harbor " case. This had been preceded b}'' a week of indulgence, so that his friends began to fear that he would be utterly nnfit to stand in the presence of that high tribunal. But on the day assigned for the argument, he strode into the court room attired with scrupulous neatness, fresh as a bridegroom, and his imperial intellect untouched and unobscured. Beginning in a low and measured tone, he gathered strength and power as he proceeded in his masterly discourse, and for five hours or more held the breathless attention of bench, and bar and audi- ence, in an argument which the illustrious Marshall declared had not been equalled in that court, since the days of the renowned lawyer, William Pinkney. It w^as an argument that Daniel Webster, his great antagonist, found it impossible, with his profound learning and colossal intellect, to overcome or even successfull}^ to meet." Mr. Dayan, who was present and heard this speech, tells us in reference to its effect on the Chief Justice, that forgetting the staid dignity which he usually car ried, his head from bolt upright began to lean forward as the argument advanced, until it bent quite down to the desk, as he earnestly gazed and listened. The impassioned fervor of Rob- ert Hall brought men, it is said, from their seats to their feet, the splendidl}" flowing logic of Talcott bowed the chief court of the nation in rapt and passive deference. This, continues Judge Bacon, " was his last great effort, and from that altitude he rapidly sank ; like the sun even at high noon, in the meri- dian of a day that should have been flooded with light, his orb went out in dismal darkness." * Bacon's Early Bar of Oneida County. 424 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Immediately on the opening of the Supreme Court, which was in session in tlie city of New York, at the time of the death of Mr. Talcott, his decease w^as announced b}' Henry R Storrs, whereupon the court after a feeHng and eloquent address by Chief Justice Jones, at once adjourned. And at a meeting of the members of the New York bar, held on the same day, it was " Resolved., That this meeting have heard with deep regret and s\"mpathy of the death of Samuel A. Talcott, late Attorney General of the State, that in the brilliant course of his profes- sional life they find much to shed honor not only upon his own name but upon the State to which he belonged and the bar whose reputation he elevated ; that his distinguished talent, profound learning and finished scholarship have rarel}^ been equalled "and never been surpassed at the bar of this State.'' To their opinion thus expressed may be joined the verdict of Daniel Webster, given in 1838, and which was concurred in b}' Martin Yan Buren, that Mr. Talcott was the ablest living law- yer of America. By his first wife, who died in 1819, Mr. Talcott had one son, John Ledyard, now ji^^dge of the Supreme Court of the eighth district, and residing at Bufiialo, and one daughter who died in infanc}^ By his second wife,. Miss Mary Eliza Stanley of New Hartford, he had one son, Thomas Grrosvenor, a lawyer of much native capacity, who was settled in Hartford, Conn., but died in 1870. A brother of the foregoing, and also a lawj^er, was Matthew Talcott, but inferior in ability to Samuel, and relatively of much less importance. He was nearl}^ eight years his senior, and in early life had been a midshipman. How or where he acquired a legal education, or when he came hither to practice, the writer is uninformed. He was appointed the first cashier of the Bank of Chenango, which was incorporated in 1818, and his exercise of the function was antecedent, no doubt, to his settlement in Utica, since he was living here before 1821, the date of his brother's departure. His office was in the same building with that of Maynard & Talcott, and with them he had jjrobably some business connection. Tiiough well informed in the law, he never s})oke in the courts, but, as Master in Chan- cery, evinced skill in the drawing of chanceiy })a2)ers. A THE SECOND CHARTER. 425 leader in the masonic fraternity, he was appointed, in 1823, when the Templars were instituted, the master of the order. In person he was tall and observable, in manners reserved and self-centred, priding himself on his superior gentility. He was never married and boarded at hotels, chiefly at Bagg's, but died at the National, on the 3d of November, 1837. One of the tavern-keeping Gays has already been noticed. A brother of his was Samuel Gay, a bustling, talkative and very polite man, but not i-ated by the public as highly as Amos. After an experience at Hampton, at Whitesboro, at Clinton and at Yernon, he now took charge of the tavern of Hedges on Genesee opposite Catherine. From this he went, in May 1820, into the York House, and later to Union Hall, the house that had been kept by his brother on the corner of John and Main. In 1828 he and Amos were together in the Fayette Street House, and in 1832 he was proprietor of the Canal Hotel. He remained in Utica until 1840, but died in December, 1844, at the house of his daughter, in Brooklyn. This daughter, Mrs. Henry S. Storms, is the only survivor of his children ; Mrs. Peter Ballon of this city having but recently deceased. James Thompson, another inn-kee])er, was in July, at the head of a house on Main street, but w^as gone within three or four years. A new merchant of the year was George L., son of George Tisdale. He had been clerk for Nicholas Devereux, and now became his partner. The connection was dissolved in 1819, soon after which time Tisdale removed to Sacketts Harbor, having first married Amelia M. Graham, of Deerfield. He died in 1838. A provision dealer named John Adams, began in October 1816, at the lower end of Genesee street, and kept on in business until his death, about 1850. His brother Charles, who served six months in the army, afterwards drove stages for Mr. Parker, and in later years was the railroad agent who carried the mails to and from the post office. He died about 1865, aged seventy-three. Both, have children still in Utica. Thomas Stevenson, grocer and also a carman, lived until 1845, although at the time of the cholera, he was attacked with the disease, and became so nearly exanimate that a coffin was put by his bedside to receive him. Still another grocer was Ira Cummins, at the corner of Genesee and Water, where a Sumner was at one time his partner. 426 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Samuel M. Todd, kept an evening school, and the circum- stances attending his death, in May 1822, were as follows : He lived in a house that stood where is now the Catherine Street House, on the west side of the slip which extended from this street to the canal. While in bed one dark night he was awak- ened by a splash as of some one falling into it. He rushed out in his night dress, and perceiving, as he thought, a person strug- gling in the water, he reached in and grasped what he took to be the hair of a human head, but which was in fact the mane of a colt. The superior strength of the anuimal dragged in his rescuer. And though the latter succeeded in getting out of the water, he was so chilled as to be taken with lockjaw, which in a few days carried him off. His widow afterwards married Thomas Midlam, and lived many years in Utica. A son of his was former mayor of Mobile, and now resides in New Orleans. Oliver Harris and Henry I. Guest, chairmakers, set up a shop about where the Devei'eux block now is, while continuing to make and sell at Sangerfield. They were men of some stir, and important rivals of Mr. Snyder. Mr. Harris moved to Batavia and married, for his second wife, the widow of William Morgan of anti-masonic celebrity. His partner went to Buffalo, became captain of a boat on Lake Erie, and was lost in 1820. His son, Rev. William H. Gruest,was for twenty-two years a teacher in the Watts and Leake Orjolian Asylum of New York, and much lamented at his death. John Osborn, glover, made his first appearance in Utica about 1812, but withdrew for a short time. Coming again, he remained until about 1865, carry- ing on his glove making nearly all the time. He is now living at Sodus Bay. Richard Marshall, tailor, who had been living in Clinton, began the practice of his trade in Utica. After having two or three partners in succession, he gave up his shop in May 1821, to a new-coming shoemaker. George Peckham was another tailor; Benjamin Watson a mason ; Walter Smith a packet captain ; Smith & Bates, painters ; James G. Lundegreen, shoemaker, church sexton, boarding house keeper, police officer; Samuel Parks, laborer, had a large family, consisting chiefly of daughters, w^ho were straw braiders, and these were their names : Celia, Melissa, Zenobia, Rosalind, Cassandra, Violetta, Antoinette. The four boys were Harrison, THE SECOND CHARTER. 4:27 Milo, Nazro and James ; John T. Roberts made himself notori- ous by a quixotic expedition to the Southwest in search of a reported tribe of Welsh Indians, influenced doubtless by the teachings of certain profound antiquaries of Wales, that the Madogwys, or descendants of Madoc's colonists of the 12 th century still hnger on the banks of the Missouri, — an opinion which was afterwards strengthened by the conviction of George Catlin that the Mandans w^ere identical with Madogwys. Mr. Roberts solicited and obtained funds to aid him in his purpose. Failing of his object, he returned to the old country, but is now^ in California. A deputy clerk in the ofhce of the Supreme Court was Abra- ham Dixon, brother of Rev. David R. He had graduated at Yale in 1813, and was now pursuing his law studies. After his ad- mission, he settled in Westfield, Chautauqua county, where he represented his district in the State Senate in 1840, "41, '42, and '43, and is presumed to be living. The ultimate fate of another young man of the time is pain- ful indeed. Henrj^ T. Barto, assistant teller of the Bank of Utica, and in 1824 its teller, was, later, cashier of the Commer- cial Bank of Albany. He was an agreeable person and a popu- lar teller, with a good reputation, until he lost it by an act which has had many imitators in these latter days, but w^hich was once rare enough to be noteworthy. Going to jSTew York, he called at the bank wdth which his own was in correspondence, drew $20,000, and disappeared. It was some days before he was missed, and years before the news came that a man answer- ing to his description had been seen in Texas. A messenger was sent thither, who learned that some one like him, the owner of a plantation, had recently died. The body was disinten-ed and found to be that of Henry T. Barto. One of his sureties, Michael Hoffman of Herkimer, was nearly ruined by the trans- action. Barto was from Herkimer county, and son of Dr. Barto of Newport. The first directory of Utica was published in the year 1817, and is a thm duodecimo pamphlet of twenty-four pages. It contains, besides a list of the inhabitants with their occupations and residence, which occupies eighteen pages, a census of the population. This census, the compiler informs us, was taken 428 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA. in the fall of 1816. and doubtless the catalogue of names was made out at the same time. That we may show Utica in its entirety up to the 3'ear 1816, such of the names as have not alread}^ been given are collected in the note below.* Many of the names are of parties who w^ould not be likely to appear in print, except in the pages of a director}^, and hence these parties may have had some years silent residence in the village. The majority, how^ever, were probably only temporarj^ in such resi- dence, as they are not remembei'ed by the few survivors of the era. No further director}^ of Utica appeared until the year 1828. As we are about to enter ujDon a fresh chapter of the village history, and to consider the proceedings had under the third charter of this now independent town, it may be well to again survey the place as a whole and seek to picture to ourselves the Utica of sixty years ago. In order to form some conception of it and its surroundings, let ns approach it from the north. Standing on the Deeriield hill four or live miles away, tlie country below you seems like a level swamp covered with for- est, the clearings being scarcely discernible. Beyond the river *Jee8e AdamB, laborer, Eleazar Hovey, John Pennington, shoemaker, Joseph Abbott, do. William Hoberton. Alexander Parker. Thomas Arthur, do. Joshua Herrin, laboi-er, Adam Reece. wood eawjer, Matthias Austin, do. Hunt & Oppell, whipmakers, Isaac Kodraan. do. Dolly Amerstone, widow, Elisha Johnson, laborer, Richard Richards, laborer, John Blackmore. laborer and Francis Johnson, do. Jarish Root, do. mover of buildings, Samuel Jones, coppersmith, Martin Rosenburg, cio. Edward Butler, laborer, Eleazar Kellogg, grocer, Christopher Roberts, William Butler, do. Mary Lyster. milliner, David Roberts. Robert Barnes, do. James L. Lawson, laborer, Lewis Slocomb, shoemaker, Richard Bishar, do. James Lisbert, do. Waitstill Smith, joiner, Samuel Brisrgs, do. Lovett &Whittemore, bakers, Isaac Smith, do. Francis Barker, do. Dinah Lewis (colored), Storrs & Sanford, grocers, James Bartlett, James Long, farmer and tan- William Sook, boatman, Daniel Baker, mason. ner, David Sardis, carpenter, W. B. Clark, silversmith, Daniel Lewis, Matthias Spencer, blacksmith, James Clark, laborer. David Lewis, carpenter, Jesse Streeter, grocer, William Crozier, wheelwright, EliasjLyman, carpenter, Jonathan Schooner (colored), Henry Catlin, shoemaker, Adam Leninger, Reuben Stodard. joiner, Isaac P. Campbell, miller, Joseph Mitchell grocer, John Strong, (colored), William Crab, farmer, Henry Morse, coppersmith, Asher Smith, carpenter, Hiram Drake, grocer, Jesse Minor, laborer. Benoni Smith, teamster, Joseph L. Donaldson, shoe- Chailes Moine, shoemaker, ]>aniel Sill, laborer, maker, Isaac Molineaux. grocer, James Seram, Thomas Entwissel, clerk, Henry Myers, laborer, Samuel Tucker, shoemaker, William Evans, clerk, John Major, carpenter. Jeremiah Thomas, laborer. John Eaton, cooper, Elijah Norton, ship carpenter, Jehiel Tyler, teamster. Widow Eastermory. William Newkirk, blacksmith, James \ aun. Charles Francis, baker, David Nevillaes, cooper, Amarilluss Vi;n Kleeck, Asa Fitch, stage driver, John Owens, shoemaker, Caleb Wliii)plc. laborer Moses Freeman, mason, Joseph Odling shoemaker, Sylvester Wright, furrier David French, wood sawyer, W^illiam Owe, carpenter, James Wills, laborer Benjamin Gray, laborer, Josiah B. Prescott, cabinet Kiiistu;- Warner, shoemaker, Mary (jrifllths, maker, Riilus Wliceler. do. George Graham, boatman, John Palmer, shoemaker, Samuel W ixidworlh, laborer, John Houston, grocer. Gilbert Palmer, do. John W'lielmorc, do Ezekiel Hawley, saddler, Cyprian Palmer, carman, Fanny Walker, milliner, Henry Hammond, shoemaker, William Penry, grocer, Joseph Whitney, laborer, Henry Homefield, hatter, Philo Powell, Jr. Benjamin Yates, coppersmith. THE SECOND CHARTER. 429 you perceive the bouses on the hill at Utica, and an extensive opening in the vicinity, one strip ascending southerly to the height of land in Freemason's Patent. Directly south and west nearly one-third of the country is denuded of wood. To the southeast there are only small patches of clearing. Coming down towards the plain, you discern the more conspicuous features of the vil- lage. Two church steeples enliven the scene, the Presbyterian and the Episcopal, which stand like sentinels guarding the ap- proaches on the west and the east, the latter rejoicing in a pointed spire, the former equally happy in its rounded cupola. As you cross the dyke you see plainly before you, and towering above their fellows, the imposing York House on the right, and its closely contesting rival, Bagg's Hotel, directly in front. Having passed over the bridge, you are at once within the heart of the settlement, the very focus of the town. For the limits of Utica, at the time I treat of, were mostly confined be- tween the river and the Liberty street road to Whitesboro ; from the square as a centre they sj^read westward along Whites- boro street to Potter's bridge, and eastward along Main and Broad to Third street. The course of Grenesee street was pretty thickly lined with stores, — a few residences only being here and there interspersed — as far upwards as Catheiine street, beyond which private houses predominated over places of business, and these were scattered in a straggling way even to Cottage street. The roadway was guiltless of pavement, and the mud at times .profound. The sidewalks were paved, if such it might be called, but the pavement, — of flagging, of cobble, of gravel, or of tan bark, as suited the convenience or the taste of the house holder, — bore little resemblance to the modern conventional sand stone. " Stately but graceless poplars, the common badge and sole ornament of all new villages in the North, stood in unbroken row from Bleecker street to the hill-top." On the west, Genesee had no outlet higher tlian Liberty street, and on the east, none above Catherine, for though Bleecker was known by authority, it was neither fenced nor housed, and was only a path to pastures beyond. The buildings on its business part were mostly wooden and of moderate size and pretension. A few were of brick, and of these an idea may be formed from the block that adjoins Taylor's, on the north. On the hill were the spacious grounds and beautiful houses, already described, of 430 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Jeremiah Van Reusselaei', Arthur Breese and Alexander B. Johnson. In Whitesboro street were the Bank of Utica, the Manhattan Branch Bank, and the York House, as well as the inns of Burchard and Bellinger. This was the Wall street of the village ; it harbored several stores, and was more populous than any other, except Main, containing probably nearly as many inhabitants as it now does. Hotel, in proportion to its length, was quite as thickly peopled. Seneca, Washington and Broadway reached only to the Liberty street road ; Broadway bringing up at the elegant stone mansion of James S. Kip, while Washington conducted passengers no further than the Presby- terian meeting house. The public square contained the town pump and the market house. Main street had apparently more buildings than it now has. It was lined with the comely resi- dences of prosperous citizens, and was terminated by the Meth- odist chapel and the pleasant home and grounds of Judge Miller. Broad street was occupied as far as the line of Third street ; but it did not contain the half of its present number of buildings. Between it, Whitesboro and upper Grenesee, the best dwelling houses of the village were unequally distributed, John street had here and there a residence, which in all reached a little higher than Jay, while beyond were the rising walls of the academy, and in the rear of this, two tenements on Chancel- lor square. The faint attempts of Catherine to rival its fellow below were effectually crushed when stakes were planted along side of it to mark the course of the future canal. This settled its fate, and consigned it the rank it has held ever since. Water street, now robbed of its former importance, was nearest of all to the then channel of commerce, and besides its houses for storage and forwarding, was also the home of a few well-tO;do folks. Thus, as it appears from the directory, while the build- ings of Grenesee were in number 157, of Whitesboro 84, of Main 67, of Broad 59, of Hotel 34, of Catherine 20, and Water as many, Seneca had 15, no other street more than ten, and the rest but half or less than half of that number. Of those run- ning eastward not one is named above Catherine, save only Rebecca, and this we are puzzled to see has already a name with two houses upon it. " Cornhill was a forest from South street to the New Hartford line. Another forest covered the sand bank, and skirting the gardens on the west side of Genesee, THE SECOND CHARTER. 431 came down the slope to tlie present Fayette and extended west to the Asylum hill." When the commissioners, in the following year, ran the line between Whitesboro and Utica, from Jewett's farm to the county line on the east, and to the river on the north, they were obliged to fell the trees so as to see their flag. Such was the " pent up Utica " of 1816, with its four hun- dred and twenty dwellings and stores, with its churches, banks, taverns, printing offices and other appendages of a flourishing country town, and which, according to the enumeration made by the compiler of its directory, contained two thousand eight hundred and sixty-one inhabitants. CHAPTER Y. THIRD CHARTER. A new charter of Utica was enacted April 7, 1817. By its terms Utica was set ofE from Whitestown and erected into a separate town, its boundaries remaining the same as before. It was divided into three wards, as follows : The First ward in- cluded that portion of territory Ij^ng east of a line running from the river bridge through the middle of lower Genesee, parts of John, Broad and First streets to the southern boundary; the Second ward, next west of the First, was limited by a line trav- ersing Hotel and upper Genesee streets ; and the Third embraced all west of the pi-eceding. The president of the village was to be appointed annually by the Governor and Council of the State. Besides presiding at the meetings of the board of trustees, he, by and with their advice, granted permits to retailers, tavern keepers and butchers, and was ex-officio a, justice of the peace. As a compensation for his services, he received fees for the per- mits that were given, or in lieu of them a salary of two hundred and fifty dollars. At the annual meeting, held on the second Monday of May, there were to be chosen, by ballot, six trustees, two from each ward, a supervisor, three assessors, and two con- stables. The trustees appointed a clerk, a treasurer, collectors, an overseer of the poor, and several other subordinate officers. They were empowered to levy a tax not exceeding in am.ount fifteen hundred dollars, to defray the expense of lighting the streets, supporting a night watch, the making of local improve- ments, and for contingent expenses ; and likewise a tax not ex- ceeding one hundred dollars to keep in repair the building erected for a free school house, and to pui-chase fuel and other appendages for such school. They were made commissioners of highways ; could open, alter, pave or improve streets, and cause the construction of sewers, as they might deem the public good required ; and, after the expense of the same had been estimated by five disinterested persons appointed by them, they could enforce its collection from the parties chiefly benefited. THE THIRD CHARTER. . 483 They had, moreover, full authority "to make all sach rules and regulations, by-laws and ordinances for the good government and order of the village as they might deem expedient, not re- pugnant to the constitution and laws of this State," and to en- force the due observance of them by line or imprisonment. In this authority are enumerated many particulars, though all are included in the general terms above quoted. The share of the school moneys appropriated to the county, which these trustees received from the county treasurer, they were obliged to devote to the maintenance of a free school for the education of such poor children, residing in the village, as they might think en- titled to gratuitous instruction. Such is a very brief summary of the thirty-one sections of the charter. The annual meeting of freeholders was done away, the government of affairs became wholly representative, and to the trustees was entrusted much more power than they bad before exercised. The first president appointed under this charter was Nathan Williams, and, at the first election held under it, there were chosen as trustees Ezra S. Cozier and William Williams from' the first ward, Jeremiah Yan Rensselaer and Abraham Van Santvoort from the second ward, and Ei-astus Clark and John C. Hoyt from the third ward. The assessoi's elected were Moses Bagg, David P. Hoyt and Thomas Walker. Benjamin Walker w^as chosen supervisor, and Ezra S. Barnum and Joshua Ostrom constables. The first business of the board of trustees was to enact rules for their own guidance, to employ a surveyor to ascertain the bounds of the village and designate them by boundary stones, to adopt a corporate seal, and to elect addi- tional officers. These officers were the following : John H. Ostrom, clerk ; E. S. Barnum and Benjamin Ballon, collectors ; Jeremiah Yan Rensselaer, overseer of the poor ; Judah Wil- liams, treasurer; Frederick W. Potter, pound master; Benja- min Hinman, Aaron Eggleston and Jason Parker, fence viewers ; James Hooker, gauger ; Benjamin Ballou, superintendent of highways. The ordinances passed by the board in the course of the year were the following : A law concerning officers of the village and town ; an act for the regulation of groceries and victualling houses ; an act to prevent the digging of earth or stone in the streets and highways ; a law to prevent nui- sances and to regulate the streets ; a law relative to fences and D-1 43-1 THE nONEERS OF UTICA. foi' the establishment of a pound ; a law for establisliing the assize and regulating the inspection of bread ; a law for pre- venting and extinguishing of fires; an additional act for regu- lating groceries and victualling houses ; a law for the appoint- ment of a village supernitendent (of streets) and prescribing his duties ; an ordinance in relation to a watch : a law regu- lating the streets and sidewalks. Some few of the provisions contained in these several ordinances it may be of interest to note, for the sake of their relation to the state of things which had preceded them as well as to that which has followed, as showing both the advance made and the short comings in view of the j^resent. The act to regulate groceries and victualling houses, which was passed in May, required those keeping such establishments to acknowledge a recognizance to the trustees in the penalty of one hundred and twent3'-five dollars, conditioned that they would not sell spirituous liquors to be drank on the premises, nor sell to an apprentice, servant or slave without permit from the master, nor harl3or noisy persons or gamblers, nor keep open on Sunday, nor after ten o'clock at night. But the addi- tional act passed in December, allowed pett}' grocers who had obtained a license, to retail liquors to be drank on the ])remises, restricting them only from selling to apprentices, ser- vants and slaves, and for this license they were to pay five dol. lars, and also a fee of two dollars to the president. The law to prevent nuisances and regulate the streets, while forbidding the deposit of rubbish, filth or nuisances of an}'" kind in the streets, or of heaps of manure within one hundred feet of the principal streets, required the owners or occupants of houses and stores on Genesee street from the bridge to Liberty street, and on Main and Whitesboro from Second street to Broadway, to clean the street in front of their premises and remove the dirt every Saturday forenoon. It allowed the deposit of build- ing material, on certain defined streets, only on the written per- mission of the president and for a term not exceeding six months, which ' permission might be revoked or prolonged by the trustees. It granted another permission, which has since been a source of niucli detriment to the general good, viz: the right to build open sto(^|)s sLx; feet into the street ; on the other hand it forbade billiard tables, shuffle boards, E. O. tables, THE THIRD CHARTER. 435 pliaro banks and all other implements of gaming: it restrained cows, oxen, sheep and swine from running at large under pen- alty of being impounded, — whence there M^as no release but by the pa3^ment, besides the pound-keeper's fee, of a fine, one half of which was to go to the beneiit of the poor of the town and the other to the person delivering the animal to the pound- keeper, but it made exceptions in the case of cows belonging to any inhabitant of the village, and also in the case of working horses the property of any such inhabitant, who had first ob- tained the consent of the president. The law relating to the assize and inspection of bread was much fuller in detail than the one that had been before in force. Bakers were to have a license; they were to mark their loaves with their initials, and in addition, with the letters S. or C. in order to indicate whether these loaves were made of superfine or common flour ; the}' were required under penalty to keep on hand a sufficient supply ; there was to be appointed an inspector of bread who at least once a month was to examine the bread baked and on sale in the village, with power to enter any baker}- , or stop and examine any baker's cart and to seize such bread as was not conformable to law, which, if fit for use. was to go to the over- seer of the poor ; none was to be forfeited for want of weight only, unless the weight had been ascertained within eight hours after baking, and if more than eight hours had elapsed the inspector was to " make just allowance." The law prescribed also how the assize of bread should be regulated, and contained a mathematical formula to be used in determining what should be the weight of a shilling or a sixpenny loaf that it might accord with the varying price of flour. But as this whole ordinance was so inconvenient and difficult of execution as to be almost com- pletely nugatory, we will not further enlarge upon its provisions. With respect to the law for the prevention and extinguishing of fires the following is new : A fire warden and a fire engi- neer were to be appointed for each ward. The wardens were to examine, at least once a month, chimneys, hearths, stoves, stove pipes, ash houses, &c., and if these were found insufficient or insecure, they were to order their repair or alteration, or cause the same to be done at the expense of the owner; they were to examine into the sufficiency of fire buckets in the pos- session of individuals, and report monthly to the trustees; to 436 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA, report also what chimneys take iire, to remove or abate any thing which might be dangerous ; to attend all fires, bearing staves as badges of office, and there, under the direction of the engineei's to pursue such measures and give such orders to the citizens as they might judge necessary and proper. The fire eneineers were to attend all fires with the crown of their hats covered with white, for purpose of distinction, and there to have control of the fire companies and engines, and to have power, also, to pull down buildings if necessary to arrest the fire. Th]-ee conservators of propert}^ were likewise appointed, who were to attend fires with pieces of cloth around the left arm, and they were to exercise such functions as are intimated b_y their appellation, viz : to take the charge of goods and fur- niture, to direct their removal and the place of deposit, and securp them from theft. Citizens, with their buckets, were to go to all fires and there be subject to the orders of the three above mentioned classes of officials ; and, if the fire occurred in the night time, they were to place a lighted candle in the front door or front wnndow of their houses, and keep it burning throuo-h the nio;ht, or until the fire was extinsraished. From the fire companies there were set off ten men to act as a hook and ladder company. Chimneys blazing out at the top at any other time than on the forenoon of a day when the roof was wet or covered with snow, subjected the owner to a fine of three dollars. Every person was to have a scuttle on his roof, with stairs leading thereto, or a ladder standingf against or near his house ; other provisions related to the burning of combus- tibles, to the use of uncovered candles in barns and stables, to the firing of squibs and crackers, and to the keeping of gun- powder in quantity in any other place than Van Santvoort's warehouse. Four watchmen were to be appointed by the trus- tees, in obedience to the ordinance relating thereto, of whom two were to patrol the streets by night in the compact part of the village, while their companions remained in the watch- house ; they were to cry the hour once at least in every hour, were to look after and arrest suspicious persons ; in case of fire were to give the alarm to the inhabitants and more particularly to the trustees and the bell-man ; at the fire were to cooperate with the conservators in the protection of exposed property, and, after its extinguishment, were to collect the buckets that THE THIRD CHARTER. 437 had been in use and remove tliem to the Market house. One law, which was substantially a repetition of one passed in 181 -i, declared the streets on which owners of property should make side-walks and how the same should be constructed, and an- other created a village superintendent whose duty it was to see that this ordinance and that relating to nuisances were faith- fully executed, and to report all violations thereof to the board of trustees. To each of the foregoing there were aflfixed fines and penalties sufficient, as it would seem, to secure a proper observance. The board resolved to raise by tax one thousand dollars for the expenses of the year, and fifty dollars additional for the re- pair and fuel of the free school. In pursuance of the intention to establish such free public school, they erected a building and engaged I. Thompson, " a teacher in Utica," to keep the school for three months, from the first Monday in December, at forty dollai's per month. Public notice was given, and children were admitted on the presentation of a ticket, signed by one of the trustees. Shortly after the expiration of this engagement, it was resolved, at a special meeting, that Mr. Thompson have the use of the school house for two quarters, free of rent, provided he teach the scholars for two dollars per quarter, each. But two days later, at a regular and fuller meeting of the board, it was determined, without any cause that appears on the record, hat the school house be shut up, and not opened, either for school keeping or religious meetings, until further order of the board. The meetings of the trustees in the course of the year were numerous, well attended and apparently harmonious. The board organized two companies of firemen, of fifteen and of twenty-five members respectively ; they granted several licenses to grocers and retail liquor dealers, and a few to keepers of taverns, refusing also some applicants for the latter. They ordered a special election in February, for a supervisor in place of Colonel Benjamin "Walker, deceased, on which occasion the place was filled by the election of Charles C. Brodhead, and they appointed E. S. Cozier overseer of the poor, in place of Jeremiah Van Eensselaer, whose financial embarrassment, as is probable, made it inconvenient for him to continue in the dis- charge of the office. 438 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. The year 1817 is the era of the commencement, by State authority, of the long projected undertaking, the Erie Canal, so important to the whole State not only, but especially to the towns along its line, and which gave to the life of Utica a new impetus and a new phase. The commissioners, Stephen Van Eensselaer and De Witt Clinton, were in the village two or three times during the summer, and on the 5th of Jane, were honored with a public dinner by its citizens. Excavation was begun at Rome on the 4th of July, and by the middle of the month fifteen miles were let out on contract. The work was found to be easier than had been expected, and contracts at from twelve to four- teen cents the cubic yard were in mau}^ instances sub-let at nine cents. Scrapers, shovels and wheelbarrows were busy through the season at various places between Eorae and Utica. By the middle of October, laborers were at work near Nail creek, fill- ing up its hollow, and fifty-eight miles of the middle section of the canal were already under contract. Much financial embarrassment existed throughout the coun- tr}'' at this time and for two years longer, and in this distress the inhabitants of Utica suffered likewise. In June, money was so scarce that the banks were drawing in their discounts, and many merchants failed. By December, money commanded three per cent, a month. Provisions of all kind were dear. The summer of 1816 had been unusually cold, frost having occurred during every month in the year. The spring of 1817 was back- ward, and on the first of June there came a severe frost which destroyed all tender vegetables. Hay was selling for twenty dollars a ton, wheat at eighteen shillings, and it rose, in July, to twenty-four shillings, and corn the same, at which time flour was worth twelve dollars a barrel. By October hay had fallen to eight dollars the ton, and other commodities also diminished in piice. But the scarcity of money prevailed some time longer, and the failures continued. On the 26th of July, in this year, occurred the first capital ex- ecution that had taken place in the village, and the second one in the county. The criminal was an Indian of the Brotherton tribe, named John Tuhi, who was tried at Rome in the })revious month and convicted of having killed his cousin, Joseph Tuhi, THE THIRD CHARTER, 439 in a quarrel when intoxicated. The execution took place a little east of the present intersection of John and Rntger streets, then a lone and distant suburb. It drew together an immense concourse of people, many coming twenty, thirty and even forty miles to witness it, and was probably the largest assembly that had as yet been gathered in the county. Among them were many Indians, who were admitted within the guard. This guard consisted of a troop of light horse and one compan}^ of infantry. The prisoner was dressed in white, with a cap, and having his arms pinioned. He was attended in the wagon and at the gallows by two Baptist clergymen, who addressed the crowd. He seemed passive and insensible, and stood like a statue till he fell, after which there was one slight struggle. The sheriff was Apollos Cooper assisted by the under sherilf, John B. Pease of Whitesboro. The sheriff's duties were fitly performed, and with an amount of feeling that greatly exceeded that of the criminal. He wore on the occasion a military chapeau and a short heavy sword with which he struck twice the rope that suspended the trap, when it fell, and he wheeled his horse and rode off the ground. -The spectators were careless and un- feeling. Men, women and children seemed to make a frolic of the occurrence, and there was laughing and swearing under the gallows, but not much drunkenness, except among the Indians, of whom a number got intoxicated. The execution formed a memorable day in the calendars of the men of that generation, an epoch not easily forgotten, and people dated events as hap- pening before or after the Indian was hung. Among the accessions during the present year to the happily associated society of Utica are to be reckoned the brothers James and Walter L. Cochrane. They were now in the prime of life, and through their ancestry, as well as in their own per- sons, had established a claim upon the public regard and a name in the history of the country. For the facts concerning them, I am chiefly indebted to the son of the latter, Hon. John Coch- rane, of New York. They were the only sons of Dr. John Cochrane, director general of the hospitals in the continental army in the war of the Eevolution, and his wife, Gertrude Schuyler, sister of Major- Greneral Philip Schuyler. Dr. Coch- rane, who had been a surgeon in the old French war, afterward 440 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. married and lived in Albany, until the breaking out of the Eev- olution. Intent during this struggle upon his responsible and absorbing duties, the residence of his family was sliifted as his conyenieuce required. After its close he settled in Albany, •whence he came at a later period to Palatine, Montgomery count}'. One, or both of liis sons (Walter L., certainly), was born at New^ Brunswick, N. J., and their early lives were sub- jected to the vicissitudes of the war, whereby their homes were broken up and their education suspended. Both were gradu- ated at Columbia College, N. Y., and both were admitted to the practice of the law. James, the elder, attained some proficiency in his profession, and creditably conducted a respectable country practice at his residence near Palatine Church. In the fifth Congress of the United States, that of 1797-"99, he represented the Western District, wliich then included the entire central and western part of tlje State. His competitor for the place was Judge Cooper of Cooperstown, the father of J. Fennimore Cooper, the novelist. Mr. Lossing, in his Field Book of the Revolution, is authority for the story that Mr. Cochrane used to say he fiddled himself into Congress. "A short time previous to his election, a vessel was to be launched in Seneca lake, at Geneva, and it being an unusual event, people came from afar to see it. The young folks gathered there determined to have a dance at night. A fiddle was procured, but a fiddler was M^anting. Major Coch- rane was quite an amateur performer, and his services were de- manded on the occasion. He gratified the joyous company, and at the supper table one of the gentlemen remarked in commend- ation of his talents, that he was 'fit for Congress.' The hint was favorably received by the company, the matter was talked up, and he was nominated and elected." Levi Beardsley, in his Personal Reminiscences, gives us the following sequel to the in- cident : " It was alleged that Judge Cooper had either published or remarked that Cochrane had gone through the district with his violin, and had fiddled himself into ofiice. This came to Cochranes ear and l)r()Ught him from Montgomery to Coopers- town. He started on horseback, as I have heard him say, and went there, where Judge Cooper was ])residing as first judge of the Court of Common Pleas. On his coming out of court, Cochrane met him, and after alluding to the election and what THE THIRD CHARTER. 441 had taken place, informed the Judge that he had come from the Mohawk to chastise him for the insult. Judge Cooper treated it lightly, and remarked that Cochrane could not be in earnest, who answei'ed with a cut of his cowskin. Cooper closed in with his adversary, but Cochrane being a large, strong man^ they were pretty well matched, and the Judge did not throw him down as he intended. The bystanders interposed, and the parties were separated. Cochrane was indicted for the assault and battery, but removed the indictment to the Oyer and Term- iner, where he pleaded guilty, and was fined a small amount." After his removal to Utica, Major Cochrane filled respectabl}^ the office of justice of the peace under the council of appoint- ment, and to this was added that of notary public, an office of much greater significance than it is at present. He was a man of much intelligence, as well as high social culture, and his society was sought for his general information, especially in re- gard to the early history of the country. His first wife, Eleanor Barclay of Philadelphia, having died early, he remained many years single, but in 1822 he intermarried with his cousin, Cath- arine Van Eensselaer Schuyler, widow of Colonel Samuel Mal- com, whom, with his remarkably excellent wife, I have already sketched. The only issue of this marriage, a daughter, died young, and before her parents removed to Oswego, whither they went about the year 1S27. There they both died at a ripe old age. Walter Livingston Cochrane soon abandoned the law, and following his predilections for a military life, obtained a captaincy in the United States army. But the dullness of the peace es- tablishment, not suiting his active temperament, prompted him to resign his commission. He continued to live with his father's family at their various al)odes in New York, Schenectady, Pal- atine, &c., and came with his brother to Utica. In the year 1812 he married Cornelia, only daughter of Judge Peter Smith of Peterboro, and sister of Gerrit and Peter Sken Smith. The match was a clandestine and a hurried one. The family of Judge Miller, at Utica, were startled one day by the arrival of the fly- ing couple on their way from Peterboro to Palatine. They had made the journey in a gig and tandem, with one portmanteau to hold the total trousseau of the bride, and this, in their haste, they had fastened so loosely that, coming open, its contents •14:2 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. were lost along the way, and a black boy was despatched u})on their traces to gather up the scattered articles. This marriage was so displeasing to Judge Smith, a man of strong feeling and prejudice, that it aroused in his breast a bitterness of resent- ment, which was not appeased until the death of his wife in Utica, after Mrs. Cochrane had come hither to live. A contem- , porary says of Major Cochrane, that " he was one of the most polished gentlemen he ever saw in his social education. His after-dinner songs were 'music's own,' and I have seen a party at one time melted to tears, and at another roaring with laugh- ter, as he chose to impress them with grief or joy." And of his wife : " Mrs. Cochrane was a lady of marked character, dis- tinguished as much for her conversational power and impressive manners, as her brothers Peter and Gerrit were for their elo- C|uence in public speaking. The ladies of Utica loved to hear her conversation as much as the gentlemen loved to hear the songs of her husband. Boy as I was at this period, I loved to listen to her as she passed an afternoon and evening with my mother, whose fireside was cheered ' many a time and oft ' by the unceremonious visits of this magnificent lady." On their first coming to Utica they lived in Mr. Varick's house on the hill, of late the liome of A. B. Johnson, and now of Judge Johnson. But they soon removed to the lower end of Broad street, to the house on the Peter Smith farm, next west of J. H. Read's, and of late occupied by Mr. Ellison. About 1825, having procured a command in the North River line of steamboats. Captain Cochrane removed to Albany. But after tlie death of his wife in that year, he established his fam- ily at Oswego, where, and for a short period at Schenectady, and now in New York, the major part of tliem have since con- tinued to reside. He himself died in August 1857, at the ad- vanced age of eighty seven. This family consisted of eight cliildren, as follows : John, brigadier-general in the late war, and member of Congress, of New York; James W., of Oswego; and Ellen (widow of Rev. William Walters of Schenectady), of New York, — all of whom were born in Palatine ; Peter Smith, died about the year 1843 ; Gertrude E., died in 1844; and Mary Livingston (Mrs. Chapman Biddle), of Philadelphia, — all three born in Utica ; and Cornelia Smith (widow of Henry A. W. Barclay), of New York ; and Catherine Schujder (Mrs. William Kemeys), of New York, — born in Albany. THE THIKD CHARTER. 443 These brothers Cochrane were types of an order of gentlemen born and educated in the later colonial period of the State, with all the amenities and polish of manners, which resulted from aristocratic associations, and with not a few of their accompany- ing prejudices. Their memory, extending quite back to the Revolutionary time, was stored with interesting and rare per- sonal anecdotes of the conspicuous actors upon its stage. They witnessed the social intercourse of Washington, La Fayette, Anthony Wayne, Paul Jones and other military and naval officers at frequent rendezvous in their father's house near the Bowling Green m New York City. An anecdote that used to be told by Major James Cochrane is worth repeating as an illus- tration of Washington's singular dignity of character, and the awe which it unconsciously inspired. He was sent on one oc- casion toward the end of a dinner party, on a mission to his father, and as the son of Dr. Cochrane, he was shown into the parlor. There were assembled many of the general officers of the army, some naval officers, and a number of distinguished citizens. Among them were Generals Washington, La Fayette, Greene, Steuben, Wayne and Hamilton, and Robert and Gouv- erneur Morris. The latter was seated next to Washington^ and, when the lad entered, was engaged in lively discussion. At the moment he stopped, he turned towards Washington, and bringing his hand down with a thwack on the general's shoulder, exclaimed : " Is'nt it so, my old boy ?" Washington, without speaking, turned a composed but serious look full upon Morris, when a silence as of death fell upon the whole company. The hilarity of the dinner table could not be recalled, and the party soon broke up. The two brothers Thomas and Charles Hastings, I introduce here together though the residence of the former was as yet but temporary, and Charles alone now made his home in Utica. Their father, bringing with him five sons, came with a colony from Washington, Litchfield county. Conn., in sleighs and ox sleds, to Clinton, Oneida county, in February 1797. These sons, with one born afterward, all grew up to occupy posts of usefulness and credit in professional and mercantile life. One we have already noticed as a clerk in Utica and a banker else- where. 444 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Thomas, the second of these sons, who was born October 15, 1784, was of a deeply sensitive nature, with a pecuhar and im- perfect vision, and manifested an early predilection for music. This predilection was soon developed into a pursuit, which he followed through an unusually long life, and in church psalm- ody, to which he especially devoted himself, he became the most proficient of any in the country. " Whatever true reforms were made in the spirit of praise during the first half of the present centur}^, were largely accomplished by and' through him." He began his career as a teacher of it in 1805, giving instruction in some of the neighboring parishes, and continued it in the winter of 1806-7. His course of instruction was thor- ough and a great improvement on that which had jjreceded it. In 1816, after having spent one year in business, and four in managing his father's farm, he became again a teacher. His les- ions were given at New Hartford, to the choir of Trinity Church, ITtica, in 1817, to that of the Presbyterian Church in 1819, and in several other places. There had been a county musical societ}^ in operation. To furnish music for it he and Professor Norton of Clinton, became composers. This was the origin of the collection known as the Musica Sacra, which consisted at first of two numbers of pamphlet size, and was, afterwards enlarged to a considerable volume and subsequently united with Warriner's Springfield collection. Several successive edi- tions were published at Utica. From this vicinit}^ Mr.- Has- tings went to Troy to teach, and thence to Albany, where he sang in tlie church of Rev. Dr. Chester. In 1823, he was invi- ted to come to Utica to take charge of a religious paper about to be established, and in January of the following year there was issued the first number of this semi-monthly paper, known ■as the Western Recorder. His editorial labors extended to the ninth volume. He never lost sight of the interests of religious music, and his ai'ticles on the subject w^ere widely copied. In addition to his conduct of the paper, he taught singing in the Sunda}- school and elsewhere, and, by the establishment of soci- eties for the purpose, contributed much to encourage an interest in sacred song. He held that every one could learn to sing, and that it was a duty to learn and to join audibl}'' in divine praise in the house of Grod, that " religion has substantially the same claim in song as in speech." He composed hymns and tunes and made collections of music adapting tunes to words THE THIRD CHARTER. 445 and words to tunes, and thus impressed his own tastes upon the church and the school, and inspired them with his own zeal in the cause of reform and progress. The hymn " Now be the Gospel Banner," which had a wide circulation in this country and in England, and whose stirring notes the Utica Sunday School were accustomed to roll out with enthusiasm, he com- posed expressly for its anniversary exercises. For many years he was the chorister of the Presbyterian Church, where his presence and his voice seemed as essential to tlie ministrations. of the sanctuary as were those of any occupant of its pulpit. He was very near-sighted, and his hair so destitute of color as to make him appear old while be was still a young man, in fact he was a complete albino, as were also two of his brothers. Many will recall this venerable looking head, as bowed down with painful proximity to his notes, his eyes crept too and fro across the page, or, as raised from the book, it wagged vigor- ously in unison with his ivory-headed cane, to mark the time for his lagging class. But though so near-sighted,, he was never at fault with his music, and, be it fresh or familiar, could as easily read it upside down as in a more normal way. When he and two of his brothers, at practice, w^ere singing together from the same book, and too close a visual following by one of them would have shut off the view of the others, he would take a place to confront them, and follow his notes from over the back of the book as readily as they from a forward inspec- tion. In reference to his shortness of vision, the following incident used to be current. It caused him to stumble one evening at dusk against a cow reclining at ease on the side- walk, whose pardon he was overheard to beg in the politest of terms for the rudeness he had done to her ladyship. Like other enthusiasts, and especiall}^ those whose blindness to the world without forces their thoughts home on themselves and their cherished pursuits, he was absent-minded and forgetful ; and so coming to meet his class one evening, he tied his horse to a neighboring post, but at the close of his duties went home afoot, and left the horse to spend the night where he had tied him. Mr. Hastings' now extended reputation as a teacher, his published collections, and his writings on music, brought him invitations to lecture in Brookhai, Princeton, Philadelphia, &c. In 1832, on the invitation of several churches, he repaired to New York, and entered upon the specific work of elevating 446 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. the standard of congregational singing. He taught large schools, gathered assemblies and trained them, infusing into the people interest and spirit on his favorite subject. He continued his efforts as a composer and wrote much. No man in the United States has been so long and so intimately associated with our church music, none has produced more of the hymns and tunes wliich are now a part of public worship. Between the years 1819 and 1865, he published upwards of twenty collections of sacred music, besides editing seven or eight others. Of the six hundred hymns and versions of the psalms which he com- posed, two hundred are current in this country and Great Britain. He received the degree of Doctor Musicae from New York University. Service of praise was not the only service he was wont to ren- de]', nor whetlier rendered to his Maker or to man was it of the lips only. While in Utica he inetructed in a Bible class in the First and afterwards in the Second Presb3^terian Church, and he was also secretary of the Bible Societ}^ of the county. " His sweet spirit, as full of poetry as David's, and of love as John's, delighted in the joy of the Loi'd, and through a long, humble, consistent and exemplary walk with God, he was an illustra- tion of that Christian life which adorns the profession and attests its reality." He died in New York, May 15, 1872. His funeral was attended at the church on Forty-second street of which his son (and only living child) Eev. Thomas S. Has- tings, D. D., is pastor. His wife, who was sister of Alexander Seymour, and who in Utica was an efficient person in matters of the church, and also superintendent of the maternal associa- tion, still survives. One of their daughters married Eev. Wil- liam W. Scudder, missionary in India, another Rev. George W. Wood, secretary of A. B. C. F. M. Cliarles Hastings and Andi-ew Merrell, as the successors of Camp, Merrell & Camp, began a new book store in Maj^ 1817, to w^hich they soon added a circulating library. They were at the sign of the Bible, No. 40 Genesee street, one door west of the j)ost office. They published a few books, among which was one wnth the singular title, "The Missionary Arithmetic," prepared by Rev. William R. Weeks, D. D., and containing problems based on missionary or religious topics. From the 3'ear 1824 thev i)ul)lislicd also the We^lern Recorder. As agent of the Sun THE THIRD CHAKTER. 447 day School Union, Mr. Hastings supplied its auxiliaries with books, and he acted also as secretary of the Western Domestic Missionary Society. In 1826, having lost his partner, he found a new one in Gardiner Tracy, and moved to 94 Grenesee street. This partnership lasted until 1832, the period when Thomas Hastings ceased to edit the Recorder, at which time Charles gave up business. After three or four years more he left the place. He removed to Troy, Michigan, and died there March 23, 1845. Like his brother, he was a teacher in the Bible class of the First and also of the Second Presbyterian Church, and with him he was concerned in certain musical enterprises. Two of these enter- prises, organized about 1831, in which both of them were man- agers, and which probably died on their departure from the city, ■were named respectively " The New York State Central Musical Society," and " The Bleecker Street Free Mission Musical Asso- ciation." His wife was Patty Barker of Augusta, and after her death at Tro}^, he married again. Miss Trowbridge of Michigan. A son of his. Rev. Albert E. Hastings, is now living in Detroit. Two druggists' clerks started in business at this time, in the old stand of Dr. W. H. Wolcott. These were Sylvan us Harvey and Jared E. Warner. The former came to Utica from the neighborhood of Norwich Corners, in this vicinity, and before entering on business had been for some time in the employ of Dr. Solomon Wolcott. He was an intelligent, active man, of unusually fine appearance, social in taste and popular in manner. He had strong military proclivities, and was among the foremost in a rifle company. Well endowed physically, he could, without the aid of stirrups, easily vault into his saddle. Falling into loose habits, he lost his standing, and died in 1848. Jared Eliot Warner was born in Pomfret, Conn., Mai-ch 31, 1796. His mother was a grand daughter of Eliot, the Indian missionarjr, and (laughter of an accomplished and exemplary minister. His father, Dr. Jared Warner, a practicing physician, w^ho stood six feet seven inches, is, as to his moral worthiness, thus described on his monumental stone : Stop ye, my friend, and weep, for Warner's gone; ^ See, here his glass doth cease to run. No more his liberal hand shall feed the poor, Relieve distress and scatter joy no more. While he from death did others seek to save, Death threw a dart and plunged him in the grave. 448 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. The son, after his father's death, was sent to Clinton in this county, to stndy medicine under the tuition of his uncle. Dr. Fitch. Getting tired of the pursuit, he came to Utica and en- tered himself as a clerk with Dr. AVolcott. Here he remained "until he began business with " Dr."' Harvey. The latter was bis partner until 1829, when the firm became Warner & South- mayd ; from 1835 it was Warner & Eay, until the retirement of Mr. Warner, about 1857. By the present generation the house has been as familiarh' known as were those of the Wol- cotts, Hitchcock or Williams by the earlier one. An heir- loom it holds direct from the earliest druggists of Utica, is a large show bottle in the front window of the store, which con- tains the identical colored fluid that was poured into it in 1812. Articles in which Mr. Warner once dealt largely, besides his ordinary trade, were the essential oils of peppermint, spearmint, &c., which were distilled for him in the northern part of the county, and which he exported. Mr. Warner has always been closely attentive to his concerns, and content with the stead}' acquisitions of his calling. Being treasurer of the County Bible Society, agent of the American Board of Foreign Missions, of the American Tract Society, &c., his store was made the place of deposit and distribution of numerous religious publications. For many years he has been an elder in the First Presby- terian Church, and is also president of the Utica City National Bank. He has likewise served as alderman. Mr. Warner has been thrice married, and of living children he has one son, Sam- uel, now in the Bible House, New York, and two unmarried daughters. The time of which we treat was not a promising one in which to embark in trade, and many of those who set out in it during or on the eve of the war, were now either bankrupt or ready to become so ; few fresh merchants, therefore, ventured the trial. William Soulden made a dashing start about this time in com- pany with Peter Sken Smith, but by the middle of 1818 they had failed for the large amount, as is reported, of $28,000. Mr. Soulden died in Albany. Samuel M. Blatchford, a staid and less pretentious person, began with groceries and liquors, then was an auctioneer, from which he worked into dry goods, and had, besides, a manufactory of paper hangings. He was a son THE THIRD CHARTER. 449 of Rev. Dr. Blatchford of Lansingburg, a strong preacher and a dignified man, and a brother of Judge Blatchford of New York, and of Dr. Blatchford of Troy. Not long after his coming, he married an excellent woman, Miss Eliza H. Kellogg of Fairfield, Conn. Both were highly estimated, and their departure to New York, about 1825, was generally regretted. Captain O'Connor, who, during the war, had been sailing out of New York under Spanish colors, and with a Spanish crew and papers, now settled down to the manufacture and sale of cigars and tobacco on Division street, in the rear of the store of J. C. Dev- ereux. A merchant tailor, named K. W. Tryon, set up a busi- ness about this time, in which he was joined, a year or two later, by Otis Manchester. And thus was originated a house which, though it underwent some changes, has had its representatives even to a quite recent period. The former, a man of gentle- manly bearing, had learned his trade in Clinton, and gotten his wife, Miss Laura Hobby, at Whitesboro. About 1826 he went to the metropolis, where he was a fashionable tailor and an im- porter of cloths, popular and prospered. Mr. Manchester, with varying partners, remained, in the concern until after 1845, when he gave up to his brother Eli and Grove Penn}^, both of whom had been trained in the shop and established an interest in the firm. Otis, after being a little while with Mr. Kingsley, moved to Beloit. The house was alwaj^s in good favor, and Mr. Manchester too obliging and honorable ever to have an enemy. There was a new lawyer in 1817, in the person of Gr. John Mills. The following year he united in partnership with Rich- ard R. Lansing, but by 1820 he was gone. A surveyor, named Calvin Guiteau, brother of Dr. Francis Guiteau, had been already long in the county, and had measured not a few of its farms. He had been living in Deerfield, bat now crossed the river to pass the remainder of his life. A carpenter who tarried much longer in tlie place was John A. Russ. Beginning humbly, but always industrious, he lived long enough in Utica to gain an honorable name among its mechanics. Trusted as a citizen and a neighbor, he was of influence in the affairs of Trinity Church ; and at first its sexton, he became a leading warden. Of his three daughters, Mrs. Merrit Peckham and Mrs. John J^ Francis are still resident. Owen Owens, baker, was likewise a E-1 450 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. worthy, industrious and quiet inhabitant. He lived to the age of seventy, and died July 29, 1868. A daughter and son are in Utica, Thomas M. in the business of father; as was also David, recently deceased. A bluff, honest, free and easy fellow was William Richards or more familiarly "Bill Dick." A native of Wales, he had been a drummer boy in the American service during the recent war with England, but quitting the arm}'- at its close, he came to Utica, and was apprenticed to shoemaking. This he left off after a time, and finding employment under government, was from 1829 until his death, in 1845, the sole letter carrier of the place. vShort and dumpy, he was yet athletic and busy; went every- where, knew everybody, stood in awe of no one, and was hail fellow with all. In the Utica Band he beat the base drum, and, though it may have looked an unbefitting instrument for so portly a performer, it was handled with vigor, and, moreover, found an easy resting place on his protuberant front. An attache of the Observer office, or at any rate, of the party which that paper represented, he was a most serviceable political hack, ready, fearless and free spoken. He it was who told Daniel Webster, after the latter had addressed the inhabitants of Utica, in 1837, that he admired his talents, though he detested his politics. It was he, too, who was a foremost actor in the riot which took place in Utica in 1835, on the occasion of the assem- bling of the Anti-Slavery Convention. Judge Beardsley, the chairman of a numerous committee of most respectable citizens, was addressing the delegates in deprecation of their design to liold the assembly in Utica, and had probiibl}^ spoken longer than was agreeable to Mr. Richards. Suddenly his stentorian voice was heard, demanding "An't it about time, bo^^s, to begin ?" At the word, as if the signal had been pre-arranged, the rabble rushed in fi'om without, over})owered both convention and com- mittee, and reduced all t(^ one in-esponsible melee. But rough as he was through a ])art of his life, he softened towards its close, and became conspicuous with the Rcchabites and the Odd Fellows, being president of both. Useful, too, he was as a fire- man and served out his time. His widow is living still. Six of his seven sons grew up to manhood, and for the most part, were, while they lived in Utica, bank and post office clerks. THE THIRD CHARTER. 451 Other dwellers in Utica at this time who may be briefly enumerated, were Major J. W. Albright, United States pay- master, who left in 1821; William H. Tisdale, lawyer, who went to Batavia ; William Spencer, tavern-keeper on Main street, who removed to Vernon to conduct the same business, and thence westward ; J. Bedford, teacher ; John McKiggin, tailor ; William Jai'rett, who through a long life was clerk and packer in successive crockery stores, and has but lately (1877) gone to his rest ; James Gladden, grocer ; John Ingersoll, an- other grocer, now of Ilion, and one of the rich men of his county ; James Weston, carpenter, who built the row of tene- ment houses on Charlotte street extending north from Post street ; Thomas Owens, blacksmith, and brother of Owen Owens. Dying about 1822, he left a widow who lived some years in the place, as does now his son R U. Owens. Samuel Bell, Edward Clark, Benjamin Northrup. 1818. Party spirit seems for the first time to have been in exercise at the village election .in the year 1818. As a consequence, some changes were effected in the constituent members of the board of trustees ; some of the older citizens and larger property holders of the federal i^arty, as John C. Devereux and Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, who had been held up as candidates, were re- jected and new men elected in their stead. This new board was composed as follows: the president remaining the same, the trustees elected from the first ward were Ezra S. Cozier and John E. Hinrnan ; from the second, Abraham Van Santvoort and Enos Brown ; from the third, Rudolph Snyder and Marcus Hitchcock. The assessors were Benjamin Ballou, Jr., Stalham Williams and Thomas Walker. The board reappointed John H. Ostrom clerk, and made Judah Williams treasurer. The only noticeable fact in the proceedings of the year was the appropriation of three hundred dollars to aid the trustees of the academy in the completion of the court room in the academy building, wdiich room they would appear to have taken from this time under their control. The amount levied upon the citi- zens for the annual expenses was $1,422.25, and that for the school expenses $50.60. It was also voted that eight hundred 452 thp: pioneers of utica, dollars be raised by dii-ection of the supervisors for the support of the poor. The public school was continued under the direc- tion of Ignatius Thompson. Two public organizations which date from this period, and which merit notice, embraced, it is true, a much wider field than the town whose history I narrate, and were sustained by other than the people of Utica only. Still, as this village was the starting point and centre of operations of these societies, and as their working officers were of its inhabitants, some notice of them should find a place in its annals. From the public prints I learn tliat on the 19th of Decem- ber, 1817, a meeting was held in Utica for the purpose of form- ing an education society. Two eastern divines of eminence had visited the place in the course of a horseback excursion, made the previous season, and, as the writer is informed, they were the persons who, impressed with the need of spiritual laborers in this new and destitute country, had suggested the formation of such an association, and had put in train the measures which led to the call for the meeting. These divines were Rev. Drs. Porter and Stuart of Andover Theological Seminary. Of the proceedings of this first meeting and of the participants therein, no knowledge survives. The Presbyterian Church of Utica was now without a pastor, the actors, therefore, were probably members of this and the other congregations, in cooperation with ministers of other churches in the vicinity. The next in- formation to be found of this undertaking is contained in the report of the first annual meeting, which was held in Utica, Decem- ber 80, 1818. The constitution, which accompanies the report, acquaints us that tlie object of this — the Western Education Soci- ety — was to aid indigent young men of talents and piety in acquir- ing a competent education for the Gospel ministry. Any person might become a member of it by the payment of one dollar aimually, or obtain a life membership by paying twenty dollars at one time. Additional funds were, however, expected from donations and bequests. It provided for officers and prescribed their duties. The meetings were to be held annually; but the directors might meet as often as was deemed necessary, for to them it was committed to superintend the management of the funds and other property of the society, and to effect to the ut- THE THIRD CHARTEE. 453 most of their power the enlargement of the same ; to examine and approve of candidates for the benefit of this charity, and to appropriate money for the snpport of tlie candidates approved of. At this meeting, Hon. Jonas Piatt of Whitesboro, was elected president, and with him were associated twentv vice presidents, prominent and liberal-minded men from various parts of the State, about one-half of whom were clerg3'men. The directors who were elected, consisted of the following ministers, all from Oneida countv, viz : Kev. Henry Davis, A. S. Norton, P. V. Bogue, Isi-ael Brainerd, Moses Gillet, Noah Coe, John Frost, Samuel C. Aikin. The other officers wei'e Rev. John Frost, corresponding secretar}^ ; Walter King, recording clerk ; Arthur Breese, treasurer ; Erastus Clark, auditor. The amount of funds received during the year was $2,028, and these were collected from thirteen of the central and western counties of the State. The directors say .that forty young men have applied for assistance, of whom t,wenty- eight were received; three of them were members of the Epis- copal Church, and the remainder Presbyterian, Congregational or Dutch Reformed. They think it inexpedient, in most instan- ces, to allow more than seventy dollars to each beneficiary, trusting that his own exertions as a teacher will supplj^ him with such additional funds as may be required. An address to the Christian public followed the report, containing an earnest appeal for pecuniary aid, based on the destitute condi- tion of the whole country, in respect to means of religious instruction from the pulpit, and the decreasing number of min- isters when compared with the increase of population, both of these positions being illustrated by abundant statistical state- ment. The second annual meeting of this society was held in Utica, December 29, 1819, and the same officers were re-appointed with one single change in the list of vice presidents. The directors regret to announce the smallness of the receipts, due no doubt, as they declare, to the scarcity of money then gene- rally felt. These receipts amounted to $1,917. In consequence of deficiency of means they were under the necessity of turn- ing off some worthy applicants, nor did they grant as much aid to those to whom they did give as, in the judgment of the directors, these recipients ought to have had. Tliey regret 454 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. also the failure of their apphcation for an act of incorporation. Arrangements were made for another meeting in December of the ensuing year. The first subsequent meeting, of whicli the writer has seen any report, was holden in Utica, December 23, 1823, it being the sixth anniversary. Thomas R. Gold of Whitesboro, was now elected president ; Rev. John Frost, cor- responding secretary ; Alexander Seymour, recording clerk ; John Bradish, treasurer, and Erastus Clark, auditor; a few changes also taking place among the vice presidents and direc- tors. These directors report that the prospects of the society are peculiarly interesting. The experience of six years had convinced them more fully of the importance of the institu- tion, and of the wisdom of the plan upon which it was sup- ported. Their leading object the preceding year had been to purchase a few acres of land, and to erect a suitable house for boarding their beneficiaries. Upon this land it was expected that these boarders would work during the hours usually devo- ted by students to physical recreation. They so far succeeded in accomplishing their object that fifteen acres of land were purchased, and a house erected of sufficient dimensions to accommodate fifty young men with board. The house, with four acres of land adjoining, was situated about seventy rods north of Hamilton College, the remaining eleven acres being about. a quarter of a mile north of the boarding house. The efiicient agent who superintended the erection of the building and the management of this charity was Rev. James Eells, of Westmoreland, who was at this time one of the directors. The directors report twenty four beneficiaries under their care, and twenty as having been helped during the year. The receipts were, in cash $1,029, and in lumber, provisions, &c., $2,212, as estimated by the givers. The house was still unfinished, and to complete it and provide for the support of the occupants, would require it was believed, about three thousand dollars for the ensuing year. The writer has obtained an account of one more anniversary meeting only. It was held at Clinton, on the 28th of Decem- ber, 1825. The officers elected were substantially the same, a few changes only having been made. The number of young men assisted during the year was twenty-eight, the number then in the establishment twenty four. Since the organization THE THIRD CHARTER. 455 of the society it had aided thirtj-foui-, who had completed their classical education, of whom seven had also completed their theological course. Donations in cash had been $488,82 in provisions $1,235.87, making a total of $1,719.69. Besides these the society had received $167,42 for boarding beneficia- ries of the American Education Society. The directors felt bound to express their particular obligations, — as they had like- wise done in a previous yearly report — to those benevolent females who had by their donations rendered aid to the funds of the society. The indebtedness of the association was now $1,764.95. On the whole the directors thought, however, that the society was placed on such a foundati(jn as to afford every reasonable prospect of its permanence ; and that when the remaining debts, contracted in the establishment of the board- ing house, should be liquidated, the charities of the Christian public would enable the society to increase the number of its beneficiaries, and do much more than it had already done towards the great object of extending the knowledge of the Gospel in our own and other lands. A few years longer the society continued its useful career, but not many particulars have I been able to gather. In 1829 it had given up the board- ing house, which soon after was bought for his residence by President Davis, and is now the home of Ex-President North. A word or two as to the general character of the society will conclude our notice of it. The object of the Western Educa- tion Society, at the time of its institution, was to be the same, as to its liberal character, as that of the American Education Society, viz: to receive young men of piety, talents and indi- gence, on equal grounds and to grant them equal privileges, to whatever denomination of Christians they might belong ; and it uniformly maintained this character. The fact that its con- cerns were chiefly directed by Presbyterians and Congregation- alists was owing entirely to this consideration, that but few comparatively of other denominations were disposed to unite in its support. Soon after its organization several other socie- ties were formed, for a similar purpose, which were exclusively sectarian in their nature. In consequence of this fact, the fol- lowing resolution was adopted by the society at its third annual meeting, viz : " Whereas^ Since the formation of the Western Education Society, other education societies have been estab- 456 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. lished by different denominations of Christians, — therefore Re- solved, That all persons who have sul)scribed to the funds of this society, with the exception of Presbyterians and Congre- gationalists, be absolved from their subscriptions by paying the sums by them subscribed and to become due, into a society for the like ]3urpose of their own sect." Acting in this generous spirit, the vSociety supported beneficiaries of the Presbyterian, Episcopal, Congregational and Baptist Churches. These received no religious instruction, thev were assisted only in obtaining their collegiate course. On the 17th of October, 1817, the following gentlemen met at Bagg's tavern, as a committee to arrange for the formation of a County Agricultural Society, viz : Benjamin Walker, Morris S. Miller, Alexander Coventry of Utica, Thomas R. Gold of Whitesboro, Joel Bristol of Clinton and Samuel Dyer of Deer- field. The three first named were requested to draft a consti- tution, and a sketch of one was thereupon submitted by Dr. Coventry. The committee met again in February following, when the form previously offered, after having been remoulded and curtailed by Judge Miller, was approved. On the follow- ing day, February 14, 1818, in pursuance of a published call, a meeting was convened at Whitesboro, at which Judge Dean of Westmoreland, was chairman, and Dr. Sewall Hopkins of Clinton, secretary, when, after being addressed by Messrs. Gold, Miller and Fortune C. White, and after the constitution had been adopted and signed by twenty five persons, the assembly proceeded to the election of officers. These first officers were Colonel Gerrit G. Lansing, president ; George Brayton of West- ern and Joel Bristol of Clinton, vice presidents; Alexander Coventry, corresponding, and Thomas Goodsell, recording sec- retaries ; and Fortune C. White, treasurer. Three days later these officers met at Bagg's and appointed a council, consisting of George Huntington of Eome, Samuel Dyer of Deerfield, John Townshend of Westmoreland, Thomas H. Hamilton of Steuben, Smith of Vern(Mi, and Smith of Paris. On the 28th of September, the society held its semi-annual meeting, reelected, without material change, its former officers, and list- ened to an address by Dr. Coventry. And, on the 10th of Octo- ber, it held its first annual exhibition. This took place at THE THIRD CHARTER. 457 Whitesboro, was creditable in its show of animals and of domestic manufactures, and was numerously attended. A pro- cession, headed by the officers, President Davis of Hamilton College being on the right of the society's president, marched to the church, where the following exercises were observed : Prayer by Kev. Mr, Frost, singing of an ode, the president's address, announcement of premiums, another ode, prayer by Rev. Elon Galusha; and this was followed by remarks from Elkanah Watson, a well known agriculturist, who was present as a guest. The premiums given were seventeen in all. The yield of corn reported by Thomas Hulbert of Westmoreland, was one hundred and four bushels and eleven quarts from a single acre. This product was so extraordinary, that several farmers in Albany county and on Long Island, a])plied to Gov- ernor De Witt Clinton for information as to the mode of culture. The Governor wrote to Dr. Coventry, the seci'etary of the soci- ety, for particulars. The reply of Dr. Coventry includes a lengthy statement of Mr. Hulbert. This correspondence was published in the Albany Argus, from which it was copied into nearly all the newspapers of the country. In the evening fol- lowing the exhibition, there was a splendid ball, attended by ninety ladies and nearly the same number of gentlemen. Tlie societ}^, thus happily inaugurated, continued to meet from time to time for the transaction of business and to hold its an- nual exhibitions. At the one held on the 5th and 6th of Octo- ber, 1819, there were a number of fine cattle, some excessively large, fat swine, and beautiful horses and colts. There was also a ploughing match, at which Henry Burden of Utica and afterwards of Tro}', distinguished for his inventions, carried off the premium for the superiority of his plough. At that of 1820, besides the animals, the flannels and carpeting were much com- mended. Mr. Burden's plough again did the best. The show of 1S21 was attended by four thousand people; there was more than double the number of cattle m the pens ; one yoke meas- ured eight feet, six inches in girth : a hog weighed nine hundred weight ; the horses were much improved, and among the domes- tic goods there were many first rate articles. There was an ex- hibition in 1822, and another in 1823. At the latter there were shown very fine cattle, of better shape and as numerous as at any former exhibition. The sheep and hogs were also 458 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. declared to fce improvements on those previously shown The cattle of 1825, the same informant assures us, were better still. Toward the end of the year 1817, the Presbyterian Church was deprived of its pastor by the ill-health and consequent resig- nation of Rev. Mr. Dwight. The church and congregation ex- tended a call to Rev. Samuel C. Aikin, who came and was set- tled over them. Mr. Aikin was born at Windham, Vermont, September 29, 1791 ; was graduated at Middlebury University in 1814, and entering Andover Seminary, completed his theo- logical course in 1817. While at Andover, he did not excel as a classical scholar, but gave much attention to helles lettres and to sermonizing, and was reckoned as good a writer as any in the large class with which he was connected. He was, it is said, an especial favoi-ite of Professor Moses Stuart. After his grad- uation, he was employed a few months in missionary work in the City of New York, under the auspices of the Female Moral Reform Society, and came thence to Utica. His ordination and installation took place on the 4th of February, 1818. The ser- mon was preached by Rev. Hezekiah N. Woodruit" of Herkimer, the charge was given by Rev. Noah Coe of New Hartford, that to the church by Rev. Eli F. Cooley of Cherry Valley, and the hand of fellowship was extended by Rev. John Frost. The salary allowed him was one thousand dollars, which was to be raised by annual subscriptions made by members of the congregation. The same year the new pastor was married to Miss Delia, daugh- ter of Ira Day of Catskill. As a preacher Mi*. Aikin at once became popular. He was in person commanding and dignified, his voice was sonorous and pleasing, and like his gesticulation, had been skillfully cul- tivated; and to these qualities he added clearness and finish of diction, an engaging address, and an earnestness which rose at times into eloquence. His thoughts were arranged with care, and it was easy to carry home the heads of his discourses. Like many other preachers, he was not uniform. Not always did he find time to write out his sermons completely, and it frequently happened that, having prepared a copious outline, he trusted for the filling in to extemporaneous fervor. .His occasional dis- courses, written for special occasions, were marked by careful THE THIRD CHARTER, 459 workmanship and happy adaptation. Several of them were printed, and well merit perusal. One of these special occasions presented itself at the celebration of the completion of the Erie Canal, when Governor De Witt Clinton and other distinguished persons were among his hearers. The heads of the government with many attendant dignitaries had set out, in a flotilla of boats, from Lake Erie, and were expected to reach Utica by Saturday night. Arriving at noon of Sunday, they attended service at the Presbyterian Church in the afternoon. The text of Mr. Aikin's sermon was this: " God is good." He was then in the vigor of manhood, and in the possession of his best powers. Those who were so fortunate as to hear that sermon, says one who was present, have not forgotten the fine elaboration of its theme, and its eloquent application to the hour; nor the felicitous style in which the preacher congratulated his illustrious auditor on the propitious ending of the great work of his life and of that era. Out of the pulpit, Mr. Aikin was genial and affable, and he exerted much influence in the community, as a neighbor and a gentleman. He was a good pastor, and took pleasure in re- ceiving visitors at his house, although with the poor of his own congregation and of the town, he was not as conversant as he used to wish he might be. He was, however, much hampered in his pulpit as well as in his pastoral duties by the illness of his wife. She was subject to attacks of mental aberration, from which the only relief she could obtain was afl:"orded her by trav- elling. In these excursions her husband was accustomed to attend her, leaving his house in the care of his sister Margaret, who in domestic affairs was his principal dependence. These frequent absences were, during a portion of his pastorate, a great detriment to his usefulness. It has happened that, going off in haste, his place was filled for a month at a time by tem- porary supplies. That his ministrations were, howevei-, not only acceptable but fraught with good, we may judge by the fact that within little more than a year after they were begun, the church was blessed with a fruitful revival, and one hundred and thirteen persons were added to its communion. In 1821, a session or conference room for the use of the society was erected on Hotel street, which was used also by the Sunday school. It was enlarged four years later by the addition of a second story at the expense of the Sunday school. The church 460 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. was not furnished with an organ until 1824, and this, when procured, was placed in the south gallery. In the latter part of the year 1828, the congregation having become so large that all the seats below and many in the gal- lery were taken up, and the cares of the minister being deemed too onerous for him to bear alone, it was determined to appoint him an assistant, who, if thought advisable, should organize a new society. Rev. Linsley, who was first invited, preach- ed for a short time with much favor, but soon accepted an invi- tation to a church in Hartford Conn. Rev. S. W. Brace, a cotemporary with Mr. Aikin in the seminary at Andover, but then settled in Phelps, Ontario county, was called with the same purpose. He arrived in February 1824. For a time he preached alternately with the I'egular pastor, and next in the session room of the church on Hotel street. Here a new soci- ety was formed May 6, 1824. It soon took steps toward erec- ting an edifice, and in the following spring the construction was begun. A few months later, it was proposed by Mr. Aikin's people, to build also a new church, for the use of his congrega- tion. And the following are the reasons for it set forth in the resolution of the trustees, passed January 12, 1826. "The church of the First Utica Presbyterian Society being found too small for the accommodation of the congregation, and so con- structed as to place a large portion of the hearers on the side of the pulpit, rendering it very difficult for the speaker to be heard in the remote parts of the house without great labor and efiiort; and the present mode of raising a salary, by subscrip- tion, for the support of the minister, being inadequate, precari- ous and highly inconvenient, owing to the constant change of the members of the congregation ; and it being desirable to provide for the permanent support of a minister and the con- tingent expenses of the house, and for the accommodation of those of the congregation who have no pews, who are more than one half of the whole number of subscribers, and for such as would join the society if seats could be piocured, — it is deemed expedient to build anew church, &c." These rea- sons were doubtless enforced by the strong desire of many of the congregation that theirs should maintain its position as the First Church, since when Mr. Brace's church was completed the want of room would no longer be so urgently felt, and THE THIRD CHAKTER. 461 there would then be sittings enough for all the Presbyterians in the place. The proposal to build, and to build a large and handsome church, received general concurrence. Liberal sub- scriptions were made, and a large number of pews were sold while the building was yet in contemplation, the amount of two thousand dollars being assessed on these pews. In the summer of 1826, a plan having been furnished by Philip Hooker of Albany, the architect of Trinity, the foundations of the new edifice were laid, twelve feet north from the old one. Messrs. Tliomas Walker, John Bradish and Samuel Stocking were the building committee, and John Culver took the contract and superintended the work; on the 8th of November, 1827, the new building having been completed, it was formally dedicated. It was a substantial brick structure, surmounting a basement of stone. In dimensions it was seventy- two feet by one hun- dred and six, and had a steeple two hundred and eight feet in height. The basement contained a session room for evening meetings, and two large rooms for the male and female depart- ments of the Sunday school. The auditorium was roomy, well-lighted and conveniently seated, and over the pulpit was an organ fifteen feet by ten in superficial dimension, and six feet deep, and having twelve stops. For many years this fine Ionic edifice surpassed in magnitude and convenience any chui'ch structure in Central and Western New York ; it was the pride of the village, and, with its ambitious steeple, a land- mark the most conspicuous of any in the vicinity. To multi- tudes the remembrance of it is replete with varied and inter- esting associations. " The old church was neither torn down nor burned up ; it was dismembered. The larger part of it went over the canal and rested at the corner of Fayette and Washington streets, where it has been known for many years as the Mansion House. Another part found its way down into Whitesboro street, where it took the nature of a double tene ment house, distinguishable to this day from all of its neigh- bors by high-shouldered walls and thinness of flank. While the lower part of the tower makes the front part of a modest dwelling on Water street, which has for a front entrance the identical double doors that first swung open on dedication day, and finally closed on the church when its" congregation had no further need of it." 462 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. The most notable chapter in the history of the Presbyterian Church while it was under the ministry of Mr. Aikiu, relates to the visit of Eev. Charles Gr. Finney. This occurred early in 1826, wlien the congregation were still worshipping in the old building. I cannot give a better idea of the character of Mr. Finney's preaching and of the effects which attended it than by an extract from an address delivered at the Sunday school jubilee in 1866, by Thomas W. Seward, a source from whicli I have already borrowed in the preparation of this notice : *' The village of Rome had been the scene of his labors for months previous. We soon beheld the same results which uniformly followed the preaching of this great disturber, alike of religious tranquility and of consciences torpid through indiffer- ence, or hardened b}^ transgression. Mr. Finnej^'s acknowl- edged intellectual force, attracted, no doubt, many of our citi- zens, who, at that time of religious interest would hardly have listened to a less gifted expounder of the Divine law. His exposition of that law was original and bold. Its novel char- acter, and its extraordinary fruits, soon became the universal themes either of admiration or criticism. For months the revival eclipsed all other interests. In no other season of relig- ious inquiry was a whole community known to have been so entirely absorbed in the great pursuit; and in no other season of religious inquiry was there probably less of that peculiar tenderness and hopefulness of spirit which usually predomi- nate. As I have already hinted, Mr. Finney's treatment of religious quietude was as merciless as his dealing with the wicked conscience. In the religious world he may be said to have inaugurated a brief reign of terror. He was chary, rather than prodigal of sermons ; pi'eaching only in the afternoon or even- ing of Sundays. In this i-espect, lie practiced a wise reserve which undoubtedly told upon tlie general work oC reform with great effect. The scene in the crowded church upon these occasions was solemn beyond description. No unworthy acces- sories to heighten the interest, or deepen the solemnity, were ever employed. Beyond some unaffected, yet striking pecu- liarities of voice and manner in the speaker, there was nothing to attract curiosity, or offend even the most fastidious or carp- ing sense of propriety. It is an inadequate tribute of praise, to say of his preaching that, whether it was distinguished most for THE THIRD CHARTER. 463 intellectual subtlety, stormj^ denunciation of sin, or fearful por- trayal of the wrath to come, it had its reward in unwonted ac- cessions to the Christian ranks, and renewed vigor of religious life." The religious interest which prevailed throughout the year, chiefly in connection with the labors of Mr. Finney, was by no means confined to Utica. It pervaded nearly all parts of the county, and was strongly felt in many places vy^hich he did not visit. So much was said about it, both at home and abroad, and so many false reports w^ere circulated in reference to it, that the Presbytery of Oneida felt called upon to issue a narrative of the revival, made up chiefly of reports fi'om the different ministers who witnessed its progress. The committee w-ho pubhshed the narrative admit that the efforts of Mr. Fin- ney and other evangelists were a very obvious and efficient means of originating and carrying forw^ard the work. Yet they enumerate other means which were put in practice in all the churches, and which concurred in promoting the revival. These means, consisting of fasting and prayer, plain preaching in their respective pulpits, of the whole truth of the Bible, and diligent instruction therein in the Sabbath school and the Bible class visiting from house to house, and meetings of inquiry, were substantially the same as those employed by Whitfield, Edwards and Brainard, and as are employed by Moodey and Sankey at the present day. The solemnity in some of the towns of the county began several months before the appearance of Mr. Fin- ney. In Utica it began some weeks before the first of January while he was still in Rome. Mr. Aikin visited that place while Mr. Finney was laboring there, in order to judge for himself of the character of the work and of the propriety of admitting him into his pulpit. He was " not at once attracted by the unique and, to cultivated eyes and ears, rather repulsive manners of this agitating preacher." He hesitated, it is said, and only yielded in compliance with the influence that was exerted in favor of his reception. Havang, however, once admitted him, and becoming convinced that his doctrines were sound, and his labors manifestly attended with divine power, he cooperated cordially wnth him, both in preaching and in his other labors. "The Church in Oneida county, he has since said, needed just such a plough-share as Mr. Finney to break up its fallow ground. Evil was done, but the good overbalanced it." The probable 464- THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. number of converts in Utica was about live hundred; in the- county at lai'ge they were reckoned at more than three thou- sand. Throughout the period of the revival there were differ- ences of opinion in the congregation of Mr. Aikin respecting the character of Mr. Finney, and the influence of his labors. These differences continued some time afterward, and tended to mar the harmonious relations of pastor and people. To this source of disagreement there were added the questions of Sunday mails and anti-slavery, on both of which Mr. Aikin was in ad- vance of the sentiment then generally prevailing. None of these questions caused, however, any thing like an open rupture, nor deprived him of the respect and affection which his congrega- tion had always cherished toward him. When, therefore, he decided to accept a call to the Presbyterian Church of Cleve- land, Ohio, which was pi'ompted by the advice of two or three of his former members, who had removed there, and which was now pressingly urged upon liim, his decision was received by his people with profound regret. He. left them in May 1835. In Cleveland he sustained himself with much credit for many years, and until the infirmities of age forced him to withdraw from ministerial duty. There he still lives, though much broken in strength, both of body and mind. The degree of D. D. he re- ceived after his removal fi-om Utica. Mr. Aikin's first wife, and the mother of his three children, died in 1835. He next married her sister, Henrietta Day. The children were Charles- G., now living in Cleveland ; James Carnahan, who died at sea many years since ; and Mrs. E. G. Day. of Cleveland. We come next to the life of a leading and much trusted phy- sician, an independent and peculiar man, respected by all, famil- iarly known to but few, whose long career of professional service runs coternporaneous with the chief events of the place, and unites a generation now dead with the actors of the present. Dr. John McCall was born in the town of Hebron, Washington county, N. Y., on tiie 25th of December, 1787. His father and mother emigrated from Scotland, and commenced tlicir married life upon a new farm in Hebron. The son worked upon the farm until he was twenty ^-ears of age, his sole elementar}^ edu- cation being gotten during three or four winters' attendance at a common school. Having made up his mind to study medi- THE THIRD CHARTER. 465 cine, he went to New York in the fall of 1809 and attended the lectures of the medical faculty of Columbia College. After reap- ing the advantages of two courses from Drs. Post, Stringham, Mitchell, Edward Miller and others, he was, for four months, the private pupil of the distinguished surgeon, Valentine Mott. Upon his recommendation chiefly, the doctor obtained the ap- pointment of assistant surgeon in the army, and was, in May 1812, assigned to duty in the 13th Regiment of infantry. In September of that year he was with the regiment when they marched through Utica on their way to Sacketts Harbor. He was present at the battle of Queenston, and dressed the wounds of Captain, afterwards General, John E. AVool. Subsequently and when he had been promoted to the rank of surgeon, he was at the capture of Fort Greorge, and, under General Wilkinson, went down the lake to French Mills, where the army spent ■' the Valley Forge winter," of 1814. In July 1815, he left the army at Sacketts Harbor, and after making a brief visit home,, returned and commenced practice in Deerfield. In April 1818, he formed a partnership with Dr. Alexander Coventry, who was living in Deerfield, but conducted an extensive business in Utica also. Dr. McCall came to the latter place to reside. The part- nership continued about five years. Some 3'ears later, after the- death of the elder Dr. Coventry, it was succeeded by a longer one with his son. Dr. Charles B. Coventry. Still later, he was alone in practice, and thus he remained until disabled by illness, some two years before his death, which latter event occurred October 5, 1867. During all this period of nearly fifty years he remained in constant employment at Utica, rarely absent- ing himself, and that mostly to attend some medical meeting. In his practice, Dr. McCall was strictly conservative, relying more on careful nursing and the reparatory efforts of nature than on the effects of medicine. Not only towards mercury, which was his especial abhorrence, toward bleeding and the other heroic means once so much in vogue, was he decidedly averse ; but towards much less harmful appliances he was spar- ing of favor. Often, particularly in his later years, he seemed to think his duty performed when he administered some simple placebo, colored and flavored to suit the fullest expectation of his patient. As an illustration of the influence of the imagina- tion over disease, he was in the habit of mentioning an incident F-1 4:Q6 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. wliieh he met with while a surgeon in the arniy. A soldier was suffei'ing from- fever and ague, but as among the medical supplies at the post tliere was a deficiency of bark, the remedy then almost universall}'' used, he ventured to trj' an experiment. He directed the man to come to his tent half an hour before the expected chill. He came, and to his sur])rise, found the doctor with his surgical instruments spread out as for a formid- able operation. Much preparation was gone through and time expended in sharpening and arranging the dreaded implements. The time dragged on and was at length consumed, 3^et there was no chill. After sufhcient delay, the patient was dismissed without an}^ operation, except upon his fears. But though so sparing of medicine, and so confident of the vis medicairix na- turae, Dr. McCall was strenuous both in his observance and in his advocacy of the laws of Hygiene. He was fond of quot- ing a summary of the rules of Boerhaave, contained in the dictum of an old Scotch physician, — keep the head cool, the feet warm and the booels open. For the virtue of fresh air he was an especial stickler; he insisted that his patients should have it at all seasons and at all hazards, and ordered bedroom windows to be hoisted and doors to be swung open in the severest of cold. He had many admiring and attached em- ployers w^ho felt the fullest confidence in his skill, for they knew it to be based on careful reading, large experience and much sound sense. He was faithfal in attendance, watchful as a nurse, and ready in expedient ; in manner wnse and oracu- lar, he knew how to magnify his office and command respect ; was cautious in forming his opinions, and secretive as to their utterance. Too stately or too arbitrary for general popularity, he seemed indifferent to it, and had not the art to win it if he wished. Not that he was wanting in a desire to please, but his politeness was formal, grandiose and excessive, and repelled many whom it would fain conciliate. It was by reason of this stately, and apparently severe manner that he had not always the credit for kindness and benevolence which he reall}^ de- served. His true feelings were concealed by pride. And often, as has been said by one who was admitted to his confidence, his visits to his patients w^ere followed by tears when he with- drew from their sick beds to the pi'ivacy of his office. He be- lieved that the dignity of the |)rofession demanded that the THE THIED CHARTER. 467 pliysician should receive a liberal compensation for his services, and when the emplo^^er was able to pay, liberal bills were ren- dered : but the indigent he was alwaj^s ready to attend without gratuity. When the first epidemic of cholera appeared in Utica, Dr. McCall was appointed health officer, and, during the whole of that fearful epidemic, he remained at his post in the faithful discharge of its duties. He was interested in the eleva- tion and standing of his profession, and himself took rank among its leading members in jSTew York. The County and State Medical Societies conferred upon him then- highest hon- ors, for he was president of both. He was also a fellow of the "College of Ph^-sicians of New York. Phrenologj', or cerebral physiology as he would call it, engaged the Doctor's attention for more than thirty years, and to the doctrines of Gall, Spurz- heim and Combe he was a thorough convert. He had made the acquaintance of the two last named, while they were visit- ing America, and was in correspondence with George Combe for years after his return. He neglected no opportunity of pro- claiming his belief in these teachings, adopted the phraseology of the science, and avoided all expressions that were alien to it. Such familiar ones as "the sentiments of the heart," "a warm hearted person," &c., since they did not recognize the brain as the seat of the affections, he scouted as unscientific and misleading. In confirmation of the truth of the science, he did not hesitate to mention an incident which reflected upon a peculiarity of his own, and with an approving smile would relate that Mr. Combe, when he was shown a cast of the Doc- tor's head, exclaimed with earnestness "self-esteem enormous." He possessed in a marked degree what are considered the ele- ments of the Scotch character. He was positive, firm, peremp- tory, and unyielding to opposition. The opinions he held ad- mitted of small modification, and his rules must be carried out to the bitter end. He was honest m its broadest and fullest sense. He shrank with disgust and hatred from every thing mean or dishonorable, and despised the man who would resort to tricker}^ to get business, or " flatter that favor might follow fawning." He never complained of sickness, misfortune or evil of any kind, and had little patience with those who did complain. Even in his last illness he did not murmur- though at times depressed, he retained his accustomed self-pos- 468 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. session, and, when unable to speak, he would, with his usual politeness, motion to an attendant to give a visitor a chair. While in the army he formed two habits which he afterwards came to consider pernicious and ungentlemanly. These were- snuff-taking and profane swearing. He abandoned them abso- lutel}^ and forever. In early life, too, he was fond of a social glass, but becoming satisfied that it was unnecessarj^, he gave- up the use of stimulants altogether, and even went so far as to contend that they were never necessary even in the practice of medicine. An attendant of no church, and friendly t(; no ortho- dox creed, he believed that Christianity consisted in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and the afllict- ed, and in doing unto others as we would that they should do- unto us. And such Christianity he aimed to practice. In 1814, while on leave of absence from the army, he was married to his cousin Annie McCall, who still survives him. Their two accomplished children died not long after reaching adult life. These were William Wallace, a lawyer of fine endowments; and Helen Marr (Mrs. Peter Webster of Fort Plain.) Early in these sketches was related the story of one who served as a nurse to the sick among her fellow citizens. An- other useful woman of the same class, most heroic in her devo- tion, was Susan Harrington. A native of Salisbury, Conn., she removed with her father's family to Utica in her early child- hood. When' about nine years old she was wandering about the burying ground, and was attracted by the grief of a mother who had come there to weep over the graves of her children. She clasped the hand of the bereaved one. The act was so expressive and touching, so grateful to the mourner, that she could not rest until she had secured the child as her foster-daughter. From this time, — which was about 1804, — Miss Harrington knew no parents but Mr. and Mrs. Elisha Spurr. The death of her adopted mother devolved upon her, while yet a girl, the care of a young family, to whom she be- came more than a sister, and who always regarded her with filial gratitude and love. But the domestic circle could not hem in the sympathies of her soul ; the sentiments she had so early manifested were her master passion. From the eighteenth to the last year of hei* life, she devoted herself to ministries to- THE THIRD CHARTER. 469 the sick and suffering; patiently, skillfully and tenderly prose- cuting the work m forgetfulness of her own interest and com- fort. About 1832 she removed to New York, and was there engaged in the faithful exercise of her calling, returning occa- sionally to U tica to respond to the necessities of some one who sought her. When the late war began its desolations, although well advanced in years, and needing the repose which she had so well earned, she felt it her duty to give herself to the care of the sick soldier, and, with rare self-abnegation, she exchanged the comforts of private life for the laborious cares of a hospital. While engaged in this labor of love, her strength was over- tasked, and after a lingering illness she received her discharge from earthly duties. She was taken sick at Bedlow's Island, but died in Utica, November 16, 1862, in her sixtj^-seventh year. She was supported under her pangs by the religion she had early professed and long practiced. Kept in the unclouded and undisturbed possession of her faculties, she feared no evil and expired with the words : " This is death. Lord Jesus help me in death.'' She was humble, self-sacrificing, religious. Her life was spent in doing good, and her exemplary death was worthy of a blameless and devoted life. The Utica Academ}^ being now completed, it was opened, in the autumn of 1818, under the preceptorship of Kev. Samuel T. Mills. He was a Presbyterian minister, who had just been dismissed from the pastorate of the church of On- ondaga Hollow, having before been settled over the church in Litchfield, Herkimer county. He was well educated, but of an infirm constitution, which impaired his efhciency in the capacity of principal teacher. He afterward rendered some service as a missionary, under the auspices of the Female Missionary So- ciety of Oneida. His wife was daughter of Colonel Gerrit Gr. Lansing of Oriskany. William Sparrow, alread}^ living in the village, opened a classical school early in 1819, but before the end of the year, was called to succeed Mr. Mills. He was a graduate of an English or Irish university, and at this time was studying theology, and a candidate for orders in the Episcopal Church. Eemaining principal of the academy about a year, he I)ecame, subsequently, a divine, and a professor in Gambler Col- lege, Ohio. Mr. J. Watson Williams, in his historical address, 470 THE PIOXEEKS OF UTICA. tells US that, while Mr. Sparrow was still in charge of his private- school, his pupils, who cherished some rivalry toward the boys under Mr. Mills' tuition, used to call out to them in passing : ".Ten mills makes one cent." To this the Mills boys would profanely reply: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ?' A young ladies' school was at this time opened by Montgomery R. Bartlett, which at once met with favor among the best fami- lies of the town. Mr. Bartlett, who was a native of New Hamp- shire, was, in some departments, an accomplished scholar, and was the author of an Astronomy, an edition of Murray's English Eeader, a Map of the Heavens, &c. He was rather severe in discipline, and did not teach long, but lived in Utica until about 1830, his home being on Bi-oad street, east of the Basin. His school was on Bleecker street. He removed to Ohio. A daughter was the first wife of Edward Curran, Another be- came the wife of Professor Garth of Transylvania University, a third was Mrs. Hastings, and a fourth remained unmarried. His son, Horatio, was attached to the New York Sim news- paper. Theodore Sedgwick Gold, son of Thomas R. Gold of Whites- boro, after a school training under Mr. Halsey of that place, en- tered Hamilton College, and was graduated in 1816. Directly afterward he became a clerk in the store of Jesse W. Doolittle, and entered into partnership with him in 1818. Six years later, he started a new dry goods store at No. 76 Genesee, above the Ontario Branch Bank, which, some time afterward, was removed to No. 62, a few doors below the bank. And here he remained until 1839. As a merchant, he obtained a fair amount of suc- cess, and his discretion in matters of business made him a bank director. But his literary tastes drew him much into diverging and more congenial pursuits, and these gave occupation to his time and pen. He took interest in the Utica Library, the Utica and the State Lyceums, &c. He was a large reader, possessed a good degree of intelligence and refined taste, and was able as a writer. For two years or more he edited the Oneida Whig, and proved a vigorous and entertaining journalist, and a formid- able adversary. Moreover, he had a fine person and an engaging- address, with unusual skill as a talker, and was influential, Ijoth in social and in political circles. In 1837 he was chosen mayor THE THIRD CHARTER. 471 of the city. For a short time, also, he was a trustee of Ham- ilton College, as he was also of the Utica Academy. Mr. Gold lived in the house on Chancellor square of late occupied by Mrs. Daniel Mitchell, and afterwards on the south side of Broad street, two doors west of Second. In 1859, while in New York City, he was stricken with paralysis, and for fourteen years was disabled from further employment. He made his home with his daughter, Mrs. Dexter, in Whitesboro, and with her returned afterwards to Utica, where he died, October 22, 1863, at sixty- seven years of age. His wife, who was Ann, daughter of James S. Kip, died some years before him. Sarah (Mrs. Andrew Dexter) is his only surviving child. Oren Clark, from Somers, Mass., located himself as a variety dealer at ISTo. 32 Genesee, just above the post office. He made his home on Broad street, a few doors east of Trinity church, until he built and occupied the brick house No. 53 Broad, where James F. Mann now lives. In the rear of his house, he made wall paper. He was an amiable and respected citizen, and had a wife who was active in deeds of public beneficence. She died of the cholera in 1832. About 1834, Mr. Clark removed to Cleve- land, Ohio. Of his three sons, the eldest returned to Massa- chusetts to live ; Henry Steele, after graduating at Hamilton College, became a Presbyterian minister, and was settled in Phila- delphia, but died in 1864 ; the third son, and the only daugh- ter, moved west with their father. Thomas M. Francis, half brother of William Francis, the car- penter, was successively deputy scribe in the office of the county clerk, book-keeper, canal collector and receiver at the office of the Central Pailroad ; and was industrious and faithful ; a quiet little man, and an unwavering Democrat. He lived, for the most part, at No. 42 Catherine street, and was the father of four or five sons. He lived until November 1866. John Gray, baker, an intelligent, sprightly person, was among the early members of the Broad Street Baptist Church. Bat as a Baptist he had one proclivity, by no means universal with the sect, — he would commune with other churches. When called to account for it, his onl_y plea was that "he couldn't help it." He moved, after a few years, to New York. Three shoemakers now set out in trade, although not together. Samuel Bryant from Ver- 472 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. niont, a quite respectable man, lived here until his death, Sep- tember 25, 1825, at ^vhiell time he was a grocer. One of his two sons is president of an insurance, and the other of a trans- portation compan}', in Buffalo. Moses Comstock, who had been an apprentice of his brother Levi, worked at his own lap stone until September 26, 1827, and died in New Jerse}', where he had gone to regain his health. John R. Ludlow was for a few years an honest shoemaker, and then became ca}^tain of a packet. One of his daughters married William Harrington, and another Grove Penny. In one of the local papers, we read under date of July 29, 1818, that two companies of Welsh emigrants, exceeding in the aggregate one hundred souls, recently passed through Albany to the west, with an intention of settling in Steuben. Whether as a detachment from one of these companies. I cannot say, but the following Welshmen now found a resting place in Utica, viz : Watkin Griffiths, David Lewis, John Edwards, David Roberts, Edward Roberts, Thomas Jones. Griffiths, who was a wheelwj'ight, remained about two 3'ears, and then moved to Deerfiekl. His sons, John, now of Cleveland, 0., and T. Ja3^ have been most of their lives denizens of their father's first tarrving place. David Lewis, at first the helper of Judge Miller, and then the faithful cultivator of the Walker place under its suc- cessive occupants, Peter Bours and Asahel Seward, is now an independent housekeeper on John street. A sou of John Ed- wards is also resident. David Roberts, a tanner's apprentice, remained until 1825. Edward Roberts was a mason, and Thomas Jones a wheelwright. Watkin Roberts, stone-cutter, had himself come a year or two before to Utica ; his wife about this time. He died many years since ; his partner, who sur- vived until 1872, was a person of more than ordinary sense and strength of character. Their children were the able and dis- tinguished editor and congressman Ellis H., the late Robert and Watkin J. Roberts, and Mrs. Perry and Mrs. Williams besides two daughters who are non-resident. Others living in Utica in 1818, of those who had gotten be- yond their clerkship, were : Dr. Spooner, wdio essayed to do den- tistry, but probably failed of encouragement enough to justify THE THIRD CHARTER. 473 liim in remaining long. Plu'sicians then drew teeth for those who needed it, while for servant girls and others confiding in his skill, Thomas Jones, the blacksmith, stood ready with his pmcers ; Philip Euss, carpenter, brother of John A. ; Henry O'Keefe, tailor ; Daniel Daniels, marble cutter, drowned in the canal ; Eber Hamilton and George Black, two notorious char- acters of Water street, who lived by their wits, the former chiefly by fishing ; John O'Connor, &c. 1819. The Board of trustees created by the election of 1819, did not differ materially from that of the preceding year. Messrs. David P. Hoyt and Gurdon Burchard replaced Messrs. Brown and Van Santvoort as trustees in the second ward, the last named having left the village, and William Alverson was elec- ted in lieu of Marcus Hitchcock in the the third ward. In the thii'd ward Apollos Cooper was elected assessor in lieu of Thomas Walker. The supervisor, constables, collector and clerk remained the same. E. S. Cozier was made treasurer in place of Judah Williams, and there were a few other changes. Tlie only business transacted during the year, that is of impor- tance enouo-h to be noted, was the engaging of A. L' Amoureux to take charge of the public school, and the appointment of ten persons from among the firemen to form a ladder com- pany, which so reduced the force of the two established com- panies as to make it advisable to petition the Legislature for a change in the charter, in order to allow of an increase in the number of firemen. The public school was now to be con- ducted on the Lancaster s^^stem, agreeably to a pi-oposition made the trustees by JVIr. L'Amoureux. In September he pub- lished a report of his school for the first term. He reports two hundred and thirteen as having been admitted, and two hundred and three noAv remaining in the school. Of these twentj^-six read in the New Testament, twenty-eight are learning to read simple stories on cards, one hundred and thirty are making rapid im- provement in spelling and reading words of two to eight s^dla- bles, and nineteen are learning to make the alphabet in sand ; sixty have learned to write a tolerable hand, and eighty are learning to write words of from one to three letters ; thirty-two 474 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. are learning to cypher, seven of whom are nearly masters of the first four rules of arithmetic ; and a class in geography are now committing the lirst pi'ineiples. Early in 1819 we meet with the first notice of Roman Cath- olic service having been held in Utica. Agreeably to notice previously published, Eev. Mr. 0"Gorman, from Albany, met the adherents of this faith on the 10th of January, in the Court House, for public worship. JVIass was celebrated ; six or seven females and two males received the consecrated wafer, and eight or ten children were baptized. In the evening Mr. O'Gor- man preached a serman from the text; "Love your Enemies." On the loth of March, the Catholics of Utica and vicinity were invited to attend divine service the following Sunday, which was to be performed by Rev. Mr. Farnon ; and on the 24th of May, it was announced that "Rev. Mr. Farnon, who is now established rector of the Catholic Church of the Western District, lias returned from a circuit through said district, and will perform divine service at the academy on the 30th inst, J. Lynch, secretary." The foregoing were the first steps taken toward assembling and organizing this now numerous body of Christians, but which was then so small and so sparsely scattered that the whole western district was included in one religious society. The first trustees of the church were John C, and N. Devereax of Utica, James Lynch, till now a resi- deiit of Rome, but who about this time removed to Utica, Francis O'Toole of Augusta, and — of Johnstown. Measures were at once taken to erect a church edifice. The resident congregation did not exceed twenty -five or thirty, and these few contributed freely to defray the expense. Much generous assistance was also accorded by Protestants generally. Moreover, the construction of the Erie canal, now in progress, had caused a large inmiigration of Irish laborers, who though poor and without homes, could not be denied the privileges of their own form of worship. From their scanty wages they each gave one dollar a month, toward the Ijuilding of the church. A lot was presented by Judge Morris S. Miller and wife, on the condition that it should reveit to the owners or their heirs whenever it ceased to be used for the purpose for wiiich it was given. This lot, on the corner of John and THE THIRD CHARTER. 475 Bleecker streets, is the same that is now occupied by St. John's Church, though the building lirst placed thereon was afterwards moved across Bleecker to its lower side, where, with some alter- ations, it still stands An Englishman, by the name of Crane, took the contract for the erection of the building, and it went rapidly forward. The congregation, in the meantime, worship- ped in the parlors of one or other of the Messrs. Devereux ; or on Saints' days and when unusual services were held, in the Court room of the academy building. When complete the church was a pretty gothic structure forty-five by sixty feet^ surmounted with a low spire and painted white. It was con- secrated on the 19th of August, 1821, by Rt. Rev. Bishop Con- nolly, assisted by Rev. Messrs. O'Gorman, O'Connor and Farnon. But though fit for use, it was some two years more before it was wholly finished, and only about ten pews were leased at this time. Rev. Mr. Farnon was a young, good looking and agreeable man, with pleasant and free manners, who had not been long in the country. His position was by no means a sinecure, since in addition to supermtending the building of the edifice, he was much occupied in ministering to the parish- ioners of his widely extended district, and in visiting the sick and destitute up and down the line of the canal. Though in the larger villages along this line other Catholic Churches were created as fast as the Irish influx demanded, )-et his assistance was constantly needed to establish them. As a preacher he was plain and practical, and spoke without notes. His first residence, and until a rectory was built for him, was a small wooden house on the east side of Chancellor square, the first which was erected thereon, and which is still standing. The rectory, adjoining the church on the west side, and which has given way to the present one, was put up in 1824. Mr. Far- non remained until 1825, and was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Bulger, a talented young Irishman, who stayed two years. Another church which had its beginning in the 3^ear 1819, was the Second Baptist. It was the first one made up of Eng- lish-speaking people, and the same which was afterwards known as the Broad Street Baptist, and of late as the Tabernacle Church. During a few preceding years the English-speaking Baptists of the village had been accustomed to attend a second 476 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. service, held for their benefit at the close of the earlier Welsh service. At a meeting of the society, held on the 23d of Sep- tember, a member present having stated that many of the mem- bers of this church were subjected to great inconvenience by reason of the fact that the exercises were, in part, in a language which they did not understand, it was determined to take into consideration the propriety of giving such members permission to enter into covenant as a second church. And at a meeting held on the 7th of October, the cordial a]3pi'obation of the soci- ety was accorded all such as chose to unite together for such a purpose. The brethren, seventeen in number, who proposed so to do, met together and called Rev. Elijah F. Willey of Lansing- barg to become their pastor. He accepted their call, and com- menced his labors on the second Sunday in November. On the 6th of Januar}^, following, a council made up of representatives fi'om other Baptist Churches in the vicinity, met to consider the propriety of recognizing the little society as a regular charch. Eev. Elon Galusha of Whitesboro, was chosen moderator, and Dr. Charles Babcock of New Hartford, secretary. The council, • after proper examination, voted that they viewed the said cov- enanted members as a regular Church of Christ in Gospel order; and several of the elders present addressed the new Church, ex- pressing their fellowship and congratulations. Not long after- ward, a lot was purchased, situate on the north side of Broad street, midway between John and First streets, and a plain, but comfortable wooden building was erected. It was forty by sixty feet, and capable of seating four hundred people. The funds for its erection were chiefly procured tlirough the personal ex- ertions of Edward Baldwin. It was first occujiied on the 4th of November, 1820. Rev. Mr. Willey remained the minister until December 16, 1826. He was not li])erally educated n(H' possessed of much polish, but was not deficient in acquirements ; was an earnest ])reacher, dispensing with notes and entering ■ warmly into his pulpit duties. He secured the respect and affection of his people. With Rev. Elon Galusha of Whites- boro, he conducted the Baptist Register^ and was the originator of that paper. His duties as a minister were not confined to Utica, for in the afternoon he preached at Deerfield. After his resignation, induced by ill health, he removed to Albany and engaged in lumber business. THE THIRD CHARTER. 477 On the 30th of December, 1819, there appeared in the Utica papers an announcement of the holding of the annual meeting of the Utica Ti'act Society, signed by John Bradish, secretary. Of this society I know only that about four years later its tracts were stored away and the society virtually extinct. A Dorcas society was also in existence at this time, but of its operations the writer is not informed. It was the forerun- ner if not the parent of " The Female Society of Industry for Charitable Purposes," which commenced its operations in Octo- ber 1819. In January 1828, this latter society began raising a fund for the purpose of establishing an orphan asylum, an effort which culminated in the establishment of the Utica Orphan Asjdum. Its history is generally considered as beginning in 1828, though it is worthy of question whether it did not origin- ate with the above mentioned Dorcas Society, first set on foot to make garments for the destitute children of the Sunday school. The Erie Canal, begun in July 1817, and on which work was steadily progressing, was still far from completion. The east- ern portion of its middle section, or so much of it as is included between Rome and Utica, was, however, rendered fit for navi- gation by the fall of 1819. And on the 22d of October, the first boat sailed on the canal from Rome to Utica, the channel having been filled from the Oriskany creek, the day previous. It was an elegant boat, constructed to carry passengers, and was called the Chief Engineer, in compliment to Benjamin Wright. On the ensuing day, the Governor of the State and the Board of Commissioners, attended by about seventy ladies and gentle- men of Utica and vicinity, embarked upon it to return to Rome. The embarkation took place amid the ringiDg of bells, the roar- ing of cannon, and the loud acclamations of thousands of spec- tators. The following is a copy of a letter written by an en- thusiastic gentleman of Utica, to the editors of the Albany Daily Adveriizer, descriptive of this interesting event : " The last two days have presented in this village a scene of the liveliest interest ; and I consider it among the privileges of my life to have been present to witness it. On Friday afternoon, I walked to the head of the grand canal, the eastern extremity of ■ which reaches within a very short distance of the village, and from 478 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. one of the slight and aiiy Lridojes which crossed it, I had a sight which could not but ejihilerate and elevate the mind. The waters were rushing in from the westward, and coming down their untried channel towards the sea. Their course, owing to the absorption of the new banks of the canal, and the distance they had to run from where the stream entered it, was much vslower than I had anticipated; they continued graduall_y to steal along from bridge to bridge, and at first only spreading over the bed of the canal, imperceptibly rose and washed its sides with a gentle wave. It was dark before they reached the eastern extrem- ity, but at sunrise next morning they were on a level — two feet and a half deep throughout the whole distance of thirteen miles. The interest manifested by the whole county, as this new inter- nal river rolled its first waves through the State, cannot be de- scribed. You might see the people running across the fields, climbing on trees and fences, and crowding the bank of the canal to gaze upon the welcome sight. A boat had been pre- pared at Rome, and as the waters came down the canal, you might mark their progress hj that of this new Argo which floated triumphantly along the Hellespont of the West, accom- panied by the shouts of the people, and having on her deck a military band. At nine, the next morning, the bells began a merry peal, and the commissioners proceeded in carriages from Bagg's Hotel to the place of embarkation. The Governor, ac- companied by General Van Rensselaei-, Rev. Mr. Stansbury of Albany, Rev. Dr. Blatchford of Lansingburg, Judge Miller of Utiea. Ml". Holley, Mr. Seymour, Judge Wright, Colonel Lan- sing. Mr. Childs, Mr. Clark, Mr. Bonner, and a large company of their friends, embarked, and were received with the roll of the drum, and the shouts of a large multitude of spectators. The boat which received them is built for passengers, is sixty- one feet in length, and seven and a half feet in width, having two rising cabins of fourteen feet each, with a flat deck between them. In forty minutes the company readied Whitesboro, the boat being drawn by a single horse, wliich walked on the towing path, attached to a tow rope about sixty feet long. The horse travelled apparently with the utmost ease. The boat, though literall}^ loaded with passengers, drew but fourteen inches water. A military band played patriotic airs. From bridge to bridge, from village to village, the pi'ocession was saluted with cannon, and every bell, whose sound could reach the canal, swung as with instinctive life, as it ])assed by. At Whitesboro, a number of ladies embarlced, and heightened by their smiles a scene that wanted but this to make it complete." From one of the papers of Utica of that date we borrow a few additional particulars, as follows : " Seldom has there been seen more heart felt joy than was manifested on this occasion ; ' THE THIRD CHARTER. 479 and the feelings of those who viewed the departure from Utica of this, the first boat which the watei's of the canal had ever borne, bordered on enthusiasm. All the way to the embank- ment across the Sauquoit creek, man}^ hundreds of spectators fol- lowed the boat, and frerpiently filled the air with their animat- ing cheers. At Whitesboro, the arrival was announced by a national salute and by the cheers of people assembled to witness the scene. After a sail of a little more than four hours, the boat arrived at Eome. It remained at that place until a quar- ter past three, when it set out on its i-eturn, and arrived at Utica ten minutes before eight. This first trial of the canal was highly gratifying, not only to the commissioners, but to all who beheld it ; and if ever deep-felt gladness was exhibited, it was in uni- versal and full display throughout this excursion." Nathan Williams, as president of the board of village trus- tees, on the same day addressed a congratulatory letter to the board of canal commissioners, which was answered by Governor Clinton, their president. From the former, we present an ex- tract : " While gliding .with ease, safely and rapidly over the smooth surface of this inland river, to a neighboring village, and back again, (a distance of more than thirty miles, in about nine hours,) our minds could not but reflect with high gratifi- cation upon the past and the future, as well as upon the present delightful scene. The inhabitants of this country who have lived to see the soil covered with forests, yielding to a high state of cultivation, and the once savage population of our red brethren exchanged for that of a polished society, occupied with success in the arts of agriculture, commerce and manufac- tures, can look back upon the past with an eye of gratitude ; wdiile they look through the vista of the future, not only with gratitude, but with wonder. They behold in this great fabric now opened before them, that link and source of commerce and wealth to this State, which is to bring the products and re- sources of the western inland seas and States, through this coun- try to the Atlantic, and which is to be a powerful means of binding together the different goverments that form our rising republic. From Erie to the Atlantic, a distance of five hundred miles, more than three hundred is to be traversed by this canal. Considering the infancy of the settlements through which it is to pass, and that it is commenced by the efforts and patriotism 480 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. of a single State, it will be viewed by future generations as a wonderful work. The experience of this daj^'s excursion must do away all doubt, if any remain, of the j^iracticability of con- structing this ' stupendous artificial river of the West.' It ap- pears now indeed to be rendered certain, that thev who pro- jected the plan, and they who so faithfully persevere to execute it, under the wise sanction of our laws, and the patriotic coop- eration of our citizens, will be ranked among the greatest bene- factors of our country." By an act of Congress, passed March 19, 1819, a post road from Schenectady to Utica was established. Utica was made the place of arrival and departure of nine different mails. There is one able commissioner, among the eminent persons appointed by the State to supervise and direct its cherished work, the stor}^ of wdiose life falls within the compass of our records, since towards Utica he held the relations of an honored citizen, and for a time its official head. This is Hen rj- Seymour. He was a son of Major Moses Seymour of Litchfield, Conn., who served throughout the Eevolution as captain in the 5th Regiment of Connecticut cavalry, afterwards represented his town in the Legislature of that State from 1795 to 1812; was town clerk from 1789 until his death in 1826, and was seven- teen years senior warden of St. Michael's Church. Of the five sons of Major Seymour, Horatio of Middlebury, Vermont, was United States Senator from 1821 to 1822; Ozias was nine years sheriff of Litchfield county ; Moses, a lawyer, was several years postmaster of Litchfield, and six years sheriff; and Epaphro- ditus'was president of the Bank of Brattleboro, Vermont. Henry Seymour, who was born at Litchfield, May 30, 1780, moved to Pompey Hill, Onondaga county, N. Y., and entered into business as a merchant. By his integrity, sound judgment and capacity to execute, he became so well and favorably known that, from 1816 to 1819, he was sent to represent the Western District in the State Senate. On the 24th of March, 1819, he was appointed a commis.sioner of the canals of the State, and was actively engaged in the duties of this office until his resig- nation in May 18-31. Soon after becoming commissioner he removed to Utica, and ontiiuu'd to reside here during the re" ■^^^^>ri^Y ^Jtyy/^yrrL^^a^ THE THIRD CHARTER. 481 mainder of his life. In 1820 be was elected to the Assembly, and in 1822 he became a second time a Senator. In March 1833, he was apjDointed mayor of Utica. being the second person who held the office, and the same year was chosen president of the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company of the City of New York. The change from an active life in the country to the sedentary one of an office in the city destroyed his health, and he died at Utica, August 26, 1887. Mr. Seymour's character has been thus sketched by Mr. Hammond, in his Political History of New York: "He was a well-bred man, and very gentlemanly in deportment. His great native shrewdness and sagacity had been improved and highly cultivated by an association with genteel society. As a politi- cian, he was wary, smooth, and apparently moderate in his action. His opponents charged him with being Jesuitical, but of this I cannot speak from my own knowledge ; for he cer- tainly never gave me any proofs of want of sincerity and can- dor. Notwithstanding the immense amount of moneys which passed through his hands, and the many and vastly important contracts made by him on the part of the State, not the least suspicion was ever breathed against the purity of his conduct. He was in all respects a correct business man." To this we may add that he was eminently practical in the character of his mind ; careful and accurate in detail, but capable of large enter- prises, and skillful in executing them. He was vigilant as a commissioner, not only treating with contractors, but person- ally supervising their work and adjusting their claims. As a sample of his private undertakings, it may be mentioned that he bought up the Eochester Bank, and managed it so well that he afterwards sold one-half of it for a sum equal to what he had paid. Though untrained as a speaker, quiet in manner, and not at all aggressive as a politician, his opinion carried weight, and his influence in public affairs was considerable. Mr. Van Buren openly expressed his pleasure when he heard that Mr. Seymour was made a member of the Council of Appointment ; and in a letter to a friend he gave vent to his feelings, — which had been wrought to a high pitch of anxiety, — in this laconic manner: '"Dear Sir, Seymour! Seymour! Seymour!'' In temper he was amiable and forgiving, just, considerate and tender ; he was intolerant of evil speaking in others, and suffered as much from G-1 482 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. the veiy api)reliensiori of defrauding as though he himself were wronged. To gentlemanlj^ deportment there was joined a gen- tlemanly physiognomy, for he had a tall figure, and features that were strikingly handsome and refined. Mrs. Seymour was a daughter of Colonel Jonathan For man, a valued officer of the Revolution, and on her mother's side was a grand-niece of Colonel Ledyard, who was in command at Fort Griswold and afterwards at Fort Groton, Conn. She was born at Monmouth, N. J,, February IS, 1785. At twelve years of age she accompanied her father when he removed to Cazenovia, Madison county, then a frontier settlement. Their carriage was the first conveyance of the kind that had passed in that direction beyond Whitesboro, so that in many places they were obliged to use axes to make their way. She was married to Mr. Seymour in 1807, and survived hirri many years, her death occurring September 16, 1859. In her char- acter, decision and energy were happily blended with many gentler virtues. She was beautiful and gi'aceful, and apprecia- tive of the beautiful and graceful in nature and in art; among the earliest ladies of ITtica to give attention to flowers, she de- lighted to cultivate them so long as she lived. She was highly educated socially and mentally ; had a Christian love for all of mankind, and a honeyed softness of address and a discerning refinement which never failed to please all who entered her presence. With their engaging family the Seymours main- tained a social standing and influence which was second to that of no cotemporary family of the place. The children were six in number, and all are living, viz: Mary (Mrs. Rutger B. Miller) ; Horatio, twice Governor of New York ; Sophia (widow of Edward F. Shonnard of Yonkers) ; John F. ; Helen (widow of Ledyard Linklaen of Cazenovia), and Julia (Mrs. Roscoo Conk ling). .JTames Lynch had already for several years maintained a creditable place at the bar of Oneida. He was the son of Dom- inic Lyncli of Rome, and was born about 1786. He was grad- uated at Columbia College in 1799, studied law at Rome, and began practice in that })lace. During the sessions of 1814-16, he represented his town in the State Legislature. About 1819, he changed his residence for one in Utica, continuing in the THE THIRD CHARTER. 483 exercise of his profession, and having as his partner Abraham Varick, who had been his classmate at Cokimbia. He hved at his coming on the north side of Broad street, between Genesee and John, but about 1823 he built for himself the fine house on Chancellor square afterwards occupied by Thomas H. Hub- bard, and now b}^ Dr. S. Gr. Wolcott. In 1825, he moved to New York Citv, where he was appointed a judge of the Ma- rine Court. In this office he remained until his death, Octo- ber 3, 1853, at the age of sixtj-seven. Mr. Lynch was one of the founders of St. John's Church, and after removing to New York, he was an early and active member of the American Institute. Judge Bacon, in his "Early Bar of Oneida," speaks of him as " of princely bearing and commanding presence." As a lawyer he was creditable and above mediocrity, though in the opinion of the Judge he was " capable when roused, of efforts little inferior to those of Storrs and Talcott." Judge Lynch's wife was Miss Janette Tillotson, of an aristocratic family of Rhinebeck, N. Y., and was a member of Trinity Church in Utica, though her husband was foremost among the Catholics. They had three sons and four daughters. Of these daughters, Juha, the eldest, became the wife of President Olin of the Wesleyan University, the youngesi married Rev. Mr. Montgomery of the Episcopal Church, and Adelaide married Mr. Fitzgerald de Tasistro, a counterfeit count.. Janette was, while in Utica, a belle much admired. Eugene is the only son now living. Justus H. Eathbone, native of New Hampshire, studied law in Utica, with David W. Childs, and at its conclusion joined him in practice. Afflicted from his youth with a lameness that ensued upon an attack of rheumatic gout, he did not attend the courts, though he was vei'sed in his profession. Being, however, industrious, methodical and scrupulously accu- rate in all his transactions, he was called to fill some positions of responsibility. In April 1819, he was appointed a Commis- sioner of Deeds, and some little later he was a Master in Chan- eery : he was almost the founder of the old Utica Library, and was for some time its zealous custodian. An elder in the Re- formed Dutch Church, he was for several years its treasurer likewise. A little eccentric in some particulars, he was yet 48i THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. possessed of sound judgment and ready and practical intelli- gence, and was self-denying and faithful in all that he under- took. So careful was he in business matters tliat an error of a penny or two in his cash account would rob him of sleep and give him days of disquiet. He was a partner of Mr. Childs until the removal of the latter. He lived on Broad street, and latterly in the house before occupied by Thomas Skinner, until he removed not long before his death to Deerfield. His death took place in Philadelphia, May 27, 1861. Mr. Rathbone's wife was Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Henry E. Dwight. Of his five children, J. Henry now lives in Washington, and Mary D., (Mrs. Pease) in Philadelphia ; another of his daughters was the first wife of Thomas Van Embergh. After the resignation of Rev. Mr. Baldwin as rector of Trin- ity Church, May 12, 1818, there was difficulty and delay expe- rienced in settling a pastor. This continued until August 1819, when the Rev. Henry Moore Shaw succeeded to the place. Not then ordained a priest, he was ordained in September 1820, and the following May tendered his resignation and with- drew. On the 7th of September, 1819, Dr. Newel Smith offered his services as a physician to the people of Utica. In 1828 he was still at the place of his first location, viz: the corner of Liberty and Hotel streets. Four years later he had moved lower down on Hotel street, into a part of the double brick house next above the lane leading to Burchard street, which house he built. By 1834 he had left the place. He was "a fair kind of a man," and once a partner with Dr. Goodsell. An assistant of Rev. Mr. Mills in the Utica Academy was Am- brose Kasson, who came hither from Lanesboro, Mass. He was something over a year in charge of the English department, and then opened a private school in company with Mrs. S. Gridley, which school he afterwards carried on alone. It was kept in the building that had been occupied l)y the Utica Insurance Company, and then in the second story of the Kirkland block, and was largely attended bj^ both boys and girls. Mr. Kasson was a good instructor in the English branches and did not want for energy of rule; he studied law with Judge Nathan Wil- liams. His place of residence was Deerfield and there he THE THIRD CHARTER. 485 passed his latter years. His wife was a daughter of Rev. Calvin Hall of Deerfield, though he was married before he came to Utica. His associate, Mrs. Gridley, had begun school teaching in the place as early as 1816. She continued it quite a num- ber of years, and has left the remembrance of herself and her school pleasantly impressed upon many who still survive. Her teaching was concluded when she entered into marriage as the second wife of Captain William Clarke. Another assistant in the academy in 1819 was William Hayes, who has already been mentioned as a denizen of the village in 1804, and a fabricator of earthern ware near the present corner of Liberty and Washington streets. In 1811, Hayes and his son, William Hayes, Jr., advertised a scrivener's office on Broad street, a little east of Genesee ; and were prepared to teach math- ematics, surveying", book-keeping and writing, and also to post books. In the latter duty, the son found employment with Samuel Stocking, William Williams, &c. J. Watson Williams, the historian of the academy, who was a pupil of the father while he was writing master there, thus discourses of him : " Mr. Hayes was a penman and book-keeper of the old English school ; of that period, when thoroughness and skill distinguished those arts. He was none of your twelve-lesson men ; but be- gan at the beginning with full-fed, broad-nibbed goose quills, that made their marks, straight or round, of good portly body strokes and clean hair strokes, which followed each other, after a short experience, without a ruled page to guide them, with perfect uniformity and drill. He suffered no meddling with current hand until you had first served a full apprenticeship at elemental lines, and curves of manly length, and fair bold sweep. When you had gone through a book or two of half inch small letters, distinct enough to be criticised across the school room, he instructed you in the high art of capitals, plain, open, fair and of honest aspect that might be recognized of all men. He did not throw his whole force, as some do, upon their ornament- ation, making them everything, and their little followers noth- ing. He handled his quill delibei'atel}^, as if he loved its move- ments ; and his manuscript had a fair roast-beef and plum-pud- ding air that betokened good faith and honesty, and a mind ear- nest upon its M^ork. * * I do not know what be- 486 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. came of Mr. Hayes after bis two or three years connection with the academy, but I revere his name and memory on account of some fair chirography, which I occasionally see, that might not have existed but for him." Records inform us that he died October 10, 1825, aged sixty-five. His son went to Brockville in Canada, w^here his daughter became allied with one of the most aristocratic families of the town. Cotemporaneously with the deliberate drill of Mr. Hayes at the academy, one H. Dean was teaching, or professing to teach, penmanship in thirtj-six hours, at the school-room of Royal West. How many tested his professions, or how many he per- fected in the allotted time, the writer is unable to sa}", for further knowledge of him, after his one advertisement, is not to be had. This Mr. West stayed something longer, and in 1820, the vil- lage trustees arranged with him for the occupation of the pub- lic building, next to Trinity. He kept a few boarders in his house below Washington Hall, but soon left the place, and subsequently became a minister. M. Y. Scott essays, this same year, to get scholars desirous of learning French ; and some one strives to -help him, through the columns of the weekly paper, by a labored eulogy of the language, and by expatiating upon the advantages enjoyed by one who has become acquainted with it. It is to be presumed he did not find encouragement sufficient to tarry long. In the fall of 1819, the village received, fresh from his native Scotland, Henry Burden, afterwards eminent as an inventor and iron manufacturer. Born at Dunblane, in 1791, he pursued a course of mathematics and engineering, at Edinburgh, having already given evidence of a genius for invention by making with his own hands labor-saving machinery from the roughest materials, and with but few tools and no model. His first achievement, after his arrival in Utica, was an improved plough, that took the premium at three of the county fairs. These ploughs, with other agricultural implements, he sold "near the academy, on the east side of the public square," (Chancel- lor). In 1820 he invented the first (niltivator of the country. These efforts were followed, when he had removed to Troy, by machines for making spikes, horse-shoes, hook-headed spikes in use on railroads, for reducing iron into blooms, for rolling it into bars, besides a suspension water wheel, a cigar- THE THIRD CHARTER. 487 shaped steamboat, &c., &c. Mr. Burden became one of the most extensive manufacturers in tiie Uuited States, and amassed a large fortune, from which he gave hberally to philanthropic purposes. His death occurred at Troy, January 19, 1871. Additional residents of 1819 were : William B. Grra}^, saddler, Irish by birth, with an unusual share of the gayety of his coun- trymen, and abounding in practical tricks. He lived in Utica for twenty-five j'cars and more, and was an oihcer in the Dutch Reformed Church. Isaac Clough, blacksmith, who died of cholei'a in 1832, had for years done most of the repairing of coaches that was needed by J. Parker & Co. His wufe was a Van Syce, and he an estimable person. James Crocker, who lived some ten years after his coming, is best remembered as the father of the late Hugh and the present John G. Crocker. Lewis Lewis, stone cutter, was at this time preparing the stone for the structures of the canal. He was the father of Professor J. J. Lewis of Madison University. Richard Perry, another Welshman, and a mason, was the father of the late David and Harvey Perry, and of Mrs. James Best. George F. Merrell and his brother. Bradford S., bookbinders, came from Westmore- land, and learned their trade with their relative, Andrew Mer- rell. Both worked at different times for Seward & Williams. Bradford, abont 1825, set up business for himself, and continued in it until his death in 187L George, who died a few years pre- viously, was always a journeyman, and latterly for his brother. Both have left their representatives in the city. Lemuel Snow, shoemaker, and his wife, who kept a millinery shop, were both victims of the cholera. David G. Bates was a shoemaker like- wise, but did not follow the trade. He superintended the build- ing of the Second Presbyterian Church, of which he was an elder. G. Pond was a last maker. Mills & Matthews were cabinet makers, of whom the former went to Poughkeepsie, and the latter tarried some time. Eleazer McKee, carpenter, had ah-eady been a good while in the county. John Jones, mason, father of Mrs. Charles Downer and other children, has but re- cently passed away (1877). James Jones, father of Mrs. AVilliam Jarrett, has also grandchildren in the place. Kelty & Mitchell were associate tailors. Henry O'Keefe was likewise a tailor Miss Andrews was a mantua maker, and the Misses J. & E, Gralaam, milliners. Simon Dickens, was a brewer. 488 THE PIOXEERS OF UTICA. 1820. The village trustees of the j'ear 1820 were E. S. Cozier and John E. Hinman from the first ward ; James Hooker and Abra- ham Culver from the second ward ; and Ezekiel Bacon and Thomas Walker from the third ward. Eudolph Snyder was appointed president by the State Council, on the resignation of Judge Williams. Measures were initiated this year for the con- struction of a new road above the canal, running westward from ■Genesee street and in continuation of Bleecker, — a road whicli met with opposition from individuals owning land along its in- tended course, and which, not until after litigation and much delay, resulted, in the year 1823, in the present Fayette street. Other matters that engaged the attention of the corporation, and in which the}' felt called on to advise and direct, were the loca- tion and construction, by the canal commissioners, of bridges over such part of the canal as was included within the bounds of the village; the proper adjustment of Liberty street in its relation to the canal ; the sanctioning of a basin and slip, which John R. Bleecker had obtained leave to construct, the basin on the south side of the canal and the slip extending from it to Catherine street. For the subject of absorbing interest at this era was the pro- gress of this great improvement. In April of this year a trip was made between Utica and Montezuma in which a large com- pany bore a delighted part. On the 20th of May, Governor Clinton and the canal commissioners, accompanied by as many gentlemen from Utica and Whitesboro as could be accommo- dated, went on tbe boats Montezuma and Chief Engineer from Utica to the Seneca river. The citizens of the village " em- braced the occasion to manifest their respect for the chief mag- istrate of the State, and the high estimation in which they held those who were associated with him in the prosecution of works of inestimable value to the present and future generations." A procession was formed which accompanied the party to the boats where an address was delivered by Mr. Snyder, president of the village, to which the Governor replied in behalf of the commissioners. On the lirst of June, we are informed by adver- tisement, that " boats for the accommodation of passengers one hundred miles on the canal, are now in operation by ' The Erie THE THIRD CHARTER. 489 Canal Navigation Company.' They sail every Monday and Thursday morning from Utica, at nine o'clock, and arrive at Canistota (Lenox) at seven P. M., proceed next day at two A. m., and arrive at Montezuma at seven P. m. Price of passage in- cluding provisions, four dollars. A small advance to be made when the toll and lockage are established. For passage ap})ly to Doolittle & Gold, or at the stage office." In the weekl}^ chronicle of arrivals and departures on the canal, wdiich began at this time to be published in the papers, we find that five boats departed and two arrived on the first of July, one each on the second, and four departed and one arrived on the third ; between July 31 and August 7, there were twelve arrivals and nineteen clearances ; between August 14 and August 25, there were twenty-two arrivals and seventeen clearances. Most of these boats were loaded with merchandise, two only carrying passengers. The Fourth of July was celebrated on the canal by a large concourse of people from various parts of the Wes- tern District. The Oneida Chief from Utica, and the Monte- zuma from Cayuga Lake, accompanied with a number of other boats, filled with passengers from the intermediate country, met at Syracuse. His Excellency, the Governor, with his secretaries and other gentlemen from New York, were of the passengers from Utica. " The exei'cises of the day consisted in reading tlie declaration of independence, a very animated and appro- priate prayer by Eev. M. Willey of Utica, and an address by Samuel M. Hopkins of Genesee, in a style every way worthy of the distinguished talents and character of that gentleman." All of which were held in an open field where alone the great multitude could be assembled. "About two o'clock," the nar- nator continues, "the whole moved in a novel and imposing style of procession, to Salina ; the side canal leading to that place, one mile and a quarter in length, being covered with about twenty boats of various sizes, all thickly crowded with as many passengers as they could contain, while those who could not thus be accommodated lined the banks, and, with the accom- paniment of an excellent band of music, exhibited a spectacle more interesting and impressive than has ever, it is ])resumed, been exhibited in our country on any occasion whatever." The interest felt by Governor Clinton in this, his favorite, j)roject, brought him, as we have seen, often to the interior and 490 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. and western parts of the State. It was in the summer of 1820, while travelling up and dow'n the course of the future canal, that he wrote his w^ell known letters of Hibernicus. From the ijiansion of Mr. Grreig at Canandaigua, from Auburn, from Utica and from other places, he penned those classic letters to the Statesman^ — letters abounding in instruction upon the nat- ui-al history and resources of the country through which he journeyed, and prophetic of the good to be expected from the completed canal. At the York House in Utica, he held a con- ference with Dr. Barto of Newport, and learned much of the composition and qualities of water lime, which had been recently discovered and put in use on the canal by Canvass White, one of the engineers. Since the year 1803, the Coarts of the county had been held ;it Whitesboro and at Rome, the two half-shire towns. Bat about this time it was ordered that a session of the United States District and also of the Supreme Court of the State should be held in the academy at Utica. A visitor, who attended the October term of the latter, held in Utica iiL 1820, saw there a full bench, Chief Justice Spencer presiding, flanked by Judges Van Ness and Piatt on his right, and Judges Yates and Woodworth on the left. The bar was filled with lawyers of the first ability and reputation, including Aaron Burr, Thomas J. Oakley, Martin Van Buren, Elisha Williams, &c., the two last named being opposed in a trial. An event that caused much excitement in the quiet village early in the present year, w^as a highway robbery and murder committed in a distant State. The daring nature of the crime, and the cruelty which attended it, aroused the whole country to indignation wherever the papers made known the particulars. But in Utica, especially, the feeling was intense, because one of the guilty parties was the son of a most respectable citizen of the place, and thus with abliorrence of the crime there was mingled deep sympathy with the afflicted family. The crimi- nal, who for some time had been given to wayward and wicked habits, had fallen in witli a worse companion in his w^anderings from home, and with him concerted a plan foi- robVjing the mail stage between Baltimore and Washington. Having waylaid and THE THIRD CHARTER. 491 watched the stage for several days, they at last found an oppor- tunity to stop it, in a lonely place and when there were no pas- sengers within. Tying the driver to a tree, they cut open and pillaged the mail bag of about fi\'e thousand dollars. But fear- ing discovery if the driver were left to appear against them, they killed him, despite his earnest pleading for life, for his own sake and for the sake of his wife and children. They were apprehended the same day, and soon made a full confes- sion. After a most touching charge from the judge, they were condemned, and in due time were executed. Simultaneously with the execution, the church friends of the unhappy father were assembled at Utica, engaged in prayer for the souls of the criminals and the spiritual good of those whom they had made to mourn. To this day there are elderly people in the vicinity who can repeat, verbatim, the masterly charge of the Judge, such was the interest in this heinous and comparatively rare a crime, and in the misguided youth who was led to its perpetra- tion, which was experienced at the time in the neighborhood where he was born and brought up. and where he was repre- sented by a worthy parent. The notion was quite prevalent that in reality he was never hung,— at least until he was dead,— but that through the influence of his father, he either escaped the punishment altogether, or having been a short time sus- pended, he was cut down and resuscitated. The notion was a groundless one. An act of the Legislature was passed this year incorporating the Utica Savings Bank, but for some reason, now unknown, the bank did not go into operation until the year 1839, when a new charter was procured. This first charter was probably in advance of the actual necessity for such an institution, and the stock was not taken. The president named in this first charter was the same as the one who headed the later board, viz. : John C. Devereux. At a meeting of the inhabitants of Cayuga, Onondaga, Madi- son and Oneida counties, convened at Manlius, on the 18th day ■of July, 1820. there was formed "The Bible and Common Prayer Book Society of the Western District of New York." Morris S. Miller was chosen president, and Nathan Williams 492 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. treasurer. The otlier officers were from the three first named counties. The later liistorj of this society has fallen into obliv- ion. In 18-il there had ceased to be any depository of praye^ books in Utica, as contemplated by the society, and as was probably at first practiced. At that time it was determined to transfer the permanent fund into the hands of the board for Church objects of the Diocese of Western New York, and the same was accepted by the standing committee of the diocese. The amount of such fund was then estimated at $1,400, but owing to the bankruptcy of the trustee, in whose hands this fund remained, only about half that sum was conveyed, some years later, into the permanent fund of the diocese. Foremost among the individual notices for the year 1820, I introduce Ebenezer Grriffin, a gifted lawyer, who for a few years adorned the bar of Oneida, but removed so long since that not many of the present generation have any knowledge of him. The account I present is drawn almost wholly from the " Bench and Bar" of Proctor. He was born at Cherry Valley, July 29, 1789. While quite young he removed with his father to Clin- ton in this county, and there he was prepared for college. He entered Union, and soon gained the re})utation of a close and thorough student. Desiring, however, to enter his chosen pro- fession with as little delay as possible, he left college two years and a half after entering, and immediately conmienced his legal studies with Mr. Hotchkiss of Clinton. The degree of A. M. was subsequently conferred on him by the authoi'ities of Ham- ilton College. In due time he was prepared for the bar, and was admitted at the July term of the Supreme Court in^iSll- He began practice at Clinton ; but his growing reputation de- manded a more extensive field, and in June 1S20, he opened an office in Utica. In 1821, he was appointed Examiner and Master in Chancer}^ In April of the following year, he formed a business connection with William H. Maynard, succeeding therein to Mr. Talcott, just appointed Attorney General. While here, and still more after his removal to New York City, in 1825, he was engaged in a large and extensive practice. His reputation extended throughout the State, and his pi-actice in the Court for the Correction of Errors, in the Supreme Court, and in the various Circuits in the State, was equalled by few THE THIRD CHARTER. 493 lawyers then at the bar. He seemed, says Proctor, ahiiost iibiquitous ; now in Buffalo, then at Bath, then at Albany, then at New York. Among the many important cases in which he was retained^ that of the Bank of Utica vs. Wager, tended most, as Mr. Proc- tor tells ns, to increase and extend his reputation. It was tried at Utica, in November 1821, before Hon. Jonas Piatt, circuit judge. Judge Piatt ordered a verdict for the bank, subject to the opinion of the Supreme Court. It was argued before that tribunal in May 1824. Henry R. Storrs opened the argument for the plaintiff, and Joshua A. Spencer for the defence. Mr. Griffin made the closing argument for the defence. When he arose to address the court, many supposed that the subject had been exhausted by Mr. Spencer, that whatever else might be said would be but the work of supererogation. A few mo- ments, however, sufficed to convince all present that, as by in- tuition, Mr. Griffin had penetrated deeper into the subject, had more fully and logically grasped the great questions of the case than either of the other counsel. His argument was one of the most able, profound and elaborate ever heard at the bar of this State. Every authority bearing on the matter, whether Amer- ican, English or Fi'ench, was fully considered, examined and digested. It was lengthy, yet did not touch upon anything which could excite the fancy or please the imagination. It contained nothing but logic and learning ; yet the court and the bar list- ened with deep and unwearied attention. The court sustained him in his view of the case, the judgment being pronounced by Chief Justice Savage. An appeal was taken to the Court of Errors, and the case was argued in December 1826. The argu- ment of Mr, Griffin was superior even to that which he had made before the Supreme Court. He seemed to rise with the occasion, and to gain mental power as it was demanded, and he was again victorious. But his victory was purchased at a fear- ful expense. So great were his labors in the preparation and trial, that a cerebral agitation soon followed, which, at times through life, quite unsettled his splendid mind. Mr. Griffin continued to live in New York until 1842, when he removed to Rochester and resided there until his death. This occurred on the 22 d of January, 1861, in his seventy-third year. Mr. Griffin was quite agreeable in his intercourse, was tall and 494 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. heavy in person, weighing at least two hundred and twenty pounds, and yet quite prepossessing. Politically, he belonged to the famous high-minded gentlemen. His home here was on Broadway. His wife, to whom he was married in 1812, was Miss Hannah Morrison of Westmoreland, and in all his domes- tic relations he was fortunate and happy. One of his daugh- ters was the wife of Judge E. Darwin Smith of Rochester. A lawyer now admitted to practice was Charles Pinckney Kirkland, son of Joseph Kirkland. He was born at New Hartford, 1797, graduated at Hamilton College in 1816, and entered upon legal study in the office of his father. Admitted to the bar, he was received into j)artnership with the latter, and remained with him until the year 1830, soon after which time he united in practice with William J. Bacon. About 1851 he re- moved to the city of New York, where he still resides. During the whole of his residence in Utica, and for some time longer, he was engaged unceasingly in his professional duties, was a diligent worker, an honest business man, and took high rank throughout the State as a skillful advocate and a wise and trusty counsellor. As a politician, he was fair and unprejudiced. In 1838 he was mayor of Utica, and in 1846 was a member of the convention to revise the constitution. For many years he was a trustee of Hamilton College, and received from that institution, as he did likewise from Columbia, the degree of LL. D. A trustee also of other educational, manufacturing and commercial corpora- tions, he was actively concerned in every means devised for the good of the place in which he lived. Afterwards, in New York, his influence and his usefulness were not less than they had been in Utica. The failure of his health has within a few years withdrawn him from active life. His first wife, who was Cornelia, daughter of John H. Lothrop, died in July 1831. Their children were Cornelia (Mrs. Alexander Seward), and John, both of whom are now deceased, and Julia, a resident of New York. His second wife was Mary, daughter of James S. Kip. Their children are Edward and Charles, both of New York. A merchant who, after five years residence in Utica, returned to New York, became bankru])t, and then burst upon the world THE THIRD CHARTER 495 as an admired actor of comedy, was James Henry Hackctt. His earlier and less distinguished, but for our purpose most interesting career, he himself relates as follows : " Early in 1819, when just turned of nineteen years of age, I married. In April 1820, I chose Utica, in the State of JSTew York, as a promising town to settle in, and I took there a stock of groce- ries, and began business. I had a cash capital of about three thousand dollars, and obtained credit, too, through the late Mr. John Beekman, my mother's first cousin, and also the father- in-law of my own first cousin, Abraham K. Fish, with whom I had been a clerk for some two years before my marriage. Finding no regular dealer in earthen-ware in Utica at this time, I resolved to try a small assortment of this article, and accord- ingly purchased it. It proved an important adjuuct to my grocery business, and I soon became a wholesale dealer in it, and occasionally imported earthen-ware from the Scotch manu- facturers. Born in New York City (March 15. 1800,); ten years preparing for Columbia College at Union Hall Academy, Jamaica, L. I., where my mother's family (the Keteltases) were born ; a short time at college — my exercises there having soon been interrupted by a fit of sickness, and which were never resumed — and also having been a student at law a year in New York, before I entered myself as clerk with my kinsman, Mr. Fish, — I had mingled to some extent, young as I was, with the world, and was enabled through various friends and relations to carry to Utica immediate passports for myself and wife to the best society. I was cordially received there, and was regarded as an enterprising and industrious young man of bus- iness. My society was generally courted for my acceptable manners and good humor ; and that of my dear wife for hers and her proficiency as an accomplished singer. We lived there very happily full five years ; when, having accumulated about eighteen thousand dollars, and thinking that New York City afi^orded a more favorable locality for my capital and enlarged facilities, I changed my residence back to New York, in March, 1825."* The further narrative of Mr. Hackett, I forbear to fol- low. It shows us how, after he had cleared a few thousand in the first few weeks, by forestalling the market in the article of Holland gin, he ventured on other speculative purchases, giv- * Galaxy. 496 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. ing his notes for ninety thousand dollars, and establishing his- credit by discounting the shortest of such j)aper to the amount of twenty-five thousand dollars ; how his goods which were mostly staple ones, declined in value ; how by fresh operations he struggled hard to save himself, and lost the more deeply ; how in September there came a crisis and a panic with many heavy failures, when he realized that he had not only lost his capital but was bankrupt, yet unwilling to trade upon his credit, as some of his advisers would have him do, he entered into a voluntary assignment ; and how in order to support his family, he yielded to his " natural talent" for the stage, and made his debut in March, 1826, upon the boards of Park Theatre, where four hundred of the first merchants of the city were assembled to give him countenance. In August following, he visited Utica, and in a temporary theatre managed by Murdock, he gave his sketches of character and imitations, and appeared also in the farce of Monsieur Tonson. His later history is well known, and his i-ank as an actor both in America and in England is fully established. He was organically a humorist, had keen perceptions of the ludicrous and an infinite versatility in the expression of them. Before he went on the stage he told Yankee stories to perfection, and his skill as a mimic was often displayed for the diversion of his friends. These native talents joined to his genteel and comely air, his frank and friendly disposition, and his cheery, buoyant temperament, rendered him a decided favorite in Utica. Few things are more difficult to delineate than the character- istic sayings and doings of a humorist. Even wit is so evanes- cent, and depends so much on the circumstances of place and occasion, that it loses much of its sparkle when set down for perpetuation. But when the fun is in drollery of manner, — in tone, and look, and gesture, — which amuse while we cannot analyze or describe, — or still more in the skilled and inimitable mimicry of the practiced actor, the attempt to photograph is in vain. We may tell of its effects, we cannot i-eproduce them. Hence it is that the reputation of a humorist must always be taken on trust, and one may believe that he had wonderful powders of entertainment though he has not seen the evidence which proves it. In the case of Mr. Hackett, the only incident of his life in Utica that savors of his genius which would not THE THIRD CHARTER, 497 be wholly lost in the telling is the following : He was amusing some gentlemen one da}'' in the store of John C. Devereux, by showing off the peculiarities of several of their townsmen. Groing out of the store, he would reenter it in the character of some particular citizen, whose air, manner, voice and expres- sion were so closely copied that at once all knew the man. He thus, in turn, took off a number of well known individuals of the town, to the delight of those present. Mr. Devereux, who was especially pleased, now begged the mimic that he would take him off. ''Oh, no!" said Mr. Hackett, "you would not have me take you off, Mr. Devereux." But the latter was per- sistent, Mr. Hackett must take him off. " Well," said he " I will, but first allow me to take myself off." This was of course agreed to, and so going out of the store as if to return with another scene of more than the previous interest, he left them in waiting but did not return. Emphatically he had taken himself off. Had he presented this amiable but notable per- sonage as he alone could do, it is doubtful whether the joker would ever have been forgiven. Mrs. Hackett, an English lady, whose maiden name was Leesugg, and who had been an actress before her marriage, was accomplished as a musician, and as welcome in social circles as her husband. Not less so was her sister, Mrs. Sharpe, another expert in music. They lived at first on Hotel street, in the yellow wooden house ■ next north of the lane that leads to Burchard street. And here their eldest son, John K. Hackett, the present esteemed recorder of New York, was born, when his father was but twenty. A native of Utica, he imbibed his law in after j^ears at the same source, having been a student of Kirkland & Bacon. Another son, William Henry, was like- wise born in Utica, though this was after the pai'ents w^re liv- ing on the north side of Broad street, between Genesee and John. Of Mrs. Hackett's second appearance on the stage, in March 1826, we read that it " confirmed the pleasing anticipa- tions long entertained of her musical performance. Most of the songs in ' Love in a Village' are set to old and difficult music, yet she sang them with taste and spirit ; and the Polacca in the ' Gloom of Night,' she went through with great brilliancy of ex- ecution." H-1 498 THE P10^'EERS OF UTICA. Together I introduce two men of marked and distinguishing traits, alhed in a business of wide extent and almost universal necessity, who passed in Utica long years of continuous and well rewarded endeavor, and in the course of their lives were leaders in most of the united undertakings of the place. These were Theodore S. Faxton and Silas D. Childs, names identified with the needs of all who once travelled by public inland con- veyance. I introduce them together, not because they were synchronous in their coming, but because their business was so closely associate, and because the time was so nearly the same when they assumed a responsible share in its management. Mr. Faxton was the earliest to enter upon staging, and was a good \vhile in the service of Jason Parker before the arrival of Mr. Childs. The latter was his earliest partner. Both were natives of Conway, Mass., and not far from the same age. Both came penniless, and attained wealth and influence. Besides their union with Mr. Parker, they were together after his death in conducting the same business. They both gave a helping hand to facilitate other modes of conveyance, and were as zealous in the construction of railroads as they had before been in trans- ])orting bj' mail. They took part in the same factories and other schemes to enrich the home of their adoption. Both w'ere wdthout children, and, during their life time, made the needy among their neighbors, and the institutions of charity about them, the partakers of their fortunes. Both were endow^ed with strong practical sense, energy, enterprise and power in business ; and in their individual, as well as in their united capacity, have done much to advance the prosperity of Utica. The further individual history of Mr. Faxton is as follows: It was in 1812, when he was twenty years of age, that he made the village his residence, although he had previous to that time w^orketT on the roads in the vicinity. In 1813 he obtained a position as driver on the stage, and held the reins of four-in- hand every day until 1817, except for the space of six months, which time was spent in school at Clinton. And though after this time it was only now and' then that he mounted the box, yet such was his acknowledged skill as a reinsman that, on oc- casions of ceremony, or where something extraordinary was re- quired, he w^as the one that was usually selected as most com- petent to do honor to the service. One of the proudest remem THE THIRD CHARTER. 499 l)rances of his life is the one that recalls the visit of La Fayette, m 1825. He got together six dashing greys, put silver plated harness on them, borrowed the old Van Rensselaer carriage, and •drove to Whitesboro, where the distinguished guest was to be received. After General La Fayette had left the packet and got into the carriage, Mr. Faxton felt, as he himself has said grander than Napoleon Bonaparte. ' A little while previous he was himself the real hero in another ride, projected by Parker & Co., to show what could be done by stages, and which caused much excitement at the time. This was a pleasure ride to Albany and back, which he conducted m the winter of 1822-8, safely accomplishing the feat in eight- een hours. There were six gentlemen of Utica who took part in the excursion, viz. : James Piatt, Richard R. Lansing John H. Ostrom, Charles P. Kirkland, Joseph S. Porter and William Williams. Arrangements were made for full relays of horses ready harnessed, and for due expedition in attendance Starting at midnight, they reached Albany before the opening of the morning session of the Legislature. After an hour of rest, they set out on their return, and were not content until they had eked out their two hundred miles by a further ride to and from New Hartford, the whole completed before early bed time. The following lines, descriptive of the ride, which were written by Morgan Truesdell, a rhyming son of St. Crispin, hint at some of the stopping places then encountered by travellers eastward : "Extract from the log book of J. Parker & Co.'s Old Line of Battle Sliip, Flying Dragon, Dorick Faxton, sailing master and -acting boatswain. 'Twas twelve o'clock, it was uo more, When from M. Bagg's we started; Our sailing master Faxton, A jockey, jolly-hearted. To reef, to steer, haul home, belay, You'd always find him ready, Or give the fiery spanker play; He's prudent, prompt and steady. Helm a weather port or lee. It's all the same to Faxton; Aloft, on deck, on land or sea, He's ready trimmed for action. 500 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. He piped all hands. "All hands aboard!" Was echo'd round like thunder : Our spanker's trimmed, our ship unnioor'd. She cleft the air asunder. The Dragon, built to lug or run Down any in the nation; For profit, pleasure, sport or fun, She's always at her station. The wind north-west our courses haul'd. Close aft, the sea inviting, When loud our hardy boatswain bawl'd Down helm for neighbor Whiting. At half past one left Whiting's hall Took Mason's o'er our quarter; Made Reed's at three, gave Ckmyne a call To breakfast, brace and water. At half past four left old Canyne's, De Graff, and all together; Ran Given down; the plain of pines Lay hard upon our weather. But soon we took it o'er our lee. Our ardent hopes reviving; Huzza! for the port of Albany We rapidly are driving. Stand by, for Dunn's, our boatswain bray'd. Hard up for Green street, laddy: Haul coursers home; see all belay'd. Steady, hearties, steady. At nine o'clock we anchored ship; Found every shipmate able To grapple with his can of Hip, And rally round the table. One glass run out, all things made right. Our boatswain bray'd like thunder 'We'll sup at home, my hearts, this night. Or run the Dragon under.' Left Dunn's at ten; now homeward bound, We jollily are steering, All dangers past, our hearts rebound, As th' wish'd for port we're nearing. At seven P. M. we rounded to At neighbor Bagg's (es) door. Of the Dragon took a fond adieu And the gallant Faxton. THE THIRD CHARTER. 501 A solitary but not less exciting ride of those early times he made for a different purpose. This was to capture a visitor of Mr. Gibson's at the branch of the Bank of Utica located at Canandaigua, who, admitted to the freedom of the bank, sud- denly disappeared, and with him $1,600 of the funds of the newly opened institution. It was thought that the thief had gone eastward, and word was sent to head-quarters. Mr. Hunt, the cashier, at once called on Mr. Faxton for assistance. The stage had left at two p. m., and the rogue's name was on the way-bill. It was now almost six. Setting out in a light sulky, and availing himself of a fresh horse at every station, Mr. Fax- ton reached Albany before day light. The stage had got in before him, and the burglar, with a hi^red horse and driver, had bent his course toward the north, as if he aimed for Canada. Mr. Faxton applied to his allies, Thorpe and Sprague, and with the aid of a swift horse, he was soon on the traces. In a pine woods, above Troy, he came upon the fugitive. Ordering a halt, he told him he was under arrest, and must go back to Utica. "To Utica! and for what?" exclaimed the astounded man, who could not conceive it possible that, with the despatch he had made, he should be so quickly overtaken. " You have been at Canandaigua lately, and the bank is not so well oft' as it was." The truth was out then, and without more ado he submitted to return with his captor. He was tried and went to State prison. The bank recovered all the stolen money, and rewarded Mr. Faxton with the present of one hundred dol- lars. After the year 1817, Mr. Faxton, as we have said, was no longer exclusively a driver. Mr. Parker fixed him at Utica, and gave him charge of a portion of his business, his duties be- ing to superintend the men, horses and coaches, and do all that was requisite outside of the office. Some little time later, he was offered an. interest in the concern, the sole condition being that he should pay for his share as the profits enabled him to do. It was in 1822 that he thus became a partner, together with Mr. Childs, in the firm of Parker & Co. The Erie canal was not yet complete. And even after its navigation was fully opened, conveyance by water was a tedious mode of travel when compared with travel by land. It was chiefly selected to lessen fatigue or to gain a night's rest, or b}' tourists from motives of 502 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. curiosity and the pleasure of a sail, or else by families, and those moving with goods ; it was avoided where time was of account. Merchants, bankers and tradesmen, bound to or from the metropolis, lawyers in their progress to the courts, and all fulfilling engagements or intent only on business, and who must needs go in haste, made use of the stages. And though the number of those who then travelled by stage cannot be justly estimated by the multitudes who now daily sweep past on the rail, and though journeying by one's own conveyance was for- merly much more customar}^ than at present, yet it is not difli- cult to conceive that stage travellers were numerous, and that the business which consisted in finding and regulating the means to carry them onward was a large and important one. At the date of the death of Mr. Parker, in 1828, there were eight daily lines of stages running through Utica east and west, besides four lines running , north and south, with the departure and arrival of eighty-four stages weekly. This vast and daily in- creasing transport, the firm continued to manage after the death, of the senior partner, down to the year 1838. They continued in partnership some years longer. Together they erected the Exchange Building, on the site of tlie old Canal Coffee House, and occupied themselves in collecting the rents of this, the Eagle Tavern — the predecessor in site of Grace Church, — and other real estate which they held in common. Ere the conclusion of their partnership, Mr. Faxton joined with John Butterfield, Hiram Greenman and others, in the run- ning of packet boats on the canal. In connection with Alfred Munson and associates, he organized the first American line of steamers that ran on Lake Ontario and tlie St. Lawrence, and continued for a number of 3'ears to be one of the managing di- rectors. He was one of the originators of the Utica and Black River Eailroad; paid in a larger subscription than any other person, and for a long time held the office of president of the company. He gave the first one hundred dollars that was ever given to found the Utica Mechanics Association, and has held the presidency of that organization for several terms. Together with Willett H. Sliearman and Anson Dart, he was one of the com- missioners, who, in 1843, completed the erection of the State Lunatic Asylum at Utica, the first board having been dismissed when Mr. Seward became Governor, after they had laid only THE THIRD CHARTER. 503 the foundations. In 1852 he was chairman of the able com- mittee who superintended the erection of the present edifice of the First Presbyterian Church, who watched the laying of everj stone and brick and the driving of every nail. In addition to the above, Mr. Faxton was one of the originators of the Utica Water Works Company, the Utica Steam Cotton Mills, the Grlobe Woolen Mills, of which he is now j^resident, and the Second National Bank, over whose affairs he has presided ever since its organization. Mr. Faxton deserves particular credit for the part he took, in 1845, in developing and adapting to wider and to cheaper use that great invention of this century, — the magnetic telegraph. Aroused as he was, in common with others, by the published accounts of what this instrument was capable of doing, and more especially by the success of the line recently laid down Ije- tween Baltimore and Washington, he was, however, not content to wonder at a distance from the scene of its achievements. But after frequent discussion with business friends of like prescience and enterprise with himself, he set out for Washington. There he spent a fortnight in personal examination of the telegraph, its connections and its workings, and was satisfied with the capabilities and probable general use of this marvellous power. He had learned from his experience in the Telegraph line of stages, — a line his company had fitted out to carry a small num- ber of passengers at the greatest possible speed, and which had been so popular that seats were bespoken days before the hour of departure, — that men loved speed, and would encourage the fastest stages, the fastest boats, and the fastest means of trans- mitting intelligence. From Amos Kendal and F. 0. J. Smith, the owners associated with Professor Morse, he obtained the refusal of the right to establish a line of telegrapli between New York and Bufi'alo, these owners to have one half of the stock when the line was complete. Returning home, he united with John Butterfield, Hiram Greenman, Messrs. Livingston, Wells and others — the last two as representatives of the Express Com- pany — and formed a company, with a capital of $200,000, which laid down the first wire that was laid between the above named places. He was chosen president of the company and superin- tendent of the road, and continued in this capacity for seven yeai's, laboring hard against much opposition to make the enterprise a 604 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. success. It has been inti mated that he contributed also to cheapen the cost of telegraphic construction. The first wire in use was of coppei', and worth about sixty dollars a mile. Professor Morse believed that iron wires would rust easily and could not be em- ployed, unless they were completely insulated. Mr. Faxton's attention was called to the wire fence which had been in use for twenty -five years on the grounds of Colonel Walker's old place, and he conceived that if iron wire was good for fence purposes for such a length of time, it would do for telegraphing. The •copper wires were taken down and sold for enough to pay the expense of two iron wires, the latter kind costing only eighteen dollars per mile, and thus was saved the cost of a new line. The secret of the ground circuit was not then known, but was soon afterward discovered, and this still further reduced the expense. Mr. Faxton never took a very active part in politics, but was often called to positions of honor and trust. In 1831 he was a trustee of the village of Utica, was an alderman in 1836, and mayor in 1864 He was a delegate to the National Whig Convention, which nominated Zachary Taylor in 1848, and was also sheriff of the county in 1842. Holding the office only a few weeks, he was displaced by the incoming Grovernor, William C. Bouck, for political reasons solely. In addition to the stage, packet, steamboat, railroad and telegraph lines, banks, manufactories and other enterprises that have added wealth and prosperity to Utica, Mr, Faxton has three other monuments that will perpetuate his name and add honor and blessings to his memory, — the Old Ladies' Home on Faxton street, Faxton Hall at the junction of Varick and Court streets, for the educa- tion of the children of factory operatives, by day and night, and Faxton Hospital, the splendid institution recently opened. Mr. Childs, who was born in 1794, had received a good com- mon school education, and had already been a clerk in his native town before he migrated westward, in the year 1816. In Utica he at once found kindred employment His first employer was his former fellow townsman, Stalham Williams, then him- self connected with Jason Parker. And here it may not be in- appropriate to remark that while a single neighborhood in Rhode Island furnished Oneida the Ballous, the Shearmans, the Caprons THE THIRD CHARTER. 505 and others, while the town of Danbury in Connecticut sent it the Hoyts, the Comstocks, and Barnum, &c., and the town of Litchfield, the Hastings and Groodsell and Seymour, that of Conway in Franklin county, Mass. supplied four such valued citizens as Williams, Faxton, Childs and Maynard. It was not long before the young clerk became the book- keeper of Jason Parker, and was installed in the stage office situated at the south-west corner of the basement of Bagg's Hotel, His courteous manners, his diligent and accurate habits, and his conscientious discharge of all his duties, soon won upon this appreciative and wisely -judging proprietor. In 1820 he took him into partnership, and subsequently gave him his daughter in marriage. The connection with Mr. Parker, and which was still longer continued with Mr. Faxton, has been already noticed. His duties meanwhile were mainly of the same nature as at first, that is to say, the care of the books and accounts. The trim and handsome appearance of his younger years as he stood behind the desk, or went in and out of the office, are not wholly beyond the range of the writer's remem- brance, for it was a daily spectacle of his extreme early youth. So, too, were the bustle and flurrv attendant on the oft recur- ring arrivals of the stage : — the prolonged toot — toot — toot of the horn, ere it came in sight at the lower end of Main street, or was heard tearing down from the west, or rumbling over the river bridge ; — tbe corps of portei's, stable-boys, stage-men and loungers, all rushing hastily fi'om their coverts, in time to wit- ness the grand flourish with which the team, by a few well adjusted touches, was brought flying to the door ; — the throwing open of the coach, and the descent in succession of the tall gen- tleman and the short one, the stout gentleman and the thin one, followed by the ladies, helped over the kindly-placed wooden steps ; — the unbuckling of straps and the dragging of trunks from the depths of the burdened and tetering boot ; — the re- newed crack of the whip, and the disappearance of the cause of all this stir. It was a scene that is familiar nowadays only to the dwellers in towns and villages remote from railway courses, and is scarcely looked on by the citizen^ except during his rural summer jaunts. Exciting as it was to the spectator without, to the busy clerk at his desk it was far less absorbing than the booking of names and other preparations for departure, as well as the daily routine of way-bills, correspondence and accounts. 606 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Apropos of this quiet office, never can I forget an incident connected with it which happened as long ago as when the Cozzens (Hedges) tavern was in existence. Two stage horses, just released from harness, started from this tavern, and ran down Genesee street, turning thence into Main. And while one of them made for the usual watering place, in the river at the foot of First street, the other, as if he had business at tlie office, bolted down its steps, and never rested until he had turned a short corner, and wedged himself behind the counter. The monopoly in staging enjoyed by Parker & Co., ever since the failure of Joshua Ostrora & Co., in 1S12, continued until about 1821, when a new line was started by Peter Cole, aided at Utica by a plausible, superpolitic runner named Henry S. Storms. This line was, however, soon overpowered, and the influence of Mr. Storms effectively met by introducing from Albany the energetic, driving John Butterfield, the services of the other runner being transfen-ed to the packets. About 1828 the old line encountered more serious opposition, when Josiah Bissell of Rochester set on foot a week-day line to traverse the State, and enlisted in its behalf the sympathies and the money of church members along the route. The project caused nn intense de- gree of excitement ; the sin of travelling on Sunday was freely discussed, and a fierce war raged within and without the Church. It was no long time after the preaching of Mr. Finney in the larger towns on the way, and when men's minds were alive to questions of religion. Dissensions in the Presbyterian Church of Utica were especially rife, because it was there that Messrs. Parker, Faxton and Childs all attended, and the pastor, peace- able as he was, and perhaps a little irresolute withal, found it hard to conduct himself to the satisfaction of every one. But the week day line lacked both capital and skill in its managers, and beside had not the privilege enjoj^ed by the other of carry- ing the mail, and so after a contest which impoverished itself, and greatly straitened the resources of its rival, it finally yielded the field. Until 1836 this field conthiued free ; but when the Utica and Schenectady road was opened, the eastward route was blocked, and afterward, as the railway was gradually ex- tended, other routes were more and more curtailed, and Parkers with the associate line of stages was brought to a close. Faxton and Childs still remained a while together, closing up the concern and caring for the real estate they owned in com- THE THIRD CHARTER. 507 mon. Detaclied at length from his near forty years connection with his partner, Mr. Childs did not engage in any new busi- ness of a merely personal nature. So much of his time as was not spent in doing for the community, was occupied with his own private affairs, and the care of his now ample estate. The chief solace of the later years of his life he found in the pursuit of horticulture. He had a passion for flowers and the raising of fruits, and esj^ecially grapes. In the exercise of these pleas- ures he evinced remarkable taste and skill, and met with a high degree of success. Nor was he a mere selfish enthusiast, con- tent to labor for himself alone : the products of his garden de- lighted all beholders, and were the comfort of many a chamber of the sick, while his annual grape parties were among the ex- pected and most agreeable events of the winter. In other par- ticulars also his benevolence was genuine, and his giving pro- fuse. A good object or a needy one he never turned away empty. Abounding in public spirit, and deeply interested in every project devised for the benefit of the town, he could not be an idle or a useless spectator. Trusted by' his townsmen for his liberality, his integrity, his good sense, his fidelity, his pru- dence and his wisdom in afl'airs, he was relied on as an import- ant actor in every public undertaking, whether social, charita- ble, commercial or manufacturing. He was a director in thfe Utica Savings Bank and in the Oneida National ; a director in the Steam Cotton and the Globe Woolen Mills ; a director in the Black Eiver Railroad and a manager of the State Lunatic Asy- lum ; a trustee in the Female Academy and in the Cemetery Association ; a counsellor of the Utica Orphan Asylum and a trustee of the Reformed Church. By him these various posi- tions were never regarded as empty honors, — tributes to his wealth and standing, which made no exactions on his time and efforts. He was prompt at every meeting, faithful to every trust, and cheerfully aided with his judicious but unobtrusive counsel. At his death all of these corporate bodies expressed their regret at his loss, and published testimonials of his import- ance to their association, especially, as well as to his excellence as a citizen. Mr. Childs, was by instinct, and in the highest sense, a gen- tleman. He had not only the suave courtesy of manner and of tongue, and the modest unpretension of the well-bred man, 508 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. he had also the refinement of feeling, the justness of sentiment, the kindness and generosity of heart, the evenness of temper, and the purity of motive, which are the basis of the true born gentleman. Not to praise liim unduly, nor to claim for him preeminence in a few special attributes of merit, it may justly be said that his superiority depended on the assemblage of many, that his was a rounded and comparatively finished char- acter. He was sensitive to opposition and to wrong, but he had the rare ability to keep silent when disturbed, or to retire if unduly excited. His death occurred suddenly, while he was in the director's room of the Oneida National Bank, on the 11th of July, 1866, after suffering for some months from an organic trouble of which few knew but his ph^^sician. By request of the mayor of LTtica, stores and other places of bus- iness throughout the city were closed during the passage of his funeral. The munificent legacies left by Mr. Childs, for educational and elemosynary purposes, were in harmony with the many charitable deeds of his life. They amounted in all to ninety thousand dollars, and were as follows : To Hamilton College for the founding of a Professorship of Agricultural Chemistry, $30,000 ; to the Utica Orphan Asylum, $25,000 ; and to the following $5,000 each, viz. : Forest Hill Cemetery, the Reformed Church of Utica, the Board of Foreign Missions of the Beformed Church, its Board of Domestic Missions, its Board of Publication, the American Bible Society, and the American Tract Society. His wife Roxana (Parker,) was, by her extreme deafness, in a great degree deprived of the pleasures of general social inter- course, and was largely dependent on his tender and continued devotion. With a veneration for his memoiy that could not vent itself in other means, she purchased the chapel then recently erected at Forest Hill Cemetery and presented it to the association, to be maintained, in memor}^ of her husband, as a place for funeral services and for temporary sepulture, in free and common use forever. In her will she supplemented his bequests, selecting for the most part the same objects that had profited by his benefactions. And these were her bequests, increased as they were by a residuary portion of her estate : To Hamilton College for the Agricultural Professorship, $58,101.64 ; to the Utica Orjjhan Asylum, $48,417.04; to the Utica Female THE THIRD CHAKTER. 509 Academy, $16,367. Oi; and to the following, each $9,683.04; viz. : Forest Hill Cemetery, the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church, its Board of Domestic Missions, the American Bible Society, and the American Tract Society. A man of polished addi'ess and amiable and tender feelings, came this year from Albany, and joined William Tillman in selling hardware. This was Charles E. Hardy. He married Louisa, daughter of Thomas Walker, and in the fall of 1822 formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, William Walker. Their hardware establishment, located at No. 80 Genesee street, was continued some time after the withdrawal of Mr. Walker, but was finally ended by Mr. Hardy's removal to Ithaca about 1830. There he lived until his death July 7, 1868. While here he built and lived in the house now occupied by John Carton. His widow and two daughters, Mrs. J. W. Williams and Miss Hardy, are residents of Ithaca. Another firm dealing in the same kind of ware, that of Spencer Stafford & Co., succeeded to that of Enos Brown. The Stafford family had long carried on this business in Albany. They were backers of Stafford & Brown, and when the latter fail- ed they assumed the place. Their head, Spencer Stafford, had three sons engaged with him, Spencer, Jr., Hallenbake and Joab. Of these the two former now moved to Utica, Joab following a few years later. And these, with varying partners, conducted the the house many years, nearly on the site of the store of Hopson and Shepard, and afterwards a few doors above the square on the east side of Genesee. Spencer, Jr., born June 22, 1798, married Miss Sarah Sanger Eames of New Hartford, who is still living. Besides the above mentioned business connection, he was at one time a dry goods merchant in New York. His death took place October 26, 1866. Of his seven children, Spencer H., is now a lawyer at Oneida. Hallenbake, an older brother, made a much shorter stay in Utica. Joab was the only one of the three who was resident in 1829. In this connection let us notice one who was most of his life engaged in the hardware trade, though at this time dealing in other goods as well. James Sayre. a native of Milton, Sara- toga county, and born in 1799, came to Utica in 1818, and 510 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. entered the store of John H. Handy. He soon became a j)art- ner, and on the death of Mr. Hand}^, assumed the sole manage- ment, completing also the erection of the National Hotel, which the latter had begun. His first subsequent partner was Philip Thurber, and this connection was followed about 1835 b}^ one with Alanson House, which lasted until 1849. In 1837 he entered into an arrangement for dealing in New York, likewise. The firm, known by the title of Townshend, Sajn-e and Clark, and in which Mr. House was also interested, lasted until 1852. From that time onward, Mr. Sayre carried on business in com- pany with his sons Charles and Theodore. At first he was located next below the canal on the east side of Genesee street, but when this channel was widened, and his store encroached upon, he bought the land whereon stands the present store of his sons, put up a wooden building, and afterwards the fine brick one which now fills that site. Industrious, S3'stematic and thrifty, he gave close and con- tinued attention to his affairs until a year or more before his death, when bodily infirmities caused him to withdraw from active duties. He reaped the reward due to such devotion by the possession of a handsome fortune, and what is of greater value the full confidence of the community. He was consci- entious and upright in his dealings, and through his long life his integrity grew to be recognized and honored by all. He was sincere and earnest in his convictions, with a sunny tem- perament and an affectionate disposition. His judgments of men were dictated by a nice sense of justice, and mellowed by a kindness that was broad and generous. He borrowed noth- ing from ofiicial station, and except that he was alderman in 1830, he held no municipal office, though he always took a deep interest in pal)lic affairs. He served considerably as a bank director, at first in the United States Branch, then for a short time in the Ontario Branch, and later for many ^-ears in the Oneida National, of which he was president at his decease. Of the Black Eivcr Railroad he was a director from its organ- ization, and participated in all labors and responsibilities until stricken down by disease, — "a valued and pleasant associate, in whom the puljlic })luced such confidence that his name was a symbol of strength to the enterprize." For many years he was a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church, and for no THE THIRD CHARTER. 511 little period its treasurer. Of the Utica Cemetery Association he was also for a time the prudent and judicious head. In 1824, Mr. Say re was married to Miss Van Ranst of New York, who survives him. They were the parents of three sons and two daughters, viz. : Charles, Emma (Mrs. Bixbey), James, Caroline and Theodore, the last being the present Senator from this district. Mr. Sayre's decease, which was caused by a renew- ed attack of paralysis, occurred April 22, 1877. Seth Peckham, from Troy, who came into the county in 1817, and to Utica in 1820, was the founder of a manufactory of ploughs and other implements of iron. Under date of " third month (called March) 1, 1820," he announces that he has opened a shop for the above mentioned purpose on Catherine street, where soon afterward Amos Peckham was his partner. Seven years later he is engaged in making vinegar, on Fayette street, and has sold his factory to his enterprising uepliew, John S. Peckham. The latter was joined, some years later, by his half- brother, Merritt, and they, with their sons and nephews, have continued the factory to the present time, greatly enlarging it, and increasing the range of its production. Another plough maker of 1820 was John Gibson, who was on Broad street, " near the hay scales." But he was soon gone. A citizen who had migrated from Providence, R. I. some ten years before, and had been a tanner in the employ of James Hopper, then a tavern keeper at New Hartford, and who now transferred his tavern keeping to Utica, was Levi Cozzens. In New Hartford he kept what of late was known as the brick hotel, then called the " Old Stage Coach Tavern." In Utica he took charge of the "Hedge's Tavern," so called, opposite Catherine street, which was now vacated by the advancement of Sam. Gay, its late landlord, to the proprietorship of the York House, He remained here some years, and when he left it, the tavern went also, and is now a double house on Seneca street. Mr. Cozzens next engaged in the lumber trade, and followed it until the death of his wife, in 1858. His lumber yard was on Broad- way next above the canal, and his residence opposite, below the canal. He once owned the land adjoining the Oneida National Bank, and put up the store on the corner above it. He was 512 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA, one of the founders of the Mechanics Association, was its pres ident in 18-16, and its treasurer from 1850 to 1862, and was also chairman of the building committee which erected the hall. After the death of his wife, Mr. Cozzens lived with one or other of his children until his death, at the advanced age of eighty-six. This took place at Buffalo, Februaiy 10, 1873. His remains were brought to Utica for interment. He was a man of upright business principles, a constant worshipper at the old Presbyterian Church and one of its trustees. Mrs. Cozzens, it is asserted, was the first child born in the town of New Hart- ford. Their children were Mary Ann (Mrs. Orville Brown), deceased ; Julia (Mrs. Silas Kingsley of Buffalo) ; Cornelia (Mrs. Eurotas Marvin of Buffalo); Henry H., deceased; Elizabeth (Mrs. A. T. Spencer), deceased ; Charles L. and Edward. A tavern keeper named Elisha Backus had been in Trenton since 1807, where, also, he was concerned in staging. Coming to Utica in 1820, he abandoned inn keeping, and bought a line of stages that Bildad Merrell and Ira Dickinson had set up between Utica and Denmark. He was also interested in a line between Eome and Oswego. His wife was a Merriam of Lewis county. One son, Elisha, was engaged with him in staging, and one (Charles C.) was a bookseller. Another, Mancer M., after hav- ing graduated with high honors at Columbia College, took charge of the Utica Academy at the age of twenty, and was its principal from April 1838, to January 1841. Both of the latter now reside in New York. A daughter, Amanda, became Mrs. Chapman of Morristown, another one became the wife of H. H. Hawley, and another that of Eev. Dr. Corey. Three other tav- ern keepers were Theophilus Lombard, proprietor of the New England House ; Noah Briggs, head of the Union Inn ; and Joseph Mack, who opened the Canal Coffee House. The former was the successor of Bellinger ; Briggs was situated on Seneca street and the canal. Neither of them stayed more than ten years. Mack was soon gone. Edward Aikin, brother of Rev. Samuel C, taught the classics in the Academy of Utica, in 1821, and in the Academy at Pom- pey in 1823. He studied medicine with Dr. Theodore Pomeroy, and in 182'1 was associated with him in practice. It was but a THE THIRD CHAETEE. 513 short time that he remained however; he went south for his health, and died at an early age. He received, in 1821, the de- gree of A. M. from Hamilton College, and was probably an alum- nus of an eastern institution. Johnston was another teacher of the Academy ; and Palmer a writing master. A citizen of Utica of protracted residence was Otis Whipple. Born in Mendon, Mass., December 16, 1781, he came with his father, Otis Whipple, Sr., to Deerfield, and at an early age was a clerk in Utica. In 1810, in company with Cyrus Trowbridge, another clerk, he located in Lowville. Not meeting with con- tinued success, he returned in 1820, and became a writer in the office of Eichard R. Lansing. At a later period, he was a dealer in lands, and later still, justice of the peace for a number of years. He died October 13, 1861. He was twice married, and his children were Charlotte, unmarried, Mrs. Bigelow, Mrs Alfred Putnam, and Edward. Otis W. Whipple, nephew of the pre- ceding, was from the j'ear 1820 a clerk in the Post-office until 1826 or '27, and afterwards in the Bank of Utica. But for most of the succeeding 3"ears he has been employed as a book- keeper and accountant, until ill health compelled him to retire. Traders, whose relations to Utica were less enduring, were : L. Barton & Co., who dealt in millinery ; Henry B. Ely, engaged in storage and forwarding, and who, in 1820, advertised that he would transport goods for twenty-five cents per cwt. for one hundred miles including toll, or about five cents a ton per mile, which was at least one quarter less than by land ; Mr. Ely re- , moved to Rochester ; Thomas H. Whittemore, hatter, and sub- sequently keeper of the United States Hotel, much interested in the Baptist Church, whose residence terminated about 1832. Jabez Miller, baker, came with a family from Southampton, England, and continued to make bread until his decease, Jan- uary 3, 1830. He was once burned out, and to some one com- miserating him upon his loss, he replied most characteristically : " 1 have a house above that can't be burned." His later bakery and residence, on the south side of Broad, between Genesee and John, has recently been demolished to make room for the new government building. One son, Henry T. Miller, two daughters i-l 514 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. and the children of William G. Miller still preserve his name and memory. A brewer and malster, named Joseph Goodliffe, conducted a brewery, in company with his son, on Varick street near Nail creek. And there in March 1823, he, too, was burned out, saving only a small insurance on his stock. The building was reerected and the son has continued the making of malt until a recent date. In the end he added also the sale of hyge- ian pills. J. Bedbury exchanged brewing for groceries, Joseph Blake, tailor, from Whitesboro, united with John George in the succession to the shop of John C. Hoyt. He lived a few years only, but his son, Edmund W. Blake, was a merchant tailor until towards 1850; while the wife of the latter carried on millinery until her removal to Chicago. Two other tailors named Darle}- and Whelon, Irishmen of goodly appear- ance, were here a few years. The Utica Museum was kept by Henrj'^ Eunalls, on the east side of Genesee, a few doors below Broad, where his organ dolefully ground out the livelong hours. Mr. Ennalls went to Virginia just before Comfort Butler established Peale's Museum, higher up the street. As to Stowell & Bishop, who advertised a Museum on Main street, it is suspected that one of them is the Charles Bishop, grocer of 1828. Thomas S. Mitchell, farmer and constable, whose home was on Third street, lived in Utica at least thirty years ; Henry Stevens, blacksmith on the coi'ner of Seneca and Washington, full twentj^ years; James Stanton quite as long. David C. Scott, pavior, may be traced to 1834 ; but David Scott, his father, of the same occupation, no longer than 1828 ; Bernard Cole, laborer, and William Cole, butcher, Edward Smith, carpenter, and James Johnson, laborer, until 1832 ; Philip J. Lee, a boy in the village since 1811, at first a chair-maker's apprentice, and then a painter's, and who after- wards painted a sign of his own, until 1831 ; Ichabod Hill, shoemaker, Andrew Nash, hatter, Isaac Eees, laborer, until 1829 ; Asahel Bi-iggs, laborer, William Casey, shoemaker, David Downing, morocco dresser, James Place, merchant, Edward Crane, the artificer of the Catholic Church and other important works, until 1828, the era of the second Directory, when he went to Canada. Walker Canfield, grocer, was a resident in 1825. d THE THIRD CHAETER. 515 A youth in the office of Seward and Williams, who in time attained a position of honor and usefulness, was John Morgan, a native of Cork, born in November 1802. While an appren- tice, he became a subject of grace, and determined on being a minister. Having prepared for college at Stockbridge Academy, he entered Williams College, and was graduated in 1S26. * Su})- porting himself afterward by teaching, he completed his theo- logical course, at Lane Seminary, was settled for a time at Clinton, in this county, and was thence called to a professorship at Oberlin. At first, he held the chair of New Testament Lit- erature, but since, for some years, he has filled that of Biblical Literature. A tax list of 1820 afi:ords the following additional names, of which Otis P. Granger represents a student at law, William Bristol, Ealph Clark and Van Yechten Livingston, subsequent merchants of Utica, and E. Birdsell, cabinet-maker; Crandal Lee, chairmaker ; B. Brewer, Nathaniel Dinsmore and Benjamin Thayer, blacksmiths ; Jonathan Pelton, butcher ; J. Eobinson, barber ; Abner Burges, Jeremiah Prosser and Peter Weaver, laborers. The residuum of this tax list, after withdrawing all of whom any remembrance is retained, and which may include some who were non-resident, is found in the note below.* 182L The village corporation of 1821 was constituted as follows : Ezra S. Cozier, president. Benjamin Ballon, Jr., and John Bax- ter, of the first ward, James Hooker and John H. Handy, of the * Benjamin and Matthias Austin, Benjamin Andrews, James Babcock, Francis Barker, E. Battle, Bolton Benjamin, Birch, Broat, Alpheus Brown, Roland E. Brown, Chester Brookins, Edmund Buell, Merrit Butler, J. Cove, Isaac Cowan, D. Catting, James Dunce, N. Everett, J. Gard- ner, Simon Johnson, J. Hilton, C. Carson, Nicholls Kettle, Kinch, Eben- ezer Knowles, James O. Kelly, C. N. S. Lambert, John Lemonim, Aaron and E. Lyon, May, A. McKnight, Aaron Morris, Seth Newland, James Peak, John Pierson, Warren Richardson, Seth Rowland, Saidler, S. Shad- rach, H. M. Shaw, Sidney, A. Sherman, A. Sherman, Jr., Frederick Spooner, Daniel Spencer, J. Stamford, Joseph Stebbins, Lewis Stevens, Henry Stilwell, John Thomas, Upham, D. Vail, Z. Thorn, Joseph "Waggoner, Jeffrey Watson, Joel Wesson, S. Wills, David L., Garrett, and P. Winter, Jacob Whitney, D. Wright. 516 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. second, and Thomas Walker and David P. Hojt, of the third,, trustees; Benjamin Ballon, Jr., Stalham Williams and ApoUos Cooper, assessors of their respective wards; John H. Ostrom^, clerk ; John Bradish, treasurer ; Thomas E. Clark, overseer of the poor, Daniel Stafford, superintendent of streets ; Joshua Ostrom and Kohert Jones, Constables, &c., &c. Seven hundred and twenty-three dollars and twenty-five cents was raised for contingent expenses, and four hundred for the support of the poor ; the Market, that former source of contention, and which had been banished to Water street, was sold to Daniel Thomas for $50 ; an alley was ordered to be opened from Geuesee to Hotel street, starting from between the stores of William Tillman and Peter Bours. A deed was obtained from the Seneca Turnpike Company of that part of the turn- pike lying east of the Supreme Court clerk's office, and a fresh committee was empowered to treat with landholders along the line of Bleecker street continued. And this was all the import- ant work of the trustees of 1821. The sons of St. Patrick were now numerous enough, and their enthusiasm ardent enough to prompt them to a public ob- servance of his natal day. About seventy persons, Irishmen and their guests, sat down to an elegant repast, during which much conviviality prevailed. The society of Utica gained at this time in the Eev. Henry Anthon, the new rector of Trinity, a cultivated and desirable member, and the church itself an able and affectionate pastor, widely distinguished in after years for his evangelical sentiments and his amiable and earnest character. His father. Dr. C. G. Anthon, though a German by birth, rose to the rank of surgeon - general in the British army, in which he served during the greater part of the old Anglo-French war, and before resigning his commission, married the orphan daughter of a French officer, when he settled in New York. Among his six sons were the- well-known Charles Anthon, the classical scholar, John Anthon, the lawyer, as well as the no less distinguished subject of this notice. The latter was born in New York, on the 11th of March, 1795. Having completed his school instruction, he en- tered Columbia College, and four years afterward, in 1813, he left THE THIRD CHARTER. 517 it with his bachelor's degree. He entered at once upon the study of divinity, under the direction of Bishop Hobart, and, in ■September 1S19, was ordained to the})riesthood. Commencing his ministry at Eed Hoolc, Ulster county, he labored there three years. The very high regard which Bishop Hobart always en- tertained for him, commending him to young men as a pattern for their imitation in the ministry, gave him a widely-spread acceptance among the churches of his diocese. His health be- coming impaired, he passed the two succeeding winters in South ■Carolina, officiating in St. Bartholomew's, Colleton, but declin- ing to permanently settle. At his departure, the vestry de- clared, in their letter to him, that "words were inadequate to express the high opinion they entertained of his meritorious services, and that his eloquence and zeal in the ministrations of the church had not more adorned his public character than his virtues, and admirable deportment in private life, had endeared him to his parishioners." It was at this time, the spring of 1821, when the call having been renewed by the church at Utica, which had been unsuccess- fully extended to him during his ministry at Red Hook, that he accepted an invitation to its rectorship. He was called in May, came the following month with a wife and two children, and began his labors. From the first his success was assured. Slight of figure and youthful of aspect, there was in his manner an open frankness, and in his countenance a grave, thoughtful and determined air, which impressed and won the beholder. His sermons were marked by purity, beauty and finish of style, and in both them and his conversation there was a racy flavor of strength that betokened ability of a high order. A riper acquaintance confirmed the earlier impression, and showed that while he was ingenuous and agreeable, yet without levity, he was also inflexible in purpose and fearless in duty. His ministry was characterized by the sam.e energy and singleness of aim which he had evinced in his previous labors. He was an attentive and indefatigable pastor, and a genial and faithful friend. As might be expected, he was successful in securing the good opinion of the community, and the love of all classes of his people. Their devotion to him may be inferred from a resolution which they passed in 1828, when he received, but de- clined, a call to the Church of St. Thomas, in New York City. It 518 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. was as follows : " Resolved^ by the Congregation, That our highly- respected and esteemed pastor is entitled, in a preeminent degree, to the increased affection and confidence of the vestry and con- gregation of this church for this unequivocal proof of genuine attachment which he has shown for their prosperity and peace, and for their future and eternal welfare, in declining a call so honorable to himself and the highly-respected church which made it." It was during the pastorate of Mr. Antlion that a rectory of Trinity was built on the school lot in the rear of the church. Repeated movements were made, likewise, toward effecting some alterations in the church itself, such as enlarging the galleries and increasing the number of pews, so as to fit it to receive a greater number of worshippers ; plans were even pre- pared for a new building. Nothing of the kind was executed until a few years afterward. The communion service still in use by the church was, however, now purchased, and, in part, from the avails of a sacred concert. Such a concert was given about Christmas, 1821, when an organ was placed in the church. The new organist was George Dutton, and he was assisted in the singing by Mrs. Satterlee Clark, Mrs. Hackett. Mrs. Sanger, Thomas S. Williams, Henry Green and others. The concert was a novelty, which drew together a crowd from all the sur- rounding country, and was so popular that it was repeated for several successive holy-day seasons. But it w^as for no long time that the church of Utica were tO' enjoy the services of their beloved minister. His naturally quick parts, his thorough education and his zealous piety attracted early ecclesiastical preferment. Already he was largely concerned in the official business of the diocese, as, in the course of years, he received all its leading trusts, next to the Episcopate. In Janu- ary 1829, a year after he had dechned the call to St. Thomas', he accepted one to St. Stephen's, in the same city. Two years later, after the death of Bishop Hobart, he was chosen one of the assistant ministers of Trinity, and in December 1836, he was made rector of St. Mark's. There for twenty years he ful- filled the office, and there he closed his useful career, on the 5th of January, 1861. For a fuller characterization of Dr. Anthon we must depend on those who knew him closely in his later life, who, from their position and their I'ohitions to the subject, wx're most competent to judge, and who were, moreover, con- THE THIRD CHARTER. 619 versant with the circumstances which tended most to establish his name and endear him to the church. Dr. Tyng, in his funeral sermon, speaks as follows: "I have no doubt, from some ver}^ satisfactory testimony, that his religious character was constantly enlarging and deepening, from the earliest years of his ministry. My first acquaintance with him, more than thirty years ago, impressed me with a peculiar pleasure, from his manifest earnestness of conscience, and his extremely frank and friendly manners ; and from that time, every year, but the more engaged my respect for him, as a truly earnest, religious man. But when, from 1880, the semi-popish doctrines of the Tractarian school began their procession among our churches, though his feelings and opinions were very strongly on the old High Church ground, it was impossible for him to sustain the new errors, which, as it appeared to him, were now to be en- grafted upon the sentiments of his youth. He instantly opposed them, and contended with increased earnestness against them, as a S3'stem which he knew and felt to be thoroughly wrong. He maintained this opposition till, in July 1843, the great con- vulsion of the Carey ordinance threw him completely off from all his old ecclesiastical connections, and placed him necessarily and finally upon the opposing side. His High Church stand he had taken as a faithful man, and one who feared God above many ; and he was slow and reluctant to cast it off. But never was there a man of a more frank and candid spirit, more open to conviction, or more unhesitating and instant in renouncing and retracing his path, however chosen, when he saw it to be erroneous or unsafe." In further reference to the results of that memorable day, in July 1843, when Drs. Smith and Anthon, in opposition to the bishop and a large majority of the examining committee, firmly protested against the ordination of the candi- date, Arthur Carey, because he " held things contrary to the doctrines of the Protestant Episcopal Church," Dr. Tyng thus continues : "And that stand was triumphant. Ten thousand hearts awoke with earn,estness at their trumpets' sound. From end to end of our land the fidelity of these witnesses for God, attracted new affection for our church, w^on new friends for the Saviour's truth, awakened new hearts of love and prayer for themselves, and gave them a name of renown, which generations will honor with dehght." The widow of Dr. Anthon died, at an advanced age, in February 1877. 620 ' THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Three lawyers, who opened offices in the village, bMt soon closed them for a residence elsewhere, were Daniel Wardwell, Julius Pond and James McCall. Mr. Wardwell removed to Rome and from thence to Manns ville in Jefferson county, where he was judge of Common Pleas, member of Assembly and a person of influence. Mr. Pond, while his office was here, still lived in Clinton, though he subsequently lived a year or two on Main street. And Mr. McCall a cousin of Dr. McCall and em- plo3^ed in the Supreme Court clerk's office, lived both in Deer- tield and in Utica, but not long in either place, taking his de- parture for the far West. In March 1821, Dr. A. Gr. Hull, "being desirous to lessen his labors in the various branches of his profession, offers to take into partnership, on favorable terms, a physician of experience, who possesses more than ordinary celebrity in his profession, and of good moral character, — or, if preferred, he will surrender entirely his extensive circle of business to a person of the above description, with this condition only, that he will purchase his establishment, which consists of a well-finished two-story brick dwelling house and adjoining building's, with a superior garden spot" A physician to his mind soon presented himself in the person of Dr. Theodore Pomeroy ; and he sold him his house and his ride. Dr. Pomeroy, who came last from CoojDerstown was born at South Hampton, Mass., !March l-l, 17S5, was grad- uated at Yale College, in ib08, studied medicine with Dr. James of Albany and afterwards of Utica, and also with Dr. Chester of Hudson, attended lectures at Pittsfield, and had made a suc- cessful stand in Cooperstown. His new venture in Utica was a fortunate one, for he soon fell into a large and profitable busi- ness, and for ten or a dozen years, at least, w^as the medical ad- viser of some of the best families of the place. Without the pretention of Dr. Hull, he laid claim to no more than he really was ; and his simple, straightforward manner was in keeping with his sincere and straightforward character. He was emi- nently courteous and conciliatory, and was also mild and amia- ble at heart. His pleasant manner and his engaging exterior attracted admirers, who were changed to friends when they realized the j)urity and uprightness of his life. Not remarkable for depth of acquirement or originality of observation, he was THE THIRD CHARTER. 521 -sufficiently informed to practice his art, and loved it as an art more than as a science. He cared less for brilliant exploits in surgery than to relieve the common ailments of humanity, and win the rewards of his exertion, as well as the gratitude of those on whom he waited. Toward them he was kind and attentive, and they clung to him with confident tenacity. Next after Dr. Hull, — his earliest partner, from the 3- ear 1824, was Dr. Edward Aikin. He was succeeded, in 1828, by Dr. John P. Batchelor. An epidemic among lying in women that j^revailed about the year 1830 was peculiarly fatal within Dr. Pomeroy's special circle of practice. Tliis made inroads upon his popularity, with which rivals were only too glad to avail themselves. Other pursuits, alien to medicine, into which he was shortly afterward drawn, tended to lead him more and more from -his chosen calling, and eventually took him wholly out of it. With Thomas R. Walker, he had become interested in an oil cloth factory, from their having loaned money to J. D. Edwards, its founder, and which the latter was unable to reimburse them. They assumed the charge of the factoiy, and for many years continued its management. After Mr. Walker withdrew, about the year 1854. Dr. Pomeroy kept on in the concern in company with his son, Theodore If not very gainful to those who first conducted it, the factory has been and still remains of value to the city, and the goods made there have a high repute in the market for beauty of pattern and durability of wear. As a citizen, neighbor and friend, the rank of Dr. Pomeroy was among the liberal, the useful and the trusted. Calm and unruffled in temperament, he met life without repining or con- tention ; sound in judgment and unswerving in principle, he gained respect without seeking it. Too modest to covet pro- motion, he filled with credit the duties that were laid upon him ; and in the church, as in spheres strictly secular or educational, he was confided in because he deserved to be. His residence, on Main street, he exchanged, in time, for the one on Fayette street, now known as No. 71, and which is still occupied by his widow. Dr. Pomeroy died at St. Anthony, June 26, 1860. His first wife and the mother of three of his children was Mary, daughter of Dr. Thomas Fuller of Cooperstown. His second was Miss Cornelia Voorhees, of New Brunswick, N. J. His children were Thomas F., a physician now of Detroit ; Theodore, 522 . THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. his successor in business in Utica ; Mary, (Mrs. Davidson of De- troit;) James B., of Colorado : Edward, deceased ; John W., of Minneapolis; George, deceased; Cornelia, (Mrs. Ladue, of Detroit.) Dr. Samuel Tuttle was likewise a physician who inaugur- ated at this time a lengthened and eventful career. But as only six years of it pertained to Utica, and these were devoid of much that was out of the line of common professional ser- vice, we cannot dwell long upon its details, but must leave his later manifold experiences to the readers of the biography he has published of himself. He was born in Monkton, Vt., Au- gust 14, 1798, and was the son of a farmer who was in comfort- able circumstances and the head of a numerous household. An accident that befdl the son when he was nine years old, made him permanently lame, and, by unfitting him for labor on the farm, led him to seek his livelihood in a profession. He was graduated at Middlebury University, studied medicine un- der Dr. John Pomeroy of Burlington, attended lectures in the Medical School of New Hampshire, and those of Valentine Mott and others in New York, and then came on horseback to Utica. Despite some opposition from other competitors for the public favor, practice soon opened upon him. Within a yeai\ as he tells us, his office was crowded with patients, and his bus- iness both in medicine and in surgery, taxed him by night and by day. It was the latter that chiefly commanded his atten- tion. "He was called on to amputate, and to remove cataracts as well as cancers and tumors. His most important operation was trephining the spine and elevating one of its processes that pressed upon the nervous cord and suspended its functions." The operation, which, as Dr. Mott, in a complimentary letter, informed him, was the first of its kind tliat had been done in America, the public amply rewarded by noising him abroad as a successful surgeon. Such at least is his own account. Over- taken by the Finney revival, while in the midst of his absorb- ing prosecution of wealth and reputation, he became a convert, united with the Methodist Church and cordially contributed to its prosperity. He was marr.ed also, to Miss Frances E. White of liome, purchased two lots and erected a neat and conven- ient house. When his happiness seemed complete, and when, as he says, all was joj'ous, " our prospects were marred and our THE THIRD CHARTER. 523 hopes were blighted by the intrigues and sudden bankruptcy of a professed friend and brother in the church, for whom I had pledged my name to the bank, and all my property was swept from my possession by process of law." This reverse severely afflicted him. "And although" he continues, "I had a good reputation and prospects of a successful practice, yet the health of the city" (village) " had greatly improved by artificial means, and the people, having become acclimated, the business was so reduced that I felt now the burden, or rather the tax, of my family so great, I became discouraged, and resolved on a trial in Western New York, where climate disease of a bilious char- acter extensively prevailed." In thus enumerating the causes of his removal, he fails to relate what common report was accustomed to assign as an addi- tional one. Zeal in his calling, and a desire to ground himself more fully in one of the elements of surgerj-, led him into measures of more than doubtful propriety and which an indig- nant community never fails to visit with the severest of pun- ishment. A colored boy well known in the village while skat- ing on the river in the winter of 1826, fell into an air hole, and was drowned. The body was recovered and properly buried. It was shortly missed from its grave, and suspicion fixed on Dr. Tuttle as the robber. The friends of the deceased were greatly excited, and ere long a motley crowd gathered about the office of the doctor, which was on Genesee street, nearly opposite the Ontario Bank. In his absence they made a search of the premises, and not finding the body within, descended to the cellar. It was buried beneath the soil, but unfortunately one heel of it, — the vulnerable part of the renowned Achilles, the unmistakable part of the negro, — was not wholly covered. The dark designs of the doctor were brought to light, and sj^m- pathy with his love for science was wholly lost in condemna- tion of the mode of its pursuit. He was committed for exam- ination, was released on giving bail, but was never tried. The whole town was in a blaze, and the second funeral of " Kip's nigger" was as numerously attended as had been the funeral of the " great man" of the village. Colonel Walker, a few years previous. Dr. Tuttle removed to Eochester, was quite successful in the treatment of the cholera in the course of its visitation to that city, but soon after went westward, was concerned in the 524 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. founding and building up of two or three towns, made two overland journeys to California, was ricli and poor by turns, and at last accounts (1868) was a substantial and leading citi- zen of a thriving village in Michigan. One who was a doctor in purpose, but in purpose only, was George Dutton, born in Millington. East Haddam, Conn., August 20, 1789. His first professional studies were in medi- cine, but concluding that he was too nervous for the practice of it, he apphed himself to the law. Before finishing he met the lady who was to be his wife, and was married. Forced to resort to some more immediate means of support, he took to teaching, and was for four years employed in the English de- partment of two French boarding schools in Philadelphia, But this was not to be his following. Born wdth an instinctive pas- sion for music, he had played on several instruments from his boyhood, and had, when quite young, taken an organ to pieces and reconstructed it. Moreover he had the high wrought organ- ization, the lively susceptibilities of the enthusiast in musical art, his keen delights and his proneness to melancholy. In Philadelphia, he received a quarter's lessons on the organ, and this was all of the instruction he ever had ; his taste was innate, his skill wholly self-acquired. While there his inclina- tion showed itself so strongly that he was supplied by a house of that city with the goods to furnish a musical store in Utica. His was the first of the kind that had been opened here, and his pianos were a curiosity to most of its citizens ; probably not six of them could be found in the place. His store was situated on the east side of Genesee street, next be- low Anson Thomas. There he sold to A. B. Johnson, in 1821, the first piano that was sold in the village. There, for twenty years and upward, he dealt in all kinds of instruments of music. On Sundays he handled the organ of one of the churches, at first of Trinity, and afterwards of the Presbyterian Church. In concerts, in the rehearsals, private and public, of the Musi- cal Academy, and in all musical exhibitions, where the piano or the violin accompanied a chorus or a solo, he directed the entei'tainment, for his skill was unrivalled, and his taste was law. He trained two sons till they attained unusual musical excellence, and lived to see one of them succeed him in the THE THIED CHARTER. 525 trade, and become as much of an oracle in the art as he him- self had been. Fishing was another art he loved to practice, and in this, too, he was a determined enthusiast. Yet with him it was not so much the dearly bought captures of the patient angler, that he coveted and was willing to toil for. Nor was it the loitering alone by the river's side, the musing on " flood and fields, and all the charms which nature yields," — delights in which the poet of fishermen was wont to revel. With him fishing was followed, mostly for its social jo_ys, for the exuberant life that animates men released from confinement and city drudgery and the broad fun in which they are inclined to disport them- selves, for the give and taiie of jolly companions, the smart speech and the happy rejoinder, the interchange of anecdote and story, the relish of adventure, and the contented mood that can turn mishaps and disappointments into sources of merri- ment. For Mr. Dutton was social in temperament, liked good fellowship, and was liked of his fellows. His spirits when not pitched on a minor key, were jovial or extatic. As a citizen he was praisew^orthy, and in morals without reproach. His death occurred December 21, 1854. His widow, whose name was Sarah Dwight Day, died September 2, 1877. Of his two sons, George at first a music dealei*, afterwards a Presbyterian minister is deceased ; and William H. lives in Philadelphia ; His daughter Mary is the wife of Theodore Pomeroy the sec- ond ; Sarah is wife of Kev. J. H. Mcllvaine, of Newark, N. J. Elizabeth is deceased. On the removal of Major Allbright, in ls21, he \v;i.s succeeded in the office of paymaster of the United States troops by Major Satterlee Clark, who, with his family, abode many years in Utica. Major Clark was a native of Vermont, and well con- nected, and if he was not the possessor of much wealth, he had a claim upon government which justified him in the indulgence of great expectations. He had served in the war of 1812, and otherwise had had experience in life. Large and imposing in person, genteel in address, and in all respects an elegant man, he was fond of society, and disposed to style in living. His wife, whom he had married in AVashington, was the daughter of Burton Whitcraft ; she was handsome, highly accomplished 526 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA, as a singer and a pianist, and had moved in fashionable circles. With them came a niece or adopted daughtei', three children, and the excellent maiden sister of Major C, who was their house keeper and factotum. A^ter boarding for a time, he took the Yan Eensselaer mansion, when its proprietor left it, and a year or two later, lived in the house that had \)een recently vacated by the Manhattan Bank. Unknown in a business way, in soci- ety he and his family were courted and admired. But Major Clark, with the elegancies of fashionable life, had also some of its vices. Some time before his death his eldest son and name- sake obtained from government a position as sutler, at Green Bay. The adopted daughter became the wife of Henry Green, and many years later, after the death of its head, the family re- moved to Fredonia, in this State, and subsequently to Ann Arbor in Michigan, having obtained something from govern- ment in satisfaction of their demand. The eldest daughter, Rosina, a lady of considerable style of appearance and manners, remained unmarried, and died quite recently. Three of her sisters married army oflficers, who took part in the late war, viz. : Charlotte, Mrs. General Masten Fanny, Mrs. General Plum- mer; and Mary. Temple, the youngest son, was also in the war. Burton, the second son, died many years ago. Four brothers Thurber, Philip, Isaiah, Ira A. and Pascal, natives of New Hampshire, and men of worth and standing, made their advent in 1821, and two of them remained some time in the j^lace. The two former opened a grocery store and bakery. The bakery Isaiah continued man}- years, on Liberty street west of Seneca, having, after Philip, Ira as his partner. From about 1838 to 1845, he conducted the City Mill. He lived in Utica until 1864, and died in Brooklyn, March 20, 1873, at the age of eighty-four, wanting only two days. His sons were Lansing, (in later years a bookseller in Utica, and now a resident of Brooklyn,) and Ira. Philip soon became a dry- goods and hardware merchant ; was in partnership with James Sayre in 1829, and with Palmer Townshend in 1834, between which periods he was again associate with Isaiah as a grocer and fruiterer. With Mr. Sayre, he built the first brick house on Fayette street, — the one on the east corner of Madison lane, — and there he lived until his removal to Detroit, about 1835-7. THE THIRD CHARTER. 527 He is still in Detroit. In contrast with his brother Isaiah, who was grave of demeanor, he was lively and gay. He had a son and two daughters. Ira and Pascal Thurber removed much sooner from the place, and made their abode in Syracuse. The latter died in December 1874. Robert Jones came to Utica, from Sauquoit, and was some time in the leather store of David P. Hoyt. In 1821 he was village collector, an office which was followed by those of con- stable and coroner. Next, he went into the grocery and pro- vision trade, conducting it for many years on the corner of Genesee and Catherine. His home was on Whitesboro street, next east of Jildge Cooper, until he purchased the house on Broad street, now occupied by D. L. Clarkson. His three sons, two of whom had been engaged with him in business, are de- ceased. A daughter, as well as his widow, are in Utica. and one daughter at the West. His own death, at the age of sev- enty-one, occurred February 13, 1856. William J. Buck, who had served a clerkship with James Dana, now opened a store, and continued in Utica until 1830, when he moved to New York. Like Mr. Dana, he married a daughter of Seth Dwight. Of much longer continuance was Elisha Wells, who, in Febru- ary 1821, had lately removed from Albany. He made and sold boots and shoes, on the west side of Genesee, at No. 84, and then at No. 88, until 1840 or later, when he went across the street and did business some years longer. The major part of his career was prosjiered, for he was industrious and prudent, and was scarce!}^ exceeded in the amount of his custom by any in his line. He, however, failed ere the end, and was subse- quently steward at the asylum, and then at Graefenberg. Ira Chase had been a journeyman in the village, but now began shoemaking with a partner. Feeble health forced him to dis- continue it, and he found employment as constable, bill collector and justice of the peace. He survived until January 8, 1863. His first wife was a daugliter of Elder Abraham Williams. Cyrus Grannis, successively packet captain, tavern keeper and merchant, was but a few years in the place, and when he went away, left his son T. 0. Grannis, a bank clerk, behind him. He returned at a later period to live with that son, and died August 15, 1842. 528 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Edward Bright, from Walton, England, brewer and malster. on Varick street near Nail creek, shortly changed his buildings to- a tannery. There he made leather until 1833, two of his sons being associated with him, and Thomas selling leather and shoes on Genesee street. About the time above mentioned, Mr. Bright and his family removed to a farm in Lebanon, New York, leaving only Edward, Jr., who was a printer. The latter, afterwards a bookseller, became, later, a Baptist minister of prominence, and is now the well-known editor of the Examiner and Chronicle^ in New York. The father, as well as the sons were influential in the Baptist Society in Utica, and generally esteemed. Thomas, also, was licensed to preach b}^ the church in Lebanon, and as a preacher in Oswego county, and after- wards, in Wisconsin, led a life of great activity and of unusual usefulness, — an activity of a quiet and unobtrusive kind, that reaches results without bluster, and that does not force itself upon the notice of the world. He is represented as a man of power, but of so even a temperament that his power was dis- guised by the uniform control of himself. He was beloved by all who came within the influence of his affectionate nature, and by his family he was idolized. Of this family, one son, William H. Bright, is now a resident of Utica. The father died in 1876. Robert E.. Rhodes, carpenter and builder, and at one time partner of Abraham Culver, was high priest of the Utica Chap- ter of Masons. About 1837, he returned to River Head, Long Island, whence he came, and where he died. Henry W. Osburn, auctioneer, constable, deputy sheriff, &c., down to 1840 or later, was next engaged in marketing in New York City, but is again here and acting as crier of the courts. Thomas Sidebotham, butcher in company with Henry Roberts, went, in 1836, to Illinois. James T. Lund, bandbox maker, was the father of the better remembered James G. Lund, as well as of Albert and Charles. WiUiam Conklin, painter and paper hanger, died in the place about 1855. Chester Hyde, stone-cutter and dealer in marble, took part in the making of the canal, but died early. Silas Coburn, fatlier of Mrs. Hii'am Greenman and other daugh- ters now here, may be followed to 1837 ; Henry Vanderlyn, painter, to 1825. John P. Bromle}^, and Ira White, grocers ; Benjamin Carpenter, tavern-keeper ; A. B. Skinner, dentist ; THE THIRD CHARTER. 529 Erasmus Stone, clerk, were brief in their stay. John Green, farmer and tenant of Mi-s. Malcom, on the New Hartford road, died in the city in 1877. A printer's apprentice of Seward & WilUams, though but a little time in Utica, distinguished him- self aftei'ward as a devoted missionary in India. This was Henry R Hoisington, a native of Vergennes, Vt. He was grad- uated at Williams College, studied theology at Auburn, and became pastor of the church in Aurora ; but in 1838, was sent by the American Board to Ceylon, and labored there for twenty years. After his return, he served as a minister until his death, May 16, 1868. 1822. The trustees of the year 1822, consisted of Benjamin Ballou and John Baxter, from the first ward ; Ezekiel Bacon and Rich- ard R Lansing, from the second ward ; Thomas Walker and David R Hoyt, from the third ward ; Ezra S. Cozier was the president ; Erastus Clark, supervisor ; Thomns Walker, over- seer of the poor : the clerk and treasurer remaining as before. In June, it was resolved that Genesee street be paved from the canal to the south line of Whitesboro and Main streets, and a committee of five prominent citizens was appointed to make the necessary estimates and assessments. In July, the street commissioner was authorized to contract for materials, and to take measures for carrying into effect the resolution of the board. At the same time the committee reported that the assessment was complete, when the clerk was directed to make out a tax listj and the collector to collect one-fourth of the amount of the assessment within ten days. The paving was done in the course of the season. Simon Cramond of Albany, had the contract, and was assisted by men he brought with him as well as by David Scott, who was thus trained for future work of the same kind. The cobble-stone used at that time were larger than those now used, and this first pavement was well laid and of a durable character. The board determined tO' open a new street from Broad to Catlierine. This likewise was done, and in October the new street was recognized by the name of Franklin street. The project broached two years before, of continuing Bleecker street westward to the intersection with K-1 530 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. the Whitesboro road, was attended with more difficulty and delay. A committee that was appointed to treat with the owners and occupants of land along the line of the proposed road, found that a majority of them were unwilling to treat, or else asked more for their land than the committee deemed reasonable. A jury of twelve men were then called together to assess the dam- ages they thought each person might sustain, and their assess- ment was ratified by the trustees. From this adjudication sev- ei'al of the land-holders appealed to the Court of Common Pleas, — the appellants being Abraham Yarick, Elizabeth Brinck- erhoff, Alexander B. Johnson, and John R Bleecker, by their attorney, Edmund A. Wctmore, and Morris S. Miller, and David W. Childs. Their appeal was sustained by the Court, so far as respected tliat portion of the intended road lying be- tween Genesee and Seneca streets, inasmuch as it involved the removal of a building standing on Genesee street, and in the line of the proposed road. The Court having confirmed the appraisal as to the remainder of the road, and such a road being deemed essential to the prosperity of the place, a new committee of free holders was created to prepare a fresh assess- ment on a line slightly varying from the former one. Their assessment was ratified May 6, 1823, and on the 28th of the same month, Messrs. Cozier and Ballon, of the board of 1823, were authorized to contract for the making of the road. Other proceedings of the trustees of 1822, were the ordering of side- walks on the south side of Jay street, the fixing of the assess- ment for the support of the poor at four hundred dollars, that for contingent expenses at one thousand and twenty-nine dol- lars, and that for the common school at sixty-five dollars. An- drew L'Amoreux, was again appointed teacher. With the opening of the season of 1822, the packet boats Montezuma and Oneida Chief renewed their trips, and there was also started by Bildad and Isaac Merrell, a new boat called the Utica Packet. It had already done service on the river as the Commodore Perry, and was dragged thence to its new chan- nel. The canal had now become so great a curiosity that by midsummer the public houses were crowded with strangers from the East, on their way to see it and to ride iij)on its waters. Mcllen Battle was building a steamboat for the Mohawk, de- THE THIRD CHARTER. 531 signed to plj between Schenectad}^ and Little Falls. It was quite peculiar in construction, its steam being used not for tbe working of paddles, but to put in motion poles that were to reach the bottom of the river and push the boat onward. These poles, of which there were two on a side, were jointed to the upper extremity of upright beams, and were made by means of cranks to rise alternately out of the water, and to set them- selves again on the bottom. The boat was a failure, and never made more than a single trip. This, or another like it, was also tried on the canal. A new line of post coaches from Al- bany to Utica, was likewise announced. Miller's bridge, at the foot of Bridge street, which had been swept away a year or two after its construction, was rebuilt the present season or the following one. Utica was visited this year, though not for the first time, by Lorenzo Dow, the eccentric itinei-ant preacher, whose ungainly appearance and fervid delivery attracted great crowds. He held forth from a wagon that stood on the side hill below Court street, and east of the line of State street, on the borders of a black ash swamp which lay beyond. He likewise preached in the Methodist Chapel. I have before quoted the record of prices of many articles of daily use which was made by a traveller of 1811. Another foreign visitor who was at Utica in September 1822, gives also its market prices. These with some other particulars he fur- nished to a Magazine published in Wales. They are as follows : " A barrel of 196 pounds of white wheat flour, $5.00 ; of medium flour $4.50 ; Indian meal, 3s. ; oats Is. 9d. per bushel; beef and mutton, 5c.; cheese, 6 a 7c. ; potatoes. Is. Od. a 2b. per bushel ; best tobacco, 2s. per lb. ; beer, $4.50 per barrel ; cider $1.00 a barrel ; rum $1 ; brandy $1.25 a gallon ; whisky, 2s. a gallon; tea, 5s.; coffee, 2s. 6d.; white sugar, 2s., and best brown Is. Wages: carpenters, from $1.00 to 1.25 a day; masons, $1.37|-; laborers, 6s. as a rule, but sometimes more; servant girls, from 10s. to 16s. a week, though many get twice as much; servant men, about the same as laborers. They can be taught any trade and paid for their work ; I know some who are learn, ing trades and earning $8.00 a month. Shoes from 12s. a 20s. per pair ; a tailor for making a good suit of clothes, $6.00 ; 532 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA. blacksmiths for shoeing a horse, $1.00, iron being about the same as with ns. Instead of coal, they generally use coke, which is very cheap." By the word coke the writer probably means charcoal, for coke was not made iintil the introduction of gas, being a product of its manufacture. In stating the wages of servant girls at 10s. a IBs. a week it is reasonable to surmise that the writer was influenced by a desire to encourage emigration among his countrywcmien and has presented matters in the most favorable light, since it is a fact that very many girls received at that time only about half that amount of wages, 8s. a week being common and 6s. not a rare amount. It has not fallen to me, thus far in the course of these sketches,. to record a more estimable and esteemed individual than Ed- mund A. Wetmore, one more exemplary and attractive in a personal aspect, more thoroughly and unselfishly identified with public and private interests, and whose life was a more con- tinued and unbroken series of benedictions. He was born in Middletown, Conn., August 6, 1798, and was the eldest son of Eev. Oliver Wetmore, a conscientious, uncompi-omising and honored minister of the Presbyterian Church, a Puritan of the strictest type, in whose veins were mingled the blood of Elder Brewster of the Mayflower, and of Edwards, the divine. Eev. Mr. Wetmore was settled in Holland Patent, in 1805 or 1806, when his son was still a child, and subsequently held a pas- torate in Trenton, whence he moved to Utica, in his declining years, and died in 1852. The son was graduated at Hamilton College, in 1817, and entered the law office of Gold & Sill, at Whitesboro, where he completed his studies. He was admitted to the bar in October 1820, and not long after became the partner of Judge Morris S. Miller. After the premature death of the latter, he formed a partnership with Hiram Denio, which continued nearly thirty years, and was ended by the elevation of Judge Denio to the Bench of the Court of Appeals, in June 1853. Mr. Wetmore now gradually withdrew from the active duties of his profes- sion, though he kept himself informed in the current legal lore, and was in all respects a sound, judicious and trustworthy coun- sellor. Soon after the organization of the State Lunatic Asylum, he was elected its treasurer, a ])osition of much responsibility THE THIRD CHARTER. 533 and care. The duties, discharged as they were with unsur- passed fidelity, filled up a large measure of his time throughout the remainder of his life. " Public honors might well have been his had he aspired to them, for no man would have more faithfully served his con- stituents. His fellow-citizens sought him more than once, and in 1845 he was elected to the mayoralty of the city, and re- elected the following year with great unanimity. After this he declined all public life and devoted himself to other interests, in which he rendered invaluable service. On the organization, in 1848, of the admirable public school system of Utica, he was elected as one of the original six commissioners, and continued to be re-elected as long as he could be prevailed on to serve, performing duties little appreciated, but of the most important and far-reaching character. He was elected a trustee of Ham- ilton College, in 1849, and continued in that office while he lived, rendering the institution a large amount of valuable and gratuitous service." As trustee of the Female Academy, the attention he gave to its duties, and the work he performed, during a long series of years, were surpassed by those of scarce another member of the board, while outside of it he was the special and trusted adviser of the principal and her teachers. In the Cemetery Association, the Water Works Company and the Cotton and Woolen Mills, he took an active part from their in- cipiency, concurred heartily in the management of them, and was much depended on by reason of the cautious and discreet advice he gave. One of the most important offices he held was that of trustee of the Utica Savings Bank. He was named as a trustee in the original charter, and after the death of Judge Denio, was, by the common voice of his associates, elected to the presidency, which he held at the time of his death. Ab- sorbed in the daily cares pertaining to his personal and official duties and seeking for nothing outside of them, it may well be that in his history there are no events of moment to relate and little that is in any wise striking or peculiar. But in the man- ner of his performance, in the assemblage of admirable qualities which shaped and controlled his life, there is abundant room for descant. At a meeting of the managers of the New York State Lunatic Asylum, held shortly after his death, a minute was entered on their records, which sets forth the nature of his 534 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. relations to that institution. In showing this, it reveals also the character of his fidelity and usefulness to other trusts, and details some of the personal traits which rendered him so in- valuable as a citizen. I quote it, therefore, nearly in full : " His was no common clerical service, confined to a routine of mere official duty, for a stipulated compensation. It was the service of an earnest, conscientious and devoted man, whose heart and soul were engaged in a noble purpose of humanity. It began with the very foundation and organization of this most beneficent charity, and continued for thirty years, the best and most valuable part of his protracted life, with an order, a system, a scrupulousness, a prudence, a fidelity, a disinterestedness, now far to seek, and, we are most conscious, difficult to find. From first to last, he was the intimate and confidential friend and adviser of all concerned in the management and superin- tendence of the asylum ; and his suggestions and counsels were regarded by all with a respect equal to the modesty and wisdom with which they were invariably given. Assuming nothing beyond the strict line of his official duty, from which no influ- ence could swerve him, he was still felt and acknowledged to be a balance wheel that preserved uniformity of action and move- ment, and an umpire to resolve all doubts. His unpretending good sense, his sound legal knowledge, his unquestioned integ- rity, his amenity of temper, his purity of life, and his intimate experience in the affairs of the institution to their minute de- tails, all combined to give him a position which, now that he is gone, no man can exactly fill. With superintendents and man- agers he was associated on terms of great intimacy, and was consulted and trusted in all embarrassments and emergencies, as freely as if he were officially entitled to that consideration. It was their respect to the man, his judgment, his caution, his sense, his singleness of heart, his humanity and tenderness, and every good quality that becomes a man and a gentleman, that prompted this peculiar confidence and relationship, and that preserved the same feeling among his survivors in this great trust, who now seek to perpetuate the memory of his worth and service. " He was not only faithful to this particular trust ; he was faithful to all trusts, and they wei*e many and important. His hfe was made up of trusts, not one of which, that could be ful- filled in his life-time, remained unfulfilled at his death. It was thus completely rounded ; and, although he did not seem until lately to be old, he had survived his three score and ten before his fatal disease first prosti'ated him ; when the feeling of ven- eration for his years was added to that of love and i-espect for his high persorial character and his unsullied official integrity. " He lived within bis means and shaped his wants and his chai'ities to them, and yet he was generous and hos])itablc ; fol- THE THIRD CHARTER. 535 lowing models of an antique mould, of which he was almost a solitary relic. There are indeed few men left of that stamp ; so sincere, so friendly, so courteous, so liberal, so serviceable, so strict to duty, so exemplary, so worthy of respect, honor and lasting remembrance." To the above well-pictured delineation I subjoin an extract equally just from one of the obituary notices of Mr. Wetmore: " His opinions were strong and decided — few things could ever shake his purpose deliberately formed and adopted from conscientious principle and conviction of the right. To the very close of his life this inflexibility of purpose and tenacity in pursuing a prescribed object were conspicuous, while the ten- derness that was enfolded within that strong, determined and manly heart, and the consideration that ever looked after the happiness and the comfort of those around him, shone clearly to the last moment of conscious existence. Very marked has been his inflvience in this community — not noisy, nor startling, not courting notice or applause, but quiet, consistent, unostenta- tious, diffusing a radiance as steady as the sun and as genial as the dews of heaven, and leaving in its track blessings and ben- dictions that will crown his memory with an unfading wreath. " The domestic life of Mr. Wetmore was one of rare felicity, which none perhaps could fully appreciate but those who, within the charmed circle of his daily being, witnessed or par- took of its peculiar happiness. They who loved him most were those who stood in the nearest relations to him of affinity, kin- dred blood and steadfast friendship." After recovering in a measure from the effects of a paralytic seizure, with which he was afflicted four years previously, Mr Wetmore was stricken by a second one, from which he died on the 1-ith of January, 1873. The devoted partner of his life, Mary Ann, daughter of John H. Lothrop, still survives. Their children are Mary,- wife of Dr. John P. Gray, and Cornelia of Utica ; Edmund, of New York City. Three graduates of Hamilton College, of the class of 1819, who all studied law and were admitted in July 1822, now entered upon practice in Utica. Of these, Thomas Skinner Williams, second son of Nathan Williams, was born in the place, May 4, 1801. After completing his professional course in the office of his father, he began its exercise in company with him. A year later, when his father was made circuit judge, he joined Samuel Beardsley. They had a large and 536 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. lucrative practice, and he gave entire satisfaction to bis part- ner. But, ere long, Mr. Williams left Utica, to establish himself in Nashville, Tenn. As a yonng man, be possessed a good deal of st3de in manner and appearance, was bright and cheerful in temper, sang a good song, and was a general favorite in societ}'. He was firm and decided in character, -and gave promise of a distinguished career, but died in 1837, -at the earh'- age of thirty-six. Thomas Hunt Flandrau was the son of Elias F. Flandrau of New Rochelle, Westchester county, N. Y., w^hose ancestors liad been living in that place since the immigration of Jacques Flandrau, a Huguenot from Rochelle in France, in 1686. Elias F. died within a year after his removal to Oneida county, when his widow and children took up their residence in Utica. His son, who was born at New Rochelle, September 8, 1801, was fitted for college in the Juvenile Academy of Mr. White, and entered Hamilton in the sophomore year. His collegiate course was chiefly distinguished by his attainments in mathematics, though his standing as a classical scholar and a writer was more than ordinary, while among his companions, he was noted also for his remarkable powers as a talker. After leaving the insti- tution, wnth one of its highest honors, he bent himself to the law in the office of Nathan Williams. Tliese studies completed, he united in its practice with Roderick Morrison, the next to be noticed, in the second stor}^ of a building, on the east side of Genesee street, nearly opposite the Post Office. They were not there over two years, when Colonel Aaron Burr, who, in the course of his attendance on the courts had made the acquaint- ance of Mr. Flandrau, and was impressed with his superior gifts, invited him to join him in business in New York City. He at once entered upon this new connection, and reaped a few 3'ears of valuable discipline, in which his mental and industrial capacities were thoroughly tasked, wherein he was often placed in opposition with such men as David B. Ogden and Chancellor Jones, and where his intellectual and professional accomplish- ments procured him a high reputation. In 1825, lie was mar- ried, and not long afterward came back to Utica. But about the time its city charter took effect he withdrew from the place, and made his home in Waterville, for he distrusted a city gov- THE THIRD CHARTER. 537 eminent, and was wary of liolding property tliat was subject to the taxation of a council of aldermen. After years of absence, clouded by turns of sickness and wanting in the displays of genius he liad before, and which he subsequently manifested, he returned, in 1845, to his earlier residence ; and then, having passed three busy years in practice he fixed himself at Whites- boro. There he died rather suddenly January 2, 1855. From the estimate of his professional characteristics, prepared by the late Benjamin F. Cooper, I extract the following: "As a writei', Mr. Flandrau was distinguished for his method, for his singularly precise, felicitous and appropriate language. Whatever fell from his pen was classical and finished. He was rarely under the necessity of correcting an expression ; his ideas fell unconsciously, as it were, into line, and when committed to paper were ready for the press. He had, too, the rare capacity of writing a short article at the moment, and needed not the labor of curtailment and condensation. These characteristics of his miscellaneous writings are to be seen also in his legal papers. In the preparation of them he had few equals. His bills in Chancery and his pleadings, and even his drafts of affi- davits, M^ere so impressed with the above mentioned qualities, that they might be studied, not only as specimens of legal skill, but even as models of composition. As a speaker, also, Mr. Flandrau was noted for his rapid anah^sis, acute discrimination, uncommon method and clear and happ}^ expression. In fact, so simple was he in his clearness, so orderly, so accurate, and yet so strong, that most men might be deceived, and think that in his forensic displays there was nothing extraordinary. It was left to the circle of his professional brethren to judge of him with a juster appreciation. It Avas these traits which made him eminently successful with juries, while at the same time his correct taste, well-balanced mind and high cultivation pre- vented his obtaining that degi'ce of popularity with the multitude which was sometimes accorded to men who were greatly his in- feriors. Methodical as he was mentally, he was so in few other respects. In reference to most matters of life he had all the want of order that has too often been the attendant of exalted genius. In his earlier years it seemed as if he never ate nor slept when others did. Often, says Mr. Cooper, have I known him to keep his companions awake to the small hours of the 638 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. night with his extraordinary colloquial powers ; and when, at length, they began to think of their pillows, he would rise from his seat with the remark that he thought he would go and visit some one of his associates, deeming them apparently as sleep- less in their nature as he was himself. When and where he read it was difficult to ascertain ; yet he never seemed to be wanting in a knowledge of facts. How he studied it was not so difficult to understand, for that was done by thinking, and much of it too when he lay in his bed. Yet his acquirements were by no means- small, even outside of the range of his legal ones. The classical authors he conned in his youth and the other studies in which he delighted formed the solace of his later years. He was a mathematician, a mechanician, a classical scholar and a poet.'' At his death the lawyei's, residing at Utica, declared in a resolution that, in gentlemanly deportment in his profession, in rigid and accurate investigation of legal questions, in logical reasoning, in precision and force of Ian- gauge, and in the zealous performance of his professional duties, he left no superior at the bar of Oneida county. Mr. Flandrau's wife, who was Elizabeth Maria, daughter of Alexander M. and half-sister of General Macomb, died March 26, 1873, at the age of 79. His children are Charles E. Flandrau, United States district judge for Minnesota, and Dr. Tliomas M. Flandrau of Rome, late surgeon of the 5th Oneida Regiment, New York volunteers. The early partner of Mr. Flandrau, Roderick N. Morrison, was born January 8, 1800, in Westmoreland, in this county, where his father was a farmer and a magistrate. He read law with Judge Morris of Otsego county. After parting with his first legal associate, he formed a like connection with Benjamin F. Cooper, but a connection as brief as the preceding, for he soon left the place. He lived afterwards at Penn Yan, and then re- moved to New York. There he practiced until 1849, when he established an office in San Francisco, and was soon after ap- pointed judge of the County and Probate Courts. He died January 14, 1856. It is remembered by the acquaintances of his younger years that he was a companionable person and could tell a good story. His wife was a daughter of Dr. Elizur Moseley of Whitesboro. He left one child, Dugald C. Morrison. THE THIRD CHARTER. 539 Dr. I. N. Meacham came, in 1S22, from the limits at Whites- boro, and settled in Utica. Confinement for debt was still in accordance with law, and it was only a few years before, that a widow lady of Utica, progenitress of some who now roll in lux- ury, having failed in her attempts at self-support, was cantoned for a while at Whitesboro. Dr. Meacham was then a spruce and showy young man, fond of a good horse and riding him gracefully, fond of his flowers and delighting to cultivate them. Sharp and sagacious, acute in diagnosing disease, and bold in the treatment of it, he won the public confidence and a good circuit of practice. By many he was thought to be unusually well informed and more than ordinarily skillful ; and he knew how, by a wise and unoffending self-assertion, to keep them in this opinion. He was social in his tastes, and with his inti- mates truly companionable. These intimates were not, how- ever, among his fellows in the healing art. Toward them he was distant, if not discourteous, and felt not a throb of esprit du corps. In fact, he was much of an Arab, and bore a hostile hand against them all. His love of society led him into habits that were loose, and as these became entangling, he was drawn by degrees into a low grade of companionship, and his practice declined in proportion, A few continued to call upon him, in spite of the fact that, when in ill humor, he would drive them with curses from his door. Immethodical in business and in- different to money, he was rarely ready to take his dues and with difficulty pressed to a settlement. Separated from his family, he lived some years alone in his office, but died in the New York State Lunatic Asylum. His first wife, Marcia M. Tilden of Whitesboro, who was a woman of beauty, died February 19, 1835. His second was a daughter of Todd Dewey of Walesville. He had one son and one daughter. Among the new comers of the year, there is one who was in fact a re-comer, having already passed his youth and learned his trade in the place ; now settling anew, he maintained from • this time forward a conspicuous part in the political and busi- ness concerns of town and county. Augustine G. Dauby, was born in Mansfield, Bristol county, Mass., December 17, 1795. His father, a native of France, accompanied La Fayette to this country, during our Revolutionary struggle, and, after the war, 540 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. established an iron furnace, near Mansfield. He died when his son was atout three months of age. The widow removed, in 1800, to Oneida county, New York. Augustine she placed at school with Mr. Halsey of Whitesboi'o, and in 1810 apprenticed him to Ira Merrell of Utica, that he might learn the trade of printing. Having learned it, he went, in 1816, to Rochester then a struggling settlement of three hundred and fifty or four hundred people, and there set up the Rochester Gazette. There, on the 20th of Januaiy, 1818, he married Miss Mary E. Parme- lee. And there, on the 5th of December, 1819, his printing oflQce was destroyed by fire. He struggled on for a couple of years in a vain effort to reinstate himself, and then came back to Utica. Eliasaph Dorchester, who was managing the Utica Observer^ employed him to print that sheet. He also frequently oalled on him for an article, which he was himself too indolent to write. Mr. Dorchester failed presently, when Mr. Dauby was persuaded by Judge Miller, Judge Beardsley and Truman Enos, who all had a pecuniary as well as political interest in the pa- per, to take it in hand. He did so, about 1823, though desti- tute of means, and succeeded in paying for the paper within the year. He entered zealously into the partizan contests of the times, and became a leader in the canvass which placed Andrew Jackson in the presidential chair. His acumen as a politician, and his force and ability as a writer, gave him rank with men like Edwin Croswell and Thurlow Weed. The Observer he continued to edit until 1834, taking into partnership E. A. Maynard, in April 1826. At the same time he publish- ed the Baptist Register^ and the Universalist Magazine. After the Observer was sold to Mr. Maynai'd, Mr. Dauby continued his relations with it, and at intervals and duriug special cam- paigns he was its j-espousible head for some time longer. " He liked to wield the pen, and in his hand it was 'miglitier than the sword.' His style was full, elaborate and im])rcssive. His mind was so clear that his writings could not be confused. They always wore a courtly bearing, unless he chose to cut close and severe, when his blade was like the steel of Damas- cus.'' Like Croswell, and in common with him, he was a power in the days of Jackson, and they both contributed largely to the success and long ascendancy of the Democi-atic party in the Empire State. THE THIRD CHARTER. 541 At a dinner party given by Montgomery Hunt in the latter part of the year 1827, there were present, Martin Van Buren, then Senator in Congress, Samuel Beardsley, Greene C. Bronson, Thomas H. Hubbard, Mr. Dauby and others. The question of a nomination for postmaster came up, Mr. Hitchcock, the in- cumbent of the office, being thought to be a defaulter. After some names had been proposed, Mr. Van Buren asked to be permitted to nominate a candidate, when he named Mr. Dauby. The nomination, which was satisfactory to the gentlemen pres- ent, obtained shortly afterward the approving signatures of all the democrats of the county, and many leading ones elsewhere. In the meantime, Henry R Storrs, then in Congress, wrote home to some of the leaders of the National Republican party, to select a candidate on their side, as Mr. Hitchcock had now re- signed. They suggested James Piatt, and, through the agency of Mr. Storrs, Mr. Piatt was appointed on the 21st of January, 1828. The following year Andrew Jackson became President, and the adherents of his rival who bore office were soon ousted. Mr. Dauby was now made postmaster. But though he had the office he did not so easily get possession of the building with its appurtenances wherein to conduct it. Mr. Piatt was but just warmed to the place, and was loth to give it up. He de- clined to let his successor have the office and fixtures at cost, but demanded a bonus besides. After a little delay and some ebul- lition of feeling, the difficulty was got over by Mr. Dauby's beginning his term in the new brick building on the north-west corner of Broad and John streets. Some years later he trans- ferred himself and his charge to its present site on Hotel street His incumbency lasted full twenty years, and through the ad- ministration of four different Presidents, viz.: from the 22d of May, 1829, to the 17th of May, 1819. It was marked by fidel- ity to his trust, diligence and attention to its duties, and unfail- ing courtesy toward those for whose benefit it was adminis- tered. " During much of this period he was a controlling j)ower in the Democratic party of Oneida. His management was dex- trous, conciliatory, constructive. He did not care to push him- self into prominence, but his will was strong, and of the able men who were his associates all recognized his sagacity and his skill in leadership. As divisions came into the party, he stood with his life long friends,- and with Judges Beardsley and Bron- 542 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. son and Mr. Croswell, became the champion of the Hards. He was one of those who earlj won for Utica its political emi- nence. He distributed prizes ; he did not seek them. He set up men, and pnt them down ; he assisted in constructing poli- cies and parties. He was an ally to be sought and an adver- sary to be feared." When the scheme was on foot of setting up the Oneida Bank, he was zealous in promoting it. It was mainly by liis personal exertions that the charter was procured, and when the bank was organized, he became its president. As chief officer he was active in ferreting out the robbers who entered the bank the night before the day when it was to go into operation, and despoiled it of a portion of its funds; with another director he went to Canada, secui-ed the chief culprit, and brought him to punishment. Though he did not long remain president, he was a director from that time to the day of his death, and a regular attendant at its board. At the first approach of the attack which terminated his life, he made his way to the bank, saying: " if I am to die, I want to die there." " For long years he pursued no avocation which kept him in business relations with the community, but was able to enjoy the leisure of modest competence. He was content to walk the quiet paths of a studious gentleman, to look upon the busy scenes of these latter days as a critic and a judge, with the calmness of a philosopher, with the kindliness of a Christian. His habits of composition, which he kept up in private, must have produced volumes valuable and interesting. Kegularly he committed to paper his thoughts and observations — his judg- ments of men, his reflections on events, his theories of history. He knew many of our public men, and he weiglied them wisely. He reflected much on abstruse as well as obvious themes, and he delighted to ponder upon the soul and religion and the fu- ture." "No other man bore the weight of eighty winters so lightly and blithely. His kindly heart and his genial manners never permitted him to be separated from his kind, and to the very last, he kept up his interest in current events, and his neighborly intercourse with the friends whom he cherished. Full often his ho|)cful words cheered desponding natures, and carried sunshine into darkened homes." His attack was sudden, and with little })rcliminai'y warning, he passed away, on the 27th of November, 1876. He was the father of three daughters THE THIRD CHARTER. 543 and two sons, of wliom Helen, (Mrs. John Gaines of New Or- leans), Mary, (Mrs. James Harrison of Irvington), and Van Buren have passed awa}^ The survivors ai-e Lewis of New York, and Cornelia (who was Mrs. Hiram T. Jenkins and is now Mrs. David P. Ludlow.) As a principal of the Utica Academy there appeared in the summer of 1822, a truly remarkable man, the mention of whose name will awaken some pleasant recollections with many now tending toward the decline of life. This was Captain Charles Stuart. He was of Scotch descent, and a retired half-pay offi- cer of the British East Lidia service, who had been many years in the east, and had travelled extensively throughout the civi- lized, as well as the heathen world. His strange ways and seemingly paradoxical character have been already so well de- picted, by two accomplished annalists of the place, that I cannot do better than to piece together what they have written. To say, remarks Mr. Seward, * that he was eminently pious, ac- tively benevolent, unsurpassedly kind, rigidly austere, and wildly eccentric, is to give, after all, but a faint idea of what the man really was. In the language of Mr. Williams, f — he was a peculiar mixture of the severe and the playful ; tremen- dous in his wrath, and hilarious in his relaxed moods ; with a most attractive smile and a thunderous volcanic fi'own, in which there seemed to be a struggle to put down some violent pas- sion; withal of the most humane and tender feelings ; fond of children and youth, and of joining boyishly in their sports, but strict with them, and often bitter in his reproofs and terri- ble in his punishments of casual offences, of which they did not always know the exact enormity ; particularly of those against religion, purity and good manners. He was an earnest, ener- getic, enthusiastic man ; every way uncompromising; conscien- tious to morbidness ; and altogether one of the most eccentric and mystical men I ever knew." He was eccentric in his dress and in his ways. He wore on all occasions, and at all seasons, a Scotch plaid frock, with a cape reaching nearly to the elbows. And as with stalwart stride he moved along the way, his quaint garb, his sun-browned face and gentle mien drew every eye. " His rooms in the academy building were as scantily furnished * Sunday School Jubilee. f Address before the Utica Academy. 544 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. as the cell of an anchorite. His bed was a pallet of straw, but those rooms were always redolent of flowers. He daily deluged himself with water, externally and internally. It was reported that he often slept out of doors summer nights ; and he walked four or five miles to get an appetite and a digestion for his bread and milk, which he took at a distant farm house. Al- though many thought him fanatical, none ever questioned bis thorough sincerity." His eccentricities, says Mr. Seward, were a part of that growth which comes of the highest religious cul- ture. It seemed, says Mr. Williams, as if God were in all his thoughts, and all that he did was done with his might, and as if under the " Great Task Master's Eye." To quote again from Mr. Seward : " Of course this man was the children's friend, for with the tenderness of a woman, he had the spirit of a child. How they would flock around him. How they clung to him. They made him the willing partner of all their joys and sorrows, and of their sports as well. The hour before the opening of morning school was usually one of hilarious mirth, in which there was no sport too boisterous for him to engage in. Often^ of a Saturday afternoon, I have known him to marshal the academy boys in mimic warfare, on the open common, which now makes Chancellor square. At such times it was a matter of equal indifference to him whether he took the part of leader, private, or musician." But it was not the boys alone whom he delighted with his presence and emulated in their play. Mr. Stuart was the founder and patron of a society among the girls of the village, whom he met statedly for instruction in the Scriptures and in the duties of practical goodness. At the same time he took occasion to reward them for proofs of industry and commendable depoitment. On holidays he would sti'oll with them into the country, entertain them with musical per- formances, and regale them with nuts and candies. Captain Stuart joined himself to every good work in the- town. In the Sunday school he assisted the superintendent, and was most impressive when he talked to the children of the moral wastes of the East, and explained to them the rites of the Hindoos. Commissioned, at his own request, by the Bible Society of Oneida, he traversed the county on foot and at his own expense, and ascertained the number of families in every one of its towns who were destitute of the Holy Scriptures and THE THIRD CHARTER. 545 desirous of being furnished with them. At the academy, as in the Sunday school, his system of instruction was eminently re- lio-ious, and it was so spontaneously and naturally. It is believed that he was the first teacher in this country to introduce the practice of singing a hymn in school worship. His appearance when in prayer Mr. Seward thus feelingly recalls : " Do you not even now see the noble form of our venerable friend, with hands meekly folded on tlie breast ? Do you not again hear thosp pleading tones for merey, as with rapt, irradiate gaze, he seemed to behold the mercy seat ?" This irradiate gaze, remarks another, was a fact, not a fancy ; we all took notice of it. And when, not many years ago, he was praying at the house of Mr. Arthur Tappan, one of the servants observed his countenance, and afterwards told her mistress that his face was like an angel's looking up into heaven. Mr. Stuart remained some three years in Utica. He became a minister ; was for some years en- gaged in missionary enterprises, connected with the questions of slavery and temperance, married late, and finally retired into Canada, where he died, about the year 1864. His interest in anti-slavery brought him as a delegate to the noted convention of the early adherents of that cause, held in Utica, in 1835. And when the assembly was dissolved by the ruthless prejudi- ces of the people among whom it was convened, and its mem- bers took their way to Peterboro, in such conveyances as they could procure, Mr. Stuart, in accordance with his early habits, trudged on afoot through mud and rain. Besting over night at Vernon, he was aroused from his sleep by the landlord, with the information that a mob was at the door, threatening violence to him and the other guests from the convention, and that he must arise and arm himself for defence. His reply, so truly characteristic, was simply an assurance to the '^hrethren^' that if they would wait until the morning, he would meet them with- out fail ; and then he composed himself again to sleep. Another school of this date was less memorable for the Chris- tian graces of its head than for the worldly grace and mannered rules of fashion which were there imparted. It was kept by Mdme. Despard, wife of Bichard Despard, and in one of those houses on Broad street already mentioned as occupied in succes- sion bv James Lynch, James H. Hackett, and Justus H. Eath- "l-I 546 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. bone. Not so skilled in grounding her pupils in the elements of English scholarship, she could teach them French and music, as well as how to enter or leave a parlor, how to receive, and to deport themselves au saloii, and in general how to shape their conduct to the etiquette of the most conventional and elite of. circles. But neither the place nor the time was propitious for a fashionable boarding school, and so, after one or two changes of the site of it, its mistress went elsewhere. Meanwhile, her husband, an Irishman, who had been in the British armj, super- intended the garden on Garden street, and that not very profit- ably to the corporation who employed him. A dealer in dry goods, lively, cheerful and social, was Sam- uel Thompson, once in business in Connecticut, and then briefly employed in the store of his brother-in-law, Oren Clark. He started a few doors below the Ontario Branch Bank, his place being known by the sign of " the green door and brass knocker," The door was in the second story over the entrance, as was com- mon with other stores of the time, and as may be seen at this day in this identical store of Thompson, and it was embossed with a gigantic knocker in gilt. As a friendly, and many- friended merchant, he was there, or else for a short time near the canal, until after the finding of gold in California drew thither its eai'lier seekers, when he joined in the train. And there, at Oakland, he and his wife are wearing out their years. William Walker, son of Thomas Walker, the editor and printer, was himself an editor in his youth, but only in his youth. In company with Philo White, one of his father's ap- prentices, he started, in 1817, the Youth's Monitor^ Mr. White doing the printing. The paper was of the largest cap, and was made up chiefly of stories. Among its contributors were Albert Backus, S. DeWitt Bloodgood and Thomas H. Flandrau. After a time the last two left it, and set up the Auroi^a. These two papers abused one another and brought in collateral mat- ter relating to the citizens, when the elders of the young editors interposed and stopped them. Mr. Walker served a clerkship in New York, and in 1822 joined his^rother-in-law, Mr. Hardy, in hardware, but within a very few years was doing business in the metropolis, as one of the firm of Field, Walker & Co., THE THIRD CHARTER. 647 •wherein Mr. Hardy was also interested. Then he became a banker, and has been more recently president of a life insurance company. While in Utica, Mr. Walker was active in the Sun- day school, and was secretary of the Oneida Sunday School Union. In New York his name is still associated with religious and benevolent enterprises. A Field, — though in no wise connected with the one just mentioned, — opened a crockery store in September of this year. This was Thomas F. Field, who remained here about ten years, a part of the time having a partner named Clark, when he re- turned to the great commercial emporium. He built a pottery on the bank of the canal, near Schuyler street, and, in com- memoration of the completion of the great work of his genera- tion, he imported and sold pieces of white ware, plates, pitchers, &c., emblazoned with pictures of the canal and boats in pro- gress along it. James Murdock and Elon Andrews had been apprentices of Joseph Barton, while he was still a watchmaker and jeweller, the former as early as 1810, and the latter from 1813. They now joined forces and set up a watchmaker's shop of their own. They continued it many j^ears, and marked their trade and themselves by honest dealing and blamelessness of personal character. Mr Murdock was from Houseville in Lewis county, and the son of a Presbj^terian minister. For thirty years he was treasurer of the Utica Lodo-e of Free Masons. His later residence was at 57 Fayette street, and there he died, January 27, 1850, at the age of fifty-eight. His wife, whose name was Hope House, is still living, as are also two of his daughters. His son is deceased. Elon Andrews built and occupied the brick house on the north side of Main street, just east of Second street. He was alwaj^s well spoken of by all who knew him, yet these were few, so shy was he of general intercourse. He lived a lit- tle longer than his partner, and was buried at Holland Patent, where he had obtained his wife. Two other early apprentices were Owen O'Neil and Eobert Disney, who had been some years at work at copper and tin- ware for James Delvin. Their announcement, in June 1822, that thc}^ are in want of apprentices, is the first intimation we 548 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. have of their setting up for themselves. Owen O'Ncil was a native of the county of Wexford, Ireland, and was born in 1798. He came to this country at the age of eighteen, and shortly after engaged himself to Mr. Delvin. He labored so faithfully that his employer made him a gift of one year of his apprentice- ship, and a handsome present beside. Then for a short time he found employment at Norfolk, Va., and by careful saving of his earnings acquired a small capital. Returning to Utica, he entered into business with Mr. Disney, on Liberty street. After a few years they bought out Mr. Delvin. William Martin, a. relative of tlie latter, now became Mr. O'Neil's partner, and they purchased the store No. 84 Genesee street. There, with successive partners, Mr. O'Neil contiued to carry on copper and "iinsmithing with general hardware until his death, July 29, 1875. By ceaseless labor and untiring attention to all the details of the business he gained prosperity. By bis accurate and honor- able dealings he gained the confidence of his associates in trade, and of all who traded with him. His liberality to the poor and the distressed gave him the affections of this class. His clear,, practical sense, his conversance with business and his fidelity in executing it, made him serviceable to his fellows in associated trusts. While his interest in w^hatever aimed at the public good conspired with excellence of personal character to secure him the respect and esteem of all his fellow townsmen. St. John's Church, and all its institutions of charity, had in him a devoted friend. He was one of its trustees, and its treasurer so long as the trustee system continued in its management, and was also treasurer of the Hibernian Benevolent Society. He was a director of the Utica Savings Bank, almost from its com- mencement, was a director of the Ontario Branch, and among the originators and directors of the Oneida County Bank. Socially, Mr. O'Neil was one of the most companionable of men. He was fond of the company of the old and the young. The former esteemed him for his tried and well known merits, and the latter were invariably interested in the experiences of his life, and his suggestions and advice. He was twice married and the father of eight children, of whom Mrs. Quin of New York, and Thomas B. of this city, alone remain ; as does also his second wife, whose maiden name was Manahan. THE THIRD CHARTER. 549 Augustus Hurlburt had been for some years living in New- Hartford, carrying on chairmaking. In the year 1814, in com- pany with a man named Maurice, he opened a shop in Utica, for the sale of these articles, but did nor remove hither until 1822. A native of Eichmond, Berkshire county, Mass., and born in 1788, he had settled in this county when young, and by his excellence as a business man he had already obtained a directorship in the Ontario Branch Bank, before he fixed him- self in Utica. His furniture ware houses were on Bleecker street, and also on Genesee, above Bleecker. In company with other parties he erected the Battey block, and for his residence, the house No. 239 Genesee, now occupied by N. C Newell. For one or two terms he served as alderman, was a man of ex- cellent sense, independent and irreproachable. About 1835 he took to farming, in Clinton, continuing it afterward at New Hartford, where he died, December 8, 1871. His wife was a Miss Remington of that place. > The William Tillman, quondam partner of Rudolph Snyder, and who with him was in the line of cabinet ware sixteen years before, and later was selling hardware with Charles E. Hardy, now reverted to his first employment, and had as a partner Eli F. Benjamin. So confident were the new firm of the excellence of their furniture as to declare that if it was not equal in style and finish to any in the city of New York, they were willing to give it away. Together they continued to make and to sell it until 1833. Benjamin was afterward still more vacillating than his partner had been, and though his course in Utica was a somewhat lengthy one, he was "everything by turns and nothing long." Surviving wife and children, he died an old and an unhappy man. Hiram Green man came to Utica from Oxford, and was at first a steward on one of the packet boats. In 1823, he was keeping the public house which stands on the canal bank near Washington street bridge. Afterwards he was a packet cap- tain, and largely interested in the stock of one of the boat com- panies, wherein the bulk of his property was made. He was among the foremost in all public undertakings, had a share in steam boats on Lake Ontario, and in the earlier telegraph lines, 550 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. possessed a remarkable degree of enterprise and energy, and practically knew not the meaning of the word fail. Whatever he turned his hand to was sure to succeed. His success culmi- nated in the possession of a handsome estate. As a friend he was frank, generous and true. As a neighbor he never tired of doing good ofltices, as to watch with the sick, and to comfort the afflicted. For seven years he was the victim of a fearful malady, against which he bore up with indomitable spirit. This was a cancer that in the end destroyed the whole of one side of his face, and took away his life on the 11th of November, 1850. His genuine pluck is well illustrated by the experience of a neighbor, who having the previous night overheard the sufferer groaning with pain as he walked up and down the side- walk, accosted him in the morning with the inquiry, "How are you, Captain Greenman?" To which the latter, with a cheerful smile, replied, " First-rate, I thank you." It is by such men that the material interests of communities are fostered, the means of intercommunication brought into being, and towns and cities sustained. Mrs. Greenman, a daughter of Silas Co- burn, is still in Utica. Their two sons are deceased. James McGregor, Scotch in descent if not a Scotchman by birth, and whose former liorne had been among the Scotch Presbyterians of Montgomery county, had been a teamster during the war, and after it had worked as a mason, under Robert McBride. As a mason he accomplished a good deal in the place, building, besides other structures, the earlier edifice held by the Reformed Dutch Church, on Broad street, and the public house on Whitesboro street that succeeded to the Burch- ard tavern, known at first as the McGregor House, and now as the Dudley House. This he himself conducted for a time, and lived afterward in a house of his erection near the south-cast corner of Chancellor square. He removed to Brooklyn, and from thence to Ballston. His conduct warranted the regard that was felt for him and his family. Francis Dwight Grosvenor, was from Rome, where he had been a clerk. He was police constable, tavern-keej^er, grocer^ &C.J was about everywhere, and concerned in a good many things ; but more than all beside, he was a military man, and a THE THIRD CHARTER. 551 mason. His wife was daughter of Barnard Coon, an early set- tler. His son Thomas W., who served with credit in the war of secession, and was brevetted brigadier general, was at the time of his death prosecuting attorney of the city of Chicago. During the confusion following the great fire, and when the city was placed under martial law, he refused to stop at the chal- lenge of the sentry, and was shot dead. Another son, Edward P., an editor in Chicago, died September 2, 1877. John Lloyd, Welshman and Baptist, learned wagon making in the village, and practiced it where Washington Hall now stands. But when, by the aid of twelve or fifteen ox teams, his shop was dragged away to make room for the hall, a new brick one was put up for him on the corner of John and Cath- erine streets ; and there he toiled until he was made overseer of the poor. Tender in his sympathies, and tender in his con- science, he was a faithful almoner, esteemed alike by the givers and the receivers of the people s money. No half-way officer was he ; but earnest, single-minded and trae, he never tired in seeking out and dispensing to the needy, and had not words enough to complete his denunciations of the impostor and the lazy. His latter years were passed in Marcy. One of his daughters is wife of Professor Lewis, of Madison University ; another is Mrs. Curry, of Trenton. Three other Welshman denizened at this date, and who en- tered together on shoemaking, having a shop on the east side of Genesee, a little below Catherine, were Evan Roberts, David E. Morris, and Thomas L. Morris. Neither adhered exclusively to the business, for Roberts, who was a lastmaker as well, and the first named of the Morrises were grocers also, and the latter was for years the faithful and obliging sexton of the First Pres- byterian Church, while Thomas L. Morris succeeded " Bill Dick," as the letter carrier of the place. Evan Roberts took part in establishing the Welsh Church on Seneca street. He was the father of the present hardware merchants, John E., and Henry Roberts. The children of David E. Morris, were the Rev. Edward D. Morris, professor in Lane Seminary, Ohio, Mrs. Ellis H. Roberts of Utica, Professor John L. Morris of Cornell University, and Mrs. Sutton of Utica. Henry Roberts, butcher, 552 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. bought in 182-4, the lot on the corner of Court and Garden streets, where he has carried on his trade until i-ecently, and where he and his family are domiciled still. Still another of the ■compatriots of the foregoing, was Evan Ellis, carpenter, who died while on a visit to Wales, but whose daughter, Mrs. Jones, is yet in the place. An Irisliman named John Hasson, in a singularly didactic advertisement of February 22, 1822, descants through a quarter of a page on the mischiefs arising from an ill-kept orchard, and ends by telling the public that he is conversant with the man- agement of fruit trees, and may be found near the corner of Washington and Liberty streets. Again in August, he acquaints them with the fact that the season has arrived for budding peaches, nectarines, apples and pears ; also apricots on peach or almond stock, &c., and that he will promptly attend to any applications in his line. Grreat as may have been the skill of Mr. Hasson, he found small scope for its exercise in Utica, and few of the dainty fruits he talks of on which to manipulate. And so we are not surprised to see him the next spring, installed in tlie southeast room of the Academy as its janitor, with only its rear yard for a garden, where he might at least grow pota- toes and cabbage if he could not exhibit a higher order of hor- ticultural accomplishment. " Frequent, " says Mr. Williams, " were the small strifes that kept up confusion between the pets of the household, (bestial and human,) and the boys of the school ; to say nothing of tlie ]:)rivate family contentions, with which no stranger might intermeddle, that were breaking out discordantlj' at unseemly liours. The janitor's powers of silence were of a stentorian sort, and the attempt at quieting a hubbub as overpowering as the drums and trumpets that stifle the voices of martja-s at the stake. He was for a long time master of the premises, until he had acquired such an indefeasible right of occupancy that he felt entitled to stay without rent or service, and finally compelled a resort to legal measures to oust him." Driven thence, he turned again to the ground for a living, and had a garden on the northeast corner of the lot now occupied by the St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum. From there he used to give out that he was prepared to supply vargin sile for the ladies' flower pots. He afterwards enlisted for a soldier, and THE THIRD CHARTER. 553 was pi'omoted to a sergeantcy, which to him was what a lieu- tenant general's buttons might be to another. Great on the muster roll of swelling martinets was sergeant John Hasson. When last at Utica he told his acquaintances that he was " doing gariison djooty' in the United States service. Other residents of this date, for the most part of briefer stay, must be shortly noticed ; these were : Lyman Preston, mer- chant and dealer in shoes, afterwards better known as the au- thor of one of the best book of interest tables ever published ; it came out about 1827, and was followed by another edition,, containing also discount tables ; his book-keeping is also well known ; C. W. Drake, merchant ; Gr. S. Willey, dealer in Leghorn hats; Samuel Darling, tobacco manufacturer; George Swan, quite recently living in Cleveland; William Wilbur and his brother Isaac, carpenters ; Lyman Nolton, blacksmith ; William Franks, brushmaker; Lansing Wall, tailor; Henry Brown, painter; James Long and John Dale, laborers; Josiah Wright, farmer, was much longer a citizen, and has daughters here still ; and Penelope Conkling, nurse, had already been several years in the neighborhood ; Parmeley, dentist, and considered a good one, soon found a home in New York ; Morgan, a singing teacher ; C. Juliet, French teacher ; Charles C. Hazard, nephew of Peter Bours, was a clerk, and a companionable acquaintance ; Gerry Sanger, also a clerk, was afterward a hardware merchant of protracted residence ; Timothy Burr, another clerk, was brief of stay 1823. The village trustees of the year 1823 were Benjamin Ballou and James Hooker from the first ward ; Ezekiel Bacon and Daniel Stafford from the second ; aiid Thomas Walker and Jesse W. Doolittle from the third. The assessors were Benja- min Ballou, John Bradish and Apollos Cooper. Jolm H. Ostrom was clerk, and Thomas Walker treasurer and overseer of the poor. The following streets were paved ; Liberty, from Genesee to the west line of Hotel; Catherine, from Genesee to John ; Broad, from Genesee to John ; and Genesee from the termination of the pavement of the previous year, viz. : the line 554 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. of Wliitesboro street to the river bridge. The street lately laid out from Genesee to Nail creek, received the title of Rome street, and a new one running southerly from it — the modern Pine, — was ordered to be opened. Fourteen hundred and twenty dollars was the sum voted for contingent expenses, ninety-four for school expenses, and four hundred for the sup- port of the poor. Early in January 1824, the board learned, " with deep regret, that Ezra S. Cozier, president of the village, had been superseded in office by the act of the Governor and Senate of the State." They resolved unanimously that " the secret and clandestine manner in which this object had been effected, evinces a disregard of the intei'ests, and an indiffer- ence to the wishes of the citizens, which is disreputable to those by whose agency it has been effected, and they conclude with presenting their thanks to the retiring officer for the ability and pei'severance with which he has discharged the unpleasant du- ties of president of the village. His successor was Captain Wil- liam Clarke. However aggrieved the trustees may have been by the "clandestine manner" in which the change was brought about, it was the result, doubtless, of political sympathies and influence, and the agents at work in it were, notwithstanding, most worthy men. For these were the individuals who repre- sented to his Excellency, the Governor, "that Captain William Clarke is a suitable person to fill the office of j^resident of the village, — and that his appointment would be satisfactory to the republicans of the village of Utica," viz. : N. Williams, C. C. Brodhead, E Dorchester, H. Seymour, S. Beardsley, M. S. Mil- ler, T. M. Francis. The fact that this was the only petition, and these all the signatures annexed, seems to have been deemed sufficient ground of offence to warrant the issuing of a handbill briefly setting forth the petition and its appended names. It was intended, doubtless, to appeal thereby to the wronged self- esteem of the numerous adherents of the opposing faction. Viewed, however, in the light of after years, the petition can- not be regarded otherwise than as a strictly inoffensive one, and its signers representative men, whose character and stand- ing entitled them to consideration from the Governor and Senate. As we have seen, it was ordered by the trustees that the public square should be paved. Ere the soil is upturned and THE THIRD CHARTER. 555 its scattered spots of greenness disappear forever, let us not omit to note some of its bygone uses and experience. I do not allude merely to the fact that it was a play ground for the boys, a trysting place to which they came from various parts of the town. Nor yet that it was the focus for occasional gatherings of the people, such as the mob that filled it at one time during the war, when a soldier, having been struck by the heavy whip of a teamster, and his friends rallying to revenge the wrong, there was drawn together a formidable body of angry citizens. Public assemblages of many kinds it has witnessed in later days. There was one use, however, to which the square was sometimes put that, after cobble was substituted for softer ground, was practiced no longer. It is as a horse-breaker's ring, as the chief manege of that successful trainer, Peter Collins, that I would>| now recall it. Peter was a simple-minded, good-hearted negro, j with some drollery, but more amusing from his simplicity than from anything especially acute in what he said or did. During the war he had been body-servant to General Oliver Collins of New Hartford, and when asked who he was, used to say that he was half General Collins, half rinio^ and — then pausing, — half Peter. He did not live in the place, but spent a good deal of time in it ; he was recognized by every body, and, as one might say, enjoyed the freedom of the village. On one occa- sion, at least, he was rather too free, and appeared most unex- pectedly where invited guests alone were looked for. It was at the wedding of one of the daughters of Watts Shearman, an oc- casion of much state and ceremon}^ When others advanced to congratulate the married pair, Peter came too, dressed in his best, and with his hat under his arm. Approaching in his turn, he addressed them in some such words as these : "Well you are the handsomest couple Peter has ever laid eyes on ;" and then presently added, " Peter is dry." But it is of his skill in breaking horses that I intended chiefly to speak. This was remakable, and hardly surpassed by the science of the modern Rarey. He would take a young and wholly unbroken colt, and, by dint of gentle, but persevering and determined management, would, in a few hours, bend him completely to his control. More than once have 1 seen him begin at school time with his undisci- plined charge, and when school was out for the day the animal would be lying on the ground and Peter lying between his legs> 556 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. or, rising at command, he would follow his subjugator about the square, would walk, trot or halt at the instant the word was given. There was some pretence of whispering to the colt and considerable foolish talk, but the skill depended chiefly on the mingled gentleness and firmness of tlie master, and the assurance he impressed upon his pupil of the necessity and the propriety of obedience. But the square was now paved, and Peter left it to return no more. The village was at this time growing rapidly, its population having been computed by its citizens at four thousand. The chief cause of its increase was doubtless the gradual extension of the Erie canal, and the consequent improved facilities of transportation, together with the sanguine hopes that were enter- tained of the much larger influx of business when this great woi'k should be perfected. The progress of the canal was therefore the theme of chief interest to the citizens of that date, as it must be to those who would realize their condition. The Erie Canal Navigation Company announced in April, that in addition to their last year's establishment, they had incorpo- rated into their line four new spacious and beautiful boats, and that they liad commenced running regular trips between Utica and Eochester. A boat left Utica every day, Sundays excepted, at six A. M., and arrived at Rochester in forty-eight hours, where post coaches were in readiness to take the passengers to Lewiston, on the evening of the third day from their leaving Utica. From Rochester a boat started at the same hour daily, and at Utica found boats and coaches to convey the traveller eastward. A new line, entitled the Western Passage Boat Com- pany, and owning five packets, began in September, to run one of them every evening from Utica to Rochester ; the trip to be made in forty-five hours. " The whole course of the great work from Utica to Rochester, exhibits," says the Albany Argus^ "the bustle and stir of business. The amount and variety of the productions which are constantly passing and repassing upon it, fill the mind with astonishment. It is the flux and reflux of the great tide of western wealth and western enterprise." At a late period in the previous season, water liad been let into the cliannel of the eastern district. And now on the 10th of June, 1823, we read that "a line of elegant packet boats is pre- THE THIRD CHARTER. 557 paring and will be ready to run between this village and Schen- ectady, on the opening of the canal, which, it is expected, will take place about the 20th inst." This company, of which the trustees were E. Bacon, Ej)hraira Hart and E. B. Shearman, started a boat at eight o'clock every morning, which it was ex- pected would arrive at Schenectady at the same hour the fol- lowing morning. And on the 8th of October, was celebrated at Albany, with imposing ceremony, the completion of the whole eastern section, and the ingress of waters to the Hudson. Thus in little more than six years, two hundred and eighty miles of this great artery of commerce were opened, and its healthful influences already widely felt. An influence that was at once produced to diminish former more inconvenient modes of transportation deserves our notice. The Seneca Turn- pike Company, in addition to its usual semi-annual dividend, declared in April, 1823, a surplus dividend of like amount. The reasons for so doing they thus stJite : previous to the com- pletion of the middle section of the canal, the proprietors of the road apprehended a great diminution in the value of their stock by the eiTect the canal would have upon the travel of this road, — which runs its whole length of one hundred and twelve miles parallel with the canal. The experiment has proved the canal to be very beneficial to the interest of the Road Company. The heavy teams, with six to eight horses, are now mostly re- moved from the road in consequence of the reduced price of transportation, and the light travel increased by the natural in- crease of business, produced by the facility of intercoui'se with New York. The whole civilized world was, in 1823, aroused to sympathy for the Greeks, who, like the Servians of to day, were the vic- times of Turkish oppression and cruelty. Utica was moved, in common with other places, to do something in behalf of the sufferers. A meeting was held on the 30th of December, at which an address and resolutions were adopted, and a committee appointed to procure funds in aid of the Greeks. Early in January, a concert was given with tlie design of raising money for the same purpose, and at this a poem was read by Samuel D. Dakin, then a student of law. The amount realized from the avails of the concert was $163.57. 568 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Another concert, that was given on the 6th of February, was for a purpose unlike to any that influences our modern Utica, and intimates a state of society still primitive and dependent, when denominational diflferences were subordinate to the actual needs of ecclesiastical existence. It was for the joint benefit of the Presbyterian and Episcopal Churches, and took place in Trinity. The choir was led by Thomas Hastings, and the orchestra by George Button, the singing being done by volun- teers. The committee in charge consisted of James Cochrane, John H. Lothrop, Peter Bours, Jason Parker, William Wil- liams and Montgomery Hunt, being chosen, one alternately, from each societ}^ The village was favored in the summer of 1823, by the sojourn of William Bunlap, the historical and portrait painter. He ex- hibited, at the court room, his picture of Christ Kejected, a copy from West, and it was very generally visited. Mr. Bunlap remained several weeks, afnd executed a few portraits. Henry Inman, a native of the village, but now settled in New York, came also in November in the exercise of his profession, as a painter of miniatures. A literary enterprise of the era was the Utica Lyceum, which was formed on the 27th of November, 1823, its purpose being to encourage the study and disseminate a knowledge of nat- ural history and other useful sciences. Its constitution was drafted by William H. Maynard, and the following constituted its earlier officers, viz. : Jonas Piatt, president ; Nathan Wil- liams, first vice-president; Morris S. Miller, second vice-presi- dent ; Thomas Goodsell, secretary ; A. B. Johnson, treasurer ; Messrs. Maynard, Beardsley, Skinner, Kirkland and William Williams, curators. The following year Mr. Johnson was elected president, and delivered an address which was printed and received much praise. Anything like a continuous history of the society it is impossible to give as its records are now lost. It was incorporated January 21, 1826, and lasted until 1832 or 1833, when it was succeeded by the Young Men's Associatioa It comprised as its members the educated young men of the time, chiefly lawyers and teachers, and became practically a society for debate. Its discussions were attended by the pub- lic, including the lady friends of the speakers. The president, THE THIRD CHARTER. 559 in 1829, was William H. Maynard, in 1832, Charles A. Mann. The last secretary was Horatio Seymour. At first the meetings were held in James Hooker's hall at the lower end of Grenesee street, the building being the same that has of late been used by John Beston. Subsequently the society met in Knicker- bocker Hall, on Catherine street, where is now Eockwell & White's clothing store. The first on the list of new arrivals of the year is one who, while his memory is cherished as that of a valued citizen of Utica, has also a wider reputation, and a history which belongs rather to the State and nation than to the town which was his dwelling place. Indeed, says Proctor, the history of our State would be wanting in one of its chief ornaments, if deprived of the character of Samuel Beardsley, — the profound jurist, the acute advocate, the eloquent parliamentarian, the dignified, learned and impartial judge. He was the last of the great judges who presided as chief of that time-honored tribunal, the Supreme Court of Judicature of the people of the State of New York, and if there is one among them to whom the langauge of eulogy and even panegyric is due, it is Samuel Beardsley. He was born at Hoosic in Eensselaer county, February 6, 1790, bat while an infant, his parents removed to Monticello in Otsego county. His father, who was a farmer, had other chil- dren of unusual capacity, of whom Levi became a State Sena- tor, and exerted much influence in Cherry Valley, where he lived. Samuel attended a common school in winter, while in summer he worked on the farm. But his love of knowledge was strong, and he sought every opportunity of acquiring it. His amusement and recreation were in books. For a while he engaged in teaching, but at length decided to enter the medical profession, and began his studies with Dr. Joseph White of Cherry Valley. While thus employed, it was his fortune to be present at some important trials which took place at Coopers- town. He watched them with the deepest interest, and was so fascinated as to lose all love for medicine, and to direct his hopes and his ambition toward the bar. At one of these trials he made the acquaintance of Judge Hathaway of Eome, signi- fied to him his desire to study law, and was invited to enter his ofiice. He was then eio-hteen. Fortunate in the choice of 560 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. a preceptor of learning and skill, and who became deeply inter- ested in him, the young student made rapid proficiency, sup- porting himself meanwhile b}^ teaching a select school. With the patriotic impulses natural to a young man of his spirit, he became one of the volunteers, who, in 1813, went from Eome to the defence of Sacketts Harbor, and he held the rank of judge advocate in the State militia. Having been admitted to practice in 1815, he located at Watertown, but only remained there one year, when he returned to Eome to pursue his profes- sion. For a time he was the partner of James Lynch, and was afterwards alone. The industry and energy of the student he kept up when he became a lawyer. From the commencement, he was distinguished for unusual vigor of intellect, constant labor and untiring perseverance. In the language of one of his eulogists, he began with study, he continued with study, he ended with study. These qualities at once placed him m the highest rank of the profession, and this position he steadily maintained to the time of his death. Method and order marked the preparation of his causes; hence his labor was effective, and each step was the firm foundation for another. He never addressed the fancy of his audience. Clear argumentation, and a bold, indignant denunciation of wrong were his chief weapons, and in his hands they were almost uniformly fatal to an unde- serving adversary. In February 1821, Mr. Beardsley was appointed district attor- ney of Oneida county, succeeding to Nathan Williams, and he continued to discharge the duties until October 1825, when his term of office expired. As an evidence of his familiarity with all the forms and technicalities which then formed a part of the system of law and of the modes of procedure in criminal cases, Mr. Proctor relates the following : '' On one occasion, in draft- ing an indictment for arson in the first degree, the district attor- ney omitted an allegation which the lawyer defending believed to be fatal ; but having some doubt, he consulted Joshua A. Spencer on the point. That sagacious man, after examining it some time, replied: 'Well, I think, though Archbold and Cbitty may both sustain you, yet if Beardsley insists that he is correct, I should prefer his opinion to theirs.' The lawyer, however, made his motion to quash the indictment. A long and inter- esting argument followed ; but Mr. Beardsley's knowledge of ' THE THIRD CHARTER. 561 the criminal law gave him a decided advantage. The authori- ties were as familiar to him as the schoolboy's every day lesson, and he sustained the indictment. Exceptions were taken to the ruling of the court and the case was carried to the general term, where Mr. Beardsley was again sustained." In comparing him with Mr. Spencer, his great and frequent antagonist, Ju.dge Bacon * uses the following language : "When he came to deal with the weightier matters of the law, to defend a principle, or to discuss a question relating to the admissibility of evidence, or the pertinency and bearing of a particular line of testimony, his vast superiority came out conspicuously, for he was the bet- ter lawyer, as Spencer was far the most successful advocate.'" At the first election held under the constitution of 1822, Mr. Beardsley was chosen Senator for the Fifth District, and took his seat on the first of the ensuing January ; but in the arrange- ment of classes by lot, he fell into that class whose term of ser- vice was limited to a single year. It was this year (1823,) that he transferred his residence to Utica, taking as his partner Thomas S. Williams. On the death of Morris S. Miller, in November 1824, the position of first judge of the county was tendered to him, but he preferred to retain the more active labors of prosecuting attorney. The field of his attorneyship had in the meantime been changed, for his reputation as a crim- inal lawyer, brought him, from President Adams, in March 1823, the appointment of United States Attorne}^ for the Nortliern Dis- trict of New York. It was an appointment which gave great satisfaction to the bar, as well as to the judiciary of the State.. He held the post until November 1830, when he was elected by the Democrats to represent them in Congress. As Repre- sentative he was four times elected, in 1830, in 1832, in 1834, — thus occupying a seat for six successive years, — and again in 1842. In all the exciting questions that were agitated during the administration of General Jackson, he was the uncompro- mising friend of the President, and enjoyed his intimate confi- dence, as he was also the recognized leader of the Democratic party in the delegation from New York. His leading princi- ples of political policy were simple and uniform, and maintained with firmness. He believed that the existence of a moneyed institution like the United States Bank, in a government such * Early Bar of Oneida. M-1 562 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. as ours, was at war with the principles upon which the govern- ment was founded ; — " that the bank had set itself up as a great irresponsible rival power, assuming to regulate the finances of the country, and to control the whole policy of government in the regulation of its moneyed concerns ; that it assumed, in elfect, to dictate to the country liow its government should be administered, and that the question was whether we should have the re}»ublic without the bank, or the bank without the republic." In April 183-i, he delivered a speech on the cur- rency, which attracted great attention throughout the country from its vehemence and fiery denunciation. In the course of it he said: "Sooner than extend the existence of the Bank of the United States, let it perish, and in its fall carry down every bank in the Union. I say, for one, perish credit, perish com- merce, perish the State institutions : give us a broken, decayed, worthless currency, rather than the ignoble and corrupt tyi'anny of an irresponsible corporation.'' His opponents seized on the striking alternative he presented, and were long and bitter in their denunciations. Niles' Eegister, while commending the ability displayed in the speech, laments the expression, by a man of Mv. Beardsley's poise, ability and moderation, of senti- ments such as those above quoted, as dangerous in their influ- ence. It was, in truth, bold language, yet characteristic of its author, and uttered in the spirit of a Spartan virtue, which pre- ferred liberty with poverty to the gi-andest luxurj^ of despotism and corruption. In January previous, in a .speech of great lib- erality, he opfiosed a measure to restrain freedom of speech by the reporters of Congress. He stood by the right of petition in the face of the power which then controlled party politics, and even against some of his colleagues from this State; he maintained the combat with all the ardor and energy of which he was mas ter, and he had the satisfaction of knowing that his efforts were of service in preserving this sacred right unimpaired. In January 1834, Nathan Williams, judge of the fifth cir- cuit, became dis(|ualified by reason of age, and he therefore resign- ed. Governor Marcy immediately nominated Mr. Beardsley as his successor, and the Senate promptly confirmed the nomina-" tion. As soon as the intelligence reached Washington, Mr. Beardsley signified his intention to resign his seat in Congress. THE THIRD CHARTER. 563 He was sent for by General Jackson, and in the presence of his Cabinet and some of the most eminent members of both houses was ui-ged to remain. Pie at length consented. No circum- stance in his congressional life more strongly exhibits his stand- ing as a statesman, and his importance to the administration and the party. Early in January 1836, a vacancy occurred on the bench of the Supreme Court of New York, which was filled by the appointment of Greene C. Bronson, who was at that time Attorney General. Mr. Beardsley was at once appoint- ed to succeed Mr. Bronson. The office of Attorney General was at that time one of great labor and responsibility. There was an unusual amount of criminal business, while the civil business required the exercise of the ablest talents. Nothing intrusted to Mr. Beardsley was left undone : all things pro- ceeded sure and certain, and with rapidity, yet according to law. His official term expired on the last day of December 1838, when he resumed practice, and was in a short time in the midst of a prosperous business. Having been once more chosen to Congress, in 1842, he with- drew in February 18-41:, to accept the appointment, at the hands of Governor Bouck, of Justice of the Supreme Court, a seat made vacant by the death of Eseck Cowan. For a judicial position he was remarkably adapted. His habits of patient and impartial investigation, his quick perception and accurate judgment, seemed to have formed him by nature for a judge. On the bench he was dignified and courteous ; his manner of listening to an argument elicited the confidence of the speaker, and drew from him all that he desired the court to understand. He rose with great rapidity in public opinion and in the estima- tion of both bench and bar. On the retirement of Chief Jus- tice Bronson, in June 1817, Judge Beardsley succeeded him, and was the last Chief Justice of the old Supreme Court, as he was also the chief of the judges under the organization created to close up the business of the earlier tribunal. After retiring from the bench he pursued his profession for a year or two in New York, though his domicil was still in Utica, and to it he shortly returned. His efforts were now limited, for the most part, to arguments in important cases in the Court of Appeals. Here he maintained the very foremost rank, being second to none in compactness, vigor and comprehensiveness. 564 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Though from this time forward, Judge Beardsley held no pub- He ofhce, he remained prominent in poUtics, and impressed an influence on his party such as more pretentious and noisy men could never have exerted. It was he who carried the Hard delegation into the Cincinnati Convention, in 1856, and he, more than any other single person, controlled the final choice of that body, and made James Buchanan President. As to the ability of Judge Beardsley, his learning in the law, the pains- taking faithfulness of his judicial functions, and the able decis- ions he uttered, all those most competent to speak united in declaring. " I think it could be safely said,'' remarks Judge Bacon, " there was not at the close of his life a more thoroughly read and firmly grounded lawyer in this State, nor one whose opinion carried greater weight with the courts." Nicholas Hill was once retained as counsel in a very important cause, with liberty to choose his colleague from the ablest in the country. Without hesitation, he says, I chose Samuel Beardsley. As an able and upright judge he cannot be forgotten, remarked Judge Hilton, while the records of our judicial history exist. But without derogating from these merits, " I think," says Governor Seymour, " that he evinced his highest qualities in statesmanship. In public life he was bold, invasive and self-reliant, and showed that he had resources and inventive genius to meet the varying exigencies of passing events. Here he sought no authorities, nor did he lean upon the assertions or opinions of others. I have known many of the prominent men of our land, and none of them excelled him in power of acting upon the public mind, or in the high qualities demanded for leadership. His correct views of life, business and public morals, kept him from falling into questionable positions. His bearing, person and mind fitted liim to command, and he always had a strong power over those with whom he acted ; those who may have differed from him felt the force and strength of his antagonisms." In a let- ter of advice addressed to a young friend at college. Judge Beardsley makes use of language so much in keeping with his own character that I cannot better illustrate this character than by an extract from it : " Extend your knowledge," he writes, " of men, things, subjects, as far and wide as possible, that you maybe prepared to judge accurately. But always have an opinion, an independent opinion, founded on your own views^ THE THIRD CHARTER. 565 reasons and convictions. Express that opinion frankly and de- cidedly, yet modestly, and adhere to it with unshaken firmness, unless you can discover reasons for a change. Never express or qualify an opinion to oblige any one. It cannot be done honestly. An opinion is a sentiment of justice or propriety, or of the fitness or unfitness of a particular thing. You cannot change it at will. It is what is felt to be right or just or cor- rect. It cannot be taken off or put on at pleasure : and no man, duly appreciating his rights and duties as a man, should or can ■ever falsify or qualify his opinions to oblige any one. Honest .and intelligent men will not always harmonize in their views, but neither is expected to abandon his own for the reason that the}?- do not think alike. Differences in these respects are to be tolerated ; thus all are left free, and no offence is given. But as many, very many, never think, have no opinions, no views of their own, the man who makes up, expresses, and adheres to an enlightened opinion will find that those who are too indolent or too imbecile to think for themselves, will usu- ally adopt and follow his opinion. Thus he builds up influence and insures success.'" The honest, outspoken, and firm inde- pendence of sentiment here inculcated, and the deference from others which these traits always command, were eminently his own. On all subjects, political, social, moral and religious, he had clear and well-defined opinions, and to these he held with unvarying tenacity. To say that he was honest, remarks Proc- tor, conveys no adequate conception. Fidelity to truth was one of the elements of his nature, in which servility, sham or hypocrisy had no part. In inflexibility and self-reliance, he was remarkably like his friend General Jackson. And like him he created public opinion rather than adopted it, and tri- umphed through his convictions, not by sacrificing them. He never coveted office or sought power by personal ingratiation. Office sought him because of his known competence and faith- fulness in the discharge of the duties with which he was en- trusted, and from which no man supposed he could be swei'ved by persuasion or interest. As a public speaker he always im- pressed his hearers with a conviction that he believed in the justice of his advocacy. In this capacity he was ready and effective, though his manner was a little constrained, and his ^diction, while clear and forcible, was not flowing or graceful. 666 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. His writino-s for the press were prepared with evident labors and much care was expended in selecting the most befitting words and phrases. As a private citizen he was exemplar}^ in all the charities and amenities of society, both civil and religious. "I know of no one," remarked Governor Seymour, " who contributed more^ by speech and example, to form and enforce the unwritten laws- of just moral rectitude. No one did more to elevate the tone of morals in this city, or to keep up the standard of good con- duct and just dealings." As a fit representative of the higher interests of the city, he was not unfrequently called to preside over assemblies of its people on occasions of unusual impor- tance, and when questions of vital concern were subjected to discussion. Those who knew him best, knew how kind was his heart, how friendly his disposition. Judge Bronson, who from the year 1825, was the business partner of Judge Beardsley as long as he himself remained in Utica, and subsequently sat as his associate on the bench, held him "as dear as a brother." When he announced his decease in the United States Court, then sitting in New York, he was affected to tears and unable to give expression to his feelings. Judge Denio did not hesi- tate to assert that he never knew a man having so many qual- ities worthy of imitation. And yet though so dear to his inti mates, so kind and tender to his family, and although so neigh- borly in his general intercourse, and grateful for the confidence of private friendship, — to. his enemies, to those who crossed his path in hatred, he was stern in his wrath, and sometimes aggres- sive in his resentments. Too generous for malice, he forgave when solicited, and with a repentant adversary was ready to pass over by-gones. Implacable only to the wicked, he could make no league with wrong doing, and no compromise with baseness. There was that in his presence which evinced supe- riority. In person he was tall and commanding ; his forehead was high and expanded ; his features Roman-like in their strength, and plainly indicative of the thought, the indepen- dence and tlie firmness by which they were animated. Yet there was no chilling reserve or repulsiveness of manner; for though the brows were often contracted as witli a frown, it was the sensibility to light (;f a weakened vision which caused this frown, the eye itself beamed with kindness, and on tlie lips THE THIRD CHARTER. 567 there was an expression wholly at variance with anger or dis- dain. The agony of his short but distressing sickness was en- dured with the fortitude of a martyr, and he expired on the 6th of May, 1860. The news of his death caused a profound sensation with the members of the bar in New York City, and all the courts that were then in session were suspended, and judges and lawyers concurred in praise of the deceased, and in grief at their loss. A meeting for a similar purpose was held by the bar of Utica and its vicinity soon after. Resolutions were passed which were offered by a committee of which Judge Gridley was chairman. These resolutions contain the highest testimony of respect from his associates, and embody in brief all of the great qualities which we have endeavored to set forth. His wife was a daughter of Joshua Hathaway, his preceptor in law. His only living son is Arthur M. Beardsley of this city. James died some years since. Simultaneously with the arrival in Utica of a future judge of the Supreme Court of the State, there came one who had just descended from the seat, and was about to reenter the ranks of practitioners at the bar. The honored name of Jonas Piatt has been already more than once mentioned in these sketches, and especially as the head of one of those families of Whitesboro, who, at an early period, helped, by their cultivation, their hos- pitable intercourse and their high-toned purity, to elevate the standing of their neighbors at Utica. The leading facts in his life are these : The son of Zephaniah Piatt of Poughkeepsie. he was born in that place, June 30. 1769. He studied law with Colonel Richard Varick of New York, and was admitted to practice in 1790. The same year he married Helen, daughter of Henry Livingston of Poughkeepsie, and sister of the wife of Arthur Breese, with whom he was soon to be associated in business. Early in 1791 he located in Whitesboro. seven years after its lirst settler, Hugh White, had planted his log cabin. On the 17th of February, in that year, he was appointed clerk of the count}^ of Herkimer, and held the oflfice until Oneida was set off from it, in 1798, and was also the first clerk of the new county. At the first court of record held within the pres- ent limits of Oneida, which was a term of the Herkimer Com- 668 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. mon Pleas, held in January 1794, he was clerk of the coui't ; and at the first term of Oneida Common Pleas, held in May 1798, he was placed on a committee to prepare rules for its guidance. In 1796 he represented the counties of Oneida and Onondaga in the State assembly. In the Sixth National Con- gress, that of 1799-1801, he represented the ninth district of New York. During the years 1810, '11, 12 and '13 he was State Senator from the Western District. His success as a can- didate for Senator, and the proof it afforded of his personal pop- ularity in the old Western District, which, until the previous election, had been considered the stronghold of democracy, or republicanism as it was then termed, led to his being selected as a candidate for Governor, in 1810. This election was sharply contested, and Mr. Piatt was defeated by his rival, Daniel D. Tompkins. His career in the Senate is memorable for the part he took in the first legislative action on the subject of the Erie Canal. The facts, as given in Eenwick's Life of DeWitt Clinton, are as follows : Thomas Eddy, on behalf of the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, visited Albany, in 1809, for the purpose of })rocuring the passage of a law authorizing the appointment of commissioners to explore a route for a canal from Oneida lake to Seneca river, with a view to the execution of the canal by that compan}^ To Mr. Piatt, as the acknowledged leader of the Federal party, and its nominated candidate for the office of Governor, he applied for his influence. Mr. Piatt, who knew the wants and wishes of the western part of the State better, perhaps, than any other person, and who had long considered the policy which the State ought to pursue in the premises, re- plied at once, " That the company had disappointed public ex- pectations, and that it would be inauspicious to present any project which should be subject to that corporation.'' As a sub- stitute, he pro]30sed a plan for instituting a board of commis- sioners to examine and survey the whole route from the Hud- son to Lake Ontario, and to Lake Erie also. Mr. 'E^ddy having been satisfied that this plan was to be preferred, it was agi-eed, on the suggestion of Mr. Piatt, to call into their councils De- Witt Clinton, who, at that moment, held a preponderating in- fluence with the Democratic party. The result of the interview with the latter was. that Piatt foilhwith presented in the Sen- THE THIRD CHARTER. 569 ate a resolution for the appointment of commissioners, and the resolution was seconded bj Clinton. By the aid of their joint ■efforts the resolution passed both houses, and the commissioners were named alternately from the two opposing parties. " We ■cannot but consider,'" remarks Kenwick, "that the public mind would have been more easily satisfied of the feasibility of the project, had Mr. Piatt permitted himself to be named on the commission. With his sound and steady judgment, it would have been impossible that any plan bearing imprac- ticability on its face" — as was true of the scheme entertained by one of the commissioners appointed, — " should have been laid before the public. Piatt, however, seems to have shrunk with innate modesty from assuming place on a commission es- tablished by a resolution which he himself had drawn. Here, therefore, all direct agenc}^ on his part in the canal policy of the State seems to have ceased ; yet he is well entitled to the merit of having made the first efficacious step towards the attainment of the great object of uniting the lakes with the Atlantic." In the year 1814, a judge of the Supreme Court was to be appointed in place of Smith Thompson, appointed Chief Justice. Mr. Piatt received the appointment. " He had at this time, says Hammond,* been in extensive practice, and though his talents were not brilliant, they were of a character highly respectable ; his morals were perfectly pure ; though he possessed a deep and intense tone of feeling, and a high sense of personal honor, he had acquired, apparently, an entire control over his passions ; his quiet and calm deportment indicated a contemplative and considerate mind, not liable to be hurried into the adoption of ill-adjusted plans, or to determjnations which might lead to actions indiscreet or ill-advised. His address was unobtrusive, modest and conciliatory. He had a high regard to courtesy and propriety, as well in respect to political conduct as in the pri- vate and social concerns of life." The opinions he delivered on the bench are represented as respectable, but never brilliant, nor distinguished for any depth of learning. He retained the seat until January 29, 1823, and was " constitutionalized out of office" by the constitution of 1821. He was a member of the convention that framed this constitution, and had opposed some * Political History. 570 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. of its features, by reason of which he was obnoxious to the party then in the ascendanc}-, and was rejected by the Senate when nominated by Governor Yates on the reorganization of the court. Upon his retirement from the bench, he took up his residence in (Jtica and resumed the practice of his profession, in company with his sen Zephaniah ; but within three or four years he removed to New York. There he prosecuted his pro- fession with all the industry of youth, and by his coolness and his candor, was often able to bear away the palm from abler yet more ardent competitors. He died at Peru, Clinton county, February 22, 1834. Judge Piatt was a finished gentleman. " He carried his cour- tesy at times," says Judge Bacon, "almost beyond the bounds required by the conventionalities of ordinary life, and a retort or a rebuke from his lips was conveyed in terms that had the similitude of, and might almost have been mistaken for a com- pliment." He was rather slender in person, with dark eyes and complexion ; quite thoughtful and dignified in demeanor, and somewhat reserved, in manner and speech. He had eight chil- dren, two sons and six daughters. Zephaniah Piatt, son of the preceding, after graduating at Ham- ilton College, in 1815, pursued his legal studies with his father, and united with him in practice. With him he removed to Utica, being at that time himself the head of a family, and with him he withdrew from the village. He lived subsequently in Detroit, and also in Jackson, Michigan. He was emploj'ed by the General Government in settling the complicated claims of the United States on the Pacific coast, and also served with dis- tinction as Attorney General of the State of Michigan. While in Jackson, he accumulated a handsome sum by supplying the State witli stone for the erection of its State prison, which was obtained from a ledge he owned. At the close of the late war he settled in Aikin, South CaroHna, and in 1868 was elected by the general assembly to the position of United States circuit judge of the second circuit of South Carolina. He died at Aikin, April 20, 1871, aged seventy-five. Though represented as a somewhat versatile character, and one who was competent to do more than he ever actually ach-ieved, yet it is said of him that in all the relations of life he won that credit which attaches to high integrity in the discharge of official duty. C^^^^^c^/. THE THIRD CHARTER. 571 Another lawyer whose professional life was closed ere he set- tled in Utica, was Thomas H. Hubbard, though he lived many years longer one of its most prominent and respected citizens. He was born at New Haven, Conn., December 8, 1781, and was the son of Kev. Bela Hubbard, D. D., first rector of Trinity Church in that city. He was educated at Yale College, where he graduated in the class of 1799. Soon after receiving his de- gree, he commenced the study of the law, in the office of John Woodworth of Troy, N. Y., afterwards judge of the Supreme Court. As soon as he was admitted to the bar, he settled in the practice of his profession at Hamilton in Madison county. His native talents and his thorough training won for him, ere long, an extensive business in that and the adjoining county of Che- nango. On the organization of Madison county, in 1806, he was appointed surrogate, and discharged its duties for about ten years. In 1816 he was made prosecuting attorney, next after Joseph Kirkland, for a district comprising several coun- ties, and in this capacity conducted some important criminal trials. As an accurate and intelligent business man he was unsurpassed, and as an advocate, those who knew him at that period represent him as able and effective. The same year he was elected to represent the then congressional district of Mad- ison and Herkimer in the Fifteenth Congress, and at a somewhat later period he was elected to serve the same district in the ses- sion of 1821-3. Hamilton is justly proud to claim him as one of her early law-givers, as well as efficient and honored pioneers. The period of Mr. Hubbard's removal to this county coincided with the organization of the courts under the constitution of 1822, and he was, in June 1823, appointed the first clerk of the Court of Chancery for this judicial district. This office he held but a short time, and was then selected for the office of clerk of the Supreme Court, which had become vacant by the death of Arthur Breese. The duties of this office he discharged with faithfulness until the year 1835. After his retirement from it he did not again engage in public employment, but devoted himself to the management of his now ample fortune. " It would seem as if the rude encounters of the legal forum could have been little congenial to the temperament of Mr. Hub- bard. His gentleness of disposition, and his liberal and char- itable habit of mind, must have rendered him averse to the 672 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. scenes of strife and contention inseparable from a life spent in the courts. No kinder or gentler spirit ever animated a mortal man. Governed by the most pure and virtuous intentions him- self, he was unwilling to believe evil of others, and always con- strued their motives in the most charitable sense. He was greatly respected by all, and those who knew him well were his warm and devoted friends. A marked feature in his character was his liberality towards religious and charitable objects. No reasonable appeal for such purposes was ever rejected by him, and his contributions were constant and large. He was made a vestryman of Trinity at the first Easter after his arrival, and he continued from that day forward to be a conspicuous and shining pillar in the spiritual edifice." He was a trustee of the Utica Academy, as he had been one of the founders of that of Hamilton, as well as of the college of that name. While residing in the latter place, he was one of the electors who cast their vote for James Madison, in 1812. He was twice chosen to the same ofiice from this county, on the occasion of the elections of Mi'. Polk and Greneral Pierce. His home was the house on Chancellor square, built and occu- pied by James Lynch, and there he died, May 21, 1857. Mrs. Hubbard, his wife, was an intelligent lady of gentle and win- ning manners and lovely character. Of his rather numerous family there survive Bela of Detroit, Frederick of New York, Mrs, John Stryker of Eome, Mrs. Edwin C. Litchfield of New York, Eobert J. of Cazenovia. Mrs. S. G. Wolcott, Mrs. E. Darwin Litchfield and three brothers are deceased. Two sons of Major Benjamin Hinman, brought up in the vil- lage, were at this time engaged in the practice of law. William A. was admitted to the bar in August 1823 ; his brother, John Jay, a year or two previous. They occupied an office together, and continued in practice until about 1835, when they removed to Springfield, Illinois. William A. was much interested in military matters, and rose to the rank of brigadier general of militia. An honored minister of the Welsh church came at this time from his native country, in response to an invitation of the Welsh Congregational Church of LTtica, and after serving for over nine THE THIKD CHARTER. 573 years as its pastor, continued to spend within the county a life of much usefuhiess as a preacher and a writer. Kev. Kobert Everett was born January 2, 1791, at the village of Gronant in Flintshire. Uniting with the church at the age of seventeen, he began to preach almost immediately, but soon entered Wrex- ham University and completed a course of study. In 1815 he became pastor of the Congregational Church of Denbigh, one of the oldest and most flourishing of the Principality. The purity of his character and the earnestness of his ministry, combined with his scholarship, caused him to be beloved and admired by his own people, and extended his reputation throughout Wales. After the lapse of fifty years, this church showed that they still cherished his memory by addressing him an affec- tionate letter. His standing here was not less elevated, and his labors fruitful of good. His course was quiet and undemonstra- tive, but marked by seriousness and unfaltering energy. Zealous in devotion to his charge, he received large accessions to its num- bers, and at the same time he was in harmony with the other evangelical clergy, and took full part in public reforms and in general schemes of benevolence. He was not eloquent, but rather diffident in the pulpit ; though the inspiration of his theme made him impressive and pleasing. His convictions were strong, and in presenting the most abstruse of subjects he was so largely sympathetic as always to be near to those he ad- dressed. He was an active advocate of temperance, and the first Welsh society to advance this cause, that was formed in Utica, was created through his instrumentality. He was a consistent abolitionist, and in the history of that struggle his name deserves an honorable place. In the Welsh Bible Society he took an eflicient part and was many years its president. Though his residence in Utica was comparatively brief, his labors have been continued in the vicinity until a recent period ; and his influ- ence upon his people"has been considerable and always for their good. He relinquished his charge in the fall of 1832, and after supplying for a time the pulpit of the Second Presbyterian Church, then vacated by the departure of Rev. Dr. Lansing, he was settled over an English church at West Winfield. Thence he removed to Westernville, and in April 1838, became pastor of the Welsh Congregational Church of Steuben, a relation which lasted for thirty-six years, and where, when the infirmi- 674 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. ties of age debarred him from the complete performance of his pastoral duties, he was aided hj the appointment of an as- sistant. It is, however, by his literary labors that he has been most useful to his people at large. Before he came to this country he published a little book for the use of Sunday schools which obtained much ])opularity. In January 1840, he issued the first number of a monthly periodical, which was printed for a time by R W. Eoberts in this city, but which has for many years been issued from his residence in Steuben. " Himself a chaste and forcible writer, his influence has been great in developing the literary tastes of the Welsh people, and the stern integrity and love of justice which he infused into the magazine have been of incalculable benefit." He also republished a number of Welsh books, and at various times has sent out papers in advo- cacy of special reforms. His hymn book has passed through several editions. " The denomination to which he belonged has, by common consent, given him the first place in its councils ; his advice has always been respectfully heard and generally followed. Among his ministerial brethren, men almost as old as himself have looked up to him as a father, and have venerated him as one who seemed to breathe a purer atmosphere than is given to other men." Mr. Everett passed away, at his home in Steuben, February 25, 1875, in his eighty-fifth year. He re- ceived the degree of D. D. from Hamilton College, in 1861. He was the father of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, all of whom, except two of his sons, survive him, as does also his wife, who was Elizabeth Eoberts of Denbigh, and sister of Henry Eoberts of this city. Energy and will have made a large share of the marked men of the world's history, and without these qualities few have at- tained distinction. What is true in the wide field of universal history, is none the less true in the more limited range of a town or neighborhood : a determined and persistent will, when directed by intelhgence, practical sense, and integrity of pur- pose, is sure to gain influence and power. Few within the compass of our annals had more of these traits than Alfred Munson. He was in every sense the architect of his own for- tune. Though he did not possess the advantages of a finished education, he had native talents of a high order, and he exerted jne^T^-^--^ THE THIRD CHARTER. 575 them for higli aiad useful ends. Coming hither with slender means he worked his way to a leading place among the men of business of Utica, and while enriching himself by his operations, he was not unmindful of the public interest, and accomplished much to enrich and to advance the place of his adoption. He was the son of Ephraim and Hannah (Wetmore) Munson of Barhamstead, Litchfield county, Conn., the grandson of Sam- uel Munson of Northford, New Haven county, and is believed to have been a descendant of Lieutenant Thomas Monson, the first of the name in this country, and one of the signers of the Plantation Covenant of New Haven. He was born at Barham- stead, May 21, 1793. His father was a farmer and miller, and while Kving at home the son was engaged in the same occupa- tions. For about fifteen years after his removal to Utica, in 1823, he was occupied with the manufacture of burr-millstones, and the sale of these and other articles used in milling. His first shop was in the basement of the Kirkland block, on Lib- erty and Hotel streets, whence he soon removed to the east side of Washington street, where it is crossed by the canal. To his pursuit he devoted himself with unceasing industry, employ- ing at the outset but a small number of men, and enlarging his business by degrees, until it came to be the chief dependence of millers throughout an extensive range of country. An early associate was Martin Hart, who remained in connection with him, as book-keeper, partner or executor of his estate, upwards of forty years. From boyhood, Mr. Munson had been frail of constitu- tion, and he was much of his time a sufferer from bodily infirm- ity. But his mind was unusually active and clear. Joined to sound sense and prudence, to a penetrative and discriminating judgment, he had sagacity to conceive and boldness and wisdom to plan. He was not a hasty or inconsiderate man, and was little apt to come to conclusions without deep reflection. He was eminently calculating, and exceedingly nice in his calcula- tions, and his long-sightedness was almost of a prophetic char- acter. His plans, when thus matured, needed only the will in execution, his most conspicuous and commanding trait, to over- come every obstacle and ensure success. Qualities such as these naturally sought a wider scope for their exercise than was afforded by the calling in which he was at first employed. Moreover he was influenced by purity as well as vigor of pur- 576 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. pose, and was liberal-minded and public-spirited in his aims. He loved to engage in large but strictly legitimate enterprises of business, and especially in such as tended to promote the welfare and prosperity of the community in which he lived. No matter how vast or complicated the undertaking, after it had once been weighed by his clear mind and pronounced feas- ible, his resolute determination, constant watchfulness over de- tails, and quiet but unwavering self-reliance, invariably guided it to a fortunate issue. This rare combination of business ele- ments in his character lent ?l prestige of success to every scheme in which he embarked, and in the various corporate enterprises of the day his name was naturally "a tower of strength." The list is a long one of the many public projects in which he participated, as well as of the positions of responsibility and honor he was called to iill. For several years he was engaged in the transportation of passengers by the canal, and by steam- ers on Lake Ontario, and was trustee and treasurer of the Ontario and St. Lawrence Steamboat Company, until within a few weeks of his death. He took a prominent part in the building of the Utica and Schenectady Railroad, as he did also in those of the Syracuse and Utica, and the Syracuse and Oswego roads. Of the first named he was a director from 1834 until about 1844. He was active in the construction of the Utica and Binghamton, which followed very nearly the course of a State road that he, as one of a commission appointed by the State, had laid out thirty years before. And of this railway company he was president at the time of his decease. No one has done more than Mr. Munson in promoting the manufacturing interests of Utica. For he was the early and, by the application of his means, the efficient advocate of introducing and testing the value of steam power in the making of cotton and woolen goods. And he was called to the presidency of both of the original boards who managed the Steam Cotton and the Globe Woolen Mills, Of the Water Works Company also, the Mechanics' Associa- tion and the Female Academy, he was one of the instigators and early managers. Over the Oneida Bank he w^as summon- ed to preside when it was suffering from difficulties which it incurred at its opening. For seventeen years he held the office, and to his efforts and supervision that institution has been greatly indebted for its prosperous condition. From the incip- THE THIED CHARTER 577 iency of the New York State Lunatic Asjlum he was a mana- ger and chief of the board of managers ; from 1842 until his decease was its devoted friend, and much rehed on by his asso- ciates for his discernment and wisdom of counseh Outside of Utica, he was interested in a real estate company called the Canton, whose headquarters were at Baltimore, and of this he was likewise the head. At the same time he was individually engaged in the manufacture of iron at that place, as he was afterwards busied in the establishment of works of similar pur- pose at Clinton in this county. Another of his private enter- prises was the purchase of a coal field in Pennsylvania. Though not made from speculative motives, but rather forced upon him by the necessity of saving himself from loss, and though un- productive in any degree for more than twenty-six years, and a constant drain upon his estate, its subsequent enhancement in value has justified in the end the wisdom of the continuance of this investment. For having secured it, he foresaw its ulti- mate value as a field for future business, and enjoined upon his successors that they should continue to hold it. From the foregoing enumeration of his business engagements it will be seen that he had no idle moments, that he performed an amount of labor which has few parallels. Never idle him- self nor allowing the products of his industry to be idle, he kept them in constant circulation for the benefit of himself and others, and insisted that no man should retire from busi- ness simply because he has enough to live on. His adminis- trative powers were remarkable, and were characterized by a thoroughness of detail that seemed almost incompatible with the fertility and comprehensiveness of his designs. Whatever he engaged in seemed exclusively to occupy him, and yet he was constantly and variously occupied ; and he pursued his en- terprises with as much efficiency as usually attends those who are absorbed in but one. Being a close observer of men and things, and endowed with a penetration of judgment which rarely failed him in its results, he had also, and as a conse- quence, an assured confidence in himself and in his ability to rightly estimate others. And if these qualities made him un- hesitating in the assumption of responsibility, and even averse to any opposition to his opinion or his plans, they were, in gen- eral, exerted calmly and without offence. His associates, while N 1 578 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. valuing his judgment and his sense, and ready to avail them- selves of his resolution in act, accorded him without dissent the authority he naturally exercised. In the bank and in the factories his opinion was rarely questioned, and he was allowed to choose the officers from the highest to the lowest. His wide- spread business relations did not obscure or blunt his noble personal characteristics. Though he acquired a large fortune, no one ever suspected him of being avaricious, or charged him with dealings that were not in accordance with the strictest integrity and a due regard to the rights and interests of others. He loved to succeed in whatever he undertook, but it was more for the sake of success than for the sake of gain, and because, too, he realized the value of money to those concerned in large enterprises for the public good. He knew how to feel for the poor and took pleasuie in furnishing them with opportunities of employment and the means of livelihood. He cheerfully contributed to aid tlie cause of religion and of education, and to relieve the needy and afflicted. For the accomplishment of these objects, he not only gave liberally of his wealth, but be- stowed time and personal effort. As a master he was exacting and firm in what he thought were reasonable demands, yet ex- hibited always a kindly interest towards those in his employ- ment. A gentleman in his tastes and feelings, and finding his level among persons of education and of standing, he was yet loyal to his liumbler friends and to his early surroundings. As a rule he tlionght well of his fellows, was capable of placing unlimited confidence in those with whom he was especially associated, and of forming the firmest attachments. At the same time he had his dislikes as well; his convictions were strong and not easily changed, and if once he had reason to withdraw his confidence in any quarter, he was not inclined to renew it. While believing that success would follow effort, other things being equal, he did not judge men solelj' by their power of pecuniary acquisition, but rather by tlie worthy and manly qualities they exhibited in obtaining their wealth. And while willing to help those who were honestly striving to help themselves, he numbered among his friends, and his beneficia- ries, many who, through misfortune rather than fault, lacked the power to accumulate. Immersed as he was in a multiplicity of cares, it cannot be imagined that he found time for general, and THE THIRD CHARTER. 579 especially merely entertaining, reading. Bat his information was varied and accurate, his power of mental concentration and his retentive memorj^ making it easy for him to gather knowl- edge. He read the daily journals with faithfulness and kept up an intelligent interest m public affairs, and as far as news- papers and conversance with men are a means of culture, he availed himself of them and profited b}^ them in a more than ordinary degree. In politics he was originally a democrat, but joined the barn-burner division of his party in 184S, and before his death became a determined abolitionist. The only political office he ever held was that of supervisor in 1832 and '33. Although benevolence was unquestionably a characteristic of Mr. Munson, he yet refrained from inconsiderate giving. He was anxious, with respect to his benefactions, as with his business enterprises, that they should be conducted on right principles, and so as to secure the best results. Furthermore, while ready to do his own part towards a good work of general interest, he thought it equally a duty to urge others to do theirs, and to sway them by influence as well as example. And if his insistance ex- posed him at times to the suspicion of dictation, it was based on a just estimate of the feasibility of the work and the resources at command : he could rightly gauge the means of his associates, and yet be more hberal in the measure of his own. Among the benevolent schemes which engaged his later years, was the construction of an edifice for the parish of Grace Church, with which he had been for some 3'ears connected, and of wdiich he was a vestrj'man. Finding, in 184:7, that there was a disposi- tion in the congregation, as there evidently was a necessitj^, to erect such a structure, he was forward and earnest in the pro- ject. Early in 1851, some three years before his death, twelve gentlemen of the parish having purchased the lot on which the present edifice stands, he procured plans and elevations from Eichard Upjohn, the most eminent ecclesiastical architect of his day, and who, it was generally understood by the vestry, should be consulted. With him Mr. Munson matured these plans with great care, leaving nothing overlooked to make the building complete. Nearly a year and a half before his death, he secured and vested in his own name the title to the lot, the gentleman who had previously held the title with him having relinguished it because of their discouragement at the delays experienced in 580 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. the prosecution of the subscription that had been set on foot to build the cliurch. In the meantime, and in the course of its- circulation, Mr. Munson died, though not without making provision for the accomplishment of his kind intentions towards the parish. By his will he bequeathed ten thousand dollars towards purchasing a lot and erecting a church edifice thereon, one thousand dollars for improving the grounds, one thousand dollars for the erection of a Sunday school room in the rear of the church, five hundred dollars for a Sunday school library, fifteen hundred dollars for an organ, five hundred dollars for a church bell, and five hundred dollars for church furniture, on condition that the parish should, within two years, raise at least an equal amount for like purposes, or if this were insufficient, such further sum as might be necessary for the completion of the church according to the plans and specifications of Mr, Upjohn. Another object which received most substantial aid from his generosity was the Utica Orphan Asylum. To it he bequeathed the sum of five thousand dollars towards the erec- tion of a new and suitable building, and the sum of twenty-five thoilsand dollars to be securely invested, the income of which should be forever applied to the support and maintenance of the asylum, together with lands in Pennsylvania, valued at four thousand dollars ; on condition that the citizens of Utica should raise and apply the sum of ten thousand dollars towards the purchase of three acres of ground within the city, and towards the erection of the building. Both of the above mentioned erections were accomplished in consequence and by the aid of these munificent gifts, the conditional obligations which the tes- tator had imposed having the effect, as he desired, to stimulate others to perfect the amounts that were requisite. In the case of Grace Church, however, the original legacy represents but a moiety of what it has received from the heirs and representa- tives of the estate of Mr. Munson. For the parish, finding it difficult to obtain a subscription which should entitle it to the first part of the legacy, — the ten thousand dollars, namely, given for the purchase of the lot and the erection of the church accord- ing to the specified plan, — relinquislied its latter part with the consent of these representatives, and afterward received from them a subscription of a like sum towards this church edifice. This, with later gifts from the same source, towards the comple- THE THIRD CHAKTER. 581 tion of tlie tower and its equipment with a cliime of bells, and for other purposes, has raised the whole amount which the church has received from the estate and from its heirs individ- ually, to thirty-one thousand five hundred dollars. The whole amount left by Mr. Munson for charitable and religious pur- poses, and in remembrance of remote relations, was understood to be not less than sixty thousand dollars, or fully one-tenth of his estate. It remains only to be said that Mr. Munson was grave and earnest in his habit of mind, yet not without a sense of humor; was social in his tastes, and in manners unaffected ; he was tall and rather slight of figure, with an expression of intelligence and refinement. It has been said that he was frail of constitu- tion ; he experienced also several attacks of long and severe ill- ness. Yet his determination, added to his temperate habits and his constant employment, both physical and mental, availed much to sustain him. He was finally overcome by pulmonary consumption, the dreaded disease that had threatened him throughout his life-time, and he died May 6, 1854. Although he suffered greatly, his intellect remained clear and unaffected. He contemplated his departure with calmness and resignation, and died in the communion of the church, and in the confident hope of a blessed immortality. His wife, who was Elizabeth, daughter of Asahel and Ruth (Hart) Munson of Northford, Conn., had the same grandparents with her husband. Retired and home-loving in her tastes, her characteristics were conscientiousness, independence, refinement, industry, economy, particularity, a modest estimate of herself, and a moderate ambition. She survived until September 14, 1870. They left one son, Samuel A., who occupies the house that was built and occupied by his father, on the corner of Fayette street, and Broadway, and one daughter, Helen E., widow of J. Watson Williams. Reference has already been made to the efforts of J. Parker & Co. to neutralize the zealous labors of a runner in the service of their rivals, by bringing into the field the equally stirring John Butterfield. This John Butterfield, who was born at Berne, in the Helderberg near Albany, November 18, 1801, was in the employment of Thorpe & Sprague of that city, as a driver, 582 THE FIOMEEES OF UTICA. wlieu Mr. Faxtoii went down in search of a person suited to the needs of the company, and brought him to Utica. His busi- ness at first was to frequent the taverns and boats and pick up passengers for Parker's stages. He proved equal to his duties, and thoroughly identified himself with the success of the line. After a time, he met at the Canal Coffee House, a trav- eller wishing to part with his horse and his one-horse convey- ance. These he bought and inaugurated a livery. To it he added as his means admitted, and after his marriage kept also a boarding house. Such were the beginnings of a life of great activity and enter- j)rise, and which was bound up with most of the different kinds of transportation now practiced. For in every means under- taken to increase the facilities of travel and intercommunica- tion, John Butterfield was for a generation one of the foremost of the citizens of Utica. His livery grew until it became, what it has since continued to be, the leading one of the place. The connection with Parker & Co. lasted so long as they were still in business, and was succeeded by important lines of his own, wherein he was a leading manager in the State, until staging- was superseded by railroads. He had his share, too, in the packet boats, and then in the steam boats on Lake Ontario. He gave his earnest personal efforts to create the companies, and raise the funds required, for the construction of some of the plank roads leading out of the city, and was the originator of its street railroads. His labors w^ere arduous in stirring up the citizens to the importance of roads to the north and to the south; and to him is Utica largely if not pi'incipally indebted for the Black River, and both of the southern Railways. He was among the first who realized how a lucrative business could be formed by the ra})id transportation of such articles as could afford to pay express charges; and he became an early director in the Express Company. To him as much as to any other individual, say the resolutions of the board, was due the high reputation which this company obtained in conmiercial circles throughout the country, as well as the success that has attended it. In that organization he remained a directing power until the close of his life, and reaped from it a Im'ge pecuniary profit. He was also among the first to appreciate tlie capacities of the electric telegraph, and immediately upon the practical adaptation THE THIKD CHARTER. 58S of the invention be joined with Messrs. Faxton, Wells, Living- ston and others in the establishment of the New York, Albany and Buffalo Telegraph Company. His faith followed upon his sagacity, and he steadily urged and aided in the extension of lines and companies. He assisted likewise in putting in oper- ation the Overland Mail route, the precursor of the Pacific Kail- roads, and which did much to demonstrate the importance of a continuous connection between the Atlantic and the Pacific States. Having long been a mail contractor, he had the expe- rience and practical knowledge essential for the execution of the work. Besides his part in the various operations above referred to, Mr. Butterfield was a director in the Utica City National Bank, and was interested in other stock companies and business undertakings. At the same time he invested largely in city property, Avhile his cultivated land in the vicinity covers no inconsiderable space. The Butterfield House and the Gardner block are among the handsome edifices which he planned and built, and which have added materially to the city of his residence. On taking possession of the laud on the New Hartford road on a portion of which his late residence now stands, he extended his operations in farming, already carried on to a limited extent, on Pleasant street. And, until the time when he was stricken down by disease, he conducted them with the same unflagging spirit that characterized all his transactions, and with a liberality in the means expended which surprised by its results. Of the State Agricultural Society he was an efficient officer and an unwavering friend. " His mission in life was business. . His enterprises were under- taken for material profit, and while they were successful as such, the}' proved at the same time of great public advantage. Much of what has been accomplished of recent je-Avs in developing the resources of the neighborhood and in making Utica what it is, bears the impress of his organizing genius and restless enter- ])rise." For these were the qualities which marked his char- acter. He owed nothing to scholastic education, and it may be doubted whether books could have better fitted him for his career as a man of action and a promoter of material under- takings. Nor had he that degree of intelligent foresight which enabled him in advance of others to conceive of the possible good wrapped up in an untested scheme. But he was prompt 584 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. to avail himself of the inventiveness of others. A scheme un- folded and what it could accomplish once exhibited, he was quick to note its bearings and remoter tendencies, and ready in plan and action to grasp success while as 3^et practicability was talked of. This success he achieved by careful insight and minute attention to detail, wherein he was aided by a memory wonderfully retentive, by a strong and enduring will, by the contagious influence his determination exerted upon others, beai'ing them along in the current of his own enthusiasm, and by an energy that was balked by no obstacle, and never asked for rest. These it was, — untiring activity, undaunted persis- tence, rigid supervision and a control over others, — which form- ed the chief source of his supei'iorit}', and fitted him to do so much in associated as in private works. Such confidence had ]\[i-. Butterfield inspired by the generally prosperous results of his operations, so accurate was deemed his insight in his pecul- iar field, and so many were the instances in which his advance led on others to the improvement of their fortunes, that his ap- j)roval and cooperation in a scheme were apt to be deemed con- clusive of its merit. His reputation was extended and his re- lations intimate with capitalists in distant parts of the country, who were glad to avail themselves of his capacity and energy^ While engaged in staging he was, for some time aided by the skillful indoor management of James V. P. Gardner and others. But in the most of his varied transactions he trusted little to book-keepers, and such of his business as he did not carry in his head he carried in loose papers in his hat. It was an error for which he suffered deeply. Such continued mental tension with never a moment of relaxation, detached from one pursuit only to be fastened to another, and without even a book in which to coil away his cares and relieve the burdened memory, was a strain that no mind could support. He yielded for a time and was wholly withdrawn from active life. Returning health found him as busy as ever and as intent on his multi- farious projects. He took but little part in jollities, and was never an office-seeker. By the Republicans of 1865, he was elected mayor of Utica, and in the same year was the unsuc- cessful candidate of the Democrats for tlie^ office of Senator of the county. In October 1867, Mr. Butterlicld was stricken with paralysis in New York City, and after a little was brought home, the THE THIRD CHARTER. 585 wreck of his former self. He lingered until the 14th of Novem- ber, 1869. The large attendance at his funeral indicated that the loss sustained had not been felt most by any particular class. The representatives of wealth, intelligence, business cir- cles and labor, gathered side b}^ side. He had been brought into contact with all of them, and toward all was courteous, kind and faithful. Leaders in material development valued him and were dependent on him. Yet few men of his position and influence could number among his personal friends so large a number of the laboring class. The sti-eet cars were draped in black, and the City Hall bell counted the minutes until the remains were consigned to the vault. Mr. Butterfield was married when about twenty-one, and besides his widow left six surviving children. These are three sons and three daughters, viz. : Theodore F. and John of TJtica, Daniel, Major General and late Asistant Treasurer of the United States at New York, Mrs. James B. Van Vorst, and Mrs. Alex- ander Holland of New York, and Mrs. William M. Storrs of this city. Succeeding to Charles C. Brodhead, in the ofhce of village sur- veyor, there was appointed, in 1824, Holmes Hutchinson, who had arrived during the present year. He was the son of Amaziah and a descendant of Eleazar Hutchinson, who came to America from England, in 1632. He was born at Port Dickinson near Binghamton, January 5, 1794, but was brought up at Genoa, on Cayuga lake. His professional training he acquired on the Erie canal, having been appointed an engineer in 1819. In this position he acted until the year 1835, when he was made chief engineer, performing the duties of this office during the period of the enlargement of the canal, until 1841. He surveyed and made maps for the Erie and Champlain canals, the Oswego, the Black Kiver, the Chenango, Crooked Lake and the Chemung, completing the latter canal for an amount much less than his estimates. His plans of locks on the Chenango were adopted and those he made for the double enlarged locks on the Erie were used as a basis in its construction. He had charge also of the Cumberland and Oxford canal in Maine, and the Blackstone in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and was frequently em- ployed in locating and defining valuable tracts of land in Oneida 586 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. and other counties of the State. He likewise projected a scheme for the improvement of the harbor of Oswego, and this, though it was deemed impracticable and rejected, was, at a later period, successfully carried out by the Delaware, Lackawanna & West- ern Eailroad Company. He was one of the directors of the Utica & Syracuse Railroad, and remained so until its consolida- tion with the New York Central ; and was, too, a director in the Syracuse & Oswego Railroad, of which company he was some years president. In the Ontario & St. Lawrence Steam- boat Company and in the Bank of Utica, Mr. Hutchinson had also a managing interest. He was possessed of stirring enterprise and energy ; his percep- tions were clear and his judgment careful. Without rashness, he was far-seeing, and confident of the resources and progress of the country. In his discrimination of men and their capacities he was_ accurate and knew how to choose the best. When chief engi- neer he drew into his service a corps of such competent assistants as Orville W. Story, Squire Whipple, John B. and Frederick C. Mills, Edward Huntington, J. Piatt Goodsell, Aurelian Conk- ling, Henry S. Dexter, Edward H. Tracy, John C. Hoadley, Francis F. Curry, &c. In his office, on Bleecker street, were drawn up all the plans and specifications for the whole line of the enlarged canal. Quiet in demeanor, courteous in speech, with a pleasant smile and cheerful word for every one, Mr. Hutchinson attracted all with whom he came in contact; who, when they knew his integrity and his sense, were brought to accord him their respect and esteem. His death, which was sudden, took place February 21, 1865. His widow, who was Maria A. Webster of Fort Plain, still lives in Utica. His chil- dren are Charles W., Dr. Edwin and Dr. Frederick E. of Utica, Mrs. Per Lee of Norwich, and Mrs. Lintner of Schenectady. Allusion has been made heretofore in these sketches to Hugh White, the first settler of the immense region that once bore his name. On the coming to Utica, at this time, of one of his de- scendants to take up his lot with the inhabitants of the place, it is proper that we advert briefly to this primitive settler, his parentage and his family. The first of the Whites of America was Elder John White, who arrived at Boston in the ship Lyon, in 1632. He settled in Massachusetts, but in 1836 removed to THE THIRD CHARTER. 587 Connecticut, and became one of the proprietors of Hartford. From thence the family were disseminated, and have become exceedingly numerous. Those of the name included within the first three generations are four thousand, and the descend- ants of all names at present number seventy-eight thousand. Hugh White, who was of the fifth generation, was from Mid- dletown, and was born in 1733. He came to this new country in the spring of 1784, with four sons, and in the following Jan- uary brought the remainder of his family. Their experiences, their privations and trials, and their ultimate success in founding a colony, have been fully related elsewhere and belong to the history of the county or of Whitestown. Details may be found in Jones' " Annals of Oneida County," and in the lectures of William Tracy on "The Men and Events of Oneida County." The second of the sons of Hugh White was Joseph, who was born at Middletown, January 16, 1761, married Miss Buckley of Wethersfield, about two years before setting out for a home in the wilderness, and was at this latter period the father of a daughter. Nearly four years afterward, on the 8th of February, 1788, was born to him the son Henr\^, of whom I now proceed to speak. Brought up on his father's farm and under circumstances which afforded few facilities for intellectual improvement, he had only the spare opportunities of a few winters' schooling to obtain all the education such a country school could give him. Ambitious to better his condition, he embraced every occasion to improve himself. For special services he rendered during the political campaign of 1804, when, as the bearer of dispatches^ documents and votes, he rode long distances through forests and along rough paths, he was promised a cadetship at West Point; but it was a promise that was not kept, and the country failed of the courage, determined energy and prompt execution of one who would have made a capital soldier. He became a clerk for William Gr. Tracy, and with other clerks he slept in the store. To his surprise, he found, one morning on rising, that his hands were daubed with ink, and naturally inferred that it was done by one of his companions. When told by one of them that he had probably done it himself, he examined his desk and found it covered with writing in a hand like his own, yet greatly improved on that which he usually wrote. Such 588 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. was his anxiety to mend liis chirography that his efforts had not ended with the day, but had caused him to rise in his sleep and continue to practice. Returning to the farm he married, in 1815, Miss Julia Bidwell of Farmington, Conn. On the organ- ization, in 1823, of the packet company, of which Ezekiel Bacon was the head, Mr. White was invited by the judge, whose confidence he had won by his efficiency in matters of politics, to take charge of its interests, and he came to live at Utica for such purpose. The superintendency of the packets was a posi- tion of much labor and care. Besides the duties in the office, a good deal was to be done outside, in the hiring of men and horses, the providing of furniture and supplies, and in the gen- eral management and direction. There was need, too, of con- siderable travel by reason of the great distances traversed by the boats and the slowness of their movements, steam and elec- tricity not yet rendering their aid to lighten such supervisory labors. But this officer was vigilant and pains-taking, and un- der his management the company prospered. His share in the stock gradually increased, and its earnings made him, in time, independent in his means. Having determined that, when he had accumulated a certain sum he would retire, he kept faith with himself and withdrew from the business, at a time when he felt confident that in ten years more he would have quadru- pled his savings. In his later years, while retaining his home in the city, he busied himself in looking after a farm in Whites- boro. Mr. White was close and sharp in a bargain, inflexible in will, austere and dignified, 3'et kind and child-like in the sim- plicity of his manners, charitable where he felt that charity was called for, and generous to those he loved, independent in his judgment, a hater of hyj^ocrisy, cant or aft'ectation, and a stick- ler for justice ; to be just himself, to exact it fi'om others, and to expose the unjust, were life-long duties. In his later years, his residence was on Broad street, a few doors east of the Grouse block. His wife died many years before him — July 27, 1841. His own death took place September 17, 1860. Some of their children died in infancy or childhood. Those who reached adult years, were Harriet Maria, (Mrs. E. G. Peckham,) now of Toledo, Ohio; Jane A. (Mrs. H. Seymour Lansing) of Philadelphia, and Sarah Eliza, (Mrs. Henry Malsom,) who died February 25, 1648. THE THIRD CHAKTER. 589 Chester Griswold, who came from Cooperstown, to be captain of one of the packet-boats, was afterwards inspector and weigher of boats at the office on Schuyler street, and then for some 3^ears weigh-master at the weigh-lock, opposite the big basin. At the former place, the weight was determined bj finding the quantity of water that was displaced when the boats were let into a narrow basin, already gauged. The first hydrostatic lock was constructed in 1824. It was not until 1829 that this archimedean process gave way to the modern one of placing the boat on a cradle, and balancing it by weights on the oppo- site side of the scale ; and it was with difficulty that the archi-^ tect himself realized how light a weight sufficed when applied through a combination of levers to over-balance so bulky an object. This architect at Utica, whether the inventor or not, we are unable to say, was Ezra Brainerd of Eome. Captain Griswold was a respected citizen, and at one time alderman from the first ward, his home being on Broad street. His sons were Chester A., Horace E., Whiting and Elias, most of whom died young. A daughter became the wife of Captain Wessells of the United States army. An influence of the canal that was manifested near at home, liere deserves our notice. The Mohawk river being now aban- doned for purposes of navigation, the thought of making it available for other uses took possession of the public mind. It had been proposed the previous season to construct a dam at Utica, and thus create hydraulic power. Some opposition arose, and there was a newspaper discussion upon the probable evils that might ensue from interrupting the course of the stream. A public meeting was called of those friendly to the project, though of its proceedings we are uninformed. Despite all op- position, an act was obtained from the Legislature, in 1823, a dam was thrown across the river in September, two or three rods below the bridge, and a mill erected for the grinding of flour with three run of stone. The dam was erected by Wil- liam Alverson for the proprietors, Messrs. Parker & Seymour. The first miller employed not succeeding to the satisfaction of the owners, Ira D. Hopkins was, at the end of three months, engaged to run the mill, and he continued to do so while it w^as in operation. But, ere long, parties owning property on the 590 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. river, some miles above, complained that their land was flooded by the setting back of the water, to the height, as they alleged, of fmir feet. A suit was brought against the mill owners; and, although it proved, unsuccessful, it impaired the popularity and the custom of the mill, so that when a second suit was after- wards begun, they anticijiated its verdict by giving up their enterprise. This was about 1829. Mr. Hopkins removed to Delta, but came back some years later, and conducted the City Mill, east of Third street until near the close of his life, in 1865. Mr. Hopkins was the father of our present postmaster, Charles H. Hopkins, and his brothers, William E., Dr. Ira D. and L. W. Hopkins. About the year 1823, the Messrs. Devereux began to do business on the present site of the Devereux block, while con- tinuing their stand on the square. At the same time, they took one of their clerks into partnership, and added "& Co." to the name of Devereux. This "& Co." represented Horace Butler. He was a native of Middletown, Conn., born about the year 1792, and had already been a merchant in New Hartford before he removed to Utica, in 1821. The firm was changed on the 26th of March, 1826, to that of Builer, O'Connor & Co., and was made to consist of Horace Butler, Patrick O'Connor and James McDonough. A few years later the proprietors were Butler, McDonough & Co., Mr. O'Connor having died, and his place being supplied by Van Vechten Livingston, another some- time clerk in the house. These firms were forwarding and commission merchants, and wholesale dealers in merchandise, their store being situated where now stands the Devereux block, and their warehouse on the site of the present Empire block. About 1837, Mr. Butler was overtaken by illness which affected his mind, and was for six months an inmate of the Bloomingdale Asylum. On his recovery, he went into the trade of groceries with Francis Wright, on the corner of Fay- ette and Genesee ; and a little later, that is to say about 1889, while still a grocer, he re-enlisted in forwarding at his former stand, but now in company with Samuel Farwell. A renewed attack of insanity drove him again to the asylum, and he never entered upon any employment afterward, but died at the house of Mr. Farwell, March 20, 1851. Mr. Butler's characteristics THE THIRD CHARTEE. 591 were an amiable and affectionate temper, a modest and retiring disposition, a fair share of enterprise and business skill, com- bined with a high order of integrity. He was rarely in ofl&ce, yet needed not official position to enhance the respect univer- sally accorded him. His children were James L., now in France, Horace, Mary (Mrs. Frisbie of Detroit) and Charles W. of Brook- lyn. His widow resides with her daughter, in Detroit. A native of New Hartford, who came to Utica from Jordan, in Onondaga county, was Charles Morris, a forwarding mer- chant and commission broker. His stand was below the canal, on the same side with the preceding. He continued forwarding until the fall of 1827, when he sold out to the longer-during house of Thorn & Curtiss, and became a merchant. Mr. Morris was an active business person, and by reason of this and his genuine worth of character, stood well in the community. He was a director in the Bank of Utica and an exemplary wor- shipper in the Presbyterian Church. About 1833, he went back to Jordan. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Colton of Pompey. The residence of Harvey F. Beach was but transient, for, in 1825, he went away to be married, was taken very ill, and was married on his death-bed. In 1824, profiting by the enthusiasm so rife at the time, he advei'tised La Fayette gloves. La Fayette belts, Clinton and the grand canal vestings, Jackson, the hero of New Orleans, handkerchiefs, and other taking-titled goods. His partner was Ezekiel Bacon, who furnished the capital. His son, Francis Bacon, was a clerk in the establishment and subse- quently was engaged in business in the city of New York, where he still resides, having retired from active life, with a comfort able indepfendence and gracing his later days with many acts of unostentatious benevolence. Among the stoutly-built and quick-succeeding landlords of the York House, the paragon of bulk was Henry E. Dwight. He was in height over six feet, weighed three hundred and six- ty-five pounds, and was six feet six inches in girtti about the waist. A native of Northampton, Mass., and son of Major Tim- othy Dwight of that place, he had lived several years in this State ; 592 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. had kept a publig bouse at Manlius, and afterward at Ithaca. In April 1823, he opened " the elegant and commodious'' hotel above named, but kept it only a year, for he died in May 1824. He was remarkable for the buoyancy of his spirits, and abounded in humor and in fun. Dealing once with a penurious man who stood calculating his pennies while paying him a debt, '' You remind me," he said, " of a Methodist minister I knew, who carried a hog-skin purse, and every time that a cent came out of it it came with a grunt." One only of the daugh- ters of Mr. Dwight remained behind him in Utica ; this was the wife of Justus H. Rathbone. A son, who was a clerk here^ removed to Black Rock, and is now living in Harlem. Jonathan R. Warner, lately from Albany, began, in June, the manufacture and sale of hats. This trade he had learned of Benjamin Knower of that city, whose niece was his first wife. Long a citizen of Utica, a diligent and intelligent worker, and sustaining an unblemished name, he amassed a considerable property. He was agreeable, pleasant tempered and neighborly, and bore a creditable share in matters of a public nature, holding among other positions a directorship of the Oneida Bank. He was an attendant on the services of the Reformed Church, and liberal in his benefactions toward the society, even after his removal from the place. The bell it has now in use was his gift. His home was on Broad street, in the house where B. A. Hammond now lives. He removed to Poughkeepsie, and died there about 1872. His second wife was a daughter of Dr Wendell of Albany. His only child, a son, died before him. Another .fresh adventurer of the year, who is in business still, is Thomas Davies, watchmaker and jeweler. By turns alone, a partner with Shubael Storrs, again alone, then with Ebenezer Leach, then with Albert Battel, again alone, and now with his sons, Benjamin F. and Thomas M., he has carried on the repair- ing of watches longer than any one of the craft now resident, and most of the time within stone's throw of his present shop. Musical and masonic, he has been captain of the Utica Band and chaplain of the masonic fraternity. At this time, too, came Michael McQuade, another present resident, his brother Thomas having established himself in the THE THIRD CHARTER. 593 place a couple of years previous. Both were coopers by trade, but Thomas followed it much the longest, Michael having been for forty years a manager of the Gulf Brewery. In politics, too, he has managed not a little, and has been a power in municipal affairs. He has held numerous positions, from the collectorship to that of candidate for mayor, but has most signalized himself as the long continued alderman of the first ward, wherein mat- ters were accustomed to go much as he directed, his side being in general the winning one. Thomas died in 1865. Both he and his brother have been heads of families of influence in Utica. Michael is the father of General James, T. E,., and Patrick, of Mrs. Egan, Mrs. Bulger, and two unmarried daugh- ters. Thomas McQuade, left one son, T. M. now living, besides two who are deceased, and also Mrs, William M. Clarke, Mrs. Devereux of Oneida, and two daughters not married. Lawrence Morgan, fancy dyer, and an early trustee of the Catholic Church, almost from the beginning of his residence transformed old clothes into new on the corner of Columbia and Cornelia street, where he could only be reached through a swamp ; and there he kept steadily at work until his death, which was after 1853. A copper and tinsmith and dealer in stoves, who remained in ti'ade until 1840 or later, was Samuel A. Sibley. At an early date he was on the east side of Genesee street, below Bleecker, and at a later one, on Bur- net street, where also he lived. He was living there in 1852 ; his family much longei-. Zeno and Clark Carpenter, men of excellent reputation, were blacksmiths and wagon makers on the corner of John and Catherine streets, their residence being on Elizabeth, at the head of Burnet. Zeno became a minister to the Society of Friends, which was organized in 1826 ; Clark has but recently given up his wagon making, and changed his residence to another part of the county, leaving behind him his sons, William P. and Charles H. Rees Lewis was another wagon maker. He was the father of Rev. John R Lewis of Boonville. David Lewis, brother of Rees, had a lime kiln, and was of late gate-keeper on the Minden turnpike. Richard T. Jones, mason, lived about fifty years on Breese street, was for many years a leader in the Welsh Congregational Church, and then became a spiritualist. He died September 30, 1877. George F. Wicker, sign and ornamental painter, painted also i-o 594 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. portraits and landscapes. He was deput}' sheriff ; was promi- nent in the Methodist Church, and stood well in the estimation of the community at large. He died about 1838. Elijah P. Curry, last maker, exercised his craft a good while longer, his shop being on Genesee and his home on Charlotte, until he re- moved to Bioadwa}^, where he died. He left a widow, a son and three daughters : the son, Francis F. Curry, an engineer, much employed in later years upon the canal and elsewhere. Wilham P. Case, wheel-wright and carpenter, had already been three or four3^ears in the place and lived here until his death, in 1862. His wife, wlio was daughter of Samuel "Wilcox, (of 1812) is still living, as are also seven of his children, including William P., George, Edward C. and Charles. Residents of 1823, whose tei'm was shorter, were Eleazar Gid- ne^', dentist, of good repute, who settled in Orange, New York, about 1826, and who is best known in Utica as- the instructor of Alvin Blakesle}', of much longer continuance; Charles Car- ter, auctioneer and associate of George J. Hopper, sharp in get- ting off such goods as were saleable, and who found a more de- sirable field in New York ; John S. Anderson, dealer in hard- ware and fancy goods ; Joseph P. Gould, who sold cheap jewehy and kept a lottery, and Stephen Gould, who sold law books, both at No. 48 Genesee ; Joseph Colwell, who printed 'the Ba2> tist Register in 1824, the Sentinel and Oazette in 1826, and pub- lished the Utica Intelligencer in 1832, and then made his home in Oswego ; Cephas Bennett, another journey-man and fellow printer on the Bcqotist Register^ who went, in 1828, as a printer to the mission in Burmah, and is now a missionary of the Baptist Board at Rangoon ; Leonard B. Shumway, coach maker, suc- cessively on Main, on the corner of Genesee and Water, and the corner of John and Broad streets, at which latter place he, and his partner, William Holcomb, were burned out about 1830, and took theii- exit; Ansel Frost, plough maker, in compaii}' with Stephen Estes, op))osite the brewery ; Erastus Woodworth, cooper ; Bernice West and Benjamin R. Shaw, carpenters, of whom the former died about 1828; Obadiah Delano, mason; John McGarry and Judson & Maddock, tailors ; Henry W. Carr, veterinary surgeon and farrier, and afterwards a farmer ; B. B. Whipple, cigar maker ; Harvey H. Merrell, son of Benajah Mer- rell, clerk, and Wesle}^ Higgins, another clerk, both of them after- THE THIRD CHARTER. 595 wards mercliants of brief continuance ; of whom the former, after a brief residence in New Hartford, followed his father s family to Sacketts Harbor, and the latter, finding that he had gifts in preaching, and having exercised them effectively in the sur- rounding region, obtained a license as a lay preacher, and, by his labors near Hamilton, was the means of arousing quite au interest in matters of religion. A colored man, whose arrival should also be chronicled, though his fame came later, was Joseph C. Pancko, whitewasher, &c. He made hmiself notorious about the period of the Mexican war, by greeting the town with occasional notices of passing events done in limping and de- testable doggerel. 1824. The trustees chosen in May 1824, would seem to have been a diligent and enterprising body, and they effected numerous im- provements in comparison with some of their predecessors. They were as follows : Benjamin Ballou and James Hooker from the first ward ; Ezekiel Bacon and James Lynch from the second ward ; and Thomas Walker and Nicholas Smith from the third ward. The assessors were Benjamin Ballou, John Bradish and David P. Hoyt, and the supervisor was Ezra S. Cozier. Thomas Walker was treasurer and overseer of the poor, John H. Ostrom, clerk. Charles C. Brodhead, was elected sur- veyor, but declining to serve, his place was filled by the ap- pointment of Holmes Hutchinson. William Clarke continued to be the j5resident The doings of the board in the course of the year were these : Genesee street was paved from the canal to the east line of the Supreme Court clerk's office ; John street, from the canal to Main street ; Rome street was widened to its intersec- tion with Genesee, by the purchase and removal of a building that fronted on the latter street, and hindered its width ; and, in compliment to the distinguished guest of the nation, then travelling through the country, its name was changed to La Fay- ette street ; Water street was extended from its termination at the foot of Hotel (Williams) street, to the west line of the land of David P. H.ojt ; the street now known as Hoyt's alley was 596 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. opened from Water street to Whitesboro ; Charles street was cut midway of the property of LeviCozzeus; and a "private road " for the benefit of Josliua M. Church and John Bradish was opened tlirough the land of Apollos Cooper from Rome- street to the canal, along the line of the present Pine street. Sewers were constructed on the east side of Genesee street from opposite the clerk's office to Hotel street ; from John street to a connection at Main street with the one before opened down Genesee street ; on Burnet street ; on Charlotte from Elizabeth to Bleecker; and on Bleecker from Burnet to Genesee. Side- walks were ordered on both sides of Jay street from the packet basin to Bridge street, and on both sides of First from Jay to Broad, except on the north side of that part of Jay which lies between John and First streets. In November a sidewalk was directed on one side of Elizabeth from Genesee as far only as Charlotte; and in the following March both sides of it "from Genesee to John streets were to be pitched and paved with brick. Moreover, it was resolved that in all cases in which side- walks are hereafter paved, in pursuance of law or resolution, they shall be paved or flagged with good, sound hard brick, or square flat stone. A new engine house was leased from the president on Franklin street, and the lot in the rear of Trinity church, which had been given to the village for an engine house by Morris S. Miller and others, was sold to the church. A committee was appointed to treat with Apollos Cooper for six acres of land for a burial ground. The provisions of the ordinance of June 6, 1817, relating to nuisances, were now ex- tended to all the streets ; and whenever it was directed by the president, a trustee or the police constable, that a street should be scraped, it was provided that the occupants should have it first well sprinkled. Repairs were paid for keeping the town pump in good condition, and Ara Broadwell was armed with full powers, as a fire inspector, to look after the safety of every tenement. Eight watchmen were now needed to guard the village by turns through the night. Tlie tax for general ex- penses was fixed at $1,437.25, and the supervisors of the county were requested to levy an additional tax of $400 for the sup- port of the poor, lioswell Holcomb, the former pedagogue of 1797 and 180p, or 1804, was installed as instructor of the public school, at a salary equivclant to $350 a year. THE THIRD CHARTER. 597 a A society of females, having for its object the rehgions educa- tion of the children of its members, and known as the Maternal Association, was formed in June 1824 The hint for the plan of it was take from a similar institution at Portland, Maine. Weekly meetings were held for prayer and colloquial discussion on topics relating to the proper training of children ; and quarterlj' meet- ings, at which the children of a limited age were assembled for recitation and instruction. The founders were the wives of the four Messrs. Clark, Thomas E., Erastus, William and Oren, those of the two Messrs. Hastings, Thomas and Charles, and also Mrs. Sarah K. Clarke and Mrs. Walter King, eight in all. The influence of the society was happy, and it increased so greatly in oiumbers as to include, in ISttO, one hundred and fifty members. It was aided, after 183S, by a periodical published under its auspices by Mrs. A. G. Goodrich, and entitled the Mothers Mag- azine. Similar associations, strictlv denominational, soon arose and assumed its work. Two religious papers were started in the place at this time, viz.: the Western Recorder, which was begun in the latter part of 1823, and the Baptist Rerjister., whose first number was issued February 20, 1824 The Recorder was managed in the interests of Presbyterianism, by Thomas Hastings, and was published by Merrell & Hastings. After the removal of its first editor, in 1832, it was continued a short time longer by Eev. Ova P. Hoyt. Its circulation did not exceed four or five thousand copies, and it was eventually superseded by papers emanating from New York and other large cities. The Baptist Register^ a weekh^ octavo of eight pages, and having a circulation of five to seven thousand copies, was conducted by Revs. E. F. Willey of Utica, E. Galusha of Whitesboro, and J. Lathrop of Newport, and was printed in the office of the Utica Observer. Within a year. Rev- A. M. Beebe became the editor, and its subsequent printers were Bennett & Bright and their successors. It was published in Utica until the 3^ear 1855, when it was removed to New York and consolidated with another sheet under the title of the Examiner and Chronicle. There it is still, ably conducted by Rev. Edward Bright, and is the leading paper of the denomination. A magazine entitled the Utica Christian Repository, amonthl}- double-columned octavo, had already been begun in 1822. It ■w^as printed by William Williams, and received contributions 598 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. from various Presbyterian ministers. Eev. William R Weeks was its later editor, but who had the charge of it at first, I am unable to state. About five volumes were published. In the course of the sketch of Rev. S. C. Aikin, it was men- tioned that, in February 1824, Rev. S. W. Brace was settled as his associate, with the expectation that he should organize a new society, if the same were deemed advisable. Having now reached the date of this settlement, I proceed to notice at length this new minister and the church he assisted in creating. Rev. Samuel Williams Brace, the eleventh child of Captain Elizur Brace, was born May 1, 1790, at Rutland, Vermont, to which place his father and sundry others had emigrated from Litch- field county, Conn., in 1789. In 1796 Captain Brace removed with his family to Pompey, Onondaga county, N. Y., and a few years later to the town of Lysander in the same county. There was no school of any description in the town ; and the principal opportunities which the son enjoyed for attending school he had while visiting friends during two winters in Man- lius. Yet he formed the purpose of securing the advantages of a course at college. In pursuit of this object, in the winter of 1809, he walked from Oswego, where the family were then liv- ing, to Hamilton Oneida Academy, at Clinton. Here, under the instruction and encouragement of its able instructor, Seth Norton, afterwards professor in the college, his progress in learn- ing was so creditable that he was soon appointed assistant ; and was thus able to pay for his tuition and to meet all other ex- penses. By diligent study, varied by occasional engagements as a teacher in other schools, he was enabled to enter the soph- omore class in Hamilton College and to graduate with the class of 1815. One of these engagements he fulfilled at a classical school at Onondaga Hollow, the germ of the present Onondaga Academy, and another in the village of Utica, where, in 1815, he supplied for a time the place of Mr. Henry White, disquali- fied by sickness. It was at the former place that the attention of Mr. Brace was first effectually called to the subject of per- sonal religion ; and having determined on becoming a minister, he entered the Theological Seminary at Andover immedi- ately after leaving college. Having finished the three years' course, he was graduated in 1818, and licensed to preach the THE THIRD CHARTER, 599 • gospel. During a few weeks lie labored eiiectively in a congre- gation situated within the territory of the present flourishing town of Lowell, Mass., and then for more than half a year, and with still more successful results, in Bridgewater in this connty. DecHning a call to the latter place, as well as one to London- derry, N. H., he filled, for a time, a temporary vacancy in Geneva. Here a revival, which followed his labors, reached the adjoining town of Phelps, when he was called to be the pastor, was ordained and installed, and remained four years. From Phelps he was invited to come to Utica. After his arrival, he preached alternately with Mr. Aikin, until at the end of some months it was judged advisable to organize another church. This new church was formed on the 6th of May, 182-i, and at first took the name of the Second Presbyterian Church. This name being by some deemed objectionable, it was changed to that of the Bleecker Street Presbyterian Church. Twenty- seven persons were at first enrolled among its members, which number was greatly enlarged at its first communion. These persons were mostly recent comers, and as far as can now be determined, for the records of the society are lost, were Zeph- aniah Piatt and wife, Dr. Thomas Goodsell and wife, Dr, Zad- ock P. Maine and wife, Jabez Miller and wife, Amzi and Ly- man Hotchkiss and families, — Alvord and family. Royal West and wife, William P. Case, John McGarry and wife, Jesse Sel- leck and wife, Mrs. Charles Churchill, John Younglove and wife, Mr, Scriver and wife, &c. They worshipped for a time in the session room of the Presbyterian Church, situate on Hotel street ; and near the close of the year Rev. Mr. Brace, was, by the Presbytery of Oneida, duly installed over them. In the spring of 1825, their number being now augmented, they took meas- ures for the erection of a church edifice. Besides what funds they could raise among themselves, they were promised assist- ance by several members of the older congregation. They deter- mined on the lot at the west cornei- of Charlotte and Bleecker. The trustees now in charge were Dr. Thomas Goodsell, Greene C. Bronson, Jason Parker, D. G. Bates and Lyman Hotchkiss. The contract for erecting the building was taken by Samuel Farwell, who was not yet a resident of the place, but ere long- became so. This building, the same which is now known as the Bleecker Street Baptist Church, was fifty-six by eighty feet 600 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. in dimensions. It was completed in the summer of 1826, and was dedicated on the 24th of August of that year. The sermon on the occasion was preached by Rev. Dr. Richards of Auburn, from the text: "Wherever I record my name, I will come unto you and bless you." The building, with the lot, cost about $15,000, viz.: for the lot $1,800, which was increased to $3,000 by the cost of paving, — for Charlotte street was but newly opened, and without pavement or sidewalks, — and for materials and construction nearly- $12,000. Mr. Charles E. Dudley of Albau)-, of whom tlie land was purchased, contributed toward the erection, and took a mortgage on the property. Tlie min- isti'y of Mr. Brace was a very successful one, and lasted about four 3'ears. During this time two hundred and fifty persons wei"e added to the church, of whom one hundred and thirty came from other churches, and eighty were the fruits of the revival of 1826. The debt contracted in building proved a source of continued embarrassment. The aid promised by members of the First Presbyterian congregation was by no means as valua- ble as the new society had been given reason to expect, for the latter congregation soon proceeded to build a new house for themselves, and were taxed to accomplish it; besides there was too much Presbyterian stock in the market, and the seats could not all be filled. The salary due to Mr. Brace fell behind to the amount of over $1,100. His brotherin-law, Mr. Bron- son, who was one of the trustees, was often called on to contri- bute toward the pecuniary necessities of the congregation. He was a partner in business with Samuel Beardsley, w^ho was an Episcopalian, and there was a desire on the part of some of the Episcopalians to get possession of the building for a church of that order. It was proposed to Mr. Brace to make good to him the sum owed him personally by turning over to him land in Chatau(|ua county, and with reference to the mortgage on the church, that it be foreclosed and bought in by the Episcopalians. In this state of things. Rev. D. C. Lansing of Auburn, had be- come unsettled there, and overtures had been made him by cer- tain members of the First Presbyterian Church to come to Utica and be settled over the congregation of Mr. Brace. Judge Bronson and the other trustees now suggested to Mr. Brace that, if a favorable opportunity presented itself of locating elsewhere, he should do so. Receiving an invitation to East Hartford, in THE THIRD CHARTER. 601 Conn., he accordingly resigned his pastorate in July 1828, and went to that place. After a brief ministry there, he was settled some time longer in Skaneateles, and next at Binghamton. Having resolved to retire from the active duties of the pastoral office, and to preach in vacant churches as opportunity might offer, he returned to Utica, in August 1845. And here he has continued to live until the present time, having been at differ- ent times the stated supply of various churches in the vicinity. He has been agent of the Oneida County Bible Society, and also of the African Colonization Societ}-. The College of Liberia conferred upon him the degi*ee of D. D. Of Hamilton College he is the oldest living graduate. In November 1819, Mr. Brace married Miss Harriet Kilbourn of New Hartford, and with her he lived nearly forty years. His present wife was Miss Martha B. Fish of Troy, Penn. Judge Bronson, the distinguished jurist now to be noticed, affords a striking example of one who, without the aid of wealth or famil}^ connections, or even of such advantages of education as are furnished by our academies and colleges, was enabled b}^ manl}' self-reliance and resolute energy to attain the highest positions and to fill them with eminent success. Greene Car- rier Bronson was born in Simsbury, Conn., in November 1789, a!nd was the son of Oliver Brownson, a teacher of vocal music, who published one of the earliest singing books that were used in the country. He had only a limited school education ; all that he acquired beside was the result of solitary application, and by persevering industry he made himself a good scholar as well as a good lawyer. After leaving school, he was for a time a clei'k at Simsbury, until with his father's family he removed to Peterboro, N. Y. While there he procured a Latin gram- mar from Pev. Calvin Bushnell, the Presbyterian minister in charge at Vernon, and used to go to Vernon to Mr Bushnell, twelve miles through the woods, to recite his lessons. For a short time he taught school also, one of his pupils being Hon. Henry A. Foster. He afterwards studied law in the same place with John P. Sherwood, maintaining himself durino- his pupilage by practice in the inferior courts, and when his term of study was complete, he became a partner with his preceptor. He was endowed with unusuallj^ quick and clear 602 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. perceptions, and acquired knowledge with facility. And hav- ing also a keen desire to obtain it, and a noble ambition which looked for no outside support, his time as a student was well spent. He early made himself acquainted with the principles of the common law and with the system of equity jurispru- dence as administered in this State and in England. Once admitted to practice, his standing was assured. And though a compeer with Storrs, Talcott, Maynard, Beardsley, Spencer and other prominent members of the bar of Oneida, he was their fitting associate. In April 1819, he was appointed sur- rogate of the county, and filled the office two years. Then he was elected a member of Assembly from Oneida and Oswego. In the Legislature he proved an able debater. He distinguished himself more especially by his opposition to a bill intended to deprive the inmates of the State prisons of the use of the Bible and other religious reading. The bill had strong advocates and seemed in danger of becoming a law. It was met by Mr. Bron- son with a force and warmth of opposition that electrified the house and completely changed its sentiment. Usually his man- ner, as a speaker before the bar, though animated, was hesitating and labored ; but now his most sacred convictions were insulted, and a grave wrong was about to be committed. Carried away by the energy of his feelings and seemingly unconscious of the mode of their manifestation, he grasped his hair as if he would tear it fi'om its roots, threw open his vest, and was wholly lost in the torrent of his indignation. The bill was defeated effectually. At this time he was a Clintonian in politics, but turned before Clinton died to the opposing side, and became a Bucktail, siding ever afterward with the Hard section of the Democratic party. He had agreed to join Thomas H. Hubbard of Hamilton, and settle in practice at Utica, in 1823. But when the time came for moving he was detained by his connection wi th the glass works at Vernon and unable to leave. Mr. Hubbard came without him, and Mr. Bronson followed the next year. He soon formed a partnership with Samuel Beardsley, which continued so long as he remained in Utica, and together they conducted a large share of the legal business of the neighborhood. "As a lawyer his reputation rested on a solid basis. There was nothing mer- etricious in his mode of handling a subject. He did not strike for effect, but to do execution. His learning, comprehensive THE THIRD CHARTER. 608 and profound, was available to sustain his positions. If an authority was to be questioned, or a case doubted, it was not mutilated and misrepresented, but fairly and openly attacked. No timidity prevented him from meeting an objection, wher- ever it might present itself. As a speaker he was not gifted with an impressive address. His remarks were pointed, and to the pui-pose ; but a natural hesitancy of manner, and the want of warmth of imagination, deprived him of much of the power that was due to the strength of his intellect." He was apt to discourage litigation and dissuaded many who applied to him from entering on a suit. Nor would he undertake one unless he was satisfied that the right was on the side of his client. On the 27th of February, 1829, Mr. Bronson was elected by the Legislature, Attorney General of the State, in place of Sam- uel A. Talcott. The rival candidate of his party was Benjamin F. Butler of New York, who was a protege of Mr. Van Buren, and the preference given to the former was a triumph of the Utica Eegency over the abiti-ary rulers of the democracy w^hose head quarters were at Alban}'. To Albany he now removed, and continued to fill the office, by reelection in 1832, and again in 1835, until January of the ensuing year. Of the character of its administration it is enough to say that he was the successor of Talcott; and the dignity of the office was never known ta depreciate in his charge. In January 1836, he was elevated to the bench of the Supreme Court, a vacancy having been occasioned by the resignation of John Savage, and was himself succeeded in the Attorney Generalship by his late partner, Mr. Beardsley. On the 5th of March, 1815, he became the presid- ing judge of the Court. Two years subsequent!}^, at the first election of judges under the new constitution, he was made one of the judges of the Court of Appeals, and continued such until his resignation in 1851. Thus for fifteen years he was a member of our highest judicial tribunals, the Supreme Court, the Court for the Correction of Errors and the Court of Appeals, and in all of these public trusts he acquitted himself wuth sig- nal ability. ''In the department of judicial duty he was justly preeminent, and his opinions are models of judicial excellence. In conciseness and perspicuity of expression, in terseness and directness of style, in compactness and force of logic, in sturdy vigor of intellect, and in their stern sense of right and justice,' 604 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. these opinions have, by competent judges, been dechired to be unsurpassed, and as constituting " a valuable and enduring contribution to American jurisprudence." No man, sa^'s Judge Sutherland, ever discharged the duties of judge with stricter integi'it}^ There never was a judge, who in construing statutes and written constitutions of government and administering the law, was less influenced by arguments and considerations ad- dressed to judicial discretion, or by considerations even of pub- lic policy not declared by any law. His prompt answer to all such arguments and considerations was "/to lex scnpta.'' After leaving the bench, Judge Bronson removed to New York City, and resumed the practice of his profession ; but having become involved in some unfortunate enterprises, he lost much of his pro]3ertj. In 1853 he was appointed by Pres- ident Pierce, as collector of the ])ort, but held the ofhce only a short time, his removal having been effected bj Secretary Guthrie, because he persisted in ]-etaining in office men of the opposite party. Declining to displace an official whose removal was desired by the secretary, he accompanied the act with a pub- lished letter setthig forth his reasons for the refusal. A pul)lic correspondence ensued between him and the secretary, which was marked on the part of Judge Bronson by his usual clear- ness and force ; but though he had the better in the argument, it was closed b}^ his dismissal from the collectorship. His course on this occasion was a subject of much comment by the public and gained him greater notoriety than before, and the strong approval of many. For Judge Bronson was emphat- ically an honest man. " Whatever opinions he might form were honestly entertained and fearlessly acted on. Careful and deliberate in forming them, he was fi'om the very strength of his convictions, tenacious and confident of their correctness. At the same time, firm in integrity of purpose, he was coura- geous and resolute in expression and in action. Whether on or off the bench, he was equall}" indifferent to the effect of the announcement of his conclusions, and unrestrained by party affinities from arriving at results to which these conclusions led him." The popularity he acquired in the transaction above mentioned, ])rocnred for him, in 1854, the nomination for Gov- ernor. In the meantime, however, new issues arose that were ])ar;imount in interest with lhe})ul)lic and he was beaten in the THE THIRD CHARTER. 605 canvass. In December 1S59, lie was elected to the office of counsel for the corporation of the city of New York, and continued to dis- charge the duties until January 1863, the term for which he was elected. Smitten with paralysis no long time afterward, he en- dured for several months much physical pain. But throughout his sufferings he was sustained by the consolations and the hopes of that Christian faith of which he had for many years been a consistent professor. His departure occurred, after a renewed attack, at Saratoga, on the 3d of September, 1863. On the opening of the next general term of the Supreme Court in New York, a request was presented that a tribute of respect to the memory of Judge Bronson should be entered on the minutes, and this request was signed in behalf of them- selves and their brethren of the New York bar, by James J. Eoosevelt, Daniel Lord, Charles P. Kirkland, Marshall S. Bid- well, Charles O'Connor, and William Curtis Noyes. A similar tribute was in January following placed on the minutes of the Court of Appeals. Quotations from both of these records, here- tofore freely made in this article, exhibit the appreciation in which he was held by his associates at these Courts. To these might be added the testimony of the bar of Saratoga, recorded at a meeting held shortly after his death, and especially that of - Chancellor Walworth, their presiding officer, who declared the deceased to have been one of the ablest and most upright judges that ever occupied a seat upon the bench of this State. As an evidence of the high estimation in which he was held in this vicinity, it may be mentioned that in 1845, sixteen years after his removal from Utica, when, in view of the approaching State Constitutional Convention, his party determined to send thither the strongest men they could select, they nominated Judges Beardsley, Denio and Fostei' and with them Judge Bronson. Yet though a man of such singular power and strongly marked individuality, he was at the same time genial and gentle in all the relations of friendship and private life. Bold and determined as he was in the denunciation of fraud, he was, notwithstanding, a lover of peace, and disliked conten- tion and the acrimony of paity. He was generous in disposi- tion, kind and sympathizing, firm in his attachments, devoted as a friend, husband and father. In his address he was cour- teous and affable; in his manners pleasing. There was neither 606 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. affectation noi" stiffness, bnt an easy dignity enlivened by an agreeable }>leasantry. Of his features a trait that nnpressed one yet more than the darkness of his eye in contrast with a complexion of moderate fairness and snow white hair brushed straight from his forehead, was a smile that irradiated the coun- tenance and softened the rougher elements of strength. His pleasantr}^, so grateful to his associates, was sharply exercised at times in the pi'esence of impertinence or presumption, for he was keen in his judgment of character, and not sparing in his chastisements. He had been frequently importuned for an office by one of his neighbors at Vernon, when on the reap- pearance of the suitor after the Judge's return from the Legis- lature, he greeted him with the announcement that he had pro- cured for him the appointment of liigli hrigger for the county. The man was naturally curious to learn something of the office and the nature of its duties, but was effectually silenced when he was told that his duties were to take the curl out of every dog's tail. For the old Court of Errors, chiefly made up of members of the Senate, of whom a small })art onl}^ were versed in the prin- ciples and the practice of law, he had a very low estimate, and made free to manifest it ; for on one occasion when a cause came before him for adjudication on the bench, which involved a principle that had once been determined by this court, he over- rode this decision by an opinion wholly adverse. I have said that by self-help alone he succeeded in gaining a fair amount of scholarship. An illustration of his method was afforded during his residence in Utica. Availing himself of attendance on a course of chemical lectures, which were at one time publicly given, he conned, in private, various text books as well, and by the completion of the course was more thor- oughly au courant with the science than the majority of those who are graduated at college. Judge Bronson's father's family were Baptists, but when he united with a church at Vernon, it was with a Presbyterian one. There he used to lead in the singing, for his musical accomplish- ments were not small, and when the minister was absent, he would read a sermon as well as conduct the meetings for prayer. After removing to Utica he took an active part in sustaining the infant organization that was ministered over by his brother- in-law, Rev. S. W. Brace, and was a trustee of this church. His THE THIRD CHARTER. 607 residence in Utica was the house on the south-east corner of Genesee and Hopper streets, now occupied by J. G. Brown, which house he built. His wife was Lucretia, daughter of Deacon Kilbonrn of New Hartford. Of his two sons, Ohver became a Presbyterian minister, was settled at Kinderhook, and gave promise of distinguished usefulness, but was cut of|at an earl}^ period ; Henry G, who studied law, also died young. A daugh- ter died in Vernon, and another in Utica. The only daughtei* who reached maturity became the wife of Eichard W. King. Two children of the latter are all that survive of the descend- ants of Judge Bronson. The biographical sketch which follows is made up from an obituary prepared by William J. Bacon. Benjamin Franklin Cooper was the son of Apollos Cooper, and was born in Utica in April 1801. As a youth he "was bright, active and intelli- gent. He entered Hamilton College in 1816, but left that insti- tution for Union, where he graduated. He began the study of law in the oflfice of General Kirkland, and spent a year in the law school at Litchfield, Conn. After finishing his studies, he passed about a year in Geneva and Detroit. Returning to Utica, in the fall of 1824, he entered upon the practice of his profes- sion in connection with Roderick IST. Morrison. His constitu- tion was delicate, and gave early indications of pulmonary dis- ease. In the fall of 1827, he was obliged to leave home for a more congenial climate. He went through the southern States to New Orleans, and thence to Cuba. The winter of 1829 he also spent in the South. In the summer of that year he was at home, and in the fall he married the daughter of Rev. Dr. Brant- ley, a distinguished divine of Philadelphia and of Charleston. He went with his wife to Tallahassee in Florida, where he re- mained between two and three years, actively engaged in his profession; and had his health permitted, could easily have at- tained eminence. He came back to Utica in 1832, and (with the exception of a year or two in Detroit, commencing in 1810,) continued to reside here until his death. The earlier poi'tion of this time he was associated with Ward Hunt, next with E. A. Graham, and subsequentl}^, after coming back from Detroit, he Avas alone. In 1846 he was a member of the Legislature, and was one of its most intelligent, active and laborious members. 608 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Mr. Cooper was possessed of a keen intellect, a ready and fluent elocution, and habits of diligence, and seemed prepared to take a marked position in liis chosen profession. It is be- lieved that, if his liealth had not given way at a comparatively early period, he woukl have left decided evidence of Ijoth abil- ity and success. Some of his early efforts were distinguished by earnest and able argument, by keen analysis and penetration, and by forcible and courageous assertion of wliat he believed to be the right of his clients. In the suits brought with reference to the distribution of the stock of the Oneida Bank, and that of the partition of tlie stock of the Utica k Schenectady Eailroad, — in both of which cases subscribers who failed of receiving stock they had subscribed for, brought suits to compel a re-dis- tribution, — he took the leading part in the arguments, and at- tracted to himself a large share of public attention. His special quality of mind was great and incessant activity. There seemed to be never a moment when his brain was not in restless exer- cise, — engaged in endeavoring to solve some abstruse legal prob- lem, and perhaps too often for practical usefulness, some airy spec- ulation. What he doubtless lacked was the steady application of principles to the practical emergencies of his profession. He thought with rapidity, was uncommonly gifted both in conver- sation and in oral debate, and wrote with fluency. His natural inaptitude to mingle easily with the world at large subjected him to the im])utation of being unfriendly in disposition. But to those who knew him well, he manifested strong social qual- ities and the tenderest sympathy. In his own house his hospi- tality was overflowing. He was earnest and truthful in charac- ter, and no influence could draw him from the strict line of honor and integrity. His honest convictions he maintained with frankness and tenacity, and without regard to personal consequences. For some years before his death he had with- drawn from professional avocations, though delighting always in the perusal of works on law. He died May 4, 1864. Besides his widow he left a family of two sons and one daughter. Samuel Dana Dakin, born in JalTrey, N. II., July 16, 1802, came with his parents to New Hartford, in 1815. He entered Hamilton College and was graduated in the class of 1821, after which he spent two years in teaching in the family of Mr. THE THIRD CHARTER. 609 Brent, in Maryland. He next came to Utica and entered tlie office of Joseph Kirkland. In tlie year 1824, while still a stu- dent, he bought, in company with William J. Bacon, also a stu- dent of law, the Utica Sentinel and Gazette^ and likewise the Utica Patriot. Uniting these papers, they edited them for a few years. After Mr. Bacon had sold his interest to Richard 'R. Lansing, Mr. Dakin continued to conduct the paper some time longer, until it was disposed of to Rufus Northway. Mr. Dakin was admitted to the bar in 1826, and opened an office for prac- tice. Literature rather than law was, however, a principal ob- ject of pleasure and pursuit. Besides the management of the Gazette^ he wrote frequently for the Knickerhocker and other magazines. Yet he was not solely a literateui\ but had an in- ventive "and scheming turn of mind, heated many irons, and did not lack of a money-getting ability. In 1839 he removed to New York. There he became patentee of a floating dry dock, of which he constructed two for the L^nited States Government, one at Portsmouth, N. H., and one at Philadelphia. Continuing his interests in literary pursuits, he had in progress at the time of his death a History of Civil Liberty. This event occurred, suddenly, January 26, 1858. He was the father of live sons, all of whom were graduates of Hamilton College. Attractive in form and feature, and genteel in demeanor, his social rank was with the first. Henry Kirkland Sanger, son of Richard' Sanger of New Hart- ford, was graduated at Hamilton College in 1818, and studied law with Ebenezer Griffin of Utica, Soon after completing his studies he entered the Bank of Utica as assistant teller, and on the departure of Mr. Barto, he became teller. About 1830 he left the institution to occupy a similar position in the United States Branch Bank at this place. In 1835, as successor of William B. Welles, he took charge of the Canandaigua Branch of the Bank of Utica, and thence he went the following year to Detroit, to be cashier of the Bank of Michigan. In Detroit he continued for the most part to reside until his death in 1864. His wife was Miss Prentiss of Cooperstowai. who during a portion of the time she lived in Utica was organist of Trinity Church. Elhanan W. Williams, who had been a child in the village, having graduated at Union College and been a laW' pupil of Mr. p-L 610 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Bradish, was now engaged with liini in the clei'k's office. He succeeded to the agency department estabhshed b}- Mr. Bradish, and, after the abohtion of the Supi-eme Court, his business was chiefly that of collecting and the loaning of nione}^ At his death, April 15, 1872, he left a widow and two sons still adoles- ce^it. Three physicians became inhabitants of Utica, in 182-i, of whom one was retiring from practice, and two just entering up- on its duties. The former. Dr. Zadock P. Maine, born in Plain- field, Conn., practiced many j^ears in Cooperstown, N. Y. In Utica he built the house on the south-west corner of Grenesee and Court streets, and lived there, without employment, until 1840. He died in Poughkeepsie, January 21, 1850. His widow returned to Utica and lived some twenty-five years longer. Tlieir only child was the first wife of Charles S. Wilson. Of the two latter physicians, Robert C. Wood, after two or three 3"ears, entered the arm}' as a surgeon, and by long and meritori- ous service has risen to the rank of Assistant Surgeon General, the duties of which post he is still discharging. And James Douglass, " member of the Royal Colleges of London and Edin- burg, and who had had some years of hospital experience," formed an association with Dr. Coventry for the treatment of diseases of the eye^ remained long enough to connect himself with the Medical Society of the county, and to marry a daugh- ter of William Williams, the chandler, and then removed to Quebec. Dr. Newell Smith had at this time a partner in medi- cine named Church, and was carrying on the drug trade with another named Kellogg. A veteran teacher and one who was a pioneer in the business of conducting .young ladies' schools, now established one in Utica. This was Rev. William Woodbridge, who was born September 14, 1755, and was consequently now in his seven- tieth year. Originally destined for the farm, he resolved on the ministry after he had reached the age of twenty-five, and entered Yale College. In the winter of 1779-80, being then in his sen- ior year, he taught a young ladies' school in New Haven county. It was then quite a novel experiment, but it succeeded, and was soon followed by others. He afterwards taught in Philips' THE THIRD CHARTER. 611 Academy, and, in 1789, opened a school for young ladies in Med- ford, Mass., remaining there about seven years. His subsequent experience I am unable to trace ; it must suffice to say that he taught in all about fifty-six j'ears, that he preached . only occa- sionally and never had a settlement, and that subsequent to his residence in Utica he had begun a school in Franklin, Mass., M'here he died, in 1836, in his eightj'-first year. He wrote for the "Annals of Education," conducted by his son, Rev. William C. Woodbridge, and for other periodicals. In 1799 he was president of an association, formed at Middletown, Conn., for the improvement of common schools, which is believed to have been the first of the kind that was ever formed in the United States. In Utica, Mr. Woodbridge was well received, his school containing many of the daughters of the leading families of the place. It was situated on the north-west corner of John and Catherine streets, on the site of Reynolds' shoe factory. While here he married the widow of Dr. Solomon Wolcott, who died before his departure, which took place about 1826. '' Succeeding Mr. Stuart as principal of the Utica Academy, was Alexander Dwj^er, a graduate, and I think, a fellow, of Trinity College, Dublin. He was accomplished both in the classics and the mathematics. He had sufficient self-conceit and vanity of good looks, and little warmth or geniality of manner; and lacked the art, so important in a teacher, of attracting the confidence and attachment of his pupils. His discipline was somewhat of the Busby sort, but he did not succeed as Busby did, in administering it satisfactorily, either to the recipients or their natural guardians. The last [ heard of him he was in a western State, seedy and destitute, and probably revolving the fallacy of the old proverb that ' learning is better than house and lands.' A brother of his was an assistant teacher with Mr. Stuart and himself. He also was a Trinity College man." (Williams.) Another teacher of 1821: is Elisha Harrino;ton, best known as the compiler of five of the directories which succeeded the first one of the year 1817, those namely of 1828, 1829, 1832, 1833, and 1834. They were prepared with care, and in addition to the list of inhabitants contain a good deal of matter of interest to one studious of the history of Utica. In his school he was assisted by his sister. (312 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. It was announced in May 1824, that " A. & S. Lightbody had established a store in Utica for the sale of leather, and that one- of the parties would reside there." This was Samuel, who re- mained until his death, August 3, 1846. His store was a blue- fronted one, on the east side of Genesee, about three doors below the corner of Broad. Thence he removed to the west side of Bagg s square, where the express office now is. Mr. Light- body was a quiet, amiable and pious man, of refined appearance He left a widow, one son and one daughter (Mrs Oliver Bron- son), all of whom are now deceased. Milton Brayton and Truman Parmelee formed a partnership at this time to do business in dry goods. Their store was the one now occupied by T. K. Butler, and they held it for some vears. Mr. Brayton was the son of George Brayton of Western,, a most worthy pioneer of that town. He returned to Western to live and lives there still. Of him I must be content to say, that he was a faithful co-adjutor in the good works of his time, and especially in the religious enterprises, that occupied much of the attention of Mr. Parmelee. The latter I may speak of more freely. Truman Parmelee was a native of Clinton, Oneida county, and was born in 1802. At the age of fourteen he was appren- ticed to Merrell & Hastings of Utica, to learn the trade of book- binding, and remained with them until he was twenty- two. He was of a lively, ardent temperament, and naturally averse to serious contemplation. But when he was about sixteen, and as the result of a severe attack of fever, he became the subject of converting grace. The things of religion w^ere now his chief delight. He at once engaged ardentl)' in all its duties, and thus continued unchanged during his life. A wide and import- ant field of usefulness was presented in the Sunday school, then recently introduced. He became a teacher, and before he was eighteen was made su})erintcndent, a position which he filled with great satisfaction toteaclicrs and scholars until his removal from the town. His lessons were instructive and full of interest. He was exceedingly patient, gentle and forbearing. Handsome and engaging in person, his manners also were winning and attractive, and his influence over the school was of the purest and strongest kind. As experience demonstrated to him the THE THIRD CHARTER. 613 -defects in the system of instruction which at first existed, he •applied himself to their correction. In 1824, he published for the use of Sunday schools, questions on the historical parts of the New Testament, and this was the first question book used in such schools in this country. The impj-essions made by the teaching and example of Mr. Parmelee were deep and perma- nent, and the amount of good he accomplished was very great. The first generation of children born at Utica remember him, and, till all are dead, will continue to remember him, with love and gratitude. His trade of book-binding he never practiced, but was concerned with Mr. Brayton in trade until his removal to New York, about 1829-30. From thence he went to New 'Orleans, being in both places engaged in merciintile pursuits. While at New Orleans the sums he gave to the Presbyterian cause, in the establishment of a religious press and in the erec- tion of a church, were large though rated by the standard of to-day. He returned again to New York, in 1836, and died there in 1845. His wife Helen, daughter of Jonas Piatt, became, b}^ a second marriage, Mrs. Bell of Staten Island, and is now- deceased. Under the auspices of H. & E. Phinney, of Cooperstown, a long established publishing house of that place, a new book- store was now opened in Utica, by Isaiah Tifi'an}^, a valued citizen who has but recently gone from the city. He is the son of ■Colonel Isaiah Tiffany, of West Stockbridge, Mass., a soldier of the Revolution and in the opinion of Baron Steuben, one of the best soldiers of his brigade. He was born in Greenbush, in April 180 1 , and removed with his mother to Cooperstown in 1817. There he became a clerk with the Messrs. Phinney, with whom he was related by ties of remote consanguinity and by the marriage of one of the firm with Mr. Tiffany's sister. Fur- nished by them with a supply of books, he set up a store, which "was continued with a fair amount of success down to the year 1868. At that time he removed to Clifton Springs, where he has since made his home with his daughter, who is the wife of Dr. Foster, proprietor and phj'sician of the water ciu'e of that place. Mr. Tiffany's wife, who was a daughter of Colonel Met- 'calf of Cooperstown, died before his removal. 614 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA. Harvey Barnard, a native of Hartford, Conn., but who had learned his trade in Alban}^, in 1824 established himself as a paper hanger and dealer in wall paper. And having soon after- married a daughter of Ara Broadwell, whose acquaintance he had made before coming, he was joined by her in the store, she dealing in articles of millinery. The store was at first nearly opposite Liberty street, but has been for many years located on the spot where the sons, Charles E., Harvey and Henry, now continue the business. Mr. Barnard was industrious, fair dealing and prosperous, and he won a prominent place among the business men of the town. He served it as alderman and in other capacities. His death took place October 30, 1862. He left a widow, four 'sons, of whom one, Horace, is now deceased, and two daughters. The new hotel-keepers of this era were the following: Abraham Shepard of New London, Conn., assumed charge of Bagg's, and kept it two or three years, when he ke{)t the United States (1828) the Utica Hotel (1829), and the Coffee House (1832-33). Then, after a short experience as a dealer in lumber, he engaged" in the sale of crocker^^ In 1845 he was still a resident of the place, but without occu23ation, his home being on Broad street, where D. L. Clarkson now lives. His subsequent home was in Troy. He was a man of mild deportment and gentlemanly bearing. One of his daughters became the wife of John A. Collier of Binghamton, one married John T. Kirkland, of Cleve- land, and another the Eev. John W. Fowler, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Utica, He had three sons, Edward, who studied law and resided abroad ; Henry, who died young, and William, a merchant of Troy. Richard Sanger, from New Hart- ford, was successively proprietor of the Clinton House which occupied the siie of Mechanics Hall, then of the Mansion House (1829), of the Franklin, (1832), then again of the Mansion (1833-34), the name of which was changed to the National Hoteh and lastly of the Canal Coffee House. His sons were Gerry Henry K., and Richard Jr. Thomas Midlam, after keeping the Catherine Street House, practiced his trade as a joiner, and M^as then a grocer and then keeper of a boarding house. In the latter employment his widow persisted after his death. THE THIRD CHARTEE. 615- A native of the place, now grown to man's estate, heartily engaged in its dnties and sharing in its responsibilities, was Alrick Hubbell. He was the son of Matthew Hubbell, and was born on the 4th of October, 1802. He received such education as the period afforded, and assisted in labors on his father's farm. When he was in his sixteenth year he became clerk to the neighbor of his father. Colonel Benjamin Walker, accom- panied him on his tour for collecting dues on the lands of which this gentleman had the charge, and remained with him until the death of his patron. About the year 1825, Mr. Hubbell entered into partnership with Edward Curran in the leather trade, and for many years the firm of Hubbell & Curran, loca ted on the east side of Genesee, a few doors above the square, held rank with the foremost establishments of Utica, in extent of transactions as well as in its strength and character. About the year 1855, Mr. Hubbell retired with a handsome compe- tence. He subsequently devoted himself to the management of his property, and to more general operations, for he was never content to shut himself up within himself. His over- flowing energy led him to activity for the common weal, and he was always efficient in every trust committed to him. He rendered early and long continued service in the State militia and attained the rank of colonel. About 1829 he was a deputy sheriff, under John E. Hinman. He acted for several years as chief engineer of the fire department, and has had few peers in the discharge of duties wherein cour- age and povfer over large bodies of men are requisites to success. He was an alderman in 1841, was one of the com- missioners for building the j^resent jail, and was twice mayor of the city, in 1856 and 1857. In 1858-9 he served in the State Senate. In all of these capacities he made the public interest his object, and Utica has had few officers who have served it more diligently and more faithfully. At the first great war meeting, held in April 1861, the excitement was high and intense enthusiasm prevailed. A subscription was started to aid the families of volunteers. Mr. Hubbell headed the list with one hundred dollars. Another rich and generous citizen gave two hundred dollars. Not to be outdone, Mr. Hubbell I'ose and said that he would give two hundred dollars in addition to the sum he had alread}' given. The announcement was greeted with 616 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA, cheers, wliicli broke forth anew when his competitor announced that he would add two hundred dollars more to his subscription. The cheers grew into a whirlwind of applause when he increased his gift to live hundred dollars, and his friendly rival, in the honor of giving away money for so good a cause, pledged an equal amount- Into the work of raising volunteers he threw his whole heart, and proffered numerous pecuniary and other courtesies to the earlier regiments. He was a dii'ector in the Utica and Black Eiver Eailroad, and to the street railroad he gave no little time and attention. As a stoclvholder he was interested in many public enterprises, and contributed to the growth and prosperity of the city. He was an earnest member of the Baptist denomination, joined the Broad Street Church, in 1820, and was its first clerk. He was a teacher in its Bible class, and was not diverted from this dut}^ by public labors, even while at Albany. Of the Baptist Education Society he was a leading- member, and for many years rendered good service in the cor- poration of Madison University, for though he had not enjoyed a liberal education, he was yet the advocate and supporter of colleges and theological seminaries. To all these objects he devoted strong natural talents, careful and accurate business habits and unfaltering zeal. Thus animated by an unusual share of public spirit, and consecrating his best energies to pro- mote the welfare of the communit}^ in which he lived, Mr. Hubbell, of necessity, won the community's esteem. This esteem he enjoyed, and did not hesitate to assert a claim to what he believed was rightfully his own. His love of appro- bation w^as strong and manifest, but it was an incentive to many generous and worthy deeds. In his home life he was kind and considerate, a tender husband and father and a genial host. His death was somewhat sudden. It occui-red January 17, 1877, when he had been for some time the oldest native born resident of Utica. He left a widow who has long been in fee- ble health, two sons, Henry S. and Alfred S. of Buffalo, and two daughters, Mrs. A. P. Man of New York, and Mrs. J. P. C. Kincaid of this city. Two brothers AVilson, George S. and James, came, in 1819, from Manlius, Onondaga county, to learn the art of printing with Messrs. Seward & Williams. Their fathei', an Englishman by THE THIRD CHARTER. 617 birth, was an early settler of Manlius and its second postmaster. After his death the place was filled b}^ his wife, a superior woman, whose maiden name was Emily Dunham. By the death of their father, the sons were at an early age thi'own upon their own exertions for a livelihood. George S. proved so useful a person in the religious concerns of Utica, and especially in the Sunda}- school, that it behooves us to notice him somewhat fully. In so doing, we rely upon the published records of the Jubilee of that school, from which we have heretofore already borrowed, and chiefly upon the letter of John H. Edmonds, therein contained. Young Wilson had had few opportunities for edu- cation, and when he entered the printing office his acquirements consisted of the simplest rudiments of learning. But his desire for knowledge was great, and his industry untiring, so that while he honestl}^ served his employer, he devoted all the time that was his own diligently to self-instruction, and with such success that in a few years he had obtained a stock of valuable informa- tion. He had a vigorous intellect, and his judgment was sound and discriminating. His bodily constitution was frail, and all that he achieved was under infirmity tliat would have pros- trated one of less energy and resolution of purpose. From an early age he w^as of a serious and devout spirit. At about his sixteenth year he made a profession of religion, and immedi- ately commenced that active course of benevolence, which he pursued with untiring ardor during the remainder of his life. Entering the Sunday school, he soon became conspicuous for piety, intelligence, and remarkable aptness in teaching. The young were drawn to him as by a magnetic influence, for he had a large and warm heart that burned to do them good. His success with them lay in the fact that he alwaj's treated them as his equals. He s^mipathized with his boys, fi'eely commu- nicated to them his thoughts, hopes and desires, and thus obtained their love and confidence in return. Eeligion he pre- sented to them in its most attractive form, simple, cheerful, noble and elevating. And while their spiritual good was ever uppermost in his mind, he strove also to make them intelligent and useful men. As a place in his class was much coveted and more boys applied than could be received, he projected a plan by which his own pu})ils and other boys might meet often for religious and intellectual improvement. An association was 618 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. formed called the "Juvenile Society, for learning and doing good," — a unique organization, which was officered by its own members, but of which Mr. Wilson was the head. The meet- ings were held weekly, and he never failed to be present, the life and spirit of the whole. Eeading and' conversation were the staple of the exercises, and their conductor never failed in, the ingenuity of his devices to interest and instruct. This soci- ety soon increased so as to embrace a large number of boys ; in- deed, even here, there was not room to receive all that would gladly have attended. He thus had under his charge for sev- eral years a large class, at times as many as fifty or more, and happier pupils never sat under the instruction of a revered and loving teacher. It was impossible to resist the influence of such a character as his, and he moulded the minds and heai'ts of bis scholars, impressing them with his own noble and elevated views. At this time he edited and printed a small magazine entitled the Sunday Scliool Visitcmt. On the completion of his apprenticeshi}), Mr. Wilson entered more fully into his favorite pursuit of Sunday school instruc- tion. He was active in the formation of the Oneida Sunday School Union, and afterwards of the Western Sunday School Union of the State of New York. Of the last named society he was made the corresponding secretary, and about the same time a depository for the sale of Sunday school books was es- tablished in Utica, of which he was the manager. But much as he loved this employment, he had higher aspirations, and longed to preach the gospel. Great difficulties were in the way — his age, straitened means and limited education. But his res- olute spirit surmounted all obstacles, and in due time he received his commission. After preaching awhile in Windsor, Vt., he w^as for several years settled over the Presbyterian Church in Sacketts Harbor, and then at Gouverneur in the same county. His death took place May 17, 1841, when he was in his thirty- eighth year. Of James Wilson, brother of the preceding, less is known, and it may be a question whether he came as soon to the place. Certain it is, that early in 1825 he was present at a meeting of persons desirous of taking part in Biblical instructi(jn, either as teachers or as scholars, and that he was placed in the same class with George and half a dozen more of Mr. Williams' appren- THE THIRD CHARTER. 619 tices. Subsequently he went to New York, and in company with Winchester and Grreeley, under the firm name of Wilson, Winchester & Co., set up the Brother Jonatlian newspaper. He had also a pai't in the management of the New World. He died some twenty years since in Plainfield, N. J. A printer who learned his trade with Ira Merrell and had completed it before 1825, was Rufus Northway. He remained man}^ years longer in TTtica, and was printer and publisher of the Oneida Whig and the Daily Gazette. Unpretending and unambitious, he rarely presented himself before the public, though he furnished its daily mental pabulum. But as he pur- sued the quiet, industrious, upright and even tenor of his way,, he was marked by all, and . honored with universal respect. He was an officer of the Eeformed Dutch Church, and for several years was the superintendent of its Sunday school. He removed to Illinois, and died there October, 1871. His wafe was a daughter of Valentine Scliram. They were the parents of two sons, and of a daughter who did not reach maturity. James and John Greaves were somewhat later apprentices of Mr. Merrell. James married his daughter, and has been i-ecentlv a physician in Michigan. Henry Ivison came with his father to the place in 1820, while he was yet a bo}^, and became bookbinder's apprentice ta Seward & Williams. With the latter he remained until 1830, and, after his father's reinoval, as an inmate in the household of Mr. Williams. Then, after a residence of sixteen years in Auburn^ lie established himself in New York, where he has cari-ied on an extensive business as ]3ublisher of school books. The firm, which was at first Ivison & Phinney, and which has under- gone several changes, is now Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co. Alfred North, while working for Mr. Williams, received in- struction from a teacher of the academy and became a superior classical scholar. He went abroad as a missionar}^ in the ser- vice of the American Board. Mr. Williams had also in his em- ploy at or about this time, Stephen Wells, Henry Stockton Greorge Hatch, Chauncey Dutton. Other printers apprenticed in Utica nearly at this date, perchance a little later, were Henry Day, brother-indaw of George Dutton, who established the New York Sun; William Swain, who founded the Philadelphia. 620 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Ledyer, as well as the Baltimore Sun; James O. Kockwell, whose name is to be found in Mr. Bryant's collection as one of the galaxy of American poets, was editor of the Providence Journal^ •and edited it creditabl}- ; Francis M. Hill, a rival poet of Mr. Rockwell, who edited the Kingston Chronide of Canada, and was mayor of Kingston ; Charles N. Everest, who edited the Poets of Connecticut, and became an Episcopal minister of re- pute, and who died early in 1877 ; Amos E. Lawrence, who also became a doctor of divinity; 0. N. Worden, editor of the Louisburg Chronicle oi Pennsylvania, and now of New Medford, Penn., where he is writing a history of the Baptists of Pennsyl- vania. Edward P. Wetmore, brother of Edmund A. Wetmore, who has since been largely engaged in publishing in Cleveland and Cincinnati ; William Schram, for thirty-one years connected with the Poughkeepsie Eagle; and also Edward Bright and Francis D, Penniman already noticed, as well as Dolphas Ben- nett, brother of Cephas, now tlie oldest printer of Utica. A copper plate engraver, named Vistus Balch, who located himself in the village as early as 1824, soon had as a pai'tner Edward Stiles. The firm wei'e associated with William Wil- liams, and found considerable employment as engravers of bank notes, maps, &c. Acquiring reputation, they removed to New York, and established with others the American Bank Note Company. While here they had a valuable assistant named Tubbs. Mr. Balch married a daughter of John Welles. Many a town has had a prodigy in whom it gloried : its youthful Poscius, its poetic cobbler, its classic tailor, its learned V)lacksrnith, or other genius endowed with gifts not usually met with in one of his sphere, and which have rendered him famous in a line that was wide of the one he belonged to. Utica, too, had its prodigy. This was a blacksmith, not learned, indeed, but an adept in talking and singing; and in Harry Bushnell it could boast of a speaker and songster of no common capacity. Harry had been wild in his youth, but after he came hithei-from Otsego, he was converted in the old Methodist chapel, and entered its fellowship. Here he revealed talents that were often in exercise, and which made their possessor a person of note. As class leader, exhorter and singer he became of use to the congrega- tion, and was deemed important enough to be elected trustee. THE THIRD CHARTER. 621 In time, and as his name got abroad, his church zeal dechned ; but his repute as an orator brought him friends from without, and aided by his jolly, good temper, and easy, nonchalant airs, secured him a place in the popular favor. The themes on which he most loved to descant were slave holding and temperance,, and joining those wdio had these reforms under care, he often found occasion for a public display. Self-possessed and fearless, he was never abashed, and on the spur of a call, however little prepared, be could talk on at length, even when he had nothing to say. Frank and winning of countenance, he had from the start the hearts of his hearers, and he knew how to discourse at their level and keep in sympathy with them. In a style that was familiar, rough and impressive, and with more of laugh than of logic, he rambled discursively onward, dealt in bold figures and wild affirmations, told funny stories, uttered many bright things, and amused with hits that were telling. To amuse seemed his principal aim and he labored rather to please than persuade. The evils of drinking were his by expei-ience^ and what he lacked of acquaintance he borrowed from fancy, and conld dress up a tale whose skeleton only was true. When interest flagged or he had talked himself dry, he would break out in song, and in a voice that was rich and flowing with music, he enlivened the audience with some sparkling, melo- dious strain. His" voice was inspiring, the song was contagious, and brought him, perchance, some converts whom his talk could not win. But converts or not, he graced when he did not fui'ther the cause ; so from far and from near he was called for a hearing, and in every rally given a place. In reforms and in politics, too, his aid was much sought, and — help them or help Harry — without him was no meeting complete. His trade he exchanged for dealings in hardware, had as associate Moses T. Meeker, and gathered quite a handsome estate ; but un- lucky ventures conspired with neglect of his business to ruin him wholly. His wife and his children have all, like himself, gone down to the grave. And these were other persons doing business in Utica, in 1824 : Ammi Dows, forwarder and flour dealer in company with L'a B. Carey, had a store on the corner of Seneca street, and the canal. Soon removing to New York, he was succeeded by his brother Harry, before a tinsmith, who had a succession of '622 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. partners, and remained until 1845 or later, the title of the firm being in turn Dows & Hulbert, Dows & Whiting, Dows & Guiteau and Dows & Kissam. Harry Dows' partner in tin- smithing was John Mairs who moved to New York. Elisha Cad- well, who was a conscientious man, without reproach, and an elder in the Second Presbyterian Church, kept at first a provision and grocery store, and then joined to it a bakery : he moved away about 1838, but was here in his later years. Justus Spertzell, was ^ grocer at first on Genesee and then on Catherine street, where his widow (Mrs. Dupre) lived some time afterward. His daughters now living here are Mrs. John O'Hara, Mrs. Peter Davis and one who is unmarried. James Hinman otherwise " Stub," was a confectioner and, next, keeper of the public garden on Whitesboro street east of Burchard, the scene of many a won- derful entertainment, — and lastly he was a grocer. He went to Albany and was killed by an accident. David L. Perkins, be- cause he, among the first, imported clams and oysters and cried them about the streets, was known as Clam Perkins. He was the father of the late city clerk. D. E. Colton, merchant, was here until 1828. Bennet E. Phelps kept fancy goods and millinery as long. Aaron C. Ellinwood, was a baker and served also as constable. •John P. Shaw was a coppersmith in the service of Mr. Delvin, and Seth Cutler an ingenious lock and whitesmith. John F. J. Vedder, who came from Schenectady, bought, in company with Peter McDougal, the shoe store of E. S. Barnum, made and sold shoes with his brothers who subsequently joined him,' and dealt afterwards in leather, until 1852 or later. His widow, daughter of Dr. Herman Norton is still a resident. Eliphalet Stickney and William Blackall were also shoemakers. Harry Badger was a harness-maker. Charles Slosson was a mo- rocco dresser, who, beginning about 1820, worked for twenty- five years for James C. DeLong, and Amos Gale was a tanner and currier. Lyman Hotchkiss, saddler, with his brother Amzi, carpenter and joiner, Charles Churchill, likewise carpenter, and Jesse Sellcck, mason, took part in the organization of the Second Presbyterian Church. None of them maintained a long residence in the place but Mr. Churchill, who was a builder and lumber dealer as late as 1845. John H. Sterry, another carpenter, and an officer in the Baptist Church, was here still longer. Of the same trade was Stafford Palmer. Andrew O. Downer, still another THE THIRD CHARTER. 623 builder, absent for a time, returned and lived a good while here. His brother Norman, if not a resident in 1824, came very soon afterward, and spent a life-time. Lester Hoadley, a mason by trade, kept, in 1824, the Oliver Babcock house on Main street, and lived ten years in Utica. His son, John C. Hoadley, an engineer, has been a prominent man in Pittsfield and Law- rence, Mass. William G. Allyn, stonecutter, afterwards prac- ticed medicine and was subsequently nearly blind for some years. He died in Utica, in 1877. An early partner of his in stone -cutting, and a long-continued inhabitant, was John S. Joslyn. Anthony W. Latour and J. C. Shiffer were carriage trimmers, and Philip Yanderlip and Henry Cobbett were coach painters. Mr. Latour is still resident. Henry J. Brower was an uphol- sterer. Dennis Saumet was a barber, whose visage was symbol- ized week after week in a sombre-tinted newspaper wood-cut. William Koper was a saloon-keeper. Daniel B. Lothrop was in rotation, bar-tender, postofhce clerk, druggist and grocer. Peter Rice was with Ennals in the Utica Museum. Captain Samuel B. Griswold, U. S. A, son-in-law of Arthur Breese, though he followed no business here, kept house in the place. One of his daughters is now the widow of Professor S. F. B. Morse, another is Mrs. William Goodrich, late of New Orleans. He had also two sons. Among the students at law were Charles A. Mann, David Wager, James Knox, William J. Bacon, John G. Floyd and John M. Holley, the three last of whom became afterward sons- in-law of Joseph Kirkland. Among the clerks of the period who did not engage in business until after 1825, were Van Vechten Livingston, William Bristol, Gerry Sanger, John C. Hastings, W. W. Backus, David Hunt, George Curtiss, William Knowlson, Sylvanus Holmes. Among the journeymen and ap- prentices were, Simon Y. Oley, Julius A. Spencer, William D. Hamlin, Stephen Thorn, D. Timerman, Junius Rodgers, and Edward Cur ran. 1825. The board of trustees created by the election of 1825, con- sisted of Benjamin Ballon and Riley Rogers from the first ward, William H. Maynard and Charles Morris from the second, and 624 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Nicholas Smith und John R. Ludlow from the third. Captain William Clarke remained the president. The supervisor was E. S. Cozier, and the assessors were Benjamin Ballou, John Bradish and David P. Hoyt. The officers ap})ointed by the trustees were John H. Ostrom, clerk, Thomas Walker, treasurer, Ara Broadwell, police constable, &c. The board met frequently in the course of the year, and while steadily carrying forward the work of their predecessors, effected a few additional im- provements. John street was paved from the canal to Bleecker street, and Bleecker from John to Genesee. La Fayette street was also paved as far as Madison lane, and a sewer laid beneath it to the lot of, A. Cooper, and thence to the canal. Post street — now so utterly neglected, — was also fitted with a sewer, and a tolerably numerous committee of honorable men superintended the work. Washington street was provided with gravelled side- walks from the canal upward, and Burnet had a brick walk laid along its eastern side. The only new street of the year was Carnahan, whose "centre, beginning four hundi-ed and thirt3-nine feet from the north-west corner of John Pocock's brick house, on the corner of Genesee and Elizabeth, ran south thirty degrees east to the westerly line of the Post purchase, and until it intersected Blandina." I am thus |)articular in de- scribing it for the sake of the name it bore, and because it shortly opened the way to Union street and Steuben park, tliough it has now perished from the list of cit}^ streets, and is reckoned only as the head of Blandina. A stone bridge was erected across the Starch Factory creek at a cost of two hundred and fifty dollars, and a like sum was given for an acre and a half of land in Deei-field to supply the village wnth j^aving sand. The advantages to be expected from a public market seem to have taken an early hold upon the minds of the board, since at their second session they resolved to erect one upon such place as might be thereafter agreed on. At their next meeting they de- termined that it should be placed in the public square in front of A. Shepard's tavern, and at the same time Messrs. Clark, Ballou and Maynard were named as a committee to report a plan, and to devise the ways and means for defraying the expense of the structure. Such ])laii and suggestions were ]jresented a few weeks later. The market was to cost from twenty-five hundred to three thousand dollars, towards which five hundred dollars THE THIRD CHARTER. 625 had already been subscribed ; five hundred dollars, it was thou^-ht by the committee, might be appropriated from the funds of the village for the current year ; and several persons stood ready to advance the remainder, upon the corporation securing to them the profits of the market until they should be reimbursed the principal and interest ; besides all this, Mr. Culver offered to purchase the materials and to build the mai-ket, charging only for himself and his hands a per diem allowance of eleven shillings each. Thereupon the report was accepted and the committee authorized to enter into contract for the erec- tion of a market on the place proposed, and in accordance with the plan submitted. The market had its friends, but it had also its enemies ; and it was not long before there sprang up an opposition, among the citizens as strong as that which had been experienced some years previously when the same project was on foot. They were pretty generally arrayed on one side or the other, as remonstrants against the location of the market in the square, or as petitioners for that location. Their respec- tive missives to the trustees with the arguments pro and con are now lost, but lists of the names appended to each of these communications have been preserved. The remonstrants in- clude three judges of the Supreme Court, and several promi- nent professional men and merchants, and are about twenty- five in number, but the petitioners, who had also with them a goodly number of leading citizens, are nearly twice as many as the remonstrants. The effect of this opposition was the intro- duction into the board, shortly afterward, of a motion to rescind the former resolution, fixing the site of the market. On being put to vote, three voted in the affirmative, two in the negative, and one declined to vote, when the presider^t declared the mo- tion lost. And so the market remained wdiere it had been placed. Its subsequent history as the Clinton market — whick stood on Bleecker street on the site of the present armory — be- longs to a period of the village life, a little later than the one now treated of. In the proceedings of this year we find the first notice of the summoning of a physician to the public ex- ercise of his professional calling. Dr. John McCall having reported to the board that a person had come into the village with the small pox, the doctor was at once made health officer and village physician, and it was ordered that the person so- Q-1 626 THE riONEEUS OF UTICA. infected be forthwith removed to some safe place, and a com- mittee of three were directed to cany the order into effect. l\vo days later, as if questioning their own authority in mak- ing the appointment, a conunittee was created to confer with the poor-master and ascertain to whom the right of appointment belonged. As for the sick man, he was disposed of as such cases have since then almost uniformly been, he was put into a temporary hovel erected for the purpose, and there was attended in seclusion. There were three" lire engines now in possession by the vil- lage, numbered one, two, three, in the order in which they had been purchased, and an organized company was attached to each of them, their captains, respectively, being Horace Butler, Wil- liam Gainer and Edward Yernon. The scholars in attendance on the public school were rec[uired at this time to pay thi-ee shillings each term, which fee was to be applied toward defray- ing the expense of the teachers. The village tax for the year amounted to one shiUing on every one hundred dollars. Four hundred dollars were raised through the supervisors for the su|)- port of the poor. By a notice, published in the papers of the day, the inhal>i- tants of Utica and vicinit}^ were informed that Mr. Thompson was to preach in the Court House on Sunday, the 20th of November, 1825, and the Universalists residing in the village and neighborhood, were requested to meet at the same place on Monday evening, the 21st, for the purpose of organizing a soci- ety. Accordingly, " a number of persons believing in the doc- trine of God's impartial and universal love," met at the time and place appointed, and organized the " First Universalist Society of Utica." The following persons were appointed trustees, viz.: Andrew S. Pond, Daniel James, John E. Ludlow, John Hickox, Koswell Woodruff ; and the following were appointed deacons, viz. : Ezra S. Barnum and William Stevens. Forty-two j^er- sons signed the constitution. Rev. John S. Thompson, the chairman of the meeting, remained but a short time in their service as pastor, though in May of the following year, in con- junction with Rev. Abner Kneeland of New York, he sum- moned a convocation of Universalist ministers, which was duly held in Utica. The society was supplied by occasional preach- THE THIRD CHARTER. 627 -ers, among whom was the father of the late liev. T. Starr King. But it was not until March 19, 1830, that thej extended a call to Rev. Dolphus Skinner, who had been one of their number from the first, to become their regular minister. In 1828 they began to build a church on Devereux street, and on the 18tli of March, 1830, it was dedicated. A public library was incorporated on the 5th of Marcli, 1825, ■under the title of the Utica Library, and was opened in July following, with one thousand one hundred books. It was owned b}^ shareholders, and controlled by a board of twelve trustees. The number of shares was fixed at four hundred, their value being three dollars each ; and these were nearly all of them soon sold, and were held at an advance from the original price. The books were well selected and of standard authority, and among them were sets of the best English and American periodicals. Within a few years this number was increased to twenty-five hundred. The faithful librarian was Justus H. Rathbone, who attended for the drawing of books once in each week. In the course of a few years the books, which had at first been kept in the office of Mr. Rathbone on Broad street, were I'emoved to rooms in the building of the Mechanics' Association, and the library was opened six days in the week. The two great events of the year were the reception of Gen- eral La Fayette, the nation's guest, now passing in ovation through the country, and the public celebi-ation of the opening of the Erie Canal, just completed throughout its whole extent. Both of these events were so replete with interest to the genera- tion who bore a part in them, that the real spirit of the times can only be gathered from a somewhat coj)ious narrative. For the due observance of the first of these ceremonies, the trustees appointed a committee in May, consisting of the presi- dent and Messrs. Maynard and Ballon, who were to confer with the military committee and to settle upon the order of arrange- ments. At the same time the president was requested to call a public meeting of the citizens, that they might appoint another committee who should cooperate with that of the corporation. Such a meeting was held and due arrangements were perfected. What followed, we shall relate in the language of a newspaper issue of the time : 628 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. "June 9, 1S25, the deputations from the General Commit- tee of Arrangements at Utica, of which His Honor Judge Wil- liams was chairman, accompanied by Colonel Lansing and His- Honor Judge Storrs, proceeded to Eome to meet General La Fayette. At Eome they were joined by General Weaver and his suite, on the part of the military deputation. A depu- tation from the Committee at Eome, Colonel Lansing, Judge Williams and Judge Storrs, proceeded in a boat some miles up the canal and met the boat of the General. At ten o'clock in the evening, the General, his son. Colonel La Fayette, M. Le Yasseur, his Secretary, and another friend, were received into carriages and conducted to the arsenal, where they were received by Lieutenant Simonson, the Commandant of that post, with a national salute and the other honors usually paid to a Major General. Ladies and gentlemen were introduced, and he W'as then conducted to Starr's Hotel, and an address delivered him by Wheeler Barnes, President of the village. The village was illuminated. At six o'clock on the 10th inst, he visited Colonel Lansing, at Oriskany, who was under his command at Yorktown. A committee from the village of Whitesboro con- ducted him in a barouche, attended by a military escort, to the yard of the late residence of Judge Piatt, where he was intro- duced, and thence to the house of Mr. Berry, where he was re ceived by the General Committee of Arrangements, and an ad- dress delivered him by Judge Williams. Next he visited the widow of Judge White, at whose house he was entertained in 1784, when he assisted at the Treaty with the Indians, held at Eome. The procession was formed at Whitesboro : the General was seated in the barouche, accompanied by Judge Williams, and preceded by an escort of cavalry, commanded by General John J. Knox. The General was followed by a carriage con- veying his son. Colonel La Fayette. Colonel Lansing, Colonel Mappa and Eichard E. Lansing. Next succeeded coaches with his Secretary, M. Le Yasseur, the other gentlemen of his suite and the Utica Committee, Judge Storrs, Lieutenant Simonson and Captain Wright of Eome. A large cavalcade of citizens on horseback, riding three abreast, followed, and were succeeded by a squadron of cavalry under the command of Lieutenant Cone. The procession moved rapidly, and increased as it passed from the accession of citizens. All the way the fences were lined and the houses thronged with people, manifesting the ut- most eagerness to see the favorite and guest of the Nation. When the General arrived at the boundary of the village a salute of twenty-four guns was fired. The procession entered La Fayette street, where the troops, under the command of Lieu- tenant Colonel Ostrom, were drawn up on both sides of the way, and saluted the General as he passed. The procession entered Genesee street, the crowd of eager spectators accumulating at THE THIRD CHARTEE. 629 •every step, and passed the bridge over the canal, where a tri- timphant arch was erected, with a flag prepared by Mr. Vander- lip, labelled ' La Fayette, the Apostle of Liberty, we hail thee welcome !' The procession moved down Grenesee street, the •sidewalks, doors and windows being thronged, and stopped at Shepard's Hotel, where the Greneral was received on the steps at the front door by William Clarke, Esq., president of the vil- lage of Utica and the corporation, and a speech was delivered by Mr. Clarke, followed by a reply from La Fayette. "The General breakfasted and dined at Shepard's, and in the interval the ceremonies of introduction and the review of the -troops were performed. An immense number of gentleman of the county of Oneida and the vicinity were introduced to the •General, and at twelve o'clock the ladies were introduced, which ceremony occupied nearly an hour, so great was the number whom patriotism, respect and affection called to the interesting scene. The troops passed in review before the General, who received their salute standing uncovered on the steps of Mr. Shepard's front door. At the particular request of General La Fa^^ette, the chiefs of the Oneidas were invited to meet him ; and among them he recognized two whom he knew during the Revolutionary war. But one of the most solemn and affecting incidents was the interview between the General and the old soldiers of the Revolutionary army. A large number were assembled, some of whom were with him at the attack on the redoubts at Yorktown. The deep and keen feelings manifested by these venerated men on once more beholding their beloved General, and his frequent exclamations : ' Oh, my friend, I know you !' with the impassioned salutations, excited the live - liest sympathies of every heart. " Over the front door of Mr. Shepard's hotel was placed a splendid transparent painting by Mr. Yanderlip, on which was inscribed in large letters, 'Welcome La Fayette.' After the General had partaken of a cold collation (the only dinner which circumstances would permit), at which Rev. Mr. Willey craved the blessing of Providence, the General, by particular request of the President of the United States, visited the family of Alexander B. Johnson, Esq., (Mrs. Johnson being niece of the President,) who, with a few ladies of the village, received him with the cordiality and respect which all feel. On his return, he called for a moment at the house of Arthur Breese, Esq., where the Rev. Mr. Galusha delivered him a neat poetical ad- dress. The General then paid his respects to the family of President Clarke, and was conducted to the packet boat Gov- ernor Clinton, named for the occasion La Fayette, commanded by Major Swartwout, and which had been fitted in tasteful and elegant style for his accommodation to Schenectady. It was drawn by three white horses, which, with their rider, had appro- 630 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. priate decorations. At the moment of embarkation a salute of twenty-fonr guns was fired, and when the boat began to move^ the citizens congregated on the bridges and banks of the canal, rent the air with loud and long continued cheering, which was repeated at intervals until the General had passed the compact part of the village. At the last bridge, near the residence of the lamented Judge Miller, little boys threw baskets of llowers into the boat as it passed. The General, all the time, pre- sented himself to the people, and answered their congratulations with bows and expressive gesticulations. The Committee at- tended him to the bounds of the county, and a deputation pro- ceeded with him." The Erie Canal was completed on the 26th of October, 1825,. water from Lal^e Erie was admitted into it at Black Rock, and on this day the first boat ascended the Lockport locks, j)assed through the mountain ridge and entered the lake. The opening ceremonies were attended with unbounded joy and enthusiasm ; cannon were stationed along the banks, from one end to the other, at a distance of four or five miles apart, and a series of reports was echoed through its length, in token of the mingling of the waters ; music and all the festivities that a grand national success can invent were put in requisition to glorify the occa- sion. A flotilla of boats, having on board Governor Clinton and ofiicers of the State Government, a committee of the common council of New York, and numerous delegates from towns along the line of the canal, made the passage from Lake Erie to Sandy Hook. Leaving Buffalo on Wednesday morning, it was their intention to be in Utica on Saturday night; but unforeseen de- lays procrastinated their arrival until Sunday noon, in tlie- afternoon they attended divine worship at the Presbyterian Cliui-ch. Earl_y on Monday morning these distinguished guests were i-eceived at the Court House, where an address was delivered by Judge Ezckiel Bacon, in behalf of his fellow townsmen, to which Governor Clinton replied. "Of the manner in which the addresses were delivered, it was observed that Judge Bacon, who always does such things well, was never more happy. Governor Clinton was sensibly affected, and delivered his reply with much feeling. 'J'lie address expressed in a forcible and eloquent man- ner the congi'atulations of the citizens of Utica, and paid appro- priate and mei-ited compliments to all those who had planned or assisted in tlie execution of the stupendous work. The reply THE THIRD CHARTER. 631 of tlie Governor contained a well-turned and well-merited eulo- gium on the Hon. Judge Piatt, who, by his exertions in the Senate, and in the Council of Eevision, afforded powerful and efficient aid to the cause of the canals ; and to whom, also, we were first indebted for the favorite and popular expression of 'The Young Lion of the West,'" They then reembarked and continued their excursion. In the evening the canal was illuminated along its course through the village by floating tar barrels on fire. The committee from Utica, appointed to take part in the cel- ebration at New York, consisted of William Clarke, president of the corporation, Jonas Piatt, Thomas H. Hubbard, Charles C. Broadhead, Eichard E. Lansing and Alexander Coventry. Elsewhere, along the whole line, and to the city of New York, the occasion was observed with similar demonstrations of deligbt. Medals were struck, sketches of canal scenes wei'e imprinted on earthenware, on handkerchiefs, &c., in commemoration of the event 632 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. As an evidence of the rapidity with which the canal was brought into use, and of the very great change which it made in the mode of transportation from those before employed, it may be stated that the number of canal boats which arrived at Albany during the season of 1823, was 1,329, during that of 182-1, 2,587, during that of 1825, 3,336, and up to September 6, of the year 1826, 4,380 which number, it was presumed, would, by the close of navigation, be increased to 7,000. The rate for transportation on the turnpike, in 1826, was one and one-half cents per mile, the rate by the Erie Canal was five mills. The impetus it gave to the city of New York is shown in part by the fact that its proximate completion caused the erec- tion there, in 1 824, of three thousand new houses. CHAPTER VI. HABITS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INHABITANTS. I have now carried the story of Utica and its inhabitants through the earher chapter in its development, and brought it in face of a new phase of commercial life, — to a period when, with new modes of transportation and of trade, the village took on so active a growth that, at the end of five years longer it was made a city. Yet how small it still was when compared with the city's present dimensions, is shown by the map on the following page.* We have finished the history of those who may rightly be called its pioneers. The pursuits and the traits peculiar to very many of them we have studied in detail. What they were as a whole, what they had in common that was dif- ferent from the denizens of to-day, their social habits and char- acteristics, it remains to consider. Though made up of men of various nationalities, the popula- tion was more strictly native American than it has been at any time later. The sons of New England predominated, and next in number were the home-born New Yorkers, in whose veins flowed more or less of Holland blood. But besides these there was a sprinkling of immigrants from every portion of the Brit- ish Isles, among whom the Welsh were most numerous. The great Irish influx, now getting its impulse from the need of laborers in the construction of the Erie Canal, had as yet afforded the place few important accessions. As it was intimated in a toast given at a then recent Hibernian supper, this canal was a ^'capital road from Cork to Utica." Howbeit, few of its travel- lers had yet reached the terminus. The outflow of Grermany waited many years its commencement. Negro slavery was practically extinct, for of the ten thousand slaves numbered in the State of New York in 1820, Oneida had but nine. Slave sales, which once had not been uncommon in Utica, were no *This map was prepared from one made by John Fish, village surveyor, in 1828; being copied from it in its drawing, but shaded and otherwise adapted to the year 1825, in part by the aid of a sketch drawn up in 1824, by William J. Bacon, and in part by the aid of the village records. 634 THE PIONEEES OF UTICA. JMUUU^ t3 -s -a § o « ^ 1 o rt a ■- ft ft 03 , < iJ t^ c-i 2{ THE THIRD CHARTER. 635 longer announced in the papers, an issue of the year 1817 con- taining the last of such announcements that the writer has met with. The more obvious differences between the men of the past and those of the present are those that are common to the whole civilized world, and which are best seen bj a glance at a few of the wondrous achievements of the past fifty years. Well versed as we are with modern modes of transport and transmission, it is not easy to realize that theyear 1824 saw the first locomotive, — that though a few^ paltry steamers were cautiously plying our rivers, twenty years still elapsed ere they ventured the ocean, — that not yet had scientific research struck out the spark whence followed, in time, the great invention of Morse. A few wire bridges were looked on as marvels, outdoing in wonder the Colossus of Rhodes ; but not until 1823 were submitted the plans of Brunei to tunnel the Thames. Not till '23 were the streets of New York lighted with gas. Not till "24 did Daguerre begin his incipient trials with light, and photograph and stereo- scope were much later developed. Jennies for spinning had long found their use, but jennies for sewing awaited some years an inventor, and machines that have since changed the habits of millions, and given fresh impulse to commerce and trade, were first seen by this generation. Sciences, like geology and chemistry, which were heretofore cultivated, have in the fifty years past made their chief acquisitions, and new ones have risen to pour out fresh treasures. In their wake new arts have sprung np and improved manufactures, and these have furnished employment unthought of before. The course of discovery and the movements of commerce have enlarged the bounds of our knowledge, and the world has grown greater as its parts are better known. Fifty years since Ohio was just filling up ; Illi- nois was the westernmost point of migration, and the vast regions beyond were like Texas and Mexico, mere terrce incognitae. The gold of California and the wealth of Australia rested safe in obscurit}^ Russia was a half-savage country, and China as well as Japan were jealously guarded from view. When to all this : to the increased ease of travel, the widened intelligence, and its free interchange through all parts of the earth, — we add the more abundant population and the competition that follows in consequence, we have causes enough to give the men of the 636 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. present a pressing activity, a restless and wearj'ing struggle, which was unfelt by their fathers. These fathers of Utica were busy, though in a narrower sphere and a quieter manner. Content with less gains, less urged by ambition, and less enticed into risks, they were more true to their word, more honest in dealing, had fewer tricks in their trade. True sons of New England, they honored their birth, and practiced the staunch virtues they had learned in the land of steady-going ways. Karely absent from home, and hearing little of matters abroad, they were fond of home pleasures and cherished their neighbors around them. Each knew and was known of the rest, and each took an interest in the welfare of all. Their fellows they rated by their conscience and the wa}'' it was kept, not by the length of the purse or the fortune of birth. Office searched after the man, not man after office, and the meritorious only were put into place. The domestic economy of 1825 is better told by negatives than by statements of a positive nature ; and this is evident when we think of the numerous articles of daily use now deemed essential of which our fathers were ignorant, articles of house- hold and of personal service, which neither here nor elsewhere were in general request. As a consequence of these deficiencies, there prevailed a uniform plainness of style and adornment, which at this day is mostly seen among those whose lack of means forbid them to appear otherwise. Let us glance at a few of these differences, and chiefly at such as respect the dwellers in Utica only. Chairs were unpretending, but substantial and durable. Rush or cane-bottom seats in white painted frames, set off with a trifle of gilding, were stylish enough for a parlor ; im- ported and exotic woods, with seats covered with brocade or hair were reserved for the dainty and rich. Sofas were rare, and pianos still rarer ; not ten of tlie latter, it is probable, could be found in the place. Carpets of ingrain were quite in the mode, and carpets of Brussels, the last reach of wealth. Very many covered their floors with a tissue of rags, or else one of wool, which they spun for themselves, and sent out for weaving, together with trimmings of beaver shred off by the makers of gentlemen's hats. Furnaces were unheard of, and stoves in pri- vate houses just finding a ])lace. And these were heated with wood ; barely three years had elapsed since the art had been THE THIRD CHARTER, 637 known of kindling up anthracite. But wood was abundant, and wide, open fire-places, with andirons and fenders of brass, brightened a room that might be otherwise cheerless. Both cooking and house-warming were done by the fire on the hearth. That a joint of meat basted thereat had a juicy richness of flavor which no stove can impart it needs not a connoisseur to declare. But as to warming the house and its inmates, no such claim for the older over the modern convenience can with truth be as- serted. Despite the size of these fire-places, and the amount of fuel devoured, warmth was maintained only immediately in front of them ; and if the apartment were large, one side of the person was cold though the other might roast. Writing within it, during severe winter weather, you might be forced to suspend work at times in order to thaw out your ink. Halls were like barns and chambers scarce better. A sleeping room warmed was a comfort that few people knew ; and to make a cold one endurable warming-pans were generally used. Disrob- ing was done with despatch ; then quickly mounting the high, four-posted bed, you drew close its curtains, and, buried in feathers, you forgot your discomfort, dreading naught but the prospect of rising. At church, not old ladies merely, but younger ones, too, were glad of a foot stove. People ate off from blue, figured earthenware, used two-tined forks of steel, and, perchance, oftener carried the broad-bladed knife to the mouth than comported with breeding. Mrs. Trollope and Mr. Fidler had not yet taught Yankees the luxury of a silver fork, or scoui'ged them into manners at table. Even the using of napkins was a practice too formal to be observed by any but the very select. In lieu of lucifer matches, flint was employed with punk-box and steel, or a recent invention that brought light from a compound of phosphorus, into which you plunged a stick that was headed with sulphur. Candles all used, and happy were they who were not restricted to tallow. If one went abroad of an evening, in default of the moon, he carried a lantern, for the few scattered street lamps hindered more than they aided the wayfarer. The only bell of the village rang daily at nine, at twelve, and again at nine in the evening, and as this told the departure of day, most people covered up their fires and retired. In the dead hour of night, one's sleep was often disturbed by the hourly cry of the watchmen, and the welcome assurance that " all was well." 638 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. Church service was hekl morning and afternoon, and Sunday school Jcept twice in the da}^, before the first worship and after the later. Tuning-fork and viol ruled the uotes of the choir. The barrel organ of Trinity that aforetime had bi'eathed a few tunes in its service, gave place, in "21, to an organ with pipes, and till '24 no key board was touched in the Pres- byterian "meeting house." The evening of Saturday was as sacred almost as the one which succeeded it, though our fore- fathers' custom in respect to this religious observance was fast falling away. And Sunday itself — " how still the morning of tlie liallow'd day!" — yet not the morning only, since through- out its live long hours a placid stillness rested on the place, such as now retired country folks alone can feel. Well might the poet, had he seen it, exclaim with dehght : " With dove-like wings peace o'er yon village broods." Bearers at funerals were presented each with a scarf of the finest of linen, suffi- cient to make up a shirt, and it may be not the bearers alone, for if the mourners were able, the}^ sent a like piece to the whole of their intimate friends. The bearers w^ho served when Colonel Walker was buried wore their scarves, by request of the famil}', the next Sunday at church. Few carriages followed the dead to the grave, but the measured toll of the bell reached every ear in the village, and all w^ere assured that one whom they knew had gone to his rest. Brides just home from their 'tour kept open house for two or three days, when good cheer was dispensed in what, for these times, would be deemed a much too liberal way. The results we may guess, if we can conceive of the figure a visitor cut at the recep- tion which followed the marriage of a daughter of Jeremiah Van Rensselaer. This visitor, then a young man, and now gone to his grave as a very respectable old one, having drank rather freel}^, was placed outside on a seat in the grounds which fronted the mansion, with an umbrella put carefully over him to keep off the sun, and yet not so covered but that he was seen by all comers and goers. Merchants went twice a 3'ear to the city, and having bought their spring oi* autumn supplies, waited the slow movements of sloops on tlie Hudson, or Durham boats on the Mohawk, ere they received them; or tliey had them brought up by teamsters on the turn}>ike in enormous, covered wagons, drawn by four and six horse teams. In journeying to THE THIRD CHARTEK. 639 the metropolis they often set out in parties large enough to have the stage coach almost, if not cpnte, to themselves, and going and coming made it an excursion of pleasure as well as of profit. Buying by agents with samples was altogether unknown. But ere this the former habit of barter was mostly al^andoned for a proffer of cash or short credit, as now. Clerks and apprentices were at home in the families of their employers, and kept the hours of the family. Stores were open till nine, and no little shopping was done after dark. IMerchant tailors w^ere few, and whoever would have a new suit of clothes, first purchased the stuff, and thence to the tailors for the making. Doctors carried and dealt out their medicines, for though drugs might be had at the drug stores, prescriptions were never compounded. They trusted largely to drugs, made much of the lancet, but lacked very many recent improvements. Printers liad no other press than the old-fashioned Ramage. The two hebdomadal sheets, besides one or more editorials, weight}^ with affairs of State or National import, contained in most issues a sharp onset from Senex or a stinging rejoinder from Juvenis, or a warfare of words between Fidelitas and Justitia, or Medicus and Theolog- icus. As for news, that which came the farthest and was long- est in coming was thought to be of chiefest significance, and the battles and turmoils of Europe had a zest that was lacking in the minor concerns of the county. "Our own correspondent'' had not yet received his commission ; clippings from New York, Boston or Washington gave the text only of his subsequent lengthy discourses. Half a dozen lines of obituary did honor enough to the greatest, and for mortals in general their date of departure was the sole "patent from oblivion." Horses most people had of their own, or borrowed of a friend, and so relied little on liveries. Horse-back riding was more in vogue than at present, and buggies not yet invented. Instead, many kept a chaise, — a quaint-looking, two wheeled vehicle with springs that rested on thills, which supported the seat and its hood-like cover. At fires buckets filled the office of hose, and in them water was passed b}' friendly hands disposed in a file from the place of supply to where it was needed, an opposite file return- ing the buckets when emptied. At the burning of Harden's brewery, in the winter of 1820, such a duplicate row of assistants reached -continuous from the fire on Broadway to the pump in 640 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. the square, and here eight stalwart fellows manned the two- armed hydraulic. Agents had not yet emerged from the cities, and there was no one out on commission; no one to tease you with new books or steel pens, with fancy soaps or cements, or stuff for the re- moving of stains, to prate of a new fangled lightning rod, or of fruit trees warranted to bear, no one to solicit insurance on life, or bring to your notice the thousand inventions which 'cute men have made. Besides the noisy call to an auction, the sole cry of the street was the crj^ of the sweep, who came every spring to clean out the chimneys without ladder or rope. " Clam Perkins" appeared something later with his oysters straight from Amboy. As to fresh fish, the pike of the Mohawk was reckoned a treat for the best. Would jou. have game, you might hunt for yourself. Fruit was brought in by the farmers around, but that from the tropics was rarely seen in the market. Of the sociable habits of those early days we have discours- ed heretofore. Between then and now the men are widest in difference, for modern ladies visit as much as the ancient. Grentlemen's parties at dinner were not only a frequent, but with some leading men, almost a stated occurrence, and when a stranger of prominence came to visit the town, the weekly routine was exchanged for a daily. That free drinking pre- vailed we cannot deny, and to an extent that was fearful. The brandy bottle was on every side-board and table; "nips" at the tavei'n exceedingly customary ; and on festive occasions, ministers even sometimes took enough to be gay. If short life was the lot of many, intemperance may too often be assign- ed as the cause. But the cry of reform was but now being heard in the land. It was in ignorance that the majority were sinning, and even the more intelligent knew little of the evils which later generations liave been abundantly taught. Fashion,' imperious fashion, was all on the side of the glass, and who was so strong as to hold out against her ? With such habits of drinking, we are not surprised when we learn, that meetings so exclusively masculine gave vent at times to a looseness of talk which is now carefully sealed, and that gentlemen even vied with each other in singing lewd songs or telling the coarsest of stories. At mixed evening parties music and dancing rather than cards were in vogue, and at the gayest assemblies, cotillions THE THIRD CHARTER. 641 and country dances were the sole ones performed. Performed did I say ? And how better define the skillful precision that «narked eacli step in the figure, where was no walking, no shuf- fling, but with feet well raised from the floor, and glowing with conscious excitement, each showed at his best, and rendered with care an artistic pas seulf The plainness of dress is almost inconceivable now, since the one worn on Sunday, a few added ribbons and slight bits of lace, sufficed to set off the smartest of belles. No table was set ; ices and creams with other foreign notions were still unimported. Waiters carried round sandwiches, pickled oysters, sweet-meats and coffee, then followed again with whiskey punch or Madeira. Fathers and mothers were present to regard with delight, to lead home their daughters as they led in the dance, and pumps and silk stock- ings vanished at twelve. Apart from formal occasions, the visits of neighbors were frequent and friendly. Out-of-door interviews were, in season, as common as droppings into the house, and none had a privacy unknown to his fellows. Public amusements were exceedingly rare. There were no lectures, no concerts, no plays ; home singers rendered all the music that was generally heard, actors and artists were content with metro- politan favor, and the circuit of migrating shows was from city to city. At some time rather late in the century's teens Mr. Whitworth, a tourist from England, delivered two or three lectures on botany, and formed a class for its study ; and a single lecture on Holland was spoken hj Judge Yander- kemp of Trenton. Early in the course of the war Mr. Ber- nard of Albany, took the brew-house of Inman and enacted a few "moral plays." He also gave out his intention of putting up, by the aid of subscribers, a handsome erection to be used as a theatre, which might on occasion serve for a ball-room. A spectator who witnessed a comedy translated from Kotzebue,. which with its after-piece formed the chief stock of the com- pany, found a goodly number of gentlemen, but only three ladies present, in addition to tliose he escorted. Such feeble encouragement deferred for a dozen years longer all attempts to establish a theatre. A second menagerie was opened at Hedges, and besides other " small cattle," showed as its chief wonder a tiger of Brazil. In default of other attractions the tavern was hence a frequent place of resort, where merchants and lawyers,. R-1 642 THE PIONEERS OF UTICA. and ministers too, would meet in sociable chat, to talk of town interests, Lear the last current news, and learn from chance travellers events that had happened abroad, for papers were* few, and tliose published weekly. Aside from the lawyers few took in and read the metropolitan dailies. The chief burden of municipal duties resting, moreover, on them, these men of the I'obe were best versed in local concerns, and so more than at present the lights of intelligence. As they kept open ofhce till bed time, giving welcome to friends, they shared with the post-office and tavern in dispensing the news. The boys were free of ■ all parts of the village, and the centre of trade was not too good for a play-ground, where on long summer evenings they " followed their leader" through the turns of Genesee, Hotel, Whites boro and Broad. The relations of intimacy which earl}^ in their settlemcMit bound Utica to New Hartford and Whitesboro, and the fre- quent interchange of visits that went on between them, were now markedly less. So, too, was the business dependence. The completion at Utica of its combined court house and school made a place for the holding of courts which before did not exist, and thus took from Whitesboro, a part of its long standing advantage. The new charter of Utica widened its bounds, increased its internal authority, and, creating it a town of itself, struck off allegiance, and inspired it with ambition to claim the foremost place in the county. And now came the Erie canal, that all-absorbing channel of trade, which caused it to distance New Hartford, as Wliitesboro had already been distanced by the Seneca turnpike. Its present and prospective advantages had already brought lawyers, mechanics and mer- chants from other parts of the county, and more were daily arriving. Those even who had once gained a flourishing cus- tom relinquished its circuit for a wider and Ijcttcr. Yet these towns acquiesced in their lot, and cheerfully united with Utica in schemes for their mutual good. The sj^irit of party now prevailed with intensity all over the State, and alienation occa- sioned by political difference outweighed by far any feeling of local estrangement. At no time in its history was political hate more bitter and violent than from the rule of Clinton as Gover- nor to the national contest between Adams and Jackson, and nowhere was it worse than in the old Western District. In THE THIRD CHARTER. 643 schools and in families, with their parent and head, each person was ranged on one side or the other, and viewed with dislike all such as hurrahed for the opposite party. Colhsions were frequent. Men of high standing were not ashamed to enact the role of the bully. For some newspaper charge or reported remark, some hot words at election, or advantage unfairly gained by a rival, they sought revenge for the wrong, and assailed their opponent with rawhide or fist. But between the leading men of the county there was never the neighborhood jealousy, the jars and obstructions, so often seen elsewhere. Each feeling pride in the merits and success of the rest, they labored together for the good of the w^hole, and advanced to office and honor those of most talent and virtue. While the canal was in construction the interest felt in the work was intense. There w^ere, it is true, those who derided the " big ditch of Clinton. " But by most it was regarded as the work of the age, whose design and achievement brought honor on all who lived at the time. Some, even, went so far as to say that when it was finished they would be willing to die. The canal was completed, and in the manifold good its completion effected it put to shame what its builders conceived. It increased and diversified trade, and gave scope to manufacture, excited all kinds of industry, and set in flow the genuine sources of wealth. It sharpened the faculties and multiplied the exertions of men, made employment for thousands, and cheapened the means of subsistence. It opened new regions and settled State after State. It created new towns and enlarged those already begun. Utiea reaped its full share of inflowing blessings, and starting afresh in a prosperous course, it gathered an impulse which to day is still unexpended. The men of that generation are dead and have left the rich legacy to us their successors. With this crowning work of their lives, let their biography cease. APPENDIX NOTES OX THE TITLE OF THAT PORTION OF COSBY S MANOR, OR OLD FORT SCHUYLER PATENT, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE CITY OF UTICA. In 1725, JSTicliolas Ecker, and sundry other Germans pur- chased from tlie Indian proprietors, by license from Governor Burnet of the Colony of New York, two large tracts of land, lying on both sides of the Mohawk river, and adjoining the brook called Sadaghqueda. This purchase is referred to in two patents, one of which is below mentioned, but without particular description of said purchased land. They were sub- sequentl}' conveyed to William Cosby, Governor of New York, as is mentioned in his will hereafter recited. By letters patent, dated January 2, 173-i,* the Colony of New York conveyed a tract of land to the following parties, viz. : Joseph Worrell, William Cosby, sheriff of Amboy, John Lyne, Thomas Freeman, Paul Richards, John Felton, Charles Wil- liams, Richard Shuckburgh, Timothy Bagley, James Lyne and Frederick Morris. Said tract is described as being in the county of Albany, on both sides of the Mohawk river, bounded by a line, commencing on the west side of a brook called Sadaghqueda, where the said brook falls into the said river, and running thence south 38 degrees west 238 chains, then south 52 degrees east 483 chains, then north 38 degrees east 480 chains, then north 52 degrees west 483 chains, and then south 38 degrees west 242 chains, to the place where the tract began, containing 22,000 acres, and the usual allowance for highways. By deed of lease, dated January 8, 1734, and by deed of release, dated January 9, 1734, Joseph Worrell and his associ- * Recorded in the office of the Secretary of State, Book 11 of Patents, p. 166. 646 APPENDIX. ates, before mentioned, together with the wives of such of them as were married, release and convey the aforesaid tract of land in the aforesaid patent, to William Cosby, Governor of New York, with warranty therein against themselves, their heirs and assigns. This lease and release are recited in aij in- denture, dated 20th April, 1762, from Grace Cosby, widow of Governor William Cosby, to Oliver Delancey, granting the part of the patent on the north side of the Mohawk river. The last will and testament of William Cosby, Governor of New York and New Jersey, was made on the 19th of February, 1735, and recorded in the office of the Surrogate of the city and county of New York on the 30th of March, 1836.* The testator thereby devised all the tract of land lately purchased by him of the Germans, and called the Manor of Cosby, situate on both sides of the Mohawk river, in Albany county, to his two sons, William and Henry, the part thereof on the southeast side of said river to his son William, and all that part thereof on the northwest side to his son Henry. Governor William Cosby died in New York, March 10, 1736, leaving him sur- viving Grace, his widow, William and Henry, his sons, and Elizabeth, wife of Lord Augustus Fitzroy, his daughter, his only heirs at law. William Cosby, son of Governor Cosby, resided for some time before his death at New Eochelle, Westchester county, un- married and insane. He survived his brother Henry many years, and was reputed to be the heir at law of Governor Cosby. He died at New Rochelle between 1767 and 1776, in- testate and without issue. Lady Augustus Fitzroy, sister, and only surviving heir at law of William Cosby of New Rochelle, son of Governor William Cosby, died previous to 1791, leaving her surviving her sons, Augustus Henry, Duke of Grafton, Charles Lord Southampton, and her daughter Grace, the wife of Richard Garmen, Esq., who were the children of her first husband Lord Augustus Fitzroy, and Elizabeth and Lucia Jeffries, who were the children of her second husband, James Jeffiies, Esq., they being her only heirs at law. By an act of the Legislature of the State of New York, passed March 9, 1791, it was provided that Elizabeth Fitzroy,, *In Book No. 13, of Wills, p.451. APPENDIX. 647 or such person or persons as would have been the heirs of Wil- ham Cosb}^, late of New Eochelle, if they had been citizens of this State, and her and their heirs sliall take, have and hold all the i'eal estate whereof the said William Cosby died seized or entitled to in this State, in like manner as if she or they now, and at the time of said Williams' decease, were citizens of this State, any pretense or plea of alienation to the contrary not- withstanding, provided that they shall and may sell such real estate within three years. Bj letter of attorney, dated March 31, 1791, the Most Noble Augustus Henry, Duke of Grrafton, the Eight Honorable Charles Lord Southampton, Eichard Garmen and Grace his wife, the Hon. Elizabeth Jeffries and Lucia Jeffries constituted John Watts and Charles Shaw, their attorneys, jointly and severally, to take possession of and to hold such real estate, and to sell and convey the same or any parts thereof, &c. By deed of release, dated March 6, 1793, recorded in the office of the Secretarj' of State of New York, the above-named heirs at law of Lady Augustus Fitzroy, by their attorney, John Watts, for the consideration of £4,000, conveyed to Gen. Philip Schuyler all that part of the manor of Cosby lying on the southeast side of the Mohawk river, and which, by the last will of Governor Cosby was devised to his son William, with cove- nant and warrant}^* But before this time, Schuyler and those for whom he acted, had already secured a more perfect title than any he could obtain from the heirs of Governor Cosby, and to which their conveyance was but supplementary and confirmatory, as I now proceed to show. On the 7th day of May, 1772. Daniel Horsmanden, Esq., Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Province of New York, issued his warrant to the sheriff of the county of Albany, commanding him to sell for arrears of quit- rents the premises described in said patent to Joseph Worrel and others. And on the 4th of July, 1772, Henry Ten Eyck, Jr., Esq., sheriff of Albany county, sold at the Court House, in * The consideration of the above-mentioned deed was equivalent to $10,000— one-fourth of which was paid to said Schuyler by William Green, as representative of the heirs of John Morin Scott, and one-fourth was paid him by Rutger Bleecker, and one-fourth by John Bradstreet, or their representatives. This deed was, in 1803, in the possession of the executors of Rutger Bleecker. 648 APPENDIX. tlie city of Albany, at public vendue, to Philip Scliujder, the highest bidder, 21,900 acres of the said premises for £1,243 10s. 7d., arrears of quit-rents and charges, besides £143 14s., "Costs of advertisements, &c. The deed of Henry Ten Eyck, Jr., Esq., sheriff of the county of Albany, to Philip Schuyler, is dated July 20, 1772, and was recorded January 23, 1795 in the Clerk's Office of the county of Herkimer,* (at Utica.) In con- sideration of £1,387 4s. 7d., New York currency, it conveys all that certain tract bounded as follows : Beginning on the south side of the Mohawk river, and the west side of a brook called Sadaghqueda, where the said brook falls into the said river, and runs thence south 38 degrees west 211 chains and 41 links, then south 52 degrees east 483 chains, thence north 38 degrees east 453 chains and 41 links, thence north 52 degrees west 483 chains, thence south 38 degrees west 242 chains to the place of beginning. The description omits a strip along the south- easterl}^ side of the patent of 26 chains and 59 links in width and 483 chains in length, and containing about 1,284 acres, to which this deed conveys no title, and which was afterwards im- properly called the Grore. This deed recites the above warrant of the Chief Justice, on the application of the Eeceiver Cen- eral of the colony, stating that on the first day of June, 1767, there were three and more years quit-rent due for said patent, the posting of the requisite legal notices of sale, and the sale bv the sheriff, on the da}^ above mentioned, of 21,900 acres of said land to Philip Schuyler, the highest bidder. General Schuyler made this purchase for the benefit of himself and of General John Morrin Scott, Eutger Bleecker and General John Bradstreet, who were equally interested with him. The purchase money was paid at tlie time of sale, Bradstreet paying £951 14s. 3d. for his share of the manor and other lands, and advancing by way of loan £1,300 to Schu^^ler and Scott. General Bradstreet refused to be known in this purchase, for fear of offence to the Duke of Grafton, who, as lias been said, was one of the heirs of Gov(.'rnor Cosby. * Liber. B No. 2 of Deeds, p. 279, &c. It is recorded also in tlie office of the Secretary of State. July 15, 1812, in Liber M. R. R of Deeds, p. 211, &c. It was witnessed by Robert Yates and Peter W. Yates, and was proven by the last-named witness, on the second day of November, 1793, before Jere- miah Lansing, Master in Chancery. APPENDIX. 649 Two separate surveys of the manor had been made before the last mentioned purchase. In 1786 a fresh survey was made by John R. Bleecker. The whole manor was divided into one hundred and six lots, and a map was prepared, showing the division into lots. The deed of partition by which the share of Eutger Bleecker was conve3^ed to him, was dated December 19, 1786, proven on the first of November, 1793, by Stephen Van' Rensselaer, a subscribing witness, and recorded on the 28th of January, 1795, in the clerk's office of Herkimer count}'.* It recites the ownership of three-fourths by Schuyler and one- fourth b}' Bleecker, their desire to hold their shares in severalty, the division into lots, particularly^ describing the boundaries of each of them, their balloting for the same, and that upon each balloting the lots Nos. 5, 14, 16, 24, 26, 86, 87, 88, 98, 99, and 100, 2, 6, 10, 18, 21, 78, 79, 89, 90, 91, 95, 96, 97, 7, 13, 17, 23, 25, 83, 84, 85, 101, 102, 103, and the undivided half of 3, 11, 19, 27, and the north half of No. 1 were drawn by Philip Schuyler; and lots No. 8, 9, 15, 22, 80, 81,82, 92, 93, 94, 104, 105, 106, and the undivided half of Nos. 4, 12, 20 and 28, and the south half of No. 1 were drawn by Rutger Bleecker, — conveys to Schuyler all the lots and shares of lots so drawn by him, and to Bleecker all the lots and shares so drawn by him. General John Morin Scott died 1784. By a similar deed of partition, dated November 27, 1786, General Schuyler conveyed to Lewis Allaire Scott, the son of General John M. Scott, the east half of lots No. 2 and of No. 3, one-half of 4, of 27, and of 28, lots Nos. 7, 13, 17, 28, 25, 36, 38, 42, 45 and 50, which lay on the north side of the Mohawk river, also lots Nos. 51, 52, 65, 66, 67, 74, 75, 76, 83, 84, 85, 101, 102 and 103, lying on the south side of the river. Rutger Bleecker died on the 4th day of October, 1787, leaving a will which is dated September 8, of the same year, which was proved on the 10th of December, following and recorded in the surrogate's office, of the county of Albany, in Book of Wills No. 1, pp. 36-38. The testator gives his wife the support of hei'self and family out of his estate during her widowhood. He empowers his executors to lease, sell and dispose of his lands and give deeds therefor. He gives and devises all his real estate * Liber No. 2 of Deeds, p. 287. It is recorded also m the office of the Secretary of State, in Book of Deeds, M. R. R., p. 78, &c. 650 APPENDIX. to his live living cliildren and to one expected to be born, to be equally divided between them. He a|)|)oints his brother, Barent Bleecker, his brother- in law, Peter Elmendorf, and his friend, John Lansing, Jr., to be executors, and his wife executrix. He left him surviving, his widow Catherine, his sons, John E. and Peter Edmund Bleecker, his daughters, Elizabeth Brinckeroff, Maria Miller, Blandina Dudlc)^, and Sarah Rutgei' Bleecker, born January 16, 1788, his onl}- heirs at law. Peter Edmund Bleecker died September 18, 1793, aged nineteen; and Sarah Rutger Bleecker died December 10, 1793, aged five. General John Bradstreet died September 26, 1774, in the city of New York, and was buried in the church yard of Trinity Church. His last will and testament, dated September 23, 1774, was duly witnessed and proved, and letters testamentary granted to Philip Schuyler. After a clause of revocation of all former wills and testaments, and after sundry specific bequests and devises, he devises and bequeaths all the rest of his estate, real and personal, to his two daughters, equally to be divided between them as tenants in common in fee. Notwithstanding which devise, he empowers his executors to do all acts and exe- cute all instruments which they ma}' conceive to be requisite to the partition of his landed estate, and devises the same to them as joint tenants, to be by them sold for the interest of his daugh- ters. He ap]joints as executors the said Philip Schuyler and William Smith, Esq., of New York. The last named executor, wdio drew this will, renounced the execution thereof. He ad- hered to the crown during the war of Independence, and was afterwards Chief Justice of the Province of Quebec, in the city of which name he died in the latter part of the year 1793. General Bradstreet had made a will in England, on the 10th day of November, 1754, wliich seems to have been recorded at Doctor's Commons, in which he gave the residue of his estate, real and personal, to his wife and two daughters, ther whole, on the death of his wife, to go to his two daughters. At his death he left him surviving his widow, Mary, and his two daughters, Agatha, who married Charles John Evans, and Martha, who was unmarried. His widow, Mary, whose maiden name M^as Aldrich, had previously married Colonel John Bradstreet, a kinsman of General John Bradsti-eet, by whom she had two children, Samuel, major of the 40th Regiment of Foot, and APPENDIX. 651 Elizabeth, born in Boston. Elizabeth became the second wife of Peter Livius, who was afterwards Chief Justice of Quebec, and who died in England, in 1795. Samuel married and was the father of two children, Samuel, lieutenant of 25th Foot, and Martha, born in Antigua, W. I., August 10, 1780. Thus Major Samuel Bradstreet and Mrs. Elizabeth Livius were the half brother and half sister of Martha and Agatha, the children of General John Bradstreet. Mrs. Mary Bradstreet, the widow of General John, died March 31, 1782, in England. Martha Bradstreet, the daughter of General Bradstreet, died in England, March 22, 1782, unmarried and without issue, leaving a will. In this will, dated May 15, 1781, and proved at London, March 30, 1782, the testatrix gives the produce and interest of her estate to her mother, Mary Bradstreet, during life. She devises her real estate, one-third to her sister Eliza- beth Livius, one-third to Samuel Bradstreet and Martha Brad- street, children of her late brother, Samuel Bradstreet, and the income and profits of the remaining one-third to her sister, Agatha, the wife of Charles Du Bellamy — the same person as Charles John Evans, he having at one time taken the name of Du Bellamy, but his real name being Evans — and in case of his death, then she srives the said one-third to her sister forever. She appoints Sir Charles Gould, knight, to be executor, and authorizes him to sell and dispose of her real estate in North America and make conveyances thereof. On the 3d day of May, 1788, Charles John Evans, of the city of New York, and Agatha, his wife, filed their bill of chancery before the chancellor of the State of New York against Philip Schuyler : w^herein they charge that General Bradstreet in his life-time entrusted large sums of money to the defendant, to invest foi> him, setting forth the will of General Bradstreet ; that General Schuyler took upon himself the sole execution thereof, and that they have applied to said defendant for an accounting ; and praying for a full discovery and accounting, and that defendant may be decreed to convey one moiety of the said real estate to the said Agatha Evans. The answer of Philip Schuyler to the said bill, sworn to March 3, 1789, adnfits that in 1772 he proposed to General Bradstreet to become part- ner with him in the purchase of Cosby's manor and other lands then advertised for sale, for unpaid quit-rents, and the defendant 652 * APPENDIX. having purcbasecl said lands, General Bradstreet paid for his share £951 14s. 3d., and also lent the defendant £1,300, which was applied toward payment of his own share and that of John M. Scott, and avers that General Bradstreet declined being known in said purchase, and the defendant holds the share of General Bradstreet in trust for the purposes of his will, that there were large sums of money in tlie funds in England belong- ing to General Bradstreet, which were taken possession of by Sir Charles Gould as executor under a former will, but which was revoked by his last will. This was done with the approval of the comj^lainants and other heirs residing in England, who preferred that Sir Charles Gould should have charge of the property. The defendant has paid various sums to the com- plainant and the other representatives of General Bradstreet, and is now in advance to his estate. This defendant has caused a division to be made of the lands in the. said manor and the lots to be drawn by indifferent persons to each proprietor, and notice thereof to be given to the complainant and others inter- ested. This defendant is advised by his counsel, Samuel Jones, Eichard Harrison and Alexander Hamilton, that there are great difficulties about settling the estate of General Bradstreet, but on receiving proper security is ready to proceed in the further execution of his trust as this court shall direct. General Brad- street's estate is entitled to 5,462 acres of the first patent, and to 4,875 acres of the second, in Cosby's manor. No decretal order seems to have been entered on the bill and answer to the ■above case. Charles John Evans died the 9th day of August, 1793, when his widow, Agatha, under the will of her sister Martha, became entitled to one-third of Martha's interest absolutely, which, with her interest under her father's will, entitled her to two-thirds of his estate. These interests were made over to her' by the exec- utor who lield them in trust, as appears by the following: Under date of Ma}' 16, 1794, Philip Schuyler, as executor of the last will of John Bradstreet, executed a deed * to Agatha Evans and Edward Gould, merchant, attorney to Sir Charles Gould, knight, executor of Martha Bradstreet. This deed, the consideration of which is 10s., recites the will of Gen- * Proved June 3, 1794, and recorded in the clerk's office of Herkimer in Book No. 2 of Deeds, p. 39, on the 27th of May, 1795. APPENDIX 653 ei-al Bradstreet and appointment of Schuyler and Smith as ex- ecutors ; that Schuyler was then and at tlie time of Bradstreet's death seized in fee as tenant in common of and in two equal un- divided fourths of both patents in Cosby 's manor and other lands ; that Smith is dead ; that the grantee, Agatha Evans, is one of the daughters of Greneral Bradstreet ; that Martha, the other daughter, died, leaving the will heretofore mentioned ; that partition of the said lands has been made among the proprie- tors; and it conveys lots Nos. 6, 10, 18, 21, 77, 78, 79, 89, 90, 91, 95, 96, 97, the north half of No. 2, the undivided half of Nos. 3, 11, 19, 27, Nos. 29, 35, 37, 39, 43, 47, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 77 of Cosby 's manor with other property ; to have and to hold two equal undivided thirds to the said Agatha, her heirs and assigns forever, and the remaining third to the said Edward Gould in trust, to sell the same and divide the moneys arising therefrom to and among Samuel Bradstreet, Martha Bradstreet and Elizabeth Livius, their heirs, executors and administrators; wuth covenant against prior incumbrances and for farther assur- ance. During the years 1790-1795 Charles John Evans and wife, and Sir Charles Gould, by his attorneys, Edward Gould and Daniel Ludlow, and — after the death of Evans — Mrs. Evans with Sir Charles Gould, conveyed certain lots and parts of lots in the manor of Cosby to actual settlers of Old Fort Schuyler, among others to Thomas and Augustus Corey, to John Post, to Stephen Potter, to John D. Petrie, to John Bellinger, to Peter Bellinger, to James S. Kip, &c. Agatha Evans, who died February 9, 1795, by her will, dated November 9, 1794, directed her executors to execute confirmations of the above mentioned conveyances. The claim of Martha Bradstreet the younger, (Mrs. Codd), based in part upon the above mentioned will of Martha Brad- street the elder, and in part upon the will of her aunt, Mrs. Livius, and the pertinacity with which she pursued her claim, have heretofore been briefly alluded to on pp. 124, 125 of the text of this volume. The history of her suits forms no part of the object of these notes ; their unsuccessful result may be found more fully related in the 12th volume of Wendell's Kt-ports, p. 602, and the 5th of Peters", 402. INDEX Including refepenees to persons who are noticed more or less fully. Additional names of parties barely nientioned as resident of Utica will be found on p. 428 and on p. SIS. PAGE Academy, Utica, 387 Academy, Juvenile 351 Ackley. Justus, his account of old Fort Schuyler, 8 Acqueduct Company, 104 Adams, Aaron 50 Adams, Charles 425 Adams, Eber . 209 Adams, John (carpenter) 99 Adams, John (grocer) 425 Agricultural Society, 452 Ailiin, Dr. Edward 512 Aikiu, Rev. Samuel C 458 Albright, Major J. \V 451 Allyn, William G 623 Alversou, William 14 Alverson, Uriah ... 13 Ancient Britons' Benevolent Soc'y 365 Anderson, George K 413 Anderson, John S 594 Andrews, Elou 547 Andrews, J 277 Andrews, Miss 487 Anthon, Rev. Henry 510 Assize of Bread instituted 208 Babcock, Oliver 175 Bacon, Ezekiel 393 Bacon, William J 623 Backus, Albert 308 Backus, Elisha 512 Backus, VV. W 023 Badger, Harvey 622 Bagg, Moses. ... 40 Moses Jr.- 218 _/s Hotel in 1815, 219 Bagg's Square, former shape .... 93 use as a horse breaker's ring 555 Bailey, John 293 Bainbridge, Dr. Edward 123 Balch, Vistus 620 Baldwin, Rev. A. G 232 Baldwin , Edward = . 145 Ballou, Benjamin 26 Ballou, Joseph 28 Ballou, Jerathmel 28 Ballou, Obadiah 29 Bammau. Henry 382 Bancroft, Caleb" 176 Bank, Manhattan 273 Bank, Ontario Branch 325 Bank, Savings . . 491 Bank of Utica, 314 PAGE Banks, Daniel . . . . ; 50 Baptist Chtirch, Welsh, 134 Baptist Church, Second 475 Baptist Missionary Society, 365 Baptist Register, 59 7 Barker, Jacob 255 Barnard, Harvey 614 Barnard, Pharez 95 Barnum, E. S 353 Barnum, Levi 254 Bartlett, M. R 470 Bartlett, Smith 228 Barto, Henry T 427 Barton, Joseph 225 Barton, J. & Co., 513 Battel, Mellen 292, 530 Battel, Thomas and James 383 Bates, Archibald 32 Bates, David G 487 Baxter, William 228 Beach, J. H 269 Beach, Harvey F 591 Beach, Hun C* 409 Beardsley, Samuel 559 Bed bury, J 515 Beggs, John 308 Belin, Philip 127 Bell William 413 Bellinger, Maj. John 12 Bellinger, Peter 28 Benjamin, Eli F 549 Bennett, Cephas 594 Bernard, John • • • ■ 381 Bible Society, Oneida 284 Bible Society, Welsh 418 Bible and Common Prayer Book Society, .' 491 Bicknell, Bennett and Calvin. . . .242 Bingham, A. W 293 Bingham, Flavel 144 Birdsell, E 515 Bissell, John and Heman 96 Black, George , 473 Black River Turnpike begun 280 Blackwood, William 412 Blake, Joseph 515 Bleecker, Rutger, a proprietor of Cosby 's Manor., 7 and Appendix. Bleecker Street paved 624 Bloodgood, Francis A 65 Bloodgood, James and Lynott. . . .224 Boardman, Elijah 228 656 INDEX. Bond, J 338 Boom, Abraham ^ 9 Bostwick, Newell ... 43 Bours, Peter 247 Bowes, Joseph '^28 Bowen, Heury 277 Bowman. Frederick 32 Brace. Rev. Samuel W 598 Bradish, John 334 Bradstreet,Gen. John, a proprietor of Cosby's Manor 7 and Appendix. Bradstreet, Martha 128 Brayton, Milton 612 Bread, Assize of, instituted 208 Breese, Arthur 201 Brewer, B 515 Brewster, Charles 244 Bridge over Mohawk, petition for 29 Bridge over Mohawk, erected .... 30 Bridge Street, opened 271 Bright, Edward 528 Briggs, Asahel 515 Briggs, Noah 511 Brittin.C 308 Broad Street, opened 257 Broad Street, paved 553 Broadwell, Ara 191 Brodhead, Charles C 104 Brodway, Thomas 293 Bromley, John P 528 Bronson, Greene C 601 Brooks, Barnabas and Roger 40 Brower, Henry J 623 Brown, Avery 228 Brown, Azor 413 Brown, Daniel 383 Brown, Enos 190 Brown, James 131 Brown, Haley 293 Brown, Henry 553 Brown, John 413 Brown, Lemuel 269 Brown, Nehemiah 856 Brown, Reuben 228 Brown, Ruf us 192 Bryant, Samuel 471 Buck, William J 527 Budloug, Daniel 58 Buell, Jeptha 59 Bull, John C 290 Burchard, Elisha 84 Burchard, Erastus 277 Burchard, Gideon 34 Burchard, Gurdon 33 Buuce, Joseph. ... 412 Burden, Henry . 486 Burges, Abner 515 Bury, John A 338 Burying ground, of 1806, 204; of '1824 600 Busa, Loring 228 Butler, Comfort 355 Butler, Horace 590 Butler. Nathaniel 94 Butteriield, John 581 Cadwell. Elisha 622 Calder , G eorge 229 Camp, Amos .308 Camp, George and Horace 381 Camp, Harry 406 Camp, John .251 Camp, Talcott . . 55 Campbell, Michael 176 Canal Erie (see Erie Canal) Caiifield, Walker 514 Capron, Elisha and Dr. Seth .... 131 Capron Cotton Mills, 860 Carnahan, Rev. James 211 Carnahan street, opened , .624 Carpenter, Benjamin 528 Carpenter, Clark and Zeno, 593 Carr, Henry W 594 Carringtou, Dr. Samuel and John 38 Case, Seth 413 Case, William P 594 Casey, V\'illiam 514 Catherine street, adopted 280 Catherine street, paved 553 Cavana, Peter 98 Changes since 1825, by invention and discovery 635^ in domestic economy 636; in habits of merchants, printers, editors, doctors &c., 638: in funerals and weddings, 638; in social characteristics 640 Charles Street, opened 596 Charter of Utica, first 78; petition- for new one 94; second and acts passed on its adoption 206; third and acts passed. . .482 Chase, Ira ,527 Cheney, Enoch 81 Child, Jonathan 241 Childs, David VV 177 Childs, John 278 Childs, Silas D 498 Christian, Luther, Nathan and 'Ihomas, 292 Christian Repository, 597 Christman, Ja?ob {> Church, Joshua M 357 Churches (see under respective titles,) Churchill, Charles 622 Circus, Stewart's 294 Clark, Aaron 32 Clark, Ezekiel 52 Clark, Erastus 62 Clark, Henry B 413 Clark, H. W. & William 808 Clark, Oren 471 Clark, Ralph 515 Clark, Major Satterlee 525 INDEX. 657 Clark, Silas 57 Clark, Thomas E 396 Clark, Welcome. ." 32 Clark, Willard 338 Clark, Z. B 338 Clarke, Mrs. Sarah K 402 Clarke, Capt. William 399 Clitz, John 131 Clough, Isaac 487 Cobbett. Heury 623 Coburn, Silas 528 Cochrane, Dr. John. 439 Cochrane, James and Walter L. ..440 Codd, Matthew 123 Coe, Isaac 187 Cole, Bernard and William 514 Colling, Thomas 530 "Collins, Peter 555 Colton, D. E 622 Colwell, Joseph 594 Comstock, Levi 277 Comstock, Moses 473 Concert for joint benefit of Presby- terian and Episcopal churches.558 Conklin, William 528 Conklinor, Penelope 553 Congar, Obadiah 277 Cooley, Justin 383 Coon, Barnard 81 Cooper, Apollos 44 Cooper, B. F 607 Cooper, John 46 Corey, Thomas and Augustus... . 27 Cornwall, Thomas. 384 Corporation shin-plasters 360 Cosby, Gov. William, Patentee of Cosby's Manor.. .7 and Appendix. Cosby 's Manor, extent of, 7; pur- chasers of, 7; division of, 8 and Appendix Costlemau, Joseph. , 337 Cotton Factory, first at VVhitesboro283 Cotton Factory, Capron 360 Courts, first held in Utica 490 Coventrv, Ur. Alexander 53 Coventry, Dr. William M 399 Cozzeus, Levi 511 Cozier, Ezra S 335 Crandall, I^ewis 51 Crane, Edward 514 Cross, Erastus. ... 307 Culver, Abraham 99 Cummins, Ira 425 Cunningham, Hugh 185 Cunningliam, John 9 Cunningham, John D 328 Curran, Edward 633 Curry, Elijah P 594 Curtiss, George 633 Curtiss. John 98 Dakin, Martin 1 18 Dakin, Samuel D 608 Damuth, George 9 Dana, Francis . . . 130 Dana, James 171 Dana, Joseph 59 Dana, Martha 168 Danforth. Samuel 393 Daniels, Daniel 473 Darling, Nathaniel 33 Dauby, Augustine G 539 Davies, Evan 888 Davies, Thomas 593 Davis, Asahel 369 Davis, Cornelius 358 Davis, Thomas 83 Dav, Henrv 619 Dean, H..." 486 Decker, Israel 338 Delano, Obadiah 594 DeLong, James C 356 Delvin, James and William 143 Derbyshire, George 293 Dering, Charles T 387 Despard, Mdrae ..545 Despard, Richard 546 Devereux, John C 137 Devereux, Luke 251 Devereux, Nicholas 376 Devereux, Thomas 291 Dexter, Otis 243 Dick, Bill (see Richards William) Dickens, Simon 487 Dickens, Rebecca 337 Dickinson, Ira 193 Dickinson, Russell A 393 Dinsmore, Nathaniel 515 Directory of 1816, first one 437 Disney, Robert 547 Dixon, Abraham 437 Dixon, Rev. David R 368 Dodd, Rev. Bethuel 90 Domestic economy of 1835, 636 Donaldson, David 337 Donaldson, William 269 Doolittle, Jesse W 318 Dorcas Society 477 Dorchester. Eliasaph 363 Dorchester, James P. and Stephen 34 Doubleday, U. F 357 Douglass, Dr. James 610 Dow, Lorenzo, visits Utica 531 Dowdle, Jemmy 83 Downer, A. O. and Norman . , . .633 Downing, J 308 Downing, David 514 Dows, Ammi and Harry 631 Drake, C. W 553 Drean, Henry .189 Dunlap, William, visits Utica. . .558 Dutton, Chauncey .• 619 Dutton, George 534 Dwight, Rev. Timothy, his de scription of Utica in 1798 and 1804 85 Dwight, Rev. Henry 339 658 INDEX. Dwight, Henry E 591 Dwight, Rev. H. G. 223 Dwight, Seth 222 Dwyer, Alexander 611 Dygert.SylvanusP 96 Earliest settlements of Old Fort Schuyler 8 Easton, Charles Jr 82 Eddy, Oded 351 Eddy, Ruf us 193 Edgerton, Deratha 413 Edmonds, Robert 337 Education 'Society, Western 452 Edwards, John 472 Eggleston, Aaron 39 Ellery & Vernon 405 Ellin wood, Aaron C 622 Ellis, Evan 552 Ellis, Marvin 147 Ely, Henry B.. 513 Embargo of Jefferson, meeting in Utica to memorialize against, 258 Enaals, Henry 514 Episcopal Church, (see Trinity) Erie Canal, begun 438; first excur- sion, to Rome, 477; second, to Montezuma, 488; its further progress 556; its completion publicly celebrated 630; re- sults of completion 632 Estes, Stephen 594 Evans, Jonathan 81 Evans, Jenkins 176 Evans, Titus 308 Everest, Rev. Charles N 620 Everett, Rev. Robert.. 572 Evertson, John E. and Barney. . .250 Evertsen, Jacob 384 Execution, capital, first one at Utica 438 Factory, Glass, Oneida 273 Factory, Glass, Utica 281 Factory, Cotton 282 Factory, Woolen, Oriskany 282 Fay, James 337 Farnon, Rev 474 Faxton, Theodore S 498 Fayette St. begun 488; its further prosecution 530; called Rome Street, 554; name changed.. .595 Fellows, William 57 Female Charitable Society 230 Female Missionary Society, 361 Female Society of Industry, . . .477 Field. Thomas F 547 Financial distress following the war of 1812 \....43S Firemen, first appointed 207; their first meeting 209; subsequent proceedings .240 First street, formally adopted 271, extended 279 Fisher, John H 228 Flagg, Mary 130 Flandrau, Mrs. Elias 278 Flandrau, Thomas H 536 Fleming, Walter 287 Flint, John 413 Floyd, John G 623 Flusky. James 77 Foot, Moses, his re])ort of Old Fort Schuyler in 1785, . 9 Ford, Hobart 90 Ford, Stephen 39 Forgery (see Teacher) Foster, Timothy 191 Francis, Thomas M 471 Francis, William 99 Franks, William 553 Frost, Ansel 594 Fuller, William K 375 Gainer, William 336 Gale, Amos , 622 Garrett,Samuel,Peter and Cheney. 25 Gay, Amos 353 Gay, Samuel 425 Gaylord, Flavel 412 Gaylord, William 153 Geere, William 407 Genesee street, paved in part. . . . 529, 553, 595 Genesee Turnpike(see Seneca Turn- pike) George, John 228 George, Samuel 135 George, Thomas 337 Gibson, Henry B 274 Gibbs.Ozias 308 Gidney, Eleazar 594 Gilbert, Edward and John 225 Gimbrede, Thomas 244 Ginseng house 133 Gladden, James 451 Glass Factory, Oneida 273 Glass Factory, Utica, 281 Goff, Hugh 243 Gold. Theodore S 470 Goodrich, Solomon P 143 Goodliffe, Joseph 514 Goodsell, Dr. Thomas 378 Goodwin, Oliver 269 Gould, Joseph P. and Stephen. . .594 Granger, Otis P 515 Graham, Misses J. & E 487 Graunis, Cyrus 527 Gray, John 471 Gray, William B 487 Greaves, James and John 619 (ireeks, sympathy for 557 Green, George 357 Green, Henry 397 Green, John 529 Greenman, Hiram 549 Gridley, Amos 384 Gridley, E. G 256 Gridley, Mrs 485 INDEX. 659 Griffin, Ebenezer 492 Griffin, Lewis 269 Griffiths, Eld. David 357 Griffiths, Rowland 146 Griffiths. Watkin 472 Griswold, Chester 589 Griswold, Capt. Samuel B 623 Grosvenor, Francis D 550 Grove, John 336 Guest, Henry 1 426 Guiteau, Calvin 449 Guiteau, Dr. Francis, Jr 120 Hackett, James H 494 Hale. Peleg 60 Halsey, William and Hezekiah. . 58 Hamilton, Eber 473 Hamlin, Giles 22 Hamlin, William D 623 Hammond, Benjamin 50 Hammond, Rev. John 73 Hammond, Calvin, John D. and Worden 74 Handy, John H 404 Hardiker, Richard 189 Hardy, Charles E 509 Harrington, Elisha 611 Harrington, John B 254 Harrington, John D 293 Harrington, Susan 468 Harris, G. W 277 Harris, Joseph 32 Harris, Oliver 426 Harris, Perley 338 Harris, Rufus 52 Harrison. John .... .383 Hart, Ephraim 403 Hart, Jacob 338 I Hasbrouck, Dr. David 179 Haskell, Samuel 278 Hasson, John 552 Hastings, Eurotas P 409 Hastings, Charles 446 Hastings, John C 623 Hastings, Thomas . .443 Hatch, George 619 Hayes, William ' 227, 485 Hayes, William Jr 227 Haywood, William 253 Hazard, Charles C 553 Hazen, Caleb and Thomas 176 Health officer, appointed 626 Hedges, Jonathan 307 Herrick, Stephen 357 Hewitt, John 413 Hewson, John 384 Hickox, Augustus 190 Hickox, Preserved. 96 Hickox, Samuel 229 Hicks, Benjamin 145 Higgins, Wesley 594 Hill, Francis M 260 Hill, Ichabod 514 Hinckley, Joel 277 Hinman, Maj. Benjamin 72 Hinman, John E 305 Hinman, John P 383 Hinman, William A. & Jay 572 Hinman, James 622 Hitchcock, Ira A 357 Hitchcock, Alfred 302 Hitchcock, Dr. Marcus . 151 Hoadley, Lester . . .623 Hobby, Elkanah, Epenetus and John 39 Hochstrasser, Paul 278 Hoisington, Rev. Henry R 529 Holley, John M 623 Holcomb, William 594 Holcomb, Roswell .216 Hollister, Hiel 75 Holmes, Sylvanus . ..... .623 Hooker, Samuel and John 75 Hooker, Mrs. C 293 Hopkins, Ira D 589 Hopkins, John 52 Hopper, Captain James 126 Hopper, George J 594 Hotel, The 86 Houghton, William 278 House, John 41 Howell, Susannah 358 Hoyt, David P 173 Hoyt, JohnC 84 Hoyt, Samuel 269 Hoyt's Alley opened 595 Hubbard, Bela 119 Hubbard, Thomas H 571 Hubbell, Alrick 615 Hubbell, Lewis 229 Hubbell, Matthew 25 Hull, Dr. Amos G 298 Hull, John 229 Hunt, David 623 Hunt, Flavel and Erastus 228 Hunt, Montgomery 273,.315 Hurlburt, Augustus 549 Hurlburt, Hezekiah and John. . . .350 Hutchinson, Holmes 585 Hyde, Chester 528 Independent Infantry Company, .294 IngersoU, Henry 619 Ingersoll. John 451 Inman, Charles and John 48 Inman, Henry 48,558 Inman, William 46 Inman, Com. William 47 Insurance Company, Utica 323 Iviaon, Henry. 619 James, William (farmer). , 137 James, William (laborer) 176 James, Thomas 244 Jarrett, William 451 Jeffers&Co, 308 Jewett, Samuel 50 660 INDEX. Joliuson, Alexander B 321 Johnson, Captain Aylmer 117 Johnson, Bryan Gl) Johnson, Isaiah 59 Johnson, James 514 Johnson, Moses 175 Johnson, Royal 2(39 John street, opened . . .385 John street, paved 595, 634 Johns, Simon 98 Jones, Anson 356 Jones, Griffith 338 Jones, James 136,.487 Jones, John 487 Jones, Peter 338 Jones, Richard T 593 Jones, Robert 527 Jones, Samuel 277 Jones, Simeon . 40 Jones, Thomas (blacksmith). . . . 39 Jones, Thomas (wheelwright). . .472 Jones, William 355 Joslyn , John S 623 J udson & Maddock 594 Judd, Rev. Jonathan 194 Juliet, C 553 Juvenile Academy, 351 Kasson, Ambrose 484 Kelty & Mitchell, 487 Kent, Francis 384 Kimbal, Richard 77 King, Walter 263 Kingsbury, Jesse 383 Kip, James S 34 Kip, Henry 24v; Kirkland, Charles P 494 Kirkland, General Joseph 343 Kirkland, Ralph W 189 Kissam, James 337 Klinck, Leonard 193 Knowlson, William 623 Knox, James 623 Kyte, William 382 La Fayette, Public Reception of, 627 Ladd,' William 278 L'Amoreux,A. report of his school ,473 Jjamson, Nathaniel 383 Lamson, Timothy 59 Lancaster System in use in public school 473 Laney , Thomas 383 Langdon, Martin 293 Lansing, Col. Gerrit G 332 Lansing, Richard R 332 Lansing, B. B 348 Latimer, Thomas *336 Latour, Anthony W 623 Lawrence, Richard 383 Lee, Charles M 298 Lee, Philip J 514 Leeper, John H. 269 Lewis, David 472,593 Lewis, John 293 Lewis, Lewis 487 Lewis, Rees 593 lyiberty street, recognized 230 Liberty street, paved 553 Library, Public, established 627 Lincoln, Calvin , .295 Little, James 384 Livingston, Henry W 263 Livingston, Van Vechten 515 Lloyd, John 551 Locke, Collings 407 Lombard, Theophilus 512 Long, James 553 Lothrop, John H 157 Lothrop, Daniel B 623 Lovett, Elisha 408 Lowell, William 358 Ludlow, John R 472 Lund, James T 528 Lyceum, Utica, established 558 Lvncli, James 482 Lynde. William A 308 Mack, Joseph 511 Macomber, George 75 McBride, Robert 376 McCall, Dr. John 464 McCall, James 520 McChestney, Isaac 338 McCoy, Baker 293 McDougal, Peter 622 McElwaine, John 337 McGarry, John 594 McGregor, James 550 McKiggin. John 451 McLean, William 83 McNamee, 9 McQuade, Michael and Thomas. .592 Main street, its former course. ... 93 Maine, Dr. Zadock P 610 Mai com, Samuel B 265 Malcom, Richard M 300 Manchester, Otis 449 Manhattan Branch Bank, 273 Manufactures of 1805, 201 Mann, Charles A 623 Map of Utica, in 1802, 148; in 1806, 203; in 1825, 636 Marble, Joel 293 Marchisi, John B 409 Market House of 1805, 304; second one 309. 358; third 624 Markhani, Peter B 269 Marshal], Daniel 228 Marshall, Moses 100 Marshal), Richard 426 Martin, John 193 Martin, Robert 337 Marvin, Jedediah 358 Maternal Association, 597 Matthews, 338 Maude, John, his visit to Utica in 1800, 103 Maynard, William H 365 INDEX. 6fil Mayo. J 228 Meachara, Dr. 1. N 539 Meartell, George 330 Medical Society of Oneida County, 231 Meeting, public, in opposition to the Embargo .258 Mellisli, J. notice of Utica, in 1807 283, 295 Menagerie, first one sliown in Utica 204 Merrell, Benajah 143 Merrel], Andrew 408 Merrell, Bildad 253 Merrell, Isaac 254 Merrell, Ira 161 Merrell, George F. and Bradford S.487 Merrell, Harvey 594 Mesick, Henry 383 Methodists, their first meetings, 257; chapel, 391 Midlam, Thomas 614 Midshipmen enlisted, 314 Military drafting 259 Miller, Morris S 233 Miller, David 383 Miller, Jabez 513 Mills, G.John 449 Mills & Matthews, 487 Mills, Hev. Samuel T 469 Minden Turnpike begun . . 280 Missionary Society, Female, 301; Utica Baptist, 365; Young Peo- ple's 363 Mitchell, John B 255 Mitchell, Thomas S 514 Mis, Peter 383 Mohawk.Navigation upon, 0,21,240; Steamboat on, 531 ; first Bridge at Utica, 29; Dam across.. . . 589 Mohawk Settlements, their destitu- tion in 1790 27 Moore, William 293 Morey, Philip and Sons 13 Morgan, Walter 225 Morgan, Theophilus 229 Morgan, Lawrence 593 Morgan, Chauncey and Augustus,338 Morgan, Rev. John 515 Morgan, a teacher 553 Morris, Charles 591 Morris, Rev. Daniel ..136 Morris, David E .551 Morris, Rev. Morris 209 Morris, Thomas L 551 Morris, William 277 Morrison, Dr. George 336 Morrison, Roderick N 538 Munrow, Lemuel 337 Munson, Alfred 574 Murdock, John B 189 Murdock, James 547 Murray, James 256 Nash, Andrew 514 Navigation of Mohawk 0. 21,240 Nazro, John B 241 Neunhoeffer, J. C 308 Newell, Jesse 116 Newland, John 336 Nicoll, Richard F 287 Nicholas, John , 101 Nolton, Lyman 553 Norton, Thomas 38 Northway, Rufus 619 Nurse, T. H 277 North Rev. Alfred 619 O'Connor, Captain 449 O'Keefe, Henry 473 Old Fort Schuyler, the fort which gave it name, 5; circumstances that contributed to make it a place for settlement, 5; its first division into lots,7; boun- daries of these lots, 8; earliest account of an attempted set- tlement, 8; change of name, 78 Old Fort Schuyler Patent, notes on its title. Appendix, Oley, Simon V 636 Olmsted, J. S 338 Oneida County formed 79 Oneida Bible Society, 284 Oneida Glass Factory 273 Oneida Masonic Lodge, 175,. 260 O'Neil, Owen... ,.. 547 Ontario Branch Bank, 325 Oriskany Factory, 282 Osburn, John 426 Osburn, Henry W , 588 Ostrom, David 150 Ostrom, John 269 Ostrom, Joshua 288 Ostrom, John H 373 Oudenaarde, Henry and Marinus.243 Owens, Evan 96 Owens, Owen 449 Owens, Thomas 451 Palmer, Asa .277 Pancko, Joseph C 594 Parker, Jason 41, 288 Parks, Samuel 426 Parmelee, Truman 612 Party spirit, its former violence in this State 642 Payne, Benjamin 227 Peace, news of declaration of 387 Pease, Harmon 409 Peckham, George 426 Peckham, Seth 51 Peckham, John S. and Merritt. . .511 Pierce, Joseph 37 Pelton, Jonathan 515 Penniman, William 292 Perkins, David L 622 Perry, Richard 487 662 INDEX. Petition for bridge over river, ... 29 Petition for new cliarter, 194 Petrie, John D 32 Pinckney, Micajah 383 Pine street , opened 554 Pittman, William 25G Phelps, Chauncey 192 Phelps, Bennet E 622 Place, James .514 Plant, Benjamin 25 Plato, George 383 Piatt, James , 347 Piatt, Jonas 567 Piatt, Zephaniah 570 Pocock, John 336 Pomeroy, Dr. Theodore 520 Pond, Julius 520 Pond, G 487 Population of Utica at various periods prior to 1805, 96; in 1810,280; in 1816,431; in 1823,556 Population of Utica, how made up, 633 Porter, Joseph 303 Post, John 19 Post street 624 Potter, Stephen 23 Presbyterian Church, First 339, 459 Presbyterian Church, Second . . 598 Queal, John 244 Ramsdale, Moses 229 Ranney, Elijah 189 Rappelyea, 256 Rathbone, Justus H 483 Rawson, Chauncey 269 Records, earlier, of Village and Town, lost 79 Reed, David, & Sons 135 Rees, William 146 Rees, Mrs. Maria 337 Rees, Isaac 514 Remsen, Simeon 98 Rice, Peter 623 Richards, George, Jr 167 Richards, William 450 Ripley, Franklin 338 Rhodes, Robert R . . . .527 Roberts, John 90, 101 Roberts, John T 427 Roberts, David 472 Roberts, Edward 472 Roberts, Watkin , 472 Roberts, Evan 551 Roberts, Henry 551 Robbery and murder, by a resi- dent of Utica, 490 Robbins, Demas 244 Robinson, John 383 Robinson, J 515 Rockwell, Thomas 350 Rockwell, James 620 Rodgers, Junius 623 Rogers, Riley 307 Roman Catholjc Church, 474 Rome street, 554 Root, Elijah 384 Roper, William . ,623 Rose, Elisha 193 Rowe, Erastus 337 Rowe, J ohn 384 Roxbury, Helena 337 Rugg, Samuel 98 Russ, John A 449 Russ, Philip 473 Russt, Samuel 18 Ryder, 338 Salyea, Hendrick 9, 11 Sanger, Gerry 553 Sanger. Henry K 609 Sanger, Richard 615 Saumet, Dennis .... 623 Savage, William B 381 Savings Bank, 491 Sayles, Darius 32 Say re, James 509 Scott, John Morin, 7, and appendix Scott, Nathaniel 243 Scott, James 244 Scott, M. Y 4S6 Schaefer, John, and Jacob .357 Schiffer, J. C 623 School House, old 92 Schram, William 620 Schultz, Christian, Jr. his account of voyaging on the Mohawk, 240; of Utica, , 246 Schuyler, Gen. Philip, a proprietor of Cosby's Manor, 7, and ap- pendix Schwartze, Philip J 89 Second Baptist Church 475 Second Presbyterian Church,. . . .598 Second street adopted 271 Sellick, Jesse 622 Seneca street adopted 197 Seneca turnpike 7, 103 Settlement, earliest 8 Settlers, character of early. ..80, 629 Seward, Asaliel 161 Seymour, Alexander 349 Seymour, Orson 357 Seymour, Henry 480 Shadrach, Stephen 136 Shapley, John and Henry 193 Shaw, Rev. Henry M 484 Shaw, Benjamin R 594 Shaw, John P 622 Shearman, Ebenezer B 128 Shearman, William P 251 Shearman, Robert 505 Sherman, Watts 48 Sherman, H. H 308 Sherman, Henry 383 Shepard, Abraham 614 Shumway, Leonard 594 INDEX. 668 Sibley, Samuel A 593 Sickles, Thomas 259 Sickness iu 1795 51 Sidebotliam, Thomas 528 Side-walks, first directed 359 Sill. ElishaE 317 Simons, Joseph 277 Singer, and Co 278 Skinner, Thomas 83 Skinner, A. B 528 Slayton, David 133 Slosson, Charles • - • -633 Smead& Cable 357 Smith, Peter 14 Smith, Nathan 33 Smith, Richard 58 Smith, John 95 Smith, William, (" Nailer ') 100 Smith, Nicholas 303 Smith, Levi 308 Smith. Philip 338 Smith, Charles 358 Smith, Truman. 407 Smith, Nathan D 409 Smith. John B 413 Smith, Walter 42G Smith & Bates 436 Smith, Dr. Newel 484 Smith, Edward 514 Snow, Lemuel ... 487 Snyder, Rudolph 236 Snyder, Jacob 253 Social habits of early Uticans. . . .640 Society Agricultural, of Oneida. .452 Society, of Ancient Britons 365 Society, Bible of Oneida 284 Society, Welsh Bible 418 Society, Bible and Praj'erBook. .491 Society, Dorcas 477 Society, Female, of Industry 477 Society, Female, Charitable 230 Society, Female, Missionary 361 Society, Medical of Oneida 231 Society, Maternal 597 Society, Utica Baptist Missonary 365 Society, Utica Tract 477 Society, Uraniau 260 Society, Young People's Mission- ary 363 Soldiers, in war of 1812, enlisted from Utica 313 Soulden, William 468 Southerland, Castle 338 Spafford's Gazetteer of 1813, ex- tract^f rom ; . . . 339 Sparrow, Rev. William 469 Spertzell, Justus 623 Spencer, William .451 Spencer, Julius A 623 Spitzenburger, George 256 Spooner, Dr . . 472 Sprague, Asa 96 Spurr, Elisha 192 St. Hilaire, Alexis F. 93 St. Patrick, Sous of 516 Stage travelling 41 , 288 Stafford, Joab 353 Stafford, Daniel 288 Stafford, I )avid 190 Stafford, Spencer, Jr. & Brothers, 509 Staples, William 293, 883 Staring, Henry 83 Steamboat on the Mohawk, 531 Stephens, Elder John 135 Sterling, Jacob 173 Sterry, John H 623 Steward, John, Jr 217 Stewart, Robert 176 Stewart, Alexander 228 Stewart, George 278 Stewart, Capt. Charles 543 Stevens, Nathan , .413 Stevens, Henry 514 Stevenson, Thomas. 425 Stickney, Eliphalet 622 Stiles, Edward 620 Stocking, Samuel 170 Stocking, Joseph 277 Stockton, Henry 619 Stoddard, John 193 Stone, Windsor 101 Stone, Erasmus 539 Storrs, Shubael 268 Stow, Samuel , 238 Stowell & Bishop 514 Streets in use in 1805, 197; in 1816, 430; in 1835, (see map) 634 Strong, Capt. Elijah 194 Strong, Silas D 384 Sunday School. Utica 414 Survey of Utica, in 1816, 437 Swan, George 553 Swain, William 619 Talcott, Samuel A 419 Talcott, Matthew 424 Tax list of 1800 97 Taylor, Rev. John, his notice of Utica, in 1800, 147 Teacher who forged 306 Tennery, William A 388 Thayer, Beniamin 515 Thomas, Daniel 137 Thomas, Levi 132 Thomas, Abijah 183 Thomas. Anson 182 Thomas, Briggs W 182, 379 Thomas, Evan 255 Thomas, Thomas 277 Thomas, William B 393 Thompson, Ignatius 437 Thompson, Samuel 546 Thorn, Stephen 623 Thurber Brothers, 536 Tiffany, Isaiah 613 Tilden, Eleazar 413 Tillinghast, Dr. Wilbor 381 664 INDEX. Tillman, William 191 Tillman, Andrew P 277 Timeiman, David 023 Tisdale, George 224 Tisdale, George L 425 Tisdale. William H 451 Todd. Robert J 292 Todd, Samuel M 426 Todd, John 237 Towushend, Rev. Jesse 387 Tract Society, Utica 477 Tracy, Seymour 275 Trade in 1805 202 Transient character of early in- habitants, 198 Trinity Church, Society begun, 92; organized and edifice begun, 149; organized anew and rec- tor called, 194; edifice com- pleted and dedicated, 231 ; concert in 518 Trowbridge, David 174 Truesdell, Morgan 383 Trvon, E. W 449 Tucker, Eliphalet 277 Tucker, Pomp 413 Turner, Duncan 189 Turnpike, Seneca 103 Turnpike, Utica & Black River. .280 Turnpike, Minden 280 Turnpike, eastward 103 Tuttle, Mandeville 2.56 Tuttle, Ziba 413 Underwood, Nathan 337 United Society of Whitestowu and Old Fort Schuyler, 9U; officers appointed for Utica, 149; its condition under Rev. Jas. Carnahau, 213 Universalist Church, organized. .627 Urauian Society, 260 Ure, James 119 Utica, origin of name, 78; scanti- ness of early records of, 79; its first charter, 78; as seen bv Rev. Dr. Dwight, in 1798, 85; as seen by John Maude, in 1800, 102; as seen by Rev. John Taylor , in 1802, 147 ; survey of it, in 1805, 196; as compared with Whites- boro and New Hartford, 198; its dependence on those places, 198; its second charter, 206; as seen by J. Mellish in 1811, 295: its part in war of 1812. 309; as described in Spafford's Gazetteer of 1813,339; survey of, in 1816, 428; its third char- ter, 432; map of in 1825, 636; who, and what the character, of its people .... 636 Van Alstyne, A. W 381 Van Buren, Freienmoet 256 Vanderlyn, Henry 528 Vauderlip, Philip 623 Van Dyke, Richard 269 Van Home, Abraham 1) . . 217 Van Rensselaer, Jeremiah, Jr Ill Van Rensselaer, James 286 Van Santvoort, Abraham 238 Van Syce, Mrs. Sarah 278 Van Syce, Rebecca 358 Van Syce, George 383 Vaughan, G. W 256 Varick, Abraham Jr 178 Vedder, J. F. J 622 Vernon, Edward 405 Vizor, Joel 229 Vreeland. Garrett 229 Wads worth. Horace 412 Wager, David 623 Wakeman, Thaddeus B 291 Walker, Col. Benjamin 66 Walker, Thomas 154 Walker, William 546 Wall, Lansing 553 Walton, Abraham M 121 War of 1812, as seen by Uticans.309 Ward, William 243 Warner, Jared E 447 Warner, Jonathan R 592 Ward well, Daniel 520 Washington street, adopted 230 Watchmen, Volunteer 210 Watley, John 82 Water's, Gilbert 413 Watson, James 231 Watson, Benjamin 426 Weaver, Nicholas N . 383 Weaver. Peter 515 Weed, Thurlow 338 Welles, John 351 Welles, William B 409 Wells, Arnold 32 Wells & Warren, 189 Wells, Solomon and Alfred 193 Wells, Elisha 527 Wells. Stephen 619 Wells, public, opened 209 Welsh Emigration, 133 Welsh Baptist Church, 134 Welsh Congregational Church,. .135 W elsh Bible Society, 418 West, Royal 486 West, Bernice 594 Western District, its rapid settle- ment 88 Western Education Society, 452 Western Recorder 597 Weston, James 451 Wetmore, Edmund A 532 Wetmore, Edward P 620 Wharton. J 229 IXDEX. 665 Whipple, Robert 32 Whipple, Otis, and Otis VV 513 Whipple. B. B 594 White, Frederick 144 White, Rev. Henry 351 White. Hiio^h, and Capt. Henrv. .586 White, Ira ". ,.528 White, Augustus 176 Wliiteley, William 290 Whiting-', Frederick 335 Whitestown formed, 11; its Popu lation in 1798, 12; set off from Herkimer, 79; Whites- boro. Early Society and Influ- ence of, on Utica, 198 Whitesboro St. its former course 93 Whitesboro Cotton Factory,. . . .282 Whitestown Gazette, 83 Whitestown. and Old Fort Schuy- ler, United Society of (see United Society) Whitney, John 413 Wliittemore, Thomas H 513 W^icker, George F 593 Wilcox, Lemuel and Shuthelah..357 Wilcox, Theodore 413 Wilcoxson, Gideon 216 Wilber& Stanton, 404 Wilbor, William, and Isaac 553 Wilkinson, Gen. Samuel, Court for trial of 386 Wlllev, Rev. Elijah F 476 W^illeV, G. S 553 Williams, Nathan 60 W^illiams, William (chandler)... 98 Williams, Elder Abraham 135 Williams, William (bookseller). .164 Williams, Judah, and Judah. Jr., 188 Williams, Stalham 249 Williams, Mrs. Bethiali 255 Williams, John 301 Williams, Dr. Ezra 347 Williams, Israel 413 Williams, Elhanan W 609 Williams, Thomas S 535 Wiltsie, Benjamin 308 Wilson, Dr. Thomas 175 Wilson, Robert 176 Wilson, George S 616 Wilson, James 618 Winne. Killian 250 Winston, Mrs. Susan 382 Winter, James C 291 W^inter, Joseph 308 Witt, Gott 132 Wood, Ezra 337 Wood, Dr. Robert C 610 Woodward, Dr. Benjamin 39 Wood worth, Erastus 594 Wolcoot, Claudius. . . 32 Woolcot, Dr. Solomon. 152 Worden, 0. N 620 Wright, Josiah. 553 Yates, John B 375 Yates, Alexander 413 Young People's Missionary So- ciety, 363 t 'uvJiir^ jv ^OFCAIIFO/?^ ,^JOF•CAltF0% ^WEUNIVEW/A ^•lOSANCFlfjVx ^(?Aava8n# ^(?Aaviiani^ ;lOSANCFlfx^ ■^/5il3AINa JWV" vj ^/saaAiNd-^^^'^'* ^^UIBRARY<9/ l^.tfOJllVDJO'^ ^OFCAUFO/?^ ''^iii3DNvsov'<^ %a3AiNn3WV^ ^OAavuHii-^^'^ ^^Advaan^ ^^vSHIBRARYQ^ -^>MIIBRARY(9/^ 3 5 \^iM-.inu-\ irv-W ^|/i;n inw\ if\V'' ^WMINIVERS/A >- ^lOSANCElfX^ o ^tfOJIlVJJO^ ^OFCAllfO^, o .sy £>• «i# >&Aavaaii#' ' '%OJI1V3JO'«^ ^OFCAllFO/?^ <;,OFCAllF0/?,l!^ "^/jaaAiNnmv ^OAwaani^^ >&AavaaiH^ AWEUNIVER% ^IIIBRARY^^ ^ME•UNIVER5•//, ^lOSANCElfjv %jnv>jo"^ Ml!l '^jo^ ^«!/0J ^OFCALIFO/?^^ "^^^AUVJiaiHS^^ AWEUNIVERS/A /■^ nil ^ ^.OF-CA1IFO% ^OFCAIIFO;?^ %a3AiNfi3WV^ >&Aavaaii# ^^Aavaan-^- .^MEUNIVERS//, o o 1—^— . ^^^HIBRARYa^ x^VllE