Skip to main content

Full text of "Papers read before the Herkimer county historical society during the years 1896-"

See other formats 


54 


(ADDRESSES   'DELIVERED  'BEFORE   THE 

HERKIMER  COUNTY 
HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 


.    .    .    FOR  THE  YEARS   .    .    . 

t899,  t900,  t90t  and  to 
July  t,  f902f  and  a  w  » 

MEMORIAL 

.    ...  OF  THE  LATE  .... 

HON,  ROBERT  EARL 

in    la 


SOCIETY  FOUNDED 
JANUARY  2,    1896. 


PAPERS 


READ  BEFORE  THE  -y'.J  Q 

HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL 
'  SOCIETY 


DURING  THE  YEARS 


1899,  1900,  1901,  to  July  1,  1902. 


VOLUME    TWO. 


COMPILED  BY  ARTHUR  T.  SMITH, 

SECRETARY  OF  THE  SOCIETY. 


HRRKIMKR    AND  ILION,   N.    Y.   : 
CITIZEN   PUBLISHING   CO.,  PRINTERS 
1902 


H- 


Gift 
The  Society 

25  S  '08 


INTRODUCTORY. 


Tlic  llcrkinu'i-  County  Historical  Society  was  or.uani:^e(l  at  a  imlilic 
iiicctin.u  licld  at  tlie  Court  House  in  Heikinier,  January  2,  IS'.lt;. 

'I'lie  olijects  of  the  Society  are  to  discover,  collect,  i)resei-ve  and  puh- 
lisli  the  history,  liistorical  records  and  data  of  and  relating;-  to  that 
ixirtion  of  the  State  of  New  York  formerly  known  as  Tryon  and  later 
Herkimer  county;  the  collection  and  i)i-eservation  of  l)ooks,  newspa- 
jicis,  pamphlets,  maps,  ucueaolo.uies,  poi'trails,  paintings,  relics,  nninu- 
sci'i|its,  letters,  journals,  licld  hooks,  and  any  and  all  other 
materials,  wliicli  may  estalilisli  or  illnstrate  such  history,  oi-  the 
jivowtli  and  proj;ress  of  i»oi»ulation,  wealth,  education,  agriculture,  arts, 
manufactures  and  commerce  in  Herkimer  county;  and  also  to  discuss 
and  treat  subjects  of  general  history. 

The  niemlii'rship  consists  of  Kesi(h'nt.  Life  and  Hcniorary  memliers. 
Itesident  memlx-rs  pay  ;innual  dues  of  two  dollars,  ;i  life  nu'mhersliip 
(osts  ten  doUai's. 

Tile  p.apers  read  before  the  Society  dui-in.i;-  the  yeai'S  1S!M'..  1S'.»7  ;ind 
18US  have  Iieen  printed  and  l»ound  in  book  form.  Copies  of  the  same 
can  l)e  o))tained  by  achlressing  the  se<-retary  at  Herkinn'r,  N.  Y.  Co])ies 
l:ound  in  cloth  cost  .$1.00  and  paper-l)ound,  lifty  cents.  If  to  be  sent 
li\    nijiil.  Hfteen  c"nts  sliould  be  adch'd  for  postai^V- 

'ihis  x'olumc  contains  not  only  th-'  aihb'esses  (U'livcred  before 
the  Society  for  the  past  three  and  a  lialf  years.  l>ut  also  six  i)ri/.e  ('ssiiys. 
the  writi^rs  beinu  awaided  prizes  of  $2."..  $10  and  $.")  each,  offered  by 
Hon.  b'obert  K:\v\  of  Herkimer  and  .Vlbert  X.  liussell  of  Ilion.  for  the 
bi'st  essays  on  liistorical  subjects  olfered  by  .ludye  Earl,  and  like  i)ri/,es 
oilen  (1  Iiy  ^Ir.  Russell  foi-  essays  (Ui  "Our  ComuHui  Kree  Schools." 

The  present  olUcers  of  tlie  Society  are  Hon.  Rol)ert  Earl,  Hei'kimei-. 
)ii(sident:  Alltert  N.  lUissell.  Ilion.  Frank  I*..  T'arkliurst,  Frankfort, 
:\;rs.  I'.  C.  Haldwin,  Little  Falls,  vice-pi-esiih-nts;  ,\i-tluu-  T.  Snuth. 
Heikimer.  iccordin.u  secret;iry;  (Jeor.iic  W.  Smith.  Herkimer,  corres- 
pondinu  secictary:  .Icilin  Itryih-n  Henderson.  Herkimer,  treasurer: 
William  M.  Dutton,  llerkinu'i-,  librarian;  William  C.  Prescott.  HiM-ki- 
mcr,  .lohn  \'.  Schmidt,  Ilion.  .1.  H.  J.  Watkins,  E.ast  Schuyler,  .lohn 
1>.  Henderson,  Herkimer,  Richard  Lohrman,  Herkinu'r,  executive  com- 
nuttco. 


HON.  ROBERT  EARL,  LL,  D. 

First  'President  of  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society. 


THE  WAR  OF  1812,  ITS  CAUSES  AND 
CONSEOUKNCES. 

AN   ADDRESS   BY   HON.    ROBRRT   EARI,,    OF    HKRKIMER, 
Delivereil  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  January  lo,  1899. 

At  the  coninienct'iHcnt  of  tlie  Ivcvolutionavy  era  of  our  country,  a 
lai'.n'o  majority  of  thou.t;litful  in<'n  were  o])]>os(m1  to  separation  from 
Enjiiand.  "JMicy  Avci't'  and  liad  liccn  foi'  some  years  conteiHliii!.;  for 
what  they  ehiimed  t<i  Ite  fundamental  ri.uhts  of  Kn.ulishmen — not  for 
indei)endenee.  hut  maiidy  for  the  doctrine  that  taxation  and  n'pre- 
sentation  should  s'o  toj;(>ther — for  the  rislit  of  the  ])eoi)le  thronnh  their 
repi-esentatives  in  their  Colonial  Assemblies  to  regulate  all  forms  of 
taxation  affectintj  them.  The  stubborn  and  arbitrary  conduct  of  Eng- 
land embittered  the  Colonists:  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
came  only  after  they  became  satisfied  that  they  could  not  obtain,  as 
an  integral  part  of  the  British  Empire,  the  rights  which  they  claimed. 

The  conduct  of  the  war  on  the  i)art  of  Ihigiand,  Avith  her  Indian  and 
Tory  allies,  was  by  the  patriots  considered  so  unjust  and  cru'd  that  a 
bitter  sense  of  wrong  and  feelings  of  great  animosity  survived  the 
successful  issue  of  the  contest  and  the  li'caty  of  jx'ace.  Sul)se(iuent 
to  the  treaty,  there  were  frecpient  causes  of  friction  lu'tween  the  two 
counti'ies.  TIhm'c  were  great  delays  on  the  ]»;irt  of  England  in  surren- 
dering territory  and  forts  as  stipulated  in  the  treaty;  and  when  she 
l.ocame  involved  in  war  with  France,  new  causes  of  irritation  arose. 
Tlie  French  had  been  our  allies  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  the  sym- 
pathies of  the  great  bulk  of  oni-  i>eople  were  with  them  In  th<^  titainc 
struggle  growing-  out  of  the  I'^rench  Revolution  and  the  andiition  of 
Napolean  to  dominate  all  Enroix". 

At  lirst  the  commerce  of  this  country  w.is  gi-eatly  stimulated  by  the 
European  wars.  But  soon  England  and  France  issued  orders  and 
decrei's  which  together  in  form  blockaded  all  the  poi'ts  of  Europe 
against  neutral  commerce;  and  they  both  issued  letters  of  maniue  to 
pi'ivateers  who  under  one  pret<Mise  or  another  preyed  ui)on  neutral 
commerce.      The   result    w.-is   embargo.    non-imi)orta1ion    and    non-inter- 


6  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

course  acts  by  our  Congress,  and  for  the  time  the  practical  destruction 
01'  nearly  all  of  our  commerce.  England  in  effect,  even  as  early  as 
1803,  blockaded  our  ports,  and  English  frigates  cruised  along  our  co.-ists 
and  at  the  mouths  of  our  harbors  waiting  for  French  privateei's  and 
searching  our  merchantmen  for  contraband  goods  and  British  seaman: 
and  in  this  business  many  outrages  were  committed  upon  the  rights 
of  our  citizens.  The  most  truitful  cause  of  complaint  on  the  part  of 
our  go\eriunent  was  the  right  asserted  and  exercised  by  England  to 
search  for  and  to  impress  seaman  claimed  to  be  English  subjects.  She 
was  engaged  in  a  gigantic  struggle  in  which  slie  needed  :ill  her  sea- 
men; and  she  contended  for  the  right  to  take  them  wlierever  she  could 
find  them  and  place  them  in  her  service  on  l)oard  of  her  war  vessels. 
This  right  she  based  upon  what  was  then  the  generally  recogni/A'd 
principle  of  international  law,  that  a  subject  could  not  change  his 
national  allegiance  and  thus  escape  any  duty  he  owed  to  the  govei'u- 
ment  of  his  birtla.  She  asserted,  as  a  fundamental  legal  axiom,  that 
an  Englishman  by  birth  always  remained  an  Engiislunan.  Thus  she 
claimed  the  riglit  to  English  seamen  wlierever  tliey  miglit  V)e,  the  right 
to  seize  them  wherever  she  could  find  tliem,  and  to  searcli  for  them 
wlierever  slie  suspected  them  to  l>e.  In  the  exercise  of  this  riglit  to 
talve  lier  seamen  she  claimed  the  right  to  stop  our  ships  upon  the  ocean, 
war  vessels  and  merchantmen,  and  search  them  for  English  seiimen 
and  to  forcibly  take  such  as  she  found.  This  brought  on  frequent  col- 
lisions between  our  vi'sseis  and  hers,  and  created  much  liitterness  and 
aroused  much  indignation  throughout  our  counti-y.  In  this  way  sev- 
eral thousand  sailors  w^ere  forcibly  taken  from  our  vessels  and  trans- 
ferred to  English  war  vessels.  There  were  a  large  number  of  English 
seamen  on  board  of  American  vessels  attracted  tliere  by  tlie  larger 
pay  and  the  more  agreeable  service.  As  our  seamen  and  the  English 
seaman  loolvcd  alike  and  spolve  the  same  language,  it  freipiently  hap- 
pened that  by  mistake  our  sailors  were  tlius  seized  and  imi>ressed 
into  the  Engiisli  service  on  board  of  English  war  vessels.  P.ut  this 
action  was  not  always,  not  even  usually  due  to  mistake,  as  frecpiently 
colored  seaman,  and  Dutch.  Danish  and  others  manifestly  not  English 
v*'(»re  arbitrarily  seized. 

I  will  here  give  two  typical  cases  of  these  outrages  wliicli  did  inucli 
to  arouse  a  determined  spirit  of  hostility  toward  England.  In  .Vpril, 
1800,  the  Leander,  an  English  war  ship,  had  long  lain  near  S.-iiidy 
Hoolv  at  the  entrance  to  the  port  of  New  York,  stopping  co.istei-s, 
searching  merchantmen,  seizing  ships  and  impressing  citizens  of  tlie 
United  States,  when  a  coasting  sloop.  The  Richard,  came  along.  Sud- 
denly three  shots  came  screaming  toward  her  from  the  Leander.  one 
of  which  carried  off  the  head  of  .John  Fierc(>.  the  helmsman.  The 
Kichiird  made  lier  escape  and  reached  New  York;  and  there  the  news 
of  the  outrage  threw  the  whole  population  into  commotion.  In  .Tune. 
ISPT,  the  frigate  Chesapeake  was  in  tlie  Hampton  Koads  just  starting 
on  a   voyage  to  Europe  in  the  service  of  our  government,   wlien  she 


THE   WAR  OF    1812.  * 

Wiis  ovcrh.-nilcd  l>y  the  J'^iiiilisli  wai'sliip.  The  Lcojjard,  wliicli  dfiaaiul- 
ed  the  i-i.uiit  to  scar«'li  her  lor  lOii.ulisli  scainaii  and  dcscrlci's.  Tlic 
dcuiatid  not  hcin:^  coniplicd  with.  Tlic  ]iCoi)ard  discliari;('d  rcitoatcd 
lnoadsidis  into  licr  and  disal>l('d  lu>r,  killing'  thrct"  uicn  and  wonndinu 
ciuliti'cn.  Tlic  ( 'licsapoako  was  obliged  to  haul  down  licr  i'ai;-  anri 
suiTcndcr.  as  slio  was  not  ]n-('])ai-('d  for  I»attl('.  Slio  was  llicn  search- 
ed and  tonr  scaincn  were  taken  from  her,  thi'ce  of  whom  were  not  Eni;- 
lisli  snh.jccts.  \\'herc\-er  throu.uliout  our  conntry  the  news  of  this  ont- 
laiic  \\(nt,  it  ciealed  tiie  .i;reatest  imli.unation.  iMn-in.u  several  years. 
Ironi  time  to  time,  onr  iiox-crnnient  i)rotested  against  these  rc]»eatcd  out- 
rat^cs  and  insults  of  lOnulish  war  vessels,  and  endeavored  liy  negotia- 
tion to  obtain  redress  for  them,  and  to  indnce  Eiruiand  to  foreu'd  or 
snrrender  the  liuht  of  sc.-inh  and  impressment  so  offensively  clainn'd 
and  ])racticcd  by  her.  Itut  n<t  recli'css  could  be  obtained  and  no  satis- 
factory treaty  could  be  ncL^-otiated:  and  mainly  on  account  of  these 
onti-aKcs  tinally  war  was  deciar<'d  l)y  Congress.  .lune  istn.   1S12. 

The  war  was  ]»o])ular  with  the  ureat  mass  of  our  people.  Their 
hatred  of  En.iiland  <  amc  down  Irom  Itevolutionary  times.  The  declar- 
ation of  wai-  was  approved  with  lii'cat  unanimity  by  the  friends  of 
Jefferson  and  .Madison.  c;illed  Kepublicans;  and  it  was  disa))proved 
,!j,enei'ally  by  the  I''edcralis1s  who  were  mainly  residents  of  New  En.u- 
land.  New  York  and  New  .lei'sey.  and  wIkj  tliouuht  tbere  was  just  as 
much  cause  for  war  with  France  as  with  lOiruland.  In  ('oni;'ress.  all 
tiie  representatives  fi'om  Ithode  Island  and  Connecticut,  ei.uht  of  the 
fourteen  rejireseidat ivts  of  Massachusetts,  eleven  of  tlie  fourteen  rep- 
resentatives of  New  York,  four  of  the  six  representatives  of 
New  Jersey  voted  a.iiainst  the  declaration;  and  .all  the  rep- 
resentatives of  South  ("arolina,  (ieor.^ia,  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee, sixteen  of  the  ei.L;hteen  representativi'S  of  Pennsylvania,  six 
of  the  nine  representatives  of  Maryland,  and  fourteen  of  the  nineteen 
i'epres(-ntatives  of  Viruinia  voted  for  it.  The  ministers  of  i-eli.iiion, 
unlike  Hieir  ■•ittitudc  in  the  Kevolutionary  war,  tlie  war  of  the  Kebel- 
lion.  and  the  late  war  with  Si)ain,  generally  opposed  tlu'  wai';  and  it 
was  very  unpoiiular  in  most  p.-irts  of  New  England.  Tliere  the  news 
of  the  di'claration  id'  wai"  was  received  witli  jniblic  niain'festations  of 
grief.  Bells  w<'re  tolled,  shops  closed,  business  susitended.  and  town 
meotings  were  called  to  denounce  thi'  war,  as  they  liad  some  years 
earlier  been  called  in  the  sanu'  i-egion  to  denounce  Embargo  acts. 

Although  we  had  been  gradu.-illy  drifting  into  war  with  England  for 
several  years,  at  the  time  of  its  declaration,  our  country  was  from  cul- 
])able  neglect  quit(>  unprepared  for  it.  Th(>  nation.al  treasury  was 
almost  empty.  Our  regular  army  w.as  but  six  thousand  soldiei-s  poorly 
equipped  and  enervated  and  demoralized  by  thirty  yeai's  of  ])e:!ce.  We 
had  20  large  vessels  and  a  few  gun  boats  together  carrying  three  hun- 
dred guns.  \Ve  had  live  hundi'cd  naval  odicers  of  ;ill  grades  and  hve 
thousand  two  liuudred  .sciimen,  an<l  but  tive  of  our  vessels  were  ready 
for  soa.     At  the  same  time,  the  English  had  one  thousand  vessels  of 


8  HKEKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

war  manned  hy  one  hundred  nnd  forty  Ihonsiind  seaman  and  a  lai'ge 
army,  trained  and  disciplined  in  tlie  gigantic  wars  wliicli  liad  been 
waged  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  We  liad  a  population  of  seven 
millions  two  hundred  and  titty  thousands  which  had  grown  to  tliat 
number  from  three  millions  two  hundrc<l  and  fifty  thousands  at  tlie 
close  of  tlie  Revolutionary  war,  while  the  iiopulation  of  Great  liritain 
was  eighteen  millions. 

The  Avar  having  been  declared,  active  and  vigorous  efforts  were  at 
once  made  to  meet  its  responsibilities.  Congress  passed  acts  increas- 
ing tlie  regular  army  and  calling  for  volunteers.  Enlistments  in  the 
army  were  dilatory  and  volunteers  came  in  slowly.  Tlie  president 
called  for  militia  from  the  States,  and  the  governors  of  three  States, 
Massachusetts.  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  absolutely  refused  to 
ol)ey  tlie  call.  They  claimed  that  the  constitution  authorized  the  pres- 
ident to  call  out  the  militia  for  three  purposes  only,  to-wit:  to  i-epel 
invasion,  to  put  down  insurrection,  and  to  execute  the  law.s  of  the 
United  States;  and  these  governors  claimed  the  right  to  determine 
each  for  himself  whether  any  of  the  constitutional  conditions  existed 
for  making  such  a  call;  and  each  determined  that  there  was  no  ground 
for  the  call;  and  during  the  war  our  government  was  further  embar- 
rassed by  the  refusal  of  the  militia  to  invade  Canada  on  the  ground 
that  tliey  could  not  be  reciuired  to  go  outside  of  tlie  United  States. 

Tlie  president  was  singularly  unfortunate  in  his  selection  of  the 
prominent  officers  to  command  our  soldiers.  The  historian  RIcMaster 
says  tliat:  "As  a  class  tliey  were  old,  vain,  respectable  and  incapa- 
ble." General  Scott  who  knew  tliem  well  stated  in  subseciuent  years 
that:  '"Of  the  old  oflicers,  many  were  sunk  in  sloth  and  manv  ruined 
by  intemperate  drinking;  that  of  the  new  appointments,  some  were 
positively  bad  and  otliers  indifferent  and  that  as  a  class  the  othcers 
vfere  swaggerers,  political  dependents,  poor  gentlemen,  who.  as  the 
plirase  went,  were  fit  for  nothing  else."  The  most  prominent  among 
these  officers  were  Generals  Dearborn,  Pinckney,  Wilkinson,  Hull  and 
Hampton;  and  wdierever  they  were  in  command  disaster  befel  our 
nrnis. 

While  President  Madison  was  a  genuine  and  useful  patriot  during 
tlie  Revolutionary  war,  a  good  political  thinker  and  writer,  and  of  great 
intellectual  al)ility,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  it  is  the  verdict  of 
impartial  history  that  as  an  administrator  of  the  government  he  was 
a  conspicuous  failure.  It  must,  however,  be  put  to  his  credit  that  he 
Mas  forced  into  the  Avar  by  tlie  clamor  of  the  Jingoes  of  that  day  as 
I'resident  McKinley  was  prematurely  forced  into  the  l:ite  Avar  with 
Spain  by  the  clamor  of  the  same  class. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  the  Avar  upon  land 
or  sea,  as  tlie  exigencies  of  this  occasion  forbid  it.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war  it  Avas  the  plan  of  our  government  to  invade  Canada 
and  take  it  from  the  British.  Repeated  attempts  were  made  to  that 
end,  but  A\'ere  always  attended  Avith  failure.     While  our  troops  made 


THE   WAR   OF   1812.  9 

teniporiiry  l<i(l.uiiiv'nts  in  ( 'aii.-id.-i,  tlicy  wore  soon  ohliucd  to  i-ctirc,  and 
the  British  f'oi-ccs  iinadi'd  our  territory,  captured  Detroit  and  Uurned 
the  villajivs  at  Niagara  Falls,  I'.laelv  i;oel<  and  I'.ulf.alo;  and  at  tl)e  close 
of  tlie  war  tliey  still  held  some  of  our  territory  on  our  Xortliern  fron- 
tier. 

While  the  r.ritisli  foi-ces  liad  for  sonu"  time  tlireatened  our  nati(tnal 
eapitol,  it  w.as  not  put  in  a  state  of  adeipiate  defense  and  in  Au.nust, 
1S14  it  was  ea]»tnred  l>y  tliem;  ;ind  the  eapitol.  executive  mansion  and 
nearly  all  the  other  ])ulilic  huildiugs  were  liurned,  the  president  and 
his  cabinet  havin.u  lied  from  the  city.  Indeed,  tliere  was  no  conspicu- 
ous success  of  the  AmeiMcau  forces  ujion  land  until  the  battle  of  New 
Oi-leans,  fou.uiit  on  the  Sth  of  .January.  ISl.").  Tliere  (Jeneral  ,Ta<'ks(m 
had  under  his  command  about  five  thousand  soldiei's  from  the  South 
Western  frontier,  mainly  from  Teimessee  and  Kentucky,  who  were 
Indian  liKhters,  ex])(>rt  marksmen,  eouraj^'eous  and  fearless,  made  heroic 
by  the  lejnh'rshi])  of  the  heroic  ucner.-il.  The  British  soldiers,  inimber- 
ini;-  .about  ll2,(M)(),  were  veterans  who  had  foun'ht  un(h^r  Wellinutou  in 
the  I'einnsul;ir  <"am]>ai,L;n  :ind  wei'e  commanded  l)y  his  brother  in-law, 
(iener.al  I';ickin.i;li;im.  The  battle  lasted  about  tweuty-tive  minutes, 
.and  in  tli.at  time  seven  hundred  of  the  British,  including  their  j;vneral, 
were  killed.  1,4(10  wouikUmI,  and  live  hundred  were  t.aken  prisoners, 
(if  our  forces,  but  ei.nht  were  killed  and  thirtei'u  wounded.  The  I'csult 
of  that  l)iittle  m.ade  (Jeneral  .T.tckson  :i  national  hero;  ;ind  of  .all  the 
.licnei'als  in  our  .army,  he  came  out  of  the  w.ar  with  the  greatest  re]iu- 
t.-ition.  The  battle  w.as  .actually  fought  .after  the  treaty  of  peace  li.ad 
been  conchKh'd  Ix'tween  the  two  countries  at  (ihent  on  the  24th  d.ay 
ot  December,  1S14,  news  of  which  had  not  yet  reached  New  Orleans. 

T^pon  the  sea  our  navy  jjained  .yreat  glory.  Our  s.ailors  were  hardy 
and  skilful  and  were  not  surpassed,  prob.ably  not  e(iualled,  by  any  in 
the  world;  and  our  u.ival  commaiKha's.  Porter.  Bo.i;-ei's.  Hull,  I'.ain- 
bridjA'e,  .Fones,  Decatur,  Perry  and  Macdouou.uh.  will  .always  have  a 
hinh  place  in  the  .auu.als  of  nav.al  wai'f.are.  They  were  nearly  alw.ays 
victorious  and  even  in  defeat  exhibited  the  heroism  which  h.as  excited 
the  admiration  of  their  countrymen  ever  since.  The  iuspirin.t;'  words 
of  Captain  liawrence,  after  he  was  mort.ally  wounded  and  Ids  vessel 
reiKh'red  helpless,  "Don't  sive  up  the  shi])!"  will  nevei-  l)e  forj^-otten ; 
.and  the  laconic  dispatch  of  Perry  announcing-  his  sjihaidid  victory  on 
L.ake  Erie,  "We  have  met  the  enemy  and  they  .are  ours" — p.aralleli'd 
oidy  by  the  famotis  disp.atch  of  Julius  Ce.asar  to  the  Koman  Senate, 
veni,  vidi,  vici — stil!  awaken  euthusiasm  as  they  did  throughout  the 
country  when  first  read  by  the  American  ])eoi)le.  His  llagshii)  in  that 
battle  was  named  The  Lawrence,  and  she  carried  at  her  mast  head 
a  flag  on  which  was  emblazoned  tlu'  t.alism.anic  words,  "Don't  give  up 
the  ship."  These  li(a'oic  eomni.anders  were  the  successors  of  our  n.aval 
heroes  of  the  Kevolntioujiry  period,  an<l  they  rendnd  us  of  .bilui  P.aul 
.lones.   who.   wlieii    in   eonim.ind    of   the    P.on    Tlonnne    Kich.ird    in    177U, 


10  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

li.i;iitiii,n-  tlu"  Eiij;li,sh  wai'  vessel,  The  Seiniiis,  wlien  his  vessel  was 
sinking  under  him,  and  when  asked  by  the  English  eoniniander.  "Have 
.^<)U  struck  your  (•(dors,"  i-eplled,  "I  have  not  y<'t  began  to  tight;"  and 
in  a  lirief  time  tlie  English  ship  surrendered  and  his  own  battered 
v(  ssel  helplessly  went  down  in  the  waters  of  the  ocean. 

l)urlng  the  war,  there  was  never  at  any  time  more  than  thirty 
Ihousand  fighting  men  in  onr  army;  and  in  n(»  battle  were  there  more 
than  "),()()()  soldiers.  The  nu)id)ei'  of  men  killed  in  the  war  on  land 
was  under  l,(iOO,  and  the  wounded  were  under  o.r>(M).  The  exiienses 
oi"  the  war  were  about  one  hundred  million  dollars,  and  at  its  close 
our  national  d(>l)t  was  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  million  dollars. 
During  the  war  there  was  intense  animosity  betwee'n  the  Kepublicans, 
who  favored  the  wai'.  .and  the  Federalists,  who  opposed  it:  and 
1»<  tween  men  of  the  two  ])arties  there  wtre  Jiot  infreipUMit  collisions. 
Tlie  tirst  blood  shed  alter  the  declaration  of  war  was  dr:iwn  in  I'.alti- 
n)ore  in  a  riot  causi-d  by  the  successful  attempt  of  a  Republican  mob 
to  wreck  a  Federal  i)rinting  othce,  just  as  the  first  l)lood  in  the  war  o( 
the  Rebellion  was  shed  there  by  mob  violence  when  Union  ti-oops  at- 
tempted to  march  to  the  defense  of  our  national  capitol. 

This  war,  like  the  oth(»r  wars  in  which  our  country  has  been  engaged, 
made  a  resoi't  to  extraordinary  taxation  necessary  to  raise  the  needed 
i-evenue.  Among  other  internal  taxes,  there  w.as  a  stamp  tax,  as  there 
was  after  the  Revolutionary  war  during  the  administr.ntion  of  .tohn 
Adams,  during  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  and  as  (hei-e  now  is  .-is  a  con- 
S(  (juence  of  the  late  war  with  Spain — fovn-  times  since  the  adoption 
of  our  Federal  Constitution. 

In  this  war,  as  in  the  Revolutionary  war  and  the  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, our  currency  became  badly  deranged.  In  IS  14  .all  the  b.-mks  sus- 
pended specie  paymen.t.  The  best  currency  (lisai)peared  .and  tlie  poor- 
est came  into  use.  impede  disappeared  iind  thus  there  w;is  no  sm.-ill 
change,  and  .all  kinds  of  people,  merchants.  tr;idesmen.  m.anufacturei's, 
stage  owners,  tavern  keepers.  fei'rynuMi,  ( i.tii's.  towns,  .and  all  kinds  of 
corporations  issued  paper  bills,  sometimes  as  sniiill  as  one  cent,  to 
supply  the  needs  of  the  people.  After  m.-iiiy  futile  efforts  in  various 
States  and  by  the  general  ••■overnment  to  foi'ce  th(>  b.anks  to  resume 
speci<>  payment, i"esumi)t ion  did  not  come  until  ISIT.when  it  w.as  Iirought 
.ihout  mainly  by  the  Charter  of  the  United  St.ates  bank,  which  com- 
menced Imsincss  e.niiy  in  th.al  year  with  a  capit.al  of  ip:^r>,()00,000. 

It  w.'is  during  the  war  tlnit  Henry  Clay,  John  C.  Calhoun  and  Daniel 
Webster  laid  the  foundations  of  their  gr<>at  careers  in  Amerit^an  pol- 
itics. The  two  former  were  among  the  most  active  supporters  of  the 
war.  and  the  latter  opposed  it.  Clay  Avas  speaker  of  the  House  of 
Ri-presi  ntatives  dm'ing  the  war  and  weilded  much  influence  in  shaping 
the  legislation  of  Congress. 

The  closing  of  tiie  w;ir  with  the  brilliant  victoi'y  .at  New  Orleans 
after  so  many  hnmiiitating  disasters  upon  land  in  other  i>I.ices.  made 


THK   WAR   OF   1812.  11 

(Jciicrnl  .Iiicksoii  diiriii.u  liis  whole  lifi-  (he  poiHilnr  idol  of  llic  Aiiicriciin 
|M'(i|il(".  Xo  iii.-iii  niiywiicrc  aroused  so  iiiucli  eiitliusiasiii,  and  no  polit- 
i(al  leader  had  more  de\ot('d  lollowei-s, 

I'ri'sidt'iit  Madison  was.  aeeordiiii;-  to  the  iiolitical  elassilication  ol' 
his  day.  a  Kepnhliean ;  and  hence  he  and  the  war  had  the  sup- 
jtort  ot  the  Ke](uhlican  i»arty.  and  Ihe  opposition  ot  the  Federal  part.y, 
which  \\as  most  dominant  in  the  Xew  Fai.uland  States.  Those  Stati-s 
more  lar.^i'ly  than  any  others  were  en.:;a.i;('d  in  commerce.  na\ii;atioii 
and  tishinu,  and  to  them  Ihe  emI»argo,  non-iiiterc()urs(>  and  non-impor- 
taiion  a(  ts  tollowed  liy  the  war  were  most  disastrous,  producinu'  ^reat 
distress  and  discontent.  They  wore  liackward  and  unwillim;-  to  aid 
the  KoveruuHMit  with  eitliei-  men  or  money  to  carry  on  the  war.  They 
were  dissatisfied  with  theii'  position  in  the  union,  and  their  conduct 
w.is  su<-h  that  Madison  and  his  friends  ca.nie  to  entertain  a  snsi>icion 
that  many  of  tlieir  inlluential  citizens  contemi)la{ed  a  separate  peace, 
secession  and  a  union  with  Can.ida  under  tlie  r>ritish  (jovermnent. 
Tlieir  eoin])l;unts  were  most  rife  in  the  darkest  days  of  the  war  after 
many  disasters  to  oui-  .uinies  and  the  capture  and  destruction  of  our 
national  capitol.  In  the  Massacluisetts  le.i;islature.  the  voice  of  disaf- 
f(ction  was  loudly  heard  and  nu'inhers  denounced  tlu'  administration 
and  the  wai-  in  the  most  violent  terms,  and  demanded  amendments 
of  the  Ii\'(h'ral  Constitution  and  a  national  convention  for  tli.at  jiurpose. 
To  forward  the  project,  they  favored  a  conference  of  the  New  lOns- 
land  States;  and  for  that  pur])ose  the  le.trislatiu'e  in  October,  1S14, 
I)asscHl  a  resolution  callinj;  a  convention  to  meet  at  Ilai'tfoi'd  on  the 
inth  da.v  of  December — the  famous  Hartford  Convention,  whicli  iilayed 
such  a  prominent  ]>art  in  the  politics  of  oin-  country  for  many  years 
thereafter.  The  .i;ovei'nor  ai)i)ointed  twelve  delegates  to  tliat  conven- 
tion, and  by  a  circular  letter  invited  all  the  otlier  New  Kusiand  States 
t(»  do  tlie  same;  and  Connecticut  and  Kliode  Island  alone  respomled 
favorably  and  appointed  dele.yates.  The  delegates,  twenty-three  in 
nund)er,  convened  at  the  appointed  time  and  place.  They  sat  and 
deliberated  with  closed  doors  for  three  weeks.  They  framed  a  leniithy 
|-e]tort  which  was  made  ]iublic  and  tliey  ad.iourned  subject  to  the  call 
of  their  president.  In  their  iciiort  they  set  forlh  their  ni-ievances  in 
most  vigorous  tei'ins  .and  recommended  amou.u'  other  thiniAS  that  if  they 
were  not  redressed  by  proper  amendments  of  the  constitution  and  in 
other  ways,  "'a  sep.i ration  by  eciuitable  arrang-emeut  will  be  preferable 
t«t  an  alliance  by  constraint  amonc;  nominal  friends  but  real  enemies;*' 
and  they  recommended  a  second  convention  to  nn-et  in  Boston  on  the 
;!rd  d:iy  of  June  then  ne.\t.  Tlie  :\fassachusetts  (Jeneral  Court  assem- 
bled and  within  a  few  days  adopted  tlie  report,  ai)])rovin.u-  each  recom- 
mendation  thereof  and  selectcMl  three  commissioners  to  carry  her  com- 
plaints to  Washington  and  there  demand  of  the  government  of  the 
I'nited  States  that  Massachusetts  lie  allowed  to  defend  hers'-If,  enter 
into  defensive  alliances  with  her  neighbors,  and  i-etain  ;i  reasonable 
■share  of  the  Federal  ivvemu's  gatliored  within  her  boundaries  and  use 


l2  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

it  to  pay  an  army  to  ho  raised  by  herself.  Connecticut  added  two  more 
commissioners,  and  early  in  Peln'uary  the  five  set  out.  What  made 
the  situation  of  these  commissioners  embarrassing  and  to  some  extent 
even  absurd  and  ludicrous  were  the  facts  unknown  to  them  that  a 
treaty  of  peace  had  been  concluded  on  the  24th  day  of  December,  while 
the  Hartford  Convention  was  in  session,  and  that  the  splendid  victory 
of  Jackson  at  New  Orleans  had  been  achieved  on  the  8th  of  January. 
When  the  commissioners  reached  Washington,  they  were  confronted 
with  these  facts  and  they  Avere  there  silenced  l>y  ridicule  and  they  took 
no  action  to  further  the  object  of  their  mission;  and  the  proposed  sec- 
ond convention  was  never  held. 

In  consequence  of  the  Hartford  Convention  and  their  hostility  to  the 
war  and  their  apparent  leaning  in  favor  of  Great  Britain,  tho  Feder- 
alists were  made  so  odious  throughout  the  counti-y  that  they  soon  dis- 
appeared as  a  party  from  our  politics,  most  of  them  in  the  end  being 
merged  in  the  Whig  party  upon  its  formation.  For  more  than  a  gen- 
ei-ation  after  the  war,  to  have  been  a  Federalist  was  as  odious  as  it 
nas  after  the  Revolutionary  war  to  h.ave  been  a  Tory. 

Th(*  Hartford  Convention  was  held  during  the  most  discouraging 
jxTJod  of  the  war,  when  our  national  (■.•ipitol  had  been  burni'd.  our 
currency  was  completely  deranged,  when  taxes  were  pressing  heavily 
upon  our  people,  when  business  and  commerce  were  prostrated  and 
general  distress  prevailed;  and  if  the  war  had  continued  for  another 
y(>ar  the  schemes  of  the  Federalists  engaged  in  the  Hartford  Conven- 
tion miglit  have  been  cari'ied  to  success  and  the  Union  there] )y  dis- 
rupted. 

When  peace  came,  it  was  hailed  with  great  joy  throngliout  the 
country.  It  was  peculiarly  acceptable  to  the  Fe(h'i':i lists,  jis  they  had 
always  opposed  the  war;  and  however  dissatisHe<l  the  lie]»ublicans 
might  be  with  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace,  they  became  recon- 
ciled because  the  war  had  been  inangm-ated  by  them  and  the  peace 
concluded  by  their  administration.  It  was  truthfully  pointed  out  by 
the  Federalists  that  the  English  did  not  in  the  treaty  .sm'i'ender  .-my  of 
the  things  for  winch  the  war  was  commenced.  Not  one  word  was  said 
in  the  treaty  about  the  right  of  search  and  impressment.  P.ut  it  can- 
not be  said  that  the  war  was  fruitless.  The  achievements  of  our  navy 
and  our  victory  at  New  Orl<>ans  gave  us  character  and  impi-ovrd  our 
standing  among  the  nations.  While  Fngland  did  not  surrender  her 
right  to  search  our  vessels  and  iini)ress  se.-imen  therefrom,  she  has 
never  exercised  the  right  since  in  a  single  inst.iiice.  She  le.-irned  to 
respect  our  ]irowess  upon  the  ocean  and  that  she  \v;is  not  invulnerable 
there. 

Until  recent  years,  the  hostility  of  our  people  to  England  engendered 
by  this  war  and  the  war  of  the  Revolution  survived  and  seemed  to 
Iw  nioi'e  ]>otent  than  the  unity  of  blood  and  language  and  the  inher- 
it.nice  of  a  common  btcrafui-e  and  of  similar  free  institutions.  But  of 
late   years,    this   hostility    h.as   been   gr:idually   disappearing,    and    now 


THE  WAB  OF   1813,  13 

EiigUiiid  and  America,  wiiih'  not  bonnd  tom'tlicr  by  any  formal  alli- 
ance, are  drawn  toyetlier  l>y  feelinj;s  of  most  cordial  friendship.  War 
between  tliem  is  now  liardly  a  remote  i)0ssil)ility.  and  it  should  he  the 
ardent  wisli  of  every  pliilanf in-opist  that  they  may  ever  co-opei'ate 
in  spreading  tlie  Clu'istian  religion,  free  institntions  and  Anglo-Saxon 
civilization  throngliout  tlie  world. 

I  must  not  close  this  paper  withont  some  reference  to  the  part  taken 
by  soldiers  from  Herlvimer  Comdy  in  the  war. 

This  State  was  called  upon  to  fnridsh  by  draft  from  its  milili.i 
]o,5UO  men;  and  the  term  of  service  was  tliree  montlis.  This  connty 
furuislied  its  fnll  quota  of  soldiers.  There  was  a  case  t>i  conspicuous 
patriotism  whicli  deserves  commemoration.  (Jeoi'ge  Widri.y  was  a 
prondnent  citizen  of  tins  county,  residing  in  the  town  of  Frankfort,  and 
he  was  major  genei-al  of  nulitia.  lie  ;i]»plied  to  have  his  whole  division 
called  into  the  service;  and  failing  in  that,  .and  on  account  of  his  rank 
being  unable  to  get  any  other  position,  he  took  the  only  one  he  could 
get,  that  of  teamster,  and  served  in  that  capacity  durin.i;  one  campai.un. 
He  was  a  man  of  sound  judgment  and  practical  ability,  .although  (pnte 
unlettered;  and  I  was  told  by  I)i-.  Harvey  W.  Doolittle,  who  w.as  a 
surueon  in  one  of  tlie  regimeids  that  was  seid  to  S.acketts  Harbor,  that, 
the  superior  oflicers  being  to  some  extent  incompetent  .and  inetlicient. 
General  Widi-ig's  advice  w.as  sought,  .and  that  he  restored  order  out  of 
chaos,  and  rendered  valuable  services  in  quartering  and  providing  for 
the  soldiers  who,  lacking  other  acconnnodatlons,  were  (]uartered  in 
dwelliiig  houses,  stores,  shops  and  barns. 

Christopher  1".  liellinger,  a  prondnent  resident  of  Little  Falls  .and 
for  many  years  one  of  its  most  distinguished  citizens,  w.as  the  colonel 
of  a  militia  regiment  of  this  couidy,  and  he  was,  in  M.ay,  ISli'.  befoi'c 
the  decl.aration  of  war,  ordered  with  his  regiment  to  Sacketts  llai'bor 
an.d  other  places  on  our  Northern  Frontier  to  w.atch  Ihe  LJritish,  to 
protect  the  public  property  accumul.ated  there,  to  enforce  the  Endtargo 
and  non-intercourse  acts,  and  to  prevt'ut  smuggling.  Aftta'  the  declar- 
ation of  war  in  the  followin.g  ni(»nth,  his  reginieid  was  reinfoi-ced  by 
a  draft  from  the  militia  of  this  county.  He  served  under  (ieneral 
I'.iown,  Avho.  in  letters  to  <Jovernoi'  Tompkins,  spoke  of  him  as  "a  bi'.ave 
(•nic(M-  and  woiihy  man;"  and  s.aid  he  w.as  "one  of  the  best  of  mcai." 
'•The  more  I  have  seen  of  Colonel  Bellinger,  the  more  I  am  pleased 
with  him.     He  is  disposed  to  do  everything  for  the  i>esl." 

As  the  term  of  one  re.giment  expired,  anothta-  w.as  called  into  I  hi' 
si'rvice;  and  in  Septendter,  LS14.  the  militi.a  of  this  comdy  w.as  oi'dca-ed 
(!id  en  masse  and  marched  to  Sacketts  Harbor.  Tli.at  pl.ace  w.as  .a  xt'vy 
important  one,  being  a  depot  of  supplies;  and  wlu-n  it  was  att.acked 
ia  M.ay,  ISi;;,  by  the  liritish,  its  g.arrison  w.as  Largely  composed  of  men 
from  this  county. 

Colonel  M.attnew  Al.ayers  of  this  vill.agv,  ,a  line  looking  .and  d.ashing 
officer,  w.as  in  comm.and  of  one  of  the  regiments  sent  to  S.acketts  ll.ar- 
bor,  and  in  his  regiment  the   late  Major   Bellinger  of   .Mohawk  served 


14  HEBKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

as  a  captain.  At  one  time  Colonel  Forsytli  was  Colonel  Myers'  super- 
ior, and  for  some  alleged  insubordination  demanded  his  sword,  and 
was  promptly  informed  tliat  he  could  not  take  it  unless  he  toolv  it 
point  lirst,  and  he  did  not  take  it. 

Thurlow  Weed,  the  Warwiclv  successively  of  the  Whig  and  Repub- 
lican parties,  who  was  a  journeyman  printer  here  at  the  time  under 
Mr.  Stone,  tlie  publisher  of  the  Herkimer  American.  V>eing  tlien  under 
eighteen  years  of  age,  went  as  a  volunteer  with  the  militia  to  Sacketts 
Harbor;  and  his  cheerful  and  humorous  disposition  made  lilni  a  great 
f'lvorite  with  his  comrades. 

Most  of  the  able-bodied  men  lial)le  to  milit;iry  duty  who  resided  in 
tl'is  county  were  sent  to  our  Northern  Frontier;  and  for  many  yeai's 
afterward  they  had  many  stories  to  relate  of  their  campaigning,  and 
had  many  jokes  to  tell  of  each  other.  Of  one.  a  prominent  citizen 
of  this  village,  who  was  a  captain  or  major  in  Colonel  Myers'  i-egi- 
ment,,  it  was  frequently  told  that  when  a  battle  was  imnpiicnt  at 
Sacketts  Harbor  he  crawled  into  a  cellar  to  get  out  of  the  way  of  harm, 
and  said,  in  terms  of  great  distress,  that  he  wished  he  was  home  "wid 
liis  wife  Katrine."  He  always  denied  the  charge  and  was  at  all  times 
ready  to  back  up  his  word  by  combat.  Of  another  well  known  citizen 
of  this  town  it  was  told  that,  finding  fault  with  his  rations  and  the  ser- 
vice, he  said  he  would  rather  be  home  and  eat  "suppon  and  milk  with 
his  buppy  dog  Towser."  These  and  many  other  similar  stories  were  circu- 
lated when  I  was  young  and  they  could  only  be  fully  appreciated  by 
one  acquainted  with  the  subjects  of  them.  Our  returned  soldiers  were 
also  fond  of  telling  this  authentic  story:  "In  the  fall  of  1814,  Sir  James 
Yeo  Avas  in  command  of  the  British  fleet  which  appeared  at  Sacketts 
ILarbor,  made  threatening  demonstrations  and  sent  a  flag  of  truce 
demanding  its  inmiediate  surrender.  General  lirown.  in  command  of 
the  Aiiierican  forces,  sent  one  of  his  officers,  a  Frenchman,  to  meet 
the  flag.  In  reply  to  the  demand  for  the  surrender,  in  decided  Fri>ncli 
accents,  he  said:  "Sir,  you  return  to  your  ship  and  say  to  youi-  master 
if  he  wants  Zacketts  Zarbor  he  must  come  and  take  him.  He  no  run 
away."  Then  turning  his  horse  he  galloped  back  to  headquarters  and 
the  British  fleet  soon  sailed  aAvay. 

The  men  from  this  county  who  went  into  the  service  had  the  rep;i- 
tatioii  of  being  brave  and  good  soldiers.  Such  has  been  the  character 
of  Herkimer  soldiers  in  .ill  the  wars  in  which  our  country  li  is  been 
engaged;  and  so  may  it  always  be!  In  civil  and  military  !if(>  may 
the  men  of  Herkimer  always  in  every  emergency  stand  by  their  guns 
and  do  their  duty. 


THE  LIFE  AND   PUBLIC  SERVICES  (3F  GEN. 
FRANCIS  E.  SPINNER. 

AN   ADDRESS   BY   ALBERT   L.    HOWELL,    OK   MOHAWK, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  March  ii,  1899. 

In  sk<  tcliiuK  some  of  tli«^  principal  ('V(mUs  in  tlie  life  of  tliis  rcmaik- 
aiily  interestin.u'  man.  i)U'asant  nn-mories  are  awalvcncd.  A  'ife-ion^ 
ac(inainlan<-('  prrjiarcs  the  writer  to  pen  some  of  the  leadin.L  events 
whieli  eharaeteri/.ed  his  youthful  andiition,  to  become  a  useful  man. 
To  relate  in  detail  of  his  subseijent  and  interesting  life  would  consume 
too  much  space  in  this  paper. 

HIS  Bnrrnpi.ACE. 

Comparatively  but  few  of  the  present  day  kiiow  the  early  history 
of  the  Spinner  family,  especiallly  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  He  w.is 
the  eldest  son  of  the  Rev.  John  P.  Spinner,  and  was  liorn  in  the  hum- 
ble home  of  his  parents  in  the  town  of  (iermaii  Flats,  where  th<'  village 
of  Mohawk  is  now  situated,  on  Decend)er  21st,  ISdl.  The  house  stood 
on  "glebe  land,"  belonging  to  the  Reformed  Church,  of  Cerman  I'M.-its. 
near  the  southeast  corner  of  Main  and  CoUnnbia  streets.  Just  on.e  week 
after  his  l)irth  the  house  took  tire  and  burned.  The  tire  occurred  on  a 
winter's  night,  liis  mother,  barefoot  and  in  her  night-clothes,  with  her 
babe  in  her  arms,  waded  through  the  deep  snow  to  their  nearest  neigh- 
bors, the  C'ampbells,  then  situated  but  a  slnn-t  dist.-ince  west  of  the 
present  old  "General  Spinner  house." 

His  father  soon  after  this  misfortune,  moved  to  the  town  of  Her- 
kimer, aliout  one  mile  east  of  the  village,  on  the  turnpike  road.  Sub- 
se<iuently  he  purchased  a  three-acre  plot  of  land  at  the  foot  of  I'ros- 
p«»ct  street  in  Herkimer  and  built  the  house  that  still  stands  there. where 
the  rest  of  the  children,  consisting  of  five  boys  and  three  girls,  were 
born  ;ind  reared. 

The  lands  and  dwelling  of  my  father  joined  that  of  the  u-eneral's 
father  on  the  south.  And  for  about  thirty  years  we  were  their  nearest 
neighbor.  • 


16  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

HIS  LOVE  FOR  BOOKS. 
At  an  oarly  age  young  Spinner  evinced  a  love  for  books,  and  the 
meager  education  he  received  in  the  district  schools  of  those  days,  up 
to  the  age  of  fifteen  years;  his  reflective  mind  began  to  take  in  tlie 
situation  in  regard  to  tlie  store  of  knowledge  he  possessed,  to  prepai'e 
him  for  a  useful  life  work.  And  (to  use  Ills  own  words)  found  he  was 
comparatively  an  "ignoramus."  He  resolved  at  once  to  commence  self- 
education.  In  order  to  carry  out  his  plan  he  made  it  a  rule  never  to 
associate  with  those  who  did  not  know  more  than  he  did,  so  th;it  ea<'h 
day  sliould  add  something  to  the  desired  fund  of  general  information. 
And  to  this  end  he  chose  to  be  in  the  company  of  men. 

APPKENTICEU  TO  LEARN  A  TRADE. 

His  fatlier  seeing  his  inclination  for  books  had  no  desire  it  should 
lead  him  to  follow  liis  calling,  that  of  the  ministry,  and  acting  on  tlie 
rule  universally  applied  in  tlie  fatherland  (Germany)  that  every  boy  of 
the  proper  age.  and  who  might  be  spared  from  liome,  should  learn 
some  trade,  lie  bound  him  to  a  manufacturer  of  confectionery  in  Al- 
bany. The  father  finding  that  he  still  continued  the  study  of  books 
much  more  tlian  learning  a  trade,  set  aside  tlie  indenture  and  bound 
liim  to  a  liarness  maker  in  Amsterdam.  Here  young  Spinner's  greatest 
o[)pportunity  presented  itself  for  the  reading  of  good  books. 

A  SHAREHOLDER  IN  A  LIBRARY. 
He  managed  to  become  a  shareholder  in  the  circulating  library  of 
that  place.  He  improved  all  his  spare  time  by  reading,  until  he  had 
read  every  book  in  the  library;  and  had  read  more  books  than  all  the 
other  shareholdei's  combined.  When  he  had  served  out  his  term  of 
apprenticeship,  he  in  company  with  a  fellow  apprentice,  set  up  lousiness 
for  themselves,  in  a  small  way,  at  a  settlement  near  Amsterdam.  And 
subse(iuently  alone,  started  in  the  same  business  in  Herkiiner  village. 
He  still  continued  the  habit  of  reading  and  read  Blackstone  and  other 
law  books,  and  all  the  cases  in  the  supreme  courts  of  the  state  of  New 
York.  So  well  informed  did  he  become  (hat  lawyers  frequently  con- 
sulted him  on  legal  matters. 

HELD    PUBLIC    OFFICE. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he  was  appointed  deputy  sheriff  of 
Herkimer  county.  And  during  the  six  years  service  as  deinity.  the 
duties  of  the  office  were  so  satisfactorily  rendered  that  in  is;{4  he 
Avas  elected  sheriff,  which  office  he  filled  for  three  years.  His  popularity 
had  so  increased  that  his  fellow  townsmen  were  ready  to  bestow  upon 
him  further  honors  for  his  capabilities  as  an  executive  officer. 

He  was  the  organizer  of  the  2(>tli  N.  Y.  State  Artillery,  being  chosen 
its  first  lieutenant,  and  subsequently  attaining  to  the  rank  of  Major 
General  of  the  third  division  of  artillery.  The  organization  of  the 
"La  Fayette  Giiards"  was  due  to  his  efforts,  the  finest  military  com- 
pany as  to  tactics  and  equipment  iu  the  state. 


GEN     FRANCIS  E.   SPINNER.  17 

In  18;j8  he  was  aiiitoiiitcd  Ii.v  (ioveriior  Marcy  one  of  tlio  coiniuission- 
«'i's  for  the  biiildiii.i;  of  tlic  state  lunatic  asylum  at  Utica.  A  position 
lio  tilled  with  his  cliaracteristie  energy.  In  ISol),  upon  the  oi-,t;aniza- 
tion  of  the  Moh:!\vk  \'aliey  Hank,  he  was  ealled  to  the  offiee  of  cashier 
oi  that  institution,  which  post  he  tilled  with  honor  for  twenty  yeai-s. 
as  cashier  or  president,  ;ind  hy  his  fible  financiering',  and  his  system 
(/f  conducting  .-iffairs  of  tin-  institution,  he  left  It  on  a  stable  founda- 
tion, which  it  has  cvei'  since  maintained. 

In  lS!;"i,  at  the  solii-itation  of  Michael  Hoffman  of  Herkimer,  naval 
otticer  of  the  port  of  New  York,  the  General  was  appointed  auditor 
and  dei»uty  naval  officer,  which  position  he  held  for  four  years,  but 
still  retained  the  presidency  of  the  Mohawk  Valley  Bank. 

THREE  TERMS  A  MEMBER  OF  CONGRESS. 
In  ]<}4  he  was  elected  to  Congress  upon  the  Democratic  ticket.  And 
during  this,  his  first  term,  he  served  on  many  important  committees. 
In  isrx;  he  was  re-elected  by  the  Republican  party,  which  party  he 
helped  to  organize,  and  with  which  he  was  ever  after  identified.  He 
was  re-elected  foi'  ;i  third  term  in  ISoS,  by  the  largest  majority  given 
any  mcmljer  of  those  two  Congresses.  Being  an  out  and  out  freesoiler 
and  strongly  oppos(  d  lo  llie  exttMision  of  slavery  into  new  lei'i-itory. 
he  became  the  hnml)le  instrumeni  in  bringing  about  the  hajipy  result 
of  the  election  of  Nathaniel  I'.  Baidvs  for  speaker  of  the  houi-c,  after 
a  struggle  of  two  months'  voting.  In  this  he  acted  as  one  of  the 
a<lvance  gn.-irds  on  the  lirst  battle  line  of  the  war  Avliich  soon  followed, 
and  brought  to  an  end  human  slavery  in  our  nation. 

T'NITEI)     STA']M<]S     TREASURER. 

In  ISCl.  through  llie  reconimendation  of  the  si'cretary  of  the  treas- 
niy.  Salmon  V.  Chase,  he  \v;is  appointed  by  Presi<lent  TvincoJn.  I'nited. 
States  treasurer.  I'jxin  assuming  the  ofiice  at  the  commencenienl  of 
(lie  war  of  the  Rebellion,  he  found  the  treasury  of  the  government 
empty  and  with  no  funds  to  carry  on  tiie  war.  But  through  his  able 
advice  to  the  secretary  of  (he  treasury,  a  system  was  adopted  which 
I'elievcd  the  innuediate  needs  of  the  government. 

r.eing  the  custodian  of  miilions,  he  was  allowed  to  call  around  him 
men  foi-  the  different  dc]";!  li  nients  who  were  personally  known  to  him, 
to  (ill  responsible  ])osi(ions  as  accouidants,  clerks,  etc.  as  he  w;is  a 
bond(<l  ofiicer  by  Congress  and  responsible  not  only  for  the  faithful 
pei-formance  of  his  own  duties,  but  the  Inuidreds  of  those  in  his 
employ.  The  work  was  so  systematized  that  every  one  had  their 
sjiecific  duty  to  perfoi'm.  And  so  faithfully  iind  honest  were  they 
rendered  that  of  the  millions  (hat  were  received  and  disbursed  daily, 
not  one  dollar  Avas  evei'  lost. 

The  lion.  Hugh  McCullogh.  his  old-time  comjianion  in  (he  (i-e;isnry. 
thus  spi'aks  of  the  (Jencral  in  his  ".Men  and  Measures  of  Half  a  Cen- 
tury:" "A  more  trustworl  hy.  coMscientious.  upright  man  than  Francis 
E.   Spinner  never  held  .in   oliice   under  this  government  or  anv   other. 


18  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

And  his  name  shonkl  be  insci'il)ed  high  on  the  roll  of  honor,  for  nieri- 
torious  services  at  a  time  when  the  government  was  greatly  in  uvvd 
of  such  services  as  he  was  able  to  render.  Until  I  knew  him  I  had 
not  met  a  man  with  more  disposition  or  caitacity  for  hard  work  than 
myself.  He  worked  constantly  from  nine  to  ten  hours  a  day  and  often 
this  was  extended  to  twelve  or  fifteen  hours.  Seemingly  he  never 
slept,  as  by  day  and  late  at  night  he  could  be  seen  at  his  desk,  and 
the  last  one  to  leave  the  office  at  night." 

The  General  naturally  inherited  a  splendid  constitution  to  stand  the 
long  hours  and  overwork,  together  with  the  mental  strain  imposed 
upon  him  in  the  every-day  duties  of  the  olfice  in  detail,  wliicli  would 
be  considered  very  ti-ying  to  most  men. 

Ills    UNIQUE    SIGNATURE. 

That  peculiar  signature  of  his  was  tiixt  i>ractice(l  on  while  lit  held 
the  office  of  sheriff  in  1S'S^>,  and  Avas  used  during  the  period  of  his  olfice 
as  commissioner,  at  the  Ijuilding  of  the  state  lunatic  hospital  at  Utica. 
It  was  brougiit  to  its  greatest  perfection  when  he  was  United  States 
treasurer,  as  the  constant  use  of  his  pen  in  signing  the  greenbacks 
and  fractional  currency  caused  him  to  execute  it  perfectly.  The  daily 
and  long  continued  use  of  his  pen  at  one  time  caused  a  partial  paral- 
ysis of  the  hand.  P>ut  after  a  short  rest  he  resumed  the  work,  on  to 
the  time  he  was  relieved  by  his  signature  being  printed.  The  (ieni-ral 
never  left  his  post  for  a  vacation,  only  for  a  few  hours  spent  in  a  row 
boat  up  the  Potomac  in  the  summer  time,  to  en.1oy  a  lunch  on  some 
mossy  bank  by  the  river  side. 

ACTING  AS  SOLDIER  IN  THE  TREASURY  BATTALION. 

Among  the  many  incidents  of  the  General  while  in  the  treasury, 
none  seemed  to  demonstrate  his  loyalty  and  patriotism  more  tlian  the 
formation  under  his  auspices  of  the  Treasury  IJattalion,  to  aid  in  the 
defense  of  Washington  against  the  raid  of  the  rebel  General  Early, 
in  the  summer  of  18(54.  He  earnestly  requested  that  the  male  foivi' 
employed  in  the  treasury  should  join  this  battalion,  and  set  the  exam- 
ple by  shouldering  a  musket  and  drilling  in  the  ranks  as  a  private. 
No  one  knew  better  than  the  Genei-al  what  the  result  would  be  if  the 
capital  of  the  nation  should  f;ill  into  the  hands  of  the  confederate 
general  and  its  treasury  taken.  He  planned  to  put  all  the  money 
in  mail  bags  and,  should  it  become  necessary,  put  them  aboard  a  tug 
and  steam  down  the  Potomac. 

THE  FIRST  FEM.VLE  CLERKS  lOiMPLOYED  IN  THE  U.  S. 
TREASURY. 

It  was  during  the  third  year  of  General  Spinner's  term  as  U.  S. 
tieasurer  that  the  fii'st  female  clerks  were  employed  in  the  different 
departments.  And  it  was  said  that  this  innovation  of  his  proved  a 
wise  one,  as  the  ladies'  dep.-irtment  work  was  that  which  gave  the 
best  satisfaction  for  c<)rrectness  and  disi»atch.  Female  clerks  are  still 
employed. 


GEN     FRANCIS   K.  SPINNER  19 

KEl'lilOSlONTATIVE  OF  THE  CON'EKXAJKNT  TO  ElUOI'IO. 

Wliilc  he  was  actiiiu  as  trfasiiicc,  lie  was  scut  to  I''>iir(»]M'  to  rcjirc- 
Sfiit  this  ,t.'(>vcriiiii('iit  ill  soliritiiii;  ("orci.un  (•ai)italists  to  invest  in  our 
.liovci'iiiiK'iit  sciaiiMtit  s.  His  mission  was  siiccrssl'ui  and  lio  was  vxi'vy- 
wht'i'i'  <-oi'(lially  iiict.  witii  iait  one  cxccfttioii.  whit  h  tlip  Ooiioral  I'clatcd 
afterward.  It  oceurictl  at  tlie  Iiaid<  ol'  tiie  Rothschilds  in  London, 
iic  having'  called  and  sent  in  his  cai'd,  and.  after  a  loni;'  an<i 
patii'nt  wait,  left  tlie  luiildin.u'-  A  messenger  was  sent  aftci'  liini  liul 
Im'  could  not  l»e  ]»ic\;iiled  upon  to  return,  sayini;'.  '"I'dl  them  I  will  not 
leturn,  as  such  ti'catnient  as  1  liave  met  with  would  not  he  .i;iven  a 
doK  by  any  American  under  sitnilar  circumstances."  rromi)tness  in  all 
Ipusiness  mattei's  was  a  viitue  with  him.  He  ^\■as  ([uiclv  and  firm  in 
his  decisions  hut  was  e\ ci'  ready  to  yield  a  point  if  thei'e  was  ^ood 
reason  for  it.  No  personal  inconveni«'nce  was  too  .yreat  when  a  friend 
was  to  l)e  heli)ed.  The  open  hand  of  charity  was  ever  extended  to 
help  the  needy  and  distressed. 

TIIE  CEXEltAL  AS  A  SI'EECH  MAKER. 

A  few  years  previous  to  the  war  of  tlie  Rebellion  and  duiini;'  his 
second  year  in  Congress.  Ix-ini;-  at  his  home  in  Moliaw]<  duriiiu  tjie  stir- 
ring campaiiiii  of  IS.Mi,  a  Reiuihlican  niei'tin.^  was  held  at  the  oWl  court 
house  in  Herl\imer.  tlic  (Jeneial  JK-iim  i>resent  and  hai)penin.i;'  to  enter 
tl'c  ciowded  court  room  rather  late,  was  olili.ued  to  tal^e  a  standinj;' 
seat  (as  well  as  the  writei',  who  stood  a  few  feet  from  him).  .  Ilis  pres- 
ence'when  seen  on  tlie  ijooi-  was  the  occasion  of  (juite  a  sensation,  he 
liein.u  calhd  n])on  foi'  a  speech.  Tlu'  (lencral's  forte  not  Iteint;'  si)eecli- 
iiiakin.y.  he  was  rather  liacicwai'd  in  responding'.  Rut  tlu'  ci'y  of  "Spin- 
ner. Spinner,"  ranu  out  so  forcibly  and  the  occasion  of  the  meetin.i; 
I'cin.u  of  a  national  cliaractcr.  the  (ieneral  yielded  to  the  situation, 
and  still  standini;-  in  his  place  upon  the  floor,  in  Avell  chosen  words, 
('elivered  one  of  the  most  famous  and  i)roplietic  S])eeches  »'vei'  listem'd 
to.  It  was  in  substance  a  forecast  of  the  inevitable  strn.^ule  which 
"ould  b(  caused  by  the  slavery  (piestion  b(>tween  the  north  and  south. 
The  pi'o|)hetic  sentences  he  then  uttered  were  fultillcd  in   ISC.l. 

THE  WATCHIKXJ  OK  TIIE  TREASURY. 

Tiiis  sobriipu't  uiven  the  ,i;enei-al  was  not  mis]>laced.  As  his  vigilant 
eye  was  ever  on  the  alert  for  tli<'  safety  of  "Um-le  Sam's  i>ocketbook." 

("onpliivu  this  with  his  unitiue  si.iiuature,  which  constituted  a  strikin.u' 
featm'e  of  every  m-ccnback  and  fractional  cnri'cnc.v.  lirou,i;ht  him  i)roin- 
inently  befoi'e  tlie  American  pcojiie.  Many  visitors  to  Wasliin.^ito'i 
diM-in,;;-  the  years  ii(>  was  treasurer  wi'i'e  siu'c  to  make  a  visit  to  tlie 
treasury  liuildini;-  to  see  the  man  who  wi'ote  that  wonderful  si.!;n;iture. 

HIS  i{i:Tnn<:ME.\T  ero.m  I'ERLIc  life 

\fter  nearly  a  score  ol  years  as  the  "v,atcl)dou  of  the  treasury."  lie 
retired  fi'om  :icti\'e  public  life  and  chose  to  siiend  the  i-emaininu  vars 
a]lote<l  to  him   in   :i    more  conucnial   climate.      He  left   his  old   home   in 


20  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Mohawk  and  joined  that  of  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Schumacher,  and  her 
husband,  James  M.  Shumacher,  in  Jaclvsonville,  Florida,  where  his 
declining  years  were  happily  spent,  surrounded  by  his  children  and 
grandchildren,  in  the  pursuit  of  scientiiic  subjects  of  which  he  was 
always  fond,  as  his  old  home  in  Mohawk  attested.  His  large  library 
contained  a  fine  selection  of  books;  also  one  of  the  best  private  col- 
lection of  mineral  and  geological  specimens,  petrifications,  etc.,  in  the 
State,  together  with  a  fine  collection  of  fresh  and  salt  water  sliells. 
all  of  which  were  mostly  of  his  own  collecting. 

His  southern  home  being  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  beautiful  St. 
John's  river,  afforded  him  enjoyment  in  boating  and  fishing,  which 
pastime  added  much  to  tlie  comforts  he  enjoyed  in  that  genial  climate. 
But  at  length  a  fatal  disease  fastened  upon  his  stalwart  form  and,  after 
a  protracted  illness  of  nearly  two  years,  prepared  him  for  the  "Reaper." 
He  passed  on  to  the  higher  life  December  31st,  1890,  in  his  90th  year. 
His  funeral  obsequies  took  place  in  his  old  Mohawk  home,  January 
4th,  1891. 

THE  GENERAL'S  LIFE  ONCE  IN  PERIL. 

A  daring  attempt  was  once  perpetrated  on  the  life  of  General  Spin- 
ner, during  the  first  year  he  was  cashier  of  the  Mohawk  Valley  Bank. 
A  plot  was  lain  by  a  gang  of  robbers  to  possess  the  keys  of  the  bank, 
knowing  the  General  always  closed  the  bank  at  night  and  carried  the 
keys  on  his  person.  The  scheme  was  to  be  consummated  on  a  cer- 
tain night  on  his  way  home,  and  the  place  selected  to  comlnit  the  deed 
(by  assassination  if  need  be)  was  but  a  short  distance  from  his  liome, 
at  a  by-path  he  usually  took  to  shorten  the  distance,  it  being  at  that 
time  a  rather  secluded  place,  surrounded  with  trees  and  shrubbery, 
with  a  line  fence  to  be  crossed  by  steps.  On  the  appointed  night  the 
General  was  confronted  by  a  man  at  this  fence  crossing,  and,  strange 
as  it  may  seem,  there  was  no  attempt  made  by  the  man  to  possess  the 
keys  or  injure  him,  but  he  immediately  fled.  The  man's  courage  failed 
him,  as  the  sequel  afterwards  proved,  as  a  letter  soon  after  this  was 
found  by  a  friend  of  the  General's,  in  Albany,  giving  a  detailed  account 
of  the  plan,  which  was  sent  to  him.  After  tliat  he  went  prepared  and 
on  the  alert. 

GENERAL  SPINNER'S  FATHER. 

In  penning  briefly  some  of  the  principal  events  that  occurred  in  the 
life  of  General  Spinner's  father,  we  will  speak  of  those  preceding  and 
after  his  coming  to  this  country  from  Germany  in  1801.  The  Rever- 
end John  P.  Spinner  was  bom  in  Werbach,  Germany,  January  18th, 
1768.  In  early  life  he  was  dedicated  to  the  Roman  Catholic  priest- 
hood and  received  a  preliminary  education  preparatory  to  entering  the 
University  of  Mentz.  In  1789  he  was  admitted  to  exercise  the  oflSee 
of  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  and  for  eleven  years  continued  in  the 
priesthood  lof   that   church.     During   this  time   he  took   part  in   the 


GtEN.    PRANClS  E.   SPINKER.  21 

funerals  of  Emperor  Joseph  2nd,  Leopold  2nd  and  other  distinguished 
personages  of  that  country. 

In  1800  he  changed  his  religious  views  and  became  a  protestant, 
which  created  quite  a  sensation  at  Mentz.  By  his  eloquent  appeal  to 
the  people  in  defense  of  his  new  faith,  and  possibly  in  taking  this 
step,  it  may  have  engendered  some  ill-feeling  toward  him  by  many, 
.•ind  he  resolved  to  emigrate  to  America.  The  restriction  of  celibacy 
being  removed  he  selected  his  life  partner  in  the  person  of  Miss  Mary 
Magchiiene  Fldelis  Brument,  she  lielng  also  a  convert  to  the  protestant 
faith,  which  left  nothing  to  interfere  to  their  becoming  happily  mated. 
They  were  soon  after  united  in  marriage,  which  took  place  just  prior 
to  their  embarking  for  America,  May  12th,  1801.  After  a  tedious  voy- 
age of  over  two  months  (which  was  rather  a  prolonged  bridal  trip), 
they  arrived  in  New  York,  and,  having  letters  of  introduction  to  John 
Jacob  Astor,  he  being  known  by  the  up-country  people,  and  mainly 
tiirough  his  influence  the  young  and  talented  preacher  and  his  liride 
wended  their  way  up  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  and  cast  their  lot 
with  the  people  of  his  native  country,  in  Crerman  Flats. 

It  was  not  long  before  he  was  called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  old  Fort 
Herkimer  church,  he  being  the  successor  of  Abraham  Rosecranz 
(brother-in-law  of  General  Herkimer),  who  served  the  parish  for  thirty- 
one  years,  and  whose  death  occurred  in  170<!. 

His  engagement  as  pastor  of  this:  old,  historic  church  bears  date  of 
July  4th,  1801,  which  is  on  record  in  the  county  clerk's  ottice  in  Her- 
kimer, stipulating  that  services  shall  be  held  alternately  in  the  places 
of  worship,  designated  in  German  Flats  and  Herkimer,  twice  on  eacti 
Lord's  day.  The  salary  was  fixed  at  two  hundred  pounds  in  good  and 
lawful  money,  together  with  tliirty  bushels  of  wheat,  and  he  was 
looked  upon  by  his  parishioners  as  holding  quite  a  lucrative  position. 
Howsoever  it  was  considered  l>y  the  young  preacher,  he  continued  to 
serve  his  people  up  to  the  year  of  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1848. 

In  personal  appearance  the  dominie  was  tall  and  very  dignified, 
having  a  large  head,  a  massive  forehead  and  long,  tlowing  locks,  and 
his  countenance  revealed  the  strength  of  character  he  possessed.  His 
garb  was  always  of  tlio  ministerial  order,  at  home  or  abroad.  His  step 
was  measured  and  deliberate  and  he  never  seemed  in  a  hurry  on  any 
occasion. 

He  was  fond  of  horticulture  and  this  afl'orded  him  out-door  exercise. 
Whenever  his  parochial  duties  permitted,  he  might  be  seen  busily 
engaged  in  cultivating  his  garden  and  extensive  orchard  of  fine  fruit. 
The  trees  he  transplanted  from  his  own  nursery  and  afterward  grafted 
upon,  with  the  best  scions  of  fruit  obtainable. 

He  was  much  sought  after  on  public  occasions  and  outside  the 
pulpit  was  popular  from  the  fact  of  his  remarkable  versatility,  and  a 
certain  dry  liumor  aiwl  sparkling  wit,  which  often  found  expression, 
together  with  a  fine,  sonorous  voice,   made  him  widely  popular.     He 


23  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

was  an  excellent  linguist  and  Avas  more  or  less  familiar  with  eight  dif- 
ferent languages. 

About  the  year  1840.  on  the  occasion  of  ex-President  John  Qnincy 
Adams'  visit  to  Herkimer,  he  was  selected  to  meet  him  on  the  arrival 
of  the  train  and  escort  him  to  the  steps  of  the  Uailroad  House,  where 
Ihe  people  could  greet  him  with  a  handshake.  On  his  arrival  he  was 
met  by  the  dominie  and  arm  in  arm  they  proceeded  to  the  steps,  in 
the  mean  time  they  Avere  conversing  in  (iermnn.  The  parting  words 
were  also  spoken  in  German,  the  ex-president  being  known  to  the 
dominie  as  a  linguist,  and  tlie  pleasing  incident  of  their  meeting  on 
this  occasion,  no  doubt,  Was  long  remembered  by  the  ex -president. 

GENERAI.  SPINNER'S  ]MOTHER. 

In  closing,  we  will  speak  briefly  of  the  General's  mother.  She  was 
one  of  that  type  which  characterizes  every  true  and  devoted  wife  and 
mother.  Having  reared  a  large  family  of  six  sons  and  three  daugli- 
tei-s,  most  of  her  younger  days  were  necessarily  devoted  to  the  domes- 
tic duties  of  her  household,  and  she  was  seldom  seen  from  it,  choosing 
rather  to  be  in  the  home  with  the  husband  and  children.  She  was  a 
most  estimable  lady  of  both  mind  and  heart,  and  many  of  the  good 
qualities  that  characterized  the  General  were  inherited  from  her,  as 
he  was  always  her  favoriti'  boy.  The  others  never  caused  the  father 
any  anxiety  on  thi>  score  of  too  mucli  "book  lore,"  neitiier  bad  they 
any  desire  to  follow  his  calling,  that  of  the  ministry. 

LAST  LETTERS  AND  AUTOGRAPH  OF  GENERAL  SPINNER. 

Mr.  Thomas  Cunningham  of  Mohawk  has  many  mementoes  of  (ren- 
eral  Spinner,  being  a  life-long  friend  of  his;  they  are  highly  prized. 
Among  the  many  souvenirs,,  we  will  nuike  mention  of  two  remarkable 
letters,  the,  last  ones  he  wroti'  or  dictated.  One  was  written  by  him 
to  a  friend. in  Mohawk,  several  months  previous  to  his  demise,  givin.g 
instructions  in  regard  to  his  funeral,  which  would  sooner  or  later  occur 
Ihei-e,  as  the  wasting  disease  would  soon  "loose  the  silver  chord."  The 
other  was  dic.tated  by  him  and  written  by  a  grandson  to  his  brother 
Jacob  in  Mohawk,  a  few  days  l)efore  he  passed  away,  with  his  last 
autograph.  It  shows  the  feeble  hand  and  the  blinded  si,ght  in  its- 
execution,  and  is  hardly  recogiuzable,  compared  to  the  ones  he  was 
enabled  to  execute  so.  perfectly  in  ihe  bye-gone  years,  a  fac-simile  of 
whi(di  is  inscribed  on  the  granite  monnment  in  the  ))unal  plot  in  the  vil- 
lage cemetery  at  ^Mohawk,  with  no  other  inscription  followin,g  this  fam- 
ous si.gnature,  to  perpetuate  in  m(>mory  th(>  life  of  this  remarkable  and 
self-made  man.  Reing  a  co-adjutant  of  the  immortal  Ljncoln  during  the 
strug,gle  of  "in  to  'V,r,,  their  work  will  long  sni'vivt^  the  crumbling  mon- 
uments erected  to  their  nuMnories.     Requicscat  in  pace. 


JOSEPH  brant-thayendanp:gka. 

AN   ADDRKSS   liV    RDGAR   JACKSON    KLOCK,    OF    KAST   SCHUVLKR, 
Delivered  before  the  IlL-rkinier  County  Historical  Society,  April  8,  1899. 

There  are  two  clnsses  of  jicople  who,  indi vi'liiaUy.  ;ire  ver\'  iini'eiia- 
hle  biogrnphers-ix'ison.-il  eiieiiii(  s  and  |.<isonal  friends.  We  woidd 
scarcely  exi)ect  to  hnd  the  Inie  eharactei-  of  ^^'ashin,l;■ton  transcrdx'd 
1>\  the  avera,u<'  Kn.i;iishinan  ol  1777;  no.'  wei  e  ihere  many  American 
palriots  of  the  same  date  who  wonld  have  yiven  Kin.u'  (ieorsj,''  a  fair 
ratin.t;.  On  the  otlier  hand  a  jtei'sonal  fri"nd  is  apt  to  neglect  to  chron- 
icle the  mistakes  and  shortconiini;s  of  tlieii'  herois,  while  they  are  more 
than  apt  to  overestimate  theii'  \ii'tnes.  The  tiaie  hioii-rapher.  there- 
fore,- should  be  neutral;  like  The  yood  cook,  he  innst  use  the  jiroiier 
amotint  of  vine^,^ar  as  well  as  su,i;ar,  i!or  forget  Ihe  salt,  the  s]Hce,  or 
the  pepper.  In  uathei'inii-  his  informatio'i  he  must  blend  accounts  of 
friend  and  fo(>.  considerinu'  e.xistin.i;'  circumstances,  the  linu',  the  aji'i', 
and  the  motives  of  individu.al  .actions  and  foi'in  his  estimates  with  the 
one  all-important  idea,  that  he  is  writing  of  a  mortal  .and  not  of  (iods. 
If  Satan,  thi'  I'rince  of  Hell,  had  h;id  but  one  sin.ule  friendly  bio.!J,r.iiiher 
from  his  own  ranks  to  h.avc  left  .1  counter-version  of  his  s.at.anic  char- 
acter. I  doubt  if  that  black  lecord  of  unmlti.u'.ated  sin  miuht  not  have 
had  SOUK-  silver  lines;  his  bio,i;r;iphei-s.  however,  have  been  his  foes 
and  he  is.  tlH'refoj'c.  known  to  us  iiccordin.^Iy. 

Nearly  i»;ir;illel  is  the  case  of  the  American  aboriuines.  uidutored 
children  of  the  ch.ase.  the  early  Indians  knew  but  little  of  the  use 
of  the  pen;  traditi(»ns  alone  make  up  tht  ir  e.irly  histoi-y,  and  wdnle 
their  stirring  ekxpience,  excelled  in  depth  of  thought  and  bentity  of 
e.\])ression  by  that  of  no  other  r.ace  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  has  often 
been  he.ird  around  theii-  own  council  lii'es  and  even  in  our  legislative 
ehambers,  pleading  their  lioix-less  cause  and  v.aiidy  reciting  their 
wrongs,  it  is  to  be  regi'etted  that  their  histories  have  been  wi'itten  in 
most  part  by  the  white  man,  their  woi-st  foes  and  bitterest  enemies. 
Those  i)ale-faeed  brothers  first  engi-.afted  upon  ihis  moi'e  simple  r.ice 
of  the  forest  wilds,  sins  of  which  they  were  before  entii'ely  ii;noran1; 
then   began   that  pushing.   (M'owding  and   driving  of   them    inl.and;    de- 


24  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

I'rauding  them  wben  practicable  and  stealinij  their  huuls  where  fraud 
woukl  not  suffice,  until  they  were  ahnost  entirely  driven  from  the 
lionies  of  their  fathers  and  tlie  hunting  grounds  tliat  tlie  Great  Spirit 
liad  given  tlieni.  It  is  but  little  wonder  tlnit  in  this  desperate  state, 
tliey  retaliated  and  it  is  less  to  be  marveled  at  that  from  this  race 
that  was  often  made  to  feel  the  sting  of  the  tomahawk  and  scalping 
knife,  the  Indian  has  had  only  bigoted  biographers. 

In  this  paper  I  shall  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  life  of  one  of  those 
American  Indians  and  at  the  same  time  try  to  present  some  evidence 
to  vindicate  a  character  that  I  believe  has  to  some  extent  been  mis- 
rei)resented  and  misunderstood.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  Joseph 
IJrant — Thayendanegea.  the  Washington  of  his  people;  a  leader  who 
never  deserted  his  race  in  peace  or  war,  in  victory  or  defeat. 

The  parentage  of  this  celebrated  chief  of  the  iNIohawks  is  more  or 
less  shadowed  in  uncertainty,  for,  inasmuch  as  the  Indians  left  no 
written  record  of  the  paternity  of  their  people,  high  or  low,  we  have 
to  again  resort  to  tradition.  I  think,  however,  it  has  been  fully  estab- 
lished that  Brant  was  born  of  pure  jNIohawk  blood,  in  the  year  1742, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  where  his  father,  a  full  blooded  Mohawk 
of  the  Wolf  tribe,  was  camping  with  his  family  during  a  hunting  trip 
which,  as  was  customary,  extended  over  a  period  of  several  years. 

After  the  death  of  Tehowaghwengaraghkwin.  his  father,  who  was 
by  some  supposed  to  be  the  Nickus  Brant,  "Old  Nick'"  and  ''Old  Brant," 
so  often  referred  to  by  Sir  William  Johnson  in  his  letters  and  papers; 
young  Brant's  mother  returned  with  her  two  children,  Joseph  and 
Mary,  to  their  family  home  at  the  middle  castle  of  the  Mohawks,  at 
Canajoharie.  Joseph  was  quite  young  at  this  time,  Mary  being  the 
elder  by  several  years.  Soon  after  the  retui'u  of  the  family  to  their 
native  valley,  the  mother  married  Carrihogo.  an  Indian  wliose  Eng- 
lish name  was  Barnet  or  Barnard,  contracted  by  some  to  Brant; 
whetlier  the  children  took  their  name  from  this  step-father  or  from 
their  own  lineal  parent  is  a  question  of  dispute  which  will  probably 
never  be  fully  settled.  Certain  it  is,  wliether  young  Brant  inherited 
his  chieftainship  as  a  birthright;  or.  if  his  name  came  from  his  foster- 
father  and  he  won  his  position  by  personal  actions,  he  was  most  AA'or- 
Ihy  of  the  distinction  and  never  dishonored  the  name.  At  about  the 
time  of  the  mother's  second  marriage,  Mary  Brant  or  Molly  Brant,  as 
she  was  more  familiarly  known,  went  to  live  with  Sir  William  John- 
son, of  Johnson  Hall,  who  had  shortly  before  been  left  a  widower  in 
the  prime  of  life.  Whether  Sir  William  ever  married  "Miss  Molly" 
according  to  the  church  rites  or  whether  she  lived  with  him  as  his  wife 
after  the  usages  of  the  Indian  marriage  is  not  known,  but  it  is  certain 
that  they  lived  together  in  perfect  harmony  until  his  death  in  1774, 
several  children  were  born  to  them  and  he  always  spoke  of  her  with 
affection  and  pride,  and  took  an  unusual  interest  in  her  brotlier, 
Joseph. 

Young  Brant,  at  a  very  early  age,  with  his  tribe  of  warriors  under 


JOSEPH   BRAKT-THAYENDANEGEA.  25 

tho  l)r;iv<'  old  Ilcndrick.  followed  Sir  William  in  that  iii»'iiioraI)U'  bat- 
tle of  Lake  (leor.ue.  where  William  won  his  title  and  llentlrick  lost 
his  life;  the  yonnL;  brave  also  was  with  Sir  William  in  the  Nia.nara 
campaign  of  ITo!),  and  when,  after  the  death  of  I'rideaux,  Sir  William 
took  eommand,  he  ni't'iitly  distinguished  himself  for  bravery. 

At  about  this  time  Sii'  William,  who  had  interested  liimself  to  a 
large  extent  in  the  im])rovcment.  mentally  and  soi-ially,  of  the  Mo- 
hawks, at  the  reiinest  of  Kev.  Kirkland.  selected  llrant.  together  with 
.several  other  Indian  yonths.  and  sent  them  to  the  "Moor  ("h.-irity 
School,  ;it  Lel)anori,  Conn.,  where  tlu'  youth  lay  (hiwn  the  tomahawk 
for  the  duties  of  the  school  room  under  the  dirtn-tion  of  Dr.  Eleazer 
Wheelock,  afterwards  lu-esident  of  Dartmouth  College."  Whether 
Brant  entered  or  left  the  school  in  17»>1  is  a  ([uestiiHi  of  dispute,  l)Ut 
lie  probably  left  in  that  year,  as  oidy  two  of  tlie  Indians  tlius  sent  out 
by  the  I'.-ironet  ever  received  honors  ;it  the  College.  After  Brant's 
school  days  he  went  on  m;iny  important  missions  for  Sir  William,  and 
also  with  the  Bev.  (.'has.  .leffrey  Smith,  as  interpreter  among  the 
Mohawks;  Imt  still  when  the  war  came  on  between  the  back  Indians 
and  the  English,  which  drove  Smith  out  of  the  country,  B>rant  remain- 
ed behind  and  soon  took  up  ;trms.  prob.ably  ag:iinst  the  great  (.Htoway 
chief,  I'ontiac. 

Thayendanegea's  first  wife  was  the  daughter  of  an  Oneida  chief. 
<)f  the  exact  d.-ite  or  circumstances  of  this  m.arriage  but  little  is  known, 
farther  than  th.at  it  must  have  been  prior  to  ITC't  and  the  last  six 
years  if  not  all  of  tliis  m.-irried  life  was  spent  at  the  ancestral  home  at 
('anajoharie,  where,  probably  he  was  enjoying  the  peace  that  had  come 
to  the  country  during  that  period.  During  the  winter  of  1771  Dr.  Stew- 
ait  says  he  visited  Thayendanegea  at  the  old  family  home  and  found 
him  living  thei'e  with  his  two  children,  Is.-iac  and  Christian.-i.  and  his 
lirst  wife,  Aviio  was  dying  with  ct)nsuniption;  soon  afti-r  occurred  her 
death  and  Brjint  removed  to  Fort  Hunter,  where  he  resided  with  the 
Doctor,  assisting  him  in  ti'anslatiug  and  revising  the  Indian  prayer 
book,  a  l)rief  history  of  the  Bible  and  a  part  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, together  with  an  explanation  of  the  church  catechism  in  the  Mo- 
hawk tongue.  In  the  winter  of  '7-:-.j,  Stewart  refusing  to  perform  the 
ceremony  on  account  of  forhiddc-n  relationship,  I'r.-mt  was  wt'dde<l  to 
his  lii'st  wife's  half  sister  by  a  (Jerman  minister.  By  this  marriage  he 
had  no  children. 

After  the  death  of  Sir  William,  June  24th,  1774,  his  son,  Sir  John, 
succeeded  him  as  ma.ior  general  of  the  Tryon  County  militia;  his  son- 
in-law.  Col.  Guy  Johnson,  who  had  been  Sir  William's  assistant  as 
deputy,  became  General  Superintendent  of  the  Indian  Department  and 
he  in  turn  was  assisted  l)y  another  of  th(>  Baronet's  sons-in-law,  Col. 
Daniel  Cl.aus.  Their  inlluence  with  the  Indians  and  whites  were  less 
than  that  of  the  father,  but  they  were  materially  aided  in  their  work 
by   the  sujierior   talent    and    knowledge   i)ossi'SSi'd   by   Molly   Brant   and 


26  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

also  by  Joseph  Brant,  who  was  at  once  advancod  to  the  position  of  sec- 
retary to  Guy  Johnson. 

Ever  loyal  to  his  pledge  of  eternal  friendsliip  to  the  Johnsons,  Brant 
followed  Guy  westward  as  the  times  and  circumstances  forced  them, 
and  eventually,  at  the  beginning  of  the  seven-year  struggle,  he  went 
with  him  to  Canada,  never  for  a  single  moment  forgetting  his  sacTed 
pledge  of  friendship,  and  also  ever  mindful  of  that  other  pledge  given 
to  tlie  P^ngiish.  Had  it  not  been  for  this  Indian  idea  ever  present  with 
him,  that  sacredness  of  a  given  promise,  I'  sometimes  Hive  to  think 
that  he  miglit  have  been  as  ardently  ready  to  have  fought  for  the  strug- 
gling colonies  and  their  liberty,  as  he  was  loyal  to  the  king,  and  in  that 
case,  perliaps,  the  history  of  the  Six  Nations  an-d  the  whole  Indian 
race  in  America  might  have  been  different.  Be  that  as  it  may,  he 
remembered  those  pledges  and  threw  his  whole  energy  of  mind  and 
muscle  on  the  side  of  the  old  government.  If  his  methods  of  warfare 
seem  to  us  cruel  and  unnatural,  we  must  remember  that  he  only  fought 
according  to  the  teachings  and  necessities  of  his  race;  we  must  remem- 
ber, also,  that  the  Indian's  implements  of  war  were  much  inferior  to 
those  of  the  whites,  their  numbers  were  much  less  and  for  tliose  rea- 
cons  they  could  not  contend  with  them  in  the  open  tield  but  must 
resort  to  ambuscades  and  deceptions  to  accomplish  anything.  They 
had  no  forts  into  wliicli  tliey  might  retreat,  or  jails  to  hold  their  pris- 
oners and  so  their  warfare  must  be  that  of  extermination.  Brant 
believed  in  those  methods,  but  not  in  the  common  Indian  practice  of 
torture  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  all  the  cruelties  practiced 
by  his  savage  warriors  are  often  attributed  to  him.  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, the  real  truth  of  the  matter  is  that  he  often  exerted  himself 
to  stop  such  atrocities,  sometimes  in  vain,  but  often  with  success. 
Some  historians,  mainly  PJnglish,  claim  that  Sir  Guy  Carleton  did  not 
favor  tlie  employment  of  the  Indians  against  the  colonists.  To  refute 
those  assertions  and  also  to  express  the  In<lian's  motives  for  arraying 
themselves  on  the  side  of  the  king,  we  here  (iuoti>  from  a  speech  of 
Brant,  delivered  in  1803  and  preserved  by  Stone  in  his  "Life  of  Brant." 
It  is  as  follows: 

"We  Avere  living  at  the  former  residence  of  (iuy  Johnson,  when  the 
news  arrived  that  war  had  commenced  between  the  king's  people  and 
the  Americans.  We  took  but  little  notice  of  this  first  report;  but  in 
a  few  days  we  heard  that  live  hundred  Americans  were  coming  up 
to  seize  ou)'  Suix-rintendent.  Such  news  as  this  alarmed  us.  and  we 
immediately  consulted  togetlier  as  to  wliat  measures  were  necessary 
to  be  taken.  We  at  once  reflected  upon  the  covenant  of  our  forefath- 
ers as  allies  to  the  King,  and  said.  It  will  not  do  for  us  to  break  it, 
let  what  will  become  of  us.  Indeed,  it  is  a  long  time  since  the  Gover- 
nor (Sir  Guy  Garleton)  said  to  us:  I  txhort  you  to  continue  your 
adherence  to  the  King  and  not  to  break  the  solemn  agreement  made 
)>y  your  forefathers;  for  your  own  welfare  is  intimately  connected 
with  your  continuing  the  allies  of  his  maj(>sty.     He  also  said  a  great 


.lOSEPrt   BRA.NT-TIIAYKNDANEGEA.  27 

(I'-iil  inofc  to  tlu'  siniK-  imi'iiosc;  iiiid  (.!i  tliis  our  luiiHls  \\'('ri'  IIh-  more 
tiniily  tixcd,  foi'  we  nckiiowlcducd  tlinl  it  would  ccrtninly  lie  tlio  Ix'st 
iu  tilt'  {■\[il.  for  our  fauiilit's  ;;ud  oursi'lxcs  to  rcuiniu  uudcr  th"  Kinu's 
protection,  whntcvci'  ditHcidtics  we  might  liave  to  contoud  witli.  *  * 
*  *  A  couiR'il  was  next  convt^iiiii'd  at  Montreal,  in  July,  1775,  at  wliidi 
the  Se\(n  Nations  (or  <";iu,t;iniawajias)  were  i)resent  as  well  as  our- 
selves, tlie  Six  iV.-itions.  On  tliis  occasion  (Jen.  Ilaldimand  told  us  wliat 
had  ln'tallen  tlie  King's  subjects,  iind  said  now  is  tlie  time  for  you  to 
lielii  tlie  King.  Tlie  war  has  commenct'd.  Assist  tlie  King  now,  and 
you  will  find  it  to  your  advantage,  do  n<)w  .and  tiglit  for  your  posses- 
sions, and  whatever  you  lose  of  your  property  during  the  war,  the 
King  will  malvC  up  to  you  wlien  peace  returns.  Tliis  is  the  sultstance 
of  what  Gen.  Ilaldimand  said.  The  Caughnawaga  Indi;ins  then  joined 
lliemselves  to  us.  We  immediately  commenced  in  good  earnest  and 
did  our  utmost  during  the  w:ir." 

Aliout  the  time  of  his  arriv.al  at  Montiv.'il  with  Johnson,  I'rant  pi'o- 
h.ahly  assumed  the  title  of  princii>al  war  chief,  held  at  home  Ity  I.,ittle 
Abraham.  Avho  succeeded  llendrick  nearly  2)1  years  before  and  who  had 
riMiiaiiud  in  the  MohaAvk  with  those  few  of  the  Nations  still  favoi-able 
to  the  colonies:  and  thus  in  full  command  and  also  having  formed  a 
••omiiact  wilh  <"ar!eton;  yet  this  Indian  ,dipIom;it  hesitated  to  take  up 
Ihe  liat''het  until  he  had  seen  the  "iLi^reat,  King,"  and  his  resources. 
.\ccordingiy  near,  the  close  of  177r>  he  made  his  tirst  visit  to  England, 
where  he  was  received  ^]',\th  iiiMi'ked  distinction  l)y  the  tirst  men  of 
st.ite.  In  March  or  earljVj.^\ji)ril  ho  returned,  landing  near  New  York, 
tuUy  determined  to  fultill^  his  part  of  the  contract  with  Gen.  Carleton. 

Stealing  his  way  through  .the  country  of  the  enemy,  he  returned  to 
Canada,  and  tir.'^^j^piH'ared  on  the  scenes  as  ;i  leader  at  the  battle  of 
the  "Cedars,"  wliioro  he  lead  his  dusky  warriors  to  victory.  Gontr.ary 
to  some  writers,  aft<,u',wards  he  exe.vted  himself  nobly  to  prevent  tlu' 
cruelties  of  the  massacre  that  followtMj  Major  Shurburne's  surrender; 
a  single  exampl^^  of  which  was  his.  {aeroic  rescue  of  Capt.  McKinstry 
from  the  sta^ke  ,by  supplying  aai  ox  in  his  stead;  as  proof  of  this  we  cite 
the  fact  tha|;  the  Oaptain  contracted  a  >v:"i'nai  friendship  for  the  great 
chief  durijiji  his  captivity  and,  returning  to  his  Man<ir  at  Hudson,  after- 
wards, oftc;n  welcojned  I'.r.ant  there  a,s  a  dear  fri(»iul- 

On  the  I'.ith  of  .lanuary.  1777,  it  vyYi;S  aniioiinced  by  a  speech  of  the 
Oneida  clu^fs  th;it  the  council  hre  at  Onondaga,  .the  capital  of  the  Six 
Nations,  l(,i\d  been  extinguished  and  wouhl  no  longer  burn.  The  nu>an- 
ing  of  this  announce  nient  is  not  altogether  clear,  liut  Brant,  returning 
from  Canada  in  th(»  siuMng  with  a  body  of  warriors,  eanie  to  Q,gh4v.waga, 
at  which  place  his  following  was  gi'eatly  augmented.  i^f-Jfroni  there  he 
went  to  TTnadilla  to  attend  that  nieiiiorable  o<;)n,f;orqnGe  /pith  Hon.  llerT. 
K'imer  in  .lune  or  .Ful.v,  duiMng  which  Ilerkiiiier  ;pre..suming  on  Ids  ohl 
fi'lendsliip  with  I'.rant,  lli(\v  having  been  nei.ghbors  before  the  war, 
.•ittemi)1cd  to  trap  and  kill  the  Indian  chief  and  his  attendant!;^ ,  yvitli 
the  aid  of  oue,  Joseph  Waggoner,  whose  .manuscripts  substantiaty- the 


28  HERKIMER  COUKTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

truth  of  the  attempt.  Owing  to  the  native  cunning  of  Brant,  the 
scheme  faijecl  and  only  the  attempt  and  not  the  deed  remains  to  mar 
the  character  of  Gen.  Herlvimer.  This  was  the  last  conference  held 
Avith  the  hostile  Mohawks.  Soon  afterwards,  probably  in  re.sponse  to 
an  invitation  from  Guy  Johnson  to  a  general  council  of  the  Six  Nations, 
I'rant  withdrew  his  forces  from  the  Susquehanna  and  soon  united  witli 
the  tory  and  refugee  forces  of  Sir  John  Johnson  and  Col.  John  Butle^-, 
at  Oswego.  From  the  date  of  this  conference  Brant  was  the  acknowl- 
edged chief  of  the  Six  Nations  and  owing  to  his  native  hardihood  and 
sagacity,  combined  with  the  advantage  of  education  and  civilization, 
he  soon  became  the  master  spirit  of  the  motley  force  in  the  valley  of 
the  Mohawk. 

During  the  summer  Brant  and  his  warriors  were  active  with  St. 
I.eger,  wlio  had  been  dispatched  by  way  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  Lake 
Ontario  and  Oswego  to  form  a  junction  with  Bux-goyne  on  his  expected 
arrival  at  Albany.  Herkimer  County  people  are  all  familiar  with  the 
facts  of  this  campaign  and  the  seige  of  Fort  Schuyler  (or  as  it  ought 
to  have  l)een  known,  Fort  Stanwix).  Many  of  us  can  trace  the  names 
of  lineal  ancestors  on  tlie  battle  monument  at  Oriskany;  in  our  local 
histories  the  year  1777  is  pregnant  with  reminiscences  of  that  sturdy 
old  I>utch  General  who  received  his  death  Avound  upon  that  same  bat- 
llctield  and  whose  neglected  grave  this  great  patriotic  nation  and 
Empire  State  have  but  recently  remembered,  after  an  elapse  oC  nearly 
a  century  and  a  quarter.  Following  close  after  this  battle  occurred 
that  semi-comedy  in  which  Han  Yost  Schuyler,  the  half-witted  but 
shrewd  convict-traitor,  succeeded  where  an  armed  force  had  failed; 
liaving  previously  shot  holes  through  his  garments,  he  carried  conster- 
nation into  the  Indian  camp  before  Fort  Stanwix  by  indicating  the 
number  of  Arnold's  approaching  troops,  fi'om  whom  he  was  supposed 
by  the  Indians  to  have  barely  escaped  with  his  life,  as  like  unto  the 
leaves  on  the  forest  trees  and  straightway  the  seige  was  raised,  and 
Tories  and  Indians  fled  in  terror.  Returning  with  their  scattered 
forces  to  Oswego,  St.  Leger  and  Brant  proceeded  to  Lake  Champlain. 
passing  up  as  far  as  Ticonderoga  to  join  Burgoyne. 

In  the  spring  of  1778  we  tind  Brant  with  his  warriors  back  again 
to  his  former  haunts  on  the  Susciuehanna;  many  a  field  was  devastated 
and  many  a  family  wiped  out  or  crippled  by  his  savage  horde,  and 
then  on  the  3d  of  July  followed  "Wyoming,"  one  of  the  blackest  pages 
in  the  history  of  the  world.  That  Brant's  warriors  took  an  active  part 
in  this  bloody  tragedy  there  is  no  doubt,  but  from  his  own  statements 
and  those  of  the  British,  Brant  was  absent  many  miles  away  at  the 
time  of  the  massacre.  Certain  it  is  that  many  years  afterwards,  his 
son,  John  Brant,  when  he  had  succeeded  his  father  as  chief  of  the 
Six  Nations,  crossed  the  ocean  that  he  might  lay  proofs  of  his  father's 
absence  and  vindicate  his  memory  from  this  calumny  before  the  Eng- 
lish people  and  the  world.  Campbell,  the  poet,  who  wrote  "Gertrude 
of  Wyoming,"  in  which  Thayendanegea  was  denounced  as  "The  Moa- 


,;  JOSEPH  BRANT-THAYENDANKQEA.  29 

ster  Brnnt."  thus  fully  convinced  of  Hrant's  absence,  inilrll.v  exonerated 
him  by  pul)lishinj;  a  foot-note  to  th<'  effect  tliat  tli'e  name  Hrant  as 
used,  had  no  personal  sijinitication,  only  referring'  to  the  Indian  war- 
riors in  fieneral.  The  poem,  however,  remained  tlie  same  for  future 
generations  to  read,  while  that  foot-note  lias  long  since  i)een  foi-gottcn. 
and  this  gives  another  illustration  of  the  generosity  (V)  of  the  Indian's 
white  biographers. 

During  the  rest  of  the  summer  Brant  and  his  foUowei-s  contined 
thi&mseives  to  the  plundering  of  small  settlements;  striking  the  tirst 
blow  July  ISth,  at  a  little  hamlet  called  Andrus-town.  six  miles  soutli- 
east  of  the  German  Flats.  The  last  of  August  or  first  of  September 
he  devastated  German  Flats,  but  warned  by  .John  Ilelmer,  the  only 
survivor  of  four  scouts  wlio  had  been  sent  towards  Unadilla  to  learn 
the  movements  of  Brant,  most  of  the  inhabitants  escaped  the  night 
before  to  Fort  Herkimer  and  Fort  Dayton  and  only  two  lives  were 
lost.  Later  in  the  sea.son  occurred  that  bloody  day  at  Cherry  Valley, 
where  the  pig-lieadedness  of  Col.  Allen,  commanding  at  the  fort,  in 
refusing  to  believe  a  warning  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  cost  that 
beautiful  town  so  much  life  and  property.  In  this  massacre  again 
Brant  has  been  cited  as  the  leader,  while  in  reality  he  was  but  a  subor- 
dinate under  Walter  N.  Butler,  a  white-skinned,  black-hearted  savage. 
This  ended  the  campaign  for  this  year,  but  early  in  May,  1770,  Brant 
was  out  again  on  the  war-path  and  on  the  20th  plundered  and  laid 
waste  Minisink,  in  Orange  county,  from  wlience  Coinit  Pulaski  had 
just  withdrawn  his  forces  to  join  Lincoln's  army.  Being  pursued  by 
the  Goshen  militia  and  others  to  the  fording  place  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Lackawaxen,  by  strategem  and  a  counter-march,  the  Indians  soon 
surrounded  their  pusurers  and  almost  wiped  them  out.  Thence  by  a 
rapid  inarch  Brant  returned  to  the  south  bank  of  the  Mohawk  and 
resumed  operations  there,  falling  on  small  towns  for  plunder  and  pris- 
oners. 

It  was  during  the  summer  of  this  year  that  occurred  Sullivan's  suc- 
cessful campaign  against  the  Indians  and  Tories  and  the  battle  of 
(^^'hemung,  where  Brant  was  the  animating  spii'it  of  the  Indians.  I'^ol- 
lowing  up  his  victory,  Sullivan  marched  to  Catlierine's  towTi,  which 
he  pillaged;  destroying  everything  on  his  route,  houses,  crops,  oi-chards. 
et(^.,  he  advanced  through  Kanadseagea,  Schoyere,  the  beautiful  and 
prosperous  Kanandaigua,  Hineoye,  far  into  the  fruitful  valley  of  the 
fTcnesee;  every  tree,  field  and  village  Avas  laid  waste.  The  army 
returned  by  the  same  route  it  had  advanced  and  on  September  ,'i()th 
i-eached  Tioga,  destroying  their  works  rudely  constructed  when  they 
concentrated  their  forces  there  at  the  opening  of  tlie  campaign;  re- 
turned to  Easton,  October  15th,  and  ended  one  of  the  mo.st  destructive 
campaigns  in  the  Indian  territory  during  the  war.  The  Indians  were 
driven  from  their  cultivated  lands  to  Niagara,  "their  liabitations  left 
in  ruins,  their  fields  laid  waste,  their  orchards  uprooted  and  tlieir  altars 
and  the  tombs  of  their  fathers  overthrown."     During  this  winter,  how- 


30  IIKRKIMEU   COUNTY    IIISTOlilCAL   SOCIETY. 

ever,  Brant  surceKUd  in  tlrivinj;'  the  unfriendly  Oneidas  from  tlieir 
homes  down  to  the  wliites,  who  iK'rniitted  them  to  settU'  near  S:  hr- 
nectady,  Avhere  they  supported  them  until  the  elose  of  the  war. 

At  about  this  time  Brant  was  married  to  his  third  wife,  Catharine, 
by  whom  he  had  seven  children,  Josepli,  .lacob,  John,  Margaret,  Mary 
and  Elizabeth,  and  by  whom  he  was  survived  just  thirty  years  to  a 
day,  she  dying  at  Brantford  dn'the  Grand  Kiver,  November  24,  1.S37, 
at  the  age  of  78. 

Early  in  April  1780  Brant  took  to  the  war-path;  with  a  small  band 
of  Indians  and  Tories  and  on''fhe'T»'tli  or  C.th  surprised  and  destroyed 
llarpertield,  from  whence  it  \\^at?'%is'  design  to  proceed  to  the  nitper 
fort  of  Schoharie;  but  on  tl)e'fMWwihg  day,  falling  in  and  taking  a 
party  of  sugar  makei's  undin-  GJfiVt:  Harpei-,  who  were  at  work  in  tlie 
"Bush,"  the  Wily  chief  \Vi<s  for  once  deceived  by  Harper,  in  believing 
that  300  Continentals  Wad  arrived  oiliy  the  day  before  to  garrison 
tlie  fort,  and  s<J  he  .turned  back  with  his  prisoners  to  Niagara. 

By  the  2d  of  AugtiSt  Brrtnt  was' again  in  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk. 
Circulating  rumors  of  his  intended  invasion  and  capture  of  tlie  stores 
(k>stined  for  Fort  Stanwix  aiid  even  of  the  fort  itself,  he  saw  the 
militia  called  from  the  lower  part  of  the  valley  for  the  defense  and 
then  swin.ging  around  to  the  rear  he  fell  upon  the  defenseless  valley 
at  Canajoharie  and  its  neighboring  settlements.  l>cing  sole  leader  of 
this  expedition,  and  no  Tories  with  him,  it  certainly  should  add 
anotlier  item  of  importance  to  the  final  summing  up  of  his  character 
to  know:  that  while  the  counti'y  AVas  left  as  desolate  as  was  th;it  of  the 
(lenesee  by  Sullivan,  yet  thei^  %tas  bo  instance  of  wanton  cruelty  and- 
not  a  single  act  of  outrage  offert'd'  to  defenseless  women  and  children, 
excepting  the  carrying  of  them  into  captivity,  which  to  liim  was  one 
of  the  necessities  of  Indian  warfare.  Ijater  on,  still  sni.-irting  under 
the  memory  of  devastated  Geiiesee,  tlu'  Indians  under  I'rant  and  the 
famous  Senectl'llJilf-brGed;  'Corn-Planter,  joined  with  the  forces  of  Sir 
John  Johnsori  and  iUvaded  Schoharie.  Successfully  passing  the  upper 
fort  unperceived,  but  failing  to  take  the  middle  fort  at  Middleburg. 
which  they  attacked  on  the  Kith  of  Octolier,  they  proceeded  toward 
Foit  Hunter.  Attacking  the  lower  fort  at  Old  Schoharie  with  like 
I'esnlts.  withdrawing  tliey  laid  waste  everything  on  the  way,  except- 
ing the  buildings  ami  property  known  to  belong  to  loyalists.  Divid'ng 
Tlieir  forces  they  proceeded  up  the  Mohawk  as  far  as  Klock's  Field, 
where  the  memorable  battle  was  fought  resulting  in  their  complete 
defeat.  And  here  had  it  not  been  for  the  Indians  and  Brant,  their 
leader,  who,  though  wounded  in  the  head,  still  directed  their  course 
and  captured  Vrooman's  troops  that  had  been  sent  out  from  Fort 
Schuyler  to  cut  off  Johnson's  reti'eat,  Johnson,  probably,  would  never 
have  reached  Oswego  in  safety. 

And  so  this  undaunted  red  man  fought  to  the  end  of  the  war,  appear- 
ing and  disappearing  like  a  will-o-the-wisi)  in  true  Indian  style,  using 
those   methods  inborn   and   bred   with   his   race,   contining   his   field   of 


JOSEPH   BRANT-THAYENDANE(iEA.  31 

operations  mostly  to  tlio  valley  of  the  Mohawk  and  that  iinniediate 
territory,  with  whieh  he  was  as  familiar  as  the  scholar  is  v.ith  his 
A.  R.  ('.'s;  and  Avhen  the  strii.n'.ule  was  over  and  the  (Jreat  Kin.L;,  with 
whom  he  had  cast  his  lot,  was  whipped,  \\itli  his  pe()ple  he  ci'ossed 
into  that  Kinii's  territory,  devoting  the  rest  of  his  life  to  the  interests 
of  his  own  lielox'.'d  race.  Xo  sac!'ili<'e  was  e\(  r  too  much  or  labor  too 
ureat  if  only  he  cotild  advance  their  iiderests.  lJei)catediy  xisitin;; 
(^)m'l)ec.  he  secuicd  for  his  peojile  from  Sii'  l-'icderick  llaldimand  in 
the  name  of  the  crown  all  that  tract  of  land,  "upon  the  I)aid<s  (d'  tli  ■ 
liver  (Uiise,  commonly  called  (ir.and  Ki\cr,  rnnniiiL;  into  iiake  t^rie, 
of  six  miles  lM-e:idtli  from  each  side  of  the  river,  Ixvuinnin;;  at  L.ake 
I'h  ie.  .and  extending-  in  (hat  proi>ortion  to  the  head  of  said  river:  which 
the  .Moliawks  and  others  of  the  Six  Nations  who  had  either  lost  their 
possi  ssioiis  in  the  wai',  or  wished  to  retire  from  tliem  to  the  I'.ritisii, 
with  their  i)osterity.  ^\'ere  to  enjoy  forev(a'.'"  I'.i'ant,  howe\'cr.  did  not 
reliiitpiish  his  jtosition  as  chiet  of  that  i»;irt  of  the  Six  Nations  iMinain- 
in.u'  in  tlie  I'liited  States,  and  postponini;'  ;i  \isit  to  lOn.uiand  in  behalf 
of  wai'  claims  of  his  people  in  Canada,  he  was  active  in  the  councils 
th;it  l-.ntiiLiht  .about  the  Indian  treaty  at  l-'ort  Stanwix,  l.ate  in  list, 
relative  to  the  boiiiKhiry  lines  cd'  the  Indian  t<'rritory.  In  ITS.")  that 
Jonmey  aia-oss  the  Atlantic  was  undertaken.  He  arrived  at  S.ilisbury 
early  in  I'l'cember  and  was  I'eceivcd  and  \'ery  cordiall.v  recoi;nizcd 
by  man\'  of  his  old  companions  in  arms,  distinK'nislie<I  persons  and 
even  roy.alty.  Meeting  him  at  n  royal  reception,  the  IJaroness  lieidesel 
afterwards  thus  speaks  of  him  in  lier  memoirs:  "I  saw  at  th.at  time 
the  famous  Indi.an  chief,  Captain  lirant.  His  manners  are  ])olished: 
he  expressed  himself  with  tlueiicy,  and  was  much  esteemed  by  (ieii. 
llaldimand.  I  dined  once  with  him  at  the  (leneral's.  In  his  drt  ss  he 
showed  off  to  advantage  the  half  military  and  half  sava.tic  costume. 
His  countenance  was  manly  and  iiitelli.^cnt,  and  liis  disposition  very 
mild."  Amouii'  the  anecdotes  related  of  him  during-  this  visit  to  I'hii;- 
land  was  one  that  occurred  at  a  grand  masquerade.  l'>rant  as  the  guest 
of  Earl  Morra  was  present,  "dressed  in  tlie  costume  of  Ids  nation,  wear- 
ing no  mask,  but  painting  one-half  of  his  f.ace.  His  iilnmes  nodded 
as  proudly  in  his  c;ii)  as  though  the  blood  of  a  hundred  rercies  coursed 
through  his  veins  and  his  tom.ah.awk  glittered  in  his  girdle  like 
l>u.rnished  silver.  There  was.  likewise,  in  the  gay  and  gallant  thi'ong 
a  stately  'I'urkish  diplomat  of  rank,  accompanied  by  two  houris,  whose 
attention  was  ]>articularly  .attracted  by  the  grotesijue  appearance  of 
till'  chieftain's  singular  and,  as  he  sui)iiose(I  fantastic  attire,  which, 
being  ii;itural,  appeared  to  be  the  best  made  up.  He  scrutini/.ed  the 
chief  \'ery  closely,  .and  mistaking  his  complexion  foi'  ;i  ]),iinted  \isor. 
the  Turk  took  the  liberty  of  attempting  to  handle  his  nose.  r.i'ant 
had.  of  course,  w.atched  the  workings  of  his  observation,  and  fell  in 
the  humor  at'  ;i  little  sport.  No  soonei'.  Ilierelore.  had  llass.an  touched 
his  f.-icial  Moint  of  honor,  under  the  niist;ikeii  i(h'a  that  it  was  of  no 
belt(  I-  m.aterial  than  the  parchment   nose  of  the  Strasburgh  trumpeter, 


32  nERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL,  SOCIETY. 

than  the  Chieftain  made  the  hall  resound  with  the  apiiallin.i;-  war- 
whoop,  and  at  the  same  instant  the  tomahawk  leaped  from  his  girdle, 
and  flashed  around  the  astonished  Musselman's  head  as  though  his 
good  master,  the  Sultan,  in  a  minute  more  would  be  relieved  from  any 
future  trouble  in  the  matter  of  taking  it  off.  Such  a  piercing  and 
frightful  cry  had  never  before  rung  through  that  salon  of  fashion; 
and  breaking  suddenly,  and  with  startling  wildness,  upon  the  ears  of 
the  merry  throng,  its  effect  was  prodigious.  .  The  Turk  himself  trem- 
bled with  terror,  while  the  female  mascpu-rs — the  gentle  shepherdesses, 
and  fortune  telling  crones,Turks,  Jews,  and  gypsies.  Sultans,  nurses  and 
Columbines,  shi'ieked.  screamed  and  scudded  .-iway  as  though  the 
Mohawks  had  broken  into  the  festive  hall  in  a  body.  The  matter,  how- 
ever, was  soon  explained;  and  the  incident  was  accounted  as  happy 
in  the  end  as  it  was  adroitly  enacted  by  the  good-natured  Mohawk." 

Early  in  the  summer  of  '.SO  Brant  returned  to  this  country  and  in 
December  attended  the  council  in  the  country  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
Wlierever  a  council  was  called  to  advance  the  good  of  the  Indians, 
during  that  unsettled  period  after  the  war.  there  you  found  Brant. 
At  Huron  Village  in  December,  178(j,  and  at  the  councils  of  the  west 
lie  was  active.  Much  of  his  coiTespondence  Avitli  the  officials  of  this 
go\ernment  relative  to  tlu'se  councils  has  been  saved  and  is  published 
in  "Stone's  liife  of  I!r;int."  He  devoted  much  lime  also  during  this 
period  to  translating  the  Bilde  or  parts  of  it  into  his  own  tongue  and 
establishing  missionaries  among  his  people.  On  the  4tli  of  November, 
1791,  however,  Brant  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits  in  the  defeat  of 
St.  Clair  in  the  Northwest,  notAvithstandiug  the  fact  that  all  his  pre- 
vious efforts  in  the  difficulty  had  been  on  the  side  of  peace.  Why 
lie  took  an  active  part  in  this  battle  is  not  known,  but  probably  he 
saw  a  possibility  of  perfecting  his  loiig-ehei'islied  scheme  of  uniting  all 
the  Indian  tribes  of  tliis  country  in  one  great  confederacy  with  him- 
self at  the  liead.  Be  that  as  it  may,  on  the  23d  of  INIay,  urged  by 
Secretary  of  State  Knox,  he  accepted  an  invitation  to  visit  Philadelphia 
and  to  attend  a  conference  on  Indian  affairs.  In  June,  Avliile  making 
the  journey  tlirougli  the  vailey  of  the  JNJohawk,  several  attempts  to 
lake  his  life  were  made  by  Germans,  whose  relatives  had  fallen  at 
Oriskany  15  years  before.  On  June  20th,  he  arrived  safely  at  the 
national  capital,  and  with  the  exception  of  the  Germans  above  men- 
tioned, Avas  treated  with  distinction  at  every  point. 

During  the  conference  at  Philadelphia  he  emphatically  refused  sev- 
eral tempting  offers  from  the  United  States  Government  to  buy  his 
intiuence  in  their  difficulty  of  adjusting  the  boundary  line  Avith  the 
Indians,  but  readily  consented  to  carry  any  offer  of  peace  made  to 
those  Indian  tribes.  Acting  upon  this  situation  tlie  whole  affair  w:is 
fully  explained  to  him  and  invested  witli  power  from  this  govrnmeiit 
and  from  the  tribes  of  the  Six  Nations,  he  met  that  great  number  of 
Indian  deputations  from  all  parts  of  the  country  at  the  R.apids  of  the 
Miami  and  spoke  much  in  the  frequent  councils  that  followed;     but 


JOSEPH   BRANT-THAYENDANEGEA.  33 

influenced,  either  by  tlie  Britisli  Government  or  dissatisfied  witli  tlie 
final  result.  P.rant  and  the  Six  Nations  failed  to  sign  tlie  ultimatum 
that  the  other  triln's  finally  sent  to  the  commissioners.  During-  the 
campaign  of  Wayne,  r.nint  was  again  activi'  in  behalf  of  tlu'  Indians, 
either  in  the  held  or  as  a  dusky  diplomat,  but  the  end  of  this  destruct- 
ive war  ended  his  military  career. 

Laying  down  the  tomahawk,  Thayendanegea  devoted  fhe  ri'st  of  his 
life  to  advancing  his  people,  morally  and  intellectually.  It  is  ;i  slr.-inge 
fact  that  the  first  Christian  church  ever  built  in  upper  C.in.Hhi  waft 
erected  by  him,  a  chief  of  a  once  pagan  race,  and  the  first  bell  that 
ever  rang  to  call  the  people  to  worship  the  true  (iod  in  that  country, 
was  carried  there  by  him.  At  the  council  fires  and  before  tin-  white 
man  he  always  exerted  himself  to  adjust  the  difhcultii's  regarding  their 
lands  in  New^  York,  and  on  the  Ohio,  in  Connecticut  as  well  .-is  on  tlii'lr 
grant  in  Canada  and  only  once  in  all  his  efforts  for  his  people  was  his 
zeal  ever  (piestioned  by  them.  Worked  upon  by  parfies  je;ilous  of  his 
success  in  securing  the  grant;  and  through  the  instrunieiitality  of 
his  arch-enemy,  Ked  Jacket,  and  a  few  kindred  spirits  who  were  anx- 
ious to  occupy  his  position,  in  JSUo  he  was  illegally  and  contrary  to 
their  national  laws,  deposed.  Only  for  a  brief  time,  however,  weri'  the 
eyes  of  his  people  blinded:  when  he  stood  before  fliem  in  .ill  his  dis- 
interested glory,  tlH^  scheme  was  more  than  evident  to  them  and  he 
was  again  placed  at  their  Ih'.-kI.  After  this  time  and  while  he  w;is  at 
work  adjusting  his  jieople's  l.inil  claims,  he  was  aliki'  busy  upon  their 
religious  and  educational  advancement:  through  his  instrumentality 
schools  were  established  for  his  people  and  missionaries  brought  among 
tlu'in  and  he  lived  to  see  his  work  beginning  to  bear  good  fruit. 

Kegarding  the  closing  days  of  his  eventful  life,  wv  (piote  the  follow- 
ing from  8toiie:  "A  few  years  before  his  death.  Captain  I'.rant  built 
a  commodious  dwelling-house,  two  stories  high,  on  a  tract  of  land  pre- 
sented him  by  tlie  King  :it  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario — directly  north 
of  the  beach  which  divide<l  the  l.-ike  from  the  sheet  of  watei'  known 
;is  lUirlington  liiiy.  The  situatii>n  is  noble  and  commanding,  alf'ording 
a  glorious  prosi)ect  of  that  beautiful  lake,  with  a  fruitful  soil  and  a 
pictures(pie  country  around  it.  At  this  place  on  the  24th  of  November, 
I.SOI,  he  closed  a  life  of  greater  and  more  uninterrupted  activity  for 
the  space  of  half  :i  century,  than  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  almost  any 
other  man  whose  n.-ime  has  been  inscribed  by  the  muse  of  history. 
He  was  a  steadfast  believer  in  the  distinguishing  doctrines  of  Clii'is- 
tianity  and  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  church  :it  tlu'  time  of  his 
decease.  He  bore  his  illness,  which  was  painful,  w'ith  patit'uce  and 
i-esignation.  lie  died  in  the  full  possession  of  his  faculties,  ;iiid,  accord- 
ing to  the  belief  of  his  ;i tieiidants.  in  the  full  faith  of  the  Cjiristian 
religion.  His  age  was  (■>4  ye.-irs  and  eight  months.  His  rem.-iins  were 
reniove<l  to  the  Mohawk  \illage,  on  the  <ii-and  Kiver,  and  interred 
by  the  side  of  the  church  which  he  had  built.  The  interests  of  liis 
people,  as  they  had  been  the  parumouut  object  of  his  exertions  through 


34  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

life,  were  uppermost  in  liis  thoiiglits  to  the  end.  His  last  words  that 
have  been  preserved  upon  this  subject,  were  contained  in  a  charge 
to  his  adopted  nephew:  'Have  pity  on  the  poor  Indians;  if  you  can 
get  any  intlueuce  with  the  great,  endeavor  to  do  them  all  the  good  you 
can.'"  In  summing  up  his  character  the  same  author  said  of  him: 
"He  was  ambitious — and  so  was  Caesar.  He  sought  to  combine  mauy 
nations  under  his  own  dominion — and  so  did  Napoleon.  He  ruled  over 
barbarians — and  so  did  Peter  the  Great."  And  to  this  let  me  add. 
He  was  ever  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  countryman — and  so  was  Wash- 
ington. 

At  his  death,  according  to  the  unwritten  laws  of  the  Mohawlis,  which 
is  that  tlie  superior  chieftainship  descends  to  a  sOn  of  the  direct  line 
on  the  mother's  side,  by  her  appointed;  Catlierine,  the  wife  of  Brant, 
named  as  his  successor,  John,  her  fourth  and  youngest  son.  .John  and 
his  youngest  sister,  Elizabeth,  remained  at  the  Brant  Mansion,  while 
the  mother,  always  partial  to  the  manner  of  living  and  customs  of  the 
Indians,  soon  returned  to  the  village  on  Grand  River,  where  she  after- 
wards lived  mostly  with  her  other  children:  and  yet  at  .John's  death, 
in  1821),  this  venerable  Indian  princess  did  not  name  his  successor  from 
among  her  grandchildren  in  the  Indian  settlement,  but  selected  for  that 
place  the  infant  son  of  Elizabeth,  who  had  married  William  Johnson 
Karr,  a  grandson  of  Sir  William  Johnson  and  "Molly  Brant,"  and  who 
still  occupied  her  father's  old  home. 

I'erliaps  it  would  not  add  interest  t(.)  this  papei",  which  is  already  una- 
voidably too  long,  to  name  any  of  the  intermediate  chiefs,  but  to  show 
how  this  remarkable  family  is  still  interwoven  with  the  destiny  of  the 
Six  Nations,  I  will  say  that  the  present  Superior  (.'hief,  or  as  the  title 
is  now  called,  the  I'resident  of  the  Council  of  the  Six  Nations,  is  Oron- 
hyatekha,  M.  U.,  S.  C.  K.,  a  graduate  of  Oxford;  a  personal  friend  of 
the  Prince  of  Wales.  He  is  a  prominent  politician  and  a  well-known 
doctor  of  Toronto:  is  the  head  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Foresters 
of  this  country,  with  the  title  of  Supreme  Chief  Banger:  a  thirty-third 
degree  Mason,  and  is  the  husl)and  of  a  grandd.-iughter  of  .loseph  Brant. 

For  the-  facts  embodied  in  this  sketch  I  am  principally  indebted  to 
the  works  of  Stone.  Campbell.  Benton  and  Ileckwelder;  frou)  which 
I  have  freely  copied;  and  also  to  lettt'rs  in  my  own  pi'rsonal  corres- 
pondence with  Dr.  (.)roiithyat<'kha  .-ind  others  of  tlu'  race  in  Canada. 


THE   TOWN    OF    LITCHFIELD.— INCIDENTS    AND 
ANECDOTES  OF  THE  EARLY  SETTLERS. 

AN   ADDRKSS   BY   MRS.    K.    G.    VAN  HOUSEN,    OF    HKRKIMER, 
FORMERLY   OF   LITCHFIELD, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  May  13,  1899. 

The  towns  of  I^itchtieltl  and  Frankfort  were  taken  from  Gi'miiin 
Flats  and  incorpoi'ated  I)y  an  act  of  the  Ici^islatnre.  Feliruary  r)th, 
IT'.M).  A  part  of  the  town  w;is  taken  off  and  nu-orporaled  in  the  town 
of  Winlield,  in  ISlC.  Litcldicid  was  naiiUMl  by  Addison  Condis'  i^rand- 
falher,  who  came  from   Litclilield,  < 'onnecticnt. 

The  surfat-e  is  hilly;  the  hi.nliest  land  in  the  connty,  soutli  of  the 
INIohawk  river,  bein.L;  W'lieelock's  hill,  which  is  .")(!()  feel  .ibovc  the 
river. 

The  soil  is  well  a<l;ii)tc(i  for  dairying',  which  is  tlic  in:iiii  industry 
at  the  present  time.  A  wafci'shcd  commences  on  West  I  M'n  Iiiii  a  ud 
extends  easterly,  through  North  Litchlicld  to  lOast  1  >ry  hill,  llicnre 
southerly  to  the  south  bounds  of  the  town.  The  str»'ams  south  of  Ibis 
divide  dischar.i;e  their  waters  throui;h  the  Susciueh.anna ;  while  those 
having  their  sources  iioi'th  from  it,  flow  thr<Mi.i;h  the  JNIoliawk  and 
Hudson. 

The  1  >i'y  hills  are  elevated  plattcans  of  seNcr.al  lintidred  aci'es  each, 
in  the  western  and  southern  i»arts  of  the  town.  They  were  once  the 
Mohawk  Indians'  huntin;;  m'ound  ;ind  contained  se\'ei';il  i)onds  where 
llic  lutlians  fished  and  shot  ducks.  A  canoe  w.ms  i-eecidly  found  at 
Snnth's  pond.  All  the  ponds  h;ive  disappeared  except  Smith's  i»ond. 
There  are  no  springs,  as  there  is  no  laiid  in  the  vicinity  hi.iihei-  than 
they. 

There  are  nunu'rous  eaves.  Some  contain  water.  One  ne;ir  <  Joodici-'s 
Corners  is  so  l.-tr.ue  a  m.in  lived  in  it  for  sevei'af  y<'ars  and  the  remaijis 
of  a  lirepl.Mce  can  still  be  seen. 

Tlie  Hrst  settler  of  the  town  of  latiblield  is  believed  by  some  to  h.ave 
b(-en  Elijah  Snow,  and  b.\'  ofheis  lo  haxc  lieen  David  S(;ott.  Mr.  Snow 
was  a  native  of  Westbury,  Mass.,  ,ind  came  in  ITSC  and  settled  on 
Wheelock's  hill,  (hen  known  as  Snow's  hill  or  Snow's  r.usli  (the  word 
bush  meaning  woods|.     It   renniine<l  that   nanu'  until  after  (In-   I'resby- 


36  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

lerian  church  Avas  organized  and  there  had  been  a  religious  revival 
there,  then  Kbenezer  Goodale  named  it  Jerusalem  Hill,  by  which  name 
it  is  still  known. 

As  near  as  I  can  learn,  in  1787,  William  Brewer  and  Ezekiel  Goodale 
came  from  Massachusetts,  John  Andrews,  Christopher  Kider,  John  and 
Eleazer  Crosby  from  Connecticut.  Ebonezer  Drewrey  and  John  Everett 
from  New  Hampshire,  settled  in  the  town.  In  17S8  came  Samuel  Miller 
from  Connecticut  and  James  Gage  from  New  Hampshire.  In  1791 
came  Nathaniel  Ball  from  Temple,  New  Hampshire,  and  Marshall  and 
Selah  Holcomb  from  Simsbury,  Connecticut. 

Mr.  Hall  brought  four  sons,  the  oldest  but  12  years  of  age,  and  an 
invalid  wife,  using  his  own  conveyance.  As  it  was-  a  long,  cold  jour- 
ney, how  could  ho  keep  his  wife  Avarm?  He  purchased  a  beautiful  dog 
with  her  two  babies,  and  placed  them  at  his  wife's  feet,  kept  her  com- 
fortable all  the  way. 

Their  house  was  built  of  logs,  the  roof  of  bark,  curled  a  little  and 
extended  from  ridgepole  to  eaves,  laid  the  Inner  side  up.  The  next 
course  was  placed  the  bark  side  up,,  each  strip  meeting  in  the  center 
of  the  under  course,  making  a  waterproof  roof. 

Mr.  Ball  brought  the  first  apple  seeds  and  distributed  them  among 
his  friends.  Selah  Holcomb  moved  his  family  and  all  his  goods  on 
an  ox  sled.  He  settled  near  the  present  Talbot  farm.  As  he  cut  the 
trees  for  his  log  house,  they  fell  in  the  form  of  a  triangle  and  he  built 
his  liouse  in  that  shape.  He  used  to  catch  tisli  for  his  breakfast,  carried 
his  grist  to  mill  on  his  back  and  rocked  two  of  his  children  in  a  hollow 
log.  He  was  an  industrious  and  economical  farmer  and  accumulated 
considerable  property.  He  made  Avooden  land  sides  for  the  "old  bull 
plow,"  and  sold  his  wheat  to  the  new  settlers  for  $3  per  bushel.  He 
frequently  held  town  offices. 

The  Townsend  family  came  in  17'.»l2.  when  there  was  l)ut  or..'  frame 
house  in  Utica.  As  soon  as  they  could  clear  a  si)ot  lai'ge  enough  and 
build  a  log  cabin,  they  were  all  vaccinated  for  the  smallpox.  They 
were  put  on  a  diet  of  nuish  and  molasses  and  came  out  of  it  very  easy 
and  said  "it  was  not  as  liard  as  the  "itch."  The  trees  were  so  close  to 
the  cabin,  they  used  to  stand  out  of  doors  when  they  were  felling  them 
for  fear  they  would  fall  on  the  cabin  and  kill  them. 

In  170.3,  llvv.  William  Underwood  and  two  brothers,  John  and  Na- 
than, came  with  their  families  from  Connecticut.  One  ox  sled  was 
used  for  the  people  and  one  for  their  goods.  They  had  great  difficulty 
in  crossing  the  Mohawk  river.  Grandmother  Norton  was  one  of  those 
children,  only  four  years  of  age.  At  this  time  William  was  a  Baptist 
minister,  but  afterward  became  a  Universal  Uestorationist.  John  was 
the  father  of  Judge  John  C.  Underwood,  who  mni-ricd  a  niece  of  Stone- 
wall .Jackson.    He  died  in  Virginia. 

fn  March.  1794,  Itev.  Aaron  Goodier.  wife  and  inf;inl  son.  his  brother. 
Henry,  and  Avife  came  from  Newton,  Christian  couiit;^',  I'^nglajid.  Tlipy 
clime  up  the  INIohaAvk  on  a.  raft,  poling  it  along  ajid  using  ropes  to  pull 


THE  TOWN   OF   LITOHFIEI.D.  37 

it  where  lU'ressniy.  There  were  but  four  builtliiiKs  in  lltiea.  It  was 
caHed  "Fort  Schuyler."  At  New  Hartford,  they  bought  ;j<M)  acres  of 
laud  in  Litehliehl,  coiiiiiit;  here  on  foot,  followinj;-  a  lino  of  marked 
tret>s.  Tli(>y  built  a  lou  liouse.  In  1808,  Aaron  was  licensed  as  ;i  local 
.Methodist  i»reiichei-,  Itishops  Iledding'  and  Asbury  each  signing  a 
license.  He  preached  ail  ;iI>out  this  locality  for  many  years.  At  tlie 
centennial  celebration  of  his  settlement  in  town,  in  18;»4,  it  was  found 
his  actual  descendants  numbered  254;  75  liad  married  in  tlie  family, 
making  321),  of  whom  V,)7  were  then  living. 

In  1704,  Rev.  Archiltnld  Parker  of  Rhod<'  Isiland.  cam(>  with  his  age<l 
l)arents,  wife  and  tlire(>  diihlren.  As  there  were  no  palace  cars,  tlu^y 
cnme  with  an  o.\  team,  settled  In  th«  fort-st  with  bears  and  panthei's 
for  tlieir  noighl)ors.  U'lien  a  spot  of  land  liad  been  cle.-ired.  Mr.  Parker 
walked  12  miles  to  (he  .Mohawk  river  liats  and  purchased  one-half 
luishel  of  oats  for  seed,  carrying  it  home  on  Ids  back,  and  receivtHl 
gratis,  ft  sort  of  a  legacy,  in  the  form  of  quack  seed  that  has  yielded  a 
dividerd  yearly,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  tlie  generations  wlio  f*)l- 
howed.  Ten  cliildren  grew  to  man  and  womanliood.  One  night,  late 
in  the  season,  one  of  the  oldei'  sons  was  sent  after  tlie  cows  whicli 
were  pastured  in  the  forest:  datkness  came  before  he  could  find  them 
and  he  lost  Ids  way  home.  To  l>i>  out  of  Ihe  reach  of  wild  animals  he 
spent  the  niglit  in  a  sni;iil  tn-e,  swaying  the  to]»  to  keep  w;irm.  Arch- 
ibald, Jr.,  tlie  severdh  son,  Avas  born  and  spent  his  entirt-  life  on  this 
farm,  dying  in  1885.  He  was  well  known  throughout  the  county  as  a 
man-  of  strong  character  and  i)eisoiial  worth.  He  lii'ld  many  respon- 
sil)le  places  of  trust  in  the  town:  was  supervisor  in  the  sixties.  The 
Parker  homestead  i>;isscd  into  the  iK)ssession  of  T.  P.  P.arker,  avIio  still 
owns  it.  It  is  now  occupied  by  Archibalil  K.  P;irker.  only  son  of  T.  P. 
I'arkor,  and  representing  the  fifth  geni'ration  of  Parkers  who  hid  livi'd 
cu  his  same  farm. 

Samuel  Matthews  came  fiom  North  I'rooktield.  Mass.achnsrtts,  in 
1795. 

Judge  P.oughton  Everett,  son  of  the  original  settler  of  that  name, 
was  liorn  in  Litchfield  in  171t8.  He  was  well  known  :ind  highly 
lespected  throughout  Herkimer  county.  He  was  a  man  of  dignified 
and  coiu'teous  manners,  always  re;idy  to  help  his  fellow-men  b^'  advice 
or  in  a  pecuniary  way  ;ind  held  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his 
iKMghbors  to  a  marked  degree.  .ludge  Everett  ran  for  member  of 
assembly,  but  w.-is  defeate<l  l>y  Col.  Standish  P.arry  of  Newport.  He 
was  supervisoi  of  the  town  in  1851.  He  di(>d  in  1871.  ripe  in  years  and 
good  works,  and  Avas  burled  in  the  cemetery  ;it  Jerusalem  Hill,  where 
now  rest  representatives  of  five  generations  of  the  Everett  family. 

The  Warren  family,  while  not  among  the  very  earliest  settlers,  came 
to  Litchfield  from  Connecticut  about  17!)0.  Eiisli;i.  the  father  of  the 
family,  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  where  the  name  of  Warren  is 
held  in  honor.  P.ostoii  in  particulai',  has  ])erpetiiated  it  in  numberless 
ways  in   memory  of  (Jeneral  Joseph    Warren  of     Bunker     Hill   fame. 


38  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Elislui  Warren  was  a  very  near  relative  of  the  Revolutionary  hero,  a 
tact  which  his  descendants  remembered  with  pardonable  pride.  Four 
generations  of  this  name  lived  in  Litcliheld,  intermarrying  with  many 
of  the  prominent  families  of  the  town,  among  which  were  tlie  Snow, 
Kyder,  Wheelock,  Underwood  and  Fish  families. 

Julius  C  Warren,  gi'andson  of  Elislia,  was  a  man  respected  in  his 
day  and  generation.  lie -occupied  various  positions  of  trust  in  his 
native  town  (he  was  Ikh-u  in  l.S()4)  having  l)een  at  different  times  super- 
visor, justice  of  the  p(>ace  and  captain  of  militia.  He  was  successful 
in  business  and  owned  and  occupied  tlu'  same  farm  tifty-two  years. 
After  his  retirement  from  active  affairs  he  removed  to  Ilion,  where 
he  died  in  187S. 

Henry  L.  Easton,  who  was  born  in  Wilmington,  Vt.,  in  17!)4,  became 
a  resi<h'nt  of  the  town  in  LSI 7,  settling  at  deilarville,  where  for  ttfty 
years  he  was  a  prominent  and  leading  citizen.  He  was  a  practical 
surveyor  and  for  a  numi>er  of  years  a  teacher.  For  a  series  of  terms 
he  HUed  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  and  in  1837  was  a  member  of 
the  legislature.  He  died  in  1807.  His  brother,  Dr.  Charles  L.  Easton; 
who  was  a  graduate  of  the  Fairfleld  medical  college,  practiced  his 
professiop  at  Cedarviile  for  many  years,  prior  to  1850. 

Other  early  settlers  were  Abner  Rising  and  family,  from  Massachu- 
setts; Nathaniel  Fish,  Silas  Hamilton.  John  Eocke,  William  Hadley, 
Ira  Wilkinson,  Timothy  I'^uller,  Harry  Crane,  John  Ross,  William  Bray- 
ton.  Diiniel  Ellsworth.  John  S.  Avery,  David  Reals,  John  I'addocU, 
Jam(>s  Schooley,  Samuel  Rrewer,  Ethel  Ju(hl.  John  Ingersoll,  Ezekiel 
Smith,  and  tAVO  Richard  Smith's,  Russell  and  Ezekiel  Norton,  also  the 
(iilletts,  Kinnes,  Mattisons,  Riders,  (iaylords,  Burpees,  Harveys.Wash- 
burns,  Condons,  Brown  and  R>ennetts. 

When  John  Ingersoll  came  from  Connecticut,  two  other  families 
accompanied  him  with  their  oxen  and  sleds..  Mrs.  Ingersoll,  l>eing  an 
invalid  with  a  1)a])e  in  her  arms,  rode  in  a  i-ocking  chair. 

in  1Sf»0,  Eliphalet  Remington.  Sr.,  wife  and  three  sons,  came  fi-om 
Connecticut  and  settled  at  Cranes  Corners,  later  living  near  Ilioh.  At 
that  time  Eliph:ilet,  Jr.,  was  seven  years  of  age.  He  was  founder  of 
the  Ilion  armory. 

Wheelock's  pond,  the  source  of  Moyer  creek,  was  named  after  Alvin 
Wheelock,  who  came  from  Massachusetts  and  settled  near  it  in  17U1. 

The  first  white  daisies  were  brought  by  Benjamin  Wood  from  Con- 
T\ecticut,  in  some  hay  in  his  sleigh,  and  they  have  replenished  t!ie  town. 
The  first  settlers  received  their  mail  once  in  three  months.  It  was 
brought  from  Connecticut  by  a  man  on  horscl);ick,  who  acted  as  a 
guide  and  escort  to  anyone  wishing  to  ni.ike  the  journey.  Indeed, 
mothers  Avith  a  child  in  their  arms  often  made  the  j(mrney  in  that 
manner. 

The  first  store  was  kept  by  David  Davis,  .foseph  Sheppard  kept  the 
first  inn.  John  Littlejohn  built  tlie  first  grist  mill,  and  one  Talbot  the 
first  saw  mill,  in  ISOC.  or  1807.    Jerenuah  Everett  taught  the  first  school. 


TrtE  TOWN  OP  LITCHFIELD.  39 

In  the  early  twenties  there  was  an  academy  hiiildin.n'  on  Jerusalem  Hill, 
three  stories  hij;h,  where  a  school  was  maintained  sonu"  years,  but  it 
was  soon  abandoned  and  th.'  bnildinu  sold  to  Lyman  (Jayloid,  who 
demolished  it  and  in  1S41.'  erected  the  brick  house,  wjiich  is  still  stand- 
ing- 

The  Litohtield  Furnace  Company  was  established  by  a  .ioint  stock 
company,  about  ISKi.  Their  i)roduct  w^as  potash-ketlles.  hollow-ware 
and  such  articles  as  the  people  re(piired.  The  ore  this  company  smelted 
was  I)rou.!ilit  fi'om  (Minton.  As  mineral  coal  was  nol  in  ust'  here,  the 
furnace  furnished  a  maikct  for  vast  (inantities  of  charco.-il,  which  the 
settlers  burned  just  to  .yet  the  tind)er  out  of  their  way.  There  was  at 
one  time  a  store  on  Jerusalem  Hill,  kept  by  liauri-u  Clark.  Cyrus 
Norton  had  a  jiallery  in  part  of  the  store,  where  he  took  .ambrotypes 
of  people. 

The  first  settler  of  Cedarville  was  Henry  Devendorf,  in  ISO.*',.  He 
kept  the  first  t.avern  in  1S11.  The  hrst  store  there  w;is  opened  by  John 
and  Thurston  M.abbit.  in  ISi';;.  .lohn  Mabbit  w:is  made  the  first  post- 
master there,  the  same  year.  William  Hosford  started  ;i  tannei'y  in 
Cedarville  in  1.S24.  It  consisted  of  six  vats.  I'.oards  placed  on  poles 
laid  across  crothces.  the  only  roof. 

Cranes  Corners  w.as  named  after  Ilai'ry  Ci'ane,  who  kejit  a  tavern 
there  about  ISl'S.  .lohn  Ecker  kejit  a  store,  and  Colonel  Uoswell  Cham- 
l)ion  carried  on  a  tannery  there.  Other  industries  have  been  eiuht  or 
ten  saw  mills,  several  cider  mills,  two  Hour  nulls,  cl(»thin,i;'  mill,  shin.iile 
mill,  four  hotels,  si.x  stores,  a  sta.ne  route,  several  linn'  kilns  and  other 
industries.  In  IT'.tl  there  w.as  but  one  road  throu.n-h  the  town.  Marked 
trees  guided  elsewhere. 

The  first  road  laid  out  and  i'e<()i'ded  .after  the  incoi'por.ation  of  the 
town  was  surveyed  ]»y  Israel  I'oi-fer,  j'ecoided  .M.-iy  Id.  ITP'l.  It  is 
descrilted  as  "a  road  from  Aai'on  r.udlor>,t:'s  to  .1.  Shepperd's."  The 
old  Utica  and  .Minden  lui'npike  ci-ossed  the  toAvn :  it  was  incoi-](oi';ited 
about  1S24.  It  was  never  comi)leted  .and  its  cliartei"  lai)se<l.  The  Utica 
and  l{urlin.i;t(m  plank  I'o.ad  (M-(tssed  the  town,  endiiii;  at  linrlintiton 
l-'lats.  The  Ilion  and  Ced.arville  plank  road  was  built  in  1.S4S;  it  w;is 
;i  toll  I'o.-id  until  ISCS.  The  first  birth  was  that  of  liake  Andrews,  in 
1790,  son  of  .lohn  Andrews,  named  .after  John  C.  L.-ike.  of  Xew  York. 
The  first  bride.uroom  was  .loseidi  Il.ay,  whose  mai-ri.i,i;e  occiu'red  in 
179.S. 

According  to  .some  records,  the  first  death  w.as  a  yong  man,  in  IT'.H, 
and  his  funeral  was  held  in  the  open  air,  under  an  elm  tree,  near  the 
Jerusalem  Hill  cemetery.  Other  accounts  are  that  Betsey  Burns  was 
the  first  death,  aged  !."»  years,  in  17!»;i.  Her  fuiH>ral  was  held  in  the 
oi)en  ;iir  near  .Tei'usalem  Hill.  The  coflin  was  made  of  rough  bo:ii-ds 
painted  black,  and  rested  on  a  stump  during  the  service.  The  fii-st 
religious  services  were  held  in  17P1.  The  lirst  I'.;ii)fist  church  of  Litch- 
field was  orgiinized  .March  !.">.  17".l.".,  at  the  house  of  .Xallianiel  r.:ill. 
Meetings  were  held  in  different  houses  untd  the  school  house  at  North 


40  HEBKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Litchfield  was  finishod  in  1815.  Tlieir  first  cluircli  edifice  was  erected 
al)Oiit  1S34,  costing  $700.  Elder  Harris  was  tlieir  first  pastor.  No  ser- 
vice lias  been  held  there  in  years  and  the  hnilding  is  rapidly  decaying. 
A  Congregational  clanch  was  organized  in  Norwich  Corners  in  170'J 
with  82  members.  Their  first  clinrch  was  erected  in  1S02,  costing 
.$0,000.  In  IStO  it  was  strnck  by  lightning  and  burned.  In  1811  another 
building  was  erected,  whrch  is  still  in  use  and  in  good  condition.  The 
lirst  pastor  Avas  Kev.  John  Eastman,  of  Massachusetts,  who  i-emained 
ton  years.    In  187()  the  society  united  with  the  Jerusalem  Hill  church. 

On  August  18,  170<i,  a  Congregational  church  was  organized,  but  its 
history  cannot  be  found.  In  a  school  house  near  John  Underwood's, 
on  the  24th  of  December,  1804,  the  latchfield  Eirst  Congregational 
Society  was  formed.  April  11th,  18i;{,  the  church  united  with  the 
Presbytery  of  Oneida,  and  took  the  name  of  the  Litchfield  Presbyterian 
Society,  which  it  still  retains.  At  this  time  Rev.  Thomas  Mills  was  the 
pastor  and  remained  till  1820.  This  church  is  situated  on  Jerusalem 
Hill.  The  first  church  was  built  in  1804;  it  was  a  huge  building,  framed 
of  hard  wood  and  took  two  days  to  raise  the  frame.  Matthew  and 
Calvin  Keith  were  the  builders.  It  cost  ij;2,()r)0.  About  1834,  William 
Brewer  gave  the  church  a  bell  and  left  the  use  of  a  legacy  to  help  sup- 
port preaching  in  this  church,  which  they  still  receive.  Cyrus  Norton 
made  an  image  of  Gabriel  blowing  his  horn,  which  was  on  top  of  the 
belfry  many  years.  Some  hunters  passing,  shot  it,  and  it  fell  to  the 
ground.  June  7,  1874,  the  b(>lfry  containing  the  bell  fell  to  the  ground; 
the  bell  was  not  injured.  Later  the  old  church  was  sold  and  demol- 
ished. In  1890  the  church  standing  on  the  other  side  of  the  street  was 
moved  on  the  site  of  the  old  one,  a  belfrey  added  and  the  bell  rehung. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  cliurch  at  Cranes  Corners  was  formed  very 
early  in  this  century,  as  a  wooden  building  40x90  feet,  owned  in  part 
by  this  society,  was  standing  there  in  1804.  It  remained  unfinished  a 
few  years,  and  was  warmed  (?)  by  coals  placed  in  a  large  kettle.  In 
1814,  Bishop  McKendree  spent  a  Sabltath  here  when  Abner  Chase  was 
pastor.  Thomas  Kiniie  gave  this  church  a  bell.  A  new  church  was 
built  in  1862  or  1SG3,  costing  $3,000. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  society  was  formed  at  Cedar  Lake  previous 
to  1813.  In  that  year  Aaron  Goodier,  a  pioneer  and  an  esteemed 
preacher,  was  ordained  a  deacon.  A  church  was  built  in  1838  and  ded- 
icated by  Aaron  Goodier  and  Zachariah  Paddock.  This  was  burned 
in  1858  and  another  built  in  18(52  or  18G3,  costing  ,$4,000. 

The  Mt'thodist  p]piscopal  church  of  Cedarville  was  organized  early 
in  the  century.  The  first  church  edifice  was  erected  about  1H2C,,  costing 
$1,500.  In  1870  it  was  removed  and  converted  into  a  village  hall.  The 
society  is  extinct. 

The  Universalist  society  of  Cedarville  was  organized  October  27, 
1829.  Tlie  first  church  was  erected  in  1829,  costing  $2,500,  and  dedicated 
in  1830.    Rev.  Dolphus  Skinner  preached  the  dedication  sermon. 

The  Universalist  society  of  North  Litchfield  was  organized  May  19, 


THE  TOWN  OF   LITCHFIELD.  41 

1S3.S,  the  chui-cli  luiilt  in  IS^O,  costiiiu  .i:.''..!!*").  .Inlin  .iiid  M.iry  Ann 
Ramsay  gave  the  land  on  whifli  the  c-hurch  stands,  on  condition  it  Ik- 
used  oidy  for  a  ITnivorsalist  cliuri-h.  The  Kevs.  Dolplms  Skinner  and 
T.  I  >.  Cook  were  anion.u"  its  pastors.  For  many  years  no  si-rviees  have 
been  lieUl  there  and  it  is  now  offered  for  sale. 

Anions'  the  i>roininent  men  i-aised  in  Litelifield  were  Kevs.  Charles 
Mills  of  Syracuse.  Moses  E.  I>nnham  of  Whiteslown,  Oliver  V,.  I'eals 
of  New  York.  Charles  M.  Dods'c'  of  Oriskany,  Charles  (i.  Matteson  of 
Long  Island,  K.  Watson  (xoodier  of  Connecticut,  and  John  Donahoe. 
Joel  T.  and  I'hineas  Iladley  were  distinguished  authors.  Among  tiie 
lawyers  were  Delano  T.  Smith.  William  A.  M.atteson,  Charles  J.  Ever- 
ett, James  W.  Tiayhill.  Francis  S.  Wilcox.  Wadsworth  Z.  Goodier,  I'rad- 
ley  Fuller,  William  K.  Harvey,  the  present  city  .iudge  of  Uticn ;  Volney 
Owen  and  Irving  Ilolcoml)  were  sent  to  the  state  legislature;  Levi  C. 
Smith  was  county  clerk.  Among  school  commissioners  were  Judson 
Joslyn,  Earl  1'.  West,  John  Champion,  (Hiver  lieals,  Alonzo  Goodier, 
Chas.  Wheelock  and  S.  liincoln  Fish.  Henry  Symonds  taught  singing 
school  for  years.  Charles  T.  Barnes  was  a  leading  school  teacher,  and 
other  good  teachers  were  Abigail  and  Salina  Cowles,  and  a  half  sister, 
Clarissa  Meri'ill.  .also  Mary,  S.ai'ah  and  Ellen  Parker.  IMiilander  Kewry. 
Matthew  J.  Everett.  Morgan  Hooker  and  Frank  Itayhill  were  mer- 
chants in  Utica  ;  I>.  (i.  Koss  a  nu-rchant  in  Ilion.  Alonzo  Fish  shipped 
the  tirst  cheese  ever  sent  to  England.  Thaddeus  Harrison  moved  to 
Oregon  and  became  a  successful  business  man  and  prominent  oilice 
holder.  Melville  C.  Smith,  a  prominent  railroad  man  in  New  York,  and 
many  others.  The  Rev.  Dana  W.  r>igolow,  of  Utica,  began  preaching 
in  Norwicli  Corners'  church.  The  noted  Universalist  preacher,  10.  11. 
Chapin,  of  New  York,  iireached  his  lirst  sermon  in  the  North  Eitchlield 
school  house.  At  one  time  eight  settled  ministers  were  here,  and  sev- 
eral doctors;  among  them  were  Drs.  Gaylord,  WMiite,  Randall.  Thomas. 
Maltby,  Skinner  and  others.  There  were  many  hardships  among  tlu; 
early  settlers. 

All  produce  sold  was  drawn  to  Albany  and  wheat  was  carried  there 
to  be  ground.  All  su])plies  came  from  the)-(>.  The  roads  were  terrible. 
Sonu'  were  built  of  logs  laid  close  together  cross-ways.  The  country 
w;is  .'ill  forest  and  the  nu'u  worked  hard  to  fell  the  trees  and  ))rei)are 
the  land  for  crops.  The  women  worked  hard,  spun  and  wove  all  the 
material  for  the  garments  of  the  family.  Once  a  year  the  cobbler  and 
tailoress  came  to  each  house  and  made  the  shoes  and  clothes  for  the 
family.  One  lady  says  she  had  but  one  utensil  to  cook  in  for  the  fam- 
ily when  she  kept  house  and  got  along  nicely.  It  Avas  an  iron  basin 
with  a  cover.  Gourds  were  made  into  dippers  and  dishes.  Each  family 
dipped  their  own  candles,  made  llieir  own  starch  by  grating  jiotatoes 
on  the  tin  lantern.  Their  soda  they  made  by  burning  cobs  to  ashes; 
they  called  it  pearl-ash.  TIkmv  were  no  matches  or  stoves.  The  cook- 
ing was  done  on  a  crane  in  the  fireplace  and  in  a  brick  oven.  If  the 
lire  went  out  they  had  to  borrow  fire  of  a  neighbor. 


42  HerkiMer  county  historical  society. 

Everybody  nttciidcd  the  •'.licnornl  trainings"  wliicli  were  held  yearly 
at  Norwich  Comers.  The  horse  soldiers  wore  l)lue  coats  with  steel 
buttons,  leather  caps  triiiimed  with  bear  skin  and  a  long  white  plume; 
they  carried  saddle  bags  witl)  two  pistols  and  a  sword.  On  one  occa- 
sion an  attempt  was  made  to  get  a  minister's  son  drunk  by  pouring  a 
glass  of  brandy  over  his  rice  pudding:  it  failed,  as  he  did  not  eat  the 
pudding.  Thomas  Goodier,  Mr.  Townsend,  JNIr.  Truesdale,  John  I{ay- 
niond,  Silas  Hamilton  and  Richard  Smith  were  in  the  war  of  1.S12,  and 
nearly  starved  on  tlieir  return  from  Sacketts  Harbor. 

A  man  found  his  cow  and  a  bear  grazing  quietly  together  in  a  clear- 
ing. While  after  his  gun  the  bear  disappeared.  While  after  the  cows, 
two  small  girls  were  frightened  at  a  bear.  Calling- the  mein  with  their 
guns,  tliey  surrounded  the  bear,  which  proved  to  be  a  large  black 
stump.  Mrs.  Munn,  when  a  young  lady,  had  a  calico  dress  from 
Albany  costing  .$1  a  yard;  it  would  be  called  poor  cloth  now.  Sh?  wore 
it  to  a  party  with  "Crosl)y,"  two  on  one  horse,  lier  mother  spreading 
her  apron  on  the  horse  to  keep  the  dress  clean,  charging  her  not  to  fall 
off  and  spoil  the  precious  dress.  Miss  Gillett,  the  mother  of  D.  G. 
Koss,  of  Ilion,  wore  a  pink  cambric  dress  to  a  party;  It  was  the  dress 
ot  the  party.  Traveling  was  done  in  lundxM-  wagons  and  on  horseback. 
l'e(H)le  rode  to  church,  two  on  one  horse.  Mrs.  William  Underwood 
was  so  homesick  she  went  on  horseback  to  her  old  home  in  Connecticut, 
carrying  a  small  child  with  her.  Mrs.  Marshall  Avanted  some  johnny- 
cake  so  much  slie  carried  a  peck  of  corn  on  her  b.-ick  to  Whitestown, 
10  miles,  to  get  it  ground,  walking  on  snowshoes  and  marking  th.e  trees 
to  And  her  way  home.  It  is  remembered  bow  Joseph  Ball  fell  into  the 
creek  on  his  way  liome  from  calling  on  a  wi(hiw. 

Februai-y  3d,  1805,  Russell  Norton  and  N;incy  UuiU'rwood  were  mar- 
ried at  her  home  by  a  justice  of  the  peace,  in  the  presence  of  three 
ministers.  The  bride's  father  was  a  minister,  and  two  otliers  chanced 
to  call  to  spend  the  night  there  and  were  pres(>nt  at  tlie  ceremony. 
They  were  the  grandparents  of  William  and  Ch.-irles  Norton  and  E. 
G.  Van  Housen.  I  h.-ive  the  stockings  the  bridegroom  wore,  and  p;irt 
of  the  bride's  gown,  !)4  years  old.  He  raised  the  first  building  in  town 
at  whicli  no  li(iuor  was  used,  but  served  pie  and  doughnuts  inst(»ad,  and 
it  went  up  as  nice  as  could  be  desired. 

C.-iptain  Cowles  was  a  great  talker.  One  moi-ning  he  borrowed  a 
plow  of  a  neighl)or  which  he  must  return  at  noon.  On  his  way  honit- 
with  the  plow  on  his  shoulder,  he  met  a  neighbor.  They  talked  a  while, 
when  Mr.  Cowles  made  a  move  to  put  the  plow  on  the  ground,  then 
tile  neighbor  made  a  move  to  start  on.  Mr.  Cowles  kept  tlie  plow  on 
his  shoulder  and  they  kept  on  talking.  Every  time  Mr.  Cowles  started 
to  i)Ut  down  the  plow  the  otlier  man  would  make  a  move  to  start  on. 
In  this  Avay  they  talked  until  noon,  wlien  Mr.  Cowles  had  to  return 
the  plow  witliout  using  it. 

It  was  said  if  Jiyman  Gaylord  got  his  foot  on  the  hub  of  a  wagon, 
there  was  no  way  of  getting  away  from  him  for  half  a  day.     Early 


THE  TOWN  OF   LITCHFIELD.  43 

ill  the  (•(Mit\ii'y  u  iii.in's  liiini  was  l)uriic(l  by  liulitniiii;.  The  [tooplo 
Imilt  him  a  new  l)ai-n;  tlicrc  wen'  a  few  pieces  (if  tiiiilicr  left.  Tlie 
iKxt  year  liis  next  ueiLililior's  liarn  was  huriied  Uy  liuhtiiini;-.  So  the 
nei;;lil)ors  l»ullt  a  liani  for  liiiii.  Wlien  they  aslved  for  fjie  tiiiihers  h'ft 
of  tlie  first  ham.  the  old  man  replied:  "I  really  don't  know,  I  had 
thonj;ht  of  linildini;-  a  shed  of  them."  A  sister  of  Lyman  (laylord  lost 
her  way  in  the  woods,  and  eonunn  to  a  place  where  men  liad  been 
clH)ppin.u-,  waited  nntil  they  returned  frojn  dinner.  ( >ne  of  the  men 
.ynided  lu'r  where  she  wished  to  t^o,  and  later  man-ied  her.  His  name 
was  Samuel  l'er;;nson,  the  fomnU'r  of  that  family  in  West  Frankfort. 

A  schoolhouse  stood  near  the  road  on  the  hill  back  of  the  stone  house 
now  owned  by  (Jeorn'e  Holland.  Lyman  (laylord  wished  it  moved  n(>ar 
In^  liome,  where  (J.  (irilhtlis  now  lives;  Mr.  Crosliy  wi.shed  it  moved 
near  his  iilace.  where  1'..  Tal))ot  now  lives.  One  day  each  liitclied  four 
yoke  of  oxen  to  each  of  two  corners:  as  Mr.  Crosby's  oxen  pulled  the 
strongest  li"  t;'ot   the  s<-hoolhouse  \\liere  he  wislu'd. 

The  iieople  opiiosed  the  buildiuii,  of  the  I'tica  and  Miuden  turnpik(>. 
They  worked  all  one  ni,tilit  with  over  tliirty  yoke  of  oxen,  [»uttiuj;'  a 
lartic  I'ock  in  the  road  just  wt-st  of  Jerusalem  Hill.  I'.efore  noon  tlie 
next  day  the  road  builders  had  It  sunk  in  the  grouiuL 

The  Spencer's  often  neylecti'd  their  farm  work  to  enjoy  huntin.i;'  and 
lishiiii;-.  Wood-bees,  huskinn-bees,  ])ai-in.i:-bees,  sin.^in.u  schools  arrd 
sjielliim  schools  were  fi'equeidly  held.  Xo  amusements  were  allowed 
at  a  church  (hm.ition,  which  were  attended  in  the  afteiaioon  by  the 
(>lder  people  and  in  the  evening  l)y  the  yoiin.u;'  people.  ( »n  one  occasion 
the  Kev.  Mr.  Mills  reluctantly  consented  to  allow  the  youui^  peojMe 
to  marcli  about  the  room  in  pairs  to  the  music  of  a  flageolet. 

The  cliurches  liad  no  means  of  beiiiu  warmed,  and  the  peo]ile  <-,irried 
small  foot-slo\-es,  containinu  li\'e  coals,  to  keei)  them  warm.  Servici'S 
wert'  iK'ld  in  the  forenoon  and  ;ifteriioon.  the  pi'ople  carryinu  a  lunch 
with  them. 

One  Sal)b;ith  when  Elder  Loomis  was  preachin.n\  one  of  his  small  sons 
be.iian  pla.yinj;.  He  i)aused  in  his  sermon  and  said,  "Keep  still,  (Jeorjic." 
Anothei-  Sabliath  when  ho  reached  lionie  li'oiii  chui'ch  he  found  he  liad 
left  one  of  his  boys  at  the  church  and  had  to  return  foi'  him.  Aniony 
remarks  made  in  a  hot  anM-sla\'ery  UKH-tiiiu,  Mr.  William  Smith,  a 
sla\e  ownei'.  became  so  indi.i;ii:i nt  he  left  the  house.  'I'here  was  one 
day  so  dark  the  people  thonuht  the  world  was  cominu  to  an  e'id.  They 
had  to  li.t;lit  candles  in  mid-day.  The  heirs  all  went  to  roost  and  the 
l!idians  wei-e  so  frightened  they  came  to  the  homes  of  tlie  wMte 
]ieo]ile. 

One  season  was  called  the  "yeai'  without  a  summei-:"  there  was  fi 
frost  every  month  exce]it  Auiiust.  No  crops  could  mature  and  once 
that  summer  they  had  to  dii;'  the  lambs  out  of  the  snow  to  sa\e  their 
lives. 

Thei-e  Avas  yreat  excitement  when  the  Millerites  came  preachiuf'' 
the  end  of  the  world  was  at  hand.     Kev.  Augustus   Ueach  and  wife 


44  HERKIMER   COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 

iu'ld  the  moetings.  Some  gave  up  nil  work,  expecting  to  see  the  end 
of  the  world.  Mrs.  Beach  was  a  tine  singer.  A  portion  of  one  of  her 
songs  is  remembered,  as  follows: 

"The  chariot,  the  chariot,  as  its 

Wheels  roll  on  tire, 
As  the  God  is  descending 

In  the  pomp  of  His  ire, 
Lo!    self -moving  He  I'ides 

On  the  wings  of  His  cloud,  

And  His  angels  with  the  God-head  are  bowed." 

In  1842  a  Fourth  of  .Inly  celebration  Avas  held  in  the  old  church  on 
Jerusalem  Hill,  in  Ihe  forenoon.  Thaddeus  II;irrison  was  marsiial  of 
the  day.  The  oration  was  by  Rev.  Edward  M.  Wooley.  In  the  after- 
noon, the  exercises  were  in  the  grove  back  of  the  church.  Samuel 
Wells  of  New  Hartford  was  the  oratoi-,  and  the  Old  Litchfield  br.ass 
band  furnished  the  music. 


PIONEER  TIMES   ON  THE  ROYAL  GRANT— WITH 

PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS  OF  THREE 

GENERATIONS. 

AN    ADDRKSS   BY   GKORGE    L.   JOHNSON,    OF    II.ION, 
Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  vSt>ciety,  June  lo,  1899. 

The  Royal  Grant  was  opened  to  settlement  hy  the  Comunssioners 
of  Forfeiture,  in  September,  17S4.  A  few  lots  were  sold  that  fall,  but 
there  h;id  lieen  no  pei-nianent  settlement  fnim  New  l-hi^lancl,  or  by 
one  who  spoke  Kuulish,  previdus  to  that  time. 

The  three  (ierman  families,  Maltanner,  <Joodl)radt  and  SlialTer,  who 
settled  near  the  Ki'eat  siirint;-.  ;ind  head  of  the  brook  M.iltjinner,  near 
the  present  villaye  of  i<'airlield,  in  1770.  had  been  driven  out  liy  the 
Indians,  in  177U.  There  was  also  a  German  setth-ment  in  the  south- 
east part  of  the  town,  before  the  Revolution,  upon  what  has  lieen  called 
Toi)  Xoteh,  near  the  town  line,  ;ind  about  four  miles  noi'lh  (tf  Little 
Falls.  Amony  these  German  lamilies  were  the  Kellars,  Wiudeekers, 
I'iekerts,  and  others,  not  of  the  I'.urnetsheld  patentees,  but  who  eame 
ui)  from  the  lower  Mohawk  valley  ;ind  seated  themselves  in  Glens'  I'ur- 
ehase.  When  I  collected  the  taxes  in  Fairheld,  about  1S.">2  or  ''>:',,  I 
found  sons  of  these,  and  some  of  the  best  tax  payers  in  the  town. 

Mr.  Cornelius  Chatfield  arrived  with  his  family,  March  24th,  ns.5, 
and  settled  at  or  near  the  spot  where  the  village  of  Fairfield  now  is. 
Ill'  is  supposed  to  hiwv  been  the  first  settler  fi-om  New  Knyiand  who 
(ame  into  the  county  after  the  war,  for  the  purpose  of  settlin.u  on  the 
Royal  (irant. 

Asa  Chatfield,  the  fallier  of  tiie  lal«-  1  >r.  Clinton  Cliatlield  (dentist), 
had  his  home  a  mili'  or  moi-e  north  of  the  vlll;i,i;e.  on  the  road  to  Nor- 
way. I  remendier  Asa  Cliatlield  well.  In  ISIS  he  was  i)residentlal 
elector.  That  year  I  c.isl  my  tii-st  \utv.  to  elect  Zachary  Taylor  iiresi- 
dent. 

Abi.jah  Mann,  the  fathei"  of  Abi.jah  Mann,  .Ir.,  Chas.  A.  and  William 
Mann,  arrived  in  May  foilowin.u,  and  located  a  little  west  of  the  vil- 
lage, on  the  present  road  to  Middlevillo.     There  was  upoTi  oi-  near  the 


46  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

lands  taken  up  by  Mr.  Mann  a  small  Indian  orchard,  and  the  Indians, 
many  years  after  the  war,  would  cluster  around  it  as  a  loved  and  ven- 
erated spot.  Al)i.jali  Mann,  Jr.,  became  a  lawyer  of  note  and  settled 
in  Frankfort.  He  represented  the  district  in  Assembly  in  1828,  '29,  '30 
and  '38.  Meml)er  of  Conjjjress  in  1832,  re-elected  in  1834.  Chas.  A. 
studied  law  in  Utica.  became  prominent,  and  a  useful  citizen  there. 
He  represented  his  district  in  Assembly  and  Senate.  William  I'emained 
on  the  farm  a  while.  My  first  recollection  of  tlie  Mann  homestead  was 
about  1S3S  or  '40.     William  was  tlien  tliere. 

Mason  Morey,  father  of  P.  A.  Morey,  mei'chant,  of  Fairfield,  owned 
and  occupied  the  place  many  years.    I  think  Charles  Neely  has  it  now. 

Except  Chatfield  and  Mann  and  one  or  two  others,  the  first  settlers 
from  New  England  took  up  lands  soutliwesterly  of  tlie  village.  Josiah, 
David  and  Lester  Johnson  came  into  tlie  town  from  Connecticut  in 
178G.  A  Mr.  Whipple  and  Christopher  Hawlvins,  from  Newport,  U.  I., 
in  1786,  made  an  effort  at  clearing  for  a  liome  in  Norway,  but  did  not 
prosecute  tlieir  enterprise.  It  sliould  be  remembered  that  this  was  all 
Norway  until  1790,  when  Fairtield  was  talien  oft"  and  set  up  a  town 
by  itself. 

This  Royal  Grant  was  an  inviting  field  for  the  people  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  they  now  came  quite  rapidly.  Jolni  lUicklin,  Ben.i.  Bowen 
and  two  brothers,  William  and  Ephraim,  and  David  Beuchley,  all  from 
Newport,  K.  I.;  John  Eaton,  Natlianiel  and  William  Brown  from  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  Samuel  Low  came  in  1787;  also  the  Potter  family  from 
Rliode  Island  came  this  year,  and  settled  about  one  and  one-lialf  or  two 
miles  nortliwesterly  of  Norway  village,  on  a  tract  known  as  tlie  Hiu-- 
ricane.  Tliere  is  a  very  good  story  in  reference  to  this  family,  and  as 
it  illustrates  incidents  in  frontier  life  so  well,  1  hope  my  hearers  will 
kindly  be  willing  to  bear  witli  me  four  or  five  minutes  to  repeat  it. 

They  had  opened  a  small  clearing  and  built  a  log  lint  to  slielter  tliem 
from  the  frosts  and  snows  of  winter.  Their  wliole  store  of  provisions 
to  carry  them  tlirough  their  first  long  northern  winter  was  a  crop  of 
potatoes,  with  some  salt.  Forest  game  liad  to  supply  the  residue  of  a 
meager  sul)sistence.  A  gun  and  suital)le  annnunition  were  indispen- 
saltle  to  a  frontier  forest  life  and  they  were  of  course  provided.  A 
severe  tempest  had  prostrated  a  strip  of  the  forest  near  the  plac(> 
where  tliis  family  liad  made  their  clearing  and  this  spot  in  those  days, 
and  now,  is  called  the  Hurricane,  and  here  was  found  the  white  forest 
rabbit  in  al)undance.  Tlie  snow  had  fallen  to  the  depth  of  four  of 
five  feet,  banking  up  tlie  outsidi-  walls  of  the  log  liut,  rendering  it 
quite  comfortable  during  the  whole  winter.  The  men  were  employed 
procuring  fuel  and  lumting  game.  One  cold,  frosty  morning,  Fisliei- 
and  Jeremiali  strapped  on  tlieir  snow-shoes,  took  flieir  guns  and  went 
into  the  Hurricane  after  rabbits.  They  had  .-i  small  dog  with  them, 
only  useful  to  start  up  tlie  small  game. 

Wliile  earnestly  intent  on  obtaining  something  which  would  r«Mider 
their    potatoes    and    salt    a    little    more    savory    and    palatal>le,    and 


PIONEER  TIMES  ON  THE   ROYAL  GRANT.  47 

soiiH'what  iiKirc  iiourisliiiii^.  they  (liscovc'icd  ;i  IkiIc  in  tlic  snow.  ncai'Iy 
as  larye  as  a  (luart  cuii.  cxtciulinn  down  fonr  or  live  Icct  dc'it.  'IMic 
sidles  of  this  hole  wcic  liai-d  and  covered  with  wliite  frost  Ihil^es.  show- 
Inn  that  there  was  some  heat  lieh)W.  tlu'  exiuiialions  from  which 
escaped  tliroii,i;li  this  aporaturi;  and  Icept  it  open.  Wliatever  it  niiylit 
\)v  our  pioneei's  were  not  liacl^wai'd  in  hndinu  it  out,  and  I'^isher  con- 
vertin.i,'  liis  snow  slioes  into  a  shovel,  witli  ri.uht  iiood  will,  dui;-  away 
the  snow,  (h)wn  to  a  mass  of  hendock  Ixm.^hs,  and  after  removin;;  a 
portion  of  them,  a  consich-rable  cavity  was  discovered  in  the  e;irth 
below,  hut  nothin.y-  more.  A  (juestion  of  some  inipoi't;in<'e  now  pre- 
sented itself,  whether  they  should  uncover  the  civity  further  or  resort 
to  other  means.  The  services  of  the  little  don  were  put  into  requi- 
sition. He  was  hrom;ht  to  the  hole  and  after  talvinu'  two  or  three  scents, 
liarked  valoi'ously,  but  Ueei)in,i;  himself  ready  to  m.ake  a  s.-ife  retreat 
if  needful.  This  unusual  disturbance  roused  the  habitant  below  from 
his  torpidity,  and  lu'  ,t;ave  evi(h'nt  tokens  of  disquiet.  In  the  me.intime. 
Fisher,  believing  that  he  had  uncovered  an  ;inimal  that  would  riMpiire 
Komothins;-  more  than  rabbit  shot  to  (luiet  him.  stepjied  b.ick  a  few 
paces  from  the  hoh'  and  charged  his  gun  with  a  ball,  and  then  both 
were  ready  for  the  encounter. 

l'>ruin  not  intimid.ited  by  tlu'  noise,  had  resolved  to  punish  the  in- 
tiauh'rs  upon  his  dominions,  with  a  few  har<l  siiueezes,  if  he  could 
catch  them,  had  presented  his  comely  vis:ii;'e  at  the  IkiIc  id"  bis  den. 
^vlien  Fislier.  presentinji'  the  mu/.zle  of  his  uun  within  a  few  feet  of  his 
bearslijp's  head,  juave  him  the  whole  charge.  The  bear  was  killed,  and 
being  large  and  fat,  and  the  meat  tender,  was  worth  more  than  his 
weight  in  white  rabbits  to  the  famishing  family. 

The  informant  who  possessed  a  ri'Uiarkably  clear  and  accur.ate  re- 
collection of  the  incidents  attending  the  hrst  inunigration  of  the  Xew 
Ku,gianders  into  the  county,  sai(h  "he  saw  old  Mr.  Totter  and  his  son 
Fisher  when  they  first  came  out  (d'  tlie  woods  the  sining  .ifter  the  in- 
cident above  related.  He  said  Fislier  was  a  tall  man.  but  lean  and 
gaunt,  his  complexion  sallow  and  lie  appeared  very  much  as  thougli  lie 
had  been  neaiMy  starved."  Old  Mr.  Potter  said,  "that  killing  tli(>  bear 
was  a  lucky  thing  for  the  family,  and  probably  saved  them  from  star- 
vation, :is  their  other  i)rovisions,  potatoes  and  i-;ibbits  (when  they 
could  kill  any)  were  getting  (juite  short."  jNIr.  Potter  lived  to  a  good 
old  age  and  died  in  ].Si;j.  The  I'otters  were  the  Hrst  settlers  in  the 
present  town  of  Norway.  'IMie  centennial  celebr.ation.  h;id  in  1SS7, 
Avas  in  accordance  therewith. 

Now  returning  to  and  contiiuiing  in  reference  to  the  town  of  Fair- 
tield.  Elislia,  Wym.-in  ;ind  Comfort  Eaton,  c.ime  from  .Massachusetts 
in  17.S.S.  Jeremiah  r.;iilai-d  from  .Mass.-ichusetts  in  ITS'.).  There  may 
have  been  others,  and  piob.-ibly  were,  whose  names  we  h;ive  not  ob- 
tained. William  IJucklin.  the  Arnohl  families.  D.iniel  I'ennie,  N;ith;in 
tallied.  William  P.ucklin.  the  Ainold  f.imilies,  D.aniel  l''enner,  N'atli;in 
Smith,  Nahuiii  Daniels,  Amos  and  .lames  IlaiKe,    most    of    these    from 


48  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

]\Iassacliiisetts  in  1700.  (Observed  only  one  dwelling  in  Little  Falls  at 
this  time.)  l»eter  and  Beln  Ward  in  1791.  The  Neelys  in  1702. 
Tlie  Eatons,  Browns,  llailes,  Arnolds,  Wards  and  Bueklins 
seated  themselves  at  and  near  the  present  village  of  Eatonville.  In 
1703  came  the  Mathers.  Seamaus  and  Charles  Willard,  a  lad  with  his 
father,  like  all  the  Yankees,  always  pnshing  Avest,  settled  west  of  the 
village  of  Fairlleld  about  one  and  one-half  miles,  on  the  table  land 
since  known  as  the  platform.  In  1701  came  Johnathan  Buell  with 
his  family,  from  near  ir^aybrook,  Connecticut,  and  settled  farther  down 
the  platform,  toward  Middleville;  George  and  Luther,  were  sons  of 
Jonathan. 

Reckoning  from  the  school  house,  district  No.  3,  as  a  centre  of  the 
platform,  north  toward  Ilardscrubble.  district  No.  2,  first  Avas  Col. 
Charles  Willard,  as  I  knew  him.  lie  had  a  large  family.  His  oldest 
daughter  was  the  mother  of  the  late  I)r.  C.  W.  Hamlin,  of  Middleville. 
The  second,  Ann,  the  wife  of  the  late  Dr.  A.  E.  Varney  of  Middleville. 
The  third,  Louisa,  the  wife  of  the  late  Dr.  Daniel  M.  Holt,  of  Newport, 
and  four  sons,  George  N.,  William,  Charles  W.  and  Samuel.  Next 
north  of  Willard  was  Gilbert  Corey,  father  of  the  late  Jeremiah  Corey, 
who  kept  the  tavern  at  Middleville  so  long  and  was  sheriff  of  the 
county  one  term;  also  was  the  grandfather  of  E.  W.  Corey  the  music- 
man.  Next  beyond  Corey  was  Joshua  Bushnell,  succeeded  by  his  son 
Joseph.  East  from  the  school  was  Griswold  and  Kelsey;  south  Benja- 
min Stevens  and  the  Buells;  west  Mr.  Vischer,  Davies  Safford  and 
John  Boss,  the  two  last  also  from  Connecticut.  In  reference  to  the 
name  "platform,"  I  have  heard  it  associated  with  Saybrook.  I  have 
seen,  and  know  personally  very  many  of  these  old  first  settlers,  which 
I  have  named  and  others  I  shall  name,  and  also  their  families,  parti- 
cularly their  sons. 

Now  let  us  for  a  moment,  consider  conditions,  circumstances  and  sur- 
roundings. 

All  this  royal  grant  was  an  unbroken  forest,  wilderness,  in  March, 
1785,  when  Chatfield  came.  Very  heavy  timber,  indicating  good  soil. 
ready  to  produce  any  crop,  adapted  to  this  latitude,  as  soon  as  cleared. 
The  people  coming  were  not  generally  wealthy,  but  (piite  the  reverse. 
Many  of  them  had  put  their  all  in  a  cart,  drawn  l)y  a  pair  of  oxen, 
and  thus  they  came  trudging  slowly  along  on  ro.-ids  far  different  from 
Avhat  they  are  now,  perhaps  a  week  or  more  on  their  way.  My  grand 
parents  and  my  wife's  came  in  about  this  way,  and  they  had  plenty 
of  associates.  Chatfield  nuist  have  had  something  different  from  a 
cart  if  the  March  was  like  this  of  ISOO.  Those  Avho  had  been  here 
in  the  Pall  and  put  ui>  a  cabin  came  early  in  the  Spring  with  sleds. 
Where  Avas  there  a  mill  to  gi't  lumber  even  for  a  shanty?  There  had 
been  some  mills  before  the  Avar,  about  German  Flats,  eight  or  t(>n 
miles  aAvay;  one  at  Little  I\-ills,  .-ind  one  at  Rlieinicnsnyih-r's  I'.ush, 
about  four  miles  north  of  Little  Falls.  All  burned  during  the  war. 
The  first  thing  needed,  of  course,  Avould  be  some  sort  of  u  cabin,  or 


PIONEER  TIMES  ON  THE   ROYAL   GRANT.  49 

Imt,  ;is  Iteforc  noted  in  refcri-nce  to  the  Potters.  If  one  liad  ;i  window 
and  a  few  nails,  four  tools  would  sutliee  to  huild  a  coniforta'ile  place 
of  abode,  viz:  the  axe,  saw,  au,i;er  and  hannner. 

I  was  born  in  a  lo,n'  house,  in  Newport,  in  1827.  I  lived  in  another  six 
miles  east  of  liockford,  in  northern  Illinois,  in  1S44  and  ]S4r).  Hock- 
ford  then  contained  r»(i()  or  (idO  inhabitants.  Now  it  has  over  .'{l.tlOO. 
Chicago,  when  I  A\'cnt,  in  lSt4,  contained  according;-  to  history,  the 
immense  number  of  S,()(i()  and  next  year  reached  lL;,(i(i(t  inhabitants, 
and  now  it  has  aliout  1,7.")(»,(I00.  There  \\<re  many  lo.n"  houses  at  that 
time  between  Belvidere  and  Ivockford.  The  best  citizens  lived  in  them. 
1  helped  raise  one  there  in  the  spring  of  lS4r»,  and  had  the  honor 
of  notching  the  logs  at  one  corner.  It  only  needed  ;i  little  e\i)ertness 
in  the  us(^  of  the  axe.  The  next  fall  I  went  to  lU'lvidede  to  leai'n  tlu' 
c;ii-penter"s  trade  as  a  regular  apprentice,  and  have  worked  contiimously 
since,  in  some  branch  of  wood  work.  The  body  of  tht>  log  houst>  being 
nj).  next  in  order  wire  the  gables,  and  as  they  went  up  poles  were  laid 
horizontally  in  notches  in  the  gable  in  such  a  manner  as  to  form  the 
pitch  of  the  roof,  to  be  covered  with  barlv  or  shakes  laid  on  the  poles. 
Shakes  were  split  from  tind)er  in  a  similar  maimer  as  staves  for  cooper 
work.  Shakes  wei-e  used  in  Illinois,  and  if  the  woi-k  was  well  done, 
made  a  good,  dm-ablc  I'oof  fi'om  the  oak  there  used.  I''or  a  tloor,  pun- 
cheons were  laid,  \\  liich  wvvv  i)lanks  split  fi-om  the  log  and  hewn  a 
little  with  the  axe  if  necessary,  and  next  came  the  door  of  similar 
materials,  hung  with  wooden  hinges,  of  course;  a  hook  and  eye  hinge, 
made  -with  axe,  saw  and  auger.  The  latch,  also  of  wood,  lifted  by  a 
string  pulled  through  a  hole  abo\e  the  latch  and  hanging  on  the  out- 
side. Thus  the  saying  in  reference  to  the  hospitable  man,  his  latch 
sti'ing  is  on  the  outside.  The  lati-h  string  being  pulled  in  ;it  night  left 
iidi-ndeis  out.  The  "Chinkin,""  bits  of  wood  driven  into  the  ci'acks  and 
spaces  between  logs,  and  "Daubin,"  puttying  cra'-ks  with  clay  mortar, 
completed  the  house. 

Now  we  have  the  family  sheltered,  we  will  clear  a  sjuit  in  the  forest, 
prei):iratory  to  raising  a  crop  for  food.  Timber  is  worthless  lU'arly; 
cut  it  down  and  bm-n  it.  out  of  the  way.  The  ashes  are  of  some  value, 
furnishing  ixilash  in  the  soil  to  feed  growing  crops.  L.ater.  aslies  were 
gathered  and  manufactured  into  potash  of  commerce,  thus  rol)bing  the 
soil  of  a  needed  element.  There  was  method  in  clearing,  by  falling 
the  tind)er  in  wiiu'ows.  to  facilitate  burning.  An  axe  man,  or  choi)per, 
as  they  were  called,  after  \iewing  the  piece  to  be  cut  oi'  chopped, 
would  cut  in  the  side  of  the  trees,  nearly  to  the  ])oint  of  falling,  in  the 
line  selected  for  the  winrow.  and  leave  them  standing,  on  both  sides 
of  a  center  line,  so  that  they  would  fall  toward  the  center,  on  thai 
that  line.  The  Last  tree  in  the  line  he  would  fall  .against  the  next, 
which  would  ])reak  over  and  fall  against  the  next.  ;nid  so  on  through 
tlie  whole  line,  falling  in  one  gr;nid  crash  as  many  rods  long  as  w.as 
desired.  Then  .anothei'  winrow  along  the  side  and  ])arallel,  and  so  on 
until  the  wliole  piece  desired  to  be  cleared  was  prostrate  iu  winrows. 


50  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

AU  cut  in  tilt'  winter  and  Ijnrnod  off  in  the  spring,  was  ready  for 
spring  wlieat,  corn  and  potatoes,  and  otlier  vegetables,  but  for  winter 
wheat  he  would  continue  cutting  through  the  summer  until  August. 
After  the  first  burning,  getting  rid  of  the  brush  and  fine  stuff,  what 
there  was  left  in  large  brands,  and  some,  perhaps,  quite  large  logs, 
had  to  be  rolled  together  and  piled  in  heaps  to  continue  the  burning 
until  all  was  finished,  furnishing  plenty  of  black  for  hands,  face,  and 
clothing  I  have  seen  my  father  do  it,  when  I  was  about  eight  or  nine 
years  old.  Thus,  when  all  was  cleared  off  and  ready,  the  pioneer  with 
hoe  and  rake  worked  in  seed  among  the  stumps  for  a  crop.  Potatoes 
and  other  vegetables  were  of  finest  ciuality,  better  than  we  usually  get 
uow. 

Just  to  show   how  a   pioneer  family   may   live  for  a  time  without 
access  to  a  grist  mill,  I  will  repeat  a  littl"  story. 

As  before  mentioned,  .leremiah  liallar*"!  came  in  1789  and  'oca ted 
about  two  miles  northeast  of  Fairfield  village.  He  left  his  family  the 
iirst  winter,  and  returned  to  Massachusetts,  where  he  remained  until 
Spi'ing.  The  informant  said:  "This  family  had  nothing  to  subsist  on 
during  a  long  and  dreary  winter  but  Indian  corn  and  rabbits,  if  any 
could  be  killed.  There  being  no  mills  then  in  the  country,  and  if  there 
had  been  any  they  could  not  be  leached  except  by  the  use  of  snow- 
shoes  and  carrying  the  giist  on  one's  back.  Having  no  hand  or  other 
mill  to  crack  or  break  the  corn  in,  a  moitar  was  the  only  thing  they 
could  resort  to,  and  even  this  they  were  destitute  of.  The  family  pro- 
cured a  large  hardwood  log  and  having  no  tools  suitable  to  the  object, 
they  burned  a  hole  or  hollow  .in  it  by  concentrating  the  fire,  sufficiently 
deep  to  answer  their  pni'pose.  After  this  it  was  an  easy  task  to  make 
a  pestle  out  of  some  hard  wood,  and  crack  corn  to  their  stomachs'  con- 
tent." By  these  means  the  resolute  and  noble  mother  carried  her  family 
through  the  winter,  while  the  father  ^^as  absent,  and  it  should  be 
hoped,  was  detained  by  sickness,  at  his  former  home  in  Massachusetts. 
It  was  very  evident  that  at  that  time  mills  wcnv  a  great  necessity, 
especially  for  sawing  lumber  and  grinding  grain.  We  will  start  out 
from  Mr.  Boss's  placi-,  on  the  western  part  of  the  platform,  to  follow 
the  pioneers,  hnnting  for  w.nter  power  and  mills,  if  there  are  any,  in 
1790.  Going  north  a  slioi't  distance,  perhaps  half  a  mile,  and  near  the 
present  fine  residence  of  V.  ().  I'liillips,  we  come  to  Mill  Creek.  The 
discoverer  might  say  "Eureka!  Here  is  a  boon  for  the  settlers."  The 
eastern  part  of  Fairfield  was  not  well  supplied  with  water  powers; 
but  here  was  the  best  in  town.  A  fine  stream  in  those  days,  rock  bed 
{•nd  falling  in  a  succession  of  falls  lOU  feet  or  moi-e  in  half  a  mile, 
above  and  east  of  this  point  was  the  saw  mill  of  Itowland  Phillips, 
grandfather  of  V.  O.  I'liillips,  and  whose  present  tine  home  is  on  a  por- 
tion of  the  old  Phillips  homestead.  Below  and  west  a  short  distance 
Avas  the  home  of  Rowland  Phillips,  who  came  in  1800  and  established 
himself  here.  Nearby  on  the  bank  of  the  creek,  at  a  fine  fall,  was  his 
bark  mill  and  tannery,  in  operation  in  1834,   wheu  I  first  knew  the 


PIONEER  TIMES  ON  THE   ROYAL  GRANT.  51 

place.  Tlic  luHisf  (lien  yellow,  is  still  sfaiidiim'.  imiiited  yellow,  niul  is 
now  kiKiwii  as  tlif  olii  yellow  house,  occupied  uow  li\'  (Jcor^e  I, aw. 
Ml.  riiillips  raisetl  a  lar.m'  laniilN'  here,  some  of  them  schoolmales  of 
my  father.  A)»out  IS.'IS  or  '.■['.i  .Mr.  Phillips  had  (lie  red  house  built, 
farther  east,  the  siti-  of  if  on  the  ju-emises  of  \'.  (>.  I'liillijis,  near  his 
liouse.  To  this  red  house  old  .Mr.  I'liillips  and  Ids  wife  retired,  leav- 
iiiji'  some  of  their  children  at  the  ytUow  house  to  manage  the  farm, 
until  lSr)8  oi'  "!»  (more  than  od  \-ears  on  tliis  farmt  he  passed  awa\'. 
I  >own  the  hill  a  little  west,  a  road  crosses  .Mill  ('reek  nor(herl\  toward 
.\or\\a.\'.  On  the  noi'lh  hank  of  the  creek  and  west  si(h'  of  the  road 
is  tlie  white  sellout  liouse  of  the  •'Old  ("ity,"  disti'ict  Xo.  4,  I*"airtield  and 
Newport.  This  is  the  thii-d  school  house  on  this  site.  'IMie  tirst  one 
burned  when  m\'  father  was  a  school  boy  there.  .\o.  -.  built  to  take 
its  place,  remained  in  use  until  IS.j.S,  when  it  was  demolished  and  this 
one  built  on  the  same  siti'.  L.  li.  Arnold  was  my  teacher  in  the  winter 
of  l!So4  and  '.">  in  house  Xo.  '_'.  .Tolin  1'.  Crilliii,  .a  biu  boy  there  also. 
.Inst  above  the  bi'id.ue.  on  that  little  falls,  was  the  d;nn  for  the  saw 
mill,  which  w;is  on  the  bank,  south  side,  at  that  considerable  fall, 
below  the  school  house  and  bridge.  This  was  laiii  by  .Mi'.  Samuel 
Fortune  many  yeai-s  aftei'  he  came  in  ISOb,  but  was  .uoin.u  to  decay  in 
l.s;!4.  A  little  below  this,  on  top  of  the  hi.yli  falls.  w;is  the  dam  for 
tlu'  yrist  mill,  water  bein:4  taken  out  (m  the  north  side  and  carried 
akui.i;'  the  precii)iee  over  the  hill,  higher  than  the  roof  of  the  mill,  which 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  .lolin  A.  ('nimby's  barn;  he  tore  down 
what  remained  of  the  old  ui-ist  mill,  after  1S(;8,  and  erected  his  b;irn 
on  the  same  spot,  just  at  the  end  of  the  I)ridi,''e.  There  were  two  over- 
shot wIkh'Is.  one  .above  the  other.  .lust  below  the  jiit  for  those  wheels, 
but  above  the  road  bridge,  was  the  dam  for  the  fulliu:.;-  mill  and  card- 
iii,u-  works,  which  was  .lust  below  on  the  other  or  west  side  of  thi' 
i-oad,  also  on  the  north  bank  of  the  ei-eek.  The  race  was  under  the 
bridge.  This  mill  building  was  oiii'  of  the  old  time  he.av.v  timber  frames 
I'.ewn  with  the  axe  from  the  forest  timber  when  it  was  i)lenty  and 
cheap.  .\sahel  ILarias  comirii;'  into  possession  of  this  ])ro]»er1y  about 
1S4(I.  had  reii,iii-(d  this  mill  buildiut;-,  coverin.t;-  it  entirely  new.  Ouring- 
the  great  tl(»od  het-e  in  .Vugust.  1S!)S,  the  s"verest  known  here,  th','  north- 
ern end  of  the  stone  ar<-hed  bridge,  abo\e  which  had  recently  been 
built,  gave  away,  letting  the  whole  force  of  the  lh)od  .against  the  under- 
liinning  stone  walls  of  this  building,  which  soon  (MMindded  like  dirt; 
the  mill  tipix'd  over  into  the  r.-iging  torrent  and  was  instantly  c;irried 
down  stream.  This  ;ind  th.e  grist  mill  h;id  been  run.  doing  business 
until  .about  hs;;s  or  ■.■[".I,  and  this  one  the  last  remaiinng  <d'  the  old  time 
mills  of  the  Old  City. 

Immediately  Itelow  this  w.ts  the  dam  to;-  the  bark  mill,  tannery  and 
potashery  of  .Fon.athan  Card,  which  was  on  the  south  side  and  Just 
below  this  was  the  dam  for  I.eon.ard  fortune's  gun  shop,  which  w.as 
on  the  noi'th  side.  This  is  not  so  old  .and  is,  or  was  recently,  is^lill  st.and- 
ing.     Below  this  on  the  staith  side  on  the  lower  f.-slls,  Avas  the  iV.w  mill, 


52  HEBKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

run  by  a  14  feet  ovei'sliot  wheel,  recently  built  by  Win.  R.  Baker,  who 
D'.ade  a  failure  of  it.  1  used  the  same  from  18G0  to  'G3  for  sash,  blinds 
doors  and  general  builders'  jobbing  in  lumber.  After  I  left  it  in  lHG8 
it  was  changed  into  a  cheese  factory,  about  1870.  After  some  years 
burned  and  not  rebuilt.  Tlie  gun  shop  and  flax  mill  were  in  Newport. 
All  the  rest  in  Fairfield.  All  these  mills  above  mentioned  I  have  seen, 
except  the  Card  tannery  and  potaslu-ry.  I  have  been  told  there  was  a 
trip  liammer,  also,  but  I  have  failed  to  locate  that.  I  had  all  this  old 
mill  property  from  the  school  liouse  down  for  several  years.  The  old 
deeds  showed  the  water  power  rights.  Here  were  eight  dams  and  mills 
in  about  a  mile,  seven  of  them  in  half  a  mile.  In  those  days  the  mills 
were  mostly  on  small  streams,  reipiiring  less  capital  to  build  and  oper- 
ate them.  My  Grandfather  Johnson  said  that  "Before  the  Bowens 
got  started  at  Newport,  the  City  was  quite  a  place  of  business."  Other 
old  settlers  and  their  descendants  give  the  same  testimony.  Besides 
the  mills  mentioned,  they  liad  stores,  taverns  and  mechanic  sliops.  1 
have  seen  many  of  them.  There  was  a  shoe  shop  occupied  as  late  as 
1848.  I  have  seen  dancing  in  the  "ballroom"  of  one  of  tlie  old  taverns, 
known  as  the  Carpenter  Ikmse.  I  think  the  late  Hon.  A.  M.  Ross  was 
born  there;  liis  parents  had  lived  there  some  time  and  lie  might  at  that 
lime  mentioned  have  been  five  or  six  years  old. 

1  have  before  noted  that  Christopher  Hawkins,  the  Bowens.  Bench- 
leys  and  some  others  from  Newport,  R.  I.,  had  come  about  1787  and  '88, 
and  stopped  in  the  present  town  of  Fairfield.  They  were  to  be  the  first 
settlers  of  Newport,  as  I  shall  soon  show. 

In  July,  178(5,  Daniel  Campbell,  of  the  City  of  New  York  purchased 
of  the  Commissioners  of  Forfeifui'e  the  lands  where  the  present  village 
of  Newport  is.  In  1788-0  the  Bowens  before  mentioned  purchased  of 
Mr.  Campbell  the  water  power  and  land  for  the  village  of  Newport. 
In  1790,  a  Mr.  Lawton  made  a  small  clearing  and  put  up  a  log  cabin  in 
Newport,  which  he  aband(Uied.  In  the  fall  of  17!)!.  Christophe'-  Haw- 
kins removed  into  the  present  town  of  Newport,  with  a  vIcav  of  making 
a  permanent  settlement.  He  obtained  title  through  a  Mr.  Vischer,  of 
the  Commissioners  of  Forfeitnri".  In  the  spring  of  ITlfJ,  Hawkins 
erected  for  the  BoAvens  upon  their  property  a  small  house  and  Benj. 
Bowen  seated  himself  there  the  same  year,  and  the  next  year  built  a 
dam  and  saw  mill,  and  the  next  year,  1704,  a  grist  mill.  I  have  taken 
some  pains  to  learn  where  that  house  was,  what  it  was  made  of, 
whether  of  logs  or  sawed  lumber,  and  if  sawed,  how  and  where  ob- 
tained. I  think  Hawkins  occupied  the  cabin  built  by  Lawton  tempor- 
arily until  he  could  build  for  himself.  Old  Mrs.  Barry,  widow  of  the 
late  Standisli  Barry,  ex-county  clerk,  etc.,  now  residing  at  Newport 
with  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Pomeroy,  in  the  old  Barry  homestead,  is  the 
daughter  of  Benj.  Bowen.  She  is  also  the  grandmother  of  Frank  G. 
and  Theodore  P>arry  of  Herkimer.  She  was  too  aged  and  infirm  more 
than  two  years  ago  to  give  me  any  information.  I  commenced  this 
paper  more  than  three  years  ago  for  my  children  only.     I  found  two 


PIONEER  TIMES  ON   THE   ROVAL  GRANT.  53 

lucii  li\iiis  wlioiii  1  Ii.mI  Um)\\ii  foity  or  lil'ty  yens,  'i'hcy  were  honi 
ill  ISd'.l,  thus  ".Ml  years  old.  Jlciiiy  Thornton  had  worked  for  r.<»wfn 
in  his  niill,  hut  was  tiieii.  over  two  years  auo,  in  lied  and  has  since  i^one 
over  the  rixcr.  Siiernian  Wooster,  son  of  .Iiid.iii'  Shei-iiiMii  Wooster, 
aiiparentiy  in  .uood  Jiealth  and  hi'i.uht,  clear  memory  and  could  tell 
nhout  the  first  settlement  of  Newport,  said:  "Yes.  I  knew  < 'liristojilier 
Hawkins  A-ery  well.  I  didn't  like  scliool.  ami  my  father  said  if  1 
wouldn't  .!i'o  to  school  I  should  work.  I  worked  for  Hawkins  and  he 
used  to  tell  me  many  things  about  the  early  days  of  Xew]»ort.  I  have 
lieen  in  that  liouse  lie  iiuill  for  Itoweii  many  a  time.  It  was  of  sawed 
lumber.  He  i;ot  it  at  the  Old  City,  brought  it  ovei'  'Woodchuck  hill" 
on  that  old  First  road  from  the  City  to  Newport.  It  was  the  central 
rear  pai't  of  that  j^reat  Waterman  mansion,  on  the  hill.  The  house  was 
not  lar.i;e;  it  had  a  jireat  kitchen,  and  lar.iie  lire-place,  to  I'oll  in  i^reat 
lo.us.  and  room  to  jiile  on  hniu  wood  in  front.  When  he  had  r.aised  some 
.urain  ftir  food  he  put  some  in  a  s;ick  and  on  the  back  of  ;i  gentle  ox  he 
I'.ad  and  took  it  over  to  the  City  and  .yot  it  .uround."  Th:it  settles  the 
point  for  me.  There  were  mills  at  the  City  liefore  17'.»"_',  and  they  were 
among  the  earliest,  if  not  tlie  very  earliest  in  this  part  of  tne  country, 
and  perfoi-med  a  very  important  part  in  the  settlement. 

Bowen's  clam  and  mills  at  Newjiort  were  the  iii-st  on  the  strea.m  by 
many  years.  Accordin.L;-  to  ,Mi'.  J.  N.  Waltei's,  of  Russia,  there  ini.niit 
have  been  one  above  Trenton  Falls,  and  one  below  Hve  or  six  years 
later,  say  about  ITilS.  Tliei'e  was  in  early  days  a  small  aff.ilr  on  the 
east  side  of  the  creek  below  the  iiresent  Middleville.  at  a  sliarji  tui'ii 
in  the  stream,  op])osite  the  home  of  F.ela  Ward,  who  was  succeeded  by 
his  son,  Henry  L.  Ward,  on  land  lonu  owned  by  l>avid  l''ord,  and  now 
by  his  son,  A.  W.  Foi'd.  There  was  no  dam  .across  the  creek,  the  water 
being  run  into  :i  ditch,  and  thus  down  to  the  mill.  There  was  pothin.i;- 
of  mills  yet  at  Middleville  and  not  until  ]Sl(i. 

Now,  as  to  tliat  old  First  road  over  '"Woodchuck  hill."  fi'om  the  City 
to  Newport.  I  su]ipose  that  with  the  excejition  of  the  little  clearing 
made  by  Lawton.  in  IT'.Mi,  it  was  ;in  unbroken  forest  wildeiness.  beyond 
and  west  of  the  White  Creek,  when  Hawkins  went  in  IT'.ll.  Starting 
out  fioin  the  City  north,  the  road  soon  turns  westerly,  to  tic  corner 
occupied  many  years  by  the  kite  Win.  K.  .Morey.  Ann)n,g  the  earliest 
settlers  wei'i'  three  families  by  the  n.anie  of  I'ost.  from  White  Creek, 
Washin.gton  county.  X.  Y..  but  oi'igiually  from  Conne<'ticut.  The  cor- 
ner above  mentioned,  was  taken  by  Han  Post.  IOs(|..  and  w'as  his  home- 
stead more  than  fifty  years,  or  until  1S47,  when  he  sold  it  and  retired  to 
Newport  village.  Nathaniel  took  up  lands  farthei-  north.  His  home- 
stead has  been  just  across  the  roadway  south  of  the  stone  school 
house,  over  seventy  years,  or  xintil  his  death,  about  ISi^l),  at  !)•>  years 
of  age.  He  is  known  to  have  voted  at  Norwiiy  in  ISliS;,  for  IT.  S.  ({rant, 
which  was  :ill  these  yeai's  his  voting  place.  The  othei-  brother  settled 
on  the  farm  on  the  noi-fli  side  of  the  White  Cri'ck  and  adjoining  it 
about   a   half   mile   from    its   niouth.    now   owned    by   .loseph   Spellmaii, 


64  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Tho  house  was  near  tlio  crook;  tlio  barn  is  there  yet,  farther  back  in 
the  meadow.  Dan's  farm  adjoined  the  creek,  about  fifty  rods,  which 
also  ran  tlirough  Nathaniel's.  Continuing  Avest  from  Dan  Post's  to  near 
White  Creek,  the  road  turned,  just  west  of  Spelhiian's  house,  directly 
north,  across  tlie  creek,  passing'  I'ost's  house;  ran  on  and  up  over  the 
hill  to  Hawkins'  place,  where  he  made  his  settlement  by  the  side  of 
the  West  Canada,  below  Newport  village.  The  Hawkins  lands  were 
held  and  occupied  by  his  son,  Christopher,  and  George  B.,  a  grandson 
now  dead,  al)Out  100  years.  The  property  now  is  owned  by  Mrs.  Jxdia 
Crumby,  widow  of  the  late  D.ivid  CrTiniby.  There  were  at  one  time 
five  houses  on  that  road,  between  Hawkins'  and  White  Creek.  His 
brother,  Stephen,  lived  in  one,  nearest  his.  and  tln-ee  between  Stephen 
and  I'ost.  Sherman  Wooster  gave  me  their  names.  1  used  to  see  the 
pits  where  cellars  had  been,  and  apple  trees  nearby.  My  fatlier  and 
gi'andfather  had  bought  of  Post's  widow  and  heirs  the  land  ho  liad  and 
th(>n  aftei'  buying  another  lot,  between  it  and  Hawkins;  the  two  farms 
Joined,  :ind  contained  all  of  the  old  I'oad,  less  than  two  miles.  Pour 
of  the  houses  had  been  on  ours.  It  had  bi'on  the  only  road  to  Newport 
for  some  years.  I  am  told  that  my  grandfather's  brother,  Silas  Johnson, 
lived  at  one  time  on  Woodchnck  hill.  Ho  was  the  grandfather  of 
Alexis  L.  Johnson,  of  Schnyloi'.  Wiien  I  first  knew  Uncle  Silas  he 
lived  at  Eaton's  P.ush,  now  E.-itonvillo. 

About  ITS!),  Oliver  Lawton  came  on  to  the  Royal  Grant  fi'oin  New- 
port, K.  L,  and  settled  on  lot  No.  1,  of  the  second  allotment.  He  had 
five  sons,  David,  P>onjamin,  (ieorgo,  Jose])h  and  Oliver,  and  one  d;iugh- 
ter,  Polly.  They  had  HOO  hundred  acres  of  land.  Hence  the  name  Law- 
ton  street  on  which  they  wi'i'c  settled.  It  is  the  road  up  the  hill  directly 
east  from  the  City  to  the  Slate  road,  intersecting  it,  westerly  of  Ayres' 
place,  iu  school  district  No.  1,  Paiiheld.  It  is  .about  midway  between 
Fairfield  and  NorAvay.  and  they  were  seated  west  of  that  main  road 
crossing,  toward  Iho  ('ity.  1  know  George  and  Joseph;  they  i-omained 
on  the  street,  kept  their  farms  and  raised  up  families,  (ieorgo  was  the 
grandfather  of  Levi  A.  Lawton,  of  Herkimer,  ('ontinuing  on  the  same 
Lawton  street  road  east  toward  the  State  road,  we  come  to  the  Tan- 
ners, who  also  came  from  Rhode  Island,  at  about  the  same  time.  Mr. 
Tanner,  I  thiidc  his  name  was  TlKimas.  had  three  sons,  Thomas,  Perry 
and  Smith.  They  had  100  aci'os,  divided  among  them.  Thomas'  i)lace 
was  that  of  the  late  Wai-i'on  P.uck.  now  \'o()hres,  of  Newport,  on  the 
Lawton  street  road.  Smith  was  on  the  .lerseyliold  road;  is  now  the 
estate  of  the  late  Jarius  Mather,  merchant,  of  Pairfii'ld;  and  I'erry's 
place  was  not  on  any  road,  but  between  all  three,  viz.,  Jorseyfiold, 
Lawton  street  and  the  State  road.  It  is  now  owned  and  occupied  by 
Miss  P.  Norton,  d.-inghtei-  of  the  late  .Morg.in  Norton,  who  was  the  son 
of  James  Norton.  The  old  Norton  homestead  is  on  tlio  State  road 
north,  in  plain  siglit. 

IVrry  Tanner  was  my  mother's  father.  She  was  born  there  in  ISO;^. 
^he  said  her  father  built  there  before  the  roads  woi-e  laid,  and  thus 


PIONEER  TIMES  ON  THE   ROYAL  GRANT.  55 

^()t  left  out;  also  that  wlicii  lt\-iirti('l(l  \A'as  dixidt'd  Iroin  Norway,  in 
17!m;,  lie  was  in  FairlicUI.  1  think  the  town  line  is  tlic  iiorlii  line  oC  the 
farm.  It  is  said  tiiat  tlir  .Ici'scn  licld  I'oad  was  tiic  lirst  laid  in  (lie  town 
of  Fairlicld.  It  was  t'l'oni  sonic  Imsli  (1  liavi'  ror^ollcn  tlic  nanid  i>i-o- 
hably  IMicinuMisydci-'s  I'.ush.  It  is  nortli  of  tiio  I'ivcr.  and  a  road  fi-oin 
it  runs  into  Little  i'\ills.  UnnniMji'  tlioncc  nortii  past  Top  Xotcli,  tlic 
Dutch  settlement,  jiasses  IS.ai'tow  Ilill.  on  its  c;istein  side,  crosses  the 
road,  Fairticld  to  S;ilislmry,  :it  the  Wliii»ple  school  house;  )he  late 
Smith  Taunt'r's  iil.-icc.  the  site  of  the  \(H'th  F.airlield  cheese  factory, 
and  is  crossed  by  the  State  road  (laid  in  lS(i;;)  at  the  homestead  of  the 
late  N.-ithaniel  S.  Henderson,  fathi'i-  of  .lolm  1).  Henderson,  and  con- 
tiuuiny"  nortli  on  a  line  of  lots,  now  neai'ly  .all  the  w,i\'.  reaches  .Icrsey- 
tield  near  Western's  mill  (which  I  think  is  now  r.ennetfsi  on  the  I'.l.ack 
("reek.  The  ("anadi.ans  and  Indi.ans  in  the  I-'i'ench  w.ar  .and  also  in 
the  Ilevolution.ary  wai'.  in  some  of  then-  r.aids  came  by  \v:iy  of  the 
I'.l.-ick  liiver  and  .lerseylield,  about  on  this  line.  Koss  .and  I'.utlei-,  in 
their  fam<)us  i.aid  .and  retreat  at  the  time  I'.utlcr  was  killed,  were  on 
this  route. 

My  tirst  rt'colh>ction  o1  my  (Jrandfather  .lohnson  w;is  when  I  was 
seven  years  old,  and  his  telling  me  somethin,^  lli.at  oc(  nired  wIh'U  he 
was  seven  ye.ars  old.  He  was  out  in  the  woods  A\here  his  peojile  made 
su.car,  and  heard  the  lii-iiii;-  of  .L:uns.  It  w.as.  in  fact,  the  memorable 
r.)tli  of  Ajiial.  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  and  Concord,  in  ITT-'t. 
lie  was  a  few  miles  west  of  ("oncoi-d.  in  Worcestei'  county.  His  f.ather, 
Asa  Johnson  (in  the  tifth  n-eneration,  in  our  line,  from  ('.apt.  I''>dward, 
who  came  to  I'.oston,  in  Winthrop's  exjicdition  in  lil.'ioi.  enlisted  .and 
served  three  short  terms  in  the  Revolutionary  w.ar  (see  Ifcvolutionary 
N.  Y.  arvhives,  se(a-etary's  ollice.  Com..  .Mass.,  r.ostoni  called  enua'.ucncy 
terms.  He  h.ad  14  children.  lH  of  them  boin  befoi'c  the  w.ar:  the  oldest 
son  then  only  14  years  old.  The  next  recollecticui  of  m-andf.a11ier  was 
in  reference  to  th.at  old  lirst  can.al  .at  Little  r'alls  for  the  river  bo.ats. 
lie  said:  "I  strucMc  almost  the  lirst  blow  stiuck  on  th.at  work."  I  don't 
think  he  canu'  for  that:  as  he  w.as  soon  settled  on  a  line  f.irm  Just  ovei- 
the  hill  west  of  Eatonville,  on  the  lo.ad  to  Middleville.  as  it  now  is. 
The  oldest  son  of  a  larye  family  was  born  there,  in  1T".».'>.  the  same  ye.ai' 
the  canal  was  tinished.  .\lso  three  moi-e  sons  and  thiee  d;iu.i;htcrs  were 
born  there,  my  father  bciim  the  youngest  son.  TIkm-c  was  another 
notable  fi.uure  on  that  canal  work.  Mr.  S.amuel  l-'ortune.  an  Fn.ulish 
luillwri.nht,  came  from  lOnijl.ind  to  build  those  locks,  which  were  of 
wood,  and  had  char^^c  of  the  work.  More  about  him  latei-.  We  m.ay 
ol)serve  that  two  years  before  this  can.al  work  was  commenced  there 
was  only  one  dwellln.u-  house  in  lattle  F.alls. 

In  1795,  Joseph  Benchley  removed  fi-<)m  Fairlield  to  Newport.  P.e- 
tween  this  time  and  17!»S,  Wm.  W.akely,  .Mr.  Iturton.  Stei)hen  H.awkius, 
brother  of  Christoi)her.  (Jeoriic  Cook,  .Nahum  H.iniels,  I'Idward  Coflin, 
John  Nels(Mi,  John  C.  (Jreen,  -lolm  ( 'liur<hill.  Ccoruc  l''enn(a-  .and  Wm. 
Whipple  made  permanent  locations  in  the  town.     These  families  were 


56  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

from  Connecticut,  Massachusetts  and  Hhode  Island.  Mr.  Wakely  kejit 
the  first  tavern  and  George  Cook  tlie  first  store.  Coffin,  Green,  Nelson. 
Ch-urchill  and  others  purchased  lands  on  the  west  side  of  the  creek,  in 
Walton's  Patent. 

The  first  town  meeting  took  place  in  1S(»7.  Doctor  Westel  Wil- 
loughby,  Jr.,  was  the  moderator.  Christopher  Hawkins  was  chosen 
supervisor  and  Phineas  S.lierman,  town  clerk.  Dr.  Westel  Wil!ouglil).v, 
Jr.,  was  a  prominent  personality,  in  l)otli  town  and  county,  for  50  years 
or  more.  He  was  getting  to  be  old,  when  I  used  to  see  him,  in  IS;};!  to 
1840.  Benjamin  Bowen  also  was  prominent  and  it  was  said  of  him 
that  he  was  a  business  man,  but  his  enterprises  in  Newport  were  not 
successful.  I  can  surmise  that  liis  outlay  of  capital  was  too  lieavy  for 
the  times.  Too  many  mills  on  small  streams  with  small  cai)ital  in  com- 
petition. 

The  territory  of  the  town  Avas  taken  partly  from  Norway  and  Pair- 
tield.  The  boundary,  as  described,  places  the  northeast  corner  at  the 
jiortlieast  corner  of  lot  No.  23,  in  tlie  second  allotment  of  the  Royal 
Grant,  adjoining  Norway.  It  is  a  little  nortli  of  the  State  road,  near 
the  residence  of  Chas.  Hines,  running  south;  tlience  crosses  the  rond 
east  of  Hines'  house,  on  a  line  of  lots,  down  tlie  White  Creek  valley, 
crossing  and  re-crossing  tlie  road  as  it  tur)is  either  way,  and  some  of 
the  way  in  tlie  I'oad,  to  the  soutlus'ist  corner  of  lot  No.  42  in  the  said 
second  allotment.  That  point  is  the  southwest  corner  of  Norway  and 
the  nortliwest  corner  of  Fairfield.  I'rom  thence  on  a  line  of  lots, 
directly  east  to  Salisi)m-y,  is  the  line  between  Norway  and  Fairfield. 
Tlie  late  Dean  Kelly  had  on  White  Creek,  near  liis  residence,  a  cheese 
box  shop.  On  the  same  site  had  been  previously  tlie  shop  of  Joshua' 
Howell,  a  wooden  clock  maker.  Mr.  Howell  used  water  power  from 
the  creek  to  run  a  circular  saw,  turning  latlie  and  such  otlier  special 
machinery  as  was  considered  needful  in  tlie  manufacture  of  clocks. 
He  made  good  clocks.  I  heard  of  one  in  that  higli  case  style,  standing 
on  the  floor  and  reaching  to  a  low  ceiling,  wliicli  was  recently  running 
right  along  and  keeping  good  time.  His  residence  was  on  the  east  side 
of  the  road,  directly  opposite.  There  was  a  story  current  when  I  was 
a  school  boy  at  the  stone  school  house,  in  ]So(i  to  1S42.  that  Mr.  Howell 
could  sleep  in  one  town,  his  wife  in  another,  and  both  in  tlie  same  bed 
at  the  same  time.  ]\Ir.  Howell  had  a  son,  Julius,  and  two  daughters, 
liaura  and  Mary,  who  was  my  school  teacher. 

Josiah  Harris,  a  blacksmith,  and  one  of  the  best  of  men,  lived  near 
the  stone  school  house,  on  tlie  west  side  of  the  road,  in  Newport,  and 
h.ad  a  stone  shop  down  liy  tlie  creek,  with  Avater  power,  for  a  ti'ip  ham- 
mer, grindstone,  polishing  wheels,  turning  latlie  and  a  special  wheel 
to  blow  his  bellows.  Agricultural  implement  manufacture  was  in  its 
infancy  before  1850.  Mr.  Harris  not  only  shod  the  farmers'  horses,  but 
made  their  implements  in  iron,  steel  and  some  of  wood,  viz.,  axes,  hoes, 
forks,  rakes  (some  scytlies,  not  many),  spades,  crowbars,  cliains,  etc. 
Also  carpenters'  tools,  cliisels,  adz,  hatchets,  axes  and  hammers.     It 


PIONEER  TIMES   ON   THE   ROYAL   GRANT.  57 

mifiiit  truly  be  said  lie  iiindc  ull  kinds  Imt  poor  ones.  I  li.-ul  a  set  of  his 
carpenter  tools.  I  never  knew  him  to  Tnake  a  jioor  one.  (lettinu  ad- 
vanced in  years  and  his  tliree  suns,  I':d\vin  A.,  \V.  Irvin.i;  and  .lehii  net 
wishinj;-  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  their  father,  on  the  death  of  Linns 
Yale,  at  Newport,  the  inventor  and  founder  of  the  Vale  lock,  they 
leased  the  shop,  iiatents,  tools  ;ind  tixtui'es  and  run  that,  until  liinus, 
Jr.,  had  ni.-ide  arrauiienients  east  to  have  the  locks  nia(h'  on  a  l;ir.i;<'r 
scah'.  Mr.  Harris,  his  Hrst  wife  heini;'  dead,  and  he  had  married  a 
second,  sold  out  his  honiestea<l  there,  including'  shop  and  tools,  and  liav- 
in;^- previously  purchased  the  Howell  homestead  (a  small  f;irnn  I'enioved 
the  old  Howell  house  and  about  1S(;7  built  himself  one  on  the.samo 
site.  J\Ir.  Harris  liad  at  the  above  mentioned  pl;u-e  been  a  resident  of 
Newport  for  .'55  years  or  more,  perliaps  -10.  IHs  postottice,  liis  church 
and  votiny-  place  were  Newport.  He  did  not  now  wisli  to  changt'  his 
residence,  althou.L;h  nearly  all  the  Howell  land  was  in  Norway.  He 
carefully  planned  the  house,  with  the  bedrocun  so  located  that  he  could 
sh'ep  in  Newport  and  his  wife,  who  had  been  a  Norway  woman,  on  the 
other  side  of  tlie  lied  in  Norway,  and  thus  Mr.  Harris  could  honestly 
retain  his  residence  in  Newport.  He  was  a  true  Christian  and  I  never 
knew  a  child  on  White  Creek  that  did  not  love  him.  The  town's  corner 
aforesaid  is  near  tliis  spot.  I  think  the  Howell  lot,  that  part  of  it  in 
Norway,  runs  to  and  is  th(>  town's  corner;  continuiny  thence  soiitli, 
on  the  same  line  of  lots  as  heretofore,  throu.L;ii  the  City  oti  its  western 
side  to  the  C;inada  Creek  at  the  bridge  near  the  house,  heretofoi'e  or 
late  of  Obediah  Knittin;  thence  west  to  the  michlle  of  the  creek,  thence 
down  the  michlle  of  the  creelv,  etc. 

That  point  is  opi)osite  tlii'  homestead  of  the  late  Nicholas  Smith, 
now  of  his  son,  A.  G.  Smith,  one  mile  from  I\Iiddl<>vill(>.  My  father  and 
my  wife's  father,  (4eorge  Buell,  used  to  t<>ll  me  about  that  brid.t;c  and 
how  it  was  carried  away  by  ice  in  a  tlo(»d.  Thei-e  was  none  built  to 
replace  it.  as  one  had  been  built  at  Mlddltnille  in  ISIO,  ;ind  thus  travi-l 
to  Utica  and  in  general  also,  was  diverted.  i)\vv  that  bridge  and  direct- 
ly on  and  up  over  the  Hassenclever  hills  as  the  I'oad  now  runs  into 
Schuyler,  and  on  through  Deertield,  was  the  route  for  many  years  fi'om 
tliis  section  to  Utica  and  Whitestown  (now  Whitesboro)  the  county  seat 
of  Herkimer  county  from  its  organization  in  ITMI  to  the  organization 
of  Oneida  in  17!»S. 

In  isoi!  the  Kev.  John  Ta.\  lor  of  Massacliusetts  m.-ide  a  mission.ary 
tour  through  this  section,  and  ke])t  a  diary,  or  joui'nal.  In  it  he  wrote, 
July  21)tli:  "I  this  morning  left  Norway  for  Utica,  .ind  .arrived  the)-e 
about  r»  o'clock,  liaving  traveled  '2:i  nul(>s.  I  i)assed  through  a  cornel' 
of  Schuyler  into  Deertield,  u])on  the  Mohawk."  H(>  ])i'obably  canu' 
down  through  the  City  and  crossed  this  bridge.  1  h.ive  no  idea  there 
was  .any  othei"  way  h(>  could  go.  It  was  the  hrst  and  only  bridge  over 
the  creek  for  some  years.  .\  notable  person.ality,  on  this  Koy.al  Crant  in 
ISO],  was  the  Kev.  Caleb  Alexander.  He  Avas  a  native  of  Northlield, 
Mass.,  graduated  at  Yule  college,  and  having  been  admitted  to  the  miu- 


58  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

istry,  settled  as  pastor  of  the  church  at  Mendon.  Mass.  lientoii  says: 
"He  came  into  \\'estern  New  York,  as  a  luissionary,  in  1801,  and  I  am 
enabled,  tln'ouyh  tlu^  kindness  of  one  of  his  descendants,  to  consult  his 
journal,  from  ^Yhich  I  have  made  sonu'  extracts.  He  visited  various 
localities  on  the  North  River  and  many  places  on  the  Avay  to  Onondaiia 
j'.nd  Ontario  counties,  and  finally  reacluMl  Norway  in  this  county, 
Novemljer  lOtli." 

The  first  entry  copied  is  August  10th.  ISOl :  "Having  received  my 
commission  fi'om  the  Rev.  Nathaniel  Kmnions,  D.  D.,  president  of  the 
Massacliusetts  Missionary  Society,  having-  obtained  consent  of  my 
church  and  congregation,  and  committed  myself  and  family  to  the  direc- 
tion and  disposal  of  God,  I  ))egan  my  missionary  teur  to  th^  people  in 
the  western  part  of  the  State  of  New  Yorlv." 

He  remained  in  tliis  vicinity  until  tlie  23d  of  November,  thirteen  days, 
visiting  and  preaching  at  Norway,  Fairfield  and  Salisbury,  and  kept 
a  daily  journal.  I  infer  from  his  journal  that  he  was  a  Congregation- 
alist.  There  were  church  organizations  but  no  church  buildings.  Re- 
ligious meetings  were  held  in  school  houses  .and  private  houses.  Preach- 
iiig  mainly  by  Baptist  and  Methodist.  On  the  18th,  at  Fairfield,  he 
wrote:  "In  Fairfield  is  a  Congregatlonalist  church  of  21  members: 
some  attention  to  religion.  This  town  contains  2,005  souls;  no  min- 
ister. Some  r.aptist.  and  some  never  attaclied  tliemselves  to  any  de- 
nomination. Salisbury,  Fairfield  and  Norway  contain  3.(;0(i  souls,  and 
no  ministei'.  The  county  of  llerkinu'i'  contains  ll.fiO.'!,  and  no  minister, 
excepting  illiterate  P>aptist  preachers." 

During  the  thirteen  days  he  liad  been  in  this  vicinity,  he  had  bt'cn  in 
Fairfield  five  different  days  and  had  made  arrangenuMits  to  have  a 
budding  erected  during  the  winter,  for  tlie  purpose  of  opening  a  scliool 
in  tlie  Spring.  A  frame  building  was  erected  and  in  May,  lS(rJ.  he 
returned  Avith  his  family  from  Massachusetts  and  commenci'd  in  good 
earnest  to  lay  tlie  foundation  of  an  institution  which  gave  birth  to 
I'airtield  Academy.  iMn-iiig  the  wliole  period  of  his  engagement  at  the 
head  of  the  Academy,  ten  years,  he  preached  alternately  at  Fairheld, 
Norway,  Salisbury  and  other  places  in  the  northern  part  of  the  county. 
He  left  Fairfield  in  iS12. 

Mr.  Alexander  in  his  missionary  tour  in  ISOl  closed  the  work  at  Fair- 
field, and  on  Monday,  November  2;!d.  he  Avrote:  "Set  out  from  Fairfield 
on  my  journey  honu'ward;  cold  weather;  rode  seven  miles  to  the  Little 
Falls  with  a  view  of  taking  a  boat,  to  fall  down  the  river  to  Schenec- 
tady. Found  the  Mohawk  River  covered  with  ice.  Tlien  rode  up  the 
river  seven  miles  to  German  Flats,  to  take  the  stage.  Finding  that  the 
stage  is  not  to  run  until  to-morrow,  I  crossed  the  Mohawk  to  Herkimer 
Court  House,  two  miles. 

"Ai'ound  the  Little  Falls  the  country  is  hilly  and  very  rocky  near  the 
river.  On  the  northern  bank  is  a  canal  with  seven  (five)  locks  for  the 
conveyance  of  boats.  Here  is  a  village  of  forty  houses,  several  mer- 
cliant  stores,  mechanic  shops  and  a  new  meeting  bouse  of  octagonal 


PIONEER  TIMES   ON   THE   ROYAL  GRANT.  59 

coiisf ruction.  Tlic  [tcoiilc  ni-c  iiriiiciiially  Eii.i;lisli,  mid  tl:cy  seldom  have 
proacliiiiu.  TIh'  jdact"  abounds  in  vice,  especially  iirolanily.  Since  my 
aiTi\al  on  the  ri\er  1  liaNC  iieard  mori'  cui'sin.u  and  swearin.L:.  lionjd 
oatlis  and  imprecations,  flian  in  ten  yeai's  past.  'I'liey  tell  cinetly  trom 
the  lips  of  boatmen.  In  some  tavei-ns  wtnv  Enjilish  and  l>ntch  fai-mers 
drinkini;-  and  swearin.L;',  and  the  Enjilish  appeared  to  Ik'  llie  most  ahan- 
doned.  They  regard  not  the  i)rt'sencc  of  a  ('ler.iiyman,  for  the  Dominie 
drinks  and  sweats  as  much  as  the  conunon  ix'ople.  At  (!erm:in  l<"'lats 
I  observed  an  old  iMifcli  stone  chapel.  There  is  a  iHitcli  cieriiyman 
\\lio  jireaches  to  (lie  people  e\cry  second  Salibath." 

'I'his  was  undoubtedly  the  Kev.  John  Spinner,  tlie  fatlier  and  founder 
of  tlie  Spinner  fiimily  in  Ilei'kimer — li\  K.  Spinner  ;ind  others.  Mr. 
Spinner  from  <JiM'many  had  Jandi-d  in  Xcw  York  on  tlie  \'2t\i  of  May. 
ISOl.  Soon  after  he  was  called  to  the  spiritual  charge  of  the  (Jeiinan 
(■oii.yreiiations  at  IIi>rkiniei'  and  (ieiaiian  Flats,  and  commenced  his  pas- 
toral functions  in  September  and  his  coiniection  with  thest'  churches 
continued  forty  yeai's. 

("ontiuuiui;',  Mi'.  Alexander  said:  "On  the  Hats  in  the  town  of  Herkimer 
is  a  liandsome  tlourishinu'  villa.u'e.  Nino  years  since,viz..  M'.)'2.  there  wei'e 
only  two  Dutch  buildini;s  in  the  place.  There  is  now  a  handsome 
street,  a  meetin.u'  house,  a  court  house,  a  jail,  ;i  printing;-  ollice,  merchant 
stores,  about  thirty  ele.^'.'int  d\\'elliii.t;s  and  se\'eral  mecli;inic  slio]>s.  No 
minister.  Keliuion  appears  to  li.iN'e  no  footini;'  here.  In  the  whole 
county  of  II(  I'kimei'  lliere  is  neitliei'  a  I'resbytei'iiiu  or  a  Con.^re.ii'ation- 
alist  minister.  The  iieo])le  in  ucneral  seem  to  be  urowini;'  up  in  ignor- 
ance and  wickedness. 

"Tuesday.  24th.  Took  the  sta.ue  at  Herkimer  and  it.-issed  throuuh 
the  German  Flats  and  Minden,  to  ( 'auajohai-ie,  (wenty-si.x  miles." 
Observe  that  .'it  this  time  the  st;i.u'es  from  here  to  Schenectady  r.'in  on 
the  south  side  of  the  river,  jiassint;'  Little  Falls  over  l"\'ill  hill.  The 
IJev.  John  Taylor,  mission.-ii'y  in  1S(rj.  before  menlioncd,  I  think  ;ilso 
w;is  ;i  ( V)niire,u'ati()nalis1.  When  in  Nor\v;!y  he  wi'ote  in  his  jouriuil: 
"A  young  gent  by  the  name  of  .lohnson  l;;is  pre.'iched  in  (his  (own  sev- 
er.il  Sabbaths,  and  the  people  liave  hired  him  for  three  or  four  (o  come; 
but  it  is  in  tliis  town,  as  in  all  these  ports,  there  is  a  mixture  of  I'.aje 
tists.  ;\retliodists,  I'niversalists  and  Diests.  In  the  varimis  i»ai'ts  of 
the  town  there  is  ]>reacliing  by  sectarians  of  ;ilinost  ;ill  kinds,  every 
Sabbath.  Thei'e  is  one  Methodist  church,  prosju'rous:  (wo  r.-ajitist,  and 
(lart  of  :i  third.  No  meeting  houses.  'J'lie  jieople  .-ilmosl  universally 
Inclined  to  hear  pre;iching  of  their  v.'ii'i(ais  sects."  Thus  we  ha\e  a  pict- 
ure of  what  Herkimei"  and  Little  l<''alls  were  !)S  ye.ars  ago,  and  ;ilso  ](>T 
years  ago,  when  there  were  (wo  Dutch  buildings  in  Hei'kimei'  and  one 
dwelling  in  Little  Falls. 

About  37110  t(»  1S(l(l.  ro.'ids  centered  at  the  ("ity  from  .all  ])oints  and 
Itnsiness  w.as  booming.  The  Heikimei'  county  clerk's  oltice  was  luu'iied 
in  the  S]»ring  of  isot.  Thus  th(>  oldest  deed  I  found  recorded  on  pro])- 
erty  at  the  City   was    IT'.i'.).     i'eleg  Card  was   the  lirst  grantor  of  mill 


60  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

piopt'i-ty,  whicli  I  lound  ivcord  of.  Win.  Card  wms  an  early  purchaser 
of  land.  Jonathan  Card,  bi'fore  mentioned,  bought  the  mill  property 
on  the  south  side  in  1S()2.  lie  AA'as  the  father  of  Mrs.  Graves,  wife  of 
the  late  Judge  Ezra  (Jraves  of  Herkimer.  She  was  l)oni  in  1S(».3.  i)i-ol)a- 
bly  on  that  property.  When  I  lived  there  she  told  me  of  her  girlhood 
days,  playing  around  on  those  grounds.  She  has  been  known  to  visit 
the  spot  as  a  loved  one.  -There  was  a  disposition  at  one  time  to  call  it 
Card  City.  I  think  that,  besides  the  tannery  and  potashery,  he  had  a 
store  of  general  merchandise.  Elijah  Holmes,  the  grandfather  of  Mrs. 
A.  L.  Howell,  of  Mohawk,  was  one  of  the  early  grantees  in  18(X).  Caleb 
Sheldon  another.  Mr.  Holmes  had  mill  propcM-ty  and  land.  Thus  things 
went  on  until  1800,  when  Mr.  Samuel  Fortune,  that  English  millwright 
who  had  done  those  wooden  locks  at  Little  Falls,  was  purchaser  of  tlie 
mill  property  and  established  himself  here  for  25  years  or  more,  raising 
up  a  large  family.  Rowland  Phillips,  before  mentioned,  came  this  year; 
also  Sheffield  Kenyon,  whom  I  knew  as  late  as  1851,  and  w^ho  was  the 
father  of  the  late  Varnum  S.  Kenyon,  mei'chant  and  manufacturer,  of 
Michlleville,  came  this  year.  ISOO,  and  obtained  title  to  land  for  Middle- 
ville,  and  that  same  year  a  tavern  was  built  on  that  corner  and  kept  by 
Mr.  McMitcliell,  where  J.  Cory  kept  so  long.  It  is  now  kept  by  Spell- 
man.  In  1807  Samuel  Stevens  built  a  tavern  a  little  farther  west  and 
nearby  was  the  mechanic  shop  of  Eber  Stevens.  I  first  knew  the  spot 
as  the  home  of  Shibney  Nichols,  and  later,  of  Wm.  Criswold,  who  had 
retired  here  from  Fairfield  village.  He  had  (piite  a  family,  four  sons 
and  three  daughters:  Samuel,  a  merchant  at  Aliddleville;  (leorge,  Wal- 
ter and  William,  three  farms  on  the  west  side,  above  Middleville; 
Ttebecca,  the  wife  of  V.  S.  Kenyon:  Almy.  the  wife  of  E.  T.  Tefft,  a 
New  York  merchant;  P^liza,  the  wife  of  Rev.  David  Chassell.  D.  D., 
principal  of  Fairfield  Academy  over  twenty  years:  retired  to  the  Oxbow 
farm,  toward  Newport,  after  1840. 

Middleville  got  its  name  in  18(t8.  Streetei'  had  a  blacksmith  shop; 
first  bridge  and  saw  mill,  1810;  school  house.  1813;  John  Wood,  tan- 
nery, 1815.  John  Wood  was  the  grandfath<M-  of  Geo.  H.  Thomas:  post- 
office  and  "weekly  mail,"  181(i;   Iinion  church,  1828. 

■  Feltruary  29th,  1808.  my  Grandfather  Johnson  was  still  on  the  farm 
he  took  up  in  the  south  i)art  of  Fairfield,  .about  fifteen  years  ago,  but 
this  day  conveyed  it  (1(»S  acres)  to  Stephen  I'.i-ayton.  The  niwt  day, 
March  1st,  grandfather  obtained  titli-  from  Joseph  Waldo  to  107  acres, 
which  he  held  about  thirty  years,  about  one  and  one-half  miles  westerly 
of  Middleville,  and  about  half  a  mile  southerly  from  the  City.  My 
fatlKM-  was  then  three  years  old.  This  corner  has  been  occupied  by 
II.  W.  Dexter  the  last  50  years. 

Stephen  Brayton  and  three  of  his  sons  removed  into  Newport,  west 
of  the  village,  and  became  large  land  owners,  viz..  Smith.  Stephen  and 
Renssalaer.  Daniel  remained  on  the  Johnson  farm  his  lifetime,  or 
until  about  or  aft(>r  18(;0.  His  daugliter,  Maria,  now  Mrs.  jNI.  C.  Crist, 
of  Middleville,  still  holds  it,  or  her  husl)and  does. 


PIONEER  TIMFS   ON   THE  ROYAL  GRANT.  61 

As  Nt'wport  ;i(lv;uic('d  in  ixiimliitidii  aiul  wciltli  .m  better  ro-id,  troiii 
tilt'  east  was  needed  tlian  L  liaxc  desnilied.  Slartini;  trnin  urand- 
father's  corner  above  named,  as  now  Hexter's.  the  new  road  rrossid 
Mill  Creek,  near  its  mouth  (when  I  lii'st  Icnew  it  in  IN.'iJi  on  a  line  stone 
aiclied  brid.i.':e  of  two  arehes  on  bed  rock.  (During  tlie  i^reat  Uoo(i 
ol'  August,  1S;>S  those  were  rut  out  chjin.i  Continuinu  on  it  crossed 
tlie  W'lute  Creek  iieai"  its  moutli.  and  caiue  to  tiie  ci;iy  slip  liank,  b.\' 
tlie  side  of  West  (".an.ada  Creek.  A  I'oad  'aiis  cut  alonu  it  a  few  t( ct 
atio\e  the  w;iter  line,  and  coidinued  on  thence  to  Xewjioit.  'I'hat 
clay  slii)  baid<  ju'oNcd  very  troublesonu'.  After  he;i\y  rains,  or  in  siirin.:; 
wlien  the  frost  came  out  it  would  slich-  and  till  the  roadway  or  caii'y 
all  into  the  creek.  For  a  time  it  was  abandoned,  and  a  road  m.-id,' 
o\-er  the  hill  farther  east,  in  ;i  little  cut  or  p.-iss  and  ;ilon,u  ilown  the 
side  hill  west,  into  tin'  ]'oad  lielore  menrioned,  near  the  cret>k.  lint 
this  road  was  also  troublesome  on  the  side  hill  west  of  the  pass,  Ikmu.i; 
clay  also,  like  the  other,  it  would  slide  and  si>oil  the  road,  and  thus 
thinus  weld  on  until  1X2").  That  hill  beiny  so  hard  to  climb  and 
troul)lesonie  about  sliding,  the  people  of  Newport,  in  \X'2Tt.  set  to  work 
in  uood  earnest  to  ()i)en  the  dug  way  road  ag.ain,  which  they  did  i)ei-- 
manently,  although  the  cl.-iy  bank  was  troublesome  many  ye.irs.  About 
ISIO,  or  a  little  after  a  retaining  wall  was  built,  next  the  water  and  as 
the  bank  had  slid  down  so  nnich  ;is  to  make  the  grade  bettc!',  not  so 
much  difficulty  is  experienct-d  now.  'I'hus  a  pretty  good  highway 
was  ojK-n  to  liittle  Falls.  A  bi'idge  being  built  at  Aliddleville,  in  ISld, 
thus  a  road  was  open  down  through  the  I^'anner  Settlement  (now 
Hildreth's)  and  over  Osborn  hill,  to  Herkimer.  Later  a  road  was 
worked  along  those  two  slii'  banks  (dug  ways)  where  the  railroad 
now  runs. 

In  1(S4.S  and  ls4!t  a  great  improvement  was  made  in  the  road  from 
Newport  to  Herkimer  by  tilling  hollows,  grading  down  hills  and  mak- 
ing cross  cuts,  to  avoid  hills  and  l)ad  places,  also  to  sliorten  the  dis- 
tance, tlius  cross  cuts  were  made  preparatory  to  tlie'  laying  of  plank.  The 
lirst  change  of  route  from  Newport  was  commenced  just  west  of  Mill 
Creek,  by  grading  down,  vei'y  near  its  mouth  and  below  the  old  stone 
arches,  and  ci-ossing  on  a  low  bridge  to  the  flat,  and  thence  continu- 
in.n  along  side  the  West  Canada  to  the  old  road  again,  ;it  the  old  bi'idge 
place,  opposite  Nicholas  Suntirs.  Next  cutting  down  from  where  the 
Countryman  cheese  factory  was  built  later,  across  the  flat  by  the  side  of 
the  West  Canada  to  the  dug  way.  Couidryman  built  his  white  house 
on  the  plank  road  in  IS.'rJ.  Next  below,  at  the  uiK>er  end  of  the  lower 
dug  way.  a  l)ridge  was  built,  and  the  ro.ad  m;ide  across  tlie  U.it  to  the 
east  end  of  tli(>  Kast  bridge,  and  l:isf  just  beyond  the  present  cheese 
facfoi'y  a  cut  .across  the  ll;it  to  near  l<'olt's  by  the  bri<-k  school  house. 
The  whole  completed,  and  i)l,ink  l.iid  and  in  use  in  isr.o.  Then  the 
mail  route  w^as  changed.  \\'arren  (i.alusha  was  the  lirst  to  carry  the 
mail  on  the  new  plank  road  route  with  two  horses.  Later  (icorge  W. 
I'ayne  put  on  a  tallyho,  and  sometimes  four  horses  if  nu)re  than  two 


62  HERKIMER   COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

wore  nt'eded;  Koini;  down  in  the  nioruiiiK  and  back  in  the  afternoon, 
I)rin,nin.y  the  daily  mail  exeept  Sunday.  The  mail  route  had  been  Little 
]<'a.lls  to  Trenton,  tri-weeivly,  going-  up  one  day  and  down  the  next, 
except  Sunday.  The  routi'  and  stations  tlius:  Ijittle  Falls  to  Eatonville, 
i^'airtield,  IMiddleville,  Newi^ort,  Poland,  Cold  Brook,  Russia, Gravesville, 
Tr(>nton  Falls  ;ind  Trenton,  c-onnecting  tlierewitli  tlie  Blaclv  Kiver  route, 
Utica  to  Boonville  and  Watertown,  run  by  John  Butterfield;  talllyho, 
coaches  and  four.  When  the  planli  road  was  new,  Newport  to  Herki- 
mer, they  used  to  run  it,  going  down  from  Middleville,  eiglit  miles 
in  ;")()  minutes.  Thus  we  of  the  Knrayahoora  valley  were  doing  a  little 
sometliing  to  ki-ep  up  with  the  improvements  of  the  age.  In  Febru- 
ary, ISC)!,  there  was  a  good  wooden  liridge  with  sliingle  roof,  over  the 
crtvk  at  Middleville.  I  have  before  noted  that  the  first  bridj^c  was 
built  there  in  ISIU.  This  may  have  been  the  same.  If  so  it  had  only 
been  there  40  or  41  years.  It  was  same  style  as  tlie  one  below 
Dempsters,  I)Uilt  in  1S4S,  for  the  plank  road,  which  lias  been  tliere 
50  or  51  years  and  appears  good  for  50  more  years.  Tlie  winter  liad 
lieeii  cold  and  the  ice  on  the  creek  thick  and  strong  and  tlie  snow 
deep.  A  protracted  tliaw  liad  caused  a  liigh  water  and  broken  up  tlie 
ice  in  the  creek  above  Newport,  except  in  the  pond  above  the  dam, 
wliicli  broken  ice  liad  come  down  to  the  upper  end  of  the  pond  and 
lodged  there.  Also  below  the  dam  the  ice  liad  gone  down-  to  the  pond, 
above  Middleville,  and  lodged  there.  Friday  it  was  stil)  raining.  Sat- 
urday night  it  turned  cold.  Sunday  morning  was  cold,  with  a  nortli- 
v/ester.  At  Newport,  below  the  dam,  on  the  east  side,  next  the  village, 
and  aVtove  the  bridge,  of  the  same  style  as  the  one  just  mentioned,  on 
a  point  there,  stood  the  little  stone  blacksmith  shop  of  Ezekit'l  Angell. 
lie  had  a  trip  hammer  and  grind  stone,  etc.,  run  by  water  power.  Uii 
Sunday  afternoon  following  the  Friday  mentioned,  the  dam  near 
Angell's  shop,  gave  way,  ;iiid  then  the  terrible  break  up  occurred. 
Soon  the  whole  body  of  ice  was  moving  and  down  the  stream  it  went 
as  fast  as  a  horse  could  run,  with  a  swell  of  water  in  front  of  ir  tw^o  or 
tliree  feet  high,  noted  by  those  who  saw  it.  The  ice  at  Middleville 
could  not  stop  this  ami  thus  that  was  lifu'd  ;ind  loosened  anil  started 
on  down  stream  at  a  furious  rate.  For  a  litth'  while  it  Aveiit  mider  the 
bridge,  but  soon  the  str<'am  was  so  full  of  ice,  piling  higher  and  higher, 
it  lifted  the  brid.ge  from  its  foundation  and  carried  it  away  Itodily  on 
the  ice.  Many  bystanders  saw  it  go,  and  some  that  night  following 
walked  eight  or  ten  miles  to  get  home.  Angell's  shop  was  di'molished, 
completely  ruined,  and  never  rebuilt. 

In  the  great  flood  of  August,  189S,  the  White  Creek  caused  trouble 
on  the  old  plank  road  route,  near  its  month  :ind  east  of  the  dugway. 
The  iron  bridge  over  it  was  undermined  and  carried  down  stream, 
warped  and  twisted  as  if  it  had  been  tin  or  lead.  Also  the  cicek  cut 
across  the  road,  some  rods  west,  toward  the  dugway,  an  I'litire  new 
channel,  where  the  creek  now  runs,  emptying  into  the  West  Canada 
some  distance  nearer  the  dugway,  making  it  necessary  for  the  town  to 


PIONEER  TIMES  ON   THE   ROYAL  GRANT.  63 

Imild  two  Idiii;.  heavy  and  cdstly  inm  Iiriducs.  'I'lic  sluiic  aiclicd  hrid.m- 
at  Newport  was  built  about  lsri4-C..  It  was  after  .March.  IS.";;,  and  was 
two  or  more  years  in  buihliiiL;. 

iSaiiuu'l  Fortiuie.  befoi'e  iiientioned  as  established  in  the  mills  at  the 
City  in  ISUC.  liad  I'oui-  sons  and  three  or  more  daughters,  as  1  knew 
tiiem — John.  Eli.  Leonard  and  lOdward.  'I'he  (Lanulders  were  the  .Mrs. 
I'.ates.  ("olliiis  and  I'ennei-.  The  sons  had  assisted  their  tatluM-  in  th" 
business.  John,  the  oldest,  had  married  my  l'atliei-"s  sister,  I>uf'y,  aed  s  t- 
tied  on  a  hue  farm  about  two  unles  uorthwestei'ly  ot  .Newport,  on  the 
old  idad  to  I'olaiul.  lOli  icmained  for  a  lime  with  his  father  at  the  mills. 
Ituildin.t;'  himself  a  home  on  the  south  side  (on  (he  premises  foinierly 
occupied  by  Jonathan  Card),  the  while  house  which  I  oecuiiied  ten 
years.  IS.IS  to  lSi;s,  and  which  was  burned  three  or  four  yeirs  a,L;ii. 
(tecasioually  he  and  his  IV.ther  wituld  uo  out  and  do  some  Job  of  mill- 
wii.^ht  work.  Later  he  removed  to  a  small  suburban  farm  at  Newixti't. 
(-n  the  west  si(h'.  Lconai'd  ran  the  saw  mill  some  of  the  time  and  I 
su-p|iose  assisted  iu  a  .^euei-al  way  in  all  of  the  mills;  1  think  he  was 
competent  to  run  any  or  all  of  them,  lie  lived  in  the  old  house  on  the 
i<oi-th  side  of  the  creek,  below  tiie  I'oad  ((U  the  west  side;  his  slioit  on 
the  liank  of  the  creek.  Later  he  l)e<-ame  a  .gunsmith  and  carried  on  the 
I'usiiiess  of  making-  sh.ai'p-sliootin.:,;-  s[)ortin.u-  rilles,  .i;<'(liu,u'  his  barrels 
of  old  Mr.  K.  Itemin.uton.  at  the  ••[•'oi'.ue,'"  as  lie  used  to  say  when  .^oin.u 
for  barrels.  (I>ayton  l^oss.  father  of  the  late  lion.  A.  M.  Uoss,  m.ide 
the  stocks).  Iliou  was  not  named  then  and  not  until  aftei-  he  (|uit  busi- 
ness there,  about  ISA'.',,  lie  rilled  and  tinished  the  barrels  by  h;ind.  He 
was  an  athlete  and  expert  in  anytliin.i;  he  attempte<l.  I  have  been  ti)ld 
th.at  old  Mi-.  E.  Kendnutou.  the  founder  of  the  uun  works  at  Iliou,  had 
watched  tliei'e  at  Fortune's  sIki])  for  hours  to  obt;iin  some  of  his  i»ro>-ess, 
which  m.ay  be  in  use  to-day  in  the  Ueminuton  works  in  reference  to 
drilling  and  strai.ghtening  b.arrels.  At  a  nnlit.ary  parade  in  .Xorw.iy, 
In  1825,  when  there  was  a  sli.am  light  yoing  on.  his  rille  barrel  burst, 
destroyin.g  his  left  hand.  JNly  father  w.as  with  him  :ind  went  for  the 
d(K-tor,  wlio  performed  the  amputation  Just  above  the  wrist  Joint.  Th.-it 
did  not  sto])  him  from  work.  He  made  an  .appliance  to  stra]i  on  the 
stub  of  his  forearm  with  an  iron  socket,  with  ;i  set  screw  iu  the  side, 
in  which  he  would  put  his  fork  to  be  held  while  eating,  and  .also  he 
used  it  in  the  shop,  holding  m.-iny  tools,  (>tc.  Il<"  w.as  a  violiidst.  or  as 
people  used  to  s.ay.  a  ■■Jiddlei-."  After  losing  his  h.and  he  i-e(|uircd 
some  one  to  hold  the  insti-ument  ami  linger  the  strings  while  b.e  drew 
the  bow.  Nath.aniel  Post,  a  son  of  Dan  I'ost.  Escj..  a  near  neighbor,  .also 
•A  hddler,  woidd  perform  that  duty  for  him.  Also  he  h.ad  a  son.  Henry, 
(.about  my  .age),  grow  up.  and  becoming  a  violinist.  I  h.ave  si  en  him 
perform  th.at  service  for  his  father.  At  the  raising  of  frames  U-r  build 
ings,  like  a  S(piirrel.  with  his  one  hand  h"  was  .alw.ays  on  top.  Xo  man 
could  do  more,  if  .as  much.  .Vt  pl.aying  bi.ll  aftei  the  r.-iising.  he  was 
a  match  for  the  smai-tcst;  and  .also  in  jumping  h(>  took  the  lead,  lie 
invented  and  built  a   machim-  for  turning  axe  helves.     Sold  out  .at  the 


64  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

City  and  about  1S42  or  '4;:!  ivmoved  to  St.  Lawrence  county.     Time  and 
si)ace  will  not  allow  me  to  say  more  of  liim. 

Edward  was  also  something-  of  an  expert  when  a  lad  and  companion 
of  my  veneraltle  cousin.  Alexis  L.  Johnson,  of  East  Schuyler,  who  was 
then,  in  ISl'.j,  fourteen  years  of  age,  living  at  my  grandfather's,  on  the 
corner.  Edward  would  malce  a  cross-gun  and  with  it  kill  a  scpiirrel  or 
a  pigeon.  Tliey  wert"  very  mncli  more  plentiful  and  not  as  wild  as  now. 
I  have  seen  pigeons  in  hocks  of  thousands,  and  at  nesting  time  in 
spring,  when  tliey  came  out  of  the  woods  to  tind  food,  walking  over  a 
meadow  of  spring  grain  they  would  cover  acres  thickly.  For  the  ben- 
efit of  the  young  people  I  will  try  to  briefly  describe  the  cross-gun.  The 
bow  and  string,  much  like  that  used  by  the  Aboriginal  Indians.  The 
stock  shaped  somewhat  like  any  gun,  with  a  groove  in  the  upper  side, 
capped  over,  to  help  guide  the  arrow  and  prevent  it  flying  out.  The 
bow  framed  into  the  stock,  crosswise  near  the  muzzle  end.  The  string 
under  the  cap  drawn  to  a  notch  in  the  place  for  a  lock,  strained  the 
bow.  The  arrow  slid  down  the  groove  under  tlie  cap  and  resting 
against  the  string,  and  all  was  ready.  A  trigger  released  the  string 
from  the  notcli  and  drove  the  arrow  flying.  Edward  settled  in  Lapier 
county,  Mich.,-  and  was  there  about  1800.  When  I  first  knew  old  Mr. 
Samuel  Fortune  he  had  retired  some  little  time  l)efore,  1834,  to  a  com- 
fortable home  very  near  to  his  son,  John;  was  only  a  few  rods  away. 
He  was  able  to  work  some  in  the  garden  and  there  with  his  good  wife 
the  venerable  pair  lived  in  quiet  peace,  enjoying  the  fruit  of  labor. 

Referring  to  Jonathan  Kuell  and  his  family,  before  mentioned,  on 
the  platform  just  above  the  present  Middleville.  He  had  four  sons  and 
four  daughters,  George,  Luther,  Jonathan  S.  and  Charles,  Mrs.  Cook, 
Wright,  Safford  and  Paddock.  After  paying  for  land  they  had  bought 
for  a  home,  they  learned  that  the  title  was  worthless.  They  then  bought 
over  again  of  the  real  owner,  causing  a  hard  struggle.  George  became 
an  expert  carpenter  and  builder;  Luther  worked  with  him  awhile  after 
1S()8.  There  were  no  machine  made  nails  at  the  time.  The  nails  they 
did  have  were  all  forged  by  a  blacksmith  on  the  anvil  under  his  ham- 
mer and  cut  off  without  heads,  and  could  be  bought  in  that  form  by  the 
one  hundred  pounds,  the  heading  being  an  after  consideration.  They 
then  could  be  headed  and  straightened  and  the  points  fixed  up  a  little 
if  necessary.  They  bought  their  nails  in  this  way,  without  heads,  and 
did  their  own  heading  in  Winter  time  or  any  other  odd  spells.  I  have 
been  enabled  to  see  the  old  account  book  they  were  using  in  1817.  They 
had  an  assortment  of  sizes,  as  now.  No.  3s,  (Is,  8s,  10s,  etc.,  the  price 
according  to  size.  Small  sizes  the  highest  priced,  as  now.  thus.  No.  (is, 
or  ()  penny,  17  cents  per  pound;  10s,  l.">  c»>nts,  etc.  I  Ijought  3  penny 
iron  nails  in  1898,  for  $2.45  per  100  pounds  at  retail;  that  is,  single  hun- 
dred weight,  and  not  by  the  ton.  Th.it  same  size  in  1817  would  have 
cost  about  $20  per  hundred  weight. 

One  of  their  ventures  was  to  purchase  some  stock  in  a  manufacturing 
enterprise,  to  be  at  Newport.     I  think  it  was  to  be  a  cotton  mill,  proba- 


PIONKER  TIMES  ON   THE    ROYAL   GRANT.  Go 

l)Iy  In  Bowi'ii's  tiuic.  1  liiivc  licard  my  wifVs  father,  (Jcor^c  Itudl.  tril, 
but  do  not  ri'nionihcr  partirulars.  l'>ut  I  do  i('U)(.'nd)('i-  that  (lu-y  lost 
what  they  put  in.  Sonic  of  those  old  woiih!  ss  certihcates  can  be  seen 
n<.w.  After  a  while  I-uIIk  r  reiiiovid  to  tlie  \icinily  of  the  rest  of  the 
fanuly,  in  Onondaua  counly.  Jnst  west  of  ("a/.enovia,  where  his  fallier 
ami  a  portion  of  the  family  had  [ni'\  lonsly  uone.  Some  years  auo  I 
read  in  the  Xoi-ilieiii  ('hrislian  .Vdsocate  a  skebli  ol'  earl.\  hisbiry. 
of  thi'  or.uanizati(in  and  fonndiny  (d'  ('a'/eno\ia  Seminary.  IjUlher 
I'.neirs  n.ame  was  i;i\('n  as  one  of  the  first  ju-omobMs.  lie  li\<'d  nearliy 
(hei'e,  ill  t'omjiey.  (>iioiidai;a  county,  and  his  name  was  prominently 
uientloiu'd.  lie  liad  (|Uib'  a  business  tiu-n  and  later  est.ablished  himself 
in  uiaiiufactnriim  in  woolen  and  mercaidile  enteriniscs  at  or  near 
Manlins,  ()nonda.i;a  county.  Ilattie  K.  Ibnll.  the  wife  of  his  son,  Wij- 
Jard,  licsides  other  iioems,  wrote  the  poeni  entitled,  "The  Child  of  a 
KiuK."  the  music  to  wliicli  was  wi-itten  by  Uev.  .1.  1'..  Sumner,  of  tlie 
Wyondng  conference,  liy  wliom  1  have  lieen  entertained,  with  my  son, 
1{('V.  11.  B  Jolmson.  (ieoriic  ;ilone  retained  the  homestead  farm  and 
besides  nianaiiinu-  it,  continues  the  liuildinu  Imsim'ss  <|uite  exti'usix dy. 
bcconiiu.ii'  a  noted  church  liuihh-r.  He  built  a  r..i](tist  chui-ch  at  Nor- 
wa.v,  a  Union  cliurcji  at  liussia,  a  Union  churcli  :it  Middleville,  .aiid  ;i 
Methodist  Episcopal  chui-ch  :it  Uairlield.  Mr.  lUiel,  after  forty  or  fifty 
years  of  active  life  in  <arpentry  and  faiaulng,  bought  an  addition  to 
his  farm  on  its  westeiai  side,  l^nown  as  the  sou  El)er  Stevens  place. 
To  that  he  retired,  leaving  his  second  sou,  Georye  S.,  to  manaj^e  the 
fai-m  awiiile,  ;ind  later,  '['rum.au  I'.,  took  his  place.  Althonuh  (piite 
active  and  in  he.-ilth  foi'  one  of  his  ;i,i;e.  Mr.  Ituell  h:ul  become  vei-y 
nearly  ))liiKl,  al)out  IS.'iS,  and  sold  liis  farm  and  retired  to  a  home  in 
Middleville,  not  far  from  the  cinuch,  to  which  he  could  .^o  witli  others. 
a  priviJe.ne  he  enjoyed  many  years,  a  uiu<-h  esteemed  and  resjtected 
citizen  to  1S71,  and  at  !)(i  years  of  auc  lie  passed  ovi'r  on  (he  other  side. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  IN  HIS  RELATION  TO 
SLAVERY. 

AN   ADDRESS   BY   HON.    ROBERT   EARL,    OF    HERKIMER, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  September  9, 

1899. 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  world's  greatest  characters.  He 
was  so  unlike  other  great  men  commemorated  in  history  that  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  make  a  comparison  between  liim  and  tliein.  We  cannot  well 
measure  him  by  the  same  standards  which  we  use  in  estimating  the 
cliaracters  of  Julius  Ceaser,  Napolean  Boneparte,  the  great  Prince  of 
Orange,  Oliver  Cromwell,  or  even  of  George  Washington.  He  was 
unique  in  his  endowments,  and  stands  alone  in  his  glory.  He  was  self- 
cultui'ed,  self-reliant,  and  wise  beyond  the  wisdom  of  most  of  the 
contemporai'y  statesmen. 

His  real  career  commenced  with  the  culmination  of  the  anti-slavery 
agitation  in  this  country,  and  his  permanent  fame  depends  largely,  if 
not  exclusively,  upon  his  attitude  towards  slavery  prior  to  and  during 
the  Civil  War.  He  was  not  a  great  general,  and  his  knowledge  of  and 
insight  into  military  affairs  were  not  greater  than  those  of  many  other 
civilians  then  in  public  and  private  life.  His  interference  with  the 
Union  army  in  the  field  was  often  unwise;  and  it  was  not  until  he 
left  the  Union  generals  untrammeled  in  the  management  of  the  armies 
that  the  telling  blows  were  dealt  which  finally  crushed  the  rebellion. 

The  story  of  his  relation  to  slavery  will  always  be  an  interesting  one, 
and  I  will  here  undertake  to  give  its  brief  outline. 

He  was  by  nature  a  humane  man,  opposed  to  wrong  and  cruelty 
in  all  their  forms;  and  a  fair  and  just  man,  and  any  unfairness  and 
injury  were  quite  sure  to  arouse  his  indignation  and  call  out  his  active 
interference  in  favor  of  the  weak  and  oppressed.  Hence  we  find  him 
at  the  age  of  fifteen  reading  a  composition  on  "Cruelty  to  Animals," 
in  which  he  maintained  that  to  give  pain  to  dumb  animals  was  con- 
temptible, cruel  and  wicked.  In  early  life,  he  saw  in  Kentucky  some- 
thing of  slavery  in  its  mildest  form;    and  it  did  not  take  him  long  to 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN   IN   HIS  RELATION  TO   SLAVERY.  67 

I'cacli  tlic  (•(tiu-lusioii  that  n  lu'.uro  was  a  fellow  man,  and  that  it  was 
wrony  to  eiislavt'  him.  In  is;;{»,  when  he  was  uiidci-  21  years  old,  he 
went  down  the  Mississipiji  River  in  a  Hal  boat,  and  at  New  Orleans 
he  witnessed  the  sale  of  slaves  in  ail  its  levoltinti'  details;  and  it  so 
aroused  his  indi.ynaticai  and  offended  Ids  sense  of  ri.L;lit  and  Justice 
that  he  said  to  a  eom|)anion  with  Kreat  emotion:  "John,  if  ever  I  get 
a  elianee  to  hit  that  institution,  I'll  hit  it  hard";  and  so  he  did  many 
times. 

About  l.S.jCi,  the  anti-slavery  men  of  the  north  began  to  raise  a  loud 
clamor  against  slaver.\.  clainung  that  tlie  genei'al  government  slunild 
cease  to  be  responsible  for  it  in  the  District  of  Cohunbia,  and  in  all 
i!llier  places  under  its  cmitro!.  Newspapers  v'ere  established,  societies 
organized.  jnUilic  addresses  made,  and  petitions  sent  to  Congress  to 
further  the  aims  of  the  agitators.  This  agitation  aroused  great  indig- 
nation at  the  south,  and  excited  great  animosity  even  in  the  north. 
An  abolitionist  was  almost  as  unpopular  throughout  the  north — in 
l!oston,  Illinois,  and  llei'kinu-r  county — as  in  tlie  south.  At  this  time 
Ijincoln  was  a  member  of  the  Illinois  Legislature,  and  there  a  member 
introduced  a  series  of  resolutions,  similar  to  tliose  about  that  tinu'  in- 
troduci'd  into  ("ongress  .and  the  legislatures  of  nearly  all  the  northern 
States,  deprecating  any  discussion  of  slavery  l)y  the  people,  and  de- 
nouncing the  Abolitionists.  lancoln  did  not  like  the  si)irit  of  the  reso- 
lutions, belie\ing  that  the  people  had  the  right  to  freely  discuss  any 
tiuestiou;  and  In-  toolc  ttu'  ground  then,  which  he  maintained  to  the 
end  of.  his  life,  that  the  institution  of  slavery  was  founded  on  both 
Injustice  and  l)ad  policy;  that  Congress  had  the  riglit  to  abolish  it  in 
the  District  of  Cohunbia.  but  that  it  ought  not  to  exercise  the  right 
except  with  tlu-  consent  of  the  people  of  the  District;  and  standing 
almost  alone — but  one  other  nuMnber  joining  liim — lie  \\rote  .a  protest 
against  the  resolutions  which  was  his  first  public  expression  in  re»;'ard 
to  slavery. 

At  tills  time  no  one  could  speak  against  slavery  in  the  South  with 
im])unity;  and  it  was  .almost  ('(ju.ally  dangerous  to  do  so  in  the  North. 
A  clei-gynian  in  \ew  Hampshire  was  offering  pray(>r  at  an  anti-slavery 
meeting  when  the  sheriff  entei-ed  tlie  pulpit  and  dragged  him  down 
the  steps  and  out  of  doors.  In  lioston,  October  21st,  IS.'!."),  a  mob  seized 
Willi.am  Lloyd  (J.irrison  at  nn  abolition  meeting,  and  (h'agged  him  from 
the  building  in  which  the  meeting  was  held  into  the  street  with  a  rope 
.aromid  his  neck.  On  the  s.ime  day,  an  .abolition  nu-eting  in  Utica  was 
broken  U])  by  .i  nuib  of  men  some  of  wliom  were  from  this  village. 
Dining  this  tinH>,  Mr.  Lincoln,  at  the  risk  of  his  personal  popularity, 
stood  t"or  fair  jilay  and  free  speech.  A  negi'o  was  lynched  in  St.  Louis; 
.and  Rev.  lOlij.ih  !'.  Lovejoy,  }iublishing  .a  paper  there,  denounced  the 
lynching,  and  ;i  mob  destroyed  his  i>rinting  iuh-ss,  and  he  was  obliged 
to  tlee  fioni  the  city,  lie  went  to  Alton,  in  Illinois,  not  far  from  the 
home  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  the  intention  of  publishing  his  paper  there; 
and  there,  again,  November  7,  LS.'JT,  a  mob  destroyed  his  press  and  also 


68  HERKIMER   COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

took  his  life.     Tliese  acts  of  violence  greatly  aroused  the  iudignation 
of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  he  fearlessly  denounced  them. 

He  always  took  the  side  of  freedom  against  slavery.  The  census  of 
1840  showed  that  there  were  some  slaves  in  Illinois,  although  it  Avas  a 
free  State.  In  1841  a  slave  was  sold  there,  and  a  note  taken  for  the 
luirchase  price;  and  the  note  not  being  paid,  it  was  sued  and  a  recovery 
had  upon  it  at  a  Circuit  Court.  An  appeal  was  taken  to  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  there  Mr.  Lincoln  was  brought  into  the  case  for  the  defense. 
He  took  the  ground  that  the  ordinance  of  1787  prohibiting  slavery  in 
the  Northwest  territory,  and  the  prohibition  of  slavery  in  the  State 
Constitution,  made  the  note  illegal  and  void;  and  he  procured  a  reversal 
of  the  judgment.  In  the  same  year,  or  al)out  the- same  time,  a  free 
negro  boy  went  from  Illinois  to  New  Orleans  as  a  cabin  boy  on  a 
steamboat.  There  he  went  on  shore  without  a  pass,  and  he  was  arrest- 
ed and  put  in  i>rison,  and  would  soon  have  been  sold  into  slavery.  Mr. 
Lincoln  interested  himself  in  the  case,  and.  finding  no  other  remedy, 
raised  two  hundred  dollars  and  procured  his  release. 

He  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1S4(;,  and  he  there  supported  the 
Wilmot  Proviso,  prohibiting  slavery  in  all  the  territoi'y  to  be  acquired 
from  INIexico  in  the  Avar  then  pending.  While  in  Washington  he  saw 
slaA-es  in  chains  marched  aAA-ay  to  be  sold  in  the  southern  States;  and 
he  looked  upon  this  as  a  national  disgrace.  lie  favored  a  Congressional 
act  not  only  prohibiting  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia, 
but  also  making  free  all  slave  children  liorn  after  July  1,  1850,  pro- 
A'Jding  for  the  purchase  by  the  ({overnmc^nt  of  all  slaves  Avhich  their 
owners  AA'ere  Avilling  to  sell,  and  that  the  act  should  be  submitted  to  the 
popular  A'ote  in  the  District  before  it  could  become  operative.  But 
he  failed  to  get  much  effective  support  for  his  vieAvs. 

During  all  this  time,  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  in  the  North  was 
spreading,  and  the  time  had  come  before  1848  Avlien  people  opposed  to 
slavery  could  get  a  hearing  in  any  part  of  the  North.  The  Free  Soil 
party  had  been  formed;  and  in  1848  it  placed  Ix-fore  the  i)eople  a  pres- 
idential ticket  upon  a  platform  of  opposition  to  the  extension  of  slaiv- 
ery  Into  any  of  the  territories  of  the  United  States,  and  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  public  conscience  at  the 
north  had  become  aAA'akened  concerning  slavery;  and  the  agitation 
North  and  South  was  so  fierce  that  many  citizens  began  to  iear  that 
it  might  result  in  the  dismiHion  of  the  I'nion.  To  .avoid  such  a  direful 
catastrophe,  and  to  givi'  peace  to  our  disti'.-ictcd  country.  Clay,  Web- 
ster, Cass,  Crittinden.  Douglass,  and  other  leading  statesmen.  North 
and  South,  evolved  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  Avliich  it  Avas 
hoped  would  put  at  rest  the  troublesome  (;uestion  of  slavery  for  a  long 
time  at  least.  Rut  they  failed  to  accomplish  their  i)urpose.  In  the 
minds  of  a  constaiitly  increasing  numlier  of  people  at  the  North  slavery 
AA-as  Avrong,  and  they  Avould  tolerate  no  compromise  with  it;  and  the 
slave  holders  Avere  constantly  on  the  alert  to  i)rotect  ;ind  intrench  the 
institution  of  slavery,  and  to  extend  its  domiiuon.     And  llnally,  to  lay 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN   IN   HIS   RELATION   TO  SLAVERY,  69 

tin'  .yiiost  of  the  sinvci-y  (|iicsti<m  auaiii.  a  new  si'liciuc  was  hi'dunht 
forward  in  the  Kaiisas-.Xfbi-aska  I'.ill  of  lsr>l.  That  r.ill  repealed  the 
Missouri  ('oiniiroiiiis<'  of  ISilo.  an<l  jn'ovided  terrilorial  uoveniiiieids  for 
Kansas  and  \el)rasl<a,  declai'in.ii'  for  n(»n-intervention  li.v  Congress  with 
siavei'y  in  tlie  Stales  and  'territories,  and  asserting  tliat  it  was  tiie  true 
intent  and  nu'aniui;-  of  the  aet  "not  to  legislate  sla\-ei-y  into  any  terri- 
tory or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  tlierefroui.  Imt  to  leave  tiie  people 
thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  re.nulate  their  domestic  institutions 
in  their  own  way,  subject  only  to  tlu'  Constitution."  T.y  the  i-eiieal  of 
the  Missouri  ("ompromise,  llierc  was  opened  to  sl.iveiy  territory  larger 
in  extent  than  the  original  thirteen  States.  The  act  was  carried 
through  Congress  largely  by  the  efforts  of  St<'phen  A.  I>onglass.  then 
Senator  from  Illinois;  and  it  embodied  wh.it  c.ime  to  be  known  a» 
the  doctrine  of  "Popular  Sovereignty,"  sometimes  called  "Scjuatter 
Sovereignty."  It  was  the  last  effort  before  the  Civil  War  to  compro- 
mise with  slavery.  It  was  the  cuhnination  of  the  anti-sla vi'ry  agitation 
and  marks  a  great  era  in  the  history  of  American  jiolitii-s..  It  was 
followed  liy  the  complete  destiuction  of  the  Whig  paiiy,  and  the  for- 
mation of  the  lJei)ublican  ]>arty,  which  soon  became  dominant  in  nearly 
all  the  noi'thern  stales.  A  majority  of  the  northern  ]te<iple  s;i\v  in  ft  a 
fresh  evidence  of  the  determin.ition  of  the  sla\('  holders  to  strengthen 
their  power  by  the  extension  of  sl.ivei'y  into  the  tertitories.  I>ouglass. 
more  than  anyone  I'lse  the  author  of  the  bill,  lost  some  of  his  ])oi)nl;irity 
in  his  own  State;  and  upon  his  return  home  at  the  close  of  the  Con- 
gressional session  of  lsr)4,  he  deemed  it  important  to  ;ittemi)t  to  stem 
the  rising  tide  of  indignation  against  him.  He,  therefore,  made 
speeches  at  Chicago  and  at  SiM'ingti<'ld,  detiuing  his  jjosilion  a.s  to  slav- 
ery and  defending  his  course  in  Congress.  He  was  one  of  the  greatest 
debaters,  and  one  of  the  .ablest  popular  (»r;itors  in  this  country.  Mr. 
Lincoln,  who  ha<l  never  measuicd  swords  with  him  in  debate,  w;is  a 
listener  to  his  Springtield  address  aiul  ainiounced  th.it  he  woidd  speak 
in  reply  the  next  evening.  On  that  i-vening,  a  lai-ge  .audience  gathered 
to  hear  liim.  He  s])oke  foi'  four  houi's  with  only  a  scraii  of  juiper 
before  him,  and  is  said  to  lia\c  made  a  m.asterly  reply  lo  .Mr.  I  )ougl;iss, 
and  to  liiive  stirred  his  he.arers  to  ;i  high  state  of  enl  Imsi.asm.  Mr. 
Douglass  replied  in  a  speech  of  two  hours;  and  he  afterw.ard  spoke 
at  I*eori;i,  .md  was  followed  lliere  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  .-md  the  debate  then 
ended.  In  those  deb;it(  s,  the  whole  merits  of  the  K.ansas-Nebi'.aska  Bill 
were  thoroughly  discussed,  .ind  .Mr.  Licoln's  .attitude  towards  slavery 
fully  defined. 

By  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  the  General  Covernment  was  pledged 
to  absolute  indilference  to  the  (luestion  of  sl.ivi'ry  in  tlie  territories; 
and  that  question  was  releg.-ited  absolutely  to  the  jyeople  of  the  terri- 
toiies  for  tlieii-  determimit ion.  Slaxcry  bad  lieen  ke])t  out  of  K;ins.as 
by  the  Missoni'i  Comitromise  of  IS'JO;  and  th.at  Compromise  iM'ing  now 
repealed,  the  sl.ave  holdei's  of  the  South  .it  once  inaugurated  strenuous 
eftorts   to   introduce    it    there.      Societies   \\ cic   formed    in    the    Xorth   to 


70  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

counteract  these  efforts,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  member  of  the  exec- 
utive committee  of  one  of  the  societies.  Tlie  result  of  these  efforts 
was  civil  war  in  Kansas,  and  great  excitement  throughout  the  country. 
Emigrants  were  hurried  into  the  territory  from  tlie  North  and  tlie 
South  ai'nied  and  sometimes  marcliiug  in  military  array.  Those  from 
the  North,  as  they  marclied  into  the  territory,  were  sometimes  heard 
to  sing  a  song  composed  hy  Whittier: 

"We  cross  the  prairies,  as  of  old 
The  pilgrims  crossed  the  sea, 
To  make  the  West,  as  they  the  East, 
I  Tlie  homestead  of  the  free. 

We  go  to  rear  a  wall  of  men 

On  Freedom's  southern  line, 
And  plant  l)eside  the  cotton  tree 

The  rugged  northern  pine. 

We  go  to  plant  her  common  schools 

On  distant  prairie  swells, 
And  give  the  Sabbath  of  the  wilds 

The  music  of  her  bells.'" 

The  North,  having  the  greater  resources  and  being  the  most  populous, 
won  the  race,  and  hnally  secured  Kansas  for  freedom.  P>ut  the  battle 
was  not  won  without  niany  interesting  episodes.  The  Dred  Scott 
Decision  came  the  day  after  the  inauguration  of  Mr.  Buclianan,  as 
President,  in  March,  1857,  holding  that  slaves  were  property,  and  that 
their  owners  were  entitled  to  protection  in  tlieir  possession  as  such  in 
the  territories.  This  was  regarded  l)y  many  people  in  the  North  as 
another  bold  step  on  belialf  of  the  South  to  bolster  up  and  fortify  the 
institution  of  slavery;  and  it  added  fuel  to  the  flame  already  sweeping 
over  the  North  to  the  destruction  of  slavery.  At  the  South,  it  was 
hoped  that  with  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  this  decision 
would  secure  to  slave  holders  the  right  to  take  their  slaves  iuto  any 
of  the  territories  and  hold  them  there,  at  least  until  they  should  become 
States,  when  and  not  before  by  their  sovereign  action  the  peoi)Ie  could 
prohibit  or  abolish  slavery — thus  giving  the  South  tlie  advantage  of 
having  slavery  planted  in  the  soil  of  a  territory  before  any  attempt 
could  be  made  to  root  it  up. 

We  now  come  to  the  year  1858,  and  the  anti-slavery  fight  was  on 
with  constantly  increasing  vigor.  In  June  of  that  year,  Mr.  Lincoln 
made  his  famous  speech,  a  model  of  forcible,  terse  and  felicitous  ex- 
pression, before  the  Republican  State  Convention  at  Springfield,  111., 
in  which  he  fully  defined  his  attitude  toward  slavery,  making  the  nota- 
ble announcement  that  "a  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand. 
I  believe  tliat  this  government  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave 
and  half  free.     I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved.     I  do  not 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN   IN   HIS  RELATION   TO   SLAVERY.  71 

oxpoct  tho  honso  to  fall,  bnt  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided. 
It  will  become  all  one  thins.  f>i"  <ill  the  other.  Either  the  opponents  of 
slavery  will  arrest  the  further  spread  of  it.  and  place  it  where  tho 
pulilic  mind  shall  rest  in  tlie  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate 
extinction;  or  its  advocates  will  push  forward  till  it  shall  become  alike 
lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  as  well  as  new,  North  as  well  as  South." 
Before  its  delivery,  he  read  the  speech  to  a  few  selected  friends,  and 
they  advised  liim  that  it  would  be  unwise  for  him  to  deliver  it,  and  that 
it  would  defeat  his  (Section  as  United  States  Senator  and  with  him 
the  Republican  party  in  his  State.  But  he  replied:  "My  friends,  I 
have  given  mucli  thought  to  this  <iuestion.  The  time  lias  come  when 
these  sentiments  should  be  uttered.  If  it  is  decreed  that  I  shall  go 
down  because  of  this  speech,  then  let  me  go  down  linked  with  it  to  the 
truth.  Let  me  die  in  the  advocacy  of  what  is  just  and  right."  This 
was  about  four  months  before  William  II.  Seward,  in  October  of  tlie 
same  year,  made  his  famous  speech  at  Auburn  in  this  State  in  which 
he  took  substantially  the  same  ground  as  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  announce- 
ment of  his  doctrine  of  "the  irrepressible  conliict"  between  freedom  and 
slavery.  In  concluding  that  speech,  Mr.  Lincoln,  with  the  foresight  of 
a  seer,  expressed  his  confidence  in  the  triumpli  of  tlie  cause  he  advo- 
cated as  follows:  "We  shall  not  fail — if  we  stand  firm  we  shall  not 
fail.  Wise  counsels  may  accelerate,  or  mistakes  delay  it,  but  sooner 
or  later,  the  victory  is  sure  to  come."  lie  was  there  nominated  for 
United  States  Senator  to  succeed  Mr.  Douglass,  whose  term  of  office 
was  about  to  expire.  On  th(>  24th  of  .Tuly  thereafter,  he  challenged 
Mr.  Douglass  to  a  joint  debate  before  the  people,  and  his  challenge 
was  accepted.  That  debate  was  the  most  interesting  and  notable  joint 
discussion  l>efore  tlie  people  ever  held  in  this  country.  Audiences  of 
from  ten  thousand  to  twenty  thousond  people  came  out  to  hear  the 
distinguished  orators.  There  were  seven  joint  debates,  and  tlieir  argu- 
ments reached  nearly  the  whole  people  of  Illinois,  and  also  many  thous- 
ands through  the  entire  North.  Slavery  ii'  all  its  phases — the  Missouri 
Compromise,  the  Kansas-Nebraska  P.ill,  the  Doctrine  of  Popular  and 
Squatter  Sovereignty,  the  power  of  the  ])eopl(i  over  slavery  in  the  ter- 
ritories, the  Dred  Scott  Decision,  the  I'ugitive  Slave  Law,  and  the 
violent  and  extraordinary  etforts  made  to  introduce  slavery  into  and 
,to  keep  It  out  of  Kansas  were  discussed  as  never  before  with  mas- 
terly ability.  Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  arguments  and  statements  was  reason- 
able, conscientious  and  practical.  He  did  not  play  the  role  of  a  mere 
idealist,  dreamer,  or  philosopher.  He  did  not  advocate  the  uncondi- 
tional repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  but  objected  to  some  of  its 
features.  He  did  not  absolutely  oppose  the  admission  of  more  slave 
States,  but  said:  "If  slavery  shall  be  kept  out  of  tlie  territories  during 
the  territorial  existence  of  any  one  given  territory,  and  then  the  people 
shall,  having  a  fair  chance  and  a  clear  held,  when  they  come  to  adopt 
their  constitution,  do  such  an  extniordinary  thing  as  to  adopt  a  slave 
constitution,    uninfluenced    by    the    .actual    i)resence   of    the    institution 


7-3  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

among  them,  1  see  no  alternative,  if  we  own  the  country,  but  to  admit 
tliem  into  the  Union." 

He  said  lie  would  be  "exeeedin;;!y  ylad  to  see  slavery  abolished  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,"  that  Conj^Tcss  had  "the  constitutional  power 
to  abolish  it  there;  but  that  he  would  favor  the  measure  only  upon  con- 
dition: First,  that  the  abolition  should  be  gradual;  second,  that  it 
should  be  on  a  vote  of  the  majority  of  qualitted  voters  in  the  District; 
and  third,  that  compensation  should  be  made  to  unwilling  owners." 
He  held  that  Congress  had  the  right,  and  that  it  was  its  duty  to  pro- 
hibit slavery  in  all  the  tei-ritories,  and  reiterated  his  belief  that  slavery 
was  "a  moral,  a  social  and  a  political  wrong."  He  said  more  than  once 
that  he  would  faithfully  stand  by  the  guarantees-  and  compromises  of 
the  Constitution  in  reference  to  slavery,  and  that  he  had  "no  purpose, 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  where 
it  existed;  that  he  had  no  lawful  right  to  do  so  and  no  inclination  to 
do  so;"  that  he  was  not  in  favor  of  the  social  and  political  equality  of 
the  Negro  with  the  white  man,  but  that  he  was  in  favor  of  allowisg 
him  "to  eat  the  bread,  without  the  leave  of  anybody  else,  which  his  own 
liands  earn;"  and  that  in  that  respect  "he  was  tlu'  eipial  of  every  livi»ig 
man."  With  a  magnimity  and  charity  which  characterized  all  his  suTv 
sequent  career,  he  said:  "I  have  no  prejudice  against  the  southern 
people.  They  are  just  what  we  would  be  in  their  situation.  If  slavery 
did  not  exist  among  them,  they  would  not  introduce  it.  It  it  did  exist 
among  us,  we  would  not  instantly  give  it  up.  *  *  *  j^  does  seem 
to  me  that  systems  of  gradual  emancipation  might  be  adopted;  but 
for  their  tardiness  in  this,  I  Avill  not  undertake  to  judge  our  brethren 
of  the  South."  "If  all  earthly  power  were  given  me,  I  should  not  know 
what  to  do  as  to  the  existing  institution."  In  these  debates,  lie  advo- 
called  a  scheme  for  the  colonization  of  the  freed  Negroes,  and  their 
deportation  to  Africa;  and  he  declared  that  it  Avould  be  "best  for  all 
concerned  to  have  th(>  coloi-ed  population  in  a  State  by  themselves." 
Colonization  of  the  Negroes  was  with  him  a  faA'orite  sclieme  in  all  his 
after  life.  He  frequently  recommended  it  while  he  was  President,  and 
attempted  to  enforce  his  views  upon  Congress  and  the  people  of  the 
border  States;  and  he  never  seemed  to  realize  its  utter  impracticabil- 
ity. In  all  other  respects,  so  far  as  I  can  discover,  his  views  regarding 
slavery,  and  his  treatment  of  it  were  eminently  feasible  and  practical. 
But,  apparently,  he  never  perceived  how  impossible  it  would  be  to 
transport  and  colonize  four  millions  of  Negroes,  and  how  ruinous  it 
would  be  to  the  slave  States  to  be  thus  deprived  of  almost  all  their 
laboring  population.  He  seemed  to  sum  up  the  discussion  in  these 
forcible  phrases:  "The  real  issue  in  this  controversy — the  one  pressing 
upon  every  mind — is  the  sentiment  on  the  part  of  one  class  th.-it  looks 
upon  the  institution  of  slavery  as  a  wrong;  and  of  another  class  that 
does  not  look  upon  it  as  a  wrong  *  *  *  No  man  can  logically  say 
he  does  not  care  whether  a  wrong  is  voted  up  or  voted  down.  He 
(Douglass)  contends  that  whatever  community  wants  slaves  has  a  right 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN   IN   HIS    RELATION    TO  SLAVERY.  1'3 

to  ha VI'  lliciii.  So  they  liavc,  if  it  is  not  wronu-  r>nt  it  it  is  wroim,  lie 
caiiiiot  say  people  iiavc  a  riulit  to  do  wroii.i;'.  He  says  tlial,  upon  a  score 
of  iCtiuality,  slaves  should  he  allowed  to  .uo  into  a  new  terrilory  like 
oilier  projx'rt.w  This  is  strictly  logical  if  there  is  no  ditl'erence  between 
it  and  otlu'r  lu'operty.  *  *  *  I'ut  if  you  insist  that  one  is  wron.i; 
and  the  other  riyht.  thei'e  is  no  use  to  institute  a  conii)arison  l)i'tween 
i-i,i;ht  and  wronu.  *  *  *  That  is  the  real  issue.  That  is  the  issue 
that  will  continue  in  this  couidry  when  these  ]»oor  toniiues  of  .Ind.u'e 
])onj;luss  and  myself  shall  be  silent.  It  is  the  etei-nal  strnu.^le  between 
these  two  prineii)les,  ri.uiit  and  wr(Ui.L;',  throughout  the  woild.  They 
ar(>  the  two  iii'inciples  that  have  stood  face  to  face  from  the  be.iiinniu.u' 
of  time,  and  will  ever  continue  to  stru.u,i;le.  The  one  is  the  eonimon 
r'uht  of  humanity,  and  the  other  the  divine  riuht  of  kin.us.  It  is  the 
same  principle  in  whatevei'  state  it  develops  itself.  It  is  the  sanu'  spirit 
that  says:  'Yon  work  and  toil  and  earn  bi'ead  and  I'll  eat  it.'  1  ask 
you  if  it  is  not  a  false  philoso])hy V  Is  it  not  a  false  statesnianshii*  that 
undertakes  to  build  U[i  a  system  of  policy  U])on  the  basis  of  carina 
rKithinu  about  the  very  thin.i;s  that  everybody  does  care  most  about." 
In  these  debates  lie  iiidul.uod  in  little  humor  oi'  wit,  for  whicli  he  had 
L'.reat  aptitude.  lie  seemed  to  I'eyard  the  matter  in  h.and  as  too  nu)- 
mentous  to  be  dealt  with  except  in  the  most  earnest,  serious  .and  solemn 
mannei'.  lie  wished  to  present  the  right,  and  the  moral  asjx'ct  of  the 
(juestions  discussed,  and  to  foi-tify  his  position  by  the  best  ai'.i;uments 
he  could  make,  and  thus  furnish  to  the  thousands  who  he.-ird  and  should 
read  his  speeches,  food  for  tlmuniit  and  ri>fieetion.  Once  durini;'  the 
debate  ho  said  to  :i  friend:  ■'Sometimes  in  the  exeitenu'id  of  s])eakin.u. 
I  si'em  to  see  the  end  of  slavei'y.  I  feel  tluit  the  tinu'  is  soon  coming 
when  the  sun  shall  shine,  th-'  I'ain  fall  on  no  man  who  shall  uo  forth 
to  unre<iuited  toil.  How  this  will  come,  when  it  will  come,  by  whom 
it  will  come,  I   cainiot  tell,  but   that  time  will  surely  conu'." 

These  debates  with  the  most  consi)icuous  and  popular  l>emoci'at  in 
the  country,  afterwai'd  his  competitor  for  the  presidency,  attraeted  tlie 
attention  of  the  whole  land,  and  gave  Mr.  Lincoln  .a  national  reputa- 
tion. ^^'hile  his  c.indid;i les  for  the  leyislature  at  the  election  received  a 
Iio])ul:ir  ma.joi'ity  of  about  four  thousand,  the  friends  of  Mi'.  Douglass 
were  in  a  majority  in  the  legislature,  and  he  was  chosen  United  States 
Senator.  Aftei'w.ard  writing  to  ;i  friend  of  the  conti'st  he  made  for  the 
otlice,  Mr.  Lincoln  s.iid:  "I  am  glad  that  I  made  the  r.ice.  It  g;ive 
nu'  ;i  hearing'  on  the  <iuestion  of  the  ag<'  which  1  could  have  had  in  no 
other  w;iy;  and  though  I  may  siidc  entirely  out  of  unnd.  and  sli.ill  be 
forgotten,  I  believe  I  h.ave  made  some  remarks  which  will  tell  for  th(> 
eans<'  of  liberty  when  I  am  gone."  And  to  another  friend  he  wrote: 
"The  tight  must  go  on.  The  cause  of  civil  libeiiy  must  not  be  sni'i'en- 
dered  at  the  end  of  one  oi-  even  one  thous.and  defeats."  Dur- 
ing this  gi'e.at  discussion,  as  in  all  his  after  life,  he  h;id  no  uid<ind 
words  for  slav(^  holders,  and  nianifesteil  no  animosity  toward  them. 
Over  them  his  great  heart  threw  the  uuuitle  of  charity.     IJut  he  de- 


74  Herkimer  county  historical  socieT"?. 

iiounced  the  institution  of  slnA'ery.  Spealcing  of  tlie  debate  aferward, 
Mr.  Douglass  said  of  Mr.  Lincoln:  "lie  is  an  al)le  and  honest  man, 
one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  nation.  I  have  been  in  Cont;ress  sixteen 
years,  and  there  is  not  a  man  in  the  Senate  1  would  not  rather  encoun- 
ter in  debate." 

In  May,  3.S59,  in  answer  to  an  invitation  from  Boston  to  a  festival 
In  honor  of  Jefferson's  birthday,  referring  to  the  language  of  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence  tliat  "all  men  are  created  equal"  and  have  cer- 
tain "inalienable  rights," and  claiming  then,  as  he  always  did,  that  these 
words  condemned  slavery,  he  said:  "This  is  a  world  of  compensation; 
HTid  he  who  would  be  no  slave  must  consent  to  have  no  slave.  Those 
who  deny  freedom  to  others  deserve  it  not  for  themselves;  and  under 
a  just  God  cannot  long  retain  it." 

In  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Douglass  went  to  Ohio  where  a 
canvass  for  the  office  of  Governor  was  pending,  and  made  some 
speeches  there;  and  Mr.  Lincoln  followed  him,  and  also  spoke  there, 
his  main  topic  being  the  exclusion  of  slavery  from  the  territories,  and 
the  effect  of  the  Dred  Scott  Decision;  and  he  added  to  his  reputation 
as  a  debater  and  an  anti-slavery  champion.  And  in  December,  he  made 
several  speeches  in  Kansas,  and  there  gladly  met  the  men  who  had 
imperiled  their  lives  in  the  battle  for  freedom  stimulated  somewhat 
by  the  elO(]uent  words  which  he  had  uttered.  In  February,  18(i0,  he 
went  by  invitation  to  New  York,  and  adrressed  a  large  meeting  in 
Cooper  institute,  presided  over  by  William  Cullen  Bryant  wlio  introduced 
him  simply  as  "An  eminent  citizen  of  the  West,  hitherto  known  to  you 
only  by  reputation."  His  audience  contained  Horace  Greely,  ex-  Gov- 
ernor John  A.  King,  David  Dudley  Field,  and  many  others  of  the  most 
prominent  men  of  the  city.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  never  before  had  the 
questions  then  pending  relating  to  slavery  been  presented  in  a  more 
forcible  and  convincing  style.  He  there  reiterated  the  views  he  had 
expressed  in  the  West;  and  he  also  went  to  Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island,  New  Hampshire,  and  Connecticut,  and  spoke  to  large  and  enthu- 
siastic audiences,  everywhere  presenting  his  views  upon  the  pending 
slavery  questions  with  a  force  and  freshness  never  liefore  experienced 
by  the  people  of  the  East. 

Down  to  this  time,  his  reputatloii  depended  wholly  upon  his  relation 
to  tlie  anti-slavery  discussion.  He  was  not  distingxiished  al)Ove  some 
otliers  in  Ids  own  state  as  a  lawyer.  He  had  held  but  two  offices,  mem- 
ber of  the  Illinois  Legislature,  and  member  of  Congress;  and  in  these 
positions  he  had  not  achieved  any  peculiar  success.  He  had  not  l)ecome 
l»ronunent  in  the  treatment  of  questions  of  finance,  of  tariff  and  other 
matters  to  which  statesmen  give  much  of  their  time.  He  had  become 
one  of  the  ablest  and  most  conspicuous  champions  in  the  country  of 
the  anti-slavery  cause  as  embodied  in  the  platform  of  the  Republican 
party.  He  was  prol)ably  the  best  and  fittest  representative  in  the  coun- 
try of  the  wise,  conservative,  practical,  and  at  the  same  time,  deter- 
mined,  earnest,   and  fearless  anti-slavery  men.     It   is  not,   therefore, 


'ABRAHAM   LINCOLN   IN   HIS   RELATION  TO   SLAVERY.  75 

woiulerful  tliat.  at  a  tinio  wIhmi  slavery  was  tlie  all  absorltiiii;-  t()i>i(' 
for  discussion  evci-ywlioiv,  nortli  and  sontli,  hv  shonld  have  roct-ivtMl 
tlio  nomination  of  tlio  Koi)Ul>lican  i)arty  for  IMcsidcnt  in  May,  ISCO. 
After  Ins  nonnnation,  lie  did  not  say  niucli  for  tlie  pul)lie  ear  until  he 
delivered  his  Inanunral  address.  He  did,  however,  .say  to  a  friend 
before  the  election:  "I  know  there  is  :i  (Jod,  and  that  He  hates  injus- 
tice and  slavery.  ♦  *  «  i  have  told  them  that  a  house  divided 
against  itself  cannot  stand.  Clirist  and  reason  say  the  same,  and  tliey  . 
will  find  it  so.  Douj^lass  doesn't  can-  whetlier  slavery  was  voted  up 
or  down.  But  (Jod  cares,  humanity  cares,  and  1  care.  Witli  God's  help, 
I  shall  not  fail."  As  the  time  approached  for  his  inauguration,  he  saw 
with  alarm  a  tendency,  even  among  the  members  of  his  own  party, 
for  further  compromises  with  slavery,  and  against  tins  he  protested 
most  vigorously.  lie  wrote  to  a  prominent  Ilepul)lican  member  of  Con- 
gress from  his  own  State:  "Entertain  no  propositions  for  a  compro- 
mise in  regard  to  tlie  extension  of  slavery.  The  instant  you  do,  they 
have  us  under  again;  all  our  labor  is  lost,  and  sooner  or  later  must 
be  done  over  again;"  and  he  wrote  to  other  mendters  of  Congress,  and 
to  Horace  Greely  to  the  .same  eit'ect.  To  all  efforts  made  during  these 
days,  under  many  specious  pretexts,  by  editors.  pid)lic  ni(<Ti,  and  other 
citizens,  to  get  from  him  some  new  or  furtlier  expressioti  of  Ids  views 
upon  tlie  subject  of  slavery,  he  generally  rcidied  by  referring  them  to 
his  record  made  in  his  public  speeches,  and  to  the  platform  of  tlie 
Republican  party.  Upon  one  point  more  than  any  other  he  was  inflex- 
il)le,  and  tliat  was  his  opposition  to  tlie  extension  of  sl.-ivery  into  any 
of  the  territories. 

Down  to  this  time,  and  at  all  times  thereafter,  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  all  his 
views  on  slavery,  and  in  all  the  measures  he  proposed  in  r<'fer(>nce 
thereto,  kept  within  the  constitution.  Wliere  sl.avcry  constitutionally 
existed,  lie  would  leave  it  untouched.  Wliat  rights  tlie  slave  holders 
liad  under  the  constitution,  he  would  always  respect:  and  so  he  w.is 
not  popular  witli  tlie  genuine  Aliolitionists  wlio  denounced  both  the  con- 
stitution and  the  Union.  Wendell  Phillips  spoke  of  him  as  "The  slave 
hound  of  Illinois."  He  liad  two  forces  to  contend  Mith  in  the  North — 
those  Aliolitionists  who  I'eally  wanted  the  Union  dissolved  so  as  to  have 
no  further  responsibility  for  slavery  or  association  with  it;  and  a  large 
]>ody  of  citizens  who  wanted  further  compi'oniises  with  slavery  to  save 
tlie  Union;  and  we  shall  see  how  he  d<'alt  with  these  forces,  and  witli 
the  people  of  the  border  States  who  wanted  to  save  both  the  Union 
Hud  slavery. 

When  he  was  inaugurated,  March  4,  isr.l,  seven  of  the  southern 
States  had  in  form  seceded  from  the  Union,  and  the  Confe(hM'ate  (iov- 
ernraent  had  been  established;  and  secession  was  tiercely  agitated  in 
the  other  southern  States,  all  but  four  of  wliicli,  Delaware,  Maryland. 
Kentucky  and  Missouri,  soon  formally  .joined  the  seceding  States.  .No 
statesman  ever  before,  uiion  entering  otlice,  was  confronted  with  graver 
problems  for  solution.     The  key  note  of  his.  inaugural  address  was  the 


'J6  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

preservation  of  the  XTiiion.  It  was  conciliatoi'y  in  its  lanyuage,  and  at 
this  day,  separated  by  many  years  from  the  passions  and  prejudices  of 
the  times  when  it  was  delivered,  we  wonder  that  its  toucliing  appeals 
did  not  reach  more  hearts  in  the  south,  and  to  a  larger  extent  disai-m 
tliat  resentment  which  the  flery  leaders  of  that  region  were  endeavor- 
ing to  foment.  In  that  address,  he  said:  ■'A])])rehension  seems  to 
exist  among  the  ix-ople^  of  the  southern  States,  that  hy  the  accession 
of  the  Kepnhlican  administration  their  prej)erty.  and  thiMr  peace,  and 
personal  security  ai'e  to  l)e  endangered.  There  has  never  been  any 
reasonable  cause  for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most  ample  evi- 
dence to  the  contrary  has  all  the  while  existed,  and  been  open  to  their 
inspection.  It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  public  speeches  of  him  who 
now  addresses  you.  I  do  but  (piote  from  one  of  thost'  speeches  wliere  I 
declare  that:  "I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere 
with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists.  I  believe 
1  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I  have  no  inclination  to  do  so.' 
Those  who  nominated  and  elected  me  did  so  with  full  knowledge  that 
I  made  this,  and  many  similar  declarations,  and  have  never  recanted 
them;  and  more  than  this,  they  placed  in  the  platform  for  my  accep- 
tance, and  as  a  law  to  themselves  and  to  me  the  clear  and  emphatic 
risolution  which  I  now  read:  'Resolved,  that  the  maintenance  invio- 
late of  tlie  rights  of  the  States,  and  especially  the  right  of  each  State 
to  order  and  control  its  own  domestic  institutions  according  to  its  own 
judgment  exclusivi'Iy  is  essential  to  that  balance  of  power  on  which 
the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our  political  fabric  depend;  and  we 
den<mnco  the  lawless  invasion  by  armed  force  of  the  soil  of  any  State 
or  territory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext.  ;is  among  the  gi-avest  of 
crimes.'  "  Thert'  was  more  to  the  same  effect,  including  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  duty  to  enforce  the  clause  in  the  Federal  constitution  as  to 
the  rendition  of  fugitive  slaves  on  the  claim  of  their  owners;  and  he 
concluded  with  this  forcible,  pathetic  appi'al:  "We  are  not  enemies, 
but  friends.  We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have 
strained,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection.  The  mystic  chords 
oi"  memory,  sti'ctching  from  every  battlefield  and  i>a1riot  gi'avt'  to  every 
loving  heart  and  he;irthstone  all  over  this  bro.-id  land,  will  yet  swell 
the  chorus  of  tlu'  union  when  again  touched,  as  surely  thi-y  will  be.  by 
the  better  angel  of  our  nature." 

DiHicult  problems,  as  to  the  trealment  of  slav(>ry  and  the  slaves, 
soon  after  his  inauguration,  came  before  him  for  solution.  On  the  one 
hand  were  the  old-time  xVbolitionists,  with  some  recent  allies,  who 
were  urging  upon  him  radical  action — the  freeing  and  arming  of  slaves 
so  far  as  he  could.  On  the  other  baud,  were  the  people  of  the  border 
States,  the  great  mass  of  Democrats,  and  many  of  his  own  party  urging 
him  to  touch  the  institution  of  slavery  as  little  as  possible,  and  to  make 
the  restoration  of  the  Union  the  sole  issue  of  the  armed  contest. 

Of  advice,  much  of  it  very  bewildering,  there  was  great  abundance; 
and  through  the  clash  of  discordent  opinions,   he  had  a  hard  task  to 


ABRAHAM   MNCOTN  IN   HIS  RELATION  TO   SLAVERY.  77 

sifcr  his  w;iy.  He  iiip.iicdi.-ilcly  .idoptcd  llic  upiiiidii  tli.it  lie  had  tlic 
ri.ulit  to  iiitci'lciv  witli  slavci-.v  in  tiic  rc\(>lti'd  Slates  only  as  a  wai" 
liicasiirc;  and  he  early  i-et'used  lo  use  (lie  war  ixiwer,  excejii  so  far 
as  Ik-  could  lie  satisfied  that  it  would  aii!  the  riiioii  cause;  and  lie  did 
not  at  any  time,  so  far  as  1  can  i>ei-cei\c.  let  his  feelings  of  iK.stility 
to  slavery,  or  motives  of  pure  humanity  inlluence  his  action.  He  set 
beforo  him  the  task  of  sa\iu.L;  and  restoring;  the  I'nion.  and  he  kept 
his  eye  single  uixtu  that  i'wd. 

The  (|Uestion  very  soon  arose,  what  should  he  done  with  slaves  that 
came  within  the  lines  of  the  linion  ai'uiyV  And  he  forbade  their  retnru 
to  their  masters:  and  the  (|Uestiou.  what  should  be  done  with  sl.aves 
used  for  cai'ryiuu  on  the  war  of  the  ItebellionV  .\nd  that  was  answer- 
ed by  the  passa.nc  of  the  con.yressional  act  of  AuL^ust  r.th.  isr.!.  fi'eeiu.^ 
such  slaves.  He  fean  d  tliat  tlie  armiu,:;-  of  Negroes  to  li.^ht  in  the 
I'nion  cause  would  alienate  the  people  of  the  border  stales  whom  he 
\v;is  nntst  solicitous  to  keep  on  the  side  of  the  ruion.  or  at  least  neuira'; 
and  so,  when  in  October.  hStn,  Secretary  of  Wai'  Cameron  issued  an 
or(h'r  to  Genei-al  Sherman,  then  at  Tort  Koyal.  .luthori/.inu-  him  to 
em]tloy  Xe.izi'oes  in  any  capacity  which  he  mi.uht  "deem  most  benelicial 
to  the  service,"  he  interlined  in  the  oi'(h'r:  "This,  however,  not  to  mean 
a  Kt'uoral  arming-  of  them  foi'  military  service."  A  few  months  later 
the  sauie  secretai'y  inserted  in  his  rei)ort.  which  was  to  accomp.my  the 
I'l-esident's  annual  messai^c  to  Con.^ress.  this  lanuua.ue:  ".Vs  the  labor 
and  sei'vice  of  their  slaves  constitute-  the  chief  i)roperty  of  the  rebels. 
they  should  share  the  common  fate  of  war.  *  *  '■'  II  is  clearly  a 
ri.Li'ht  of  the  liovernmi-ut  to  arm  slaves  s\  hen  it  bece^mes  necess,ii-y,  as 
it  is  (o  use  .mm  powder  taken  from  the  enemy.  Wlu'ther  it  is  expeilieut 
to  do  so  is  purely  a  military  (iiU'Stion."  \\'hen  this  lan^ua.iic  came  to 
(he  I'resiih'nt's  knowled.i^c.  In-  orch'red  the  secretary  to  onnt  i(,  and 
insert  in  its  place  tliese  words:  "Slaves  on  captui'ed  or  abandoned 
lilantations  sliould  not  be  n'tuiaied  to  their  masters,  but  withheld  to 
lessen  tlu'  eiu-my's  military  resources."  About  tliat  tinu'  he  was  much 
botlun-ed  with  wliat  slioukl  be  done  witli  slaves  who  should  in  any 
way  become  free;  and  his  general  views  in  reference  to  the  emancii)a- 
tion  of  slaves,  so  far  as  it  coiikl  l)e  aeliieved,  were  these:  N'oluntary 
action  of  tlie  indivi(bial  slave  States  by  the  exercise  of  their  sovereign 
l)Ower;  eompensatiou  of  slave  owners:  and  coloiu/at ion.  and  Hie  appro- 
priation of  money  by  Congress  foi-  ac<|uiriii.i;'  teri'itory  for  that  ]iur|iose. 

Wlien  General  Fremont,  in  (he  l''all  of  hsr.l.  while  commander  in 
INfissouri,  proclaimed  tlie  slaves  ot  rebel  owners  free,  the  I'resideut  set 
aside  tlie  proclamation.  When  (Jeneral  I'.utler  went  with  his  e.\i)edi- 
tion  to  New  Orleans,  knowing'  his  meddlesome  disposition,  he  told  him 
not  to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  sla\ei'y.  lii  May.  ISC.L'.  (Jener.il 
Huntei".  in  conimai.d  of  the  I  >e|)arlineiit  of  South  Carolina.  <ieoi-.i;ia 
and  Florida,  issued  a  pi'ocljimalion  fi'ceini;  all  the  slaves  in  his  dejiart- 
iiH'nt,  and  the  President   set    it    aside    by  a   pi'oclani;i(ion.    in   which   he 


78  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

said:  "Whether  it  be  competent  for  me,  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  navy,  to  declare  tlie  slaves  of  any  State  or  States  free,  and 
whether,  at  any  time  or  in  any  place,  it  shall  become  a  necessity  indis- 
pensible  to  the  maintenance  of  the  govei'nment  to  exercise  such  sup- 
posed powers,  are  (luestions  which,  under  my  responsibility,  I  reserve 
to  myself,  and  which  1  cannot  feel  justified  in  leavinj;-  to  the  discretion 
of  commanders  in  the  tield,"  closing  with  tlie  following  most  urgent 
and  tender  appeal:  "To  the  people  of  the  border  States,  I  now  earnestly 
appeal — I  do  not  argue;  I  beseech  you  to  make  the  argunu-nts  for 
yourselves:  you.  cannot,  if  you  would,  be  blind  to  the  signs  of  the 
tunes.  I  beg  of  you  a  calm  and  enlarged  consideration  of  them,  rang- 
ing, if  it  may  be,  far  above  personal  and  partisan  politics.  This  pro- 
posal (referring  to  the  joint  resolution  of  Congress  adopted  JNIarch  (>) 
makes  common  cause  for  a  common  object,  casting  no  reproach  upon 
any  one.  It  acts  not  the  Pharasee.  The  change  it  contemplates  would 
come  as  gently  as  the  dews  of  heaven,  not  rending  or  wrecking  any- 
thing. Will  yon  not  entertain  itV  So  much  good  has  not  been  done  by 
one  effort  in  all  past  time  as,  in  the  providence  of  God,  it  is  now  your 
privilege  to  do.  May  the  vast  future  not  have  it  to  lament  that  you 
neglected  it."  In  these  acts,  the  mass  of  northern  people  sustained 
the  President.  But  Fremont  and  Hunter  became  tlie  idols  of  most  of 
the  radicals,  and  they  denounced  him.  William  Lloyd  Garrison  said: 
"All  honor  to  General  Hunter.  With  cheer  upon  cheer,  the  welkin 
rings.  Shame  and  confusion  of  face  to  the  I'resident  for  his  halting, 
shulHing,  backward  policy.  By  his  act,  he  has  dispirited  and  alienated 
the  truest  friends  of  freedom  universally,  and  gratitied  the  malignity 
of  the  enemies  of  his  administration  who  are  at  heart  rebels." 

In  his  annual  message  delivered  to  Congress,  December  3,  18(>1,  he 
again  advocated  his  pet  scheme  of  compensation  for  slaves  made  free 
by  the  voluntary  action  of  slave  States,  and  for  the  colonization  of 
such  and  other  colored  persons  in  territory  to  be  ac(iuired  by  the  United 
States.  In  a  special  message  sent  to  Congress.  March  Gth,  18(j2,  he  rec- 
ommended, giving  his  reas<ms  therefor  at  some  length,  the  adoption  by 
Congress  of  the  following  joint  resolution:  "Pesolved.  that  the  United 
States  ought  to  co-operate  with  any  State  which  may  adopt  gradual 
abolislnnent  of  slavery,  giving  such  State  pecuniary  aid  to  be  used  by 
such  State  in  its  discretion  to  compensate  for  the  inconvenience,  public 
and  private,  produced  by  such  change  of  system."  This  resolution  was 
introduced  into  the  House  of  Representatives  by  Roscoe  Conkling,  and 
was  passed  by  large  majorities  in  both  houses. 

In  April.  1S(;2,  Congress  passed  an  act  abolishing  slavery  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  providing  for  compensation  and  colonization,  and 
the  President  approved  it.  lie  was  so  anxious  that  his  views  should  be 
kept  before  the  p(H)ple  that  he  sent  to  Congress  a  special  message  in 
whicli  he  said:  "I  am  gratitied  that  the  two  principles  of  compensation 
and   colonization   are    both    recognized   and   practically   applied   in   the 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN   IN  HIS  RELATION  TO  SLAVERY.  79 

act."  Ill  Juno,  Conj^ross  passed  anotlicr  act,  aitprovcd  hy  the  rrcsidi-ut. 
securing  freedom  to  all  persons  within  the  territories  of  the  Fnited 
States. 

On  the  14th  of  July,  the  I'resident  sent  to  Congress  a  draft  of  a  i)ill 
to  make  compensation  to  States  which  would  abolish  slavery,  and  rec- 
onnueiided  its  passage.  Before  sending  the  draft,  July  ll'tli,  he  invited 
the  ineinbers  of  Congress  from  tlie  l)order  Stati's  to  a  eonfei'eiice  with 
him;  and  he  submitted  the  draft  to  them,  and  made  an  e.arnest  appe;il, 
expressed  in  the  forcible  language  he  was  able  to  use,  to  abolish  slav- 
ery in  their  States,  receiving  compensation  for  the  sl.aves  so  fre<'d,  say- 
ing to  them:  "The  incidents  of  war  cannot  be  avoided.  If  it  continues, 
as  it  must  if  the  object  is  not  sooner  attained,  the  institution  in  your 
States  will  be  extinguished  by  nu'n-  friction  and  abrasion.  It  will  be 
gone,  and  you  will  have  nothing  valuable  in  lieu  of  it.  Much  of  its 
value  is  gone  already.  *  *  *  lluw  much  better  for  you  as  seller, 
and  the  Nation  as  buyer,  to  sell  out  and  buy  on;  tli;it  without  which 
the  war  could  never  have  been  than  to  sink  both  the  thing  to  l)e  sold 
and  the  ])rice  of  it  in  cutting  one  another's  throats."  He 
spoke  of  the  dilHculties  which  surrouinU'd  him  and  the  pressuri; 
which  was  brought  to  bear  upon  him  against  slavi-ry,  and  of  the  dis- 
satisfaction created  l)y  his  recent  repudiation  of  (jJeneral  Freenioiit's 
proclamation  of  fn-edom.  Wh.nt  he  earnestly  asked  of  them  was  to 
vote  a  sum  of  money  for  purchasing  the  slaves  in  tlu'ir  respt'ctive 
States  sutticii'iit  to  fully  compensate  the  owni'rs.  I'.ut  he  failed  to  con- 
vince them.  A  majority  of  them  claimed  that  the  pi'ople  of  their 
States  had  the  right  to  hold  slaves;  and  they  were  not  ready  to  give 
up  slavery.  About  this  time  he  said  to  two  members  of  Congress:  "(Hi, 
if  the  bordei'  States  would  accept  my  proposition!  Then  you,  Lovejoy, 
and  Arnold,  and  all  of  us  would  not  have  lived  in  vain!  The  labor  of 
your  life,  Lovejoy,  would  be  crowned  with  success!  You  would  live  to 
see  the  end  of  slavery." 

On  the  17th  day  of  July,  Congress  passed  an  act  which  was  approved 
by  the  President,  "to  suppress  insurrection,  to  punish  treason  and  re- 
bellion, to  seize  and  confiscate  the  property  of  rebels,  .and  for  other 
purposes,"  which,  among  other  things,  provided  th.at  the  slaves  of  per- 
sons convicted  of  treason,  and  of  all  persons  thereafter  convicted  of 
Inciting,  setting  on  foot,  assisting,  or  engaging  in  rebellion  against  the 
TTiiited  Stati'S  should  be  liberated;  that  all  slaves  of  jiersons  who 
should  tliereafter  be  engaged  in  the  rebellion,  or  who  shoukl  give  aid 
or  comfort  thereto  escaping  from  such  persons  and  taking  refuge  with- 
in the  I'nion  lines,  and  all  slavi-s  captured  from  such  persons  or  de- 
serted by  them  and  coming  under  the  control  of  the  government,  and 
all  shaves  of  such  persons  found  or  lieing  within  any  ph-u-e  occiii»ied  by 
rebel  forces  and  afterward  occupied  liy  the  forces  of  the  Cnited  States 
should  i)e  (U'emed  captives  of  war  and  forever  free;  tli:it  no  slave 
escaping  into  any  State.  Territory,  or  the  District  of  Columbia  from 
any  other  State  should  be  delivered  up  unless  the  person  claiming  the 


80  HERKIMER   COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

fugitive  should  lirst  lu.-ikc  oath  that  ho  is  the  owner  and  that  he  had 
not  liorne  arms  against  tiio  United  States  in  tlie  rel)ellion  nor  in  any 
way  given  aid  and  comfort  thereto;  and  no  military  officer  should 
assume  to  decide  on  the  validity  of  the  claim  of  any  person  to  any 
fugitive  slave,  or  surrender  up  such  fugitive  on  pain  of  being  dismissed 
from  tlie  service;  (hat  the  President  should  be  authorized  to  einj)loy  as 
many  persons  of  African  descent  as  he  might  deem  necessary  and 
proper  for  tlie  suppressitMi  of  the  rebellion;  and  for  this  purpose  he 
might  organize  and  use  them  in  such  maimer  as  he  might  judge  best 
for  the  public  welfare;  that  the  President  should  be  autliorized  to 
make  provision  for  the  transportation,  colonization  and  settlement  in 
some  ti'opical  country  beyond  tlie  limits  of  the 'United  States,  of 
such  Negroes  made  free  by  the  act  as  might  be  willing  to  emigrate. 
There  had  been  great  clamor  on  tlie  part  of  the  radicals  in  favor  of 
arming  the  freed  Negroes  of  the  South  to  tiglit  against  their  former 
masters,  and  to  free  the  slaves  of  those  engaged  in  the  reb"!lloii  or 
in  giving  aid  and  comfort  thereto;  and  tliis  was  tlie  first  act  to  accom- 
plish these  ends.  The  President  had  been  reluctant  to  use  the  war 
power  to  accomplish  these  ends,  fearing  to  exasperate  the  people  of  the 
rebel  States,  to  supiiri'ss  the  Union  sentiment  tliere.  to  ali<'n;ite  the 
people  of  the  border  States,  and  to  prejudice  the  Union  cause  at  the 
North.  Tlie  radicals  were  beginning  to  denounce  him  in  unmeasured 
terms,  were  clamoring  for  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  in  the  south- 
ern States,  and  were  pressing  him  to  issue  an  emancipation  proclama- 
tion. He  resisted  the  pressure,  and  bided  liis  time,  waiting  for  the 
opportune  moment  when  he  could  issue  sucli  a  proclamation  with  tell- 
ing effect  upon  the  rebllion,  at  the  same  time  doing  as  little  harm  as 
possible  In  other  directions.  He  had  meditated  niucli  and  anxicmsly 
ui)on  the  subject,  and  tinally  reached  the  conclusion  that  lie  ought  to 
issue  the  proclamation;  and  on  Sunday,  July  38th,  the  next  day  after 
tlie  conference  with  the  border  State  Congressmen  above  referred  to, 
Avhile  riding  in  a  funeral  procession  in  a  carriage  with  Secretaries 
Seward  and  Wells  for  the  burial  of  a  son  of  Secretary  Stanton,  after 
saying,  among  other  things,  that  lie  ha<l  given  much  thought  to  the 
matter  of  issuing  a  proclamation  of  em;inci])ation,  he  said:  "I  have 
about  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  a  military  necessity  essential 
for  the  salvation  of  the  nation.  This  is  the  first  time  I  have  ever  men- 
tioned it  to  any  one.  Wliat  do  you  think  of  itV"  They  replied  sepa- 
rately in  substance  that  the  sui)ject  was  so  vast  that  they  must  have 
time  for  refiectioii  ;and  that  the  measure  might  be  justifiable  and  nec- 
essary. He  replied  tliat  he  wished  them  to  give  the  question  careful 
consideration,  for  "something  must  be  done."  Congress  had  then  finish- 
ed its  session  and  adjourned.  It  had  passed  the  act  referred  to  con- 
fiscating the  property  of  those  in  rebellion.  Slaves  were  property  and 
under  the  act  they  might  lie  seized  and  used  for  the  benefit  of  the  gov- 
ernment; and  they  were  so  seized  and  used;  and  Mr.  T>incoln  con- 
cluded that  the  time  had  come  to  give  them  their  freedom.     His  Cab- 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN   IN   HIS  RELATION   TO   SLAVFRY.  81 

iiu't  was  ill  session  on  the  "Ji'ikI  dny  of  July.  Mncli  thon.nlit  liiid  .uiven 
him  a  tinu  coiM-iiision.  The  roli^'ls  in  s!)ilo  of  al!  his  appoals  clnn.i;-  to 
tlR-  institntion  of  slavery,  and  were  (h'U'rinined  and  a,i;.U'i'<'ssive.  Tliick 
elonds  iniiK'iided  over  Hie  I'nioii  cause.  With  the  nieniliers  of  his  Cah- 
Inet  seated  around  him,  he  took  from  his  desk  the  draft  tif  his  enianci- 
palion  proehimalion,  and  read  it  to  them.  They  listened  In  ama/.e- 
ment.  The  stupenduous  sehenie  of  .i;ivinii-  freedom  to  four  millions  of 
slaves  chalU'iiKcd  their  faith  and  perplexed  their  minds.  They  sat  as 
it"  (h'l/.ed.  Lincoln  with  self-contained  confidem-e,  ami  a  vision  inspired, 
calmly  said  to  tiieiii:  "I  have  not  called  you  to^other  to  ask  your 
advice,  but  to  lay  (he  subject  befoi>'  you.  I  sh.all  be  pleased  to  hear 
any  suy-yestions  from  you."  It  was  criticised  sonu'.  Mr.  ("liase  wanted 
the  hui.t;ua.i;e  str()ii,i;('i'.  Mr.  I'.lair  said  it  would  cost  the  fall  elections. 
Mr.  Seward  apiiroved  the  proclamation,  but  thought  the  time  had  not 
yet  come  to  issue  it — that  many  reverses  to  the  Union  arms  had  caused 
great  dei)ression  in  the  public  mind — that  it  might  Ik-  viewed  as  a  con- 
fession of  weakness  and  evidence  of  despair,  and  that  lie  had  better 
defer  it  until  it  could  follow  soiue  military  success.  Mr.  rjincoln 
aeceeded  to  this  view.  Some  nuniths  later  he  said  of  the  proclamation: 
"It  had  to  conu'.  Things  had  gone  from  bad  to  worse  until  I  felt  that 
we  had  reached  the  end  of  our  rope  on  the  plan  of  operations  we  had 
been  pursuing,  that  we  had  played  oiu'  last  card  and  must  change  our 
tactics,  or  lose  tlu-  game.  I  deti'iniined  on  the  emancipation  procla- 
mation, and  witliom  consultation  with  or  knowledge  of  the  Cabinet, 
I  prei>ar(Hl  the  original  draft;  and  after  much  anxious  thought,  called 
a  dabinet  meeting  upon  the  sul).ject."  On  the  same  day,  July  22nd,  he 
issued  an  order  to  the  military  commanders  within  the  States  of  Vir- 
ginia, South  Carolina,  (b'oi'gia,  Florida,  Alal»ama,  Mississippi,  r>ouis- 
iana,  Texas  and  Ark.nnsas  that  they  should  "employ  as  laborers 
within  and  from  said  States  so  many  persons  of  African  descent  as 
can  be  advantageously  used  for  military  or  naval  purposes,  giving  them 
re:is<inable  wages  for  their  labor." 

At  that  time,  in  .Inly,  iscii',  there  was  much  vigorous  criticism,  even 
l)y  members  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  party,  of  his  treatment  of  the  institution 
of  slavery,  and  of  the  conduct  of  the  war;  and  the  fault  linding  was 
particularly  rife  in  ("oiigress.  .Mr.  .lulien,  a  prominent  Itepublican 
memlier  of  Congress,  afterwards  said:  "No  one  at  a  distance  could 
have  formed  any  ade(|uate  concei)tion  of  the  hostility  of  Itepublican 
members  towards  Mr.  Lincoln  ;it  th(>  final  ad.journment  (the  middle  of 
.Inly),  while  it  was  the  belief  of  many  that  our  last  session  of  Congress 
had  been  held  in  Washington."  Senator  Wade  of  Ohio  said:  "The 
country  was  going  to  hell,  and  that  the  scenes  witnessed  in  the  French 
Ue\'olutioii  were  nothing  in  comparison  with  what  we  should  see  here." 

At  that  time  New  Orle.-ins  was  in  possession  of  the  Fiiion  trooi»s, 
under  (Ik-  command  of  Ceiier.-il  Lntler,  and  Negroes  were,  to  the  great 
d»«gust  of  (he  iieople  of  tluil  city,  ;irnied  iind  drilled  as  soldiers. 
Kp-verdy  Johnson  of  .Maryland  had  been  sent   there  on  public  business, 


B2  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

and  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  deprecating  the  arming  of  the  Negroes, 
and  saying  that  it  would  have  a  depressing  effect  upon  the  Union  sen- 
timent in  that  locality.  .  To  this  Mr.  Lincoln  replied:  "The  People  of 
Louisiana,  all  intelligent  people  everywhere,  know  full  well  that  I 
never  had  a  wish  to  touch  the  foundation  of  their  society  or  any  right 
of  theirs." 

In  August,  1S(>2,  Horace  Greely  had  published  a  letter  in  his  own 
paper,  the  Tribune,  criticising  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the  conduct  of  the  Avar. 
To  this  letter  he  wrote  a  reply,  which  at  the  time  excited  much  com- 
ment, in  which  he  said:  "If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the 
Union  unless  they  could  at  the  same  time  save  slavery.  I  do  not  agree 
with  them.  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless 
they  could  at  the  same  time  destroy  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them. 
Mj"-  paramount  object  in  this  struggle  is  to  save  the  Union,  and  it  is  not 
either  to  save  or  destroy  slavery.  If  I  could  save  the  Union  without 
freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do  it;  and  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all 
the  slaves,  I  would  do  it;  and  if  I  could  .save  it  by  freeing  some  and 
leaving  others  alone.  I  would  also  do  that.  What  I  do  about  slavery 
and  the  colored  i"ace,  I  do  because  I  believe  it  helps  to  save  the  Union; 
and  what  I  forbear,  I  forbear  because  I  do  not  believe  it  lielps  to  save 
the  Union.  *  *  *  I  intend  no  modification  of  my  oft-expressed 
personal  wish  that  all  men  everywhere  could  be  free." 

The  battle  of  Manassas,  usually  called  the  second  battle  of  Bull  Run, 
resulting  in  the  disastrous  defeat  of  General  Pope,  and  spreading  con- 
sternation throughout  the  loyal  North,  was  fought  the  latter  part  of 
August.  18G2;  and  soon  after,  a  delegation  of  ministers  from  Chicago 
reached  Washington  to  urge  the  President  to  do  something  to  abolish 
slavery.  Among  other  things,  he  said  in  reply:  "Gentlemen,  you 
know  I  am  powerless  to  enforce  the  constitution  in  the  States  now  in 
rebellion.  Allow  me  to  ask  if  you  think  that  I  can  enforce  a  proclama- 
tion of  emancipation  better?"  The  delegates  interpreted  the  question 
as  indicating  reluctance  under  any  circumstances  to  issue  sucli  a  proc- 
lamation; and  one  of  them  replied:  "What  you  have  said  compels  me 
to  say  that  it  is  a  message  of  the  Divine  Master,  through  me,  com- 
manding you,  sir,  to  open  the  doors  and  let  the  oppressed  go  free." 
"Well,  that  may  be,"  said  the  President  humorously,  "but  if  it  is  as  you 
say  a  message  from  your  Divine  Master,  is  it  not  a  little  odd  that  the 
only  channel  of  cunnuunication  to  me  must  be  by  the  roundabout  way 
of  that  awfully  wicked  city  of  Chicago?"  And  they  departed  without 
having  obtained  any  satisfaction. 

All  this  time,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  keeping  from  the  public  his  own  coun- 
sels; and  he  had  locked  up  in  his  desk  the  proclamation  which  at  the 
proper  time  he  would  issue.  That  time  soon  came.  The  battle  of 
Antietam  was  fought  on  the  17th  of  September,  and  resulted  in  a  great 
victory  for  the  Union  army.  The  tide  of  rebel  invasion  was  stayed,  and 
confidence  was  awakened,  and  enthusiasm  aroused  throughout  the 
North.    The  time  had  come  when  he  thought  he  could  safely  and  effect- 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN    IN  HIS   RELATION  TO  SLAVERY.  83 

ivply  issue  the  in-oclninntioii  of  ciniUicip.ition  and  lie  called  a  nuM>tin.iC 
of  his  (\il>iiiet  on  Monday,  SeiiteniluT  lilind.  lie  ix'ad  to  llieni  liis  jiroe- 
laniation:  and  then  wiiat  took  place  at  this,  the  most  nioiuenloiis  Cab- 
inet nieetinu-  ever  held  in  Wasliin.uton,  niaikin.i;  an  epocli  in  the  world's 
history,  ninst  he  stated  as  subsequently  related  by  Mr.  Secretary  Wells, 
who  Avas  [iresent:  ""'riie  I'resident  stated  that  the  (luestion  was  linally 
decided — the  act  and  the  conseciuences  were  his — but  tliat  lie  felt  it  dui^ 
to  us  to  make  us  ac(iuaiuted  with  the  facts  and  to  invit(>  criticism  on 
tlie  paper  which  he  luid  prepared.  There  were,  lu>  liad  found  not  unex- 
pectedly, some  differences  in  his  Cabinet;  but  he  had,  after  ascertain- 
in.n'  in  ids  own  way  the  views  of  each  and  all,  indiviibially  and  collect- 
ively, fo?-nied  his  own  conehisions  and  made  liis  own  decision.  In  the 
course  of  the  discussion  on  this  iiaj)er.  which  was  loni;'.  earnest,  and 
on  tlie  .yeneral  principles  involved,  harmonious,  he  remarked  that  he 
had  made  a  vow — a  covenant — that  if  God  gave  us  the  victory  in  the 
aiii)roachin,L;  battle,  he  would  consider  it  an  indication  of  Divine  will, 
and  tliat  it  >vas  his  duty  to  move  forwai'd  in  the  cause  of  emancipation. 
It  uiight  be  thought  strange,  he  s;iid.  tliat  he  had  in  this  way  sulimitted 
the  disposal  of  matters  when  the  way  was  not  clear  in  his  own  mind 
what  he  should  do.  (Jod  had  decided  this  (juestion  in  favor  of  the 
slaves,  lie  was  satislied  it  was  right — was  confirmed  and  strengtli- 
eiR'd  ill  his  action  by  the  vow  and  the  results.  His  mind  was  fixed,  his 
decision  made,  but  he  wislied  his  paper  announcing"  his  course  as  cor- 
rect as  it  could  be  made  without  any  cliange  in  his  determination." 

The  jirocla Illation  awakened  much  enthusiasm  in  the  North  gener- 
ally, altliougii  there  were  very  many  who  thought  it  untimely  and 
unwise  as  a  matter  of  !)ublic  i)oliL*y.  With  the  exception  of  the  procla- 
mation of  Alexander  il.,  the  Czar  of  Russia,  issued  about  eigliteon 
months  earlier,  March  ."h-d,  1S(;1,  the  day  before  the  inauguration  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  as  rresident,  freeing  more  than  twenty  millions  of  s<»rfs, 
tiiis  was  the  most  momentous  iiroclamation  ever  issued  Iiy  any  ruler 
in  the  world.  It  announced  freedom  to  four  millions  of  slavi's,  and 
transforiiHcl  the  character  of  our  government  and  changed  the  whoh> 
future  history  of  our  c<)untry. 

In  the  Iiroclamation,  he  stated  tliat  the  war  would,  in  the  future  as 
in  the  past,  be  prosecuted  for  the  restoration  of  the  Union;  that  it  was 
his  ]»urpose  to  again  recomniend  to  Congress,  at  its  next  meeting,  the 
adoption  of  a  practical  measure  tendering  pecuniary  aid  to  tlie  free  ac- 
ceptance or  rejection  of  all  slave  States,  '"the  jicople  whereof  ma.v  not 
then  bi'  in  rebellion  against  the  United  Statesand  which  States  maythen 
have  voluntarily  a(!o]>ted,  or  tliereafter  may  voluntarily  adopt  imme- 
diate or  gradual  abolishment  of  slavery  within  their  respective  limits; 
and  that  the  effort  to  colonize  iiersons  of  African  descent  with  their 
<'onsent  u])on  this  continent  or  elsewhere"  will  lie  continued;  and  ]\o 
proclaiiiK  (1  "that  on  tlu>  1st  day  of  .January,  A.  I)..  ISti;*,,  ;ill  persons 
held  as  slaves  within  any  State  or  (h'signate<]  ])art  of  a  State  the  people 
whereof  shall  then  be  in   Rebellion  against  the   United  States  shall  bo 


84  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

then,  thenceforwfird  and  forever  free;  and  the  executive  government 
of  the  United  States,  including  the  military  and  naval  authority  thereof, 
will  recognize  and  maintain  the  freedom  of  such  persons  and  will  do 
no  act  or  acts  to  repress  such  ijersons  or  any  of  them  in  any  effort  they 
may  make  for  their  actual  freedom."  "That  the  executive  will  on  the 
1st  day  of  January  aforesaid  by  proclamation  designate  the  States  and 
parts  of  States,  if  any,  in  which  the  people  thereof  respectively  shall 
then  be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States." 

On  the  last  day  of  December,  lSr)2,  he  delivered  his  second  annual 
message  to  Congress  in  which  again  he  called  attention  to  the  language 
of  his  inaugural  address,  and  recommended  certain  amendments  of  the 
Constitution  providing  for  compensation  to  States  in  which  slavery 
should  be  voluntarily  abolished  before  January  1st,  18(;3;  and  he  en- 
forced liis  views  recommending  emancipation  of  slaves  with  compen- 
sation and  colonization  at  considerable  length;  and  he  closed  with  this 
eloquent  appeal:  "Fellow  citizens,  we  cannot  escape  liistory.  We  of 
this  Congress  and  this  administration  will  be  remembered  in  spite  of 
ourselves.  No  personal  significance  or  insignificance  can  spare  one  or 
another  of  us.  The  fiery  trial  through  which  we  pass  will  liglit  us 
down  In  honor  or  dishonor  to  the  latest  generation.  We  say  we  are 
for  the  Union.  Tlie  world  will  not  forget  tliat  we  say  this.  We  know 
how  to  save  the  Union.  The  world  knows  we  do  know  liow  to  save  it. 
We,  even  we  here,  liold  the  power  and  bear  the  responsibility.  In  giv- 
ing freedom  to  the  slaves,  we  assure  freedom  to  the  free — lionorable 
alike  in  wliat  we  give,  and  in  what  we  preserve.  We  sliall  nobly  save, 
or  meanly  lose  the  last  best  hope  of  earth.  Other  means  may  succeed; 
this  could  not  fail.  The  way  is  plain,  peaceful,  generous,  just — a  way 
wliicli,  if  followed,  the  world  will  forever  applaud,  and  God  must  for- 
ever bless." 

The  1st  of  January  was  drawing  nigh.  Tliere  was  much  to  discour- 
age tlae  Pi-esident.  Tliere  was  want  of  liarmony  in  Ins  Cabinet,  and  the 
success  of  the  Union  arms  had  not  been  all  that  could  be  hoped.  But 
undismayed  and  resolute  in  liis  great  purpose  lie  went  forward,  and  on 
tliat  day  issued  his  linal  proclamation  of  freedom  of  the  slaves  in 
the  States  and  parts  of  States  then  in  rebellion  which  he  designated, 
closing  with  these  words:  "And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to 
be  an  act  of  justice,  warranted  by  the  Constitution  upon  military 
necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gra- 
cious favor  of  Almighty  God." 

About  this  time  it  came  to  his  attention  that  the  Confederates  were 
disposed  to  disregard  the  ordinary  rules  of  civilized  warfare  in  the  treat- 
ment of  captive  colored  soldiers,  and  their  white  officers;  and,  deter- 
mined to  give  protection  to  sucli  soldiers,  he  issued  the  following  order: 
"That  for  every  soldier  of  the  United  States  killed  in  violation  of  the 
laws  of  war,  a  rebel  soldier  sliall  be  executed;  and  for  everyone 
enslaved  by  the  enemy  or  sold  into  slavery,  a  rebel  soldier  sliall  be 
placed  at  hard  labor  on  the  public  works  and  continued  at  such  labor 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  IN   HIS    RELATION   TO   SLAVERY.  85 

until  tlie  other  shall  ho  relcMscd  and  receive  the  treatment  due  t(t  a  pris- 
oner of  war."  Afterward,  in  the  Sprini;  of  IXi'A.  speaUiny  of  the  col- 
ored soldiers,  he  said  in  an  address  at  I'.altiniore:  "At  the  beginning 
of  the  war  and  for  some  time,  the  use  of  colored  troops  was  not  con- 
templated; and  how  the  change  oi  purpose  was  wrought  I  will  not  now 
take  time  to  explain.  Upon  .a  clear  conviction  of  duty  1  resolved  to 
turn  tliat  element  of  sti'engtli  to  account;  and  1  am  resi)onsil>le  for  it 
to  the  American  people,  to  the  Christian  world,  to  history,  and,  in  my 
linal  account,  to  God.  Having  determined  to  use  the  Negro  as  a  sol- 
dier, there  is  no  way  hut  to  give  him  all  the  protection  given  to  any 
other  soldier."  His  judgment  as  to  the  use  of  colored  soldiers  AA^as  vin- 
dicated by  events.  During  the  war,  mostly  during  the  last  two  years, 
38(5,017  colored  soldiers  were  enlisted,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  there 
were  of  such  soldiers  in  the  ranks  of  the  army  123,ir»(;. 

In  August,  18G3,  the  l'i-(>sideiit  was  invited  to  attend  a  mass  meeting 
of  unconditional  Union  men,  at  Springfield,  111.;  and  on  the  2(;th  of  that 
month  he  wrote  a  characteristic  letter  to  Hon.  James  C.  Conkling, 
stating  his  inal)ility  to  attend,  and  defending  with  great  vigor  his  eman- 
cipation proclamation  at  considei-abI(>  length.  The  letter  is  a  notable 
one,  and  will  well  repay  pei'usal.  About  this  time,  speaking  to  Governor 
Morgan  of  what  had  been  done  in  reference  to  slavery,  and  of  the 
impetuosity  of  some  of  his  friends,  he  said:  "We  are  like  whaU  rs  who 
have  been  long  on  a  chase;  we  have  at  last  got  the  harpoon  into  the 
monster,  but  we  must  now  look  how  we  steer,  or  with  oTie  lloj)  of  his 
tail  he  wHl  send  us  all  into  eternity." 

On  the  8th  of  December,  he  sent  to  Congress  his  third  annual  mes- 
sage in  which  he  said:  "The  policy  of  emancipation  and  of  employing 
black  soldiers  gave  to  the  future  a  new  aspect  about  which  hope  and 
fear  and  doubt  contended  in  unccM'tain  contlict.  According  to  oui-  polit- 
ical sj^stem,  as  a  matter  of  civil  administration,  the  general  govei'ument 
had  no  lawful  power  to  effect  emancipation  in  any  State;  and  for  a 
long  time  it  had  been  hojied  that  the  i-ebejliou  could  be  suppi'cssed 
witliout  resorting  to  it  as  a  military  mcasuri".  It  was  all  the  while 
deemed  possible  that  the  necessity  foi-  it  might  come,  and  that  if  it 
should,  the  crisis  of  the  contest  would  then  be  presented.  *  *  *  Of 
those  who  were  slaves  at  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion,  full  one  hun- 
dred thousand  are  now  in  the  United  States  military  service,  .about 
one-half  of  which  numl»er  ■■ictn.illy  hear  arms  in  the  ranks.  «  *  *  j 
may  add  at  this  point  th;it  while  1  remain  in  my  present  position  I 
shall  not  attemi)t  to  reti.ict  or  moilify  the  emancipation  proc- 
lamation; nor  shall  I  return  to  slavery  iiny  person  who  is  free  by  the 
terms  of  that  proclamation,  or  by  any  of  tlt(»  acts  of  Congress.  *  *  * 
The  movements  by  St.nte  action  for  emancipation  in  several  of  the 
States  not  included  in  the  emancipation  pi'oclamation  .-ii-e  matters  of 
profound  gi'atul.ation.  And  while  !  do  not  repeat  in  detail  what  1  h;ive 
hei'etofore  so  earnestly  ui'ged  upon  this  subject,  my  g<'neral  views  and 
feelings  remain  unchanged;   iind  1  trust  that  Congress  will  omit  no  fair 


86  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

opportunity  of  aiding  tlicse  important  stops  to  a  j^reat  consuniation." 
Accompanying  tlie  message  was  an  amnesty  proclamation  in  which 
he  ottered  pardon  to  all,  with  a  few  exceptions,  who  had  participated 
in  the  rebellion,  upon  condition  that  they  would  take  an  oath,  among 
other  things,  that  they  would  "abide  by  and  faithfully  support  all  proc- 
lamations of  the  President  made  during  the  existing  rebellion  freeing 
slaves  so  long  and  so  far  as  not  modified  or  declared  void  by  the  de- 
cisions of  the  Supreme  Court."  And  he  said:  "And  I  do  further  pro- 
claim, declare  and  make  known  tliat  any  provision  which  may  be 
adopted  by  such  State  government  in  relation  to  the  freed  people  of 
such  State  whicli  shall  recognize  and  declare  their  permanent  freedom 
and  provide  for  their  education,  and  which,  may  yet  be  consistent  as  a 
temporary  arrangement  with  their  condition  as  a  laboring,  landless  and 
homeless  class  will  not  be  objected  to  by  the  national  executive." 

Congress  just  before  its  adjourument  in  July,  passed  a  bill  for  the 
reorganization  of  the  rel)el  States  which,  among  other  things,  re(iuired 
that  the  conventions  in  those  States  should  adopt  the  following  pro- 
vision in  their  State  constitutions:  "Involuntary  servitude  is  forever 
prohibited,  and  the  freedom  of  all  persons  is  guaranteed  in  said  State;" 
and  the  twelfth  section  emancipated  the  slaves  in  the  rebel  States,  and 
declared  them  and  their  postei-ity  forever  free.  This  bill  was  present- 
ed to  the  President  less  than  an  hour  before  the  adjournment  of  Con- 
gress; and  he  did  not  sign  it,  and  it  did  not  become  a  law.  He  issued  a 
proclamation  to  wliich  he  annexed  a  copy  of  the  bill,  giving  his  reasons 
for  not  signing  it,  in  which  he  stated  he  was  miprepared  "to  declare  a 
constitutional  competency  in  Congress  to  abolish  slavery  in  States," 
but  at  tlie  same  time  he  sincerely  hoped  and  expected  that  a  constitu- 
tional amendment  abolishing  slavery  throughout  the  nation  would  be 
adopted.  He  never  believed  that  Congress  had  authority  to  abolish 
slavery  in  any  State,  but  claimed,  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  army, 
that  he  could  free  the  slaves  in  a  State  in  rebellion  as  a  necessary  war 
measure. 

During  the  year  1803  and  subsequently,  whenever  negotiations  for 
peace  or  terms  of  peace  with  the  rebel  States  were  suggested  or  taken 
in  hand  by  any  one,  he  firmly  and  always  insisted  upon  two  conditions: 
the  integrity  of  the  Union,  and  the  abandonment  of  slavery.  In  May, 
I8G4,  he  said:  "There  have  been  men  base  enough  to  propose  to  me  to 
return  to  slavery  our  black  warriors  of  Port  Hudson  and  Olustee,  and 
thus  win  the  respect  of  the  masters  they  fought.  Should  I  do  so,  I 
should  deserve  to  be  dammed  in  time  and  eternity.  Come  what  will,  I 
will  keep  my  faith  with  friend  and  foe." 

In  18G4  the  President  wrote  to  Mr.  Hodges,  a  southern  citizen,  about 
slavery  as  follows:  "I  claim  not  to  have  controlled  events,  but  con- 
fess plainly  that  events  have  controlled  me.  Now  at  the  end  of  three 
yeai-s'  struggle,  the  nation's  condition  is  not  what  any  party  or  any 
man  expected.  God  alone  can  claim  it.  Whither  it  is  tending  seems 
plain.    If  God  now  wills  the  removal  of  a  great  wrong,  and  wills  also 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN   IN   HIS   RELATION  TO  SLAVERY.  87 

tliiit  we  of  the  North,  as  well  as  you  of  the  youth,  shall  pay  fairly  for 
our  complicity  in  that  wronj;-,  iiii[)artial  history  will  liiid  tlu-rein  new 
causes  to  attest  and  revere  the  justice  and  yoodness  of  (Jod." 

The  tinH>  had  c-onie  when  he  earnestly  desired  the  abolition  of  slav- 
ery in  all  the  slave  States  by  constitutional  nirthdds.  He  was  brought 
slowly  and  fj;radually  to  this  position.  The  Hi'pul)iican  national  con- 
vention was  about  to  convene.  June  8,  1S(;4.  And  he  said  to  Governor 
Morgan,  who  was  expected  to  call  the  convention  to  order:  "I  would 
like  you  in  your  address  when  you  call  the  convention  to  onh'r,  as  its 
keynote,  and  to  put  into  its  platfoi'ni  as  its  keystone,  the  amendment  to 
the  constitution  abolishing  slavery."  Governor  Moigan  in  his  address 
calling  the  convention  to  order  accordingly  said:  •'\\'e  shall  fail  of 
accomplishing  oiu*  great  mission  unless  we  shall  declare  for  such  an 
amendment  to  the  constitution  as  will  positively  forbid  African  slavery 
in  the  United  States;"  and  Rev.  llobert  J.  Breckenridge,  who  was 
chosen  temporary  chairman  of  the  convention,  in  his  ad(h'ess  said:  "Wo 
must  use  all  power  to  exterminate  the  institution  of  slavery  which  has 
raised  the  sword  against  the  Union;"  and  the  convention  adopted  a 
resolution,  dem.-inding  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  pro- 
liibiting  slavery  in  any  part  of  the  Union.  In  his  reply  to  the 
committee  which  notihed  him  of  his  nomination,  Mr.  Lincoln 
said:  "I  api)rove  the  declaration  in  favor  of  so  amending  the  Consti- 
tutioin  as  to  prohibit  slavery  throughout  the  nation.  Such  an  amend- 
ment is  a  necessary  conclusion  to  the  tinal  success  of  the  Union  cause." 
Shortly  after  this,  Frederick  Douglass,  who  had  been  a  slave,  was  in 
Washington,  and  was  invited  to  take  tea  with  the  President,  and  was 
taken  to  the  White  House  in  the  UresicU-nt's  carriage.  He  aftei'ward 
said:  "The  President  is  one  of  the  few  men  with  whom  I  h;ive  i)assed 
an  hour  who  did  not  ri'mind  me  in  some  way  that  1  am  a  Negi'o." 

At  the  election  in  November,  1S(>4,  Mr.  Lincoln  w;is  again  elected 
President;  and  December  (I,  he  delivered  to  Gongress  his  fourth  .iiHinii! 
message  in  which  he  strongly  recommended  the  adoption  of  the  pro- 
posed constitutional  amendment  abolishing  sl.ivery  throughout  the 
Union,  and  announced  his  determination  to  adhere  to  his  emancipation 
pi'oclamation,  and  not  to  return  to  slavery  any  person  made  free  by 
that  proclam.ation  or  by  any  act  of  Congress,  saying:  "If  the  peoi)le 
should  by  whatever  mode  oi'  means  make  it  an  execuTlve  duty  to  re- 
enslave  such  persons,  .inolher.  and  not  I.  must  be  theii-  instrument  to 
perform  it."  He  w.as  not  content  with  wli:it  he  said  in  his  message. 
He  used  his  person.al  influence  with  members  of  Congress  in  favor  of 
the  amendment;  and  it  was  linally  carried  through  Congress  in  Janu- 
ary, 18<;.">,  and  was  subsequently  r;itili(>d  by  the  States;  and  thus  it  be- 
came what  is  now  known  as  the  Thirteenth  Anu'iidment  of  the  (Consti- 
tution. The  formal  ratirtcation  of  the  amendment  by  a  sulHcient  num- 
ber of  States  came  after  his  death  in  Decenibei',  ISC,."..  P.ut  he  lived  to 
foresee  the  certain  iiccomplishment  of  a  puipose  he  had  very  much  at 
heart   during   his   l.ast   year   ui)on    e.-irth.      It   is   clear   ti-om    his   public 


88  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

utterances  that  in  the  early  stages  of  the  Civil  War,  he  did  not  contem- 
plate the  abolition  of  slavery  in  any  of  the  States.  He  gradnally  reach- 
ed the  conclusion  that  he  could  and  sliould  abolish  it  in  the  rebel  States 
as  a  war  measure;  and  it  was  only  after  the  war  had  been  waged  for 
two  years  or  more  that  the  conviction  was  forced  upon  him  that  slav- 
ery must  absolutely  die  in  all  the  States,  and  that  to  accomplish  that 
end  the  constitution  ought  to  be  amended. 

Preceding  his  second  inauguration  as  President,  on  the  4th  of  March, 
18G5,  there  were  negotiations  for  peace  with  the  rebel  States  conducted 
with  the  sanction  of  the  President,  but  always  on  the  two  fundamental 
conditions  of  the  restoration  of  the  Union  and  the  abolition  of  slavery. 
He  would  not  recede  from  any  of  the  positions  he  liad  taken  in  refer- 
ence to  slavery.  In  his  second  inaugural  address,  he  said  that  at  his 
lirst  inauguration,  one-eighth  of  the  wliole  population  of  the  country 
were  colored  slaves;  that  all  knew  that  slavery  was  somehow  the  cause 
of  the  war;  that  neither  party  to  the  civil  strife  expected  for  the  war 
the  magnitude  or  the  duration  which  it  had  attained;  that  neither  party 
anticipated  that  the  cause  of  the  conflict  miglit  cease  with  or  even  be- 
fore the  conflict  itself  should  cease;  that  "both  read  the  same  Bible  aild 
pray  to  the  same  God;  and  each  invokes  His  aid  against  the  other.  It 
may  seem  strange  that  any  man  should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's  assist- 
ance in  wringing  tlieir  l)read  from  the  sweat  of  other  men's  faces.  But 
let  us  judge  not  that  we  be  not  judged.  *  *  Fondly  do  we  hope, 
fervently  do  we  pray  that  this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily 
pass  away.  Yet  if  God  wills  that  it  continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled 
up  by  the  bondman's  two  hundred  and  lifty  j^ears  of  unrequited  toil 
shall  bo  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall 
be  paid  by  another  drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand 
years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said:  'The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true 
and  righteous  altogether;' "'  and  this  large-hearted,  generous  man.  not 
embittered  by  tlie  long  and  bloody  strife,  and  the  many  misconceptions 
of  his  own  character  and  motives,  closed  with  the  following  iienutiful 
and  generous  sentiments:  "With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  for 
all,  with  firmness  in  the  riglit  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us 
strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds, 
to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle  and  for  his  widow  and 
his  orphans,  to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  lasting 
peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 

In  less  than  six  weeks  after  the  utterance  of  these  beautiful  words, 
forever  a  part  of  the  best  literature  of  our  language,  he  fell  a  victim  to 
the  hate,  bred  of  the  civil  strife.  His  worlv  was  done.  The  measure  of 
his  fame  was  full,  and  he  became  one  of  the  world's  immortals.  It  is 
useless  to  speculate  as  to  what  would  have  been  the  course  of  events 
in  this  country  if  he  had  survived  to  serve  out  his  second  presidential 
term.  A  careful  study  of  his  acts  and  of  his  character  leads  me  to 
believe  that  he  would  not  have  favored  the  re-construction  of  the 
revolted  States  in  the  precise  way  it  was  subsequently  accomplished. 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN  IN   HIS   RELATION   TO   SLAVERY.  81) 

I  do  not  boliovo  that  lie  would  have  favored  dcin'iviiiij,'  tlio  <,n-<'iit  hulk 
of  the  whites  in  the  southern  States  of  the  ri^iht  to  vote,  and  eonferriufjc 
that  right  upon  all  the  enfranchised  Negroes.  He  was  never  in  favor 
of  conferring  universal  suffrage  upon  persons  of  color.  He  seems  to 
h.ave  been  in  favor  ol  giving  the  right  to  vote  to  very  intelligent  Negroes 
and  especially  to  those  Avho  had  fought  in  the  Union  ranks. 

I  must  here  I>ring  this  paper  to  a  close,  for  fear  I  may  transcend  the 
limits  winch  the  occasion  ])nts  njion  me,  linally  saying  that  this  study 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  relation  to  slavery  has  given  me  a  more  exalted  esti- 
mate of  his  chni.-ii'ter,  and  of  the  endiu-ing  \;ilue  of  the  ^york  he 
achieved. 


THE  FRENCH  IN  CANADA  AND  OUR  OBLIGATION 
TO  THE  IROQUOIS. 

AN  ADDRESS  BY  HON.  J.  DRYDEN  HENDERSON,  OF  HERKIMER, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  October  14,  1899. 

Mucli  has  been  wfitttn,  and  some  of  it  very  well  written,  nbont  those 
Frenchmen,  and  their  descendants,  who  settled  Canada,  explored  the 
country  about  the  (Jreat  Laki's,  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio,  the  Illinois  and 
the  Mississippi,  and  for  nearly  two  centuries  struJ,^^■led  with  our  Brit- 
ish ancestors  for  the  mastery  of  the  American  continent. 

"The  French  in  Canada!"  What  visions  of  forest  adventure,  what 
instances  of  devoted  piety,  what  tales  of  heroic  sacrifice,  what  (luiet 
days  of  happiness,  what  wild  nights  of  terror,  what  hardships  endured, 
what  cruelties  perpetrated,  what  j^ioi-ious  triumphs,  and  what  miser- 
able failures  the  words  suysest. 

The  Frencli  based  their  claim  to  Canada  and  the  Northern  Atlantic 
coast  on  the  alleged  discoveries  of  Verazanno,  in  1524,  entirely  ignoring 
the  previous  voyages  of  John  and  Sebastian  Cabot  in  1497  and  'OS.  along 
the  same  shore.  England  claimed  under  the  Cabots,  and  also  by  virtue 
of  tr«>aties  with  the  New  England  Indians,  and  later  with  the  Irocpiois. 
None  but  Spain  of  the  European  Tiations  made  permanent  settlements 
in  North  Amei'ica  during  the  l(>th  Century,  and  for  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years  after  the  discoveiy  of  the  continent,  no  attempt  of  conse- 
quence was  made  to  civilize  or  Christianize  the  savages.  But  early 
in  tlie  17th  Century  the  struggle  for  the  possession  of  America  began. 
England  founded  colonies  in  Virginia  and  in  New  England.  Sweden 
tried  her  luck  in  New  Jersey;  Holland  established  hei-self  in  New 
York,  and  France  took  possession  of  Nova  Scotia  and  entered  Canada. 
Jac(iues  Cartier,  an  adventurous  Frenchman,  in  1534  sailed  up  the 
St.  Lawrence  as  far  as  Anticosti,  and  in  1535  to  the  palisaded  Indian 
town  of  TIoclu>laga  (now  Montreal).  He  returned  to  Stadacona  (Que- 
lu'ct  and  spent  the  winter;  twenty-five  of  his  men  died  of  scurvy,  and 
in  the  Spring  he  treacherously  took  and  carried  off  to  France  several 
of  the  natives,  all  of  whom  were  baptized  and  died  abroad. 


THE  FRENCH   IN  CANADA    AND   OUR   OBLIGATION   TO  THE  IROQUOIS         91 

Ciirtier  ('.Mine  back  in  I'^Ai)  with  IJobcvnI's  cxpt'dition,  and  attempted 
a  colony,  hnt  the  Indian  icnKMnlicrcd  his  fornici'  condnct  and  two  of 
his  men  were  killed,  (."artier  abandoned  Uobeval,  iieai'  (^)nebee,  in  the 
night,  but  came  back  again  in  1543,  and  took  away  the  remnant  of 
liobeval's  colony.  Not  until  latJS  did  the  French  try  a.iiain,  when  De  La 
Hoche  met  with  f;iilure  in  Acadia. 

When  C'hamplain  came  in  Kio."!,  he  found  the  Indian  town  of  Iloche- 
laya  a  ruin,  and  abandoned.  An  entirely  different  nation  of  Indians 
from  those  Carder  found  there  in  ir>:'>i  occn])ied  the  country.  Cham- 
I'lain,  too,  was  a  <lifferent  kind  of  a  man  from  ('artier.  lie  was  ))riive, 
adventurous  and  honorable,  and  may  well  be  re.uarded  as  the  founder 
of  ('anada,  or  New  Fr.ance,  as  it  was  then  called.  In  KJOS  ('hamiil.ain 
founde<l  Quebec,  buildinu  lln'ee  houses,  surrounded  by  a  wooden  wall 
for  defense,  and  outside  the  wall  a  moat  like  a  Eurojiean  fortress.  He 
i;-ained  the  friendshiit  of  his  AljixuKiuiu  neighbors,  and,  in  the  sununer  of 
IGO'J,  joiiH'd  with  them  :um1  tlii'  Ilurons  in  an  expedition  a.gainst  the 
Iroquois. 

How  lon.i;  l)efore  the  Dutch  came  to  New  York  the  IroijUois  had  occu- 
pied and  dominated  the  territory  from  Nia.cara  to  the  Hudson  river  no 
on(^  c;in  tell;  their  traditions  furnish  no  reli.able  information;  with  them 
it  w:is  the  stone  Jige  and  there  is  no  written  history  of  their  career  up 
to  that  time.  When  the  I  Hitch  canu'  in  KIO'.),  they  found  tlu-  live 
riations,  or  Iro(]Uols,  in  jtossession,  lirmly  established,  feared  by  all  their 
neighl)ors  and  leagued  together  against  the  Ilurons  and  other  Canadian 
Nations  on  the  north,  the  Algoiniuins  on  the  east,  the  Creeks  :ind  Chei'o- 
kces  on  the  south,  and  the  Sioux  on  the  west. 

They  were  the  most  powerful  confederation  of  savages  on  the  conti- 
nent. They  were  hunters  and  eaters  of  men,  levyin.g  continual  war 
from  Niagara  to  the  JMississippi;  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Hudson's 
Bay;  from  the  Hudson  Kiver  to  the  Atlantic  coast  and  from  their  own 
southern  boundary  to  (Jeorgia  and  the  Carolinas.  They  killed,  scalped, 
tortured  and  ate  their  enemies,  and  while  in  some  respects  much 
superior  to  their  neighbors,  they  were  the  fiercest  and  most  savage  of 
American  Indians. 

These  wild  men  welcomed  tlie  Dutch  to  New  Amsterdam  ;ind  Albany 
because  they  bought  their  fui's  and  supi)lit(l  them  with  guns  :nid  pow- 
der. The  Dutch  were  tr.-iders  and  canae  in  p(>ace,  and  a  firm  and  lasting 
friendship  was  established  with  the  INIohawks,  which  continued  during 
the  entire  Dutch  occupancy,  iiud  under  their  English  successors. 

Champlain  and  the  Frenc'i  came  as  (>n<Mnies,  allies  of  the  hated 
Ilurons,  and  the  manner  of  their  coming  was  never  forgiven  or  for- 
gotten. The  same  sunnuer  that  Hudson  sailed  up  the  gre.-it  river  which 
bears  his  name,  Champlain  with  two  Frenchmen,  and  a  lai-ge  p.-irty 
of  Ilurons  and  Algoncpiin  w.arriors,  came  up  the  St.  Lawrence  .and  the 
Sorel,  enter(>(l  th:it  be.-iutiful  Lake  now  called  Ch.'implain,  and,  p.-iddling 
along  its  shore,  met  a  l.-irge  party  of  Moliawk  warriors,  who  wvvv  on 
their  way  to  invade  the  country  of     their     northeru     neighbors.     The 


&3  tlERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

llurons  and  the  tlirce  Frenchmen  were  greatly  outnumbered,  but  tire 
Mohawks  tlieii  knew  nothuig  of  fire  arms  and  after  two  dischari^es  of 
the  guns  of  the  Frenchmen,  the  Iroquois  fled  in  terror,  and  Champlain 
and  liis  allies  returned  to  Quebec  in  triumpli.  He  soon  after  returned 
to  France  but  came  back  in  Kill,  made  another  expedition  into  Lake 
Champlain  against  the  Iroquois,  and  attempted  a  settlement  at  Mon- 
treal, but  it  did  not  thrive.  Champlain  also  ascended  the  Ottawa  to  the 
Huron  towns,  thinking  that  he  miglit  by  tliat  way  reach  Hudson's  Bay 
and  perhaps  find  the  long  sought  Nortiiwesf  passage  to  India,  but  he 
niet  with  so  niucli  difficulty  that  he  turned  back  and  did  not  get  even 
to  Georgian  Kay,  until  liis  next  trip  up  the  Ottawa,  in  1()14.  Thence 
coasting  southward,  along  the  eastern  shore  of  that  bay,  lie  reached 
the  Huron  towns  overland.  One  of  the  zealous  Keccolet  missionaries 
had  already  begun  work  among  the  Hiu-ons,  and  the  Indians  luid  built 
him  a  cliapel  of  bark;  the  first  mass  was  said  in  this  chapel  after 
Champlain's  arrival.  He  then  joined  these  Hurons  in  a  campaign 
against  the  Iroquois,  crossing  Lake  Ontario,  and  attacking  them  at 
Onondaga.  Here  tliey  found  a  fortified  town  and  were  defeated.  The 
llurons  returned  to  their  own  country  and  refused  to  allow  Champlain 
to  go  back  to  Quebec  until  tlie  following  summer. 

The  Frencli  had  made  another  attempt  at  settlement  in  Acadia.  Port 
Royal  was  founded  in  1004,  abandoned  in  l(i()7  and  again  occupied  in 
IGIO.  The  Micmac  Indians  all  became  Christians,  and  they  with  the 
Abonakis,  allies  of  the  French,  and  later  on  the  scourge  and  terror  of 
the  Englisli  settlements  of  northern  and  eastern  New  England. 

In  1622  the  Iro(iuoJs  attempted  to  exterminate  the  French  in  Canada 
because  of  tlie  lielp  tliey  liad  given  their  enemies,  and  an  army  of  sav- 
ages attaclvcd  tlie  convent  and  fort  at  Quebec,  but  they  were  defeated 
and  secured  only  a  few  Huron  prisonei's. 

Aside  from  these  raids  of  tlie  Iroquois,  the  new  settlers  had  ti'oubles 
of  their  own,  Jesuits  and  Keccolets  could  not  agree  in  Quebec  any  bet- 
ter than  they  could  in  France,  and  the  colony  did  not  prosper.  In  1027 
(Cardinal  Riclielieu  put  the  control  of  New  France  info  the  hands  of 
"1'lie  Company  of  One  Hundred  Associates,"  liut  the  attempt  to  farm 
out  file  colonies  in  Canada  was  not  more  successful  than  in  other  parts 
of  America.  In  1(!2(;  war  broke  out  between  France  and  England. 
The  French  colonies  in  Acadia  liad  lieen  partially  destroyed  by  an  Eng- 
lish expedition  from  Virginia  in  1(513  and  in  i(i29  Captain  David  Kirk 
ascended  the  St.  Lawrence  and  captured  Quebec.  It  was  restored  to 
France  in  1033  and  in  1035  its  founder,  Samuel  Ue  Champlain,  died.  Set- 
tlements were  established  along  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  some  interest 
was  awakened  in  France  in  tlie  pro.iect  of  Christianizing  the  Algonquins 
and  the  Hurons.  There  was  a  continual  state  of  war  with  the  Iroquois, 
and  the  houses  of  the  French  habitants  were  liable  to  attack  at  any 
fime  day  or  night.  The  Jesuits  obtained  the  controlling  influence  in  the 
colony.  Their  missionaries  penetrated  tlie  interior  and  established  them- 
selves in  the  Huron  villages,  and  while  they  made  no  serious  attempt 


i 


THE  FRENCH   IN  CANADA   AND   OUR  OBLIGATION  TO   THE   IROQUOIS         93 

to  civilize,  they  baptized  the  sava.ues  and  called  tlieiii  Christians;  the 
converts  liecanie  the  liriii  friends  of  the  French  and  lierccly  fiin,i;ht  the 
couimon  enemy,   the  Iroiiiiois. 

The  Jesuits  discouraged  tlie  cannibal  practice  of  eatinj;  prisoneis.  but 
tliought  it  well  enough  to  torture  and  burn  them,  provided  a  .lesnit 
priest  could  baptize  the  victim  just  before  he  gave  uj)  the  ghost,  so  as 
lo  insure  liis  salvation  from  eternal  lii'e. 

In  KiOO,  the  Inxjuois  attacked  the  IIukmi  villages  located  between 
Lake  Ontario  and  (he  (Georgian  Bay,  and  nearly  destioyed  the  entire 
nation,  lunnbering  about  <*),()U0  peopK'. 

A  remnant  took  refuge  on  an  island  in  the  Bay  and  later  went  farther 
west  and  were  known  as  Wyandots.  A  few  went  among  the  Algon- 
(juins,  and  under  the  walls  of  Quebec  found  comparative  s.afoty.  but 
even  there  the  Iro(iuoJs  pursued  them,  and  the  I'^rench  themselves 
escaped  destruction  only  because  of  their  guns  and  wooden  walls, 
.iesuit  priests  were  taken,  tortured  and  murdered,  .and  died  rejoicing 
tliJit  thev  had  been  found  worthy  of  m;irt\"rdom. 

Among  tliese  wei'e  (Joupil  de  None,  Daniel.  Couture.  (Jaiaiier,  Clia- 
baneau.  lirebeuf  and  Lallennint.  No  l)raver  nien  ever  liv((l  or  died  in 
till'  sei'vice  of  the  Savioi'. 

rarkman  says:  "The  nioxcment  in  western  I'vurope  known  as  the 
Kenaisance,  was  far  more  than  a  revival  of  arts  and  letters — it  was  an 
awalvening  of  intellectual,  moral  and  religious  life, the  offspring  of  cause 
long  in  action,  and  the  parent  of  other  nnnements  in  action  to  this 
day.  "The  I'roti'stant  reformation  was  a  part  of  it.  That  revolt  against 
Kome  produced  a  countt-r  renaisance  in  tlie  bosom  of  tlie  ancii'ut  cluu'ch 
itself.  In  piest'Uce  of  that  peril  she  awoke  from  sloth  and  corruption, 
and  girdi  d  lierself  to  beat  back  the  invadnig  lieresies,  by  fraud  or  by 
craft,  by  inquisitoi'ial  tires,  by  tlie  arms  of  princely  and  imperial  allies 
and  by  the  self-sacriticing  entliusiasin  of  her  saints  and  martyrs. 

"That  time  of  change  produced  the  exalted  piety  of  Xavier  and  the 
intense,  tliouglitful  zeal  of  Loyola.  After  a  century  had  passed,  tlie 
flame  still  biu'iied  and  it  never  shone  with  a  purer  or  brighter  radiance 
than  in  the  early  missions  of  New  France.  But  before  the  end  of  the 
17th  Century  the  functions  of  the  Canadian  Jesuit  had  become  as  much 
liolitical  as  religious." 

In  IcriC.  the  Canadians  yielding  to  tlie  solicitation  of  the  Irociuois, 
and  accepting  their  invitations,  formed  a  colony  at  Onondaga.  Tliey 
were  received  with  aiip.irent  friendship  and  the  Indians  listened  to 
the  teaching  of  the  priests  with  seeming  interest,  but  the  whites  were 
soon  conxinced  tli.at  they  were  being  decc'i\'ed.  and  that  in  the  end  the 
Indi.ans  intended  to  torture  and  destroy'  them.  Then  followed  for  more 
than  a  year  a  gre.at  game  of  dissimulaticn.  'IMie  l-'rendi  determined 
that  they  would  not  wait  until  the  tires  were  lighted  for  their  s;icritice. 
but  would  escape  if  possible  and  return  home. 

They  secretly  began  the  building  of  bcjats  in  their  house  by  the  lake 
shore,  and  at  the  same  time  used  every  effort  to  tlatter  and  cajole  the 


94  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Indiniis.  Finally  our  iiiiiht  late  in  ]Marcli.  ICt.lS,  as  soon  as  the  ice  had 
Kfaie  oiit  of  the  lake  and  river,  they  gathered  the  Indians  to  the  rear 
of  their  great  bark  building  and  gave  them  a  feast.  It  was  the  Indian 
eustoni  to  gorge  themselves  with  food  at  tliese  feasts  so  as  to  be  almost 
unable  to  move,  and  on  this  occasion  wlien  the  Indians  were  thus 
gorged  and  sleeping  off  the  effects  of  the  mighty  meal,  the  French 
quietly  placed  their  boats-in  the  lake  and  all  started  for  Canada.  When 
the  Indians  awoke,  their  intended  victims  had  escaped;  how,  the* 
Indians  could  not  tell,  as  they  knew  nothing  about  the  boats  and  the 
fugitives  had  left  no  trail.  The  fleeing  Fri'uch  li.id  a  perilous  passage, 
mid  snow  and  ice,  by  lake  and  river,  but  tinally  arrived  in  safety  at 
jNiontreal. 

The  French  built  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sorel,  and  mainiained  a 
garrison  there,  but  it  was  easily  avoided  and  the  enemy  coming  down 
Lake  Ohamplain  simply  carried  their  canoes  around  the  fort,  and 
launched  them  below  on  the  St.  I.awrenc'\ 

Many  hostile  raids  were  m;ule  in  the  dciid  of  winter,  and  every  man 
who  laid  down  to  sleep  in  his  foi-est  camp  knew  that  he  was  liable  to  be 
killed  before  morning. 

In  IC.dO,  Adam  DoUard  and  17  Frenchman  with  40  Hurons,  learning 
of  a  threatened  Irociuois  invasion,  took  (piarti-rs  in  an  old  fort  at  the 
foot  of  the  Long  Sault  on  the  St.  Lawivnce.  Tlie  enemy  came,  laid 
seige  to  the  fort,  and  after  several  days  of  very  severe  lighting,  in  which 
many  of  the  beseigers  were  killed,  all  but  one  of  the  Ilurons  desert- 
ed, the  Iroquois  entered  the  fort  and  Dollard  and  1(!  of  his  Frenchmen 
were  butchered,  but  the  victorious  Iroipiois  were  discouraged  by  this 
brave  resistance,  and  by  their  own  losses,  and  turning  back,  abandoned 
the  enterprise. 

In  the  Winter  of  KJC-j  and  '(>,  Courcelle,  then  (Jovernor  of  Canada, 
took  the  offensive  and  invaded  the  Mohawk  valley.  The  western  con- 
federates had  suffered  greatly  in  the  Huron  and  Shawnee  wars  and 
had  made  peace  with  the  French,  but  the  iNIohawks  and  Oneidas  were 
constantly  raiding  into  Canada,  down  the  Sorel,  and  about  Montreal, 
at  which  place  since  b',42,  the  French  had  maintained  a  convent,  hos- 
pital and  garrison. 

This  expediton  of  Courcelle  reached  the  :\Iohawk  valley  but  accom- 
plished nothing.  In  the  Fall  of  l(JG(i,  Tracy,  with  tlu'  lirst  regiment  of 
regular  troops  that  ever  came  to  America,  numbering  1,()(M)  men,  and  a 
large  body  of  Canadian  and  Indian  allies,  came  l)y  the  usual  route, 
up  the  Sorel  and  through  I>ake  Chami)lain,  and  carried  the  war  into 
our  fair  valley.  The  towns  of  the  Mohawks  and  Oneidas  were  buriu'd 
and  their  crops  destroyed. 

The  Indians  Ihd  before  the  invading  French  without  striking  a  blow, 
and  they  received  such  severe  treatment  that  for  twenty  years  the  Can- 
adian colonists  enjoyed  i)eace  and  i)rosperity  and  multi])lied  exceed- 
ingly. 

During  these  years  of  comparative  peace.   Fathers  Allouez,   Dablon, 


THE   FRENCH   IN   CANADA   AND   OUR  OBLIGATION  TO   THE  IROQUOIS         95 

Marciiit'ttc  and  lleuiu-pin  taii.t;lit  and  baptized  the  licathcn  and  ixplorcd 
the  great  West.  Father  Uollier  De  Ca.sson  was  anotlier  devtitc d  jirii'st 
who  tigured  in  nnmy  an  t'xpedition  uf  trial  and  liai-dship.  Jle  was  the 
tirst  white  man  to  sail  through  Lakes  Erie  and  Ht.  Clair.  A  giant  in 
statui-e,  it  is  said  that  he  could  streteh  his  arms  and  hold  a  man  on 
each  hand;  tender  hearted  as  a  wonnin,  he  nursed  the  sick,  shrived 
the  dying  and  was  greatly  beloved  by  his  associates,  the  soldiers  and 
the  people. 

Louis  Joliet  traversed  the  upper  Mississi])pi  cinintry,  and  the  region 
about  Lake  Winnipeg  and  accomplished  much  as  an  explorer.  I'.ut 
greatest  of  all  was  Itobert  De  La  Salle,  who  after  repeated  trials  and 
many  failures,  overcame  all  obstacles,  pushed  his  way  down  the  Illi- 
nois and  the  Mississippi  to  its  mouth,  claimed  the  whole  country  west 
uf  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  for  the  King  of  France,  founch'd  a 
colony  in  Texas,  and  at  last  in  the  solitudes  of  that  lonely  region  fell. 
murdered  by  his  own  men. 

He  it  was  who  tirst  proposi-d  that  vast  scheme  of  continental  enipiif, 
which,  for  a  luuuhvd  years  was  the  dream  of  France,  and  the  menace 
of  the  American  colonies.  With  lier  sliips  on  the  Great  I^akes  and  he; 
forts  along  tlie  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  reaching  fi'om  the  St.  LaM 
rence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  b'rance  lioped  to  push  the  Fnglish  colonies 
into  the  Atlantic,  but  between  these  scattered  settlements,  straggling 
along  the  coast,  and  the  armies  of  France  advancing  from  Canada, 
stood  tlie  Iroquois,  like  a  wall  of  Hre,  ever  to  l>e  ret-kont-d  with,  and 
never  overcome. 

In  Kid'J  the  Massachusetts  Indians  made  their  last  hostile  raid  into 
our  valley  and  wi-re  cut  to  pieci-s  and  driven  out  by  the  Mohawks. 

The  French  made  some  attempt  to  secure  tlie  friendship  of  and  to 
Christianize  the  Inxpiois  and  st'nt  missionaries  among  tlii'm. 

No  prospect  of  torture  could  deter  tlie  zealous  Jesuit  priests  from 
these  enterprises;  and  Father  Jo(]ues,  after  having  been  mutilati'd  by 
the  Mohawks  and  held  by  them  for  more  than  a  year  in  a  most  terrible 
slavery,  escaped  by  the  assistance  of  the  Dutch  at  Albany,  went  to 
l''rance,  obtained  libci'ty  fiom  his  Bishop  to  celebrate  (he  mass  with 
his  mutilated  hands  and  returned  to  Canada,  to  again  take  ui)  his  work 
and  die  a  martyr's  death  at  their  hands.  The  scene  of  his  final  suffer- 
ing has  become  the  siiriiu'  at  Auriesville,  and  is  visit<'d  by  many  pious 
Catholics  who  revere  his  memory. 

In  this  period  Fronteiiac  ruled  Canada  his  lirst  term  and  loyally  he 
served  the  grand  monariiue,  Louis  the  14th,  in  that  policy  of  paternal- 
ism which  sapped  the  life  blood  of  the  State  and  fostered  the  tyranny 
of  the  Church.  Proud  and  arrogant,  he  (luarreled  with  the  I'.isliop  and 
the  .Tesuits  and  like  other  Canadian  governors,  sought  to  eiu-ich  him- 
self at  the  expense  of  the  colony. 

But  he  was  bold  and  able;  the  Iroipiois  feared  him.  He  established 
forts  and  trading  iiosts  upon  the  frontier,  and  kei)t  o])en  the  avenues 
of  trade  so  that  the  colony  prospered. 


96  HERKIMER   COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 

Parkniaii  says  of  Froiitonac:  "Many  suritassi'd  ]iim  in  cruelty;  none 
equalled  liiiu  in  eapaeity  and  vigor." 

Before  the  reign  of  Louis  the  14th,  the  entire  white  popuhition  of 
Canada  did  not  exeeed  2,500.  In  lOGS  it  was  5,870  ,and  during  this 
reign  every  efi'ort  possible  was  made  by  the  King  to  increase  the  num- 
ber. 

Girls  were  sent  out  from  Fiance  by  the  sliip  load  as  wives  for  tlie 
colonists  and  when  they  arrived,  as  an  old  writer  says:  "Bridegrooms 
chose  their  Avives  as  a  butcher  choses  sheep  out  of  the  midst  of  the 
lloclv."  The  marriagis  took  place  at  once,  and  the  next  day  the  Gov- 
ernor gave  each  new  couple  an  ox,  a  cow,  two  hogs,  two  fowls,  two  bar- 
rels of  salt  meat  and  eleven  crowns  in  money. 

Young  men  were  recpiired  to  marry  at  twenty,  girls  at  sixteen.  No 
mercy  was  shown  to  odburate  batchelors;  they  were  forbidden  to  hunt, 
tish,  trade  witli  the  Indians,  or  go  into  the  forest  under  any  ])retense 
whatever,  and  were  excluded  from  all  offices.  In  spite  of  these  aids  to 
matrimony,  many  young  men  took  to  the  woods  and  refused  the  wives 
so  kindly  furnished  by  tlie  King. 

De  Casson  tells  of  a  widow  wlio  was  married  afresh  before  her  late 
luisband  was  buried.  Bounties  were  paid  for  large  families:  For  ten 
children,  300  livres;  for  twelve,  400  livres,  and  for  fifteen.  1,200  livres 
per  year.  Yet  with  all  this  stimulation  and  encouragement  by  the  gov- 
ernment in  half  u  century  the  gain  was  only  20.000. 

The  people  were  regarded  as  the  children  of  the  King.  Lands  were 
hehl  by  feudal  tenure,  :ind  this  system  was  not  entirely  ■-.bolished  in 
Canada  until  1854. 

The  Governor,  and  the  intendant,  Avho  was  Jilways  a  mere  spy  on  the 
Governor,  each  wrote  long  letters,  from  forty  to  sixty  pages,  home, 
giving  their  views  of  the  situation  and  coinplaiTiing  of  the  conduct  of 
tlie  other.  The  power  of  the  Governor,  intendant  and  council  was 
absolute,  and  only  limited  by  the  will  of  the  King.  No  foreign  trade 
was  allowed.  All  trade  was  in  the  hands  of  the  government,  prices  on 
all  articles  and  the  per  cent,  of  profit  allowed  to  a  merchant  were  fixed 
l)y  the  council,  home  traders  were  favored.  Huguenots  and  Protestants 
were  forbidden  to  exercise  their  i-eligion,  or  to  remain  in  the  colony 
during  Winter  without  special  license.  Not  an  enterprise  was  set  up 
without  a  petition  to  the  King  for  aid,  and  it  was  rarely  refused. 

The  instructions  to  (Jov.  Talon  in  l('.(i()  from  Colburt,  the  Fi-ench 
Prime  Minister  contains  the  following  words: 

"As  the  King  regards  his  Canadian  subjects  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest  almost  as  his  own  children  and  wishes  them  1o  enjoy 
e(iually  with  the  people  of  France  the  mildness  and  happiness  of  his 
n  ign,  the  Sienr  Talon  is  to  solace  them  in  all  things.  an<l  encourage 
them  to  trade  and  industry,  and  seeing  that  nothing  can  better  pro- 
mote this  end.  th.-in  enti'ring  into  the  detiiils  of  their  houseliolds.  and 
of  all  their  little  affairs,  it  will  not  be  amiss  that  he  visit  all  their 
settlements,  one  after  the  other  in  order  to  learn  the  true  conditions. 


THE  FRENCH   IN   CANADA   AND  OUR  OBLIGATION   TO   THE  IROQUOIS.        97 

provide  as  much  as  possible  lor  tlieir  wants  and  performing-  rlie  duty 
of  a  good  head  of  a  family  put  them  in  the  way  of  makiii.u  some 
prolit." 

The  Kinu  did  exerythin.L;',  the  people  did  notliinu-  for  thciuselves. 
Tlie  festivals  of  the  Church  became  so  numerous  that  not  ninety  work- 
inii'  days  were  left  in  the  whole  workin.i;  season.  Iteaver  and  moose  skins 
were  used  for  money  and  wheat  was  made  a  leyal  tender.  At  one 
time  tliere  was  an  issui'  of  p'laying  cards  stamped  as  money  and  the 
scheme  of  tiat  money  was  fully  developed.  A  candid  ytudy  of  the  his- 
tory of  those  limes  ought  to  satisfy  the  most  rabid  infiationist  of  our 
day.  A  writer  of  that  age  says:  "It  is  the  sign  of  a  sign,  and  has  no 
\alue  as  the  ic>presentativt'  of  money."  Yet  it  bon;  the  government 
stamp  of  vaUu'.  Would  liat  nuniey  be  any  better  nowV  The  beaver 
trade,  and  the  law  against  batchelors  produced  "Coureur  de  bois;" 
young  men  who  adopted  th(>  customs  of  the  savages,  and  became  wilder 
than  the  Indians  tlieniselves.  At  one  time  eiglit  hundred  out  of  a  popu- 
lation of  less  than  ten  thousand  were  living  in  the  woods,  and  when 
these  men  came  into  tlie  settlement,  "There  was  a  hot  time  in  the  old 
town." 

The  government  outlawed  these  wild  rovers,  but  the  governor  and 
his  business  partners  found  it  inofitable  to  maintain  friendly  relations 
witli  them,  and  they  coidd  always  be  depended  on  as  volunteers  in  ex- 
l)editions  against  tlie  English  colonies. 

The  .Tesuits  oppposed  balls,  dancing  and  tlie  sale  of  licpior  to  tlie 
Indians,  they  tried  hard  to  draw  the  Iroquois  away  fnjui  the  Diitcli 
and  P^ngiish,  and  to  divert  their  trade  to  Canada.  The  tirst  temper- 
ance fneeting  in  Amei'ica  was  held  in  1<;4S  at  the  Jesuit  missions  of 
Sillci'y.  but  the  priests  could  not  break  up  the  trade  in  rum. 

The  plan  of  the  .lesuits  was  "for  tlie  cliurch  to  rule  the  world,  the 
I'o])e  to  rule  the  church,  and  the  Jesuits  to  rule  the  I'ope." 

T.aval  l)ecame  "I'.ishop  of  Tetraea."  Vicar  Apostolic  of  Canada,  in 
]i;rt'.K  at  the  ;ige  of  ."'.(i,  and  at  once  had  a  bitter  contest  with  (^)ueyliis, 
the  SuliMtian  Triest  of  Moiitnal.  who  opposed  him,  and  who  would  not 
admit  his  authority;  but  the  .lesuits  sided  with  Laval  and  after  seven 
years  of  strife,  (Jueylns  submitted. 

Laval  was  a  iMontmorancy  and  could  brook  no  divided  authority, 
lie  quarreled  with  (Jovernor  after  (Governor  and  drove  one  after  anoth- 
er from  the  colony.  The  .lesuit  principles  were  never  better  explained 
than  by  one  of  their  own  number  iis  late  as  1872,  the  Kev.  Father 
liraun,  in  a  sermon  at  Montreal:  "The  supremacy  and  infallibility  of 
the  Pope,  the  independence'  and  liberty  of  the  church,  the  subordination 
and  submission  of  the  State  to  the  cliurch:  in  case  of  conflict  between 
them,  the  church  to  d  'cide.  the  St;ite  to  submit;  for  whoever  follows 
and  defends  these  ]M'itici]»l(  s,  life  .-ind  ;i  blessing:  for  wlioev<'r  rejects 
aiKl  cnnib.-its  then:,  death  jind  a  curse."  ly.-nal  always  act<'d  upon  this 
theory  of  ethics  .-ind  his  succ;'Ssors  followed  him. 

'I'lie  English  succeeded  the  Dutch  in  New  York  and  All)any  in  1G04, 


98  •  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

and  maintainod  friendly  relations  witli  the  Iroquois.  During  tlie  years 
of  peace  with  the  Frencli,  tlie  Iroquois  reeruited  tlieir  strength;  they 
destroyed  the  Illinois  in  1G80,  the  Eries  and  Andastes  in  1G82  and  in 
1684  again  defied  the  Frencla.  Denonville  fought  the  Senecas  in  tlieir 
own  country  in  1(;87,  and  when  the  war  between  France  and  England 
bx'oke  out  in  1(588  the  contest  became  general  and  New  York  and  Can- 
ada again  a  battle  ground. 

The  Iro(iuois  attacked  Montreal  in  lOSi)  and  massacred  many  of  the 
inhabitants.  Count  Frontenac  after  an  absence  of  ten  years  returned 
as  Governor  of  Canada  in  1<>89.  He  was  seventy  years  old,  but  he 
entered  upon  the  defense  of  his  country  witli  all  tlie  energy  of  his  youth- 
ful days.  He  immediately  laid  plans  to  capture  New  Yorlc  and  Boston, 
but  did  not  receive  the  expected  aid  from  France  and  the  scheme  was 
abandoned. 

Among  tliose  liardy  Frenchmen  wlio  made  Canada  tlieir  home  was 
Charles  LeMoyne,  a  man  of  great  courage  and  ability.  He  was  the 
father  of  eleven  sons,  at  least  five  of  whom,  Serigny,  Chateaugay,  St. 
Ilelene,  Bienville  and  Iberville,  left  great  names  behind  them. 

Tli,e  three  last  named  were  with  Mantel  in  February,  1(590, at  the  burn- 
ing of  Schenectady.  During  a  terrible  storm  on  the  niglit  of  February  8th, 
the  palisade  of  tliat  town  was  entered  liy  a  party  of  three  hundred 
French  and  Indians,  the  houses  tired  and  the  inliabitants  murdered  as 
they  I'an  from  tlieir  beds.  Tlie  town  was  completely  destroyed  and 
only  a  few  escaped  to  tell  the  dreadful  tale. 

Four  of  the  LeMoyne  brothers  were  engaged  m  the  attack  on  Fort 
Nelson  on  Hudson's  Bay.  Iberville  was  educated  in  France  and  was 
regarded  as  the  most  skillful  captain  in  the  French  navy.  While  com- 
manding the  French  frigate  "Pelican,"  in  ICi'.iT,  he  sailed  into  Hudson's 
Bay  and  fought  in  those  icy  waters  that  remarkable  liattle  witli  three 
Englisli  ships  in  which  he  destroyed  them  all  and  added  to  his  own 
fame. 

He  also  ravaged  tlie  English  settlements  of  New  Foundland.  terror- 
ized the  Atlantic  coast,  founded  a  Frencli  colony  in  Louisana.  and 
tinally,  as  he  was  preparing  for  an  attacli  on  Nortli  Carolina  died  of 
fever  at  Havana,  at  the  age  of  forty-five.  Bienville  was  twice  Governor 
of  Louisiana  and  had  a  great  career  in  that  colony.  St.  Helene  fell 
during  the  Bjitish  attaclc  on  Quebec.  Captain  .Tolin  Scliuyler  led  a 
party  of  Englisli  and  Indians  into  Canada  in  1(590,  and  destroyed  the 
village  of  LaPrarie,  near  Montreal,  but  the  Boston  expedition  up  the 
river  against  Quebec  was  a  complete  failure. 

In  January,  1()93.  an  army  of  nearly  seven  hundred  Canadians  came 
out  of  the  forest  near  Schenectady,  burned  the  houses  of  the  settlers, 
destroyed  the  Mohawlc  towns  and  having  cai)tui-ed  some  three  hun- 
dred prisoners,  retreated. 

They  were  pursued  by  Captain  Peter  Schuyler  with  a  small  party  ctf 
militia  and  Indians.  He  came  up  with  tliem  near  Saratoga,  killed  about 
twenty  of  them  and  harrassed  them  until  they  reached  Lake  Cham- 


THE  FRENCH   IN   CANADA    AND   OUR  OBLIGATION   TO  THE   IROQUOIS.        99 

plain,  wiu'u  tlicy  cscaixd  on  Ihc  i<'t'.  l>ut  many  of  tlieni  pcrislicd  with 
ciild  on  tlicii"  way  to  Canada. 

Tlic  si'lticnicnls  <»f  nortliorn  New  England  sntTcrcd  toiriUly  in  tliis 
war,  town  al'tor  (own  was  l)Urni'd  and  destroyed,  and  tlic  i>i'o|)lc  nmr- 
dered  or  carried  into  captivity.  Inil  it  is  not  my  pnrpose  to  tell  the  tale 
of  Mood  and  tire,  ontside  our  own  valley.  'IMie  Mass.-iehusetts  -nen 
rt'taliated  on  Acadia,  and  tlie  Ircxiuois  and  New  Yorkers  on  ("anad;i. 

A  single  incident  of  (he  New  Enuland  trouble  will  sntliee.  In  KUlT, 
Haverhill,  in  Massachusetts,  was  attacked  by  the  ("anadian  Indians 
and  the  Dustan  house  burned.  Hannah  iMistan  ;ind  Many  Xelf  were 
taken  prisoners.  .Mrs.  Uustan's  baby,  one  week  old.  was  luui'dered  be- 
fore her  eyes  and  the  [trisoners  started  tor  Cmada.  One  nii;lit  Mrs. 
Dustan,  who  h.id  planned  ;in  escap<'.  insi)ired  M.iry  Netf  and  a  white 
itoy  taken  ;il  W'ooster,  to  attack  their  captt»rs.  Kisini;-  (piietly,  the  boy 
and  the  two  women  each  took  a  toniah.awk  and  slrikinK  rapidly  killed 
ail  of  the  slei-pin-;-  Indians  but  a  little  boy  and  a  S((naw.  who  escaped 
v.oujided  into  the  woods.  Mrs.  iHistan  i-etiuned  to  her  desol.-ited  home 
with  a  canoe,  gun,  tomahawk  and  ten  Indian  scalps  as  trophies  of  her 
valor. 

Froidenac  crossed  L.ike  (tntario  in  ICiPi;  and  attacked  Onond.iua  with- 
out doing  vei-y  much  d:im;ige.  lie  returiu'd  to  C.inada  and  died  in 
Ki'.IS.  His  successoi-.  Cilliere.  made  peace  with  the  lro(|Uois,  but  war 
broke  (tut  again  in  1Tt»."l  and  lasted  until  1712.  During  tlu'Se  years  New 
York  did  not  sutler  as  much  as  did  New  England.  In  1712  the  ()uta.g- 
aruues.of  Fox  Kiver,\Visc<insin,  fornu'd  an  alliance  with  the  Iroquois  and 
attacked  the  western  outi)osts  of  the  French,  but  did  not  destroy  them. 

V>y  the  pe.ace  of  Itrecht.  France  and  l<]ngland  each  restoi'ed  c.-ijitui-ed 
territoi'y  and  the  lro(iuois  wei-e  i-ecogni/,ed  by  France  as  being  within 
the  10n.L;lish  domain,  but  the  Inxiuois  themselves  acknowledged  no 
master,  'i'hey  simply  called  the  English  brothers  ;iud  the  Kiiig  their 
father.  Parkman  says  that  in  1701,  '"The  power  of  the  lro(juois  w.is 
so  far  broken  th.it  they  were  never  again  \  cry  formidable  to  the 
French.  ('anad;i  had  conhrmed  her  Indian  .alliances  and  rebuttt'd  th(> 
English  claim  to  sovei'eignty  ovei-  the  live  tribes  with  all  the  conse- 
<iuenccs  that  hung  uiion  it:'"  ;ind  also  in  a  note,  "Th.at  the  li'oquois 
iiund)ere<l  twenty-live  hundred  warriors  in  ir.O'.t;  twelv<'  hundred  and 
fifty  in  IC'.IS,  and  tweh'e  hundred  in  1701.  After  tlu'  Tuscaroras  Joined 
tliem  in  1720,  they  nundtered  two  thousand." 

In  their  best  d;iys  they  never  could  muster  more  than  live  thousand 
warriors,  ;ind  La  I'otherie  says  of  (hem:  ■"Strange  th;i(  four  or  ti\'e 
thousand  should  m.ake  a  whole  new  world  tremble.  New  Englan<l  is 
but  too  hap|iy  to  gain  (heir  i;()od  graces.  New  I''r-ance  is  often  w.isted 
by  their  wars  and  our  .allies  dn-ad  them  over  ;iu  exteid  of  more  than 
tifteeii    hundred   miles." 

Acadia  was  ceded  to  lOnul.i  iid  in   171."!. 

Aftei'  1712  the  lOnglish  colonies  increased  in  ])o]>ulation  much  more 
rapidly  than  did  Canada.     The  Iroquois  adopted  a  policy  of  neutrality 


100  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 

and  had  it  not  been  for  the  great  inflncnoe  of  the  Schuylers  and  of  Sir 
William  Johnson  they  might  have  yielded  to  the  solicitation  of  the 
Jesuit  priests  and  joined  France  against  the  English;  but  the  Mo- 
hriwks  and  Oneidas  generally  stood  tirni  and  acted  with  the  English 
in  the  wars  of  '45  and  '50. 

The  French  priests  labored  diligently  and  somewhat  effectively  to 
win  the  friendship  of  tire  Iroquois,  but  in  1738,  William  Johnson  came 
from  Ireland  into  the  Mohawk  valley  and  settled  among  the  Mohawks. 
He  was  the  nephew  of  Sir  Peter  Warren.  He  learned  the  language  of 
the  Iroquois,  adopted  their  mode  of  living  when  among  them,  and 
became  the  most  able  and  elKcient  Indian  Agent  that  England  ever 
had.  How  much  this  valley  owes  to  Sir  William 'Johnson  no  one  can 
know  without  a  diligent  study  of  his  life  and  the  history  of  those 
times.  It  was  through  him,  more  than  by  any  other  influence  that  the 
Six  Nations  were  kept  in  alliance  with  the  English,  and  eventually  that 
the  tide  of  battle  was  turned  against  the  French.  Some  Irocpiois  were 
drawn  away  and  became  mission  or  praying  Indians,  settling  near  Mon- 
treal. They  joined  the  French  in  their  attacks  on  the  English  settle- 
ments and  murdered,  scalped  and  burned  their  poor  captives  just  as 
if  they  had  not  been  Christianized.  Mercy  to  heretics  and  protestauts 
had  no  place  in  the  French  creed  of  those  days. 

Saratoga  was  destroyed  and  thirty  families  slaughtered  in  17-17,  and 
a  sharp  battle  with  a  party  of  French  and  Indians  fought  near  Schenec- 
tady in  the  summer  of  1748.  The  French  were  defeated  and  retreated, 
taking  the  unusual  route  via  the  Sacondaga,  and  thus  escaped  a  party 
lying  in  wait  to  cut  them  off. 

The  English  took  Louisburgh  in  that  war,  but  much  to  the  disgust  of 
the  colonists,  by  the  peace  of  1748,  captured  territory,  except  Acadia, 
was  again  restored  to  France  and  for  a  few  years  more  there  was  a 
nominal  peace  until  the  final  struggle  l)egan  in  1754.  Each  party  had 
tried  to  strengthen  itself  by  building  forts  in  the  disputed  territory. 
The  French  at  Ticonderoga,  Crown  Point,  Niagara  and  down  the  Ohio. 
The  English  on  the  eastern  border  of  Maine,  in  New  Hampshire,  at 
Fort  Edward  and  at  Oswego. 

The  Iroquois  ui'ged  the  English  to  action  and  in  a  council  held  in 
1754  at  Albany,  for  the  common  defense,  between  the  Governors  of  the 
sevei-al  colonies  and  the  chiefs  of  the  Six  Nations,  a  Mohawk  chief 
said:  "Look  at  the  French;  they  are  men;  they  are  fortifying  every- 
where. It  is  but  one  step  from  Canada  hither  and  they  may  easily  come 
and  turn  you  out  of  doors." 

One  is  reminded  by  the  Avords  of  this  savage  orator  of  Cato's  "Car- 
thago est  delenda"  in  the  Koman  senate.  There  had  been  skirmishing 
all  along  the  dis])Uted  boundary  and  B'rench  priests  were  cotistantly 
trying  to  stir  the  Acadians  to  revolt,  and  to  violate  their  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  the  British  crown. 

So,  almost  at  the  beginning  of  the  struggle  the  Acadians  were  ex- 
pelled from  the  peninsula  and  driven  into  exile.     We  see  now  that  the 


THE   FRENCH   IN   CANADA   AND   OtTR  OBLIGATION   TO  THE   IROQUOIS.      101 

t'.xile  <»f  the  Ac;i(li;nis  was  i'xciisal)h'  if  not  justifialilc,  lnit  it  has  fur- 
nished foundation  foi'  many  a  patlictic  tale,  both  in  prose  and  poetry, 
and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  saihh'st  incidents  in  histoi'y. 

Late  in  Xovemhei'.  17r>T,  Caid.-iin  I'.elletre.  witli  tlir<'c  hundred  I'rench 
and  Indians,  attaclvcd  tlie  (lerinan  settlement  wliere  Herkimer  vilia.ue 
is  now  situated.  l''rieiidly  (>nei<las  and  Tusearoras  liad  warned  tlie 
settlors  but  the  warniu,u  for  some  I'eason  was  unheeded  and  tlie  settle- 
ment w^'^s  unpre[)ared. 

In  the  Doc.  History  of  New  York,  Vol.  X,  paiic  ('.72,  there  is  a 
translation  of  the  Frencli  Captain's  otticial  re]K)i't  of  his  ('xjtloit. 
Whether  or  not  he  was  a  ureat  Huhter,  Ik-  was  (ci-t.ainly  ;i  lii-eat  liar. 
He  says  he  burned  sixty  houses,  killed  forty  Kn.ulish,  took  one  hundred 
and  fifty  prisoners  and  a  lar.ue  amoiuit  of  plunder;  tli.-it  om*  Indian 
alone  secured  ^C, ()()(»  in  money,  and  that  the  mayor  of  the  town  lost 
.*};.S0,0()()  worth  of  property.  We  all  know  tliere  was  no  such  amount  of 
wealth  here  at  that  time. 

The  inhaliitants  of  the  villa.yc  lied  to  Fort  Hei-kimei-,  across  the  river. 
Some  were  killed,  nearly  one  hundred  carried  into  captivity  and  their 
property  and  homes  buiiied  aiul  desti'oyed.  The  enemy  did  not  att.ack 
the  fort,  Init  after  securing  their  plunder,  took  the  back  ti'ack  for  Can- 
ada. 

On  April  30tli,  17.")S,  a  party  of  eighty  Indians  and  four  Frenchmen 
entered  the  valley  and  appeared  near  Fort  Herkimer.  This  time  they 
attacked  the  settlements  on  the  south  side  of  the  rivei-  and  killed  some 
thirty'of  the  inhal>itants,  but  were  driven  off  by  Captain  I'.lnir  ;ind  his 
rangers  from  the  fort. 

That  the  French  were  thoroughly  posted  on  the  sittnition  through 
the  Valley  may  lie  seen  from  the  following  translation  of  a  document 
in  the  French  archives  at  l*aris.  Doc.  History,  Vol  It),  pa.ge  (>7S:  "Fort 
Kouari  is  situate  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Mohawk  river,  on  a  small 
hill  on  the  scarp  of  the  river.  It  is  a  large  three-story  stone  house,  with 
port  holes  at  each  stor.v  and  likewise  in  the  basement,  foi-  the  ])urpose 
of  cross  firing. 

"The  Palatine  villag<'.  which  consisted  of  thirty  houses,  h;is  been 
entirely  destroyed  and  burnt  by  a  detachment  under  M.  de  Belletre's 
orders.  The  inhabitants  of  this  village  formed  a  company  of  oni'  hun- 
dred men  bearing  arms.  They  icckoned  three  hundred  persons,  men, 
women  and  t-hildren,  one  hundred  .and  two  of  whom  were  made  pris- 
oners and  the  ri'mainder  lied  to  l''ort  Kouai'i,  except  a  few  who  wn-re 
killed  whilst  fording  the  river.  Fiom  the  Palatine  village  to  the  Little 
Falls,  still  continuing  along  the  b;inks  of  the  river,  is  estimated  about 
three  leagues.  In  this  distance  there  had  been  eight  houses,  wduch 
have  been  abandoned.  The  inhabitants  of  these  houses  compose  a 
company  with  those  of  Fort  Kouari,  at  the  opposite  of  the  river." 

Also  in  a  note,  pa.ge  (!S(>,  from  another  French  document,  we  get  this: 
"In  the  whole  country  of  the  I'iver  Corlae  there  were  nine  coui]»anies 
of  militia  under  the  command  of  Colonel  .fohnson,  eight   only   remain, 


102  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

that  of  tlio  village  of  the  Palantines  being  no  longer  in  e.^istence,  the 
greater  portion  having  been  defeated  by  M.  De  Belletre's  detachment. 
Colonel  Jolinson  assembles  these  companies  wiien  lie  has  news  of  any 
expedition  wliich  may  concern  the  Mohawk  river.  He  did  so  in  A])ril, 
1757,  and  with  twelve  hnndred,  in  all  two  thousand  men,  entrenched 
himself  at  the  head  of  the  Palatine  village  wlien  the  Frencli  went  up 
the  St.  Lawrence  to  re-enforce  the  beautiful  river  (Ohio)." 

The  Shawnees  and  Delawares,  though  vav«;sals  of  the  Iroijuois,  went 
over  to  the  French,  but  the  Cherolcees  were  faithful  to  the  English. 

Braddock's  defeat  was  a  great  disaster  and  many  of  tlie  wavering 
Indians,  especially  Seiiecas.  thinking  that  the  French  woidd  lie  vic- 
torious, took  sides  witli  tliem.  .Jolmson's  victory  at  I^ake  George  in 
.1755,  in  Avhich  two  hundred  Mohawks  took  p.-irt  and  Ilendrick,  the 
Mohawk  chieftain,  fell,  slightly  stemmed  the  tide.  Montcalm  took  and 
destroyed  the  English  fort  at  Oswego  and  obtained  entire  control  of 
Lake  Ontario  in  1756.  Jjord  Loudon  and  General  Abercrombie  made  a 
miserable  failure  of  the  campaign  against  Ticonderoga  in  1757,  so  tliat 
at  the  close  of  1757  the  French  were  triumphant  all  along  the  line. 
They  were  fortified  at  Ticonderoga  and  Grown  Point,  had  destroyed 
Fort  William  Henry  and  Oswego,  wei-e  in  possession  of  the  valleys  of 
the  Ohio  and  Mississii)pi,  had  won  over  many  of  the  Iro(juois,  and  even 
the  Cherokees  had  begun  to  waver.  But  now  the  elder  Pitt  became  Pre- 
mier of  England.  A  vigorous  policy  was  adopted,  all  (piarrels  with  the 
colonies  about  raising  funds  were  put  aside.  Lord  Jjoudon  was  recalled 
and  able  commanders  with  large  English  armies  were  sent  to  America. 
In  that  war  England  sent  more  soldiers  to  assist  the  Americans  to  con- 
quer Canada  than  she  did  later  in  the  Revolutionary  war  to  attempt  to 
mainlatn  her  own  supremacy. 

At  the  close  of  1757  the  victorious  Fi-ench.  however,  had  l>egun  to 
feel  the  exhaustion  of  war;  the  fields  had  not  been  tilled,  for  the  men 
had  been  with  Montcalm  in  the  enemy's  country:  the  crops  failed;  no 
supplies  came  from  France  and  the  English  colonists  far  outnumbered 
the  French. 

Fort  Stanwix  was  bnilt  in  17.5,S  and  .Colonel  Bradstreet  with  twenty- 
seven  hundred  provincials  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  Iroquois  marched 
in  September  from  that  post,  crossed  I>ake  Ontario  from  the  site  of 
Oswego  and  took  and  destroyed  Fort  Frontenac. 

In  November  of  the  same  year  General  Forbes  and  Colonel  George 
Washington  took  Fort  DuQuesne  and  changed  its  name  to  Fort  Pitt. 

General  Amherst  and  Admiral  BoscawcMi  ca])tured  Louisburg.  and  a 
French  army  of  five  thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-seven  men.  in 
July,  175.S,  and  here  General  Wolfe  distinguished  himself.  General 
Amherst  then  turned  his  victorious  army  to  help  Al)ercrombie  on  Lake 
George  against  the  hitherto  invincible  Montcalm.  In  a  preliminary 
skirmish  at  Ticonderoga,  Lord  Howe,  a  man  of  great  ability,  and  from 
Avhom  much  was  expected,  had  been  killed,  and  later  Al^ercrombie, 
who  had  little  capacity,  and  no  faith  in  his  provincial  officers,  Putnam, 


THE  FRENCH  IN  CANADA  AND  OUR  OBLIGATION  TO  THE  IROQUOIS.      lOo 

Stark.  r>ra(Ntre('t  and  IfoL^crs,  bad  suft'cri'd  defeat  with  the  h)ss  ot  two 
thousand  men.  He  retreated  to  the  site  of  Fort  Wiiii.ini  Il'-iny  and 
even  prepared  to  Ih'e  to  Albany  and  New  York,  bnt  when  ,\ndierst 
eanie  the  sitn.ation  w.is  elianyed. 

In  June,  IT")!*.  (Jeneral  Amherst  with  an  overwhelming  force  proceed- 
ed agiiinst  Ticonderoiia  and  Crown  I'oint,  which  posts  the  French  aban- 
doned, and  retreated  down  tlie  lake.  Andierst  was  slow  abont  pnrsn- 
iny.  and  M'hen  in  September  he  was  ready  to  follow  the  I'l-eneh,  it 
was  too  late  to  proceed  a.uiiinst  Afoiitreal.  Sir  Wilii.im  .Johnson  with 
his  Iroquois  Jillies,  and  (ieneral  Frideanx  witli  two  I'.iitish  reyiments 
went  to  Niauiini  in  the  sunnner  of  17.">'.l  and  took  the  fort.  Fridean.x 
was  killed  early  in  the  sei.:;('  and  .Johnson  obtained  ail  the  yloiy  of  the 
victory,  as  his  Mohawks  were  of  great  assistance  in  the  battle  which 
preceded  the  surrender  of  the  Fort.  Colonel  Boquet  took  the  French 
forts  at  rres(tue  Isle.  Venango  and  Le  r>oef  and  Colonel  Ilaldeniand 
successfully  resisted  a  Freni-h  attack  on  Oswego.  The  French  com- 
mander at  Toronto  burned  his  buildings  and  took  his  gai'rison  to  Mon- 
treal. General  (Jage,  although  ordered  to  .attack  the  I'^rench  pctst  :it 
Ogdensl)urg,  failed  to  do  so.  Captain  Rogers  with  his  rangers  attacked 
the  village  of  St.  Francis  Indians  about  midway  between  Montreal  and 
Quebec.  Tliey  had  been  great  freebooters  and  had  often  ravaged  the 
New  England  settlements.  II<'  found  them  holding  a  feast,  and  wait- 
ing uuitil  about  H  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  they  were  all  asleej). 
entered  tlie  town  and  killed  two  hundri'd  Indians.  He  returned  to  the 
settlements  by  the  way  of  the  Comu'cticut  Ixiver. 

Lat-e  in  June,  ITo!),  Wolfe  ai-rived  before  and  laid  seige  to  (}uebec, 
and  on  the  12tli  of  September  he  fought  that  battle  on  the  T'lains  of 
Abraliam,  whicli  sealed  the  fate  of  New  France,  and  gained  for  him 
the  glory  of  a  soldier's  death.  Montcalm,  the  ablest  genei-al  I''i-ance 
ever  had  In  America,  was  mortally  wounded  and  died  Se|>tember  11th. 
DeLevis,  who  succ(>eded  Montcalm,  attempted  in  April.  17<>0.  to  rct.-ikc 
Quebec,  lie  moved  down  fi'om  .Montreal  with  about  ten  thousand  men, 
defeated  General  ^lui'r.ay  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  and  in\('st<'<l  llic 
town;  but  on  the  !Mh  of  May  a  British  shi])  arriv<'d  with  rclii'f  and 
other  vessels  came  on  the  l.'itli.  DeLevis  raised  the  seige  and  retreat- 
ed up  the  river.  (Jeneral  Andierst  cauK*  down  from  Oswego  and  invest- 
ed Montreal  on  the  <;th  of  September.  Murray  came  u|>  from  t^uebec 
and  Ilaviland  from  Crown  Point,  and  on  the  .Sth.  of  Sejjfember,  ITdO, 
Vandreuil  surrendered  all  C.inada  to  the  lOnglish.  Pontiac  in  ITCii;  was 
al)le  to  draAV  only  a  few  of  the  Senecas  into  his  conspiracy,  and  .John- 
son held  through  that  trying  time  nearly  all  of  the  Iroquois,  as  firm 
friends  lof  the  Phjglish  king,  so  that  oui'  valley  did  not  suffer  again 
until  the  Revolutionary  w;ir. 

The  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  in  17<i'J  .md  Canada,  .Vova  Scotia  and 
Cai)e  Ih'cton  were  ceded  to  Gre.-it  P.rit.ain.  l''i'enre  reserved  Louisiana 
and  the  territory  w<'st  of  (lie  .M  ississliipi,  but  soon  alter  ceded  it  to 
Spain,  and    S^iain,    later    on,  ceded    to    Napoleon,  who    sold    that   whole 


104  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

territory  to  the  United  States  wlien  Jefferson  was  President,  in  1803. 
Tlius  just  two  liundred  years  after  France  began  tlie  settlement  of  Can- 
ada she  finally  retired  and  gave  up  forever  the  scheme  of  empire  in 
North  America,  but  what  a  terrible  tale  of  blood  is  the  history  of  those 
two  centuries.  The  contest  with  France  was  tlie  school  in  which  the 
American  colonies  learned  tlieir  own  strength  when  united  in  a  com- 
mon cause. 

In  the  battles  with  the  French  tliey  learned  to  fight,  and  there  such 
generals  as  Stark,  Herkimer  and  Washington  were  educated. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  the  Iroquois  generally  sided  with  the  King  in  the 
war  of  the  Revolution.  The  King  of  England  had  been  their  friend 
for  many  generations,  his  agent  Johnson  was  like  one  of  tlieir  own 
nation,  he  was  their  brotlier,  his  sons  were  loyalists  and  tliey  cast  in 
their  lot  with  them.  In  that  struggle  they  lost  their  homes  and  their 
country. 

We  have  been  so  accustomed  to  blame  the  Indians  for  tlie  cruelties 
perpetrated  on  the  patriots,  during  that  war,  that  we  liave  forgotten 
the  long  period  of  more  than  a  century  in  wliich  the  land  of  the  Iro- 
quois stood  an  almost  impassable  barrier  l)etween  tlie  hostile  Frendi 
of  Canada,  with  their  Indian  allies  on  the  one  side,  and  the  weak  set- 
tlements of  New  York  on  the  other.  Now  we  know  that  we  are  undei- 
•great  obligations  to  the  Irocpiois.  More  than  once  they  saved  the  set- 
tlers in  this  valley  from  destruction,  and  what  is  better  still,  they  saved 
the  continent  from  Jesuit  domination,  and  French  civilization. 

Let  us  give  them  the  honor  they  deserve,  and  rememlvr  that  they 
were  true  friends  of  ou'-"  fathers  when  our  fathers  most  needed  friends, 
and  although  they  were  savages  and  heathen,  they  loved  the  valley  of 
the  Mohawk,  and  the  places  where  we  delight  to  dwell. 


CHRONOLOGY. 


AN  ADDRP:SS  BV  HON.  ROBERT  EARI.,  OF  HERKIMER, 

Delivered  1)efore  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  November  ii, 

1899. 

Chronology  and  goo.L;r;i]>]iy  are  said  to  t)0  the  two  eyes  of  history. 
The  sttidoiit  who  would  ])roiierly  understand  and  ai)i)i'eeiate  the  story 
of  any  people  must  eonsider  their  relations  in  time  and  spaee  to  other 
people  and  other  cotmtries. 

The  science  of  Chronology  deals  with  time  in  its  succession;  and 
many  Chronological  systems  formerly  prevailed  and  several  still  pre- 
vail. Among  all  nations  having  Chronological  tables,  time  has  always 
been  computed  from  some  impoitant  event  in  their  history.  In  ancii'iit 
IJome,  it  was  computed  from  the  founding  of  Kome  by  Komulus,  in 
753  B.  C,  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  sixth  Olympiad.  In  Crece,  tlie  Olym- 
pic Games  were  great  national  events.  They  were  instituted  In  honor 
of  Jupiter  to  exercise  the  Grecian  youths  in  various  athU'tic  contests 
and  combats.  They  took  place  near  Olympia  in  the  relopoiu'sus,  now 
the  iVIorea,  every  four  years;  and  hence  an  Olympiad  was  a  period  of 
four  years.  The  victor  in  those  games  was  honored  with  a  crown  of 
wild  olives  and  sometimes  he  became  a  national  hero.  In  77(>  B.  C. 
Coroebus,  one  of  the  conti'stants  in  the  games  of  that  year,  achieved 
great  and  conspicuous  success,  and  hence  the  Olympiads  were  reckoned 
from  that  date.  The  Mohammedeus  (except  in  I'ersia)  reckoned  time 
from  the  Hegira,  the  flight  of  their  prophet  from  Mecca  to  Medina. 
July  IG,  A.  D.  G22.  The  Jcw^s  reckon  time  from  the  date  of  the  Creation 
as  they  learn  it  from  their  Bible.  Biblical  scholars  differ  widely  as  to 
that  date,  their  computations  depending  upon  the  Biblican  versions 
they  use  and  upon  their  views  of  the  facts  there  recorded.  Their  esti- 
mates vary  from  3G1G  the  time  usually  accepted  by  the  Jews,  to  G9S4 
years  before  Christ.  The  ordinarily  received  Biblical  chronology  is  that 
of  Archbishop  Usher,  who  put  the  date  of  the  Creation  at  4004  B.  C. 

Among  some  of  the  older  nations  of  the  East,  there  is  a  remarkable 
coincidence  in  the  commencement  of  their  chronologies,  which  are  all 


106  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

liiised  niton  very  litth'  if  any  data  of  facts  ovon  authenticated  l)y  any 
establislied  tradltons.  The  Hindoos  in  their  count  of  time  reach  back 
(;i74.  tlie  llahyionians  (iins  and  tlie  Chinese  (!157  years  l)efore  Christ. 

The  year  lias  not  always  liad  tlie  same  length.  In  Rome  it  was  at 
one  time  ci~A  <lays.  then  3(j0,  then  3(j5;  and  finally  the  calendar  was 
reformed  under  Julius  Ceasar,  and  the  year  was  made  305  days  and 
one-cjuarter,  and  tliat  has  been  called  the  Julian  Year.  It  was  divided 
into  twelve  months,  January,  March,  May.  July,  September  and  Novem- 
ber navin.i;  •">!  ilays.  and  all  tlie  i-emainder  but  February  having-  30  days. 
i<\'bruai-y  luul  2U  days  I'xcept  every  fourth  year,  when  it  had  30  days. 
As  July.  nani('<l  ;ifter  Julius  Ceasar,  liad  31  days  .the  Emperor  Augus- 
tus, who  succeeded  Julius,  determined  tliat  August,  named  after  liim, 
should  also  liave  31  days;  and  he  caused  tlie  calendar  to  l>e  rearranged 
as  to  the  lengths  of  the  months,  as  it  now  is. 

There  have  in  different  ages  and  countries  been  different  times  for 
the  commencement  of  the  year.  Among  the  Latin  Christian  nations 
it  Itegan  variously  January  1st,  March  1st,  March  25th,  December  25tli, 
and  at  Easter.  In  England,  from  the  Fourteenth  Century  until  the 
change  from  the  Old  Style  to  the  New,  in  1752,  the  legal  and  ecclesias- 
tical year  began  on  the  25tli  of  March. 

Among  the  ancients,  astronomy  was  a  very  imperfect  science.  The 
rtolemaic  system,  wliich  placed  the  earth  in  the  center  of  tlie  universe, 
with  the  sun  and  all  the  other  planets  revolving  around  it,  prevailed 
until  the  present  Copernican  system,  due  to  a  better  Ivnowledge  of 
astronomy  was  established  in  the  early  part  of  the  Sixteenth  Century. 

At  the  time  of  tlie  establisliment  of  tlie  Julian  year,  45  B.  C,  the  in- 
struments for  measuring  time  were  very  primitive  and  imperfect. 
There  were  then  probably  no  clocks  operated  by  wheels  or  springs  as 
we  now  have  tliem.  There  were  three  means  of  measuring  time,  to- 
wit:  Sun  dials,  the  hour  glass,  and  vessels  holding  water,  whicli  Avas 
permitted  to  run  out  through  an  orifice.  Caesar,  therefore,  in  his  ref- 
ormation of  the  caleiid:ir  made  a  mistake  in  the  precise  length  of  the 
year:  and  when  he  made  it  3(55  days  and  six  hours  he  made  it  about 
eleven  minutes  too  long,  tlie  luore  accurate  measurement  of  modern 
times  making  tlie  true  length  of  the  mean  solar  year  3t»5  days  5 
liours,  4!)  minutes  and  4()  seconds.  The  conseciuence  of  this  error  in 
the  length  of  the  Julian  year  was  a  constantly  increasing  discrepancy 
between  the  calendar  time  and  the  true  solar  time;  and  by  the  year 
15X2,  this  discrepancy  amonnti'd  to  about  ten  days — the  calendar  time 
being  so  much  behind  tlie  solar  time.  Astronomical  science  had  made 
such  progress  that  tlie  error  was  discovered,  and  Pope  Gregory  XI 11 
determined  that  the  calendar  should  be  reformed;  and,  therefore,  he 
issued  a  Bull  on  the  15tli  day  of  October,  1582,  advancing  the  calendar 
10  days  and  calling  tliat  day  the  15th;  and  tlie  calendar  as  thus  reform- 
ed was  adopted  in  all  the  countries  Avhich  acknowledged  the  supremacy 
of  the  Tope;  and  this  mode  of  computing  time  came  to  be  called  the 
"New  Style,"  and  this  reformed  calendar  was  called  the  "Gregorian 


CHRONOLOGY.  107 

calondnr,"  to  distiiimiisli  it  from  tlic  '".luliaii  cilcndnr."  ft  was  not 
adopted  in  all  the  I'l-otcstant  states  of  (Jeniiaiiy  and  northern  Knropc 
until  1774.  It  w.is  jidopted  by  act  of  Parliament  in  l]n,i;land  in  17.')-. 
and  now  is  in  use  in  the  whole  of  l<]nrope  except  Russia,  wlu're  tlie 
Old  Style,  the  .Fuli;in  calendar,  is  still  used.  I'.ut  nieasur«'s  haxc 
recently  Ihh'U  taken  there  to  chaniic  to  the  Xew  Style  on  the  1st  day  of 
.lannary,  1!>()1. 

r.y  the  tinu"  the  New  Style  came  to  he  adopted  in  I^imland  tlie  <lis- 
crepaucy  between  it  and  the  Old  Style  was  eleven  days,  and  hence  the 
calendar  was  advanc(>d  eleven  days,  the  ."Jrd  of  tlie  month  Ix'inff  called 
the  lith.  The  discicpancy  rcTn.ained  elevi'U  days  until  ISOU,  and  since 
then  it  h.is  been  twelve  d.ays.  and  after  llMKi  it  will  be  l.'>  days. 

Tliese  ('h.-iny-es  in  the  calendai-  and  contlictin.i;-  methods  of  ccunputiiiR 
time  li.as  introduced  some  confusion  into  history,  and  liistorians  differ 
in  their  i-ecords  of  m;iny  important  events  as  to  the  precise  d.ates  wiien 
they  occurred. 

Tlie  system  of  countini;  time  from  the  foundation  of  Rome  and  by 
the  01ymi)ia(ls  was  continui d  until  about  the  middle  of  tlie  Sixtli  Cen- 
tury of  the  present  er;;,  when  Dyonisius  lOxiuuus,  a  Roman  Abbot, 
introduced  into  Italy  the  method  of  countinti'  time  from  th(>  birth  of 
Christ,  wliicli  accordin.t;  to  his  computation  occui'red  in  the  fourth  year 
of  the  one  hundred  and  ninety-fourth  (Mympiiid  and  the  7.">.">rd  ye:ir  of 
the  found.ation  of  Rome;  and  tins  metliod  came  into  vo,i;ue  in  other 
parts  of  Europe  at  later  i>eiaods.  More  accurate  calculations  since 
lia\c  shown  that  he  ma<le  a  mistake  and  th.at  he  pl.iced  that  event 
about  lour  ye.ars  too  l.ale;  and  hence  its  date  must  be  |daced  in  tlie  ye.ar 
4  B.  C.  Therofore,  countiiii;'  from  the  birtli  of  Chi'ist.  as  now  ascer- 
tained, this  is  the  lOOMrd  year  from  that  event. 

The  system  of  reekoiiiuf;'  time  from  tlie  supposed  birth  of  Christ  has 
universally  Ix'en  adopted  amon.i;'  Christian  nations,  and  since  its  adop- 
tion has  been  departed  from  but  once.  iMiiMUf;-  the  French  revolution, 
when  the  churches  were  closed,  and  reli;;ion  was  .ibolished  by  law.  and 
reason  enthroned  in  its  stead,  a  new  calendar  was  inti'oduced,  c(uintini;' 
time  from  Septenilier  22nd.  17'.>2.  the  tirst  year  bein.u  the  "Mrst  of  the 
French  Republic."  The  Christian  calendar  was  restored  there  after  the 
madness  bred  of  the  revolution  had  passed  ;iway  in   l.soc. 

The  chan.i^e  from  tli(>  Old  to  the  New  Style  was  not  made  in  I'hi.uland 
without  consider.able  aiiitation  and  opposition.  Pope  (Jre,n'ory  XIII 
was  from  \arious  reasons  very  odious  to  the  I'l'oteslants  throuuhout 
Europe;  jiiid  they  were  very  i-eluctant  to  follow  his  lead  in  the  r(>for- 
mation  of  the  calendar.  The  reformation  was  carried  throimh  F.arli.a- 
ment  on  the  initiative  of  Lord  ('hestortteld,  who  intro(luce<l  tlie  act  into 
th(>  Mouse  of  liOrds,  in  the  reijiu  of  (Jeoruc  II,  while  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle was  Priiiu^  Minister.  L<»rd  Chestertield  had  the  .assistance  of  the 
eminent  niathematicians,  Eord  iNfacelsl'eld  and  Mr.  I'radley.  The 
I'riine  Minister,  dre.adiui;  .an  explosion  of  poiuii.ar  feeling;,  entreated 
Cheslerheld  not  to  "stir  matters  that  had  lou!;'  been  (piiet,"  or  to  nied- 


108  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

dlft  with  "now  fjingied  things;"  and  his  apprehensions  were  to  some 
extent  realized,  as  a  widespread  irritation  was  for  a  time  aroused.  By 
the  opponents  of  the  measure,  muoh  was  said  al>out  the  profanity  of 
altering  Saints'  days  and  immovable  feasts.  Many  of  the  common 
people  felt  as  if  eleven  days  had  been  taken  out  of  their  lives  as  they 
went  to  bed  on  the  2ud  of  September  and  woke  up  on  the  14th;  and  at 
the  ne.xt  election  one  of  the  most  popular  cries  of  the  mob  was,  "Give 
us  back  the  eleven  days  we  have  been  robbed  of."  Hogarth,  the  great 
caricaturist,  in  one  of  his  pictures  representing  an  election  feast,  in- 
troduces a  banner  carried  by  one  of  the  crowd,  bearing  the  inscription, 
"(Jive  us  back  our  eleven  days!" 

When  many  years  later  Mr.  Bradley  died  of  a  lingering  disease,  his 
sufferings  were  supposed  by  the  populace  to  be  a  judgment  due  to  the 
part  he  had  taken  in  the  "impious  transaction;"  and  in  subsequent 
years,  when  a  bill  was  pending  in  rarliament  for  the  naturalization  of 
the  Jews,  it  was  said  in  debate:  "It  is  no  wonder  he  should  be  for 
naturalizing  the  devil  who  was  one  of  those  that  banished  old  Christ- 
mas."   And  there  was  a  ballad  against  the  bill  with  these  lines: 

"In  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-three 
The  style  it  was  changed  to  Popery." 

The  change  to  the  New  Style  was,  indeed,  an  achievement  of  infinite 
difficulty.  Many  statesmen  shrank  from  the  undertaking,  and  Lord 
Chesterfield  found  it  essential  to  prepare  the  public  by  writing  and 
publishing  papers  on  the  subject.  After  he  had  made  a  speech  in  tlie 
House  of  Lords  in  favor  of  liis  bill,  he  wrote  to  his  son:  "I  had  not 
even  attempted  to  explain  the  bill  to  them:  I  might  as  soon  have  talk- 
ed Celtic  or  Slavonic  to  them  as  astronomy.  They  would  liave  understood 
it  full  as  well."  No  l)etter  illustration  can  be  found  tlian  the  popular 
clamor  in  England  over  the  change  to  the  New  Style  to  show  that  ignor- 
ance is  the  foster  mother  of  superstition  and  bigotry.  We  are  fortu- 
nate to  live  in  an  age  when  the  cry  of  most  intelligent  men  and  women 
is  Fiat  Lux  in  the  pursuit  of  truth  wher-jver  it  leads. 


ARPHAXED  LOOMIS— HIS  CAREER  AND  PUBLIC 

SERVICES. 

AN   ADDRESS   BY    HON.    GEO.    W.    SMITH,    OK    HERKIMER, 
Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Hi.slorical  Society,  Deceinl^er  9,  1899. 

Til"  subject  of  this  skctt-li  was  in  many  respects  the  foremost  lawyer 
o*'  Herkimer  ciunity,  and  in  what  was  his  distinnuishin.u  line  in  juris- 
linidence,  he  was  one  of  the  most  tnily  eminent  in  the  state  or  nation. 

There  are  lawyers  and  lawyers,  some  who  are  liovei-ned  only  by  pi'e- 
cedent.  They  abide  by  the  mediaeval  superstition  that  all  wisdom 
was  of  the  ancients;  they  are  wholly  boinid  by  "ita  lex  scripta  est." 
and  think  it  temeiity  to  ittempt  to  be  "wise  above  what  is  written." 
There  are  others  who  oetter  deserve  the  plaudits  and  .i;i';ititudi'  of  pos- 
terity. These  disc<'i'n  the  evils  perpetuatt'd  by  precedents,  they  ri'co.n- 
nize  the  truth  that  the  latest  experience  is  the  sum  of  our  knowledjie: 
to  tlu'in,  errors  and  abuses  are  not  venerable,  tlu)U.i;h  imbedded  in  usa.iit- 
and  sanctioned  by  tradition,  but  things  to  be  attacked  and  abolished. 
They  realize  that  every  human  institution  should  be  informed  and  mod- 
ilied  by  the  enlij;htem'd  spirit  of  the  a.nc  bi'  made  Hexible  to  the  move- 
ment of  events  and  adjusted  to  new  conditions.  Such  minds  do  not  hes- 
itate to  consi,nn  outworn  and  obstructive  forms  to  the  limbo  of  tliin.i^s 
useless  and  the  obsolete. 

To  this  latter  class  Arphaxed  IjOomis  belon.nvd.  and  unidcd  by  the 
ideas  of  men  of  that  school,  he  was  instrumental  in  producing  the 
.i;reati'st  reform  in  the  exercise  of  popular  self-.i;(>vernment  and  in  the 
administration  of  the  law  that  has  been  accomplished  within  any  cen- 
tury since  written  constitutions  and  laws  have  existed. 

Mr.  Loonus  at  an  early  day  pointed  out  the  necessary  restriction  of 
the  lejiislative  power  to  imi)ose  jmblic  di'bt  upon  the  i)eoi»le.  and  the 
Viecessity  for  enlaruini;  the  same  i)ower  over  the  cor|)oratioiis  \\hicli 
it  created.  The  limitation  of  le.uislative  powei-  was  reim^nant  to  ucn 
eialiy  accepted  Ideas.  The  r"pi'esentat ion  of  the  iieojile  li_\-  their  aucnts 
in  the  lej-islatui-e  had  lieen  regarded  as  the  very  palladium  of  the  ])ublic 
safety,  the  safety  of  the  public  purse,  and  of  most  of     the     citizens' 


110  HERKIMER   COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

rights.  But  exporience  had  shown  that  this  delegated  power  had  oftrn 
lieen  exercised  to  tlie  public  detriment  in  exp'Miding  tlie  public  money 
and  should  be  limited.  Indeed,  when  a  government  is  dictated  by  the 
l»opular  will,  the  most  essential  provisions  of  the  organic  law  are  those 
which  limit  the  power  of  the  people  themselvi'S  or  of  their  agents. 
There  is  no  human  sovereignty,  whethei-  of  monarch  or  p-.ople,  but 
must  be  restrained  by  some  higher  law  tlian  any  present  impulse  of 
mere  desire  or  will,  either  autocratic  or  i)opular. 

It  was  said  against  this  clieck  upon  thedel)t  creating  power  th:it  it 
discredited  the  rei)resentative  system.     Iianicl  S.  Dickinson,  .-uhlressing 
the  graduates  of  Hamilton  Law  School  in  IS.VJ.  attacked  this  piovision 
and  said  that  it  "practically  concedes  that  popula,r  representative  gov- 
ernment had  proved  ;i  failure — that  no  persons  can  be  found  possessing 
suflicient  wisdom  .-iiid  integrity  to  discharge  faithfully  the  representa- 
tive office,  or  if  such  exist,  that  the  electors  have  not  the  horesty  or 
discernment  to  select  them.     *     *     *     j^,^  i^^j^,.  .,^  rci)resentative  gov- 
ernment is  upheld,   legislation  should,   said  he,  be  ])ermitted   freely   to 
exercise  its  functions  ui)on  all  legislative'  subjects,  leaving  its  errors  to 
be  corrected,  its  abuses  restrained,  not  by  constitutional  fetters,  but  by 
elevating   the  representative  standard,   and   holding  the   servant  to  a 
strict  and  fearful  accountability,  etc.     This  superficial  reasoning  of  a 
statesman,  more  superficial  than  profound,  practically  advises  allowing 
tbe  abus(>s  which  are  known  to  be  incident  to  l(\gislation,  to  go  on,  and 
then   look  to  a   responsibility   that   lias   no  practical   existence,   and,   in 
sliort.  to  "lock  the  door  after  the  horse  is  stolen."     Wiser  men  than  Mr. 
Dickinson  had  learned  that  there  must  be  clu'cks  on  legislative  power, 
and  that  they  were  nowhere  more  necessary  th;in  where  they  were  ap 
plied  to  the  debt  making  power. 

The  comjielling  the  reference  of  the  (piestion  of  incurring  debts  to 
tlie  vote  of  the  people  liable  to  pay  them,  is  a  provision  second  in  sal- 
nt.ary  effects  to  no  other  ever  adojitcd  in  tliis  state,  and  such  a  "refer- 
endum" now  gaining  favor  in  popular  government,  might  well  be  re- 
(luired  on  other  ((uestions  of  general  public  concern,  even  if  it  should 
imply  some  discontent  with  the  nninner  in  which  legislative  agents 
discharge  their  representative  trust. 

Mr.  I.oomis'  eminent  constructive  faculties  as  constitutional  and  legal 
refornu'r  provided  the  nu'ans  of  cliecking  the  imposition  of  public  debt 
upon  the  State,  and  tlie  means  of  correcting  corporate  .abuses  by  enlai-g- 
ing  the  control  of  the  legislature  over  their  charters,  a  contrt.l  before 
.abridged  by  a  series  of  decisions  beginning  with  the  Dartmouth  College 
case,  and  he  initi.-ited  and  more  than  any  other  carried  forward  the  sim- 
plifying of  the  legal  procedure  by  which  rights  are  asserted  and  wrongs 
redressed.  Practice  and  pleading  are  the  law,  practically  applied,  and 
Charles  O'Connor  held  this  to  be  the  chier  department  of  jurisprudence. 
To  these  great  objects  Mr.  Looinis  devoted  .a  large  part  of  his  lif(>, 
his  deafness  having  precluded  him,  in  a  gr(>at  degree,  from  the  more 
active  pursuit  of  his  i)rofession.     His  persevering  efforts  for  constitu- 


ARPHAXED   LOOMIS  111 

tioiial  and  lejj^al  reform  were  an  miscllisli  lalmr.  For  tliis  devotion  of 
his  cnt'r.nies  and  a  larav  part  of  his  life  to  Ihcsc  ui-cat  jMihlir  ohjccts. 
tJu're  was  no  incontivi-  of  prrsonal  anibitioii  or  of  pccnniai-.v  unin.  Ills 
efforts  were  from  tlie  impnlst'  of  a  patriotic  pnhiic  s])irit.  iiis  icward 
was  the  relh'ction  that  he  had  conferred  ,^i-eat  and  endnrin.^  henelits 
u;(on  tlie  whole  State. 

Thei-e  liave  liei'n  many  much  ai)plan(led  careers  in  the  Senate  and  in 
the  liehl,  nt»isy  with  a  public  fanu',  which  have  left  no  monunu'nt  that 
su.u;;est  any  endurin.u'  or  real  public  service.  Mr.  Loomis'  nami'  is  writ 
larne  upon  an  improved  constitution  and  upon  a  reformed  Judiciary, 
adopted  by  ureat  nundiers  of  our  own  and  in  foici.mi  stales,  and  which 
reforms  are  en.i;rafled  upon  tlie  iirocedure  of  that  ancient  teni|)le  of 
An,n'lo-Sa.\on  law,  Westminster  Hall. 

Ai-pha.\ed  Loomis  was  born  at  Winchestei'.  Conn..  A|)ril  '.».  UPS.  Ills 
father,  ThaihU'US  Loomis.  and  his  mother.  Lois  ((iriswoldi  Loonns, 
S(>ttled  in  Salisbtiry,  Ileikimer  county,  when  he  was  three  years  old. 
His  father's  means  were  snnill  and  he  had  a  iai-.m'  family,  and  in  his 
youn.yer  days  Aridiaxed  worked  oi\  his  father's  farm.  His  father's 
health  was  not  .yood:  he  was  considerably  occujiied  by  his  duti<'s  as 
justice  of  the  peace,  and  the  labor  of  his  sons  was  re(inii-ed  to  aid  in 
the  sn[(port  of  the  fannly.  Mv.  Loonns,  Sr..  was  aftei'wai'ds  one  of  the 
associate  .iudjies  of  the  Common  Pleas,  held  at  .lohnstown.  then  the 
eount.v  seat  for  Salisbin-y.  and  known  as  ".Indue." 

At  the  ajie  of  fifteen  Arpha.xed  was  "hired  ont"  by  his  fatliei'  at  lirst 
to  teach  school  three  months  at  .$<>.()(>  per  month  and  board  "around." 
after  the  custom  of  those  days.  The  school  honst'  was  distant  eiuht 
miles  from  his  home,  in  the  town  of  Norway.  His  father  uave  him  his 
time  and  wa^es,  about  all  that  he  was  alile  to  afford,  and  .\rph;i.\ed, 
by  teaehiuiL;'  school  in  Winter,  obtained  the  means  of  i)a.vin,i;'  his  way 
at  Fairtield  Academy  in  the  Siunnier.  He  enteri  d  the  Aca<lemy  in  ISb'i 
and  attended  there  Summers  until  ISIS.  l)oardin.u'  himself,  doinu'  the 
little  eookinu  i-e(iiured  on  a  bo.\  stove,  and  brin.yin.u'  UH)st  of  his  provis- 
ions fi'om  lionu'.  .Vmon.y  his  associates  A\'ere  Albert  I'arnes.  .-luthoi'  of 
the  "Notes"  on  the  r.iblical  wiMtin.ns,  and  Hiram  Denio  and  .Vddison 
(iarcbier,  who  afti'rwards  became  Jud.yes  of  the  Court  of  Apjieals,  and 
lie  fully  raidved  with  them  in  scholarship.  The  Academy  was  then  in 
charge  of  Kev.  Viruil  H.  r>arber,  a  nuiu  of  learning,  who  created  a  sen- 
sation by  announcinu  his  couNci'sion  to  the  Koman  ('atholic  clinrch, 
resi.iiuing  his  position  as  [)rincip;il  and  temjiorarily  breaking  ui)  the 
school. 

Arpha.v<'d  remained  at  Fairtield,  except  when  teaching,  tuitil  ISIS, 
when  he  began  the  study  of  law  with  William  I.  Dodge  of  Johnstown. 
In  I)eeend)er  he  went  to  Watertown,  contiinied  tea<-hing  there,  and  i-ead 
law  in  tlie  office  of  Ford  i^-  F.ucklin.  He  then  si>enf  a  year  and  a  half 
in  till'  law  olhce  of  Alfred  Lathro|i,  at  Chaminon,  .lelfersoii  county. 
Here,  too,  for  a  time  sojouined  the  celebrated  Henry  U.  Stons,  .Judge 
Moss   Kent,    brother  of   the   Chancellor,    and    . lodge    Fgbert    Ten    lOyck, 


112  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

father-in-law  of  Judge  Joseph  Mullen,  who  were  attracted  to  that  place 
by  the  project  for  making-  it  a  county  seat  for  Jefferson  county. 
i\Jr.  Loomis  finally  finished  his  preparatory  legal  course  with  Justin 
Butterfield,  an  eminent  lawyer  at  Sacketts  Harbor,  in  whose  otHce  he 
i-emained  for  three  years,  lie  was  admitted  to  practice  in  January, 
1822,  at  All)any,  his  diploma  being  signed  by  Chief  Justice  Ambrose 
Spencer. 

On  his  admission,  he  practiced  law  with  Mr.  Buttertield  for  about 
two  years  and  then  returned  to  Salisbury.  •  In  May,  1824.  he  went  to 
Sacketts  Harbor  and  from  there  sailed  for  Uochester,  fin.illy  extending 
his  trip  to  Buffalo,  Pittsburg,  Louisville  and  Nashville,  with  a  view  of 
finding  a  suitable  location  for  practice,  lie  visitt,Hl  (ieneral  .Tackson, 
at  the  "Hermitage."  near  Nashville,  who  hospitably  entertained  him 
and  gave  him  a  horse-back  ride  by  his  side  to  attend  an  old  fashioned 
Fourth  of  July  celebration.  In  July,  1S24,  he  abandoned  his  purpose 
of  a  western  location,  and  returned  to  Little  Falls,  with  somewhat 
broken  health,  in  Septemlier.  He  remainid  at  his  old  home  in  Salis- 
bury some  months  to  recover  his  health  and  then  revisited  Sacketts  Har- 
bor, thinking  he  might- resume  practice  there,  but  hnally  decided  to 
begin  his  life  work  at  Little  Falls,  where  he  opened  an  office  March 
4,  182.5,  taking  the  small  law  business  of  Oran  G.  Otis,  then  about  to 
leave  that  place. 

A  great  obstacle  to  the  growth  of  Little  Falls  at  th;rt  time  was  the 
l)olicy  of  Edward  EUice,  who  owned  most  of  the  lands  north  of  and  ad- 
joining the  river.  On  the  south  tlu^  lands  were  owned  by  General  Bel- 
linger and  non-residents  of  the  Herkimer  family.  Kllice  resided  in 
England  and  had  never  visited  Little  Falls.  He  rented  his  lands  on 
l(»ng  leases  and  refused  to  sell.  Only  four  or  five  of  the  residents  had 
deeds  in  fee  of  their  lands,  and  hfty  of  sixty  held  under  leases,  reserv- 
ing a  rent  of  $3  per  year  for  lots  CO  by  12U  feet.  But  relief  wiis  found 
in  a  clause  inserted  in  the  law  giving  Ellice's  heir  authority  as  an  alien 
to  take  and  convey  real  estate,  forbidding  Edward  Ellice  to  lease,  and 
this  prt)hibition  which  liad  l»een  overlooked,  was  found  by  Mr.  Ijoomis 
and  pleaded  as  a  bar  in  an  action  brought  by  Ellice's  agents  to  recover 
rent.  The  citizens  organized  an  anti-rent  war  against  the  Ellice  policy 
by  public  meetings,  petitions  to  the  legislature,  etc.,  in  which  Mr. 
Loomis  took  a  leading  part,  until  Ellice  was  driven  to  make  a  sale  of 
his  lands  in  fee,  which  he  did  to  six  pi-rsons.  This  event  was  cele- 
brated as  a  popular  triumph,  lots  and  water  power  were  sold  at  auc- 
tion, and  the  future  prosperity  of  Little  Falls  was  assured. 

In  1828,  Mr.  Loomis  was  appointed  surrogate  by  Governor  Clinton,  one 
of  the  few  appointments  made  by  Governor  Clinton  of  Democrats.  The 
compensation  of  the  surrogate  was  then  by  fees,  which  amounted  to 
about  i?r>()()  to  .$(•.()()  per  annum,  the  surrogate  providing  his  own  record 
books,  bl.-inks  and  stationery.  In  ]8:!,'i  Mr.  Loomis  was  ap- 
pointed hrst  judge  of  the  Common  IMeas,  and  held  that  office 
until     1840.        The     compensation     for     discharging     the     duties     of 


ARPHAXED    LOOMIS, 


113 


this  office  was  a  por  dioni  of  $2  per  day  when  lioldini?  court, 
and  some  small  fees,  the  wlioie  being  less  than  -i^KM)  i>vv  yr-.w.  II  is  safe 
to  say  that  large  salaries  have  never  secured  a  better  or  more  satisfac- 
tory performance  of  the  duties  of  these  offices  in  this  county,  or  else- 
where. The  honor  and  dignity  of  these  positions  sufficed  for  the  nol)le 
and  healthy  ambitiun  of  that  time,  and  they  secured  the  services  of  the 
higliest  order  of  talent. 

On  the  2.jth  of  October,  ISol,  Judge  Loomis  Avas  married  to  Ann  P.. 
daughter  of  Dr.  Ste])hen  Todd,  of  Salisbury,  the  family  residence  being 
the  well  known  "Todd  I'lace,"  later  the  "Carr  Place,"  al)out  two  miles 
from  the  residence  of  Judge  Loonjis'  father.  Dr.  Todd,  Member  of 
Assembly  in  isi'-j.  was  the  leading  physician  of  that  section  and  one 
of  the  pioneer  dairymen  of  tlie  country.  Judge  Loomis  and  his  wife 
in  November  following  took  up  their  residence  in  liittle  Falls,  where 
the  rest  of  their  lives  was  spent.  Of  their  eight  children,  three  survive, 
Watts  T.  Loomis,  Miss  Adeline  A.  Loomis  and  Louisa  L.,  wife  of  David 
IL   I'.urrell. 

In  is;{4  Judge  Loomis  was  appointi'd  by  Governor  INLarcy  a  commis- 
sioner to  investigate  the  subject  of  the  management  and  discipline  of 
the  Stati''s  prisons,  and  especi.-illy  in  regard  to  the  employment  of  pris- 
onei's  in  mcchanic.al  industries.  Judge  Loomis"  report  to  the  legislature 
on  th.-it  subject  became  the  basis  of  the  State's  prison  system  until 
recent  change's. 

In  IsyC)  he  was  elected  to  Congress  for  the  twentieth  district  and  took 
his  S(.'at  at  the  extra  session  called  in  September,  18o7.  At  tliis  session 
he  was  iippointed  chaii'maii  of  the  ("ommittee  on  Patents,  .and  at  the 
I'egular  t;ession.  1S;S7-.'!S.  ne  w;is  on  the  committee  on  Piivate  Land 
Claims.  At  tlie  third  session  he  was  on  the  committee  on  Puldic  Lands 
and  there  advocated  the  just  jiolicy  of  limiting  the  sales  of  juiblic  lands 
to  actual  settlers.  At  this  session  lie  introduced  resolutions  looking  to 
the  abolition  of  the  franking  system  and  the  reduction  of  the  rates  of 
postage.  He  served  but  one  term  in  Congress.  The  other  county  of 
the  district  was  Lewis.  ;nid  as  Herkimer  had  had  the  representative 
since  is:*4.  the  cl.jims  of  Lewis  were  allowed  and  Andrew  W.  Doig  was 
ele(-ted  from  that  county  for  the  succeeding  term. 

In  IS.'it,  when  .ludge  .\:ithan  \\'illianis.  of  Oneida,  was  retired  by 
age,  .[uilge  Loomis.  then  about  thirty-hve  years  of  age,  w;is  nominateil 
to  tlu>  Senate  by  (Joveiaior  .Marcy  as  his  successor.  Put  senators  know- 
ing Judge  Loonns"  dithculty  ol  hearing,  lii-ought  the  (Jovernor's  atten- 
tion to  that  fact,  and  the  nonunation  was  for  that  reason  witlidrawn. 
Thest'  senators  united  in  a  kin<l  letter  to  Judgi'  Loomis,  saying  that  his 
deafness  was  tlu'  sole  cause  of  their  action,  and  I»ut  foi-  this,  thev  would 
haxc  promi)tly  conlirmcd  the  nomination. 

Could  Judge  Loomis  have  gone  uiion  th"  bench,  he  would  have  stood 
in  the  first  rank  of  the  Jni'ists  of  this  country,  but  while  he  nught  have 
acquired  greater  reinit.ation  as  a  lawyei'  in  a  stiactly  judicial  cai'oer, 
Mh  services  could  not  have  been  so  widely,  useful  as  were  those  he  gave 


114  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 

to  the  groat  subjects  with  which  Ids  name  will  always  be  connected. 
To  those  subjects  he  devoted  strong  originating  and  constructive  pow- 
ers, and  in  that  field  he  justly  ranks  asa  lawgiver,  adjusting  i)olitical 
and  legal  systems  to  the  wants  and  conditions  of  the  age,  and  to  a 
rational  and  salutary  progress. 

As  stated  in  the  chapter  on  the  •'Herkimer  School,"  the  subject  of 
legal  reform,  as  well  as  that  of  limiting  the  creation  of  public  debt,  be- 
gan to  engage  the  attention  of  Mr.  Loomis  as  early  as  1S35.  In  that 
year  a  series  of  resolutions,  the  joint  product  of  Mr.  Loomis  and  Dud- 
ley Burweli,  were  adopted  by  the  Herkimer  County  Democratic  Con- 
vention, and  those  portions  which  are  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Loomis. 
embody  the  germs  of  the  signal  reforms  in  matter  of  St;ite  tinance  and 
of  control  over  legislative  charters,  which  were  incorporated  in  the 
Constitution  of  184G.  Mr.  Cambreling  referred  to  these  resolutions  in 
the  debate  on  the  Constitution  of  lS4(i,  when  he  said:  "It  (the  Consti- 
tutional limiting  of  debt)  was  from  this  State,  originating  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  1885,  (in  Herkimer  county),  and  later  years,  whicli  demand- 
ed the  'People's  Resolution'  and  the  act  of  1842,"  and  he  referred  to  the 
fact  that  this  feature  liad  tlu'n  found  its  way  into  the  constitutions  of 
the  several  States. 

In  1842,  as  chairman  of  the  Assembly  .Tudiciary  committee,  Mr. 
Loomis  reported  three  bills  which  contained  the  siibstance  of  the  new 
system  of  legal  practice  and  procedure.  David  Dudley  Field  had  be- 
stowed his  labors  upon  very  similar  lines  of  legal  reform  and  these  two 
original  and  constructive  minds,  each  without  communication  witli  the 
other,  laid  a  comprehensive  basis  for  the  new  system.  Mr.  Field, 
after  Mr.  Loomis  had  prepared  his  bills  and  report,  sent  to  a  member 
of  the  committee  an  essay,  and  tlu'ee  l)ills  upon  the  same  subject. 
Tliese  Mr.  Loomis  attached  to  his  own  report  and  they  were  printed 
together  in  number  81  of  the  Assembly  Documents  of  1842.  Tliese  bills 
did  not  pass.  As  Mr.  Loomis  remarks  in  his  historic  sketch  of  law 
reform,  "public  opinion  was  not  yet  ripe  for  the  reforms  wliicli  at  a 
later  day  it  demanded  and  achieved  in  a  more  extended  and  efficient 
form."  The  constitution  of  1846  enjoined  upon  the  legislature,  at  its 
first  session  after  the  adoption  of  that  constitution,  the  appointment 
of  three  commissioners  to  revise,  reform,  simplify  and  abridge  the  prac- 
tice and  proceedings  of  the  courts  of  record.  The  legislature  of  184G 
created  a  commission  for  this  purpose,  consisting  of  Arpliaxed  Loomis, 
Nicholas  Hill  and  David  Graham.  The  commission  proceeded  to  its 
work  in  April.  1847,  and  in  the  following  September  Mr.  Loomis 
presented  a  working  code  governing  civil  actions  and  a  general  out- 
line of  a  plan  abolishing  mere  forms  of  actions,  and  uniting  tlie  pro- 
cedure in  law  and  equity.  Mr.  Graham  coincided,  but  Mr.  Hilll  dis- 
sented and  soon  resigned,  because  lie  thought  it  impracticable  to"  ad- 
minister law  and  equity  under  one  system,  and  he  regarded  Mr. 
Loomis'  propositions  as  dangerous  experiments.  Mr.  Hill  claimed  too, 
that  this  was  the  view  generally  taken  by  judges  and  lawyers.     While 


ARPHAXED    LOOMIS.  115 

Mr.  Hill  still  nclod  with  Ilic  (•oiniiiission  he  lind  yivcii  liis  asstMil  to 
tlio  vital  iniiiciiilc  of  the  ii<'W  plcadiim  set  roith  hy  Mr.  IaioiiiIs. 
■■Ou.^ht  it  to  In-  siilliciciit  to  state  siilistantially  for  the  cause  of  aitioii 
VI'  (k'fense.  so  far  set  I'orth  as  to  inroriu  tln>  other  |iart\'  (»!'  the  grounds 
of  aetioii  or  defense  without  luisieadiiii;  hiuiV"  Ail  the  coiiiiuissioners 
iiiiswt'red  this  imiuirx'  in  tlie  alliriuative.  The  work  of  Mr.  Looniis, 
presented  at  this  si  ssion.  contained  the  essrential  i)rinci]>les  of  the  sys- 
tem that  was  linally  fi-amed  in  more  extended  detail.  At  the  same 
tiuK'  lie  suLmitted  his  .y'uidin.n-  i>rinciples  in  woi'kini;'  out  th(,'  comtem- 
piated  reform  in  these  i)ropositious: 

1.  "A  new  system  of  practice  and  i)leadin,i;-  to  lie  estalilished,  and 
not  a   system  of  mere  amendments  to  the  e.vistin.i;'  ])raclice." 

2.  "Noni'  of  the  lire  sent  forms  of  conunon  actions  to  he  retained, 
hut  every  action,  as  well  of  a  le.ual  as  of  an  e(|uitahle  nature,  to  rest 
on  its  own  f.acts  and  the  law  a]>plicahh'  to  them  without  re.^arci  to  any 
le.yal  delinition  of  the  l<iiid  of  action,  the  remedy  to  lie  apiilled  as  the 
nature  of  the  case  may   require." 

;!.  "The  attirmative  i)leadin.L;s  to  he  confined  to  (lie  complaint  and  an- 
swer, allowiui;-  a  replication  only  to  deny  mattei'  alleged  in  the  an- 
swer." 

4. "All  e.xistinu  remedies  and  rights  to  he  retained,  hut  the  distinc- 
tion of  le.ual  and  (Mpiit.ahle  foi-ms  ii(>t  to  he  retained.  The  remedy  to  he 
ndjud.yed  as  the  case  when  proven  may  recp.iire." 

Mr.  Loomis  was  asked  to  n.ame  a  colleague  in  the  iilace  of  Mr.  Hill, 
and  he  selected  David  Dudley  If'ield  and  he  was  soon  after  chosen, 
'i'he  commission,  now  includiuii-  Mr.  Field,  met  in  January,  1818.  The 
work  allotted  to  each,  the  manner  of  proceeding  and  tlie  Inlsor  of  Mv. 
Loomis  upon  the  common  suhject.  are  more  fully  stated  in  the  chapter 
on  the  '•Herkimer  School."  where  thi'  error  of  the  "P.ench  and  T'ar" 
in  asci'ihing  the  pri  ]);irat ion  of  tlu'  celehratt'd  c(Kh^  of  civil  prcn-i dure 
to  Mr.  I'^ield,  as  if  it  were  his  moi'e  special  production,  is  con-ected. 
The  facts  show  that  .Mr.  Loomis  was  the  original  ]>rojeetor  of  this  re- 
foi'ui,  suggested  all  the  essential  featni'es  of  the  new  system  ;ind  con- 
irihuted  as  much  of  sei-\  ice,  at  least,  in  working  out  its  details,  as 
either  of  his  associates.  .Mr.  Loomis,  in  the  sketch  before  referred  to, 
says:  "Fcir  myself,  after  it  became  a  la.w  and  went  into  use,  I  felt 
that  a  large  sh;ire  of  the  odium  and  censure  bestowed  on  its  instigators 
and  authors,  seemed  to  fall     U|)on  me  as  the  supjiosed  chief  offejuler." 

lint  what  \vas  odium,  finally  became  an  enviable  fame.  The  een^ 
sure  of  a  generation  of  lawyers  whose  toilsome  study  of  sp(X'ial  i)lead- 
ings  m.-ide  them  regard  tlieii'  knowledge  of  pleas,  replications,  rebut- 
teis  and  surr(>hutteis,  and  the  other  venerable  (H)l)webs  of  the  law,  as 
\alualple  jiossessions,  and  necessary  to  llie  attainment  of  justice,  now 
gives  [il.ice  to  a  sense  of  gratitude  to  a  clear  siglited  jurist  avIio  did 
so  much  to  simplify  legal  methods,  to  substitute  truili  for  fiction,  and 
to  make  practical  common  sense,  the  foundation  of  ])ractical  law. 
TJiis  salutiiry  system  of  administering  the  law.  after  some  yenis.  was 


116  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

adopted  in  twenty-seven  states  and  teiTitories,  and  it  is  destined 
to  accompany  everywliere  Anglo-Saxon  legal  institutions,  and  to  form 
the  common-sense  method  of  invoking  legal  remedies. 

Such  men  as  Loomis  and  Hoffman,  saw  in  1842,  that  complete  legal 
reform  and  financial  security  demanded  radical  changes  in  tlie  or- 
ganic law.  A  large  and  growing  debt  had  carried  state  stocks  from 
above  par  to  twenty  per  cent  below  par.  State  bankruptcy  impended. 
These  two  tribunes  of  the  people,  self  devoted  to  this  task,  then  re- 
solved upon  measures  for  restoring  the  credit  of  tlie  state.  Both  were 
elected  to  the  Assembly  of  1841  on  account  of  their  known  views  on 
the  subject  of  the  state  finances,  and  they  divided  the  reciuisite  labor 
which  was  thus  committed  to  them.  Mr.  Hoffmai)  undertook  the  en- 
actment of  a  law  to  stop  the  present  increase  of  debt  and  provide  for 
the  payment  of  that  which  then  weighed  down  the  credit  of  the  state. 
Mr.  Loomis'  part  was  the  more  far-reaching  measure  for  preventing  the 
recurrence  of  state  debts,  except  by  the  Avill  and  direct. voice  of  the 
I'cople.  In  the  Democratic  Herkimer  County  Convention  in  1835,  Mr. 
Loomis  by  a  resolution  presented  by  him  and  there  adopted,  proposed 
the  initiative  proposition  for  checking  the  creation  of  state  debt.  This 
was  to  recjuire  the  annual  interest  of  state  loans  to  be  levied  by  direct 
tax,  so  far  as  they  should  exceed  the  income  of  a  proposed  improve- 
ment, thus  forcibly  warning  the  tax  payers  of  the  effects  of  growing 
debt,  and  the  resolution  called  for  the  engrafting  of  a  clause  into  tlie 
constitution  reiiuiring  such  a  provision  in  all  state  loans.  In  3837  this 
proposition  was  further  matured  in  the  mind  of  Mr.  Loomis,  so  as  to 
embrace  a  submission  of  the  question  of  public  debt  to  a  vote  by  the 
people  and  in  that  form  it  was  adopted  by  the  Democratic  County  Con- 
vention. This  resolution,  at  hrst  known  as  "Loomis'  Resolution,"  was 
afterwards  styled  the  "IVople's  Resolution,"  at  Mr.  Loomis'  refiuest, 
and  it  was  kept  standing  at  the  head  of  the  radical  press  of  the  State. 
He  continued  tlie  discussion  in  favor  of  tliis  measure  in  the  Mohawk 
Courier  and  other  publications,  until  it  was  presented  in  the  Assembly 
at  the  session  of  1841.  It  then  failed  but  liad  a  majority  in  1842,  but 
still  not  the  two-thirds  vote  recpiisite  for  its  submission  as  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution.  Mr.  Loomis  continued  to  urge  it  upon  public 
attention  in  leading  journals  until  it  was  made  a  part  of  the  (.\)nstitu- 
tion  in  1846.  As  finally  framed  it  required  every  law  creating  a  State 
debt  to  specify  the  purpose  of  the  expenditure,  which  could  not  be 
diverted  to  any  other  object;  that  it  should  embrace  but  one  object 
and  tliat  specifically  stated,  and  that  it  should  not  take  effect  until  sub- 
mitted to,  and  approved  by  the  people  at  the  next  genera!  election,  but 
the  provisions  did  not  apply  to  laws  for  raising  money  in  case  of  insur- 
rection or  hostile  invasion.  The  flnanical  article  in  the  Constitution 
of  1846  gave  effect  to  these  provisions.  It  prohibited  the  sale  of  the 
canals,  devoted  their  revenues  to  paying  the  State  debt  and  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  government,  and  any  surplus  to  canal  improvements. 

The  delay  in  the  adoption  of  this  measure  by  amending  the  Consti- 


ARPHAXED   LOOMIS.  ll"? 

tiition  Avas.  as  Mr.  I.iO(Mnis  suii'iit-sts,  pnVininont  ainoiiu  the  iiidiu'i'iiionts 
lor  calling  the  (%nistitiitioiial  Convention.  In  November,  lS4o,  Mr. 
Hoffman  made  an  elaborate  speech  in  a  nieetiiii;'  at  Albany  in  favor 
of  sweepinj;'  chanj;es  in  the  Constitntion,  embracing  those  contemplated 
by  the  "I'eople's  Kesolution,"  and  others,  which  conld  only  be  made 
effective  by  a  new  Constitution.  In  1S44  Ixtth  iionses  of  the  Legisla- 
ture adopted  resolutions  for  submitting  to  the  people  the  (luestion  of 
embodying  the  act  of  1S42,  and  the  substance  of  the  "I't'ople's  Resolu- 
tion," In  the  Constitution.  The  Senate,  in  1S45,  adopted  these  amend- 
ments by  the  required  two-thirds  vote.  The  radicals,  however,  thought 
tliese  amendments  inadeijuate  and  they  withheld  their  votes  in  the 
Assembly  for  the  reason  that  the  adoption  of  tlie  amendments  would 
nullify  many  of  the  grounds  upon  which  the  calling  of  the  convention 
was  urged.  On  the  advice  of  ;Mr.  Loomis  and  Mr.  Hoffman,  Mr.  Wil- 
liam C.  Crain,  then  a  member  from  this  county,  brought  in  a  bill  in  the 
session  of  1S45  for  calling  a  convention,  which  passed,  by  the  radicals 
voting  with  the  Whigs.  In  the  convention  of  1S4(),  Mr.  Loomis  was  a 
leading  niend)er  of  the  judiciary  connnittee,  composed  of  thirteen  mem- 
bers. His  colleague,  Mr.  Holfman,  was  chairman  of  the  connnittee  on 
finance,  and  among  the  most  important  of  his  efforts  were  those  carry- 
ing through  the  constitutional  restrictions  on  State  indebtedness,  con- 
ceived, matiu-ed.  and  so  long  advocated  by  Mr.  Loomis.  His  sugges- 
tions on  all  the  details  of  tlu'  topics  relating  to  law  reform  and  to  State 
tinances,  were  elaborated  in  committee,  and  enforced  by  lucid  state- 
nu'ut  ^and  arginnent  by  Judge  Loomis  on  the  tloor  of  the  convention. 
In  their  special  fields  of  action,  the  two  representatives  from  Herki- 
mer county  were  the  most  impressive  .and  powerful  niemliei's  of  that 
body.  One  of  its  prominent  members  said  at  the  close  of  its  Labors  that 
"the  finger  marks  of  Mr.  Loomis  in  the  Constitution  as  .adopted,  were 
more  perceptible  than  those  of  any  otlier." 

Mr.  Loomis  was  again  elected  to  the  Assembly  in  \sr>:',.  He  was  nom- 
inated in  view  of  the  exigency  arising  from  the  passage  in  lS."iL'  of  the 
.*|;0,0()0,()(X>  Loan  I'.ill.  Large  contracts  had  been  made  under  this  l:iw. 
and  the  Court  of  Ai>peals  had  declared  it  to  be  nncoiistitntioiial.  This 
law  w;is  an  attemiit  to  get  ai'ound  the  constitntion.al  b.ari'ier  against 
borrowing  or  creating  ;i  State  debt,  by  a  scheme  to  I'aise  miiiiey.  by 
pledging  the  canal  revenues  foi-  its  I'epayment,  although  the  Consti- 
tution had  applied  those  re\cnu(  s  to  the  paynuMit  of  the  debts  of  tne 
State.  The  lA'gislature  h;id  invented,  as  Mr.  Loomis  said,  "a  form  of 
certificate  by  which  the  State  could  promise  to  pay  money  out  of  its 
treasm-y  without  calling  it  ;i  debt."  The  decision  of  the  Court  pi'O- 
nouncing  this  device  null  and  void,  embairassed  the  treasni'v.  There 
h:id  been  raised  and  expended  ."(^LoOO.OOb.  and  contracts  had  been  made 
involving  i);8.0(IO.noo  or  more.  Mr.  Loomis  accei>ted  the  nomination, 
being  anxious  that  "measui'es  of  i-efoiiii  with  which  oui-  p.ist  histmy 
is  identitied,  should  be  effectual  to  ob\  i;ite  the  evils,  and  picveiit  the 
abuses   they   were  designed  to  meet."      He   was  further  constrained   to 


Il8  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

aocept  the  nomination  by  the  fact  that  niucli  of  the  work  rcjiortod  to 
carry  the  law  reforu)  measures  into  harmonious  operation  liad  not  been 
acted  on  by  the  Legislature.  His  increased  deafness  would  make  his 
labors  in  the  Legislature  very  ditlicnlt,  and  liis  return  to  the  public 
service  involved  a  great  sacrifice  of  liis  private  interests,  but  he  deemed 
his  acceptance  an  act  of  public  duty.  The  Senate  and  the  House  were 
not  in  political  acc-ord  ami  could  not  agree  upon  any  measure  to  meet 
the  urgency  of  the  situation.  In  this  state  of  tlie  affaii-,  Mr.  Loomis 
proposed  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  which  would  give  relief 
to  the  treasury  and  to  the  public  creditors  without  violating  the  consti- 
tutional provision  against  increasing  State  liability  by  mere  legislative 
act.  It  was  passed  by  the  present  and  the  succeeding  liCgislature,  and 
adopted  by  the  vote  of  the  people. 

At  the  session  of  1853,  Mr.  Loomis  introduced  a  resolution  impeach- 
ing John  C.  Mather  for  misconduct  as  Canal  Commissioner.  It  was 
adopted  and  Mr.  Loomis  was  chairman  of  the  committee  to  appear  and 
represent  the  Assembly  before  the  Court  of  Impeachment.  He  had  as 
associates  on  the  trial,  Mr.  Hastings,  Mr.  Champlain  and  Mr.  John  K. 
Porter.  The  charges  were  sustaini'd  by  a  majority  of  tlie  Court,  but 
not  the  two-thirds  necessary  to  sustain  an  impeachment.  Mr.  Loomis" 
last  appearance  before  the  public  as  a  candidate  for  office  was  for  dele- 
gate to  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  ISC.T,  his  associate  nominee 
being  Judge  Robert  Earl.  The  slavery  question  and  the  war  of  the 
Rebellion  had  thrown  a  large  majoi'ity  in  the  county  to  the  adverse  side 
and  the  Republican  candidates  were  elected. 

Mr.  Loomis  had  for  many  years  an  extensive  legal  practice,  and  was 
employed  in  many  important  litigations.  He  was  thoroughly  grounded 
and  versed  in  the  law,  and  notably  accurate  in  the  applicarion  of  legal 
principles.  He  had  as  partners,  Hiram  Nolton,  in  IS.'tC.  Powers  L. 
Greene  and  William  M.  Griswolld  were  associated  witli  liim  about  1845, 
the  firm  name  being  Loomis,  Green  «fc  GriswoUl.  James  Hart  was  af- 
terwards associated  a\  itli  Judge  Loomis,  but  retired  when  Watts  T. 
Loomis  and  Sidney  Loomis  became  partners  with  their  f.-ither.  Sidney 
Loomis  died  in  1879,  and  upon  the  death  of  Judge  Loomis,  Watts  T. 
Loomis  became  surviving  member  of  the  firm. 

In  the  year  1854  Mr.  Loomis  successfully  defended  the  occupants  of 
Sussanna  Johnson's  tract  against  tlie  claims  of  descendants  of  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson's  Indian  children.  His  opponent  was  David  Dudley 
Feld,  his  former  colleague  on  the  revision  of  the  system  of  Pleading 
and  Practice.  This  case  is  more  fully  stated  in  the  chapter  on  the  Royal 
Grant,  and  it  is  found  in  31  P>arbour's  Reports,  ISO.  and  21  N.  Y.  Re- 
ports, 20G. 

The  impression  which  force  of  intellect  and  character  makes  upon  con- 
tompories  is  seen  in  the  personal  titles  bestowed  upon  them.  Thus  in 
the  debate  in  the  ('onstitution.-il  Convention  of  1840,  Mr.  Archer,  of 
Wayne,  an  earnest  adversary  of  tlu;  policy  of  Herkimer's  represent.a- 
tives,  speaks  of  Mr.  Hoffman  as  the  Ajax  Telemon  of  the  debate,  and 


ARPHAXED  LOOMIS.  119 

of  Mr.  Looiiiis  ns  tlic  TTlyss(>s  who  aided  liiiii  with  stalistifs  and  snc:- 
gestious  as  ho  procoodod — a  tril)uto  to  tho  force  and  wisdom  of  these 
men,  wliieh  is  a  sti-il\in,n'  proof  of  tlieir  pre-enjineiit  standing  in  a  body 
wliicli  was  illnstrious  for  its  men  of  mark  and  intelleetnal  power.  In 
IS.")  tlie  New  York  Association,  an  orjiiin  of  tlie  "Ilards,"  styled  Mr. 
Loomis  as  the  "Anti-Canal  Ajax" — an  appellation  misleadin.i;-  as  to  his 
real  attitnde  toward  the  e:mals,  since  he  unifoi'mly  advocated  the  pol- 
icy in  that  hehalf,  which  he  deemed  the  most  prndent  and  jndicioiis  for 
maintaining  their  pi'osperity  and  i)ermanent  usefnlness,  and  our  canal 
history  confirms  the  soundness  of  the  judjiiuent  on  which  he  acted. 

.Tud^'e  Loomis  was  alert  to  detect  public  wron.ys.  In  the  New  York 
World  of  April  IT,  ISTH,  he  pointed  out  that  the  patent  laws,  a  subject 
studied  by  him  when  a  member  of  the  committee  on  patents  in  Con- 
gress, wei'e  an  obstruction  to  re.-il  impi'ovement,  that  they  Wive  no  de- 
sirable or  needed  stimulus  to  invention,  iait  were  often  made  use  of  to 
extort  from  the  community  wide-spread  exactions.  lie  alludes  to  the 
fact  that  really  useful  inventions  are  clo.!i-,iied  l»y  numberless  patents  for 
petty  devices,  which  would  readily  occur  to  those  using  the  orij;inal 
invention,  petty  patents  that  openito  to  the  detriment  of  the  orijiinal 
patentee  and  of  those  usins;'  the  right.  The  facility  with  which  pat- 
ents are  obtained  le.-ids  to  great  abuses.  It  is  said  that  a  patent  may 
be  obtained  for  tlie  maniiei'  of  cutting  oft  a  nail.  A  I'ack  for  the  stand- 
ing of  a  bicycle  is  now  said  to  be  covered  by  a  patent,  and  .$.">  demanded 
for  using  that  trivial  and  wholly  obvious  device.  When  the  owner  of  a 
patent,  Iield  in  ambush,  it  may  be,  sallies  foi'th  against  the  unwary 
infringei",  he  points  to  the  p;iins  and  penalties  of  the  patent  law.  The 
defendant  soon  learns  that  suits  in  some  distant  ITnited  States  Court, 
Federal  Injunctions,  and  the  enormous  fees  of  patent  Lawyers  are  fear- 
ful things.  Once  the  ]>atentee  has,  by  whatever  means,  obtained  from 
whatever  judge  a  decision  that  his  patent  is  valid,  the  whole  country 
is  laid  under  contribution.  In  this  way  partii'S  have  ])een  enjoined 
under  penalty  from  the  use  of  their  own  inventions. 

It  has  truly  been  s;iid  th;it  "it  is  the  ;ige  that  invents:"  one  inven- 
tion may  be  the  conseiiuential  outcome  of  many  preceding  inventions. 
Mr.  Loomis  denied  th.at  useful  inventions  wi're  appreciably  promoted 
by  the  patent  laws.  Indeed  the  most  valuable  inventions  spring  from 
some  felt  nec(>ssity.  fi'om  the  spontaneous  love  and  faculty  of  inven- 
tion, from  the  desire  and  instinct  to  give  effective  form  to  mental  con- 
ception, rather  than  from  the  expected  rewards  of  a  monopoly.  What- 
ever may  be  lu-ged  in  favoi-  of  securing  to  inventors  a  reward  for  their 
ideas,  the  fact  rem.-uns  that  they  seldom  reap  any  considerable  com- 
pensation, and  that  some  speculating  assignee  taking  advantage  of 
their  needs,  obtains  the  patent  and  the  means  of  exploiting  the  commu- 
nity by  enforcing  new,  and  in  many  cases  vexjitious  monopolies.  It  is 
a  misfortune  that  ]Mr.  Ijoomis'  pregnant  suggestions  ui)on  these  abuses 
have  not  attracted  the  .Mlteiition  of  the  iniblic.  The  i)atent  laws,  in- 
junctions in  favor  of  patentees,  ;ind  the  enoi-mous  power  of  a   single 


120  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

judge  in  making  decisions  as  to  the  validity  of  patents  which  become 
armories  from  which  numberless  injunctions  are  drawn,  now  consti- 
tute an  oppressive  arm  of  the  federal  jurisdiction. 

JMr.  Loomis"  self-reliant  character  was  manifest  in  his  early  life. 
The  judgment  upon  which  he  acted  was  his  own.  An  eminent  citizen 
wlio  knew  him  well,  said  of  him,  that  he  was  pre-eminently  an  original 
thinker,  one  wliose  ideas  Avere  his  own  and  thought  out  for  himself. 
His  mind  was  of  a  large  mould,  it  was  comprehensive,  profound,  saga- 
cious, penetrating  and  creative.  Largely  deprived,  almost  at  the  begin- 
ning of  his  professional  labors,  of  the  sense  whicli,  next  to  sight,  is  the 
most  receptive  of  all  the  senses,  he  was  isolated  from  tlie  ordinary  com- 
merce of  thouglit,  and  from  hearing  public  discussions.  Thrown  upon 
his  own  studies  and  reflections,  liis  native  self-reliance  became  a  still 
stronger  element  of  liis  cliaracter.  This  isolation  also  led  to  assiduous 
study  and  reading  by  which  lie  became  familiar  with  a  wide  range  of 
topics  in  general  literature,  and  he  acquired  an  extensive  knowledge 
of  useful  and  scientific  subjects  and  attained  a  high  degree  of  intel- 
lectual culture.  He  had  a  mental  impulse  to  go  to  the  bottom  of  an 
inquiry  and  his  mind  was  never  satistied  by  superficial  views.  An 
example  of  this  thoroughness  is  found  in  his  complete  knowledge  of 
water  power.  When  he  came  to  own  this  kind  of  property,  it  was  a 
matter  of  course  with  him  to  make  himself  familiar  with  the  principles 
and  practical  facts  coimected  with  the  use  of  hydraulic  power,  and  he 
could  not  be  content  with  the  reports  of  others.  f)n  this  subject,  like 
all  others  which  he  specially  studied,  he  became  an  authority. 
His  inventive  and  constructive  faculties  led  him,  at  various  periods, 
to  occupy  himself  with  mechanics,  which  were  largely  in  use  on  his 
numerous  proi)erties.  He  had  a  marked  taste  for  the  beaiitiful  in  art, 
and  a  sympathy  with  nature,  which  attracted  him  to  agriculture  and 
to  in(iuiries  in  that  pursuit. 

Judge  Loomis  was  a  model  of  public  and  private  integrity.  His  pub- 
lic duties  and  trusts  engaged  his  devoted  and  paramount  attention. 
There  was  never  a  suggestion  that  he  ever  neglected  any  public  duty. 
His  eminent  services  in  reforming  the  Constitution  and  laws,  to  which 
so  much  of  his  life  was  given,  were  performed  with  as  deep  a  sense  of 
obligation  as  that  which  he  felt  in  discharging  the  duties  he  owed  to 
clients  or  the  public  in  other  capacities.  What  Judge  TiOomis  himself 
says  in  his  "Reminiscences"  as  to  the  spirit  and  motives  that  animated 
liis  labors,  had  the  concurring  voice  of  his  contemporaries:  "While  I 
was  in  public  life,  say  from  1827  to  1854,  I  enjoyed  the  performance  of 
my  duties.  I  was  never  happier  than  at  those  times,  when  I  felt  a  con- 
sciousness that  my  labors  were  devoted  to  the  work  of  improving  the 
laAvs  or  otherwise  promoting  the  public  good.  I  am  entirely  conscious  that 
my  woi"k  in  the  legislature,  and  as  one  of  the  commissioners  to  ])repare 
the  Code  of  Legal  Procedure,  and  in  the  constitutional  convention  of 
1840,  and  in  my  previous  labors  to  call  that  convention  into  existence 
to  reform  the  organization  of  our  courts  and  advance  by  these  mean^ 


ARPHA^fED   LOOMIS.  121 

reform  in  our  system  of  Ici^'al  pi'occdure,  I  wns  actuatiMl  iidt  by  tlie 
pociinijiry  rcw.-ird  of  oltic-o,  nor  l»y  the  love  of  f.-inio.  so  mncli  ;is  by  a 
sincoro  dcsiic  to  .ulministor  justice,  make  good  laws,  and  to  ctfcct  salu- 
tary reforms,  in-actical  and  useful."  The  efforts  inspired  l)y  sndi  mo- 
tives his  own  generation  i)rononneed  successful,  and  other  generations 
count  his  acliievements  among  the  most  valuable  of  the  legacies  trans- 
mitted to  them  by  the  profound  thought  and  the  miseltish  labors  of 
their  great  public  benefactors. 

Few  men  have  left  su<-h  a  stamp  of  personality  on  the  Iiistory  of  their 
time,  or  so  many  evidences  of  well  directed  public  services.  For  many 
years  Judge  Loomis  wrote  largely  for  the  Mohawk  Courier  and  the 
local  press,  for  the  Washington  T'nion,  the  New  York  Evening  I'ost, 
the  NeAV  York  \A'orld.  the  Albany  Argus,  and  the  Albany  Atlas,  on  the 
subjects  to  which  he  had  directed  his  eminently  reflective  intellect,  and 
they  widely  impressed  the  public  mind.  For  many  years  he  took  a 
luominent  part  in  the  discussions  of  the  Little  Falls  Farmers'  ('lub, 
which  effected  important  results  iu  connection  with  dairying  and  farm- 
ing. 

Judge  Loomis'  e.arly  observation  of  sl;ivery  made  it  repugnant  to  him. 
but  he  foresaw  that  the  Union  could  not  long  survive  sectional  assaults 
upon  slavery  in  the  States.  lie  was  strongly  attached  to  the  Union. 
He  knew  the  dilHculty  of  composing  the  contlicts  of  sectional  interest 
in  forming  the  Union,  an<l  that  the  slavery  compromises  were  the  price 
of  our  natioualit.v,  and  that  th(>  fruits  of  the  revolutionary  struggle 
would  luive  fallen  futile  from  the  divided  and  feeble  arms  of  discordant 
States.  These  facts  were  famili.ar  to  the  statesmen  of  his  time,  and 
they  dreaded  the  effi'cts  of  renewed  and  more  violeiit  dic(»rds.  The 
Union  and  the  compi-omises  upon  which  it  rested  were  politically  sacred 
— to  assail  them  was  to  violate  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant.  The  Democ- 
racy asserted  and  the  great  mass  of  the  ]>eople  accepted  with  its  full 
vigor  the  doctrine  of  the  reserved  riglits  of  the  States,  and  that  the 
Constitution  was  the  shield  of  slavery.  The  southern  <)lig;irchy  had 
not  then  fully  disclosed  their  intention  to  make  the  South  ]ierpetnally 
equiponderant  in  the  Senat(>,  and  slavery  the  special  ward  of  the  Fed- 
eral government.  It  w;is  still  hoi)ed  that  a  possible  modus  vivendi 
might  be  maintained  by  the  two  sections. 

If  the  saving  of  the  ITnion  was  the  supreme  interest,  the  rejection 
of  petitions  asking  Congi'ess  to  act  against  slavery  in  the  States  was 
logical  and  expedient.  Such  jx'titions  were  barren  of  results  except  to 
create  sectional  strife.  The  right  to  ask  Congress  to  ;ict  on  a  sultject 
on  which  it  had  no  right  to  act.  was  not  vital  to  the  right  o(  petition. 
hut  was  rather  its  perversicui.  When  the  majority  in  Congress  adopted 
the  Atherton  resolutions,  they  believed  that  these  impractical  and  irri- 
tating appeals  imjieriled  the  Unioji,  and  Mr.  TiOomis  shared  that  belief. 
'I'hey  were  guided  by  the  light  of  their  time,  and  an  ancient  ])roverb 
says  that  "men  are  more  like  the  times  they  live  in.  than  they  are  like 
their  fathers."     On  the  other  hand,  the  right  of     petition     must  exist 


123  HERKIMER  COtJNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

under  the  most  dt'spotic  forms  of  government,  antl  it  involves  principles 
so  fnndamental,  and  rights  so  inherent  in  all  men,  that  no  remote  dan- 
ger conld  justify  its  suppression;  but  many  patriotic  men  tlien  thought 
that  the  rejection  of  these  petitions  was  a  compromise  necessary  to 
avert  immediate  disaster  to  the  Union.  The  truth  was  not  yet  appar- 
ent that  such  compromises  would  not  stop  short  of  the  complete  siibju- 
gation  of  the  government  and  of  the  country  to  the  will  of  the  southern 
Oligarchy. 

Rut  ten  years  later  this  ominous  fact  was  palpable.  When  the  issue 
for  tlie  exclusion  of  slavery  from  free  territory  was  raised.  Judge 
Loomis  took  a  hi-m  position  along  witli  Tilden,  Cliurch,  Gardner,  John 
Van  Buren,  Bryant,  Dlx,  Grover,  King,  Kernan,  the  Manns,  Ward  Hunt, 
Stanton,  and  others  in  asserting  the  competency  of  Congressional  con- 
trol over  the  territorit  s  in  respect  to  slavery,  and  these  men  regarded 
him  as  one  of  the  profoundest  thinkers  and  safest  advisers  among  them. 
He  supported  Van  Buren  in  1S4S  against  Cass.  When  a  re-union  of  the 
party  was  attempted  at  Rome  in  1S4!),  and  the  Hunker  convention, 
pi'esided  over  by  William  L.  Alarcy.  and  managed  by  Samuel  Beardsley. 
Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  Chancellor  Walworth  and  Daniel  E.  Siclvles.  sought 
to  impose  a  pro-slavery  creed  upon  the  Democratic  party.  Judge  Loomis 
was  among  the  foremost  in  resisting  that  attempt. 

While  at  Washington  in  1S54,  writing  to  the  Washington  Union,  lie 
asserted  the  power  of  Congress  over  the  status  or  non-status  of  slavery 
in  the  tertitories,  that  freedom  was  the  normal  condition  and  t'.iat  slav- 
ery could  not  exist  except  by  force  of  some  conti'ary  law.  Writing  to 
the  Albany  Atlas  in  185.5,  on  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  he 
said:  "This  solemn  but  delusive  compact  and  pledge  was  abrogated  and 
repudiated  by  the  votes  of  the  same  South,  aided  again  by  a  few  north- 
ern doughfaces.  The  Missouri  compact  so  odious  to  the  North  in  its 
inception  as  the  price  of  its  humiliation  and  treacherous  defeat  in  tiie 
first  gr(>at  struggle  against  slavery  encroachment,  had  hitherto  been  a 
dead  letter,  for  all  practical  purposes;  and  when  at  last,  after  thirty- 
tlu'ee  years  of  acquiescence  in  the  fruits  of  that  defeat,  its  time  had 
arrived  as  a  barrier  to  further  encroachments,  it  is  rudely  assailed  and 
trodd«>n  under  foot  by  the  same  South,  which  had  given  it  as  a  price 
and  a  pledge  against  future  aggressions." 

Touching  upon  the  Douglass  doctrine  of  "i)opular  sovereignty,"  he 
writes:  "It  is  not  the  principle  of  the  right  of  self-government  that  is 
souglit  to  be  enforced,  but  it  is  the  perversion  of  the  principle  to  justify 
a  purpose  *  *  *  j^,,  overthrow  under  its  shadow,  the  policy  of  the 
lathers  of  the  Rejiublic,  that  of  denationalizing  the  institution  of  slav- 
ery in  the  name  of  liberty  in  the  territories." 

Against  such  a  measure  Judge  Loomis  protested,  and  declared  that 
administrative  patronage  should  not  thus  pervert  Democratic  principles. 
His  idea  of  the  proper  action  of  Free  Soilers  in  respect  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party  was  to  remain  in  it,  and  he  shared  at  least  in  part,  the 
i-urpose  expressed  by  John  Van  Buren  "to  make  the  Democratic  party 


ARPIIAXED   LOOMIS.  123 

of  Now  Yoi'k  the  niiti-sl.-ivoiy  party  of  New  Yoi-k.  and  to  make  the 
Democratic  itai'ty  of  tlio  riiioii  tlio  uroat  aiiti-sia  \ crx-  ]>arty  of  tlic 
linioii."  In  writin.i:  to  Mr.  .loffcrson  Tillintihast,  Soptonihor  llUli.  IS.')."., 
he  said:  "'!  liave  not  hesitated  to  ((Uidenin  the  course  of  the  National 
(Piere(>)  administration  in  i-elation  to  tlie  Nehraska-Kansas  (incstion. 
*  *  *  *  We  can  (witliin  tlic  i)artyi  exercise  more  inllnence 
^^  ith  our  friends  —  witli  oni-  own  i».irty.  tlian  we  can  stand- 
inu  (in.tside  as  anta:^-onists.  1  symiiatlii/.e  with  many  warm 
and  sincere  friends  wliose  fe«'iin.us  have  been  ontra.C'('d  liy 
the  I'niiitive  Slave  Law  and  tlie  ch'cisions  under  it,  liy  the 
Kansas-Xehi-aska  nieasuri'S  and  other  recent  advances  of  slavery  in- 
fUieuce  to  a  decree  that  they  have  come  io  the  conclusion  to  leave  all 
oilier  ]iolitical  (luestions  to  their  fate,  until  these  thin.^s  are  i-iuhted, 
hut  I  cannot  as  yet  ^o  so  fai',  such,  in  my  .iud.ument  is  not  the  most 
i'ffecTual  means  of  rech'ess  foi-  that  urievance.  "■  *  *  Let  us  he  hold, 
fraidv  ;ind  lirni  in  statinu  wh.at  we  believe  and  in  rellectin.i;-  the  senti- 
ments of  those  we  represent  *  *  *  and  if  the  Democratic  I'epresen- 
tatives  of  other  States  who  think  diffei'ently  from  us  on  slavery,  shall 
for  our  opinions  on  this  subject,  exclud<'  us  from  a  voice  in  selectlus 
can<lid;ites  for  N;itional  sntfrauc  let  them  do  so,  but  let  them  remember 
tlie  result  of  such  a  course  in  1S4S." 

It  was  bec.anse  .Mi'.  Loomis  thought  that  effectual  n^sTstance  could 
be  ma(h»  within  the  Democi-atic  lines  to  the  demands  of  the  slaveholders 
that  he  refused  to  join  the  Fusion  or  lJeptd)lic:iu  movenuMit  in  this 
county  in-  ISfi.").  He  had  always  been  op])()sed  to  ^Ir.  Sewai'd  at  all 
points  except  on  the  slavery  (pU'stion,  and  he  could  not  consent  to  su])- 
p<ul  a  movement  to  sust.ain  what  he  I'euarded  ;is  a  s]»eci:il  endorsement 
of  Mr.  Seward's  general  i)()licy.  In  that  \-e:ir,  in  view  of  the  evclusion 
sui;.U'ested  as  likel.\'  to  occni'  of  I'^re*-  Soilei's  fi'om  the  counsels  of  the 
pai'ty,  he  wrote  wh.at  was  inoi'hetic  of  the  f;ite  of  the  Democr.atic  jtarty 
,  foi"  many  years  to  come:  "If  those  who  .are  in  .a  jiosition  to  le.ad  the 
DeuKxa-.atic  i>;irty  ai-e  mad  enouiih  *  *  =•'  to  exclude  men  *  *  * 
because  they  hate  sl.avery  .and  honestly  s.ay  so,  *  *  *  then  indeed 
will  it  prov<>  true  that  the  i)olitic;il  orKani/,;ition  heretofoi'e  known  .as 
tlie  Denuxa'.'itic  ]>arty  *  ='■  *  h.as  become  extinct  all  but  in  n.ame, 
and  (h'feat  is  ine\il;ible.     (}uem   I  )eus  vult  perdere,  jnaus  (hanentat.' "' 

.Tudye  Loomis'  h.abit  of  ])rofonnd  thouuht  su]»i)lied  .a  resiaxc  of  powia* 
which  iiavo  .ureat  streuii'th  to  the  exi)ression  of  his  dee]>er  convictions. 
Ho  w.as  thorouuhly  oomnutted  to  the  sni)pression  of  tlie  rebellion,  but 
h<>  as  strou.uly  insisted  that  in  its  suiipressiou  the  constitutional  secur- 
ities of  individu.al  liberty  shouhl  be  uph(-ld.  In  the  I  >emo(a';it ic  St.ato 
Convention  of  lS(i2  the  celebrated  Niidh  Resolution  of  the  series  ado])t- 
ed  in  committee,  denotmced  arbiti'.-iry  .-na-ests  m.ade  by  the  order  of  the 
Seer«'t:iry  of  State  and  the  Seia-et.ary  of  \\'ar.  Many  citizens  of  the 
Slate  had  been  imi)risoned  in  Fort  L.af.ayette,  .and  other  prisons  by 
nrbitr.ai-y  order,  without  any  cause  .assii^ned,  o!-  any  o])i)ortuinly  of 
<leten,se.     It  \\as  said  at  tlial  time  that  the     Secretary  of  State  had 


124  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

declared  that  by  the  "tinkling:  of  a  bell"  he  could  order  the  arrest  of 
any  citizen.  As  the  State  of  New  York  Avas  still  under  the  protection 
of  the  Federal  and  the  State  constitutions,  its  courts  open  and  exercis- 
ing their  civil  functions,  and  not  under  the  ban  of  martial  law.  Judge 
Loomis  held  these  violations  of  personal  liberty  to  be  uncalled  tor  and 
tiiat  they  should  be  rebuked  by  loyal  men. 

When  the  Ninth  Resolution  became  known  to  influential  politicians 
like  Dean  Richmond  and  others  tliey  feared  that  this  resolution  would 
bo  branded  as  disloyal,  although  the  other  resolutions  of  the  series 
emphatically  sustained  the  war,  and  congratulated  the  country  on  the 
success  of  its  arms.  They  procured  the  committee  to  be  liastily  recon- 
vened, and  by  a  majority  of  one  this  resolution  was  expugned,  against 
Judge  Loomis'  protest.  He  then  gave  notice  that  he  would  .appeal  to 
tlie  convention  to  restore  it.  When  the  resolutions  were  read  to  where 
the  expungned  resolution  had  stood,  Judge  Loomis,  in  the  midst  of  much 
confusion,  gained  recognition  and  moved  the  insertion  of  the  Ninth  Res- 
olution. He  was  nervous  from  the  critical  responsibility  he  had  assum- 
ed, but  as  he  proceeded  he  rose  to  the  height  of  the  occasion.  He  de- 
nounced as  unworthy  of  a  Democratic  convention  the  rejection  of  a 
resolution  asserting  the  lil>erties  of  the  people  against  unlawful  invas- 
ion. Such  a  retreat  from  the  already  publislied  declaration  that  citi- 
/.(Mis  must  not  be  arrested  without  due  process  of  law,  would  subject 
the  convention  to  public  contempt.  He  declared  that  such  a  declaration 
was  due  to  the  sanctity  of  personal  liberty.  In  vigorous  and  eloquent 
words,  enforced  l)y  his  great  weight  of  character,  he  appealed  to  the 
convention  to  vindicate  the  old  time  attitude  of  the  Democratic  party 
as  the  champion  of  popular  freedom  and  to  sustain  his  motion.  His 
bold  and  impassioned  appeal — an  inspiring  protest  against  the  striking 
down  of  personal  liberty  that  was  full  of  the  spirit  of  the  parliament 
that  estalilished  the  Petition  of  Right — -electrilied  the  convention.  He 
was  followed  by  Francis  Kernan  and  by  Levi  H.  Brown  of  Jefferson,  in 
support  of  his  motion.  It  was  opposed  in  a  fervid  expression  of  war 
patriotism  by  JMr.  Lanning  of  Buffalo,  Init  it  was  adopted  by  an  almost 
unanimous  "aye"  and  Judge  Loomis  was  at  once  the  center  of  applaud- 
ing congratulations.  This  attitude  of  the  convention,  favoring  a  loyal 
and  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  but  insisting  upon  the  constitu- 
tional rights  of  loyal  citizens  against  arl)itrary  power,  was  salutary,  and 
illegal  arrests  were  seldom  resorted  to  from  that  time.  Judge  Loomis* 
severely  disciplined  mind  and  taste  made  liim  wholly  averse  to  mere 
oratorical  display,  but  on  this  occasion  his  strong  appeal  for  the  sanctity 
of  the  rights  of  the  citizen  has  been  seldom  surpassed  in  parliamentary 
debate.  In  the  serene  air,  in  what  Bacon  calls  the  "dry  light"  of  pure 
leason  and  argument,  liis  clearness  of  statement,  his  cogent  unfolding 
of  his  subject  and  a  natural  strength  of  logic,  Avere  always  conspicuous. 
Mr.  Henry  B.  Stanton  said  of  him:  "He  was  not  a  magnetic  orator; 
he  had  no  glistening  qualities.  You  might  as  well  apply  this  term  to 
a  block  of  granite,  but  like  granite  he  was  solid  all  the  way  through." 


ARPHAXED   LOOMIS.  125 

The  essential  political  liistory  of  Ilerkiiner  county,  from  1S27  to 
lSr)4,  is  trac«'il  in  the  career  of  Arphaxed  Loouiis  and  Michael  Ilotfnian. 
and  their  joint  labors,  niori'  than  thosi>  of  any  two  men,  have  moulded 
the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  Empire  State;  so  true  is  it  l!iat  the 
chief  history  of  all  States  is  found  written  in  the  liio.uraphy  of  their 
.ureat  men.  Others  have  i;iven  impulse  to  jireat  material  projects,  l)Ut 
none  have  done  more  to  make  fundamental  laws  a  securit.v  for  the  .gen- 
eral welfare.  The  school  which  they  founded  has  been  called  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  Herkimer  School  of  I'olitics.  Silas  Wrij^ht  impressed 
upon  the  public  mind  ideas  similar  to  those  brought  into  proiuinence 
by  these  Herkimer  statesmen.  Samuel  Youny,  Azariah  ('.  Fla.ny, 
Churchill  C.  Camlirelinii-  and  others  ably  advocated  them,  but  the 
measures  for  carryin.i;  them  into  practical  effect  wi-re  conceived  by 
Herkimer  county  statesmen  and  the.v  were  the  principal  advocates  that 
secured  their  ultimate  adoption.  Human  yovi'rnment.  Mr.  Loomis  in- 
sisted, should  be  the  simple  incorporation  of  human  rights,  and  that 
all  its  agencies  should  be  under  the  strict  control  of  the  people.  Simple 
forms  to  nive  effect  to  the  popular  will,  strict  limitations  u]ton  dele- 
.uated  powi-r  and  economy  in  adnnnistration.  ^■oid  of  poni])  and  displa.v. 
were  his  ideals  in  popular  uovernment.  These  he  I'e.uardrd  as  tiie  essen- 
tia! methods  of  government  "by  the  pi'ople  for  the  peoiiie." 

In  May,  hS82,  thirty-six  members  of  the  bar,  in  a  h'tter  addr"«sed  to 
.Ind.ue  Loomis.  expressed  tlu>)r  high  estimation  of  his  abilities,  his  ser- 
vices (Ml  the  l)ench,  in  the  National  and  State  Le,nislatures,  in  (he  con- 
stitutional convention  and  in  the  caus<'  of  law  reform,  as  well  as  their 
I'cspcct  for  his  personal  and  professional  character,  and  r-Mjuested 
him  to  sit  for  his  likeness,  to  be  placed  in  the  court  house  of  the  county. 
11<  complied  in  ai)in-eciative  and  feeliny  terms,  and  the  faithful  likeness 
now  in  the  court  room  was  painted  by  ^Iv.  Henry  H.arrison.  in  com])li- 
ance  with  this  request. 

This  correspondi'nce  appeared  in  the  journals  of  the  county  .and  in 
the  "Herkimer  Democrat,"  of  Septendjer  loth,  1SS2.  it  was  prefaced 
by  the  following  article  by  the  writer  of  this  sketch: 

"TIHUFTK   TO   HON.   ARPHAXED    LOOMIS. 

"A  large  munber  of  the  bar  of  Herkimer  county,  mindful  of  the  use- 
ful and  distinguished  career  of  Hon.  Arphaxed  Loomis  in  professional 
and  civil  life,  in  our  count.A%  State  and  Nation,  have  taken  measures  to 
perpetuate  on  the  walls  of  our  court  house  the  venei-able  ligure  of  the 
jurist,  civilian  and  citizen,  who  has  given  lusti-e  to  his  prolession. 
renown  to  his  count.v  and  a  noble  example  tt»  all  the  coming  gener.Mtions 
of  the  republic. 

"In  this  memorial  tribute.  (  arned  by  personal  worth.  an<l  great  pub- 
lic services  rendered  without  ostentation,  a  memorial  due  to  a  spotless 
I)vivate  character,  and  a  constant  example  for  the  ennilation  of  liis  fel- 
It^w  citizens  for  more  than  half  a  centui'y.  all  our  peoi)le  will  join  with 
coi'dial  a])i)r<'ciation  and  respect.  All  classes  will  rejoice  11i;it  this  rec- 
ognition of  the  oldest,  the  ujost  esteemed  of  the  citizens  and  i-epresen- 


126  HEBKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

(jitives  of  our  county  has  not  been  too  lonji'  deferred.  The  venerated 
form,  the  reflected  presence  of  Judge  Loomis,  will  fitly  lead  tlie  ]tortraits 
of  all  the  lawyers  and  jurists  that  the  reverence  of  our  har  may  ix'rpet- 
uate  by  the  pencil,  for  the  admiration  and  regard  of  coniini;'  genera- 
tions." 

.Indge  Loomis  died  at  lattle  Falls  September  lilth.  ISSf),  in  the  y8th 
year  of  his  age.  At  the  llei'kimer  circuit  in  November,  a  meeting  of 
the  bar  was  held  in  respect  of  that  event,  at  which  Hon.  Irving  (J.  ^'ann 
presided,  and  Judges  Earl,  Hardin  and  several  members  of  the  bar 
spoke  appreciatively  of  the  deceased,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Earl  read  an 
excellent  memoir  of  his  life  and  work,  from  whicii  much  of  the  data  of 
this  sketch  is  taken.  Appropri.ite  rt'solutious  dra>vn  by  Judge  Hardin 
were  adopted,  and  thereupon  the  court,  as  a  mark  of  respect  for  the 
distinguished  deceased,  adjourned.  The  resolutions  were  presented  by 
a  committee  charged  with  tluit  <lutjs%  consisting  of  George  W.  Smith. 
Clinton  A.  Moon  and  (Jeorge  h\  Crund)y,  and  they  were  inserted  in  tlii' 
minutes  of  the  court,  by  its  order.  A  mor(>  full  history  of  Judge  Loomis" 
piU>lic  activities  will  be  found  in  the  chapter  entitled,  "The  Herkimer 
School,  Political  and  Legal."  Space  will  be  taken  Jiere  for  only  a 
tiibute  paid  to  him  in  the  colunuis  of  the  Jou]nal  and  Courier  at  the 
time  of  his  decease. 

"His  private  life  among  his  intimate  friends,  liis  home  life  in  the 
loved  family  cirt-le.  was  so  pure,  gentle,  affectionate  and  kind  as  to  be 
especially  noteworthy,  and  even  during  the  later  years,  when  inhrniities 
are  wont  to  come  with  irritability  and  impatience,  his  disposition 
seemed  to  grow  more  lovely  and  his  thoughtfulness  for  oth<'i-s  more 
constant.  He  delighted  in  his  garden,  in  fruits  and  flowers.  *  *  =f 
His  private  charities  were  numerons  and  large,  made  without  ostenta- 
tion and  distributed  with  a  wise  and  careful  discrimination.  ^lucli  of 
his  entire  life  was  occupied  as  the  friendly  adviser  of  his  neighbors, 
and  his  associates,  of  men  in  trouble,  widows,  and  of  young  men.  *  * 
*  Although  not  a  member  of  the  church,  he  gave  evidence  of  a  Chris- 
tion  faith,  a  Ch.ristian  life,  and  a  Christian  example,  in  observing  the 
outward  forms  of  religion  in  his  home  *  *  *  seeking  the  approval 
of  his  own  conscience  rather  than  the  applause  of  the  multitude;  happy 
in  the  gentler  duties  and  enjoyments  of  life,  i-athcr  th.-in  in  the  excite- 
ment of  public  life;  proud  of  his  participation  *  *  *  in  the  i-eforms 
of  his  profession,  rather  than  in  any  sellish  emoluments;  firm  and  stea- 
dy and  true  in  behalf  of  right  ratliei-  than  for  any  mere  personal  choice 
or  prejudice;  sympathetic  and  enthusiastic  in  behalf  of  great  principles 
rather  than  in  the  petty  excitements  of  the  hour — Judge  Loomis  has 
left  the  most  honorable  record  that  it  is  the  privilege  of  a  man  to  trans- 
mit to  posterity." 

Such  was  the  character  whicii  men  who  had  observed  all  its  features, 
dejiicted  as  so  wholly  admirable.  No  enmity  detracted  from  the  con- 
curring tribute  of  his  cotemi)orai'ies,  no  criticism  dimmed  the  reflected 
light,  and  a  succeeding  generation  confirms  the  estimate  both  of  his 


ARPHAXED   LOOMIS.  127 

personal  worth  and  of  lii.s  eminent  iniblic  scrvict>s.  the  fruits  of  wliicli 
they  see  still  emlnrin.ii'  in  tlu'  institutions  of  (tur  State  and  icual  i)(ili<-\. 

Here  was  a  life  that  may  he  likened  to  the  stiduu  flow  of  a  slcauv 
stream,  which  in  its  course  refreshes  many  extended  and  various  liclds: 
••Thouyli  deep,  yet  clear:  thoujih  ycntle,  yet  not  dull:  strong  witliout 
raye;    without  o'erliowinji',  full." 

When  the  old  Presbyterian  chui-ch  was  dedicated  in  ls;!l.  Mr.  Looniis 
wrote  a  "Letter  to  I'osterity,"  which  was  deposited  in  the  corner  stone. 
At  the  building  of  the  new  church  it  was  brought  to  ligid  and  deposited 
with  other  papers  in  the  corner  stone  of  the  new  edilice.  1(  is  well  said 
in  the  obituary  notice  referred  to:  "When  this  edili<-e  shall  have  ciiun 
bled  and  fallen,  and  this  document  shall  be  revived  again,  the  intluen«'e 
of  his  life  and  of  his  life  woi'k,  will  still  remain  in  this  connniunty, 
and  the  record  of  his  name,  his  example,  his  virtues  ;ind  his  good  deeds, 
will  have  become  established,  even  more  tirmly  than  now  in  the  history 
of  his  day  and  geni'ration."  (The  foi'egoing  references  to  chapters  ai'e 
to  those  contained  in  "Uiogaphies  and  History  of  Central  New  York," 
by  George  W.  Snuth.) 


INDIAN    SCALPING. 

AN   ADDRESS    HY   HON.    ROBERT   EARI<,    OF    HERKIMER, 
Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  vSociety,  February  lo,  1900. 

The  North  Aiuericau  Imlinns  were  the  most  barl);u'ous  aiul  savaye 
people  anywhere  to  be  found.  They  delighted  in  savage  ernelry.  and 
mercy  was  an  unknown  virtue  generally  regarded  as  evidenci'  of  weak- 
ness and  effeminacy.  In  tlieir  forays  and  wars  tliey  did  not  ask  mercy 
for  themselves  nor  grant  it  to  others.  Prisoners  were  torttu'ed  and  the 
killed  were  mutilated.  In  these  characteristics,  the  Inxpiois  who  in- 
habited this  State  surp.-issed  all  the  other  Indians;  and  they  dominated 
ail  other  Indian  triiies  with  Avhom  they  came  in  contact.  The  whites 
living  near  them  were  fre(iuently  the  victims  of  their  merciless  ferocity; 
and  nowhere  did  they  inflict  more  suffering  than  upon  the  whites  in 
and  about  the  Mohawk  valley. 

The  Iroipiois  not  only  tortured  and  scalped  their  victims,  but  fre- 
(piently  cooked  and  ate  them.  In  1757,  Rev.  Claude  (Jodfrey  Cocguard, 
a  Jesuit  priest  living  among  them,  writing  to  his  brother,  said  that  in 
the  war  with  the  English  "the  Indi.-ins  do  not  make  any  prisoners;  they 
kill  all  they  meet,  men.  women  and  chiidi'en.  Every  day  they  have 
some  in  their  kettle,  and  ;ifter  having  ambushed  Avomen  and  maidens 
they  slaughter  or  burn  them;"  and  he  stated  that  "we  have  received 
letters  from  the  Commandant  at  Eort  Duiiuesne  stating  that  the 
Indians  in  December,  175(),  had  500  English  scalps." 

It  was  one  of  the  Indian  customs  to  scalp  their  wounded  and  dead 
enemies.  In  this  bloody  work  they  bec;inie  very  exi)ei't.  They  would 
generally  I'lui  the  scaljung  knife  around  the  crown  of  the  he-id,  and 
then  te.-ir  off  the  scalp,  sometimes  by  seizing  the  hair  with  their  te<'th, 
and  in  the  case  of  women  by  winding  the  long  hair  around  a  hand. 
The  scalps  Avhen  numerous  were  generally  strung  upon  poles  and  car- 
ried in  the  rear  of  the  marching  colunni  of  Indians.  They  were  carried 
in  triiun]ih  to  tluMr  homes,  and  exhibited  with  gr(>at  acclaim;  and  the 
warrior  who  secured  the  largest  nund)er  received  a  gi-c;it  ov;i(ion  :ind 
W!is  proclaimed  tlie  gi-eatest  brave.  It  was  cpilte  usual  for  the  ^varriors 
to  indicate  by  notches  on  the  handles  of  tlieii'  tomahawks  and  scalping 


INDIAN  SCALPING.  ■         -  l29 

knives  the  nniiilici'  of  sc;ilps  llicy  h.id  taken.  S<-ali)s  were  sonietiiii(>s 
delivered  (n  Indians  w  lio  liad  lost  relatives  in  battle  to  I'l'in-cscnt  or 
replace  sndi  relatixcs.  'I'liey  were  kei»t  as  tiliastl.v  trophii-s  to  decorate 
Indian  lod.ucs.  'I'licy  were  stretched  on  liooi)s  and  dried,  freciuently 
with  tlic  hair  on.  and  S(>inetinies  decorated  with  paint  and  also  by 
marks  for  id<'ntilicat ion. 

Scalpini;  was  enconra^ed  by  both  parlies  in  the  l']n,t;lish  and  I''r*'nch 
wars  carried  on  in  this  connlry.  In  tliose  wars  tlie  lro(inois  adliei'cd 
te  the  Knulisli  canse,  nnder  the  inllnence  of  Sir  William  Joimson;  and 
nearly  all  the  oilier  Indians  Joined  the  Frencli;  and  the  Indians  on  botli 
sides  were  stimnlated  to  action  by  bounties  olferi'd  for  scali>s.  The 
Indians  who  si<led  with  the  French  genera.lly  took  their  scalps  to  Mon- 
treal and  were  thei'e  rewarded  by.uifts  of  in(>ney  or  rnni;  and  the  Indians 
who  sided  with  the  En.ulisli  took  their  scalps  to  Albany  or  New  York, 
or  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  at  Fort  Johnson,  and  wei'i'  sinularly  I'eward- 
ed.  Tile  French  Indians  took  scalps  of  whites  in  various  parts  of  this 
State,  nmstly  abont  the  Mohawk  valley  and  the  waters  of  tlie  upper 
Hudson,  and  sometimes  in  New  Jersey,  New  Enylaiul,  I'ennsylvaina, 
and  even  as  far  south  as  Vir.i;inia ;  and  the  Englisli  Indians  made  forays 
into  Canada  and  fo()k  the  scalps  of  Frenchmen  there;  and  Indians  on 
both  sides  scalped  Indi:iiis. 

The  records  and  other  documents  relatinj;'  to  the  Cohniii's  contain 
many  accounts  of  Indian  scali)inii',  to  some  of  which  foi-  illustration  I 
will  refer: 

In  1()8.8  the  (iovernor  of  Canada  offered  the  Indians  in  alliance  with 
the  French  ten  beaver  skins  for  every  scalp  of  hostile  Indians  or  Chris- 
tians. In  ICIIS  and  in  17()(l  the  French  paid  their  Indians  for  scalps 
tifty  crowns  each.  In  ITdt  Massachusetts  in  her  war  witli  the  Indians 
offered  £1.">  for  the  scalp  of  a  male  Indian  over  twelve  years  old,  and 
ilO  for  each  (  hild  or  woman  captured.  These  l)ounties  were  subse- 
(juently  increased,  and  in  11-4,  a  man's  scalp  was  worth  as  much  as 
£1()(»,  and  a  child  or  woman  cai)tured,  £">(»,  to  [)ersons  in  the  [tublic  ser- 
vice, and  the  double  of  each  sum  to  volunteers. 

In  Xovendier,  17-1"),  the  Xew  York  Colonial  Assembly  olfei-ed  the 
Indians  Itounties  for  scalps;  and  in  1T4S,  « iovernor  Clinton  recommend- 
ed to  the  Colonial  Assembl.\'  tliat  they  should  i)i'ovide  bounties  for 
scalps.  In  174<;  some  of  the  Inxprnis  scalped  some  French  Indians  near 
Montreal  and  brou.yht  theii-  scali)s  to  Albany  for  the  reward.  In  July, 
1747,  (Jovernor  Clinton  reported  to  the  Duke  of  New  Castle,  Prime  Min- 
ister of  Ep..uland,  that  Colonel  Johnson  had  sent  several  i)ai'ties  of 
Indians  into  Cana<la,  and  that  tliey  se\-eral  times  brought  bai-k'  jiris- 
oiiers  and  scaljis.  In  the  s.ime  year.  Sir-  William  .lohnson  reported  to 
(ioveiaioi'  Clinton  that  he  had  paid  £('.(•  for  six  sc.-ilps  brought  fi'om 
Crown  I'oiid,  and  he  ;iskcd  for  more  money  foi'  tlie  s.-iine  ]>ui'pose.  In 
Octobei-.  171<>.  some  of  the  iro(iuois  exliibiled  I'^rench  scali>s  in  .\e\v 
York  City  for  which  they  received  bounties,  and  they  were  handsonu'ly 
treated  by  the  Council,  the  gentlemen  of  the  city,  and  the  Colonial  As- 


130  HEEKIMEE  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

sembly.  In  1754  the  Froueh  Indians  niurdored  twenty-one  Englishmen 
and  carried  their  scalps  to  Cape  Breton,  where  tliey  were  rewarded. 
In  1755  the  New  York  Colonial  Governor  issued  instrnctions  to  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson  to  nrge  the  Six  Nations  to  go  against  the  French  and  their 
Indians,  and  to  assure  them  that  they  would  be  rewarded  for  scalps. 
About  this  time  at  a  council  held  at  Oneida  by  Sir  William  Johnson 
and  the  Indians,  to  condole  over  the  death  of  the  Chief  Sachem  of  the 
Oneidas.  the  ceremonies  of  condolence  were  conducted  with  eleven  belts 
and  three  strings  of  wampum,  and  a  scalp  of  the  enemy  to  replace  the 
deceased  sachem,  and  a  glass  of  rum  all  around  to  wash  down  all  sor- 
row and  grief. 

At  the  battle  of  Lake  George,  in  1755,  in  the  French  and  English  war, 
the  Indians  of  the  Six  Nations,  fighting  under  the  English,  l)rovight  to 
Albany  a  number  of  scalps  for  the  bounties.  In  August,  175G,  at  a 
council  of  the  Six  Nations  with  Sir  William  Johnson  at  his  home,  a 
Seneca  Chief  with  great  solemnity  delivered  over  three  scalps — one 
scalp  belt  in  the  room  of  a  Tuscarora  killed  at  Schenectady  by  the  sol- 
diers of  the  44th  Kegiment.  another  scalp  belt  for  a  Tuscarora  killed 
in  the  engagement  at  Fort  George,  and  still  another  in  the  room  of  a 
Seneca,  a  great  friend  of  Sir  William. 

Vaudreuil,  the  French  (Governor  at  Montreal,  in  April,  1757,  wrote  to 
his  home  government  that  the  Indians  in  New  Jersey  (the  Delawares) 
"had  carried  out  his  instructions  to  the  best  of  their  ability,  and  burned 
forty  English  liomes  with  the  crops  in  their  barns,  and  had  returned 
to  Niagara  with  six  scalps  of  soldiers  killed  in  a  New  Jersey  fort. 

In  July,  175(i,  Sir  William  Johnson  held  a  conference  with  the 
Indians  at  Onondaga  and  on  his  return  homeward  he  called  at  the  Tus- 
carora Castle,  and  he  entered  it  with  two  B^rench  scalps,  which  one  of 
the  young  men  there  briskly  seized  and  then  sung  the  war  song,  carry- 
ing them  in  his  hands  around  the  Castle.  He  also  stopped  at  the  Oneida 
Castle  and  there  gave  the  Chief  Warrior  of  the  Oneidas  a  war  belt, 
insisting  on  his  going  to  war  Avith  the  French  and  bringing  to  him 
either  prisoners  or  scalps  to  give  him  in  the  room  of  some  friends  he 
had  lost;  and  the  chief  accepted  the  belt  and  promised  as  requested. 
In  a  war  with  the  Indians  in  Pennsylvania  in  17(54,  John  Peun,  succes- 
sor and  grandson  of  William  I'enn,  the  friend  of  the  Indians,  who  lived 
in  peace  with  them,  offered  by  proclamation  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia 
bounties  for  the  capture  of  Indians  or  for  their  scalps,  as  follows:  For 
every  iiu\\e  above  the  age  of  ten  years  captured^,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars;  scalped,  being  killed,  )fl34;  for  every  female  Indian  enemy, 
and  every  male  under  ten  years  captiu-ed,  !fl30;  for  every  female  above 
the  age  of  ten  years  scalped,  $50.  This  was  a  wide  departure  from  the 
policy  pursued  by  the  philanthropic  founder  of  Pennsylvania. 

During  the  French  and  English  war,  whenever  the  Schoharie  Indians 
who  were  on  the  side  of  the  French,  came  home  with  the  scalps  of 
Mohawks  or  other  hostile  Indians,  a  cannon  was  fired  for  joy  to  cele- 
brate the  event. 


INDIAN  SCALPING.  131 

The  (JovcriKir  oT  Ci  n.-id.-i  olTcrcd  tlio  ludiaiis  ;i  liouiity  for  tlio  scalp 
of  Sii-  William  .lolnisdii.  uiiosc  masterful  tact  and  sagacity  ki'i)t  the 
Iroquois  on  the  side  of  llic  I'Jn.ulisli. 

In  preparation  for  I  he  Itcx'olutionary  war,  the  Kn.i;lish  had  socnrod 
as  auxiliaries  nearly  all  the  Indians,  and  at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities, 
they  incited  them  to  sav.iue  foi.ays  upon  the  colonists.  This  was  set 
forth  in  the  Decl.iration  of  Independence  as  one  of  tlie  .urievances  of 
the  colonists.  The  charm'  was  th.it  the  King  "had  endeavored  to  bring 
on  the  Inhahitants  of  oui'  frontiers  the  merciless  Indian  savages,  whose 
known  rule  of  warl.nre  is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of  all  ages, 
sexes  and  conditions."  The  colonists  endeavored  to  secure  the  neutnil- 
ity  of  the  Indians.  In  this  they  were  foiled  maiidy  through  the  intlu- 
ence  of  the  family  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  ln'  having  died  previous  to 
the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

Wlu'U  it  was  i»roi)osed  by  Lord  Suffolk.  Secretary  of  State,  in  the 
r>ritish  rarliament.  to  enii)!oy  Indians  against  the  Americans,  he  made 
a  speech  in  which  he  said  "that  they  had  a  right  to  use  all  the  means 
that  (io<l  and  natin-e  had  put  into  theii-  hands  to  couipier  America." 
Against  this  scheme  I'itI,  then  the  Karl  of  Chatham,  delivered  a  most 
impassioned  and  memorable  spi-ech  which  ranks  among  the  most  elo- 
(juent  in  the  English  language.  Among  other  things  he  said:  "My 
lords,  we  are  calhd  upon  as  iiienibers  of  tills  house,  as  men,  as  Chris- 
tian men.  I<i  protest  against  such  notions,  standing  near  the  throne, 
polluting  the  ear  of  majesty.  "That  (iod  and  nature  put  into  our  hands!' 
I  know  not  what  ide;i  that  lord  may  entertain  of  (iod  and  nature;  but 
I  know  that  such  .ibomin.ible  princiides  are  etpially  abhorent  to  religion 
;ind  humanity.  What!  to  attributt'  the  sanction  of  God  and  nature  to 
the  massacres  of  tlu'  Indian  scali»ing  knife,  to  the  Cannibal  savage  tor- 
turing, mnidt'ring.  roasting,  e;iting,  literally,  my  lords,  eating  the  man- 
gled victims  of  his  b:irbarous  l);ittles!  Such  horrible  notions  shock 
e\t'ry  ])rece])t  of  i-eligion.  dix  iiie  and  natural,  and  every  geiienuis  feeling 
of  humanity.  And.  my  lords,  they  shock  every  sentiment  of  honor; 
they  shock  me  :is  a  lover  of  honorable  war  and  a  detester  of  nnu'derous 
baii'liarity."  And  lOdmund  I>urk,  who  said  he  had  learned  that  the 
natural  ferocity  of  the  Indians  far  exceeded  the  ferocity  of  all  bar- 
barians mentioned  in  history,  declared  in  the  House  of  ConujK)ns  that 
"they  were  not  lit  allies  for  the  I\ing  in  a  w;ir  with  his  subjects." 

Wliile  (ieneral  Iturgoyne  was  adxaiicing  in  his  campaign  in  the  Col- 
ony of  New  York,  in  1777.  the  Indi.ans  lirought  in  ten  S(;il]>s.  The  next 
(l;iy  he  held  a  confei'eiice  with  a  large  nuinb«'i'  of  Iroipiois  and  other 
Indians;  and  he  made  thcni  an  ,iddi-ess  in  which  he  told  them  "that 
aged  men,  women,  children  and  inasoiiers  must  be  ht>ld  sacred  from 
the  knife  and  the  h:itchet.  e\cn  in  the  time  of  actual  coiillict.  You  shall 
receive  comiicns.-il  ion  for  |iiisoncrs  yon  take,  but  you  shall  be  called  to 
account  for  scalps.  \'onr  ciislonis  ha\«'  .illixed  an  ide:i  of  honor  to 
such  badges  of  victory.  You  shall  \h'  .allowed  to  take  the  scalps  of  the 
dead  when  killed  by  your  lire  in  fair  opposition.     But  on  no  preteuse 


132  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

are  they  to  be  taken  from  the  wounded  or  even  dying. 

The  savages  fighting  with  Burgoyne  inflicted  tlieir  cruelties  indis- 
criminately upon  patriot  and  loyalist;  and  this  soon  served  to  madden 
the  yeomanry  and  array  against  the  invaders  whatever  wavering  senti- 
ment liad  hitlierto  remained  in  the  country.  Among  the  savage  cruel- 
ties which  followed  General  Burgoyne's  address  was  the  killing  of 
Jennie  McCrea,  whose  tragic  deatli  and  cruel  scalping  has  been  so  often 
repeated  in  prose  and  poetry.  She  was  killed  and  scalped  by  one  of  the 
Indians  addressed,  and  her  death  aroused  the  indignation  and  nerved 
the  arms  of  tlie  yeomanry  of  Nortliern  New  York,  Vermont,  and  West- 
ern Massachusetts,  which  boded  disaster  for  Burgoyne.  When  tlie 
cclioes  of  this  address  reached  England,  it  wa,s  angrily  ridiculed  by 
Burlv,  who  took  a  sounder  view  of  tlie  natural  instincts  of  the  red  man. 
"Suppose,"  said  he,  "that  there  was  a  riot  on  Tower  Hill;  what  would 
the  keeper  of  his  majesty's  lions  doV  Would  he  not  fling  open  the  doors 
of  the  wild  beasts,  and  then  address  them  thus?  'My  gentle  lions,  my 
humane  bears,  my  tender  hearted  hyenas,  go  forth!  but  I  exhort  you 
as  you  are  Christians  and  members  of  civilized  society  to  take  care  not 
to  hurt  any  man,  woman  or  child!"  "  The  House  of  Commons  was  con- 
vulsed over  this  grotesque  picture;  and  Lord  North,  to  whom  it  sound- 
ed irrisistibly  funny  to  hear  an  absent  man  thus  denounced  for  meas- 
ures which  he  himself  had  originated  is  said  to  have  sat  choking  with 
laughter,  while  tears  rolled  down  his  great  fat  cheeks. 

The  effects  of  the  employment  of  the  Indians  by  General  Burgoyne 
was  soon  seen.  Soon  after  this  address  to  the  Indians,  while  he  was 
still  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  the  Indians  brought  in  twenty  scalps 
and  as  many  captives,  and  he  approved  their  incessant  activity.  About 
the  same  time,  to  prevent  the  desertion  of  his  soldiers,  he  announced 
in  orders  to  reach  the  regiment  that  the  savages  were  enjoined  to  scalp 
runaways. 

This  scalping  went  on  in  Wyoming,  Andrustown,  Springfield.  Cherry 
Valley,  Schoharie,  on  the  upper  Hudson,  in  this  vicinity,  throughout  the 
Mohawk  valley  and  in  many  other  places,  stimulated  by  the  rewards 
paid  the  Indians  by  the  P.ritish  in  rum.  goods  and  money.  I  have  been 
unable  to  find  that  the  British  distinctly  and  directly  offered  bounties 
for  scalps,  although  it  is  so  recorded  in  some  histories.  If  they  had  done 
so.  it  Avould  have  aroused  such  a  vigorous  and  indignant  protest  by 
Burk,  Chatham  and  their  associates  in  the  Parliament  as  the  ministry 
of  that  day  would  have  been  quite  reluctant  to  meet.  But  while  they 
did  not  directly  offer  bounties  for  scalps,  they  in  one  way  or  another 
paid  for  them,  and  thus  stiuiulated  the  Indians  in  their  cruel  work.  It 
Is  authentically  recorded  that  Colonel  Jolni  Butler,  a  British  officer  and 
notorious  Tory,  promised  certain  Indians  to  pay  them  ten  dollars  each 
for  scalps  from  an  American  officer,  Captain  Greg,  and  a  corporal,  at 
Fort  Stanwix,  while  they  were  out  hunting  pigeons.  Captain  Greg 
was  shot,  tomahawked  and  scalped.  He  feigned  death,  was  rescued 
through  the  fidelity  and  sagacity  of    his    dog,  and   survived    the    war 


INDIAN  SCALPING.  133 

many  yoars.  Tho  scalps  takon  horo  and  there  thrmmiioTit  the  cxposod 
settlements  were  very  nnmerous.  So  it  ai)itears  from  a  letter  from  Tap- 
tain  C'onrisli  of  tlie  NeAV  En.iiland  militia,  dated  Alliany,  i\rareli  7,  1TS2, 
fonn<t  ill  ("anipliell's  Annals  of  Tryon  Connly.  The  ('ai»tain  mentions 
an  expedition,  evidently  in  pm-suit  of  some  Indians  in  which  his  piirty 
took  from  the  Indians  a  lariie  amonnt  of  peltry  and  also  ei.uht  packa.ues 
contalnins'  nearly  one  thousand  scalps  of  nun, women  :ind  childi'en  taken 
in  the  three  precedinji'  years  from  the  inhabitants  on  the  fi-ontiers  of 
New  York.  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  \'iruinia,  which  were  bein.a; 
carried  to  the  (Governor  of  Canada.  With  tliese  scalps  they  found  a 
letter  addressed  to  tlii'  (iovernor,  in  which  the  writer  said:  "At  the 
reciuest  of  the  Seneca  chiefs,  I  send  herewith  to  yom-  excellency  *  * 
*  eiji'ht  p.'icks  of  scalps,  cured,  (h-ied,  hoojied  an<l  i);iinted  with  all  the 
Indian  triumphal  marks;"  and  then  follows  a  minute  desci-iption  of  the 
scalps  contained  in  each  pack,  the  writer  sayinj;;:  "Father,  (meaning 
the  Governor  of  Canada)  we  wish  you  to  send  these  scalps  over  the 
water  to  the  Great  King-  that  he  may  repaid  them  and  he  refreshed,  and 
that  he  may  see  our  faithfulness  in  destroying  his  enemies  and  he  con- 
vinced tliat  his  presents  have  not  been  made  to  ungrateful  people." 
These  scalps  tell  a  pitiful  story  of  men,  women  and  children  murdt'red 
and  mutilated,  of  shrieking  victims,  of  burning  homes,  of  smouldering 
ruins,  of  mnnentionable  Indian  atrocities.  These  scalps  at  least  did 
not  reach  the  Great  King  for  his  refi'eshment! 

Tlie  barbarities  of  the  Indians  left  a  bitter  feeling  .among  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Mohawk  valley  for  many  years  aftei-  the  close  of  the  Kev- 
olutionary  war.  Some  of  the  scaljied  siu'vived,  living  witnesses  of  the 
Indian  cruelties.  In  this  town.  Mrs.  Joseph  Smith,  the  great  grand- 
mother of  George  Smith,  a  resident  here,  was  tomahawked  and  scalped 
by  an  Indian  on  the  east  side  of  tlie  West  Canachi  Creek,  near  where 
her  descendants  now  live.  She  was  left  for  dead,  but  revived,  was  res- 
cued and  lived  many  years  after  the  war. 

The  Indians  who  had  been  hostile  during  the  w;ir  occasionally  visited 
the  Mohawk  ^'alley  .-iftci-  the  war.  Theii'  :i]iiic;irance  aroused  mem- 
ories of  Indian  :itr(tcities  and  fre(iucntly  stirred  tlu'  surviving  i),atriots 
to  great  indignation  and  furor.  iMa.jor  Nicholas  Stoner  sometime  after 
the  war  met  an  Indian  in  a  tavern  at  Johnstown  who  showed  a  knife 
with  nine  notches  in  tlie  handli'  indicating  the  number  of  scalps  he  had 
taken,  and  ])ointing  to  one  that  was  cut  dee])er  than  the  rest,  he  said 
that  was  "foi-  the  scalji  ol'  old  Stoner."  The  major  stung  to  fury  by 
what  he  saw  and  heard,  sprang  to  tlir  lire  place  and  seizing  a  hot 
andiron  hurled  it  at  the  head  of  the  Indian,  striking  him  a  hard,  if 
not  deadly  l)low;  and  it  is  not  known  whetlu'r  th.it  Indian  ever  re- 
turned to  Canada. 

Some  years  after  the  war,  John  Adam  Il.artman.  a  daring  Indian 
fighter  during  the  war  whose  family  h;ul  sull'ei-cd  much  from  the  In- 
dians, some  of  whose  descendants  still  live  here,  met  ;in  IiKb-in  in  a 
tavern  near  the  westeiai  limits  of  this  town;    ••ind  the  Indian  stimulated 


134  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

by  fire  water  boasted  of  liis  achievements  in  the  war,  of  the  number, 
of  rebels  he  had  killed,  and  of  the  scalps  he  had  taken.  He  exhibited 
a  tobacco  pouch  made  of  the  skin  taken  from  a  white  child's  arm  and 
tanned  or  dressed  with  the  nails  of  the  tingers  and  thumb  still  hanging;- 
to  it.  Ilartnian  maddened  by  what  he  heard  and  saw  at  once  came 
to  the  resolution  that  the  Indian  should  do  no  more  ))oastinj;-.  So  he  In- 
quired where  he  was  going,  and  when  informed,  said  he  was  going  in 
the  same  direction;  and  he  offered  to  carry  the  Indian's  ritle  as  he 
also  had  a  pack.  They  went  west  together,  and  the  Indian  Avas  never 
seen  alive  after  he  entered  a  swamp  with  Hartman.  About  a  year 
afterwards,  his  body  and  pack  were  found  in  the  swamp  and  his  ritle 
in  a  hollow  tree.  Hartman  was  asked  where  the  Indian  was  and  he 
replied  that  when  he  last  saw  him  he  was  standing  on  a  log  a  few  rods 
in  advance  of  liim  and  that  he  fell  from  the  log  as  if  hurt.  He  was 
afterward  indicte'd  for  the  murder  of  the  Indian  and  tried  at  Johns- 
town; and,  although  there  was  no  reasonable  doubt  of  his  guilt,  such 
was  the  prejudice  against  Indians  still  lurking  in  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple that  he  was  acquitted,  as  Nat  Foster  was  many  years  after  for  kill- 
ing an  Indian  on  the  Fulton  Chain. 

In  this  State  there  was  no  instance,  so  far  as  I  have  learned,  where 
a  white  man  scalped  an  Indian,  although  in  General  Sullivan's  cam- 
paign against  the  Indians  in  the  western  part  of  this  State  in  1779  a 
few  liostile  Indians  were  scalped,  presumably  by  friendly  Indians 
marching  with  the  American  General.  1  have  found  but  one  case  in 
the  Revolutionary  Avar  where  an  Indian  fighting  for  the  Colonists  scalped 
a  Avhite  man;  and  that  man  Avas  the  cruel  Tory,  Walter  Hutler,  avIio 
Avas  shot  and  scalped  by  an  Oneida  Indian  aa'Iio  AA'as  with  Colonel  Wil- 
let  in  his  pursuit  of  Koss  and  Butler  Avith  their  British,  Indian  and 
Tory  followers  upon  their  retreat  up  the  West  Canada  Creek  in  37S1. 

There  is  one  case  at  least  related  in  New  England  annals  where  a 
Avhite  Avoman  paid  the  Indians  in  their  OAA'n  coin.  In  March,  l(i!)S,  Mrs. 
Hannah  Dustin,  her  nurse  and  infant  child  wei*e  taken  prisoners  by  the 
Indians  at  Haverhill  in  Massachusetts.  The  child  was  murdered,  and 
slie  and  her  nurse  were  taken  to  an  island  in  the  Merrimac  River,  now 
called  Dustin's  Island,  in  New  Hampshire;  and  there  she  Avas  placed 
in  a  family  of  eleven  Indians.  With  the  aid  of  her  nurse  and  a  captive 
Avliite  boy,  she  killed  all  the  Indians  in  their  sleep  except  a  squaAv  and 
a  little  boy  who  escaped;  and  she  returned  to  her  home  with  a  canoe, 
a  tomahaAA'k  and  ten  Indian  scalps  as  trophies  of  her  courage  and 
proAvess. 

The  custom  of  scalping  wounded  and  dead  enemies,  so  rar  as  I  can 
learn,  AA^as  confined  to  a  portion  of  the  North  American  Indians — -mainly 
to  the  Iro(|Uois  and  the  tribes  Avitli  which  they  came  in  contact.  I  ha've 
not  found  that  it  prevailed  anywhere  else  in  the  world. 

To  my  great  surprise,  I  find  that  the  Indians  fighting  for  the  English 
in  the  war  of  1812  did  some  scalping,  stimulated  thereto  by  the  expec- 
tation of  roAvard.     It  is  recorded  in  Vol.  4  of  Scribner's  History  of  the 


INDIAN  SCALPING.  135 

« 
United  States  at  pa^ie  ISS  that  in  that  war  Captain  Natlian  llcald  was 

in  eonnnand  of  I*\)i't  Dcai'Ixirn.  wlici'c  Chica.iio  now  stands,  and  that  hy 
order  ot  (icncral  llnll  he  was  conniianch'd  to  abandon  the  fort:  and  ho 
with  tifty  sohliers  and  sovei'al  t'amilit's  left  tlie  fort,  and  witliin  wliat 
is  now  the  eity  limits  he  was  attacked  l)y  a  force  of  Indians,  and  the 
women  fontiht  as  hravcly  as  the  men;  l»nt  they  were  defeated.  A 
waft'on  load  of  twelxc  chihli'en  were  all  tomah.-iwked  hy  one  Indian. 
The  snrvivors  snrrendered,  and  all  the  woinided  were  scalped.  The 
British  Colonel  Troctoi',  stationed  ;it  Maiden,  in  Canad.a.  had  offered  a 
preminni  for  Amei'ican  scali>s. 

We  must  not  .jnd.ne  the  men  of  the  ei.uhteentli  century  by  the  stand- 
ards of  the  elosiuK  years  of  the  nineteentli  centm-y.  Such  has  been 
diu'ing  this  century  the  advance  of  civilization,  with  all  its  retinin.u'  an<1 
elevatin.c:  intlnences.  and  such  the  urowth  of  noble,  generous  and 
humane  sentiments  even  amonii'  beliy-erents  that  such  barbarous  prac- 
tices as  I  have  (h'tailed  will  never  a.y:iin  1)(>  tolerated  in  w.irfare  itetween 
civilized  nations. 


LIFE  OF  JOSEPH  BRANT. 

AN  ADDRESS  BY  ALBERT  L.  HOWELI.,  OF  MOHAWK, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  April,  14,  1900. 

TluM-o  is  no  section  of  the  United  States  more  rich  in  historical  inter- 
est than  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk.  The  events  of  the  war  of  the  Rev- 
olution wei-e  nowhere  more  marked  for  cruelty  and  desolation  at  the 
liands  of  the  Indians  and  Tories.  Of  all  the  noted  personages  that 
figiu-ed  so  prominently  as  allies  of  the  British  crown,  none  held  a  more 
.inliuential  position  than  the  subject  of  this  sketch — Theyendaneiica, 
Joseph  Brant. 

This  famous  Indian  ("lii<'f  of  the  Mohawk,  whose  remarkable  career 
during  the  war  of  the  Kevolution,  history  accords  him  as  one  of  the 
master  spirits,  as  a  leader  of  men.  Possessing  rare  attainments  which 
qualified  him  to  take  such  a  position,  he  becanu>  a  potent  factor  in  the 
interest  of  the  King  against  the  colonies. 

He  was  born  in  1742,  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  whither  his  parents 
had  emigrated  from  the  valley  of  the  IMohawk,  and  Avhere  they  so- 
journed several  yeai's;  his  father  having  died  there  when  Theyanda- 
negea  was  an  infant.  His  motlier  finally  returned  witli  him  antl  his 
sister,  Molly,  to  their  home  at  Canajoharie,  the  center  of  the  castles  of 
the  Mohawk  valley. 

His  father  was  a  full  ))looded  Mohawk  of  the  Wolf  tribe,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  early  history  of  the  tribe,  was  a  direct  descendant  of  one  of 
the  Mohawk  chiefs  who  visited  ICngland  in  1710,  during  the  reign  of 
Queen  Ann.  His  mother  was  married  again  soon  after  their  return  to 
Canajoharie,  to  an  Indian  of  the  Mohawk  tribe. 

Of  the  boyhood  days  of  Brant  there  is  no  record;  other  than  his  going 
to  school.  At  the  early  age  of  thirteen  years,  under  the  direction 
of  Sir  William  Johnson,  he  was  at  the  memorable  battle  of  Lake 
George,  in  which  the  Mohawks  w«M-e  engaged  and  led  into  battle  by 
their  celebrated  chief,  the  brave  old  Henclrick,  who  was  slain. 

In  after  years,  when  relating  an  account  of  this  his  first  experience  in 
battle,  "he  said  he  was  seized  with  such  a  tremor  when  the  firing  com- 
menced that  he  was  obliged  to  take  hold  of  a  small  sapling  to  steady 


LIFE  OF  JOSEPH   BRANT.  l37 

himself  ;  but  tliat  after  tlie  disclinriie  of  a  few  volleys  li(»  recovered  the 
use  of  his  limbs,  aiul  (•omi>osui-e  of  mind,  beeomiuji'  that  of  a  brave, 
which  was  his  ambition  in  tlie  future  to  become." 

It  was  said  of  him  once  in  after  life,  when  the  conversation  was  on 
the  sul)ject  of  music,  lie  made  the  remark:  "1  like  the  harpischord 
well,  and  the  oruan  still  better,  but  I  like  the  drum  and  trumpet  best 
of  all,  for  they  make  my  heart  beat  (luick." 

Theyandaneuea's  early  education  connnenccd  at  the  ,Moor  clcirity 
school,  established  ;it  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  under  the  suiiervision  of 
Kev.  Eleazt'r  Wheeiock.  who  later  was  President  of  Dartmouth  Coileii-e. 
It  was  through  the  exertions  of  Sir  William  Johnson  to  improve  the 
moral  and  social  condition  of  his  Mohawk  nei.yhbors,  that  younu  They- 
andaneji'ea,  to.uether  with  other  younj;'  Mohawks,  were  seid  to  this 
school.  The  precise  year  he  was  placed  at  school  no  date  is  i;iven,  as 
the  school  was  op<'ncd  Cor  the  rc-ception  of  pupils  in  174S;  and  doul)tless 
lie  entered  soon  aftei'  its  openint;'. 

After  receivin.i;-  his  education  there  he  was  pai'ticulaiiy  noticed  l>y 
Sir  William  Johnson  as  a  youth  of  threat  promise,  and  was  snbscMjuentl.y 
employed  by  him  in  pulilic  liusiness.  Distinsnished  alike  for  his  fine 
address  and  acti\'ity,  as  he  .i;'r<'W  to  maidiood  possessiny-  in  point  of  stat- 
ure and  symeti'.v  of  person,  the  adv.-intauc  of  most  men,  even  of  his 
own  weli-foi'med  race;  tall,  erect  and  majestic,  with  the  air  of  one  who 
was'iiorn  to  command,""  havin.L;  been  schooled  inwarfare  fi'oni  his  youth, 
lie  was  a  tower  of  strenuth  amoni;-  his  own  warriors.  Still  more  exten- 
sive was  his  intlueni-e  rendered  by  the  cirumstances  that  he  had  been 
much  employed  in  the  civil  service  of  the  Indian  department  under  Sir 
William  Johnson,  by  whom  he  was  often  sent  upon  business  anionn'  the 
tribes  of  the  confederacy,  and  those  yet  mon^  distant  upon  tlie  lakes 
and  rivers  of  the  Northwest,  which  liave  him  accurate  knowlediie  of 
tlie  whole  country  and  its  ])(^i)])le.  for  the  piosecution  of  the  border  war- 
fire.  Tlie  oflicers  of  the  crown  could  scarcely  liave  (Mi.^a.ued  a  more 
valuable  auxiliary.  The  lad  was  in  the  future  to  become  not  only 
a  distin.uuished  war  chief,  l>ut  a  statesman  and  associate  of  the  Kin.ii's 
a.uents  in  this  country,  and  to  be  courted  b.v  the  cliiv.alry  and  nobility 
in  En.uland. 

In  the  jirosress  of  events  Thayendane.tica  had  been  advanced  to  the 
l»Iaoe  of  ])i-incipal  war  chief  of  the  confederacy.  How  he  seeui'cd  this 
important  i>lace,  history  does  not  inform  us.  Ilendi-ick,  the  last  of  the 
Mohawk  chiefs  who  had  borne  the  title  of  Kins",  fell  at  the  battle  of 
Lake  Geori;e,  under  Sir  William  Johnson,  twenty  years  before.  The 
sachems  of  each  tribe  of  the  Six  Nations  wei-e  usually  chosen  in  the 
assembly  of  the  chiefs  and  warriors  whenever  a  vacancy  hai»i)ened  by 
death  or  otherwise.  Thayendauenea  beinj;-  a  descendant  fi-om  a  family 
of  chiefs,  his  bii'thriuht  may  h,'i\'e  conti-ibnted  to  his  elevation.  His 
family  and  odlcial  connection  with  the  Johnsons,  whose  name  was  so 
pot(Mit  with  the  Indians,  no  doubt  facilitated  his  advancement  as  the 
chosen  chief. 


1^8  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Sul)so(iu('iitly  ail  nsrcoiiiont  was  ontorert  into  with  tho  officials  of  tlio 
crown  tliat  his  tril)c  were  to  take  np  tlie  hatchet  in  the  cause  of  tlie 
Ivinj;.  In  tlie  autiiinn  of  that  year,  1775,  Brant  resolved  to  make  a 
visit  to  Enjilaiul.  The  object  of  this  visit  he  did  not  then  disclose.  It 
was  quite  prohable,  however,  that  notwithstanding  the  agreement  so 
hastily  formed  by  his  tribe  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  King,  the 
sagacious  chief  may  have  judged  it  prudent  to  pause  before  committing 
himself  too  far  by  overt  acts  of  hostility  against  the  colonies. 

The  Oneidas  were  evidently  inclined  to  espouse  the  colonial  side,  if 
any;  the  river  Indians  had  already  ranged  themselves  on  the  same 
side;  the  DelaAvares  had  determined  upon  neutrality,  and  some  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  Cauglinawagas  were  in  the  caniii  of  Washington. 

These  circumstances  were  certainly  enough  to  make  the  cliieftain 
hesitate  as  to  tho  course  he  would  take,  and  dictated  by  true  wisdom 
he  resolved  to  know  for  himself.  His  predilections  from  the  first  inclin- 
ed him  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  King.  lie  maintained  that  tlie 
ancient  covenants  of  his  people  rendered  it  obligatory  upon  him  to  do 
so.  In  addition  to  which  he  was  bound  liy  the  strong  ties  of  blood, 
association,  and  gratitude  to  the  family  and  interests  of  the  Johnsons. 
Thus  situated,  the  chief  may  have  found  his  position  so  embarrassing 
as  to  induce  him  to  visit  the  parent  country  and  appear  in  the  presence 
of  the  "Great  King,"  before  he  should  finally  determine  whether  to 
actually  take  the  fi(-ld  with  his  tribe  or  not.  By  making  the  voyage  he 
would  have  tlie  additional  advantage  of  studying  the  resources  and  the 
l)ower  of  the  pari'iit  country,  and  would  thereby  be  the  better  able  to 
determine  for  himself  whether  success  was  likely  to  crown  his  maj- 
esty's arms  in  the  end,  or  whether  by  a  scrupulous  observance  of  an 
ancient  stipulation  of  alliance,  he  should  not  with  his  people  be  rushing 
upon  certain  destruction.  But,  after  due  deliberation,  he  sailed  for 
Phigland  toward  the  close  of  1775,  and  reached  London  early  in  1770. 
Only  a  lirief  account  of  this,  his  first  visit  to  England  was  ever  found. 

He  was  not  only  well  received,  but  his  society  was  courted  by  gentle- 
men of  rank  and  station,  statesmen,  scholars,  and  divines.  Possessing 
but  little  of  the  savage  make-up  of  his  people  in  his  countenance,  aside 
from  his  color,  wherein  he  differed  from  other  men.  In  person  he  was 
graceful  and  dignified,  his  stature  being  five  feet  eleven  inches;  of 
fine  form  and  proportion,  possessing  great  muscular  power,  his  eyes 
brilliant  and  expressive;  in  short  everything  in  relation  to  his  person- 
ality was  engaging  and  prepossessing.  On  state  occasions  he  appeared 
in  court,  clothed  in  the  costume  of  his  native  tribe;  at  all  other  times 
he  appeared  in  the  dress  of  the  European. 

At  the  request  of  one  of  his  most  intimate  friends  he  sat  for  his  por- 
tiait;  he  was  painted  in  his  native  garb;  and  the  picture  was  highly 
prized  by  liim.  The  tomahawk  worn  by  him  when  he  was  clothed  in 
his  full  Indian  costume,  was  a  very  beautiful  article,  polished  to  the 
very  highest  degree,  upon  which  was  engraved  the  first  letter  of  his 
christian  name,  with  his  Mohawk  appellation,  "Thayendanegca."     He 


LIFE  OF  JOSEPH  BRANT.  _         lS9 

(lid  not  r<'iii;iin  in  Eniiland  iiinny  inontlis.  Init  returned  toward  the  close 
of  March  oi-  early  in  Aiiril.  ITK;.  and  anivid  on  the  coast  near  thi'  har- 
bor ot   New  York,  after  a  short  passaiie. 

liavin.t;-  determined  fully  to  fidtiii  his  stipulation  with  Ceneral  Carle- 
ton,  and  take  up  tlu>  hatchet  in  the  cause  of  the  ci-own.  he  had  to  per- 
foiin  a  \-ery  hazai'dous  .journe.\'  to  Canada:  and  was  oldiucd  to  steal 
his  way  thronuh  a  host  ilep<>|)ulati<U)  until  lie  could  reaih  the  forest  of  the 
Mohawk.  He  had  taken  the  pi-ecantion  in  Knuland  to  provide  for  the 
identity  of  his  body  In  case  of  disaster,  or  his  fall  in  any  of  the  h.attles 
bj  procni-ini;  a  Ljold  tinger-riug  with  his  n.anie  en,i;raved  thereon  at 
len.iith. 

What  were  the  p.articular  arguments  used  by  the  Kinu'  on  the  occa- 
sion of  IJrant's  visit,  to  impress  him  that  the  ISritish  arms  would  in  the 
end  be  \'ictorious  in  the  colonies,  is  uot  known.  It  is  certain,  howevi-r, 
that  whatever  doubts  he  mi.L^ht  have  entertained  were  dispelled;  and 
in  taking  leave  it  was  understood  that  lie  pledyed  himstdf  to  end)race 
the  royal  cause;  and  promised  to  take  the  lield  with  three  thousand 
wari'iors  of  his  race.  In  regard  to  the  principle  by  which  he  was  gov- 
erned in  his  decision,  a  letter  was  written  by  him  to  the  under  Secre- 
tary of  State,  when  in  England,  after  peace  was  declai'ed  in  ]7tS3. 
"He  stated  that  wlu'U  he  joined  the  Kngiisli  in  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  it  was  purely  on  account  of  my  forefathers'  engagement  with  the 
King.  I  always  looked  upon  those  engagements,  or  covenants,  be- 
tween the  King  and  the  Indian  nations  as  a  sacred  thing;  I  assuredly 
had  no  other  view  of  it  from  the  beginning." 

It  was  during  the  early  part  of  the  year  177r»,  while  it  was  yet  con- 
sidered doubtful  which  si<le  the  Mohawks  would  finally  espouse;  and 
it  was -desirable  to  ascertain  the  views  of  I'.rant  in  regard  to  it;  I'l'es- 
ident  Wheelock  was  ajiplied  to  as  a  medium  of  commmiication  with 
his  former  pupil.  The  reverend  gentleman,  accordingly  to  n-adition, 
wrote  him  a  long  epistle  upon  the  aspect  of  the  times;  and  urged  upon 
him  those  considerations  which  appeared  most  likely  to  win  him  over 
to  neutrality,  if  not  his  friendship,  to  the  colornsts.  Brant  rei)lied  very 
ingeniously.  lie  referred  to  his  former  residence  with  him,  ami  recalled 
the  happy  hours  he  had  passed  under  his  roof;  and  the  fannly. devo- 
tions to  which  he  had  listened.  He  said  he  could  never  forget  those 
prayers;  and  one  passage  in  pai-ficular  was  so  often  repeated:  "that 
they  might  be  able  to  live  as  good  subjects,  to  fear  God,  and  honor  the 
King."  If  doubt  existed  among  the  coloiusts  before  as  to  the  direction 
of  the  channel  in  which  his  inclinations  were  running,  there  were 
surely  none  left  after  the  i>ernsal  of  this  letter. 

General  Herkimer  still  cherished  the  belief  that  he  might  detach  the 
dusky  warrior  from  the  course  lie  had  esi)oused;  at  le.ast  he  might  not 
be  disinclined  to  reliiuiuish  it;  theii-  fonnei'  fi-iendship,  as  well  as 
being  near  neighbors,  nught  ]iei-hai)s  have  some  beai'ing  toward  his 
rescinding  the  cours(>  as  plaimed. 

{Subsequently  the  General  made  an  appointment  to  hold  an  interview 


140  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

with  Brant  at  Unadilla;  the  time  and  place  for  the  meeting  was  decid- 
ed upon.  Tlie  design  of  Herlcimer,  no  doubt  was,  if  in  case  of  failure 
to  win  him  over,  to  seize  his  person.  But  the  yvUy  chieftain  was  on  the 
alert  for  any  such  proceedings  (if  really  intended),  as  was  proved  soon 
after  they  met. 

The  scene  exhibited  at  this  interview  was  novel,  and  imposing;  the 
hostile  parties  were  encamped  about  two  miles  apart.  About  midway 
between,  a  temporai-y  shed  was  erected,  large  enough  to  seat  two  hun- 
dred persons.  By  mutual  agreement,  their  arms  were  to  be  left  in 
their  respective  encami>ments.  Brant  and  his  five  hundred  warriors 
remained  at  their  camp;  in  the  meantime  Brant  dispatched  a  courier 
to  (General  Herkimer  with  a  message  desiring  to  knbw  the  object  of 
his  visit.  General  Herkimer  replied  that  he  had  only  come  to  see  and 
converse  with  his  brother.  Captain  Brant.  The  witty  messenger  in- 
(luired  if  all  those  men  with  him  wished  to  talk  to  the  chief,  too!  On 
taking  his  leave  he  said  to  the  General  that  he  would  carry  his  talk 
back  to  the  chief;  and  soon  an  arrangement  was  made  for  the  meeting 
of  Herkimer.  Brant  appeared  in  the  edge  of  the  distant  forest  with  an 
escort  of  about  forty  warriors,  and  proceeded  to  the  place  of  meeting; 
after  a  little  parleying  a  circle  was  formed,  into  which  Brant  and  Her- 
kimer entered  together.  After  the  exchange  of  a  few  remarks,  the 
chieftain,  keeping  an  eagle-eye  upon  his  visitor,  inquired  the  reason  of 
his  being  thus  honored!  General  Herkimer  replied  that  he  had  come 
on  a  friendly  visit.  And  all  these  had  come  on  a  friendly  visit,  too! 
replied  the  chief.  All  want  to  see  the  "poor  Indian."  It  is  very  kind, 
he  added  with  a  sarcastic  snnle.  General  Herkimer  expressed  a  desire 
to  go  forwai-d  to  the  village;  l)ut  the  chief  replied  he  was  (piite  near 
enough,  and  that  he  must  not  proc(>ed  further.  Whether  the  wary 
chi(»ftain  entertained  any  suspicion  of  perhdy  was  never  known,  but 
certain  it  was  that  his  precaution  and  his  bearing  when  he  arrived  at 
the  place  of  meeting  were  such  as  to  wariant  him  to  be  able  to  frus- 
ti'ate  any  such  proceedings,  if  really  intended.  In  addressing  the  Gen- 
eral he  drew  himself  up  with  dignity  and  spoke  as  follows:  "I  have 
live  liundi'cd  warriors  with  me,  armed  and  ready  for  battle;  you  are  in 
my  power;  but  as  we  have  been  friends  and  neighbors,  I  will  not  take 
advantage  of  you,"  and  continued  by  saying  that  the  Indians  liad  con- 
cluded to  take  up  the  Avar  liatchet  in  favor  of  the  King,  and  they 
would  not  violate  their  pledge.  Therefore  he  advised  Herkimer  to  go 
back  to  his  home,  and  thanked  him  for  his  civility  in  coming  to  see 
him;  that  perhaps  he  might  some  time  return  the  compliment.  At  a 
signal  a  host  of  his  armed  warriors  darted  forth  from  the  forest,  paint- 
ed and  ready  for  the  onslaught,  with  the  well  known  war-whoop  re- 
sounding through  the  forest,  but.  with  no  hostile  intention  against  Gen- 
i>ral  Herkimer. 

The  chief  then  s.nid  that  he  would  go  back  to  the  village;  in  the 
meantime  the  General  might  rest  assured  that  no  hostilities  should 
for  the  i)resent  be  committed  by  the     Indians.     Brant     then     turned 


LIFE  OF  JOSEPH  BRANT.  141 

proudly  away  tlirou.uli  tlu-  I'oiest;  while  ilfrkluuT  struck  liis  iciils  and 
ivlurut'd  to  tlu-  valley  of  the  .Mdhawk.  Thus  toniiinatfd  this  most  siii- 
.uulnr  couforouci';  the  last  that  was  held  lictuccn  (Jciicral  llcrkiiiici- 
and  tilt"  Mohawk  chict. 

After  this,  seeues  of  a  stiri'iuu  eharactcr  soon  took  place  in  Tryon 
eouuty.  and  especially  in  the  valley  of  the  Mohawlc;  in  which  the  lead- 
ers of  this  noted  uieetin,ti  at  I'nadilla  beeanie  active  particiiiants. 

Most  historians,  in  describin.L;  the  events  th;it  occun-cd,  used  much 
of  liction  and  exaggeration.  Xo  doubt  tlu'  crude  verbal  ai-connts  that 
found  their  way  into  the  I'cports  of  military  ofhcers.  .•in<l  others  without 
examination  or  authentic  material  for  history,  were  instrnmiMibil  in 
intiannny  tlie  people:  in  short,  tliey  were  wi'itten  .-it  too  e.tily  a  day  lor 
an  impartial  account. 

This  master  spirit  of  the  Indians  thus  en,t;a,y-ed  in  the  r.ritish  service. 
during'  tlie  war  of  the  K<'volution,  not  only  were  all  the  border  mas- 
sjicres  cliarged  directly  upon  him,  but  upon  his  lie;ul  fell  all  the  acts  of 
atrocity  wliich  marked  that  sanguinary  contest:  whether  connnitted 
by  Indi.ans  oi'  Tories.  In  m.any  instances  great  injustice  was  done 
I'.rant.  In  regard  to  the  att'air  of  Wyoming,  which  has  been  regarded 
as  being  one  of  the  most  cruel  events  in  the  history  of  tlie  Ut'volution, 
it  is  cert.-iin  in  the  face  of  every  historical  authority,  British  and 
American,  th;it  so  far  ;is  Itrant's  being  engaged  in  this  .affair  as  a 
leader,  hi'  w;is  m.-iny  miles  distant  at  the  time  of  its  occurrence.  Such 
was  the  uniform  testimony  of  the  liritish  otticers  in  th.at  expedition: 
and  such  w;is  always  the  word  of  Thayendanegea  himself. 

In  ;i  correspondence  between  \Vm.  L.  Stone  and  Samuel  ('.  Frey,  of 
upper  ("iinaila,  a  son  of  Philip  It.  Frey,  who  was  an  ensign  in  a  regi- 
ment which  was  engaged  in  the  campaign  and  battle  of  Wyoming,  and 
who  died  at  Palatine,  IMontgoniery  county,  in  1S2;!:  it  was  his  testi- 
mony that  I>rant  a\';is  not  ;it  Wyoming;  that  there  w;is  no  chii'f  of 
note  with  the  Indians  on  that  expedition,  and  th;it  they  were  led  by 
one  Captain  IJird.  of  the  Eighth  i-egiment,  joining  the  Indijins  placed 
under  him  with  a  (U't;ichment  of  his  regiment,  to  Butler's  Uangers. 
They  conceived  and  carried  out  the  descent  upon  Wyoming.  Rarely 
does  it  happen  that  history  was  more  at  fault  in  regard  to  fjicts,  than 
in  this  case  .at  Wyonnng,  th.at  IJrant  was  the  leadt'i-. 

A  correct  history  .-issures  us  that  the  bloody  scenes  that  were  en.acted 
:it  Cherry  Valley,  should  not  be  coupled  with  the  n.ame  of  I'.r.ant.  Th.at 
he  was  not  the  commander  <»f  that  expedition:  but  that  it  was  led  by 
the  notorious  Walter  N.  llutler.  whose  father  was  griev(»d  at  the  con- 
duct of  his  son  on  that  melancholy  day:  because  the  exix'dition  was 
entirely  of  his  s(»n's  undertaking,  lir.ant's  conduct  on  th.at  fat.al  day 
w.as  not  that  which  some  histoiians  m.ade  it  a])i)ear.  On  the  contr.ai-y 
lie  did  all  in  his  power  to  lU'event  the  shedding  of  innoceid  blood.  His- 
tory i-ecords  the  following  incideids  that  look  place.  On  I  lie  morning 
of  the  attack  he  lett  the  niiiin  body  of  Indians  and  endeavored  to 
arrive  at  the  home  of  a  Mr.  Wells,  for  the  purpose  of  affording  i)iotec- 


143  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

lion  to  the  family;  lie  beinjj  an  intimate  friend  of  liis,  but  he  aiTived 
too  late;  the  entire  family  were  killed.  On  entering  a  eeitain  house 
r.earby,  he  found  a  woman  cnnployed  in  her  household  work.  Brant 
thus  aeeosted  the  woman:  "Are  you  thus  engaged."  inciuired  the 
ehief,  "while  all  yoiu-  neighbors  are  being  murdered?"  The  woman 
replied  that  they  were  in  favor  of  the  King.  "That  plea  will  not  avail 
you  to-day!  They  h;ive  murdered  Mr.  Wells'  family,  who  were 
as  dear  to  me  as  my  own."  "I'.ut,"  continued  the  woman,  "there  is  one 
Joseph  l*.i-ant;  if  lie  Is  with  the  Indians  he  will  save  usl"  "1  am  .loseph 
Brant,"  was  the  (piiek  response.  "But  I  have  not  the  connnand.  and  I 
know  not  that  1  can  save  you.  ))ut  I  will  do  what  is  in  my  power."  At 
this  moment  he  observed  th<'  Indians  approaching.  "Get  into  l>ed, 
quick,"  he  couunanded  her,  "and  feign  sickness."  The  woman  obeyed, 
and  when  the  Indians  retired  he  rallied  a  few  of  his  Mohawks  by  a 
wt'll  known  signal,  and  directed  them  tt)  paint  his  nuirk  upon  the 
woman  and  her  children.  "Ycm  are  now  probably  safe,"  he  remarked, 
and  departed.  One  other  incident  in  point  to  sul)stantiate  the  noble 
trait  in  his  character.  On  entering  a  house  where  Butler  ordered  a 
woman  and  child  to  l)e  killed.  Brant  interfered,  saying:  "What!  kill 
a  woman  and  child!  No;  that  mother  and  child  are  ;;ot  an  enemy  to 
the  King;  long  before  the  child  will  be  i)ig  enough  to  do  any  mischief, 
tlie  dispute  will  be  settled."     They  were  saved. 

The  whole  conduct  of  Brant  on  that  memorable  day  demonstrated 
he  was  not  the  cruel  monster  he  was  represented  to  be.  History  de- 
clares that  Brant  was  no  less  humane  than  he  w^as  brave.  He  was  an 
Indian  and  led  Indians  to  tight  upon  their  own  principles  and  usages  of 
war.  Bold  and  daring,  sagacious,  and  wily,  he  often  struck  when  least 
expected,  watching  with  sleepless  vigilance  for  opportunities  of  action. 
But  no  instances  of  wanton  cruelty,  treachery,  or  the  murder  of  pris- 
oners, or  others,  was  ever  permitted  by  him  in  cold  blood.  It  was  said 
of  him  that  notwithstanding  all  his  martial  tire,  and  heroism,  he  pos- 
sessed a  sensibility  of  soul  that  would  weep  at  a  tale  of  woe. 

In  justification  of  the  practices  of  Indian  warfare.  Brant's  course  of 
reasoning  was  "that  the  object  of  each  party  when  engaged  in  war 
was  to  destroy  his  enemy,  or  to  weaken  and  intimidate  him  so  much 
as  to  force  him  to  peace.  The  Indians,  he  .said,  were  destitute  of  nu'ans 
and  also  of  implements  of  war  which  the  white  people  possessed.  They 
could  not  successfully  contend  with  them  in  the  open  tield,  because 
they  had  no  artillery,  so  indispensible  and  destructive  in  a  field  fight. 
That  the  Indians  had  no  forts  to  resort  to  for  protection;  no  depots  or 
prisons  to  secure  their  prisoners.  The  simple  and  necessary  principle, 
therefore,  of  Indian  warfare,  was  extermination.  To  destroy  as  many 
of  the  enemy  and  their  supplies,  and  save  as  many  of  themselyes  as 
practicable;  and  for  tlu^se  results  to  resort  to  ambuscade,  strategem. 
and  every  .species  of  deception  to  effect  the  ol)ject."  And  a  n;ition  is 
yet  to  be  discovered  tliat  will  not  fight  for  their  homes,  the  graves  of 
their  fathers,  and  the  family  altars.     Cruel  as  may  seem  the  mode  of 


LIFE  OF  JOSEPH  BRANT.  143 

Indian  warfare,  tlicy  were  not  so  considered  by  tliosc  wiio  itracticcd 
tlioni,  and  was  lield  in  tln'ir  estimation  as  iK'in.n'  not  more  ciiicl  Mian  the 
wliolt'saie  nmrder  laid  down  in  Ijoolcs,  witli  all  tlic  cnLiincs  of  destruc- 
tion which  the  ingenuity  of  the  white  man  lias  conceived,  to  eltect  this 
purpose. 

The  cruel  act  of  scalping  by  the  Indian  was  gn-atly  aunnieiited. 
owing  to  the  bounty  given  for  such  scalp  by  tlie  King's  agents. 

It  was  a  matter  of  policy  on  the  part  of  the  crown,  as  a  means  to  the 
end,  of  subjugating  the  people  of  the  colonies. 

Many  instances  are  related  by  Jlrant  in  saving  the  lives  of  innocent 
children,  their  mothers,  the  aged  and  intirm.  from  cruel  death  at  the 
hands  of  his  people.  He  said  their  impi'tuosit.v  in  the  excitement  of 
war  was  often  hard  to  be  kept  under  control.  And  his  own  life  was 
many  times  imperiled  in  shielding  such  as  were  noncondyatants:  thus 
demonstrating  tlie  humanitarian  spirit  that  actuated  this  famous  Indian 
chief,  under  the  circumstances  in  which  lie  was  placed,  as  :i  leadi-r 
of  hostilities  in  favor  of  the  King.  In  the  domestic  relations  of  I'.rant. 
his  home  was  the  abode  of  kindness  and  hospitality.  He  was  thi-ic(> 
married;  l)y  his  hrst  wife,  the  daughter  of  an  ()neid;i  chief,  lie  had 
two  children,  a  son  and  daughter;  by  his  second  wife  (who  w.is  a  sis- 
ter of  his  first  wife)  he  had  no  children;  by  his  third,  he  had  seven. 
His  great  solicitucU'  for  the  well  being  of  his  children,  is  attested  by 
his  desire  that  they  might  all  receive  a  good  education.  ;iiid  become 
useful  and  honored  citizens.  Tlie  purity  of  his  private  mor.als  wi-re 
never  (lUestioned.  In  his  dealings  and  business  relations  lu'  was  promi»t 
and  honoral)le.  I  tut  one  cloud  ever  obscured  the  lu-ightness  of  his 
family  circle.  It  was  the  wayward  son  of  Ins  first  wife,  whose  un- 
timely death  was  caused  by  his  intemperate  habits. 

The  natural  indolence  of  the  Indian  race  in  all  matters  e.\cei)tiiig  the 
war-path  and  the  chase,  was  not  the  characteristic  of  Ur.-int.  On  the 
contr;iry.  the  history  of  man  scarcely  supplies  a  parallel  instance  of 
such  active  public  service  in  the  council  as  well  as  in  the  tield,  from  the 
day  of  his  youtli  at  Lake  Gi'orge  until  his  death,  moi'e  than  half  ,i  cen- 
tury afterward.  The  termination  of  the  war  brought  none  of  the  iii.ic- 
tivities  of  life  to  him. 

His  correspondence  was  voluminous;  all  his  letters  and  writings, 
that  were  preserved  as  history  of  the  events  in  which  hv  was  an  active 
l)articipant,  breathed  the  spirit  of  tlu'  true  gentlem.an;  they  were 
always  couched  in  tine  language,  becoming  a  scholar  and  student  of 
human  nature. 

In  17S4,  a  few  years  previous  to  the  death  of  r.rant,  he  built  ;i  line 
dwelling  on  the  tract  of  land  in  Canada,  ])resented  through  him  to  the 
Mohawks,  and  the  othei-s  of  the  Si.K  Nations,  as  their  iiossessions  for 
loyalty  to  the  King.  The  district  of  country  thus  granted  w.is  alike 
be;iutiful  ;ind  fertile:  lying  ui>on  the  banks  of  (Jrand  Kivei'.  being  si.v 
mih's  in  width  on  each  side     of     the  rivei\  bv  about     one     hnndred   in 


144  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

length.  The  situation  of  his  home  atfordcd  a  tine  prospect  of  Lake 
Ontario,  with  a  fruitful  soil  and  pietures(iue  country  around  it. 

At  this  home  on  the  24th  day  of  November,  LSOT,  died  Th:iyend;i- 
negea,  Joseph  Ltrant,  at  the  age  of  G4  years  8  months;  whoso  life  was 
made  famous  for  the  space  of  over  half  a  century.  He  was  a  stead- 
fast believer  in  the  distinguished  doctrines  of  Christianity  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Episcopal  clmrch  at  the  time  of  his  decease;  and  w.is  buried 
near  the  church  which  he  built  at  the  Mohawk  village  on  Grand  River. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  this,  the  first  church  erected  in  upper 
Canada,  was  built  by  IJrant,  the  chief  of  a  people  who  were  previously 
I'agan  in  belief.  The  tirst  bell  which  summoned  the  people  to  this 
house  of  prayer  in  the  province,  on  the  Christian  Sabbath,  was  carried 
thither  bv  Brant. 


STAMP  ACTvS. 

AN   ADDRESS   HV    HON.    KOlilCKT   EAKI,,    OF    HERKIMKR, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  vSociety,  May  iS,  1900 

Stamps  for  the  imrposc  of  t;i\.atioa  and  revenue  were  first  l>rou.i;]it 
into  use  l)y  the  Dutch  in  Holland,  in  ](;i'4.  They  were  Hrst  used  in 
I'lniilaiid  in  1(!!M  10  raise  revenue  to  earry  on  the  war  witii  Fraiuc;  and 
they  liave  lieen  pari  ot  tlie  I'evenue  system  of  that  country  ever  since. 
Tliere  tiiey  covered  a  .^reat  variety  of  subjects,  and,  anion.:;-  otiier  teat^ 
tu-i's  which  eharacteiized  them,  they  were  avowedly  so  arrauL^ed  as  to 
diseoiu-a.ne  jotu-nalism.  wliich  it  was  feared  miyht  foster  discontent, 
sedition,  and  the  rcfoi-niin^-  spirit  anionu'  the  people.  The  uoveruin.^- 
classes  feared  ciieap  newsjtapers  wliich  would  reach  (he  common  peo- 
jili',  and  stimulate  their  minds,  and  briu.i;-  about  concerted  action  foi' 
the  assertion  of  their  rights  .and  the  reform  of  their  Kfievances.  Ac- 
eordin.uly,  down  to  the  early  part  of  this  eeutury,  the  stam])  duty 
aiiiounti  d  to  four  iinice  on  every  copy  of  a  newspaper  issued, 
besid(  s  a  he;i\y  duty  upon  the  bl.ank  pai)er;  :ind  there  was 
;i  tax  of  six  i)ence  on  every  advertisement  conl.ained  in  a 
newspaper.  Thus  it  was  very  dillicult  for  .anyone  excejit  a 
(ai)it;ilist  of  lar.ue  means  to  publish  any  newsp.apei,  and 
impossible  to  ]>ublish  a  cheai)  one.  Later  the  stamp  tax  was  reduced, 
and  in  is;;(;,  it  was  bron.uht  down  to  a  penny,  represented  by  tlie  red 
si;, nip  of  the  uovernment  <>ii  every  c()]>y.  About  IStJO,  undei'  the  stimu- 
i.itiiii;-  leadership  ot  Mv.  (il.adstone,  the  paper  duty.  aft<>r  much  ojipo- 
sitioii.  p.ai  ticulaiiy  from  the  House  of  I^ords.  was  entirely  abolished; 
.and  thus  cheap  newspapei-s  wi're  made  jiossible  in  Eiml.and. 

II  may  lie  iinticcd  here  p.ireiit  lietic.-illy  Ih.at  durinu'  the  Second  I'hnidre 

ill    Kr;ince.   stamp  duties   were   imposed   upon   newsp.apers  pui])()sely   to 

discoura.ue   the   publication    of   cheap    newspai)ers   which    lui^iit  arouse 

.i    ■        a.nitation    and    insubordin.-ilioii    .iiikiii^    tlie    peojde.    and    thus   endau.u'ei- 

f'ij  ■.        (lie  thnme  of  the  Third   I'.oii.iparle.     A    free  pr(>ss  which  can  reach  all 

-».«-,.. ,ij|'    .1    the  iieople  of  ;iny  country  will  .always  in  the  end  undermine  autocratic 

'    or  despotic  power. 

J,     Tliti  project  of  raising  i-eveiiue  in  the  colonies  of  America  by  stamps 


146  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

had  for  some  years  been  agitated  among  the  statesmen  of  England,  and 
finally  what  came  to  be  known  as  the  Grenville  Stamp  Act  was  passed 
by  the  English  Tarliament  on  the  22nd  of  March,  17(;5,  to  take  effect 
Novend>er  1st  of  that  year.  It  passed  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  a 
very  large  majority,  and  in  tlie  House  of  Lords  unanimously.  Tliere 
were  some  English  statesmen,  liowever,  like  Pitt,  Camden,  Barre  and 
Conway  who  denied  the  right  of  the  Parliament  to  tax  the  colonies 
because  tliey  were  not  represented  therein.  Tliey  contended  in  a  de- 
bate conducted  with  great  ability  and  whicli  left  notliing  to  be  said 
(what  tlie  colonists  always  maintained),  that  taxation  and  representa- 
tion should  go  together,  and  that  as  the  colonists  were  not  represented 
in  the  parliament,  it  liad  no  right  to  appropriate  their  i)roperty  by  way 
of  taxation;  and  they  predicted  tlie  momentuous  conse(iuences  whicli 
would  tlow  from  an  enforcement  of  the  act.  The  act  was  very  sweep- 
ing in  its  provisions.  It  imposed  stamp  duties  upon  all  legal  papers 
and  documents  of  every  kind,  upon  all  licenses,  shipping  bills,  bonds, 
notes,  evidences  of  debt,  contracts  and  even  upon  pamphlets,  newspa- 
pers, almanacs  and  calendars;  and  the  tax  was  double  on  all  papers 
and  documents  not  in  the  English  language. 

Throughout  the  world,  in  all  of  the  struggles  of  the  masses  for  great- 
er freedom,  the  lawyers  generally  have  been  found  on  the  side  of  the 
people  against  despotic  power.  So  it  was  in  ancient  Greece  and  Rome; 
and  so  it  was  in  France  at  all  times  of  the  uprising  of  the  people  to 
achieve  greater  protection  from  and  a  larger  sliare  in  tlieir  government, 
and,  conspicuously,  in  England  in  every  great  crisis  in  lier  liistory.  And 
so,  with  the  exception  of  the  lawyers  who  held  office  under  the  crown 
or  expected  royal  patronage,  the  great  mass  of  the  lawyers  in  America 
were  patriots  and  staunch  supporters  and  leaders  of  the  people  in  their 
struggles  against  English  tyranny.  Therefore,  as  Trevelyan  in  liis  his- 
tory of  the  American  Revolution,  says:  "A  secondary,  but  an  evident 
and  even  confessed  object  of  a  Stamp  Act  Avas  to  impose  a  prohibitory 
tax  upon  the  manufacture  of  legal  documents,  and  thereby  to  injure 
and  pare  down  the  gains  of  those  unofficial  lawyers  among  whom  Avere 
to  be  found  the  most  skillful  and  stubborn  opponents  of  the  crown." 

When  the  news  of  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  reached  this  country 
it  aroused  everywhere  the  most  intense  excitement  and  indignation. 
Meetings  were  held  in  the  principal  towns  and  cities,  and  the  act  was 
denounced  as  an  invasion  of  the  fundamental  rights  of  freemen;  and 
n^solutions  were  adopted  to  resist  its  execution.  It  suddenly  converted 
thousands  of  staunch  royalists  into  patriots.  A  congress  of  the  colonies 
was  called  to  meet  in  New  York  in  October  to  effect  a  union  among  the 
colonies  for  resistance  to  the  attacks  of  the  Parliament  upon  the  liber- 
ties which  they  claimed  as  their  English  birthright.  When  the  first 
day  of  November  arrived  on  which  the  act  was  to  talvc  effect,  the  liis- 
torian  Bancroft  describes  the  situation  as  follows:  "It  (the  day)  broke 
upon  a  people  unanimously  resolved  on  nullifying  it.  From  New  Hamp- 
shire to  the  far  South,  the  day  was  introduced  by  the  tolling  of  muffled 


STAMP  ACTS  147 

l/fUs:  minute  i;ims  were  lirrd  and  pcnants  lioistcd  lialf  staff;  or  a 
t  ulo.uy  was  pronounced  on  liberty,  and  her  Ivnell  sounded:  and  then 
ayain  the  note  elian.i^ed  as  if  she  were  restored  to  Hfe;  and  while  [lieas- 
ure  shone  on  evi'i'y  ei»nntenanee,  men  shouted  confusion  to  her  enemies. 
('liil(h'en  iiardly  aliie  to  speai;  caui^ht  U[)  tlie  .general  cliorus  and  went 
aiouL;-  tlie  streets  cariolini;'.  "Lihi'rty,  I'roix  rty,  an<l  No  Stamps."  Mer- 
cliants  l)anded  to.ucther  to  refuse  tlie  importation  or  sale,  wlnii'  tiie  act 
was  in  force,  of  any  goods  from  Enyhind;  and  citizens  resolved  not  to  use 
any  yoods  so  imported.  Stamp  agents  were  forced  by  threats  and  vio- 
lence to  resign  tli«'ir  otiices.  Stamps  were  seized  and  destroyed,  and 
e\en  the  buildings  in  wliicli  they  were  stored  or  offered  for  sale  wei'e 
al.so  destroyed.  When  news  (jf  the  act  hrst  reached  New  York,  hand 
bills  containing  a  coi»y  of  the  stamp  act  with  a  death's  he.id  altixed 
were  hawked  al)out  the  streets  under  the  title  of  "The  Folly  of  lOng- 
land  and  the  Kuiu  of  America;"  and  t)U  the  ".Ist  day  of  October  a  news- 
paper made  its  appearance  there  in  mournin.g,  headed  by  the  following 
prologue:  "A  Funeral  Lamentation  on  the  Death  of  Liberty,  wlio  liual- 
ly  E.xpin's  on  tliis  ."ilst  day  of  October  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord 
MDCCLXV.  and  of  our  Slavery  L"  It  was  al»out  this  time  in  a  debate 
in  the  House  of  Iturgesses  of  \irginia  over  the  Stamp  Act  th;it  Patrick 
Henry  made  his  famous  speech  in  which  he  said:  "Caesar  had  his 
I'.rutus,  Charles  I  his  Cromwell,  and  George  III  (Treason!  crii'd  the 
Speaker.  Treason  !  Treason,  echoed  fi'om  every  part  of  the  house) 
may  i)rolit  by  their  example.     If  that  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it." 

Till'  ;igitation  against  the  act  was  so  tierce  and  determined  in  this 
counti'y,  and  also  in  England  by  I'itt  and  othei's  who  thought  it  not  only 
unwise  and  inexpedient,  bnt  also  an  inv.asion  of  the  English  Constitu- 
tion, that  it  was  ivpealed  by  the  I'arliament  on  tlie  ISth  day  of  March. 
ITCiC).  During  the  time  it  was  in  force,  llie  stamp  duties  realized 
amounted  to  oidy  four  thousand  pounds,  not  enough  to  pay  the  expenses 
of  collection.  A  majority  of  the  nuMubers  of  I'arlianu'nt  who  voted  for 
the  rcpe.il  did  so  on  the  gi'onnd  of  exi»ediency.  The  repe.-il  would  have 
been  more  salisfactoi'v  to  the  colonists,  but  for  the  fact  that  it  was 
accompani(>d  with  the  declaration  that  the  English  I'arliament  had  the 
right  by  its  acts  to  impose  taxes  upon  the  colonies  and  to  bind  (hem 
in  ;ill  cases. 

The  repeal  was  nevertheless  hailed  here  everywhere  with  great  nniii- 
il"estations  of  Joy.  To.asts  weri'  drunk  to  the  royal  family  and  to  Par- 
li.'iment.  P.ells  were  rung.  c;innon  lireiL  banners  disjilayed,  and  illunu- 
nations  by  night  lighted  cities  ;ind  villages:  and  in  P.oston.  imi)risoned 
debtors  were  released  by  subscription,  .lohn  Adams  wroti'  th;it  "the 
repeal  of  the  stamp  act  has  composed  every  wave  of  popular  discontent 
into  a  smooth  .Mnd  peaceful  ocean."  In  celebration  of  the  event  the 
first  liberty  pole  in  .\niei-ica  w;is  erected  liy  the  Sons  of  liiberty  in 
New  \'ork,  and  there.-ifter  such  jtoles  bec.-nne  the  symbols  of  liberty 
among  tlie  .Vnierican  jieople,  and  the  rallying  (loint  of  patriots. 

The  Stamp  Act  set  in  motion  the  causes  wliich  led  to  the  American 


148  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Revolution  and  the  independence  of  our  country.  P»ut  the  cokniists  liad 
other  grievances  which  would  undoubtedly  have  led  to  the  same  results 
unlessEngiandchanged  her  policy  toward  the  colonists.  In  her  legislation 
and  her  treatment  of  them,  she  disregarded  their  interests  and  exploited 
them  for  her  beneht.  Navigation  laws  prohibited  trading  and  com- 
merce between  the  colonies  and  other  countries  then  England.  Every 
branch  of  consumption  here  was  so  far  as  practicable  secured  to  Eng- 
lish manufacturers.  Every  form  of  competition  by  colonial  industry 
was  discouraged  or  forbidden.  No  colonist  of  English  blood  would 
have  patiently  endured  these  invasions  of  their  natural  rights,  if  there 
had  been  no  Stamp  Act  and  no  asserted  right  to  impose  taxes  upon  them 
by  act  of  Parliament.  What  the  colonists  claimed  was  the  regulation 
of  their  own  internal,  domestic  affairs,  including  taxation,  through  their 
own  legislative  assemblies,  and  they  would  have  been  satisHed  with 
nothing  less.  Their  leaders  had  thoroughly  studied  the  science  of  gov- 
ernment, and  the  principles  upon  which  tliat  science  should  be  based 
were  neAer  more  thoroughly  and  ably  discussed  tlian  by  the  patriots  of 
the  Revolution  and  their  friends  in  the  English  Parliament. 

A  generation  had  scarcely  passed,  and  the  memories  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  and  the  bitterness  and  animosities  which  it  aroused  liad  not  gone 
from  the  minds  of  men  before  another  Stamp  Act  was  enacted  by  Con- 
gress during  the  administration  of  John  Adams,  July  Gtli,  1797,  a  sim- 
ilar act  ha^ang  been  rejected  by  Congress  during  the  administration  of 
Washington.  It  provided  for  stamps  on  legal  paper,  licenses,  evidences 
of  debt,  and  other  private  documents.  The  license  of  an  attorney 
required  a  stamp  of  $10;  and  a  certiticate  of  naturalization,  a  stamp  of 
$5.  The  act  was  a  Federalist  measure  passed  at  a  time  when  the 
Federalists  had  control  of  Congress,  and  it  was  bitterly  opposed  and 
assailed  by  the  Republicans  of  that  day.  They  accused  Adams  and 
his  friends,  the  Federalists,  of  a  leaning  toward  Great  Britain,  and 
some  denounced  the  act  because  it  imitated  tlie  British  way  of  raising 
revenue.  Many  denounced  it  on  sentimental  grounds,  associating  with 
it  the  odium  of  the  British  Stamp  Act  of  1705,  and  the  momentous 
struggles  against  that  act;  and  others  claimed  tliat  the  raising  of  rev- 
enue by  stamps  was  not  a  proper  function  of  the  general  government, 
but  one  to  be  exercised  by  the  States.  The  act  provided  for  the  sale 
of  stamps  by  agents  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose.  General  Michael 
Myers,  a  leading  Federalist,  was  appointed  the  stamp  agent  for  this 
locality.  He  lived  where  Robert  E.  Steele  now  lives,  and  he  placed  at 
his  house  a  sign  indicating  that  he  had  stamps  for  sale.  That  sign 
aroused  the  animosity  of  the  Republicans  in  this  neigliborhood.  They 
had  not  forgotten  the  British  Stamp  Act  of  17()5;  and  as  the  patriots 
of  that  time  forcibly  resi-sted  that  act,  they  determined  so  far  as  they 
could  to  resist  this,  even  by  violence.  So  a  number  of  them,  all  of  whom 
had  been  Revolutionary  soldiers,  in  the  Fall  of  1797,  assembled  at  a 
tavern  which  stood  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Mary  streets,  where  the 
Monroe  building  now  stands,  and  they  uiarched  in  military  array  to 


STAMP  ACTS.  149 

the  rosidonoo  of  Gonornl  Myers,  ami  tliore  thoy  tore  down  the  sign  and 
oaiTiod  it  away  in  trinni])li.  Tliis  was  not  done  without  some  sliow  of 
I'esistance  I)y  (Jeneral  ^iyei-s.  One  of  liis  negro  slaves  was  armed  with 
an  axe,  wliirh  lie  tlonrislied  in  defense  of  Ills  master.  His,  son.  I'otiT, 
drew  his  sw()r<l:  hnt  tlie  sturdy  Repuhlieans  wlio  liad  many  times  faced 
greater  dangers,  were  not  intimidated  and  eompli'ted  tlieir  work.  For 
this  riotous  eonduet  tlie  participants  were  indicted  in  the  Federal 
Court  and  were  snhseipu'ntly  arrested  and  tal<en  to  All)any.  Tliere 
tliey  emidoyed  Aaron  P.urr  to  defend  them.  lie  toolv  tlie  prisoners  in 
cliarge,  liad  tliem  sliavcd  and  hi'uslu>d  up  so  tliat  tliey  wouhl  malce  a 
good  appearance  in  Court:  and  in  some  way,  just  liow  I  never  learned, 
lie  got  them  off.  I'.enton  in  his  history  of  Herkimer  county,  says  it  was 
through  the  intervention  of  Governor  Jay,  who  was  a  Fi'deralist.  This 
was  a  great  matter  at  tliat  time  in  tlie  Mohawk  valley,  and  the  riot- 
ers returned  home  the  heroes  of  tlie  houi'.  My  grandfather  (Dr.  Petry) 
who  lived  where  my  bi-otlun-'s  family  now  live,  within  a  few  rods  of 
General  Myers"  resiih'iice,  was  among  the  men  who  marched  from  the 
tavern;  and  Just  hefore  tlu'  sign  was  torn  down  his  eldc^st  daughter,  a 
resolute  wom:in.  fearing  (hat  he,  an  old  man,  might  he  injured,  went 
from  her  home  and  took  him  by  the  arm  and  led  him  away;  and  so  he 
escaped  indictment  with  his  compatriots.  Another  incident  illustrating 
the  intense  feeling  of  the  times  may  here  be  related.  (Jeneral  Myers 
had  some  Guinea  hens  who  used  to  get  upon  the  division  fence  between 
his  lot  and  Dr.  Petry's,  ;ind  there  utter  their  n.-itnral  cackle,  which 
sounded  very  much  like  Stamp  .\ct!  Stamp  Act!  Stjini])  Act!  ;ind  he  or- 
dered one  of  his  sons  to  kill  them,  ,is  he  would  not  have  those  con- 
founded Guinea  hens  crying  Stamp  Act  at  him, 

Tliis  act  was  so  odious  to  the  Republicans  that  it  was  repealed  when 
they  came  into  ]iower  (hiring  tlie  administration  of  Thomas  .Ti'fferson, 
in  1802. 

In  the  war  of  ]S12,  with  Great  P.ritain.  stamps  were  again  resorted 
to  for  the  i)uri»ose  of  revenue  uiuh'r  an  art  of  Congress  p.-issed  in  ISI.'i. 
The  act  was  ;i  Kei>ublic;iii  n'.easure.  devised  to  I'aise  inoii(>y  to  (h'fray 
the  ex'penses  of  what  w.is  at  tli.'it  time  c.-illed  by  t!ie  Feder;i lists  a 
llepuldican  war.  and  it  was  violently  opposed  by  the  Fech'ralists,  as 
were  substantially  ;ill  the  Av;ir  measures  passed  by  the  I{ei>ublican 
party.  It  is  thus  seen  that  subsecnient  to  the  administration  of  John 
Adams,  the  two  it.-n'ties  had  r<'versed  their  position  on  the  question  of 
st.-imp  taxation.  This  taxation  was  nbro.u.ated  soon  after  the  close  of 
the  wai-. 

In  the  war  of  the  Rebellion,  the  enormous  expenditures  made  a 
resort  to  nearly  every  sp<>cies  of  taxation  necessary  to  meet  the  needs 
of  our  Government;  and  stamps  were  extensively  used  as  a  means  of 
revenue  uiKh-r  an  ad  of  Congress  i>assed  in  1S(!4.  The  main  provisions 
of  that  act  reiii.-iined  in  force  until  ISS.'I.  when  nearl.x'  all  its  |>rovisioiis 
W(-re  re])e:ili'd,  lea\ing  only  stam|»  taxes  iii>on  beer,  distilled  liquor, 
cigars  and  cigarettes.     .\iid  now  ;igain  to  meet  the  expenses  of  tin'  Late 


150  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

war  with  Spain  we  have  a  system  of  stanip  taxation  which,  in  conse- 
quence of.  the  large  increase  of  our  national  expenditiu'es,  I  believe  has 
come  to  stay. 

This  kind  of  taxation  has  ceased  to  l)e  a  political  measure,  dividing 
political  parties.  It  is  generally  approved  by  writers  on  political  econ- 
omy and  the  .science  of  taxation  on  tlie  ground  that  such  a  tax  is  less 
burdensome  and  more-  easily  collected  than  most  others.  Such  taxes 
imposed  liy  the  representatives  of  the  people  no  longer  arouse  any  fears 
or  opposition.  A  self  governing  people  have  very  little  reason  to  com- 
plain of  taxation  which  they  themselves  through  their  representatives 
impose.  Systems  of  taxation  may  be  and  sometimes  are  imperfect  and 
even  mischieveous.  Time  and  experience  will  perfect  them,  and  the 
vigil.-ince  of  the  people  should  be  mainly  directed  to  the  manner  in 
which  their  servants  dispose  of  money  thus  taken  from  them. 


THE  HERKIMER  HYDRAULIC   CANAL. 

AN    ADDRESS    HV    HON.    WILLIAM    C.    PRESCOTT,    OF    HERKIMER, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  June  9,  1900. 

The  Her'vinH'r  liydiaulic  «';ni,'il  lins  contril)iit«Ml  very  lariicly  to  the 
fjrowth  and  jti-ospcrity  of  tlie  villauc  of  Horkinier,  tluM'efoi't'  a  state- 
ineiit  of  sonic  of  the  facts  in  reference  thereto  and  a  brief  sketch  of 
the  inchistrics  connected  thcrewitli  may  l)e  of  interest  to  many  persons 
and  may  have  some  historical  value. 

Before  this  eanal  was  built  the  water  power  of  the  West  Canada 
Creek  had  not  been  utilized  at  Herkimer  to  any  great  extent.  In  188^5 
there  was  a  eardins;-  and  fulling  mill  and  a  saw  mill  near  wIumv  Terry 
(t.  Wires  now  lives,  opei'ated  liy  lOlisha  T.isby.  The  fulling  and  carding 
mill  was  afterwai'd  conducted  by  Chestei'  W.  Palmer.  Sr.  At  about 
the  same  time  the  saw  mill  was  oiiernted  by  W.  A.  Caswell.  Soon  after 
the  hydraulic  canal  was  built  a  new  tail  race  was  constructed  by  War- 
ren Caswell.  Sr.,  and  Nathaniel  Ethridge,  which  passed  through  lands 
lat(>ly  owned  by  Dr.  IVter  Tryne  and  lands  now  owned  by  William 
W.  liarse,  and  discharged  into  the  West  Canada  Cn-ek  near  Mr.  Barse's 
cider  mill.  A  s;iw  mill  .and  clover  mill  were  erected  near  this  tail  race 
on  the  Barse  place  and  Willaid  A.  (iray.  father  of  (Jeorge  II.  (Jray,  and 
Kellogg  Ilubbai'd  manufactured  brooms  and  broom  h.andies. 

(hi  the  other  si(U'  of  the  creek  nearly  ojiposite  I'.isby's  mills  was  a 
saw  mill  and  carding  mill,  owned  by  Lawrence  L.,  Frederick  L.  and 
Jacob  L.  Ilarter.  The  course  of  the  tail  race  from  these  mills  is  still 
visible.  This  ])ro|(erty  was  sold  by  the  Ilarters  to  the  Hydraulic  Com- 
pany in  1S.';4  and  the  mills  were  abandoned. 

Xear  the  west  bank  nf  the  West  ('aiiad;i  Creek,  a  short  distance  north 
of  the  old  toll  gate  on  Albany  street,  were  a  saw  mill,  a  grist  mill  and 
distillery,  at  one  time  owned  by  Windsor  Maynard  and  Simeon  Ford 
and  afterward  by  the  Manhattan  Conn)any  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
which  company  conveyed  that  and  other  property  along  the  north  side 
of  the  Mohawk  turii]>ike  (now  .\lbaiiy  street)  to  the  Hydraulic  Com- 
pany in  IS.'U.  (icorge  Smith,  son  of  Nicholas  (!.  Smith,  says  tli;it  when 
a   small  bo\'  he  went  on  horseback  with  grain  U>  be  mound  at  this  gi'ist 


152  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Djill.  These  mills,  after  their  purchase  by  the  Hydi'aulic  Company, 
were  abandoned. 

The  tail  race  discharged  into  the  West  Canada  Creek  near  the  rail- 
road bridge.  It  lias  never  been  tilled  up  and  at  the  time  of  the  over- 
tiow  of  the  West  Canada  Creek  in  the  winter  and  spring  of  181)9  a 
large  amoinit  of  water  passed  down  this  channel  and  into  the  creek. 

About  the  year  1S31,  some  of  the  leading  citizens  of  the  village  of 
Herkimer,  with  a  view  of  developing  manufacturing  industries,  consid- 
ered the  subject  of  diverting  the  waters  of  tlie  West  Canada  Creek 
through  an  artificial  channel  which  was  to  pass  through  or  near  the 
village  and  empty  either  into  the  West  ('anada  Creek  or  the  Mohawk 
liiver.  Jolin  B.  Jervis,  civil  engineer,  was  employed  to  make  sm-veys 
and  measurements  of  the  quantity  of  water  flowing  into  tlie  creek  when 
the  water  was  low.  He  surveyed  several  different  routes,  all  of  them, 
however,  passing  through  what  was  then  called  the  "Little  Lake."  By 
one  proposed  route  the  canal  would  empty  into  the  West  Canada  Creek 
between  German  street  and  the  power  house  now  owned  by  the  village. 
By  another  route  into  the  Mohawk  River,  but  at  a  point  at  a  consid;*- 
able  distance  west  of  the  present  place  of  discharge.  By  this  route 
the  canal  would  have  passed  through  the  northern  part  of  the  village 
near  the  head  of  Main  street  and  run  through  the  Bellinger  fiats.  Tlie 
present  route  was  finally  adopted  and  about  April,  18-!{2,  a  blank  form 
of  deed  for  a  right  of  way  was  prepared.  It  was  arranged  that  the  title 
to  lands  necessary  to  be  ac<iuired  should  be  taken  in  tlie  n.-imes  of 
Charles  Gray  and  Harvey  W.  Doolittle.  Charles  Gray  was  a  lawyer, 
;.nd  afterwards  became  a  .lustice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  this  State 
and  Avas  for  one  year  a  .Judge  of  tlie  Court  of  Appeals.  He  was  the 
father  of  Mrs.  Mary  Grosvenor,  Miss  Catherine  Gray  and  Mrs.  M.  G. 
Palmer,  and  lived  on  Alain  street  wliere  his  daughters  now  reside. 

Harvey  W.  Doolittle  was  a  doctor  and  was  the  father  of  Dr.  Andrew 
F.  Doolittle,  wlio  lived  where  C.  R.  Snell  now  lives,  and  of  .Judge 
Charles  H.  Doolittle  of  Utica. 

Quite  a  number  of  deeds  were  prepared  in  May,  lS.32.  The  preamble 
contained  in  the  printed  form  of  the  deed  was  as  follows:  "Whereas, 
the  said  Harvey  and  Charles  and  others,  their  associates,  propose  to 
divert  a  part  of  the  waters  of  tlie  West  Canada  Creek  from  their  nat- 
ural channel,  and  to  conduct  the  same  into  the  'Little  Lake,'  so  called, 
and  from  thence  across  the  lands  of  various  persons  to  the  INIohawk 
River  or  West  Canada  Creek,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  considered 
most  proper  in  order  to  create  Water  powers  to  be  used  in  manufac- 
turing and  other  liydraulic  purposes;  and  whereas,  in  conducting  tlie 
said  proposed  operations  it  will  be  necessary  to  use  and  occupy  such 
parts  of  the  lands  of  the  said  parties  of  the  first  part  as  are  hereafter 
described;  and  whereas  the  construction  of  th(>  aforesaid  work  will 
require  the  expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money,  and,  if  completed, 
will  be  productive  of  great  pul)lic  benelit,  and  will  also  promote  the 
individual  interests  of  the  said  parties  of  the  first  part,  Now,  therefore, 


THE   HERKIMER   HYDRAULIC  CANAL,  153 

ill  coiisidcmtioii  of  tlio  iirciniscs.  with  a  view  to  cnconrauc  and  pidinotc 
the  oonstnictioii  of  liic  afoi'i'said  work,  and  for  tlic  consideration  of 
OIK"  dollar  paid  to  llic  said  paity  of  the  first  part,"  etc 

In  order  to  caia-y  ont  the  projected  enterprise  a  company  w.as  incor- 
l)orated  April  IT,  is;;;;,  by  Cliapter  Km  of  flic  laws  of  that  ye.ir.  The 
object  of  the  enterprise  is  stated  in  the  act.  Section  one  is  as  follows: 
"Frederick  V.  P.ellin.uer,  Harvey  W.  Doolittle.  Nicholas  Smith,  Charles 
Gray,  and  such  other  jiersons  .as  may  he  associated  with  them,  are 
hereby  declared  to  be  a  body  cori)or;it(>,  by  the  name  of  'The  Herkimer 
iManufactnrin.ti'  and  Hydi-anlic  ('om[)any,'  for  the  purpose  of  erecting 
a  d.am  across  the  \Vesr  (";inada  Creek,  in  the  town  of  Herkimer,  in 
the  county  of  Herkim-'i',  at  some  convenient  point  northw.Mi'dly  from 
the  villaiie  of  Herkimei-,  and  to  conduct  the  waters  of  the  said  creek 
in  such  canal  as  they  may  consti'uct,  near  to  the  said  villa.u'e,  and  to 
discharge  the  same  into  the  Mohawk  Kiver.  or  West  Canada  Creek,  ov 
both,  at  such  place  or  places  ;is  thi\v  shall  deem  most  convenient,  there- 
by to  create"  water  power  for  driving  all  kinds  of  machinery;  and  to 
cnrry  on  the  m;inn1'actui'(>  of  cotton  .and  woolen  goods  and  machinery 
(at  Herkimer  and  not  elsewhere!  or  either  of  them  sei»ai'ately,  and  to 
dispose  of  such  w.ater  jiower  ;is  shall  not  be  used  by  them." 

The  capital  stock  was  m.ide  .$1(l( »,(!()(),  but  the  comit.any  was  author- 
ized to  commence  ojterations  when  .*}!;!( »,(>()()  had  been  sul)S(Mibed,  The 
directors  for  the  first  year  were  Ii'rederick  P.  Bellinger,  John  15.  Jervis, 
Harvey  W.  Doolittle,  Xichol;is  Smith,  Frederick  IW'llinger,  Ch.arles 
(iray  and  William  Small.  Tlie  election  of  directors  was  to  t.ake  i)l;ice 
the  lirst  Monday  of  September  .aimually.  The  company  conld  not  bake 
lands  without  the  consent  of  the  owners,  and  were  m;ide  li.able  to  ]iay 
the  owners  of  mills  and  mill  iirivileges  actual  dam.ages  sustained  by 
them;  the  stockholders  were  made  individually  li.ible  to  the  extent  of 
their  stock  and  the  duriition  o1  the  coi'i)oi-ation  was  to  be  twenty  years. 
The  only  change  made  in  the  charter  was  by  Chai)ter  i;!()  of  the  laws 
of  lSl."i,  which  provided  th.at  the  time  for  the  annual  election  of  direct- 
oi-s  should  be  changed  to  (he  lirst  Monday  of  May,  and  pi'escrlbed  the 
manner  of  giving  notice  of  such  election.  Frederick  \\  Itellinger  (com- 
moidy  called  "Squire"  Itelilnger  or  "Colonel"  P.ellinger),  was  chosen 
president  of  the  c<imp.iny  and  held  the  office  until  Heccanber,  ls;;c., 
when  he  resigned  on  account  of  his  pm-chase  of  the  lower  drop.  He 
was  the  f.ather  of  the  late  Ileni-y  H.  P.ellinger  and  Peter  h\  P.ellinger 
and  of  .Mrs.  Klizabelh  Ilaiier,  who  now  livi'S  at  the  old  homestead  on 
(Jerm.an  street. 

In  the  sununer  of  is;!;!,  when  th(>  success  of  the  eiitei'i)rise  seenu'd 
to  be  assured,  ground  for  the  can.a!  was  broken  and  a  great  celebration 
was  had.  The  exercises  were  held  near  the  head  of  Lake  sti'eet,  the 
prin(a'i>al  spe.akei-  was  Simeon  I-'ord,  one  <(f  the  leading  lawyei's  of  the 
village  and  county,  who  stood  untler  ;i  huge  hickory  tri'e.  'IMu-  iteoitle 
assenibl<'d  on  the  site  of  the  canal  ;ind  upon  the  rising  ground  now 
t;wued  by  Clark  A.  .Miller.     At  (he  close  of  his  addirss  Mr.  Ford  took 


154  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

a  shovel  and  removed  the  tirst  earth  for  the  canal,  a  cannon  was  fired 
and  a  f^reat  deal  of  enthusiasm  was  manifested.  Refreshments  were 
served  (both  solid  and  liquid)  to  the  multitude  of  people  wlio  had  as- 
sembled to  take  part  in  the  celebration.  Colonel  James  A.  Suiter  says 
that  he  was  working  for  John  D.  Spinner  at  the  time  and  drove  his  span 
of  whiti'  horses  attaclied  to  a  two  wheeled  caisson  wliich  contained  pro- 
visions instead  of  ammunition.  He  has  reason  to  remember  the  occa- 
sion liecause  lie  tipped  over  in  descending  the  hill  on  the  upper  side  of 
the  proposed  canal.  Albert  L.  Howell,  now  of  Moliawk,  although  then 
a  boy  only  eight  years  of  age,  says  he  also  lias  reason  to  rememl)er  tlie 
celebration  on  account  of  the  hard  cider  served  to  liim. 

Among  those  now  living  in  the  village  who  remember  the  celebration 
are  Hon.  Robert  Earl,  Isaac  Dockstader,  Jacob  P.  Harter,  Mrs.  William 
Renchley  and  Mrs.  A.  M.  Gray. 

Most  of  the  work  was  performed  by  contract,  each  contractor  taking 
a  different  section.  Among  the  contractors  were  Michael  F.  Myers 
(the  father  of  jNIrs.  A.  H.  Prescott),  Homer  Caswell,  Adam  Rasbach, 
Major  Frederick  Rollinger  of  Mohawk  and  Abijah  Osborne.  Most  of 
the  work  was  done  by  Ii'ishmen  and  there  was  sometimes  consideraljle 
rivalry  between  the  employees  of  different  contractors.  In  one  case  it 
culminated  in  a  fight  between  two  large  and  powerful  Irishmen,  one 
employed  by  Mr.  Caswell  and  the  other  by  Major  Bellinger.  A  I'ing 
was  formed  near  Bisby's  mill  and  the  men  fought  until  one  of  them, 
who  had  but  one  eye,  was  ))linded  by  lilood  running  into  his  remaining 
eye.  Jacob  Harter  says  that  he  Avitnessed  the  tight.  On  another  occa- 
sion he  says  that  William  A.  Caswell  made  a  wager  that  he  could  load  a 
wagon  with  dirt  (]uicker  than  any  two  Irishmen  and  won  the  wagt'r. 

Isaac  Dockstader  says  that  he  drove  a  team  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  the  work,  working  a  considerable  part  of  the  time  on  the 
embankment  at  the  foot  of  jNIirror  Lake. 

It  became  necessary  to  obtain  deeds  fiom  all  the  owners  of  land 
through  which  the  canal  was  to  i)ass  and  also  to  obtain  consents  and 
releases  from  persons  owning  lands  along  the  West  Canada  Creek  be- 
low the  dam,  because  the  proposed  canal  would  divert  the  greater  part 
of  the  waters  of  the  creek  and  destroy  the  usefulness  of  water  powers 
between  the  dam  and  the  Mohawk  River.  Commencing  at  or  near  the 
dam  across  the  creek,  the  following  persons  executed  conveyance,  either 
to  Charles  Gray  and  Harvey  W.  Doolittle  in  trust,  or  to  the  Herkimer 
Manufacturing  and  Hydraulic  Co.:  (Jeo.  L.  Harter,  Henry  G.  Harter, 
Frederick  Dockstader,  Henry  DcCamp,  Mary  DeWolf,  Maria  B'^ll.  (Jeo. 
I.  Hilts,  Nicholas  Smith,  John,  Nicholas  and  George  Smith,  Peter  M. 
I'olts,  Jacob  P.  Weber,  Joshua  B.  Aldridge,  Nicholas  Smith,  Mathew 
Smith,  John,  Nicholas  and  George  Smith,  George  Hilts,  John  Harter, 
.1.  P.  Weber,  the  Executors  of  the  will  of  Samuel  Merry,  John  Nich- 
olas and  George  Smith,  J.  P.  Weber,  Peter  M.  Folts,  J.  P.  Weber,  IMiilo 
M.  Ilackley,  Joshua  P..  Aldridge,  Enoch  B.  Talcottt,  Andrew  and  Har- 
vey W.  Doolittle.  the  Maidiattan  Company,  Jacob  Burrill,  Jr.,  Henry 


THE   HERKIMER   HYDRAULIC  CANAL.  155 

retry,  .7.  P.  WcUrr,  John,  Nicholas  and  (Jcoi-yc  Siiiilli,  (Jcoriic  Hilts. 
Henry  Tetry,  l'\  !'.  I'ellin-vr,  .7.  I'.  WclnT.  Nicholas  Smith,  .lolin.  Nich- 
olas  and   (Jcor.^c   Smith. 

Some  of  the  persons  above  named  owned  lands  at  diHerent  points 
alon.u'  the  course  of  the  canal,  hence  the  it'iietitioii  of  their  names. 
Besides  eouveyin^-  land  for  the  canal  and  its  embankment  John.  Nich- 
olas and  Geoi'se  Snntli  conveyed  five  acres  of  lan<l  on  the  north  side 
of  (Jerman  Str(>et.  just  above  Mrs.  Theodore  Hilts',  and  four  acres  on 
the  south  side  of  (ierman  Street  just  east  of  the  canal.  7t  Avas  ex- 
pected that  water  would  lie  taken  from  the  m.-iin  can.al  across  these 
lots  foi-  the  use  of  manufacturing  establishments  to  be  located  tliereon. 
The  Manhattan  Company.  Jacob  r>urrilll,  Jr.,  and  Henry  Totry  also 
conveyed  consideralile  Land  to  the  Company,  most  of  which  w:is  laid 
out  in  htls  called  water  lots  on  the  mai)  m.ade  by  J.  1'..  Jervis.  S<'veral  of 
the  jieisons  above  named  an<l  Elisha  r.isby.  Peter  (i.  Hartt'r,  Sil.-is  Shep- 
ard,  Frederick  Stevens  and  Peter  IMIarter  executed  releases  of  their  re- 
spective rights,  claims,  interest  and  property  "of.  in  and  to  the  waters 
of  the  said  ^^'est  Canada  Creek  and  the  Howing  or  flowings  thereof  in 
their  natural  ciiannel  along  the  lands  now  owned  and  belonging  to 
them" — witli  leave  and  authority  to  take  and  divert  the  waters  of  the 
creek  from   their  natural  channel. 

Tlie  canal  was  substantially  comiileted  at  the  end  of  the  year  lS.'>r» 
at  a  cost  of  about  thirty-tive  thousand  dollars.  Judge  Eai'l  says  that 
when  the  water  reached  tlie  upper  drop  a  cannon  was  tired  to  cele- 
brate the  event.  After  the  completion  of  tlie  canal  an  effort  was  made 
to  induce  manufacturers  to  l)uy  water  power  and  locate  on  or  near  the 
c;inal.  a  maj)  showing  tlie  entire  route  of  tlie  canal,  all  the  i)i<iperty  of 
the  company  and  the  village  of  Herkimer  was  ])rei)ared  and  lithogi-aph- 
ed  and  copi(>s  were  distributed.  On  this  map  was  a  note  wliich  de- 
scribed so  well  tlie  advantages  for  manufacturing  purposes  possessed 
by  the  village  of  Herkimer  that  I  quote  the  whole  of  it. 

"The  water  power  of  the  Herkimer  Manufacturing  and  Hydi'aulie 
Company  is  situated  on  tlie  West  Canada  Creek,  at  the  village 
of  Herkimer,  New  York.  From  a  measurement  of  the  stream  at  the 
lowest  stage  of  th(>  water  in  is:{8,  It  was  calculated  by  .b)hn  1'..  .lervis. 
Esq.,  civil  engine<'r,  that  the  hydraulic  power  of  the  comp;iny,  .assum- 
ing that  a  ten  hoi'se  power  is  adequate  to  operate  one  run  of  stones, 
was  competent  to  drive  one  hundred  and  thirt.y-eight  runs  of  fifty-four 
inch  mill  stones.  The  power  for  one  rim  of  stones  is  estimated  to  be 
ecjual  that  recpiired  for  one  thousand  cotton  spindles,  making  this  jmwer 
therefore  sufficient  for  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand  spindles. 
The  water  is  conducted  through  a  canal  of  c;ii)aci1y  suflicicnt,  in  :i  time 
of  extreme  low  water,  to  admit  the  whole  w.-iter  of  the  siream.  The 
entire  fall  is  37  feet,  divided  into  two  fails,  one  of  •_'•_•  feet,  the  other  of 
15  feet,  the  water  to  be  used  twice  over.  The  gnumd  ;it  the  two  sites 
i.<"'  peculiarly  favorable  for  the  erection  of  mills  of  any  kind.  ;ind  ;i  vciy 
small  expense  will  be  incurred  in  taking  the  water  from  the  canal  tu 


156  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

tlio  whcol.  It  is  hardly  possible  to  have  a  location  of  ground  more 
advantaseoiis  for  the  occupation  of  water  or  any  other  power  and  for 
building  generally,  than  occurs  in  this  case.  The  buildings  will  be  en- 
tirely secure  and  free  from  exposure  to  tioods.  The  village  of  Herki- 
mer is  the  county  seat  of  the  county  of  Herkimer,  and  is  situated  on 
one  of  the  most  l)eautiful,  fertile  and  extenslA'e  plains  in  the  valley  of 
the  Mohawk.  It  is  ].">  mrles  below  Ulica  and  SO  west  of  Albany,  on  the 
immediate  route  of  the  great  thoroughfare  between  the  Atlantic  and 
Western  States.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  flue  and  extensive  agricultural 
district,  which  is  penetrated  by  good  roads  in  various  directions.  The 
Utica  &  Schenectady  raih'oad  and  the  Mohawk  turnpike  pass  directly 
through  it  and  within  three-fourths  of  a  mile  and  -with  which  through 
the  company's  tail-race,  it  is  to  be  connected  by  a  navigable  water  com- 
munication, is  the  grand  Erie  canal,  extending  from  the  Hudson  at 
Albany  to  Lake  Erie,  ;it  Buffalo,  and  from  which  at  different  points 
diverge  the  Champlain.  Chenango,  Oswego,  Cayuga,  Black  River  and 
Genesee  Valley  i*anals.  communicating  Avith  extensive  and  important 
districts  of  country,  all  of  which  conspii'e  to  render  this  a  location 
highly  advantageous  for  a  manufacturing  town.  The  Herkimer  & 
Trenton  railroad,  extending  from  the  Erie  canal  and  intersecting  the 
I'tica  iK:  Schenectady  railroad  at  the  village  of  Herkimer,  will  open  a 
dii'cct  communication  by  way  of  Trenton  E;ills.  a  place  of  extensive 
fashionable  resort,  into  the  Black  River  country,  and  render  accessible 
the  vast  and  valuable  lumber  and  iron  regions  of  the  north,  and  thus 
become  another  important  ac(iuisition  to  the  many  otlw^r  advantages 
■  which  this  place  iniites.  The  water  of  the  West  Canada  Creek  is  soft 
and  well  adapted  to  the  manufacture  of  woolen.  Tlii'  climate  is  in  a 
high  degree  healthy.  Fuel,  building  materials  and  all  kinds  of  provis- 
ion are  abundant  and  cheap,  and  it  is  believed  that  nothing  more  is 
wanting  than  an  examination,  to  satisfy  manufacturers  and  the  public 
in  general,  that  the  location  and  advantages  at  this  place,  are  eminently 
favorable  for  conducting  manufacturing  operations.  The  company  now 
offer  the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  power  for  sale;  and  persons  desirous 
to  end)ark  in  manufiictui'ing  enterprise,  will  not,  it  is  believed,  find  a 
liMirt'  favorable  location.  And  whether  regaid  is  had  to  the  convenient 
()<-cu]);ition  of  sites  for  building  mills  and  all  other  buildings,  the  fer- 
tility and  natural  resources  of  the  surrounding  country,  healthiness  of 
climate  or  facility  for  extensive  communication  with  both  Atlantic  and 
Western  markets,  this  situation  is  truly  advantageous  and  emini'utly 
attractive. 

"Communications  upon  this  subject  addressed  to  J.  A.  Rasbach, 
Es(n".,  P.  M..  Secretary  of  the  Company,  at  the  village  of  Herkimer,  will 
be  promptly  attended  to.  Reference  in  the  city  of  New  York,  T.  B. 
Wakeman,  Esqr.,  Corresp'ng  Sect'ry.  Amer'n  Institute.  187  Broadway." 

The  J.  A.  Rasbach  referred  to  in  the  note  at  that  time  lived  in  Her- 
khner  and  was  postmaster,  as  well  as  secretary  of  the  company.  He 
subseciuently  moved  to  I  lion,  where  he  died  a  few  years  ago. 


THE   IJEKKIMER   HYDRAULIC  CANAL.  157 

Oil  tilis  in.-ip  il   is  stated  ;is  follows-     "Mill-(':iii;il,  •l'^  ft.   wide  ;it   l>ot 
I'liii,   1(»  ft.  wide  .it  top  w.-ifiT  lino,  niid  w-ilir  r>  fl.  dcr|(."     'IMic  'i-'plli  of 
wntcr  ill  MiiTor  Jiai^c  is  stated  to  lie  'I'l  \'vv{. 

Xoveniber  "Jl,  ISoii,  the  llydraiilie  foiiipaiiy  autliorized  .loliii  S.  Seller 
Kiei-horn  to  sell  tlie  upper  drop  for  ;f;!(»,0(M).  and  tlie  lower  droii  for  .$i:u.- 
0(1(1.  and  he  \\as  to  haxc  a  eoiiiniissioii  of  lixc  p(  r  ceiil.  for  ni.ikini;  a 
sah'.  and  in  t-ase  he  was  the  purchaser  he  was  to  be  allowed  to  liirii  in 
his  stock  to  apply  on  the  purchase  pi  ice.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Schernier 
horn  interested  New  Eiinlaiid  capitalists  and  was  about  foriiiin;j,'  a  c<p|ii 
liaiiy  for  the  purpose  of  ereciiny  a  cotton  iiiill  at  the  lower  drop  when 
the  Hydraulic  Company  sold  the  lower  ciroi)  and  all  the  properly  con- 
nected therewith  to  Colonel  Frederick  15.  lU'llinuer.  for  .<'_'.">.( )0( ).  'IMie 
principal  ri'ason  uiven  for  makiny  the  sale  to  him  instead  of  to  the  iiai- 
ties  represented  by  .Mr.  Schermerhorn  was  that  he  (Itellinuen  would  at 
once  erect  a  urist  mill  and  that  a  .urist  mill  was  more  need',  d  a!  Ilerki 
mer  than  a  cotton  mill.  The  deed  to  Col.  liellin^cr  is  dated  I)ecembei- 
1.  ISod.  It  contains  a  description  of  several  parcels  of  real  estate,  con- 
veyed all  the  intt^rests  of  the  company,  (  vcept  beneticiary  interests,  in 
the  banks  from  (Jerman  street  to  the  lower  drop  and  the  undivided  one- 
half  thereof  from  thence  to  the  Mohawk  Ui\'er,  provided  that  (he  <-anal 
could  be  used  by  l)oth  iiarti<'s  for  llie  [mriiose  o!'  naxi^atioii,  that  the 
company  shou.ld  |)ay  two-thirds  of  the  expense  of  repairs,  mainlenaiK'c 
oi  bridges,  etc.,  above  (Jermaii  street,  and  Colonel  Ilellin.uer  one-third. 
e.Kcept  that  the  structure  called  the  "T'pper  1  >rop"  should  be  keiit  U})  at 
the  expense  of  the  company;  that  Colonel  I'.elliniit'r  should  pay  all  the 
(expense  of  repairs,  maintenance  of  bridtics,  etc.,  at  the  lower  drop: 
th.-il  he  should  keep  the  water  in  the  second  level  at  a  liei^dit  not  ex- 
ceeding live  feet  .above  the  bottom  of  the  level  as  originally  surveyed: 
that  each  party  should  have  the  ri^ht  to  construct  a  railroad  on  the 
bank  of  the  canal  throu.nii  its  whole  e.xti'iit  oi'  any  p.irt  thereof:  that 
all  the  co\-ei>ants  in  the  deed  should  run  with  the  lan.d  and  that  the 
owners  or  occuiiants  of  th.e  property  should  also  be  liable  therefor,  and 
that  a  strii)  of  land  forty  feet  wide  from  Washiimton  street  to  the 
■'Kinu's  Iliad"  should  be  h'ft  open  for  use  of  both  parties. 

Colonel  I'.ellinuer  lirst  located  this  strip  over  lands  now  owned  by 
I'eter  Wilherstinc.  but  subseciuently  chauLicd  it  to  its  lu'eseiit  location. 
it  l»ein;4'  now  the  westerly  end  of  Eastern  avenue.  Colonel  IN'llinucr 
at  once  erected  and  eipiip[)ed  the  stone  .u'rist  mill  which  is  now  owikmI 
by  (i.  M.  llelmer.  It  was  furnished  with  three  or  four  runs  of  niili 
stones,  and  the  water  used  was  dischariicd  below  the  lower  dro]*,  on 
land  now  owned  by  the  Standard   I'^urnitiire  ("(Uiipany. 

The  next  conNcyance  ol'  \\ater  power  m.ide  b\'  the  Tlydraulic  Com- 
p;iny  was  to  -larcd  I!.  Moss,  by  deed  dated  .inly  bS.  ^SA^.l.  It  conveyed 
some  real  estate  at  the  upper  drop.  s(>veral  rights  of  way.  eiioimh  water 
to  be  t.akeii  from  the  basin  at  the  U[)per  droft  toprojiel  with  an  o\ersliot 
wheel  four  i-iiiis  of  lift\'-four  inch  mill  stones,  with  the  necessary  ma- 
chinery lor  the  manufacture  of  Hour,  the  quantity,  if  not  ayreed  uiion. 


158  HERKIMEB   COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

to  be  fixed  by  J.  P>.  Jervis.  civil  engineer.  ^Ir.  Moss  agreed  to  erect 
before  January  1,  1S43,  a  building  not  less  than  three  stories  high  or 
less  than  CO  by  40  feet,  and  by  November  1,  1S43.  put  into  op'.'ration 
enough  useful  machinery  other  than  a  custom  grist  mill  or  a  saw  mill 
to  ust'  one-half  of  the  water  granted  and  l>y  November  1.  184(),  enough 
to  use  the  whole  of  it.  Mr.  Moss  erected  a  building  and  intended  to 
run  a  cotton  mill  and  bought  some  second-hand  machinery  for  that  pur- 
pose. He  was  not  able  to  carry  out  his  plan  and  the  building  he  erected 
was  used  by  Rurdick  ^:  Orr  for  the  manufacture  of  hat  l)odies.  D.  O. 
Mills,  formerly  of  California,  now  of  New  York,  was  bookkeeper  for 
I>urdick>Vc  Orr. 

.Tared  B.  Moss  conveyed  the  property  to  Addison  11.  I.aflin,  Nnvcndier 
('),  1S47.  In  1853,  the  Hydraulic  Company  conveyed  more  land  and 
water  power  to  Addison  H.  and  Byron  Laflin  and  the  (piantity  of  water 
tliey  were  entitled  to  use  was  agreed  ui)on  as  l.lO  horse  power. 

In  ISoO,  the  Herkimer  Manufacturing  and  Hydraulic  Company  went 
into  the  hands  of  Volney  Owen,  receiver,  and  on  the  21st  day  of  .Tuly, 
ISCO,  said  rect'iver  sold  all  the  property  then  owned  by  the  company  to 
Frederick  P.  Bellinger. 

The  Herkimer  Paper  Com])any  became  the  owner  of  all  the  property 
owned  by  the  I.aflins  and  on  April  20,  1SS7.  the  heirs  of  Frederick  P. 
P.illinger  conveyed  to  said  company  all  the  property  at  the  upper  drop 
conveyed  to  F.  1*.  Bellinger  by  said  Receiver,  except  the  four  acres  on 
south  side  of  German  street,  next  to  the  hydraulic  canal  and  also 
conveyed  to  the  Paper  ('ompany  all  the  water  power  and  water  rights 
at  the  ui)per  drop.  This  property  is  now  owned  liy  the  International 
Paper  Company,  except  the  five  acres  of  land  on  the  north  side  of  (ier- 
man  street. 

Conveyances  of  land  and  water  power  at  the  lower  drop  were  made 
by  F.  P.  Bellinger,  as  follows: 

(1)  October  IC,  1S41,  to  William  A.  Caswell,  property  and  water  power 
on  west  side  of  the  canal  now  owned  by  the  Standard  Furniture  Com- 
pany. The  water  power  conveyed  is  described  in  said  deed  as  fol- 
lows: "So  much  water  and  no  more  as  by  the  most  advantageous  and 
present  approved  application  thereof,  regard  bi'ing  had  to  economy  and 
power  upon  .Tohnson's  reacting  water  whei'l  shall  be  sufficient  to  saw- 
out  or  cut  four  thousand  feet  of  ordinary  inch  stuff  in  twenty-four 
hours." 

This  water  power  was  afterwards  divided  and  in  a  deed  from  Rod- 
man Wood  to  George  1*.  Folts  and  Windsor  1).  Schuyler,  in  ISCS,  the 
water  to  be  used  on  the  premises  conveyed  was  described  as  follows: 
"The  right  and  privilege  to  take  from  the  said  hydraulic  canal  and 
convey  through  the  said  ti'unk  to  the  said  flume  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  square  inches  of  water  to  be  taken  from  the  said  flume  and 
applied  to  the  Avater  wheel  upon  the  lands  hereby  sold  and  conveyed 
substantially  the  same  as  where  the  sanu^  is  now  applied,  and  tlie  quan- 
tity to  be  ascertained  by  measuring  the  w^1ter  where  it  is  discharged 


THE   HERKIMER  HYDRAULIC  CANAL.  159 

Iroiu  the  water  wheel  located  substantially  as  the  ]ii-esent  wafer  wheel 
is.  It  is  expressly  uiiderstdod  Ity  and  between  the  ]»arties  he'cto  I  hat 
the  parties  of  tlie  second  part  are  not  to  l>e  contined  to  the  jircsent 
water  whi'el  nor  to  oni'  like  it  and  tlie  pri'sent  \\heel  and  its  location 
ai-e  referred  to  simply  as  a  means  of  linntin.n  and  describing  the  quan- 
tity of  water  lR'rel)y  int(>nded  to  l)e  conveyed." 

This  property  and  water  power,  which  was  a  i»art  of  that  'onveyed 
by  F.  r.  r.ellin.uer  to  XN'illiani  A.  Caswt'll  ;is  ab(»ve  stated,  is  now  owned 
l)y  the  Standard  I''ui'niture  Company. 

(L'l  August  r>.  ISIS,  to  David  Davenport  and  Willi.im  D.  Kickeitson. 
I'roperty  and  water  ])ower  on  tlie  east  si(h'  of  the  canal.  The  w.iter 
power  is  (U^scribed  as  follows:  "The  privile.ue  of  taking  frem  said 
canal  above  said  bulkliead  at  all  times  as  much  water  as  will  pass 
throui^h  .an  orilice  of  tlu>  size  of  a  sciuare  foot  for  the  use  of  ma<'lnnery 
on  said  water  lot  and  for  .all  other  purposes."  This  property  was 
divided  June  to,  JS.j."),  when  William  A.  ("aswell.  who  then  owned  the 
entire  property,  sold  what  was  called  the  Plaster  Mill  projierty  to  Cor- 
nelius JNlaxlield.  The  wati'r  i»owei-  conveyed  was  desci-ibed  as  follows: 
"The  water  power  now  used  with  the  said  plaster  mill.it  bein.L;-  snllicieid 
water  power  or  (luantity  of  water  to  drive  or  run  ;i  water  wheel  of  tlie 
st.vle  now  used  in  said  mill,  or  to  use  or  drive  any  other  style  of  wheel 
w  liich  sli.all  not  i-eijuiic  a  lari^cr  |)ower  oi'  (juantity  of  watei-  to  ilrive  or 
pi'opel  it  than  the  [(resent  wheel."  This  part  ((f  the  property  is  now 
owned  t)y  John  V.  Ilemstreet.  The  remainin.y'  part  by  .Meiinin.t;'  A. 
Deimel. 

(.!i  January  I'T,  ISC.O.  to  (Jeor.ii'e  Ih'oomliall,  pi'opi-rty  and  walt'i  [(ower 
on  the  wi'st  side  of  the  c.inal  now  owned  liy  the  Standard  Furniture 
Company.  The  watei-  [tower  conveyed  was  described  as  follows: 
"Water  to  be  taken  from  the  hydraulic  canal  on  the  west  side  above  the 
bulkhead  of  the  lower  dro[j  ln'tween  the  tube  of  the  llonrinu  mill  ;ind 
tube  of  Swift  iK:  (Jra.\'s  mill,  and  to  be  conducled  to  the  \t>t  hereby 
conveyed  throu.uh  a  tube  or  Hume  [tut  into  the  bank  of  I  he  si  id 
hydraulic  canal  at  such  deiith  as  to  b(>  on  a  level  with  the  tube  which 
((inducts  the  water  to  Swift  i<c  (Jray's  saw  mills,  the  water  to  Ite  con- 
(Uicted  in  a  ti.nlit  tube  or  thune,  and  to  be  such  a  ((uantity  as  w  ill  run 
thiduuh  an  orilice  twelve  inches  S([uare  to  be  measuredat  a  iioinl  twelve 
ane  one-half  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  hydr;iulic  canal  ;it  its  or(b- 
iiary  height  above  the  lower  drop." 

( Jl  ;\larch  v.],  ISfJC.  to  Elisha  Washburn.  The  yrist  mill  [ii'opcrty  and 
water  [)ower  on  tlie  w(  st  side  of  the  hy(h'aulic  canal  now  ov-iu  d  Iiy 
(ieor^e  M.  llelnier.  This  tlvvd  conveys  what  is  called  "the  stone  llonr- 
in.y  mill  pro[)erty,  and  all  th.'  water  [triviliKes  and  i-i.i;hls  beloiiLiin^-  to 
said  mill."  The  ([uantity  of  water  was  not  s[»ecitted,  but  was  probably 
siiliicient  for  the  three  or  four  runs  of  mill  stones  then  in  s.aid  mill. 

l.-.i  Jnly  b".  1S70,  to  .\aron  Snell  and  Xorm.nn  Foils,  all  the  remaining; 
land,  water  and  watei'  jiower  iit  tlie  lower  dro[)  which  was  ((\vnc(l  by 
said  Bellinger.     Aaron   Snell   conveyed  land  and  water  jiower  as   fol- 


160  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

lows:  (1)  July  15.  3871,  to  Morris  Mark  anrt  Michael  Elias,  the  prop- 
erty and  water  power  on  the  east  side  of  the  ean.'il  now  owned  by  the 
Mark  Manufacturing  Company.  The  water  conveyed  is  described  as 
follows:  "Three  S(iuare  feet  of  water  to  be  run  through  a  round  tube 
or  tubes  in  such  a  manner  as  to  prevent  any  leakage  from  said  tube 
or  said  hydr.-iulic,  to  l)e  measured  in  a  sauare  box  or  boxes  where  it 
flows  upon  the  water  .wheel  or  wheels,  th<j  same  to  be  taken  from  said 
hydraulic  canal  and  run  through  said  round  tube  or  tubes  into  a  flume 
or  penstalk  and  from  thence  measured  in  such  said  square  box  or  boxes 
as  aforesaid,  and  the  orifice  of  the  said  S(inare  box  or  boxes 
shall  have  the  .sjime  measurement  at  each  end  so  that  the  tiperture 
where  the  water  enters  into  said  square  box  or  boxes  shall  l)e  of  the 
same  size  as  where  it  leaves  the  same."  The  water  used  at  this  mill 
is  discharged  through  a  tail  race  running  under  the  N.  Y.  C.  i^  II.  R. 
I'ailroad  and  empties  into  the  canal  between  tlie  premises  owned  by  J. 
y.  Hemstreet  and  M.  A.  Deiniel.  In  this  conveyance  Mr.  Sneil  reserves 
"the  prior  right  to  use  four  s(iuare  feet  of  water  and  water  power." 
The  deed  provi(U'd  that  said  property  should  never  be  used  for  wiw  mill, 
planing  mill,  sash,  blind  or  door  manufactutory  or  grist  mill  purposes 
Avithout  the  consent  of  the  parties  of  the  hrst  part. 

(2)  November  8,  18S().  to  James  A.  Clark  and  r.eujamiu  I).  Lyon,  prop- 
erty and  \vater  power  on  the  east  side  of  the  canal  now  owned  by 
James  A.  ('lark  and  Leonidas  F.  Clark.  The  deed  conveyed  "eighty 
S(]uare  inches  of  water  to  l)e  taken  from  said  hydraulic  canal."  This 
right  of  water  was  stated  in  the  deed  to  be  next  ])rior  to  the  watei- 
right  and  power  conveyed  to  Mark  and  Elias. 

{'.])  January  1,  1880,  to  William  Horrocks  and  Michael  Foley,  prop- 
erty on  west  side  of  the  canal  formerly  owned  by  Williiim  A.  Caswell. 
This  deed  conveys  "water  and  water  power  to  be  taken  from  tlie  hy- 
di-aulic  canal  al)()ve  the  lower  di'op  and  to  l)e  conducted  through  a  tube 
or  tubes  or  flume  or  flumes  put  into  the  b.-inks  of  s;iid  canal,  but  not  at 
a  depth  below  the  level  of  the  tubes  conducting  water  to  the  premises 
now  owned  by  said  Horrocks  &  Foley  to  those  owned  by  E.  C.  Munson 
■•ind  to  the  premises  above  conveyed,  viz:  such  a  (luantity  of  water 
as  will  flow  through  an  opening  e<iuivalent  to  280  s<iuare  inches 
to  be  measured  at  a  i)oint  on  a  level  with  the  water  in  the  tail  races 
ImIow  the  lower  drop  .at  its  ordin.nry  level,  said  opening  to  be  construct- 
ed in  the  most  approved  and  favor;ible  form  ;ind  manner  for  the  dis- 
charge of  water."  The  deed  states  that  this  water  power  is  to  be  next 
in  priority  after  power  granted  to  Elisha  Washburn.  By  this  deed  and 
a  deed  given  to  Horrocks  iV  Foley  by  Yolney  Eaton  and  E.  C.  Munson. 
d.-ited  January  27.  l.SiK).  Horrocks  tS:  Foley  became  the  owners  of  all 
the  water  power  conveyed  by  F.  I'.  Bellingei'  to  William  A.  Caswell  as 
iibove  st.ated. 

(4)  March  7.  lS,S!t,  to  Cornelius  it.  Snell  and  Henry  A.  Deinu'l.  prop- 
erty and  water  power  on  the  east  side  of  the  canal  now  owned  by  the 
Gem  Knitting  Company.     This  deed  conveys  "one  foot  and  one-half  or 


THE   HERKIMER   HYDRAULIC   CANAL,  ■  161 

two  Imndrcd  and  sixteen  s(ju;uv  inches  ui'  watei'  to  lie  taken  j'roni  tin; 
liydrauiie  canal  aboNC  (he  lower  dioj)  and  to  be  condncte<l  (hr<Mi.i;h  a 
tube  or  tnlx's  or  tUinie  ov  Ihinies  pnt  into  the  bank"  of  said  canal,  bnt 
not  at  a  depth  below  the  level  of  the  tubes  conducting  watvr  to  the 
premises  owned  by  Uorrocks  »&  Foley  or  E.  C.  Munson.  Tlie  (fuantity 
of  water  hereby  conveyed  is  such  a  (juantity  as  will  How  through  an 
oitening  e(iuivalent  to  two  hundred  and  sixteen  S(iuare  inches  to  be 
nii'asured  at  a  i»oint  on  a  level  with  the  water  in  the  tail  races  beliiw 
tile  lower  (h'op  at  its  ordinary  level,  s.aid  opening  to  lie  couctiaict- 
ed  in  the  most  apprtixcd  and  faxorable  form  for  the  disch.arge 
of  water."  This  water  power  Avas  declared  by  said  deed  to  be  next 
sul>se(iuent  to  tliat  granted  to  Horrocks  cK:  Foley  by  tlie  deed  above 
mentioned. 

This  <h'ed  also  conveys  "all  the  suri)lus  water  .and  water  ])owei-,  if 
any,  after  all  tlie  grantees  of  water  and  water  power  at  the  lower  da)p 
have  received  and  used  the  full  amount  and  quantity  of  water  and 
water  power  tliey  are  entitled  to  receive  and  use  on  the  Ttli  day  of 
March.  ].S8'.»." 

In  the  deeds  above  mentioned  tlie  granti'cs  assumed  a  certain  portion 
of  the  lialjilities  for  keeping  tlie  dam  and  canal  in  repair.  The  liabil- 
ities of  the  owners  of  water  power  are  uow  (June  'J,  I'JOOj  as  follows: 

Upper  drop.  Lower  drop. 

International  Paper  Company   GU-UU  none. 

Mark  Mfg.  Company  O-'JU  12-GO 

J.  A.  &  L.  F.  Clark  V/U-dU  8-GO 

Gem  Knitting  Company 2i/;-DU  5-GU 

(i.  INI.  Ilelmer lO-UO  20-GO  i 

.1.  y.  Ilemstreet IV^'JO  ^-<»0 

Herkimer  Mfg.  Co.  (M.  A.  Deimeli ly^-OO  ."'.-GO 

St.-mdard  Furniture  Company    7-!)t)  14-G(i 

When  F.  I*.  IJellinger  bought  tlie  proiieity  at  the  lower  ili'o[)  in  JS;;!(; 
lie  gave  back  a  mortgage  for  a  portion  of  the  purchiise  price.  A  dis- 
pute arose  between  him  iind  some  of  the  stockholders  as  to  the  amount 
uiip;iid  on  the  inortg.age.  In  l.S.''>y,  wlien  il  liecame  necess.-iry  to  get  a 
new  cli.irter  for  the  Company,  ii  number  of  tlie  stoclvholders  presented 
a  meniori.al  to  the  State  Legislature  iiskiiig  that  if  another  charter 
should  be  gi'jinted  it  should  provide  that  Mr.  Bellinger  .and  all  persons 
not  holding  .at  least  six  sh.ires  of  stock  should  be  excluded  from  lieing 
directors  or  tli.at  the  compjiny  sliould  lie  dissolved  and  its  jiroperty 
sold.  In  this  memorial  the  petitioners  cli.argcd  th.at  F.  V.  liellingei" 
Isad  combined  witli  one  lUirdick  to  purchase  .a  majority  of  tlie  stock, 
that  r.urdick  represented  that  he  w;is  the  .agent  of  some  eastern  men 
who  wished  to  est.ablish  cotton  .and  woolen  m.anufactories  but  th.at  they 
insisled  that  they  must  h.ave  a  majority  of  the  stock  in  ordei-  to  control 
the  operations  of  the  comp.iny,  that  IJurdick  cl.iimed  to  have  pnrch.aseil 
Mr.  liellinger's  stock,  about  sixty  shiires.  at  eiglity  cents  on  ;i  dollar, 
th'at  iu  this  way  Burdick  and  Bellinger  secured  a  majority  of  the  stock, 

.  1 1 


162  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

that  Burdiek  turned  over  forty-two  shares  imrchased  hy  him,  to  Mr. 
Bellinger,  thus  giving  him  control  of  the  company,  that  at  the  annual 
election  in  May.  1840,  Mr.  Bellinger  voted  on  a  majority  of  the  stock 
of  the  company  and  elected  himself  and  six  others  directors,  of  whom 
live  were  not  and  never  had  been  stockholders  of  the  compiiny,  that 
on  April  22,  1848,  Mr.  Bellinger  and  his  directors  licpiidated  the  indebt- 
edness of  Bellinger  t©  the  company  for  a  less  smn  than  was  actually 
due  from  him,  that  Mr.  Bellinger  had  continued  to  control  the  board 
of  directors  and  that  only  two  of  the  seven  directors  were  then  or  had 
been  stockholders. 

The  Jjcgislature  did  not  extend  the  charter  of  the  Company  and  on 
the  Kjth  day  of  May,  1853,  an  action  in  the  Supreme  Court,  in  which 
Charles  Gray,  John  B.  Jervis,  George  Smith,  William  Smith,  Alexander 
M.  Gray  and  George  Smith,  Trustees  and  Testamentai-y  Guardians  of 
George  Smith,  John  M.  Smith  and  Nicholas  Smith,  infants,  were  plain- 
tiCFs,  and  Frederick  P.  Bellinger.  Peter  P.  Bellinger,  Charles  A.  Burton, 
George  W.  Pine,  John  1).  Spinner  and  .Tacob  J.  Christman  were  defend- 
ants, was  commenced  for  the  purpose  of  recovering  from  F.  P.  Bellin- 
ger the  amount  claimed  to  be  unpaid  by  him  on  the  mortgage  and  for 
the  appointment  of  a  receiver.  In  this  action  \'()lney  Owen  was  ap- 
pointed receiver.  The  case  was  referred  to  William  Tracey  of  Utica. 
On  May  30,  1859,  he  made  his  report.  Uv  reported  that  Mr.  Bellinger 
was  not  entitled  to  be  credited  upon  the  mortgage  with  the  thirteen 
shares  of  stock,  formerly  owned  by  J.  F.  Schermerhorn,  which  he  sur- 
rendered to  the  company  in  1837.  That  he  was  not  a  director  in  the 
company  from  183G  to  1840,  when  he  elected  himself  and  six  others, 
directors,  only  one  of  whom  held  stock  in  the  company,  that  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety-six  shares  of  stock  had  been  paid  for,  which  were 
then  owned  by  the  following  named  persons:  J.  B.  Jervis,  10;  Frederick 
P.  Bellinger,  (!1;  Charles  Gray,  51;  Nicholas  Smith,  13;  George  Smith. 
10;  II.  F.  Ilelmer,  1;  Jacob  J.  Christman.  1;  Loadwick  Burdiek.  42;  H. 
W.  Doolittle,  7. 

John  H.  Wooster  of  Newport  was  then  appointed  referee  to  compute 
the  amount  due  from  Mr.  Bellinger  upon  the  mortgage  upon  the  prin- 
ciples laid  down  by  Referee  Tracy.  lie  made  his  report  in  1S(;2,  and 
found  that  on  March  4,  18G2.  there  was  inipiiid  on  the  mortgage 
.1=3;440.53.  The  decree  was  signed  by  Judge  Bacon,  September  2(!,  1802. 
Kernan,  Quin  (.*t  Kernan  were  attorneys  lor  the  plaintiffs;  Charles  A. 
Burton  was  attorney  for  the  defendant  F.  P.  Bellinger  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  action  and  was  succeeded  by  Ezra  Graves. 

As  previously  stated,  Volney  Owen,  the  receiver,  sold  the  property 
of  the  company  at  public  auction,  July  21,  1800,  to  P.  P.  Bellinger,  the 
purchase  price  was  !f5,400.  The  sale  was  contirmed  July  24,  1800.  and 
the  deed  was  executed  July  20,  18()0. 

June  30,  1809,  Frederick  P.  Bellinger  commenced  an  action  in  the 
Supreme  Court  against  Erwin  A.  Munson,  Erwin  C.  Munson.  Charles 
Ingelsoll,  Charles  Putman  and  James  Putman,  who  Avere  then  the  own- 


THE  HERKIMER  HYDRAULIC  CANAL,  163 

ors  of  the  watci-  iiowci-  ;iii(l  proin'ity  wiiich  Imd  liccii  sold  liy  Mr.  Itcl- 
liii.nt'i"  to  Daveni)i>r(  iV  Kickortsoii.  ^Ir.  Ilflliiiger  claiincd  Ilia'  tlic  dc- 
rt'iidauts  were  iisiii.n-  more  water  than  tliey  were  entided  to  use,  and 
brought  the  action  to  (h'teriuiiie  how  uilich  they  were  entitled  to  use 
and  to  recover  chmiages  tor  the  use  of  the  excess. 

The  acti(tn  was  ret\'rred  to  lion.  Arphaxed  Looniis  of  Tiittle  Kails. 
A  number  of  exi>erts  in  hy(h'auiic  matters  were  sworn.  The  referee 
made  his  report  February  S,  ISTl!,  and  found  that  "tiie  i)r(tprictors  of 
the  plaster  null  i»remjses  are  entitled  to  an  eciual  one-third  part  of  the 
entire  (luantity  of  water-  graided  and  conveyed  by  tlie  i>laintiff  to  Dav- 
enport tic  Rickerlson,  an<I  thai  tlie  other  two-thirds  ])ai-t  contained  in 
the  saw  mill  lU'emises  belonged  to  the  owners  thereof." 

He  also  found  that  the  plaintiff  was  the  owner  of  unsold  waier  llow- 
hig  into  the  hydraulic  canal  and  that  hi  granting  mill  lots  adjacent 
with  the  right  to  draw  fi'om  the  canal  a  limited  (plant ity  of  water  the 
grantees  were  limited  to  the  amount  expressed  in  their  conveyances 
and  that  the  owners  and  occupants  of  mills  adjacent  who  drew  water 
from  said  canal  in  excess  of  the  (piantity  authorized  l)y  tlu'ir  grants 
bt-canu'  liable  to  pay  (himages  to  the  plaintiff  for  such  excess,  lie 
foun<l  that  tlu'  plaintiff  was  entitled  to  recover  ^1^)2.  damages  against 
E.  A.  iV-  10.  V.  Munson,  .fJK;  against  the  defendant  Charles  Ingersoll,  and 
.$73  against  the  defendants  Charles  Ingersoll,  Charles  I'utman  and 
James  I'utman. 

IVter  I>.  INIyers  afterward  liecanu-  the  owner  of  the  plaster  mill 
property,  at  the  time  of  this  litigation  owned  liy  Charles  Ingersoll, 
James  and  Chas.  I'utman,  .•iiid  in  order  that  there  might  be  no  (piestion 
as  to  the  (piantity  of  w.iler  he  was  entitled  to  use  a  the  plaster  mill,  he 
l)roeured  a  pattern  of  the  wheel  in  use  in  said  mill  at  the  time  it  was 
conveyed  by  William  A.  Caswell  to  Coinelius  Maxfield  and  liad  a  wheel 
made  and  phiced  in  the  mill. 

At  about  tlie  same  tinu"  Freilerick  1'.  I'.ellinger  also  commenced  an 
action  against  A;iron  Snell  and  others  to  recover  damages  for  using 
more  water  than  they  were  entitled  to  use. 

This  action  was  also  refei'red  to  lion.  Arphaxed  Loomis  and  after 
considerable  evidence  had  been  taken  the  action  was  settled. 

F.  1'.  liellinger  sold  all  the  remaining  jnoperty  at  the  lower  drop  to 
Aaron  Snell  and  Xoi-man  l<\)lts  on  the  i:!th  day  of  July.  ISTo,  for  the 
suni  of  eleven  tliousand  dollars. 

The  settlement  was  a  good  one  for  Mr.  Snell.  for  he  S(ton  sold  ;i  por- 
tion of  the  property  for  nioi'e  than  he  gave  for  the  whole  of  it,  .and 
saved  the  [>ayment  of  d.amages  to  Mi-.  liellinger. 

INDUSTIIIES  ON  THE  IIYDKAULIC  CANAL. 
T'l'PER    I»K()I'.— PAl'EK   MILL. 

As  alre.-idy  st;ited.  .bared  \\.  Moss  purchased  a  portion  of  the  |iroi>erty 
in  ISh)  ;ind  I'mrdick  iV  <  >i-i-  inanufactured  h;it  bodies  for  sevei-al  ye;irs. 
In  1S47  Mr.  Moss  sold  to  .\(ldisoii   II.   Latlin.     A.  11.  and   I'.vron   Lallin 


164  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

purchased  more  property  and  water  power  and  for  many  years  manu- 
factured a  liiyh  grade  of  Avriting  paper.  In  July,  1857,  they  sold  the 
l»rc»perty  to  Richard  Bainbridge  and  Heiu*y  Jerollman  of  New  York, 
who  at  once  transferred  it  to  the  Kent  Mills  Paper  Company. 

Mortgages  given  by  Bainbridge  and  .Teroliman  were  foreclosed  and 
July  25,  1859,  the  property  was  bid  in  by  the  Latlins.  The  Latlins 
failed  and  the  property-  passed  into  the  hands  of  Dean  Burgess,  Henry 
r.  Alexander  and  Thomas  Colt,  as  trustees,  May  9,  1805. 

June  1st,  1805,  they  conveyed  the  property  to  Charles  Hutchinson, 
Henry  Churchill,  Sr.,  Charles  H.  Roberts  and  Warner  INIiller.  The 
property  was  managed  for  a  time  by  Warner  Miller  &  Company,  then 
by  Warner  Miller,  and  January  1st,  1S('>9,  Warner  Miller  and  Ileiu'y 
Churchill  formed  a  co-partnership,  which  continued  until  the  Herkimer 
I'aper  Company  Avas  incorporated  in  1875. 

Warner  Miller  was  president  and  Henry  Churchill  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Company.  jNliller  «&  Churchill  and  the  Herkimer  Paper 
Company  manufactured  paper  for  newspapers,  making  it  first  from 
straw  and  then  from  rags  and  wood  pulp,  and  later  from  chemical  wood 
pulp  and  ground  wood  pulp.  The  mill  was  ))unied  in  1807  and  again 
in  1879.  The  capacity  of  the  plant  was  increased  from  time  to  time 
under  the  efficient  management  of  Henry  Clnu-chill,  and  the  output 
increased  from  twelve  tons  of  paper  a  week  to  one  hundred  and  eighty 
tons. 

In  January,  1898,  the  property  was  sold  to  the  International  Paper 
Company,  Avhich  now  maiuifactures  manila  paper  and  fibre  paper  and 
newspaper.  Max  Miller  was  superintendent  of  the  Herkimer  mill  and 
was  succeeded  by  the  present  superintendent,  George  M.  Dunham. 
About  ninety  hands  are  now  employed  at  this  mill  by  the  Company. 
This  Company  owns  and  operates  over  thirty  paper  and  pulp  mills. 
Most  of  the  carting  for  the  Company  is  done  by  Syllaboch  Bros. 

John  E.  Freeman  had  a  machine  shop  in  the  paper  mill  from  about 
1800  until  1877,  when  he  put  up  a  building  east  of  the  paper  mill.  He 
sold  to  Austin  B.  Klock  and  Jerome  F.  Sheaf  in  1878.  Mr.  Sheaf  sold 
out  to  Mr.  Klock  in  1890,  avIio  is  now  conducting  the  business. 

A  foundry  was  started  just  east  of  the  paper  mill  by  Charles  II. 
Warburton  and  Jared  Petrie,  in  1878.  In  about  a  year  Mr.  Petrie  was 
succeeded  by  Mr.  Warburton,  Avho  continued  the  busiiu-ss  until  the  fall 
of  1897.  The  business  was  continued  by  his  wife  until  September, 
1899,  when  it  Avas  leased  to  Samuel  Jess  and  William  E.  Warburton, 
Avho  are  noAV  conducting  it.  The  machine  shop  and  the  foundry  are 
both  run  by  water  power  furnished  by  the  Paper  Company. 

Ice  has  been  taken  from  INlirror  Lake  for  the  use  of  the  villages  of 
Herkimer  and  MohaAvk  for  many  years.  William  W.  Barse  conducted 
the  business  for  several  years  and  Avas  succeeded  by  the  Mirror  Lake 
Ice  Company.  The  business  is  uoav  conducted  by  I'hilip  H.  Brown. 
He  employs  five  or  six  men  in  the  summer  and  about  thirty-tive  men 
Avhen  the  ice  is  harvested. 


THE   HERKIMER  HYDRAULIC  CANAL.  165 

MARK  MANUI'WCTUKING  COMrANY.— KNITTING  MILL. 

The  pi'dpci'ty  ;ni(l  water  powci'  owned  by  this  Company  was  pur- 
chased Ity  Mori'is  Mark  and  Michael  Klias,  in  187L  JNforris  Mark  piir- 
cliiised  tile  interest  of  Mr.  Elias,  Novenilier  -7,  1882.  In  November, 
ISSlt,  tlie  proi)erty  was  conveyed  to  the  Mark  i^  Marsh  jNIanufacturins 
Company.  Mr.  Andrew  K.  Marsh  retired  from  tlie  Company  and  on 
r'ebruary  12.  1892,  tlie  name  was  chan.ued  to  the  Mark  Manufacturini;- 
Company.  Under  tlie  manai;-ement  of  Morris  Mark  the  business  has 
been  very  successful.  The  jii'incipal  business  engaged  in  has  been  the 
manufacture  of  woolen  underwear  and  sweaters.  About  300  hands  are 
employed.  The  present  otiicers  of  the  Company  are,  Morris  Mark, 
president;  lion.  Kobert  lOaiM,  vice-president,  and  Howard  Mark,  secre- 
taiy  and  treasurer. 

J.  A.  ;<i  L.   F.  CLARK— MACHINE  SHOP. 

This  property  was  conveyed  to  .Tames  A.  Clark  and  Benjamin  D.  Lyon 
in  November,  1880.  The  machine  shop  v.-as  conducted  by  Mr.  Clark. 
Mr.  Lyon  manufactui'ed  builders"  materials  an<l  was  a  contractor.  In 
November,  1892,  the  proiierty  was  conveyed  to  James  A.  &  Leonidas 
F.  Clark,  Avho  now  own  it.  Since  1892,  it  has  been  used  as  a  machine 
siioji  and  from  seven  to  eight  men  are  employed. 

GEM    KNITTING    COIMFANY. 

This  Company  was  formerly  a  co-partnersliip.  The  pro])erty  was 
purchased  by  Henry  A.  Deimel  and  Cornelius  R.  Snell,  in  March,  1889. 
April  1st,  189.".  it  was  transferred  to  James  II.  Eveans,  Henry  A.  Dei- 
mel, Cornelius  R.  Snell  and  Menning  A.  Deimel.  Henry  A.  Deimel 
retired  from  .the  business  in  November,  1890,  and  Menning  A.  Deimel, 
in  September,  1898.  The  company  was  incorporated  December  20,  1898, 
and  Mr.  Snell  and  Mr.  Eveans  conveyed  th(>ir  interest  in  the  propert.y 
to  the  Company.  The  Company  manufactures  cotton  ril)bed  underwear 
and  employs  from  IHO  to  2(M>  persons.  The  pi'esent  olhceis  of  the  Com- 
pany are.  C.  R.  Snell,  president:  Max  Miller,  vice-president,  and  (iuy 
H.  Miller,  secretary  and  treasurer. 

GEOR(H0  M.   HELMER.— GRIST  MILL. 

This  mill  was  i)Uilt  by  Frederick  P.  Bellinger,  in  18;}9,  and  was  owned 
by  him  until  March  1.">,  18(;o.  when  he  conveyed  it  to  Elisha  Washburn. 
Mr.  Washburn  conducted  the  mill  two  years  before  he  purchased  it. 
In  August,  18V)2,  .Mr.  Washbui'n  conveyed  an  undivided  one-half  inter- 
est to  George  M.  Ilelmer  and  he  purchased  the  othei'  half  of  the  execu- 
tors of  Mr.  Washl)Uin.  in  March,  1894.  Mr.  Ilelmer  has  been  identilied 
with  the  mill  since  1S72.  It  is  now  operated  liy  five  turbine  wheels.  A 
Robinson  lightning  grinder  constitutes  a  ]>ar1  of  the  e(|uii)ment.  Mr. 
Ilelmer  will  soon  h:ive  I'eady  for  oi)era(inn  an  ele<-tric  niotoi'  of  thirty 
horse  power,  the  power  Ix'ing  furnished  by  the  electric  liglit  i>lant  own- 
ed bv  the  village.     Besides  doing  grinding,   he  carries  a  stock  of  Hour, 


166  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

foed,  grain,  meal,  middlings,  land  plaster,  cement,  steel  roofinj;;,  salt, 
baled  hay,  straw,  shavings,  clover  and  grass  seed  and  seed  grains.  He 
employs  from  six  to  ten  men. 

I'LASTEK  MILL  I'UUPEKTY.— .1.  V.  IIEMSTUEET. 

This  property  was  sold  to  Davenport  <\:  liickertson  in  1848,  who  built 
the  plaster  mill.  William  A.  Caswell  purchased  it  in  1851  and  sold  it 
to  Cornelius  Maxlield  in  1855.  It  was  owned  for  a  short  time  l)y  Sam- 
uel and  Stephen  Carpenter  and  b.y  John  L.  Smith.  Elisha  Washburn 
conducted  it  for  a  time  as  assignee  of  Smith.  John  II.  Myers.  Jr.,  be- 
came the  owner  by  mortgage  foreclosun^  in  1SG(>,  and  sold  the  property 
to  Cliarles  L.  IngersoU,  who  sold  an  inidivided  half  to  James  N.  and 
Charles  Putman.  The  mortgage  given  by  Mr.  IngersoU  was  foreclosed 
and  tlie  property  was  purchased  by  Peter  1>.  j\Iyers,  in  October,  187G. 
In  1888,  jNIr.  Myers  sold  the  property  to  Ceorge  E.  Bedell,  who  tore 
down  the  old  plaster  mill  and  erected  the  present  stone  building,  where 
he  manufactured  spring  beds,  mattresses,  etc.,  for  several  years. 

Mr.  Myers  again  became  the  owner  of  the  property  by  foreclosure  of 
a  moi'tgage,  and  his  executors  sold  it  in  October,  1890,  to  Jolui  V.  Hem- 
street,  of  the  Standard  Furniture  Company  ,and  the  Imilding  is  now 
used  for  the  manufacture  of  excelsior. 

HERKIMER  MFG.  COMPANY.— M.  A.  DEIMEL. 

The  property  now  owned  by  Mr.  Deimel  was  a  part  of  that  which 
was  conveyed  by  F.  P.  P>ellinger  and  wife  to  Davenport  &  Ilickertson, 
in  1848.  They  contracted  with  Lewis  Jones  and  Daniel  Bell  to  ei'ect  a 
saw  mill  on  the  propert.v  innnediately  below  the  plaster  mill.  The  con- 
tract provided  that  the  mill  was  to  be  built  "large  enough  to  saw  tim- 
ber from  CO  to  35  feet  long  and  to  be  finislied  and  furnished  with  one 
good  saw  and  cant  hook  and  a  pair  of  bars,  also  to  put  up  a  good  buzz 
saw  and  to  be  carried  by  a  belt  from  the  said  plaster  mill."  The  saw 
mill  was  conducted  by  Jones  tS:  P.ell,  and  by  Mr.  Jones  until  the  mill  was 
l>urned  in  1850. 

William  A.  Caswell  became  the  owner  of  the  property  in  1857  and 
sold  it  to  A'olney  Eaton  in  November,  1850.  About  18(;0.  Mr.  Eaton 
built  a  new  mill  and  the  business  was  conducted  for  a  time  liy  Mr. 
Eaton  and  E.  C.  Munson.  In  18()5.  Mr.  Eaton  sold  the  property  to  Erwln 
A.  and  Erwin  C.  Munson.  The  mill  was  burned  again  in  February, 
1871,  at  which  time  the  plaster  mill  was  burned  also. 

S.  L.  Black  conducted  a  shoddy  mill  on  the  propert.v.  about  18G5. 
George  L.  Johnson  occui)ied  the  upper  part  of  the  saw  mill  from  about 
1808  until  the  fire  and  did  planing,  and  furnished  buildei-s'  materials. 

Mr.  Munson  conducted  a  steam  saw  mill  on  the  east  side  of  tlie  lot 
for  about  tln-ee  years,  when  he  sold  the  machinery  to  George  Sperl, 
after  which  the  property  remained  idle  until  it  .yas  sold  to  Henry  A, 
Deimel  and  Cornelius  R.  Snell,  in  1883.  George  B.  Bedell  commenced 
the  manufacture  of  cots  and  spring  beds  in  the  large  building  north  of 
the  freight  house.     He  formed  a  co-partnership  with  H.  A.  &  M.  A. 


THE  HERKIMER  HYDRAULIC  CANAL.  167 

Deinu'l.  under  tlu-  firiii  naiiu'  of  the  lU'dcll  Mfff.  Co.,  in  Novoinbcr,  1882. 
Tlu'y  orccti'd  a  wooden  hnildiiii;  on  the  aliove  mentioned  saw  mill  lot, 
about  1S!S;'>.  and  manufactured  sprini;  iteds.  cots,  mattresses,  etc. 
About  ISSd,  Mr.  I'.edell  retired  from  the  firm  and  the  l)usiness  was  con- 
ducted under  the  name  of  the  Herkimer  Mfu.  ( "o.,  comi)<)sed  of  (.'.  R. 
Snell  ;ind  M.  A.  Deiniel.  'i'wo  larue  brick  buildin,t,^s  iiave  been  .added 
to  the  ])lant,  in  one  of  wliich  tlie  (Jem  Knittin.t;  (.'o.  did  business  until 
the  building'  it  now  occupies  \v:is  erected.  At  one  time  (iiesy  cV:  Roberts 
had  a  machine  shop  in  the  basement  of  the  uoi-therly  brick  building 
and  llenocksbursh  &  Benda  manufactured  stockings  for  a  time,  under 
the  name  of  the  Liberty  Knitting  Mills. 

('.  K.  Snell  retired  from  the  firm  in  iSMti.  A  large  and  successful 
business  is  now  conducted  by  M.  A.  Diemel.  An  excelsior  plant  with 
fourteen  machines  has  been  added.  Woven  wii-e  and  other  mattres.st-s, 
spring  beds,  cots,  otKce  desks,  and  other  articles  are  now  manufactured 
at  this  i>l;int.     About  fifty-five  hands  are  employed. 

STANDARD    FURMTURE    COMPANY. 

This  company  owns  the  property  and  water  power  which  was  con- 
veyed by  F.  I'.  15ellinger  to  William  A.  Caswell  in  1843.  and  that 
conveyed  by  F.  I*.  Bellinger  to  George  Broomhall  in  18<5(). 

C  A  S  ^^'  E  L  E     PR  ()  P  E  [{ T  Y . 

Mr.  Caswell  Ituilt  a  saw  mill  on  his  property  and  ran  it  for  alioiit  13 
yi^ars.  He  sold  the  property  to  Peter  Witherstine  and  William  A. 
Swift  in'  isr>.^».  He  became  the  owner  of  the  property  again  in  18(!1. 
and  at  once  sold  it  to  Francis  Popi)er  ;ind  M.ary  (Iray.  the  wife  of  Wil- 
lard  A.  Gray,  in  ISCl.  A  new  building  ^^.•ls  ])nt  up  north  of  the  saw 
mill  property  on  what  was  afterward  called  the  JNIunson  lot.  about  18(50. 
I'opper  and  Gray  sold  to  Rodman  Wood,  in  18('>7.  Rodman  Wood  made 
cheese  boxes.  Rodman  Wood  conveyed  the  saw  mill  portion  of  the 
property  to  Aaron  Snell.  .lanuai-y  1st.  ISd'.l.  Mr.  Snell  conducted  a 
saw  mill  and  at  one  time  ground  feed.  He  also  h:id  a  sash  and  blind 
factory.  The  building  w.-is  bui-ned  twice:  aftei-  it  biirned  the  second 
time  nothing  Imt  sawing  was  done.  .I.inu.ary  1st,  ISS',1.  he  conveyed 
tlu'  property  to  Willi;im  Horrocks  and  Michael  Foley. 

Rodman  Wood  conveyt'd  the  other  i)ortion  of  the  ])ro])erty  (the  Mun- 
son  property!  to  George  I'.  Foils  and  Windsor  1  >.  Schuyler,  in  Novem- 
ber. 18(;8.  They  manuf.ictnred  cliccse  bo.xcs  and  head  linings.  FoltS 
iind  Seliuyler  sold  to  .Muiison  and  I'atiick  in  IST."),  but  Mr.  Patrick  had 
an  inter(>st  in  the  property  but  a  short  time.  .Mr.  .Munson  at  first  man- 
ufactured carpenter's  su]iplies.  About  1S7'.»,  he  comnu'nced  the  manu- 
facture of  chamber  furniture,  which  he  continued  until  the  property 
Wiis  sold  to  William  Horrocks  ;in(l  Michael    Foley,  in  18!K». 

P.ROO.MH.M.l.     PROI'ERTV. 
Thei'e  was  a  wooden  building  on  this  pioperty  before  Mr.  P>roomh:ill 
bought  it.  in  which  .James  and  .Foel  MacComlter  made  lasts.     Kingston 


168  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Brothers  also  made  lasts,  and  brooin  handles  were  also  manufactured 
here.  R.  S.  Hamilton,  father  of  Mrs.  F.  E.  Easton,  of  Ili<m,  manufact- 
ured French  bedsteads  and  other  articles. 

Mr.  Broomhall  erected  a  stone  building  south  of  the  grist  mill  for  a 
malt  house,  in  18G0.  It  was  originally  only  a  story  and  a  half  high. 
The  first  planer  and  matcher  used  in  Herkimer  was  put  in  this  mill,  in 
18fjO.  and  was  run  by 'George  T.  Woodin,  Sr. 

In  18<».5,  an  interest  in  the  property  was  conveyed  by  P.roomhall  to 
B.  D.  Lyon.  Mr.  Lyon  bought  sash  and  l)lind  machinery  whicli  had 
been  used  by.  Zenas  Green,  Josepli  Folts  and  B.  Patrick,  on  a  portion 
of  the  Caswell  property  ,and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  sash  and 
blinds,  and  also  sold  lumber.  Mr.  George  T.  Woodin  at  one  time  owned 
an  interest  in  the  property. 

William  Horrocks  and  Michael  Foley  became  the  owners,  in  August, 
188G.  Horrocks  &  Foley  manufactm-ed  the  wooden  parts  of  tlie  Rem- 
ington TypeAvriter,  and  made  desks.  In  1890,  the  Company  was  incor- 
porated. William  Horrocks  retired  from  the  Company  and  started  in 
business  for  himself,  in  1893. 

The  present  ofiicers  of  the  Company  are.  Michael  Foley,  presidefl*; 
John  V.  Hemstreet,  vice-president;  F.  F.  Latln-op,  treasurer,  and 
Charles  S.  Brewer,  secretary.  They  now  manufacture  a  great  variety 
of  office  desks,  cabinets  and  other  worlv  for  typewriters.  They  employ 
al)ont  450  men  at  Herkimer  and  turn  out  from  five  to  six  hundred  desks 
per  week.  They  also  employ  a  large  number  of  men  in  Kentuclvy. 
They  have  agencies  in  London,  Paris  and  Berlin,  and  special  agencies 
in  tlie  principal  cities  of  Jlurope.  Tlie  business  is  very  large  and  con- 
stantly increasing. 

The  foregoing  are  the  industries  operated  wliolly  or  in  part  l\v  water 
power  from  the  Hydraulic  Canal.  Manufacturing  at  tliese  plants  has 
increased  to  such  an  extent  that  all  the  water  of  the  West  Canada 
Creek  does  not  now  furnish  power  enough  to  run  them  all.  Steam  is 
also  used  by  many  of  the  manufacturers,  especially  when  the  How  of 
water  is  obstructed  by  anchor  ice  and  in  times  of  drought. 

OTHER  INDUSTRIES  IN  HERKIMER. 

Tliere  are  some  industries  in  Herkimer  not  connected  with  tlie  Hy- 
draulic Canal,  but  it  has  been  thoiight  best  to  refer  to  them  briefly  in 
this  article. 

H.    M.    QUACKENBUSH. 

Mr.  Quackenbush  started  in  business  in  1871,  in  a  small  building 
on  the  back  part  of  his  lot  on  the  west  side  of  Prospect  street.  The 
business  increased  rapidly,  several  buildings  liave  been  erected  by  him 
on  the  east  side  of  Prospect  street  and  he  now  has  one  of  the  finest 
and  best  equipped  plants  in  the  country.  He  manufactures  Safety 
cartridge  rifles,  bicycle  rifles,  air  rifles,  targets,  darts  and  slugs,  stair 
carpet  rods,  foot  lathes,  nickle  and  silver  plated  nut  picks  and  cracks, 
and  employs  from  75  to  100  hands. 


THE  HERKIMER  HYDRAULIC  CANAL,  169 

C.    R.     SNELL. 

About  1S7S,  IToury  A.  Diciiit-l  nnd  Conu-Iius  K.  Sncll  oncnf-c*!  in  the 
lumltor  I)Usiiiess  at  HerkiintT,  uikUt  the  hiiii  name  of  Dcimcl  tSr  Snell. 
Thi'M-  laii;!'  and  cxtt'iisivi'  phiiit  was  on  the  north  side  of  Albany  street, 
next  to  the  mill  of  the  Mark  Mfj;-.  ("o.  Mr.  Dieniel  retired  in  lSt)7,  and 
the  business  is  now  condueted  liy  Mr.  Snell.  lie  deals  in  huiiber  and 
manufactures  niati'riais  for  house  building'.  He  employs  about  20 
men.  Ij  ;, 

JOHN    METZLEK. 

Mr.  Metzler's  place  of  business  is  on  the  westerly  side  of  Second  ave- 
nue, lie  is  a  contractoi-  and  manufactures  window  sash  and  doors, 
lie  employs  aliout  '{5  men. 

ACME     PAPER     P.()X     CO. 

This  ('omjiany  is  ensaiicd  in  the  njanufacture  of  pai)er  boxes  in  the 
building  on  the  west  side  of  Main  street,  owned  l)y  .lohn  Stewart,  and 
connnenced  business  jibout  May  1st,  lOOO.  The  company  consists  of 
C'harh^s  Stewart,  Robert  II.  (Heed,  Morris  Marriott.  Frank  Shelhorn  is 
superintendent. 

IIORROCKS     DESK     COMPANY. 

After  Wm.  Ilorrocks  retired  from  the  Standard  Furnitur(>  Co.,  he 
connnenced  the  manufacture  of  desks,  etc.,  in  a  buildint;-  on  tlie  south 
side  of  Smith  street,  which  he  leased  from  E.  C.  Munson.  This  build- 
inj;-  w^as  destroyed  by  tire,  July  ];">,  lS!>;j.  A  corporation  w,as  then  organ- 
ized, called  the  Herkimer  P.uilding  Co.,  wliich  erected  a  brick  building 
on  the  north  side  of  (Jcrman  street,  near  the  residence  of  William  Ilor- 
I'ocks  and  leased  it  to  him.  The  business  Mas  conducted  by  Mr.  Hor- 
rocks  until  Deoeud)er,  ist)},  wiien  the  Ilorrocks  Desk  Co.  was  incorpo- 
rated. Wm.  Ilorrocks  is  president,  Henry  G.  Munger,  vice-president, 
and  Geoi-ge  W.  Searles,  secretary  and  treasurer.  Th(\v  h.ave  been 
compelled  by  their  rai)idly  increasing  business  to  enlarge  the  i)lant, 
and  lani  day  and  night.  They  manufacture  roll  and  flat  top  desks, 
tyjM'writer  cabinets  and  tables,  otHce  tables,  copy  press  stiinds,  filing 
cabim-ts  and  the  wood  p;irts  of  typewriters,  and  emi)loy  from  ICO  to 
ITf)  hands  at  Herkimer,  bi'sides  cpiite  a  number  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio. 

I  have  obtained  most  of  tlie  facts  contained  in  this  artich>  from  rec- 
ords and  papers  on  file  in  the  Herkimer  County  Clerk's  ollice,  and  from 
persons  who  are  now  or  h.ave  been  engaged  in  the  in<lustries  mention- 
ed. For  some  of  the  information  1  am  indebted  to  old  residents  of  tlie 
village  and  particulaiMy  to  Col.  Jjimes  A.  Suiter,  who,  although  in  the 
eiglity-fifth  year  of  his  age,  lias  a  better  memory  than  yomigei-  people 
and  gives  events  that  hai)i)ened  moi'e  than  seventy  years  .ago  .and  dates 
with  great  accuracy. 


THE  RELATION  OF  THE  MOHAWK  VALLEY  TO 
THE  MAKING  OF  THE  REPUBLIC. 

FIRST   PRIZE   ESSAY   IN   THE   ROBERT   EARL   CONTEST,    WRITTEN    BY    LESLIE 
KIRKE   RICHARDSON   OF   LITTLE   FALLS, 

Read  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  September  8,   1900. 

Too  little  is  known  of  tlu'  intlnonco  which  the  Mohawk  valley  wield- 
ed ill  the  history  of  our  nation.  Its  historic  past  should  l)e  household 
knowledge  in  every  American  home.  For  if  the  valley  has  been  worth 
in  no  small  measure  our  existence  as  Americans  and  not  Frenchmen  or 
Englishmen,  as  I  sliall  later  prove  in  this  essay,  surely  it  should  also 
be  worth  our  most  careful  and  conscientious  study. 

Its  relation  to  the  making  of  the  Republic  is  a  two-fold  one;  first, 
up  to  the  year  17S8,  it  helped  to  preserve  this  country  from  French 
thraldom  and  Enjiiish  control,  and  so  make  possible  our  Kepublic's 
birth;  and  secondly,  from  the  year  1783  till  to-d;iy.  it  has  aided  largely 
in  building  up  and  developing  what  it  helped  to  preserve. 

Let  us  now  study  in  detail,  how  the  Mohawk  valley  once  helped  to 
preserve  our  country  from  its  enemies. 

A  glance  first,  then,  at  the  valley's  early  inhabitants.  For  narrow 
indeed  would  be  our  idea  of  this  valley  if  it  failed  to  include  the  peo])le 
in  it.  Indeed,  what  has  helped  so  greatly  to  make  the  American  peo- 
Itle  the  ]>ower  they  arc  to-day.  is  the  cosmopolitan  element  in  their  pop- 
ulation; and  the  Mohawk  v;illey"s  share  in  this  element,  though  other 
nationalities  Avere  represented,  consisted  cliietly  in  the  early  Hollanders 
and  Palatines. 

The  Hollanders  came  up  the  valley  in  KtCl.  and  founded  Schenectady. 
They  had  been  under  the  Patroon  system,  but  soon  hating  it.  because 
under  it  they  could  not  hold  land  in  fee  simple,  bought  from  the  In- 
dians lands  in  the  "Woesting,"  as  this  region  was  then  called,  where 
the  fruits  of  their  labors  would  be  entirely  their  own. 

.\ow  this  opening  up  of  the  valley  to  the  white  man.  marked  an  im- 
portant chapter  in  the  development  of  American  freedom.  For  fifty 
years  these  Hollanders  struggled  with  the  aristocracy  of  Albany,  for 


THE  MOHAWK  VALLEY.  l"?! 

tbo  fnH'dom  of  the  fill-  trndc  witli  the  Indians,  and  in  1727,  \v<>n  their 
caiisi'.  Thus,  in  the  throtU  of  tlic  Mohawk  valley,  centuries  ;i.uo,  this 
sturdy  i)eoi>k'  adiieiinu  to  tlie  ideas  of  liln-rty  (lial  iiaxc  since  niaiU' 
Ainei-ica,  linally  triuniplied  over  the  forces  represent iiiK  tlie  feudalism 
of  Europe. 

Soon  following  these  Dutch  pioneers  were  the  I'alatines  of  Germany, 
whoso  peaceful  homes  in  the  Khine  valley  had  been  (h'solated  f)y  cruel 
velifiious  wars.  Ohtaininy  a  refuse  in  America  from  (}u(H'n  Anno  of 
England,  they  dwi'lt  lirst  niton  lands  now  end)raced  in  Columbia  and 
Ulster  counties  in  New  Vorlv  State;  but  wronged  here  for  years,  tiiially 
ouiif;Tatod  to  the  Scholiarie  valley,  where  also,  they  were  unjustly 
treated.  So  Inter,  th«'y  enu.nrated  to  the  Mohawk  valley,  having  their 
greatest  concentriition  at   Talatine  P.ridge,   Little   F.-ills  and  Herkimer. 

In  peace  and  in  w.ir  these  people  made  the  best  sort  of  colonists. 
Accustomed  to  li.ardship,  bi;ive.  (Jod  ft'aring  and  industrious,  they 
could  (Midure  evei-ytliing  excei)t  tyi'.anny.  Against  this,  tliey  rebelled 
and  wei'o  a  constant  thorn  in  the  si<h's  of  the  ai'istoei'.acy  and  self-cen- 
tred Iioyal  Governors,  and  by  their  opposition  to  injustice  in  any  form, 
and  by  tlieir  love  for  freedom,  helped  to  pave  the  way  for  the  American 
Rovolutioji. 

Not  only  did  they  love  freechun  but  also  religion.  This  land  neeih'd 
then  as  it  needs  now  ;i  strong  religious  sentiment.  The  P:iliitines  had 
tliat  sentiment. 

In  the  inter-coloni;il  wars,  they  bore  with  tlie  Moli.awks  the  brunt 
of  tlie  Frencli  inv.-ision;  and  their  descendants  in  the  Kevolution, 
though  besot  on  the  one  h:ind  iiy  the  emissaries  sent  to  persujuh'  them 
to  join  tlie  crown,  and  on  tlH>  other  fully  knowing  not  only  their  homes 
might  be  destroyed,  I>ut  tliey  themselves,  if  tliey  remained  true  to  tlieir 
adopted  land,  yet  fouglit.  suffered  and  died  like  heroes  for  right  and  lib- 
erty. 

Of  their  blood  are  many  distinguished  figures  in  Aniei-ic;in  li-istory 
wlio  did  great  service  for  the  cf)lonies;  among  tliem  is  .Facob  fjoisley, 
who  dared  not  only  seize  the  reins  of  government,  when  the  people 
were  waiting  for  Sloughter  to  come  over,  but  even  in  the  face  of  the 
crown  and  power  of  the  aristocr.-icy,  supported  the  wishes  of  the  peo- 
ple. For  this,  all  of  him  but  his  noble  example  w;is  hanged;  but  th:it 
lived  on  to  inspire  the  people  to  greater  love  and  efloits  for  f  ree<lom ; 
also,  Peter  Zenger,  who  trivnniihod  in  this  struggle  for  freedom  of  the 
press,  thus  marking  one  more  important  episode  in  the  history  of 
American  freedom;  also  Nicholas  Herkimer,  a  st.iunch  it.itriot  and 
Iirave  soldier,  who  conniiand(>d  the  Tryon  county  militia  in  the  Oriskany 
battle.  Thus,  in  the  marked  intlueiice  for  right  ;ind  freedom  of  these 
eaiiy  Hollanders  and  Palatines,  in  their  brave  defense  of  home  ag;iinst 
Fi'onch  inv.-ision.  ;ind  in  the  lixcs  not  only  of  the  great  but  ;ilso  ordi- 
nary men  they  i»rodnced.  who  did  such  \;iliant  service  in  pidinoting  ;i 
love  for  real  freedom  to  tlie  [U'oserviim  and  hence  inakiim  of  our  coun- 
try. 


172  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Next  lot  118  viow  the  f^eographlcal  and  physical  advantages  of  the 
Mohawk  valley.  By  the  map,  we  notice  that  it  extends  from  tlie  center 
of  New  York  State  to  the  Hudson  valley,  joining  that  highway  between 
Troy  and  Waterford.  But  note  its  chief  physical  feature.  At  Little 
Falls,  the  valley  cuts  clear  tlirough  to  the  base,  a  huge  mountain  bar- 
riir  that  attempts  to  cross  its  path,  thus  forming  an  almost  perfect 
higliway  from  the  Hudson  river  not  only  to  tlie  lu-art  of  New  York 
State,  but  via  short  land  carries  on  to  the  Great  Lakes  and  far  west. 

Nor  does  Nature  end  her  work  here.  The  head  waters  of  the  Mohawk 
interlace  with  streams  tliat  join  tlie  St.  Lawrence  river.  Tlie  head- 
waters of  the  Hudson,  into  which  tiows  tlie  Mohawk,  also  connect  with 
waters  that  join  the  St.  I>awrence,  and  sweeping  Southward  from  the 
Mohawk  are  streams  that  by  the  Susquehanna  river  finally  empty  into 
Chesapeake  Bay,  and  not  far  from  the  Mohawk's  source  are  streams 
that  lead  to  the  Ohio  and  Great  Lakes,  by  wliich  the  Mississippi  River, 
Great  Gulf  and  far  west  are  soon  reached. 

Thus  from  the  highlands  that  protect  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson  val- 
leys, the  w^aters  by  diverging  valleys  flow  not  only  into  the  St.  Law- 
rence river,  but  almost  into  every  part  of  our  Union. 

Small  wonder,  then,  that  the  Iroquois  Indians,  driven  south  of  Lake 
Ontario  by  the  fierce  Algonqnins  of  Canada,  siiould  inhabit  tliis  natural 
fortress.  By  means  of  the  Mohawk  valley  and  all  its  approaches  that 
lead  to  other  waters,  they  could  journey  into  what  are  now  twenty 
States.  All  the  other  Indian  tril)es  were  separated  from  each  other  by 
high  mountains  and  vast  tracts  of  land,  thus  making  union  ditficult, 
vxiiile  the  Iroquois  themselves  united,  l)y  means  of  their  natural  advan- 
tages just  mentioned,  could  attack  tlu'ir  enemies  siuhh-nly  and  singly. 
What  was  the  result?  The  Iro(iuois  soon  became  lords  of  the  continent 
and  the  fiercest  of  trilies  became  their  vassals. 

Thus  do  we  see  how  this  valley  took  an  important  step  towards  the 
helping  to  make  possible  our  Republic's  liirth,  in  becoming  the  home 
of  the  Iroquois,  thereby  together  with  all  its  approaches  l)ecoming  also 
the  chief  source  of  their  mighty  power  which  not  only  con(iuered  ali 
the  other  tribes,  l)ut  upon  the  coining  of  the  white  man  was  to  decide 
in  favor  of  the  English  tlie  most  important  question  of  that  age,  name- 
ly:    ^Vhetller  Latin  or  Teutonic  civilization  should  dominate  America. 

And  we  now  arrive  at  tliat  period  of  history  known  as  the  Hundred 
Year  War.  Now  while  the  main  issue  at  stake  in  this  war  between 
England  and  Prance,  in  America,  was  the  conquest  of  North  America, 
yet  the  underlying  one  and  that  which  involved  the  former  was  the 
secni-ing  the  aforementioned  power  of  the  Iroquois. 

Let  us  now  see  why  it  was  so  vitally  important  for  the  English  to 
secur(>  this  power,  by  stating  an  event  that  no  doubt  would  have  hap- 
pened had  the  Iroquois  joined  the  French:  and  in  connection  we  will 
see.  too,  by  being  Ihe  real  key  to  the  situation  in  New  York  State,  how 
the  Mohawk  viilley  was  a  protection  to  the  entire  land. 

Had  the  Iroquois  joined  the  French,  the  former  would  have  swept 


THE   MOHAWK  VALLEY.  173 

through  this  valley  witli  lii'c  and  tomahawk.  (Icsolatiiig  Schciicctady 
and  xVlhany,  capturing  next  the  Hudson  valley  and  tlicn  nn>st  of  North 
America.  For  Avedged  in  between  the  New  England  States  and  the 
southern  ones,  with  this  State  once  taken,  the  Atlantic  sealio.ird  would 
li;ivi'  lii'cn  sliced  in  two;  mighty  French  and  Inxiuois  exjieditions  fol- 
lowing out  the  old  diverging  pathways  of  the  Ircxiuois.  would  then 
v.'ith  matchless  quickness  have  attacked  one  by  one  the  other  colonies, 
which  sooner  or  later  must  also  have  succumbed.  Hut  with  I  lie  Mo- 
hawk valley  in  the  hands  of  the  ^lohawks,  standing  tirni  for  the  l']ng- 
lish,  it  was  an  insurmountable  barrier  to  French  invasion  in  the  I']nii)ire 
State  and,  therefore,  a  strong  shield  to  the  whole  country. 

Having  shown  how  this  valley,  along  with  its  ai)proai'lies.  bcc.iiue 
the  chief  source  of  the  Irotiuois'  power,  and  having  shown  what  a  de- 
ciding factor  in  favor  of  the  French,  had  the  latter  secured  it.  that 
power  would  have  become,  and  in  connection  having  seen  how  this 
valley  protected  our  Nation  as  long  it  was  (h'fend<'d  by  the  Iroiiuois, 
let  us  now  state  and  answer  the  (lUestion,  what  was  it  that  inlluenced 
these  red  men  to  join  the  En,glish  and  not  the  French.  I'ccanse  ('li;im- 
plain  tired  at  and  killed  some  Iroijuois  in  IdOUV  No;  for  we  are  dis- 
tinctly told  that  their  feeling  of  ennnty  toward  the  If'rench  for  that 
deed  had  nearly  died  away  by  1(;(;4.  There  is  but  one  gi-eat  and  true 
reason,  namely:  the  ^loliawk  valley,  and  iiowV  Why,  in  the  lives  of 
Arendt  Van  Curler  and  Sir  William  Johnson,  who  lived  in  it.  These 
men  stand  high  among  the  preservers  of  America  from  French  do- 
minion.    Ijct  us  see  why. 

Sailing  to  this  country  in  the  year  l(i;io.  Van  Curler  at  once  became 
.-'.(•(luainted  with  the  Indians  in  the  "Woesting,"  and  from  first  to  last 
ti'cated  them  kiiidly  and  justly.  Mastering  their  customs  and  visiting 
their  council  tires,  the  chain  of  friendship  between  the  Fnglish  and 
the  French  that  was  for.ged  in  KIIT,  he  made  strong  and  enduring. 

And  l)ecause  he  did  this,  a  well-known  historian  has  said  of  him: 
"The  most  momentous  and  far-reaching  (luestion  ever  at  issue  on  this 
continent,  namely,  who  of  the  white  con((uerors  should  bi'  the  ownei- 
ship  of  North  Anun'ica,  was  settled  by  the  peaceful  and  diplomatic 
policy  of  Arendt  Van  Curler." 

In  later  years.  \\'illiam  Johnson  <'ontinued  what  \'an  Cui'ler  began. 
This  stalwart  young  Irishman  came  o\'er  in  IT.'U  to  manage  iiis  uncle's 
(■state  in  the  Moiiawk  ^-alley.  To  do  this  etliciently.  he  built  ;i  large 
stone  mansion,  named  Johnson  Hall  ,th;it  is  still  standing  at  Akin, 
Montgomery  county.  Here  he  Ix-canie  exti-nsively  ac(iu;iiided  with  the 
Mohawks,  studying  their  character,  imitating  their  customs.  .•:c(iuiring 
their  tongue,  dressing  in  their  clothes,  entering  heartily  into  their 
games,  feasting  and  counciling  them  .-it  ids  home,  and  even  marrying 
one  of  the  women,  .Mollie  I'rant,  sister  of  the  renowned  war  chief.  I'.y 
these  ways,  but  chielly  because  he  was  honest,  did  he  gain  unbounded 
influence  over  them. 

We  see  what  an  important  figure  in  American  history  Johnson  was 


174  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

{iiid  the  extent  of  his  vast  power  over  the  red  men,  when  we  note  the 
tremendous  odds  he  had  to  work  against;  there  were  the  llo.vi'l  Gov- 
einors  of  New  York,  who,  with  the  exception  of  Burnett  and  Dongon, 
were  self-centered  and  tyrannical.  They  considered  the  Irociuois  mere- 
ly as  fit  tools  to  work  out  their  own  seltish  ends,  and  treated  them 
more  as  beast  than  as  "Itonians  of  the  far  West." 

And  see  how  stupid-  they  were.  For  instance,  the  Duke  of  York 
regarded  so  little  the  power  of  the  Iroquois,  that  he  actually  invited 
the  French  to  sprinkle  among  them  their  Jesuits,  who  though  often 
Clu'ist-like,  yet  more  often  desired  with  their  cunning  lies  to  gain  the 
Irociuois'  promise  to  serve  France  than  their  souls  to  serve  God. 

These  Governors  alone  were  enough  to  make  the  Irocpiois  aid  the 
French. 

Again,  the  Englisli  army  otttcers  were  inexcusably  slow  with  their 
campaigns,  and  as  a  result  badly  worsted,  thus  discouraging  the  Iro- 
quois who,  great  warriors  themselves,  loved  quick  attacks  and  decisive 
victories. 

Yet,  to  oppose  these  odds,  that  would  have  overwhelmed  a'.iy  other 
man  than  himself,  and  to  rencAV  afresh  their  love  for  his  cause,  Sir  Wil- 
liam was  always  on  hand.  We  see  him  in  1748,  17(53,  17()G  and  17G8, 
assembling  the  Iroquois  to  especially  important  councils,  giving  them 
I'ich  presents  and  overcoming  French  intluence  over  them. 

Hence  it  is  only  just  to  say  that  had  it  not  been  for  the  Mohawk  val- 
ley, in  the  lives  of  Van  Curler  and  Sir  William  Johnson,  the  Iroquois 
would  have  joined  the  French  and  that  nation  to-day  would  be  control- 
ling a  great  portion  of  this  country. 

Before  leaving  this  important  era,  we  must  not  omit  this  valley's 
vital  value  in  being  a  highway  for  the  commerce  of  that  time.  This 
commerce,  because  the  European  women  of  that  day,  like  the  Amer- 
ican of  this,  had  a  wild  craze  for  wearing  furs,  and  were  willing  to 
pay  the  most  extravagant  prices  for  them,  and  since  the  forests  east 
and  west  of  the  Alleganies  were  teeming  with  fur-bearing  animals, 
consisted  maiidy  in  the  fiu*  trade.  This  trade  soon  became  the  very 
life  of  a  colony  and  if  it  once  should  die,  so  sooner  or  later  must  the 
colony. 

See  how  rapidly  the  French  were  monopolizing  that  trade.  In  the 
years  1(540  to  17(J0.  their  trading  posts  lined  the  baidcs  of  the  Mississippi. 
St.  Lawrence  and  Ohio  rivers,  aiul  the  circuits  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Onta- 
rio. They  were  even  extending  their  posts  far  up  the  Great  Lakes,  and 
it  looked  as  though  the  complete  monopoly  of  the  trade  must  soon  be 
theirs,  the  prosperity  and  stiniuhis  of  which  would  have  threatened  the 
security  of  the  English  possessions. 

But  in  1722,  the  wise  Burnett  established  a  trading  post  at  Oswego, 
where,  giving  better  bargains  than  the  French,  soon  diverted  much  of 
the  trade  from  Montreal,  the  headipiarters  of  the  French  trade,  to  Al- 
bany, the  headquarters  of  the  English. 

But  here  is  the  important  fact:      the  principal  links  in  the  chain  of 


THE  MOHAWK   VALLEY.  175 

waterways  between  this  iiupoi-tant  front  ier  jxtst  and  A  litany,  from 
where  must  come  supplies  of  all  kinds,  was  this  \a!iey,  or  more  si>eciti- 
eally  the  Mohawk  Kiver.  This  was  the  only  route  foi-  the  little  bateaux 
huh-n  with  European  brie-a-brae  and  rnin  bound  for  ( )s\ve.i;c),  or  with 
costly  furs  bound  for  Albany.  Alon.t;  this  same  liiiihway  must  come, 
too.  provisions  for  tlie  tradini:;  post,  or  else  it  must  soon  have  perished. 

So,  the  M(»hawk  \alley  may  be  s.aid  to  h.-ive  divei'ted  niueli  of  the  fur 
trade  from  tlie  French  to  the  EnjJ^lish,  in  the  days  when  that  eomm»rce 
was  a  deciding  factor  in  the  life  or  death  of  a  coU)ny. 

Let  us  now  pass  on  to  the  most  critical  period  of  our  Nation's  life. 
the  Revolutionary  war. 

It  is  generally  supposed  th.at  the  Mohawk  valley  in  the  opening  yc  ;irs 
of  this  struggle,  was  of  no  more  value  to  our  Xation  than  the  North 
Pole.  A  greater  mistake,  however,  can  not  be  nnide.  No  se<'tion  of  our 
country  was  more  actively  engaged  in  the  plans  of  the  colonists  and  in 
moulding  a  sentiment  against  the  mother  country,  than  the  Mohawk 
valley. 

And  though  Guy  and  .Tohn  .Tohnson,  relatives  of  Sir  William,  who 
has  sinc<'  died,  at  .Johnson  Hall,  .and  elsewhere  along  the  valley,  did 
tlieir  best  to  maki'  Tories  of  tlie  valley's  inh:ibit;ints.  and  in  some  cast>s 
pucceeded,  yet  the  majority  felt  in  tlieir  hearts,  worked  out  in  their 
brains,  and  later  shot  witli  their  guns,  wliat  a  committee  they  api)ointed 
wrote  to  one  at  Albany:  "In  a  \vord,  gentlemen,  it  is  oiu-  ti.xed  resolve 
to  support  and  carry  into  execution  everything  recommen(h'd  by  the 
Congress!  ;nid  to  be  free  or  die." 

I>ut  the  year  in  which  the  Mohawk  valley  reached  the  zenith  of  its 
usefulness  towards  helping  to  preserve  our  nation  from  its  enemies  and 
to  make  possilile  our  Kepublic's  birth,  was  1777. 

In  that  year,  Parliament  conceived  of  a  gigantic  plan  to  con(,ner  tli<> 
colonies.  To  effect  this  task,  three  mammoth  expeditions  weie  to  be 
employed;  one  to  come  from  the  North,  under  P.iu'goyne,  over  the  old 
Lake  Chami)lain  route;  another,  under  Lord  Howe,  was  to  march  up 
the  Hudson  valle.v  from  New  York  cit.v;  and  the  tluT'd,  mider  St.  liCger, 
was  to  start  from  Oswego,  capture  Fort  Stanwix,  sweep  through  the 
Mohawk  valley  and  unite  with  the  other  two  at  Albany.  And  thus, 
with  tliis  State  conquered,  the  New  England  States  would  have  been 
separated  from  the  others  in  such  ;i  way  as  to  prevent  all  effectual 
union.  Then  great  English  expeditions  with  their  vantage  ground  be- 
tween Ontario  and  Champlain  would  have  swept  into  every  colony  ;ind 
the  "rebels"  must  soon  have  been  vamiuished. 

But  those  thi-ee  armies  never  united  and  that  whit-h  hindered  them 
was  the  Mohawk  valley. 

The  latter  did  this  in  two  ways;  lirst,  by  having  at  its  head  on  a 
portion  of  the  jiresent  site  of  Uonie.  and  thtit  whicli  must  lirst  fall, 
befon-  the  vjilley  could  be  captured.  Fort  St.'inwix;  this  foi't  was  g;ir- 
risoned  bv  Colonel  Peter  (Jiinsvoort   with  a   few  hundred  militia,  when 


176  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Barry  St.  Leger  laid  seige  to  it,  August  3cl,  1777,  witli  his  horde  of 
blood-thirsty  Tories  and  heartless  redskins:  and  secondly,  by  having 
upon  its  soil,  hundreds  of  brave  Palatines  whose  fathers,  generations 
before,  had  by  their  intense  love  for  freedom,  helped  to  pave  the  way 
for  this  very  Revolution  in  which  they  were  now  to  tight  and  perhaps 
die.  These  Palatines  formed  the  majority  of  the  eight  hundred  Mohawk 
valley  heroes  who  fought  with  Herkimer  in  the  ravine  near  Oriskany. 
And  upon  them  must  fall  the  elo(iuent  praises  of  a  grateful  republic, 
for  their  heroic  bravery  in  the  battle  of  Oriskany. 

Of  all  that  happened  before  that  memorable  contlict,  of  tlie  tight 
itself,  of  the  final  rout  of  the  enemy  and  the  reason  why,  and  of  the 
long  siege  and  gallant  defense  of  Fort  Stanwix  that  followed,  need  not 
be  I'etold  here.  But  let  us  not<^  what  resulted  from  this  campaign 
that  in  the  gallant  defense  of  the  Fort  Stanwix  militia,  and  in  the  inval- 
uable services  of  Herkimer's  Palatines,  the  importance  of  this  valley 
in  preserving  at  that  time  oiu'  country,  may  appear  in  its  fullest  light. 

Of  course  the  most  important  result  was  the  closing  to  the  English, 
the  Mohawk  valley.  Otherwise,  St.  Leger  with  hosts  of  villians  would 
have  swept  through  it  and  reinforced  Burgoyne.  What  then?  Gates 
would  have  at  least  been  crippled  and  perhaps  been  cruslwd.  The 
Hudson  valley  then  would  have  gone  English  and  next  the  state;  and 
following  these  the  colonies,  according  to  reasons  mentioned  before  In 
this  essay. 

Another  vital  result  was  this.  A  way  was  paved  for  an  American 
victory  at  Saratoga,  which  victory  is  conceded  by  all  prominent  his- 
torians, to  be  one  of  the  fifteen  decisive  victories  of  the  world. 

We  see  how  the  campaign  did  this  in  five  distinct  ways;  in  the  tirst 
place,  the  victory  at  Oriskany  enabled  all  the  militia  in  the  valley  to 
hasten  back  to  Saratoga  and  reinforce  Gates;  secondly,  it  rendered 
useless  the  British-Iroquois  alliance;  thirdly,  it  tired  the  hearts  of  the 
men  who  hadn't  fought  before,  to  till  their  powder  pouches  and  rush 
to  the  front;  fourthly,  the  Oriskany  victory  especially,  came  at  a  time 
when  victory  was  most  needed.  The  Americans  had  met  defeat  after 
defeat  and  the  final  ridiculous  retreat  of  St.  Leger  tilled  and  thrilled 
all  the  colonies  with  new  joy  and  hope;  and  in  the  fifth  place,  though 
indirectly,  the  Oriskany  victory  with  the  long  defense  of  Foj't  Stan- 
wix which  that  victory  insiu'cd  by  the  weakening  of  St.  Leger's  forces, 
pievented  a  great  Tory  uprising  in  the  vnlley  and  hence  was  a  great 
moral  victory.  Johnson  had  boasted  that  at  his  approach  the  Mohawk 
valley  settlers  would  flock  en  masse  to  his  standard,  and  there  is  little 
doubt  but  that  his  words  would  have  proven  true  had  it  not  l)een  for 
the  American  successes. 

"Yes,  there  at  Oriskany.  the  wedge  first  was  driven. 
By  which  British  invasion  was  splintered  and  riven; 
Though  at  Hoosic  and  'Saratog,'  the  work  was  completed. 


THE  MOHAWK  VALLEY.  177 

The  end  w:is  iiuule  clour  with  St.  Lt'.ucr  (U-fi-utod, 

Nor  can  boast  he  (lisi>roved  on  Oriskany's  shore  '   • 

Was  worked  the  lirini  problem  involved  in  the  war." 

During  the  rest  of  tlie  wui",  at  different  intervals,  owing  to  the  ruth- 
less ravages  of  ISrant.  Butler  and  their  followers,  in  and  about  Herki- 
mer, Little  Falls,  and  the  lower  valley  settlements,  this  region  literally 
ran  with  blood,  gaining  the  nauje  of  "Dark  and  bloody  ground."  liut 
Ity  reason  of  the  stout  resistance  of  the  valley  folk  from  within  their 
block  houses,  England  gained  nothing  beyond  satisfying  Hrant's  lafn- 
ger  for  scali)s  and  liutler's  thirst  for  blood. 

With  the  pL'ace  of  1783  that  brouglit  independence  to  the  colonies, 
began  the  other  relation  which  the  Mohawk  valley  bears  to  the  making 
of  our  Republic,  namely:  how  it  has  helped  to  build  up  and  develop 
what  is  helped  to  presv-rve. 

We  see  in  no  slight  degree  how  it  did  this  in  lis;;;  in  the  first  place, 
by  being  an  almost  pertV-ct  highway,  it  allowed  to  swarm  into  it  and 
beyond,  many  New  Engianders;  and  secondly,  since  these  people  made 
the  valley  their  homes,  we  are  bound  to  notice  what  they  achieved. 

They  were  thrifty,  honest,  shi-ewd  and  keenly  alivt'  to  the  newest 
and  best  improveineiit.  They  made  give  way  before  their  own,  the  old 
ideas  and  crude  customs  of  the  Palatines,  who  now  that  tyranny  and 
war  were  over,  had  seen  their  days  of  ablest  service,  clinging  as  they 
did  to  antique  ways  and  abhorring  new  ones.  Fin.'illy,  this  new  and 
up-to-date  blood  contributed  to  the  development  of  Central  New  York 
and  awakened  not  only  themselves  but  thousands,  aye  millions  of  oth- 
ers to  the  fact,  that  hidden  treasures  were  lying  unused  in  the  unex- 
plored west  of  tiie  Empire  State. 

I'assing  on  to  the  year  17!)2,  we  see  another  striking  in>;t;uice  to 
prove  this  valley's  other  relation.  In  that  year  was  incorpoi-ated  the 
Inland  Lock  Navigation  Company  of  New  York,  whose  canals  in  1797 
were  I'eady  for  use.  This  can:il  removed  V)y  m(>ans  of  its  locks,  river 
obstructions;  and  by  its  canal  from  the  Mohawk  to  Wood  Creek,  al- 
lowed large  craft  to  go  from  Schenectady  to  Oswego  without  unloading, 
hence  it  was  a  stimulus  to  greater  commerce  and  larger  emigration, 
and  in  those  days  was  consich'ri'd  a  ri'markable  achievcMueuT. 

The  next  notable  event  in  which  the  Moh.-iwk  valley  ligure«l  ju-omi- 
uently  in  the  ])rocess  of  Iiuiiding  U])  our  republic,  was  tlu'  digging  of 
the  Erie  canal.  The  valley  \vas  virtually  connecti'<l  with  this  gigantic 
improvement  in  three  ways:  two  direct,  the  third  indirect;  in  the 
fiist  place,  by  being  such  a  perfect  channel,  it  allowed  the  canal  to  be 
built  .almost  throughout  its  entire  length:  in  the  second  place,  though 
indirectly,  had  it  not  been  for  the  Mohawk  valley,  the  Erie  canal  could 
not,  or  to  say  the  least,  woiild  not  have  been  built.  We  should  assume 
this   for   two   reasons:     lii'stlv,   anv   other   way   than   directlv   from   the 


178  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Hudson  to  Buffalo,  would  have  entailed  enormous  outlays  of  money 
and  time;  and  next,  even  with  the  advantage  of  having  riglit  at  liand 
an  almost  perfect  highway  for  tlie  canal,  there  was  such  firm  and  bit- 
ter opposition  to  the  measure  for  its  construction,  that  DeWitt  Clinton 
had  all  he  could  do  to  pull  it  tln-ough.  What  would  that  opposition 
have  been,  if  there  had  been  no  Mohawk  valley?  Finally,  even  though 
the  valley  allows  the  canal  to  come  tlirough.  yet  the  latter  could  not  be 
operated,  were  it  not  for  the  Mohawk  Kiver  wliich  the  Mohawk  valley 
contains,  and  why?  The  Erie  canal  must  be  constantly  fed;  and  the 
v/ater  which  feeds  it  must  come  from  the  Mohawk  River. 

Since  the  Mohawk  valley  Avas  in  three  ways  so  vitally  connected 
with  the  building  of  the  canal  we  should  note  the  latter's  influence  and 
then  clearly  shall  we  see  how  the  former  aided  in  building  our  Republic; 
lirst,  cheaper,  easier  and  quicker  communication  between  the  Great 
Lakes  and  Hudson  River.  In  the  days  of  tlie  small  bateaux  and  navi- 
gation company's  canals,  it  took  ten  dollars  and  three  weeks  to  haul 
a  barrel  of  flour  from  Albany  to  Buffalo.  With  the  Erie  canal  com- 
pleted, that  barrel  Avith  only  thirty  cents  charges,  could  be  received 
at  Buffalo  one  week  after  it  liad  started  from  Albany. 

Also  the  Eastern  markets  became  at  once  cheaper  for  Western  agri- 
cultural products  and  the  later  markets  l)ecame  cheaper  for  iniported 
goods  from  the  East.  Thus,  for  both  sections  of  the  Republic,  the  Erie 
canal  was  a  vital  means  of  untold  wealth. 

As  a  result  of  all  this,  vast  armies  of  immigrants  poured  into  tliis 
valley  from  New  p:ngland  and  Europe;  armies,  that  unlike  former  ones, 
did  not  mean  war.  Imt  tlie  best  there  w:is  in  peace;  not  tlie  overturn- 
ing of  old  states,  but  the  building  up  of  the  new  ones.  On  they  marcli- 
ed  to  the  West  and  Northwest,  building  'ip  as  tliey  marclied.  gr.-at  a?;ri- 
cultural  communities  Avhose  farm  products  to-day  are  lioating  down 
to  tlie  ocean  upon  the  calm  bosom  of  the  Erie  canal. 

In  these  days,  there  is  much  talk  of  building  a  ship  canal.  Wlu-re 
will  tlie  route  lie?  The  Deep  Waterways  Commission  has  already  de- 
cided that  it  shall  extend  through  the  Moliawk  valley. 

This  valley  also  permits  the  greatest  four-track  railroad  in  the  world 
to  run  through  it,  as  well  as  the  West  Shore  railroad.  The  advantage?! 
of  these  are  too  well  Ivnown  to  be  restated  here. 

I  could  not  bring  tliis  essay  to  a  close  without  a  brief  but  grateful 
ti'ibute  to  the  noble  heroes  who  in  1812,  'CA  and  '98,  went  forth  out  of 
this  valley  from  homes  of  plenty  and  from  their  dear  ones,  to  light 
and  if  necessary  to  die  like  men,  in  defense  of  tlieir  Republic.  I  can- 
not state  the  exact  number  of  these  soldiers;  but  all  must  acknowledge 
that  no  section  of  our  land  in  proportion  to  its  population,  sent  more 
defenders  to  the  front  than  the  Mohawk  valley. 

Such,  then,  is  the  relation;  or  rather  are  the  relations  of  the  Mohawk 
valley  to  the  making  of  the  Republic- 


THE  MOHAWK   VALLEY.  179 

Let  the  novelist  and  the  poet  admire  it  for  its  unsurpassed  beauty; 
let  the  farmer  deliyht  in  its  fertile  soil;  but  let  him  who  loves  all  the 
elements  that  have  combined  to  make  secure  and  to  build  up  the  grand- 
est Nation  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  revere  the  Mohawk  valley  for  its 
historic  past. 


TRYON  COUNTY  IN  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR. 

SECOND   PRIZE   ESSAY   IN  THE   ROBERT   EARIv   CONTEST,    WRITTEN   BY 
JAMES   H.    GREENE   OF   HERKIMER, 

Read  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  October  13,  1900. 

In  1772.  the  Colonial  Assembly,  through  the  influence  of  Sir  William 
Jolinson,  passed  an  act  partitioning  what  was  then  known  as  Albany 
county  into  three  parts,  called  respectively,  Charlotte.  Albany  and 
Tryon  counties.  The  last  named,  which  is  to  receive  attention  in  this 
paper,  was  named  in  honor  of  William  Tryon.  then  governor  of  the 
colony  of  New  York. 

The  eastern  boundary  of  Tryon  county  extended  due  north  from  a 
point  near  the  present  site  of  Hoffman's  Ferry  on  the  Mohawk  River, 
to  the  St.  Lawrence  at  the  contluence  of  the  St.  Regis  River.  From 
this  point  the  boundary  followed  the  St.  I>awrence  and  Lake  Ontario  to 
the  Oswego  River,  thence  along  the  Oswego.  Oneida  Lake  and  Wood 
Creek,  along  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Indian  possessions  to  the 
Delaware,  and  up  the  western  branch  of  the  Delaware  in  a  north- 
easterly direction  to  the  starting  point.  This  large  tract  included  what 
are  now  known  as  Montgomery,  Fulton,  Hamilton,  St.  Lawrence,  Her- 
kimer, Lewis,  Jefferson,  Oneida,  Oswego  and  Otsego  counties,  as  well 
as  parts  of  some  others. 

At  the  request  of  Colonel  Schuyler,  Sir  William  Johnson  divided  the 
county  into  five  districts,  as  follows:  The  first,  or  Mohawk  district; 
the  second,  or  Stone  Arabia  district,  afterward  called  the  Palatine  dis- 
trict; the  third,  or  Canajoharie  district;  the  fourth,  or  Kingsland 
district;  the  fifth,  or  German  Flats  district.  The  names  of  the  last 
two  districts  were  soon  after  reversed. 

We  find  the  people  of  Tryon  county  taking  their  first  active  part  in 
the  struggle  against  the  crown  on  the  27th  of  August,  1774,  about  six 
weeks  after  the  sudden  death  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  the  leading  land 
owner  and  chief  promoter  of  the  interests  of  the  county.  Their  action 
was  the  formation  of  a  committee  of  safety,  whose  services  to  the 
county  will  be  considered  in  another  part  of     this     paper.     Srr  John 


TRYON  COUNTY  IN  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR.  181 

Johnson  had  at  this  time  succ(mmI('(1  to  his  fathor's  estates,  and  the 
tounty  was  in  a  very  in'ospcrous  coiKlition,  It  owned  a  tine  court 
lionse  and  Jail  situated  at  Joluistown,  whose  construction  had  beon 
provided  tor  at  tlie  time  of  the  organization  of  tlie  county.  Johnson 
Hall,  the  honu'  of  the  Jolnison  family,  was  also  situated  at  Johnstown. 
The  Mohawk  River  aftorded  a  waterway  tlnoujih  the  county,  and  the 
trjiusportation  facilities  were  increased  by  several  roads. 

The  conditions  which  confronted  the  patriots  in  Tryon  county  were 
very  unfavorable,  moro  so,  perhaps,  than  in  any  othi'r  section  of  the 
colonies.  The  Tory  element  was  very  strong-,  all  the  county  officers 
IxMugr  servants  of  the  crown  and  dependent  upon  it  for  their  position 
and  income.  Large  numbers  of  Indians  had  their  homes  in  the  county, 
and  thi-ough  the  upright  and  generous  dealing  of  Sir  William  Johnson 
toward  them,  were  friendly  to  the  Tories  rather  than  to  the  patriots. 
Tlie  sturdy  patriot  farmers,  however,  were  not  the  men  to  be  daunted 
b.V  such  odds  as  these,  and  showed,  when  the  time  came  for  action, 
tliat  they  had  lost  none  of  the  steadfast  courage  that  carried  their  an- 
cestors through  the  years  of  persecution  which  witnessed  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  peaceful  farms  by  the  green  banks  of  the  Rhine. 

The  Tryon  county  committee  of  safety  Avas  composed  of  delegates 
from  each  district  of  the  county.  At  first  the  meetings  were  held  sepa- 
rately by  the  delegates  from  each  district,  but  they  afterward  united 
in  a  single  committee.  The  first  committee  meeting  of  which  there  is 
any  record,  was  held  by  the  Palatine  district,  and  although  the  other 
districts  of  the  county  doubtless  held  similar  meetings,  we  do  not  hear 
of  them  until  they  united  with  the  Pa  latino  district  to  form  the  coimty 
committee. 

Tlie  members  of  the  Palatine  district  met  at  the  house  of  Adam 
Loucks  at  Stone  Arabia,  on  August  27,  1774.  and  a  set  of  resolutions 
was  drawn  up,  in  which  the  members  d<'Clared  their  allegiance  to  the 
King,  but  protested  against  the  unjust  taxation  of  the  people,  express- 
ing sympathy  for  the  peojtle  of  P.oston.  whose  harbor  had  been  placed 
under  an  embai'go.  and  doclaring  their  iiitention  to  aid  them  by  every 
uieans  in  their  pow(>r.  The  connnittee  also  expressed  approval  of  the 
formation  of  a  continent;) I  congress  and  th"  election  thereto  of  live  dele- 
gates from  New  York  colony,  and  bound  themselves  to  abide  liy  the 
resolutions  ]>assed  by  this  congress.  Tlu^y  appointed  a  standing  com- 
mittee of  four,  \\h!(  h  was  afterwards  inci'cased  to  twelve,  to  Join  with 
the  committees  of  the  other  districts  of  Tiyon  county  in  conveying  the 
sentiments  of  the  county  (o  New  Voik  .  In  later  meetings  the  I'alatine 
c(!nunittee  communicated  with  that  ol  .\lbany,  informing  tliem  of  their 
intention  to  form  ;in  association,  similar  to  those  in  other  parts  of  the 
State,  b.V  I'cipiesting  all  sym]iiithizei's  with  the  cause  of  the  colonies 
to  sign  their  names  to  a  document  setting  I'oitli  theii'  sentiments.  In 
their  letter  to  the  Albany  coiiiniittee,  liic  I'.-ilatine  committee  told  of 
the   high-li;inded    nu  .-isures   of   the   Tories    in    the   conntv.    and   declared 


182  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

their  intention  to  be  free  or  die.  The  inliahitanls  of  the  county  were 
advised  to  have  notliing  to  do,  in  tlie  way  of  trade  or  otlierwise,  with 
persons  refusing  to  sign  the  association. 

On  June  2,  1775,  a  meeting  was  lield  at  tlie  lionie  of  Warren  Tygert 
of  Canajoliario  district,  at  wliicli  every  district  in  the  county  was  rep- 
resented, 43  members  being  present,  anKuig  whom  were  Nicliolas  Her- 
kimer, Christopher  Yates  and  John  Marlott. 

The  most  important  business  of  this  meeting  was  tlie  preparation  of 
a  letter  to  Colonel  Guy  Johnson,  who,  on  account  of  his  position  of 
Indian  superintendent,  was  looked  upon  as  foremost  among  the  up- 
holders of  the  Tory  caiise  in  the  county.  In  this  letter  the  committee 
defended  their  right  to  hold  meetings  for  considering  the  dispute 
between  themselves  and  the  mother  country,  saying  that  they  liad  onlV 
followed  the  example  of  others  throughout  the  colonies.  They  also 
niade  a  statement  of  what  they  considered  their  rights  and  protested 
against  the  oppressions  which  they  had  suffei-ed  at  the  hands  of  the 
loyalists,  among  which  they  mentioned  the  disregard  of  the  British 
ministry  for  the  petition  of  the  continental  congress.  A  committee 
was  appointed  to  deliver  this  letter  to  Johnson. 

In  answering  the  letter  of  the  committee.  Colonel  Johnson  said  that, 
however  reasonable  it  might  seem  to  the  colonists  that  their  petition 
should  be  recognized,  it  appeared  in  a  different  light  in  a  country  where 
no  authority  not  estalilished  by  constitution  was  allowed.  He  stated 
that  the  King  had  said  in  his  speech  to  Parliament  that  he  was  willing 
to  consider  the  grievances  of  the  colonists  whenever  they  should  be 
laid  before  him  by  their  constitutional  assemblies. 

Although  this  letter  appears  straiglitforward  enough  at  first  sight, 
the  Colonel's  dependence  on  the  favor  of  the  British  government  for 
his  position,  seems  in  this  case  to  have  led  him  somewhat  aside  from 
the  plain  statement  of  facts,  for  no  offer  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the 
Americans  by  King  George,  is  to  be  found  in  any  historical  record. 
In  defense  of  his  course  in  fortifying  his  premises,  Colonel  Johnson 
said  that  lie  had  been  infoi-med  that  a  large  body  of  men  intended  tak- 
ing him  prisoner. 

The  committee  held  meetings  at  frequent  intervals  during  a  period 
of  about  six  months.  They  appointed  tAvo  delegates  to  serve  in  the 
provincial  congress  at  the  request  of  that  body.  Christopher  V.  Yates 
and  John  Marlott  were  the  ones  selected.  The  further  services  of  the 
committee  consisted  in  assisting  and  regulating  the  attempts  of  the 
people  of  the  country  to  form  the  county  militia,  treatment  with  the 
Indians  with  a  view  of  preserving  their  neutrality,  procuring  ammu- 
nition from  Albany  and  Schenectady  and  settlement  of  disputes  aris- 
ing among  the  people. 

Much  more  remains  to  be  told  of  the  services  to  Tryon  county  of  this 
committee,  but  these  services  are  so  intimately  connected  with  all  the 
affairs  of  the  county,  that  it  is  impossible  to  give  a  complete  account 


TRYON   COl'NTY   IN   THE   REVOLUTIONARY   WAR.  183 

of  them  here  Avitliout  a  ruthoi-  full  trealinoiit  of  luattors  which  have 
been  reserved  for  treatment  under  another  head. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  Toi-y  inhabitants  of  Tryon  county 
were  less  active  tlian  their  nei.iiiiJKjrs  in  nplioldiiiK  their  sidi-  of  the 
dispute.  Actuated  by  motives  e(piaily  potent,  though  less  self-forgetful, 
and  doubtless,  in  some  cases,  with  an  eipial  faith  in  the  righteousness 
of  their  cause,  tliey  used  every  means  in  their  power  to  further  the 
interests  of  their  mother  country. 

Their  action  in  upholding  their  own  side  of  tlu^  controversy  could 
hardly  be  condemned,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  their  measures  were 
unfair  and  despotic  .  Men  whose  positions  at  the  head  of  affairs  had 
been  given  tliem  that  they  might  further  the  interests  of  the  people, 
turned  their  intiuence  against  the  cause  of  liberty  and  used  their  posi- 
tions as  weapons  against  those  whom  they  should  have  protected. 

In  April,  17T."»,  the  Tories  of  the  county  drew  up  a  declar.ation  oppos- 
ing the  proceedings  of  the  continental  congress,  wliich  was  at  tliat  time 
about  to  reassend»le,  and  obtaine<l  the  sigi.atun's  of  most  of  the  grand 
jurors  and  magistrates  of  tlie  county  .  This  action  aroused  the  indig- 
nation of  the  people,  and  many  public  meetings  were  called,  and  com- 
mittees appointed  in  different  ])arts  of  the  county,  to  express  the  loyalty 
which  was  felt  by  the  majority  of  the  people  for  their  representaties 
in  Congress. 

The  first  of  these  meetings  was  attended  by  oO(»  persons,  all  unarmed, 
and  an  attempt  Avas  made  to  raise  a  liberty  pole.  l-?(>fore  this  was  ac- 
complislied,  Sir  .fohn  Johnson  rode  up,  accompanied  by  Colonels  Guy 
.Tohnson,  Claus  and  Butler.  Sir  .Tohn  immediately  began  a  speech  to 
the  people  in  which  lie  dwelt  on  the  hopelessness  of  the  cause  of  the 
Whigs,  and  finally  became  abusive.  His  hearei's  iiore  with  him  for  a 
wliile,  but  at  l.ast  .Tacob  Sammons  interrupti'd  the  sjieaker,  calling 
him  a  villian  and  a  liar.  .Tohnson  seized  Sammons  by  the  throat  and 
returned  the  insult  .  In  the  scufile  that  followed.  Sammons  was  knock- 
ed down  witli  a  iieavy  wliip.  lie  wished  to  continiie  the  fight,  but  was 
overpowei'ed  by  numliers  and  sevei'cly  be.aten.  When  lie  was  allowed 
to  rise  he  found  that  he  li.ad  beiMi  deserted  by  most  of  his  friends.  Salo- 
mons was  tlie  lirst  jiatriot  to  receive  a  wound  in  the  war  in  Tryon 
comity. 

One  of  the  most  energetic  loyalists  was  Colonel  Guy  .Tolinson.  Ills 
position  as  Indian  superintendent  gave  him  a  great  influence  over  the 
savages.  an<l  this  infiueiice  he  used  to  turn  them  against  the  patriots. 
He  did  not  accomplish  his  purpose  by  fair  means,  for  the  Indians  were 
inclined  to  be  neutral,  especially  the  iNbibawks,  who  inhabited  Tryon 
county,  and  the  colonists  took  every  oiiportunit.v  of  expressing  their 
fi'ieiidship  for  them,  altliougli  they  did  not  attempt  to  employ  them 
against  tlie  British.  Colonel  .lohnson  jioisMiicd  tlu"  minds  of  his  charges 
with  false  rumors  concerning  the  intentions  of  the  colonists  toward 
them,  saying  that  a  massa<-re  of  the  Indians  had  been  planned. 


184  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Complaining  that  his  eonncils  with  the  Indians  were  interfered  with'. 
Colonel  Johnson  removed  to  Canada  and  eontlnued  to  influence  the 
Indians,  directing  their  depredations  and  distributing  large  amounts 
of  money  among  them  as  rewards  for  their  services.  Many  Tories, 
however,  still  remained  in  the  county  and  found  an  active  leader  in 
Sir  .lolin  .Tohnson,  whose  home  was  the  principal  place  of  meeting  of 
the  tories. 

These  loyalists  tried  by  every  means  which  their  ingenuity  could 
devise  to  shake  the  faith  of  the  people  in  their  county  committee,  pro- 
nouncing its  actions  arbitrary  and  illegal  and  ridiculing  it  at  every 
opportunity. 

The  office  of  sheriff  Avas  at  this  time  held  by  Alexander  White,  who 
made  himself  very  obnoxious  to  the  provincials  by  his  threats  and 
illegal  arrests.  He  arrested  John  Fonda  on  account  of  a  quarrel  with 
one  of  his  servants,  and  placed  him  in  jail,  whence  he  was  rescued  by 
a  party  of  patriots,  under  the  leadership  of  Sampson  Sammons.  The 
coimty  committee  finally  deposed  White,  and  appointed  Jolin  Frey  hi 
his  place.  The  feeling  against  White  Avas  so  strong  that  he  t^as  cdWi- 
pelled  to  leave  the  county,  and  Avas  arrested  Avhile  trying  to  escape  to 
Canada,  and  sent  to  jail  in  Ail^any.  BoAA^en  and  Clement,  the  compan- 
ions and  guides  of  White,  while  on  Ids  Avay  to  Canada,  returm>d  to 
tlieir  homes  in  Tryon  county.  They  Avere  arrested  and  araigned  liefore 
tlie  county  committee,  AAiio  sentenced  them  to  a  term  of  imprisonment. 
As  it  Avas  knoAV  tliat  Sir  John  Johnson  claimed  that  the  county  jail 
was  his  proiierty,  the  prisoners  Avere  sent  to  Albany,  l)ut  were  refused 
admittance  to  the  jail  at  that  place  and  sent  back  to  Tryon  county. 
The  committee  then  sent  a  messenger  to  Sir  John  to  ascertain  AA^hether 
he  intended  to  alloAA'  the  people  to  use  the  jail.  He  replied  that  per- 
sons wlio  were  legally  convicted  might  be  imprisoned  in  the  jail,  but 
as  ln"s  father  had  paid  £700  toward  tiie  expenses  of  building  it, 
lie  would  consider  it  his  property  until  that  sum  was  paid  liiin.  The 
prisoners  Avere  tlien  sent  to  JohnstoAvn,  with  the  provision  that  if  they 
were  refused  admittance  to  the  jail,  they  should  be  returned  to  the 
committee. 

After  the  flight  of  Colonel  Guy  Johnson,  it  AA'as  rumored  that  Sir 
John  Johnson  was  preparing  fortifications  at  Johnson  Hall,  to  be  gar- 
risoned Avitli  300  Indians.  This  I'umor  AA^^s  reported  to  Congress  and 
General  Schuyler  was  sent  up  the  valley  Avith  a  force  of  700  men  to 
put  a  stop  to  any  liostile  preparations.  The  Indians  were  niucli  con- 
cerned at  seeing  so  large  a  force  entering  the  county,  liiit  a  messenger 
was  sent  to  them,  telling  them  that  the  purpose  of  the  expedition  Avas 
not  to  make  Avar  but  to  preserve  peace,  and  desiring  them  to  inform 
t\\<'  ti-ibcs  further  up  the  river  that  no  harm  would  be  done  them.  The 
Indians,  however,  Avere  alarmed,  and  asked  that  the  expedition  be 
postponed,  offering  to  go  to  Sir  John  and  ask  him  to  be  peaceable, 


TRYON  COUNTY  TN  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR.  l85 

althoiisli  tlioy  \v(MV  in  constniit  1'c;ir  that  a  party  was  coining  from 
Now  Eiiiiiaiid  to  take  Sii'  .lolm  prisoner. 

General  Schuyler  did  not  wait  tor  the  return  of  the  niessen.i;cr  but 
proceeded  on  his  mission.  At  Schenectady  the  paily  was  met  l»y  a 
deputation  of  Indians  undei-  a  chief  called  Little  Ahi-aham.  who  ad- 
dressed the  General  at  ,i:reat  lenu'th.  sayinj;-  that  the  Indians  had  sent 
a  messenger  with  the  i)roposal  that  six  men  should  be  sent  to  inves- 
tijiate  the  affairs  at  Jolnison  Ilall,  and  had  refrained  fi'om  yivinj;-  the 
otliei'  tribes  (Jeneral  Scliuyler's  messa.^e  until  they  should  hear  wliether 
tlieir  i'ei|Uest  was  acceded  to.  IIa\in,u  received  no  reply,  and  finding 
that  the  troops  wi're  actually  on  the  mai'ch.  the  Indians  had  decided 
to  meet  them  and  come  to  an  understandiuij.-  about  their  intentions. 
Little  Abi'aliam  desired  (Jeiiei'al  Schuyler  to  Ite  prudent  and  take  care 
that  no  blood  was  sheil.  He  said  the  Indians  considered  themselves 
mediators  l)etween  the  kin.u's  party  and  the  patriots,  and  were  desir- 
ous that  the  path  upon  which  they  were  travelins',  to  which  he  referred 
as  the  "path  of  peace."  should  be  kept  open,  and  undetiled  Ity  the  blood 
of  either  iiarty.  Further  he  declai'cd  that  Sir  John  had  assured  them 
that  in  the  event  of  open  hostility  he  would  not  be  the  a^m'essor,  but 
if  atacked,  wouhl  defend  himself  .and  added  tliat  although  Indians 
were  constantly  goini;  to  and  from  Johnson  Hall,  tliey  had  observed 
no  preparations  of  a  warlike  character.  The  chief  then  asked  for  an 
answer,  saying  that  in  si)ite  of  the  advice  of  the  sachems,  the  young 
warriors  were  inclined  to  resist  the  approacli  of  the  troops,  and  were 
awaiting  tlie  answer  th.at  should  be  sent  them. 

General  Schuyler  answered  the  Indians,  saying  that  he  diii  Jiot  in- 
tend to  close  the  path,  but  to  keep  it  open,  but  ;is  the  men  in  the  cotmty 
A\ere  likely  at  any  time  to  be  called  upon  to  go  to  the  aid  of  their 
brothers  in  the  East,  it  was  necessary  that  no  body  of  men  should  be 
left  who  should  i)e  able  to  d(>stroy  the  wivcs.and  children  of  the  .-ibsent 
soldiers.  He  then  paid  that  instead  of  going  to  Johnstown  he  would 
ask  Sir  John  to  meet  him  at  some  point  between  Johnson  II:ill  .md 
Schenectady,  to  discuss  tlu>  silu.ation,  thus  preventing  hostile  action  by 
either  party.  The  Intlians  assented  to  this  proposition  and  said  that 
they  would  be  present  .at  the  meeting. 

A  letter  was  accordingly  sent  to  Sir  John,  stating  the  object  of  the 
expedition,  ;ind  .asking  him  to  meet  them.  The  meeting  took  i>l;ice  Iti 
nules  above  Schenect.ady.  Terms  wei'c  offered  to  Sir  .Fohn  and  after 
some  o))Jections,  agreed  to.  Sir  .Fohn  gave  his  parole  not  to  bake  up 
arms  against  the  Americans,  and  to  remain  in  such  jcii-t  of  the  coun- 
try as  Congress  should  d(>signate.  Sir  John  and  the  othei-  Tories  wer(> 
to  give  up  all  arms  and  pres<"nts  foi'  the  Indians  in  their  possession. 
The  Indians  withdrew  when  they  s.aw  matters  weic  bein.i^  setthd  peace- 
ably .and  <;enei-;il  Schuyler  left  soon  afterward,  ie.-iving  Colonel  Herki- 
mer, who  hiul  joined  hhn  wilh  the  couiitv  niiliti;i,  to  make  the  conclud- 
ing   arrangements.      Sir    .lohn    did    not    cease    his    efforts  to  incite  the 


186  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Imlians  to  hostility  a.uaiiist  the  colonists,  and  at  length,  hearing  that 
irstraint  was  to  be  put  npon  his  actions,  he  lied  to  Canada,  accom- 
panied by  some  of  his  tenants.  They  suffered  terrli)ly  in  the  wilder- 
ness before  reaching  th(>ir  destination.  During  the  war  Sir  John  com- 
manded a  regiment  known  as  the  Koyal  Greens,  composed  partly  of 
the  Tories  from  Tryon  county.  The  list  of  pi'ominent  Tories  might  be 
continued  to  a  much  greater  length  If  space  permitted.  Among  those 
who  will  be  remembered  in  this  connection  are  Colonel  John  Butler  and 
his  son,  Walter,  and  Colonel  Clans,  a  .brother-in-law  of  Sir  John 
Johnson. 

There  is  one  other,  however,  without  some  account  of  whom  any 
article  on  Tryon  county  would  be  Incomplete.  I  allude  to  Joseph  Brant 
or  Thayendanegea,  as  he  was  called  by  the  Indians.  His  parentage  has 
been  much  disputed,  and  though  it  has  been  claimed  that  he  was  a 
half-breed,  it  Is  probable  that  he  was  a  full-blooded  Indian.  In  his 
youth  he  was  sent  to  school  by  Sir  William  Johnson,  who  afterwards 
employed  him  to  tight  against  the  hostile  tribes  in  the  outlying  coun- 
try. Combining  as  he  did  the  intuitive  cunning  of  his  savage  ances- 
tors, with  the  trained  skill  of  his  adopted  neighbors,  he  became  a  most 
dangerous  and  unscrupulous  foe.  He  followed  the  example  of  his  Tory 
benefactors  in  fleeing  to  Canada  and  was  given  the  leadership  of  large 
numbers  of  Indians  in  the  following  campaign.  Although  it  would 
seem  that  a  man  capable  of  being  a  leader  in  the  kind  of  warfare  or 
rather  slaughter  which  was  carried  on  by  the  Indians,  must  needs  have 
l)een  totally  lacking  in  all  sentiments  of  humanity,  yet  many  acts  of 
generosity  and  kindness  have  been  credited  to  him.  As  he  himself 
said:  "I  do  not  war  against  women  and  children.  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  some  engaged  with  me  in  the  service  are  more  savage  than  the 
Indians  are."  After  the  war  Brant  resided  in  Canada,  near  the  head 
of  Lake  Ontario,  wiiere  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  the 
management  of  affairs  pertaining  to  the  Indian  lands. 

The  Tryon  county  militia  was  organized  on  August  2(),  1775,  through 
the  action  of  the  county  committee.  It  consisted  of  four  battalions 
of  from  seven  to  nine  companies  each,  every  district  being  represented 
by  a  battalion  except  the  Kiiigsland  and  (ierman  Flats  districts,  whose 
soldiers  were  included  in  a  single  battalion  of  nine  c-om])anles.  The 
county  committee,  who  chose  the  othcers  of  the  militia,  gave  to  Nicholas 
Herkimer  the  position  of  colonel  of  the  Canajoharie  battalion,  with  tlio 
title  of  "Chief  colonel  and  commander  for  the  county  of  Tryon."  About 
a  year  afterward,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  committee,  the  pro- 
vincial congress  gave  Colonel  Herkimer  a  commission  as  brigadier 
general. 

We  have  seen  Avhat  the  people  of  Tryon  county  accomplished  during 
the  early  part  of  the  war  in  iu'eparing  for  the  invasion  which  they 
knew  was  inevitable,  and  v.e  now  approach  the  period  which  showed 
that  it  was  among  the   wilds  and  marshes  of  Tryon   county  no  less 


TRYON  COUNTY  IN  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR.  187 

than  at  the  historic  hridsc  that  "Thr  riu1)iiftli'(l  fannci-s  stood  ;iih1  firod 
the  shot  lieard  'round  the  world." 

The  battles  of  Oriskany  and  Fort  Schuyler  did  for  St.  Leger's  expe- 
detion  what  Saratoi^a  did  for  Bur^'oyne's,  and  it  was  the  Tryon  county 
militia,  under  that  gri-atest  of  the  Mohawk  valley's  heroes,  (Jeneral 
Nicholas  Herkimer,  that  stood  in  the  path  of  the  invader,  and  made 
inipossihle  the  meeting-  of  forces  wliich  was  to  destroy  American  liberty 
forever. 

St.  Leger  liegan  his  invasion  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  1777,  with 
1.000  Indians  under  Brant,  and  700  troops,  including  Johnson's  Koyal 
Greens  and  Butler's  Rangers,  as  Avell  as  some  German  troops.  Cross- 
ing Oneida  I>ake,  St.  T.eger  proceeded  to  the  attack  of  I'ort  Schuyler. 
Colonel  Gansevoort.  the  commander  of  the  fort,  had  obstructed  Wood 
Creek  with  felled  trees,  forming  an  obstacle  which  delayed  the  enemy 
and  gave  the  patriots  time  to  prepare  for  a  seige.  St.  Leger  arrived 
on  August  3,  by  which  time  the  fort  had  been  fully  stored.  St.  Leger 
was  confident  that  the  garrison  of  750  men  would  surrender  without 
resistance,  I)Ut  received  no  rt'i)ly  to  tlie  insolent  demand  which  he  sent 
to  the  fort. 

iNIeanwhile  the  JNtohawk  valley  was  thrown  into  consternation  at 
tlie  approaching  invasion,  (ieneral  Herkimer  called  on  the  county 
militia,  and  all  others  who  were  willing  to  volunteer,  to  meet  at  Fort 
I>ayton,  in  tlie  present  town  of  Herkimer.  Several  n\giments  res])oiided 
and  among  the  volunteers  wvn'  most  of  the  members  of  the  c<Minty 
committee.  On  August  5th,  the  force  encamped  near  Oriskany  and 
sent  word  to  General  Gansevoort  that  they  were  coming  to  his  relief. 
In  order  to  divert  the  enemy's  attention  from  the  attack  of  the  relieving 
force.  Colonel  Gansevoort  planned  a  sortie  on  the  enemy,  to  be  com- 
manded by  Colonel  ^^'illet.  General  Ilei'kimer  was  iTiformed  of  this 
plan.  The  enemy,  meanwhile,  liad  been  informed  of  General  Herki- 
mer's approach  and  sent  out  a  detaclunent  to  meet  him.  General  Her- 
kimer was  compelled  to  advance  , against  liis  own  better  judgment,  by 
the  taunts  of  his  own  inferior  otflcers,  who  aeciised  him  of  cowardice. 
His  reply,  "March  on;  a  few  hours  will  tell  which  are  the  brave,"  was 
amply  justified  by  later  events.  Th(»  column  had  proceeded  but  a  few 
miles,  wlien  th<>  front  and  Hank  guards  (which,  by  the  way.  General 
Herkimer  did  not  neglect  to  provide)  were  suddenly  shot  down,  and 
from  tlie  surrounding  forests  burst  the  savages,  whose  y(>lls  were  the 
signal  for  a  genei-al  attack.  The  Indians  were  under  the  connnand  of 
Hrant.  Early  in  the  action  fJeneral  Ilei-kimer's  leg  was  shatteriMl  and 
his  horse  killed  by  a  bullet.  He  had  his  saddle  placed  against  a  tree. 
and  leaning  against  it  he  continued  to  direct  tlie  battle,  smoking  his 
pipe  as  if  there  was  no  danger.  The  Americans  hid  behind  ti'ees  to 
guard  themselves  from  the  Indians,  and  when  a  man  had  discharged 
his  gun,  the  savages  would  run  up  and  tomahawk  him.  Tli(>  com- 
mander then   ordered  two  men  to  a   tree,   and  stopped  that  practice, 


188  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Soon  after,  a  u'inforeemont  of  Johnson's  Gi'oons  canic  uit.  and,  furious 
at  the  siiiiit  of  tlu'se  Tryon  county  loyalists,  the  Americans  rushed  out 
and  engaged  them  in  a  hand  to  hand  fight.  The  battle  was  interrupted 
by  a  storm,  and  an  hour  later  was  renewed.  At  length  the  sound  of 
guns  was  heard  from  the  direction  of  the  fort,  and  the  British,  seeing 
they  had  been  outwitted,  fled  and  left  the  Americans  victors. 

Colonel  Willett  made-  his  sortie  from  the  fort  with  great  success. 
The  enemy  took  to  the  woods  with  heavy  loss  in  killed  and  prisoners, 
and  Colonel  Willett  carried  his  spoils  into  the  fort  by  wagon  loads. 
When  the  enemy  returned  the  siege  was  continued.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  intimidate  Colonel  Gansevoort,  but  he  dismissed  the  messenger 
with  scorn.  Sir  John  Johnson  sent  a  messenger  through  Tryon  county 
threatening  the  inhabitants  if  they  did  not  compel  the  surrender  of 
the  fort.  Colonel  Willet  and  Major  Stockwell  set  out  from  the  fort  and, 
after  great  hardship,  reached  Fort  Dayton.  Thence  they  went  to  Al- 
bany and  met  General  Arnold,  whom  General  Schuyler  had  sent  with 
a  relief  expedition.  It  was  by  none  of  these  means,  however,  that  the 
siege  was  raised.  Arnold  having  captured  a  half-witted  lad  named 
Han  Yost  Schuyler,  promised  him  his  liberty  if  he  would  alarm  St. 
Ijeger's  camp  with  stories  of  tlie  great  numbers  of  the  American  relief 
force.  This  he  readily  assented  to,  and  shooting  his  clothes  full  of 
bullet  holes,  he  made  his  way  to  the  camp,  accompanied  liy  an  Oneida 
Indian  friendly  to  the  Americans.  When  he  arrived  at  the  camp,  he 
said  he  had  just  escaped  from  the  Americans,  and  when  questioned 
as  to  their  number,  he  pointed  to  the  leaves  on  the  trees,  as  if  to  say 
they  could  not  be  counted.  He  was  talcen  before  St.  lA'ger,  to  whom' 
he  unfolded  a  pitiful  tale,  giving  an  exaggerated  account  of  the  num- 
ber of  the  Americans.  Meanwliile  the  «;)neida  Indian  went  among 
Bi'ant's  followers,  telling  of  the  great  force  that  was  coming  against 
tliem.  Between  them,  Han  Yost  and  the  Indian  created  such  a  panic 
that  it  was  decid(>d  to  abandon  the  siege,  and  both  Tories  and  Indians 
fled  precipitately.  When  the  relief  force  an-ived,  they  found  the  enemy 
gone,  and  Colonel  (Jansevoort  in  possession  of  most  of  their  luggage, 
which  they  left  behind.  St.  Legor  fled  northward  and  joined  his  forces 
with  those  of  Burgoyne.  thus  abandoning  the  plan  for  an  organized 
invasion  of  the  Mohawk  valley.  Sir  John  Johnson  and  Colonel  Butler, 
however,  were  not  willing  to  pass  by  their  former  ntMghbors  without 
paying  them  a  visit,  so  they  planned  an  invasion  of  the  valley  in  com- 
pany with  the  Indians  whom  they  won  ti>  their  side  by  large  presen'^s. 
The  Americans  tried  to  Avin  back  the  Indians,  but  failed,  not  being  able 
to  give  them  such  rewards  as  the  Britisli  gave. 

During  the  years  between  1777  and  the  close  of  the  war.  Brant  and 
the  Indians  made  the  county  the  scene  of  the  most  horrible  atrocities. 
Their  princii)al  acts  Avei'e  the  destruction  of  the  settlement  of  Cherry 
Yalley  by  Are  and  massacre  of  its  inhabitants,  and  the  burning  Df 
German  Flats,  now  Herkimer. 


TRYON  COUNTY  IN  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR.  189 

The  county  militia  did  not  coaso  to  resist  the  invasion  of  tlieir  lionies. 
Tliey  went  f'.  "tli  witiiout  tliou.uht  or  uain  or  .ulory.  l)nt  with  faitl'  in  tlif 
principle  of  the  liberty  and  e<|uali(y  of  mankind,  l)attlrd.  and  l)l( d  and 
died,  until  victory  crowned  their  I'fforts,  and  the  yrasp  of  dosiiotism  was 
forever  loosened  from  the  land  they  loved. 


WOMEN  OF  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR. 

THIRD   PRIZE    KSSAV   IN   THE   ROBERT   EARL    CONTEST,    WRITTEN   BY 
M.  I.OUISE   CHAPPLE,    OF   LITTLE   FALLS, 

Read  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  November  lo,  1900. 

Wo  can  never  i'ully  renlize  the  iinineasnral)le  influence  of  the  home, 
and  home  sentiment,  on  the  founding  and  pre.servation  of  our  Republic. 

The  home — where  the  first  impressions  are  received,  the  first  lessons 
of  life  are  learned — there  where  "heart  co-operates  with  mind  and  affec- 
tions with  reasoning  power,"  and  where  character  is  moulded,  whether 
good  or  bad,  by  which  our  lives,  the  lives  of  others,  and  that  of  our 
country  is  largel}^  determined. 

The  home  is  the  best  of  schools,  and  the  results  of  its  training  are 
unbounded:  but  over  the  home,  teaching  by  example,  encouraging  by 
ready  sympathy,  stimulating  to  good  deeds  l)y  silent  a])proval,  and 
instilling  virtue  in  the  hearts  of  those  al)out  her  is  the  woman;  and 
the  home  is  her  kingdom,  her  monarchy,  her  own  true  sphere,  where 
slie  may  reign  with  undisputed  authority;  strengthening  sons  and  hus- 
bands to  fight  life's  battles.  Surely  she  may  claim  Ji  share  in  the  glory 
of  their  victories. 

We  cannot  comprehend  the  immensity  of  woman's  influence  in  the 
great  struggle  for  liberty.  It  was  the  encouragement  of  the  home 
women,  Avhich  sent  their  brave  men  forth  to  war,  impelling  them  to 
great  deeds,  and  that  stirred  up  the  less  zealous  ones  to  follow  their 
examples.  John  Adams  in  a  letter  to  his  Avife  remai-ks,  "Upon  exam- 
ining the  biography  of  illustrious  men,  you  Avill  generally  find  some 
female  a))OUt  them  in  the  relation  of  wife  or  mother,  to  whose  instiga- 
tion ii  great  part  of  their  merit  is  to  be  ascril)ed.  I  believe  the  two 
Howes  have  not  very  great  women  for  wives;  if  they  had.  we  should 
suffer  more  from  their  exertions  than  we  do.  A  smart  wife  would  Tiave 
put  Howe  in  possession  of  Philadelphia  a  long  time  ago."  Thus  John 
Adams  acknowledges  woman's  influence. 

It  was  the  women  who  encouraged  those  who  ('.ame  out  boldly  for 
their  struggling  country,  and  Avho  frowned  down  the  indifferent  ones. 


THE   WOMEN   OF  THE  REVOLUTIONARY   WAR.  191 

Even  before  the  w;ir.  the  women,  by  their  conversation  and  example, 
norvt'd  and  pri'pari'd  the  hearts  of  the  men  to  endnre  tlie  comini:  trials; 
and,  when  the  bhickness  of  despair  settled  over  the  land,  and  a'l  seem- 
ed lost,  it  was  these  faitlifnl  women,  in  camp  and  at  home,  who  chet'red 
on  and  inspired  with  liope.  the  disheartened  soldiers.  And  when  all 
w;is  j)eai-e  a.uiiin.  woman's  intlnenee,  so  important  ;i  factor  dnrinu'  the 
war,  was  e<iuall.v  important  after  its  close,  in  restoring  to  society  .ill 
the  .iiood  of  former  times;  and  especially  when  the  land  li.id  been 
throu,i;h  sncli  a  crisis.  l']verythin,i;'  was  changed — precedent  of  rank 
abolished,  and  ""all  nuMi  created  etjnall"  With  society  in  this  (handed 
st.Mte,  only  woman's  tact  could  place  all  classes  on  an  amicjible  stand- 
ing'. 

Comparatively  little  is  known,  however,  of  women's  lives  in  this 
tryin.n'  time — won)en  whose  tireless  zeal  and  noble  .acts  helped  to 
establish  American  Independence.  This  is  due  lai-i;cly  to  the  Lack  of 
female  education  at  that  time;  an  avera.uc  yirrs  education  consisted 
chiefly  in  a  thoronuh  knowledti*^  of  household  duties,  with  Just  enou.uh 
readiui;'  and  writiui;  to  enable  ln>r  to  say  she  "knew  how." 

Of  course,  many  women  were  fond  of  liter.ary  imrsnits,  .and  they 
were  considered  hi.uhly  accomplished.  So  oidy  from  the  individu.al 
instances  of  female  lieroism  and  endurance,  can  we  understand  the 
patriotic  spirit  of  the  women  in  uener.al.  The  women  who  worked  for 
our  country,  who  uavc-  their  .all — sons,  husbands,  property,  .and  oft<'n 
tin  ir  lives,  for  the  cause,  who  enduivd  hardships  uncompI;nnin,:^ly  .and 
gloried  in  the  name  of  "rebel" — these  we  must  take  as  types  of  the 
I.'cvolutionary  women.     They  are  the  representatives  of  the  cl.ass. 

I'.ut  in  thinking  of  them,  let  us  not  forjict  the  others,  the  thousands 
who  suffered  in  silence,  .and  who  worked  for  no  rew.ard.  unknown 
.and  now  fori^ott'^'ii.  Their  saca'itices  gladly  m.ade,  .and  gentle  inllnence 
.all  helpetl,  for  they  c.ariae<l  out  in  practice  tlu'  pianciples  for  wliich  the 
I>atrlots  were  tightini;-.  They  could  not  ti.uht — a  woman's  pjirt  in  troub- 
lous times  is  to  ])assively  watch  a  course  of  events  which  can  win  for 
her  no  fame;   she  can  t.ake  but  the  \).\vt  of  a  spectator. 

Those  women  livini;-  near  the  scenes  of  battle  .and  Ithiodshed  found 
.an  outlet  for  their  enthusi.asm — they  were  offered  cli.ances  of  becom- 
inj;'  heroines.  But  there  were  other  women,  whose  less  showy  liei'oism 
was  just  as  effective,  whose  unseen  intluence.  exiM'ted  only  oxei-  their 
own  families,  was  not  without  its  etfect  on  the  n.ation's  future.  Their 
(]niet.  unobserved  inllnence  s(ait  w.avi\s  of  enca'Liy  thi'ouuh  the  Land, 
sti'ony  .and  inviuoratinu.  And  these  ipiiet  women  are  the  mothei's — 
wlio  kept  American  pi'inciiiles  pui'i'  in  theii'  sons'  heai'ts.  .and  when  the 
storm  broke,  sent  them  forth  strengthened  for  the  battle. 

They  received  the  richest  I'ewai'd  for  their  sacaalu-es — the  sons  in 
whose  hearts  they  had  sown  the  first  seeds  of  patriotism,  they  lived 
to  see  become  the  sti'cimth  of  the  nation! 

Such  a  woman  was  the  mother  of  George  Washington,  for  the  well- 


192  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

known  character  of  lier  son  is  the  i-eflection  of  her  own.  All  praise 
be  given  this  motlier,  who  gave  to  her  country  sucli  a  son  I 

Tliese  motliers  "nursed  tlie  infancy  of  Freedom."  How  many  re- 
joiced in  the  thought  tliat  tlieir  sons  whom  they  loved  with  tlie  unfath- 
oniaI)le  love  of  a  mother,  and  whom  tliey  liad  fired  with  their  own 
patriotic  zeal,  were  willingly  giving  up  their  lives  for  freedom!  And 
in  this  they  gloried!    - 

This  was  the  spirit  of  Elizal>etli  Martin,  wlio,  hearing  the  iiicesfiant 
boom  of  the  cannon  at  Charleston,  and  knowing  lier  sons  were  there 
with  the  army,  could  lift  her  hands  to  Heaven  and  cry,  "Thank  God! 
they  are  children  of  the  Republic!" 

Tliis  same  spirit  enabled  the  women  of  those  stirring  times  to  bear 
griefs  and  insults  that  else  would  seem  insupportable. 

A  British  officer  one  day  rode  out  of  his  way  to  tell  Mrs.  Martin  of 
the  death  of  lier  son;  he  had  seen  liim  die  a  soldier's  deatli  at  Augusta 
and  wished  to  gratify  liis  liatred  by  the  sight  of  a  woman's  grief. 
Hiding  up  to  the  house,  he  in(iuired  of  Mrs.  Martin  if  she  did  not  have 
a  son  at  Augusta.  Being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  a  malicious  joy 
spread  over  his  face,  and  eagerly  watcliing  for  some  sign  of  her  agony, 
lie  said:  "Then  I  saw  his  brains  blown  out  on  the  battlefield!"  Crusli- 
ing  as  the  shoclv  must  liave  l)een,  and  aggravated  by  his  brutal  pleasure 
in  telling  it,  the  spirit  of  patriotism  rose  undaunted,  and  not  a  sign 
of  weakness  did  she  show,  as  witli  a  firm  voice  she  answered:  "He 
could  not  have  died  in  a  nobler  cause."  The  officer,  much  chagrined, 
rode  away — wondering! 

Mrs.  Martin's  two  daughters-in-law,  wives  of  soldiers,  did  their  part 
in  serving  their  country.  One  night,  news  came  to  tlieir  home  that  a 
British  courier  carrying  important  messages,  was  to  pass  by  the  house. 
These  brave  women  determined  to  waylay  the  courier  and  his  attend- 
ant guard,  and  at  the  risli  of  their  lives,  obtain  the  dispatches.  So, 
armed  and  dressed  in  tlieir  liusband's  clothes,  they  left  the  house  and 
ciime  to  the  higliway:  here  they  Ind  in  the  shrubln'ry  andwait'Hl  breath- 
lessly. Soon  they  hear  the  sound  of  horse's  feet — nearer  and  nearer, 
until  their  liearts  seem  throlibing  in  their  throats;  now  the  horsemen 
come  in  sight — the  men's  voices  can  distinctly  be  heard — nearer  and 
nearer,  until  the  unsuspecting  guard  is  right  at  hand,  when  up  tlie 
women  spring,  present  arms  and  cry  "Halt!"  What  though  the  gruif 
voice  sounds  a  little  feigned — tlie  guards,  too  startled  to  resist,  give 
u])  the  papers,  and  are  allowed  to  go  on  parole.  Tlie  women,  elated 
with  the  success  and  free  from  danger,  hurry  home  with  the  precious 
dispatches  for  which  they  risked  so  much.  Safe  there,  they  lose  no 
time  in  sending  them  to  American  hejuhiuarters,  and  sit  down  to  talk 
it  over. 

The  guard,  on  their  return.  stop])t'd  at  the  Martin  house,  where  they 
found  the  two  women,  now  in  their  own  clothing.  The  men,  not  rec- 
ognizing their  captors,  told  the  story  of  their  arrest.     Needless  to  say, 


THE   WOMEN   OF  THE   REVOLUTIONARY    WAR  103 

the  hulit-'S  enjoycnl  hcariiiu  ir,  and  proliably  rallied  tin'  dismmfited 
soIditTS  for  tlu'ir  lack  of  intrepidity. 

The  States  of  North  and  Soulli  Carolina  are  noticeable  for  their  many 
Hevohitionary  lieroines.  Tliese  States  were  the  scenes  of  much  blood- 
slied — in  fact,  a  sort  of  guerilla  warfare  was  going  on  there  continu- 
ally. Sumter,  Mai'ion  and  I'iclcens — the  three  whose  vei-y  names 
struclv  terror  to  Hritisli  liearts — were  the  principal  leach-rs,  and  many 
were  the  iiair-ltreadtli  escai)es  and  thrilling  incidents  accomi)anying 
their  raids. 

The  fre<pu'nl  and  unexpected  attaclcs  of  this  partisan  M.irfare  gave 
opportunities  for  a  gre.nter  display  of  woman's  lieroism  than  M-as  offer- 
ed in  otlier  States. 

It  is  sucli  wild  and  stirring  times  that  bring  out  the  strf'ngth  of 
character  wliicli  in  times  of  peace  would  have  lain  dormant  and  un- 
noted. 

We  all  know  tlie  story  of  Elizabetli  Steele,  how.  on  General  Greene's 
long  and  arduous  retreat  tiu-ough  the  Carolinas,  after  tlie  battle  of 
Covvpens,  the  retreat  on  whose  issue  the  fate  of  the  South  was  hang- 
ing, his  over-burdened  heart  was  cheered  and  comforted  by  tlie  kind- 
ness of  this  one  woman.  She  had  heard  liim  say  he  was  penniless. 
She  had  seen  his  dejected  face  and  rain-soaked  clothes,  and  her  kind 
heart  was  touched.  Going  to  him  while  he  was  at  supper,  she  drew 
from  under  her  apron  two  b.-igs  of  her  own  hard  earned  money,  and 
bade  him  take  them,  as  he  would  need  them  more  than  she  did!  And 
even  better  than  this  timely  aid,  she  gave  him  encouraging  words  and 
kind  sympathy,  until  his  saddened  heart  was  refreshed  and  comforted. 
The  General  remembered  to  his  dying  day  this  good  woman  and  her 
willing  sacrifice. 

Needless  to  tell  of  Nancy  Hart,  a  (Georgia  woman — "the  honey  of  a 
patriot,  but  the  (h'vil  of  a  wife!"  as  she  was  descril)ed  liy  her  Whig 
neighboi's.  Poor  Nancy!  ignorant,  crosseyed  .-ind  ungainly,  she  had 
llie  heart  of  a  patiiot  and  w;is  a  dear  lover  of  libi'rty  and  the  "liberty 
boys,"  as  she  called  the  Whigs. 

In  taking  the  five  British  soldiers  as  her  prisoners,  Nancy's  crossed- 
eyes  were  even  of  service  to  her!  The  soldiers,  thoroughly  frightened 
at  seeing  this  determined  Amazon  standing  over  them,  .n  musket  at 
her  shoulder,  ready  to  fire  at  the  least  movement. could  not  t«'ll  at  which 

one  she  was  locjking and  e.acli  imagined  himself  the  objet*:  of  her 

terror-striking  stare;  tlu'y  all  surrendered  without  (h'lay.  Then  Nancy 
called  lu-r  husband  and  the  lu'ighbors  from  the  cane-luvak  where  they 
bad  l>een  hiding,  and  gave  her  i)risoners  ujt  to  them,  offering  the  sug- 
g<'stive  hint  that  shooting  was  "too  good  for  such."  They  were  taken 
out  ;ind  hung  just  outsi(h'  lier  gate;  ;ind  safe  to  say.  N;incy  gloried  in 
tlie  thought  that  she  had  been  the  niean^  of  i)Utting  Wvv  more  Hi'itish 
soldiers  out  of  the  world. 

.Fane  Thomas  was  another  prominent  Carolina  woman  of  this  time. 


194  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

One  day  while  visiting  her  son  and  husband  in  prison,  she  overheard 
the  conversation  of  some  Tory  women  wlio  were  discussing  a  pi'oposed 
attack  on  Cedar  Creek,  arranged  for  tlie  next  niglit.  Slie  realized  that 
no  time  was  to  be  lost,  and  leaving  the  prison  immediately,  she  sad- 
dled her  horse  and  rode  the  sixty  miles  to  Cedar  Creek,  arriving  in  an 
oxhauted  condition,  but  in  time  to  warn  the  Whigs.  She  then  rode 
back,  rather  more  leisurely  than  she  had  gone! 

The  loyalists,  confidently  advancing  on  the  litle  camp,  fell  into  the 
ambush  prepared  for  them,  and,  though  greatly  superior  in  numbers, 
were  completely  routed,  and  suffered  a  great  loss. 

The  brave  spirit  JV'Irs.  Thomas  showed  in  defending  the  powder  left 
in  her  charge,  may  well  be  taken  as  an  example  of  the  spirit  of  many 
Revolutionary  dames,  in  defense  of  store  for  the  suffering  army. 

A  quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition  had  been  left  at  Colonel 
'J'homas'  house,  for  any  emergency  on  the  frontier  which  he  was  com- 
manding. Word  came  that  a  large  band  of  Tories  were  advancing 
toward  the  house.  But  Mrs.  Thomas  had  resolved  to  keep  the  arms 
at  any  cost;  so,  taking  her  daughters,  her  son-in-law,  and  a  small  lad 
who  had  worked  on  the  farm,  all  with  her  to  the  upper  story  of  the 
house,  they  prepared  for  a  defense. 

The  Tories  riding  up  to  the  door,  demanded  admittance.  Their  call 
was  answered  b.v  a  sharp  fire  from  the  upper  windows.  The  British, 
thinking  a  large  foi'ce  to  be  in  possession  of  the  house,  and  not  know- 
ing that  a  few  women  were  loading  the  guns  which  but  two  young  men 
were  discharging  so  rapidly,  withdrew  as  (juickly  as  their  wounds 
would  permit.  The  amunition  saved  was  afterwards  the  principal 
supply  at  the  battles  of  Hanging  Rock,  and  Rocky  Moinitain. 

Many  victories  have  been  due  largely  to  the  amount  of  powder  saved 
by  woman's  wit  and  bravery. 

How  many  women,  both  North  and  South,  did  the  British  tempt  to 
use  their  intiuence  over  their  sons  and  hus-bands?  The  cunning  Tories 
realized  what  an  unbounded  influence  the  women  possessed  over  the 
soldiers,  and  they  tried  to  use  it  for  their  own  advantage.  Tenyiting 
bribes  they  offered.  If  the  women  could  only  get  their  husbands  to 
join  the  Loyal  troops,  a  commission  would  surely  be  given  them,  and 
relief  sent  to  their  suffering  families!  This  may  seem  but  a  slight 
temptation,  to  us,  but  then,  when  the  women  were  every  day  suffering 
insult  and  abuse  from  British  and  Hessians,  and  their  little  ones  were 
starving,  when  all  seemed  lost,  the  whole  land  was  disheartened,  and 
there  was  no  hope  of  success,  a  royal  commission  and  British  protec- 
tion meant  peace  and  plenty! 

But  these  stern  dames  never  weakened.  Quickly  they  gave  the  dis- 
comfited officers  to  understand  that  they  gloried  in  the  name  of  "rebel," 
and  that,  to  them,  the  rank  of  private  in  the  good  cause  was  more  to 
be  preferred  than  commander  of  the  oppressors'  entire  army. 

So  Dorcas  Richardson,  a  Carolina  woman,  thougli  she  and  her  children 


THE   WOMEN  OF   TUE  REVOLUTIONARY   WAR,  195 

were  sirk  from  want  of  food,  and  had  lieen  i)lundered  of  almost  all 
their  clothint;-,  sent  word  to  her  husband  in  the  aim.v  that  the  family 
was  well  and  had  an  abundance  of  ev(-r\  tiling;  fearint;,  if  he  should 
be  offered  proteetion,  provided  he  joint'd  the  Iviny's  men,  he  would  do 
so,  to  give  relief  to  his  suffering  fanuly. 

A  great  nund)er  of  women  devoted  themselves  to  brightening  the 
gloom  of  eamp  life.  Espeeially  in  tlie  cold  months,  when  the  army 
was  in  winter  tiuaiters,  did  these  helpful  souls  establish  themselves 
by  their  husband's  sides,  enlivening  tliose  alK)Ut  them,  encouraging  and 
cheering  everyone.  They  bore  all  the  discomforts  and  privations  of 
camp  life  uncomplainingly;  the  soldiers  could  not  murnuu'  at  the  suf- 
ferings which  these  women  boi'e  without  eomplaint. 

Martha  Washington  was  the  bi'st  known  of  this  class  of  wonu'U. 
l''ew  of  her  sex  have  been  placed  midst  scenes  so  varied,  but  in  war 
and  in  peac<',  her  gentle  dignity,  good  sense  and  true  heart  won  for  her 
tlu>  love  and  respect  of  all.  She  A\as  Washington's  "best  friend,"  as 
he  so  often  called  her.  his  coiuisellor  and  helpmci't.  In  the  gloom  of 
misfortune  she  sustained  liim.  and  in  better  times,  made  his  victories 
the  sweeter  by  her  sympathy. 

lA'ading  a  domestic  lif<'.  she  has  left  but  little  for  a  biograi)her;  her 
sacritices  were  made  .and  trials  borne,  not  for  the  world's  apiilause. 
Each  year,  as  soon  as  the  army  was  settled  in  winter  (piarters.  Mrs. 
Washington's  coming  was  eagerly  awaited  and  her  arrival  always 
received  a  liearty  welcome.  She  was  at  Valley  Forge  with  the  chief, 
the  winter  of  '77-'7S — that  "time  which  tried  men's  souls!"  Many  an 
old  grey-haired  soldier,  long  years  after,  has  related  some  incident  of 
her  benevolent  kindness,  that  brought  the  tears  to  his  dim  eyes.. 

Her  example  was  imitated  by  many  of  the  officers'  wives,  bringing 
hope  and  good  spirits  to  the  patriots,  soothing  the  distress  of  sufferers, 
and  by  their  own  patient  subunssiou  to  privations,  shaming  Into  silence 
those  most  apt  to  complain. 

The  story  of  beautiful  J.ane  McCrea,  whose  sad  fate  aroused  such  a 
storm  of  indignation  against  the  liritish.  may  well  be  taken  to  illus- 
trate the  great  influence  of  the  murder  of  an  innocent  wouuin.  a  victim 
to  political  hatred. 

Burke's  glowing  description  of  the  murder  of  this  young  woman, 
made  her  name  familiar  throughout  Europe,  and  popular  indignation 
nm  high,  that  a  civilized  n.ation  should  employ  such  savage  allies! 

Th.nckeray  says:  "The  murder  of  .lane  McCrea  did  more  liarm  to 
the  loyal  cause  than  the  loss  of  an  army  or  of  a  battle."  Certain  it  is, 
that  this  murder,  so  uncalled  for  and  ouii'agcous,  contributed  much  to 
the  Whigs'  success.  Men  hastened  to  the  camj)  ;iud  soldiers  eagerly 
waited  for  some  chance  to  avenge  her  death. 

Her  pitifiil  storv  has  been  written  again  and  again,  in  both  poelry 
and  prose.  How,  on  the  day  wliich  was  to  have  been  her  wedding  day. 
she   was  cruelly   murdei-ed   and   scalped   b.\    the   Indians   whom   her  be- 


196  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

tvothed  had  sent  to  escort  her  to  Burgoyne"s  camp,  where  they  were  to 
have  been  married.  The  savages  probably  looked  on  Miss  McCrea  as 
a  captive;  tliey  could  not  have  understood  her  relation  to  their  em- 
ployer. Instead  of  returning  with  the  lovely  bride,  they  presented  her 
horror-stricken  lover  with  her  bloody  scalp.  His  agony  cannot  be  im- 
agined; the  thought  that  she  had  fallen  a  victim  to  her  trust  in  liim. 
was  added  to  liis  sorrow;  he  did  not  long  survive  her,  but  died,  a  bro- 
ken hearted  man,  pitied  by  all  who  knew  .his  sad  story. 

Some  one  has  said  tliat  Jane  McCrea  seems  to  have  been  selected  by 
Providence  as  a  sacrifice  to  I'ouse  the  drooping  spirit  of  Liberty,  in  tlie 
midsummer  of  '77.  Tl\e  influence  of  this  sacrifice  was  unbounded,  and 
we  can  never  know  liow  far  that  influence  went  toward  winning  the 
decisive  battle  of  Saratoga.  By  such  single  incidents  might  the  fate 
of  a  nation  be  decidedl 

In  speaking  of  the  women  who  suffered  much  in  the  great  struggle 
for  American  freedom,  let  us  not  omit  those  who  endured  the  horrors 
Oi  pioneer  life  in  our  own  wild  Mohawk  valley,  when  the  wolf  of  hun- 
ger stood  at  one  door  of  the  rude  cabin,  and  the  stealthy  savage  at  the 
other.  Every  farmer  in  these  trying  times  had  some  place  of  conceal- 
ment for  ills  family,  wliere  they  could  go  for  safety  at  the  first  alarm 
of  an  Indian  attack. 

Our  great-grandmothers  have  often  told,  how,  at  the  cry  of  "to  arms, 
to  arms,"  fathers  caught  up  the  musket  and  frightened  mothers  ran 
with  their  little  ones  to  the  woods,  the  way  often  times  lit  up  by  burn- 
ing homes  and  hay-stacks.  While  lying  there  concealed,  what  agonies 
they  must  have  suffered!  Not  knowing  at  what  moment  tlie  child 
might  be  snatched  from  her  breast  by  some  pitiless  Indian;  not  linow- 
ing  but  that  the  next  gun-shot  might  mean  the  death  of  her  husband; 
lioping  against  hope  that  her  little  home  might  be  spared  from  the 
flames! 

Sometimes  a  -whole  family  would  be  wiped  out  in  an  attack,  as  in 
the  cast  of  the  Knouts  family,  of  what  is  now  Freysbush.  Brant — 
the  terror  of  every  heart  in  the  valley — with  his  Indians  had  been  roam- 
ing over  the  Canajoharie  district,  all  through  the  August  of  1780.  One 
party  of  them  came  to  the  Knouts'  home.  The  father  was  taken  cap- 
tive and  soon  afterwards  killed;  Mrs.  Knouts,  who  was  in  the  garden, 
hearing  the  screams  of  her  children,  entered  just  in  time  to  see  one 
struck  down  by  an  Indian's  tomahawk  ,and  scalped.  Because  she 
pleaded  for  mercy  from  this  merciless  foe,  she  and  the  three  other  child- 
ren met  the  same  fate.  The  house  was  then  fired  and  she  with  the  four 
children  about  her  were  left  on  the  door-step,  probably  as  a  warning  to 
the  other  settlers. 

Such  was  the  fate  of  many  throughout  the  whole  valley.  Hard  and, 
comfortless  as  life  was,  at  best,  on  the  frontier,  it  was  rendered  doubly 
so  by  the  war. 

'For  every  scalp  delivered  at  British  heudquai-ters,  a  price  was  paid, 


THE  WOMEN   OF  THE  REVOLUTIONARY   WAR.  197 

and  many  were  the  bloody  trophies  brought  in  by  the  Indian  warriors. 
That  a  civilized  nation  could  employ  sueli  means  to  gain  their  end,  is 
almost  beyond  belief;  but  the  unfortunate  settlers  found  it  only  too 
true. 

The  Kentucky  frontier  also  was  not  without  its  heroines— some,  to 
whom  opportunities  were  offered,  doing  noble  deeds,  and  others  less 
actively  engaged,  helping  by  their  influence.  All  bore  the  trials  and 
dangers  of  such  frontier  life  with  fortitude  and  bravery. 

The  name  of  Elizabeth  Zane  is  inseparably  connected  with  the  his- 
tory of  tlie  Kentucky  frontier.  This  brave  girl's  hei'oism  saved  a  fort 
from  capture.  The  Indians  in  large  numbers  had  been  storming  the 
litle  fort  all  day.  Its  garrison  of  settlers  had  defended  it  wt'll,  but  the 
powder  was  almost  gone,  and  without  it  they  must  soon  surrender. 
There  was  a  supply  secreted  in  the  Zane  cabin,  but  men  wr(3re'  few,  and 
the  loss  of  one  would  be  felt.  During  a  lull  in  the  hostilities,  when  the 
men  were  discussing  what  ought  to  be  done,  Elizabeth  -Jlane  stepped 
up  to  the  commander,  and  insisted  that  she  must  go  for  the  powder, 
as  the  loss  would  not  be  felt.  After  much  pleading,  she  was  allowed 
to  go— the  gates  were  opened  and  she  ran  out.  The  Indians  did  not  see 
her  flying  figure  until  she  was  coming  back,  the  powder  in  her  apron. 
Providence  seemed  to  ward  off  every  whistling  bullet,  and  the  intrepid 
girl  reached  the  fort  in  safety,  with  the  precious  poAvder. 

With  such  an  act  to  inspire  them,  the  little  band  could  not  fail;  tliey 
succeeded  in  keeping  off  the  foe  until  assistance  came,  and  they  were 
safe. 

Such  incidents,  the  records  of  which  are  not  a  few,  serve  to  show  the 
general  spirit  of  the  women  at  that  time.  From  them  we  may  judge 
of  the  other  women's  lives,  which,  though  not  as  eventfuT,  were  lived 
in  a  spirit  of  loyalty  to  Avhat  they  knew  was  right,  and  if  needed,  were 
willingly,  if  not  often  gladly,  given  up  to  help  on  the  good  cause — some- 
thing of  the  same  spirit  which  inspired  the  martyrs  of  old. 

Almost  every  American  woman  had  her  share  of  trouble  in  the  Rev- 
olutionary war,  some,  of  course,  more  than  others.  It  is  useless  to  evci' 
try  to  give  many  individual  instances  of  female  heroism  and  endurance; 
the  few  must  stand  as  tyjies  of  the  many. 

Those  women  who  exerted  a  great  intluence  over  their  fellow  coun- 
trymen by  their  literary  ;i]»ilities.  were  helping  greatly  in  their  own 
particular  way. 

Mercy  Warren,  well  educated  and  talented,  had  a  great  influence 
through  her  letters,  on  many  prominent  men  of  her  daj'.  Her  advice 
was  often  sought  on  matters  of  state,  and,  when  given,  was  highly 
a})preciated. 

Many  women  living  near  the  coast  visited  the  prison-ships — those 
graves  of  living  death — bringing  humble  comforts  and  cheering  words 
of  hope  to  the  suffering  prisoners. 

Some  women  melted  and  moulded  into  bullets  their  cherished  pewter 


198  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

dishes heirlooms  in  the  family,  much  of  it  brought  over  from  the 

old  world,  and  kept,  spotlessly  bright,  in  the  most  conspicuous  corner 
of  the  house.  It  must  have  been  a  painful  duty  to  these  patriotic 
women,  melting  this  shining  pewter,  their  greatest  pride;  but  the  sac- 
rifice was  willingly  made — it  was  all  they  could  do,  and  they  did  it. 

Many  of  the  farmers'  wives,  when  they  had  sent  their  sons  and  hus- 
bands off  to  the  war,  found  the  entire  care  of  the  farm  fallen  on  their 
shoulders.  But  they  never  shrank,  going  oftentimes  into  the  field 
themselves,  and  managing  so  well  that,  besides  having  enough  to  keep 
their  families  from  starvation,  they  could  send  some  of  their  produce 
to  the  near-by  camps. 

The  Philadelphia  ladies  were  generally  engaged  in  cutting  bandages 
and  scraping  lint  to  send  to  the  wounded  soldiers.  Washington,  appre- 
ciating this  work,  writes  to  a  committee  for  the  relief  of  the  soldiers: 
"*  *  *  jjQj.  (ijjjj  n  ^^^l^Q  army)  fear  its  Interests  will  be  neglected 
when  espoused  by  advocates  as  powerful  as  they  are  amiable."  Mrs. 
Reed,  the  wife  of  Governor  Reed,  was  the  leader  in  this  charitable 
work. 

Some  women,  living  near  the  scene  of  military  operations,  would 
take  cOoling  drinks  and  bandages  to  the  battle-field,  where  many  a 
suff(M'ei''s  last  moments  were  made  easier  by  these  angels  of  mercy, 
and  their  death  made  sweeter  by  words  of  Christian  comfort. 

Others  visited  the  camps  where  fever  and  pestilence  raged,  nursing 
the  sick  and  wounded  , softening  the  hardships  of  sickness  in  camp,  and 
bringing  something  of  a  home  atmosphere  to  the  weary  sufferers. 

In  our  day,  when  the  trials  and  privations  of  such  a  war  are  un- 
known, we  cannot  realize  their  sufferings,  nor  the  uncomplaining  way 
in  which  they  bore  them;  perhaps,  were  we,  their  descendants,  placed 
in  a  similar  position,  we  might  show  the  same  strength  of  character, 
the  same  patriotic  spirit  which  sustained  them — but  excel  them — • 
never! 

They  have  rightfully  been  called  the  "back-bone"  of  the  Revolution; 
but  for  their  effectual  efforts  and  encouragement  our  Independence 
would  never  have  been  won.  Their  home  influence  prepared  and 
strengthened  the  hearts  of  the  men  for  the  great  struggle;  their  ready 
sympathy  and  willing  aid  all  through  the  war  encouraged  them,  and, 
when  tranquil  peace  once  more  reigned  o'er  the  land,  their  great  good 
sense,  and  their  woman's  tact,  did  as  much  toward  starting  and  keep- 
ing society  in  the  right  way.  as  did  the  lengthy  councils  and  well  laid 
plans  of  Congress. 

Let  us  give  honor,  then,  where  honor  is  due — not  only  to  the  brave 
men  who  won  for  us  our  freedom,  but  also  to  the  bi'ave  women,  those 
freedom-loving  American  dames,  at  whose  inspiration  the  noblest  deeds 
^were  done! 


RAILROADS  IN  HKRKIMER  COUNTY. 

AN   ADDRKSS   nv    HON.    ROHKRT   EARL,    OF    HRRKIMER, 
Delivered  before  tlie  Herkimer  County  Historical  vSociety,  November  lo,  1900. 

The  first  railroiul  operated  by  steam  ptit  in  practical  and  rounlar  use 
for  the  carriage  of  passengers  anywhere  in  the  world  was  in  England, 
between  Liverpool  and  Manchester.  The  opening  of  that  road  in  1S29 
caused  a  great  sensation  in  England,  and  its  successful  operation  gave 
a  great  impetus  to  railroad  building  there  and  in  this  country. 

Prior  to  the  year  1848,  all  railroad  companies  in  this  State  were 
organized  by  Special  Acts  of  the  L(>gislature.  But  in  tliat  year  a  gen- 
eral act  for  the  formation  of  railroad  corporations  was  pass(>d,  and 
since  that  time  such  corporations  in  this  State  have  been  organized 
under  that  act  and  the  General  Railroad  act  of  1850,  and  their  amend- 
ments. 

The  first  railroad  company  in  this  State  was  chartered  by  an  act  of 
the  Legislature  in  182(J.  It  was  called  the  Mohawk  &  Hudson  Railroad 
Company,  and  was  organized  to  build  a  road  from  Schenectady  to 
Albany,  a  distance  of  about  17  miles.  Twelve  miles  of  that  road  was 
constructed  by  1830,  at  which  time  there  were  only  3(1  miles  of  railroad 
in  the  United  States,  and  200  miles  in  the  whole  world,  while  now  there 
are  about  192,000  miles  in  the  United  States,  and  450,000  miles  in  the 
whole  world.  The  road  was  completed  and  fully  opened  for  use  in 
1831,  and  the  first  locomotive  for  it  was  imported  from  England  and 
was  called  the  "John  I'.ull,"  weighing  four  tons.  Now  some  locomo- 
tives are  used  which  weigii  ,iliont  00  tons. 

The  first  company  create(l  to  build  a  railroad  touching  this  eotmty 
was  "The  Black  River  Company,"  chartered  by  act  of  the  Legislature, 
April  17th,  1832,  to  build  a  railroad  or  canal  from  the  Erie  Canal  at 
Rome  or  Herkimer  or  at  any  intermediate  point,  to  the  St.  Lawrence 
River.  There  was  some  surveying  done  under  that  charter,  but  noth- 
ing more. 

The  Utica  &  Schenectady  Railroad  Company  was  chartered  by  an  act 
of  the  Legislature  in  1833,  with  a  capital  of  two  million  dollars  to  build 


200  HEBKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

a  road  from  Schenectadj'  to  Utica.     Nathaninl  S.  Benton  of  Little  Falls 
was  one  of  the  commissioners  named  in  the  act  to  receive  and  appor- 
tion subscriptions  to  the  stoclv.     The  company  was  authorized  to  use 
animal  or  mechanical  power,  or  any  combination  of  them,  and  to  charge 
not  to  exceed  four  cents  per  mile  for  the  carriage  of  passengers  with 
their  ordinary  baggage.     For  fear  of  injurious  competition  with  the 
Erie  canal,  it  was  not  allowed  to  carry  any  freight,  and  that  it  might 
not  by  the  operation  of  its  road  inflict  great  loss  upon  the  Mohawk 
Turnpike  Company,  whose  road  extended  from  Utica  to  Schenectady 
through  this  county,  it  was  required  to  purchase  the  stock  of  that  com- 
pany.    It  was  provided,  as  it  was  in  nearly  all  the  early  railroad  char- 
ters, that  at  the  end  of  ten  years  and  within  fifteen  years,  the  State 
should  have  the  right  to  take  the  railroad  by  re-imbursing  the  com- 
pany for  its  expenditures.     The  charter  required  that  one  of  the  direc- 
tors of  the  company  should  be  selected  from  each     of     the     counties 
through  Avliich  the  road  passed,  and  Mr.  Benton  was  the  director  taken 
from  this  county,  and  he  continued  a  director  until  1853.     Books  for 
subscriptions  to  the  stock  Avere  immediately  opened,  and  subscriptions 
were  made  throughout  the  Mohawk  valley.     The     stock     was  largelj' 
over  subscribed,  and  was  apportioned  pro  rata  among  the  subscribers 
by  the  commissioners  named  for  that  purpose  in  the  act.    The  construc- 
tion of  the  road  was  commenced  in  1833,  and  it  was  completed  and 
opened  for  use  through  to  Utica  by  August  1,  1830,  when  the  first  pas- 
senger train  passed  over  the  road  on  that  day  from  Schenectady  to 
Utica.     There  were  great  demonstrations  all   along  the  route,   people 
gathering  from  long  distances  to  see  the  train.     The     road  with  its 
equipment  had  cost  less  than  the  amount  of  Its  capital  stock.    In  1837, 
by  an  act  of  the  liOgislature,  the  road  was  authorized  to  carry  any  arti- 
cles of  property  belonging  to  an  owner,  who  was  a  passenger  on  the 
same  train.     But  so  careful  was  the  legislature  to  guard  against  any 
competition  with  the  Erie  Canal  that  it  required  such  property  to  be 
carried  without  any  charge.    This  condition  remained  until  1844,  when 
an  act  was  passed  autliorizing  the  road  to  carry  freight  for  compensa- 
tion, during  the  suspension    of    navigation  upon  the    Erie    canal,  but 
requiring  the  company  to  pay  to  the  State  the  same  tolls  that  were 
chargeable  for  the  transportation  of  similar  property  upon  the  canal. 
And  so  the  law  remained  until  1851,  when  by  an  act  of  the  legislature 
all  railroads  were  allowed  to  carry  freight  without  the  payment  of  any 
tolls  to  the  State. 

Between  1830  and  1853,  railroads  had  been  built  by  various  railroad 
companies  to  Buffalo  and  Niagara  Falls,  and  under  an  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature, passed  April  2d,  of  the  latter  year,  all  those  companies  were 
authorized  to  consolidate  ;  and  they  were  consolidated  in  May  of  that 
year,  under  the  name  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  Company, 
which  was  limited  by  the  consolidation  act  to  a  fare  of  not  exceeding 
tAVO  cents  per  mile  for  the  carriage  of  passengers.     Among  the  com- 


RAILROADS   IN   HERKIMER  COUNTY.  501 

panics  thus  consolulatcd.  was  '"The  Mohawk  Valley  Railroad  Compa- 
ny," oriiunizod  to  Imild  a  railraod  mainly  on  the  sonth  side  of  the 
>r()ha\vk  Kiver  I'nini  T  tica  to  Scheneetady.  Among  its  direetors  were 
lienjamin  Carver  of  .Moiiawk  and  ICliphalet  Keminuton  of  llion;  and 
among  the  prime  movers  in  the  organization  of  the  company  was  Gen- 
eral F.  K.  Spinner  of  ^Mohawk.  Among  the  original  subscribers  to  the 
stock  of  the  company  who  signed  the  Articles  of  Association  were 
E.  Remington  of  llion,  and  the  following  citizens  of  Mohawk:  F,  E. 
Spiimer,  P>.  Carver,  T..  I>.  Merry,  Elias  Root,  J.  F.  Brown,  Kzekiel  Spen- 
cer, Cornelius  Devendorf,  M.  Shoemaker,  John  Bellinger,  R.  H.  Fom- 
eroy,  and  Chauncey  Johnson.  The  road  was  surveyed  and  mapped  and 
estimates  of  its  costs  were  made,  but  no  other  work  toward  its  con- 
struction was  done  .  James  A.  Gray  of  this  village,  long  since  deceased, 
and  David  D.  Spencer,  now  of  Mohawk,  were  engaged  as  engineers 
on  the  survey  of  the  road.  The  stockholders  of  that  road  had  paid 
upon  their  stock  but  ten  ])er  cent.,  and  yet  they  were  taken  into  the 
consolidation  on  a  footing  of  equality  with  the  stockholders  of  the 
Utica  «fc  Schenectady  Railroad  Company,  to-wit:  At  the  rate  of  $155 
for  each  share  of  $](»(»,  they  Ix  ing  recpiired.  however,  to  pay  th"  balance 
of  00  per  cent,  vuip.'iid  foi'  their  stock;  and  thus  the  eiiterpi'ising  men  who 
organized  that  company  realized  large  gains.  The  New  York  Central 
was  capitalized  at  .f 211, 858,000,  witli  some  outstanding  bonds  convert- 
ible into  stock,  which  when  convi'rted  brought  the  capital  stock  to 
5?23,085,00O.  In  18G9,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  the  New  York 
Central  was  consolidated  with  the  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company, 
and  the  consolidated  company  has  since  been  known  as  the  New  York 
Central  it  Hudson  River  Railroad  Company;  and  in  1874,  the  number 
of  tracks  on  the  road  were  increased  to  four  and  it  is  now  the  only 
four  track  railroad  for  any  considerable  distance  in  this  country,  and 
so  far  as  I  know  in  the  world.  The  capital  stock  of  the  company  is 
now  one  hundred  million  dollars. 

For  many  years  after  1830,  repeated  effoits  were  made  to  penetrate 
the  Adirondack  region  with  canals  or  I'ailroads  and  to  connect  the  St. 
Lawrence  River  with  the  Mohawk  valley.  Those  efforts  seem  to  have 
been  made  by  men  who  had  no  adefpiate  knowledge  of  the  ditliculties 
to  be  surmounted  and  lience  their  schemes  were  generally  imprac- 
ticable and  abortive.  It  is  only  in  recent  years,  that  with  better  knowl- 
edge and  more  ample  means  the  early  schemes  which  were  then  little 
more  than  dreams,  have  been  carried  to  practical  success. 

In  1834,  an  act  was  passed,  '"To  Incorporate  the  Manheim  &  Salis- 
bury Railroad  Company,"  to  build  a  railroad  from  the  Utica  and  Sche- 
nectady Railroad,  between  Little  Falls  and  the  East  Canada  Creek,  to 
Nicholsville,  since  called  Deveraux,  in  the  town  of  S.alisbnry.  Jeremiah 
Drake,  D.  B.  \Yiriton  and  Andrew  A.  Fink  and  their  .associates  were 
made  a  body  corporate  with  a  capital  stock  of  !f75,000.  Jeremiah 
Drake,    D.  B.   Winton,    Jacob  I'owell,    Gideon  Snell,    Luther   Pardee, 


202  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Andrew  A.  Fink,  and  E.  P.  Hurlburt,  woro  named  in  the  act  as  com- 
missioners to  receive  and  apportion  subscriptions  to  the  stoclc.  In  1836, 
the  capital  stoclc  of  the  company  was  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature 
increased  to  three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  the  time  for  the 
commencement  and  completion  of  the  road  was  extended.  By  that 
act,  also,  the  company  was  authorized  to  connect  its  road  with  the 
Erie  canal,  between  the  points  named  in  the  first  act,  and  to  extend 
the  road  through  the  town  of  Stratford,  Fulton  county,  to  the  westerly 
l/i'anch  of  the  Sacandaga  River,  and  also  from  Nicholsville,  up  the  East 
('anada  Creek  to  Morehouse  Lake,  in  the  town  of  Morehouse,  Hamilton 
county.  It  was  also  authorized  to  construct  navigable  communication 
by  means  of  canals,  locks,  dams  and  other  works  from  the  terminus 
of  the  road  through  Piseco  Lake  and  Lake  Pleasant,  to  the  outlet  of 
Lake  Pleasant,  in  the  coimty  of  Hamilton,  and  to  use  the  natural 
channel  of  any  lakes,  ponds  or  streams  on  the  route;  and  it  was 
authorized  to  charge  tolls  and  to  appoint  collectors  for  that  purpose. 
A  good  deal  of  surveying  Avas  done  upon  the  line  of  this  projected 
road,  but  nothing  more  toward  the  completion  thereof.  In  1837,  the 
name  of  this  road  was  by  an  act  of  the  Legislatiu-e  changed  to  the 
Mohawk  »Sr  St.  Lawrence  Railroad  &  Navigation  Company,  and  the  cap- 
ital stock  was  further  increased  to  one  million  dollars,  with  liberty  to 
increase  it  to  one  million  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  By  that  act 
it  was  authorized  to  continue  its  road  from  Nicholsville  to  Piseco  Lake 
and  thence  to  the  southern  end  of  the  lake  connected  with  Long  Lake; 
also  to  construct  a  canal  and  slack  water  navigation  from  the  end  of 
the  lake  connected  with  Long  I>ake  through  and  along  Long  Lake  and 
the  waters  connecting  with  the  same  to  the  outlet  of  Long  Lake;  thence 
down  the  Raquette  River,  including  Tupper's  Lake,  to  the  High  Falls 
in  that  river  in  the  county  of  St.  Lawrence;  and  from  thence  by  rail- 
road or  canal  and  slack  water  navigation  to  the  River  St.  Lawrence. 
Hem-y  Fine.  Gouverneur  Ogden,  Andrew  K.  Morehouse,  Henry  Dever- 
eaux  and  Ezra  Thompson  were  associated  with  the  connnissioners 
named  in  the  prior  act.  The  routes  named  in  these  acts  were  clearly 
impracticable,  and  nothing  was  done  under  either  act  but  some  sur- 
veying. 

In  183(5,  an  act  was  passed,  "to  pi'ovide  for  the  Construction  of  a 
Railroad  from  Herkimer  to  Trenton."  with  a  capit;U  stock  of  .'f'JOO.OOO; 
and  the  following  persons  were  n.'inu'd  in  the  act  as  commissioners  to 
receive  subscriptions  for  stock  and  to  distribute  the  same  among  the 
subsci-ibers:  Frederick  P.  Bellinger,  Charles  Gray,  Francis  E.  Spin- 
ner, Watts  Sherman.  Gideon  M.  Davidson,  Daniel  Jackson.  James  Free- 
man, Standish  Barry,  Henry  Waterman,  John  Graves,  Michael  Moore, 
Jr.,  Liither  Giteau  and  John  Billings.  In  1837,  by  a  legislative  act  the 
time  for  the  commmencement  of  the  construction  of  the  road  was 
extended  to  January  1,  1838;  and  in  1839,  another  act  provided  that 
the  road  should  be  commenced  within  three  years  and  completed  within 


RAILROADS  IN   HERKIMER  COUNTY.  203 

six  years.  Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  first  act  tlie  persons  inter- 
ested in  tliis  ])ro.jecte(l  road  took  measures  loolving  to  its  constriietiou. 
Coniniittees  were  appointed  ah)n,u  tlie  nnite  to  estimate  and  report  on 
the  amount  of  travel  and  tralHc  that  miyht  be  expected  for  the  road, 
and  to  raise  money  to  pay  for  surveying  tlie  rout(>.  I  have  before  me 
the  repoit  made  by  a  couunitlec  at  'ri'enton.  which  was  sent  to  Charles 
(Jray,  of  this  village.  It  is  dated  November  bitli.  ]s;!(;.  aiid  is  signed 
Ity  John  P.illings.  Harlow  llawley,  Alexander  Frasier  and  M.  Moore, 
Jr.,  as  a  committee.  They  say  in  their  report  that  they  were  appointed 
a  committee  '"Vi\  i-e]>ort  their  opinion  of  the  amount  of  travel  and  also 
the  amount  of  produce,  merchaniiise,  etc.,  etc.,  whicli  would  lie  con- 
veyed and  trai:spoi'ted  upon  the  contemplated  railroad  from  the  Erie 
canal,  near  tlie  village  of  Herkimer,"  to  Trenton.  They  reported  that 
the  number  of  visitors  to  Trentoji  Falls  during  the  season  then  past 
from  rtica  and  I>ittle  Falls  was  i.4'.»(i,  and  they  concluded  that  with 
the  increased  facilities  of  travel  furnished  by  the  railroad,  the  visitors 
would  not  fall  short  of  S.'.lSd  annually;  that  at  four  cents  per  mile  each 
way  for  22  miles  this  would  bring  to  the  railroad  .$ir),S04.S0;  and  they 
estimated  that  other  travel  would  bring  tliis  sum  up  to  .'i!20,7o2.8(). 
They  estimated  that  there  would  be  1,2SU  tons  of  freight  over  the  road 
north  to  Trenton,  at  .$2  per  ton;  and  that  there  would  be  2,r)0()  tons  of 
freight  south  from  Trenton,  at  ifl:2~t  [ler  ton,  bringing  the  sum  total 
for  passengers  and  freight  u]>  to  .'f2i  1,4 17.80,  liesides  the  travel  and 
traffic  to  and  from  intermedi.ate  stations;  and  they  reported  that  .fid 
would  1)0  contributed  at  that  end  of  the  route  toward  the  expenses  of 
surveying.  Subseciuently,  Timothy  P..  Jervis.  a  brother  of  the  cele- 
brated engineer,  John  15.  Jervis.  was  emjiloyed  as  the  engineer  to 
survey  the  route  and  make  estimates  of  the  cost  of  construction,  and 
he  made  his  I'eport  l-'ebruary  1,  fS.'JT,  by  which  it  apiiears  that  the 
survey  commenced  at  the  Erie  canal,  between  this  village  and  Mohawk, 
and  that  the  line  went  through  .Alain  street  in  this  village,  then  up  the 
west  side  of  the  West  Canada  Creek  to  Middleville,  where  "it  crossed 
tlie  creek,  and  then  went  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek  thi'ough  New- 
port and  Poland,  to  the  Russia  and  Trenton  bridge,  where  it  ci-ossed 
the  creek  to  the  west  side  and  thence  to  the  villa.ge  of  Trenton.  The 
whole  length  of  the  line  surveyed  was  2(i.90  miles  and  the  whole  ascent 
from  the  surface  of  the  Erie  canal  was  388  feet.  The  grade  was  pro- 
nounced very  satisfactory,  as  the  average  ascent  j)er  mile  was  only 
34.42  feet  and  he  estimated  the  entire  cost  of  construction  at  .flT"),- 
151.92.  He  concluded  his  report  as  follows:  "Permit  me  to  state  that 
the  fertility  of  the  valley  of  the  West  Canada  Creek  and  the  almost 
unlimited  extent  of  water  power  and  the  facility  of  using  tlie  same 
wliich  it  presents,  together  with  the  increased  means  of  access  to  the 
beautiful  and  romantic  scenery  of  the  proposed  railroad  would  offer, 
present  inducements  for  investment  in  the  stock  of  your  road  which 
should  not  and  doubtless  will  not  be  overlooked  by  capitalists."     Aside 


204  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

from  the  snrvcyins'  and  estimates,  no  work  Avas  done  upon  the  road, 
and  the  project  for  a  raih-oad  from  Herkimer  north  was  to  sleep  for 
many  years  yet. 

In  1837,  a  company  was  chartered  to  build  a  railroad  from  Trenton 
to  Sacketts  Harbor,  and  Arphaxed  Loomis  of  Little  Falls  was  one  of 
the  commissioners  to  receive  and  distribute  subscriptions  to  the  stock; 
and  thus  by  tliese  two  roads — from  Herkimer  to  Trenton  and  from 
Trenton  to  Sacketts  Harbor — there  was  expected  to  be  a  continuous 
line  from  Herkimer  to  Sacketts  Harbor. 

In  l!-i4C>,  a  company  was  chartered  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  "To 
provide  for  the  Construction  of  a  Railroad  and  Slack  Water  Naviga- 
tion from  or  near  I'ort  Kent  on  Lake  Champlain  fo  Boonville,"  upon 
the  following  route:  From  Port  Kent,  in  Essex  county,  to  some  point 
on  the  Saranac  River;  thence  by  river,  canal  and  lake  navigation 
through  Saranac  River,  Ratpiette  River,  Long  Lake,  Crochet  and 
Raquette  Lakes,  also  the  Moose  Lakes  to  some  point  on  the  Moose 
River;  from  thence  by  railroad  to  the  Black  River  Canal  at  Boonville. 
A  portion  of  this  road,  if  constructed,  would  have  passed  through  the 
extreme  northern  part  of  this  county.  The  route  was  wholly  imprac- 
ticable and  notliing  was  done  toward  the  construction  of  the  road. 

The  Sacketts  Harbor  and  Saratoga  Raih-oad  Company  was  chartered 
by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  in  1848,  to  build  a  railroad  from  Sacketts 
Harbor  to  Saratoga  Springs,  passing  through  the  northern  part  of  this 
county.  By  the  act  of  the  Legislature,  it  was  authorized  to  buy  from 
the  State  at  five  cents  per  acre  2.^>(),()()0  acres  of  land  lying  along  the 
I'oute  of  its  road  in  the  counties  of  Hamilton  and  Herkimer.  It  sur- 
veyed tlie  route,  did  some  grading  thereon,  but  never  completed  the 
road.  It,  nevertheless,  obtained  tlie  land,  Avhich  was  probably  the  main 
object  of  its  organization. 

In  the  latter  part  of  18r)2,  thi-re  was  some  agitation  and  discussion 
in  the  counties  lying  between  Boonville,  Oneida  county,  and  French 
Creek,  now  called  Clayton,  on  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  on  the  subject 
of  a  railroad  from  the  latter  place  to  connect  with  the  railroad  and 
Erie  canal  in  the  Mohawk  valley;  and  the  terminus  of  such  road  at 
Herkimer  seems  to  have  been  very  generally  favored.  The  agitation 
resulted  in  a  call  numerously  signed  for  a  public  meeting  at  the  Bost- 
wick  House  in  Lowville,  January  8th,  I80.3.  Tlie  call  was  signed  by 
thirty-eight  persons  residing  in  the  counties  of  Jefferson,  Lewis,  Oneida 
and  Herkimer.  The  names  signed  to  the  call  from  this  county  were 
Cieneral  Charles  (iray  and  .ludge  Ezra  Graves,  of  this  village;  Jere- 
miah Cory-  of  Middleville;  J.  II.  Brown  and  William  Benchley,  of 
Newport.  The  call  was  printed  in  the  form  of  large  posters  and  they 
were  circulated  in  the  four  counties;  and  the  purpose  of  the  meeting 
was  stated  to  l)e,  "For  the  purpose  of  taking  such  preparatory  meas- 
ures as  shall  be  deemed  expedient  to  secure  the  immediate  commence- 
ment of  the  work.     We  hope  to  liave  a  general  representation  from 


RAILROADS  IN   HERKIMER   COUNTY.  205 

Herkimer  to  French  Creek.  Several  siicakcrs  will  address  the  nicet- 
iii.i;'."  On  tli(>  day  named.  Jannary  Stli,  (Jeiieral  Cray  and  I  went  to 
Lowvillc  t()  attend  this  meeting.  We  went  l>y  v.ail  to  Uonic  and  then 
on  a  very  cold  day  Ave  drove  in  a  cntter  from  that  point  to  Lowville. 
Tlie  niccIiiiL;  \\'as  presidi'd  oAcr  by  ?»Ir.  P.oslwlek.  Se\'ei'a  1  speeches 
AVd'e  made  and  the  meetin;^'  was  (piite  enthnsiastic.  There  were  no 
persons  i»resent  from  IU»me  or  I'tiea  at  that  meetint;.  and  no  oU"  fioni 
Herkimer  eonnty  l>nt  (Jeneral  (Jray  and  niyselt.  The  i-esult  ot  tlie 
nu'etiny  was  a  rail  of  anotlier  meeting  at  I'.oonville,  on  the  l!i;th  of  .lan- 
nai'y.  at  the  llurl])urt  House;  and  a  call  for  that  lueetini;  was  adver- 
tised by  jKisters  nnmeronsly  si.nned.  The  nanu's  of  the  following  per- 
sons from  this  eonnty  were  attached  to  the  call:  (ieneral  (Ji'ay,  .Indue 
(iraves,  I'eter  Countryman,  Freilerick  1*.  Itellinuer.  and  l{ol)ert  lOarJ 
of  the  town  of  Herkimer;  and  ^^'illiam  S.  r.encliley,  \'arnnni  S.  Ken- 
yon,  David  Ford,  .laeoh  Howe,  liohert  Heliner.  llichard  HerreiKh-en. 
J.  H.  Woo.ster,  Jeremiali  Cory  and  Orrin  Bi'own,  citizens  of  the  county 
livini^  im.'tli  of  Herkinnn*.  Preparatory  to  the  P.oonville  meeting  and 
for  the  purpose  of  arousini;'  interest  in  the  i>ro])osed  I'aili'oad  alony^  the 
route  theret)f  in  this  county,  posteis  were  i)rinte(l  and  circulated  caJl- 
in«'  a  meeting  at  tlie  Benchley  Hotel  in  Newi>ort  on  tlie  li'-'nd  day  of 
January.  There  were  over  loO  names  signed  to  the  call.  Those  from 
this  village  were  as  follows:  James  Hoffman.  Cenei'al  Cray,  Judge 
Graves,  F.  P.  P>elliny'<>r,  S.  \V.  Stimson,  W.  Caswt'll,  J.  I).  Siiinner,  H. 
H.  Morgan,  H.  Huyck.  C.  C.  P.elHnger.  E.  Taylor,  J.  (i.  Burrill,  S. 
P.arry,  .[.  H.  Uashach.  H.  Doolittle,  William  Smith,  C.  A.  Burton,  J. 
Spo(mer,  H.  Cas\\fll,  W.  A.  C.aswell,  C.  Spinner.  E.  A.  Munsoii,  I*.  S. 
P.ellinger.  A.  Snell.  C.  ('.  Witherstine,  Wm.  Howell,  Jr.,  E.  C.  Cleland, 
I.  Quaekeiihush,  P>yron  Lallin,  D.  Elwood  and  Alexander  Hall.  1  believe 
all  the  numercnis  persons  from  this  and  other  places  who  signed  that 
call  are  now  dead  e;>:cept  David  II.  K.asbach,  who  now  lives  at  Canas- 
tota  ;  .1.  G.  P>iirrill  and  myself,  and  possildy  Byron  Latlin.  of  whom  I 
have  not  he.ni'd  in  nniny  years.  That  meeting  was  held  and  the  result 
of  it  was  favorable  to  the  construction  of  the  ro.id,  and  as  ni.my  i)er- 
sons  as  could  go  were  urged  to  attend  the  Boonville  meeting.  Before 
the  Boonville  meeting,  on  .lanujii'y  'J'ind,  a  meeting  was  also  held  ;it 
Home,  attemh'd  by  the  leading  citizens  of  that  jiljice.  to  jiromote  the 
construction  of  the  ro.ad  to  that  ]>lace.  'JMiat  meeting  was  ju'esided  o\'er 
by  Edward  Huntington  and  was  addi'essi'd  liy  Hon.  Henry  A.  I'^oster 
and  others.  Articles  of  association  for  .-i  r.ailroad  from  French  ("reek 
to  Rome  were  there  drawn  u]),  and  committees  wei-e  apiioiided  to 
attend  the  Boonville  meeting,  of  which  such  well  known  citizens  as  l"'os- 
ter.  P>eacli.  Armstrong,  Boardman.  and  Spriggs  were  members.  The 
citizens  of  T'tic.a  also  \\'ol<e  up  to  the  enteriirise  ;ind  made  ;iri';inge- 
nienls  to  lie  reitreseiited  at  the  Booinille  meeting  b\'  some  of  their 
leading  citizens.  The  (hiy  of  the  Boonville  meeting.  .January  2(Uli,  was 
very  stormy  and  cold.     General  Gray,  Harvey  Doolittle,  Samuel  Earl, 


206  HERKIMER   COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 

Robert  Earl  and  others  from  Herkimer,  General  Spinner  and  R.  H. 
I'omeroy  of  Mohawk,  and  some  from  Little  Falls,  drove  in  sleighs  to 
r.oonville  and  so  did  many  others  from  the  northern  towns  of  this 
founty.  The  meeting  was  numerously  attended  by  people  from  this 
eounty.  from  Boonville  and  its  vicinity;  from  Lewis  and  Jefferson 
counties,  and  from  Rome  and  Utica.  It  was  organized  in  a  church, 
which  was  densely  crowded.  E.  N.  Merriam,  of  Boonville,  called  the 
meeting  to  order  and  on  his  nomination,  Henry  Graves  of  that  place 
was  chosen  chairman;  and  among  the  vice-presidents  were  Jeremiah 
Corey  and  Henry  Waterman  of  this  county,  and  Harvey  Doolittle  of 
this  village  was  oni'  of  the  secretaries.  On  motion  of  Robert  Earl,  the 
call  for  the  meeting  was  read,  and  then  he  moved  that  a  committee  of 
tive  from  each  of  the  counties  along  the  route  of  tlu'  proposed  road  be 
appointed  to  organize  a  company  to  construct  "a  road  from  French 
Creek  to  Herkimer,  and  to  nominate  directors."  This  resolution  be- 
came the  storm  center  and  at  once  encountered  the  vigorous  opposi- 
tion of  the  friends  of  the  Rome  and  Utica  routes,  and  from  that  time 
foi-ward  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting  were  of  the  most  lively  and 
tumultuous  character.  Judge  Foster  made  a  vigorous  speech  in  favor 
of  the  Rome  terminus.  John  Butterfield  and  Spencer  Kellogg,  of  Utica, 
spoke  for  the  Utica  terminus.  Those  speakers  were  answered  by  John 
H.  Wooster,  of  Newport,  and  by  Judge  George  W.  Smith,  our  honored 
townsman,  then  of  Boonville,  in  favor  of  the  Herkimer  rcmte.  The 
speeches  of  Mr.  Wooster  and  Judge  Smith  were  very  able  and  e!o(iuent 
and  aroused  much  enthusiasm.  The  following  is  a  description  of  Judge 
Smith's  speech  and  its  effect  as  I  find  it  in  the  Rome  Sentinel  of  Janu- 
ary 2Sth:  "George  W.  Smith,  of  Boonville,  having  obtained  a  stand- 
ing on  the  top  of  a  pew,  made  a  speech  full  of  zeal  and  rhetoric  in 
behalf  of  the  Herkimer  terminus,  (pictting  classic  (Jreek  against  the 
Romans,  and  denouncing  them  as  hypocritical  in  their  friendship  for 
tlie  road,  and  expressing  a  very  ])oor  opinion  of  the  'barren  moor'  be- 
tween Boonville  and  Rome  as  a  route  for  a  railroad.  The  meeting  here 
degenerated  into  a  row  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  the  president 
even  could  make  himself  heard,  the  friends  of  the  Herkimer  route  sur- 
rounding him  and  insisting  that  he  should  put  the  (luestion  ;!t  once." 
After  several  amendments  were  voted  down  the  Sentinel  continues: 
"With  the  noise  like  the  roar  of  many  waters  and  the  audience  stand- 
ing on  the  tops  of  the  pews  of  the  church,  the  chair  put  the  (juestion 
on  Mr.  Earl's  resolution,  which  was  carried  with  a  yell,  and  then  the 
president,  without  any  motion  or  vote  to  that  effect,  declared  the  meet- 
ing adjourned  to  7  o'clock."  At  the  evening  session  the  president  an- 
nounced the  committee  under  the  resolution,  and  the  five  members  of 
the  committee  from  this  county  were,  Robert  Earl,  Herkimer;  Francis 
K.  Spinner,  Mohawk  ;  Stewart  Perry,  Newport;  Jefferson  Tillinghast, 
Norway;  F.  W.  Stanton,  Russia.,  and  then  the  meeting  adjoui-ned  until 
the  next  day  at  0  a.  m.     In  the  meantiuic  the  committee  held  a  meet- 


RAILROADS  IN   HERKIMER  COUNTY.  207 

iiii:'  fiiul  r{<)l)i'rf  lOiiii  i)rt'ii;ir("il  nnd  submitted  to  thrm  a  drat't  of  arti- 
cles of  association  for  tlic  road  to  ircrlviincr.  and  to  tiic  lOi'ic  canal  at 
]\^)lia\\'k,  wlucli  wi-rc  adopted.  Tlie  len.t:tl:  of  tlic  route  was  stated 
lo  he  one  hundred  and  twenty  nules  and  tlie  capital  stock  was  lixetl 
at  $1.2(K),(MM»;  and  thirteen  tlirectors  were  named,  amon.ii-  wliom  were 
r.enjamin  Carver  of  Moliawk,  and  Ilarve;*  Dooliltle,  of  Ileikimer.  A 
motion  was  made  to  adopt  the  report  and  then  tliese  |)roceed!nL;s  took 
place  accordini?  to  the  Kome  Seutiiul:  "Messrs.  Sitencer  and  I'.utter- 
lield  arose  to  ad(h-ess  the  ineetini;',  hut  were  ])nt  down  by  cries  of  'iines- 
tion.'  .Mr.  Cooper  of  Utica  nio\i'd  to  amend  the  iciiort  by  inscrtiiii; 
the  names  of  Spencer  Kello.ii^  and  John  I'.nttertield  of  I'tica  as  a(hli- 
tional  directors.  But  he  was  greeted  witli  noise  and  confusion.  11.  1). 
Falkncr  of  Roonville,  rennnded  the  meelini;'  of  the  i)idmise  to  hear 
gentlemen  fi'om  Ttica.  after  the  report  was  read.  I'.ut  he  was  also  met 
with  cries  of  '(piestion.'  .Mr.  Easton  of  Lowville  moved  to  adjourn 
until  two  o'clock,  l)ut  the  chairman  ruled  c)Ut  of  order  all  motions  and 
iiniendmeats  after  the  motion  to  adopt  the  report  of  the  connnittee; 
and  the  (piestion  bein.u'  pressed  on  the  report  of  the  connnittee.  it  was 
adopted."  Tlu-  i)ictnre  of  the  Sentinel  is  prob;ibly  somewhat  over- 
(■lawn  and  it  may  be  said,  in  ])alliation  at  least  of  the  vi:;'orous  (  ondnct 
(;f  the  friends  of  the  Herkimer  ternnnns,  that  they  regarded  the  meeting 
as  called  to  orgaiuze  a  company  to  build  a  railroad  from  French  Creek 
to  Herkimer,  and  that  they  looked  upon  the  men  from  Rome  and  Utica 
as  interlopers.  After  the  adoption  of  the  repoi-f,  the  meeting  ad.journed 
and  the  people  from  Mohawk  and  Herkimer  and  the  valley  of  the  West 
Cana<la  Creek  returned  to  their  homes  in  a  state  of  great  satisfaction 
with  their  work.  Companies  were  at  once  organized  to  build  roads  to 
liome  and  Utica;  and  it  soon  became  evident  that  it  would  be  dithcnlt 
if  not  impossible  for  Herkimer  to  compete  with  those  points.  The  peo- 
ple north  of  Boonvilh'  very  soon  came  generally  to  favor  one  or  the 
other  of  those  places  for  the  ternunus  of  the  road.  The  people  all  along 
the  route  engaged  in  earnest  and  sometimes  heated  discussions  over 
the  route  of  the  road;  and  the  Kome  Sentinel,  the  Observer  and  Herald 
of  Utica.  and  the  Herkimer  Democrat,  then  edited  by  liobcit  Karl,  took 
active  parts  in  the  discussion.  Soon  a  comnnttee  of  Ki  iieisons  living 
between  P.oonville  ;ind  the  t''rminus  of  the  road  at  l-'rcnch  Creek  w.is 
appointed  to  .act  for  the  people  living  .ah/Ug  that  iiortit^n  of  the  route, 
to  determine  which  t'-rminus  tlu'y  should  favor;  and  they  m.ide  .-i 
thorough  investigation.  They  asked  the  people  favoring  Home  Utic.n 
and  Herkimer  respectively  to  subnut  pledges  of  the  ;imoui>ts  they 
would  raise  for  the  construction  of  the  road.  Finally,  in  March,  the 
Itom.ans  pledged  good  private  subscriptions  for  .>f:{no,()(H)  and  the  sub- 
scription by  the  villa.ge  for  4;i;j(>,Ut«).  Utica  |)ledged,  inclndiui.-;  a  city 
subs(a-i]ition  of  .S2.'>0.(M)(),  .$(;.")(),()()(•;  and  then  the  <onimitlce  .■;imc  to 
Herkimer  nnd  here  they  met  a  inimber  of  people  intt'rested  in  the 
terminus  here.     In  their  rei)ort  they  stated  tlial   "through  the  polite  at- 


^08  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

teiitiou  of  ^Messrs.  Wooster,  Carver,  Eaii,  Perry,  Root,  Spinner  and 
others,  tlie  infornuitlon  sought  by  your  eoniinittee  at  this  point  was 
readily  ])r()cni'e(l."'  At  a  previous  meeting  of  citizens  of  Herlvimer, 
Moliawk,  Fairtield,  Newport  and  Norway,  on  tlie  KItli  of  March,  a 
formal  pledge  was  made  of  subscriptions  for  $.jU(i,UUU  of  tlie  stock  of 
a  road  with  its  terminus  here  by  persons  living  south  of  Boonville. 
After  receiving  tliese  pledges  and  investigating  the  advantages  of  the 
several  teru)ini,  tlie  committee  of  4(3  attempted  to  settle  the  matter  of 
a  terminus.  The  liighest  number  of  votes  llerUimer  received  was  11, 
and  tlie  balance  were  about  equally  divided  between  Uoiiit'  and  Utica. 
On  thi>  linal  ballot  taken  by  tlie  committee.  Rome  got  2^  votes,  Utica  22 
and  Herkimer  1 ;  and  as  there  was  not  a  majority  ot  tlie  committee  for 
either  termiiuis,  the  committee  adjourned  witliout  making  a  selection. 

Meetings  were  lield  along  the  route  in  this  county  and  lietween  $2(X),- 
00(1  and  $;J00.000.  of  tlie  stock  was  subscribed.  15ut  I'tica  and  Rome, 
with  their  superior  resources  and  some  natural  advantages  pushed 
forvv.-ird  their  several  projects  and  soon  turned  most  of  the  people  along 
the  route  in  the  northern  counties  against  Herkimer  as  a  terminus;  and 
the  friends  of  this  route  in  this  county,  foreseeing  disaster  if  they  enter- 
ed upon  the  construction  of  tlie  road,  disi-ontinued  their  efforts  and 
abandoned  tlieir  organization,  and  thus  saved  their  money.  The 
Romans  entered  upon  the  construction  of  the  road  to  that  point  and 
after  spending  about  $."()0,u00.  failed  and  abandoned  the  enterprise  and 
lost  all  the  money  they  thus  expended.  Utica  with  its  superior 
resources  pushed  the  Black  River  road  to  comi)letion.  But  the  stock- 
holders lost  all  tlieir  stock,  as  a  mortgage  on  the  road  foi-  the  benefit 
of  bondholders  was  foreclosed  and  the  road  sold.  But  Utica  got  the 
road,  wliicli  is  now  operated  to  its  great  advantage  by  the  New  York 
Central  under  a  lease. 

The  Utica,  f.'henango  &  Susquelianna  Valley  Railroad  Company  was 
organized  in  January,  1S()G,  to  build  a  railroad  from  Utica  to  Bingham- 
ton,  and  a  branch  from  Cassville  in  Oneid;i  county,  passing  through  the 
towns  of  Wintield  and  Columbia,  in  this  county,  to  Richtield  Springs. 
Richtield  issued  bonds  in  aid  of  the  road  for  $100.(K)0;  Columbia  for 
.fl-lO.OOO.  and  Winlield  for  .$75,000.  Work  w.-is  commenced  on  the  Rich- 
tield branch  near  Cassville.  in  ISCO.  and  it  was  oiieiied  for  use  in  May 
or  .Tune.  1870.  The  whole  road  was  leased  to  the  l>ackawanna  & 
Western  Railroad  Company  in  April.  1S70.  and  it  has  since  been  oper- 
ated by  that  road. 

In  1S70.  the  New  York.  Utica  &  Ogdensburg  Railroad  Company  was 
organized  to  build  a  railroad  which  with  connecting  roads  would  ex- 
tend from  New  York  to  tlie  St.  Lawrence  River.  The  ro.-id  in  tliis 
county  W.MS  tin.-illy  t>xpected  to  be  built  soutli  of  the  Moh.-iwk  River  to 
the  vill:ig(>  of  Moh.-nvk.  ;ind  thence  thi-ough  the  vill;ige  of  Herkimer, 
up  the  West  Canada  Creek  valley  and  by  means  of  connecting  routes, 
to  the  St.  Lawrence  River  at  Ogdensburg.     The  claims  and  advantages 


RAILROADS  IN   HERKIMER  COUNTY.  209 

of  this  road  were  ably  presented  to  the  citizens  of  this  county  by  Mr. 
Cunuuin.iis,  at  i)ul)lic  meetings  held  in  various  towns;  and  lience  the 
road  came  to  be  known  as  tlie  "Cunuuinj;'s  road."  Several  of  the  towns 
in  this  county  alonu  the  route  of  the  proposed  road  were  induced  to 
take  proceedings  to  issue  town  bonds  in  aid  of  the  construction  of  tlie 
road,  as  follows:  Stark,  .$r>(t,(tU();  Little  Falls,  .$200,000;  German  Flats, 
J?1()0,000:  Herkimer,  $<;o.O0O;  FairHeld,  .$.50,000;  Newport,  $!)(;,000;  Nor- 
way, .$20,000;  Kussia,  .$."!0,(I00.  The  town  of  German  Flats  issue<l  and 
delivered  to  the  railroad  company  $32,000  of  its  bonds,  dated  .January 
1st,  1S71.  which  are  still  outstanding,  drawing  7  per  cent.  Interest.  The 
company  did  some  grading  upon  the  route  of  its  road  in  the  town  of 
(Jerman  Flats  up  the  Fulmer  Creek  valley  and  also  a  sunill  amount, 
involving  an  expenditure  of  about  .$."'>0,  at  Middleville;  and  so  far  as  I 
can  learn  it  did  no  other  work  upon  its  route  and  the  enterprise  was 
abandoned.  The  other  towns  which  agreed  to  issue  bonds  in  aid  of 
the  I'oad  did  so  upon  conditions  not  complied  with,  and  hence  tlu\v  with- 
held their  bonds  and  thus  escaped  being  swindled  by  what  appears  to 
have  been  a  chimerical  if  not  in  large  measure  a  swindling  scheme. 
And  so  again  the  project  of  a  railroad  up  the  West  Canada  Creek  val- 
ley failed. 

In  1873  or  1S74,  the  I'.oston  iV  Ontario  Kailroad  Company  was  organ- 
ized by  lioston  capitalists  to  build  a  railroad  from  Boston  to  Oswego 
via  the  Iloosac  Tunnel,  crossing  the  Hudson  River  at  Johnsonville, 
passing  through  liallston.  .lohnstown,  entering  this  county  at  Enuuous- 
burg.  passing  through  Salisbury  Center,  north  of  Salisbury  Corners, 
up  Sjirnce  Creek  to  within  three  or  four  miles  of  Gray,  crossing  I'.lack 
Creek,  running  down  IMack  Ci-eek  through  Grant,  and  leaving  this 
county  at  Kottsfoi-d  r.ridge.  thence  through  Prospect  to  r.oonville  and 
on  to  Oswego.  Tlu-  route  was  surveyed  and  map  thereof  m.ade.  but 
nothing  more  was  (h)ne.  Watts  T.  Loomis  of  Little  Falls  was  engaged 
upon  the  survey. 

In  1S77,  the  I'.oston.  ILaisatonit-  Tunni>l  iV:  Western  Kailroa<I  Conj- 
l>any  was  organized  to  build  a  r.-iilioad  having  its  western  terminus  at 
Sodus  P.ay,  on  Lake  Ontario.  Its  route  was  through  this  county  in  the 
Mohawk  valley,  and  it  w:is  known  here  as  the  "Burt  road."  That  was 
also  an  enterprise  of  Boston  capitalists.  Some  work  was  done  on  the 
road  at  and  west  of  Canastota.  in  Madison  county;  and  snbse(iuently 
its  construction,  at  least  thiough  this  county  and  west  of  this  county, 
was  abandoned. 

In  1.S70.  Thomas  W.  Spencer,  an  t>ngineer  of  Uth-a.  comnu'uced  to 
agitate  the  building  of  .a  nai'row  gauge  railroad  from  the  village  of 
Ilerkinu^r  to  I'ol.-ind.  and  made  endeavors  to  interest  the  jteople  along 
the  nmte  in  the  project:  and  as  a  result  of  his  efforts,  largely  aided  by 
.Major  E.  M.  Burns  of  Mid<lleville,  .June  21),  1«80,  tlie  Herkimer.  New- 
poi't  iV-  I'oland  Nai'iow  Gauge  R.-iilroad  Coni|)any  was  organized,  with 
a   c;i])ital  stock  of  $SM.(MtO,  which  was  subsecpiently  Increased  to  $120,- 


210  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

000,  and  again  to  $250.0fX).  The  following  persons  constituted  the  first 
board  of  directors:  Thomas  W.  Spencer,  of  Utica;  William  Smith. 
John  W.  Vrooman,  and  Warner  Miller,  of  Herkimer;  S.  II.  Millington, 
W.  A.  Brayton  and  John  Hemstreet,  of  Poland;  H.  D.  Burlingame, 
II.  W.  Dexter  and  Newell  Morey,  of  Newport;  George  H.  Thomas,  W. 
VV.  Mosher  and  Edward  M.  Burns,  of  Middleville.  The  first  officers 
were:  President,  Thomas  W.  Spencer;  vice-president,  S.  R.  Millington; 
secretary  and  treasurer,  George  H.  Thomas;  assistant  engineer  and 
afterwards  chief  engineer  and  superintendent,  Albert  Wilbur,  now  of 
Herkimer.  Major  Burns  succeeded  jNIr.  Spencer  as  president  of  the 
road,  and  was  at  all  times  its  most  active  and  etticient  friend  and  pro- 
moter. The  company  issued  its  mortgage  bonds  to  the  amount  of  ^liO,- 
(K)0.  The  length  of  the  road  was  10.73  miles.  It  was  completed  to 
Middleville  in  the  fall  of  1881,  to  Newport  l>y  Januaiy  1st,  1882.  and  to 
I'oland  early  in  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  at  a  total  cost  with  its 
equipment  of  $200,178.12.  About  1891,  Dr.  W.  Seward  Webb,  by  the 
purchase  of  its  stock  at  50  cents  on  the  dollar,  became  the  owner  of  the 
road,  and  he  subsequently  converted  it  into  a  standard  gauge  road; 
and  by  liis  energy  and  abundant  resources,  he  extended  it  to  Malone 
in  Franklin  county,  where  it  has  connection  with  a  road  to  Montreal. 
By  consolidation  with  other  organizations,  January  22,  1892,  it  finally 
came  to  have  the  name  of  the  Mohawk  c^  Malone  Railway  Company, 
under  which  name  it  was  leased  to  the  New  York  Central  &  Hudson 
River  Railroad  Company,  on  the  1st  day  of  May,  1893,  which  guaran- 
teed the  payment,  principal  and  interest,  of  $2,500,000  of  four  per  cent, 
mortgage  bonds;  and  also  assumed  the  payment  upon  certain  terms 
and  conditions  of  the  interest  up  to  5  per  cent,  upon  $3,000,000  of  what 
are  denominated  income  bonds.  The  road  is  very  prosperous  and  is  a 
great  benefit  to  the  portions  of  our  county  which  has  access  to  it. 

The  New  York,  West  Shore  &  Buffalo  Railroad  Company  was  organ- 
ized in  January,  1881.  to  l)uild  a  railroad  from  New  York  to  Buffalo,  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Hudson  River  and  the  south  side  of  the  Mohawk 
River,  a  distance  of  four  hundred  and  ninety-five  miles.  In  the  same 
jnonth  it  was  consolidated  under  the  same  name  with  the  "New  York 
&  North  River  Raili'oad  Company."  a  corporation  organized  under  the 
laws  of  both  New  York  and  New  Jersey.  The  road  was  built  m.ainly  by 
Ihe  proceeds  of  bonds,  and  its  construction  was  carried  through  with 
great  vigor.  It  was  opened  for  use  through  this  county  about  October 
1st,  1883;  and  through  its  entire  length  early  in  1884.  The  company 
soon  defaulted  upon  the  interest  of  its  bonds,  and  in  actions  by  the 
trustees  for  the  bondholders,  January  9.  1884,  Horace  Russell  and  Theo- 
dore Houston  were  appointed  receivers  of  its  property.  They  managed 
the  road  until  December,  1885,  when  they  sold  it  to  J.  Pierpont  Morgan, 
Chauneey  M.  Depew  and  Ashbel  Green.  They  organized  the  West 
Shore  Railroad  Company  and  conveyed  the  road  to  it;  and  on  the  5th 
day  of  December,  1885,  it  leased  the  road  to  the  New  York  Central  & 


Railroads  in  berkimer  county.  211 

lliulson  Kiver  Kiiilro.-ul  Conipany,  subjt-'ct  to  Ji  bonded  indebtedness  of 
$r>(l,( »()(»,( MM),  which  tlie  lessi'c  company  assumed  and  j;uarantoed. 

The  Little  Falls,  L>ol.i;eville  cV:  IMseco  Lalce  Kailroad  Company  was 
organized  Februar.v  .'{nl,  ISSM,  to  binld  a  railroad  fnun  Little  Falls  to 
Piseco  Lake,  in  llamilton  county,  with  a  capital  of  .$12(t,(MM».  Judge 
Hardin,  of  Littlt>  Falls,  was  president  of  the  conipany.  Ten  per  cent, 
of  the  capital  was  paid  in  by  the  subscribers  to  the  stock,  and  .^'J.ltJd.C.G 
was  expended  for  engineering  work  upon  the  route,  and  nothing  more 
n-as  done.  In  voluntary  proceedings  for  that  purpose,  K.  S.  Wliitmau 
was  a])pointed  receiver  of  the  property  of  the  conipany;  and  he  woinid 
up  its  affaii's  and  paid  back  to  the  stockholders  74  per  cent,  of  the 
moneys  the,v  luul  paid  upon  their  subscriptions. 

In  ISSS  and  ISSU,  a  road  called  the  Fulton  Chain  Railroad  was  build 
by  G.  H.  P.  Gould,  Colonel  S.  F.  Garmon,  and  Dr.  A.  II.  Crosby,  from 
the  Moose  Kiver  tannery,  on  the  Mtmse  Kiver,  to  Minnehaha,  on  the 
south  branch  of  the  ;\Ioose  Kiver.  where  it  connected  with  steamboat 
navigation  upon  the  Fulton  Chain  of  Lakes,  conducted  by  VV'.  S.  De- 
Camp.  Tile  road  was  eight  miles  long  and  cost  about  ifl2(>,(MM>.  A  pecu- 
liarity of  the  road  was  tJiat  the  rails  were  wooden;  but  it  was  operated 
b.v  a  steam  locomotive  weigliing  eighteen  tons.  It  transjiorted  jiasseu- 
gers  and  freight,  but  was  not  operated  in  the  winter.  It  was  used 
until  the  fall  of  ISit'J.  until  the  opening  of  the  Mohawk  &  Malone  rail- 
road, when  its  operations  was  discontinued  as  no  longer  useful  or 
road,  when  its  operation  was  discontinued  as  no  longer  usefnl  or 
profitable. 

The  Little  Falls,  A'an  lloruesville  «S:  Gtsego  Lake  Narrow  Gauge 
Railroad  Compan.v  was  organized  in  ISSi),  with  a  capital  stock  of  .'f^RU),- 
(MM»,  to  build  a  raili-oad  from  Little  Falls  through  Van  Ilonit-sville  to 
Otsego  Lake,  a  distance  of  lil  miles.  In  1.S88,  subscri])(ions  to  the 
amount  of  ."fl'.'l.iMM*  wei-e  made  to  the  stock  of  the  company,  .>«l(i.(MM»  of 
which  came  from  Little  Falls.  The  time  for  the  construction  of  the 
Toad  was  extended.  The  line  of  the  road  has  ]>eeu  surveyed  and  noth- 
ing elst>  toward  its  construction  has  been  done.  The  friends  of  the 
road  at  Van  IIoi-n«>svil]e  h.-ive  not  yet  given  up  hope  that  the  road  will 
be  converted  into  a  standard  gauge  road  and  constiaicted;  I>nt  the  Lit- 
tle Falls  people  are  understooil  to  ]\;\\v  lost  all  interest  in  the  eiiter- 
jirlse.  The  present  plan  seems  to  be  to  change  the  southern  terminus 
and  make  a  connection  with  the  Cheii'y  \'alley,  Sharon  iVL-  Albany  rail- 
road near  Cherry  Valley,  and  thus  obtain  a  through  route  to  AUiany. 
The  pri'sent  directors  are  .1.  A.  I'Mkis,  .1  S.  Young.  .Moses  Sliaut,  A. 
Tilyou,  W.  K.  Thomson,  L.  Springei-.  I).  S.  Tilyou.  P..  W.  Van  Aucken 
and  Gersham  Smith,  all  of  \'an  lloruesville:  N'ictor  Adams  and  K.  V. 
Decker  of  Little  Falls:  Cola  Roof  of  Starkville,  and  D.  F.  Fcker.  of 
Deck.     D.  S.  Tilyou  is  jiresident  of  the  company. 

The  Little  Falls  »V:  !>olgevilli.  Railroad  Comi)any  was  oi'gauized  in 
ISUl.  with  a  capital  of  .fi'jr.O.tM.K),  to  build  a  railroad  from  Little  Falls 


212  HEBKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

to  Dolgevillo.  a  distance  of  about  12  miles.  Among  its  first  directors, 
thirteen  in  number,  were  Alfred  Dolge,  Edward  A.  Brown.  Titus 
Sheard,  J.  S.  Barnet  and  J.  J.  Gilbert,  of  tliis  county.  The  construction 
of  the  road  was  commenced  in  May,  181)1.  and  it  was  completed  and 
open  for  use  in  October.  1892.  Two  mortgages  were  placed  upon  the 
road  to  secure  bondholders — a  first  mortgage  of  $250,000,  and  a  second 
mortgage  of  $100,000,  upon  which  only  $75,000  of  bonds  Avere  issued. 
The  Metropolitan  Trust  Company  of  New  York  is  the  trustee  for  the 
bondholders  under  both  mortgages;  and  for  default  in  the  payment 
of  interest  on  the  bonds  under  the  second  mortgage,  it  commenced  an 
action  for  the  foreclosure  of  that  mortgage  in  May,.  1899,  and  Charles 
Sullivan  was  appointed  the  temporary  receiver  of  the  road.  The  fore- 
closure action  is  still  pending  and  the  road  has  not  been  sold  therein. 

The  Kingston  &  Utica  Railroad  Company  was  organized  May  14th. 
1892,  to  1)uild  a  railroad  from  Kingston  to  Utica,  passing  through  this 
county;  but  I  cannot  learn  what,  if  anything,  was  done  under  its  char- 
ter. 

The  Fort  Plain  &  Richfield  Springs  Railroad  Company  was  organized 
in  1894,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $000,000,  to  build  a  railroad  from  Fort 
Plain  to  Richfield  Springs,  passing  through  Viin  Tlornesville,  a  distance 
of  thirty  miles.  This  route  would  bring  Richfield  Springs  by  rail  about 
fifty  miles  near.er  to  New  York  than  it  now  is.  The  right  of  way  for 
the  road  has  been  all  obtained  and  substantially  :ill  the  grading  for 
the  road  has  been  done.  But  nothing  was  done  upon  the  road  for  sev- 
eral years  and  the  enterprise  for  the  lack  of  financial  aid  seemed  to  be 
in  a  state  of  collapse  until  within  a  few  days,  when  work  upon  the  ro;id 
has  been  resumed. 

The  Fulton  Chain  railroad,  about  two  miles  long,  was  constructed  in 
1896,  to  connect  the  Mohawk  &  Malone  railroad  with  the  Fulton  Chain 
of  Lakes.    Its  chief  promoter  was  Victor  Adams  of  Little  Falls. 

The  Raquette  Lake  Railway  Company  was  incorporated  in  February. 
1899,  with  a  capital  of  $250,000,  to  build  a  railroad  from  Clearwater 
Station,  on  tlie  Moliawk  &  Malone  railroad,  to  Raipiette  Lake,  a  dis- 
tance of  19  miles  in  Ilerldmer  and  Hamilton  counties.  Its  first  direc- 
t(.rs  \\(M'e  William  Seward  Webb,  Chauncey  M.  Depew.  Wilii:im  C. 
Whitney,  J.  IMerpont  Morgan,  Collis  P.  Huntington,  H.  P.  Whitney, 
Samuel  Callaway,  W.  West  Durant.  Robert  Bacon,  I.  B.  Gates,  Charles 
E.  Snyder,  Edward  M.  Burns  and  .Tohn  A.  Dix.  It  commenced  work 
on  the  construction  of  its  road  in  May.  1899.  and  completed  the  road 
in  June,  1900.  It  began  to  run  its  trains  regularly  June  25th,  1900.  It 
was  organized  as  a  street  railway  and  is  authorizetl  by  law  to  operate 
its  locomotives  by  steam  generated  by  the  use  of  coal  oil  as  fuel.  The 
chief  organizer  and  promoter  of  this  road  was  Cluirles  E.  Snyder,  of 
this  village.  It  is  somewhat  distinguished  for  a  small  road  by  the  great 
wealth  of  its  directors. 

There  were  several  other  steam  railroads  projected  touching  or  pass- 


llATLROADS   IN    HERKIMER   COONTY.  213 

ill?  through  this  county  upon  wliicli  uo  worlc  except  in  sonic  caf.cs  engi- 
neering was  clone.  Anions  tliein  were  tlie  folhnving:  denesec'  »S:  Hud- 
son llailroiul  Company,  organized  about  l.Sr>l'.  and  map  liled  in  tlie 
cleric's  oHic{\  .lanuary  L'dtli,  IS.").");  New  York.  Kicldield  Springs  iV: 
Cooperstown  Kaili-oad  Company,  organized  in  Decendn-r.  1.SS2.  with  a 
capital  stock  of  .fr.(M),<M»(l:  Mohawk  iV:  Susquelianna  Itailroad  Comitany, 
organized  aiiout  ISST.  to  build  a  raih'oad  from  Fort  Plain  to  Kichheld 
Springs  and  Cooperstown.  and  map  liled  in  tlie  clerk's  oliice,  Octolier 
Sth.  ISST;  Utica,  Adii'ondack  A:  Saratoga  Railroad  Company,  organized 
in  May,  ISSS,  to  build  a  railro;id  into  and  through  the  Adirondacks.  of 
whicli  Hon.  H.  J.  Cookingham,  of  Utica.  was  president;  Atlantic  it 
Ontario  Railroad  Company,  organized  in  1871,  to  build  a  railroad  from 
Hoosac  or  Pittstown  througli  Ballston  Spa  and  .lohnstown  to  some 
point  in  Salisbury,  about  70  miles,  witli  a  capital  of  .$.'3. .")()(), ()()();  The 
Boston,  Rome  &  Oswego  Railroad  (,'ompany,  organized  in  September, 
1S71,  with  a  capital  of  .$.">.( i( »(),( M h i,  to  build  a  railroad  from  Hoosac  or 
Pittstown,  through  Roni(\  to  Xienna.  r_>(»  miles;  The  Boston,  Saratoga 
A:  Western  Railroad  Company,  organized  in  ]S70.  witli  a  capital  of  .$5.- 
OOO.OOO.  to  Ituild  a  railroad  from  a  point  at  or  near  Saratoga,  or  a  junc- 
tion on  the  Adirondack  railroad  at  or  near  .Tohnsburg,  to  Sacketts  Har- 
bor or  Oswego,  with  a  right  to  construct  a  branch  to  TItica,  a  distance 
of  about  l;jO  miles;  the  Forestport  Railway  Company,  org.anized  with  a 
capital  of  .$100.00(\  May  1st,  ISdS.  to  build  a  road  with  wooden  or  otlier 
rails,  not  over  25  miles  in  length  in  Oneida,  Lewis  and  Herkimer  coun- 
ties, a  section  of  which  in  Forestport  was  built  with  woodi'ii  rails. 

There  may  have  been  other  railroads  pi-ojected  into  or  througli  this 
county  which  have  escaped  my  attention.  Several  of  the  roads  I  have 
referred  to  were  projected  liy  Boston  people  in  their  elforts  to  get  rail- 
road communication  controlled  by  them,  between  Boston  and  Lake 
Ontario  and  the  St.  Lawrance  River. 

There  were  three  street  railways  in  this  county  for  many  years  oper- 
ated by  horse  power — Herkimer  it  Mohawk.  Mohawk  iV  Ilion,  and  Ilion 
and  Frankfort.  The  Mohawk  it  Ilion  Street  Railway  Company  w.is 
organized  Ai»ril  12.  1S70,  with  a  capital  stock  of  .'fl.l.ddd,  of  which  the 
village  of  Moh.-iwk  took  if;i(),(i(iO,  and  issued  its  bonds  therefor;  the 
Herkimer  <.t  Mohawk  Street  Railroad  Company  was  organized  March 
25th,  1S71.  The  village  of  Herkimer  took  .i;i2,(Mi(»  of  the  stock  and  issued 
its  bonds  for  that  sum.  The  Frankfort  A:  Ilion  Strcu^t  Railway  Com- 
pany was  organized  M;iy  '.Hli,  1S71.  with  a  capital  of  .$20,000,  of  which 
the  village  of  Frankfort  took  .$2,000,  and  issued  its  bonds  for  th.at  sum. 
These  roads  all  passed  under  the  control  of  the  present  trolley  com- 
pany in  189!).  The  three  villages  ultimately  sold  their  stock  ;iiid  retired 
their  bonds  at  a  very  handsome  profit. 

A  few  more  facts  not  immediately  coiuiccte<l  with  my  subject.  T 
trust,  will  be  of  some  interest.  As  the  fads  I  have  alre;i(ly  given  show, 
there  were  from  ;in  e;irly  d;iy  various  projects  to  penetrate   from   tlio 


314  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Mohawk  valley  the  Aflii-ondack  forests  and  to  reach  the  River  St.  Law- 
rence and  Lake  Ontario.  It  was  at  first  intended  to  l)uild  what  has 
since  become  the  Black  River  canal  from  this  village;  and  tlie  survey 
by  State  officials  for  that  purpose  was  made  in  1825,  under  the  direction 
of  Mr.  Geddes,  who  was  one  of  the  chief  engineers  in  the  construction 
of  the  Brie  canal.  The  route  surveyed  was  from  the  Mohawk  River 
south  of  this  village,  up  the  valley  of  the  West  Canada  Creek,  through 
Middleville,  Newport  and  Russia,  crossing  the  V/est  Canada  Creek 
north  of  Trenton  Falls,  into  Oneida  county,  and  extending  to  the  St. 
Lawrence  River  at  Ogdensburgh,  a  distance  of  KiO  miles.  The  excava- 
tion for  the  canal  was  to  be  seventy  miles  in  length,  and  the 
balance  of  the  route,  ninety  miles,  was  upon  .the  Black  River, 
Indian  River,  Black  Lake  and  other  waters  to  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 
The  summit  level  was  found  to  be  at  Remsen  at  840  feet,  and  the 
descent  from  that  point  to  the  St.  Lawrence  River  at  Ogdensburg  was 
found  to  be  990  feet;  and  thus  we  learn  that  the  St.  Ijawrence  River 
at  Ogdensburg  is  150  feet  lower  than  the  Mohawk  River  south  of  this 
village.  The  Black  River  canal  on  its  present  route  was  constructed 
under  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  in  18.%. 

In  the  early  stage  of  railroad  building,  the  State  gave  its  aid  to  the 
building  of  several  railroads  by  the  loan  of  money.  I  give  the  names 
of  the  railroads  thus  aided,  with  the  dates  of  the  acts  authorizing  the 
loans  and  the  amount  of  the  loans: 

New  York  &  Erie  railroad,  April  23,  183G .$  3,000,0(X> 

Auburn  &  Syracuse  Railroad,  April  18,  1838 200,000 

Canajoharie  &  Catskill  Railroad,  April  18,  1838 200,000 

Ithaca  &  Owego  railroad,  April  18th,  1838 250,0(M:) 

Auburn  &  Rochester  railroad,  April  29,  1810 200,000 

Long  Island  railroad,  April  29,  1840 100,000 

Hudson  &  Berkshire,  April  29,  1840 150.000 

Tonawanda  railroad.  May  1,  1840 100,000 

Schenectady  &  Troy  railroad,  May  14,  1840 100.000 

Tioga  Iron  Mining  &  Mfg.  Co.,  May  14,  1840 70.0(K) 

The  money  thus  loaned  was  raised  by  the  sale  of  bonds  by  the  State 
and  the  companies  aided  were  bound  to  repay  the  money  as  the  bonds 
fell  due.  All  the  money  thus  loaned  was  repaid  to  the  State  except 
the  Erie  loan  of  $3,000,000,  which  was  cancelled  and  released  by  the 
State,  and  except  the  loan  of  the  Canajoharie  &  Catskill  Railroad  Com- 
pany, which  was  lost,  the  road  never  having  been  completed.  Tlie 
people  of  the  State  have  grown  wiser  and  now  it  has  l>ecome  the  set- 
tled policy  of  the  State  that  the  building  of  r.-iilroads  and  other  private 
enterprises  shall  be  left  to  individual  efTorts. 


1823.     GLEANINGS  FROM  A  HERKIMER 
NEWSPAPER. 

AN   ADDRESS    BV    HON.    ROBERT    EARL,    OF    HERKIMER, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Societ}',  January  12,  1901 

It  is  well,  now  and  thou,  to  tako  our  stand  at  sonio  point  of  tinio, 
and  note  the  changed  conditions  that  have  occnrred  since.  In  1823, 
there  were  no  railroads  for  the  carriajie  of  passenyi-rs  anywhere  in 
the  world.  The  Erie  canal  was  under  construction,  hut  had  not  yet 
been  completed:  and  the  most  important  event  in  my  life,  my  birth, 
had  not  occurred.  .lames  Moni-oe  was  rrcsidcnt  (vf  the  Fnited  States, 
Joseph  C.  Yates  was  j^overnor,  and  Er.-istus  Koot,  Lieutenant-governor. 
Slephea  Hallet,  whose  daujihter  married  the  late  Xerxes  Willard,  the 
distinguished  agficultural  writer,  was  sheriff  of  the  county,  and  Pat- 
rick Mahon,  son  of  .Tohn  Mahon,  of  this  village,  who  was  afterwards 
Clerk  of  Oneida  county,  Avas  ITnder  Sheriff:  Ilem'y  I'lown  was  first 
Judge  of  the  county,  and  Sanders  Lansing,  the  grandfather  of  the  late 
INIrs.  Samuel  Va\v\.  Kufus  Crane,  grandfather  of  Hon.  I).  .Tones  Crane 
of  Warren,  and  Edmund  Varney.  grandfather  of  ]\Irs.  Ilazlehurst,  of 
this  village,  and  John  Mahon.  who  was  step-fatliei-  of  Mrs.  P.enchley 
of  this  village,  and  who  lived  on  the  (orner  where  Mr.  Trenbeth's 
grocery  now  is.  were  the  associate  judgi-s  of  the  county.  Nathaniel 
S.  Benton,  of  Little  Falls,  Avas  Surrogate,  and  Jabez  Fox.  grandfather 
of  Charles  Fox,  of  this  village,  was  County  Clerk.  Nathan  Williams, 
the  grandfathei-  of  Mrs.  T.  K.  Proctor,  of  Utica,  was  Circuit  .Judge. 

I  am  led  to  this  topic  by  having  in  my  ]>ossession  two  copies  of  the 
Herkimer  American — a  newspaper  pul)lislied  in  this  village — one  dated 
May  15th,  1823,  and  the  other  dated  October  3()tli,  1823.  I  will  here 
give  some  facts  gleaned  from  the  earlier  paper:  I  Jind  in  the  New 
York  prices  current  the  following:  P»eans,  for  seven  bushels,  .$8.00; 
hogs'  bristles,  per  pound,  from  .30  to  HO  cents;  butter,  first  quality,  per 
pound,  from  12  to  la  cents:  butter  foi'  eX])oi-tatioii.  i>er  ]>ound.  Id  cents: 
cheese  for  shijiping,  per  pound,  12  cents:  New  York  sujierior  Hour,  per 
barrel,   .$7.25;    American   feathei's,   per   pound,   4."»   cents;     North    Kivei- 


Sl6  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

hams,  per  pound,  8  to  9  cents;  hog's  hird,  per  pound,  8  cents;  American 
honey,  per  pound,  9  cents;  hops,  lirst  and  second  sort,  per  pound,  12 
cents;  Indian  corn,  per  busliel,  01  to  70  cents;  oats,  per  busliel,  37 
cents;  North  River  Avlieat.  per  Imshel,  $1.37  to  $1.40;  whislcey,  per 
gallon,  from  29  to  33  cents. 

We  see  from  these  figures  that  some  articles  of  farm  produce  were 
then  worth  more  and  some  worth  less  tlian  now.  The  cost  of  trans- 
portation then  was  so' great  that  there  Avas  great  difference  between 
the  New  York  prices  and  the  prices  paid  to  the  producers  in  the  coun- 
try. Wheat  was  then  grown  throughout  the  Mohawk  valley  and  the 
towns  adjacent  thereto;  and  what  was  quoted  as  North  River  wheat 
was  doubtless  the  wheat  which  reached  New  York  over  that  river. 
'Phe  best  flour  then  and  for  many  years  thereafter  was  made  from 
wheat  grown  in  this  State.  The  produce  from  this  region  was  ti-ane- 
ported  in  boats  upon  the  Mohawk  River  or  carried  in  wagons  and 
sleighs  to  Albany,  and  from  that  place  it  was  taken  to  New  York  in 
sloops  upon  the  river.  The  cheese  sold  in  the  New  York  market  was 
pi-obably  from  this  county,  as  at  that  time  very  little  cheese  reached 
that  city  from  any  place  l)ut  from  this  county;  and  it  must  be  noticed 
that  cheese  was  exported  then  as  now.  The  manufacture  of  cheese 
was  first  introduced  into  the  northern  part  of  our  county,  and  it  had 
grown  to  considerable  proportions  in  the  year  named.  Tlie  editor  of 
the  papers  says:  "One  of  the  farmers  of  that  part  of  the  county  in- 
formed me  a  few  days  ago  that  he  should  l)e  able  to  dispose  of  about 
twelve  tons  of  cheese  this  year,  the  product  of  his  own  farms." 

Practically  the  only  currency  at  that  time  (except  silver  used  for 
small  payments)  Avas  the  bills  of  State  banks;  and  the  bills  of  country 
banks  a\  ere  nearly  all  at  a  discount  in  Ncav  Y'ork,  at  from  one-half  to 
three-quarters  of  a  cent  on  a  dollar. 

At  that  date  the  house  now  occupied  by  the  Stimsons  in  this  village 
was  a  taA^ern,  called  the  "H.  S.  Whiting  Stage  House,"  at  which  the 
stages  passing  over  the  turnpike  from  Utica  to  Schenectady,  stopped 
for  the  exchange  of  horses  and  the  refreshment  of  passengers. 

In  the  month  of  May  was  held  the  first  session  of  the  County  Court 
of  this  county,  under  the  Constitution  of  1821,  then  called  the  "New 
Constitution."  At  that  time  the  judges  of  the  County  Court  were  em- 
powered to  appoint  the  District  Attorney;  and  at  that  term,  the  judges 
appointed  Michael  Hoffman,  afterAvard  eminent  in  the  politics  of  this 
State,  District  Attorney  of  this  county,  in  the  place  of  Simeon  Ford, 
who  Avas  then  the  leader  of  the  bar  in  this  county.  Mr.  Ford  remained 
in  this  county  for  a  number  of  years  after  that  event,  and  then  moved 
to  CleA^eland,  Ohio,  where  he  practiced  his  profession  until  his  death. 

Jacob  Burrill,  Jr.,  was  then  and  for  many  years  afterAvard  a  general 
merchant  here.  He  was  the  father  of  J.  G.  Burrill,  uoav  residing  h(Te. 
His  first  Avife  was  a  daughter  of  Gaylord  Griswold,  Avho  was  the  first 
laAvyer  In  this  county,  and  who  led  a  distinguished  career  until   his 


182^       GLEANINOS   FROM    A   HERKIMER   NEWSPAPER.  21'? 

early  death  in  1S()9.  Mr.  HurriU's  second  wife  was  a  dantiliter  of  Rev. 
John  P.  Spinner.  E.  iV:  S.  Farwell  were  also  merchants  here,  having  a 
store  on  the  corner  where  Dr.  Snitor's  residence  now  is.  They  subse- 
(luently  moved  to  Utica,  and  a  son  of  one  of  them  became  a  great  mer- 
chant in  Chicago,  and  prominent  in  bnsiness  and  politics  there.  liloom- 
tield  Usher  carried  on  the  business  of  mannfacturing  and  selling  hats 
and  caps.  Messrs,  llackley  \-  Harnum  and  .Tames  liyi-rs  were  al.so 
merchants  here,  the  latter  being  the  grandfather  of  Mr.  I'l'ank  r.  Addy. 

At  that  time  passengers  were  carried  in  boats  upon  the  Mohawk 
River;  and  on  the  18th  day  of  May  it  is  recorded  that  Henry  I.ock- 
wood,  who  was  on  his  way  from  Schenectady  to  Russia,  in  this  county, 
a  passenger  on  a  boat,  was  drowned  in  the  ^fohawk  River  by  falling 
from  the  boat. 

From  the  paper  dated  October  80th,  I  glean  the  following  facts: 
William  Small  advertised  as  a  merchant,  and  apparently  succeedi'd  the 
Farwells.  He  sultseijuently  vmited  with  John,  Nicholas  and  Georgo 
Smith  in  building  what  is  now  the  Masonic  Block;  and  he  took  for 
his  share  ;:he  southerly  store,  now  occupied  by  Spicer  ^:  Weber,  and 
there  for  many  years  carried  on  a  general  mercantile  business;  and 
then  he  engaged  in  business  as  a  merchant  in  New  York  until  his 
death.    He  owned  and  lived  in  the  house  now  occupied  by  Dr.  Kay. 

Dr.  P.  Van  Buren  advertised  that  "All  calls  made  in  the  line  of  his 
profession,  embracing  physic,  surgery  and  the  dentist's  art  shall  receive 
punctual  attention."  His  otlice  was  just  north  of  the  Stimson  home. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  his  dentistry  extended  beyond  tlie  extraction 
of  teeth.  The  first  regular  dentist  residing  in  this  village  was  the  late 
Dr.  Cliatlleld. 

It  was  mentioned  editorially  that  the  yarn  for  a  pieci'  of  cloth  exhib- 
ited at  the  agricultural  fair  for  that  year  was  spun  by  two  ladies,  one 
of  whom  was  72  and  the  other  73  years  old.  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  at  that  time  men  and  women  were  older  at  those  ages  than  they 
are  now,  as  in  these  days  men  and  women  of  such  years  are  not  con- 
sidered very  old. 

As  I  have  stated  a1)0ve,  tliere  must  have  been  then  a  large  (piantity 
of  clieese  manufactured  in  this  county,  as  it  was  stated  in  a  comnni- 
nication  to  the  paper  that  "The  dairies  of  the  north  part  of  our  county 
have  long  been  celelu-ated  for  the  excellence  of  their  cheese." 

There  were  then  as  now  many  advertisements  of  patt'iit  medicines; 
and  also  of  the  drawing  of  lotteries,  which  were  absolutely  i)rohibited 
in  this  State  ten  years  later.  At  that  time  the  population  of  our  vil- 
lage could  not  have  been  much,  if  any,  over  500;  and  yet  it  was  the 
largest  as  well  as  the  oldest  village  in  the  county;  and  among  Its 
citizens  were  the  men  of  dominant  intluence  in  the  allairs  of  the 
county. 

I  have  made  these  V)rief  gleanings  in  hope  that  they  may  contain  a 
few  kernels  of  grain,  and  I  trust  they  will  be  found  of  some  little  intfr- 
est  to  the  students  of  our  local  history. 


INDUSTRIES  OF  FRANKFORT. 

AN  ADDRESS  BY  FRANK  B.  PARKHURST,  OF  FRANKFORT. 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  Februar}-  9,  1901. 

Benton,  the  local  historian,  intimates  that  in  1757,  French  and  Indians 
destroyed  a  i^rist  mill  and  a  saw  mill,  which  stood  on  the  banks  of  "a 
creek  next  east  of  the  village  of  Frankfort."  The  statement  is  not 
explicit,  but  suggests  that  the  nameless  stream  was  the  Moyer  creek, 
for  long  after  that  year  it  ran  "next  east"  of  the  village.  But  so  far 
as  our  research  extends,  and  we  have  been  quite  diligent,  the  sites 
remain  in  obscurity.  If  the  mills  stood  on  the  Moyer  Creek  and  were 
rebuilt  before  the  Indians  and  Tories  made  their  great  raid  on  the  Ger- 
man Flats,  the  structui'es  must  have  been  again  destroyed  by  the  torch 
twenty-one  years  after  17.57,  for  when  in  the  autumn  of  177S,  Brant 
and  Butler  with  their  murderous  horde,  came  down  into  the  valley 
of  the  Mohawk  to  massacre,  pillage  and  l)urn,  the  lynx-eyed  savages 
must  have  discovered  every  patriot's  building  nestling  in  the  wildwood; 
and  even  if  it  were  not  so,  the  Tories,  familiar  with  the  vicinage,  would 
have  directed  the  ruthless  band  in  theh-  havoc  and  spoliation.  The 
property  of  the  Whigs  for  miles  went  up  in  fiiv  and  smoke.  Such  was 
the  fate  of  the  log  house  that  stood  on  the  lands  of  .lacob  Folts.  less 
than  a  mile,  as  the  crow  flies,  from  the  INIoyer  Creek.  Wliatever  the 
supposition  regarding  th<^  sites  of  the  above  mills,  and  a  second  confla- 
gration, we  have  indubitable  evidence  that  a  saw  mill  was  l)uilt  by 
.Tohn  Ilollister  on  the  .Moyer  Creek  in  1704,  nearly  a  mile  from  where 
that  stream  has  its  .iunction  with  the  ]\Iohawk  River.  This  is  the  first 
industry  that  definitely  appears  in  the  region  where  now  stands  the 
village  of  Frankfort.  And  let  us  not  ignore  the  old  rude  American  saw 
mill,  for  it  has  been  the  precursor  of  all  other  industries;  it  has  opened 
a  way  for  the  husbandman  and  for  commerce;  it  has  preceded  the 
plow,  the  forge  and  the  loom,  and,  indeed,  most  of  the  appliances  to 
subdue  and  control  nature  have  played  a  second  part  to  this  simple 
harbinger  of  progress.  The  old  Yankee  contrivance  had  a  gigantic 
work  to  perform  in  clearing  the  wilderness,  and  like  most  plain  invcn- 


INDUSTRIES  OF   FRANKFORT.  2l9 

tions,  it  did  its  work  -well.  There  were  several  mills  of  like  descrip- 
tion at  an  early  period  in  the  western  and  southern  parts  of  the  town, 
which,  it  should  be  remembered,  was  not  organized  until  February, 
IT'JG.  Its  limits  extended  to  Genesee  street,  Utica,  and  possibly  beyond. 
It  was  named  after  Lawrence  Frank,  an  early  settler,  who  lived  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  John  Keese,  and  its  first  supervisor  was  James 
Kipp,  who  resided  where  Bags's  hotel  now  stands.  The  village  was 
incorporated  ^Nlay  4,  1803. 

At  the  time  John  Ilollister  erected  his  saw  mill  near  the  Moyer 
Creek,  peace  and  prosperity  had  dawned  upon  the  robust  people  who 
had  bravely  and  successfully  withstood  tlie  wrongs  of  that  terrible 
epoch  which  closed  with  the  peace  of  1783.  The  eclioes  of  civilization 
reaching  the  solitudes,  warned  the  hostile  savage  and  wild  beast  to 
retire  into  the  forest.  The  dim  Indian  trail  south  of  the  river  which 
had  been  traced  through  the  thicket,  where  now  stands  the  village  of 
['"rankfort,  was  being  transformed  into  a  bridle-path  by  the  procession 
of  adventurers  who  were  then  pushing  westward  from  New  England. 
And  tinally  the  pathway  widened  to  a  turnpike,  along  which  were  scat- 
tered a  few  buildings  among  the  timber,  and  the  clearings  on  the 
woody  slopes  and  swampy  lowlands  began  to  broaden.  We  may  read- 
ily imagine  that  at  this  time  the  trusty  flint-lock  hung  dust-covered 
over  the  rude  chimney  plt'ce,  that  the  cheery  shout  of  the  pioneer  could 
be  lieard  guiding  his  ox  team,  that  the  hum  of  the  spinning  wheel 
came  peacefully  through  the  doorway.  And  this  was  but  one  of  the 
many  exhibitions  of  the  thrift  and  contentment  of  a  people,  who, 
throughout  the  colonies  at  the  end  of  the  18th  century  began  that  won- 
derful development,  a  people  whose  sagacity,  integrity  and  hardihood 
not  only  stimulated  them  to  win  the  battles  for  civil  freedom,  but  pre- 
pared them  to  organize  the  township,  the  county,  the  state,  the  repub- 
lic. They  were  the  forerunners  of  a  mighty  race,  in  Avhose  hands  rest 
the  destiny  of  the  representative  system,  in  whom  repose  the  highest 
expectations  of  the  civilized  world. 

We  learn  that  the  poi)ulation  of  Frankfort  was  not  above  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-live  souls  in  IS'Jl,  and  while  there  is  some  conjecture 
regarding  the  Industrial  pursuits  in  the  village  and  vicinity  before 
that  year,  nevertlieless,  we  liave  been  able  to  glean  sevcr:il  interesting 
facts  relative  to  the  m;inufacturing  interest  of  the  early  inhabitants. 

Joseph  Ingliam  established  the  old  carding  mill,  situated  on  the  south 
side  of  West  Main  street,  in  ISOT;  this  was  twenty-on(>  years  before 
Eliphalet  Remington  began  his  manufactory  at  the  place  now  called 
Ilion;  it  is  said  to  have  been  the  lirst  woolen  f.-ictoi-y  erected  in  Herki- 
mer county.  This  mill  did  a  large  business  in  carding  and  making 
cloth  for  many  years.  Many  of  the  sturdy  agriculturists  of  the  vicinity 
maintained  sheep;  after  tlu?  wool  was  carded  into  rolls  it  was  often 
spun  and  made  into  cloth  by  the  busy  housewives  and  their  daughters. 
Joseph  Collis  followed  Mr.  Ingham  in  the  management  of  the  factory; 


S20  HKRKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

liJH  sons.  Curron  and  William,  were  proprietors  after  their  father,  and 
William  conducted  the  plant  alone  after  ('nrren  withdrew  and  went 
into  the  same  vocation  in  Jetferson  county.  In  18<>r>,  after  the  decease 
of  William  Collis,  Robert  Kerr  purchased  the  property  of  his  widow. 
The  old  landmark  was  consumed  by  fire  in  the  summer  of  1899. 

In  1809,  on  the  baidc  of  the  Mohawk  River,  north,  and  not  far  from 
Injiham's  mill,  was  built  by  James  H.  Rathbone  the  grist  mill  now 
known  as  the  Hoard  mill.  Tradition  informs  us  that  the  hewn  frame 
of  beech,  which  was  part  of  the  structure,  was  cut  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  that  building.  We  learn,  also  beyond  doubt,  that  prior  to 
1824  most  of  the  ground  now  included  in  the  village,  south  of  the  Erie 
canal,  was  woodland,  and  if  we  are  to  be  guided  by  the  probable  story 
of  the  old  beech  frame,  we  may  easily  surmise  that  at  that  period 
much  of  the  soil  upon  which  now  lives  a  thriving  population  was  then 
shaded  by  the  primeval  forest.  In  rank  of  proprietorship  of  the  Hoard 
grist  mill  were  James  H.  Rathbone;  Timothy  I.  Campbell,  Leonard  E. 
Downie;  Daniel  Mason,  Joel  I'ruyne  and  Augustus  King.  James  and 
Robert  rearson,H.  W.  Bridenbecker  &  Co., Samuel  and  Lafayette  Hoard 
and  Lafayette  Hoard  alone.  The  mill  was  ruined  by  fire  in  April,  189G. 
The  saw  mill  is  still  intact. 

The  enterprise  of  the  inhabitants  at  the  beginning  of  the  century 
is  evinced  by  their  cutting  a  raceway  from  the  Moyer  Creek,  Intersect- 
ing the  natural  stream  near  the  lands  now  owned  by  Charles  B.  Star- 
ing, running  across  what  is  now  the  linen  mill  grounds  to  the  Mohawk, 
for  the  accommodation  of  manufactories.  At  tin*  enlargement  of  the 
Erie  canal  in  184()-7,  the  Moyer  Creek  wns  changed  from  its  natural 
bed — it  previously  ran  across  East  Main  street  about  Avhere  Ralda's 
market  stands — and  directly  to  the  Avest  of  and  nearly  parall'M  with 
Litchfield  street,  crossing  the  lands  of  Caleb  Rudlong  and  William 
Baker  to  the  river,  just  west  of  the  Hoard  mill.  But  the  old  raceway 
was  not  changed  so  as  to  effect  those  below;  it  was  simj^ly  shortened 
and  conducted  around  the  head  of  the  locks,  through  a  diving  culvert, 
and  thence  to  the  riparian  owners.  This  raceway  was  originally  made 
on,  or  iK'fore  1807;  it  remains  in  part,  a  mark  of  the  enterprise  of  those 
who  have  gone  before.  Then*  was  a  drydock  in  18o()  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Erie  canal,  and  near  where  the  Moyer  Creek  ran,  on  the  ground 
now  occupied  by  Russell's  lumber  yard.  This  locality  was  then  outside 
of  the  village. 

While  the  village  contained  but  one  rude  tavern  in  1824 — managed 
by  one  Weaver  and  situated  near  where  now  stands  the  Register  print- 
ing otiice — the  town  could  boast  in  addition  to  the  Industries  already 
mentioned.  Bliss  i^  Mathews'  turning  and  chair  factory,  located  on  the 
n'onnd  afterwards  occupied  by  the  Gates  match  establishment;  a 
flourishing  tannery,  situated  on  the  south  side  of  West  Main  street, 
built  by  John  B.  Dygert.  He  wa  followed  by  Wm.  Steele  and  Chaun- 
cey  Devendorf,  who  were  apprentices  of  Dygert;   after  doing  a  paying 


INDUSTRIES  OF   FRANKFORT.  221 

husiiu'ss  for  alumt  livo  years,  Dovendorl'  witliilrcw  from  the  co-iiai't- 
iicrsliip  and  boyan  inaiiiifactiiriiij;  extensively  boots  and  slioes  in  a 
linildin.u-  whieli  stood  on  the  eorner  of  Mill  and  Main  sti'ects,  and  also 
on  the  second  tloor  of  his  stoi-e,  in  the  bnildinu  now  owned  by  .1.  II. 
Hoard;  it  is  presunn'd  that  the  b<»ots  and  shoes  were  made  from  leathei' 
prepared  at  the  tannery.  At  this  time  (ieoi-.ue  Ileni-y — afterwards  fam- 
ous as  the  "lUind  Preaeher,"  manufaetnrtd  slei;;h  Ijells.  dinne!-  bells 
and  cow  bells;  ho  did  not  seem  to  aspire  to  the  makint;-  of  chui-ch  bells; 
his  place  of  business  was  iu  the  rear  of  tin-  brick  residi'nce  and  wa^on 
shop  of  Wiliani  Wickens.  adjacent  to  the  ground  whereon  Joseph  .M. 
Lyon  and  \\'illiam  P..  Holmes  printed  the  Frankfort  Democrat  in  ISI'J- 
4\.  Henry  also  employed  several  young  wonn-n  making  leather  pocket- 
books. 

About  four  nnles  to  the  south  of  the  village  in  the  town  of  Fraidcfort 
Nourished  in  1S21  and  several  years  before,  the  famous  Frankfort  fur- 
nace. It  was  on  the  banks  of  the  Mover  Creek:  it  employed  about 
thirty  men;  the  smelting  was  done  by  charcoal;  ore  was  brought  over 
tlie  hills  from  ClintoTi,  Oneida  county,  by  ox  and  horse  teams,  a  great 
waste  of  energy  in  view  of  modern  facilities  for  transportation. 

Adam  I.  Campbell  erected  the  "yellow"  grist  null  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  village  iu  ISOS.  It  w;\s  afterward  owned  by  .Teremiah 
liridenbecker,  who  did  a  protitable  business  there.  It  burned  under 
his  ownership  in  Isl"*.*?.  Daniel  Mason  and  W.  R.  Stevens  purchased 
the  site  and  erected  a  building  for  manufacturing  wrapping  paper. 
Mason  bought  the  interest  of  Stevens  and  in  company  with  Henry 
.lolinson.  operated  a  grist  mill  and  distillery  there.  The  business  was 
closed  in  the  panic  of  1S,^7,  and  subsequently  came  under  the  control 
of  William  Gates,  who  managed  it  as  a  grist  mill,  also  makinu  patt  nt 
work  tables  and  ormunental  wood  fixtures.  Stephen  Birch  purchased 
the  property  of  ^Yilliam  Gates'  sons,  and  is  now  conducting  it  with  his 
son  as  a  grist  mill. 

Matthew  and  Mfchael  INIycrs  burll  in  the  e.arly  iiart  of  the  (cntury, 
an  asliery  on  the  b.ank  of  thi"  Moluiwk  river,  near  whei-e  st;ind  the 
ruins  of  the  grist  mill.  They  m;i(h>  for  many  years  large  quiintitics  of 
Itotash  from  tield  ashes  lironght  to  them  by  farmei's  who  were  clearing 
their  lands.  Near  the  same  s]»ot  an<l  about  the  s;ime  time.  Alvin 
.Maxom  conducted  a  distillery. 

Edwin  Adams,  one  Kaunas  and  others  formed  a  company  between 
IS.SO  and  IS.'}."),  for  the  ])tirpose  of  uniking  stoves,  plow  points,  etc. 
Their  foundiy  stood  but  a  few  rods  south  of  the  canal  on  the  west 
side  of  Litchtield  street.  They  did  considerable  business  .-it  one  time, 
but  in  1S.SS  the  building  w;is  abandoiu'd. 

Charles  Clow  owned  and  supervised  a  factory  for  making  hand 
rakes,  fanning  mills  and  cradles,  the  latter  for  harvesting  grain,  not 
for  rocking  those  who  were  to  become  citizens  of  the  republic.  Clow 
emjjloyed  a   luunber  of  men  and  ])ossessed  a   steam  engine,  a   rare  ad- 


222  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

juiiet  ill  those  days.  His  steam  factory  stood  on  the  spot  now  occupied 
by  J.  S.  Putnuin's  store,  opposite  the  Central  Hotel.  Next  door  west- 
ward was  the  wan'on  .^liop  of  Frederick  &  .Tereiuiah  ]\Iyers.  About 
midiii.iiht.  May  81st,  1S42,  the  people  of  the  village  were  startled  by 
the  cry  of  lire,  when  it  was  found  that  the  liaseiuent  of  Clow's  factory 
was  in  tlaines.  There  was  considerable  wind  and  nothing  but  an  old 
inferior  hand  engine  to  check  the  consuming  element.  It  was  than 
that  William  Steele,  captain  of  the  tire  cojnpany,  performed  prodigies 
that  rank  high  in  the  history  of  the  hamlet.  But  ere  the  tiames  could 
be  subdued  every  edifice  between  the  Masonic  building  and  Wickens' 
house  lay  in  blackened  ruins.  That  was  long  known  as  Frankfort's 
greatest  disaster.  William  Steele  was  born  in  1S12.  in  the  town  or 
German  Flats.  He  came  to  reside  at  Frankfort  when  twelve  years  of 
age.  and  is  said  to  be  the  oldest  resident.  He  remembers  seeing 
bateaux  navigating  the  Mohawk.  Kiver.  He  informs  us  that  the  old 
structure  owned  by  A.  W.  McGowan  in  East  Frankfort,  was  about 
1822.  a  hotel,  and  a  popular  place  for  river  boatmen  to  rest  for  the 
night. 

In  1837,  Amasa  Mann,  brother  of  Abijah  Mann,  M.  C,  made  wagons, 
circular  hay  rakes  and  wheelbarrows  in  a  l-uilding  located  on  the  old 
raceway  nortli  of  Main  street,  and  not  far  from  the  woolen  mill.  Mr. 
Mann  lived  to  an  advanced  age;  we  recall  him  as  an  intelligent  and 
agreeable  old  gentleman.  We  also  recill  that  Abi.jah  Mann  told  tlie 
writer  that  he  assisted  in  laying  out  a  corduroy  road  through  a  dense 
swamp,  from  the  village  to  the  railroad  depot.  The  station  was  at  first 
at  the  East  Schuyler  crossing,  but  after  a  short  time  it  was  located 
opposite  the  village. 

Silas  D.  Clark  had  a  saddlers  and  harness  shop  on  the  second  floor 
of  a  building  standing  wliere  the  postottice  now  stands.  His  saddles 
and  harnesses  were  known  far  and  wide  for  strength  and  finish; 
hand-made  saddles  and  harnesses  like  hand-made  shoes,  were  then  in 
vogue.  J.  S.  Putman,  an  apprentice  of  Mr.  Cl.ark,  followed  in  the  same 
pursuit. 

Warren  Clark,  a  tailor  and  brother  of  the  above,  catered  to  the  fas- 
tidious gentry  of  Frankfort  and  vicinity,  by  following  the  latest  styles 
in  cut  and  pattern,  Avhile  .Tohn  Dodge,  in  rooms  next  to  the  Masonic 
hall,  figured  as  a  rival.  In  those  halcyon  days  the  fa-shlons  and  cus- 
toms of  the  eastern  and  southern  sections  of  the  State  began  to  appear 
in  a  marked  degree  among  the  staid  denizens  of  the  upper  Mohawk 
valley;  every  public  house  then  must  needs  have  its  ballroom.  Indeed, 
the  grand  climax  of  social  enjoyment  at  that  periml  seems  to  have  been 
the  public  ball.  From  authentic  reports,  it  is  a  question  whether  we 
moderns  could  eclipse  in  dress  and  manners  those  who  tripped  "the 
light  fantastic,"  on  the  waxed  floor  to  the  sweet  strains  of  LittU'wood's 
orchestra;   those  social  gatherings  are  said  to  have  been  par  excellence. 


INDUSTRIES  OF  FBANKFORT.  223 

If  tho  taste  and  eliara<'tt>r  of  a  people  ean  be  measuri'd  liy  tlieii-  coiiduet 
in  the  midst  of  their  relaxations,  we  nnist  grant,  at  least  an  e(inal 
place,  in  the  social  scale  to  those  who  acted  on  the  stage  in  this  vicin- 
it.v  in  1835-45.  Their  diversions  seem  to  have  lu-en  .as  decoious  and 
healthful  as  the  amusements  of  this  age. 

THE  GATES   MATCH   FACTOHY. 

During  the  year  1S43,  there  canu'  to  the  village  (»f  Fraid^fort  a  pl.ain. 
unassuming  stranger,  a  man  whom  vicissitudes  li;i(l  not  embittered 
nor  discouraged,  but  rather  devt'lopt'd  the  gcxtdnrss  and  energy  within 
him.  Of  a  mechanical  turn  of  mind  he  soon  learned  the  miller's  trade. 
This  vocation  not  satisfying  him,  he  engaged  in  mercantile  business: 
failing  iu  this,  he  left  Sarato.ga  county,  X.  Y.,  and  sought  his  fortune 
in  the  West.  After  being  schooled  in  adversity  there,  lie  returned  to 
the  State  of  his  birth  and  temporarily  located  in  Fraidvfort,  but  he  soon 
moved  his  family  here  and  began  repairing  clocks  and  watches.  Dui'ing 
the  winter  of  1848-4  he  traveled  as  a  salesman  for  a  tirm  in  Westlield, 
Massachusetts.  Somewhere  in  New  England  he  received  a  hint,  which 
in  his  practical  brain  cuhninated  in  wonderful  inventions.  He  returned 
home  and  began  experimenting  in  malcing  friction  matches,  which  were 
rare  then.  His  first  essay  was  ru(h'.  Itut  by  persistent  labor  he  manu- 
factured a  few  by  hand,  which  he  attempted  to  sell  in  the  city  of 
lUica.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  people  were  skeptical  and  he  had  dif- 
ficulty in  disposing  of  liis  meager  stock.  But  he  toiled  on,  erecting  a 
small  building  near  the  Cottage  Hotel.  He  now  employed  a  man  or 
two  and  pushed  his  enterprise  with  vigor.  In  1844,  he  purchased  lan<ls 
(HI  the  Moyer  Creek,  on  the  wi'st  side  of  Litchtield  street,  about  lifty 
rods  from  the  Erie  canal.  There  began  the  profitable  match  factory 
of  William  Gates,  who  is  now  known  as  one  of  the  few  who  stood  in 
the  forefront  in  the  match  business  iu  America.  The  business  increas- 
ed rapidly;  his  matches  were  in  great  demand,  iieing  used  throughout 
the  Northern  States  from  Maine  to  Iowa,  and  in  the  Mississiiipi  valley 
down  to  New  Orleans.  His  foresight  and  genius  prompted  tlie  inven- 
tion of  machinery,  the  work  of  which  was  marvelous;  tliesn  labor- 
saving  appliances  were  patented  in  the  United  States  and  in  England 
and  the  British  I'rovinces.  Frankfort  was  now  made  famous  by  this 
ingeiuons  citizen  and  his  wondrous  industry.  In  seeking  ]ierfection 
in  his  line,  his  experiments  did  not  cease  until  near  the  end  of  his 
circer.  Space  forbids  following  in  detail  this  interesting  subject.  We 
may  a<ld,  however,  the  following  signihcant  facts:  The  establishment 
was  eight  times  enlarged,  lieginning  with  a  twelve-foot-s(iuare  building, 
and  <'nding  with  inneteen  buildings,  with  34,718  scpiare  feet  of  floor 
room.  The  machinery  was  driven  by  tlie  water  of  Moyei'  Creek,  .assist- 
ed by  a  4()-horse  powei-  engine.  The  annual  consumption  of  lumber 
in  187!)  was  1,77(),80U  feet.  Of  this.  1,12(>,8()()  was  for  matches  alone. 
Of   sulphur,   300,000   pounds,    or    180   tons,    Avore   annually   used.      For 


224  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

small  boxes,  4S,000  pounds  of  paper  per  year  were  used,  and  130  tons 
of  strawboard  was  manufactured  into  large  boxes.  At  one  time,  three 
linndred  hands  were  employed,  but  later,  because  of  additional  machin- 
ery, l)ut  one  linndred  people  were  required.  The  annual  product  in 
1ST'.)  was  oT."), ()()()  gross  of  matches,  reckoning  100  as  a  luiit.  A  n  venue 
of  one  cent  on  every  box  of  one  liundred  matches,  paid  to  the  national 
government,  aggregated  between  1804  and  1S77,  nearly  $3,000,000. 

Mr.  Gates  died  July  28th,  1877.  aged  G'J  years,  lamented  by  all.  The 
business  was  transmitted  to  his  three  sons,  William  B..  George  W.  and 
i'^rederick,  active  aiul  worthy  men.  The  linn  was  organized  on  August 
1st,  1877,  as  William  (iates'  Sons.  They  joined  their  interests  with  the 
Diamond  Match  Company  in  1881.  Soon  after,  George  W.  was  called 
to  superintend  tlie  company's  extensive  brancli  at  Oslikosli,  Wisconsin; 
Fredei'ick  folowed  as  manager  at  Frankfort,  Emory  Eaton  succeeding 
him,  and  Frederick  Eaton  was  tlie  last  superintendent  there.  Tlie 
factory  was  closed  and  the  machinery  moved  to  Oswego,  nearer  tlie 
lumber  region  of  the  North,  in  1803. 

Wliile  William  Gates  was  fortunate  iii  having  sons  in  whom  he  could 
trust,  the  brothers  were  also  fortunate  in  liaving  an  exemplary,  inde- 
fatigable and  ingenious  fatlier.  Mr.  Gates  was  a  man  of  sterling  qual- 
ities, somewhat  reserved,  bnt  outspoken  to  :\  friend  or  when  his  convic- 
tions were  assailed.  He  was  decided,  relial)le  and  just.  A  man  wlio 
stood  liigh  in  the  estimation  of  considerate  people,  he  retainc  d  the  con- 
lidence  of  the  pul)lic  to  the  last.  Self-reliant  and  attentive  to  liis  own 
interest,  he  yet  had  sympathy  for  tlie  unfortunate,  as  many  can  attest. 
He  was  too  deeply  engrossed  in  liis  own  affairs  to  know  much  about 
otlier  people's  business.  Lilve  all  men  of  lils  class,  he  reciulred  those 
connected  with  him  to  be  prompt  and  exact.  It  is  said  that  he  never 
let  a  payday  pass  in  his  long  career  lout  that  he  paid  his  employes,  and 
that  confusion  was  never  found  in  liis  shops  or  otiice.  Sucli  a  char- 
acter is  of  inestimable  value  to  a  community,  not  only  in  a  material 
sense,  but  liecause  of  liis  example.  His  factory  aided  greatly  in  the 
growth  of  Franlvfort,  and  its  removal  was  seriously  felt  in  tlie  village. 

Powder  mills  were  established  by  Samuel  Phillips  and  James  Pear- 
son in  tlie  gulch  on  the  Moyer  Creek  south  of  the  village,  sometime 
after  1845.  The  l)usiness  was  afterward  controlled  by  Peter  J.  Hotal- 
ing  and  Lambert  Hensler.  They  made  blasting  powder.  About  1854, 
the  buildings  were  I'uined  by  an  explosion.  The  vibrations,  although 
the  occurrence  was  two  miles  away,  aroused  the  sleeping  people  of  tlie 
town,  many  thiid^ing  it  was  an  earthquake.  We  distinctly  remember, 
as  a  lad,  that  in  our  bewilderment,  it  was  a  (piestion  whether  the  world 
had  not  come  to  an  end. 

Jolin  Thomas  followed  Aniasa  Mann  In  the  wagon  trade  in  1842. 
He  sold  to  Daniel  Tisdale  and  David  Morris.  Next  came  E.  M.  Tisdale 
and  Chester  Alibott.  They  did  an  extensive  business  in  making  car- 
riages, sleighs  and  fai-m  wagons. 


INDUSTRIES  OF   FRANKFORT,  826 

Engleliart  Diffenbaclier  and  John  Litze,  at  tlio  instigation  of  Wil- 
liam Gates,  came  from  Germany  about  1S52.  Dieffenhaelier  to  manu- 
facture retorts,  while  Litze  was  to  superintend  the  making  of  plios- 
phorus  for  Mr.  Gates.  But  the  experiment  proved  impracticable,  and 
DieftVnbacher  opened,  in  IS.")!,  a  pottery  on  the  west  side  of  Litchfield 
street,  north  of  the  Abr.-im  Grants  place. 

Litze,  after  returning  from  the  war  of  the  Uebellion,  purchased  chem- 
ical apparatus  and  made  annnonia  and  other  distill;itions  for  a  time 
on  Canal  street,  near  the  Litchlield  street  bridge.  There  was  also  a 
pottery  built  by  L  W.  Sheldon  on  the  north-  side  of  Orchard  street,  in 
18(>9.  William  lUuiow,  ;i  professional  German  potter,  purchased  the 
premises  and  tixtun-s  in  IHl'.i.  enlarned  the  plant  and  built  up  a  good 
trade. 

About  1850,  Elias  Palmer  was  manufacturing  grain  cradles  in  the 
rear  of  his  residence,  corner  of  Main  and  Frankfort  streets.  I'almer 
was  a  genius  in  mechanical  arts.  It  was  at  this  time  that  Alpheus 
King,  brother  of  Augustus  King,  made  furniture  moulding  in  a  build- 
ing located  near  the  Hoard  sawmill  upon  tht^  bank  of  the  r.-iceway,  and 
Henry  Loomis  operated  a  factory  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Moyer  Creek, 
a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  river,  wherein  he  made  l)edsteads,  clock 
cases,  etc.  And  it  was  also  about  this  time  that  Andrew  F.  Clark 
manufactured  boots  and  shoes  near  the  bridge  on  the  Avest  side  of 
Litchlield  street.  Delos  M.  Kenyon  followed  not  many  yeai's  after. 
Loth  Clark  and  Kenyon  did  a  lucr.ative  business.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  there  was  no  m:icliine-made  footwear  then  in  the  country. 

It  is  not  strictly  within  oui-  jirovince  to  notice  collateral  institutions 
and  occupations,  lint  we  may  here  briefly  chronicle  that  the  old  Frank- 
fort bank  began  business  the  inth  of  May.  1854,  with  a  capital  of  .$1(.K),- 
(100,  on  the  second  fiooi'  of  the  brick  building  which  formerly  stood  on 
the  corner  of  INIain  and  Litchfield  streets.  A  lianking  house  was  erect- 
ed nearly  o])posite  on  Main  street  the  same  season.  The  bojird  of 
directors  did  not  decide  to  conliniie  under  the  National  banking  system 
and  the  baidv  was  closed  soon  .after  1870.  The  present  banking  organ- 
ization ]un-chased  tlie  building  jind  began  business  November  8th,  1880, 
with  a  capital  of  !p50,()00.  It  h.as  paid  an  anrnial  dividend  of  six  per 
cent,  to  the  stockholders  since  it  began,  and  now  has  a  suri»lus  of 
.$20,000. 

In  18(i8,  .Tames  Ilortoii,  associated  with  his  son,  Wallace  N.,  manu- 
fiictured  cigars  (juite  extensively  in  a  building  which  formerly  stood 
where  Steele's  drug  store  now  is.  Wallace  N.  went  to  liittle  Falls, 
Thence  to  Albany,  and  is  now  one  of  the  leading  m.-mufacturers  in  his 
line  in  the  State. 

Henry  Marsh  l)ought  in  ISTO  the  property  once  owned  by  Ileiu'y 
Loomis.  on  the  Moyer  Creek,  nad  mainifactured  ste])-l;idders.  wheel- 
barrows, extension  ironing  bo.ards.  etc.  ^\'illianl  Steele  joined  him  as  a 
jiartner  in  1880.     The  establishment  burned  September,  1801. 

33 


826  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

WEST  SHORE  SHOPS  '   '  '  '  ' 

Soon  after  the  completion  of  the  New  York,  West  Shore  &  Buffalo 
railway,  it  was  Avhispered  that  the  corporation  might  be  induced  to 
locate  their  car  sliops  In  tlie  village  of  Frankfort,  the  ground  being 
;imple  and  admirably  situated — the  location  midway  from  the  termi- 
nals of  the  system.  Meetings  were  called  in  Frankfort  and  Ilion  to 
consider  the  project.  The  proposition  incited  the  people  to  immediate 
action;  great  enthusiasm  was  manifested.  A  committee  was  appointed 
to  interview  tlie  othcials,  wlio  encouraged  them  to  tender  tlie  necessary 
territory  to  tlie  company.  This  was  a  mile  in  length,  of  sufficient  width 
and  consisted  of  about  214  acres  of  land.  The  report  stimulated  every 
man  and  woman  to  enlist  in  the  work  of  subscriptions.  Never  did  a 
community  respond  witli  greater  liberality;  everyl)ody  contributed, 
and  many  more  than  they  could  afford.  The  sister  towns,  mindful  of 
tlie  advantages  of  sucli  an  enterprise  located  in  the  immediate  vicinity, 
nobly  aided  in  tlie  stupendous  work.  Frederick  Gates,  Albert  N.  Rus- 
sell and  David  Lewis  were  appointed  trustees  of  funds,  and  Addison 
Brill  designated  treasurer,  and  tliey  all  performed  their  onerous  task, 
by  aid  of  many  others,  in  a  creditable  manner.  A  sum  approximating 
.S77,0(X)  was  pledged,  arrangements  made  with  the  landowners,  and  the 
committee  reported  to  the  company — ten<hM'ing  the  land.  An  agree- 
ment was  signed  by  the  parties,  March  31st,  1883,  whereby  the  entire 
shops  of  tlie  road  were  to  be  permanently  located  in  Frankfort.  Bands 
discoursed  enlivening  music,  flags  were  thrown  to  the  breeze,  whistles 
sounded,  and  cannon  proclaimed  tlie  success  tliat  had  crowned  the 
efforts  of  the  people.  And  well  might  they  rejoice,  with  the  surety  of 
such  a  plant  locating  within  their  midst.  Tliey  had  reason  to  think 
that,  if  sucli  a  vast  industry  would  bring  burdens,  the  addition  of  a 
l)usy  population,  together  with  the  hui^reds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
of  invested  capital,  would  more  tlian  recompense  in  increased  valua- 
tion. They  were  told  that  within  two  years  from  fifteen  hundred  to 
two  thousand  artisans  would  be  employed  in  tlie  works. 

An  exliaustive  paper  on  the  industries  of  Frankfort  would  include  a 
detailed  description  of  the  dimensions  and  capacity  of  each  of  the  cat 
shops,  but  that  is  impossible  here.  The  immense  shops,  built  from  the 
most  improved  plans,  were  erected  during  the  summer  and  autumn  of 
1883.  There  are  eleven  buildings  in  all.  Tlie  cost  of  the  entire  num- 
ber we  have  not  at  hand.  The  contract  prices  for  the  first  erected 
were  as  follows:  Round  house.  .F>2.(»00;  blacksmith  shop,  $23,500; 
planing  mill,  $3.5.000;  offices,  $22,500;  store  house.  $12,000;  boiler  shop, 
foundry  and  erecting  room.  $177,000.  It  is  said  that  there  were  about 
seven  million  bricks  used  in  the  buildings  above  mentioned,  and  seven 
thousand  cubic  yards  of  stone.  We  may  judge  something  of  the  capac- 
ity of  the  plant  by  referring  more  specifically  to  the  main  erecting 
shop;  our  figures  are  taken  from  a  report  of  the  bids  and  specifications 


IKDCSTRIES  OF  FRANKFORT.  227 

at  the  time  of  erection.  The  above  named  shop  is  323  by  115  feet  on 
the  ground.  The  main  part  is  44  feet  high  and  the  sides,  which  are  in 
the  shape  of  wings,  2(>  feet  higli.  It  is  of  brick,  witli  an  iron  roof,  and 
lighted  liy  windows  a  story  in  lieiglit;  they,  as  well  as  the  windows  of 
most  of  the  other  buildings,  are  in  groups  of  three,  with  a  brick  arcli 
spanning  each  group.  Tlie  groups  are  12  feet  wide  and  15  feet  liigh. 
They  are  placed  (piite  near  together,  and  thus  make  this  and  tlie  other 
buildings  among  the  best  lighted  workshops  in  tlie  country.  A  main 
track  ran  through  the  center  of  the  building;  eacli  side  of  this  were 
side  tracks  wliich  ran  parallel  to  tlie  main  track  and  stopped  Just 
inside  the  walls.  On  the  top  of  massive  wrought  iron  columns  were 
laid  iron  girders,  carrying  a  continuous  track  on  which  ran  a  traveling 
crane  with  a  lifting  capacity  of  35  tons.  This  very  easily  lifted  an 
engine  from  the  main  tracks.  Between  these  trjicks  were  two  pits, 
eight  feet  deep.  They  were  covered  by  a  sectional  floor  and  entered 
by  st.'iirways  at  the  ends.  When  a  disabled  engine  was  brought  into 
the  shop  it  was  first  lifted  over  on  one  of  the  side  tracks,  then  it  could 
be  taken  apart  and  such  portions  as  needed  repairs  sent  to  their 
respective  departments.  There  was  also  another  track  on  the  north 
side  of  the  l)uilding  provided  with  a  walking  crane.  t)n  the  south  side 
there  was  a  narrow  gauge  track  for  moving  tools  and  machinery.  It  is 
said  that  this  building  could  accommodate  four  hundred  workmen. 
All  the  other  shops  were  equally  well  arranged  and  eciuipped  to  do 
their  work.  Many  of  the  fixtures  were  removed  to  accommodate  recent 
industries. 

Scarcely  had  v.-ork  commenced  within  the  sliops  when  there  were 
vague  rumors  in  the  air,  but  they  were  considered  idle  vapor- 
ings,  and  all  moved  onward,  absorbed  in  their  toil  and  build- 
ing homes.  In  18S5.  it  w.is  learned  that  the  effects  of  the  com- 
pany had  gone  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  and  the  people  were  still 
more  amazed  when  they  learned  that  the  competitor  of  the  road — the 
New  York  Centrnl  .ind  Hudson  Uiver  Kailroad  t'ompany — had  leased 
for  a  long  term  the  entire  West  Shore  system.  A  committee  was  im- 
mediately dispatched  to  New  York;  they  reported  on  their  return  that 
the  shops  would  continue  running  as  under  the  former  regime;  this 
api)«'ased  for  a  time,  but  a  doubt  was  created  that  was  never  entirely 
dissipated.  There  were  many  who  considered  the  condition  ominous; 
after  operating  thirteen  years,  not  many  over  seven  Inindred  workmen 
were  employed,  instead  of  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand,  promised 
within  the  first  two  years.  Hut  all  were  thankful  fen-  what  they  liad 
under  the  circumstances,  for  they  had  now  assmned  public  burdens, 
such  as  bonded  indebtedness  of  )t;i(;.<l(M»  for  a  new  sehoolhouse  and 
about  $00,000  for  a  water  system,  to  say  nothing  of  individual  obliga- 
tions for  homes  and  ventures  in  trade.  During  the  hitter  part  of  the 
winter  of  1S!)7,   a   large  number  of  men   were     (liscli;irged.   and      when 


228  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

upon  investigation  it  was  learned  that  all  the  shops  were  to  close,  ex- 
cepting the  foundry,  and  the  machinery  transferred  to  Depew,  the  peo- 
ple stood  aghast;  a  vast  shadow  settled  upon  the  devoted  citizens  of 
Frankfort  when  they  knew  that  the  car  shops,  their  mainstay,  were 
to  be  taken  from  them,  that  the  monthly  payment  of  over  ^3(t,000,  the 
support  of  the  town,  was  to  be  cut  off;  then  it  was,  figuratively  speak- 
ing, that  the  door  was  not  only  closed  in  our  faces,  but  our  hands  were 
caught  in  the  jamb.  But  even  this  reverse  did  not  force  the  people  into 
permanent  dejection;  they  arose  as  one  determined  man  in  the  advo- 
cacy of  justice,  and  never  was  self-control  more  highly  evinced  under 
like  circumstances,  and,  in  justice  to  the  company,  we  must  add  they 
took  a  more  equitable  course  than  many  predicted.  A  compromise  was 
effected  whereby  the  indebtedness  for  the  school  house,  and  about  one- 
. third  of  that  of  the  water  works  was  assumed,  while  a  lease  of  the 
shops  and  grounds  was  given  for  99  years,  with  the  right  of  obtaining 
manufacturing  plants,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  company.  To  be 
sure,  this  was  not  what  the  good  people  of  Frankfort  and  their  friends 
bargained  for  with  the  original  company  in  1883,  but  is  was  seemingly 
the  best  course.  An  appeal  to  a  court  of  equity  would  have  involved 
delay,  doubt  and  expense.  When  we  revert  to  that  time  with  its  dis- 
appointments and  humiliations,  we  feel  that  the  incidents,  like  all 
serious  things  of  this  world,  left  valuable  impressions.  We  have  gath- 
ered wisdom  from  that  peculiar  experience,  our  failures  have  broad- 
ened our  understanding  and  increased  our  hopes,  the  stern  lessons  have 
brought  this  recompense;  we  have  learned  that  variety  is  strength,  that 
to  rely  upon  a  single  plant  for  support  is  hazardous.  The  clouds  are 
lifting,  once  more  the  bright  sky  appears  in  the  zenith;  we  are  no  lon- 
ger in  "the  mysterious  presence  of  a  brooding  past." 

A.  M.  Lints,  H.  H.  Ingham,  J.  J.  Dudleston,  G.  I.  Seaman,  S.  S.  Rich- 
ards, (i.  H.  Watson  and  G.  N.  Lehr  were  constituted  trustees 
to  close  with  the  railroad  company;  after  considerable  nego- 
tiations the  shops  have  been  occupied  by  manufacturers.  It  is 
expected  tliat  the  ground,  so  well  adapted  for  new  bui'dings. 
will  ere  long  contain  other  plants  requiring  skilled  labor  that  will 
greatly  increase  the  material  strength  of  the  town  and  all  concerned. 
Never  was  there  a  better  situation  for  manufacturing  plants,  broad, 
healthful,  plenty  of  pure  water,  good  drainage  and  convenient  to  a 
great  trunk  railway.  Frankfort  has  been  blessed  in  this  regard  and 
by  wise  action  may  contidently  bide  her  time. 

The  industries  now  occupying  the  car  shops  are  as  follows:  Main 
erecting  shop.  Continental  Tool  Company;  blacksmith  shop,  Fratt's 
Chuck  Company;  store  house,  Utica  Steam  Gauge  Company;  boiler 
house.  Michigan  Condensed  Milk  Company;  planing  mill.  Acme  Road 
Machinery  Company;  foundry,  N.  Y.  C.  &  H.  R.  R.  Co.  There  has 
been  some  negotiation  with  reference  to  releasing  the  large  main  office 


INDUSTRIES  OP  PKA.NKFORT.  229 

building:  to  the  railroad  company,  which  they  would  use  in  connection 
with  the  foundry.  There  are  at  this  writinjr  about  ooO  individuals 
employed  in  the  buildings. 

Another  illustration  of  tlie  energy  and  liberality  of  the  people  of 
Frankfort  in  the  recent  past,  was  their  action  in  attempting  to  secure 
a  valuable  plant  which  they  were  told  was  to  be  removed  from  the 
city  of  Utica.  Conferences  were  held,  the  requisite  amount — .^f'J.S.OUO— 
was  pledged  in  a  very  short  time,  as  well  as  the  additional  cost  of  a 
plat  of  ground,  for  the  above.  But  the  plant  was  not  removed  from 
Utica.  And  so  the  people,  according  to  the  old  adage,  "had  their  labor 
for  their  pains." 

Charles  E.  Myres,  the  aeronaut,  purchased,  in  18.S9,  the  so-called 
"Gates  Mansion,"  and  fitted  the  same  for  manufacturing  balloons  and 
other  aerial  apparatus.  The  establishment  contains  a  chemical  labor- 
atory, a  machine  shop,  carpenter  shop,  and  other  necessary  adjuncts. 
He  was  for  a  time  connected  with  the  government  in  rain-fall  experi- 
ments; seventy-four  hydrogen  balloons  of  various  sizes  for  meteorolog- 
ical observations  and  for  explosions  were  supplied  during  the  season 
of  1891-2,  a  single  order  of  ten  having  in  an  emergency  been  completed 
within  five  days.  The  professor  is  an  enthusiast  in  his  business.  He 
has  devoted  much  time  to  experimenting  with  air  ships  and  flying 
machines,  and  has  invented  a  vessel  called  a  "skycycle."  He  has  been 
a  voluminous  writer  for  the  press  along  these  lines. 

During  the  winter  of  1893-4,  one  W.  A.  Ingram,  a  linen  manufacturer, 
had  several  interviews  with  the  citizens  relative  to  establishing  a  linen 
plant  at  Frankfort.  After  deliberation  it  was  decided  to  form  a  joint 
stock  company  of  !j;50.(KM»  capital.  About  Jj^-IT.OOO  stock  was  taken;  the 
company  organized  and  purchased  the  valualile  site  owned  by  the 
Diamond  Match  Company,  the  main  building  put  in  proper  shape,  and 
lirst-class  machinery  (costing  over  ^20,000)  placed  in  the  same.  This 
was  made  in  Glasgow,  Scotland,  the  firm  sending  over  an  agent  to 
superintend  setting  it  up.  The  plant  was  put  in  operation  in  the 
autumn  of  1S91.  The  industry  employed  about  one  hundred  people, 
mostly  Avomen.  Crashes  were  produced  which,  when  placed  in  the 
market,  gave  satisfaction,  but  it  found  there  was  a  strong  competition 
from  foreign-made  fabrics.  The  mill  is  capable  of  turning  out  1,000,000 
yards  of  cx'ash  toweling  per  year.  Henry  Churdiill  purcliased  a  con- 
trolling interest  in  December,  1898.  The  business  never  paid  a  divi- 
dend, and  thus  the  stockholders  "reckoned  without  their  liost."  The 
mill  was  closed  last  autumn,  and  Mr.  Churchill  was  appointed  receiver 
in  December  last.    It  is  hoped  the  embarrassment  is  but  temporary. 

In  gazing  backward  to  Hollister's  rude  industry  on  the  banks  of  the 
forest  stream,  we  ol)serve  objects  along  tlie  avenue  of  time,  simple 
though  many  of  them  are,  that  are  worthy  of  thought.  It  is  by  delib- 
erating upon  local  characteristics  that  we  gain  historical  interest  and 
knowledge.    In  short,  to  ignore  tliese  is  to  debar  ourselves  from  appre- 


230  HERKIMER  OOONTV  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

oiating"  gnind  results.  Tho  advancoineut  for  ono  hundred  nod  six 
years,  in  the  section  to  Avhich  Ave  refer,  is  but  a  single  example  of  the 
progress  aehieved  by  struggling  humanity  in  every  borough  upon  this 
broad  land.  Bancroft  in  his  broad  and  philosophical  treatment  was 
ever  mindful  of  local  traits  and  conditions,  and  it  was  acquaintance 
with  these  individual  examples  that  enabled  Van  Hoist.  McMaster,  and 
Fislce,  to  delineate  so  vividly  our  national  growth,  a  growtli  which  is 
replete  with  lessons  of  honor,  patriotism  and  industry. 

We  are  rapidly  approaching  not  only  intellectual  but  material  and 
industrial  supremacy.  It  is  true  the  inventive  spirit  of  this  phenon- 
enal  age  has  brought  forth  economic  pioblems  whicli  will  require 
X)atient  deliberations  and  wise  statesmanship  to  solve.  But,  cognizant 
of  the  necessity  of  wholesome  strains  and  immunities,  rational  and 
patriotic  citizens,  of  whatever  class  or  calling,  will  seek  adjustment 
in  right  reason  and  just  laws — each  and  all  will,  in  this  enlightened 
time,  duly  respect  the  true  nature  of  oiir  republican  institutions;  Indi- 
vidual expansion  of  mind  and  heart  in  consonance  with  the  needs  of 
the  hour,  will  continue  to  uplift  American  citizenship. 


OUR  COMMON  FREE  SCHOOLS. 

FIRST   PRIZE   ESSAY   IN   THE   ALBERT    N.    RUSSELL   CONTEST,    WRITTEN    BV 
ESTELLE   ADELAIDE  LEACH,    OF    ILION. 

Read  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Societ}',  March  9,  1901. 

Chapter  1. — The  evolution  of  the  idea  of  free  schools  for  all  children 
traced  from  the  earliest  colonial  times. 

Chapter  2. — State  sui)ervision  and  support. 

Chapter  3. — jNIeans  of  itrofessional  tralninj;-  of  teachers. 

Chapter  4. — The  elements  leading-  educators  have  contributed  to  the 
system. 

Chapter  5. — The  influence  of  a  properly  dOvelopod  school  system  upon 
the  larger  life  of  the  state  and  nation, 

CHAPTER  I,  •  f    ■   .      : 

In  reviewinfi'  the  history  of  Sparta,  one  is  impressed  with  the  fact 
that  she  based  her  safety  and  prosperity  on  tlie  education  of  every 
child  in  the  community,  and  in  Atliens  theri^  were  pulilic  scliool'-.  for  her 
free  citizens.  But  not  until  more  recent  times  and  not  until  tlie  birth 
of  the  American  free  States  do  we  see  the  principle  carried  out  to  its 
fulU'st  extent- -the  principle  involving  the  free  t'ducntion  of  all  child- 
ren of  all  classes  in  the  connnon  school-s. 

In  setting  up  a  new  government  in  a  new  country,  amid  new  envi- 
ronments, our  fathei's  set  aflame  that  sense  of  freedom  which  had  lain 
dormant  so  long  during  the  contest  with  P]uropean  oppression  and 
which  has  been  woven  into  the  very  fabric  of  the  public  schools  of  our 
older  States.  We  see  the  fundamental  ideas  which  had  become  com- 
mon in  the  Old  World  transi)lanted  to  New  England  and  the  common 
run  of  English  thought  on  educational  matters  coniI)in(Ml  with  the  prej- 
udices of  our  Puritan  fathers  against  all  who  wt  re  not  of  their  relig- 
ious faith  made  the  startiiig  of  elementary  schools  common  to  all  a 
little  slow. 

If.  as  has  been  said,  two  hea<ls  are  better  than  one  in  determining  a 
wise  course  of  action,  so  two  nationalities  workiiig  together  are  better 


232  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

than  one  in  deciding  the  trend  of  educational  life.  The  educational 
career  of  New  York  State  shows  not  only  the  influence  of  the  Dutch, 
I>ut  also  of  the  English.  The  Dutch  exerted  a  stronger  and  more  dem- 
ocratic influence,  possessed  a  deeper  love  of  religious  freedom,  quicker 
appreciation  of  the  riglits  of  the  individual  and,  therefore,  a  readier 
grasp  upon  the  doctrine  of  universal  popular  education.  This  gave  rise 
to  the  first  elementary-  school  in  America  supported  at  common  ex- 
pense, managed  by  common  authority,  and  free  to  all. 

A  sturdy  independence,  frankness,  love  of  liberty,  and  earnestness 
characterized  the  Dutch  colonists  of  New  York,  who  brought  from 
Holland  ideas,  customs,  and  institutions,  among  which  the  church  and 
the  school  were  of  paramount  importance.  With  -them  intellectual 
food  ranked  equally  with  material  food,  while  education  and  liberty 
were  synonymous. 

The  first  oflicial  act  relating  to  public  schools  in  this  State  was  in 
the  charter  of  1029,  in  which  we  read  that  the  patrons  and  colonists 
should  "in  the  speediest  manner  endeavor  to  find  out  ways  and  means" 
whereby  they  might  supply  a  minister  and  a  schoolmaster.  Constant 
concern  was  manifested  among  the  Hollanders  of  the  fatherland  as  to 
the  proper  education  of  their  alienated  children. 

One  of  the  articles  drawn  up  in  respect  to  the  West  India  Company 
states  that  each  householder  must  be  taxed  for  the  proper  maintenance 
of  the  school  and  master  and,  although  in  1040  the  company  was  in- 
structed to  furnish  suitable  schoolmasters,  they  paid  little  heed  to  it. 
In  1052,  the  directors  established  a  school  in  the  city  tavern  in  New 
Amsterdam. 

The  West  India  Company  was  present  in  the  colony  for  purely  com- 
mercial objects,  caring  little  or  nothing  for  education.  This,  of  course, 
was  in  direct  opposition  to  the  ideas  of  the  Dutch,  who  first  planted  the 
seeds  of  our  present  system. 

Under  the  Dutch  i-ule,  the  idea  of  State  support  was  prominent,  the 
schools  being  maintained  out  of  a  common  treasury,  and  up  to  the 
time  of  the  English  occupation  the  fundamental  idea  was  free  school. 
There  were,  at  the  time  of  the  surrender  to  the  English,  schools  in 
most  every  town  and  city  in  the  colony,  a  fact  due  to  the  persistency 
of  the  colonists. 

There  were  obvious  reasons  why  a  decay  in  popular  education  began 
after  the  English  took  possession  of  the  colony.  It  was  at  the  time  ot 
the  Stuart  reign  in  England,  and  under  this  regime,  as  we  know,  the 
ignorance  of  the  masses  was  encouraged.  Besides  this,  the  settlements 
were  all  Dutch,  with  the  prevailing  religion  tliat  of  the  Church  of 
Holland  and,  as  liberty  of  worship  was  granted  the  colonists,  the 
school  continued  to  hold  the  same  relation  to  the  church  as  formerly. 
Notwithstanding  this,  the  very  next  year  after  the  capitulatiou  Gover- 
nor Nicolls  licensed  John  Shute  to  open  an  English  school  in  Albany. 
Warfare  and  sectarian  feeling  served  to  hasten  the  decay  of  the  com- 


OUR  COMMON   FREE  SCHOOLS.  233 

iiH)ii  schools  at  this  tiiiu'  as  well  as  the  aristociatif  cU'iuciit  so  prom- 
inent anion};  tho  English. 

Of  all  the  Eiifilish  K<»veinoi's.  Lord  ('oini)iiiy  was  thi'  most  zealous 
and  aj^yressive  in  behalf  of  the  English  oliurch  and  school;  he  assumed 
much  authority  arid  boldly  exercised  it,  while  on  the  other  hand.  Andros 
and  Fletcher  endea voted  to  accomplish  throujili  jx-rsuasion.  Under 
Coridiury,  the  first  leftislative  act  (1T02|  relating  to  public  schools  was 
put  in  force.  This  act  encouraged  a  grammar  free  school  in  New  York 
city.  It  instituted  the  school  for  only  seven  years,  but  it  did  not  last 
even  as  long  as  that  on  aceount  of  the  hostility  of  the  wealthy  class. 
For  the  few  succeeding  years  no  legal  provision  for  schools  seems  to 
have  been  made. 

In  1704,  the  society  for  tlie  projiagation  of  the  gospel  estalilished  a 
scliool  at  Kye  and  in  1710,  one  called  Trinity  School  of  New  York. 
The  number  of  schools  established  by  this  society  show  what  beneficial 
work  it  accom])lished.  having  founded  at  the  close  of  the  coloni.a!  period 
twt'uty-one  schools  in  seven  counties. 

An  act  of  17o2  encouraged  the  free  public  scliool  in  New  York  City 
for  instruction  in  Latin,  (J reek  and  Mathematics,  which  proved  to  be 
the  nucleus  of  Columbia  College  of  later  years.  The  institution  of  this 
seems  to  be  the  one  bright  spot  in  the  English  rule.  From  this  date 
to  the  close  of  the  Kevolutionary  war,  little  was  done  in  regard  to 
public  education.  However,  in  177.'^,  one  more  public  school  appears, 
but  oidy  for  a  short  time,  passing  out  of  existence  as  the  one  of  1702. 

Before  continuing  the  story  of  the  common  schools  after  the  Revolu- 
tion, let  us  consider  for  a  time  a  simple  portrayal  of  the  schools  of  which 
Ave  have  just  been  studying. 

Banish  from  your  minds  any  modern  conception  of  our  presont  ideas 
on  education  and  picture  to  yourself  a  little  unattractive  log  structure, 
covered  with  bark  and  situated  in  the  most  undesirable  spot  in  either 
the  country  or  the  city,  a  low,  swampy  place,  if  you  choose,  or  the 
dullest,  dirtiest  and  most  dreadful  part  of  the  city.  Bare  walls,  seats 
which  made  even  the  thought  of  standing  a  delight,  ui)on  which  were 
seated  children  of  all  desc!-i])tions  facing  the  w.-ills,  for  the  (h'sks  were 
planks  projecting  therefrom.  The  pupils  are  engaged  in  studying,  that 
is,  one  eye  is  on  their  spelling,  reading  or  number. book,  while  the  other 
eye  is  fastened  upon  the  rod  held  in  readiness  by  the  master,  who,  in 
connection  with  the  fireplace,  endeavors  to  keep  the  children  sufticii'Ut- 
ly  W'arm.  Compare  these  conditions  with  those  of  the  i>resent  day  and 
can  we  help  inci-casiu};  our  iidmiralion  for  the  brilliant  men  whose  boy- 
hood received  its  first  instruction  in  such  a  place? 

As  might  be  expected,  after  the  Revolution  there  was  a  long  lapse 
of  time  in  which  little  was  done  toward  educational  matters.  Con- 
fusion, i)overty,  discouragement  and  ai>a11iy  ruled  the  people  and  much 
praise  is  due  our  early  governors  for  fanning  the  little  sjjark  of  po|)ular 
education  into  a  mighty  blaze. 


284  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Governor  (Hintoii,  the  first  governor  of  New  York,  saw  the  necessity 
of  immediate  action  on  the  part  of  the  legislature  toward  the  education 
of  the  children,  and  through  his  persistent  efforts  the  foundation  of  our 
present  system  was  laid. 

In  17S4,  one  long  step  was  taken  in  establishing  the  regents  of  the 
university  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  in  17X9,  when  the  legislature 
set  aside  in  each  township  public  lands  for  gospel  and  school  pnri)oses. 
The  regents  were  established  for  higher  education,  but  they  soon  saw 
that  that  was  impossible  without  elementary  education,  and  accord- 
ingly set  about  agitating  the  question  of  common  schools. 

The  result  of  all  of  Governor  Clinton's  repeated  entreaties  was  reach- 
ed when  in  1795  the  Legislature  offered  the  annual  appropriation  of 
$r)0,(K>0  for  five  years.  Commissioners  and  trustees  were  chosen  and 
provision  was  m.'ide  for  the  establishment  of  schools  throughout  the 
State.  Wlien  the  term  of  five  years  was  completed  the  Legislature 
seemed  indifferent  toward  its  renewal,  but  under  the  governorship  of 
Morgan  Lewis,  the  Legislature  appropriated  the  net  proceeds  from  the 
.sale  of  500,000  acres  of  State  lands  for  school  support.  This  formed 
the  coi-ner-stone  of  the  present  common  school  fund,  which  will  be 
mentioned  in  the  succeeding  chapter. 

There  came  into  existence  in  1805,  a  society  which  accomplished  much 
in  the  way  of  stimulating  public  opinion  in  the  matter  of  popular  edu- 
cation, the  society  for  the  establishment  of  a  free  school  in  New  York 
city. 

In  1811,  under  the  leadership  of  Governor  Tompkins,  a  decided  ad- 
vance was  made  by  a  report  describing  a  plan  of  a  good  common  school 
system.  It  recommended  State  supervision  and  contained  the  essential 
points  of  our  present  system.  In  the  same  year  the  legislature  passed 
an  act  providing  a  permanent  fund  for  the  sui)port  of  common  schools, 
and  lias  been  enlarged  by  subsetpient  appropriations.  In  1811,  meas- 
ures were  taken  to  provide  for  the  distribution  of  the  interest  from  this 
fund  and  in  the  following  year,  1812,  the  present  system  was  estab- 
lished under  the  direction  of  a  superintendent  of  common  schools.  But 
it  was  d^i'iiig  the  administration  of  Nathaniel  Benton,  of  Herkimer, 
about  1847,  that  the  idea  of  free  schools  was  established  on  a  firm 
foundation,  when  this  principle  was  adopted:  "Universal  education 
in  public  .schools,  free  to  all." 

There  are  two  systems  of  education,  the  higher  and  common  school, 
the  connecting  link  of  wliich  is  the  union  free  school.  The  matter  was 
made  possible  under  the  law  of  1853,  which  authorized  school  districts 
to  combine  into  union  free  school  districts  and  to  establish  a  graded 
school,  with  an  elective  board  of  trustees. 

CHAPTER    II. 

In  colonial  days  the  schools  were  usually  supervised  by  the  church 
authority,  who  often  had  the  assistance  of  some  civic  officers.     It  Avas 


OUR   COMMON   FREE  SCHOOLS.  236 

not  until  stati'liood  tliat  Now  York  in!iu^:\n'iit»'(l  a  rcunlar  systoni  of 
supervision. 

The  earliest  record  ol'  supeivisieii  is  Cdund  in  tlu-  law  ot  MV't,  wliich 
stated  that  eaeh  town  should  elect  three  or  more  connnissioners  having 
general  charge  of  the  school.  The  inhabitants  of  the  district  were 
authorized  to  elect  trustees,  employ  teachers  and  i)rovide  for  the 
school.  By  an  act  of  1812,  three  commissioners  of  common  schools 
were  to  be  elected  by  each  town.  Besides  these  officers,  it  further  au- 
thorized the  town  to  elect  from  one  to  si.v  inspectors,  who,  together 
with  the  commissioners,  had  charge  of  the  school  and  examination  of 
teachers.  The  oilice  of  state  superintendent  of  common  schools  w.as 
created  by  this  law,  which  office  only  lasted  until  1821,  when  the  sec- 
retai-y  of  state,  ex -officio,  was  made  superintendent  of  common  scliools. 

The  year  1841  gave  birth  to  the  office  of  deputy  superintendent  and 
county  superintendent,  with  limited  powers.  In  1843,  the  office  of  town 
superintendent  was  substituted  for  those  of  town  commissioners  and 
inspectors.  In  1847,  the  office  of  county  superintendent  was  aboiished 
and  the  state  superintendent  from  tliat  time  on  must  hear  all  appeals. 

The  culmination  was  reached  in  1854,  when  the  department  of  public 
instruction  was  established,  at  the  head  of  wliich  the  Senate  and  As- 
sembly elect  a  superintendent  of  public  instruction.  In  18r)<;,  tlie  sys- 
tem of  supervision  was  fully  perfected,  when  school  commissioner's 
office  was  created  instead  of  town  superintendent. 

Altliough  tliese  officers  have  a  certain  amount  of  control,  the  system 
is  so  arranged  that  the  state  snperintendent  of  pul)lic  instruction  has 
almost  autocratic  power,  both  in  his  executive  and  judicial  duties.  It 
is  a  perfect  system,  comprising  the  superintendent,  supervisor  of  the 
town,  school  commissioners  and  school  trustees,  all  endowed  with  cer- 
tain powers,  but  all  looking  to  the  superintendent  for  final  decisions. 

The  history  of  the  origin  of  oin-  present  system  of  school  support  is  a 
most  interesting  one  and  worthy  of  some  attention. 

The  first  effort  on  the  part  of  the  State  to  establish  a  common  scliool 
fund  was  in  17!)9,  the  result  of  the  eft'orts  of  .Tedediah  Peck,  of  Otsego, 
and  Adam  Comstock,  of  Saratoga.  In  ITiU)  and  18(»0,  the  .'flOO.OW  ap- 
propriation was  never  distributed.  Further  means  for  school  support 
was  provided  at  this  later  date  by  lotteries,  and  the  law  of  1812  appro- 
priated ij^SO.OOO  annually  to  be  distributed  among  the  counties  of  the 
State,  provided  tlie  towns  should  laise  a  sum  e(pial  to  their  portion. 

The  amended  act  of  1814  authorized  the  trustees  to  maki-  good  any 
deficiency  in  the  payment  of  teachei's'  wages  by  the  use  of  the  rate 
bill  system,  which  levied  a  tax  on  the  parents  of  the  children  attending 
school.     This  naturally  encouraged  absence  and  truancy. 

There  are  at  itresent  three  sources  of  State  school  moneys,  the  United 
States  deposit  fund,  the  common  school  fund  and  the  free  school  fund. 
The  Hrst  originated  from  th(>  surplus  money  in  the  United  States  treas- 
ury which  Congress  in  18;JG  voted  to  l)e  i>laced  in  the  State  treasurjea. 


2S6  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

New  York's  share  amounted  to  $4,U00,(»()(),  and  one  year  later  this  was 
apportioned  among  the  counties  of  the  State,  to  be  loaned  on  good 
security.  The  income  was  to  be  used  lor  school  purposes  and  now 
amounts  to  $75,UUO. 

The  second  was  created  by  a  law  of  1805,  directing  that  the  income, 
when  it  reached  $50,000  yearly  from  the  sale  of  500,000  acres  of  State 
lands,  should  be  applied  for  school  purposes.  From  the  revenue  of  this 
fund,  .$170,000  is  annually  appropriated. 

The  third  sum,  the  free  school  fund,  is  annually  raised  by  taxation; 
this  simi  about  the  year  1870  became  tixed  each  year. 

The  amount  paid  out  for  school  purposes  during  the  time  from  1805 
to  1845  was  less  than  the  amount  now  paid  out  Oach  year.  This  ques- 
tion of  common  school  support  is  the  most  momentous  one  which  our 
legislature  lias  to  encounter  and  one  with  ever  increasing  demands. 

CHAPTER   III. 

In  colonial  times,  under  both  the  Dutch  and  English  rule,  tlie  teach- 
ers had  no  preparatory  training  for  their  work,  tlieir  education  in  many 
cases  having  been  ol)tained  in  the  school  wliere  they  began  to  teach. 
It  was  not  until  after  the  Revolution  that  the  question  of  the  teacher's 
preparation  was  agitated. 

Before  tliis  time,  Prussia  had  adopted  and  enforced  spi'cial  training 
of  teachers,  and  from  Prussia  the  idea  ."^pi-ead  over  Europe  and  finally 
to  America. 

The  increase  of  schools  in  the  early  eighties  in  New  York  naturally 
led  to  a  demand  for  teachers,  and  through  sheer  necessity,  thoughts 
turned  toward  training  teachers  for  this  especial  work.  The  tirst  result 
was  the  liancastrian  school,  thus  economizing  by  using  the  pupils  as 
teachers. 

In  1834,  tlie  Legislature  provided  training  classes  in  eight  academies, 
one  in  each  senatorial  district  of  the  State.  These  continued  with  slight 
clianges  initil  1844.  when  their  support  was  Avithdrawn  and  a  normal 
school  established  at  Albany.  The  renewal  of  training  classes  took 
place  five  years  later  and  have  continued  ever  since,  forming  our  prin- 
cipal nurseries  of  district  scliool  teachers.  The  requirements  have  in- 
creased as  well  as  support  and  is  now  a  well  organized  system. 

Tlie  stormy  times  which  followed  the  first  few  years  of  tlie  normal 
school  show  liow  inherent  was  tlie  doctrine  of  some  of  our  fathers,  that 
teaching  depends  wholly  on  an  instinct  which  will  appear  at  the  proper 
lime.  It  was  not  until  the  Oswego  normal  school  (established  in  1861) 
liad  been  organized  some  time  that  tlie  American  public  became  con- 
vinced that  this  sort  of  school  had  a  place  in  our  educational  system 
wliicli  was  botli  justifiable  and  useful. 

At  the  present  time  we  have  in  New  Y'ork  eleven  normal  schools 
and  one  normal  college,  Albany  normal  having  been  clianged  to  a  nor- 
mal college  in  1890.    These  schools,  in  tlieir  chronological  order  of  estab- 


OUR  COMMON   FREE  SCHOOLS.  S37 

lishiiu'iit.  are  situati'd  at  Albany,  Oswoiio,  Rrockport.  Frcdoiiia.  Cort- 
land and  I'otsdani,  (Icncsco  and  Uuffalo.  New  I'altz.  Ont'onta,  Phitts- 
Iiui'l;'  and  .laniaica. 

The  normal  scliools  arc  controlled  by  trustees  ai)iJointed  for  life  by 
the  slate  sn[»erintendent  of  public  instruction.  These  have  local  super- 
vision, snlijeet  to  the  superintendent. 

These  scliools  are  maintained. by  appropriations  from  the  State,  tlu- 
ordinary  expenses  iTi  running  the  schools  varying  from  $'_*ll.(i(i()  to  $.'>r),- 
000  anniially  per  school. 

As  yet  the  normals  cannot  supply  all  the  teachers  re((uir<Hl,  Imt  it 
exerts  an  influence  in  increasing  the  demand  for  better  teachers  .-md 
introducing  the  knowledge  of  better  methods  of  instruction. 

The  teachers'  institute,  established  in  1S43,  furnishes  a  valuable 
center  of  instruction  for  teachers  as  well  :is  do  the  state  uniform  exam- 
inations in  raising  the  ipialitications  of  teachers.  Tims  we  lind  foui 
agencies  affecting  the  training  of  the  teaclier — tlie  uniform  examina- 
tions, teachers'  institute,  the  training  class  in  the  academy,  and  the 
normal  school. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

When  we  come  to  reviewing  the  subject  of  leading  educators,  we  en- 
counter one  both  large  and  formi(hibIe,  for  not  only  is  praise  due  to 
men  who  have  contributed  large  plans,  but.  studying  c.irefuUy  tlu' 
influence  of  lesser  personages,  we  see  how  often  the  little  they  advanced 
resulted  in  balancing  the  scales  on  the  side  of  our  perfected  system  of 
common  schools. 

To  no  one  are  we  more  greatly  indebted  for  our  present  system  than 
the  men  who  were  ut  the  head  of  affairs  at  the  beginning  of  our  state- 
hood, and  we  can  get  no  clearer  idea  of  their  intluence  than  by  mention- 
ing some  of  the  elements  of  our  system  inaugurated  by  them. 

It  has  been  said  that  it  is  a  blessing  to  the  child  that  the  first  super- 
intendent of  scliools  in  New  York,  Cideon  Hawley,  was  a  graduate  of 
Union  College  under  Dr.  Nott.  His  administration  from  ISl.'i  to  1S21 
was  probal)ly  more  diffcult  than  that  of  any  succeeding  superintendent 
but  his  perseverance  resulted  in  the  foiuidation  of  our  present  system. 
The  most  notable  featni-e  of  his  term  was  the  introduction  of  the  Lai 
castrian  School,  then  so  successful.  X'nder  him  schools  sprang  up  all 
ov<'i'  the  State  and  a  new  impetus  was  given  to  educational  life. 

Sui>erintendent  Yates  endeavored  to  inaugurate  a  system  of  school 
celebrations,  but  to  (lovernoi-  Clinton  we  owe  the  grammar  and  high 
school  program  of  to-day. 

Azariah  Flagg.  in  IS'JC),  made  the  first  ai)pro:ich  toward  the  system 
of  visitorial  inspection  of  schools.  Yet  moi-e  im]>orfant  was  his  stroni: 
opi)osition  to  confining  the  work  in  school  to  the  one  te.\t   book  method. 

To  Sniierintendent  Dix  (1,S:53-1S:5!)|  we  owe  the  district  libi'ary  and  the 


238  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

ostablishmoiit  of  the  eight  training  classes,  and  to  Wetniore  tlie  estab- 
lisliment  of  a  separate  department  of  public  instruction. 

Through  Governor  Marcy's  efforts  a  portion  of  thv  United  States 
deposit  fund  was  applied  to  the  support  of  common  schools  and  district 
libraries.  In  1830,  Governor  Seward  recommended  a  thorough  normal 
system. 

The  death  of  Tage.  of  the  Albany  normal,  was  a  severe  bk)w  to  all 
education,  for  which  he  had  contributed  s(>  much,  not  only  by  his  "The- 
ory and  I'ractice  of  Teaching."  but  by  his  interest  and  earnest  en- 
deavors. 

Under  Christopher  Morgan  (1S4S-1S51)  the  free  school  system  was 
adopted  and  also  the  free  school  fund. 

But  we  must  not  omit  the  name  of  Dr.  Eliphalet  Nott.  who  in  directly 
benefiting  Union  College,  indirectly  helped  on  the  struggle  for  commou 
free  schools. 

CHAPTER    ^■. 

The  fact  that  along  with  the  development  of  the  State,  Nation  and 
idea  of  democracy,  the  common  free  school  has  kept  pace,  shows  that 
the  school,  the  nursery  of  citizenship,  is  essential  to  a  progressing  na- 
tion, especially  to  a  democratic  one. 

In  the  earlier  days  of  some  nations  under  an  aristocratic  govornuient, 
only  the  education  of  the  ruling  classes  ^\•as  considered  an  obvious 
ntcessity.  In  later  days,  when  Prussia  was  an  absolute  monarchy,  she 
considered  the  education  of  the  standing  army  a  guarantee  of  national 
strength,  and  after  she  had  been  so  gloriously  successful  in  warfare 
Ihe  other  nations  of  Europe  began  to  wondei-  and  inquire  wlu-icin  her 
strength  lay.  In  consequence  of  these  inquiries  many  countries  which 
had  no  etiicient  educational  system  straightway  established  such.  It 
has  been  said  that  under  the  best  of  militaiy  management,  the  illiterate 
soldier  is  not  so  (efficient  as  the  educated  soldier.  If  universal  and  com- 
pulsory education  is  necessary  in  monarchies,  where  the  duty  of  the 
masses  is  simply  passive  oljedience.  how  much  more  is  it  necessary  in 
a  democracy,  where  the  masses  have  not  only  to  ol)ey  but  also  have 
legislative  duties,  and  in  a  democracy  where  leaders  appear  at  any 
time! 

Thomas  Jefferson,  the  fatlier  of  democracy,  set  forth  again  and  again 
the  idea  that  the  democracy  must  educate  its  leaders  and  that  a  gov- 
ernment will  be  wise  and  liberal  as  tliose  who  administer  it  are  edu- 
cated in  a  broad  and  liberal  humanistic  sentiment. 

The  views  of  the  two  great  Grecian  philosophers,  I'lato  and  Aristotle, 
apply  to  our  government  to-day  as  to  the  Greek  nation  of  their  day. 
Some  of  their  ideas  are  worth  noting.  To  live  together  with  one's  fel- 
lowmen  involves  fitness  so  to  liv<'.  and  this  titness  is  the  result  of  disci- 
pline and  education.     The  highest  type  of  the  individu.-il  life  is  tlie  com- 


OUR  COMMON  FREE   SCHOOLS.  239 

inimity  of  life,  therefore  the  educMtioii  of  the  individn.-il  insures  the 
education  of  the  State. 

At  the  lieiji'ht  of  Greece's  power  tlie  educated  man  was  tau^lit  that 
pai ticipation  in  political  affairs  was  his  duty  and  that  the  luuioi'  oC  his 
State  lay  with  liiniself  to  a  certain  i-xtcnt.  In  the  I'nitcd  States  to-day 
the  educated  man.  as  a  ride,  holds  hini.self  aloof  from  politics  as  some- 
thing beneath  him,  in  a  country  where  politics  sliould  attract  him  rather 
than  repel.  The  remedy  for  this  lies  with  the  coninion  scliooi,  for  the 
ditticulties  of  a  democracy  are  the  oi>portunities  of  the  school.  If  om- 
schools  shoukl  place  due  stress  upon  the  individual's  resixmsihility :  in 
the  devt'lopment  of  the  nation;  in  the  social  and  politicjil  pro.ui-ess;  if 
tliey  would  nourish  a  patriotism  dee])er  than  shells  and  camions,  then 
would  a  pure  democracy  he  the  outgrowth  of  our  conunon  school 
system. 

The  futiu'e  welfare  of  our  nation  lies  in  the  hands  of  the  coming 
geiu'ration  and  if  that  generation  comes  into  its  inln-ritance  with  ignor- 
ance and  vice  .as  its  cliaracteristics,  how  scon  the  coiaaiption  and  disso- 
lution of  our  government  will  take  place  A\ould  i)e  easy  to  imagine. 

President  Garfield  has  said:  "The  only  remedy  for  illiteracy  in 
voters  is  hy  univei'sal  educntion."  .\nd  in  answer  to  Macaulay's  asser- 
tion that  a  government  lik<'  ours  must  lead  t(j  anarchy,  he  replies  that 
there  is  no  answer  to  this  prophecy  unless  the  schoolniasti'r  can  give 
it — who  has  the  future  of  the  American  repul)lic  in  ins  hands. 

In  this  republic,  where  the  people  are  the  government  themselves, 
God  si)eed  the  day  when  the  ptdilic  school  shall  have  done  its  work 
and  the  peoi)le  shall  have  come  into  their  own  inheritance. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  IN  NEW  YORK. 

THIRD   PRIZE    ESSAY   IN   THE  ALBERT    N.    RUSSELL   CONTEST,    WRITTEN    BY 
MISS   KATE   MORAN,    OF  IIJON. 

Delivered  before  tlie  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  April  13,  1901. 

"Flow  fair  beside  the  Palisades,  tiow,  Hudson,  fair  and  free, 
By  proud  Manhatan's  shore  of  ships  and  Kreeii  Hobokeu's  tree. 
So  fair  yon  haven  clasped  its  isles,  in  such  a  sunset  gleam. 
When  Ileiidrick  and  his  sea-worn  tars  lirst  sounded  up  the  stream, 
And  climbed  this  rocky  palisade,  and  resting  on  its  brow, 
I'assed  'round  the  can  and  gazed  awhile  on  wave  and  shore  below; 
And  Hendrick  draidv  with  hearty  cheer,  and  loudly  then  cried  he: 
'  'Tis  a  good  land  to  fall  in  with,  men,  and  a  pleasant  land  to  see!'  " 

This  prophec.y  of  Hendrick  has  indeed  come  to  pass,  for  there  is  no 
fairer  land  than  that  of  our  Empire  State.  Her  sons  and  daughters 
have  learned  that  "knowledge  is  power,"  and  no  matter  how  humble 
the  hamlet,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  are  found  floating  over  a  school- 
house. 

Go  back  with  me  and  take  a  brief  sui-vey  of  New  York  under  the 
old  Dutch  rulers.  We  tind  quaintly  built  farm-lutuses,  where  the  great 
lafters  overhead  looked  down  upon  tiled  lire-places  and  rows  of  wooden 
and  pewter  dishes,  the  delight  of  the  thrifty  housewife.  Where  the 
floors  were  scoured  and  sanded,  and  big  fraus  and  even  little  frauleins 
carded  and  spun  the  linen  for  wliicli  they  were  so  justly  famous. 
"Honest  days  in  which  every  woman  stayed  at  home,  read  her  Bible, 
and  wore  capacious  pockets."  Washington  Irving  says,  that  in  these 
good  old  days,  "The  very  words  of  learning,  education,  taste  and  talents 
were  unheard  of — a  bright  genius  was  an  animal  unknown,  and  a  blue- 
stocking lady  would  have  been  regarded  as  a  horned  frog  or  a  tiery 
dragon."  In  time,  all  this  changed,  for  these  good  Dutch  people  ceased 
to  be  forgetful  of  their  schools.  In  1(>'J1.  the  colony  was  enjoined  "to 
fiud  speedy  means  to  maint.-iin  ;i  clergyman  and  a  schoolmaster." 
Each  householder  and  inhabitant  was  enjoined  "to  bear  such  tax  and 
public  charge  as  should  be  considered  proper  for  their  maintenance." 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  TN  NEW   YOHK.  241 

Four  years  later  we  tiiid  the  expense  of  the  schoolmaster  to  be  300 
florins.  In  10.33,  a  professional  schoolmaster  was  broni^ht  over  from 
the  Dutch  mother  cimntry  and  taught  the  little  Hans  and  Katrina  to 
read  and  write.  A  few  years  later,  "New  Amsterdani,"  with  a  pop\ila- 
tlon  of  SUO,  engaged  two  teachers  for  the  children.  "The  excise  moneys 
seem  to  have  been  set  apart  to  pay  teachers,  and  they  were  in  part,  at 
least,  paid  out  of  the  public  ti't'asury.  On  one  occasion  the  goveriior 
of  the  <-()lony  i)arleyed  with  the  Indian  chiefs  and  urged  them  to  send 
their  sons  down  to  New  Amsterdam  to  school.  After  taking  a  week  to 
consider,  they  diplomatically  answered  that  they  were  powerless  to 
accept  the  invitation,  for  the  boys  were  altogether  under  the  control 
of  thei»'  mothers."  These  schools  were  often  maintained  and  super- 
vised by  the  churches.  Indeed,  the  teacher  was  sometimes  sexton, 
precentor,  psalmetter,  and  a  comforter  of  the  sick.  It  is  claimed  that 
the  first  school  in  the  Stat(>  was  founded  by  the  Dutch  Ileform  Church 
at  New  Amsterdam,  in  1033. 

Under  the  English  rule  the  people  did  not  show  the  same  interest  in 
education  that  the  Dutch  did.  Those  of  means  sometimes  had 
their  children  educated  at  home,  and  fre(iueutly  sent  them  to  the  little 
colleges  that  have  since  become  Columbia  and  Princeton,  collegvs  in- 
ferior to  the  grammar  schools  then  in  existence  in  England.  Occa- 
sionally the  wealthy  and  ambitious  sent  their  boys  to  Oxford  or  Cam- 
bridge, but  these  boys  generally  returned  far  less  fitted,  despite  their 
learning,  to  play  a  man's  pait  in  the  real  work  of  American  life,  than 
the  home-staying  brother. 

In  our  country,  the  ISth  century  was  marked  by  Indian  raid?;,  by  the 
French  and  Indian  war,  and  finally  by  the  Revolution.  Tinder  such 
circumstances  it  is  hardly  to  be  expected  that  education  would  make 
any  rapid  advance.  Aside  from  New  England  and  some  ports  of  New 
York,  education  depended  entirely  upon  private  schools.  The  teachers 
were  men  of  little  knowledge  ;ind  narrow  views,  often  recruited  from 
the  fiiilures  in  other  vocations.  They  opened  schools  for  lack  of  otlier 
employment,  or  as  a  stepping-stone  to  sometliing  more  agreeable.  The 
instruction  imparted  was  me;igre.  consisting  of  the  three  U's,  yet  it 
must  be  admitted  that  the  youths  of  that  day  made  effective  use  of 
what  they  had.  Heading  matter  was  scarce,  as  well  in  the  homes  as  in 
the  schools,  so  the  little  that  w.is  at  hand  was  perusiMl  until  mastered. 
The  si)ecimens  of  penmanship  whieh  exist  in  the  old  copy-books  still 
preserved  by  old  families,  show  that  beautiful  writing  was  not  uncom- 
mon. In  the  latter  part  of  this  same  century  great  progress  was  made 
throughout  the  State.  The  population  was  nearly  doubled,  many  new 
counties  were  formed,  and  villages  began  to  spring  up  along  the  rivers 
and  lakes,  especially  in  the  Mohawk  and  Genesee  valleys.  This  uiitm-- 
ally  had  its  effect  upon  education,  for  we  find  at  the  tii'st  meeting  of 
tl"  general  asseinbly  held  after  the  ;i(loption  of  the  Constitution  of 
New  York.   Govej-nor  Clint<>n  said.   "Neglect  of  education  of  youth  is 

16 


24'i  UERKIMER   COUNTY   HISTORICAL,  SOCIETY 

one- of  the  yTcal  evils  consequent  upon  war.  Perhaps  there  is  scarcely 
anything-  more  worthy  your  attention  that  the  revival  and  eneourage- 
inent  of  seminaries  of  learning,  and  nothing  by  which  we  can  more 
satisfactorily  express  our  gratitude  to  tlie  Supreme  PJeing  for  His  past 
favors,  since  piety  and  virtue  are  generally  the  offspring  of  an  enlight- 
ened understanding."  As  a  result  of  his  efforts,  Ave  have  the  act  In 
37S4,  establishing  tlie  body  known  as  the  "Kegents  of  the  University  of 
the  State  of  New  Yorlv." 

One  author  says  of  New  York  at  this  pei'iod: 

"I  see  on  all  the  strands, 
Old  Europe's  exiled  liouseholds  crowd,  and  toils  unnumbered  hands. 
From  Hessenland  and  Frankenland,  from  Daiuibe,  Drave,  and  Rhine, 
From  Netherland,  my  sea-born  land,  and  the  Norseman's  liills  of  pine. 
From  Thames,  and  Sliannon  and  their  isles,  and  never,  sure,  before. 
Invading  host  such  greetings  found  upon  a  stranger's  shore." 

Of  course  with  people  of  so  many  nationalities  there  must  have  been 
great  religious  and  political  differences,  so  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  they  could  not  agree  upon  any  dehnite  system  of  education.  At 
first  the  Board  of  Regents  met  with  much  opposition  and  they  were 
content  to  say  their  object  was  to  "improve  and  unify  the  loos*;  system 
of  private  and  denominational  academies  and  schools."  (At  the  pres- 
ent time  the  Regents  occupy  a  high  position  in  educational  matters. 
They  grant  charters  to  colleges  of  the  State,  receive  annual  reports 
from  tliem,  admit  secondary  scliools  under  tlieir  supervision  and  in- 
spection and  also  have  many  duties  pertaining  to  liiglier  education. 
The  regents  examinations  date  from  1828,  and  since  1870  all  papers 
have  been  sent  to  All)any  to  be  reviewed.  In  June,  1878,  examina- 
tions were  first  lield  in  tlie  liiglier  branches.  Now,  a  student  nuist  hold 
in  this  State,  regents  certificates  of  different  grades  to  enter  upon  any 
professional  course  offered  in  the  State.) 

King's  college  collapsed  during  the  early  years  of  the  Revolution, 
and  later  became  Columbia  college,  and  was  in  fact  the  only  college  in 
existence  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Union  college  was  founded  in  1795 
and  gained  much  prominence  while  Nott  was  president.  We  of  to- 
day have  no  conception  of  the  illiteracy  existing  at  that  time,  the  few 
schools  were  in  a  deplorable  condition,  and  the  legislature  had  no  de- 
finite plan  of  action.  Gov.  Clinton  advocated  the  instruction  of  the 
children  in  the  lower  branches.  He  would  have  them  obtain  a  knowl- 
edge of  their  native  language,  and  enough  writting  and  arithmetic  to 
fit  them  for  practical  life.  His  aim  Avas  to  establish  schoools  that 
would  benefit  the  poorer  classes.  He  said  "while  it  is  evident  that  the 
general  establishment  and  endowment  of  academies  are  to  he  com- 
mended yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  a  large  portion  of  the  community 
is  excluded  from  their  immediate  advantages.  The  establishment  of 
public  schools  throughout  the  State  is  calculated  to  remedy  this  in- 


COMMON    SCUOULS   IN    NEW   YOIUC  '  243 

couvt'iiiciicc.""  'I'lic  Itvuislntui-f  of  17'.)r>  miNcii  IT'.iLl  l>.v  sdiiic  autlioritiesi 
recoj;"iiizfd  the  riiilil  of  all  iiicii  to  an  ('(lucatidii  li.v  inoxidiiii;  that  a 
sum  of  !?r>(),(KI()  \\v  apiMdiiiiatcd  for  live  ^cais  for  the  ('.\i)rcss  i)iii-p()sc 
of  t'iicuura,L;in,t;'  and  niaintainiii.u'  schools  in  scvcial  cifics  and  towns 
of  the  State.  In  tlioso  schools  instruction  was  to  he  uivcn  in  such  stib- 
jects  as  would  make  a  ,uood  Ea.niish  education.  'I'hese  scliools  were 
to  be  distributed  accordinu'  to  tlie  taxable  poimlation  of  tlie  towns. 
Tlie  supervisor  of  eacli  town  was  to  raise  by  tax  a  sum  (Miual  to  oiie- 
lialf  of  what  was  received  from  the  State.  This  act  was  repealed  in 
1S<I0.  It  was  not  until  ITU'.l  lliat  the  lirsi  pi-actical  effort  was  made  to 
estalilish  a  scliool  fund,  and  from  that  date  until  ISln  may  .justly  he 
called  a  transition  period.  The  people  absolutely  refused  to  be  taxed 
for  universal  education.  "Tis  said  "all  thin.ys  come  to  him  who  waits" 
for  in  1S11  or  ISlli  Oov.  Tompkins  was  anthoi'ized  to  api)oiid  fnc  com- 
missioners to  \\'ork  on  the  oruani/.al  ion  of  a  system  of  public  schools, 
and  as  a  restilt  the  State  assumed  a  larger  resixmsibility  in  the  care 
of  her  schools.  The  report  of  these  commissioners  dealt  with  many 
phases  of  the  sciiool  (iuesti()n.  I'eihai)s  the  most  vital  one  was  tUe 
intimate  relation  existing  between  education  and  a  state  whei'e  the 
people  are  si'lf-^overnini;.  The  stability  of  the  uoNcrnment  (lei)ends 
largely  upon  the  intelli.Licnce  of  the  masses.  There  was  als(»  a  need  for 
better  teaehers.  and  improvtNl  text-books.  Their  report  closed  with 
tliese  foreeful  words:  "(iod  w  ill  sniiU'  (^i  the  efforts  of  the  people  in  a 
eause  peculiarly  His  own." 

It  was  a  s'reat  blessing'  to  the  children  that  the  tirst  su])criuten(h'nt 
of  schools  of  New  York  Avas  (Jideon  Ilawley.  He  came  of  piod  old 
New  p]n.t;ian<l  stock,  and  displayed  the  soundness  of  jud.muent  and  skill 
in  affairs  found  in  many  of  .\ew  I<]n.^land"s  sons.  A  Lawyer  in  Albany 
and  always  interested  in  the  common  school  (|Uestion  he  seenu'd  the 
man  for  the  place.  He  was  elected  in  ISb"!  and  served  ei.yht  years-. 
This  otlice  was  .-iliolished  in  isi'l.  and  the  Secretary  of  State  assumed 
the  duties  of  Superintendent  of  Schools.  It  Avas  now  (piite  evi(h'id  thar 
the  common  scliool  had  <'onie  to  stay.  From  ISi'O  to  ISlo  many  imj^orr- 
ant  ehan.ues  toook  ])lace,  the  most  imi)ortant  beini;-  the  .L;'rowin.i;'  sup- 
l>ort  of  the  scliools  by  tlii'  mass  of  people. 

In  is;;!»,  when  Seward  became  (ioveruor  of  the  State  the  school  ino- 
l)erty  was  valued  at  ip2,()(K»,(iOO  and  there  was  an  annual  exix'uditure  of 
$1,000,(1(10  for  the  instruction  of  r.()0,()0()  children.  John  (\  Spencer  was 
Secretary  of  State  ami  .-is  sm-!i  assumed  the  resi)oiisibility  of  the  Super- 
intendent of  Scliools,  these  two  men  with  Eliphalet  Nott,  president  of 
Union  college,  formed  a  stroui^'  triiunvirate.  Seward  in  one  of  his  re- 
poi'ts  says,  "For  this  evil  of  our  school  system  there  is  a  remedy,  sim- 
ple, econonncal,  and  effectual,  the  establishment  of  a  department  of 
C'ducation  to  be  constituted  by  a  superitdendent  a]i|»oiuted  by  le.yisla- 
ture  and  a  board  to  be  comiiosed  of  dele.uates  from  subordinates  of 
boards   of   education    to   be   established    in     several     counties."     These 


244  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORTCAL  SOCIETY. 

officials  were  to  serve  without  pay.  Previous  to  this  time  the  State 
had  no  reliable  source  from  which  she  could  gain  information  regarding 
her  schools.  The  only  official  upon  whom  there  was  any  responsibility 
resting  Avere  the  local  supervisors,  and  they  were  generally  men  upon 
whom  the  duties  of  the  olfice  sat  lightly.  About  the  first  thing  that 
was  done  by  Spencer  was  the  appointment  of  a  board  of  visitors  whose 
duties  were  to  visit  the  schools  and  make  a  report  of  the  work  to  the 
State.  Thus  for  the  first  time  the  people  were  to  know  something 
about  the  workings  of  the  schools.  These  visitors  made  many  discov- 
eries, they  found  many  schools  over  which  there  had  been  no  super- 
vision, many  incompetent  teachers,  because  the  examinations  had  been 
so  slight  and  superficial.  They  advised  the  appointment  of  a  suitable 
deputy  in  each  county,  the  establishment  of  a  normal  school  in  each 
county,  more  uniformity  in  text-books,  the  introduction  of  vocal  music, 
the  formation  of  teachers'  associations,  and  graded  schools  under  a 
normal  school  at  Albany,  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the  Leg- 
islature. In  Maj',  1843,  a  convention  was  held  in  Utica  at  which  forty- 
two  out  of  the  fifty-nine  counties  were  represented.  This  remained 
in  session  three  days  and  was  attended  by  the  leading  educators  of 
the  day  and  many  vital  (piestions  were  discussed.  It  is  said  that  never 
before  or  since  has  so  much  been  done  in  so  short  a  period  for  the 
advancement  and  improvement  of  oiir  common  schools  as  w.-is  done 
during  the  time  of  Seward. 

Each  day  the  incompetency  of  the  ones  who  had  the  training  of  their 
children  was  brought  more  forcibly  before  the  people.  Something  had 
to  l)e  done  to  remedy  this  defect.  The  administration  of  John  Dix 
brought  about  a  partial  solution  of  the  difficulty.  It  was  voted  to  dis- 
tribute a  sum  of  ^12,000  among  the  academies  that  were  willing  to  take 
up  the  work  of  training  teachers.  Several  schools  were  selected,  each 
one  receiving  $400.  Their  work  was  sini])ly  a  failure;  they  could  not 
adapt  their  course  of  study  to  the  professional  training  of  teachers. 
Many  totally  neglected  the  MJ-ork,  and  others  performed  it  in  a  per- 
functory manner.  The  State  continued  subsidizing  these  academies  for 
this  purpose  until  Superintendent  Young  lost  faith  in  the  efficacy  of  the 
plan.  lie  suggested  that  four  of  the  best  be  allowed  to  continue  the 
work,  and  one  central  normal  school  be  provided.  Much  interest  was 
manifested  in  the  establishment  of  the  normal  school  at  Albany,  after 
a  visit  by  some  of  the  educators  to  one  in  Massachusetts.  New  York 
Avas  beginning  to  feel  the  crying  need  of  proper  training  for  her  teach- 
ers. Spencer  says:  "What  is  to  be  expected  when  one  of  the  most 
intricate  of  prol)lems  is  undertaken  by  those  who  have  given  scarcely 
a  thought  to  the  principles  on  which  its  solution  depends?  For  shoe- 
making,  or  housebuilding,  for  the  management  of  a  ship,  or  a  locomo- 
tive-engine, a  long  apprenticeship  is  needed.  Is  it,  then,  that  the  un- 
folding of  a  human  being  in  body  and  mind  is  so  comparatively  simple 
a  process  that  any  one  may  superintend  and  regulate  it  with  no  pi-e- 


COMMON  SCHOOLS   IN   NEW   YORK.  245 

paratioii  at  allV  It'  not — if  tlif  procoss  is  with  (inc  rxcfi)tioii  more 
coinplt'x  than  any  in  natnn-,  and  the  task  of  adniinisfefinj;-  it  one  of 
surpassing-  ditHcnlty,  is  it  not  madness  to  maj^^e  no  provision  for  such 
a    taskV" 

Finally  a  hill  was  passed  in  1844,  establishing  the  Albany  normal 
sehool.  Ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  was  pledged  by  the  State,  and 
Albany  agreed  to  provide  slu'lter  for  four  years.  It  was  to  be  under 
the  eontrol  of  the  Board  of  Itejii'uts.  Tlie  rules  and  I'tvi^ulations  were 
to  be  made  by  that  body,  and  a  staff  of  live  professors,  with  the  State 
sui)erintendent.  were  to  control  it.  David  B.  I'aji'e  was  appointed  its 
principal.  Of  this  man  it  is  said  he  hud  "the  happy  talent  of  always 
saying  the  riglit  tiling  at  tlie  right  time.  He  was  more  than  ordinarily 
prepossessing — of  good  heiglit  and  fine  form,  erect,  and  dignified  in 
maimer,  scrupulously  neat  in  person,  and  easy  in  address."  Twenty- 
nine  teachers  immediately  appeared  for  instruction,  and  soon  one  hun- 
dred were  within  its  walls. 

In  1845,  it  was  put  to  a  vote  tliat  "the  Legislature  shall  provide  for 
the  free  education  and  instruction  of  the  State  in  tlie  common  schools 
now  established  or  which  sh:ill  l)e  established  therein."  At  this  time 
the  school  moneys  receive<l  from  the  State  were  supplemented  in  the 
scliool  districts  by  rate  bills,  in  whicli  tlie  deficiencies  were  apportioned 
among  the  i>atrons  of  tlie  schools  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  days 
of  attendance  of  their  children.  It  is  estimated  that  there  were  r>(X()0(l 
illiterate  children  at  this  time  beeause  their  parents  were  not  willing 
to  be  rated  as  paupers.  In  ISl'J,  "an  act  establisliing  free  schools 
througliout  the  State"  was  voted  for  ]>y  the  people.  The  oi)i)osition  to 
the  bill  was  strong,  the  liCgislature  was  swamped  with  protosts  and 
as  a  result  the  law  was  again  submitted  to  the  peo]>le,  and  was  sus- 
tained I)y  a  small  ma.jorit.v.  The  rural  districts  were  bitterly  opposed 
to  its  passage,  and  the  bill  was  saved  liy  the  votes  of  New  York  city. 
Such  pressure  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  Legislature  that  they 
either  mistook  or  deliberately  misinterpreted  public  opinion  by  declin- 
ing to  pass  the  l)ill.  It  was  not  until  IS*!?  that  the  public  schools  hiive 
be(>ii  supported  wholly  by  funds  received  from  the  State  and  from  local 
taxation,  making  instruction  in  them  free  to  all  children  living  in  their 
districts. 

In  isr>4,  the  otiice  of  superintendent  of  e<hication  was  restored  and 
Victor  M.  Rice  was  nia(h'  tht»  occupant  of  the  ofHce.  Between  that 
time  and  1808,  roughkeepsie,  Schenectady,  Troy.  Rochester,  Albany. 
Auliurn,  Oswego,  and  Syracuse  established  schools  with  a  high  school 
attached. 

The  work  begun  by  tlie  Albany  normal  has  gone  steadily  on  until 
to-day  we  have  ten  normals  in  tlu-  State,  e(iuii)ping  our  schools  with 
one  thousand  graduates  annually.  Thes(>  institutions  h.-ive  done  much 
to  elevate  educational  standards,  and  to  advance  flic  interests  of  the 
teachers  themselves.     This  State  realizes  "as  the  well  e(iuii)]>;Ml  citizen 


'^40  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

is  the  central  tigure  of  our  system  of  goveinmeiit,  so  the  trained  teuelier 
is  and  ever  will  be  tlie  unit  of  force  in  education."  In  1S8G,  of  the 
twenty-two  tliousand  two  hundred  and  forty  teachers  employed  for 
the  legal  term,  only  nine  per  cent,  held  any  foi'in  of  professional  certifi- 
cate. Gradually  the  numljer  increased  and  in  1898,  forty-two  per  cent, 
held  some  form  of  professional  cerliticate.  Of  course,  the  school  sys- 
tem of  the  State  feels  the  influence  of  this  work,  for  it  is  said,  "The 
school  system  is  like  an  electric  wire — touch  it  at  any  point  and  every 
other  lioint  feels  that  touch. '" 

The  teachers"  training  classes  have  become  a  source  of  much  good. 
■^Vithin  tlie  past  few  years  more  tiian  four  thousand  pf  their  certificates 
have  been  issued  to  young  men  and  women.  The  rural  schools  cannot 
help  but  1)0  bettered  by  the  work  of  these  earnest  teachers,  wlio  have 
received  a  year's  careful  training.  They  have  put  into  practice  the 
trite  saying,  "(Jladly  would  he  learn,  and  gladly  teach."  The  compul- 
sory attendance  law  passed  in  189.")  has  had  a  most  salutary  effect 
upon  education  in  the  State.  Each  year  we  find  fewer  people  Avho 
care  nothing  for  the  education  of  their  children  and  who  resist  the 
efforts  of  the  State  in  tliat  direction.  It  is  not  possible  for  us  in  small 
towns  to  fully  appreciate  the  benefits  to  the  children  of  the  large  cities 
by  the  passage  of  this  bill.  Children  of  tender  years  were  often  forced 
to  earn  their  daily  bread  among  surroundings  most  corrupt.  That 
period  of  life  which  should  be  the  happiest  was  filled  with  gloom,  and 
it  is  not  to  be  woiuh'rcd  Hint  many  of  them  iK'c-inic  discouraged  and 
trod  the  downward  pjitli.  '•I']ducati<)n  begins  at  the  bottom  and  grows 
as  the  tree  grows,  gaining  strength  from  the  e;n-th,  the  air,  and  the 
sunlight.  Take  care  of  the  children  and  men  ;ind  women  will  take 
better  care  of  themselves." 

For  the  support  of  her  schools  the  State  li;is  several  funds.  In  1784, 
the  board  of  commissioners  of  the  land  ofiice  of  tlie  State  was  em- 
powered to  reserve  a  lot  of  30(i  acres  for  the  use  of  a  minister  and  one 
of  390  acres  for  a  school  or  schools.  The  first  was  marked  "Gospel 
and  Schools,"  and  has  become  the  nucleus  of  various  scliooi  funds; 
tlu>  second,  was  marked,  "For  Promoting  Literature,"  and  has  become 
the  nucleus  of  the  literature  fund.  The  common  school  fund  had  its 
origin  in  ISO"),  when  the  net  proceeds  of  noo.odO  acres  of  unai)propri- 
ated  land  of  the  State  Avei-e  giv(>n  toward  the  sup])ort  of  the  commoTi 
schools.  The  fund  at  the  present  amounts  to  about  four  million  dol- 
lars, the  income  from  which  is  about  one  hundred  and  seventy  thousand 
dollars.  The  United  States  deposit  fund  came  from  the  national  treas- 
ury, by  an  act  of  Congress  during  Jackson's  administration.  The  sur- 
plus in  the  treasury,  with  the  exception  of  $1,000,000,  was  divided 
among  the  States;  New  York  received  over  four  millions.  This  she 
ai)i)lied  to  her  common  schools.  The  Free  School  fund  is  the  term 
applied  to  the  money  raised  by  the  State  tax. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  there  are  weak  points  in  our  system,  the 


COMMON   SCHOOLS  IN   NEW   XOUK  -47 

most  iiiuiortant  lii'iii.i;'  that  more  stress  is  laid  upon  instniction  than 
uiioii  the  development  of  chai'acter.  From  tliis  detect  sprinij,'  many 
evils,  pulilie  and  i)rivate,  ot  which  we  hear  constant  coini)laints.  It  is 
\-ery  true  that,  "Educjition  in  hoolcs  is  only  one-third  of  an  education; 
education  in  tin-  Avays  of  the  world  and  a  knowled^ic  of  human  nature 
is  another  third,  and  education  or  training-  of  the  will  is  the  other 
tliird."  When  the  schools  of  New  York  appreciate  that  "''rhc  one  soh^ 
design  of  education  when  properly  understood  is  not  to  malce  a  .i;entle- 
man,  or  a  lawyer,  or  a  mechanic,  or  a  farmer,  l)Ut  to  draw  out  1o  their 
utmost  limits  all  the  susceptibilities  of  our  thi'ee-fold  natni'e;  and  tiie 
product  of  this  true  discipline  is  not  a  scholar,  nor  a  philosopliei',  noi 
an  artist,  but  a  fully  develoix'd  man,"  she  may  truthfully  ;':iy  her 
common  schools  are  doin.u  their  best. 


PATRIOTIC  DELUSIONS.  - 

AN  ADDRKSS  BY  HON.  ROBERT  EARL,  OF  HERKIMER, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  April  13,  1901. 

Among  all  peoples,  there  has  always  been  a  disposition  to  place  the 
(lolden  Age  in  the  past.  The  era  of  greatest  patriotism  and  virtue  has 
always  been  placed  at  some  remote  time  in  a  nation's  history;  and 
national  heroes  have  not  infrequently  been  depicted  as  demigods.  In 
these  respects,  the  people  of  our  country,  like  those  of  many  other 
countries,  ancient  and  modern,  have  fallen  into  the  same  delusion. 
We  have  been  taught  to  believe  that  our  forefathers  were  more  patri- 
otic than  their  descendants,  and  more  unselfish  in  their  devotion  to 
their  country.  But  I  am  fully  convinced  that  this  is  au  error,  and  I 
will  give  some  facts,  among  many  others  I  could  adduce,  for  the  foun- 
dation of  my  belief. 

At  this  time,  it  is  unthinkable  that  a  general  of  our  army  should 
prove  a  traitor  to  his  country;  and  yet  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  Gen- 
erals Arnold  and  Charles  Lee,  at  critical  periods  in  the  war,  became 
traitoi's  and  came  near  to  bringing  disaster  to  the  American  cause; 
and  the  generals  and  other  othcers  engaged,  AVith  utter  selfishness  in 
what  is  called  in  history  the  "Conway  Cabal,"  not  only  showed  a  lack 
of  patriotism,  but  came  dangerously  near  to  absolute  treachery  to  the 
cause  of  their  country. 

There  were  frequent  cases  where  inferior  otflcers  and  the  common 
soldiers  refused  to  obey  the  commands  of  their  superior  officers,  where 
they  mutinied,  and  sometimes  deserted  to  the  enemy.  In  November, 
.1777,  General  Tutnam  wrote  to  General  Washington  "that  upwards  of 
one  hundred  of  his  men  had  deserted  to  the  enemy." 

There  were  frequent  wrangles  over  pay,  over  the  expiration  of  en- 
listments, and  over  precedence  in  rank  among  the  officers.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1777,  General  Putnam  in  another  letter  to  General  Washington, 
written  from  Fishkill,  in  this  State,  said:  "I  am  sorry  to  inform  you 
that  for  want  of  pay.  General  Poor's  brigade  of  Continental  troops 
refused  to  cross  the  North  River.     The  troops  mutinied,  the  officers 


PATUIOTIC   DELUSIONS.  240 

oiideavoriii^  to  suppress  them,  ami  tlic.v  wvvv  s(i  (Ictcruiincd  to  go 
home  that  a  captain  in  the  execution  of  liis  duty  ran  a  soldier  through 
the  body,  who  soon  expired,  but  not  Itelore  he  shot  tlie  eai)tain  through, 
\\\io  is  sinet'  (h'ad.  I  have  got  several  of  tlieni  In  i)rovosl  gnarLl  and  a 
general  court  martial  setting  lor  their  trial.  Aliout  '-!<»  of  tlu-m  have 
made  their  escain"  Jionie.  L  have  sent  off  some  Light  Horse  and  otticers 
of  the  brigade  to  bring  them  back." 

A  hotter  written  by  Major  Talmadge.  in  November,  JTSO.  says:  "Siuce 
the  new  establishment  of  the  ;irmy  has  come  oiU.  in  (Jener.al  Orders, 
the  field  oUicers  of  the  dilfereiit  lines  haxc  bei'u  very  busy  in  ttxing 
on  those  who  comm.ind  the  new  regiments  for  the  war.  The  provision 
for  the  retiring  ollicers  is  so  ample  that  I  am  sorry  to  say  there  seems 
to  be  an  emulaticm  among  our  Eastern  Othcers  who  shall  go  home 
rather  thau  continue  in  tlie  service." 

In  July,  1777,  General  Schuyler  wrott;  to  Mr.  \'.in  Cortlandt:  "I  am 
exceedingly  chagrined  ;it  the  pusillanimous  spirit  which  prevails  in 
the  county  of  Tryon."  In  .1  letter  from  William  Livingston,  written 
from  r.everwick  (near  Albany  lin  May.  ITM.  to  Capt.iin  Webb,  he  said: 
"There  has  been  a  mutiny  in  the  I'ennsylvania  line  in  Yoi'k,  previous 
to  their  inarching.  Wayne,  like  a  good  othcei',  iinelled  it  soon  as 
twelve  of  the  fellows  stei>i>ed  out  and  persuaded  the  line  to  refuse  to 
march  in  conse(juence  of  the  promises  madt'  to  them  not  being  coni- 
t)licd  with.  Waym-  told  them  of  the  disgrace  they  lu'onght  on  the 
American  arms  when  in  .lersey.  in  general,  and  on  tlu-mselves  in  par- 
ticular; that  the  feelings  of  the  otticei's  on  that  occasion  were  so 
wounded  th.at  they  had  (h'termined  ne\ cr  to  ex|)erience  the  like,  and 
he  begged  they  would  now  lire  either  on  him  and  them,  or  on  those 
villains  in  front.  He  then  called  to  such  a  platoon.  They  i)reseuted 
at  the  word,  tired,  and  killed  six  of  the  villains.  One  of  the  otliers, 
badly  wounded,  lie  ordered  to  be  bayonetted.  The  soldier  on  whom 
he  called  to  do  it  recovered  his  piece  and  said  he  could  not  for-  he  was 
his  comrade.  Wayne  then  drew  his  pistol  and  told  him  he  would  kill 
him.  Tlu'  fellow  then  advanced  and  bayonetted  him.  Wayne  then 
marched  the  line  by  divisions  round  the  dead  and  the  rt-st  of  the  fel- 
lows are  ordered  to  be  hanged.  The  line  m.-uched  the  next  day 
Houthwaid  Mute  as  l<Msh." 

Washington  wrote  Robert  Morris  in  May,  37S1.',  that  "the  privates 
of  the  Connecticut  Line  were  the  other  day  ui)on  the  eve  of  :i  general 
Mutiny.  The  vigiLance  of  the  othcers  discovered  it  a  few  hours  before 
they  were  to  parade  .and  the  ringleaders  have  been  tryed  and  executed." 
In  a  letter  from  General  Stark  to  General  Gati's,  dati'd  at  Albany, 
May  .")1st,  177K.  T  find  the  following  quaint  jiass.age,  showing  the  state 
of  the  jiopnl.-ii-  mind  of  the  peiaod:  "I  have  ;i]iplied  to  General  Ten 
I'.i'oeciv  for  his  militi.a  and  lie  has  |)romis((l  to  assist  me  as  soon  as 
Chnii-h  is  o\'er:  he  c:imi()t  do  an\'  I'.usiness  liefoi'e  for  fear  of  Fright- 
ening the  Town  into  tits."     (4eneral  Ttai  Ihoeck  in  a  letter  to  (Jovernoi" 


250  HERKIMER   COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Clinton,  written  from  Albany,  in  July,  1778,  in  which  he  speaks  of 
having  received  news  of  the  destruction  of  Springtield  and  Andrustown 
by  the  Indians  and  Toi-ies,  and  of  his  efforts  to  rally  the  militia,  says: 
"To  my  great  surprise  the  Detachment  at  Johnstown,  consisting  of 
about  50  men  wliere  Colonel  Livingston  commanded  wliom  I  sent 
Orders  to  march  to  Cherry  Valley,  the  Colonel  writes  me  the  men  Pos- 
itively liefused  to  march,  alleging  their  leonth  was  up;  all  rhe  exer- 
tions of  the  Officers  had  no  Elfect  and  Iwst  Saturday  they  have  most 
Shamefully  deserted  that  Post." 

Washington  more  than  once  complained  that  under  the  organization 
of  the  army  by  Congress,  every  Commission  Avas  inonopolized  by  the 
four  New  England  Governments,  and  when  a  change  in  this  respect 
was  effected,  there  was  much  dissatisfaction  in  those  colonies.  It  was 
jealousy  of  General  Philip  Schuyler  on  the  part  of  the  New  England 
people  that  caused  him  to  be  superseded  by  Gates,  a  less  capable  Gen- 
eral. 

General  Spencer,  a  Connecticut  officer  serving  witli  General  Wash- 
ington, Avas  so  dissatisfied  that  General  Putnam  was  appointed  Major 
General  by  the  Continental  Congress,  giving  him  precedence  over  him. 
that  he  immediately  Avent  to  his  home  without  leave  of  General  Wash- 
ington, refusing  to  serve  under  Putnam.  lie  afterAvards  changed  his 
mind.  hoAvever,  and  returned  and  expressed  his  Avillingness  to  serve 
under  liim. 

In  a  letter  from  Ebene/er  Huntington,  a  nu-ritorious  officer  among 
the  Connecticut  soldiers,  dated  December  1st,  1775.  he  says:  "The 
Connecticut  men  have  this  day  taken  the  liberty  to  leave  the  Camp 
Avithout  leave  (I  mean  some  of  them).  ^Nlaj.  Trumbull  and  Captain 
Chester  are  sent  after  them  to  bring  them  back.  They  have  not  yet 
returned  tho  eight  o'clock.  A  party  went  from  Cambridge  in  the  same 
manner.  Among  them  Avas  a  Sergeant  Avhom  the  General  has  deter- 
mined to  send  to  Connecticut  in  Irons  Avith  a  Label  on  his  back  telling 
his  crime — to  be  dealt  Avith  as  the  Authorities  of  the  Colony  shall  think 
proper.  The  men  universally  seem  desirous  of  mutiny  because  the 
men  had  not  a  bounty — the  General  is  about  ordering  in  ^Nliinite  men 
to  supply  the  places  of  those  persons  Avho  shall  so  Poltroon  like,  desert 
the  lines." 

In  a  letter  Avritten  from  the  headquarters  of  the  army  in  Pennsyl- 
A'ania,  Col.  Webb  wrote:  "I  hope  sure  I  am  the  Lads  of  that  Country 
(New  England)  will  not  behave  in  the  damed  cowardly,  rascally  man- 
ner the  People  of  this  country  (Pennsylvania)  have." 

Col.  Humphrey  wrote  to  General  George  Clinton  in  August.  1777.  as 
follows:  "Agreeably  to  order,  I  met  Col.  Graham  on  the  5th  inst..  and 
agreed  to  raise  74  men.  On  8th  I  had  the  battalions  together  and  draft- 
ed the  number,  and  ordered  them  to  appear  at  Poughkeepsie  on  the 
12th  inst,  and  appointed  one  Captain  and  one  Lieutenant.  Accordingly 
the  officers  met  at  Poughkeepsie,  and  finding  a  small  number  of  men 


PATRIOTIU   DELUSIONS  251 

tippcnr,  llic  C.-iiitnin  w;is  diss.ilislUMl  ninl  lins  rcsiuiu'd  his  (•(iiniuission. 
I  tlu'ii  nppointc'd  aiiotlirr  ('aptaiii  and  sent  to  ihr  scvi'val  ("aiitains  of 
the  battalions  to  nnistcr  tlioir  draltcd  men:  tlioy  scMit  nu'  word  that 
the  cliicf  ]>art  of  their  men  were  s^one  away  or  eonceah'd.  I  then  wrote 
warrants  to  eacli  Captain  to  send  ont  unaids  and  searcli  for  them  and 
appointed  them  and  the  (\a|)tain  and  Lieutenant  to  meet  and  march 
witli  as  many  as  we  eonld  tind:  and  all  that  would  refnse  to  i:(j  send 
them  to  the  county  jail,  there  to  remain  until  they  were  wiUin.i;'  to 
marcli  or  hire  a  man  in  their  place.  We  raised  a  bounty  of  nine  jxtunds 
per  man  and  liav<'  paid  '21  the  bounty  and  sevei'al  fai'ineis  ha'/e  .u'ven 
80  pounds  to  men  to  .uo  in  their  place.  (Mi  the  ^iith  inst..  I  met  them 
v,'lien  40  men  ap[ieared  with  the  otHcers  at  the  house  of  Captain  Rey- 
nolds. The  men  seeund  willini;-  to  march,  when  the  Captain  told  me 
he  would  not  march  unless  he  had  tifty  ukmk  I  went  out  in  order  to 
tell  the  men  I  would  uet  another  Captain  and  ordered  tliem  to  li<>  ready 
to  march  on  the  shortest  notice.  lUit  when  they  found  the  officers 
decline  they  dispersed  and  I  could  not  ,i;ct  them  tou'ether  a.L;aiii  any 
more." 

At  the  battle  of  T.unker  Hill  ,A\here  <nn'  soldiers  on  the  whole  beliav- 
ed  with  conspicuous  uallanfry,  there  were  some  notable  excejitions. 
In  the  c(>rrespondence  of  Samuel  I'..  NVebb,  compiled  and  imbiislied  by 
his  grandson.  Dr.  \V.  Seward  Webb,  I  tind  in  reference  to  the  conduct 
of  some  soldiers  and  officers  in  that  battle,  a  letter  written  by  Captain 
Clicsli'r,  in  wliose  company  ^^'ebb  was  a  lieut<'n;int,  from  wliicli  1 
extract  tlie  followiuu:  ••'■.)w  Uetrcat  on  Saturday  was  shameful  and 
Scandalous  and  oAving  to  the  Cowai'dice,  Misconduct  and  want  of  Reg- 
ularity of  the  Province  Troftps.  Thongli  to  I>o  them  justice  there  was 
a  Number  of  these  Otlicers  and  men  tliat  were  in  the  fort  and  a  \-eryfew 
otiiers  that  did  lienor  to  themselves  liy  a  most  noble,  manly  and  spir- 
ited Effort  in  tlie  heat  of  the  engagement,  and  'tis  said  Many  of  them 
tiie  flower  of  the  I'rovince  have  sacrific<'d  their  lives  in  the  Cause. 
Some  say  they  have  lost  more  OHicers  than  men.  ( lood  Dr.  Warren, 
(Jod  rest  liis  Soul,  I  hope  is  Safe  in  lleax-eu!  H;id  many  of  theii'  ( »fti- 
cers  tlie  Spirit  and  Courage  in  tlieir  Whole  Constitution  thai  he  had 
in  liis  little  finger,  we  liad  never  retreated.  Many  considei'able  Coni- 
I'tanies  of  their  men  I  s.aw  that  said  that  there  was  not  so  much  as  :\ 
Corporal  Avitli  tlieiii;  one  in  I'articular  f"!!  in  the  rear  of  my  Company 
and  marclied  with  us.  'I'he  ('apt.  had  mustered  and  ordered  them  to 
March  and  told  tliem  he  would  overtake  tliem  directly,  but  they  never 
saw  him  till  next  day.  A  vast  numlier  were  Retreating  as  Ave  iMarched 
up  and  witliiii  a  (|Uarter  of  a  mile  of  the  scene  of  Action.  If  :\  man 
w;is  wounded,  twenty  men  were  gl.ad  of  an  ( )i)iMirtuni1y  to  cari-y  him 
away  when  not  more  than  thi'ce  could  take  hold  of  him  to  advantage. 
One  cluster  would  be  sneaking  down  on  their  r.ellies  Iiehind  a  Rock 
and  others  beliiiid  Hay  cocks  and  apjile  trees.  At  last  I  got  pretty 
near  the  action  and  I  met   a   consideral)le  Company  with  their  officers 


252  HEBKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

at  their  Head  retreating.  I  spolce  to  Lieutenant  Webb  and  told  him 
it  would  not  do  to  see  so  many  going  Baclv  and  that  we  must  stop  them. 
By  all  means  says  he.  I  then  inquired  of  the  otfieer  why  he  went  back. 
He  made  no  answer.  I  told  him  to  proceed  if  he  Dare.  He  still  went 
on.  I  ordered  my  men  to  make  Ready  very  Loud  and  told  him  if  he 
went  another  step  he  should  have  the  fire  of  my  whole  Company.  My 
men  declare  they  would  fire  if  I  ordered  them,  but  the  Toor  Dogs  were 
forced  to  Come  Back  like  Dogs  that  had  been  stealing  sheep.  But 
after  the  retreat  when  we  came  to  rally  and  attempt  to  form  agaiji  we 
found  it  impossible  for  they  all  most  all  said  they  had  no  Olficer  to 
head  them.  In  short  most  of  the  Companies  of  this  Province  are  com- 
manded by  a  most  Despicable  set  of  Officers." 

In  another  letter  written  to  Silas  Dean,  three  days  later,  July  22nd, 
Captain  Chester,  writing  of  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  after  stating 
that  he  was  ordered  to  march  to  Bunker  Hill,  said:  "We  soon  marched 
with  our  frocks  and  trowsers  on  over  our  other  clothes  (for  our  Com- 
pany is  in  Uniform  wholly  blue  turned  up  with  red),  for  we  were  loth 
to  expose  ourselves  by  our  dress,  and  down  we  marched.  I  imagined 
we  arrived  at  the  hill  near  the  close  of  the  battle.  When  we  arrived, 
there  was  not  a  Company  with  us  in  any  kind  of  order,  although  when 
we  first  set  out,  perhaps  three  Regiments  were  by  our  side  and  near 
us;  but  there  they  were  scattered,  some  behind  rocks  and  haycocks  and 
tliirty  men,  perhaps,  behind  an  apple  tree,  and  freiiuently  twenty  men 
around  a  wounded  man  retreating  when  not  more  than  three  or  four 
could  touch  him.  10  advantage.  Others  were  retreating  seemingly  with- 
out any  excuse,  and  some  said  they  had  left  tlu>  fort  with  leave  of  the 
officers  because  they  had  been  all  night  and  day  on  fatigue  without 
sleep,  vitals  or  drink;  and  some  said  they  had  no  officers  to  head  them 
which  indeed  seemed  to  be  the  case.  At  last  I  met  with  a  considerable 
Company  who  were  going  off  rank  and  file.  I  called  to  the  officer  that 
led  them  and  asked  why  he  retreated?  lie  made  no  answer.  I  halted 
my  men  and  told  him  if  he  went  on  it  should  lie  at  his  peril.  Tie  still 
seemed  regardless  of  me.  I  then  ordered  my  men  to  make  ready. 
They  immediately  cocked,  and  declared  if  I  ordered  them  they  would 
fire.  Upon  that  they  stopped  short,  tried  to  excuse  themselves,  but  1 
could  not  tariy  to  bear  him  but  ordered  him  forward  and  he  complied." 

After  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  Washington  was  appointed  Com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  Continental  Army;  and  on  the  20th  of  August, 
1775,  he  wrote  from  Cambridge  to  Lund  Washington,  who  had  charge 
of  his  Virginia  estate,  among  other  things,  as  follows:  "The  people 
of  this  government  have  obtained  a  character  winch  they  by  no  means 
deserved — their  officers  generally  speaking  are  the  most  indifferent 
kind  of  people  I  ever  saw.  I  have  already  broke  one  Colonel  and  five 
captains  for  cowardice  or  for  drawing  more  pay  and  Urovisions  than 
they  had  men  in  their  Companies — there  is  two  morc^  Colonels  now 
under  arrest  and  to  be  tried  for  the  same  offense — in  short  they  are  by 


PATRIOTIC   DELUSIONS.  253 

no  uicjins  such  Troops  in  any  rospect  us  you  arc  Ird  to  holicvc  from 
tlie  iiecounts  which  arc  published,  l)Ut  I  need  not  make  myself  enemies 
amon.u'  tliem  by  tliis  declaration  altlioujili  it  is  consistent  with  trntli. 
I  dare  say   tlie  men   would   tight     very     well      (if     properly     ellicei-edi 

althouiili  tlu-y  are  exceedingly  dirty  and  nasty  peoiile.     Had  they  I n 

]>roperly  conducted  at  Bunker  Hill  (on  the  ITth  day  of  .Inne)  or  those 
tl'.at  were  tliere  projierly  supported,  the  Regulars  (the  I'.i'itislu  woiild 
have  met  witli  a  sliameful  defeat  and  a  mncli  moi'e  c(inside?-al>le  loss 
tlian  tliey  did  wliich  is  now  l^nown  to  l)e  exactly  l.OoT  Ivilled  and 
wounded.  It  was  for  tlieir  behavior  on  tliat  occasion  that  the  above 
ollicei-s  were  liroke,  for  I  never  sjiared  one  that  was  accused  of  co\v- 
aidice  but  brouglit  'em  to  inunediate  Tryal." 

At  the  t»attle  of  Oriskany,  where  the  bulk  of  the  Tryon  County 
Militia,  with  their  heroic  comniancU'r  at  their  lu-ad.  fought  NAitli  grea; 
courage  and  tenacity  in  tlie  terrible  andniscade  in  whicli  they  were 
caught,  the  rear  guard,  consisting  of  about  one-third  of  the  forces, 
turned  and  tied  on  the  first  tire  of  the  enemy,  and  thus  aban(h)ned  their 
struggling  comrades. 

in  Marcli.  177<'>.  Captain  .7.  li.  l>e  Witt,  in  a  letter  to  Cenei-.nl  (leorge 
Clinton,  declared  "That  indess  he  could  h;ive  his  piopei-  r;ink  (among 
llie  Captains)  according  to  tlie  (Late  of  his  Commission  he  would  never 
appear  in  the  field  witli  liis  Company." 

In  tlie  same  month.  Captain  .Tolin  Crage  wrote  to  (Jeiieral  Clinton 
th.at  he  had  laid  down  his  commission  and  that  he  would  never  serve 
in  the  militia  as  an  othcer  unless  he  could  liave  his  iil.-ice.  for  he  would 
"not  be  twice  superseded  and  still  serve."  Other  records  of  the  jieriod 
show  that  there  were  freijuent  mutinies  of  tli(>  soldiers  and  inferioi- 
otlicers  upon  various  iti'etexts.  that  it  was  nearly  alw.ays  dithcult  to 
till  up  the  ranks  of  the  army  by  enlistments.  an<I  that  the  niiliti;i  some- 
times refused  on  the  c;ill  of  tlie  proper  officers  to  march  against  the 
enemy,  and  tliat  they  resorted  to  all  kinds  of  artitices  to  avoid  service: 
and  all  this  in  times  of  great  peril  to  the  country.  And  fiauds  in  the 
ccnimiss.-ii'y  and  (piiirtermastei's'  dep.artments  were  not  uiKdiiniioM. 

I'npatriotic  conduct  was  not  contined  <  xclusively  to  the  army,  but 
men  not  in  the  army  could  not  be  kei>t  Iroiii  ti'cacliei-ous  coui'Munica- 
lions  with  the  enemy.  :ind  from  selling  to  them  suiiplies  gre:itly  nee(h<l 
by  tho  patiiot  army.  Silas  I>ean.  the  first  diplomatic  agent  sent  from 
this  country  to  Europe,  bi-traytd  his  trust  and  opened  treasonable  cor- 
rcsi)ondcnce  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean  witli  the  English. 

These  cases  of  un]iatriotic  conduct  caimot  be  |iaralleie<l  in  the  his- 
tories of  all  the  w.ars  in  which  our  country  has  been  engaged  since  the 
Revolution.  I  have  not  found  that  hist(M'y  recoids  :\  single  instan<-e 
in  all  such  wars  of  treachery  on  the  part  of  any  ollicei'  or  even  of  .any 
private  of  our  army.  I  know  of  no  case  in  such  wars  of  deserti(Ui  fr(»m 
our  iirmy  to  the  enemy.  In  the  Civil  war.  while  more  than  'J.."i( »(),()()() 
soldiers  were  enrolled  on  the  T'nion  side,   there  is  no   instance  known 


254  HERKIMEE  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

to  1110  where  u  single  soldier  or  oUieer  betrayed  his  Hag.  Ami  in  all 
these  wars  there  was  but  little  trouble  to  till  up  the  ranks  of  our  army. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  there  are  no  people  in  the  world  among  Avhoni 
there  is  so  much  patriotism  as  ther(>  now  is  among  the  people  of  the 
United  States.  This  grows  largely  out  of  the  fact  that  our  people 
have  the  best  government  in  the  vrorld  in  which  they  gove''ii  them- 
selves, and  enjoy  greater  felicity  and  prosperity  than  any  other  people. 
Under  such  circumstances,  patriotism  is  a  natural,  inevitable  growth 
like  family  ties,  love  of  lionu^  and  parents  and  children. 

It  is  a  common  delusion  that  the  battlefield  is  the  sole,  or  at  least  the 
main  theatre  for  the  display  of  patriotism;  and  nearly  all  the  com- 
memorative monuments  erected  in  the  jjublic  places  of  our  country 
are  in  honor  of  soldiers.  We  too  frequently  forget  that  those  who  in 
civil  life  devote  their  time  and  means  to  purify  and  elevate  private  and 
j)ublic  life,  to  improve  the  conditions  of  the  poor  and  the  suff(n-ing.  to 
spread  learning,  intelligence  and  religion  among  the  people,  to  develop 
the  resources  of  our  country,  and  to  carry  our  civilization  to  hi.gher  and 
higher  planes  are  as  true  patriots,  as  worthy  of  honor,  and  iit  least 
as  useful  as  those  who  face  danger  upon  the  field  of  battle. 

Within  the  past  few  years,  a  law  has  been  passed  in  our  St.ate  re- 
quiring our  national  fiag  to  be  displayed  at  every  school  house,  and 
encouraging  patriotic  exercises  in  connection  therewith  for  the  pro- 
fessed purpose  of  inculcating  patriotism.  This,  in  my  .iudgnient,  is 
another  delusion.  Patriotism  is  not  inculcated  in  that  way.  The  flag 
can  be  made  too  common.  It  is  an  adage  more  than  2,000  years  old, 
founded  upon  a  true  philosophy  of  the  luunan  mind,  that  "familiarity 
breeds  contempt."  These  performances  a\  ith  the  fiag  may  and  doubt- 
less will  stimulate  the  war  spirit,  but  it  never  will  in  any  apprecialjlo 
degree  imbed  in  youthful  minds  true  patriotism.  The  war  spirit  is  now 
too  rampant  in  our  land.  Great  masses  of  men  are  always  too  ready 
on  the  least  supposed  provocation  to  fight  England  or  any  other  nation, 
or  even  the  whole  world  combined.    Our  youths  should  be  taught  thai 

"Peace  hath  her  victories 
No  less  renowned  than  war." 

When  I  read  the  warlike  speeches  uttered  on  the  platform,  and  in 
legislative  halls  by  shouting  jingoes,  to  catch  the  popular  breeze,  I  ani 
reminded  of  the  saying  of  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  uttered  in  reference 
to  such  men,  that  "Patriotism  is  the  last  resort  of  a  scoundrel." 

It  has  not  been  my  purpose  in  what  I  have  written  to  call  in  (luestion 
the  patriotism  of  the  most  of  the  people  of  the  Revolutionary  period, 
but  to  show  that  it  is  a  delusion  to  believe  that  they  were  more  patri- 
otic than  the  people  of  this  day,  and  that  their  descendants,  while  ad- 
vancing in  nearly  all  other  respects,  have  deteriorated  in  their  patriot- 
ism. My  facts,  I  think,  incontestably  show  that  there  were  many  more 
cases  of  unpatriotic  conduct  during  the  Revolutionary  period  man  dur- 


PATRIOTIC   DELUSIONS.  255 

iii.ii  all  the  wars  in  (Uir  national  history  sinrc.  And  yet  that  pci-iod  was 
lilk'd  with  illustrions  examples  of  devoted  patriotism  which  will  nevi-r 
be  fori;otten;  and  it  save  to  the  Avorld  (leorye  Washiri,n't<ni.  one  of  the 
greatest  and  most  unsehish  patriots  the  world  has  ever  known,  whose 
eharaeter  and  achievements  cannot  he  stndied  too  closely  by  the  youths 
of  our  country. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  AND  ARBITRARY  POWER 
DURING  THE  CIVIL  WAR. 

AN   ADDRESS   BY   HON.    ROBERT   EARL,    OF    HERKIMER, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  May  ii,  1901. 

Were  those  who  oritieised  and  coiideiiined  the  arhitrary  aets  of  I'res- 
ident  Lincoln  during  the  Civil  war  charyealile  with  disloyalty? 

To  properly  answer  this  question,  a  few  antecedent  facts  of  history 
must  be  referred  to  so  as  to  show  the  political  training  and  the  envi- 
ronment of  the  men  of  that  time. 

The  writ  of  habeas  corpus  is  one  of  the  .t;n>at  jiolitical  lieii'l'^HMns  of 
our  race.  It  is  nearly  as  old  as  the  common  law.  and  has  always  l)een 
regarded  as  one  of  the  bulwarks  of  civil  liberty.  Its  purpose  is  I'elief 
from  illegal  restraint  and  imprisomnent.  and  lU'fense  against  arbitrary 
I'ower.  Without  it,  the  provision  in  Magna  Cliaita.  and  in  the  consti- 
tutions of  our  country,  that  no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  his  liberty 
without  due  process  of  law,  woiild  be  shorn  of  much  of  its  value. 
During  the  whole  of  English  history,  no  sovereign  has  assumed  the 
power  formally  to  suspend  the  writ;  and  lor  more  than  three  centuries 
no  Sovereign  of  England  could  have  suspended  it  without  arousing  a 
contest  with  the  people  which  would  have  endangered  the  crown. 
Charles  the  First  defied  the  writ  and  refused  to  permit  its  operation 
in  certain  cases,  claiming  that  he  was  above  the  law;  and  his  arbitrary 
acts  in  tlds  respect  were  among  the  causes  which  led  to  his  destruction. 
Thei-e  it  lias  always  been  recognized  that  the  power  to  authorize  the 
suspension  of  the  writ  is  a  legislative  power  vested  exclusively  in 
Parliament;  and  in  all  the  times  of  turmoil  and  rebellion  there,  that 
body  never  authorized  its  suspension  but  three  times — once  in  1744, 
when  a  French  invasion  was  feared — once  at  a  time  of  great  i)eril  in 
1817,  and  again  in  the  2rtth  year  of  Victoria  on  account  of  the  disorders 
in  Ireland.  This  writ  and  the  trial  by  jury  have  always  been  regarded 
as  the  two  great  palladiums  of  English  lilterty;  and  they  do  not  exist 
elsewhere  outside  of  the  English  speaking  peoples. 

In  this  country,  the  founders  of  our  Republic,  evei-  iilert  and  watch- 
ful to  guard  against  arbitrary  power,  and  to  protect  the  liberties  they 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN    AND   ARBITRARY   POWER  ^'5/ 

liiul  won  by  tlieir  pjitriotic  s.icriticcs  and  Milor,  inserted  in  th(>  Federal 
Constitution  the  i»ro\ision  that  "tlie  i)ri\  ileu*'  of  tlie  writ  of  lial)eas 
eorpus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless  when  in  case  of  reli(>llion  or  inva- 
siciu.  the  pulilie  safety  may  n-iiuire  it."  lU'fore  the  ("ivil  war.  our  coun- 
rry  had  passed  throu.uh  the  Kevoiutionary  war,  the  War  of  1S12  with 
Great  lUitain,  and  the  Mexican  war,  and  the  writ  had  never  been  sus- 
pended. Laws,  both  Kedei'al  and  State,  had  been  passed  under  which 
any  person  imprisoned  could  easily  and  readil.v  obtain  the  writ  froUi 
some  Court  or  Jud,t;-e,  and  have  the  cause  of  his  imprisonment  inves- 
ti^'ated  and  procui'e  his  rele.ise  if  illeually  detained. 

It  was  one  of  the  fundamental  principles  for  wiiieli  our  liberty-loving 
ancestors  always  contended  that  the  military  should  be  subi^rdinate 
to  the  civil  power;  and  our  uation  began  its  life  in  177<i  Ity  a  protest 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  against  military  usurpations.  Dur- 
ing the  lU'volutionary  war,  in  which  the  patriots  staked  "their  lives, 
their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor,"  on  the  vesidt  of  the  struggle, 
tliey  always  asserted  and  enforced  the  subordination  of  the  luilitary 
to  the  civil  power;  and  in  most  of  tlie  states  such  subordination  was 
framed  into  tlieir  constitutions.  Thougli  (General  Washington  was 
clothed  witli  almost  dictatori;il  power,  even  in  the  darkest  days  of  tlie 
Revolutionary  struggle,  he  never  presumed  to  overrich'  the  civil  law, 
or  to  disregai'd  the  ordei's  of  tlic  Courts  except  in  extreme  emergen- 
cies by  express  authority  of  Congress  or  of  the  States.  During  all  the 
prior  wars  In  which  our  countr.v  had  been  engaged,  martial  law  had 
not  anywhere  been  proclaimed  or  enforced  except  by  Ceneral  Jackson 
in  ISl")  at  New  Orleans;  and  his  arl)itrary  .acts  tliere.  although  appear- 
ing at  the  time  to  be  necess.-iry.  wei-e  never  afterward  justified  as  legal 
t>ven  l).v  liimself. 

P.y  the  people  of  our  country  of  all  shades  of  political  opinion,  a  large 
standing  army  was  consideretl  dangerous  to  liberty.  We  h:id  all  Ikh-u 
educated  in  tliat  way.  In  tlie  history  of  nations,  large  armies  had 
always  been  tlie  tools  of  usui-pers  and  tyrants  used  to  oppi'ess  the  peo- 
ple; and  lience  our  regular  army  h;id  .always  been  kept  small.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  Civil  war.  it  was  h'ss  than  15.0(K>.  I'.ut  .lanuary 
1.  isci',  it  was  over  575,000.  March  ol,  1S<;2,  it  was  over  (m7.000.  Janu- 
ary 1.  1S«;;5,  it  was  over  DIS.OOO;  and  when  it  was  mustered  out  at  the 
close  of  the  war  it  was  more  than  1.0(io.(i()(r;  and  in  addition  to  all  these 
soldiers  was  the  force  belonging  to  th"  navy.  Of  these  enormous 
foi'ces,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  the  Coinmander-in-chief.  They  were  sub- 
.iect  to  his  orders  and  obedient  to  his  will.  What  did  our  people  then 
know  about  him?  Before  the  war.  he  had  never  been  much  tried  in 
public  life,  lie  was  simply  known  as  ,i  i)romineiit  Republican  poli- 
tician, who  had  become  distinguished  as  iUi  ehxpieiit  and  zeahms  oppon- 
ent of  the  extension  and  dominance  of  slavery.  How  d;ingerous  he 
might  become  to  the  liberties  of  our  country,  wliether  he  would  become 
a  Washington,  or  a  Cromwell,  or  a  P.onaparte,  whether  he  would  be- 


258  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

come  iutoxicated  with  the  power  he  possessed,  whether  he  would  use 
his  power  solely  for  the  welfdre  of  his  country,  or  for  the  aggrandize- 
ment of  himself  or  of  his  party,  comparatively  few  men  could  then  tell. 
He  was  not  then  generally  known,  as  we  know  him  now  after  the  rays 
of  history  have  beat  upon  his  character  showing  him  to  have  been  a 
humane,  patriotic  ruler,  whose  sole  purpose  was  to  discharge  his  duty 
and  save  the  Union.  Then  again,  he  was  the  chief  of  a  political  party 
bestowing  his  vast  patronage  upon  his  partisans,  many  of  whom  were 
lilled  with  fanatical  hatred  of  those  who  did  not  share  in  their  political 
faith. 

^Yith  these  antecedents,  and  under  these  circumstances,  the  people 
of  the  North  found  themselves  in  18G1  and  afterward  involved  in  the 
Civil  war,  with  soldiers  everywhere  mustering  for  battle,  and  the 
strains  of  martial  music,  in  all  the  States,  saluting  the  rising  and  the 
setting  sun.  It  was  not,  during  the  war,  questioned  by  anyone  that  the 
President,  or  any  commander  by  his  authority  could  proclaim  martial 
law,  and  thus  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  any  of  the  rebel 
States,  and  in  any  other  part  of  the  country  where  the  Union  armies 
were  actually  operating  against  the  enemy.  The  power  to  do  these 
things  is  founded  somewhat  upon  the  maxim  inter  arma  silent  leges; 
and  it  belongs  to  all  military  commanders  operating  against  enemies 
in  a  country  which  is  the  theatre  of  war.  President  Lincoln  was  crit- 
icized, and  by  many  condemned  for  arbitrary  acts  in  loyal  States  far 
from  the  theatre  of  war,  and  it  is  with  these  acts  that  I  am  now 
concerned. 

Apri-1  25th,  18G1,  the  President  issued  an  order  authorizing  General 
Scott  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  Maryland;  and  two  days 
later,  an  order  authorizing  him  personally  or  through  a  subordinate 
commander  to  suspend  it  "at  any  point  on  or  in  the  vicinity  of  any 
military  line  which  is  now  or  which  shall  be  used  between  the  City 
of  Philadelphia  and  the  City  of  Washington."  July  2nd,  18G1,  he 
issued  a  similar  order  for  the  suspension  of  the  writ  "on  or  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  any  military  line"  between  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Washing- 
ton; and  an  order  October  14,  thereafter  suspending  the  writ  in  any 
place  between  Bangor  in  Maine,  and  Washington.  On  the  2nd  day  of 
December,  38G1,  he  issued  an  order  authorizing  General  Halleck.  com- 
manding the  Department  of  Missouri,  to  suspend  the  writ  within  the 
limits  of  his  military  department,  and  to  exercise  martial  lav,'  as  he 
found  it  necessary  in  his  discretion  "to  secure  the  public  safety  and  the 
authority  of  the  United  States."  It  must  be  remembered  that  Missouri 
never  seceded  from  the  Union,  and  that  maiiy  of  its  citizens  were  in 
the  Union  armies  during  the  entire  war  fighting  for  the  Union. 

Px'ior  to  February  14th.  18G2,  many  citizens  of  loyal  States  had  been 
arbitrarily  arrested  and  confined,  and  denied  the  privilege  of  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus;  and  partially  to  silence  the  clamor  made  on  account 
of  such  arrests,  on  that  day,  the  President  issued  an  oi'der  directing 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  AND  ARBITRARY  POWER.  259 

that  "all  political  prisoners  now  held  in  military  custody  be  released 
on  their  subscribing  to  a  parole  engaging  tliein  to  render  no  aid  or 
comfort  to  the  enemies  in  hostility  to  the  United  States.  The  Secretary 
of  War  will,  however,  in  his  discretion,  except  from  the  effect  of  this 
order  any  persons  detained  as  spies  in  the  service  of  the  insuiTection, 
and  others  whose  release  at  the  present  moment  may  be  deemed  incom- 
patible with  the  public  safety;"  and  on  the  27th  of  the  same  month 
he  issued  an  orde:r,  appointing  a  special  commission  consisting  of  Gen- 
eral Dix  and  Edwards  Pierrepont  of  New  York,  "to  examine  the  cases 
of  the' St&te  prisb'ners  remaining  in  the  military  custody  of  the  United 
States,- and' tti  det'erihilie' whether  in  view  of  the  public  safety  and  the 
existing  rebellion  theyj^hduld  be  discharged  or  remain  in  military  cus- 
tody, or  bei'ehiitted  fO'th#'<!ivil'tribunals  for  trial;"  and  they  were  to 
hear  the  cases  ex  parte  ^nd  in  a  summary  manner. 

At  that  time  many  of  the  persons  who  had  been  arbitrarily  arrested 
in  loyal  States  without  warrant,  and  without  the  exhibition  of  any 
charges  against  them,  were  confined  in  Fort  Lafayette,  near  New 
York,  and  Fort  Warren,  near  Boston,  and  in  other  prisons;  and  one 
of  the  circumstances  that  made  their  condition  hard  was  that  they  were 
frequently  not  permitted  .the  benefit  of  counsel,  and  that  access  to  the 
civil  courts  Was  practically  denied  to  them.  They  were  in  fact  given 
to  understand  that  the  employment  of  counsel  Would  prejudice  their 
case^. ;  In  De'cember,  1801,  Seth  C.  Hawley,  who  was  then  Chief  Clerk 
p.f  th<?  Metropolitan  Police  Commissioners  of  New  Y'ork,  acting,  as  he 
.stated,  under  order  of  William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State,  read  to 
the  prisoners- confined  in  Fort  Lafayette  the  following  paper:  "I  am 
instructed  by  the  Secretary  of  State  to  inform  you  that  the  Dep.'irtment 
of  State  of  the  United  States  will  not  recognize  any  one  as  an  attorney 
fa;'  pplitical  prisoners,  and  will  look  with  distrust  upon  all  applications 
for  relief  through  such  channels;,  and  that  such  applications  will  be 
regarded  as  additional  reasons  foi:  declining  to  release  the  prisoners-, 
and  further,  that  if  such  prisoners  wish  to  make  any  communication 
to  the  government  they  are  at  liberty  -and  are  requested  to  make  it 
directly  to  the  State  Department."  That  was  the  first  time,  at  least 
In  our  country,  when  the  employment  of  counsel  by  a  prisoner  was  held 
to,  prejudice  his  ease.  It  is'not  strange  that  such  a  paper  should  have 
emanated  from  that  source,  as  about  that  time  Mr.  Sewai-d,  in  a  con- 
versation with  Lord  Lyon,  then  ambassador  to  this  country  from  Great 
Britain,  said:  "My  Lord,  I  can  touch  a  bell  on  my  right  hand,  and 
order  the  arrest  of  a  citizen- of  Ohio;  I  can  touch  a  bell  again,  and  order 
the  ifuprisonment  of  a  citizen  of  New  York;  and  no  power  on  earth 
■except  tjiat  of  the  President,  can  release  them.  Can  the  Queen  of 
England  do  as  much?"  The  noble  Lord  could  have  humiliated  the 
great  Secretary  revelling  in  his  newly  assumed  power  by  quoting  the 
■.language  of  the  Earl  of  Chatham,  uttered  in  the  English  Parliament: 


260  HERKlMliK   COUNTY   HlSTOiaCAL  SOCIETY 

"The  poorest  iiiiui  in  his  cottage  may  bid  defiance  to  all  the  power  of 
the  crown.  It  may  be  frail;  its  roof  may  sliake;  tlie  wind  may  blow 
throiigli  it;  the  storm  may  enter;  the  rain  may  enter;  but  the  King  of 
England  cannot  enter.  All  liis  power  dares  not  cross  the  tlireshold  of 
that  ruined  tenement." 

The  ordt^r  of  the  President  to  Secretary  Stanton  of  February  14th, 
was  a  delusion,  because  it  authorized  him  to  retain  in  prison  all  per- 
sons, Avhether  guilty  of  any  crime  or  not,  whose  release  he,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  sole  arbitrary  discretion,  "deemed  incompatible  witli  tlie 
public  safety."  In  tlie  same  order,  however,  to  prevent  Mr.  Seward 
from  touching  his  bell  too  often,  he  provided  that  "extraordinary 
arrests  will  hereafter  be  made  under  the  direction  of  the  military 
authorities  alone." 

On  the  15th  day  of  April,  1862,  the  President  issued  an  order  to  Gen- 
eral Dix,  commanding  at  Baltimore,  in  a  State  whicli  had  not  seceded, 
:iuthorizing  him  to  "arrest  and  imprison  disloyal  persons,  declnre  mar- 
tial law  and  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  in  the  city  of  Baltimore 
or  any  part  of  his  command,  and  to  exercise  and  perform  all  military 
powers,  functions  and  authority  that  he  may  deem  proper  for  the  safety 
of  his  command  or  to  secure  obedience  and  respect  to  the  authority 
and  government  of  the  United  States."  This  order  gave  the  command- 
ing general  absolute  power  over  several  hundred  tliousand  people,  de- 
priving them  of  all  redress  under  th-:'  civil  laws  for  any  of  his  acts.  He 
was  the  sole  .ludge  of  what  was  disloyal,  (which  in  the  nomenclature 
of  that  day  was  a.  very  comprehensive  term),  and  of  what  acts  were 
dangerous;  and  all  this  in  a  community  where  a  majority  of  the  people 
were  loyal,  where  there  was  an  ample  military  force  to  preserve  order 
and  support  the  civil  power;  and  where  all  the  courts  were  open  for 
the  discharge  of  their  regular  duties. 

On  the  2Gth  day  of  July,  1862,  Mr.  Secretary  Stanton  issued  to  H.  H. 
Hoxie,  United  States  Marshal  of  the  District  of  Iowa,  the  following 
order:  "You  are  hereby  authorized  and  instructed  to  arrest  and  im- 
I'rison  any  disloyal  person  or  persons  in  your  district  who  shall  do  any 
act  or  make  any  declaration  or  publication  to  discourage  or  prevent 
the  enlistment  of  volunteers  to  suppress  the  rebellion,  or  to  afford  aid 
and  comfort  to  tlie  enemies  of  the  United  States.  *  *  *  Any  per- 
son or  persons  arrested  under  this  authority  you  will  transport  in  safe 
custody  to  the  Military  Governor  of  the  District  of  Columbia."  This 
cruel  order  which  authorized  the  marshal  in  the  exercise  of  his  discre- 
tion to  arrest  any  person  and  take  him  more  tlian  a  thousand  miles  from 
his  liomp  for  confinement  must  have  been  intended  to  intimidate  those 
persons  in  Iowa,  a  State  nearly  a  thousand  miles  from  the  theatre  of 
actual  war,  who  were  opposed  to  the  party  of  the  President.  A  copy 
of  this  order  was  apparently  sent  to  S.  .1.  Kirkwood,  (Governor  of  the 
State  of  Iowa,  and  he  sent  it  to  his  friend  Lowery  with  these  endorse- 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN    AND   ARBITRARY   POWER  261 

ments  upon  it:  "Kead  the  within  carefully,  and  if  any  one  in  your 
region  comes  within  its  terms,  write  to  Hoxie."  "P.  S. — Tliere  are 
persons,  if  I  mistalce  not,  in  Wapello  county  that  need  attendin;i'  to." 

Two  more  extraordinary  orders  were  issued  by  Secretary  Stanton 
by  direction  of  the  President,  both  on  the  8th  day  of  August,  lS(i2, 
one  authorizing  all  marshals,  deputy  marshals  and  military  olTicers  of 
the  United  States  to  arrest  all  persons  liable  to  be  drafted  who  are 
about  to  depart  from  the  United  States,  and  "to  suspend  the  writ  of 
liabeas  corpus  in  respect  to  all  persons  so  arrested  and  detained,  and 
in  respect  to  all  persons  arrested  for  disloyal  practices;"  another  older, 
"First,  that  all  United  State  marshals  and  superintendents  and  chiefs 
of  police  of  any  town,  city  or  district  be  and  they  are  hereby  authorized 
and  directed  to  arrest  any  person  or  persons  Avho  may  be  engaged  by 
act,  speech  or  writing  in  discouraging  volunteer  enlistments,  oi  in  any 
way  giving  aid  and  comfort  to  the  e^iemy,  or  for  any  other  disloyal 
practice  against  the  United  States.  Second,  tliat  innnediate  rci)ort  l)e 
made  to  Major  L.  C".  Turner,  Judge  Advocate,  in  order  that  such  per- 
sons may  be  tried  by  a  military  commission." 

These  orders  were  to  operate  througliout  the  United  States.  No  com- 
munity, however  loyal  and  however  distant  from  the  field  of  warlike 
operations,  was  outside  of  their  scope.  Every  marshal,  every  deputy 
marshal  and  every  military  officer,  however  low  his  grade,  and  the 
police  otiicers  named  could  arrest  any  person  wlio  he  supposed  to  l)e 
liable  to  any  draft  or  whom  he  suspected  of  disloyal  practices,  giving 
their  own  detinition  to  disloyalty;  and  all  such  persons  when  arrested 
were  deprived,  by  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  of  any 
redress  in  the  courts  although  throughout  the  North  they  were  at  ail 
times  open  and  in  the  full  discharge  of  their  regular  duties.  Moie  arbi- 
trary orders  were  never  issued  by  any  ruler  in  any  civilized  country 
during  the  last  three  centuries.  A  distinguished  jurist  of  this  State 
who  had  aided  in  founding  the  party  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  told  me 
that  he  stood  by  his  party,  and  supported  the  acts  of  the  I'residenr 
until  the  issuing  of  these  orders,  when  he  felt  obliged  to  leave  his  party, 
and  join  the  opposition  to  the  President,  believing  that  the  liberties  of 
our  country  were  in  danger,  and  fearing  that  he  might  be  arrested  by 
some  minion  of  power  for  some  judicial  act  conscientiously  performed. 
About  this  time.  Lyman  Trumbel,  United  States  Senator  from  Illinois, 
an  early  and  staunch  friend  of  the  I'resident.  and  one  of  tli<  .-iblest 
statesmen  and  jurists  of  the  nation  .and  witli  liim  many  otlier  mem- 
bers of  the  President's  party,  began  to  criticise  these  arbitri'.ry  acts, 
and  to  deny  the  power  of  the  President  to  suspend  the  ,vrit  of  habeas 
corpus  or  declare  martial  law  in  loyal  States.  Among  these  critics  was 
Benjamin  R.  Curtis,  of  Boston,  who  in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
delivered  the  famous  dissenting  opinion  in  tlie  Dred  Scot  case.  He 
was  one  of  the  ablest  jurists  this  country  has  ever  produced.  Among 
otlier  things  he  said:     "It  lias  been  attempted  by  some  p.atriotic  jour- 


-S'.q     11.,.  ,.■_,:  .         ,     V. 
262  HERKIMER  COUNTY  IllsasOHICAI.  SOCIETY. 

'"  M-  "''  •'  ^  ,  >t.' 
nals  to  raise  the  cry  of  disloyalty  against  any  one'wlio  should  question 
these  executive  acts.  But  the  people  of  the. United.  States  know  that 
loyalty  is  not  subserviency  to  a  man,  qr  to  a  party,  -o,r  toi^the  opinions, 
of  newspapers;  but  that  it  is  an  honest  and  wise  devotion  1^0  the  safety 
and  welfare  of  our  country,  and  to  the  great  principles  wliic^  .opr  con- 
stitution of  government  embodies,  by  which  alone  that  ^safety  and  Wei-' 
fare  can  be  secured;  and  when  these  principles  ai,'e  put  in  jeopardy 
every  truly  loyal  man  must  interpose  according  to  hi^,, lability;  or  be 
an  unfaithful  citizen.  This  is  not  a  government  of  ,m^,^,it  is  a  govern- 
ment of  law.  and  the  laws  are  recpiired  l:)y'the  pe.ople  t(>  he  in  conform- 
ity with  their  wiJl  declared  bv  the  Constitution.  Our  loyalty-  is  due  to" 
that  will,  our  obedience  is  duo  to  tliose  Iftyt-s-j;  ai),d  Jie  who  wo«Jd*induc<^ 
submission  to  other  laws  springing  froiu  sopiv'ces  of  pow0r  not- originat- 
ing in  the  people,  but  in  casual  events.  ti0i}Jn- dhe  mere  Avill -of' the' 
occupants  of  places  of  power  does  not  e:\h.0J"t.  us  to  loyal-ty,  but  to  .a 
desertion  of  our  trust."  But  these  criticisms  were  unavailing;  -  and 
on  the  24th  day  of  September,  18(52,  the  I'resident  issued  a  most  extra- 
ordinary proclamation  that,  "ifirst,  during  the  existing.  in§uiT€;ct4on.- 
and  as  a  necessary  Avar  measure  for  suppressiug  the  sa-iri'g>i^|Pi'^bels 
and  insurgents,  their  aiders  and  abettors,  within'  the  United  S-t-ates;  and- 
all  persons  discouraging  volunteer  enlistments,  resisting  military  drafts' 
or  guilty  of  any  disloyal  practices  .affording  aid  and  comfort 'to  rebels 
against  tlie  authority  of  the  United  States  shall  be  subject  to  martial 
law,  and  liable  to  trial  and  punishment  by  a  Court  ]Martia]  or  Military 
Commission.  Second,  .that  the  writ  of  liabeas  corpus  is  suspended  in 
respect  to  all  such  persons  arrested,  or  who  are  now,  or  hereafter  dur- 
ing tlie  rebellion,  shall  be  imprisoned  iu  any  fort,  camp,  arsenal,  mili- 
tary prison,  or  other  place  of  conliuejinent  by  any  military  authority, 
or  by  the  sentence  of  any  Court  Martial  or  Military  Commission." 
This  proclamation  still  more  sweeping  in  its  language  than  the  prior' 
orders  aroused  much  clamor  in  the  loyal  States.  It  placed  the  liberty 
of  every  citizen  in  the  al)solute  power  of  the  President  and  the  officers 
of  every  grade  acting  under  him  or  by- his  authority,  and  closed  all  the 
Courts  against  the  victims  of  arbitrary  power.  -  It  aroused  much  ad- 
verse criticism  throughout  the  North  and  "R'as  much  denounced  in  Con- 
gress by  the  Democrats  and  some  Republicans-.  The  right  of  the  Pres- 
ident to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  denied,  and  it  was 
claimed  that,  under  the  federal  constitution,  the  writ  could  be  suspend- 
ed only  by  authority  of  an  act  of  Congress,  and  it  was  strenuously  con- 
tended that  neither  the  President  nor  any  military  commander  could 
declare  or  enforce  martial  law  anywhere  except  where  actual  war 
existed  Avith  hostile  forces  in  the  field.  These  criticisms  were  so  forci- 
ble and  the  clamor  against  arbitrary  arrests,  martial  law  and  the  sus- 
pension of  the  writ  so  loud  and  general  that  on  the  third  day  of  March, 
1863,  Congress  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  President,  during  the 
rebellion,  to  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  throughout  the  United 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN   AND   ARBITRARY   POWER  263 

States;  and  on  the  loth  day  of  Sei)teml)er  thereafter,  the  I'resident 
issued  a  proehimation  under  that  act  suspeliding  the  writ  in  ;ill  cases 
where  by  his  authority  military,  naval  and  civil  officers  of  tln'  United 
States  "held  persons  in  tlieir  custody,  eitlier  as  prisoners  of  war,  spies 
or  aiders  or  abettors  of  the  enemy,"  and  other  persons  described. 

There  is  no  dispute  now  tliat  before  tl:e  passage  of  tliis  act  tiie  Pres- 
ident had  no  power  undei'  tlie  Constitution  to  suspend  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus.  All  commentators  on  tlie  Constitution  and  all  tlie  .judi- 
cial autliorities  are  to  that  effect.  And  it  is  eipi.tlly  well  settled  that 
neither  he  nor  any  army  otlic-er  Iiad  tlie  right  to  declai'e  and  enforce 
martial  law  or  set  up  a  military  commission  for  tlie  trial  of  any  person 
in  any  State  or  district  where  there  was  no  war,  which  was  in  no  sense 
the  theatre  of  war,  and  wliere  the  civil  courts  were  open  and  in  full 
discliarge  of  their  duties.  It  was  disputed  whether,  even  uiKler  this 
act,  the  President  could  suspend  the  writ  in  peaceful  and  orderly  com- 
munities far  from  the  seat  of  war.  But  arrests  l)y  United  Stales  civil 
and  military  otlicers  went  on.  It  was  easy  to  luring  nearly  all  the  per- 
sons who  differed  from  the  I'resident,  or  criticised  his  ;icts.  oi-  (jues- 
tioned  the  civil  or  railitai-y  policy  he  pursued,  or  denounced  unwar- 
ranted arbitrary  arrests  and  martial  law,  witliin  tlie  l)road  and  con- 
venient phrases,  "aiders  and  abettors  of  the  rebellion, "  "giving  aid  and 
comfort  to  the  enemy."  Many  who  were  not  arrested,  were  aiarmed, 
intimidated  and  exasperated;  and  it  is  easy  to  see  now.  that  these 
arbitraiy  measures  worked  more  liarm  tlian  good  to  tlie  Union  cause. 

Subordinate  military  commanders  were  not  slow  to  follow  these 
examples  of  arbitrary  power  set  by  tlie  Comm.-uider-in-cliief.  On  the 
l.'jth  of  Aioi'il,  18()3,  General  Purnside,  then  in  command  of  the  L)(>part- 
ment  of  Ohio,  with  zeal  tired  and  judgment  Avarped  by  liis  recent  dis- 
graceful defeat  at  Fredericlcsl)urg.  issued  an  order.  No.  38.  announcing 
that  "all  persons  found  witliin  our  lines  who  commit  acts  for  tlie  bene- 
fit of  the  enemies  of  our  country  will  be  tried  as  spies  or  traitors,  and 
if  convicted,  will  sulfer  death;"  and  he  announced  among  the  acts  com- 
ing within  the  scope  of  his  order,  "the  habit  of  declaring  sympathy 
for  the  enemy;"  and  he  declared  that  "Treason,  express  or  implied, 
will  not  be  tolerated  in  this  Department."  ^A'llat  was  meant  by  "de- 
claring sympathy  for  the  enemy,"  "by  acts  for  the  benefit  of  the  en- 
emy" and  by  "implied  treason'.'"  These  phrases  contain  tlie  sting  of 
this  extraordinary  order  and  made  it  so  conipreliensive  that  a  large 
portion  of  the  people  of  Ohio  could,  if  desired,  be  brouglit  within  its 
scope.  Tills  order  aroused  gi'eat  apprehension  and  bitter  criticism, 
not  only  in  Ohio,  but  throughout  the  Northern  States;  and  Mr.  Valan- 
digliam,  who  had  been  a  prominent  Democratic  member  of  Congress, 
denounced  it  in  strong  tei'ms  at  a  Democratic  meeting  which  lie  and 
others  addi'essed.  For  this  he  was  arrested  by  a  coniiiany  of  armed 
soidiei-s  at  his  home  in  Dayton,  who  fca'cid  their  way  into  1>i«  lunise 
for  that  piu'pose.     He  was  carried  to  Cincinnati  and  put  in  prison  and 


2G4:  HKHKIMER   COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

kept  in  close  conllnement  until  he  Wiis  brou.ylit  before  ;i  Military  Com- 
mission organized  by  General  Biirnside  for  his  trial.  He  protested 
against  the  whole  proceeding.  But  he  was  fonnd  guilty  of  the  charges 
against  him  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment  in  some  military  fortress 
during  the  war.  This  proceeding  was  ai)])roved  by  tlie  President  ex- 
cept that  he.  wilh  grim  humor,  modilled  the  sentence  to  deportation 
into  the  Confederate  fines.  All  this  took  place  in  a  loyal  State,  where 
the  ciA'il  courts  were  open  and  where  a  military  commission  was  abso- 
lutely without  authority  to  try  any  citizen  not  in  the  army,  as  it  was 
afterward  held  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  vStates  in  the  case 
of  ex  parte  Milligan  4  Wallace  0. 

These  proceedings  created  a  profound  sensation  throughout  the  coun- 
try. They  were  assailed  in  public  meetings,  in  speeches,  editoi'ials  and 
pamphlets;  and  f-ome  of  the  most  loyal  supporters  of  the  administra- 
tion joined  in  the  attacks.  One  of  (xeneral  Kurnside's  own  staff  offi- 
cers, Colonel  Cutts,  wrote  to  the  President  that  "Order  No.  88  has 
kindled  the  tires  of  hatred  and  contention."  To  a  pul»lic  meeting  called 
at  Albany  to  take  action  in  reference  t>)  tlie  arrest  of  Valandigham, 
(Jovernor  Seymour  wrote,  saying  among  other  things:  "It  is  an  act 
which  has  brought  dishonor  upon  om-  country:  it  is  full  of  danger  to 
our  persons  and  to  our  homes.  *  *  *  If  is  not  merely  a  stej!  towai'd 
revolution,  it  is  revolution:  it  will  not  only  lead  to  military  des])otism. 
it  establishes  military  despotism."  The  resolutions  adopted  at  this 
meeting  Avere  sent  to  the  I'resident,  and  he  replied  in  a  lengthv  letter, 
justifying  the  action  of  Oeneral  P>urnside:  and  he  never  revoked  or 
modified  Order  No.  38. 

But  there  was  still  a  greater  stretch  of  power  by  the  Pres- 
ident which  no  historian  or  jurist  has  yet  attempted  to  justif.v. 
On  the  ITtli  day  of  May,  ]8(i4,  some  person  desiring  to  influ- 
I'uce  the  stock  markets  forged  what  ptu-ported  to  V)e  a  proclamation 
of  the  I'resident  calling  in  terms  of  exaggerated  depression  for  four 
hundred  thotisand  troops:  and  he  took  it  to  the  newspapers  in  New 
York  for  publication  claiming  to  have  obtained  it  in  Washington.  It 
iiad  the  appe.-irance  of  being  geiuiine,  and  tlie  New  York  World  and 
the  New  York  Journal  of  Commerci'  ^\■ere  deceived  and  in  good  faith 
published  it.  Then  the  I'resident,  withotit  any  inquiry,  issued  an  order 
to  General  Dix,  who  had  charge  of  the  military  forces  in  and  about 
New  Y'ork,  commanding  him  "to  arrest  and  imprison  in  any  fort  or 
military  prison  in  your  command  the  editors,  proprietors  and  pul)lishers 
of  the  aforesaid  newspapers;  and  all  stich  persons  as,  after  pttblic  notice 
has  been  given  of  the  falseliood  of  such  publication,  shall  piint  and 
publish  the  same  with  intent  to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemy; 
and  you  will  Jiold  the  persons  so  arrested  in  close  custody  until  they 
can  be  brought  to  trial  before  a  military  commission  for  their  offences. 
Y'ott  will  also  take  possession  by  military  force  of  the  printing  estab- 
lishments of  the  New  Y'ork  World  and  Journal  of  Commerce  and  hold 


ABRAHAM   LINCOLN   AND   AHBITKARY   POWER.  265 


lis 


tlic  sainc  until  riu-tlicr  ordi'i-s  and  iiroliibit  any  I'lirtiKT  ]iiil)licatii> 
tlu'i'(.'l'r()!ii."  This  order  was  olicyt'd  by  (Iciifral  l>ix.  and  the  ini))lifa- 
tloii  of  tlic  two  papers  was  susiteiidrd  for  two  days,  wlieii  the  rnifed 
States  authorities  heeoiuiiiL;-  satislied  tliai  tlie  iiulilieatiou  of  the  pro- 
(laiuatiiai  was  due  to  iiiistal<.e  released  the  persons  arrested  :;iid  the 
newspaper  estahlishiiK'nts.  and  tlie  pulilieation  of  tlie  papers  was  re- 
sumed. These  e\t raoKlinary  acts  created  .ureat  exeiteiiieiit  in  this 
State,  and  Horatio  Seymour,  then  .governor,  called  luiblie  attention 
to  tliem  and  (h'lioiinced  tluin  as  .-ii-liitrary  inxasions  of  the  fundamental 
li.iihts  of  liberty  and  projierty. 

The  brevity  reipiired  for  this  oc<'asion  lorbids  tli.at  1  should  specify 
many  of  the  liuiuh-eds  <d'  cases  of  arbitrary  arrests  made  without  war- 
rant in  loyal  States  far  from  the  theatre  of  war.  The  victims  were 
genera l!y  carried  far  from  llieir  homes,  jiiid  conlined  in  vile  prisons, 
and  finally  disclKarm-d  without  trial  or  even  tlie  evhibition  of  any 
char,u('s  against  them.  1  will  refer  to  but  a  few  cases  which  from  their 
jteculiar  eiincumsta  n<-cs  .-ittriicfed  most   attention  in  this  State-. 

(>ctol)er  22nd.  isi;l,  Hon.  Francis  I  >.  I'laiiders  and  .Indue  .biseph 
riauders.  of  M.-iI-.ne,  in  this  State,  were  arrested  by  four  deputy  luar- 
slials  under  ;i  special  order  from  William  II.  Seward,  directing;'  the 
I'nited  States  marshal  to  ai-rest  them  ami  convey  them  to  Fort  Lafay- 
ette. They  \\vir  taken  to  that  fort,  and  after  centinemeiit  tli:  re.  they 
Vt'ere  conveyecl  ti>  Fort  Wiurci)  in  the  I'-ostoii  h.irlior.  ami  tlu-re  they 
were  coiitined  uiilil  February  l22nd.  when  they  were  discharucd  without 
any  trial,  or  even  a  hearin.t;'  u[u)ii  any  chari^cs. 

Rev.  .Iuds(m  I  >.  P>enedict.  a  ('ami»ellite  minister,  born  and  reared  iu 
the  State  of  ACrmout.  wlio  li;id  not  voted  for  fifteen  years,  in  August, 
ISCL.',  i>reaehed  a  farewell  sermon  to  his  con.ure.uation  at'  East  Aurora, 
iu  this  State,  takin.t;-  his  text  from  Christ's  seruion  on  the  mount.  lake 
the  Quakers,  he  \v;is  conscientiously  ojipos^'d  to  A\;irs  of  any  kind.  ;ind 
so  told  his  iieoi)le.  For  preachiuu  this  sermon  he  w;is  .arrested  by  a 
dei)uty  inarsluii.  His  counsel  obtained  from  I'nited  States  .Tudu'e  Ilall 
a  writ  of  Iialieas  eorpus;  and  upon  the  hearin.i;-  on  the  return  to  that 
writ,  the  Jnd,L;-e,  uivinu'  a  very  able  and  elaborate  oiiinicui.  disdiar.ued 
him.  Before  he  could  le.ave  the  court  room,  the  inarslial  au.ain  by  a 
special  order  from  the  Secretary  of  War  directing  liim  to  dis'ibey  ;iuy 
writ  of  habeas  coriuis.  rearrested  him.  and  hurryiuL;-  him  off.  conveyed 
him  to  Washin.uton.  wlna'e  he  w.-is  conliiud  for  several  weeks  in  the 
old  Capitol  jirison.  when  he  was  taken  before  the  .Tudue  Advocate  and 
without  any  trial  or  the  exhiliitiou  of  any  char.ucs  a.uainst  him,  he  was 
diseharged.  In  answer  to  his  iinpiii'y  why  he  was  arrested  and  impris- 
oned, the  Judge  Advocate  replied:  '•Oh.  it  was  mily  to  show  the  people 
that  the  military  power  is  now  above  the  civil  jiower." 

The  (a'owuing  outrage,  so  far  as  this  Slate  was  concerned,  is  yet  to 
be  stated.  It  relates  to  the  arrest  of  several  jirominent  citizens  of  this 
State  •who  were  concerned  with  the   votes  of  soldiers  from   this   State 


268  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

ill  the  field  near  Wasliiiigton.  In  18G3,  a  law  was  passed  by  tlie  Legis- 
lature of  tills  State  authorizing  the  Governor  to  appoint  suitable  agents 
to  provide  additional  relief  for  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  from  this 
State,  and  to  perform  such  other  duties  for  the  relief  of  the  soldiers 
as  he  might  direct.  And  in  April,  18(54,  an  act  was  passed  enabling 
our  soldiers  in  the  field  to  vote.  Under  these  acts.  Colonel  Samuel 
North  of  Otsego  county,  one  of  the  most  respectable  citizens  of  our 
State,  Major  Levi  Cohn  of  Albany  and  Lieutenant  Marvin  M.  Jones  of 
Utica,  were  appointed  by  Horatio  Seymour,  then  Governor,  to  go  to 
AVashington  to  discharge  tlieir  duties  under  these  acts.  They  went  to 
Washington  to  discharge  their  duties,  and  there  they  opened  an  office; 
and  while  engaged  in  giving  relief  to  the  soldiers  and  aiding  tliem  under 
the  law  of  this  State  in  preparing  their  votes,  they  were  arbitrarily 
arrested  the  latter  part  of  October,  18G4,  by  tlie  order  of  Mr.  Dana, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  Wai",  whicli  contained  the  statement  tliat  it  was 
issued  by  order  of  the  President,  and  which  directed  the  seizure  of  all 
the  papers  of  the  agency  and  all  their  private  papers  at  their  lodgings. 
Under  this  order  tliey  were  taken  and  confined  in  the  old  Capitol  prison 
and  their  papers,  official  and  private,  were  seized.  When  news  of  this 
outrage  reached  this  State  there  was  much  excitement  and  indignation. 
Governor  Seymour  at  once  appointed  Judges  William  F.  Allen  and 
Amasa  J.  Parker  and  Hon.  William  Kelley,  thi'ee  of  the  most  eminent 
citizens  of  our  State,  to  go  to  Washington  to  investigate  the  matter 
and  to  employ  counsel  to  defend  the  prisoners.  Tliey  immediately  went 
to  Washington  and  found  the  prisoners  in  a  loathsome  prison;  tliey 
could  not  obtain  free  access  to  the  prisoners,  nor  could  counsel  employ- 
ed on  their  behalf.  The  accused  were  finally  arraigned  for  trial  Novem- 
ber 3rd,  before  a  military  commission,  charged  "with  conduct  preju- 
dicial to  the  military  service  of  the  United  States,  and  in  fraud  of 
the  election  rights  and  duties  of  the  soldiers  and  officers  of  said  ser- 
vice." The  accused  were  defended  by  William  A.  Beach,  of  Troy,  and 
other  counsel  employed  by  the  State.  Their  objections  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Commission  were  forcibly  presented,  and  in  his  reply  to 
their  arguments,  the  Judge  Advocate,  among  other  things,  made  the 
extraordinary  assertion  that  "in  times  of  war  a  great  many  provisions 
of  the  Constitution  wliich  wei^e  intended  for  times  of  peace  are  pro 
tanto  suspended.  The  constitution,  or  rather  the  mass  of  its  details  is 
intended  for  time  of  peace;  but  in  time  of  war  the  general  powers 
therein  delegated  to  Congress  and  to  the  President  take  the  place  of 
the  general  provisions  in  time  of  peace."  These  objections  which  no 
one  will  now  dispute  were  well  taken,  were  overruled  and  the  trial 
proceeded;  and  early  in  February,  after  about  three  months  of  cruel 
confinement,  the  accused  were  found  not  guilty  and  discharged. 

There  were  many  other  cases  of  arbitrary  arrests  within  this  State. 
But  I  have  no  time  to  deal  with  them  now.  As  we  look  back  from 
this  time,  it  must  be  a  matter  of  surprise  that  under  the  exercise  of 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN   AND   ARBITRARY   POWER.  267 

such  arbitrary  powers  the  people  were  as  patient  and  docile  as  they 
nearly  always  were.  There  were  millions  of  sober-minded,  patriotic 
men  who  could  not  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  that  any  part  of  the  Con- 
stitution was  silent  in  tlie  time  of  war  in  the  loyal  States,  and  so  the 
Courts  Hnally  held. 

I  have  thus  called  attention  to  these  acts  of  arl)itrary  power,  but 
not  for  the  purpose  of  detracting  from  the  great  merits  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  who  will  always  have  a  place  among  the  greatest  chi'.racters 
of  his  time.  Mankind  are  too  prone  to  idealize  their  lieroes  and  to 
endow  them  with  qualities  little  less  than  divine.  A  perfect  picture 
upon  any  canvass  must  have  both  shadow  and  light;  and  the  charac- 
ters of  great  men  will  be  more  instructive  if  delineated  with  their 
human  limitations.  History  teaches  by  examples,  some  of  which  are  to 
be  imitated,  and  others  shunned;  and  if  the  lessons  are  to  be  worth 
anything,  they  must  be  founded  upon  the  truth.  There  was  doubtless 
palliation  for  many  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  arbitrary  acts.  Some  of  them  were 
doubtless  due  to  the  solicitations  and  urgent  advice  of  others  who  were 
less  patient  and  humane  than  he  was.  He  was  engaged  in  a  gigantic 
^md  desperate  struggle  to  save  the  Union,  and  his  responsibilities  and 
■  distractions  were  such  as  have  rarely  come  to  any  man.  In  the  din, 
excitement  and  perils  of  a  great  war,  he  did  not  see  as  clearly  as  we 
now  can,  the  signiticance  of  current  events,  and  the  character  and  qual- 
ity of  his  own  acts,  and  the  acts  of  other  men.  I  have  i"ef erred  to  them 
for  tlie  purpose  of  answering  the  question  with  which  I  started.  Those 
men.  Republicans  and  Democrats,  who  criticised  these  acts  were  not 
disloyal  for  so  doing.  By  protesting  and  by  insisting  upon  the  great 
landmarks  of  liberty  for  which  our  race  had  struggled  for  centuries, 
they  rendered  a  great  service  to  their  country  and  to  posterity.  We 
can  see  to-day  tliat  these  arbitrary  acts  did  not  in  fact  aid  the  Union 
cause,  but  that  their  tendency  was  to  injure  it  by  alienating  from  the 
support  of  the  public  authorities  much  active  sympathy  and  assistance 
which  they  would  otherwise  have  received.  Impartial  history  will  do 
justice  to  all  the  actors  in  the  great  drama,  and  will  assign  such  men 
as  Horatio  Seymour  and  Samuel  J.  Tilden  as  well  as  President  Lincoln 
and  William  H.  Seward  each  to  his  proper  place  for  what  he  did  in  his 
sphere  of  action  for  the  salvation  of  the  Union,  and  also  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  liberty  regulated  by  law. 


OUR  COMMON  SCHOOLS. 

SECOND   PRIZE   ESSAY   IN   THE    ALBERT   N.    RUSSELIv   CONTEST,    WRITTEN   BY 
MISS   LORETTA   O.    DOUGLAS,    OF   lUON. 

Read  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  June  8,  1901. 

The  founders  of  our  republic  were  men  wise  in  their  own  generation, 
far-seeing  in  their  provisions  and  enactments  for  the  welfare  and  pros- 
perity of  the  State.  To  become  wealthy  was  not  their  aim,  but  to  build,, 
up  a  government  whose  strength  should  be  in  the  liberty  given  to  the* 
people.  Rut  if  the  people  were  to  govei'n  themselves,  they  must  have 
intellectual  enlightenment  and  moral  training.  What,  then,  could  be 
wiser  than  to  give  to  each  man  a  liberal  education? 

The  echoes  of  the  Reformation  were  still  reverberating  through 
Europe  when  some  sturdy  Dutchmen  embarked  to  establish  a  home 
in  the  New  World,  where  their  most  cherished  ideals  might  be  realized. 
The  educational  system  of  Xew  York  State  is  indebted  to  Holland  foi- 
its  underlying  principles,  "self-help  and  perfect  freedom,  but  according; 
to  law,"  for  these  early  settlers  brought  with  them  thoroughly  engraft- 
ed in  their  hearts  the  deep  underlying  principles  of  that  great  era  in 
history  when  men  for  the  first  time  dared  to  shake  off  servitude,  to 
stand  for  free  unti'ammeled  manhood,  to  learn  the  great  lessons  of 
self-mastery  and  co-operation. 

Hardly  were  the  Dutch  settled  in  New  Netherlands  when  education 
for  the  people  was  demanded.  One  of  the  first  duties  of  the  patroons 
was  to  find  speedy  means  for  maintaining  a  clergyman  and  a  school- 
master. With  A'an  Twiller.  in  1(!.>J,  came  Adam  Rodlandsen,  the 
pioneer  schoolmaster  of  the  Empire  State.  His  pedagogical  duties 
were  supplemented  by  his  occupations  as  grave  digger,  sexton  and  con- 
soler of  the  sick.  A  little  later  Peter  Stuyvesanfs  petition  for  a  Latin 
school  was  granted.  Dr.  Carolus  was  its  first  principal.  His  salary 
was  $187.50,  use  of  house  and  garden  and  in  addition  he  had  the  privi- 
lege of  practicing  medicine.  That  the  schools  flourished  under  the 
Dutch  regime  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  before  the  middle  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century  New  Amsterdam,  with  a  population  of  800,  had  fifteen 
teachei's. 


OUR  COMMON  SCHOOLS.  '  269 

It  was  unfortunate  for  the  cause  of  uhu-ation  that  the  (•han,i;e  of 
{governors  occurred  when  the  tyrannical  Stuarts  occupied  tlie  Engiisli 
tlu-one.  The  royal  .liovernors  discoura.ued  any  attempts  on  the  part  of 
the  people  to  better  their  intellectual  condition  lest  they  should  become 
dissatisfied  with  the  existing  order  of  tlang'S.  Education  sulfered  a 
serious  decline  because  in  all  its  plans  for  wealth  and  prosperity  the 
New  York  colony  never  entertained  tlie  idea  of  free  schools  for  the 
people.  However,  to  this  period  tlie  cause  of  hi.ulier  education  is  in- 
debted for  the  fouiulation  of  King's  C'oUegi',  now  ('oluml)ia. 

Colonial  schools  afforded  a  strong  conti'ast  to  those  of  to-day,  in  that 
no  women  were  found  among  the  teachers.  If  the  mental  culture  of 
the  boys  received  little  attention,  that  of  the  girls  received  still  less. 
To-day  fully  five-sixths  of  the  teachers  employed  in  the  schools  of  New 
York  State  are  Avomen  who  have  proved  their  litness  to  till  tlie  im- 
portant position,  the  training  of  future  citizens.  They  likewise  differed 
in  another  respect,  that  these  public  schools  were  not  in  any  sense  free 
schools. 

But  if  the  condition  of  scliools  was  dubious  previous  to  the  Revolu- 
tion, no  conspicuous  improvement  was  made  during  the  years  inuue- 
diately  following.  It  took  the  country  a  long  time  to  recover  from  the 
effects  of  war  and  naturally  tlie  schools  were  last  to  receive  the  atten- 
tion of  the  State.  Wasliington  Irving's  picture  of  lehabod  Crane  and 
his  temple  of  learning  is  a  fair  rendering  of  the  pedagogue  and  the 
schoolhouse  of  the  time.  He  presents  quite  a  contrast  to  the  many  cultur- 
ed gentlemen  who  govern  our  schools  of  to-day  and  his  log  schoolhouse 
looks  very  small  and  paltry  compared  with  the  ornate  and  elegant 
educational  institutions  of  the  present  century.  "'These  years  tilled  by 
the  rich  with  money  making  and  bj'  the  poor  with  a  struggle  for  a  mere 
existence,  Avere  dark  ones  for  education."  \"ears  of  wise  planning, 
intelligent  foresight,  wonderful  organization  and  sublime  courage  were 
needed  before  our  system  was  brought  to  its  present  state  of  perfection. 

Early  in  the  administration  of  Governor  (xcorge  (^'lintoii,  lie  laid  the 
foundation  of  our  present  school  system.  In  his  message  to  the  legis- 
lature he  said:  "While  it  is  evident  that  academies  are  to  be  com- 
mended, yet  their  advantages  are  confined  to  the  children  of  the  opu- 
lent. The  establishment  of  common  schools  throughout  the  State  is 
happily  calculated  to  remedy  this  inconvenience  and  will,  therefore, 
engage  your  early  and  decided  attention."  Again  and  again  he  appeal- 
ed to  the  lawiuakers  in  the  interest  of  common  free  schools,  but  only 
indifference  or  a  positive  refusal  met  him.  Still  undisma.ved,  he  persisted 
in  his  purpose,  the  uplifting  of  the  masses  through  education.  The  ])ody 
of  regents,  of  which  later  mention  will  be  made.iuiited  with  the  governor 
in  an  appeal  to  the  Legislature  in  17!>.''.  for  common  schools,  but  these 
wise  men,  while  they  agreed  that  education  for  the  masses  was  a  good 
thing,  did  not  in  any  way  bestir  themselves  mitil  17!)r),  when  an  act 
for  the  "encouragement  of  schools  for  the  instruction  of  branches  nee- 


270  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

essary  to  complete  a  good  English  education,"  became  a  law.  This  act 
made  an  annual  appropriation  of  $50,000  for  five  years,  apportioned  to 
the  various  counties  according  to  the  number  of  assemblymen  and  the 
taxable  population.  Taking  into  consideration  the  population  and  con- 
dition of  the  State,  this  was  quite  a  sum.  The  county  supervisors  were 
required  to  raise  by  tax  upon  each  town  a  sum  equal  to  one-half  that 
raised  by  the  State.  ,A11  beyond  was  to  be  supplied  by  personal  tax. 
In  1800,  the  appropriation  expired,  but  now  the  practical,  clear-headed 
Jedediah  Feck,  of  Otsego  county,  took  up  the  work.  He  never  relaxed 
his  efforts  until  he  compelled  the  legislature  to  do  something.  The  first 
step  toward  establishing  a  common  school  fund  was  a  lottery  by  means 
of  which  $100,000  was  raised.  This  was  a  favorite-  method  of  raising 
school  money  until  the  abolishment  of  lotteries  in  1821. 

Again  Governor  Clinton  declared  that  the  diffusion  of  knowledge 
was  so  essential  to  the  increase  of  virtue  and  the  promotion  of  liberty 
that  arguments  were  unnecessary  to  excite  the  Legislature  to  perse- 
verance in  this  laudable  pursuit.  He  farther  observed  that  education 
by  correcting  the  morals  and  improving  th(>  manners  tended  to  prevent 
those  evils  which  are  beyond  the  sphere  of  education.  But  his  eloquent 
words  fell  on  unheeding  ears.  He  did  not  live  to  see  the  reixlization 
of  his  hopes,  the  common  school  system  of  our  time. 

Once  more  we  meet  that  sturdy  champion,  Jedadiah  Peck,  who  per- 
sisted in  his  labors  until,  under  Governor  Tompkins'  administration, 
the  legislators  considered  his  statement  of  the  needs  of  the  schooLs.and 
the  most  practical  method  of  supplying  them.  State  care  and  super- 
vision were  suggested.  In  short,  the  vital  points  of  the  present  system 
Avere  mapped  out.  As  a  result  of  his  labors,  the  first  state  superintend- 
ent, Gideon  Hawley,  was  appointed.  It  was  extremely  fortunate' for 
the  cause  of  popular  education  that  such  a  capable,  far-seeing  man, 
such  a  remarkable  organizer,  should  have  been  the  appointee.  When 
he  assumed  the  duties  of  his  office,  education  was  in  a  chaotic  state, 
but  he  succeeded  in  laying  broad  and  strong  the  foundation  of  our  admi- 
rable system. 

A  notable  feature  of  Mr.  Hawley's  administration  was  the  Lancas- 
terian  system  of  education.  The  school  was  divided  into  classes.  Bach 
class  into  pairs  of  pupils,  each  pupil  acting  alternately  as  the  instruc- 
tor of  the  other.  This  system  had  its  strong  supporters,  but  it  has 
long  since  given  way  to  better  methods.  The  compensation  Gideon 
Hawley  received  for  his  splendid  services  is  worthy  of  note,  $300  annu- 
ally and  his  removal  from  office. 

This  impolitic  move  created  so  much  controversy  that  the  office  of 
superintendent  was  abolished  and  the  schools  placed  in  charge  of  the 
Secretary  of  State  until  1853,  when  the  department  of  public  instruc- 
tion was  reorganized,  with  Victor  Rice  at  its  head.  In  18G7,  the  obnox- 
ious rate  bill  against  which  there  had  been  a  long  and  memorable  strug- 
gle for  "universal  education  in  our  public  schools,  free  to  all,"  was 


OUR  COMMON  SCHOOLS.  271 

abolished  and  the  schools  luade  absolutely  free.  Indeed,  it  was  during,' 
the  administration  of  Judge  Benton,  of  our  own  county,  tiiat  tiie  key- 
note was  struck. 

The  rate  bill,  so  long-  a  prominent  feature  of  the  educational  system, 
provided  that  all  money  needed  over  and  above  that  appropriated  by 
the  State  should  be  raised  by  taxing  parents  in  proportion  to  the  num- 
ber of  days  their  children  attended.  This  gave  rise  to  all  sorts  of  sub- 
terfuges and  practically  placed  learning  beyond  the  reach  of  the  poor. 
Upon  its  abolishment,  a  common  school  education  was  made  free  to  all 
and  the  system  reached  its  highest  development. 

The  growth  of  the  department  of  public  instruction  has  been  simply 
marvelous,  attesting  the  worth  and  executive  ability  of  the  men  who 
have  been  its  several  heads.  The  management  of  our  public  school 
system  after  all  these  years  has  resolved  itself  into  this. 

For  the  purpose  of  primary  education,  the  State  is  divided  into  112 
commissioner  districts,  which  are  subdivided  into  11,750  school  districts, 
the  smallest  territorial  divisions  of  the  State.  At  district  meetings  the 
voters  elect  from  one  to  three  trustees.  A  collector,  librarian  and  clei'k 
are  also  elected,  who  serve  one  year. 

Under  the  law  of  1853,  school  districts  were  authorized  to  combine 
into  union  free  school  districts  and  to  establish  graded  schools,  to  be 
maintained  by  general  tax.  The  schools  are  under  the  management  of 
boards  of  education,  whose  powers  and  duties  are  similar  to  those  of 
district  trustees.  These  union  free  schools  are  important  because  in 
them  the  two  systems  of  education  in  this  State  meet. 

Triennially,  at  the  general  election,  a  commissioner  is  chosen.  His 
duties  are:  to  lay  out  and  regulate  boundaries  between  school  districts, 
to  apportion  public  money,  to  exercise  supervision  over  school  districts, 
to  examine  and  license  teachers  and  candidates  for  normal  schools,  to 
make  an  annual  report  to  the  State  superintendent. 

But  the  chief  executive  of  this  great  system  is  the  State  superin- 
tendent, which  office  has  been  held  by  a  series  of  able  men  from  Gideon 
Hawley  to  the  present  incumbent.  Charles  R.  Skinner.  He  is  chosen 
triennially  by  the  joint  ballot  of  the  Assembly  and  Senate.  In  the  dis- 
charge of  his  manifold  duties  he  exercises  an  almost  autocratic  power. 
He  appoints  the  working  force  of  his  own  bureau,  makes  appointments 
of  State  pupils  to  the  institutions  for  the  instruction  of  the  deaf,  dumb 
and  l)lind.  He  also  has  charge  of  the  Indian  schools.  He  allots  the 
.fi-l ,(»0(),0()U  of  puldic  money,  compiles  reports  of  the  school  connnission- 
crs  and  the  city  superintendents.  He  also  has  supervision  of  all  agen- 
cies for  the  training  of  teachers,  uniform  examinations,  institutes, 
training  classes  and  normal  schools.  He  also  determines  the  grade  and 
issues  certificates  to  teachers.  P>esides  these  duties,  he  is  the  final 
arbiter  in  all  misunderstandings  and  disputes  that  may  arise  over  any 
l)oint  in  the  school  law.  He  is  ex-officio  a  trustee  of  the  University  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  of  Syracuse  and  Cornell  Universities. 


372  HERKIMER   COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

The  evolution  of  the  idea  of  free  schools  in  New  York  Stute  was  some- 
■\vhat  rtehiyed  because  of  nneducated  sentiment,  but  now  tlie  people  are 
in  fullest  sympathy  with  the  theory  that  a  State  has  the  riglit  to  insist 
tliat  every  child  shall  be  educated  for  citizenship.  To  put  in  practice 
tills  theory  a  compulsory  education  law  lias  been  enacted  which  is  suc- 
cessful. It  does  not  follow  tl)at  every  child  of  scliool  age  in  New  York 
State  attends  school  IGO  days  of  the  school  year,  but  a  great  gain  is 
being  made  and  through  a  wise  and  just  enforcement  of  this  statute 
the  State  lias  reason  to  expect  that  the  acceptance  of  her  I'ducational 
pi'ivileges  will  lie  more  ready  and  spontaneous. 

The  Empire  State's  system  of  education  is  uni<iue  from  the  fiict  that 
witliin  its  boundaries  is  a  dual  system.  In  1787.  the  Regents  of  the 
University  ot'  the  State  of  New  York  Avere  incorporated  and  they  kept 
alive  through  its  most  discouraging  years  the  cause  of  education. 
"The  history  of  higher  education  has  the  interest  of  age  and  of  historic 
incident,  and  is  closely  connected  with  the  history  of  the  State."  To 
give  an  extended  historical  account  of  this  admirable  organization, 
which  is  a  decided  innovation  in  educational  pi-ogress,  is  cpiite  impos- 
sible. Brieriy,  the  university  comprises  all  the  iiistitutions  of  a  higher 
cliaracter  wliich  are  or  may  be  incorporated  together  with  the  State 
library  and  museum.  It  consists  of  several  liundred  institutions,  more 
than  half  of  which  are  academies  and  liigh  scliools.  It  is  the  latter 
which  are  the  bone  of  contention  between  the  two  systems.  'The  gov- 
ernment is  invested  in  nineteen  elective  regents  chosen  liy  tlie  Ijcgis- 
lature,  and  in  the  Governor,  Lieutenant-governor,  Secretary  of  State 
and  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction.  The  regents  elect  their 
own  officers:  a  chancellor,  Avho  serves  without  pay,  and  a  s(>cretary 
and  treasurer.  The  institutions  composing  the  University  have  no 
representation  on  the  governing  board.  The  regents  have  power  to  con- 
fer degrees,  establish  examinations,  grant  diplomas,  maintain  lectures 
and  give  and  take  away  charters.  The  ol>ject  of  the  University  is  to 
encourage  and  promote  higher  education  and  to  inspect  all  institutions 
under  its  care. 

The  affairs  of  the  ITniversity  have  always  been  in  able  hands.  George 
Clinton  was  its  tii'st  chancelloi-,  Alexander  Hamilton  and  Ezra  L'Hom- 
luedieu  its  originators.  The  roll  of  its  regents  is  bright  with  illustrious 
names. 

It  rendered  invaluable  service  in  the  development  of  the  common 
free  schools  when  it  declared  that  secondary  education  was  impossible 
without  a  lirin  and  Avell-laid  foundation,  which  could  be  obtaiJU'd  only 
by  universal  education.  Training  classes  tor  teachers  flourish<-d  under 
its  fostering  care.  Its  system  of  examination  keeps  pace  with  all  mod- 
ern ideas  and  are  an  inspiration  to  teacher  and  pupil. 

We  come  now  to  another  division  of  our  subject,  the  support  of  the 
common  schools.  They  derive  their  support  from  three  sources.  First, 
the  free  school  fund.     This  is  the  amount  raised  annually  by  tax  for 


OUR  COMMON  SCHOOLS,  273 

scliools,  tlu'  rate,  one  mill  uii  a  dollar,  boiii,--  lixcd  ])y  the  liC.niHlaturo. 
Tlie  annual  approitriation  is  now  three  and  one-half  millions. 

The  common  sehool  I'nnd  is  the  outcome  of  the  sale  of  State  lands. 
Ill  1805,  500, 000  acres  of  State  land,  at  the  su:4-,iiestion  of  Governor 
Lewis,  were  sold  and  the  proceeds  set  asiih:  as  a  permanent  fund  for 
the  support  of  the  common  schools.  \N'lieii  the  a,iinual  revenues  I'eached 
JhDCOOO,  the  first  distril)Utioii  was  mack-.  The  ori.i;inal  capital  has  now 
increased  to  nearly  live  million  dollars. 

The  United  Stiites  deposit  fund  ori.uinated  in  tlie  distribution  to  the 
several  States  of  tlie  surplus  revenues  in  the  United  States  treasury. 
Tile  portion  received  by  New  York  amounted  t(t  four  million  dollars, 
the  proceeds  of  wliicli  were  apportioned  amony  the  counties  according 
to  population. 

The  superintendent  nialies  tlie  following  appropriations:  Cities  and 
incorporated  villages  of  not  less  than  5,000  inhabitants,  employing  a 
local  superintendent,  receive  .fSdO.  The  remainder  of  the  school  money 
is  apportioned  according  to  population.  These  sums  appear  very  large, 
but  only  one-tifth  of  the  actual  school  expenses  are  paid  by  the  State. 
The  remainder  of  the  .'j;o.">,00(».()00  annually  exjiended  for  the  common 
free  schools  is  raised  by  local  tax. 

One  of  the  greatest  ditHculties  the  champions  of  free  education  en- 
countered was  the  incompetency  of  the  teachers.  De  Witt  Clinton 
lirst  suggested  that  the  academies  organize  classes  for  the  training  of 
teachers.  Naturally  these  tirst  agencies  for  the  instruction  of  teachers 
were  under  the  control  of  the  regents,  who  brought  them  to  a  high 
development.  The  act  which  authorized  the  consolidation  of  several 
school  districts  into  union  free  school  districts  also  authorized  the 
establishment  in  these  union  schools  of  academic  departments.  These 
departments  were  recognized  as  of  e(]ual  grade  Avith  the  academies 
and  lieiice  Avere  placed  under  the  supervision  of  the  regents  and  thus 
they,  too,  could  have  training  classes.  In  1889,  the  supervision  of  these 
classes  passed  from  tlieir  hands  into  tliose  of  the  State  superintendent, 
with  this  object  in  view  "to  bring  all  the  instrumentalities  for  the  train- 
ing of  common  school  teachers  under  one  head."  Several  thousand 
young  men  and  women  are  now  enjoying  tlie  advantages  of  these 
classes. 

The  school  receives  ifl.OO  a  week  for  each  ])Uiiil  and  in  return  gives 
instruction  in  the  elementary  branches,  methods,  history  of  education. 
United  States,  history,  physiology,  school  hnv  and  psychology.  The 
members  of  the.  class  also  practice  and  observe  in  tlu'  grades  of  the 
school.  P.y  this  means  (pialitied  teachers  are  obtained  for  the  lower 
grades  and  for  the  rural  schools. 

One  of  the  tirst  means  employed  for  the  betterment  of  tlit  ccacher's 
mental  equipment  was  the  institutes.  th(>  tirst  one  of  which  was  h-^ld 
in  Ithaca,  in  1843.  Their  growth  has  been  I'emarkable  and  the  imprc  i  e- 
nient  in  methods  and  manner  of  instruction  hardly  less  so.     One  insti- 


274  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

tute  is  held  in  eacli  commissioner  district  yearly.  Attendance  of  teach- 
ers is  compulsory,  but  no  deduction  is  made  from  their  salary  if  the 
school  is  closed  "because  of  institute."  These  meetings  are  of  real 
value  to  instructors  for  their  ideas  are  broadened  and  fresh  courage 
and  inspiration  come  from  contact  with  other  teachers.  Summer  insti- 
tutes are  also  held  at  the  Thousand  Island  Park  and  Chautauqua, 
where  teachers  may  combine  rest  and  instruction.  Still  another  agency 
for  the  training  of  teachers  is  found  in  the  normal  schools.  Governor 
Clinton  was  the  first  one  to  suggest  some  means  of  professional  train- 
ing for  teachers,  but  it  was  not  until  1849  that  his  idea  took  shape  in 
the  form  of  the  Albany  Normal  School,  now  a  State  Normal  College. 
For  nearly  20  years  it  was  the  only  institution  of  the  kind,  but  its 
success  finally  influenced  the  legislature  to  establish  a  similar  school 
at  Oswego.  There  are  now  in  the  State  twelve  of  these  really  valuable 
schools  where  men  and  women  who  plan  to  teach  may  receive  instruc- 
tion at  the  expense  of  the  State.  These  schools  have  given  instruction 
In  subject  matter  but  the  idea  is  growing  that  they  should  be  profes- 
sional schools  for  those  who  have  completed  a  satisfactory  course  of 
study.  Model  schools  are  a  feature  where  the  pupils  under  the  super- 
vision of  competent  instructors  put  in  practice  their  professional  in- 
struction, and  their  ability  to  impart  knowledge  is  made  a  condition  of 
graduation.  The  influence  of  these  schools  is  widespread  and  powerful. 
The  standard  is  being  raised  and  the  State  is  assured  that  the  grade 
of  teacliers  is  higher  and  better  every  year.  Nearly  every  common 
school  now  insists  that  its  teachers  be  at  least  Normal  graduates. 

The  system  of  uniform  examinations  is  another  instrument  to  create 
better  and  more  competent  teachers.  The  idea  is  constantly  growing 
that  with  the  means  provided,  teachers  not  only  should  be  better  equip- 
ped mentally,  that  they  should  not  only  possess  administrative  ability, 
but  that  they  should  represent  and  embody  the  best  types  of  American 
womanhood  and  manhood;  that  they  should  possess  the  power  to 
inspire  to  high  and  noble  living. 

But  who  have  reared  this  great  educational  structure,  a  system  of 
common  free  schools  far  surpassing  the  world-famed  public  schools  of 
England,  which  are  not  free  schools?  New  York  State  numbers  among 
her  statesmen  and  warriors  the  brightest  names  in  the  country's  his- 
toi-y,  nor  is  this  less  true  of  her  educators.  Governor  George  Clinton 
laid  broad  and  strong  the  foundations  of  a  school  system  so  splendid 
and  wise,  spreading  its  influence  that  it  readies  to  the  Pacific  Ocean 
and  even  to  Europe.  John  Jay,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Ezra  L'llomme- 
dieu,  Philip  Livingstone  and  a  long  series  of  wise  statesmen  and  able 
administrators  make  bright  her  educational  history.  De  Witt  Clinton's 
services  in  the  establishment  of  free  schools  are  sufficient  to  forever 
perpetuate  his  name  and  fame.  To  no  individual  in  the  State  is  com- 
mon school  education  in  its  infancy  more  deeply  indebted  than  to  Gid- 
eon Hawley.     At  a  time  when  everything  depended  upon  organization 


OUR  COMMON  SCHOOLS.  275 

and  uiiuute  supervision,  he  proved  the  man  for  the  period,  educating 
sentiment,  and  bringing-  order  out  of  chaos. 

Wm.  H.  Seward,  one  of  our  most  brilliant  governors,  believed  that 
education  was  a  training  of  the  mind  and  character  and  not  a  mere 
superficial  acquirement  of  knowledge.  He  rJso  believed  that  education 
is  the  cliief  of  the  State's  responsibilities,  exerting  a  wider  and  deeper 
mtiuence  tlian  any  cliange  in  policy  or  physical  improvement.  He  pro- 
posed that  the  department  of  public  instruction  be  in  charge  of  a  super- 
intendent appointed  by  tlie  Legislature.  His  advanced  ideas  were  the 
inspiration  of  much  that  is  good  in  our  i)ublic  schools. 

To  trace  the  influence  of  each  man  and  woman  who  has  contributed 
of  his  best  life  to  the  betterment  of  his  fellowmen,  liowever  pleasant  a 
task,  is  impossible,  to  even  recapitulate  the  names  and  services  of  those 
mentioned  in  this  article  would  take  too  long.  No  cause  has  ever  been 
taken  up  so  unselfishly,  none  has  ever  had  to  combat  greater  opposi- 
tion nor  taken  so  many  years  to  bring  about  the  accomplishment  of  its 
ends.  All  nonor  to  those  noble  sons  of  the  Empire  State  who  sowed 
what  they  could  never  reap,  who  undertook  a  great  cause  unselfishly 
and  worked  it  out  because  of  love  for  their  fellowmen. 

The  century  that  has  just  closed  has  been  a  great  advancement  in 
education;  free  schools  have  been  established,  compulsory  education 
enacted,  professional  training  schools  opened,  free  libraries  instituted, 
in  short  a  steady  growth  in  all  lines  pertaining  to  intellectual  enlighten- 
ment which  cannot  be  without  its  influence  upon  the  State  and  Nation. 

Tlie  seers  of  the  various  periods  in  our  State  history  realized  the  vast 
importance  of  education  for  these  master  spirits  appreciated  the  fact 
that  intelligent,  God-fearing  citizens  are  the  life  and  strength  of  a  state, 
the  source  of  its  progress  and  influence.  The  relation  between  educa- 
tion and  civic  prosperity  is  close  and  vital.  Tlie  latter  depending  almost 
entirely  upon  the  former,  but  of  transcendent  importance  is  the  higher 
life  which  comes  tlu-ough  the  training  of  the  mental  faculties,  the  de- 
velopment of  the  moral  and  spiritual  (lualities.  A  State  may  have  ma- 
terial prosperity  without  education,  but  ignorance  is  tlie  mother  of 
crime  and  such  a  prosperity  can  be  neitlier  lasting  or  influential.  Any 
State  to  become  a  permanent  factor  in  the'  world's  progress  must  have 
thoughtful,  law-abiding  and  intelligent  citizens.  Where  are  the  citizens 
to  receive  such  training  if  not  in  the  public  schools? 

Our  government  is  of  the  people  and  by  the  people.  How  necessary 
then  that  the  masses  who  are  tlie  dominating  power  be  uplifted  and 
receive  proper  training  for  citizenship  and  statesmanship.  Intelligent 
understanding  of  the  principles  of  our  government  and  of  its  place 
among  nations,  an  educated  conception  of  freedom  is  essential  to  the 
permanence  of  our  institutions. 

Then,  too,  education  quickens  a  man's  mental  activity  and  arouses 
in  him  a  sense  of  the  world's  progi'ess.  A  desire  to  become  a  factor  in 
that  progress  is  engendered  in  his  being  and  from  such  decisions  come 


376  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

the  men  of  the  times  who  think  and  observe  wisely  and  judiciously. 
Then,  too,  educated  men  are  the  ones  who  solve  the  great  problems 
of  the  age  and -demonstrate  the  ascendency  of  mind  over  matter. 

The  training  of  our  scliools  makes  better  working  men  and  enhances 
the.  dignity  of  honest  labor,  hot  because  they  are  tauglit  trades  but 
because  of  the  mental  training  received  and  the  habits  inculcated. 
"The  most  precious  gift  of  education  is  not  the  mastery  of  the  sciences, 
for  wlaich  special  schools  are  provided,  but  noble  living,  generous  char- 
acter, the  spiritual  delight  wliich  springs  from  familiarity  with  the 
loftiest  ideas  of  the  liuman  mind." 

In  our  scliools  patriotism  is  taught,  not  a  sickly  sentimentality  for 
the  Stars  and' Stripes,  but  ian  educated  patriotism  tliat  understands 
the  underlying  principles  which  the  starry  flag  represents.  The  pupils 
become  patriotic  froiii  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  government 
axid  their  proper  application.  Their  trained  intelligence  malics  them 
better  citizens  because  patriotism  is  not  an  abstract  conception  but  a 
living  love  for  their'country. 

Individuals' compose  the  State,  and  upon  tlieir  intellectual,  moral  and 
spiritual  condition  depends  its  welfare.  In  our  schools  is  a  course  or 
training  whi<^'h  can  but  develop  tlie  liigher  qualities  so  essential  to 
citizenship.  There'ideas  of  future  usefulness  are  created  and  habits 
of  mind  developed  which  contribute  to  the  malciug  of  American  n,ien 
and  women  in  whose  hands  rests  tlie  welfare  of  our  Empire  State. 


SOME  PHx\SES  OF  THE  EARLY  AGRICULTURE 
OF  OUR  STATE.  •     • 

AN  ADDRESS  BY  HON.  ROBERT  EARL,  OF  HERKIMER, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society  September  21,  1901. 

The  early  agricnltiirc  pursued  hi  this  State  was  that  -vviiich  was  intro- 
dueed  in  Holland;  and  the  earHest  truit  trees,  garden  veg-et;ibks  and 
flowers  were  brought  from  that  country  by  tlie  Dutcli  settier:-:.  ,Vgri- 
culture  was  a  vocation  of  prime  importance,  as  the  great  bulk  of  the 
settlers  became  farmers.  Down  to  1800,  about  11-12  of  the  pe(/i)te  ot 
this  State  lived  upon  farms,  and  the  scientific  men.  statesmen  and  lead- 
ing mendjers  of  all  'the  professions  generally  took  an  interest  in  farm- 
ing. 

The  first  State  society  for  the  promotion  of  Arts  and  Agriculture  was 
organized  in  the  Cfty  of  New  York  in  17(11,  by  some  of  the  most  prom- 
inent citizens  of  that  portion  of  the  Province.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  society  to  correspond  with  gentlemen  in  other  parts  of 
the  province  to  interest  them  in  its  olijecls.  That  conunittee  issued  a 
circular  in  which  among  other  things  they  urged  the  forniation  of  loca; 
societies  throughout  the  province  to  gather  and  furnisli  to  tin-  parent 
society  such  information  as  might  be  useful  for  the  ])urpose  of  itromot- 
ing  and  fostering  agriculture  and  the  useful  arts.  One  of  these  circular!' 
was  addressed  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  who  was  then  and  foi-  sevei'al 
years  afterwards  the  foremost  man  in  the  Tilohawk  valley.  II"  took  a 
great  interest  in  agriculture  and  did  more  for  its  promotion  in  an.d 
altout  the  ^Mohawk  valley  than  any  one  else.  He  replied  to  the  cii'cuiar 
in  a  letter  dated  at  Johnson  Hall,  February  2Tth,  17i;."i.  in  which  he 
st.ated  among  other  things  that  the  state  of  agricultm-e  was  very  low," 
that  wheat  Avas  the  principal  crop,  and  tiia.t  it  must  soon  liecouK^  a  drug; 
that  before  he  set  the  example,  no  farmer  raised  so  much  as  -a  single 
ton  of  hay.  biit  that  then  some  raised  above  100  tons;  that  the  farmers 
were  entire  strangers  to  sheep  unfil  ;ho  introduced  them.  He  thougJit 
"the  high  wages  of  lal)orers  and  the  gi'eat  numlicr  of  tipjding  !iOUsps," 
needed  regulation;  and  tliat  bad  roads  were  a  great  obstruction  to  good 
liusbandry. 


278  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

That  first  society  seems  to  have  become  extinct  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  and  a  new  society  for  the  promotion  of  argiculture  was 
organized  February  26th,  1791,  at  the  Senate  Chamber  in  tlie  City  of 
New  York,  wiiich  Avas  tlien  tlie  capitol  of  tlie  State.  At  tliat  date  a 
committee  consisting  of  Chancellor  Livingston,  Simeon  DeWitt,  and 
Samuel  L.  Mitchell,  which  had  previously  been  appointed  at  a  meeting 
of  citizens  presided  ovjer  by  Hon.  Ezra  L'Hommedieu,  to  prepare  and 
report  rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of  the  society,  made 
their  report,  which,  after  some  amendments,  was  adopted  and  became 
the  coiistitution  of  the  society.  It  provided,  among  other  things,  that 
the  society  should  meet  annually  at  the  place  where  the  Legislature 
met,  on  the  Tuesday  next  after  the  convening  of  t)oth  houses;  and 
that  its  meetings  should  continue  by  ad.iournment  during  tlie  session 
of  the  Legislature;  that  no  person  should  be  admitted  as  a  member 
unless  he  had  been  nominated  at  least  seven  days  previous  to  his  elec- 
tion and  elected  by  a  majority  of  the  members  convened;  that  every 
member  on  his  admission  should  pay  to  the  treasurer  $2.00  and  there- 
after annually  a  half  dollar;  that  the  objects  of  investigation  of  the 
society  should  be  Agriculture,  Manufactuies  and  Arts,  with  such  sub- 
jects of  inquiry  as  miglit  tend  to  explain  or  elucidate  their  principles; 
that  the  society  should  parcel  the  State  into  districts  and  elect  a  secre- 
tary for  each  district,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  convene  the  members 
of  his  district,  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  Agriculture*  and  Manufactures 
within  the  same,  to  receive  communications  relative  to  the  objects  of 
the  institution,  and  to  correct,  arrange  and  transmit  them  to  the  presi- 
dent, to  be  laid  before  the  society;  that  the  society  should  once  in  every 
year  elect  a  committee  to  be  called  the  Committee  of  Publication,  whose 
business  it  should  be  to  select  such  of  the  transactions  of  the  society 
as  might  merit  publication,  prepare  them  for  the  press,  and  from  time 
to  time  publish  the  same;  that  honorary  members  might  be  admitted 
from  among  persons  not  residing  within  the  State  whose  talents  and 
characters  might  add  to  the  respectability  and  usefulness  of  the  soci- 
ety; that  in  order  to  prevent  imposition,  the  secretary  should  reject 
all  doubtful  and  suspicious  facts  ,and  to  each  article  of  intelligence 
transmitted  to  tlie  society  annex  the  name  of  the  person  offering  it. 

Down  to  1793,  the  society  was  unincorporated.  But  on  the  12th  day 
of  March  in  that  year,  it  was  incorporated  by  a  special  act  of  the  Leg- 
islature. The  preamble  to  the  act  sets  forth  the  objects  of  the  incor- 
porators, among  whom  were  tlie  following  eminent  citizens  of  the  State: 
Robert  R.  Livingston,  John  Sloss  Hobart,  Samuel  L.  Mitchell,  Samuel 
Jones,  Melancton  Smith,  David  R.  Floyd  Jones,  George  Clinton,  Ezra 
L'Hommedieu,  Egbert  Benson,  John  P.  DeLancey,  John  Watts,  Josiah 
Ogden  Hoffman,  Cornelius  J.  Bogart,  Richard  Varick,  John  Jay.  Gilbert 
Golden  Willett,  Jonathan  N.  Havens,  Edward  Livingston.  Jeremiah 
Tan  Rensselaer,  James  Duane,  Simeon  DeWitt,  David  Ogden,  John 
Delafield,  Horatio  Gates,   Samuel  Jones,   Jr.     In  the  Act,   Chancellor 


SOME  PHASES  OF   EARLY  AQRfCULTURE  OF  OUR  STATE.  279 

Livingston  was  appointed  president,  John  Sloss  Hobart,  vice-president, 
Samuel  Jones  treasurer,  and  Samuel  L.  Mitclaell  and  Samuel  Jones,  Jp. 
secretaries.  It  was  further  provided  that  the  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, who  should  not  be  stated  members  of  the  corporation,  should  nev- 
ertheless, by  virtue  of  their  stations,  be  honorary  members  with  the 
right  to  sit,  but  not  to  vote  for  othcers  or  have  any  voice  in  the  distri- 
bution of  the  corporate  funds. 

The  persons  engaged  in  organizing  and  in  incorporating  the  society 
were  among  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  State,  whose  biographies 
would  constitute  the  history  of  the  State  for  at  least  the  first  30  years 
of  Its  existence  as  a  State.  Several  of  them  served  the  State  as  Gover- 
nors, as  Chancellors,  as  Judges,  as  Attorney  Generals,  as  members  of 
both  branches  of  the  State  Legislature,  as  members  of  Congress  and  in 
other  high  public  stations. 

In  pursuance  of  the  constitution  of  the  society,  the  State  was  divided 
into  districts,  and  John  Meyer  was  elected  the  secretary  of  the  Herki- 
mer district.  He  resided  in  this  village  and  was  one  of  the  most  prom- 
inent men  in  this  county.  He  was  one  of  the  county  judges  in  ISOO,  and 
in  1802  he  was  one  of  the  State  Senators. 

Immediately  after  the  first  organization  of  the  society,  it  entered 
upon  its  active  labors  by  issuing  a  circular  setting  forth  Its  purposes, 
which  among  other  things  were  stated  to  be  "to  supply  the  wants  and 
relieve  the  necessities  of  mankind  and  thereby  to  render  human  life 
more  comfortable;  to  multiply  the  productions  of  the  land,  to  shorten 
or  facilitate  the  toils  of  the  laborer,  and  to  excite  a  spirit  of  honest  in- 
dustry whereby  riches  may  become  more  abundant,  and.  by  inculcating 
the  importance  of  ordinary  and  common  things  and  of  practical  every- 
day truths,  to  store  their  understandings  with  solid  knowledge  so  that 
happiness,  wealth,  and  wisdom  may  keep  pace  with  each  other  and  go 
hand  in  hand."  For  the  purpose  of  gathering  information,  there  were 
inserted  in  the  circular  certain  queries  upon  a  variety  of  matters  to 
which  I  will  briefly  allude:  1.  Manures,  as  to  the  value  of  marls, 
plaster  of  Paris  and  lime  as  fertilizers,  and  the  mode  of  their  use.  2. 
Soils,  as  to  sandy,  clayey  and  loamy  soils,  and  the  mode  of  their  treat- 
ment, and  the  crops  to  which  they  Avere  respectively  best  adapted.  8. 
Tillage,  as  to  depth  of  plowing,  and  how  weeds  can  best  be  destroyed, 
and  the  soil  be  made  mellow  for  the  reception  of  seed.  4.  Stock,  as  to 
the  comparative  advantages  of  horses,  mules  and  oxen;  "would  the 
breeding  of  mules  be  beneficial  in  this  country?  Do  horses  draw  best 
by  collars  or  hames?  Are  oxen  capable  of  doing  most  work  when  draw- 
ing by  the  horns  or  by  the  withers?  How  are  sheep  best  managed? 
What  management  is  best  adapted  to  make  the  wool  fine  and  plenti- 
ful? How  can  the  breed  be  improved?  How  the  mutton  made  sweet 
and  savory?  Can  anything  be  gained  by  shearing  lambs  the  first  year? 
Might  also  sheep  be  sheared  oftener  than  once  a  year?  Which  is  the 
cheapest  method  of  raising  calves?    In  what  manner  and  at  what  age 


280  HERKIMER   COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

is  the  best  veal  produced V  WhicU  are  the  most  approved  methods  ot 
making-  and  preserving  butter  and  cheese?  How  are  cattle  best  relieved 
when  choked  by  apples  or  potatoes,  etc.?  Would  it  be  advantageous 
to  introduce  goats  into  this  State?  Cannot  wild  ducks  and  teal  and 
heath-hens  and  wild  turkeys  be  tamed  and  domesticated?"  5.  Grain. 
"Which  variety  of  wheat  is  the  most  productive — the  red,  white,  yel- 
low, bearded  or  bald?  In  what  proportion  does  winter  wlieat  excel  sum- 
mer wheat?  Is  barley  well  adapted  to  our  soil  and  climate?  Is  any 
part  of  our  country  adapted  to  the  raising  of  rice?  Can  millet  and  spelts 
be  cultivated  with  success  and  advantage?"  0.  Grasses.  "What  grasses 
do  you  find  to  afford  the  best  pasture?  Which  makes  the  best  hay?" 
7.  Fruit  Trees.  "What  kinds  of  apples  afford  the  best  cider?"  etc.  8. 
Forest  Trees.  Vpo  you  know  any  facts  concei-ning  the  propagation  of 
the  locust  tree?"  9.  Yermiu.  "How  are  moles  to  be  guarded  against? 
How  can  the  bugs  be  destroyed  which  eat  up  your  cucumbers,  melons 
and  pumpkin  vines?  Is  there  any  way  of  preventing  the  ravages  of 
the  wheat  insect?"  10.  "Have  you  any  improvements  in  the  manage- 
ment of  bees?  Can  the  sillv  worm  be  proHtal)ly  introduced  in  your 
neighborhood?"  11.  Manufactures.  "What  is  the  best  method  of  mak- 
ing sole  leather?  Are  there  any  other  barks  than  oak,  hemlock  and  birch 
for  tanning?  Have  any  improvements  been  made  in  tlie  manufacture 
of  steel?  Do  you  know  of  any  new  method  for  tlie  mailing  of  paper? 
Can  you  suggest  anything  capable  of  raising  the  reputation  of  our  flour 
in  foreign  markets?  Are  there  any  coal  mines?  What  can  be  done 
towards  the  manufacture  of  cotton?" 

These  are  a  few  of  the  queries  contained  in  the  circular;  and  they 
are  very  significant  of  the  state  of  agriculture  and  manufactures  at  that 
date— more  than  one  hundred  yeasr  ago.  The  learned  and  patriotic  men 
engaged  in  the  work  of  this  society  Avere  endeavoring  to  dev^'lop  the 
resources  and  increase  tjie  wealth  of  our  country  and  add  to  the  hap- 
piness and  comfort  of  oiu;  people.  • 

Dr.  Samuel  L.  MitchelJ, was  appointed  to  deli\-er  the  first  ;intinnl  ad- 
dress before  the  society. ,  He  was  one  of  the  most  learned  scicMitlsts  in 
tliis  country,  and  a  fellgw  of  the  Koyal  Society  of  Edinburgh.  The 
address  was  delivered  in  Ne:w  York,  befoi-e  the  members  of  the  society, 
including  the  members  of  the  Legislature.  It  is  interesting  reading 
r.ow  for  the  many  thoughts  it  suggests.  Among  other  things,  ho  stated 
that  farming  could  not  economically  or  profitably  be  carried  on  in  this 
State  with  slave  labor.  He  said:  "Upon  taking  a  survey  df  tlie  slave- 
holders with  whom  I  am  acquainted.  I  find  those  who  have  the'greatest 
numbers  to  be  men  of  considerable  hereditary  estates  in  land,'  or  of  a 
handsome  capital  acquired  by  marriage  or  beciuest.  But  I  cann.ot  name 
an  instance  of  a  man  of  smajl  property  ever  getting  ricli  upon  the 
profits  of  slave  labor.  Therefore  the  kitchen  establishments  of  those 
who  keep  fifteen  or  twenty  negroes  are  not  to  be  considered  as  matters 
of  revenue,  but  of  expense,  just  after  the  manner  of  a  stud  of  super- 


«  ari- 


SOME   PHASES   OF   EARLY   AGRICULTURE  OF  OUR  STATE.  281 

luimcrary  liorses  kept  citlicr  to  indul.m'  the  prido  or  to  .^ratify  tlio  prej- 
udice of  tlieiv  owner.  It  is  a  conviction  of  tlie  impolicy  and  ex])ensive- 
Dpss  of  lliis  Icind  of  service  ratlier  tlian  to  any  moral  or  reli.uifHis  con- 
siderations on  the  subject  that  the  decline  of  slavery  is  principally  to 
be  attributed."  He  recommended  the  plantin.i;-  of  locust  trees.  He 
said  it  '"is  one  of  the  most  vaUialilc  trei's  now  cultivated.  They  grow 
best  in  warm  sandy  land  and  become  tii  for  timber  in  about  25  or  30 
y<'ars:"  that  "their  .!j,'reatest  use  is  for  shij)  trunncls,  fence  posts,  mill 
cogs  and  tire  avockI.  A  well  grown  tree  is  worth  to  the  owner  as  it 
stands  .^4.00;  that  for  fence  posts  they  are  superior  in  point  of  dura- 
bility to  almost  any  known  Avood."  Under  the  stimulus  of  this  society, 
locust  trees  were  introduced  into  this  county  and  flourished  here 
until  some  destructive  worm  or  insect  practically  destroyed  them. 

An  effort  was  also  made  by  this  society  to  intrtuluce  silk  culture  into 
this  State,  and  the  midlierry  tree  was  cultivated  and  silk  worms  pro- 
pagated. I'.ut  our  climate  was  not  adapted  to  the  experiment  and  it 
failed.  The  cultivation  of  the  poppy  plant  for  opium  and  medicinal 
purposes  was  als(k  attempted  but  failed  for  the  same  reason. 

At  that  early  day  nuich  att(mtion  was  also  given  to  the  raising  of 
barley.  In  this  same  address.  Dr.  Mitchell  said:  "It  is  undoubtedly  a 
subject  of  serious  regret  that  while  our  farmers  exhaust  the  strength 
of  their  fields  by  impoverishing  croi»s  of  oats,  tliey  neglect  the  more 
profitalile  culture  of  barley,  and  thereby  necessit;ite  the  brewers  to 
import  their  grain  from  the  neighboring  States  or  frcan  foi-eign  parts, 
or  drive  oiu*  citizens  to  the  less  wholesome  and  more  expensive  use  of 
distilled  spirits.  The  practice  of  raising  Itarley  is  to  be  considered  more 
lucrative  to  the  farmer  as  being  a  better  employment  of  his  labor  and 
capital  and  likewise  more  advantageous  to  the  State  1).v  pres<'rving  the 
morals  and  industry  of  its  peo]>le  from  the  injurious  effects  of  rum  and 
other  ai'dent  liipiors."  At  that  time  there  were  a  large  numl)er  of  large 
breweries  in  New  York,  and  none  in  the  New  England  States  where 
most  of  the  barley  crops  were  raised.  He  also  dwelt  uiion  the  improve- 
ment of  the  breed  of  sheep.  He  said:  "In  iioint  of  s.ilnlirity.  I  am  bold 
to  say  that  wool  far  exceeds  linen  or  cotton,  and  in  our  variable  climate 
is  so  peculiaiiy  calculated  to  guard  the  body  against  the  viccisit.udes  of 
the  weather  that  every  valetudinarian  sliould  wear  tlannel  to  regain 
his  health,  each  well  person  to  preserve  it.  A  tlannel  shirt  may  be 
called  the  palladium  of  health." 

Prior  to  1800,  and  for  many  years  thereafter,  wheat  w.as  the  first 
staple  of  the  trade  and  Avealth  of  the  middle  States;  and  the  lirst  seed 
drill  in  this  country  was  invented  and  used  by  a  farmer  in  New  .Jersey 
more  than  one  hundred  years  ago. 

The  society  took  great  interest  in  introducing  into  the  country  new 
trees,  plants,  ,ind  animals  from  abroad;  and  hence  its  president.  Chan- 
cellor Livingston,  December  5,  170.".,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  of  the  Citv  of  New  York  in  which  he  said;     '"There  can 


283  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

be  little  doubt  that  the  profitable  commerce  of  this  country  must  be 
founded  upon  its  agriculture,  and  that  its  agriculture  derives  new  vigor 
from  the  extension  of  its  commerce;"  and  he  requested  tliat  tlie  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  would  instruct  all  captains  of  vessels  sailing  to  Asia. 
Africa,  the  north  of  Europe,  or  the  southern  or  western  parts  of 
North  America  to  procure  specimens  of  the  grain  and  animals  raised  in 
those  countiies  for  introduction  here. 

Agriculture  was  lield  in  much  higher  estimation  by  the  statesmen 
and  scholars  of  our  country  one  hundred  years  ago  tlian  it  is  now. 
There  was  not  so  much  then  as  now  to  attract  the  intelligent,  ambitious, 
enterprising  young  men  from  farming.  In  the  annual  address  delivered 
before  the  society  by  Chancellor  Livingston  in  1794,  h«  said:  "As  agri- 
culture is  the  basis  of  arts  by  furnishing  the  materials  upon  which  tliey 
work,  so  it  is  the  parent  of  science  by  uniting  men  in  civil  society  who 
without  its  aid  would  have  continued  to  be  wandering  savages  but  lit- 
tle advanced  in  improveme}it  beyond  the  beasts  of  the  forest  that  afford- 
ed them  a  miserable  and  scanty  subsistence.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
the  mythology  of  most  nations  have  made  tlieir  golden  age  consist  in 
the  enjoyment  of  rural  happiness,  and  placed  the  inventors  of  agricul- 
tural improvements  among  the  number  of  tlieir  gods.  *  *  *  xhe 
idea  of  a  rural  retreat  in  the  evening  of  his  days  accompanies  the 
meclianic  to  his  shop,  the  mercliant  to  the  exchange,  tlie  lawyer  to  the 
bar,  the  pliysician  to  tlie  sick  bed,  and  the  divine  to  the  pulpit  who  sees 
even  there  his  earthly  paradise  upon  the  confines  of  heaven,  and  hai'dly 
wishes  to  enter  the  celestial  mansions  by  any  other  path.  *  *  *  -pjig 
Intriguing  politicians  and  the  wordy  orators  of  the  present  day  will  be 
buried  with  their  principles  and  their  parties  in  eternal  oblivion,  when 
the  man  who  has  introduced  a  new  plant  or  eradicated  a  destructive 
weed,  who  has  tauglit  us  to  improve  our  domestic  animals,  or  to  guard 
against  the  ravages  of  noxious  insects,  wlio  has  invented  a  new  imple- 
ment of  husbandry  or  simply  determined  the  angle  the  mould-board 
should  make  with  the  plowshare  will  be  remembered  witli  gratitude  as 
the  benefactor  of  society.  *  *  *  As  Cicero  sums  up  all  human 
knowledge  in  the  character  of  a  perfect  orator,  so  we  might  with  much 
more  propriety  claim  every  virtue  and  embrace  every  science  when  we 
draw  that  of  an  accomplished  farmer."  Comparing  tlie  agriculture  of 
this  country  with  that  of  England,  he  said  tliat  while  here  the  average 
price  for  hired  farm  laborers  with  board  and  lodging  was  ^60  per  year, 
in  England  it  was  only  $40;  and  he  closed  his  address,  one  of  the  most 
elegant  and  eloquent  ever  delivered  in  this  State,  in  these  words:  "When 
the  hero,  the  patriot,  the  statesman,  Washington,  does  not  disdain  to 
guide,  who  can  refuse  to  venerate  the  plow?" 

November  8th,  370G,  the  distinguished  jurist.  Chancellor  Kent,  deliv- 
ered the  annual  address  before  the  society  in  the  Assembly  Chamber 
in  the  City  of  New  York.  He  spoke  of  farming  "as  the  absolute  means 
of  our  subsistence,  as  the  source  of  nutriment  to  the  arts,  of  freedom, 


SOME  PHASES  OF  EARLY  AORICULTURE  OF  OUR  STATE  283 

energy,  commerce  and  civilization  to  mankind;  and,  in  short,  as  the 
firmest  basis  of  national  prosperity."  He  said.  "That  the  linage  of  tran- 
quility and  happiness  which  under  governments  of  only  a  tolerable  ad- 
ministration everywhere  appear  among  the  cultivators  of  the  eai'th 
must  always  present  itself  to  the  eye  of  benevolence  with  attractive 
charms;  that  although  the  remark  be  perhaps  too  strong  that  cities 
are  the  graves  of  the  human  species,  yet  it  is  obviously  true  that  the 
farmer's  life,  from  the  use  of  the  wholesome  air,  abundant  exercise, 
moderate  pleasures,  and  simple  diet,  is  by  far  the  most  favorable  to 
health,  longevity  and  population."  He  spoke  of  the  Mohawk  as  the 
second  river  in  size  in  the  State,  and  among  the  lirst  for  the  richness 
of  the  soil  through  which  it  flows,  and  as  navigable  from  Schenectady 
to  Fort  Stanwix  for  batteaux,  a  distance  of  nearly  100  miles. 

On  February  7,  1798,  Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchell  again  addressed  the 
society  and  both  houses  of  the  Legislature  at  their  annual  meeting  in 
Albany,  which  had  then  become  the  capital  of  the  State.  He  spoke  of 
tlie  unsuccessful  efforts  to  find  coal  in  this  State,  and  said:  "Fortun- 
ately for  our  peace  and  happiness,  no  sources  of  gold  and  silver  appear 
to  have  been  detected.  It  is  to  be  hoped  our  country  contains  none  but 
those  of  productive  labor  and  active  industry."  The  men  of  his  gener- 
ation did  not  foresee  the  enormous  production  of  gold  and  silver  in  our 
country  which  has  added  so  largely  during  the  last  fifty  yeai-s  to  our 
national  wealht  and  prosperity. 

In  March,  179o,  Ezra  L'Hommedieu  read  a  paper  before  the  society 
entitled,  "Observations  on  Manures,"  in  which,  treating  of  fish  as  a 
manure,  he  said:  "New  metliods  are  now  used  as  well  for  taking  the 
fish  as  for  preparing  the  land  by  this  manure.  Very  long  seins  a'-e  made 
use  of,  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see  twenty  ox-cart  loads  of  the  Men- 
haden or  Mossbankers  taken  at  one  draught;  When  the  ends  of  the  seine 
are  drawn  to  the  shore,  and  the  fish  crowded  close  together,  an  ox-cart 
is  driven  into  the  water  among  the  fish  and  two  or  three  hands  with 
scoop  nets  soon  load  the  cart,  which  is  drove  off  and  another  is  drove 
in  and  filled  in  like  manner,  and  so  one  after  another  untjl  the  whole  is 
carried  away.  And  then  the  carts  are  dri\en  onto  the  land  and  the  fish 
thrown  out,  and  the  whole  land  covered  with  fish  about  eighteen  inches 
asunder." 

In  April,  1797,  Noah  Webster,  the  great  lexocographer.  wrote  a  letter 
to  Dr.  Mitchell,  secretary  of  the  society,  in  which  he  spoke  of  agricul- 
ture as  "the  first  and  best  occupation  of  man,"  and  made  some  useful 
observations  on  the  growing  of  potatoes,  and  gave  some  of  his  experi- 
ments. He  recommended  that  the  seed  potatoes  should  be  those  of  full 
growth,  and  said  that  it  had  been  fully  demonstrated  that  cuttings 
I>roduce  moi-e  than  wliole  potatoes. 

Prior  to  1797,  but  little  was  known  about  the  Onondaga  salt  spings. 
They  had  almost  escaped  the  notice  of  naturalists  and  philosophers,  and 
nothing  of  consequence  had  been  published  concerning  them.     About 


284  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

that  time  Dr.  Benjamin  DeWitt,  fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  and  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  society,  contributed 
a  memorial  on  those  springs,  in  which  he  described  them  and  the  nature 
and  quality  of  their  salt  in  a  very  interesting  manner. 

February  20.  1799,  Simeon  DeWitt,  who  was  then  Surveyor  General 
of  the  State,  delivered  the  annual  address  before  the  society  ;ind  the 
members  of  the  Legis-lature,  in  the  Assembly  Chamber  at  Albany,  in 
which  among  other  things  he  recommended  the  culture  of  fruit,  and 
mentioned  this  interesting  fact:  "The  Spitzenbergh  apple,  which  may 
challenge  the  world  to  match  it.  Avas  first  discovered  as  an  accidental 
production  in  the  neighborhood  of  this  city  (Albany).  Fortunately  it 
fell  into  the  hands  of  a  man  of  taste,  who  made  its-  superlative  excel- 
lencies known  to  others,  and  gave  perpetuity  to  its  kind.  But  for  this 
accident,  it  must  again  have  retreated  into  eternal  oblivion."'  This  apple 
has  gratified  the  taste  of  all  the  succeeding  generations  of  men,  but  in 
late  years  has  begun  to  suffer  from  the  decrepitude  of  age.  This 
address  is  full  of  beautiful  passages.,  some  of  which  I  must  quote: 
"Even  the  pre-eminent  political  purity  of  that  great  man  under  Avhose 
auspices  we  rose  as  a  nation  will  not  retain  an  unsullied  whiteness 
under  every  historian's  pen.  The  best  of  statesmen  and  Avarriors  have 
the  blessings  of  their  memories  mixed  with  ciirses.  Their  deeds  may 
astonish  the  world  for  a  Avhile,  and  their  fame  dazzle  like  tJ)e  blaze 
of  a  meteor  with  a  momentary  glare;  but  the  fathers,  friends  and  guar- 
dians of  useful  arts  have  their  untainted  memories  embalmed,  and  urn 
their  ashes  in  the  hearts  of  posterity.  As  long  as  time  continues  its 
current  their  works  and  their  names  together  float  along  with  it,  and 
are  gratefully  recognized  by  ages  following  ages  without  end."  It  must 
be  remembered  that  this  was  Avritten  while  Washington  was  living. 
At  the  time  Mr.  DeWitt  spoke,  the  State  Agricultural  Society  had 
attained  a  standing  and  influence  Avhich  have  not  since  been  main- 
tained. He  said:  "The  society  of  which  I  now  stand  the  representa- 
tive, is  without  question  the  most  consequential  in  the  State.  Which 
beside  it  receives  any  notice  from  abroad,  or  is  calculated  to  excite  it? 
Barren  as  our  printed  transactions  may  appear  to  the  unprejudiced  eye 
of  those  Who  have  not  condescended  to  compare  them  with  others,  I 
will  ventiu'e  to  affirm  that  they  have  as  good  a  complexion  and  are 
fully  as  interesting  as  those  of  a  similar  kind  by  which  Europeans  are 
climbing  up  to  greatness  and  ascending  the  ladder  of  philosophic  fame;" 
and  he  closed  his  address  with  this  enthusiastic  panegyric  upon  agri- 
cultural pursuits:  "The  Elysium  of  Pagans,  the  Paradise  of  rdahomet, 
and  perhaps  also  the  heaven  of  Christians  would  to  the  view  of  mor- 
tals lose  much  of  their  attractions,  were  not  the  descriptions  of  them 
decorated  Avith  agricultural  sceneries.  Indeed,  they  almost  necessarily 
mingle  with  our  ideas  of  consummnte  bliss.  While  passions  like  demons 
tear  the  heart  of  the  politician,  gnaw  like  vultures  on  his  vitals,  spread 
a  gloom  over  his  prospective  and  embitter  his  days,  the  heart  of  the 


SOME   PHASES  OF  EARLY   AGRICULTURE  OF  OUR   STATE.  285 

phiianthropist  expands  with  a  seraphk-  joy.  boiiinls  with  (Jod-Hki-  pal- 
pitations, and  feels  emotions  of  ecstacy  Ineffably  i'X(iuisite,  as  his  eye 
roves  over  fields  Avhere  the  golden  harvest  luxui-iantly  waves  to  the 
wind,  where  every  shrul)  and  plant  is  loaded  with  dainties,  where  every 
tree  bends  under  its  fruit,  and  all  thinys  seem  to  invite  us  to  partake 
of  these  bounties  and  be  liappy.  If,  then,  tliese  things  are  pure,  uneon- 
taminated  fountains  whence  human  happiness  tlows,  surely  we  cannot 
contemplate  tliem  with  stoical  indifference,  liut  as  citizens,  as  Chris- 
tians, as  leiiislators,  nuist  join  our  endeavors  to  cherisli  and  support 
them." 

During  the  tirst  2(J0  years  of  our  national  history,  the  statesnu'U  of 
our  countr.v  and  other  leaders  of  tliought  with  great  unanimity  believed 
that  agricultural  pursuits  were  the  best  for  the  welfare  of  our  people 
and  the  safety  and  greatn.ess  of  our  Republic.  Franklin  said  that  agri- 
culture Avas  the  only  honest  way  to  acquire  national  wealth.  As  late 
as  1814,  Daniel  Webster,  in  a  speech  in  the  House  of  Uepres<-ntatives, 
when  tariff  legislation  for  the  fostering  and  protection  of  manufactures 
was  under  discussion,  said:  "I  am  not,  geni'rally  speaking,  their  enemy; 
I  am  their  friend.  But  I  am  not  for  rearing  them  or  any  other  interests 
in  hot  beds.  I  would  not  legislate  precipitately  even  in  favor  of  them. 
I  feel  no  desire  to  push  capital  into  extensive  manufactures  faster  than 
the  general  progress  of  our  wealth  and  population  propels  it.  I  am  not 
in  haste  to  see  Slietiields-and  Birminghams  in  America.  Until  ttie  popu- 
lation of  the  country  shall  be  greater  in  proportion  to  its  extent,  such 
establishments  would  be  impracticable  if  attempted,  and  if  practica- 
ble, tliey  would  be  unwase.  I  am  not  anxious  to  accelerate  the  approach 
of  the  period  when  the  great  mass  of  American  labor  shall  not  find  its 
employment  in  the  field;  when  tlie  young  men  of  the  country  shall  be 
obliged  to  shut  their  eyes  upon  external  nature,  upon  tlie  heavens  and 
the  eartli,  and  inuuerse  themselves  in  close  and  unwholesome  work- 
shops; when  they  shall  be  obliged  to  sliut  their  ears  to  tlie  Ijleatings  of 
their  own  tlocks  upon  their  own  hills,  and  to  the  voice  of  the  lark  that 
cheers  them  at  tlieir  plows,  that  they  may  open  tliem  in  dust  and  smoke 
and  steam  to  tlie  perpetual  whirl  of  spools  and  spindles,  and  th(-  grating 
of  rasps  and  saws." 

Chancellor  Livingston,  ever  alert  to  discover  something  in  the  animal 
or  vegetable  kingdom  for  the  advancement  of  agriculture  and  the  im- 
provement of  rural  life,  during  the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury made  experiments  to  domesticate  the  elk,  which  then  abounded 
In  our  forests.  He  said  in  a  paper  read  before  tlie  society  that  the  elk 
was  larger  tlian  the  reindeer,  and  when  taken  young  was  as  domestic 
as  the  ox,  as  he  found  they  would  run  with  his  cattle  and  appeared  to 
be  as  much  attached  to  them  as  to  their  own  species.  He  attempted 
to  breali  two  of  them  to  the  harness  and  bitted  them,  and  found  tliem 
as  docile  as  colts  would  be  at  the  same  age.  These  two  were  thirteen 
hands  high  two  years  old,  and  he  said  tliat  in  their  native  woods  they 


286  HBBKIUER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

would  grow  to  fifteen  hands  high,  and  that  their  thighs  were  as  mus- 
cular as  those  of  a  horse,  and  that  he  believed  that  in  a  state  of  domes- 
tication they  would  grow  much  larger,  and  that  they  would  not  only 
furnish  flesh  to  eat,  but  milk  for  the  dairy.  He  also  believed  the  moose 
could  be  domesticated;  and  he  said  that  he  Avas  well  satisfied  that  with 
the  exception  of  the  horse,  no  animal  was  so  well  fitted  for  every  pur- 
pose of  labor  as  the  moose;  that  he  had  seen  one  not  more  than  eighteen 
months  old  that  was  I0Y2  hands  high,  and  that  he  thought  they  would 
grow  to  more  than  20  hands  high.  To  make  such  experiments  a  success, 
it  would  be  necessary  to  continue  them  during  successive  generations 
of  the  animals;  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  how  long  thy  Chan- 
cellor continued  his  experiments  nor  what  their  results  were. 

The  eminent  men  then  interested  in  agriculture  were  alert  to  dis- 
cover improvements.  They  experimented  in  raising  sheep  and  other 
live  stock,  with  manures,  fruit  trees,  grasses,  grain,  potatoes,  silk 
worms.  It  would  be  well  if  some  of  their  enthusiasm  for  agriculture 
and  rural  life  could  be  infused  into  the  people  of  this  day,  and  if  the 
farm  would  have  greater  attractions  for  the  young  men  who  now  swarm 
to  cities  and  villages  to  engage  in  less  wholesome  vocations  and  to  lead 
less  useful  and  happy  lives.  It  will  be  a  fortunate  time  for  our  Republic 
when  there  shall  be  a  reflux  wave  of  population  from  the  cities  and 
villages  to  the  country.  The  time  will  certainly  come  when  our  people 
will  learn  that  with  the  same  amount  of  probity,  industry  and  talent, 
farming  will  prove  to  be  on  the  average  as  profitable  as  other  vocations 
and  much  more  wholesome  and  satisfactory. 


NOTE. — Many  of  the  facts  for  this  paper,  I  have  found  in  the  first 
volumn  of  the  Transactions  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society,  a  revised 
edition  published  at  Albany  in  1801.  It  is  a  very  rai'e  book  and  the  only 
volume  I  know  of  belongs  to  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society. 
It  is  of  real  value  and  is  full  of  interest. 


J 


THE  TOWN  OF  WARREN. 

ft 

AN   ADDRESS   BY   DUNHAM   JONES   GRAIN,    OF   CUI^EN, 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society  October  12,   1901. 

The  physical  features  of  the  town  of  Warren  are  somewhat  related 
to  its  early  history.    I  shall,  therefore,  refer  to  them  brletly. 

The  tract  comprising  the  township  contains  upwards  of  23,(X)0  acres 
and  with  the  exception  of  a  narrow  belt  along  the  northern  border,  is 
drained  by  two  creeks.  One  of  these  begins  its  course  within  a  mile 
of  the  northern  boundary,  and  flows  southwesterly  a  distance  of  about 
feix  miles  in  Warren,  and  then  crossing  into  Richfield,  finds  its  way  into 
Lake  Canadaraga.  This  creek  is  the  Ocquionis.  The  name  signifies 
in  the  Indian  tongue.  "He  is  the  bear,"  and  was  probably  that  of  an 
Indian  chief  who  at  some  period  dwelt  upon  its  banks.  This  is  the 
opinion  of  William  Wallace  Tookei-,  well  known  as  the  author  of  the 
"Algonquian  Series,"  and  a  recognized  authority  on  Indian  languages. 
The  other  creek  referred  to  as  draining  the  territory  of  Warren  rises  in 
the  easterly  part  of  the  town,  about  midway  between  its  northern  and 
soutliern  boundaries,  and  flows  southwesterly  into  Weaver's  Lake, 
thence  a  short  distance  into  Young's  Lake,  and  from  the  last  named 
flows  southerly  about  two  and  one-half  miles  across  the  boundary  of 
Warren  into  the  town  of  Springfield,  and  then  on  into  Lake  Otsego. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  sti'eams  which  drain  Warren  are  tribu- 
taries of  the  Susquehannah — one  the  Osquionis,  by  Lake  Canadaraga 
and  Oaks  Creek — the  other  by  Lake  Otsego,  the  outlet  of  which  is 
accounted  by  geographers  and  historians  as  the  beginning  of  the  Sus- 
quehannah. The  creek  which  I  have  mentioned  as  emptying  into 
Otsego  has  been  called  by  the  white  inhabitants  different  names,  one 
of  which  is  "Gilchrist,"  from  a  family  of  that  name;  but  the  Indian 
name  has  been  for  the  time  being  lost.  I  am  hoping  by  further  research 
to  bring  it  to  light.  The  Indian  name  for  the  two  lakes  mentioned  by 
me  as  Young's  and  Weaver's  Lakes,  is  "Walontha,"  which  in  the  Indian 
tongue  means,  "The  Twins,"  a  Very  appropriate  name,  as  the  two  lakes 
are  nearly  of  the  same  size  and  not  more  than  300  rods  apart.  The 
village  of  Little  Lakes  lies  between  them. 


388  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

The  snrfaco  of  Warren  is  for  the  most  part  at  an  eU'vation  above  the 
sea  varying-  from  1,300  to  1,800  feet,  and  at  jNIount  Waiontha,  near 
\oungs'  and  WeaA'er's  Lakes,  reaches  an  altitude  probably  of  2,500 
feet.  This  surface  is  made  beautiful  by  the  graceful  outlines  of  its 
hills,  generally  extending  easterly  and  westerly,  and  its  rich  forests. 
On  different  roads  at  vai-ying  elevations  the  most  pleasing  scenery 
comes  into  view.  LoT)king  North,  we  have  the  beautiful  valley  of  the 
jNIohawk,  with  its  industrial  villages,  and  turning  to  the  South  we  look 
upon  the  pictiu-esciue  basins  of  the  Otsego  and  Caniaderago. 

Warren  is  embraced  by  the  water  system  of  the  great  Susciuehannah, 
a  river  whose  length  measured  by  its  bed  from  its  extreme  source, 
Lake  Otsego,  to  its  mouth,  is  estimated  at  41(3  mifes.  It  is  a  part  of 
tlie  territory  which  became  the  subject  of  negotiations  in  1083  between 
Governor  Penn  a'ld  Governor  Donga n,  and  which  in  their  correspond- 
ence was  designated  "the  Upper  Susquehaunaii  Region."  The  streams 
which  from  this  northei'n  region  were  feeding  the  Susquehannah 
abounded  in  beaver  and  other  wild  animals  whose  furs  were  in  great 
demand  in  the  markets  of  London,  Amsterdam  and  I'aris.  Governor 
Penn's  fur  traders  had  made  a  strenuous  effort  to  draw  this  trade 
down  the  Susciuehannah  Kiver.  They  were  having  some  success.  The 
fur  traders  of  Ncav  Orange  (Albany)  were  making  an  equally  persist- 
ent effort  to  draw  the  trade  to  that  trading  post.  The  efforts  of  Penn 
to  effect  this  purchase  created  consternation  at  New  Orange,  where 
the  authorities  drew  up  a  remonstrance  addressed  to  Governor  Dongan. 
in  which  they  stated  that  this  sale  to  Penn,  if  consummated,  "would 
fend  to  the  utter  ruin  of  the  beaver  trade,  as  the  Indians  themselves 
do  acknowledge,  and  consequently  to  the  great  prejudice  of  his  Royal 
Highness'  revenues  and  his  whole  territory  in  general,"  and  they  fur- 
ther stated,  "We  presume  that  there  hath  not  anything  ever  been 
moved  or  agitated  fronrthe  first  settling  of  these  parts  more  prejudicial 
to  his  Royal  Highness'  interest  and  the  inhabitants  of  this  government 
than  this  business  of  the  Sus(iuehannah  River.  The  French,  it  is  true, 
have  endeavored  to  take  away  our  trade  piece-meal,  but  this  will  cut 
it  oft"  all  at  once."  « 

The  attempts  by  Governor  Penn  to  buy  the  upper  Sus(iuehannah 
region  failed, 'but  one  cannot  help  contemplating  the  change  in  the 
political  and  social  associations  of  the  region  in  which  is  situated  War- 
ren, had  it  been  successful. 

The  correspondence  to  be  found  in  the  Documentary  History  of  that 
State  also  discloses  that  this  upper  Sus(iuehannah  region  had  white* 
inhabitants  at  a  very  early  period.  The  French  authorities  in  Canada 
had  been  requested  by  the  Oneida  tribe  as  early  as  IGC.G  to  send  Jesuit 
priests,  French  families,  and  trading  merchants  into  this  region.  In 
1686,  Governor  Van  Cortlandt,  at  a  council  held  with  the  Indians  at 
Albany,  requested  the  Indians  "not  to  permit  any  French  or  Englisn  to 
go  and  live  at  the  Susquehannah  River  without  the  Governor's  pass; 


THE  TOWN   OF   WARREN.  289 

Iiut  ill  ("ISO  tlicy  do  so.  the  liidinns  -avv  to  l)riiii;  tlu'iu  to  Albany  and 
deliver  tliem  to  the  Town  House  for  punishment. "  The  (Jovernor  made 
one  exception,  however,  to  this  rule,  to-wit:  "The  Indians  were  not 
to  bring  the  priests  and  they  were  not  to  interfere  with  one  man  with 
each  or  either  of  said  priests,  even  though  one  of  them  should  be  mar- 
ried to  an  Indian  scjuaw."  In  other  correspondence  of  this  period  there 
is  evidence  that  Jesuit  fathers,  and  French  families  accomuanyins' 
them,  were  scattered  over  the  upper  Suscpiehannah  i-e.i;ion,  and  that 
the  heads  of  these  Fi-ench  families  became  trappers  and  traders  in 
peltry.  Dr.  Henry  A.  Ward,  in  his  "Annals  of  Kichtieid."  in  mention- 
ing these  P^'rencli  traders  and  trapiters.  says:  "A  little  settlement  of 
these  was  located  at  the  site  of  the  Lake  House  (referring-  to  a  hotel 
on  the  east  shore  of  Lake  Canadaraga.  about  half  ;i  mile  from  I.'ichtield 
Spring's),  on  both  sides  of  the  brook  which  seeks  ihe  lake  at  that  point, 
and  was  doubtless  the  home  of  the  fir.st  white  settlers  in  this  vicinity. 
One  of  these  Frenchmen  and  his  Indian  wife  remained  .-is  lat<>  as  180r> 
or  180G;  but  the  others  left  subsecpiently  to  the  time  of  the  survey 
of  the  three  land  patents  embracing  the  short's  of  Canadar.aga  La.ke." 
Fennimore  Cooper,  in  his  "Chronicles  of  Cooperstown."  refers  to  these 
French  traders  and  tr.-ippers  as  having  been  upon  Lake  (Hse.uo.  It  is 
iiardly  supposable  these  early  French  traders  and  trappers  and  priests 
were  in  ignorance  of  the  beautiful  lakes  and  sti'eams  of  Wari'en.  so 
near  Otsego  and  Canadaraga,  and  forming  part  of  the  same  water  sys- 
tem, especially  as  the  niunerous  beaver  (hims  on  those  stre.-ims  prove 
that  they  abounded  in  valuable  furs.  There  is  still  a  cli.-uicc  that  in 
the  archives  of  the  Jesuit  College  at  (Quebec  documents  exist  which 
will  yet  afford  interesting  information  upon  the  residence  of  French 
priests  and  traders  in  this  part  of  the  upper  Sus(iuehannah  region. 

The  first  step  tending  to  the  establishment  of  an  organized  connuu- 
nity  of  whites  within  the  present  boundaries  of  Warri'U  was  innpies- 
tionably  the  granting  of  the  great  patents  to  I'etrie.  Henderson  and 
Tlieobald  Young,  which  instruments  embrace  all  the  land  within  the 
town.  These  patents  enabled  men  of  moderate  means  to  obtain  titles 
to  farms  who  would  have  stood  no  chance  of  obtaining  grants  from 
the  colonial  government,  where  then  as  now,  "intluence"  wis  neces- 
sary. 

Letters  patent  dated  August  LMth.  IT."'.!*,  were  granted  in  the  name 
of  King  George  the  Second  to  James  Henderson,  John  Kelley,  and 
James  Henderson  the  Younger,  and  on  October  24th,  17H!>,  to  Thilip 
Livingston,  John  Joost  I'etrie  and  John  Del'eyster  of  tracts  which 
taken  together  under  the  name  of  "L'etrie's  purchase  and  Henderson's 
patent,"  cover  the  whole  north  i)art  of  Warren  and  extend  over  its 
western  boundary  into  Cohnnbia  to  the  extent  probably  of  l.ooo  acres, 
and  over  the  eastern  boundary  into  Stark  to  a  less  exte  it.  The 
patent  to  Theobald  Young  and  others,  d.itcd  August  2.".tli.  17r.2.  which 
covers  all  the  south  part  of  the  town,  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  the 


290  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

before  mentioned  Henderson  patents.  Tlie  startin,;;'  point  in  the  bound- 
ing ol'  tlie  patent  is  the  hole  in  tlie  ground  a  little  east  of  Cas^Yell  Cor- 
ners, in  the  present  town  of  Springfield,  ealled  by  the  German  settlers, 
"Kyle,"  which  means  iiole,  and  by  the  Indians,  "Theogsowone,"  the  sig- 
nification of  which  I  have  yet  to  learn.  The  southerly  and  Avesterly 
boundaries  of  this  patent  as  far  as  they  extend,  are  the  boundaries 
separating  Herkimer  l-ounty  from  Otsego.  I  am  informed  that  the 
patentees  named  Henderson  were  never  upon  the  grants  bearing  their 
name,  and  that  they  were  first  visited  by  their  descendants  about  the 
year  1825.  Since  that  date,  Mrs.  Harriet  Douglas  Cruger.  a  descendant 
of  James  Henderson,  and  Mrs.  Douglas  Kobinson,  her  niece,  have 
maintained  upon  this  tract  the  beautiful  summer  residence  known 
as  the  Henderson  Home.  Both  the  Henderson  and  Young  patents  were 
grants  as  expressed  therein,  "in  free  and  common  soc  age  as  of  our 
iNIanor  of  East  Greenwich  in  the  county  of  Kent  within  our  Kingdom 
of  Great  Britain,"'  and  reserved  a  yearly  rent  of  two  shillings  and  six 
pence  for  each  100  acres  payable  "at  our  Custom  House  in  our  City  of 
New  York  unto  our  collector  or  Eeceiver  General,  being  on  the  Annun- 
ciation of  the  blessed  Virgin  Mary,  commonly  called  'Bady  Day.'  "  It 
was  provided  in  these  grants  that  they  should  be  void  in  case  the 
grantees  should  destroy  or  suffer  to  be  destroyed  tri-es  tit  for  masts,  . 
planks,  knees,  etc.,  for  "our  Royal  Navy." 

A  rental  of  two  shillings,  six  pence  per  100  acres  seems  but  nominal, 
and  even  this  was  extinguished  bj^  the  result  of  the  Itevolutionary  war, 
so  that  these  grants  must  be  regarded  rather  in  the  light  of  gifts  from 
the  Crown.  It  would  seem  that  certain  shrewd  and  far  sighted  men 
of  the  Mohawk  valley,  such  as  John  Joost  Petrie  of  the  German  Flats, 
and  the  Youngs  of  Canajoharie,  had  in  conjunction  with  capitalists  in 
Albany  and  New  York,  to  whom  they  pointed  out  the  desirability  of 
obtaining  these  grants. 

In  the  case  of  the  Henderson  patent,  about  seven  men,  heads  of  fam- 
ilies, setled  near  its  northern  limit  and  formed  the  little  colony  called 
Henderson.  It  is  almost  certain  they  settled  there  after  the  date  of 
the  patent,  for  they  would  not  have  built  houses  or'  cultivated  land 
without  some  title  to  the  soil.  We  know  they  were  there  before  May 
22nd,  1758,  for  the  New  York  Murcury  of  that  date  describes  the  flight 
of  four  of  these  families  from  Henderson's  purchase  to  the  German 
Flats,  and  the  slaughter  of  some  of  the  party  by  the  French  and  Indiana 
near  Fort  Herchamer.  The  names  of  these  families  were  Hayes,  Star- 
ring, Crim.  Osterhout,  Bull  and  T^eopard,  and  they  continued  their  res- 
idence in  Henderson,  suffering  as  is  well  known  in  the  Revolutionary 
war  at  the  hands  of  the  Indians  under  Brant.  The  situation  of  these 
Henderson  settlers  was  not  one  of  compU-te  isolation  prior  to  the  Rev- 
olutionary war.  To  the  east  at  a  distance  of  tAvo  miles  was,  the  Ots- 
quago  settlement,  where  lived  the  Bronuers,  Shauls,  Fikes  and  Feath- 
erlys,  to  the  southeast  about  three  miles  the  Eckler  settlement  on  the 


THE   TOWN   OF   WARREN.  291 

Kyk",  cliri-ctly  south  live  miles.  Youii.us"  st'ttU'incut,  coiui.oscd  of  al»out 
six  families,  iiieludiiiy  Tlu'obald  Young,  the  patentee;  to  tlie  west  not 
more  than  tliree  mih>s,  the  Coonrods-town  settlement,  comprising  the 
families  of  Conrad  Oren(h)rf,  Conrad  Frank,  Conrad  Fulnier,  Frederick 
Cliristnian,  Tiinotliy  Frank.  Xichol.is  Liglitfall.  Joseph  Mayer  and 
Henry  Frink.  More  distant,  but  reason.-ilily  accessible,  were  the  old 
settlements  of  Springtield  and  Cherry  Valley.  Beyond  any  doubt  there 
was  a  not  infreciuent  interchange  of  social  and  business  visits  between 
these  ancient  settlements,  and  the  people  of  Henderson  and  Young's 
p;itents  do  not  re(iuire  our  commiseration  in  that  respect. 

T'p  to  March  11',  1~T2.  the  lerritoi'y  in  W.-irren  was  included  in  the 
county  of  Alb.-my  ;ind  of  course  deeds  of  land  in  our  town  were  recorded 
at  Albany,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Henderson  and  of  Young's  settlement 
were  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Albany  county.  On  March  ti'tii,  1772, 
Tryon  county  was  erecjted,  ;ind  those  inhabitants  <-;inie  under  the  juris- 
diction of  Tryon  county,  with  Johnstown  as  the  county  seat. 

In  March,  177;!.  the  Proxini-i.-U  Legislature  enacl:ed  tli;it  there  be  held 
and  kept  two  fail's  every  year  ;it  .Tohnstown,one  to  l)e  held  thi'ee  c-onsec- 
utive  (lays  in  .lune  and  the  other  three  consecutive  days  in  November, 
and  to  be  m;iuaged  by  ;i  (iovernor  and  lUilers.  As  the  business  ordi- 
narily transacted  at  the  county  seat  must  liave  drawn  our  Henderson 
and  Young  settlers  freiineiitly  to  Johnstown,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted 
they  competed  for  pi'i/.es  otVered  at  these  fairs,  and  not  infrequently 
had  the  satisfaction  of  driving  their  stock  homewaid  u])  the  hills  deco- 
rated with  red  and  l)lue  ribltons. 

At  this  earl.v  i>eriod  the  county  of  Tryon  was  divided  into  districts 
instead  of  townships.  These  were  calh'd  respectively  the  iMoliawk, 
Canajoh.-irie,  (ierman  I'lats  and  Kiugsland  districts. 

^V;lI•ren■s  territory  was  at  Hrst  included  in  the  Kiugsland  district  and 
this  was  described  in  the  act  of  March  24th,  1772,  as  follows: 

"All  that  part  of  said  county  of  Tryon  which  is  c(UuprelH>nded  within 
the  following  bonndai-ies:  On  the  east  liy  Canajoharie  <listrict,  on  the 
north  by  the  Mohawk  Kivei',  and  southerly  .nnd  westei'ly  by  tlie  limits 
of  this  colony." 

The  same  ;ict  reipiii-ed  the  freeholders  of  each  district  to  elect  and 
ajspoint  lUie  freehohler  to  lie  a  supei'visor,  two  freehohh-rs  to  be  asses- 
sors, one  fi-eeholder  to  l)e  collector,  two  freeholders  to  be  overseers  of 
the  poor,  two  fence  vi.'wers  and  one  cU'rk.  t^ul)se(iuently  on  >Iarch  S, 
1773,  the  I'rovincial  Legislature  ch;inged  the  names  of  the  Kiugsland 
and  Clernian  Flats  districts,  giving  to  each  the  other's  u.-ime.  so  that 
the  district  in  which  is  the  Wan-en  teri'itory  became  tlie  Cernnni  Flats 
district. 

I  will  not  detail  further  in  this  papc-r  the  changes  affecting  the  ter- 
ritory of  ^^'arreu  by  the  erection  of  counties  and  towns,  nor  (Hwell  U])on 
the   massacre  perpetrated   by    I'.rant  at   neudei-S(»n.    tlie  destruction   by 


293  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Amei'iciuis  of  the  disloyal  settlement  at  Yonngs,  nor  the  alleged  haul- 
ing of  artillery  over  the  road  leading  from  Fort  Herkimer  to  Young's 
settlement  for  the  use  of  General  Clinton's  army,  then  embarking  upon' 
Lake  Otsego  and  the  Susquehannah  to  join  General  Sullivan,  but  will 
vspeak  of  events  in  the  early  history  of  the  established  town  of  Warren. 

The  great  migration  from  the  Eastern  States  which  began  in  a  mod- 
erate way  about  17S4," reached  its  full  volume  by  1794,  and  by  tlie  year 
1800,  had  given  Warren  and  the  purely  agricultui'al  towns,  east,  south 
and  west  of  it,  a  population  numerically  equal  if  not  superior  to  that 
wliich  tliey  now  possess.  At  tliis  time,  before  tlie  introduction  of  rail- 
ways and  canals,  the  turnpilie  was  considered  tlie  most  potent  instru- 
mentality for  advancing  the  wealth  and  comfort  of  "the  public. 

The  most  notable  enterprise  in  the  early  liistory  of  tlie  toAvn,  and  one 
productive  of  great  benefits  was  the  building  of  the  "Third  Great 
Western  Turnpike,"  from  Clierry  Valley  to  tlie  foot  of  Skenneatlas 
Lalie.  The  cliarter  for  this  road  was  obtained  in  Marcli,  1803.  It  pre- 
scribed that  the  road  should  pass  westerly  between  Y'oungs  and  W^ea- 
vers  Lakes  in  tlie  town  of  Warren,  thence  through  tlie  towns  of  Rich- 
field, Plainfield,  Bridgewater,  Sangerfield  and  Hamilton  to  the  village 
of  Cazenovia,  thence  to  intersect  the  Seneca  turnpike  near  Cob's  tav- 
ern in  the  town  of  Manlius,  or  througli  the  towns  of  Pompey  and  Mar- 
cellus  to  intersect  said  turnpike  at  or  near  the  outlet  of  Skenneatlas 
Lake.  The  members  of  tlie  corporation  named  in  tlie  act  w^'re  Jolm 
IJncklaen,  .Tohn  Moore,  Asahel  Jackson,  Samuel  demons,  Eburean 
Hale,  Oliver  Norton.  Joseph  Farwell,  Daniel  Rindge,  John  Pray,  Rufus 
Leonard,  Lemeral  Fitch,  Nathaniel  Farnham,  Samuel  Craft,  Abner 
Cook,  Luther  Rich,  Elleaxer  Ibbotson,  Calvin  Clieeseman  and  Charles 
R.  Webster. 

Tlie  charter  required  this  road  to  be  six  rods  wide  and  not  less  than 
thirty-three  feet  between  ditches,  whereof  twenty-eiglit  feet  were  to 
be  bedded  with  stone,  wood  or  gravel  and  faced  with  pounded  stone 
rising  toward  the  middle  by  a  gradual  arch.  It  directed  mile  stones 
to  be  erected,  one  for  each  mile,  with  the  distance  from  Albany  in- 
scribed on  each  stone,  and  guideposts  to  be  put  up  at  every  intersecting 
public  road,  with  name  of  town  to  which  the  intersecting  road  led,  and 
a  hand  pointing  to  such  town. 

The  tolls  were  as  follows:  Every  score  of  sheep  or  hogs,  5  cents; 
every  score  of  cattle,  horses  or  mules,  12i/l>  cents;  every  horse  and  rider, 
4  cents;  every  sulkey  chair  or  chaise,  with  one  horse,  12i^  cents;  can 
Avith  one  horse,  4  cents;  every  chariot,  coacli,  coachee  or  phaeton,  25 
cents;  every  stage,  wagon  or  other  four-wheeled  carriage  drawn  by 
two  horses,  mules  or  oxen,  VZYo  cents,  and  3  cents  for  every  additional 
horse,  ox  or  mule;  cart  with  two  horses,  mules  or  oxen,  6%  cents;  ad- 
ditional horse,  mule  or  ox,  2  cents;  every  sleigh  with  two  oxen,  horses 
or  mules,  G  cents;  every  additional  horse,  ox  or  mule  in  like  proportion. 


THE  TOWN   OF  WARREN.  293 

It  was  enacted  that  no  toll  should  be  collected  from  a  person  going 
to  or  returning  from  public  worship,  liis  farm,  a  funeral,  a  blacksmith 
shop  or  a  physician. 

Only  one-third  of  the  foregoing  toll  was  to  be  collected  in  case  the 
wagon  or  other  carriage  had  felloes  or  track  of  wheel  nine  inclies 
wide;  and  where  tlie  felloes  or  track  of  wheel  was  twelve  inches  wide, 
no  toll  whatever  was  to  be  collected. 

Tlie  completion  of  tliis  road  made  a  continuous  line  of  turnpike  from 
Albany  to  the  western  confines  of  tlie  State,  connecting  with  other 
roads  through  Oliio  and  Michigan.  The  effect  was  immediate  and  sur- 
prising. Droves  of  oxen,  slieep  and  swine  at  once  began  to  move  from 
Michigan,  Ohio  and  Western  New  York  over  this  route  to  supply  New 
York  and  other  cities  of  the  East.  An  old  and  intelligent  resident  on 
the  line  of  this  turnpike  states  it  was  estimated  that  as  many  as  ten 
thousand  head  of  cattle  had  passed  a  given  point  on  the  lino  in  one 
day.  These  droves  required  rest  and  pasturage  and  food  and  shelter. 
Inns  were  freciuent  for  the  drovers  and  their  helpers.  It  is  said  there 
was  at  one  time  a  tavern  for  every  mile  of  the  road  between  Skenne- 
atlas  and  All)any.  Tlie  business  of  keeping  tliese  droves  was  a  profit- 
able one  for  the  farmers  on  the  line  in  the  town  of  Warren.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  animals  liefore  named  there  wef-e  droves  of  liorses  and  not 
infrequently  large  flocks  of  turkeys  and  geese  en  route  to  the  eastern 
markets.  Usually  it  required  from  tliree  to  five  men  to  a  drove.  In  the 
case  of  cattle  and  swine  a  man  in  a  single  wagon  preceded  the  drove 
by  one  day  to  arrange  for  their  pasturage,  yarding  and  food. 

The  mail  coaches  of  Messrs.  Sprague  i^'  Thorpe  of  Rochester  trav- 
ersed the  road  twice  in  each  direction  everj-  twenty-four  hours,  and  the 
horn  of  the  drivers  calling  for  relays  at  different  stations  echoed  mer- 
rily among  the  hills  of  Warren  and  Richfield  in  the  days  of  our  an- 
cestors. 

The  impetus  to  business  along  tliis  road  is  illustrated  by  the  fact 
that  in  Cherry  A'alley  after  the  turnpike  had  gotten  under  full  head- 
way, there  were  eight  blacksmith  shops  giving  employment  to  about 
fifty  men,  and  at  one  time  108  stage  horses  were  kept  there.  Stages 
were  usually  drawn  by  six  horses,  though  eight  and  even  ten  were  used 
at  times.  Regular  freight  transportation  lines  were  also  run  between 
Albany  and  Buffalo.  Huge  wagons  carrying  from  three  to  four  tons 
and  drawn  by  seven  horses  were  used  on  these  lines.  These  wagons 
had  tires  so  wide  that  they  passed  without  toll  as  allOAved  by  the  char- 
ter, and  they  Avere  considered  a  IxMiefit  to  the  road  l)y  filling  in  the 
ruts  made  V)y  ordinary  wagons.  This  great  trattic  caused  such  a  de- 
mand for  horses  that  the  pric(>  of  those  animals  advanced  from  twenty- 
five  and  thirty  dollars  in  1H00  to  seventy-five  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  in  1S2().  There  wer(>  in  Cherry  Valley  at  one  time  fifteen  tav- 
erns and  between  Albany  and  (Mierry Valley. a  distance  of  fifty-two  miles, 
sixty-two  taverns.     (History  of  Cherry  Valley,  by  John  Sawyer,  Esq.) 


294  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

The  business  of  this  great  thoroughfare  was  largely  diverted  by  the 
building  of  the  Erie  canal,  and  was  finally  virtually  destroyed  by  the 
railways.  The  period  of  greatest  prosperity  for  the  town  of  Warren 
was  unquestional)ly  when  the  traffic  of  the  "Third  Great  Western"  was 
at  its  maximum  of  volume. 

So  signal  had  been  the  success  of  the  "Third  Great  Western"  that 
the  inhabitants  of  the-  northern  part  of  Wai'ren  and  along  its  parellei 
east  and  west  naturally  took  up  tlie  project  of  biiilding  a  turnpike 
whicli  sliould  benefit  tliem.  So  in  1812.  a  charter  Avas  procured  from 
tlie  Legislature  for  the  "Utica  and  IMinden  Turnpike  Company."  This 
road,  starting  at  Utica,  passed  tln-ougi)  Tiitclifield,  Columbia,  Warren 
and  Stark,  in  TIerkimer  county,  and  thence  into  ^linden,  in  Montgom- 
ery county.  I  liave  not  examined  the  charter,  but  have  read  a  larj?'<* 
number  of  documents  relating  to  the  Utica  and  Minden  Turnpike  Com- 
pany, found  among  the  pnpers  of  Rufus  Crain,  wlio  was  president  of 
the  company,  from  Avliich  I  judge  the  enterprise  created  great  expec- 
tations among  land  owners  and  others  along  tl\e  line.  Those  expec- 
tations ivere  doomed  to  disappointment,  for  tlais  turnpike  diverted  no 
ti-nffic  from  1h(>  "Third  Great  Western."  and  created  very  little  for 
itself. 

The  siiirit  of  war  created  by  the  Revolution  was  kept  alive  by  con- 
tinued ontrag<s  and  provocations  on  the  pfirt  of  Britain.  Those  of  this 
'-enoration  can  but  impei'fectly  realize  the  intensify  of  feeling  with 
wb.ich  the  military  organizations  of  the  State  Avere  raised  and  main- 
t;iined.  Warren  partook  of  this  enthusiasm  and  sent  a  considerable 
number  of  her  sons  to  the  northern  frontier  in  the  war  of  1.S12. 

I  wish  to  refer  to  two  troops  of  liorse  belonging  to  a  squadron  of 
\\iuch  IMifus  Crain  w;is  major,  in  the  Sixth  Regiment  of  cavalry,  of 
A\iiich  :Matthe\v  Myers  was  colonel.  One  of  these  troops  was  com- 
manded by  Captain  Charles  Fox.  the  other  by  Captain  John  :Mix.  Tliey 
contained  a  large  proportion  of  the  able-l)odied  men  in  Warren.  Many 
of  them  were  men  of  marked  intelligence,  decided  individuality  and 
that  forceful.  rugg(Hl  manner  which  (bstinguished  tlie  New  Englanders 
of  tlie  day.  I  have  taken  great  interest  bi  tracing  in  a  volnmiiious  cor- 
responden(H'  tlie  movements  of  tliis  regiment  as  illustr.-iting  tlie  time 
and  money  and  labor  devoted  to  the  military  in  that  day.  Orders  from 
James  Lynch,  Brigadier  (ieneral.  dated  at  Syracuse.  nMinircd  tliis  regi- 
ment to  appear  not  infreiiuently  at  distant  places  like  Ni'W  Hartford. 
T'tica  and  Deerfleld  for  review  and  inspection,  following  a  parade  of 
the  day  previous  and  necessitating  an  absence  of  th(>  men  from  homT 
for  at  least  three  d;iys  at  a  time.  The  uniform  of  this  regiment  was  fe 
lielmet  of  lustrous  leatlu>r.  surmounted  by  fur.  with  fore-piece,  coat  of 
scarlet,  Avith  black  velvet  facing,  crossed  with  gilt  bands,  and  trcmse" 
of  dark  blue. 

Knowing  as  I  do  the  convivial  nature  of  these  cavalrymen,  ma 
of  whom  I  well  remember,  and  picturing  to  myself  these  gallant  red 


..     THE  TOWN   OF  WARREN.  295 

coats  sfithering  from  the  hiuinvays  and  I>y\va.vs  of  Wan-en  for  a  ile- 
scont  in  force  upim  some  villa.u'e  in  the  valley.  I  ;im  prep.ared  to  thinlc 
they  painted  tlie  luckless  place  very  red  during  their  outing  of  tliree 
clays. 

Court  martials  were  fre(inent.  inexoralile  in  the  iuHiction  of  line;^ 
upon  delin(pients,  and  aiipai-i'utly  perfectly  siiceessfid  in  col  lectin.;; 
lliem.  It  slioiild  he  noted  that  onr  troopers  from  \Yarren,  as  ])art  of 
the  Tliird  squadron  of  the  Sixth  Ileginient  of  cavalry,  were  present  at 
Utica  on  the  occasion  of  the  reception  of  (Jeneral  the  ?\lar(iuis  de 
Lafayette,  .June  lUth.  ISL'.">. 

Tlie  social  customs  in  tliat  early  period  were  in  stron.t;-  contrast  to 
tliose  of  tlie  present  time.  Balls  were  tlien  given  at  one  and  two  o'cloclv 
ir.  the  day  instead  of  at  night. 

You  will  deem  it  remark.ihle  in  view  of  tlie  slow  methods  of  travel 
in  those  early  times  tliat  men  should  travel  great  distances  for  pleasure, 
especially  from  rural  districts  like  \\'arren;  yet  betweeu  ispj  and  1S20. 
three  of  our  townsmen  visited  distant  countries. 

John  Bolton  spent  the  summer  of  l.Sl.'i  in  the  City  of  Mexico  and 
towns  between  it  .■md  \'era  Cruz. 

.tohn  Williams  visited  \'euezut'la  in  181i'.,  and  (h'voted  considerable 
time  to  Caracas  and  other  points  of  intc'rest.  Both  these  men  were 
obser\ing,  liad  great  desire  to  see  foreign  I'ountries  and  were  extremely 
entertaining  wlien  relating  their  experiences  aljroad. 

Sturges  Brewster,  identified  witli  Warren  all  Ids  life,  w.as  perhaps 
tlie  lirst  person  from  Herkimer  county  to  visit  Europe  strictly  as  a 
tourist  of  pleasui'e  and  obs  'rvation.  lie  embarked  from  Xt  \v  York 
August  l.jth,  IKl.'),  for  l'>ordeaux.  in  the  sailing  packet.  Blooming  Bose, 
Stephen  Trowbridge  being  the  captain.  He  paid  .flod  for  liis  jiassage 
and  liad  for  fellow  passengers  two  Swiss  gentlemen.  Mr.  Cowing  of 
Soutli  Carolina,  and  Mr.  .lackson.  of  (ieorgia.  In  ;i  lull  on  tln>  P>anks 
of  Newfoundland  they  fished  foi-  two  liours  and  caught  eleven  tine  cod, 
ANiiich  were  served  at  .lilfcrent  dinners  and  greatly  relished.  Si)eaking 
another  ytacket.  they  first  learned  that  the  Allies  had  entered  Paris. 
I'.arely  escaping  shipwreck  iii  I'dscay.  tiiey  readied  Bordeaux  on  the 
tOth  of  September,  the  •'l.'ith  day  of  the  voyage.  Timi  days  after  landing, 
Brewster  saw  a  rem.-irkabh^  sight.  I  will  qnot<'  him:  "rnderstand- 
ing  tiiat  two  of  the  genei'als  of  I'.onaparte  were  to  lie  executed  near 
the  City  to-day,  we  detei-mined  if  possible  to  lie  ])reseiit.  At  half-past 
10  o'clock  we  went  to  the  prison  where  they  were  confined,  a  stone 
building  called  the  I'.astile  of  Bordeaux.  The  two  victims  were  twin 
brothers  .">(;  years  of  age,  and  resembling  each  other  so  nearly  tltat  one 
could  hardly  be  distingnislied  from  the  other.  Theii-  nann-  was  Fonche. 
and  both  were  generals  of  e(|ual  rank  in  the  army  of  the  Bevohition. 
Latterly  one  h.ad  been  a  niciiibe?  >-"  t'l'^  National  Assemlily.  the  other 
the  mayor  of  the  town  near  B.ordeaiix.  We  found  assemliled  at  the 
prison  about  5,000  of  the  military  and  gens  d'  avmes.     At  about  11:30 


296  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

they  (the  Fonches)  were  brought  out,  passing  through  the  military  and 
an  immense  concourse  of  citizen  spectators. 

"They  were  conducted  to  tiie  center  of  a  large  s(iuare,  bounded  on 
one  side  by  a  high  stone  wall.  The  guards  formed  on  the  other  three 
sides.  The  Fonche  brothers  stood  in  the  center,  dressed  In  white  flan- 
nel and  without  hats,  firm  and  undismayed.  They  looked  upon  the 
people  and  their  murderers  with  apparent  indifference,  and  seemed  to 
smile  in  the  faces  of  the  blood-thirsty  crowd  tliat  surrounded  them. 
Twelve  gens  d'  amies  advanced  from  the  line  with  an  officer  and  took 
their  stand  ten  paces  from  the  Generals,  who  refused  either  to  kneel 
or  to  be  blindfolded.  The  muskets  were  presented,  the  fated  Avord  given, 
and  they  both  at  the  same  instant  fell  dead." 

Brewster  at  this  time  was  about  20  years  old,  and  carried  letters  of 
introduction  which  enabled  him  to  see  the  home  and  public  life  of 
persons  of  distinction  in  both  France  and  England,  and  embarked  July 
1-ith,  181<;,  in  the  ship  ^Nlynerva  Smyth,  from  Liverpool  for  New  York, 
reaching  the  latter  place  August  26th,  ISIG,  after  an  absence  of  one 
year  and  eleven  days.  Among  the  passengers  on  this  homeward  voy- 
age was  the  distinguished  Dr.  Francis,  of  New  York. 

Thus  far  I  have  not  touched  upon  anything  political,  because  that 
subject,  like  several  others,  could  not  be  brought  within  the  limits  of 
this  paper.  But  I  will  mention  one  affair  so  that  I  may  introduce  an 
extract  from  a  letter  written  by  one  of  Herkimer's  disinguished  citi- 
zens. 

The  Presidential  contest  between  Andrew  Jackson  and  John  Quincy 
Adams  in  1828  was  characterized  by  an  intensity  of  partisanship  un- 
equalled before  or  since  in  this  country.  The  Republicans  (now  known 
as  Democrats)  had  nominated  Rufus  Grain,  of  Warren,  as  Presidential 
Elector,  the  electors  at  that  time  being  chosen  by  congressional  dis- 
tricts. 

The  supporters  of  Adams  with  intent  to  introduce  confusion  in  the 
Republican  ranks,  nominated  his  brother-in-law.  Jacob  Marsliall,  living 
ill  the  same  house,  for  the  same  office. 

The  contest  lietween  Marshall  and  Grain  resulted  in  the  election  of 
the  latter.  At  this  stage.  Michael  Hoffman  wrote  Grain  a  letter,  dated 
November  14th,  1828,  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  and  from  which 
I  will  read  an  extract,  illustrative  of  his  piquant  style: 

"Every  man  knows  the  uncertainty  of  life  but  does  not  always  act 
accordingly.  In  this  case  our  dangers  are  of  a  different  kind,  viz.,  bad 
roads,  broken  bridges,  broken  limbs,  sickness.  The  only  preventive  is 
to  start  from  home  in  due  time  to  recover  from  all  these  evils  and  yet 
reach  your  destination.  I  advise  you  by  all  means  to  be  in  Albany  at 
least  one  week  before  the  end  of  this  month.  Go  so  early  that  a  bad 
road  may  lie  repaired,  a  broken  carriage  mended,  a  bridge  rebuilt  (or 
a  substitute  found),  a  broken  limb  set.  and  a  sick  man  borne  upon  a 
litter. 


THE  TOWN   OF  WARREN.  297 

"You  will  apprccintc  this  precaution  wlicn  you  view  the  desperation 
of  our  opponents.  Tliey  leave  nothing-  undone.  They  will  be  in  Albany 
early  to  a  man.  organize  at  the  hour,  and  if  they  are  a  majority  will 
immediately  till  up  all  vacancies  with  their  friends."  Tliis  letter  closes 
thus: 

"I  may  add  tliat  tlie  Democracy  of  the  State  has  triumplied,  and  if 
the  anti-Masonics  had  not  divided  us,  we  slionld  have  routed  and  beaten 
the  iiristocracy  horse,  foot  and  dragoons." 


SOME  DUTCH  CHARACTERISTICS. 

AN   ADDRESS   BY    HON.    JOHN   W.    VROOMAN,    OF   HERKIMER, 
Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  .Society  October  12,  1901. 

"God  prospci's  the  good  man's  resolve."  A  Dutch  proverb,  of  which 
my  friend.  Secretary  Smith,  is  a  living  illustration. 

He  resolved,  for  some  reason  unknown  to  me  and  for  reasons  I  fear 
sorrowful  to  yourselves,  to  secure  my  pi'csence  to  read  a  paper  before 
tliis  society,  and  here  I  am,  a  plain  business  man,  possessing  no  special 
qualifications  as  a  student  in  historic  reseai'cli,  such  as  Judge  Earl  and 
others  of  your  society  possess  in  full  measure,  and  yet  I  do  possess 
one  qualitication  characteristic  of  the  Dutch  blood  which  flows  in  my 
veins,  a  heart  full  of  loyalty  to  the  county  of  my  birth  and  full  of  love 
for  my  friends. 

I  pause  a  moment  to  congratulate  llrrkimer  county  upon  having  a 
society  to  perjx^uate  its  history,  to  honor  its  heroes  and  to  educate  the 
young  to  appreciate  the  sacrifices  of  those  who  lived  and  labored  in 
other  days  to  establish  our  political,  educational  and  religious  institu- 
tions, luiiuii'.v  is  sometimes  made  concerning  the  practical  purpose  of 
this  and  kindred  societies  and  the  permanent  good  accomplished  by 
them.  A  mistaken  idea  frecpiently  prevails  that  they  are  too  general 
in  purpose  and  too  limited  in  usefulness  to  warrant  continued  interest 
of  the  member  and  permanent  value  of  the  organization.  I  am  a  firm 
believer,  however,  in  the  abiding  good  to  individual  and  community 
of  any  society  that  gratefully  remembers  the  labors  and  sacrifices  of 
our  ancestors;  that  reviews  with  pride  the  struggles  and  successes  of  a 
community:  that  keeps  in  tender  recollection  father,  mother  and  home- 
land; that  cultivates  affectionate  feeling  for  friend  and  fireside:  that 
dr.-iws  inspiration  for  the  present  from  contemplation  of  what  has  made 
a  glorious  past. 

Tlie  Herkimer  r%)unty  HistoiMcal  Sociely  was  l)orn  to  further  such 
purposes  and  lives,  to  cultivate  such  princ!])les.  Believing  in  them  my- 
self, I  offer  this  contribution  to  tlie  ))ro;ul  and  unselfish  work  in  which 
you  are  engaged. 


SOME  DUTCH   CHARACTERISTICS.  299 

"Oraiije  bovcn" — Up  with  Oranse — lilu'i-ally  translated  lucar.s  that  it 
is  c-haractoristic  of  tlic  Dutcli  to  lie  on  top.  Tlir  Oran.uo  cohji's  stand 
for  couraiio  aTid  fi'lcndsliip.  Wearing  thmi  lias  even  been  jiroof  of 
loyalty  and  integrity,  of  unity  and  power. 

In  1(;23,  a  Dutch  ship  In-ought  3()  Dutch  families  to  .Alanhattan  Island, 
where  tliey  found  a  new  home  and  founded  New  Amsterdam,  now  New 
York.  At  the  same  time  IS  Dutch  families  from  tlie  same  ship  found 
a  new  home  and  founded  Fort  Oranut',  riow  Albany.  Following  this, 
other  Dutch  settlements  jilong  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk  Klvcrs  were 
begun  in  the  old  Holland  way.  There  wire  comnuin  lands  wliore  the 
cattle  were  put  o\it  (hiily  to  i)astnre  and  a  common  point  of  assembling 
for  defense,  as  illnsti'ated  liy  our  old  Fort  Herkimer  and  otlier  forts 
throughout  tlu'  valley.  'I'liis  is  bronglit  to  our  notice  from  the  fact 
tliat  almost  every  farm  in  the  Moliawk  valley  liad  a  narrow  frontage 
on  the  river,  extending  some  distance  back  on  the  liillside.  tlierel>y  af- 
fording tlie  e;irly  settlei's  opportunity  for  locating  tlieir  liouses  near 
each  other  on  tlie  thits  for  mutual  protection.  Referrin.g  to  common 
lands,  we  mention  tliat  in  Albany  in  olden  time  the  Dutcli  settle  owned 
liis  home  and  took  pride  in  the  garden  and  tlie  little  green  surrounding 
his  liouse.  Tlie  family  also  owned  a  cow.  which  was  fed  in  a  common 
pasture  at  the  far  end  of  the  town.  In  the  evening  tlie  cow^.  returned 
by  a  patli  known  to  each  iwie  and  it  is  stated  that  these  cowpaths 
afterward  formed  the  streets  in  the  city  of  Albany,  famous  for  tlie  reg- 
ular iri'egularity  in  wliich  tliey  are  laid  out. 

The  Dutch  names  of  New  Amsterdam  and  I'^oit  Orange  should  never 
have  been  changed  to  English  New  York  and  Albany.  It  is  not  my 
purpose  to  ]iraise  the  Dutch  at  the  expense  of  the  English,  but  I  am 
bound  to  state  as  matter  of  liistory  that  it  was  ;in  English  and  not  a 
Dutch  (Jovernor  of  the  C'olony  of  New  York  who  became  so  unruly  at 
its  capitol  th.-it  the  Assembly  granted  him  ;i  salai'y  for  only  a  limited 
space  of  time,  without  promise  of  renewal,  that  they  miglit  be  able  to 
hold  a  cluti  over  him  for  political  purposes.  It  was  one  of  these  Enj?- 
lish  Governors  who  said,  regarding  the  Colony  and  the  ])eople:  "This 
is  the  finest  air  to  live  upon  in  the  universe,  .and  if  our  trees  and  birds 
could  speak  and  our  Asseml)lymen  be  silent,  tlie  finest  conversation 
also."  He  fnrtli(>r  said:  "According  to  tlie  reports  of  the  coiuitry,  the 
Siicliems  are  tlie  poorest  of  the  ]»eoi>le." 

My  friends,  let  us  never  forget  that  while  the  eai'ly  Dutch  settlers 
of  this  country  brought  the  Oran.ge  colors  in  one  hand.  I  hey  brought  the 
liible  in  the  otiier,  representin.g  their  characteristics  of  pluck  and  pi'ayer 
and  thank  CJod  these  charact(>ristics  are  relleeted  in  the  Moliaw]<  Valley 
I  Mitch  of  to-day.  Some  of  these  scitlers  rciinestcd  anilioi-ity  from  Eng- 
land to  i»lant  a  colony  in  \'irgini;i.  but  the  King  refnsed.  as  they  ;isked 
liim  to  coniiie  with  the  chartci'  ;i  clause  guaranteeing  religious  lllierty. 
Knowing  that  in  a  Dutch  colony  their  riglite  would  be  ]irotected  in  that 
n^gard,  they  concluded  negotiations  with  Holland  with  the  residt  that 


300  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

they  settled  in  New  Amsterdam,  in  Fort  Orange  and  in  tlie  Moliawlc 
A'alley,  as  Avell  as  otlier  places.  Let  it  bo  noted  in  passing,  that  the 
Dutch  did  not  obtain  tlieir  lands  here  by  conquest,  but  by  purchase 
from  the  Indians.  It  was  an  Albany  Dutchman  whose  influence  com- 
manded the  respect  and  confidence  of  tlie  Five,  afterwards  the  Six 
Nations,  to  such  a  marked  degree  that  for  more  than  a  hundred  years 
Albany  was  protected  by  a  treaty  with  the  Mohawks  that  was  never 
broken  and  when  attempt  was  made  to  win  the  Indians  from  the  Dutch- 
man, it  failed  because  he  always  "dealt  fairly  with  them."  Someone 
has  well  said  that  there  is  no  more  glorious  page  in  the  history  of  this 
country,  no  grander  e.xhibition  of  the  quality  of  our  Dutch  ancestors, 
than  was  manifested  by  tlie  influence  of  the  sturdy  Dutch  people  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Hudson  and  Mohawk.  They  preferred  free  soil  and  they 
protected  people's  rights.  When  they  came  to  this  colony  they  honor- 
ably secured  land  from  the  Indians  and  in  this  way  Van  Curler  pushed 
out  from  Albany  and  founded  Schenectady.  With  other  plucky  Dutch- 
men they  maintained  their  rights  throughout  the  Mohawk  valley  by 
treating  the  Indians  justly,  and  in  appreciation  of  this  just  treatment 
the  Indians  for  a  long  time  called  the  Governors  of  New  York  by  the 
general  name  of  "Corlear,"  and  many  of  their  descendants  living  in 
Canada  still  call  the  reigning  sovereign  of  England  by  the  name  of 
Corlear. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  facts  in  I>utch  history  is  found  in  the 
influence  for  good  that  for  centuries  Holland  sent  forth  throughout  the 
world.  If  you  study  the  history  of  the  majority  of  the  foremost  men 
who  came  to  this  country  in  its  earliest  days,  you  will  find  that  some- 
how, some  way,  somewhere,  they  received  a  Dutch  training.  For  exam- 
ple, the  name  of  William  Penn  will  go  down  through  the  ages  as  one 
of  our  best  and  broadest  of  men  because  his  Dutch  mother  made  this 
possible. 

In  the  town  halls  in  Dutch  cities  liberty  bells  were  hung,  and  from 
the  "Liberty  Bell"  placed  in  Philadelphia  by  Pennsylvania  Dutchmen, 
on  July  4th,  177(5,  freedom  was  proclaimed  "throughout  all  the  land  and 
to  all  the  inhabitants  thereof." 

In  those  early  days  many  Palatines  went  to  Rotterdam  and  other 
places  in  Holland  to  find  refuge  and  a  home  and  from  thence  a  large 
number  came  to  this  country,  bringing  Holland  influences.  These  Pal- 
atine Dutchmen  gave  us  some  of  our  l)ravest  men  in  the  war  of  the 
American  Revolution,  notably  Nicholas  Herkimer.  In  this  connection, 
I  record  with  pride  the  statement  that  in  1710,  Johan  Jost,  :\Iadalana 
and  Catharina  Herkimer  came  from  Holland  and  finally  settled  in  the 
Mohawk  valley  in  1721.  The  first  land  they  occupied  is  now  a  part  of 
this  town.  General  Herkimer  was  the  eldest  son  of  Johan  Jost  and 
some  of  us  present  this  afternoon  are  numbered  among  the  descendants 
of  Madalana  and  Catharina.  It  may  also  be  of  interest  to  note  that 
one  of  the  first  of  the  Livingston  family  went  from  England  to  Rotter- 


SOME  DUTCH   CHARACTERISTICS.  301 

dam,  where  he  obtained  his  ediieation.  He  later  eaine  to  tliis  eoimtry, 
settled  in  Albany  and  married  a  sister  of  Peter  Schuyler.  She  was  the 
widow  of  Dominie  Van  Rensselaer,  a  Dutchman  of  high  repute.  The 
first  Mayor  of  New  York.  Van  Cortlandt.  u  Dutchman,  also  married 
a  Schuyler. 

If  I  had  the  time  and  you  the  patience,  mention  could  be  I'eadily 
made  of  a  number  of  our  old  Mohuwk  Valley  Dutch  families,  whost- 
good  influences  have  helped  to  make  this  part  of  our  country  distin- 
guished for  many  of  its  grand  cliaracteristics. 

The  brief  half  liour  at  my  disposal  tliis  afternoon  will  permit  only  a 
liasty  sketch  of  a  few  Dutcli  characteristics,  which  largely  contributed 
to  give  us  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  to  instill  a  love  of 
liberty  in  our  citizens,  to  preserve  tlieir  Iiomes,  to  upbuild  their  scliools 
and  establish  their  religion. 

A  few  illustrations  may  serve  to  present  some  Dutch  characteristics 
inherited  from  our  ancestors.  One,  love  of  liberty.  Our  forefatliers 
who  came  from  Holland  brought  witli  them  two  things  of  supreme 
importance,  their  freedom  and  tlieir  religion,  and  tliese  beneficent  influ- 
ences have  done  much  to  make  every  citizen  of  this  republic  a  sover- 
eign. As  an  evidence  of  their  love  of  liberty,  recall  the  long  and  bloody 
war  witli  the  Spaniards  and  the  challenge  that  went  forth  fiom  the 
brave  Hollanders  in  the  midst  of  their  suffering.  They  were  then  as 
now  true  to  themselves  ami  to  their  country.  Listen  to  their  words  of 
deliance  to  the  Spaniards — they  will  go  down  through  the  ages:  "As 
long  as  there  is  a  living  man  left  in  the  country  Ave  will  contend  for 
our  liberty  and  our  religion."  When  they  formed  the  heroic  resolution 
to  break  down  the  dykes  to  destroy  the  enemy,  which  would  destroy 
their  homes  also,  and  a  protest  was  made,  the  reply  quickly  came:  "Bet- 
ter a  drowned  land  than  a  lost  land." 

The  descendants  of  such  liberty-loving.  God-fearing  men  settled  on 
the  banks  of  the  Hudson  and  the  ]N[ohawk.  They  possessed  the  Dutch 
characteristics  of  pluck,  not  luck;  of  action,  not  accident;  they  labored 
to  create  rather  than  to  criticise.  Do  you  wonder  that  such  a  devotion 
and  bravery  gave  birth  on  the  hills  and  in  the  valleys  of  New  York  to 
homes,  school-houses  and  churches?  May  we  of  the  present  preserve 
these  institutions  beciueathed  us  by  our  loyal  ancestors  because  they 
stand  for  liberty,  the  bulwark  of  our  national  life;  for  love  of  human- 
ity, which  educates  us  to  better  fellowship  and  closer  friendship;  for 
the  old-fashioned  religion  of  our  fathers  represented  by  the  old-fash- 
ioned family  Bible. 

Referring  to  the  Spaniard,  what  a  parallel  in  the  defeat  of  Spain  in 
her  war  with  Holland  which  ended  in  1048  and  her  war  with  the  United 
States,  which  ended  in  180S.  In  the  Spanish-Dutch  war,  Spain  buried 
350,000  of  her  soldiers  in  Holland  and  spent  millions  upon  millions, 
nearly  ruining  herself  financially  in  order  to  destroy  liberty.  In  her 
then  defeat  she  sank  to  the  level  of  a  fourth-rate  country.     That  was 


303  HERKIMER   COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

tlie  result  of  her  wnr  against  li))ert.v  centuries  ago.  The  result  of  her 
i-ect'Ut  war  with  the  United  Stati's  in  again  atteni])ting  to  destroy  lil)- 
erty  need  not  ))e  retol(L 

My  friends,  let  us  gratefully  remember  that  Duteh  love  of  liberty 
was  so  great  that  the  I'.ritisli  government  declared  war  against  fiolland 
because  she  saluted  the  American  flag,  which  was  the  first  foreign 
salute,  and  because  she  helped  our  American  privateers.  Holland  help- 
ed us  because  of  sympathy,  not  selfishness. 

Another  illustration  of  the  Dutch  standing  for  liberty  may  lie  noted 
in  the  fact  that  the  loyalty  and  courage  of  gallant  Dutclimeri  largely 
contributed  to  check  the  r>ritish  plan  of  campaign  in  the  wa;'  of  the 
Uevolution,  Avhich  resulted  in  the  enemy's  defeat  and  our  imperishable 
victory.  ^Ye  honor  the  sturdy,  liberty-loving  sons  of  Holland  who 
fought  at  Oriskany  and  elsewliere  in  the  valley  of  the  .Alohawk  atid  of 
the  Hudson! 

We  proudly  speak  of  the  heroism  of  a  Dewey  at  ^Manila  and  a  Sami*- 
son  and  Schley  at  Santiago,  but  this  lieroism  was  fully  matched  by  tlie 
courage  of  Dutch  Admiral  Peter  lleyn,  who  two  hundred  and  sevOnty- 
five  years  ago  in  a  great  naval  battle  with  the  Spaniards,  destroyed 
twenty-six  of  their  warships  and  in  a  later  engagement  captured  the 
balance  of  the  Spanish  fleet  of  nineteen  vessels,  with  millions  of  dollars 
of  treasui-e. 

Another  illustration,  love  of  home.  ^ly  friends,  some  people  live  in 
liouses.     The  1  Hitch  live  in  liomes. 

"A  liouse  is  built  of  bricks  and  stones, 

Of  sills  and  posts  and  piers; 
]*.ut  a  liome  is  built  of  loving  deeds, 

That  stami  a  thousand  years." 

Thank  God,  not  only  the  Dutch  people  of  other  days,  but  the  Amer- 
ican people  of  to-day  believe  in  preservation  of  tlie  home  in  all  its  hap- 
piness aiHi  ])urity.  To  perpetuate  such  a  home  we  must  chietiy  depend 
upon  woman's  tact,  woman's  sacrifice,  woman's  love.  A  good  home 
is  the  Avorld's  hope  and  to  preserve  and  l»eautify  and  dignify  a  Chris- 
tian liome  is  life's  greatest  mission  and  a  pure  and  iiol)le  woman  can 
most  faithfully  and  successfully  fulfil  tliat  mission.    God  bless  lier! 

Coupled  with  a  I>utclinian's  love  of  home  is  iiis  cliaracteristic  wel- 
come and  hospitality,  and  so  it  was  that  tlie  Dutch  introduced  into  this 
country  holiday  customs  and  especially  New  Year's  calls  and  celebra- 
tions. May  Ave  never  depart  from  that  old-fashioned  Dutch  liospitality 
which  always  brought  .good  cheer  and  tilled  one's  life  with  sunshine. 
I  think  a  Dutchman  must  liave  inspired  tliis  sentiment: 

'•The  under  side  of  every  cloud 

Is  bright  and  shining. 
And  so  I  turn  my  clouds  about. 
And  always  Avear  them  inside  out. 

To  shoAV  the  lining." 


SOME   DUTCH  CHARACTERISTICS  303 

It  was  Duttli  cliccr  and  sunshiiH"  that  induced  William  I'.rovsttT,  a 
bright  and  l)ravo  yoiinu'  lOni^lislinian,  to  spend  a  (hi/.eii  years  in  Ihil- 
land.  lie  was  so  pleased  with  the  I>uteh  homes  and  tlieii-  hosnitality 
that  he  intliieneed  many  of  the  I'llurim  Fatliers  to  seek  a  home  in  IIol- 
hmd  and  those  homes  ma(h'  possilile  a  I'lymonth  Rock,  made  certain  a 
Dechiratioii  of  Independence. 

Not  only  did  the  Diitcli  lielieve  in  a  home,  but  they  lielieved  in  own- 
ing that  home,  and  when  in  early  days  they  were  <'raniped  by  the  limi- 
tations of  the  little  country  c;ii)tured  from  tlie  sea,  they  pushed  <iut  as 
pioneei's  to  secure  homes  in  new  lands,  until  Holland  of  toda.v.  witli  an 
area  of  about  l.'J.dOO  S(|uare  miles  and  a  population  of  about  live  mil- 
lions, controls  colonies  with  an  .area  of  more  than  three-(iuar(ers  of  a 
million  of  square  miles  and  .-i  poi)ulatiou  of  more  than  thii-ty  millions. 
In  estalilisliing  new  lioines,  it  was  their  ambition  not  to  forget  the  old 
ones  and  henct'  it  is  cliaracteristic  of  the  Dutch  peojile  to  be  tlie  very 
best  coloiuzers  for  a  new  country.  And  wliyV  I'.ccause  they  take  from 
the  old  home  to  the  new  tlie  scliool-house  and  tlie  cliurcli. 

Did  you  ever  stop  to  flunk  that  no  foreign  missionaries  were  ever 
called  to  convert  a  Dutch  cohmy.  Do  you  ask  tin-  i-easonV  Tlic  Dutch 
schoolmaster  always  accomiianies  the  Dutch  farmer,  and  the  Dutch 
minister  always  accompanies  the  Dutch  merch.ant  in  their  onward 
inarch  of  civilization.     They  are  all  unssionaries. 

Again,  let  it  not  l)e  forgotten  that  in  Holland  it  was  an  exception  to 
find  a  person  who  could  not  read  and  write.  It  is  an  histoiic  fact  that 
the  first  English  translation  of  the  Pdlde  was  published  in  Antwerp  in 
1535,  and  in  those  early  days  nowhere  in  the  world  was  the  I'.ible  so 
generally  read  as  by  the  Hollanders  and  the  English  people  who  settled 
there.  Thank  God.  love  of  the  Bible  is  a  Dutch  characteristic  of  to-day 
as  well  as  former  days. 

The  Dutch  who  settled  in  tliis  country,  while  never  foi-getting  their 
forefathers  nor  the  land  of  their  birtli.  became  loyal  Amei'icans  and 
faithful  in  the  last  degree  to  our  Iteloved  land.  While  we  rejoice  that 
many  of  our  citizens  of  various  nationalities  have  renoimced  allegiance 
to  foreign  governments,  let  us  never  sympathize  with  that  mistaken 
sentiment  occasionally  found  in  this  day  wliereby  some  adojited  citi- 
zens for  public  notoriety  not  only  renounce  but  denounce  a  foreign  gov- 
ernment, and  frequently  swear  fealty  to  our  republic  in  boisterous 
words,  rarely  followed  by  honorable  dec'ds.  ^Nlay  Ave  as  lovers  of  this 
land  of  liberty,  descendants  of  every  nationality,  ever  remendier  that 
vociferously  cryin.g  the  word  "American"  does  not  always  make  an 
American;  that  the  denouncement  of  other  governments  is  not  evidence 
of  loyalty  to  our  own  government;  that  the  best  evid(Mice  of  true  citi- 
zenship is  found  not  in  empty  woi'ds  but  in  worthy  deeds. 

To  be  a  good  American  is  to  be  a  good  citizen,  .and  to  be  .a  good  citi- 
zen is  to  be  a  good  person  in  the  home.  True  m.anliood  of  any  nation- 
ality,  without   distinction   of   class,    without   aristocracy    save    that   of 


304  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

merit,  is  the  inoasure  of  Americaiiisiii,  whik'  K'x^h^  hfluivior  is  thv  devel- 
optiient  of  such  manhood. 

Class  distinction  was  once  tried  by  the  Dutch  in  New  Amsterdam, 
-:50  years  ago.  It  has  never  been  tried  since.  They  then  attempted  to 
divide  into  two  societies,  called  Great  Burghers  and  Small  Burghers. 
This  plan  to  create  an  aristocracy  was  abolished  after  a  trial  of  about 
ten  years,  the  Dutch  women  doing  their  full  share  in  bringing  about 
the  change  and  from  that  time  on  to  the  present  the  only  Dutch  class 
distinction  is  one  of  merit,  founded  upon  good  behavior.  That  the 
Dutch  people  did  not  depend  upon  class  distinction  is  further  witnessed 
by  the  fact  that  shortly  after  the  classes  of  the  Great  and  the  Small 
Burgher  Avere  disposed  of,  a  Governor  of  New  York,  in  writing  to  a 
friend  in  his  home-land,  complimented  the  Dutch  residing  hero  upon 
their  refinement,  and  among  other  things  he  said:  "I  find  some  of  these 
people  have  the  breeding  of  courts,  and  I  cannot  conceive  how  such  is 
acquired."  Ah!  my  friends,  this  Governor  did  not  appreciate  Ihe  fact 
that  the  foundation  of  Dutch  character  in  the  mother-land  was  good 
behavior,  and  upon  such  a  foundation  only  can  refinement  be  builded. 

May  we  alwaj'S  extend  to  true  manhood  the  same  inviting  welcome  to 
this  country  that  was  extended  by  the  Dutch  Court  of  Leyden,  centuries 
ago.  It  was  then  as  now  the  best  invitation  any  country  has  ever  given 
to  the  oppressed  or  the  ambitious.  History  tells  us  that  more  than  two 
centuries  ago  a  proclamation  was  issued  by  the  burgomasters  and  the 
Court  of  Leyden,  "Refusing  no  honest  person  free  ingress  to  come  for 
residence  in  that  city,  provided  that  such  persons  behave  themselves." 
All  hail  to  dear  old  Holland,  where  the  only  price  of  citizenship  was 
good  behavior!  Do  you  wonder  that  our  Pilgrim  Fathers  received  their 
best  teachings  of  love  and  liberty,  of  education  and  religion,  fi'om  Hol- 
land? Do  you  wonder  that  with  such  broad  proclamation  and  brotherly 
sentiment  the  first  street  of  old  Plymouth  town,  Massachusetts,  was 
named  Leyden  street?  Do  you  wonder  that  the  immortal  principles 
of  freedom,  equality  and  liberality  were  placed  in  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  as  a  result  of  Dutch  influence?  In  contributing  to  the 
elevation  of  manhood  and  the  encouragement  of  enterprise,  in  battling 
for  civil  and  religious  liberty,  in  triumphing  over  despotism  and  diffi- 
culty, and  in  upbuilding  practical  religion  of  love  to  man  and  love  to 
God,  the  little  country  of  Holland  has  ever  stood  front  and  foremost 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

I  have  referred  among  the  characteristics  of  the  Dutch  to  love  of 
liberty  because  it  makes  imperial  manhood;  to  love  of  home  because  it 
elevates  that  manhood  and  to  good  citizenship  because  it  educates  that 
manhood. 

Thrift  and  honesty  are  also  Dutch  characteristics.  I  want  to  ask 
a  question  and  invite  your  Society  to  make  inquiry  preparatory  to  an 
answer.  How  many  Dutch  people  can  be  counted  as  inmates  of  the 
poorhouses  here  or  elsewhere  owing  to  lack  of  thrift?   How  many  can 


I 


SOME   DUTCH   CHARACTERISTICS.  305 

111'  ((milted  as  iniiiatcs  of  iirisons  here  or  clscwiKM-c  on  account  of  lack 
of  honesty  V 

There  are  still  other  characteristu-s.  Patience  and  perseverance. 
For  centuries  tlie  Dutch  patiently  fought  the  ocean  to  secure  their 
country:  then  for  eighty  years  they  persisstently  fougiit  tlie  Si)aniards 
for  their  liberty,  and  as  some  one  has  said  botli  jiatiently  and  persist- 
ently they  always  fought  tlie  devil   for  their  religion. 

'IMiat  tlie  early  Dutch  settlers  in  New  .\.inserdaiii  ixtssessed  human 
as  well  as  spiritual  characteristics  may  he  noted  by  the  fact  that  one 
of  the  first  liuildings  erected  in  New  Amsterdam  was,  to  ([Uote  the 
language  of  the  ])u(ch  ollicial  who  made  the  lirst  sultscript ion,  "a  re- 
spectable church,""  which  he  said  was  net  (hMl.  A  few  days  after  the 
starting  of  tliis  su[)Scription,  a  daughter  of  Dominie  Dogardus  was  mar- 
ried and  at  the  wedding  repast  after  the  wine  had  been  freely  passed 
around,  the  Church  subscription  paper  was  circulated  with  such  gener- 
ous results  that  the  building  was  shortly  after  erected.  Dominies  then 
as  iioAV. occasionally  preached  practical  sermons.  It  is  said  that  Bogar- 
uus  had  a  bit  of  trouble  with  the  I>utch  (iovernor  and  after  some  angry 
woi'ds  had  p;issed  between  th(>m  the  Dominie  stated  that  he  would 
preach  the  (ioveriior  such  a  senium  the  iie.xt  Sunday  that  it  would  make 
him  "'shake  hi  his  shoes."  \o  harm  however  resulted  from  the  ser- 
mon as  the  anger  of  both  men  subsided.  Those  AA'ere  fraternal  days 
iKtween  the  churches;  the  Church  of  England  and  the  I>utcli  Iteformed 
Church  worked  together  in  brotlu'rly  lo\'e.  holding  services  in  the  same 
nu'eting  house,  one  in  the  morning,  the  other  in   the  evening. 

The  Dutch  jiossess  in  a  large  degree  ambition  and  enterpi'ise.  I 
niak(>  bold  the  statement  that  their  characteristics  are  and  always 
have  been  largely  misunderstood  in  this  regard  even  by  those  who  ought 
to  be  familiar  with  them.  Stubborn  facts  as  proved  by  history,  teach 
us  that  man  for  man  no  country  of  the  same  size  :md  population  ever 
produced  better  leaders  of  thought,  braver  pioiieei's  of  commerce,  more 
conservative  statesmen,  more  noble  patriots,  more  shrewd  financiers, 
more  enterpiising  jiersons  in  all  that  goes  to  make  up  the  best  all 
around  men.  W'nen  the  Dutch  iirst  came  to  America,  the.v  were  nn- 
(loubtedly  the  foremost  commercial  people  in  the  world  ;ind  introduced 
many  succ(  ssful  elements  in  our  Imsiness  life  as  well  as  in  our  educa- 
tional aff.-iiis  that  have  always  been  of  supreme  imiiortance. 

Pausing  a  moment  to  speak  of  edncatiocal  matters,  avc  note  that  to- 
day more  tha.n  fifteen  millions  of  jnipils  juui  teachers  are  at  work  in 
cur  common  schools.  The  common  school  system  is  a  product  of  llol- 
l.-ip.d.  The  first  free  school  in  this  country  w;is  oiiened  by  Dutchmen 
on  .Manhattan  Island,  and  of  all  flu  early  settlers  here  the  Dutch  ahme 
believed  in  the  free  ]tnblic  school,  otfering  fMlm-ation  not  as  a.  cliarity 
l;ut  as  a  right.     They  had  it  at  home;   they  established  it  here. 

Listen  to  a  statement  made  by  .lolin  of  Nassau,  brother  of  th.'it  typi- 
cal Dutclim;iii,  William  of  Orange:     "Soldiers  and  patriots  educated  in 


306  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Tree  schools  are  better  tliaii  all  armies,  arsenals,  mnnitions,  al'iances, 
and  treaties  tliat  can  be  had  or  imagined  in  the  world." 

Let  us  not  forget  that  throughout  the  centuries  all  classes  in  Holland, 
rich  and  poor,  boys  and  girls,  attend  the  public  schools  together,  and 
thus  the  public  school  system  ui  Holland  prepares  men  and  women  to 
bravely  coiie  with  the  world.  Thank  (xod  our  u\vn  lieloved  iState  has 
profited  by  the  wisdom  of  our  Dutch  Fathers  and  our  public  school  sys- 
tem of  to-day  is  as  broad  and  practical  as  that  of  Holland. 

In  the  industrial  world,  in  fine  arts,  in'  high  scholarship,  in  inven- 
tion, in  various  other  great  undertakings,  no  nation  has  ever  produced 
better  results,  or  has  ever  been  more  ambitious  or  more  enteri)rising. 
More  ambitious?  Where  will  you  lind  a  nobler  specimen  than  in  the 
person  of  the  great  Admiral  Van  Tromp.  Kead  the  inscription  on  liis 
monument:  "He  ceased  to  triumph  only  when  lie  ceased  to  live."  More 
enterprising?  Where  will  you  find  a  better  local  illustration  than  in 
the  person  of  Patroon  Van  Rensselaer,  as  may  be  witnessed  by  the 
fact  tliat  he  erected  upon  an  island  in  the  upper  Hudson  a  fortified 
custom  house  and  proceeded  to  compel  every  incoming  or  outgoing  ves- 
sel to  pay  a  duty  for  passing  by,  or  then  and  there  unload  its  cargo 
and  sell  to  the  customers  of  the  place,  v.diicli  usually  resulted  to  his 
pleasure  and  profit.  Talk  about  Dutch  enterprise;  it  loolced  then  as  it 
looks  now,  that  Dutchmen,  ancient  or  niodern,  want  their  full  share 
of  wliat  is  passing  by,  either  of  ships  in  the  night  time  or  men  in  the 
daytime. 

An  enterprising  person  is  a  clieerful  person  and  it  is  a  Dutch  char- 
acteristic to  be  cheerful  and  we  must  thank  our  early  Dutch  ancestors 
for  setting  apart  a  considerable  number  of  liolidays  to  dispense  good 
cheer  and  good  fellowship.  They  were  perhaps  the  leaders  in  a  desire 
to  give  evidence  of  joy  and  celel)ration  by  the  lioliday  system  wliich 
they  adopted  and  which  we  liave  in  later  days  largely  followed. 

Another  illustration  of  Dutch  character,  toleration  in  all  things.  Tlie 
Dutch  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  "live  and  let  live,"  and  they  apply  this 
in  matters  of  business,  government  and  religion.  In  other  words,  a 
Dutchman  does  not  demand  the  whole  thing;  he  is  willing  to  give  a 
portion  to  the  other  fellow.  In  business  a  Dutcliman  does  not  hold  to 
Ihe  one  talent  of  doing  nothing,  nor  to  the  five  talents  of  doing  only  the 
big  things,  but  he  belongs  to  the  large  class  of  ostentatious,  substantial 
people  who  possess  the  two  talents.  He  is  the  average  man  who  makes 
up  tlie  real  bone  and  sinew  of  tlie  land. 

While  simplicity  is  a  Dutch  characteristic,  nevertheless  I  am  bound 
to  state  that  our  early  ancestors  desired  to  dress  well  and  the  women 
were  no  exceptions  to  the  rule.  It  is  recorded  that  they  wore  much 
finery  and  expended  much  money  for  expensive  articles  in  tlio  home. 
We  should  remember  that  our  ancestors  loved  to  dress  well  and  to  live 
well  as  well  as  to  act  well. 

In  government,  little  Holland  successfully  controls  her  great  colonies, 


SOME   DUTCH   CHARACTERISTICS.  307 

I  have  already  roft'rroil  to  tlu-  fact  that  althouuh  her  country  is  about 
oiu'-tliird  tlu'  size  of  New  Yorlc,  containing  tlbout  two-thirds  as  much 
population,  yet  she  satisfactorily  directs  the  government  of  her  colonies 
which  contain  an  area  fifty  times  greater  than  her  own  and  a  popula- 
tion six  times  larger.  Her  (jueen,  the  only  sceptered  one  in  the  world, 
is  not  afraid  of  assassination  or  revolution,  neither  of  which  is  a 
Dutch  characteristic.  On  her  wedding  day,  a  little  more  than  a  year 
ago,  in  an  open  carriage,  without  protection,  without  fear,  she  proudly 
passed  through  the  lines  of  many  thousands  of  her  subjects,  who  receiv- 
ed her  with  hearty  cheers  and  lionest  expressions  of  affection. 

It  would  be  out  of  place  for  me  to  make  comparison  with  tlie  wed- 
ding of  another  royal  personage  which  occurred  about  the  same  time 
but  under  entirely  different  circumstances;  in  the  one  country  the  peo- 
ple have  always  been  governed  l)y  toleration  in  all  things,  in  the  other 
by  fear.  Confirming  this  I  may  state  that  Holland  was  the  first  Prot- 
estant country  that  allowed  the  private  exercise  of  Roman  f'atholic 
religion  and  the  one  first  permitting  the  open  celebration  of  its  ritual. 
For  a  long  time  it  was  the  only  country  where  the  Jews  were  allowed 
full  liberty  of  religion. 

It  may  also  be  of  interest  to  note  that  the  Dutch  not  only  founded 
the  first  day  school,  but  also  the  first  I'rotestant  church  in  the  United 
States. 

Desiring  to  give  my  old-time  political  friends  who  honor  me  with 
their  presence  this  afternoon  a  bit  of  ancient  Dutch  advice,  good,  how- 
over,  for  the  present  day,  I  want  to  say  th.at  we  have  a  Dutch  precedent 
for  the  promotion  of  trusts  or  corporations,  for  the  existence  of  the 
political  boss,  for  an  excise  law,  a  tariff  law,  and  a  good  dinner  at  pub- 
lic expense. 

One  of  the  first  great  corponitions  or  trusts  was  founded  by  a  Dutch- 
man, and  its  shares  were  dealt  in  like  our  modern  stock  exchange.  We 
are  told  that  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  was  the  first  great  joint 
stock  company  whose  shares  were  bought  and  sold  from  hand  to  hand. 
Afterward,  :inother  great  company,  the  Dutch  West  India  Com- 
pany, was  organized.  This  differed  from  some  modern  trusts  in  that 
the  original  sul>scription  books  were  open  to  everybody,  Dutclmian  and 
foreigner  alike,  who  desired  to  become  a  stockholder. 

Speaking  of  the  political  boss,  our  old  Dutch  Governor  Peter  Stuy- 
vesant  instituted  a  boss  system  2~)()  years  ago  that  would  put  to  blusli 
even  the  Boss  of  New  York  or  Pennsylvania.  When  the  peope  of  that 
day  desired  to  elect  a  council  of  nine  men  to  aid  in  pi-oviding  for  the 
general  good  of  the  connnunity.Stuyvesant  consented,  but  lie  so  directed, 
affairs  that  the  council  would  l)e  permitted  to  assist  in  the  government 
only  when  he  (Stuyvesanti  '•called  upon  them."  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  Stuyvesant's  calls  were  as  few  and  I'ar  between  as  the  calls  of 
any  modern  boss.  \Ve  might  :idd  by  way  of  a  foot-note  that  iM-ibcry 
was   not  entirelv  unknown   in   that  day.     A   Dutch  Governor  once  at- 


308  HERKIMER  COXJNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

tempted  to  obtain  the  inllueuce  of  the  English  Governor  of  a  neigh- 
boring  colony,  by  sending/him  two  Holland  cheese  and  a  box  of  sugar 
as  an  inducement  for  him  to  stop  trading  with  the  Indians. 

Our  high  tariff  friends  can  quote  a  precedent  from  our  Dutch  ances-, . 
tors,  who  levied  the  first  tariff  in  this  country  by  what  was  then  known 
as  "staple  right,"  which  required  all.  vessels  to  pay  a  duty  for  passing 
the  port  of  New  Amsterdam,  xin  English  ship  once  attempted  to  evade 
this  tariff  law,  escaped  the  customs  officers  and.  proceeded  to  Fort 
Orange,  where  a  large  cargo  of  beaver  skins  was  obtained.  The  New 
Amsterdam  Dutchmen  sent  a  couple  of  ships  up  to  Fort  Orange  to 
escort  the  p]ngllsli  ship  to  t^andy  Hook  and  thence  on  her  way  liome. 
She  proceeded,  however,  without  any  cargo  because  tlie  Dutchmen  con- 
fiscated the  whole  thing.  The  most  expert  customs  otficials  of  to-day 
could  not  do  more  or  better. 

It  is  probable  that  the  first  excise  law  was  promulgated  in  Now  Am- 
slenhim  by  putting  a  tax  on  wine  and  beer  and  penalties  were  espec- 
ially placed  upon  excessive  drinking.  A  tavern  keeper  who  sold  liquor 
to  a  drunkard  or  permitted  quarrels  upon  his  premises  was  liable  not 
only  to  a  fine  but  to  the  loss  of  his  propei'ty  as  well.  We  are  also  told 
that  a  large  number  of  drinking  houses  were  located  on  ^Manhattan 
Island  and  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  the  drink  habit  to  a  minimum, 
when  a  drunken  man  was  found,  if  the  authorities  failed  to  discover 
the  particular  house  where  the  liiiuor  was  sold,  in  order  to  be  sure  of 
finding  the  real  seller,  they  would  impose  a  specific  fine  upon  every 
drinking  house  located  on  the  entire  street. 

1  mentioned  a  dinner  at  public  expense.  In  this  respect  our  modern, 
like  our  ancient  friends  in  New  York  an«l  elsewhere  possess  about  the 
same  midriffs,  including  the  same  tastes.  So  l;a^-^5S  I  am  able  to  learn, 
both  the  Dutch  and  English  of  two  centuries  ago  and  their  descend-. 
ants  of  to-day  expend  about  the  same  proportion  , of .  money  to  secure 
the  same  proportionate  good  thing.  In  proof  of  this  statement,  I  quote 
from  an  official  account  of.  the  expenditure  for  a. .banquet  given  by 
New  Amsterdam  otticials  to  an  English  Lord  more  fhaa  200  yetirs  ago. 
Here  are  the  principal  items: 

£•■      s.        d. 

Beef  and  Cabbage 7         G 

Pork  and  Turnips    T        3 

Mince  Pies   1         -t 

Fruit.  Cheese  and  P.read   7         0 

31  Bottles  of  Wine 3         2 

Beer  and  <  'ider   12 

As  proof  that  the  New  Amsterdam  case  is  not  an  exceptional  one,  I 
cite  another  from  New  .Jersey.  Here  is  an  authentic  copy  of  a  bill  over 
a  century  and  a  (juarter  old.  the  original  of  which  may  be  found  in  the 
library  of  Princeton  University,  formerly  known  as  the  New  Jersey 
College: 


SOME   DUTCH   CHAUACTEIUSTICS.  309 

"The  Tnislccs  of   Xrw  .Ici'scy  ('oll('.u,'(',  Dr., 
T.j  Will.  Hick. 
1771.  Sept.  1:7. 

£  s.         (1. 

To  37  diiiiiors    4       I'J         U 

To  23  Bottles  of  Wiiic  at  r)S .".       1.1 

To     8  Bottlfs   roller   IC. 

To     6  Bottles  of  P.eer   !) 

To     3  tlou))le  bowls  Pnneh   '.) 

To     3  double  IkiwIs  Toddy    (*) 

To  Tea  I'oi-  13>  (ieiitleiiien    l.'t 

'J'o  prove  the  ,'intheiilieity  as  well  as  llie  correctness  of  tlie  bill,  the 
Ileverend  President  of  the  College.  John  \Vitliersi)oon,  apitends  to  the 
bill  over  his  own  signature,  the  foUowini;'  statement: 

"The  :ibove  amount  I  believe  to  1h>  just."  Whether  the  ".jusf'  part 
of  it  refers  to  "dinners  for  .■',7"  or  "tea  for  13,"  or  whether  it  fcfcrs  to 
the  other  jiipiid  refreshments  is  w.tt  stated. 

I  will  not  A\eary  yon  with  otlier  important  cluiracteristies  tliat  havi^ 
conspired  to  place  little  Holland  in  the  fi'ont  rank  of  the  itrocessioii  of 
llro.^■ressive  nations.  Benjamin  Franklin  once  sai<l:  "Holland  lias  been 
ou)-  ,uTe;it  exani[»]<'  in  love  of  hberty  and  b'/avery  in  defendin:;-  it." 

What  a  world  of  thoimht  is  eont;iined  in  one  of  Hollaiurs  mottoes: 
"P>y  concord,  little  thin.ns  become  ureat." 

We  have  borrowed  fiom  this  our  own  nn)tto:  "In  miion  there  is 
stren.L^th."  and  Union  ("olle.ue.  which  is  a  product  of  a  Dutch  church, 
follows  this  thought  with  its  motto:  "lii  thin.us  necessary.  I'.nity:  in 
tilings  doubtful,  liberty:    in  all  thiu.us,  charity." 

In  conclusion,  may  we  not  from  these  and  other  characteristics  learn 
a   lesson  of  value  for  present  duty  and  future  possibiiityV 

In  the  hasty  preparation  of  this  papei'  I  have  endeavored  to  prove 
from  the  record  (>f  the  p.-ist  that  although  Holland  is  small  in  tei'ritory 
and  population,  yet,  nic.asui-ed  bv  manhood,  no  rac<'  ever  developed 
grander  cliaracters;  measured  by  bi'avery.  no  nation  ever  jn-oduced 
uiore  courageous  protectors:  measured  l)y  discovery,  no  land  ever  gave 
birth  to  men  more  progressive  or  more  desirous  of  civilizing  every  hab- 
itable part  of  the  eai-th:  measured  by  success  in  commerce  and  tinance. 
no  business  center  of  the  globe  ever  acliieved  l)etter  rei>utatic.n  or  ac- 
complished better  I'esults:  measui-ed  l)y  love  of  coiuitry  and  love  of 
(Jod.  no  people  since  the  days  of  Holy  Writ  have  ever  been  lietter, 
broader,  truer,  noblerl 

Fellow  mend)ers  and  friends,  in  this  electric  age  we  hear  much  about 
the  new^  times,  new  methods  and  new  countrii's.  We  he;ir  little  about 
the  old  times,  old  methods,  old  countries.  These  are  well-nigh!  forgot- 
ten. P.nt.  thank  (Jod,  this  society  and  kindred  societies  still  keep 
sacred  ;nid  will  forever  keep  sacred  the  old  times  out  of  whicli  were 
born  the  new.     Fven  an  electric  age  will  honor  any  society   living  to 


HIO  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

perpetuate  the  memory  that  lingers  around  the  old  countries  whose 
liberty-loving-  sons  obtained  for  us  this  new  and  glorious  heritage; 
around  the  old  home,  the  old  father,  the  old  mother  whose  prayers  have 
ever  given  inspiration  to  new  manhood  and  new  devotion  to  duty  and 
wliose  old-fashioned  religion  is  represented  by  the  old-time  family 
Bible.     Are  we  preserving  it  on  the  table  or  in  the  heart? 

Appreciating  our  duty  and  responsibility  born  of  love  of  country  and 
home,  of  loyalty  to  ancestor  and  society,  let  us  here  and  now  pledge 
to  both  the  old  and  the  new,  never  forgetting  the  one  in  the  favoring 
of  the  other.  May  we  forever  unite  them  in  fraternity  between  the 
aristocracy  of  blood  and  the  aristocracy  of  merit;  in  fellowship,  where 
we  may  meet  as  equals  but  always  with  the  equality  that  elevates;  and 
in  friendship,  binding  heart  to  heart  with  love  to  man  and  love  to 
God. 


1828-1832.     GLEANINGS  FROM  TWO  HERKIMER 
NEWSPAPERS  AND  0THP:R  MATTERS. 

AN   ADDRESS   BY   HON.    ROBERT   EARL,    OK    HERKIMER, 
Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society,  December  14,  1901. 

TIk'  Herkinirr  Aiuci  ic-in  was  estalilislied  in  this  villa,i;c  in  1S](),  as 
a  Federal  paper,  by  .luhn  U.  i^-  H.  Ih'cntice.  and  was  puIiUshed  by 
successive  publisheis  imtil  \K','2.  It  opposed  tlic  ckM-tion  of  Andrew 
.Tackson  for  I'residejd  and  supported  John  Qulncy  Adams,  and  after- 
ward Henry  (May,  for  that  ollu-e.  H.  Prentice  was  the  father  of  Miss 
Lueretia  I'rentiee.  for  many  years  a  wrU-known  resident  of  this  vib 
la.ii'e.  'J'he  Herkimer  Herald  Avas  established  as  a  .Jackson  paper  in 
bS2S,  the  first  number  beiu.y  published  en  the  1st  day  of  October  in 
tiiat  ye.-ir:  and  its  jiublication  was  continued  until  sometime  in  is;](i. 
Its  founder  and  publisher  was  .Tohn  Carpenter,  who  mai'rii'd  ;•  sister 
of  the  late  Mrs.  .fames  C.  Lawton  of  tliis  villaye.  There  is  now  in  the 
custody  of  this  society  numlters  of  the  Herald  for  the  years  ls2S  and 
IS-Jb.  and  tlie  American  for  the  years  1S.31  and  1832. 

In  lookin.i;-  throu.uh  tiicse  ]>ai)ei-s,  I  have  found  many  fads  lli.at  can- 
not fjiil  to  interest  the  members  of  this  society.  They  .uive  a  vivid 
vic>w  of  the  Imsiness  :ind  soci.-il  <'onditions  of  Herkimer  in  tlmse  days 
;ind  of  the  politics  of  tlie  comity.  State  and  Nation.  Tliey  brinp:  before 
u^!  the  names  of  m.any  m'ai,  i>r(iminent  here  and  in  other  i)aris  of  the 
comity  seventy  yc.ars  .apo,  who  li.-ive  lon.t;'  since  passed  away.  The.v 
show  a  thriving-,  Imstlinu-  little  villii.ue  of  not  more  tlian  live  hundred 
inhabitants,  located  at  the  center  of  the  State.  The  Imsiness  nuai  ,L;'en- 
(-rjilly  .'idvertist'd  their  business,  and  I  lin<l  advertisenu'uts  of  nid-chants 
i!s  follows:  Small  ^V-  Strong'  (afterwai'd  succeeded  by  Is.aac  Small,  late 
of  Little  Falls).  .lacob  r.nrrill.  .Ir..  father  of  .1.  (J.  I'.urrill  of  this  villa.ne; 
Philo  M.  Ilakley  iV  Son.  .1.  .\.  K.asltack  A:  Co.,  Thomas  (i.  Parnum, 
.T;imcs  N'an  Antwerp.  Prown  iV-  Crist.  The  m<'rchants  u'enerally  kci)t 
fl'eneral  assortments  of  .;.;cods  sncli  as  .groceries,  di'y  ii'oods,  li.irdware, 
liiiuors,  and  patent  medicines.  MMiere  were  several  t.ailoi's  ;\nd  bl.ack- 
smitlis  who  advertised  their  business,  and  several  taverns  were  advi'r- 


312  HERKIMER   COUNTY   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY 

tised.  one  of  Avhic-li  was  called  the  Coffee  House,  and  another  was 
called  the  Eagle  Tavern,  all  quite  famous  hostelries  in  their  day. 

In  those  days  regularly  indented  apprentices  to  all  kinds  of  trades 
and  farming-  Avere  quite  common;  and  they  not  infreiiuently  ran  away 
from  their  masters  Avho.  to  pi'otect  themselves  against  lialiility  for  their 
support  and  misconduct,  advertised  them:  and  thence  I  find  several 
notices  (now  no  more  seen)  of  "one  cent  reward"  for  runaway  appren- 
tice. 

Lotteries  Avere  advertised,  as  they  continued  to  be  allowed  by  laAv 
in  this  State  until  1833;  and  also,  as  now,  many  iiateut  medicines. 

There  were  from  year  to  year  several  private  schools  in  the  village, 
recommended  in  advertisements  by  the  leading  citizens.  Among  them, 
there  was  a  select  school  for  infants  in  which  the  charges  were  ^1.50 
per  quarter,  and  12^/o  cents  per  AA^eek;  also  a  school  for  boys  and  young 
men  where  mathematics,  Latin,  Greek  and  French  Avere  taught;  and  a 
Ladies'  Academy  where  all  kinds  of  instruction  usual  in  such  schools 
AA^ere  giA'en. 

Cast  iron  plowshares  "of  forty  different  varieties"  Avere  advertised 
by  Moses  Wadleigh  of  Frankfort,  in  September,  1831;  and  Col.  F.  V. 
Bellinger  of  this  village  advertised  for  sale  "Wai'ren's  newly  invented 
Threshing  Machines,"  Avhich  could  be  seen  in  operation  on  his  farm 
here.  These  must  have  been  the  first  threshing  machines  introduced 
into  this  county.  Trior  to  that  time  and  for  some  years  thei'eafter, 
grain  in  this  county  Avas  threshed  by  flails  in  the  hands  of  men  and 
Avomen,  and  by  horses  driven  around  on  the  straw  upon  the  liarn  floor, 
thus  stamping  out  the  grain.  Instead  of  horses,  some  farmers  took  a 
round  log,  put  pegs  or  sticks  into  it,  and  then  fixed  it  into  sidepieces 
so  that  it  could  revolve,  and  then  horses  Avould  draw  it  revolving  about 
the  barn  floor  over  the  straAV,  and  thus  the  grain  would  be  threshed 
out. 

Wives  seem  in  those  days  to  have  been  much  more  unruly  an.d  more 
disposed  to  abandon  their  husbands  than  now;  and  so  all  these  papers 
contain  notices  by  husbands  to  the  public',  forbidding  credit  to  runaAvay 
Avives.  There  Avas  at  least  one  occasion  Avhen  the  Avife  got  even  with 
her  husband,  as  these  notices  Avhich  appear  in  juxta-positiou  in  the 
Herald  shoAv: 

"NOTICE. 

"Whereas  my  Avife  Nancy  has  left  my  bed  and  board  Avithout 
just  cause  or  provocation.  I  do  hereby  forbid  all  persons  harboring  or 
trusting  her  on  my  account,  as  I  shall  pay  no  debts  of  her  contracting 
after  this  date.  Aaron  Frazee. 

"Columbia  ,Sept.  8,  1829." 

"NOTICE    EXTIIA. 
"I  have  lieen  compelled  through  the  cruelty  and  inattention  of  my 
husband  to  leave  his  house  and  find  a  home  at  my  father's,  and  there 


GLEANINGS   FROM   TWO   HERKIMER   NEWSPAPERS.  313 

fore  I'orbid  nil  p.'isoiis  from  hnrlioriiiL;-  or  trustini'  him  (Ani'on  Frnzoo) 
on  luy  accmint.  as  I  shall  pay  no  debts  of  his  eontractiiiy'  after  this 
date.  Nancy   Krazee. 

"('oUimhia.  Sept.  14.    [.S2!>." 

In  every  i)aper  there  wa.s  a  lon.i;-  iist  of  hanks  in  tliis  and  olh-r  States 
sliowin.y  tlie  value  of  tl'.eir  cirenlatin.t;'  notes,  some  of  Iheni  bein.L;-  worth 
par  ;ind  others  at  a  discount  often  of  between  threi'  and  I'oiu'  per  cent. 
lOvei'y  ]iaper  also  cont;iined  Ihe  wliolesale  New  York  jiiaces  for  jiroduee, 
and  I  tind  in  the  .Vnierican  the  folUnving-  priees  foi'  .May.  is;',l:  I'.utter. 
first  quality.  13  to  K;  cents,  and  for  exportation,  7  to  11  cents,  showing 
that  the  poorest  quality  was  exi)orted;  sliippinu-  cheese.  T  cents  per 
pound;  Hour.  !^'>.1~>  \n'V  b.arrel;  hops.  S  to  12  cents  ]>er  jiound:  corn.  ■'')0 
to  <!0  cents,  and  o.ats.  .'il  cents  ]ier  bushel;  .uin.  ])er  gallon.  '-'A  cents; 
wliiski-y.  pi'r  .uallon,  L'l   to  '2'2  cents. 

Now,  niortsage  foreclosures  and  slieriffs'  sales  of  real  est.ate  under 
jud.yinents  are  quite  uncommon.  Then  tlu-y  wi-re  very  numerous;  and 
1  tind  many  niortiiaucs  foreclosed  liy  l.-iwyei's  ;is  assignees,  leading  me 
to  suppose  that  they  i)urchased  them  to  make  the  statntoi'y  costs  of 
foreclosui-e.  And  thei-e  were  frecpient  le.i;al  notices  for  the  dis- 
charge of  debtors  from  their  debts,  as  at  that  tiuie  debtors  could  be 
imprisoned  for  theii-  debts,  .fudging  from  these  notices.  I  conclude  that 
there  were  moi'e  insolvent  dditors  then  than  now.  lasts  of  uncalled 
for  lettei'S  were  constantly  advertised,  and  William  Sni.all.  (piitc  a  fam- 
cus  character  here,  Avas  postmaster  for  sevei-al  years.  Tost.ige  was 
high  then  and  letters  few.  .\s  late  :is  1S!(),  I  rein<"inl»er  that  a  few 
pigeon  lioles  in  the  coi'uer  of  a  store  were  sufficient  to  ac<-ommod;ite 
all  the  mail  that  came  here. 

In  those  days,  and  eai'lier.  and  .also  later.  Independence  l>ay  was 
more  commonly  celel)rated  than  now.  Now  there  are  othei-  national 
holidays  which  hav(^  weakened  its  hold  upon  the  popular  mind.  One 
of  the  features  fif  all  l<"oni-th  of  .Inly  celebrjitions.  so  long  as  Revolu- 
tionary soldiers  lived,  was  their  iiresence.  They  were  .alw.ays  di'aAvn 
in  c.'irriages  and  given  ])l;ices  of  honoi-  u])on  platforms  anil  ;it  banquet 
tables.  I  find  an  account  in  tlie  Ameiacan  of  a  fi'ourth  of  .Tuly  celebi-a- 
tion  hei'e  in  18.31.  Tliei'e  AX'as  ;i  procession  escorted  to  tlie  Dutch 
church  Ity  Colon(-]  Fi-ancis  10.  Si)inner's  regiment  of  .artillery.  Revolu- 
tionary soldiers  in  carriages.  .\t  the  chni'ch  there  w:is  iirayer  l)y  Rev. 
yiv.  Snyder,  minister  of  the  l>utch  churcli.  and  then  an  ;inti;em  was 
sung.  Aaron  Ilackley  re.-id  tlie  Declaration  of  Tndt'pendence.  and  L. 
M.  Morton  delivered  the  oration.  Tlie  pi-ocession  then  returned  to  John 
("om-h's  hotel,  where  dinnei-  was  served.  After  the  cloth  w.as  removed, 
the  company  drank  the  following  .among  other  toasts: 
,  "The  day  we  celebrate — INlay  it  evei-  be  held  in  grateful  .and  joyrul 
remembrance  liy  the  .\merican  ])eo])le. 

"Nine  cheers — 'Hail  Columbi.a." 


314  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

"The  surviving?  offiL-ors  and  soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary  army — May 
they  obtain  benelits  more  substantial  than  the  thanks  of  their  country. 

"Nine  cheers — 'Auld  Lang  Syne." 

"The  memory  of  the  immortal  Washington. 

"Standing — 'Solemn  Dirge.' 

"The  memory  of  the  soldiers  and  statesmen  of  17T(i — May  the  heroes 
of  Poland  emulate  their  glorious  example. 

"Standing — 'Freedom  March.' 

"Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton — the  last  of  the  signers  of  the  Declar- 
ation of  Independence. 

"  'I.ife  let  us  cherish.' 

"Our  Country — The  refuge  of  the  patriotic  ami  opiiressed  of  the 
world. 

"Nine  cheei's — Swiss  Guard's  jNIarch. 

"Liberal  principles  in  Europe — Destined  like  the  religion  of  Mahomet 
to  be  inculcated  at  the  point  of  the  sword. 

"Three  cheers — 'Rural  Felicity.' 

"The  Polish  nation — Let  their  iiKh-pendence  be  this  day  recognized 
by  the  American  people  and  our  government  will  sanction  llie  act. 
Humanity,  patriotism  and  religion,  all  demand  it  of  us. 

"Three  cheers — 'Scott's  wha  ha.' 

"Education — The  keystone  of  all  our  institutions. 

"Nine  cheers — 'Clinton's  ALarch.' 

"The  militia  of  the  State  of  New  York — Preserve  them  fi'om  the 
hands  of  vandal  reformers. 

"Three  cheers — 'Tompkins'  March.' 

"The  Girls — True  patriots  in  every  age  and  country,  they  love  not 
only  their  country,  but  those  who  love  it. 

"Thirteen  cheers — 'The  girl  I  left  behind  me.' 

"By  the  Vice-president  (Caleb  lUidlong),  Louisiana — Saved  by  a  hero 
fi'om  falling  into  the  hands  of  our  enemies. 

"By  J.  B.  Hunt,  Esq. — Martin  Van  Buven:  The  proudest  son  of  the 
State  of  New  York. 

"By  F.  E.  Skinner — The  American  Fair:  iNIay  they  never  embrace  a 
coward,  or  bear  a  slave. 

By  F.  Clark  (a  Revolutionary) — The  committee  of  arrangements: 
They  have  the  thanks  of  the  soldiers  of  '70. 

By  L.  jNI.  Morton — The  French  nation:  May  their  next  revolution  be 
as  glorious  in  its  results  as  Iheir  last  was  auspicious  in  its  counnence- 
ment. 

"By  T.  Barlow — The  American  Fair:  Mingling  their  sympathies 
with,  and  sending  their  aid  to  the  oppressed  and  struggling  (i reeks,  they 
have  won  an  unfading  laurel  to  crown  their  virtues. 

"By  .1.  Burrill — The  State  of  New  York:  The  proudest  daughter  in 
tlie  family." 


GLEANINGS  FROM   TWO   HERKIMER  NEWSPAPERS.  315 

Till'  day  was  dosed  by  liriiii;'  of  cannon.  In  the  cvcnini;-  tliiTr  was  a 
brilliant  display  of  tireworks. 

Fi-fsldent  Jauies  Monroe  dlt'd  .Inly  4th,  is;!l,  jnst  live  years  after 
Adams  and  Jefferson  died,  and  the  Anierlean  for  .Inly  l.'!tli,  w;is  in 
mourning'. 

At  some  early  day,  a  debatin.u  society  was  organized  in  this  village, 
and  during  the  years  covered  by  these  papers  its  meetings  together 
with  the  questions  to  be  debated  were  regularly  advertised.  There 
were  also  debating  societies  in  Frankfort  and  Colnnibi;i,  and  in  .March. 
1829,  these  three  societies  held  a  joint  meeting  at  a  tavern  in  (iermaii 
Flats,  and  discussed  these  questions:  ■"Have  moral  causes  more  influ- 
ence ill  forming  national  character  than  natural  and  physical?"  "Has 
the  abdication  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  been  beneficial  to  the  world?" 
These  societies  must  have  Iieen  very  beneficial  to  the  young  men  of  that 
period.  \Ye  may  well  imagine  that  the  debates  conducted  by  such  men 
as  Hoffman,  Hunt.  Bartow,  Spinner  and  others  were  very  inttM'esting. 
In  the  Herald,  which  advertisi-d  these  debates,  I  lind  the  following 
story  whih  may  have  been  published  as  a  pointed  illusti'ation  of  the 
style  of  some  inexperienced,  poorly  equipped  debater.  It  w.is  said  to 
be  a  literal  copy  of  a  speech  delivered  at  a  debating  so<-i<'ty  in  one  of 
the  western  towns  of  Pennsylvania:  "Well — the  subject  to  be  ex<-ussed 
is  whether  ardent  spirits  does  any  good  or  not.  I  confer  it  doiTt.  .list 
think  of  one's  ancestors  in  future  days — they  lived  to  a  most  nnmerous 
age — so  tliat  I  think  that  whiskey  nor  ardent  spirits  don't  do  any 
good.  (Long  pause.)  Well — the  question  to  be  excussed  is  whether 
ardent  .spirits  does  any  good  or  not — so  that  I  conclude  it  don't  (Long 
pause.)     I  can't  get  hold  of  the  d d  thing." 

Debating  societies  were  continued  in  this  village  with  some  inti-rvals 
until  after  1840.  Now  there  is  not  one,  so  far  as  I  know,  in  this  county. 
In  August,  1831,  a  Lyceum  (whatev(>r  that  may  hav(>  meant  tlieni  was 
organized  here  as  appears  from  th<'  following  luiblication  in  tlu'  Herki- 
mer American: 

"HEUKIMEK  LYCEUM. 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  young  men  of  the  village  of  Herkimer,  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  a  lyceuin,  Francis  E.  Spinner  was  called  to 
the  chair,  and  John  Bartow  appointed  secretary.     It  was 

"Unanimously  resolved,  that  a  Lyceum  be  established  in  this  village. 
and  that  a  committee  l^e  ajipointed  to  prepare  a  constitution  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  consideration  of  the  society  at  its  next  meeting:  and  that 
this  meeting  adjourn  until  Tues<lay  evening  next,  at  7  p.  m..  at  the 
school  house,  at  which  time  ;ind  place  all  who  feel  an  interest  in  the 
subject  are  respectfully  invited  to  attend.  F.  E.  S|)iniier.  Cli'ii. 

"John  Bartow,  See'ry. 

"August  leth." 

But  the  literary  as])irations  of  this  village  were  not  confined  to  its 


316  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Schools  iind  «lebatin,n-  sot-ieties.  As  early  as  1809,  a  Library  Association 
liere  was  or^■allizod  under  the  name  of  "Tlie  Herldiuer  Library."  We 
liave  no  record  of  its  worlv.  Again  in  1829,  an  effort  was  made  to 
start  a  library  liere.  As  we  laave  no  record  of  it  subsequent  to  tliat 
date,  it  is  probable  tliat  tlie  effort  did  not  prove  successful.  Good 
select  schools  for  botli  boys  and  girls  were  kept  liere  until  1838.  when 
the  Herkimer  Academy  was  incorporated  and  inaugurated  witli  Mr. 
Garfield  as  its  lirst  principal,  and  he  was  succeeded  in  1840  by  Rev. 
David  Chassell,  D.  1).,  one  of  the  most  successful  teacliers  in  this  State. 
This  Academy  was  located  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Court  and  Wash- 
ington streets,  upon  a  lot  which  extended  west  on  the  south  side  of 
Court  street  to  the  county  lot  upon  whicli  tlie  clerk's  otHce  now  stands. 
It  was  conducted  under  successive  principals,  (among  them  myself  for 
two  years,  in  184.5,  184()  and  1847),  until  alwut  1848,  when  it  was  aban- 
doned. There  I  and  other  young  men  were  prepared  for  college.  Dur- 
ing most  of  its  existence  there  was  a  female  department  connected  with 
it,  witla  a  lady  principal. 

In  1831.  steps  were  taken  foi-  the  organization  of  a  bank.  On  the 
10th  day  of  September  of  that  year,  a  notice  was  published  in  the 
American  of  an  application  to  the  Ijegislature  for  an  act  incorporat- 
ing a  bank  to  be  located  here  and  to  be  called  "Tlie  Herkimer  County 
Bank,"  with  a  capital  of  .$1()0.()()().  This  notice  was  signed  l>y  John 
Alahon,  Alfred  Putnam,  Henry  p]llison,  .Tonas  Cleland,  .Tames  B.  Hunt, 
W.  C.  Crain,  Aln'jah  P.eckwith,  N.  Cleland,  Stanton  Dennison.  William 
Small,  Nicholas  Smith,  .Tacob  liurrill,  Jr.,  1'.  M.  Hackley,  Charles  Gray, 
John  A.  Rasbach,  C.  C.  Bellinger,  John  Farmer,  and  H.  W.  Doolittle. 
That  project  for  some  reason  not  now  known  failed.  The  first  bank 
in  the  county  was  org.-mized  in  Little  Falls  in  1833,  Avith  a  capital  of 
i?200,000,  and  that  was  called  "The  Herkimer  County  Bank;"  and  under 
the  National  bank  act  that  was  converted  into  the  existing  National 
Herkimer  County  Bank  of  Little  Falls. 

Subse(iuently,  in  18.39,  the  Agricultural  I'.aidi  was  oi'ganized  here, 
with  a  capital  of  iplOO.OOO.  and  it  was  conducted  until  18."t7,  when  it 
failed  and  was  wound  up. 

It  appears  from  the  advertisfMucnts  in  these  paper.s  th.nt  there  was  a 
large  variety  of  business  for  a  small  village  carried  on  here.  Besides 
the  ordinary  trades  of  blacksmithing,  tailoring,  shoemaking,  cabinet 
making,  carpentering,  saddlery  and  harness  making,  (in  wliich  latter 
trade  Francis  E.  Spinner  was  then  engaged),  there  were  several  distil- 
leries, tanneries,  a  grist  mill,  saw  mill,  fulling  and  wool  carding  mill, 
a  manufactory  of  cow  bells,  of  hats,  of  baskets,  and  of  barrels.  There 
had  for  many  years  been  a  distillery,  grist  mill  and  saw  mill  owned 
by  the  Manhattan  Company  on  the  West  Canada  Creek  just  west  of 
tlie  bridge  across  the  creek  east  of  this  village;  and  in  September,  1831, 
Michael  Hoffman,  as  agent  of  that  company,  advertised  that  pioperty 
for  sale,  together  with  the  water  power  and  31  acres  of  land  and  two 


GLEANINGS  FROM  TWO  HERKI5IER  NEWSPAPERS  317 

niul  a  half  villa.^o  lots,  exteiulin.u'  from  tlu'  villa^o  on  (lie  iiorlli  side 
of  what  was  then  the  turnpike,  now  Albany  street,  to  and  across  the 
creek. 

At  that  time  there  was  some  agitation  for  Imildiiii;'  a  railro.ad  affect- 
ing tliis  loeality.  In  September,  ISol,  there  was  published  in  the  Amer- 
ican a  notice  of  an  application  to  the  Legislature  for  an  ad  incorporat- 
ing a  railroad  company,  with  a  capital  of  if7,()0(»,(i(i(i,  to  build  a  road 
from  the  Hudson  Kiver  at  Albany  to  lUiffalo.  Nothing  came  of  the 
application.  On  August  1st.  ls;n.  the  railroad  from  Albany  to  Schen- 
ectady was  opened,  and  that  was  the  first  r.ailroad  o])('i;ited  in  this 
State.  Altout  the  same  time  there  were  other  railroad  projects  affect- 
ing this  locality,  as  I  find  this  notice  in  the  American: 

"KAILROAU    NOTICE. 

"The  citizens  of  the  town  of  Herkimer  are  re(picsted  to  meet  at  Wil- 
lard's  Hotel,  in  the  village  of  Herkimer,  on  Friday  next,  at  o  o'clock 
p.  m.,  for  the  purpose  of  adopting  such  measures  as  will  induce  tlie 
Legislatiu'e  to  construct  a  railroad  fi'om  Schenectady  to  T'tica.  ;iiid  from 
the  village  of  Herkimer  up  the  West  Canada  ("reek  to  the  stone  (juar- 
ries. 

"August  3rd.  1S31." 

The  result  of  this  movement  here  and  at  other  places  was  the  incor- 
jjoration  of  the  Utica  iV:  Schenectady  liailroad  Company,  l)y  an  act  of 
the  Legislature  passed  April  ITth,  1832,  and  the  incorporatioe.  on  the 
same  day,  of  the  Black  Kiver  Company  to  build  a  railroad  or  canal 
from  the  Erie  canal  at  Itome  or  Herkimer  or  at  any  other  intermediate 
point  to  the  St.  Lawrence  River.  LTnder  this  latter  chai'ter  there  was 
some  surveying  done,  but  nothing  else. 

In  the  simimer  of  1832,  cholera  prevailed  in  Albany  with  fatal  results 
in  many  cases;  and  it  is  said  in  the  American  that  tlu're  were  21  cases 
ia  two  days  in  July.  On  account  of  the  iirevalence  of  cholera  in  Albany 
the  Senate  as  a  Court  of  Errors  adjourned  to  the  city  of  New  York; 
and  there  in  that  summer  William  II.  Maynard  of  Utica,  a  man  of  great 
talent  and  promise,  elected  senator  in  1828  from  the  district  inchiding 
this  count.v,  died  of  cholera  while  engaged  there  as  a  mendter  of  the 
Court  of  Errors. 

The  Herald  contains  the  proceedings  of  tlie  Republican  (which  would 
be  better  understood  now  if  called  Democratici  State  convention,  lield 
in  this  village  September  24th,  1828.  Tlie  convention  convened  in  tlie 
Court  House,  and  Edward  P.  r>ivingston,  of  Columbia  county,  ]>resided, 
and  Silas  Wright  was  one  of  the  secretaries.  Among  the  del'  gates  in 
attendance  from  other  comities  who  were  then  or  subseipKMitly  became 
prominent  in  State  politics  were  Azariah  C.  Flagg,  Alva  Hunt,  iOilward 
1*.  Livingston,  Erastus  Root,  Josiah  Sutherland,  Hemaii  .1.  Redfield, 
Mitcliel  Sanford,  Cnlian  C.  Ver  IMank,  Churchill  C.  Cambrelling,  Mor- 
dicai   M.   Noah,    Samuel    Beardsley,    Henry   Wager,    Scliuyler   ('rippen, 


318  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Jonas  Earl,  Jr.,  Thomas  W.  Taylor,  Silas  Wright,  Jr.,  Bishop  Pei-ldns, 
A.  B.  Dickinson,  James  McCall.  The  delegates  from  this  county  Avere 
Michael  Hoffman,  Julius  C.  Nelson  and  Atwater  Cook.  Michael  Hoff- 
man was  a  member  of  tlie  committee  to  select  candidates  to  be  present- 
ed to  the  convention,  and  the  following  nominations  were  made  by  the 
convention:  For  Governor,  Martin  Van  Buren,  of  Albany,  and  for  Lieu- 
tenant-govgi-nor,  Enos  T.  Throop,  of  Cayuga.  A  few  days  afterward, 
in  October,  a  State  convention  of  Democratic  young  men  was  held  here. 
It  convened  at  the  Dutch  church.  Thei'e  were  representative  young 
Republicans  here  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  Augustus  G.  Beards- 
ley  of  this  county,  the  father  of  Guy  R.  Beardsley,  of  East  Creek,  was 
chosen  to  pi'eside.  The  convention  adopted  resolutions,  and  an  address 
to  the  people  of  the  State  and  ratified  the  nominations  previously  made. 
A  few  days  later  there  was  a  Jackson  Democratic  meeting  of  young 
men  held  in  the  town  of  Columbia,  consisting  of  about  100.  among 
whom  were  John  W.  Beckwith,  Philip  Haner,  Alanson  Reynolds,  John 
Clapsaddle,  Jr.,  Jeremiah  Miller  and  others  who  subsequently  became 
somewhat  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  that  town. 

Tliat  year,  1828,  Andrew  Jackson  was  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
President,  and  John  C.  Calhoun  for  Vice-president.  John  Quincy 
Adams  was  the  opposing  candidate  for  President  and  Richard  Rush  for 
A  ice-president;  and  tlie  political  contest  was  very  .lively  and  bitter. 
Newspaper  vituperation  of  public  men  far  surpassed  anything  to  be 
found  in  what  are  called  the  yellow  journals  of  this  day;  and  news- 
paper editors  treated  each  other  with  scant  courtesy.  The  American 
for  October  2()th,  1831,  contains  the  following  in  reference  to  the  editor 
of  the  People's  Friend,  published  in  Little  Falls:  "Six  cents  will  be 
given  to  any  person  who  Avill  inform  us  whether  Editor  Griffing  was  in 
earnest  wlien  he  charged  us  with  having  prostituted  our  columns  to 
promulgate  the  vilest,  grossest  and  most  unprovoked  slanders  of  a 
female." 

Herkimer  was  then  so  central  and  accessible,  and  the  influence  of 
Michael  Hoffman  and  other  Democrats  in  this  county  so  potential  tliat 
in  1830  the  Democratic  State  convention  was  again  held  here,  and  Enos 
T.  Throop  was  nominated  for  Governor.  And  here,  also,  William  L. 
Marcy  was  nominated  in  Democratic  State  conventions  for  Governor 
in  1832,  1834,  1836  and  1838.  Here  also  in  1832,  when  General  Jackson 
was  again  the  Democratic  candidate  for  President,  there  was  a  State 
convention  of  young  Democrats,  presided  over  by  the  late  Judge  Amasa 
J.  Parker  of  Albany,  then  of  Delaware  county. 

The  Democratic  Senatorial  convention  for  the  fifth  Senatorial  district 
which  included  this  county,  was  held  in  1828  in  the  village  'of  Utica, 
and  tliere  Daniel  Wardwell  was  nominated  for  Senator.  His  opponent 
on  the  Adams  ticket  was  William  H.  Maynard  of  Utica  before  men- 
tioned. At  that  time  there  were  no  cities  in  this  State  west  of  Schen- 
ectady. 


GLEANINGS   FKOM   TWO   HERKIMER   NEWSPAPERS.  319" 

The  I  )('ni()eriitie  (•nndidntc  for  picsidvp.t  inl  fh'ctdi'  in  Isi'S  ^,\;is  Dr. 
Unt'us  Crane,  of  Warri'ii.  and  tlu>  Adams  candidate  I'or  the  same  oHicc 
was  his  brotli<>r-in-la  w.  ,Iac(il)  Marshall,  oi'  tln'  same  town,  lioOi  li\in,L;' 
in  the  same  house.  Tlu'  Demoeratic-  county  commiftci'  that  ycai-  w;is 
composed  of  C.  II.  Bellin.ut'r,  Alfred  rutnam.  Dudley  I'.urwell.  .Xicliolas 
Smith.  Charles  (iray  an<l  .fames  1*..  Hunt,  all  I'esidin.i;'  in  the  town  of 
H(M'kimer. 

In  tlie  fall  of  ISi'S.  ^liehael  Hoffman  was  nominated  for  Con.L;ress, 
John  Graves  for  Sheriff,  Abi.jah  I5eckwith  for  County  Clerl;,  and  Abijah 
Maun,  Jr..  of  Fairlield.  Cornelius  Slou.uliter  of  Slark.  ;ind  John  B. 
Dy.ucrt  of  Frankfort,  foi'  Mendiers  of  Assendily.  Slaric  was  then  a 
new  town,  haxinu'  been  created  in  ?\Iarcli  of  that  year  from  a  nortion 
((f  tlie  fown  of  l>anul)e,  and  Little  Falls  was  tlien  a  i)art  (d'  Herkimer, 
and  Ijecame  a  sepaiate  town  in  thaf  same  year. 

The  Democrats  c.irried  Ihis  county  that  yea_r  (ISi'Si  by  CS."!  ni.n.jority, 
Slid  elected  2(l  of  the  ;!(;  electors  in  the  State,  tliey  lieini;'  chosen  l)y 
districts  for  the  last  time.  \'an  Buren  c;irried  the  State  for  Covcn'uor 
by  ."Ki-'tTO:  and  in  all  the  States,  Jas-k'son  liad  14S  electors  and  Ad;nns  S3. 
Micliael  Hoffman  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1S1'4,  ISiMi.  IS'JS,  ;ind  1S30, 
and  durin.L;-  those  years  Herkimer  alone  constituted  a  (!"on,uressioii;il  dis- 
trict. 

At  tliat  time  (ISL'Si  if  is  noticed  in  tlie  Herald  that  John  Jay  was  the 
only  survivin.u  mcmliei'  of  the  iirst  /vmei'ican  Coui^ress  of  1774.  Charles 
Carroll  the  only  survivor  of  the  Con.uress  of  177(!  which  ado))'ed  tlie 
Declaraticin  of  Independence,  and  James  Madison  the  only  siu'vivor  of 
tlie  convention  of  17S7  wliich  adopted  tli-:'  Federal  Constitution. 

In  1S28,  Welister"s  Dictioiiiii'.v  was  tirst  pul)lislu>d  in  two  volumes, 
and  it  was  represented  to  contain  7(i,(i(M»  words — 12, (too  more  tlian  any 
otlier  dictionary.  Now,  showiiiu'  the  urowtli  of  our  langua.u'e.  the  latest 
dictionaries  liave  about  double  tliat  numlxr. 

I  find  that  tlie  iiresent  villau'e  of  I'ohuid  was  first  called  DanielsvilJe; 
and  in  1S2".*,  it  took  its  jiresent  name,  and  it  was  then  the  p(iStotHce 
address  of  tlie  Slieriff,  John  (ii-aves. 

In  the  Herald  dated  June  .".u,  1S2'.I,  I  find  tliis  notice:  ".Mai'ried  yes- 
terday in  I'tica,  by  the  Kev.  aIi-.  Sidnner,  Mr.  Isaac  Small  of  ihe  firm 
of  Small  c\:  Strong,  of  this  village,  to  Miss  Susan,  daughter  of  Philip 
Knapp  of  Utica."  These  were  the  i)arents  of  Mr.  Frederick  I.  Small 
of  Little  Falls. 

Ezra  rii-aves,  for  many  years  Judge  of  this  county,  was  the  son  of 
the  Sheriff,  John  (iraves,  and  came  here  before  he  studied  law,  as  the 
jailor  under  his  fatlu>r.  Keligious  meetings  were  then  held  in  the 
Court  House,  and  either  because  they  wei-e  crowded  or  boistei'ous,  some 
damage  was  done  to  the  building;  and  hence  I  find  in  the  Herald  the 
following  notice:  "The  subscriber  would  give  notice  that  in  conse- 
quence of  the  damages  sustained  by  the  holding  of  religious  meetings 


'620  HERKIMER   COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

in  the  court  room,  in  the  future  tlioy  will  be  discontinued  except  on 
funeral  occasions.  Ezra  (i raves.  Jailor. 

-June  30tli,  1829." 

Tliis  notice  seems  to  liave  continued  in  force  until  Seittembcr  there- 
after, when  tlie  following  notice  appeared: 

"NOTICE. 

"The  suhscrilici-  would  give  notice  that  for  tlie  future  the  court  room 
will  be  open  to  tlie  meetings  of  any  denomination  of  Christians,  pro- 
vided some  responsible  person  will  become  lial)le  for  all  (ianiage  done 
tlie  room  in  conseciuence  of  sucli  meeting.  E.  (iraves.  Jailor. 

"Sept.  1,  1829." 

During  1829  and  onward,  Francis  E.  Spinner  Avas  one  of  Ihe  depu- 
ties under  Sheriff  Graves.  In  1829,  tlie  Anti-Masonic  party  was  very 
rampant  and  was  engaged  in  a  bitter  figlit  against  tlie  ^lasonic  order 
and  its  friends  and  supporters.  In  Marcli  of  that  year,  Maitin  Van 
r.uren  resigned  the  office  of  Governor  to  accept  the  office  of  Scci'etary 
of  State  in  President  Jaclvson's  cabinet. 

Homes  Caswell  was  married  in  this  village,  September  2nd,  1S28,  to 
Miss  Margaret  Rebecca  Uslier,  daugliter  of  Bloomtield  Cslicr,  liy  Rev. 
Mr.  Ercanbrack.  Tliey  were  prominent  citizens  of  our  village  for  many 
years  thereafter. 

In  1829,  Thurlow  Weed,  at  an  early  day  a  resident  of  tliis  village, 
AVas  pul)lishing  the  Rocliester  Inquirer.  He  subsequently  became  fam- 
ous as  the  editor  and  ijublislier  of  tlie  Albany  Evening  Journal,  and  as 
the  leader  of  the  Whig,  and  afterward  of  the  Republican  party  in  this 
State. 

In  June,  1828,  William  H.  Maynard,  before  mentioned,  tlie  candidate 
of  the  Adams  party  for  Senator  in  the  fifth  senatorial  district,  com- 
posed of  Herkimei',  Oneida,  Jefferson  and  other  counties,  published 
in  the  Utica  Sentinel  and  Gazette  a  libel  against  Judge  Samuel  Reards- 
ley,  of  Utica,  charging  him  Avitli  misconduct  as  United  States  District 
Attorney,  for  Avliich  Mr.  Beardsley  sued  him  and  recovered  ^i-Ki. 

In  my  early  days,  it  Avas  not  uncommon  to  see  dogs  in  church.  They 
evidently  disturbed  the  devotions  or  sensibilities  of  some  people,  as 
under  date  of  October  13th,  1S31,  I  find  in  the  American  this  notice: 
"If  the  gentlemen  of  our  village  have  not  decency  enough  to  keep  their 
dogs  from  meeting,  my  family  shall  not  attend."  B.  A. 

There  is  in  the  Herkimer  Vrve  Library  a  history  of  the  State  of  Ncav 
York,  by  James  ^NlacCauley,  Avho  in  1832  and  for  many  years  thereafter 
Avas  a  laAvyer  residing  in  the  toAvn  of  Frankfort,  in  this  county.  The 
book  is  ACi-y  rare,  is  uoav  littU:'  known,  and  very  rarely  read,  and  yet  it 
is  a  pains-taking  and  valual)le  history.  In  February  of  that  year  he 
published  the  pi-ospectus  of  his  book,  to  1)0  sold  by  subscription  at  .$2 
and  if2.2r.. 

During  all  the  years  from  tlie  beginning  of  1828  to  the  close  of  1832. 


GLEANINGS   FROM   TWO   HERKIMER  NEWSPAPERS.  321 

party  roiitcsts  were  eoiulncted  with  luucli  \iriilence  and  vituperation; 
and  bitter  partisanship  oeeasionally  invaded  tlie  pulpit.  Extreme  utter- 
ances became  common.  Soon  after  tlie  commencement  of  the  Legishi- 
tive  session  of  is:j2.  Kev.  James  K.  Wilson  was  chosen  one  of  the  chap- 
lains of  tlu"  I.e,iiislature.  Soon  thereafter  he  pul)lished  two  sei'mons  in 
pamphk't  form,  in  which  he  spoke  of  (ieor.Lii"  Washington  as  follows: 

"Wasliington  did  pray,  it  is  said,  in  secret,  on  liis  IvUees,  during  the 
battle  of  Brandywine.  That  may  be  true,  and  yet,  like  Thomas  I'aine, 
who  is  known  to  iiave  prayed,  he  may  have  been  an  unlieliever.  Is  it 
prolialiie  that  li(>  would  liave  attended  ))alls,  tlu'atres  ,and  tlie  card 
tii))le.  had  lie  l)een  a  disciple  of  I'liristV  Uosseau,  an  ;i vowed  intidel, 
lias  said  more  in  lionor  of  Christ,  than  is  known  to  liave  been  uttered 
by  Washington.  He  was  a  slave  holder,  whicli  was  doing  'evil  in  the 
sight  of  the  L'ord.'  His  Sabbaths  were  not  spent  as  tlie  •feareis  of  the 
Loi-d'  employ  that  holy  day.  His  death,  as  recorded  ])y  l>r.  Uanisey,  is 
much  more  like  a  Heathen  philosopher's  than  like  that  of  a  Saint  of 
God." 

And  of  Jefferson  as  follows: 

"Mr.  Jefferson,  the  successor  of  Mr.  Adams,  w;is  an  .-ivoAved  infidel 
and  notoriously  addicted  to  immorality.  To  the  common  decency  of 
Washington's  or  Adams'  moral  deportment  he  had  no  pi'ctcnsions.  His 
notes  on  ^■irginia  contain  very  s.itisfactory  evidence  that  the  author 
when  he  composed  that  work  was  an  enemy  to  revealed  religion,  and  a 
\)rulent  foe  to  the  church  of  God.  Had  the  people  of  the  United 
States  known  the  immorality  of  Ids  private  life,  and  the  scorn  with 
■which  ti'cated  the  religion  of  .Tesus,  it  is  sui'ely  impossible  that  he 
could  have  been  elected  io  the  tirst  ollice  in  their  gift." 

And  of  ^Madison  as  follows- 

".Madison,  to  the  grief  of  his  parents,  abandoned  the  study  of  theol- 
ogy, and  entered  the  office  of  the  intidel  and  libertine  Jefferson,  as  a 
studcJit  of  law.  Tliough  Mr.  Madison  has  pledged  himself  neither  in 
public  or  pi'ivate,  to  the  l»elief  of  Christianity,  yet  he  is  not  known  to 
have  employed  his  intlut'uce,  like  Jefferson,  in  attempts  to  al)olish  the 
Christian  faith.  The  value  of  a  religious  education  is  strikingly  illus- 
trated in  the  private  chai'acter  of  James  Madison.  Jefferson  i>robably 
made  him  a  deist,  and  yet  his  moral  deportment,  as  it  ivgards  the  sec- 
ond table  of  the  law,  has  been  respectable.  All  the  inlluence  of  the 
infidel  creed,  and  the  pi'oliigacy  of  morals  al)out  court,  have  not  been 
of  sufficient  force  to  demolish  utterly  the  fabric  of  a  religious  I'duca- 
tion.  For  the  honor  of  the  country.  Ave  may  hope  that  lie  will  not  con- 
trive to  die  on  the  4th  of  July." 

This  shocking  language  used  in  reference  to  three  of  our  greatest 
public  men  ai'oused  much  indignation  and  Mr.  Wils<in  was  removed 
from  his  office  as  chapl.-iin. 

In  the  fall  of  1S.",-J.  Andrew  Jackson  was  tlu'  Democratic  c;Mididate 
for  President  and  Henry  Ciay  was  the  opposing  candidate.     A  Jackson 

21 


323  HERKIMER   COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

meeting  was  called  Jiere  and  the  American  spol^e  in  tliis  manner  in  ref- 
erence to  tiiat  meeting: 

"Tlie  paper  calling  a  Jackson  meeting  for  tliis  town  has  at  length 
made  its  appearance,  after  being  circulated  for  about  the  matter  of  live 
weelvs,  (Sundays  not  excepted),  witli  about  tliree  hundred  and  tifty 
names,  enumerating  those  Avhose  names  are  on  twice,  those  wlio  belong 
in  otlier  towns,  those-who  are  not  voters,  and  about  seventy-five,  wlio, 
if  they  vote  at  all,  will  record  their  votes  against  the  administration." 

"Tlie  bull-dogs  of  the  party  liere,  have  h.esitated  not  to  trample  upon 
all  laws  human  and  divine,  they  have  hesitated  not  to  enter  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  sanctuary  to  attain  their  unhallowed  purposes,  viz.,  pro- 
curing signatures  for  tlie  call  for  a  Jaclvson  meeting.-" 

"Deception  and  falsehood  of  the  basest  description  lias  been  carried 
on  by  the  bull-dogs,  in  collecting  and  accumulating  the  iong  string'  of 
names  to  the  Jaclcson  paper  in  tliis  town.  Tliat  they  might  the  more 
elTectually  deceive  the  honest  Germans,  they  have  employed  their  own 
native  tongue,  and  under  this  cover,  themselves  and  tlieir  falsehoods 
have  been  screened  from  exposure." 

"Tlie  miserable  hirelings  of  pov/er  were  busy  on  Sunday  last,  in  this 
town  circulating  their  paper  for  signatures  amongst  the  Germans  who 
were  here  attending  church.  They  toolc  advantage  of  this  opportunity 
to  carry  into  effect  their  wicked  purposes.  It  is  worthy  of  the  cause 
in  Avhicli  they  are  engaged." 

I  have  made  these  (luotations  at  some  length  to  show  how  much 
more  decently  political  contests  are  conducted  now  than  they  were 
seventy  years  ago. 

The  following  notice  shows  the  beginning  of  an  enterprise  wliich  has 
proved  of  great  value  to  our  village: 

"NOTICE. 
"Is    liereby    given    that    an    application    Avill    be    made    to    the    next 
session  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  York  to  incorporate  the 
Herkimer  jManufacturing  and  Hydraulic  Company,  with  a  capital  of 
$100,000,  and  witli  liberty  to  extend  the  same  to  $300,000. 
"May  15,  1832." 

The  act  applied  for  was  passed  by  the  legislative  session  of  1833,  and 
the  construction  of  the  hydraulic  canal  was  inaugurated  July  4th,  of 
that  year,  and  the  canal  Avas  completed  in  1834. 

In  those  early  days,  1S2S-1832,  there  were  temperance  societies  in 
this  county,  tOAvn  societies  and  a  county  society,  to  promote  the  cause 
of  temperance,  of  which  I  find  repeated  notices  in  these  papers;  and 
public  temperance  addresses  then  and  for  many  years  afterwards  were 
delivered  in  various  towns  in  the  county.  These  societies  no  longer 
exist  and  temperance  lectures  as  such  are  rarely  heard.  The  press  and 
the  pulpit  have  taken  the  places  of  tliese  instrumentalities  for  reform, 
and  the  mass  of  people  with  growing  intelligence  and  civilization  have 
become  much  more  temperate  than  they  were  during  the  first  half  of 


GLEANINGS  FROM  TWO   HERKIMER  NEWSPAPERS.  333 

the  last  century.  Tlioro  Is  more  general  intelligence  among  the  people 
than  there  was  seventy  years  ago,  and  more  refinement.  In  those  days 
there  were  political  leaders  but  no  political  bosses  in  the  modern  sense. 
The  latter  are  the  growth  of  quite  modern  times. 

Concluding  my  paper,  I  will  simply  say  that  the  only  interest  in  it, 
as  my  hearers  must  have  observed,  is  in  the  facts  stated,  and  I  hope 
they  will  be  found  interesting  and  of  some  historical  value.  It  is 
ulwaj'S  interesting  to  learn  the  political  feelings,  the  business  employ- 
ment, the  educational  and  social  conditions,  and  the  absorbing  inter- 
ests of  past  generations;  and  nowhere  can  these  be  so  well  learned 
as  in  the  newspapers  of  the  period. 


HERKIMER  COUNTY  PEOPLE  AT  THE  NATIONAL 

CAPITOL. 

AN   ADDRESS   BY   DR.    P.    H.    EATON,    OF   WASHINGTON,    D.    C. 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society  January  ii,   1902. 

In  undertakins'  to  write  something  about  the  Herkimer  county  people 
who,  from  time  to  time,  have  lived  in  Washington,  it  seems  an  abso- 
lute necessity  to  touch  upon  the  history  of  the  United  States  Treasur- 
er's office. 

From  the  foundation  of  the  Government  to  the  l)r.eakin.ii:  out  of  the 
slave-holding'  Rebellion  in  1801,  the  force  of  the  office  had  grown  from 
four  to  twenty  employes  only. 

Up  to  18(!1,  there  is  no  record  of  a  Herkimer  county  man  liaving  at 
any  time  held  position  in  that  office  or  any  other,  excepting  that  of 
Representative  in  Congress. 

The  Congressional  district,  of  which  Herkimer  county  formed  a  part, 
had  sent  Hon.  Alexander  H.  Buel  to  Congress  in  1850.  jNIr.  Buel  was 
born  in  Fairfield,  received  a  limited  education,  was  a  prominent  and 
successful  merchant  at  the  time  he  was  elected  and  served  to  the  date 
of  his  death,  which  occurred  at  the  National  Capital  June  SOth,  1853. 

The  county  was  next  represented  at  Washington  by  Hon.  Francis 
E.  Spinner,  of  Mohawk,  Herkimer  county.  General  Spinner  vr;is  born 
in  the  town  of  German  Flats,  January  21st,  1802.  He  was  mostly  edu- 
cated at  home  under  the  eye  of  his  father,  a  highly  educated  German 
clergyman. 

For  twenty  years  General  Spinner  was  the  executive  officer  of  the 
Mohawk  Valley  Bank.  He  held  all  the  commissions  from  the  Gover- 
nors of  New  York  from  Ijieutenant  to  Major  General  of  State  artillery; 
was  Sheriff  of  his  county,  and  Commissioner  for  Imilding  the  State 
Lunatic  Asylum.  From  1815  to  181i),  he  was  Avulitor  of  the  naval  office 
at  the  port  of  New  York. 

In  18.54,  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  and  re-elected  to  the  o5tli  Con- 
gress, serving  as  a  member  of  the  committee  on  accounts.  He  was  re- 
elected to  the  30th  Congress,  and  made  Chairman  of  the  committee  on 


HERKIMER  COUNTY   PEOPLE   AT  THE  NATIONAL  CAPITOL.  325 

accounts.  Ill  this,  as  well  as  in  liic  prcrrdiii.u-  Congresses,  lie  made  a 
reputation  as  a  ([iiiet  but  tireh'ss  worker,  never  taking-  anything  for 
granted,  but  always  looking  earefnlly  into  everything  with  which  he 
had  to  do.  before  giving  it  his  approval. 

In  ISCil,  he  was  appointed  Treasurer  of  the  United  States  by  Pres- 
ident Lineoln,  his  previous  experience  as  banker,  auditor  and  con- 
gressman having  peculiarly  fitted  him  for  the  position. 

For  fourteen  of  the  most  eventful  years  in  the  history  of  our  country 
he  held  the  office.  jNIeii  of  all  classes,  who  had  the  welfare  of  the  Union 
at  heart,  looked  upon  Francis  E.  Spinner,  as  a  rock  of  integrity  against 
whicli  the  v.-aves  of  corruption,  rascality,  treason  and  dishonesty  beat 
in  vain. 

When  he  took  charge  of  the  Treasurer's  otlice,  the  departments  were 
honey-comlied  with  treason  and  tli<'  offices  tilled  with  traitors.  The 
credit  of  the  government  had  been  destroyed  and  its  limited  receipts 
stolen  to  advance  the  cause  of  treason.  I'nited  States  securities  went 
begging  at  i2i/4  per  cent,  discount,  but  when  the  old  wntch-dog  of  the 
Treasury  retired  from  office,  the  ci'edit  had  been  restored,  and  tlie  in- 
terest-bearing securities  were  eagerly  taken  at  3  per  cent. 

Not  a  little  of  the  net  result  was  du^  to  the  unbounded  faitli  of  the 
people  in  the  man  who  held  the  keys  to  the  treasure  vaults  of  tlie  Gov- 
ernment. 

Assuming  charge  of  the  oihce  under  the  adverse  conditions  detailed 
above,  how  natural  for  the  Cieneral  to  turn  to  his  own  home  county  for 
help,  for  men  upon  Avliom  he  could  rel.v  in  aiding  to  carry  out  the  vast 
financial  plans  about  to  be  inaugurated. 

It  was  in  pursuance  of  this  policy  that  Colonel  Standisli  Barry, 
Judge  II.  G.  Root.  Allen  W.  Eaton.  Uelloy  Tuttle,  Edward  <).  Graves, 
and  many  others  of  old  Herkimer  county,  were  early  calh'd  into  ser- 
vice. 

Colonel  Standisli  Barry  was  a  resident  of  Newport  for  many  years. 
He  was  elected  Clerk  of  the  county  in  1840,  and  again  in  1840.  ]\Iarch 
'.k\,  1803,  Congress  passed  a  law  creating  the  office  of  Assistant  Treas- 
urer of  tlie  United  States  at  Wasliington,  and  Colonel  Barry  v. as  nom- 
inated by  President  Lincoln  and  confirmed  by  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  as  its  first  incumbent. 

A  man  of  fine  presence,  courtly  manners  and  a  kindly  heart,  the  Col- 
onel was  loved  and  respected  by  all  who  knew  him.  Hi'  held  the  office 
to  the  date  of  his  death. 

His  widow,  :Mrs.  Lydia  P.ai-ry.  still  survives  him  at  more  than  ninety 
years  of  age.  She  is  a  lady  whom  lo  know  is  to  love.  Her  noble,  kindly 
face  conies  before  me  as  I  write. 

Colonel  Barry  w;is  succeeded  as  Assistant  Treasurer  by  another  Her- 
kimer county  man — E(dtoy  Tuttle.  Mr.  Tutth^  came  to  :MolKnvk  from 
Otsego  county,  about  is.')!),  .and  w;is  employed  in  the  Mohawk  Valley 
Bank  under  the  sujiervision  of  General  Spinner,  prob.-ibly  as  a  book- 


326  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

keeper,  as  lie  was  a  fine  penman,  and  an  accomplished  accountant.  Mr. 
Tiittle  hold  the  office  for  a  number  of  years,  and  finally  retired,  and 
devoted  his  entire  time  to  a  growing  real  estate  business.  He  had  pur- 
chased a  large  tract  of  land  on  Kalorama  Heights,  immediately  over- 
looking Northwest  Washington,  where  the  ground  rapidly  enhanced 
from  a  few  cents  to  a  dollar  a  square  foot,  thus  making  Mr.  Tuttle  a 
rich  man.    He  continued  in  business  until  his  death,  a  few  j'ears  ago. 

The  i-ecent  suspension  of  the  Omaha  Trust  Company,  at  the  head  of 
which  Avas  a  former  United  States  Treasurer,  A.  U.  Wyman,  recalls  an 
incident  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Tuttle  and  another  Herkimer  county  man, 
who  held  a  clerkship  in  General  Spinner's  office — Abram  Zoller. 

Mr.  Zoller  had  a  few  hundred  dollars  in  an  old  State  bank  in  which 
Mr.  Tuttle  was  interested.  The  bank  failed;  Zoller  gave  Tuttle  no  rest 
importuning  for  a  settlement.  Finally  Tuttle  told  him  that  if  he  would 
shut  his  mouth  he  would  transfer  to  him  a  piece  of  land  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Omaha  in  settlement.  The  offer  was  accepted.  Zoller  held  on 
to  the  ground.  Omaha  grew  to  and  around  it,  tempting  offers  began 
to  come  in.  The  land-boom  struck  Omaha.  Finally  an  offer  equivalent 
to  $400,000  was  made  by  a  banking  and  real  estate  institution,  but  Zol- 
ler would  not  sell.  The  bottom  of  the  boom  fell  out,  and  left  Mr.  Zoller 
high  and  dry  on  a  lee  shore,  so  to  speak.  The  same  adverse  tide  took 
the  foundation  from  under  the  Omaha  Trust  Company.  (Moral:  Sell 
when  a  good  price  is  offered,  even  if  you  do  let  the  other  fellow  have  a 
chance  to  make  a  few  dollars). 

Edward  O.  Graves,  son  of  Hon.  Solomon  Graves,  formerly  of  the 
town  of  Russia,  was  the  next  Herkimer  county  man  to  hold  the  office 
of  Assistant  Treasurer.  Mr.  Graves  entered  the  Treasurer's  office  in 
the  closing  years  of  the  war.  He  rose  rapidly  through  all  the  grades 
to  the  position  of  Chief  Clerk  of  the  office,  at  ?2,500  per  year.  In  1874, 
when  the  National  Bank  Redemption  Agency  was  provided  for,  he  was 
made  its  first  superintendent,  at  .$3,500  per  year,  and  subsequently  ap- 
pointed Assistant  Treasurer  of  the  United  States.  Graves  was  Chief 
Examiner  of  the  Civil  Service  under  President  Grant,  and  when  Cleve- 
land was  elected  President,  he  made  him  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  En- 
graving and  Printing,  one  of  the  most  important  offices  under  the  Treas- 
ury Department.  In  this  great  establishment,  employing  several  thous- 
and people,  are  prepared  and  engraved  all  the  plates,  etc.,  from  which 
are  printed  all  United  States  currency  and  bonds,  postage  and  revenue 
stamps,  as  well  as  the  hundreds  of  millions  of  notes  issued  by  the 
National  Banks  of  the  country.  When  Mr.  Cleveland  was  succeeded 
by  President  Harrison,  Mr.  Graves  retired,  went  to  Seattle,  Washington 
State,  started  a  bank,  and  began  to  make  money.  He  held  many 
positions  of  honor,  and  some  of  profit.  He  recently  retired  from  busi- 
ness, and  is  still  living. 

Allen  W.  Eaton,  of  Little  Falls,  owner  and  editor  of  the  old  "Mohawk 
Courier,"  of   antebellum    days,  was  early  called  to  General  Spinner's 


I 


HERKIMER  COUNTY  PEOPLE   AT   THE   NATIONAL  CAPITOL  327 

assistance,  llo  was  a  tine  penman,  a  man  ot  considerable  eilncation.  of 
rugged  lionesty,  and  one  of  General  Spinner's  nuist  trnslcd  employes. 
He,  a  confidential  adviser  of  tlie  Treasnier.  was  not  wliat  niiglit  lie 
called  a  favorite,  because  liis  blunt,  straight-forward  way  of  stating 
the  truth  was  not  always  acceptal^le. 

Mr.  Eaton  worked  his  Avay  rapidly  up  through  all  the  grades  to  tlie 
position  of  principal  bookkeeper  of  the  oliice.  and  from  thence  was  pro- 
moted to  the  position  of  Cliief  of  the  I>lsision  of  National  Hanks,  thus 
becoming  the  custodian  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  in  govern- 
ment bonds  deposited  by  the  banks  as  security  for  their  circiilating 
notes. 

Mr,  Eaton  held  this  position  with  credit  to  himself  and  advantage  to 
the  servici'  until  John  C  New,  of  Indiana,  snccet'ded  Ti'easnrcr  Spin- 
ner, when  he  retired,  and  was  iippointed  receiver  o!'  public 
moneys  at  Oxford,  idaho,  through  the  influence  of  lion.  War- 
ner Miller.,  which  position  he  held  for  many  years.  When  at  leisure, 
lie  frequented  the  trout  streams  of  nmuntainous  sei  tions  of  tlie  State, 
landing  many  a  speckled  licauty.  lie  died  out  there  last  yi'ar — I'JU;) — 
at  the  ripe  age  of  .So. 

Hon.  II.  G.  Root,  one  of  jNIohawk's  most  respected  citizens,  was  one 
of  tlie  first  of  Herkimer  county  men  to  ent<r  the  Treasnrei-'s  oiiice.  He 
was  the  first  chief  of  the  issue  division — an  extremely  important  branch 
of  the  oliice.  In  this  division  Avas  handled  and  counted  the  unsold  nul- 
lions  of  greenl>acks  and  fractional  currency  issued  an<l  put  mi  circu- 
lation to-  aid  in  the  suppression  of  the  Kebellion.  This  divi^don  has 
now  grown  to  more  than  live  times  the  size  of  tlie  Treasurer''^  office, 
when  Genera!  Spinner  first  took  charge  of  it.  In  it  is  now  linished  all 
the  paper  money  issued  by  the  United  States;  that  is  to  say.  the  seal 
io  here  added,  and  the  notes  are  separated,  trimmed  and  put  up  ready 
for  issue.  :\{ore  than  half  a  million  notes  are  thus  daily  treatid, 
re(iuiring  tlu'  services  of  at  least  12.')  people  in  the  process.  The  assist- 
ant chief  of  this  division  at  the  itrescnt  time  is  an  ex-New  ^  ork  sol- 
dier— a  Ilerkijner  county  man,  and  the  writer  of  this  artick'.  He  was 
born  in  Eittle  Ealls,  emigrated  to  the  West  when  an  infant,  returned 
to  Herkimer  when  quite  a  small  boy.  lived  there  until  the  outbreak 
of  the  Keljellion,  entered  the  -Mtli  New  York  volunti'crs,  recruited  a 
company  for  the  ISth  New  York  cavalry,  passed  examination  and  ac- 
cepted a  commission  in  a  black  regiment,  saw  service  in  \'irginia, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Alabama  and  Texas,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
war  entered  the  office  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  ITnited  Slates,  upon  the 
reconunendation  of  Hon.  Kosco(>  Gonkling  and  Hon.  Addison  H.  Laflin. 

Judge  Root  continued  at  the  head  of  the  issue  division  unlil  General 
Spinner  ceased  to  be  Treasui-ei'.  avIkmi  lie  retired,  and  retuincd  to  ^Mo- 
hawk,  where  he  spent  the  ]•(  niainder  of  his  days,  lie  needs  no  eulogy 
at  the  writer's  hands,  for  those  Avho  knew  him  best  respected  him  most. 

Hon.   Addison   H.   Laflin,   next   after   General   Spinner,   represented 


328  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Herkimer  county  in  the  National  Legislature.  He  was  born  October 
34th,  1823,  in  Lee,  Berlvsliire  countj%  Massacliusetts,  graduated  from 
Williams  College  in  1843,  and  moved  to  Ilerldmer  where  he  engaged 
extensively  in  the  manufacture  of  paper.  In  1857,  he  was  elected  to 
the  State  Senate.  In  18(;;4.  he  was  elected  to  the  39th  Congress,  and 
was  made  a  member  of  the  committee  on  printing.  He  was  re-elected 
to  the  40th  Congress,  and  selected  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
printing.  His  experience  as  a  paper  manufactiu-er  was  of  much  ad- 
vantage to  the  Government.  He  took  an  active,  part  in  debate,  and 
came  in  for  Iiigh  praise  in  the  leading  New  York  papers.  Upon  i\Ir. 
Laflin's  retirement  from  Congress,  General  Grant  appointed  him  naval 
officer  at  New  York,  His  death  occurred  a  few  years  later.  Mr.  Laflin 
was  pleasant  and  afCable  in  his  treatment  of  men.  and  he  made  friends. 
He  served  in  Congress  at  a  time  when  such  statesmen  as  Conkling, 
Blaine,  Logan,  Garlield.  Thad.  Stevens.  Colfax,  Butler,  Carlisle.  Ran- 
dall and  many  other  brilliant  men  impressed  their  ideas  upon  the  legis- 
lation of  the  times.  Ail  of  them  members  of  the  House — in  their  ele- 
ment, where  they  gave  and  took  blows  in  the  effort  to  correctly  repre- 
sent their  various  constituencies. 

Major  Alfred  K.  Quaiffe  taught  music,  and  gave  lessons  on  rlie  piano 
in  all  the  leading  towns  of  the  county,  previous  to  the  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion. When  the  ir)2nd  regiment  was  organized,  he  entered  the  ranks, 
and  with  his  regiment  Avent  to  the  seat  of  war  in  Virginia.  By  a  close 
attention  to  and  an  intelligent  comprehension  of  duty,  he  rose  through 
the  various  grades  until  when  he  left  the  service  he  was  made  Major 
by  brevet,  for  meritorious  conduct.  He  entered  tlie  office  of  the  LTnited 
States  Treasurer  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  by  the  same  zealous  and 
intelligent  attention  to  duty,  rose  rapidly  through  the  various  classes 
to  the  position  of  assistant  tellei",  at  .$2..''>0()  per  annum.  When  Mr. 
Cleveland  was  elected  President,  he  induced  Congi'ess  to  pass  a  law 
creating  the  position  of  vault  clerk,  at  a  sal;iry  of  $2,500  per  annum, 
to  which  Major  Quaiffe  was  appointed  and  which  position  he  still  holds, 
having  immediate  charge  of  all  the  cash  vaults  in  the  United  States 
Treasury.  Two  of  these  A'aults  contain  nearly  .$100,000,000  in  coin, 
mostly  silver  dollars,  held  in  trust  as  security  for  a  like  amount  in 
silver  certificates  in  active  circulation.  The  Major  is  something  of  a 
scholar,  the  official  poet  of  the  office,  and  withal  a  faithful  government 
officer. 

George  Scliermerliorn,  of  ^Nlohawk,  was  one  of  the  earlier  appointees 
of  the  Treasurer's  office.  H.-'  Avas  not  a  brilliant  scholar,  but  in  com- 
puting interest,  in  correctly  figuring  out  the  exact  value  of  a  given 
numl>er  of  coupons,  he  was  the  lightning  calculator  of  the  offce.  No 
one  could  approach  him  in  that  respect.  This  was  at  the  time,  a  val- 
uable qualification  and  undoubtedly  had  much  to  do  with  his  appoint- 
ment. 

George  will  be  recalled  by  the  older  residents  of  Herkimer  as  a  news- 


HERKIMER   COUxNTY    PEOPLE   AT   THE   NATIONAL   CAPITOL.  329 

IKipcr  vciuU-r.  who  Just  previous  to  the  ^viw  Avns  (Mi.un.ucd  in  ;i  eontost 
to  see  Avho  could  phu-e  the  Now  York  daily  papers  in  Uiehtield  Sprinf,'s 
lirst.  This  created  jireat  local  excitement  at  the  time,  relays  of  horses 
extended  all  the  way  to  Richfield  Si>rin,t;s — Schernn'rhorn.  I  lielieve, 
was  the  victor.  He  was  a  very  small  man  physically,  hut  what  he 
lacked  in  size  he  made  up  in  self-esteem. 

It  is  told  of  (xeorjie  that  once  upon  a  time,  while  on  leave  of  ab- 
sence up  A\here  the  Mohawk  gently  glides,  he  wi'ote  a  Acry  patriotic 
letter  to  General  y^inner,  and  in  the  course  of  his  denunciation  of  the 
effort  to  destroy  tlie  Union,  he  broke  out  as  follows,  viz:  "(Teneral! 
the  South  has  attempted  to  sever  the  ju.uular  vein  of  our  lil)erties,  as 
with  a   carvinu  knife — will  she  live,  or  will  she  dieV     I  thiidc  slie  will." 

Scliermerhorn  was  a  horn  patriot,  and  after  m;niy  years  of  faithful 
service,  he  died,  full  of  lionors  and  in  liarness. 

Some  hesitation  is  felt  in  a])proachins-  the  next  subject,  and  yet  a 
historian  should  write  the  truth  oi-  not  at  all. 

Oliver  ("r.iinwell  was  once  sittin.i;  for  liis  portrait.  lie  was  not  a 
handsome  m;in,  and  to  make  matters  worse,  liis  face  was  distiunred  l3y 
a  number  of  u,i;ly  looking  warts.  The  portrait  paintei-  thinking  to  im- 
prove the  looks  of  his  patron  was  leaving  olT  the  warts.  Wlien  Crom- 
well noticed  what  he  \\;is  doing,  he  broke  forth  in  great  indignation  as 
follows:  "Kainn  you,  sir;  paint  me  as  I  am — warts  and  all — or  not 
at  all." 

Seth  Johnson  came  from  Mohawk:  he  was  a  man  of  consideralde 
ability — a  good  penman,  an  excellent  accountant,  and  as  :i  result,  soon 
worked  his  way  up  to  a  position  of  responsil»ility.  As  interest  teller, 
he  paid  out  and  handled  daily  many  thousands  of  dollars.  He  was 
trusted  and  fell,  less  from  dishon(>sty  than  the  baleful  intiuence  of  the 
times.  It  Avas  during  the  gold  craze,  when  the  premium  went  so  high 
that  speculators  won  or  lost  fortunes — sometimes  in  a  day.  Johnson 
thought  he  had  a  sui-e  thing  on  the  market,  and  invested  and  lost  his  all. 
In  a  fatal  moment,  thinking  he  was  sure  to  win,  he  made  the  one  false 
move  of  liis  life.  He  took  money  fnun  his  till,  and  invested  it.  thinking 
to  recoup  his  losses.  He  lost.  Then  in  his  desperation,  he  .again  in- 
v.aded  his  till,  this  time  in  a  frantic  effort  to  replace  the  (Tovernment 
money  lost,  and  lost  again.  Tlien  from  bad  to  worse — loss  upon  loss 
resulted,  until  he  could  no  longer  cover  up  the  condition  of  his  cash — 
exposux'e  and  iiunishment  followed. 

With  his  reputation  blasted,  his  life  ruined  by  a  false  step — ho  return- 
ed to  the  world.  He  lingered  along,  doing  the  best  he  could  to  make 
an  honest  living,  and  a  few  months  ago  he  went  to  that  far  off  country 
from  whose  bourne  no  traveler  ever  returns. 

James  H.  Stevens,  an  old  Herkimer  veteran,  who  of  the  older  men 
of  Herkimer  does  not  recall  "Jim"  Stevens? — by  trade  a  tailor — and 
profession  a  telegraph  operator. 


330  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Stevens  Avas  of  English  extraction.  He  enlisted,  probably  in  the 
152cl,  and  after  the  war  came  to  Washington  and  succeeded  in  getting 
an  appointment  in  General  Spinner's  otHce.  He  procured  a  pension, 
purchased  a  small  place  at  the  town  of  Arlington,  near  the  Heights  In 
Virginia,  and  entered  politics.  Some  years  later,  he  lost  his  position 
under  the  Government,  retired  to  the  shades  of  his  little  Virginia  home, 
and  resumed  his  occupation  as  a  tailor. 

His  habits  became  somewhat  irregular,  he  was  divorced  from  his 
wife,  and  some  years  later  died. 

General  Spinner  did  not  at  first  appear  to  comprehend  the  magnitude 
of  the  task  before  him,  when  he  accepted  the  office  of  Treasurer.  The 
tirst  issue  of  greenbacks  he  attempted  to  sign  with  a'pen.  Those  who 
remember  that  famous  signature  of  his  can  form  some  idea  of  the 
extent  of  the  undertaliing.  He  soon  lamed  his  wrist,  and  nearly  par- 
aJ.yzed  his  arm  in  the  effort.  Then  in  dispair,  he  had  a  number  of 
clerks  designated  to  sign  for  him.  Soon  this  was  abandoned,  and  the 
plan  now  in  u.se  was  adopted — that  of  having  his  signature  engraved 
on  the  plate  from  Avhich  tlie  notes  are  printed. 

It  was  about  this  tiine  tliat  women  were  hrst  employed  in  the  de- 
partments, and  to  General  Spinner  belongs  the  credit  of  their  tirst  intro- 
duction to  the  government  service.  "God  bless  Genera!  Spinnei,"  they 
Bay,  and  in  proof  of  their  gratitude,  they  will  one  day  erect  a  monu- 
ment in  his  honor.  They  iiave  already  raised  the  money,  and  only 
await  a  suitable  site  to  begin  its  erection.  Many  anecdotes  might  be 
related,  which  would  be  of  interest — a  t\nv  must  sutflce. 

Wlienever  a  luilon  victory  was  reported,  the  clerks  of  the  office  would 
be  called  out  into  the  corridors,  and  then  all  AA'ould  cheer  for  tlie  Union. 
The  General  did  not  mean  that  their  patriotic  ardor  or  unionism  should 
get  cold.  In  1SG4,  the  force  of  the  departments  was  organized  into  reg- 
iments. General  Spinner  took  position  in  that  of  the  Treasury  depart- 
ment, as  a  liigli  private  in  the  rear  rank.  Not  because  he  was  afraid 
•to  go  to  the  front;  he  wanted  to  be  where  he  could  see  that  others  did 
their  duty. 

One  day  immediately  after  the  official  close  of  the  war,  a  fellow  who 
had  been  au  officer  in  the  United  States  Army,  ahd  had  deserted  to  the 
Confederate  side,  entered  General  Spinner's  office  with  Andrew  John- 
son's pardon  in  his  pocket,  and  made  some  inquiries  aliout  the  pay  tliat 
was  due  him  at  the  time  he  deserted.  Then  up  rose  the  old  Mohawk 
war  horse,  and  swore  a  little.  He  had  something  of  a  Ben  Wade  repu- 
tation in  his  line,  and  he  added  to  it. 

As  the  rehabilitated  deserter  backed  off.  he  undertook  to  more  forci- 
bly present  the  strength  of  his  claim  by  pointing  to  Uresident  .Tohnson's 
pardon.  The  eye  of  the  old  :\Iohawk  Dutchman  glistened,  his  brow 
wrinkled  more  and  more,  his  mouth  got  longer,  as  he  burst  out:  'I'll 
see  you  and  the  President  both  in  li— 1  lirst,  and  then  I  won't."     In  the 


i 


IIERKIMFR   COUNTY   PEOPLE   AT  THE   NATIONAL   CAPITOL,  '.Vol 

room  at  tlic  time  was  a  luiiiister  of  llie  .gospel,  his  witV  and  ('anghtcr, 
who  had  been  driven  I'rom  rt'tersbiiry  at  thi_>  ontlircak  of  tlic  Ueliel- 
lion  on  account  of  their  Union  sentiments. 

Tlie  preaclier  walked  up  to  (Jeneral  Spiuuer,  and  i)lacin.L;-  his  hand  on 
tlie  old  fellow's  shoulder,  said: 

"General,  you  know  how  I  depreeate  profanity.  1  niust  say,  how- 
ever, that  I  never  heard  it  sound  so  much  like  prayiny  ])efore." 

A  letter  was  one  day  received  from  some  Confederate  sympathizer, 
enclosing  a  $."tOO  Confederate  note  for  redemption  with  the  statement 
that  inasnuicli  as  the  United  States  had  made  it  impossible  for  the  Con- 
federate States  yovernnient  to  redeem  its  oliligaf ions,  he  felt  that  the 
United  States  (Jovernment  should  do  it  instead. 

General  Spinner  read  the  letter  over  (juife  carefully,  and  then  turnins' 
to  tlie  then  chief  clerk  of  liis  office.  Mr.  E.  O.  Graves,  said:  "Answer 
that  letter;  inform  the  gentlenient  where  the  Confederate  goveriiment 
has  gone  to,  and  tell  him  to  go  down  there  and  present  his  bill." 

In  187."),  ihe  (Jeneral  resigUKl  his  i)Osition  as  Treasui'ei'  of  tln'  United 
States,  mainly  because^  he  and  Mr.  Secretary  Bristow  could  not  agree. 

He  liad  run  the  office  in  his  own  way  for  fourteen  yea.rs,  and  when 
someone  else  undertook  to  do  it  for  liiuL  he  Avould  not  submit,  and 
resigned.  It  was  subsetiuently  stated  th;it  had  Geiieral  Grant  under- 
stood the  situation,  lie  never  would  have  accepted  (Jeneral  Spinner's 
resignation. 

Warner  Miller  was  born  at  Hannilial,  Oswego  county,  August  12th, 
ISnS,  the  son  of  Hiram  and  Mary  Ann  \Yarner  ISIiller.  lie  grew  to  man- 
hood at  Xortliville,  Fulton  county,  Avorking  on  the  farm  in  summer  and 
attending  school  in  Avinter.  lie  entered  T'nion  college  in  IS.")!;,  working 
his  OAvn  Avay  through  that  institution,  graduating  Avith  honor  in  ISlJO. 
After  graduation,  he  taught  Latin  and  (iri-ek  in  Fort  Edward  Institute 
for  a  year,  and  then  entered  the  army.  In  Octolier,  1Si;l,  hi'  joined 
Company  I,  of  the  5th  Ncav  York  cavalry,  as  a  private  soldier,  and  was 
soon  after  made  Sergeant  Major  of  his  regiment.  lie  Avas  taJcen  pris- 
oner by  the  reliels  at  Winchester.  Yirgini.-i,  and  later  (in  lfir,2)  was 
paroled. 

Mr.  Miller  early  took  an  active  part  in  i)olitics,  and  was  for  many 
years  chairman  of  the  Republican  county  committi'c  of  Herkimer 
county.  Was  a  delegate  to  the  National  Repulilican  convention  at 
Philadelphia  that  renominated  President  Grant.  He  was  elected  to  the 
loAver  House  of  the  State  Legislature  in  1873-4,  and  on  the  Avays  and 
means  and  canal  committees  in  187."). 

In  187S,  he  Avas  elected  to  the  Kith  Congress  from  the  -)2nd  Congres- 
sional district,  composed  of  Ihe  counties  of  Herkimer,  .Tctferson  and 
LeAvis,  and  re-elected  in  1880.  In  the  House  of  IJepresent.itives  he 
served  on  the  committee  on  militia. 

July  ICth,  1881,  he  Avas  elected  to  the  rnited  States  Senate,  succeed- 
ing Thomas  C.  Piatt. 


332  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

In  the  Senate,  Mr.  Miller  was  a  tireless  worker,  a  close  stndent.  a 
believer  in  common  sense  metliods.  and  never  slirank  from  any  tasli 
-which  the  welfare  of  his  great  constituency  assigned  to  him.  In  1882, 
he  was  appointed  member  of  the  committee  on  commerce,  postoffices 
and  post-roads.  In  1883,  lie  was  made  a  member  of  the  committee  on 
education.  In  188»>,  he  was  made  chairman  of  the  committee  on  agri- 
culture, whicli  afterwards  included  forestry. 

From  these  committees  emanated  some  of  the  most  important  legis- 
lation of  the  period  covering  Mr.  Miller's  services. 

His  retirement  from  the  Senate  as  a  result  of  political  machinations 
was  a  distinct  loss  to  the  whole  country.  He  liad  grown  to  l>e  an  all- 
around  statesman,  Avith  constantly  l)roadening  views.  'His  treatment  of 
all  National  questions  was  able  and  patriotic,  and  while  New  Yorlc 
may  have  iiad  more  brilliant  men  in  the  upper  house  of  Congress;  from 
a  business  and  common  sense  point  of  view,  it  can  Vie  safely  said  tliat 
the  State  has  seldom  been  more  ably  represented  than  when  Warner 
Miller  was  in  the  United  States  Senate. 

Many  other  Herkimer  county  people  have  undoubtedly  sojourned  in 
Washington  from  time  to  time  since  the  close  of  the  war  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, but  so  far,  the  writer  lias  been  unable  to  secure  the  data  neces- 
sary to  give  them  proper  notice. 

The  people  mentioned  served  at  a  time  of  great  interest  to  the  older 
residents  of  Herkimer  county,  and  most  of  them  in  an  office  of  great 
importance  to  the  country,  and  under  a  man  thought  niucli  of  l)y  those 
who  knew  him  best. 

Alas!  they  are  nearly  all  dead  and  gone.  Those  who  remain,  but  a 
meager  number,  will  soon  pass  from  the  stage,  only  to  be  remembered, 
if  at  all,  by  deeds  done  and  character  made. 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  IN  HERKIMER 
COUNTY. 

AN   ADDRESS   BY  WILLIAM   IRVING   WALTER,    OF   ST.    JOHNSVILLE. 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society  February  S,  1902. 

The  Lutheran  clnireli  was  estal)lished  in  New  Amstei'dani  very  early 
in  the  history  of  tlie  New  Netherlands.  A  eon.yreuation  of  Low  Conn- 
try  adherents  of  the  Au.nustana  was  or.nanized  and  liad  ereeted  a 
church  editice  there  aliout  KmO,  the  first  congregation  of  that  denomina- 
tion in  America.  The  laitheran  immigration  to  America  l)egan  to  take 
a  substantial  shape  during  the  war  of  the  Spanish  Succession  (1704-13), 
when  the  country  of  the  I'ppi'r  Uhine  was  devastated  l)y  the  contend- 
ing armies.  In  ITdS,  Kev.  Joshua  Kockerthal.  a  Luthei-an  clergyman, 
with  his  family  and  congregation,  to  the  number  of  rifty-two  persons, 
came  to  the  province  of  New  York  under  the  patronage  of  the  govern- 
ment of  Queen  Anne,  and  this  was  the  beginning  of  the  GermaTi  immi- 
gration to  America.  The  story  has  been  told  and  re-told  of  the  settle- 
ment of  these  pioneers  on  the  Hudson,  their  dissatisfaction  and  the 
removal  of  some  of  their  numlier  to  Schoharie,  and  ultimately  to  Tenn- 
sylvania  and  to  Burnetstield.  It  is  with  these  latter  and  with  their 
descendants  that  the  present  paper  deals. 

While  in  Europe,  the  line  Itetween  the  adherents  of  Luthei-  and  those 
of  Zwingll  had  since  the  abortive  conference  at  Marburg  Iteen.  sharply 
drawn,  often  to  the  detriment  of  both;  in  America  the  case  was  differ- 
ent. The  Germans  of  the  Reformed  persuasion  found  a  denomination 
already  established,  practically  identical  in  creed  and  church  govern- 
ment, and  speaking  an  allied  tongue,  also  having  denominational  allies 
among  the  dominant  English-speaking  colonists.  Under  these  circum- 
stances it  is  not  Strang*'  that  many  of  the  immigrants  found  themselves 
disposed  to  minimize  theological  detinitions.  and  that  the  Ueformed 
church  was  greatly  re-enforced  by  the  new  ai-rivals,  and  also  that  the 
pioneers  directing  their  efforts  moi'e  to  subduing  natni'e  and  establish- 
ing homes  for  themselves  and  their  families  than  to  the  technicalities 
of  organization,  that  an  interval  of  forty  years  exists  between  the  set- 


334  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

tlemeiit  of  Burnetstield,  and  the  first  account  of  an  organized  Lutheran 
congregation. 

In  1T()4,  Peter  Hassenclever,  a  native  of  the  duchy  (noAv  Icingdom)  of 
AYurtemburg,  joined  his  fellow  countrymen  on  the  upper  Mohawk  within 
the  limits  of  the  present  tOAvn  of  Schuyler.  Engaging  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  potash,  he  united  with  his  neighbors  and  co-religionists  on  Sun- 
day in  worship,  occup-ying  his  ashery  for  that  purpose.  This  was  un- 
questionably the  first  Lutheran  organization  in  Herkimer  county. 

In  1809,  a  building  was  erected  on  the  present  site  of  the  school-house 
in  district  No.  4,  Avhich  was  used  for  many  years  both  as  a  church  and 
school-house.  In  1878,  the  frame  was  still  standing,  the  building  being 
then  used  as  a  wagon  house.  The  society  also  owned  a  parsonage  at 
one  period.  In  1830,  this  building  gave  place  to  one  used  exclusively 
for  school  purposes,  the  remaining  members  of  the  society,  which  was 
greatly  diminished,  having  united  the  previous  year  with  the  :Methodist 
Protestant  society  and  others,  in  the  erection  of  a  Union  church  build- 
ing, which  stood  about  thirty-five  years.  In  18G8,  it  gave  place  to  a 
Union  church  built  by  the  Free  INlethodists  and  others,  open  to  clergy- 
men of  all  denominations.  Of  the  first  board  of  trustees  of  the  Union 
church,  the  venerable  Alexis  L.  Johnson  was  a  le'ading  member.  The 
brittania  chalice  used  in  the  administration  of  the  Sacrament  was  in 
JS78  in  the  possession  of  Hiram  L.  Johnson. 

A  Lutheran  congregation  existed  in  the  town  of  Warren  (which  at 
that  time  included  Columbia),  in  1803.  In  that  year  it  united  with  the 
Reformed  and  Congregational  societies  of  Warren  in  the  erection  of  a 
Union  church,  the  Congregationalists  having  an  interest  of  one-half, 
the  Reformed  of  five-twelfths,  and  the  Lutherans  one-twelfth.  This 
building  gave  place  in  1810  to  the  present  Reformed  church  of  Col- 
umbia. 

In  1815-lG,  a  Union  church  was  erected  in  the  town  of  Warren,  on 
the  "Crain"  or  "Baker"  farm  now  owned  by  T.  Clark  Swift,  about  a 
mile  east  of  Jordanville,  in  which  the  Lutheran  denomination  was  in- 
terested. 

We  have  no  information  as  to  the  length  of  time  that  the  liuilding 
Avas  occupied.  The  dismantled  frame  was  standing  in  the  late  sixties. 
We  have  no  records  of  the  clergymen  who  ofliciated  in  these  churches, 
with  tlie  exception  of  traditionary  accounts  of  "Dominie"  Garner, 
whose  last  settlement  was  in  Schuyler.  His  descendants  are  still  living 
in  the  county. 

Another  pioneer  organization  Avas  at  Otsquago,  or  the  "Osquawck." 
This  was  the  first  center  of  population  in  the  toAvn  of  Stark.  This  con- 
gregation, in  connection  with  the  old  Minden  or  "Geisseberg"  church 
near  Hallsville,  iMontgomery  county,  Avas  from  1792  to  1817  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  John  Christopher  Wieting,  a  natiA-e  of  Brandenburg, 
Germany,  who  may  with  propriety  be  styled  the  father  of  the  Lutheran 
church  in  Central  New  York.    Although  his  residence  was  in  INIontgom- 


THE   LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   HERKIMER  COUNTY.  335 

ory  county,  liis  influence  and  lliat  of  his  son,  IMiilip.  extended  inio  Iler- 
kinu'i-  and  other  counties,  and  is  not  extinct  yet. 

Jolm  ('.  Wietinj;-  was  one  of  tlie  Germans  sold  l)y  tlieir  native  prince 
to  the  nunistry  of  George  III.,  to  aid  in  su))ju,uatini;-  tlie  colonies.  Talcen 
prisoner  at  Saratoga,  he  preferred  to  cast  Ids  lot  Avith  his  countrymen 
in  Atneii<'a,  rattier  than  to  retain  allegiance  to  the  petty  tyr;int  who 
sold  his  subjects  lil:e  cattle. 

Hero  we  must  lie  allowed  to  make  a  few  rennirks,  Avithout  mt)  under- 
standing of  the  subject  which  we  are  considering  is  impossible .  When 
the  Protestants,  as  they  were  termed,  presented  their  confession  of  faith 
at  Augsburg,  in  l.'i.S."),  the  Avording  of  the  articles  AAas  delegated  io  Philip 
Melancthon,  Avhose  pacific  disposition  induced  him  to  minimize  the  dif- 
ferences betAA'een  the  Catholic  church  and  the  reformers,  as  far  as  pos- 
sible. The  abandonment  of  the  hopes  of  reconciliation,  and  attempts 
to  harmonize  differences  among  the  reformers  themselves  resulted  in 
the  production  of  the  "Smalcal  articles,"  in  IZt'-M,  and  the  "form  of  Con- 
cord," in  1580.  Aliout  a  century  later  th.e  piestistic  movement  in  Ger- 
many, led  by  Philip  .Tames  Spener  and  August  Herman  Franke,  created 
new  divisions  Avhich  are  not  yet  healed  and  are  strongly  nnirked  in  the 
Lutheran  cliurch  in  America.  The  pietists,  avIio  insisted  on  personal 
and  experimental  religion,  were  held  by  those  avIio  adhered  strictly  to 
the  letter  of  tlie  confessions  as  scliismatics,  the  more  intemperate 
the  letter  of  the  confessions  as  schismatics,  the  more  intemperate  among 
them  retorting  on  the  conservatives  as  formalists  and  legalists.  In 
the  period  uoaa'  under  consideration  there  Avas  no  semblance  of  central 
authority  in  the  American  Lutheran  clnu'ch.  Muhlenlterg  had  organ- 
ized the  Synod  of  Pennsylvania  in  1748,  and  the  Synod  of  Ncav  York 
had  been  formed  in  ITSC.  The  poverty  of  the  country,  the  imperfect 
means  of  communication,  and  the  transition  in  language  from  German 
to  English,  left  these  frontier  churches  in  great  measure  to  Avork  out 
their  own  destiny. 

The  church  at  Ots<iuago  existed  until  after  IS-lo,  having  in  connec- 
tion Avith  the  Minden  church  participated  in  1830  in  the  organization 
of  the  Hartwick  Synod.  Events  which  Ave  shall  rehearse  later  led  to 
tlie  obliteration  of  the  society  and  the  demolition  of  the  edifice,  Avhich 
stood  on  the  "Holmes  farm,"  near  the  cemetery.  The  last  surviving 
member,  Loadwiclc  Springer,  grandfather  of  the  present  supervisor  of 
Stark,  died  in  June,  IS.")?,  aged  eighty-three  years. 

The  name  of  Palatine,  Montgomery  county,  the  name  of  Avliich  com- 
memorates the  native  district  of  the  pioneer  settlers,  formerly  included 
the  toAvn  of  Manheim  and  the  eastern  part  of  the  city  of  Little  Falls. 
Reimenschneider's  Bush,  in  the  extreme  Avesterii  part  of  the  toAvn,  Avas 
one  of  the  pre-ReA'oIutionary  settlements,  and  at  one  time  of  great  local 
importance.  On  September  1st,  I82L  a  religious  society  AA-as  organized 
at  lieimensnyder's  Bush  under  the  title  of  the  "German  EA'angelical 
Society  of  Herkimer  County."    This  society  AA-as  composed  of  members 


336  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

of  both  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  communions.  The  nearest  Luth- 
eran organizations  were  those  at  Stone  Arabia  and  Palatine  on  the  east, 
Schuyler  on  the  west,  and  Otsquaso  on  the  south.  The  lleformed 
churches  of  Snell's  Bush  and  German  Flats  (Fort  Herkimer)  were  the 
closest  neighbors  of  that  denomination,  wliile  at  Little  Falls  the  only 
existing  organization  was  the  Presbyterian,  the  English  representative 
of  the  Reformed. 

In  1S22,  a  Union  church  was  erected  on  land  donated  by  members  of 
the  Keller  family.  The  first  trustees  were  Peter  B.  Keyser,  Henry  F. 
Keller,  John  I'ickert,  John  Bellinger,  Jost  D.  Petrie  and  Peter  P.  Nellis. 
The  cost  of  this  building,  long  known  as  the  "Old  Yellow  church,"  was 
$1,000.  It  was  dedicated  October  29th,  1822,  the  officiating  clergymen 
being  Rev.  John  P.  Spinner,  Reformed,  of  German  Flats;  Rev.  N. 
Domayer,  Lutheran,  of  Stone  Arabia,  and  Rev.  Stephen  W.  Burritt, 
Presbyterian,  of  Little  Falls.  Rev.  John  P.  Spinner  was  the  first  pastor 
for  the  Reformed  and  Rev.  N.  Domayer  for  the  Lutherans.  In  1847, 
the  congregations  was  incorporated  by  legislative  act  as  "The  Dutch 
Reformed  and  Lutheran  Union  Church,"  and  in  1808,  during  the  pastor- 
ate of  Rev.  George  Young,  the  organization  of  a  distinctively  Lutheran 
congregation  was  effected.  Since  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Domayer,  the 
following  Lutheran  clergymen  have  had  pastoral  charge  here:  Rev. 
Lambert  Swackhammer,  1834-43;  Rev.  Chauncey  Francisco,  1843-0; 
Rev.  Stephen  W.  Champlin,  1840-7;  Rev,  A.  L.  Bridgeman,  1847-9;  Rev. 
Benjamin  Devendorf,  18.53-0;  Rev.  Conrad  Ochampaugh,  1807-71;  Rev. 
A.  L.  Bridgeman.  1871-3;  Rev.  J.  W.  Young,  1870-99;  Rev.  H.  D.  Hayes, 
1899  to  January  1st,  1902.  Rev.  Hayes  resigned  to  accept  the  pastorate 
of  the  church  at  Chatham,  Columbia  county,  and  the  congi-egation  has 
called  as  his  successor.  Rev.  R.  J.  Van  Deusen,  of  St.  Johnsville,  a  licen- 
tiate of  the  Franckean  Synod,  who  is  at  present  pursuing  his  studies 
at  Hartwick  Seminary,  but  who  expects  to  enter  upon  the  discharge 
of  his  duties  April  1st,  1902.  The  church  building  was  thoroughly  re- 
paired in  1852-3  at  a  cost  of  $1,500,  and  rededicated  January  20th,  1853, 
Rev.  G.  W.  Hemperley,  of  Minden,  delivering  the  dedicatory  discourse. 
In  1883,  the  present  structure  was  completed  and  dedicated  January 
18th  of  that  year,  the  venerable  Rev.  N.  Van  Alstine  ofhciating.  For  a 
short  period  before  Rev.  J.  W.  Young's  incumbency  the  church  was  sup- 
plied by  Rev.  M.  G.  Webster,  pastor  of  the  M.  B.  church  of  Little  Falls. 
In  1883  and  1893.  the  Franckean  E.  L.  Synod  held  its  annual  sessions 
here,  and  at  the  former  date  the  Synodical  W.  H.  and  F.  M.  S.  was  or- 
ganized, Mrs.  Willard  Keller,  an  active  member  of  the  church,  being 
then  and  since  a  prominent  member  and  indefatigable  worker  in  that 
body.  At  the  last  meeting  of  Synod,  sixty-eight  communing  members 
were  reported,  also  church  property,  including  parsonage,  valued  at 
$4,000,  and  a  Sunday  school  of  nine  officers  and  forty  scholars,  and  the 
expenditures  for  all  objects  aggregating  $09().10. 

During  Rev.  Mr.  Swackhammer's  incumbency  of  the  Manheim  pas- 


THE  LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN   HERKIMER  COUNTY.  387 

torate,  he  partcipated  in  the  organization  of  the  Fvanckean  Liitlieran 
Synod.  Tlie  period  from  IS'.IO  to  1S4(»  was  on(»  of  nnrest  and  uplieaval. 
"Tlie  era  of  good  feeling"  had  l)een  followed  by  the  I'xciting  politieal 
eontests  accompanying  and  growing  ont  of  the  rresideiitial  elect utn  (it 
ISli-l,  the  aci-imonions  disi)ntes  ovei'  tlie  admission  of  ^lissduri  had  in 
dnced  discnssion  of  the  slavery  (piestion.  tlie  total  abstinence  agitation 
wiis  e.xcrting  a  powerful  iiitlnenee,  and  anti-Masonic  agitatioll^.  tlireal- 
ened  the  jnililic  jteace  in  some  instances,  and  pliiln nthro|>ic  v'sionai-ies 
were  org;iiii/.ing  peace  societies  and  clamoring  for  the  .-ibolition  of  cap- 
ital imnishinent.  These  ebiillitioiis  of  jiopnlar  feeling  wei'e  accoMipanied 
by  and  in  great  part  the  results  of  periodsof  religions  e.xcitenMMi;  known 
as  revivals,  and  resulted  in  the  formation  of  many  new  organizations, 
and  the  disruption  and  too  often  the  obliteration  of  existing  ones.  In 
the  reaction  which  often  followed,  extreme  liberal  opinions  wei'e  em- 
liraeed  by  many,  and  I'niversalist  organizations  were  the  result.  A 
meeting  was  held  at  tlie  new  Lutheran  churcli  at  Minden,  Montgomery 
county,  May  24tli,  hS37,  to  take  into  consideration  the  organization  ot 
a  new  Lutheran  SymuL  Four  ordained  clergymen  were  in  attendance, 
Itev.  .John  I>.  Lawyer  of  Rensselaer  county,  Kev.  Philip  Wieting  of 
Scholiarie  county,  Kev.  William  Ottman  of  Freysbush,  Montgomery 
county,  and  Kev.  Swackhammer  of  Manheim,  wliose  pastorate  at  that 
time  included  Minden  and  Newville  and  Danube  (Indian  Castlci. 

Philip  Wieting,  son  of  John  Christopher  Wieting,  previously  men- 
tioned, was  no  orilinai'y  man.  Wliile  never  a  resident  of  H'^rlvimer 
<'ounty,his  intlnence  was  too  strongly  marked  to  be  ignored  in  any 
historical  ski'tcli  of  the  southern  part  of  the  county.  Born  in  tlv"  Halls- 
ville  neighborliood,  .Minden,  September  23,  ISUO,  lie  from  childhood  felt 
and  expressed  a  preference  for  the  legal  profession,  while  his  mothev, 
a  member  of  the  (iroff  family  of  Montgomery  county,  was  equally  de- 
cided that  he  should  devote  himself  to  the  ministry.  Hartwick  Sem- 
inary was  found'd  in  isl.",,  two  years  prior  to  the  demise  of  the  senior 
Wieting.  Here  young  Wieting  was  for  some  years  a  student,  and  while 
here  his  exp(M-ienc<'s  tilted  him  for  a  leader  of  men.  A  wild,  leckless, 
and  wayward  youth,  he,  in  advance  of  the  day  of  temperance  pledges 
.111(1  temperance  organizations,  realized  the  danger  of  indulgence  in  in- 
toxicants, and  abjured  tlieii-  use.  The  early  revival  movemencs  inter- 
ested him.  and  after  an  experience  which  left  inett'aceable  impi'essions 
on  him  and  those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  he  abandened  all 
thoughts  of  a  legal  career  .iiid  devoted  himself  to  the  gospel  min- 
istry. He  was  licensed  by  the  New  York  Ministerium,  Septemljer  (Jth 
IS2r.,  and  ordained  September  1st,  1820,  A  strong,  fervent  and  earnest 
(Xhorter.  he  w;is  noted  as  a  revival  jireaeher.  but  his  strong  common 
sense  kept  him  in  the  pastoral  work,  where  the  results  of  his  labors 
were  gathered  and  pres(>rved.  His  hrst  clerical  experiences  wei'e  in 
.leiTerson  and  Lewis  counties,  but  on  September  1st.  IS-JS,  he  took 
charge  of  the  Sharon  pastorate,  Scholiarie  county,  where  he  siient  the 


338  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

remainder  of  his  life,  which  closed  September  7th,  18()9.  His  last  pub- 
lic appearance  outside  of  his  immediate  neishl)orhood,  was  on  Sunday, 
June  6th,  1800,  in  the  now  demolished  church  at  Port  Herkimer,  where 
he  addressed  the  communicants  at  the  Synodical  Communion. 

On  February  9th,  1831,  Rev.  Wieting  organized  a  congregation  of 
forty-one  members  at  Southville  (now  Starkville\  the  first  movement 
in  the  county  of  the  "New  Measure"  Luthei'ans,  as  they  were  termed. 
On  July  20,  1831,  Rev.  Swackhammer  had  organized  a  Lutheran  con- 
gregation at  Newville.  The  original  members  were:  Abraham  I.  Wag- 
ner, John  Spoor,  .John  Deusler,  Philip  Baum,  Philip  Baum,  Jr.,  William 
Walter,  Abraham  Doxtater,  and  Henry  Osti-ander.  The  last  survivor 
of  these  was  William  Walter,  who  died  November,  18!)r),  in  his  eighty- 
seventh  year.  The  following  year  (183.5i.  Rev.  Swackhammer  organized 
the  present  Lutheran  society  at  Minden  (long  known  as  Fordsbush,  to 
distinguish  it  from  tlie  old  Minden,  or  Geissenbergh,  church,  now  for 
many  years  extinct),  with  the  following  charter  members:  Mr.  and 
Mi-s.  Adolph  Walrath,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Isaac  House,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  David 
Moyer,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Abeel,  William  Abeel,  Lucinda  Cress,  Nancy 
Hawn,  Christina  Short.  Elizabeth  Nellis.  Many  of  them  were  residents 
of  Danube,  and  a  large  share  of  the  membership  of  the  congregation 
has  always  been  found  in  that  town. 

The  church  edifice  at  Newville  was  erected  in  1835,  as  a  Union 
church,  by  the  liUtheran.  Universalist  and  Free  Will  Baptists.  We 
also  find  at  this  time  a  Lutheran  organization  at  Danube  (Indian  Cas- 
tle), which  in  1839  was  merged  in  the  Minden  congregati(.)il.  The 
Franckean  Synod  was  a  distinctively  "New  Lutheran"  organization. 
The  inciting  cause  was  the  desire  to  form  a  synod  which  would  favor 
revivals,  the  anti-slavery,  total  abstinence,  and  anti-lNIasonic  move- 
ments, and  license  preparatory  to  ordination  young  men  of  piety 
ability  and  discretion  who  had  not  had  the  advantages  of  a  thorough 
theological  training. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  now  the  enthusiasm  with  which  theo- 
ries adopted  by  earnest  men  with  high  ideals  adapts  itself  to  unforseen 
situations.  Among  the  reforms  much  agitated  about  this  period  was 
the  peace  movement,  which  the  Synod  heartily  endorsed.  At  the  an- 
nual meeting  in  18-15,  it  adopted  a  resolution  condemning  the  practice 
of  clergymen  officiating  as  chaplains  of  militia  regiments  at  the  annual 
parades.  In  1S(J3,  they  approvingly  spread  on  their  minutes  a  letter 
from  Rev.  Justus  Steinmetz.  a  young  licentiate,  who  had  enlisted  as  a 
private  in  the  volunteer  army,and  unanimously  voted  to  renew  his 
license.  In  the  folloAving  year  it  spread  on  the  journal  a  highly  eulo- 
gistic tribute  to  his  memory,  he  having  fallen  at  the  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga. 

At  the  organization  of  the  Synod,  the  lay  delegates  from  Herkimer 
county  were:  Minden.  Abraham  I.  Wagner.  John  P.  Smith;  Newville, 
John  M.  Gardinler,  Henry  Ostrander,  John  Spoor,  Jacob  Walter;    Dan- 


THE   LUTHERAN  CHURCH   IN   HERKIMER  COUNTY.  339 

nbe.  John  Davy.  .Tolin  Davy,  .fr.,  William  Davy.  Ahi-.ihaiu  Shaver; 
Southville,  Henry  I.  Devendorf.  Delegates  had  been  .npiiointcd  from 
Manheim.  bnt  did  not  attend.  Henry  Cronkite,  John  ('.  ("ronkite, 
and  Ad()li)h  \\'alrath  of  Danube,  were  i)i'esent  as  advisoi-y  uiendicrs. 
On  the  following  day  the  lii'st  session  of  the  new  Synod  w;is  held. 

In  1S;!S,  l{ev.  Swackhammer  I'esigned  the  chai-ye  of  the  Minden.  New- 
viile  and  Danube  ehurehes,  and  in  lS4o.  that  of  Manheim.  Koi-  a  time 
he  located  .at  (German  Valley.  New  Jersey,  but  failin,y.  health  oblitied 
him  to  relinciuish  that  ehar.iie.  In  1S-1;»,  he  resigned  his  meiiibei-shii) 
in  the  Synod  and  returned  to  the  Hartwiek  Synod,  in  which  he  remain- 
ed until  his  decease,  which  occurred  between   1S.")(I  .and  Is.'iS. 

liev.  John  D.  F^awyer  was  called  from  Kensselaer  coiinty  to  the  pas- 
torate of  MiiKh'U.  Xewville  and  Danube,  in  ls;iS,  residing-  at  Minden. 
He  ivtained  char,tie  of  this  district  for  only  one  year,  preachiufi'  after- 
ward at  H.artwick.  Otsego  county,  and  Argusville.  Schoharie  county. 
He  w;is  a  niiin  of  tiTcat  .ability,  but  of  erratic  charactei'.  He  haf^l  left  the 
Itar  f()r  the  jjulpit  and  resi.mied  the  i»resid(>ncy  of  the  Hartwiek  Synod 
to  join  the  new  or.i;;inization.  In  IS-tS.  qiiestions  were  i.aised  toward 
the  identity  of  his  views  with  those  of  the  denonnnation  as  formulated 
by  the  Synod,  which  had  eml)odied  in  its  constitution.  "Articles  of 
Faith,"  making-  no  reference  by  name  to  the  syndiolic.-il  books  of  the 
church.  After  some  corrcsi)ondence  relative  to  an  investiu.ation  of  the 
matter,  he  took  Ihe  irrei;ul;ir  course  of  withdrav.iiii:'  from  the  Synod, 
abandoning  the  ckM'ical,  and  returning  to  the  legal  profession.  In  this 
tourse  he  failed  to  do  justice  to  his  talents,  and  his  after  life  liitterly 
disappointed  his  friends. 

The  ccuigregation  ;it  Stai'kville  was  at  the  time  of  the  organization 
of  the  Synod  served  by  Kev.  William  Ottman.  in  union  with  the  church 
at  I'^reysbush  (organized  in  1S.",4).  In  1838.  Rev.  David  Otlman  (licensed 
al  tlie  iintial  session  of  the  Syncnl',  assumed  the  charge  of  the  district. 
In  the  following  year,  a  third  member  of  the  Ottman  family,  Seffrenas, 
accepted  a  <-all  from  .Xewville  and  Starkville.  On  March  23.  ISIO,  Rev. 
S.  Ottniiin  org.-uiizcd  ;i  society  in  what  was  then  the  south  pait  of  the 
iown  of  Liltle  I'\ills.  i}Ut  it  is  now  a  i)art  of  the  town  of  Stark.  This 
congregation,  which  assumed  the  name  of  P.ethel.  nund)ered  twent.v- 
one  original  mend)ers.  Since  the  est.ablishment  of  a  postottice  at  that 
point  a  few  years  ago.  it  has  been  knoAvn  as  Deck.  A  church  edifice, 
which  is  still  in  use.  was  dedicated  December,  1841.  by  Rev.  P.  Wiet- 
ing.  Revs.  \'aH  .\lstine.  Sw.ackhammer.  J.  S.  Robinson,  D.  Ottman  .and 
S.  Ottman  being  i)rescnl  and  particip.-itiiig.  In  lS^l-2,  this  congrega- 
tion report*  (1  forty-one  members,  after  which  it  began  to  de<-line.  It 
occupied  p.art  of  the  territory  of  th(>  old  Ots(piago  church,  and  its  organ- 
ization (licw  Ihe  life  fiom  the  i)arent  body.  A  few  years  later  the 
Otsqua.yo  cluu'ch  l)uildiiig  was  destroyed  by  a  lot  of  rowdies,  an  act  of 
sacrilegious  vandalism  which  reflects  great  discredit  upon  the  c-mu- 
munity. 


340  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

The  congTegation  at  Bethel  suffered  a  severe  loss  in  1845,  in  the 
death  of  Jacob  L.  Springer,  Avho  came  to  it  from  the  Otsquago  congre- 
gation, and  who  was  prominent  in  organizing  the  society  and  iMiilding 
the  church. 

On  March  27,  1841,  Rev.  S.  Ottman,  at  the  school  house  at  Fort  Her- 
kimer, organized  the  following  persons  into  the  Lutheran  church  of 
German  Flats:  John  Spoor,  Catherine  Spoor,  William  Wormuth  and 
wife,  and  Jacob  Rasback.  These  have  been  admitted  by  letter  from 
other  organizations;  fifteen  more  were  admitted  by  confirmation.  The 
first  election  of  oflicers  was  held  November  20,  1842,  when  Bernard 
Christman  and  Samuel  J.  Palmer  were  elected  deacons  and  Jacoli  Ras- 
back and  William  Wormuth,  elders. 

In  July,  1848,  a  church  building  located  a  little  west  of  the  old  stone 
church,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  highway,  was  dedicated.  Revs.  P. 
Wieting.  N.  Van  Alstine  and  S.  Ottman  conducting  the  exercises.  John 
Spoor  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Newville  congregation,  and  at  this 
time  resided  very  nearly  the  location  of  the  West  Shore  station  at  JacR- 
sonburg.  He  returned  to  Newville  witliin  a  few  years,  where  he  died 
in  1885,  the  last  of  the  founders  of  the  Franckean  Synod.  His  removal 
and  the  tragic  death  of  Bernard  Christman  were  severe  blows  to  the 
society.  The  highest  number  of  members  it  reported  was  thirty-six, 
in  184(3.  In  December.  1843,  Rev.  S.  Ottman  having  previously  resign- 
ed the  care  of  the  church  at  Starkville,  resigned  that  at  Bethel,  and  in 
February,  1844,  that  at  Newville,  retaining  German  Flats  until  1848. 
During  his  incumbency  at  Newville,  in  June,  1842,  tiie  Franckean  Synod 
held  its  first  meeting  in  Herkimer  county.  His  clerical  labors  after- 
wards were  performed  at  Middletown  (Penn.i,  Worcester.  Otsego  coun- 
ty, and  Rush,  Monroe  county,  removing  in  1855  to  Sodus,  Wayne 
county.  His  ministerial  career  terminated  in  1855,  in  a  manner  dis- 
tressing to  his  friends,  uuAvorthy  of  his  own  abilities  and  calculated  to 
throw  reproach  on  the  cause  to  which  he  had  solemnly  devoted  his 
talents. 

L'he  congregation  at  German  Flats  suffered  a  gradual  decadence. 
Occa^Monally  services  Avere  held  by  Rev.  C.  Ocliampaugh,  Rev.  N.  Van 
Alstine  and  possibly  by  others,  but  continual  losses  reduced  the  niember- 
Hhip  numerically  and  neglect  and  ill-usage  nearly  destroyed  the  build- 
ing. 

In  18(57  Rev.  George  Young,  who  was  in  charge  of  ^Nlanheim.  began 
holding  services  in  the  school  house.  The  membership  was  increased 
and  the  church  thoroughly  repaired  and  in  June.  18u!>,  the  Franckean 
Synod  held  its  annual  convention  there.  Tlie  society  had  suffered  a 
heavy  loss  in  December,  18G8,  in  the  death  of  Adam  A.  Steele,  for  many 
years  tlie  leading  member  of  the  congregation,  and  at  tlie  time  of  his 
decease  a  delegate-elect  to  the  biennial  convention  of  the_  general  synod, 
a  position  that  was  filled  by  his  son,  James  H.  Steele,  now  a  resident 
of  Herkimer.     Other  causes  for  discouragement  followed,  and  shortly 


THE   LUTHERAN   CHURCH    IN    HERKIMER   COUNTY.  341 

iiflcr  llic  st'ssion  of  synod,  itcv.  Vouiiy-  rcsi-ncd  the  i),-ist<)r;itt'.  ;i  conrsv-* 
ncccssilalt'd  in  urc.-it  ii;ir(  by  Ins  own  indiscrs'dons. 

One  liy  one  the  nu'ndwrs  died  or  removed  to  othei-  loeiilities.  and 
within  a  few  years  a  teni|u'st  destroyed  tiie  dila|>idated  hnildinir.  Rev. 
'^'oiin.ii-  removed  in  1S71  to  I'.ouck's  Hill.  l)undas  county.  Onfjirio.  where 
in  1S7;-5.  the  st'andal  winch  li.-id  for  some  time  lieen  wliis])ei-ed  concern- 
niu'  liis  clianicter  maferi;iii/,cd.  and  liis  coi'.nectiou  with  tlie  clmrcli  ter- 
minated in  a   manner  not  at  all   to  his  credit. 

Fn  isn.  livv.  .lesse  S.  Koliinson  was  c;i!led  from  the  S.-ind  Lake  dis- 
trict. llenssel;ier  connty,  to  take  charge  of  Freysbiish  and  Starkville. 
In  1844,  he  took  charge  of  P>elhel  ;uid  relinquished  Freysbush.  During 
tl-'is  period  the  conyre.L::! tion  reaclKMl  its  uiaximum.  re])ortinK.  In  1844, 
itl  members. 

I  have  been  unable  to  obtain  any  data  concernin,!i-  the  erection  of  the 
Tnion  church  at  St.arkville.  It  was  originally  the  joint  property  of 
the  Lutherans  and  Free  Will  Baptists:  the  latter  society  beconiintr 
extinct,  their  intei-ests  were  purchased  in  187<)  by  the  I'niversalists. 

Rev.  Robinson  resigned  the  Starkville  district  in  1S4.")  and  removed 
to  St.  .Tohnsville.  Here  his  carelessness  in  financial  m.atters  became 
so  pronounced  that  it  could  no  longer  l>e  ignored,  and  in  1S48  the  synod 
felt  conijielled  to /ever  all  relations  with  him.  He  afterwards  secured 
a  position  in  the  ministry  of  another  denomination,  as  did  Rev.  (rcorge 
^■<ung.  a  (jnarter  of  a  c(Mitury  latei'. 

In  Augusl.  1S4(;.  Re\-.  Rufns  Smith,  a  native  of  Jefferson  county,  then 
Si  rving  the  St.  Lawicnce  connty  pastorate,  accepted  a  call  to  Starkville 
and  Bethel.  This  ai'i'a ngemcTit .  .although  \ery  natural  .-md  co^ivenient, 
failed,  notwithstanding  the  umiursticmed  abilities  of  the  iristoi-  to  build 
\^^  the  numerical  strength  of  the  cou'ireg.ations.  In  1S."L  he  removed 
to  Raymertown.  U'ensselaer  county,  and  .-irter  se\'eral  years  to  Sharon, 
Walworth  county,  Wisconsin.  Here  and  in  Illinois  he  i).MSsed  the  bal- 
ance of  his  life.  His  religious  zeal  and  dislike  of  narrow  denomina- 
tionism  c;iri'ied  him  in  his  ]:\tt'r  years  into  the  otliei-  extreme  of  the  re- 
pudiation of  all  denominational  ties.  These  views  had  obtaii:ed  some 
footing  in  tli(>  section  under  ( (insidei'atitni.  those  who  held  them  being 
d(>'iomina  ted  "( '(unitrymanites."  from  tlu>  Countrym.-in  brothei's.  John 
L.  of  Haniibe.  and  Is;i;ic.  of  Stark,  who  were  pi-omineni  in  the  advo- 
cacy of  anti-denennnation;il  theories,  and  who  in  carrying  out  their 
pe'-nli.ar  ideas  had  withdrawn  from  tlu'  congreg.itions  of  Minden  and 
Stai'kville. 

In  1S44.  on  the  resign.at  io!i  fi'om  \ewville  of  Rev.  S.  Ottnnin,  that 
soci<'ty  resumed  its  I'elations  with  Minden.  which  congrcgatioe,  had  in 
IS.'i!).  called  as  the  successor  of  Re\ .  .lohn  I).  Lawyer.  Uew  ,\icholas 
\an  .Vlstine.  then  settled  ovei'  th(>  cougi'egations  at  Sunnnit.  Schoharie 
county,  and  South  Worcester.  Otsego  county.  Rev.  Mr.  Van  Alstine 
was  born  in  Sharon.  Schoharie  county,  in  LS14.  Having  graduated 
from    Ilai-twick   Seminary,   he  was  present  at   the  oi'g.Muization   of  the 


342  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Franekean  Synod,  and  received  lieense  to  iireaeh  at  its  tirst  session,  liis 
congregations  also  nniting  with  tlie  new  Synod.  He  was  ordained  at 
Clay,  Onondaga  county,  June,  1838,  and  the  following  ye.ar  removed  to 
Minden,  where  his  formal  induction  into  the  Christian  ministry  had 
occurred  and  with  whicli  locality  his  connection  did  not  terminate  until 
his  decease.  Under  liig  pastorate  the  denominational  interests  pi'os- 
pered,  the  Newville  congregation  reporting  '.»4  members  in  1847.  The 
friction  which  was  unavoidable  between  three  societies  occu]>ying  the 
same  building,  and  the  inconvenience  consequent  upon  services  held 
only  in  the  afternoon  were  obstacles  Avhich  materially  interfered  with 
the  advancement  of  the  Newville  congregation.  In  JIS.lo,  Kev.  Van 
Alstine  resigned  to  accept  a  call  to  West  Sand  Lake  and  East  Schodack. 
Rensselaer  county. 

The  Minden  and  Starkville  congregations  extended  a  call  to  Rev.  G. 
W.  Heniperley,  of  Jetferson  county,  M'^ho  assumed  charge  October  25. 
3851.  Rev.  Hemperley  was  an  able,  popular  and  successful  preacher, 
but  the  result  at  Starkville  demonstrated  that  services  heid  solely  in 
the  afternoon  do  not  attract  ])eople  as  much  as  is  desirable.  Rev.  Hem- 
perley closed  his  services  at  Starkville  in  l.S.-tT  and  at  Minden  in  1859. 
.After  Rev.  Van  Alstine's  resignation.  Newville  rem.ained  vacant  as  far 
as  the  Lutheran  denomination  was  concern(>d  until  November.  1852. 
During  that  time  the  B.aptist  congregation  secured  the  services  of  Rev. 
Charles  Cook,  who  was  ordained  there  in  1851. 

He  resigned  in  1852.  and  in  November  of  that  year  Rev.  M.  W. 
Empie,  who  had  for  some  years  been  engaged  in  missionary  work  in 
Illinois  and  Wisconsin,  took  charge  of  Newville.  Fi-eysbnsh  and  Bethel. 
Rev.  Empie  was  a  man  of  great  ability  and  strength  of  character,  and 
is  affectionately  remembered  in  every  locality  where  he  ministered  to 
the  spiritual  needs  of  the  people.  He  entered  the  ministry  in  1845.  and 
dui'ing  his  missionary  work  assisted  in  organizing  the  first  Norwegian 
Lutheran  church  in  Cliiciigo.  He  remained  at  Newxillc  until  October. 
1854,  devoting  an  equal  share  of  his  time  to  Preyshnsli.  i)reat-hing  at 
Bethel  but  one  year.  Circiunstances  unnecessary  to  I'efer  to  here  in 
duced  him  to  consider  favorably  a  call  to  the  Jefferson  county  charge, 
where  he  labored  earnestly  and  successfully  until  18(n,  when  he  suc- 
<-eeded  Rev.  N.  Van  Alstine  at  West  Sand  Lake  and  East  S.'l)odack. 
After  a  pastorate  here  of  more  than  eighteen  years  he  resigned  in  187!>. 
Having  supplied  the  congregations  at  Starkville  ;ind  Freysl»ush  for 
several  years,  he  accepted  a  call  to  Churchtown  and  Taghkanic.  Coliun- 
bia  county,  where  he  served  acceptably  and  successfully  until  his  de- 
cease in  July.  18'.)(1.  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  He  received  in  1S!I5, 
the  honorary  degree  of  I).  I),  from  Hartwick  S(>min;iry.  In  Xoxcmbei-, 
1858,  Rev.  C.  Ochampaugh,  of  Rush.  ?»Ionroe  county.  acce]»t(  <!  ;i  c:ill 
to  Newville,  Starkville  and  Bethel.  This  arrangement  continned  but 
one  year.  While  no  one  questions  Rev.  Ochampaugh's  sincerity,  he 
was  not  of  the  proper  temperament  to  win  success  under  the  circum- 


THE   LUTHERAN   CHURCH    IN   HERKIMER  COUNTY  348 

stances  existing  then  and  there.     At   the  close  of  the  year  he  accei)te(l 
n    call   to   Manheim   ,as  previously   stateil.     This    was   his   last   reKular 

liastorati'.     At  the  close  he  retired  about  ISST,  having  temporarily  su]) 
plied  Canada  and  Jefferson,  and  possibly  other  pastorates. 

On  the  resignation  of  Kev.  Mr.  lleniperley,  in  Is.V.t,  the  congregation 
at  Minden  extended  a  call  to  Kev.  Mi'.\anA!stine,\vh(j  accepted  it,  taking- 
charge  in  December.  ISDO,  pnacliing  (>very  alternate  afternoon  at  Xew- 
viile.  with  occasional  services  at  Bethel,  German  Fiats,  and  St.  Johns- 
ville.  He  reiuained  at  Minden  and  Xewville  until  December,  1870,  but 
through  the  numerous  and  rapid  changes,  and  i)ossibly  other  causes, 
the  church  at  Newville  seenuul  to  have  lost  its  hold  on  the  people.  The 
Civil  war  and  the  excited  political  discussions  preceding,  accompanying, 
and  following  it,  were  not  favorable  to  religious  effoi't,  and  notAvith- 
standing  Kev.  Van  Alstine's  unselfish  and  determined  efforts,  tlie  con- 
gregation at  Xewville  was  no  stronger  at  the  clos(>  of  his  pastorate 
than  at  the  beginning.  In  1S70,  he  removed  to  ICaymertown,  where  he 
held  the  jiastorate  for  the  phenomenal  period  of  twenty-nine  years,  clos- 
ing on  October  15,  1S',)!>,  an  active  ministerial  ;ind  pastoral  career  of 
sixty-lfhree  years.  His  last  days  were  spent  with  his  son.  S.  M.  Van 
Alstine,  at  Little  Falls,  wheiv  he  passed  ;n\ay,  X'^ovendier  o,  1900,  in 
bis  eighty-seventh  year.  He  was  a  m.in  of  phenomenal  talent  and 
aliility,  and  before  he  retired  from  active  pastoral  work,  Hartwick 
Seminary  honored  itself  by  conferring  on  him  the  honorai'y  degree 
of  D.  D. 

In  Xovember,  1S71,  Kev.  J.  II.  Weber  of  Avoca.  Steuben  county,  tilled 
the  vacancy  caused  by  Kev.  \';in  Alstine's  resignation.  Young  and  en- 
thusiastic, he  lU'oved  a  poi^nlar  pastor,  and  both  congregations  incre.ns- 
ed  in  numbers  and  in  inlluence.  In  1S77.  he  began  holding  ser\iccs  at 
Bethel  and  the  following  year  reorganized  that  society,  which  since  the 
death  of  its  only  active  male  member.  Levi  Acker,  in  March,  18(i9,  had 
l)een  considered  extinct.  At  the  expiration  of  eight  years  a  jn'oposition 
to  renew  the  rel.ation  failed  to  obtain  the  necessary  two-thirds  vote 
in  the  (ongreg.-itional  meeting  at  Minder..  A  proi)osal  to  retain  him 
as  pastor  at  Xewville  and  P>ethel  was  declined  by  him  on  the  ground 
that  it  would  tend  toward  the  disrn])tion  of  tlu^  :\Iinden  congreg.-ition. 
He  acceptetl  a  call  to  .Vshland.  I'a..  and  is  now  i»astor  of  a  large  and 
flourisliing  society  at  Sunl)ury,  Pa.,  and  an  inlluential  member  of  the 
Susquehanna  Synod.  Immediately  on  Kev.  Weber's  resignation,  the 
congregations  at  Xewville  and  Bethel  entered  into  an  ari-;ingement  with 
Kev.  William  E.  Churchill,  of  Avoca.  Steuben  eonnty.  who  had  received 
license  in  1S7(>.  and  who  had  had  ;i  r.-ither  nnfoi'tun.ate  experience  with 

the  eoiiyregations  at  Bouck's  Hill  and  Avoca. 

Mr.  Churchill,  who  was  a  native  of  England,  was  ;i  man  of  small 
literary  attainments,  plausible  manner  and  address,  retentive  memory, 

and  aT)t)arently  with  little  or  no  conception  of  the  qualifications  neces- 
sary for  a  minister  of  the  gospel.     His  administration  at  Bouck's  Hill 


344  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

liarl  proven  so  imsatisfaetorily,  that  a  coumiittee  of  iiivestit;atioii,  coiii- 
posecl  of  tlie  ablest  members  of  the  Synod,  had  reported  on  it  very 
unfavorably,  and  he  only  escaped  severe  censure,  if  not  dismissal  from 
the  clerical  profession  at  that  time,  by  submission  and  apolo.t;ies.  But 
while  apologizing  to  his  superiors,  his  conduct  as  pastor  was  entirely 
unimproved.  Having-  hocated  at  Newville,  it  was  not  long  before  lie 
and  the  church  officials  were  in  a  condition  of  irreconcilable  liostility, 
and  the  pastor  had  lost  the  contidence  of  that  ])ortion  of  the  community 
from  which  the  church  drew  support.  Complaint  was  entered  to  the 
synodicai  officials,  and  at  the  session  for  1880,  held  at  Avoca,  in  .Iun(>. 
where  he  had  hoped  for  ordination,  the  extension  of-  his  license  was 
unanimously  refused,  and  he  was  dropped  from  the  rolls  of  synod.  He 
refused  to  recognize  this  action  and  blustered  about  an  appeal  to  the 
general  synod,  a  course  impossible  by  the  constitution  of  that  body. 
He  continued  to  occupy  the  pulpits  of  the  cliurches  on  Sundays,  but 
after  a  few  weeks  he  was  left  without  auditors.  The  society  at  Bethel 
compromised  witli  him  on  his  claims  for  services,  but  at  Newville, 
where  lie  had  resided,  the  feeling  was  intense,  and  a  bitter  litigation 
was  the  result,  in  which  the  uncertainty  of  a  I'ecourse  to  the  courts  and 
tlie  exurberance  of  tlie  plaintiffs  imagination  were  both  demon.strated. 
While  claiming  to  retain  his  position  in  the  Lutheran  ministry,  he.  with 
g'leat  tlieological  impartiality,  sought  admission  to  denominn  lions  as 
divergent  as  the  Metliodists  and  Universalists.  Finally  tactily  dis- 
carding his  clerical  pretensions  lie  engaged  in  newspaper  worlc  ;in(l  en- 
deavored to  become  a  political  factor,  residing  successively  r.t  Little 
Falls,  St.  Johnsville.  Mohawk  and  Frankfort.  Having  begun  in  pol- 
itics as  an  entliusiastic  and  intolerant  Republican,  lie  in  1881),  figured 
as  a  sliining  proliibition  light,  and  in  1890  accepted  the  Democratic 
nomination  for  school  commissioner  in  the  southern  district.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  that  district  formed  a  striking  exceptiori  to  the 
general  Democratic  triumphs  throughout  the  country  that  year.  The 
following  year  wliile  publishing  a  weekly  paper  at  Frankfoi't  he  in- 
dulged in  some  severe  strictures  on  the  management  of  the  ca.nals  in 
Herliimer  county.  Summoned  to  Albany  to  make  good  his  ch;irges 
liefore  a  legislative  investigating  committee  he,  to  the  surjjrise  and  dis- 
gust of  those  who  had  endeavored  to  retain  confidence  in  him,  tamely 
retracted  his  allegations.  Having  thus  lost  the  confidence  of  all  classes 
he  removed  to  Wayne  county,  where  his  checkered  career  c1os(h1  a  few 
years  ago.  Prior  to  his  death  he  re-entered  the  clerical  i)i'of(  ssion  by 
w;',y  of  the  Baptist  denomination.  Some  years  back  he  had  addressed 
Dr.  V:in  Alstine  by  letter.  e.Kpressing  his  regret  and  penitenc,'  for  his 
conduct,  and  hinting  at  a  wish  to  make  a  different  record,  but  received 
no  encouragement  to  hope  that  the  Lutheran  denomination  would  ever 
rislv  a  dui)lication  of  its  experience  with  him. 

The  unfortunate  ministerial  career  of  Mr.  Churchill  was  a  severe  if 
not  a  fatal  blow  to  the  congregations  at  Newville  and  Bethel.     Since 


THE   LUTHERAN   CHURCH   IN    HERKIMER   COUNTY.  'Mr> 

tliat  iicriod  tlicrc  liiixc  hccii  (inly  ncc;isi(iii;i  I  scrxii'cs  iK'ld  ;it  tliosi' 
plnccs  liy  tlic  surccssix  «■  p.-istoi-s  of  llic  .Mindcii  cniiurcmit  ions,  which 
li;is  been  stTNcd  by  (lie  InlUiwinu  iiaiiii'd  uciit Icincii :  1SS(»-1,  Krw  VaI 
win  roltcr:  bS,s-_'-4.  [{cv.  Lc-nuh-r  Ford:  b'^s.'.-T.  ltc\ .  ("hai'lcs  L.  I'.nrriii- 
jier;  ISSS-'.iL'.  Itfw  11.  A.  Straii;  is'.i-',  ilr\ .  \'..  K.  I'akc  D.  1 ).  !n  iss:;, 
Pliilip  Spian.ticr.  wIki  had  been  fdiincclcd  duriuL:  Ihi'  most  o!'  his  lit'<' 
with  tlif  coni^rcualioh  at  ISorlicl.  rcnioNcd  to  Itirlil^idd  Springs,  and 
while  wiitin.u  these  lines  intelligence  was  i-ecei\-ed  of  his  death  Suli- 
seipKMd  to  Ins  removal,  the  death  (d'  the  venerable  .lolin  .\1.  .Morrison, 
some  years  back,  took  from  the  society  its  last  earthly  pi'oji.  After  tiie 
Lutheran  societ.\'  of  i>a.nnl>e  had  been  n:er,u'ed  in  that  of  .Minden.  in 
INolt,  the  denomination.  althon.tj;h  retaininu  ;i  nonnn.-il  iidert'si  m  t  he 
elmrch  bnildinu'.  maile  no  attemjit  at  buildinu  nji  an  oruani/ation  ,hen. 
liinitiii.:;'  its  work  to  hoklini;'  occasional  ser\  ices,  h'or  sonu'  .\'e;irs  theie 
was  a.  Methodist  society  ;it  thai  itoint.  and  in  ISCii).  Key.  H.  .M.  Stan- 
brough  of  the  IManheim  Ktd'ornied  church  effected  an  or.u'.-i nidation 
there.  After  Uev.  Stanbrough's  resignation  in  ISCT.  this  fell  into  "'in- 
noenoiis  desuetude."  and  in  .June.  IS'.IS.  l)ecame  entirely  extinct  by  the 
death  of  its  last  snr\iving  member,  .Miss  Sally  Ann  Cr.-imei-. 

The  l)uilding.  which  ha(i  lieen  re]iaired  and  rededicated  in  lNr>.">,  w;is 
occnsionall.\'  occupied  li\-  clei'.tiymen  <d"  difft'rent  denounn.-itions.  In 
IS!)j.  a  T'uion  Sabbath  school  was  orgainzed  by  the  residents  and  Kev. 
I'..  iO.  Fake  beg.m  iiolding  regular  services.  I-'or  these  pui-i>oses  the 
school  house  of  district  \o.  ;!  of  i>anube  was  utilized,  the  chur'-h  being 
entirely  out  of  repair.  The  people  of  the  connnnnity  united  and  con- 
tributed the  necessary  funds  and  labor,  and  thoroughly  renovited  tlie 
historic  editice.  On  April  1st.  IS'.i."),  Kev.  I'>.  10.  I'ake  oi'g.anized  .a  socief.v 
o!  eleven  menduMs  which,  af  the  Synodica!  session  of  I'.Mil,  had  increas- 
ed to  t  went.\-tive,  and  which  the  Latest  a.ccoiuits  reiu'esent  as  still  in- 
. •leasing. 

In  June,  iS'.S.'i.  the  chuich  was  I'ededic.ited  by  Uev.  l'\ake.  U<v.  !'.  H. 
Strong,  of  (he  !*.;iptist  churci;  at  Little  Falls,  jireaching  the  ih'dicatoi'y 
s(  !  nion.  Kevs.  !'.  1 ».  i,eete.  M .  I'.,  and  \'.  10.  Tomlinson,  Fniv  ersalisi, 
(if  Littl.,'  I'alls.  and  Kev.  K.  .Morrell.  Christian,  of  St.  .iohnsville.  present 
and  assistim::  lion,  'i'itus  Slieard  of  Little  l''alls  delivering  an  al>l(\ 
appropri.ate  and  instructive  historical  address.  The  building  is  now 
a  i'nion  chui'ch  in  which  the  Lutherans,  rniversalists.  Kegular  I'ap- 
trsl,  !;(>forme(l.  i'resbyteiaan  .-ind  Methodist  lOpiscoiial  denom'u;i tions 
lave  interests,  although  the  four  latter  bodies  have  vei-y  few  adliei'- 
eiils  in  that  locality,  .\ftcr  the  resignat'on  of  Kev.  Coni'ad  ( >chaui- 
paugh,  in  JS.V.l.  the  con^reg.at  ion  at  Starkville  secured  the  services  of 
Kev.  (!.  Young,  a  licentiate,  who  also  had  iiastoral  ch.arge  o;  i''r"ysbush. 
Kev.  Voun,!.;,  who  was  ord.iined  at  Argnsville.  SclKdiarie  county,  in 
.imie,  1S<'.L  retained  this  charge  until  IN'IT,  when  he  removed  to  Man- 
heiin.  He  w;is  succeeded  iiv'  Kev.  t ).  1  >.  S.  .Mai'cle.v.  who  was  licensed 
i!(   lSt;7  .and  oidained  at   Minden.   in   ISCS.     In    ISCP.  he  removed  to  .lef- 


346  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

fVi-soii  tduiity.  and  soiuc  years  later  to  Aslilatul,  Pennsylvania,  where 
his  lal)ors  closed  with  his  life. 

On  May  Isl.  1S7<).  He\-.  W.  H.  Slielland  suceeded  Kev.  Marciey,  and 
remained  until  I  )ecfinli('r.  ISTit.  'I'he  district  was  then  supplied  until 
ISS4  hy  Kev.  .\I.  ^^■.  lOnipie.  during  which  period  in  September.  1888. 
(x-curred  the  death  of  John  I{.  Hall,  a  staunch  and  devoted  adherent 
of  the  church.  Since  1SSI,  only  irregular  services  have  been  held  at 
Starkville. 

In  Febi-u;iry.  ISSS.  the  weak  or,t;anizatiou  suffered  an  additional  loss 
by  the  death  of  David  H.  Ehvood.  Since  Kev.  Dr.  Fake's  incumbency 
at  Minden.  he  has  liestowed  a  ji'reat  deal  of  labor  on  Starkville  and 
Newvllle.  Within  a  few  years  (rerman  Lutheran  congregations  con- 
nected with  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  served  by 
Kt>v.  ('.  A.  Schroeder.  have  been  organized  at  Herkimer.  Little  Frills 
and  Dolgeville. 

For  some  years  there  existed  in  the  town  of  Ohio  a  German  congre- 
gation of  the  Missouri  Synod,  a  very  exclusive  High  Church  body, 
which  has  adherents  in  nearly  every  State  and  Territory  in  the  Union 
and  in  Canada.  Concerning  these  societies.  I  have  been  unable  to 
secure  any  data.  I  hope  that  ill  the  future  some  other  investigator  may 
be  more  successful. 

The  question  arises,  why  have  so  much  labor  and  financial  outhiy 
left  so  few  visible  residtsV  The  one  reply  that  comes  within  tlu^  pro- 
vince of  these  investi.gations  is  that  the  drift  of  population  to  the  cities 
and  large  villages  is  demanding  great  clianges  in  churcli  work,  as  well 
as  on  political  and  economical  lines.  The  city  is  tlie  centt'r  from  which 
all' work,  moral  and  religious,  as  w(>ll  as  educational  ;ind  business,  must 
radiate.  Not  only  tlie  numerical  ratio  of  i)opulation  as  betv.-een  urban 
and  rural  conditions,  but  the  composition  and  moral  suiToundings  of 
many  rural  localities  have  undergone  great  clianges. 


JOHN   FRANK,   HIS    CONTEMPORARH^S    AND    HIS 
ACCOUNT  BOOK. 


Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society  Februarys,  VM):i. 

.[olin  Knink  w;is  horn  in  tiie  present  town  of  (rernian  Flats,  Maivli 
li:^.  ITot",.  and  lived  nntil  about  the  year  1S4().  lie  became  a  instiee  of 
Hie  peace  and  oil"  of  the  county  .pulses  of  Hiis  c(ninty  after  tlie  orjiani- 
zaiion  of  our  Stale  uovernnienl.  He  was  an  active  patriot  durins  the 
I;evolntit)naiy  wai'  anil  a  member  of  the  comnuttet'  of  safety  in  the 
»!erman  l-Mats  and  Kinusland  dislrict;  a!nl  lie  fouyiit  in  tlie  batttle  of 
(b'iskany.  He  owned  and  lixcd  upaii  Hu'  farm  south  cd"  this  village 
w  liich  is  now  owned  by  .lolin  ( ".  and  Hartley  Maiiion;  and  he  was  known 
to  his  i-ontempoiaries  as  .ludue  l""rank.  His  house  occU])ied  the  site 
uiiere  the  brick  liouse  now  stands,  and  tiiere  liefore  the  Ue\()lulionary 
war  and  sttliseipiently.  he  kept  a  store  and  taveiai  and  carrie<[  on  his 
f;;rni. 

I  lia\e  before  me  his  account  l)ook,  which  belongs  to  the  Herkimer 
County  Historical  Society,  which  I  believe  is  the  oldest  account  book 
in  Central  .\ew  Vork.  'I'he  earliest  entries  therein  Iiear  the  date  of 
ITi't.  .\\  th.at  time  .•iiid  for  many  ye.ars  afterward,  as  I  find  !roni  old 
acconni  books  which  I  ha\'e  seen,  all  coiuitry  merchants  sold  lum  and 
other  li(,uors  iiy  measure  and  by  the  drink;  and  in  this  book  the 
charges  for  liquor  of  some  kind  are  many  times  more  numerous  than 
all  other  i-harges  combined.  The  principal  li(iuors  sold  were  rum 
brandy  and  wine. 

.lud.ue  Fr.-mk's  house  seems  to  have  been,  a  rendezvous  for  his  nei.ch- 
l.ois  on  Itotb  sides  of  the  Mohawk  Ilivei-;  and  1  am  sure  that  the  robust 
men  of  those  da.\s  had  many  hilarious  drinkin.u'  botits  there,  a--  I  find 
in  the  book  se\-eral  ch.arges  for  broken  wine  glasses,  broken  bowds  and 
broken  window  l;I;iss.  r.o:itnien  and  i>;iss"ngers  upon  the  Mohawk  river 
tm(lonl)tedl.\' stopped  t  hereon  their.journeys  u)i  and  down,  and  friMiuentl.v 
bad  me.'ils  and  lodgin.u  tln-re.  Trior  to  this  century,  there  was  no  stage 
line.  ;iiid  the  mail  for  this  region  was  undoubtedl.v  brought  up  on  the 
liver  and  left  there  that  the  people  might  come  and  obtain  the  same. 


348  HERKIMER   COUNTY   HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

Tlicrc  w;is  iH)  bridge  jicioss  the  Mohawk  liivcr  in  this  county  prior 
to  1S(K)  except  one  where  what  we  call  tlie  lower  river  bridji^e  now  is. 
and  that  wa.s  built  liy  .(ud.ue  Fran.k  and  others  about  17!)."..  Tiiere  was 
no  brid.i;e  between  this  villa,ne  and  Mohawk  until  alxmt  the  year  ISKi. 
Tile  <-har:j;('s  in  the  liook  were  kept  in  ]>ounds,  shillinus  and  i)ence, 
and  I  will  refer  to  a  few  Avhich  will  ,uivc  us  sonn-  i(h'a  of  the  state  of 
society  and  of  the  business  as  well  as  of  the  scale  of  prices  at  the  time 
when  they  were  made.  It  must  be  remeinbered  that  a  pornid  was 
twenty  shilliuiis.  and  that  eight  shilliuiis  was  one  dollar.  Tlie  oldest 
account  was  against  Conrad  Frank,  who  must  have  been  the  father  or 
brothel'  of  .lohn : 

s.        d. 

1774  May  1'A.  To  t-j  gallon  New  Rum 2         <> 

July.  ii>  pint   Rum    C, 

October.  1   tjuart  New  Rum    1         4 

December  28.  To  1  (luart  Old  and  \  (\\v.u-t  New  Rum.      'A 

177ri  April  IS.  To  I  iiowls  Toddy 4 

June  24.   1  pint  Wine   1  (•> 

Jnly  13.  To  1  (piart  W.  I.  Rum   1         li 

Sept.  IS.  1  gallon  NeAV  Rum  7, 

Dec.  2(».  To  IV,  gallons  New'  Rum  for  David  Schuyler     S 
1770  May  15.  To  cash  paid  Di*.  Petry  for  1  glass  of  balsam 

and  bleeding    ."> 

Aug.  20.  To  2  schippels  of  wheat  and  1  (piart  of  W. 

I.   Rum     4         C, 

Sept.  To  P,  schippels  of  Wheat.  2  gills  of  Rum 1         •", 

Xov.  To  Cash  paid  John    Smith  foi'  1  pt.  Rum    when 

you  Avas  wounded ic, 

This  John  Smith  was  undoubtedly  the  grainlfather  of  the  late  Wil- 
liam Smith  of  this  village.  A  schippcM  of  wheat  was  a  trilic  more  than 
a  peck.  On  the  credit  side  of  the  accomit  under  date  of  Xovemlier, 
1774,  was  1  fat  cow.  3  poun.ds  and  IS  shillings  ('(jual  to  ':!».7."t. 

Judge  Frank  dealt  in  furs,  and  T  lind  Duncan  M<'D(tugal  charged  in 
December.  1775,  with  one  Otter  skin.  21  shillings,  and  one  }ilartin  skin. 
0  shillings.  ^IcDougal  must  have  been  a  heavy  drinker,  as  in  tlie  same 
account  for  three  days,  March  1,  2.  3.  TiSi;,  he  was  charged  with  12 
bowls  of  Toddy.  12  shillings:  2  slings.  1  shilling;  2  (piarts  of  cider.  1 
sliilling.  while  for  three  meals  he  was  chai'ged  3  shillin.rs. 

Liquor  evidently  circulated  freely  on  election  days.  ;is  1  tind  charged 
t'(  Henry  Herkimer.  Sr..  under  date  of  Ma.y.  177S,  "Dicpior  in  Club  for 
Oovernor.  0  shillings  and  4  pence,;"  and  also  at  meetings  of  ■"The  Lib- 
erty Boys,"  as  I  find  from  several  charges  in  the  book. 

Colonel  Henry  K.  Van  Rensselaer  must  have  been  very  fond  of  cider, 
as  1  lind  him  charged  as  follows:  1779,  fnnu  the  2i;th  of  August  to  the 
2f;th  of  September,  to  32  mugs  of  cider,  13  shillings  and  4  pence;  Nov. 
19,  21  mugs  cider  at  different  times.  8  shillings  and  9  pence:    December 


.TOHN   FRANK,    HIS   CONTEMPORARIES  AND   HIS   ACCOUNT   BOOK  349 

lid.  2  biirrcls  of  cider.  24  shillin.us.  and  I 'cci'iiilicr  2r.tli.  T'-,.  imius  of 
cider,  H  sliillinj;s  iind  1VL>  pence  in  tlic  same  .•iccdiint  lir  \v;is  <'liar.ii('d 
with  24  scl'.ippels  of  winter  apples  at  I  sliiliinu  and  (i  pence  ))er  scinp- 
pel.  witli  pasturing  lioi-se  14  days.  •'!  sliiliiiii;s.  and  witii  yarn  for  mil- 
tens,  2  sliillings. 

In  ITS."!  and  ITSi;.  ("onrad  C  Foils,  among  ciiarges  for  gills  of  laim 
and  niiis  of  urog.l  find  clcirged  as  follows:  1  razor.  4  sliillinvs;  1  \\n(t\ 
liai.   ^-  shillings  and  !•  pence-   1    y.ard  calico.  S  shillings. 

In  an  account  against  his  liroi  licr-in-law.  (Jeoi'ge  \N'(4)er 
vnnning  from  ITSi  to  i7".l2.  among  charges  for  mm.  brandy 
wine,  sling.  Iiowls  of  to(hly  and  ni])s  of  grog,  tliere  arc  these 
clijirges:  lilai'k  sill<  handkerchief,  l"!  shillings:  [■_■  Ih.  ol'  tea 
2  sldllings  and  !i  iience:  1  [lair  of  buckles,  4  shillings:  1 
yard  of  lace,  4  shillings  and  !)  pence;  1  skein  of  silk,  1  shilling;  2  ells 
of  fine  linen,  2  shillings;  bonnet  paper,  U  pence:  and  ii.aid  foi'  making 
bonnets,  2  shillings  and  7  pence;  1  lawn  liandkercluef,  C  slnllings  and 
(J  pence:  V>  knives  antl  o  forks,  ;>  shillings;  .".Vi  ells  lilue  serge.  11  sin!- 
lings  and  5  pence;  P.^.  ells  linen,  4  shillings  and  10  pence;  2  doz.  small 
buttons,  2  shillings;  2  ounces  of  snulT,  9  j)ence:  4  ells  corduroy,  24  shil- 
lings; 1  ell  bhie  shalloon,  3  shillings  ;ind  (>  pence;  I'l.  doz.  gilt  buttons, 
2  shillings  and  3  pence;  1  stick  twist,  9  pence;  2  skeins  thread,  4  shil- 
lings. It  must  be  noticed  tliat  an  ell  measures  a  yard  and  a  (jnarter. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  account.  Islv.  Webei'  is  ci'ediled  with  1  slave 
lioy  bouglit  <jf  him,  !l  iiounds.  (^(pial  to  .$22. ."lO;  witli  epauledes.  32  shil- 
lings, ;ind  with  2  (piii-es  of  paper,  3  shillings. 

In  an  account  with  William  Quin,  commencing  in  1791,  the  debtor 
side  is  made  up  almost  exclusively  of  liquor  by  measure  and  by  the 
nip.  He  must  have  been  a  school  te.'icher,  as  he  is  credited  with  the 
schooling  of  three  eliildren  for  the  year  1790,  3  pounds,  and  of  two  child- 
ren for  the  year  1791,  2  pounds  and  4  shillings. 

In  17SG,  George  Demott  is  charged  witli  one  paper  of  pins,  1  shilling 
and  six  pence,  and  credited  with  Ql'j  pounds  of  ginseng  at  2  sliillings 
per  pound. 

In  the  account  of  Frederick  \^'eber,  commencing  in  17<S(;,  I  find 
charged  1  bowl  of  Saiigaree,  2  shillings;  1  ell  of  Lawn,  ('>  shillings  and 
9  pence;  22  panes  of  window  glass,  1(>  shillings  and  c.  ])ence;  1  iiair 
of  stockings,  6  shillings;  4  Almanacs,  5  shillings;  1  t>owl  of  Sampson, 
1  shilling;  21^4  H'S-  of  beef  at  3  pence  per  pound.  He  must  liave  been 
a  •"high  roller,"  judging  from  the  liquor  of  all  kinds  cliarged  to  him, 
and  from  several  lnoken  Avine  glasses,  a  l»roken  bowl  and  a  broken 
window  pane  also  charged  tf)  him.  He  was  probably  a  blacksmith,  as 
he  is  credited  Avitli  some  Idacksmith's  work. 

In  the  account  of  John  Smith,  comnHMicing  in  177S,  besides  many 
items  for  liquor  by  measure  and  l>y  the  nip,  I  find  such  items  as  these: 
4  pounds  ten  penny  nails,  5  shillings;  1  paper  of  ink  powdei',  1  shil- 
ling and  6  pence;  4V^  gallons  of  new  rum  had  by  Mr.  Campbell,  "when 


350  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

he  went  -with  your  Gingseng  to  Schenectady;""  1  knife  and  fork,  2  shil- 
lings and  9  ponce;  liquor  for  0  jurymen  "in  your  trial;"  200  lbs.  Gin- 
seng roots,  400  shillings,  and  20  l!)s.,  1  shilling  and  six  pence  per  pound. 
On  the  opposite  side  of  the  account  he  is  credited  among  other  items 
with  one  piece  of  Irish  linen,  27  yards,  4  shillings  per  yard. 

In  Hem-y  Miller's  account,  commencing  in  i787,  I  Hnd  charged  IVj 
yards  of  calico,  12  shillings,  i^o  pence;  oi/.  ells  of  Broadcloth,  54  shil- 
lings and  8  pence;  1  cow  bell,  8  shillings;  and  he  is  credited  with  8 
l)0unds  of  Ginseng  roots  at  2  shillings  and  (>  pence  per  pound  ,and  30 
lbs.  at  3  shillings  per  pound. 

In  Conrad  P.  Folts'  account,  commencing  the  same  year,  there  are 
charges  for  1  yard  bonnet  lace,  4  shillings  and  <i  pence.;  1  yard  cap  lace, 
three  shillings  and  six  pence;  lawn  for  cap,  4  shillings;  1  skein  silk, 
i)  pence;  1  sheet  bonnet  paper,  9  pence;  2Vj  ells  calico,  13  shillings,  llVo 
pence;  2  oz.  Indigo,  2  shillings;  1  grass  Scythe,  H  shillings  and  6  pence; 
8  panes  of  window  glass,  8x10,  9  shillings;  and  he  is  cre<lited  with  20 
lbs.  Ginseng,  3  shillings  per  pound. 

In  Susannah  SmalTs  account,  I  And  charged  1  hat,  9  shillings;  2  lbs. 
tea,  2  shillings  and  6  pence;  1  pair  of  scissors.  2  shillings;  leather  for 
shoes,  needles,  wintering  two  sheep,  10  slnllings;  18  sheets  writing 
paper.  2  shillings;  2  pounds  alum,  8  pence;  3^%  pounds  of  flour,  (I  shil- 
lings; i/iiSchippel  of  salt,  4  shillings;  1  pound  of  tea.  T)  shillings;  cyphei'- 
ing  slate.  2  shillings.  She  is  also  charged  with  l^/^  gallons  of  rum,  8 
shillings;  1  pint  West  India  Rum,  1  shilling  and  3  pence,  and  1  nip  of 
grog;  6  pence;  and  she  is  credited  with  1'Vi  days  binding  wheat  j^er 
Polly  (presumably  a  slave),  3  shillings  and  (>  pence,  and  1  day's  work 
per  Polly,  12  days'  spinning,  per  her  daughters.  9  shillings,  and  7  days' 
carding  wool.  5  shillings  and  3  pence,  and  one  day's  work  helping  his 
wife  when  slaughtering,  1  shilling,  and  for  several  items  of  Ginseng. 
These  items  bring  before  our  minds  the  kinds  of  farm  work  the  women 
of  that  day  did,  and  the  fact  that  they  indulged  in  rum  and  nips  of 
grog. 

In  1788,  I  find  John  Fox  credited  1  shilling  for  2  young  fowls,  and 
about  the  same  time  Frederick  Shoemaker  was  credited  with  1%  days' 
work  in  harvesting,  7  shillings;  1  day  mowing  wheat,  4  shillings,  and 
two  items  of  Ginseng,  and  one  Martin  skin.  In  the  account  of  Phineas 
Allen,  I  find  one  loaf  of  bread,  charged  in  1789,  at  2  shillings. 

In  an  account  against  Dr.  "^Villiam  Petry,  my  grandfather,  commenc- 
ing in  1788,  among  numerous  charges  for  cider,  rum,  nips  and  bowls 
of  grog  and  slings,  thei'e  was  a  charge  for  use  of  horse  to  ride  through 
the  Mohawk  River,  1  shilling.  I  find  .Tohn  Andrews  credited  in  1788 
with  35  pounds  of  leaf  tobacco,  23  shillings  and  6  pence,  and  in  1789, 
with  1,000  shingles,  40  shillings.  .lost  Hess  was  credited  in  1788  with 
1  Cub  skin,  2  shillings.  In  an  account  against  Frederick  Bellinger, 
commencing  in  1790,  among  many  charges  for  rum  and  other  liquors, 
be  is  charged  with  two  pairs  of  Indian  shoes,  G  shillings,  and  credited 


JONH   FRANK.    HIS  CONTEMPORARIES  AND   HIS   ACCOUxNT   BOOK.  351 

with  carpenter  work  at  5  shillings  per  day.  and  with  drawing  1  hogs- 
head of  rum  from  Schenectady,  12  shillings.  Mary  Small  is  credited 
with  n  days"  sitinning  at  '.»  pence  per  day.  I  find  Timothy  l>'rank,  his 
brother. ancestor  of  Frank  W.  <'hristman  of  this  village,  charged  in  ITlto 
with  •"■.!  ell  calico.  ."!  shillings  and  4  pence;  1  (inirc  of  wi'iting  ua|)er,  1 
and  (■)  pence:  1  almanac.  1  and  (>  pence;  and  in  IT'.tl.  creditetl  with  '.» 
IKunids  of  hntter.  *;  shillings  and  !)  pence,  and  one  ox.  4  i)onnds.  1(»  shil- 
lings. In  17!>(».  Frederick  Orendorf  is  charged  foi'  cg.g  pun(4i,  1  shil- 
ling, and  about  the  s;im(>  year  in  .Iun(\  cr(Mlited  with  '2  shillings  for  40 
eggs.  In  an  .-iccount  with  .lohn  Fox  couunencing  in  ITS'.)  there  were 
many  charges  for  cider,  rum  and  other  liciuor.  ;nid  these  among  orner 
credits;  1700,  Sept.  7,  IMaying  "the  Fittle  on  my  bee,"  12  shillings;  1704. 
Aug.  It),  .Tack  your  negro  playin.g  for  a  comi);iny.  I."!  shillings;  Oct.  4, 
the  siune,  S  and  0  pence;    Dec.  27,  tiie  same,  12  shillings. 

In  an  account  connuencing  17SS  Christopher  Fox  w;is  charged  witn 
one  pair  plated  shoe  buckles,  4  shillings;  VL*  !''•  tea.  2  shillings;  1  Castor 
hat, 14  siiillings;  1  wool  hat,  7  shillings;  1  scythe,  11  shillings;  breaking  1 
bowl,  1  shilling,  (i  pence.  In  1701  and  1702,  Edward  Walker  was  credited 
for  ;5,OS8  pounds  of  maple  sugar  at  (i  ])ence  per  pound.  .Tiily  .''>,  1700,  an 
account  was  opened  with  John  Brussler  who  agreed  to  work  for  Mr. 
Frank  for  one  year  for  18  pounds,  and  the  debtor  charges  .'ii'e  mostly 
for  grog. 

There  is  an  account  against  Adam  Hartman,  the  famous  Revolution- 
ary soldier,  mostly  for  grog.  Paul  Seckner,  a  mason  worked  for  Mr. 
Frank  in.  1701  for  4  shillings  per  day;  and  November  It;,  170r>,  Frederick 
Fox  agreed  with  Mr.  Frank  to  work  for  him  until  the  first  day  of  the 
followin,g  June  for  0  jjounds,  "victuals,  drink,  lodging,  washing  and 
mending  included."  Adin  Fancher,  in  an  account  couunencing  1701, 
among  other  things,  is  charged  with  board  for  .">  days,  7  shillings  and  6 
pt-uce,  and  for  four  weeks  and  three  days'  bo;ird,  two  pounds,  and  he, 
evidently  a  blacksunth.  is  credited  with  making  staples,  whiffletrees, 
a  crane,  shoeing  horses,  mending  tlesh  fork,  andirons,  gridirons;  an<l 
with  four  days'  work  going  and  coming  with  a  raft  of  boats  on  the 
iMohawk  River  from  Whitestown,  14  shillings.  In  an  .-iccoimt  with 
.Vicholas  Wolever,  commencing  in  1700,  he  is  charged  with  3  shillings 
and  three  pence  "when  the  VAnh  was  on  a  frolick,"  and  two  shillings 
for  "liciuor  lost  runnin.ii'  horses."  and  six  schippels  of  oats,  12  shillings. 
1  find  several  hints  in  these  accounts  of  the  existence  of  a  clul)  which 
iiH-t  at  Mr.  Frank's  house,  and  also  of  wagers  of  liipior  on  horse  races. 
Those  were  hilarious  men. 

Samuel  Robertson  was  a  doctor  :ind  was  charged  with  the  usual 
round  of  drinks,  and  he  is  credited  with  doctoring  Mr.  Frank  4  .jour- 
neys.  2  pounds  and  lO  shillings,  and  for  medicines,  2  pounds  ;uid  four 
shillings.  1702,  December  2(!th,  John  Smith  is  charged  with  "breaking 
one  wine  glass  which  you  borrowed  of  me  when  you  married,"  one 
shilling;  and  in  1703,  he  is  credited  with  two  patents  for  military  lands. 


352  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

fifty  pounds.  Robert  Beeb,  evidently  a  laborer,  is  charged  witli  drinks, 
and  is  credited  with  labor  at  about  two  shillinsis  per  day.  The  last 
entry  on  the  credit  side,  under  date  of  July  2Sth,  ITIH.  is  as  follows; 
"Agreed  with  me  for  one  year's  work  for  •_'.">  pounds.  September  12tli, 
left  me  in  the  morning  before  I  was  out  of  l)et.""  < 'hristoplier  nube  luis 
a  large  number  of  items  charged  to  him  for  grog,  meals,  grain,  use  of 
iiorse  and  oxen,  etc.,  and  he  is  credited  in  1702  with  the  weaving  by  his 
wife  of  four  covei'lets.  82  shillings,  and  of  2(»  ells  of  linen,  si.\  pence  per 
ell,  and  with  bottoming  four  chairs,  four  shillings.  Abel  Pr.-ia,  in  1792, 
is  charged  as  follows:  "To  sundries  in  a  club  at  a  frolick  at  uiy  housi' 
which  I  have  paid  for  you,  5  shillings  U»  pence."  "To  my  son  bringing 
you  across  the  river,  4  pence." 

In  an  account  with  John  Bruster,  in  17',)1,  I  Hud  the  entry  of  iin  agree- 
ment under  date  of  October,  to  labor  foi-  Mr.  Frank  for  one  year  for 
eighteen  pounds  and  two  pair  of  shoes,  and  a  charge  for  one  regimental 
artillery  coat,  four  pounds.  The  takiiig  of  usury  w.as  common  in  those 
early  days.  Money  for  loan  was  scarce  and  it  brought  a  high  price.  In 
au  account  against  Robert  Herring,  in  171)3,  I  hnd  this  charge:  "To 
cash,  eight  shillings,  which  you  have  promised  ten  shillings  for."  Rev. 
Abraham  Rosecrantz  was  the  minister  in  charge  of  the  churches  here 
and  at  Fort  Herkimer,  and  in  an  account  with  him  I  find  him  charged 
from  April  to  July,  17S8,  with  these  items:  \'j  lb.  of,  snuff,  o  shillings; 
3  ells  Darant,  t»  shillings;  3  sticks  of  twist,  2  shillings  and  3  pence;  1% 
yds.  of  black  lace,  5  shillings,  81/2  pence;  2  skeins  silk,  2  shillings;  1 
pound  shot,  1  shilling;  \->  lb.  powder,  2  shillings  and  0  pence;  1/2  paper 
of  pins,  nine  pence;   and  he  is  credited  with  subscription  to  his  salary, 

I  pound.  This  is  the  only  account  in  the  l)ook  in  which  I  find  no  charge 
for  liquor.    He  probably  paid  cash  for  his  drinks. 

The  items  for  broken  wine  glasses  which  I  hnd  in  these  accounts 
may  have  been  due  to  a  custom  in  vogue  in  those  days  of  breaking 
glasses  Avhen  a  health  was  drunk,  so  that  they  could  not  be  used  to 
drink  the  health  of  any  other  persoii.  This  is  illustrated  in  an  old  bill 
for  a  state  dinner  given  in  1783,  recently  discovered  by  State  Historian, 
Hji stings  among  the  archives  at  Albany.  The  dinner  was  given  by  the 
Governor,  and  Council  in  honor  of  the  French  Minister  and  General 
Washington.  There  were  120  guests  and  the  total  cost  was  lotj  pounds, 
and  only  one-third  of  this  sum  was  spent  for  food,  the  greater  portioj. 
of  the  remainder  being  for  liquid  refreslnnents.     The  diners  enjoyed 

II  dozen  bottles  of  Madeira,  3  dozen  bottles  of  Port,  5  dozen  bottles  of 
English  beer,  and  30  bowls  of  punch.  From  a  glance  at  the  bill  it  might 
be  supposed  that  all  these  bottles  had  a  disturbing  influence  upon  the 
occasion,  for  there  is  a  charge  of  four  pounds  and  10  shillings  for  (50 
broken  wine  glasses  and  three  pounds  for  8  broken  decanters.  But 
Historian  Hastings  explains  that  it  was  the  custom  in  the  old  days  to 
dash  the  glass  upon  the  floor  as  soon  as  a  health  had  been  drunk. 

These  accounts  bring  before  us  in  quite  distinct  outlines  the  state 


JOHN   FRANK.    HIS  CONTEMPORARIES  AND   HIS   ACCOUNT   BOOK.  353 

of  society  .'uid  the  character  and  habits  of  the  people  here  In  the  latter 
[lart  of  the  eighteenth  eentnry.  They  were  a  jovial,  social  and  fun- 
loving  people — addicted  to  horse  racing  and  drink.  Their  lives  were 
simple  and  robust,  very  few  of  them  became  rich,  but  most  of  them  kept 
out  of  del>t.  Lal)or,  farm  produce  and  liquor  were  cheap  ,and  merchan- 
dise was  dear.  Calico  cost  as  much  as  silk  does  now.  As  there  were 
lew  niamnactorit's  in  this  country,  most  of  the  merchandise  was  im- 
ported. The  merchants  evidently  itought  peltry  and  they  dealt  in  Gin- 
seng, which  seems  to  have  been  an  object  of  considerable  trade  in  this 
regit)n.     It  is  a  plant  having  a  root  which  was  dug  and  dried.     It  grew 

wild  in  the  w Is  ;nid  swamps,  and  was  supposed  to  have   medicinal 

proj)erties.  It  is  still  dug  and  dealt  in  almost  exclusively  for  exporta- 
tion to  Chin.-i,  where  the  people  l)elieve  in  its  medicinal  value  for  almost 
all  diseases.  It  is.  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  worth  from  tive  to  six 
dollars  per  pound  in  this  village,  as  I  am  informed  by  Rasbach  &  Bur- 
rell,  wiio  deal  in  it;  and  there  was  a  time  in  China,  before  any  impor- 
tations were  made  from  America  when  it  was  worth  much  more  than 
its  weight  in  gold.  It  still  grows  wild  in  this  comity  ;ind  to  a  small 
extent  is  cultivated.  It  is  now  believed  by  competent  exi)e!ls  to  be 
absolutely  without  .'uiy  medicinal  value. 

The  women  of  that  time  indulged  in  li(iuor  as  well  as  the  men,  but 
not  to  the  same  e.vtent.  Its  free  use  was  not  discountenanced,  and 
was  almost  universal  among  the  men  of  this  region.  It  was  regarded 
as  iiidispensaltle  upon  a  journey  and  it  had  tlie  sanction  of  the  church. 
as  the  followiiig  facts  show:  In  February.  IT'.'T.  .Fohn  Fi'ank  and 
Rudol])h  Steele  went  to  .\lbany  as  a  committee  of  the  Dutch  church  at 
I\)rt  Herkimer  on  Inisiness  for  the  churcli;  and  upon  their  return  they 
rt'udered  an  itemized  aci-ount  of  their  exiienses,  which  was  audited  and 
allowed  by  the  ( (Hisistory  and  entered  in  the  chtn-ch  records,  as  fol- 
lows: 17I>7,  Feb.  7,  To  Liquors  at  different  pl;ices,  4  shillings;  Feb.  8, 
paid  John  Fonday  l"or  three  stippers,  3  (juarts  cider.  .'I  lodgings  and  Vi; 
siiil  gin.  10  shillings  and  six  pence;  Feb.  !',  paid  Johnson,  Schenectady, 
1  gi'oL;.  1  lodging.  1  supi)ei'.  1  glass  bitters.  7  shillings  and  six  pence, 
and  stage  to  .Mhany,  S  shillings;  to  and  in  .\ibany,  '2  dinners.  1  glass 
imncli,  '■>  sliilhngs;  cash  [)aid  Barber  the  printer.  'A  pounds  'A  ?<hillings; 
cash  ])aid  .Myers  for  getting  the  i)apers  from  New  York.  S  shillings: 
from  the  loth  to  the  ItJth  included,  to  sundries  in  liiiuors,  S  shillings; 
ti>  7'_,  d;,ys'  Ixtarding  ;ind  li(|Uors  at  Crane's  in  Albany,  as  \)vv  receipt. 
■~.  [lounds.  11  shillings;  to  bread  and  cheese  for  on  the  way  home.  12 
shillings;  liquors  to  Schenectady,  4  shillings  and  six  pence;  ;if  Also- 
lier's,  Schenecta-ly.  for  licpiors  and  lodging,  three  shillings  and  six 
I)eiice:    to  expenses  in  liiiuors  from  Schenectady  to  home.  7  shillings. 

Itev.  .lohn  I'.  Spinner  came  to  this  place  fi'om  (iermany  to  serve  the 
l>utch  church  here  in  ISOl,  and  the  church  was  to  pay  his  expenses 
Irom  New  York  to  this  village.     After  his  arrival  here  he  rendered  an 


354  HERKIMER   COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

itemized  account  of  liis  expenses,  wliicli  was  alloAved  and  paid;    and 
among  tlie  items  were  cliarges  for  quite  a  large  quantity  of  beer. 

In  tliose  early  days,  liquors  were  used  not  only  on  all  festi\e  occa- 
sions, but  at  funerals,  which  were  frequently  times  of  nKn-riment 
rather  than  of  mourning.  In  the  early  part  of  tlie  IStli  century  the 
following  account  Avas  rendered  by  the  administrator  of  tlie  estate  of 
Feter  Jacob  Marine,  a  prominent  citizen  of  New  York,  and  was 
allowed: 

"£         s.        d. 

To  29  gallons  of  wyne,  at  Gs  9d  per  gallon 9       lo         9 

To  19  pairs  of  gloves  at  2s.  3d 2         i         3 

For  bottles  and  glass  broke,  paid  ^  .  .     0         3         7 

Paid  2  women  each  2  days'  attendance   ()       l.l         o 

Paid  for  a  suit  of  mourning  for  ye  negro  woman  freed 

by  ye  testator,  and  making 3         4         71/2 

Paid  for  SCO  Cokies,  and  11/0  gross  of  Pipes  at  3s.  3d (">         7         7Vo 

Paid  for  speys  (spice  )for  ye  burnte  wyne  and  sugar.  ..     0         1         1 
Paid  to  Sexton  and  Bell  ringer,  for  making  ye  grave 

and  ringing  ye  bell    2         2         0 

Paid  for  ye  cothn    4         (i         0 

Paid  for  gold,  and  making  14  mourning  rings  2       1()         0 

Paid  for  3  yards  of  beaver  stuff  at  7s.  (mI.  butto.ns  and 

malving  it  for  a  suit  o!'  mourning 1        5  4         6 

Paid  foi'  V2  vat  of  single  Beer   (»         7         6" 

But  this  custom  of  clieerful  funerals,  wliere  tlie  comfort  of  the  guests 
was  well  looked  after,  was  not  confined  to  the  Dutch  or  Germans,  but 
prevailed  elsewhere  in  this  country.  Baltimore  before  the  Revolu- 
tionary war  Avas  settled  by  Irish,  Scotclt  and  English,  and  there  a  bill 
survives  for  fun(>ral  expenses  which,  besides  yards  upon  yards  of  crape, 
tiffany,  broad(.-loth,  challoon  and  linen,  several  pairs  of  black  gloves 
and  other  necessary  attire,  includes  these  items:  47 Vi'  pounds  loaf 
sugar,  14  dozen  eggs,  10  ounces  nutmeg,  IVi  pounds  allspice.  20  5-8  gal- 
lons white  wine,  12  bottles  red  wine,  10  3-8  gallons  rum. 

The  women  of  those  early  days  in  this  vicinity  were  industrious  an(5 
hardy.  They  did  the  knitting,  spinning,  weaving,  dyeing,  carding  of 
wool,  and  performed  all  the  other  duties  Avhich  could  i)e  discharged 
in  the  household;  and  besides,  they  generally  worked  in  the  fields  in 
haying,  harvesting,  planting  and  hoeing.  Tlie  social  gatherings  of  the 
people  were  frecpient  and  greatly  enjoyed.  Many  of  tlie  names  found 
in  this  book  have  disappeared  from  this  region,  but  many  of  them,  like 
the  Bellingers,  Orendorfs,  Shoemakers,  Yules,  Petries,  Smalls,  Edicks, 
Stariugs,  Rasbacks,  Smiths,  Spohns,  Schuylers,  Webers,  Wolevers, 
\Vidricks,  are  still  found  in  tliis  county.  They  were  generally  honest, 
■c-our.igeous  and  patriotic,  and  in  these  respects  at  least  we  ought  not  to 
fall  behind  them. 


FAIRFIELD  ACADEMY  AND  FAIRFIELD 
MEDICAL  COLLEGE. 

AN    ADDKESS    BY    HON.    (rEOKtiE    \V.    SMITH,    OF    HEKKIMEK. 

Delivered  before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society  Marcti  s,  l<)()2. 

Tln'so  institutions  deserve  special  notice  for  tlieir  connection  with 
tlie  local  history  of  Herkimer  county  and  for  their  intiuence  fplt  in  a 
much  wider  sphere.  'I'he  academy  from  ISOo  to  lltOl.  tlie  oolleue  from 
INl'-'  to  1S4().  were  intellectual  fountains,  whose  liulit  was  carried  l)y 
llicir  students  to  UH>st  of  the  States  of  tlie  I'nion.  Material  victories 
more  impress  the  cdninion  mind,  lint  the  mental  ainl  intelh'ctual  are 
tlie  transceiKlant  forces  and  the  liviny  soul  that  creates  all  material 
success.  Tlie  institutions  whose  career  we  are  now  to  recall  are  the 
(  hief  iiionunieiits  of  our  locai  history.  The  slia(h)\\'  of  the  one  which 
IMSsed  ;iway  more  than  sixty  years  aj^o,  and  tin*  shachiw  of  the  other 
just  recedinu.',  Iirinu'to  thnusands  interestin.i:-  recollections.  .V  .uft'at 
miiltituih'  liad  hojied  to  liriiii;  to  the  centennial  of  Fairfield  Academy 
\(ti\e  cliaplets  of  oak  and  laurel  and  ivy,  who  can  now  only  offer  to  its 
silent  halls  tin'  sad  wreaths  of  cypi-ess  and  rue.  How  many  hearts 
eclio  the  wish  that  the  sln'ines  endeared  and  sacred  by  their  youtig 
eiideaA'or  and  by  youn^'  romance,  nii.t;'lit  have  stu'vived  time's  chan.nes 
to  a   later  date! 

In  the  fall  of  ISdl,  the  K<'V.  Caleb  Alexander,  a  I'l'csbyteriaii  clerKy- 
man,  of  Meiidon,  ^Jass.,  a  .n'raduate  of  Yale  Coll<'.i;-e,  visited  Western 
.New  York  as  a  missionary  to  the  churches  and  to  the  Indians.  .\t  that 
lime  such  a  mission  was  thouuht  to  be  a  solemn  affair,  and  on  settinji' 
onl  .Mr.  Alexandei-  wrote  in  his  Journal:  •■Au.Li.ust  In,  isol.  -Ilaviny 
recei\('d  my  conniiission  fi-oni  iJex,  .Nathaniel  Simmons,  I  ►.  It.,  president 
>•{'  the  Massacliusetts  .AUssionary  Society,  and  havinji'  obtained  the  con- 
sent of  m.v  churcli  and  coiiufe.iiation  and  committed  myself  and  family 
!(•  the  direction  .-ind  dis|(os;il  of  (iod,  1  began  my  missionary  tour  to  tlie 
lieojile  of  the  western  p;ir1  of  the  State  of  New  York.""  .\fter  visiting 
in  the  West,  he  iireached  at  .Xoi'way,  Fairfield  and  Saiisluiry.  Me  j;ives 
the  population  of  those  towns:  Fairfield.  I'.UCm,  which  in  1S!MI  was  1.. "');""•."!: 
Salisliury,  ^^\'M.  which  in  IS'.Kt  was  1,S00:  and  that  of  Norway  was 
then  much  greater  relatively  and  in  fact  than  now. 


356  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Mr.  Alexander  advised  the  founding  of  an  academy  at  Fairfield.  Cap- 
tain Moses  Matlier  actively  engaged  in  raising  the  necessary  funds. 
AVith  the  amount  raised  and  pledged,  the  first  academy  building  was 
raised  July  4,  1802.  Tlie  academy  was  chartered  by  the  Regents  March 
35,  1803,  and  organized  April  13,  1803,  with  Mr.  Alexander  as  principal. 
In  the  board  of  trustees  were  the  foremost  men  of  that  day.  Westel 
Willoughby  and  Jolm  Herkimer  sat  in  Congress.  Matthias  B.  Tall- 
inadge,  Nathan  Smith  and  Francis  A.  Bloodgood  (of  Oneida)  were  mem- 
bers of  the  State  Senate.  Thomas  Manly,  John  Meyer  and  Samuel 
Wright  sat  in  the  Assembly.  Jonathan  Hallett,  Abijah  Mann.  Sr., 
Moses  Mather,  Samuel  Giles,  William  Griswold,  Alvah  Soutliworth, 
Cyrus  M.  Johnson,  William  Smith,  Charles  Ward,  Clark  Smitli,  Thomas 
Bennett,  John  Snell,  Henry  Coffin,  Aaron  Hackley,  Sr.,  were  all  prom- 
inent citizens.  For  a  long  time  this  was  the  only  institution  that  af- 
forded academical  instruction  in  this  part  of  the  State.  In  '1825,  the 
only  colleges  were  Columbia,  Union,  Hamilton  and  Geneva  college,  Tne 
latter  incorporated  in  1824,  and  the  New  York  City  and  Fairfield  Med- 
ical Colleges.  The  liberal  and  aspiring  young  men  of  this  part  of  the 
State  availed  themselves  of  the  facilities  afforded  by  Fairfield  Acad- 
emy, and  it  drew  students  from  many  different  States.  Many  of  its 
students  became  distinguished  in  divinity,  law.  medicine,  and  in  polit- 
ical and  military  life. 

The  Regents  in  1811,  apportioned  a  fund  of  .$2,000  to  twenty  acade- 
mies; !?100  to  Fairfield  academy,  a  like  sum  to  Lowville,  Clinton,  Cher- 
ry Valley  and  Johnstown  academies;  ^V-~f  to  the  Oneida,  Hamilton 
academy,  and  to  the  others  from  .$75  to  .$li>0  each.  The  revenue 
then  available  foi-  the  support  of  common  schools  from  a  State  fund 
of  $500,000  was  .$36,000.  These  were  Immble  resources  compared  with 
the  immense  sums  now  raised  by  taxation  and  from  State  funds  to 
support  common  schools  and  given  by  private  munificence  to  endow 
institutions  of  learning  and  public  libraries.  But  they  were  consider- 
able compared  with  the  financial  ability  of  the  people  of  that  period, 
and  they  marked  a  growing  sentiment  in  favor  of  a  wider  diffusion 
of  knowledge,  and  a  notable  contrast  to  the  former  indifference  of  the 
upper  classes,  especially  in  the  old  world,  in  respect  to  the  mental 
status  of  the  mass  of  the  people.  Even  in  lettered  England,  those  who 
lived  by  manual  labor  were  e.xpected  to  remain  in  mental  darkness  and 
to  have  no  outlook  beyond  instruction  in  matters  of  daily  toil;  more 
was  thought  dangerous,  and  the  masses  were  taught  to  pray  to  be 
contented  in  that  station  of  life  in  which  they  were  born.  Among  the 
upper  classes  there  Avas  a  traditional  prejudice  against  any  extended 
education  of  the  common  people,  since  they  were  foreordained  to  in- 
feriority, poverty  and  ignorance.  John  Foster,  in  one  of  his  essays  writ- 
ten in  that  era.  makes  an  earnest  plea  against  this  despotic  prejudice 
and  points  out  how  a  larger  popular  education  might  promote  social 
welfare  and  even  a  higher  enjoyment  of  superior  station,  taking  for 


FAIRFIELD   ACADEMY   AND   FAIRFIELD   MEDICAL  COLLEGE.  357 

his  text  the  words  of  the  pi'oj)het  lIose;i :  "My  people  are  destroyed 
by  lack  of  kno\vIedi;e."  Wesley  and  Whitefield  about  that  time  began 
thi-ir  erusade  against  what  Foster  denounces  as  the  "heathenism  of 
lOngland,"  by  preacliing  to  tlie  multitudes  in  the  open  fields.  In  1780, 
Robert  Raikes  heralded  tlie  coming  sense  of  the  need  of  wider  educa- 
tion by  opening  Sunday  schools,  then  tlie  only  practicable  means  of 
reaching  the  children  of  the  people.  These  movements  were  the  first 
distinct  recognition  in  England  of  a  public  obligation  to  provide  the 
means  of  popular  instruction.  The  public  duty  to  bestow  secular  edu- 
cation was  imposed  in  America  as  a  logical  scqu^'uce.  Here  where  a 
l)eople  were  governors,  but  at  the  same  time  bound  to  give  their  lives 
to  protect  property  and  tlie  State  l)y  every  Ivind  of  public  service,  uni- 
versal education  was  recognized  as  a  just  claim  as  well  as  a  necessary 
condition  for  the  success  of  popular  government. 

;\Ir.  Alexander  returned  to  Fairfield  in  1S02  and  in  April  was  elected 
principal  and  took  the  academy  in  charge.  "He  was  an  iiccomplished 
scholar,  a  man  of  commanding  presence,  of  great  tenacity  and  perse- 
\erance."  and  tliese  qualities  gave  tlie  institution  success  from  the 
start.  While  at  the  head  of  the  academy,  he  preached  at  Fairfield, 
Salisbury  and  Norway,  and  at  other  points  in  the  north  part  of  the 
county.  He  left  Fail-field  in  18]2  and  took  charge  of  an  academy  at 
Onondaga  Hollo\\.  where  he  diefl  at  th(>  age  of  7.3.  Mr.  Alexander 
was  the  author  of  a  Latin  ;ind  lOnglisli  grammar  and  of  a  work  entitled 
•  t  ra  m  m  a  t  i  ca  1  Elements. 

In  ISOS,  the  truste(>s  established  a  medical  dep.irtment  in  connection 
with  tlu'  academy  Jind  employed  I>r.  .Tosi.-ih  Noy(>s.  of  r>artmouth.  to 
give  lectures  uiK)n  <'hemistry.  and  I>r.  .lacobs  to  lecture  u])on  the  prac- 
tice and  theory  of  medicine.  To  accomodate  this  department  the 
"Woodin  Laboratory"  w;is  erected,  and  the  increase  of  students  at- 
tending these  lectures  was  such  thai  a  larger  building,  the  "Stone  Labo- 
ralory,"  was  erected.  .\  medical  and  anatomical  school  was  now  estab- 
lished, and,  the  number  of  stu<lents  continuing  to  increase,  a  stock  com- 
jiany  in  1811  erected  Ihe  "Xortli  r.uildin.i:"  for  their  .•iccommodation. 
Tlie  standing  of  this  school  was  such  lluil  the  Legislature  griinted  to 
it  two  ye.-u's  later,  the  sum  of  .$.">, ono.  This  medical  school,  as  will  be 
s«'en.  was  rais((l  lo  the  r;ink  of  .-i  college,  in  ISl'J. 

Fpon  tlie  resigujition  of  .Mr.  .\le.\;iiider,  the  Hev.  Bethel  ,Indd  suc- 
ceeded him.  About  this  time  the  .academy  canw  to  the  recei])t  of  $750 
annually  from  Trinity  church  of  New  York,  on  the  stipuliition  that  the 
principal  should  be  a  cle;'gynian  of  thi'  I'rotestant  Episcoi)al  church, 
and  that  the  academy  should  give  free  tuition  to  four  divinity  students 
prei)aring  forthe  ministry  in  that  church.  From  this  fact  the  academy 
w.'is  sometimes  referred  to  as  a  "Divinity  school." 

In  1S14.  Uev.  \irgil  II.  P)arber  w.is  chosen  principal.  After  about 
two  years  he  announced  that  lie  h;id  ,'idoi»ted  the  creed  of  the  church 
of  Rome.     This  announcement  ])roduced  a  deep  sensation.     Th*^  odium 


358  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

theologicum  among  those  New  Englanders  of  that  clay  was  active  and 
bitter,  especially  against  Roman  Catholics.  Even  the  minoi"  "Protes- 
tant Variations"  on  doctrinal  points  were  thought  to  be  near  to  mortal 
sins.  We  find  Rev.  John  Taylor  (Congregatlonalisti  in  1802  lamenting 
that  the  number  of  Methodists  and  Baptists  in  that  vicinity  "had  nearly 
ruined  the  cause  of  religion."  It  is  not  probable  that  there  was  at 
the  time  of  Mr.  Barber's  change  of  religious  views,  a  singh-  patron 
of  the  academy  who  professed  the  Roman  Cathoii'-  faith.  Even  if  relig- 
ious antagonism  had  not  compelled  Mr.  Barber's  retirement,  the  acad- 
emy could  not  well  afford  the  loss  of  the  annual  stipend  paid  by  Trin- 
ity church,  which  would  follow  his  retention. 

Mr.  Barber  is  described  as  a  remaikable  man.  poss'^esed  of  extensive 
classic  learning,  and  distinguished  by  his  tine  presence  and  affable 
manner.  He  had  several  children  and  students  in  his  familv.  It  is 
said  that  Latin  was  used  in  ordinary  conversation  and  that  it  was 
re()uired  at  the  table,  so  that  students  brought  theii'  lexicons  to  their 
meals.     I  find  nothing  of  his  subsequent  career. 

In  the  preceding  year  (1813)  the  "Woodin  Ljiboratory,"  which^had 
been  erected  for  the  lectures  in  the  medic.-il  department  of  the  academy. 
was  transferred  by  the  trustees  of  the  academy  to  the  newly  oruimizcd 
college.  About  181().  many  efforts  were  made  to  obtain  a  chartci'  organ- 
izing Fairfield  Academy  as  a  college.  In  that  y(\-ir  the  K<'- 
gents  of  the  University  consented  to  grant  a  ch.-uter  for 
such  college  to  be  named  Clinton  ("ollt'ge.  on  the  condition  tii;!t 
the  promoters  of  the  proposed  institution  should  raise  the  sum  of 
JfSO.OOO  for  its  establishment  and  endowment.  A  strenuous  effort  was 
made  to  comply  with  this  conditioii.  but  pledges  for  only  about  .152.". 000 
could  be  obtained  and  the  itroject  was  abandoned. 

Mr.  Barber's  successor  was  Rev.  Daniel  .McDonald.  Inder  Jiim  were 
many  students  who  obtained  professiona!  and  public  eminence.  In 
1S20.  the  academy  received  a  grant  of  ;};."').(H)0.  which  was  used  in  the 
purchase  of  the  North  building.  Dr.  McDonald  left  in  1S21  to  become 
principal  of  the  (ieiu'va  Academy  .and  tlie  arriuigeinent  between  the 
I'^airfield  Ac.ndemy  .nnd  Trinity  church  now  ceased,  and  the  ji.itronage 
of  Trinity  was  transferred  to  the  institution  at  (Jeneva.  Dr.  McDonald 
is  said  to  have  been  a  remarkable  man.  lie  took  a  pnnninent  i»art  in 
foimding  Hol»art  College  and  was  for  st>veral  years  the  acting  he.-id 
of  the  college.  Shortly  before  Dr.  McDonald  left.  Bishop  Ilobart  was 
offered  the  entire  i)roperty  of  the  Fairfield  Ac.adtmy  to  induce  liiiu  to 
locate  at  Fairfield  ;in(l  contemplated  college  and  theological  school  ;if- 
tfrwards  established  at  Geneva,  but  as  a  li(>ld  of  .-ictivity  f;irther  Avesf 
than   Fairfield  was  desired,  the  offer  was  declined. 

In  the  spring  of  1S21.  lax  financial  management,  a  loose  state  of 
accounts  and  uncollected  bills  had  brought  on  a  crisis,  and  the  trustees 
decided  to  inaugurate  a  new  system.  They  aecordin.gly  transferred  the 
entire  administration  of  the  scholastic  affairs  of  the  academy  to  Rev. 


FAIRFIELD   ACADEMY    AND   FAIRFIELD   MEDICAL   COLLEGE.  359 

David  Chasscll  on  tlu-  f()llowiii,i;  Icnns:  lie  was  to  rccciM"  all  the  fees 
for  tuition  and  what  was  approiifiatcd  to  tlic  institution  by  the  Itesents, 
except  a  reservation  for  repairs,  and  he  was  to  liave  tlie  use  of  all  the 
academy  buildin.us  and  property  free  of  rent.  After  three  years.  Mr. 
C'hassell  left  and  he  was  succeeded  I>y  Ti'ofessor  Chaftes  Avery,  who 
took  charge  of  tlii'  institution  on  the  same  terms.  Tliree  years  later 
ln'  was  apiiointed  to  the  chair  of  niathrmatics  in  Hamilton  College, 
rrofessoi-  .\\(Ty  had  a  distinguished  <-;ircer  at  llannltnn.  from  which 
he  retired  as  Piiuei'itus  ])rofe.ssor. 

About  182('),  Judge  Hiram  Xolton  lectured  on  law  to  the  students  of 
the  academy.  Iiici(h'nts  connected  with  these  lecttu'es  were  related 
to  the  writer  in  1S41  by  students  who  licaid  them.  Thus  we  see  that 
in  this  period.  Isic,  to  1S2(;,  Fairheld  was  a  seat  of  learning  In  the 
classics,  divinity,  law  and  medicine. 

On  the  retirement  of  INIr.  Avery,  Dr.  Chassell  resumed  the  control  of 
the  academy,  which  was  held  by  him  until  1S40,  and  afterwards,  in  the 
yeai's  ISf.")  and  IStC.  Dr.  ("hassdl  was  Itorn  in  Glasgow%  Scotland, 
.Vpril  .'!(),  17S7.  Ilis  eighth  birthday  was  on  the  Atlantic  comiTig  with 
his  parents  to  Amei'ica.  His  i)arents  settled  at  Barnet.  Vermont.  He 
entered  Dartmouth  ('oilege  in  ISOC  ;ind  graduated  in  ISIO.  Before  h-av- 
ing  college  he  was  elected  principal  of  Caledonia  Academy  at  Peacham, 
\  ermont.  In  ISI.").  he  removed  to  Cambridge,  Wjishington  county, 
\.  Y..  and  took  charge  of  the  academy  at  that  place.  While  in  college 
he  began  the  study  of  the  law.  Init  while  at  Cambi-idge  he  devoted 
iiimself  to  the  theohigical  studies  in  whi<-h  he  was  engaged  for  the  rest 
of  ilis  life  in  connection  wit!',  his  duties  as  teacher.  He  was  licensed 
as  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  the  I'resbytery  <if  '{'roy.  in  1.si:>.  -md  or- 
dained by  th.it  bddy  in  1'-;2(i.  He  icceivcd  the  degree  of  r>.  D.  from 
f'nion  College  in  1.S4(i.  I'pon  the  dissolution  of  tlie  faculty  of  P\airfield 
.\!((lical  College  in  1S40,  and  somewhat  in  consiMiuence  of  that  event. 
Dr.  Chassell  retired  and  i)urchased  a  farm  in  New  j^ort  and  for  two 
\c;irs  following  ee  h;iil  chaig"  of  the  acinh my  at  Herkimer  village,  his 
daughter.  Lucinda  Chassell.  aslinu'  as  his  assistant.  Dr.  Chassell  was 
fitted  b\-  higii  (pialitiesof  mind  and  char;;cter  ;ind  by  extensixe  learn- 
ing for  the  office  of  teacher.  He  inspired  students  with  elevated  ideals 
and  a  resolution  to  pursue  them.  His  disci]")line  was  rigid  and  he  was 
more  feared  than  loved  by  the  lax  ;ind  the  negligent,  but  he  was 
respected  and  venei'ated  by  students  who  devoted  themselves  to  study. 
He  had  the  masttn-ful  faculty  called  "good  government,"  which  is  not 
always  united  with  intellectual  power.  His  complexion  and  eyes  were 
dai'k.  and  his  keen  and  penefi'ating  glance  seemed  to  reach  the  secret 
thoughts  .and  int<Mits  of  those  al)OUt  him,  and  he  m;ide  impressions  upon 
them  that  were  not  forgotten. 

On  the  retirement  of  Dr.  Chassell  in  ISIo,  the  trustees  employed  as 
jn-incipal  Rev.  Henry  Bannist(M-.  Associated  with  him  in  1842,  was 
Orlando   Blanchard,   teacher  of  mathematics,   a    i)eculiar   genius.      He 


360  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

had  mechanical  tastes  and  constructed  the  town  clock  in  Herkimer. 
The  other  principal  teacher  was  Lester  M.  Clark,  Avho  gave  instruction 
in  Latin;  in  his  class  were  Hon.  John  M.  Carroll,  afterwards  of  Johns- 
town, and  member  of  Congress  from  this  district,  and  the  writer.  In 
1840,  the  "Waterman  Building,"  known  afterwards  as  tlie  "Wood 
Building,"  was  hired  and  equipped  for  a  female  department,  and  the 
fall  term  of  that  year  was  under  Miss  Julia  A.  Baldwin.  In  1842.  Miss 
Mary  Waterman,  and  in  1844-5,  Miss  :\Iary  H.  Brown,  afterwards  wife 
of  Colonel  Aaron  Petrie,  were  principals  in  tliis  department.  .Mr.  I'.an- 
nister  Avas  succeeded  by  Rev.  Oran  R.  Howard,  in  1844.  With  him 
were  Prof.  Blanchard  and  John  P.  Griffin,  the  latter  assistant  in  tlic 
English  department.  When  the  medical  college  closed,  its  buildings 
came  to  the  use  of  the  academy  and  furnished  an  ample  ^Miuii)menl 
of  buildings  for  use  of  tlie  academy. 

Until  1854,  most  of  the  students  boarded  themselves  in  their  rooms, 
bringing  furniture  and  provisions  from  their  homes.  The  general  at- 
tendance during  the  period  from  1842  to  1852  may  be  pretty  well  esti- 
mated from  the  catalogue  of  the  following  years:  1842,  gentlemen, 
175,  ladies,  69,  total,  244;  1844,  gentlemen,  187.  ladies,  108,  total.  245; 
1843.  gentlemen.  118.  ladies.  03,  total,  211;  18.52,  gentlemen,  147.  ladies. 
99.  total,  23G. 

Mr.  How^ird  was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Chassell.  in  1845.  and  he  remained 
until  1847,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Avery  Briggs.  who  i)resided 
until  1850.  For  the  year  1850-51,  John  I'.  Griffin  and  Edwin  M:irtin 
presided  as  associate  principals.  John  P.  Griffin  and  Samuel  ().  Bisbee 
were  thus  associated  in  1851-2;  in  1852-3.  John  P.  Griffin  and  Lsrael 
Holmes  were  associate  principals,  and  for  1853.  Israel  Holmes  was  sole 
principal.  Seneca  Wieting  was  principal  during  the  winter  term  of 
1853-4. 

Rev.  Lorenzo  U.  Stebbins  became  princiita!  i:i  the  spring  term  of 
1854,  and  continued  to  the  winter  term  of  18,54-5.  On  coming  to  Fair- 
field. Mr.  Stebbins  inspired  the  trustees  and  friends  of  the  jicademy 
with  the  idea  of  giving  to  the  academy  a  caref^r  on  a  higher  jiLine.  A 
large  building  Avas  erected  Avliicli  afforded  ouarttM's  tor  Iio.-irdim.;  a  large 
number  of  students,  and  the  title  of  "Fairfield  Classical  Academy  and 
Female  Collegiate  Institute"  Avas  adopted.  Extensive  advertising,  and 
a  caiiA-ass  of  a  large  part  of  the  State  brought  to  Fairfield  ii  throng  of 
students  and  in  November,  1854,  tlie  "Big  School"  Avas  oi»ened  and  the 
high  tide  mark  of  tlie  academy  was  then  reached.  The  buildings  were 
filled  to  overfloAving.  But  the  Ioav  prices  for  board  and  tuition  did  nor 
cover  expenses  and  the  necessary  increase  of  rates  reduced  this  extra- 
ordinary niuuber  of  students,  but  the  number  continued  large.  The 
enlarged  number  of  students  required  a  Avider  field  for  society  work 
and  tliis  year  the  I*hilorhetorean  Society  avjIs  establislied.  as  the  riva' 
of  tlie  Calliopean  Society.  AA'liicli  for  many  years  liad  been  the  only 
society  formed  for  extemporaneous  debate.     The  first  society  of  this 


FAIRFIELD   ACADEMY    AND    FAIRFIELD   MEDICAL  COLLEGE.  3(51 

kind  way  the  Ah'xaiidriaii  Sdcicty.  (H'.uanizt'd  in  iSOd.  Tlic  new  society, 
energized  l>y  a  Ircsli  iniiiuisc  and  aided,  it  seems,  hy  tlie  sy!n])athy 
of  tlie  Atlieiiian  Society,  eslalthshed  in  tlie  I''eni;iie  Seniin.'iry.  forced 
tlie  Calliope.nns  to  tlie  l)acl\,m'onnd.  Tlie  \iuor  and  su<'cess  of  the  new 
movemeid  ai-e  shown  li\'  the  fad  that  in  the  rinlofhetorean  Society 
alone  there  w.is  a  reuistry  of  niemliers  aflerw.ards  fonnd  in  I'l'  connties 
of  this  State,  .and  in  I'd  States  and  Territories,  and  s  foi-eiun  eonntries, 
in  tlie  years  lS."i4  to  ISdO  iiH'lnsi\-e.  How  nnich  this  are.-i  was  extended 
hy  other  stndents  Ihe  writer  has  no  nu'ans  to  determine.  Mr.  Stehliins 
was  soon  compelled  to  I'etire  on  account  of  ill  liealth. 

Ue\ .  lohn  I>.  \,-in  I'etten  succeeded  to  the  princiiialshii)  in  the  sorinj: 
term  of  1855.  shortly  after  the  organization  of  the  L.-idies"  Senunary. 
Fie  continued  at  its  head  until  July  ;{,  IMCI,  when  he  liec.-ime  ciiaplain 
to  the  .■)4th  regiment  of  .\.  Y.  S.  N'olnideei--:.  The  institution  in  both  de 
imrtments  was  well  attended  at  this  period  anil  continued  to  'iourisli 
until  the  hre.-iking  out  (d'  the  Civil  war.  I'pon  that  event  some  of  the 
teachers  and  many  <d'  the  stuch'uts  entered  the  army.  I>in'ing  this  per- 
iod of  Mr.  Vnu  I'etten's  administration  he  states  the  average  nundier  (d' 
students  was  ove''  .'SdO.  Many  of  these  graduated  with  high  honors  at 
\ari()us  (idleges  and  unixcrsit ies.  .\iiont  tliese  years.  li.-irtlett  Barker. 
I'^rankliu  H.aniiahs.  .Miss  (iordon  ;ind  (Jnstave  (4uenther  were  .issociate 
t(  achers.  In  the  Ladies"  Senunary.  .Miss  Lucind;i  ('hassel.  Miss  Knox, 
and  Mrs.  .lohn  It.  \;in  I'etten  successfully  presided.  .Miss  Lilthie  Chat 
field  was  .art  teacher  in  ISC.C.  and  ISCT.  She  was  followed  liy  Miss 
Lil)l)ie  (juinhy.     .Miss  (Miinby's  snccessoi-  was  .Miss   Nellie  Du  Bois. 

The  univei-sal  excitement  that  followed  the  lireakiiig  out  id'  the 
Civil  w.-ir  carried  ?^rra1  nund)ers  of  young  im>n  into  the  army.  ;ind  ;i 
more  perm.anent  diversion  (d'  stndents  from  a<'a(h'niies  was  caused  hy 
liie  organizing  of  graded  union  scliools  with  coru'ses  of  classical  study, 
in  the  principal  villages  of  the  St.ate.  Berhaps  the  attend.ance  in  1S71. 
which  was  2d.',  m.iy  he  taken  .as  an  ai»pi'oximate  avei-age  for  thi'  twenty 
yviws  succeeding  ISCI.  In  1S7I,  Ihe  vain--  (d'  the  proiierty  of  the  insti- 
lidion  w;is  reported  ;is  .^i;s.7-S  and  its  li.-iliilities  at  .$."').. "IT."".  .M  a  sale 
on  mortgage  foreclosure.   .March.    I'.ioj,   the  highest    hid   w;is  $-2ln. 

The  successor  of  .\lr.  \'.an  I'etten  was  K(  v,  .\.  (J.  Cochran,  who  was 
in  cliarge  in  ISC.I-Ci',  and  .Mr.  \'an  I'etten  resunn-d  ch.arge  in  ISC.'J-tio. 
He  was  then  followed  hy  L.  I'.artlett  Barker,  from  I.Sd.'i  to  ISC.T.  when 
Ml-.  Van  I'etten  ai;ain  resumed  the  principalship  until  ISCS,  when  he 
was  siic-ee(l(-(l  l>v  I'rof.  W.aller  .\.  Brovvm  11.  of  Syracuse,  who  was 
in  charge  until  ISTl.  In  the  l.asi  n.anied  year  (Jeorge  S.  (Irittin  .and 
(Jeorge  E.  King  ucre  associate  iirincipals. 

Rev.  William  11.  U'eese  took  charge  of  the  semin;ir\  as  principal,  in 
IS7'2,  and  njion  his  in\itatioii  Charles  \'.  I'ai'sell  took  the  dep.artmeni 
of  Batin  and  (;re"k.  In  1S7;'..  Mrs.  Bucinda  Chassell  Thomas  was  chos 
en  principal  of  the  female  department,  su.cceediiig  .Mrs.  .Tosii'  (iriggs. 
and   held    that    position    ludil    1S77.    when    she    was   succeeded    l»y    ^Hss 


362  HERKIMER  COUNTY    HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

.It'nnip  Duncan.  Mr.  Reese  left  in  1S7.">.  rrof.  Parsell  was  then  chosen 
principal  and  continned  as  sncli  until  1S7!>..  and  then  resigned,  having 
been  chosen  principal  of  the  Liberal  Institute  at  Foi't  T'lain. 

While  Messrs.  Ileese  and  Parsell  were  teachers  tlie  attendance  was 
not  large,  but  the  faculty  was  an  able  one  and  the  standard  of  scholar- 
ship was  hiiih.  The  succeeding  piincipals  up  to  the  time  of  the  Warne 
regime  were  ChaiMes  ]*].-  I'abeock  ( ISTK-ISM  i ;  ('hai'h's  Leroy  Wheeler 
(spring  term.  ISSD;  Albert  K.  Sutton  (ISSl-lSSli);  .1.  H.  V-.iu  Petten 
(1882-lSSo);  H.  -ludd  Ward  (wint<'r  and  si)ring  tv'rins  of  lS,S4i;  Isaac 
Berts  (1884-1885). 

Id  1882,  the  pi('i>erty  and  rights  of  the  corporation  were  merged  in  a 
stoclv  company;  ^.".(idd  was  raised  with  Avhieli  del)ts  "were  paid  and 
repairs  made.  A  new  charter  was  obtained,  changing  the  name  to 
"Fairfield  Seminary."  The  school  was  reorganized  and  the  property 
leased  to  General  Van  Petten  and  those  above  named  as  suceeding  him. 
For  various  reasons  the  school  continued  to  decline  during  this  period. 
Messrs.  D.  I),  and  F.  L.  Warne  came  to  the  control  of  the  seminary 
in  1885.  Their  active  enterprise  and  energy  gave  to  the  mstitution  for 
several  years  an  aspect  of  prosperity.  Tliey  puldished  an  elaborate 
annual,  setting  forth  the  character  of  the  institution  and  the  educa- 
tional advantages  whicli  it  afforded,  advertised  and  canvassed  widely, 
and  applied  all  the  methods  for  exciting  public  intei-esi:  that  are  em- 
ployed in  business  affairs.  They  gave  a  business  college  course  and 
employed  numerous  tejichers.  In  181)1.  tlwy  secured  the  detail  of  .-in 
otficer  from  the  T'nited  States  ;irniy  to  give  the  students  military  drill 
and  a  l.irge  ai'mory  was  built.  A  fine  company  was  named  the  "Hal- 
leek  (iards."  in  lionor  of  (general  H.  Wager  ITalleck.  a  former  student 
of  Fairfield  Academy.  Tliei!'  Hue  eiiuijiment  and  soldierly  appearance 
added  eclat  to  m;iny  iinblic  finictions.  Preparatory  depai'tments  ni 
law  ;iiid  medicine  were  established  .-ind  measures  were  initialed  lor  a 
coiu'se  of  lectures  on  law  and  medicine. 

In  the  hand-book  of  (he  ■"Fairfield  Seminary  ;ind  Military  .V<'ademy" 
for  1001,  Frank  I'\  (Jr.iy  is  named  as  priii'-i]),!!.  Miss  S.  .M.  DePew  :ts 
preceptress.  E.  H.  Peck  dii'cctor  of  the  medical  dejcirtment.  W.  A.  Inger- 
ton  director  Of  the  law  department.  .I.-imes  .M.  ll.all  teaehc'-  of  lan- 
guages. Nellie  M.  Allen  teacher  of  mathematies.  A.  II.  .lackson  teacher 
of  sciences.  Miss  Adel.aide  Warne  teacher  of  art  and  modern  languages, 
\V.  A.  Brenner  directoi'  of  commercial  dei)artment.  Captain  George  H. 
Burnett  commander  of  cadets.  ^Nlrs.  (1.  U.  P.urnett  instructor  on  piano. 
Miss  Louisa  Fay  on  the  voic<',  and  Miss  iMuibar  teacher  of  elocution. 
Besides  this,  almost  a  unixersity  scheme,  the  fertile  br.ain  of  (he  pro- 
|)i  ietors  contempl.-ileii  ;i  snnimei- sciiool  in  the  .\dii  ond.acks  on  the  nnxlel 
of  Agassi//s  Penikcse  school.  This  was  a  tinal  effort.  The  prognim 
rivaled  the  cui-riculnm  of  a  college,  but  there  were  no  favoring  curreids 
to  (ill  so  broad  a  s:iil.  and  the  si'Uiin.-iry  came  to  a  pathetic,  but  is 
hoped  a   temporary  close. 


FAIRFIELD   ACADEMY   AND   FAIRFIELD  MEDICAL  COLLEGE  363 

KAlIfFIKLl*    MKIUCAL   COlA.VAiK. 

The  foiindiii;:  ol  liic  ( "(illcuc  of  I'liysiciniis  jiihI  Sni-ucdiis  of  Western 
New  York  \v;is  penilv  coevnl  with  the  first  of  ihe  nirdicnl  cone.yes 
rstiiblislied  nii(hr  the  .lusiiices  of  the  Sfiite.  In  ITC.!*.  ])riviite  individ- 
uals estalilislied  a  scliool  in  New  Vorl;  city,  at  wliieli  lect>rrcs  were 
(h'iivered  to  a  few  slnd-Mifs.  liut  file  troiililes  pre<'edin,i;  and  attendinu' 
tile  Itevolntionai  y  war  sHsi>en(h'd  tin  in  and  tln'V  were  not  resumed 
tlnrin.i;'  tlie  war.  In  ITOi:.  uH'niliers  of  flic  medical  profession  organized 
a  medical  school  annexed  to  ("oluml)ia  ('olle^e.  much  as  the  medical 
s(  hool  in  1S(»S  was  made  an  adjunct  to  the  I-'airHeld  Acad' my.  In 
IT'.il,  the  State  anfhoii/.e<l  the  Keu'ents  of  the  rniversity  to  establish  n 
("'olleKe  of  Physicians  and  Siu'j;eons.  hut  they  did  not  act  upon  this 
authority  until  IsoT.  In  isiis.  the  State  endowed  this  colleiic  liy  a  ur.int 
of  .$'_'(),(i(Mi  .  Feuds  and  Jealousies  anioui;  tlie  ))idfcssion  interrupted 
the  prouram  of  this  institution,  and  from  IT'.)."!  to  ispi.  only  thirty-four 
students  <^ook  the  device  of  .M .  D.  It  may  ))erhaps  be  inferred  that  the 
Faii'iii'ld  college  was  located  on  the  borders  of  the  western  settlements 
to  escape  the  reacli  of  ihe  dissensions  that  had  been  so  injni-ions  to  the 
earlier  colle.i^e. 

The  Fairfield  Medical  ('olleu'e,  as  has  already  becMi  seen,  was  founded 
upon  the  medical  (lei)artmi'nt  of  Fairfield  Academy.  M'lie  charter  of 
its  imorporafion  is  dated  .lune  )-.  1S12.  and  liears  the  si.ij;natnrc  of 
Paniel  1  >.  Toini>l;ins.  (bixcrnor  of  the  State,  and  the  collciic  had  an 
eudowiiicnt  of  Spi.ddd.  Tile  Irnslees.  some  of  wliose  nann's  a  !-e  histor- 
ical, were:  U'estel  W i lloimliby.  .Ir..  .lonathau  Sherwood.  Fntlier  Cui- 
teaii.  Solomon  \\'olcolt.  Isaac  Seal's,  .\bi.iah  Tomblinu-,  .\nios  Il.ale.  Sim 
eon  Ford,  ("l.nrk  Smith,  .loseidi  \\'hite.  Ah'Xamler  (i.  l'%inda.  Oliver  ('. 
("oiKsfock,  .Tolin  Xeilis.  Isaac  Sarue.-uif.  Keuben  II;irt,  Amasa  Trow- 
bridcc.  Fr.ancis  A.  Hlood-ood,  William  I>.  Ford,  James  Kenneds',  Oliver 
Ellis,  Andrew  .\.  I'.aitow.  William  Smith.  John  Ste.irns  and  .lames 
Hale.  The  f:icu!ty  wer<'  ,is  follows:  Lyman  Si)aldin,y-.  jn'ofessor  of 
anatomy  and  surgery,  and  president:  Westel  Willouubby,  i)rofessor  of 
obstretrfis:  James  Hadley.  professor  of  chemistry:  John  Stearns,  iiro- 
fessor  of  theory  and  pr;ictice.  The  first  class  of  students.  ISTJ-b"',.  uum 
lii'i-ed  IS:  that  of  next  .\ear  w.is  "JJ:  in  ISp;,  tin'  class  was  I'S:  tliat  oT 
ISiS  w;is  41:  that  of  l^-J-J  was  CL':  tli.-it  of  IS-JT  Nvas  HI:  thai  nf  hSl'S 
was  171:  that  of  ls;;-J  w;is  l:o.">.  The  lar'uest  class,  "JIT.  was  th.at  of  the 
year  endinu'  .lanuar\-  .".t*.   IS".  I.     The  class  of  Is:!.')  w.as  I'.IS. 

In  ISK;.  T.  Kome.N  n  i'eck  bavin;;  been  chosen  to  till  the  chair  of  med- 
ical Jni  isprndence.  l;ev.an  his  course  of  lectures  on  that  sub.jei't.  'i'liest' 
Icctuies  were  .a  f ter w  a rds  exp.-inded  lo  the  .ij,real  woi'l^  on  medical  Jui  is- 
pi-ndcnce  which  became  famil.ar  lo  ph\sicians  and  Lawyers  tliron;;liont 
the    world. 

In  1S17.  I>r.  .Iosei>li  While,  of  ("herry  N.-ilU-y,  was  chosen  lo  till  the 
chair  of  anatomy  and   surgery  and   as  president   of  the  college  to  sue- 


364  HERKIMER   COUNTY    HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

reed  Dr.  S]);ml(lin.ii,  ;inil  Tresidt'iit  Whilf  was  allowed  to  sulistltute  his 
son,  Delos  White,  to  deliver  the  lectures  on  anatomy  in  his  stead. 

In  view  of  llu-  small  population  of  the  county  at  tliat  time  and  the 
distance  of  Faii'tield  from  the  more  densely  setth^d  districts,  the  i)ro- 
.uiess  of  the  colleiie  was  not.ahly  rajiid.  In  a  f'-w  years  aftei-  it  was 
opened.  Fairfield  Medical  Colle.iie  was  next  to  the  Medical  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  then  the  leadinji'  institution  of  its  kind  in  this  country, 
in  the  nundier  of  its  students — these  two  and  one  in  New  York  city, 
one  in  P>altimor<',  one  in  I'.oston.  and  iuu>  connected  witli  Dartmouth 
College  being  the  six  medical  institutions  of  America.  In  isn,  Col- 
umbia Medical  Colleg(>  conferred  degrees  upon  only  eight  gi'aduates. 
The  first  degrees  at  Fairfield  were  conferred  at  the  end  of  the  third 
year  on  Sylvester  Miller,  of  Lowville,  and  Horatio  Orvis.  Di-.  Caleb 
I'udlong.  of  P'rankfort.  received  his  degree  in  Ihe  next  class,  and  hi:' 
son-in-law.  the  late  Dr.  William  H.  H.  I'arkhurst.  also  of  Frankfort, 
and  the  late  Dr.  William  B.  Stebblns.  of  Little  Falls,  took  their  degree 
in  the  last  class.  ls;^!>-4tt.  (4eorge  Hadley.  son  of  Prof.  James  Hadley, 
and  afterwards  pi'ofessor  of  chemistry  in  the  Buffalo  Medical  College, 
graduated  in  the  class  of  1888-39. 

It  may  be  remarked  in  passing  that  th(>  Pennsylvania  institution, 
which  Mas  no  mean,  rival  of  the  Medical  University  of  F^dinbnrgh.  ac- 
(luired  its  reputation  under  the  ausi)ic(>s  of  th.e  celebrated  Dr.  Benja- 
min Push,  the  friend  and  in  some  resi).'cls  the  imit.ator  of  I'^raidvlin 
and  called  the  Sydenham  of  America.  He  ac(iuired  great  reputation  by 
his  success  in  treating  the  .vellow  fever  of  17!>."!.  l)y  the  hei-oic  use  of 
the  lancet,  a  method  of  tivatment  at  which  medical  men  of  this  day 
would  stand  aghast.  Such  changes  in  the  practice  and  theory  of  medi- 
cine suggest  the  thought  th.-it  tlie  ])raclic(  of  this  scienc<',  as  well  as 
that  of  the  law.  is  not  as  exact  as  demonstrations  in  ICuclid,  excepting 
perhaps  in  their  dissection  of  the  sul).iects. 

For  some  years  graves  in  the  neighborhood  of  Faiiiield  wimn-  violated 
to  obtain  bodies  for  dissection,  and  thes*-  occurrences  lunl  ,i roused 
threats  of  ])opul;ir  violence.  In  .lanuary.  ISI'.t.  the  trustees  i)assed  a 
resolution  for  the  dismissal  of  an.v  student  who  in  any  way  engaged  in 
lirocuring  illegall.v.  an.v  luunan  body,  for  such  a  i»urpose.  and  next  ye.ir 
the  Legislature  was  asked  that  the  bodies  of  iniclaimed  convicts  dying 
at  the  Auburn  State  prison  nught  I)e  had  for  dissection  at  the  college, 
in  the  fo!lo\\ing  year.  Dr.  Delos  ^^"llite  resigned  on  account  of  the  dif- 
llcult.v  in  obt;iining  subjects  for  dissection.  The  next  .ve.ar  (1S'_'2)  Dr. 
.lames  McNaughton  was  chosen  professor  of  anatomy  and  iihysiology. 

In  1827,  President  Joseph  White,  who  had  for  ten  years  filled  the 
office  of  president,  resigned  all  his  official  duties  on  .-iccouut  of  age  and 
infirmity.  He  was  succeeded  by  Professor  Westel  Willoughby.  .Ir..  in 
the  presidency,  and  Dr.  John  Delamater  came  to  the  chair  of  surgery. 

John  Delamater  was  born  in  the  town  of  Florida.  Montgomery  coun- 
ty.    He  was  educated  to  the  medical  profession  and  I»ecame  eminent. 


FAIRFIELD  ACADEMY   AND  FAIRFIELD  MEDICAL  COLLEGE.  365 

He  was  chosen  professor  oT  suryery.  sueceediiii;  Dr.  Kclos  White,  and 
inlSoO,  he  was  eonlirnied  by  the  Regents  a.s  professor  of  practice  and  in 
the  diseasesof  women  and  chikh'en.  In  ISoT,  Dr.  Dehiniater  was  chosen 
vice-president,  along  with  N.  S.  Benton,  Jt)lHi  B.  Dygert,  Tlionias 
Hawks  and  Hein-y  J'^llison  of  tlie  Ilerlvimer  County  Educational  Society 
and  Teacliers'  Association.  Of  this  society,  organized  tliat  year  at 
Little  Falls,  at  a  convention  of  tlie  friends  of  education  thri)Ugliont  th( 
county,  David  Chassell  was  president,  James  Henry  corresponding  and 
Erwiu  A.  Munson  recoi'ding  secretaries.  After  tlie  closing  of  the  med- 
ical lectures  at  P^iirlieid,  Dr.  Delamater  removed  to  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
where  he  died,  distinguished  for  his  professional  attainments  .ind  pei- 
sonally  known  as  the  "beloved  pliysician." 

The  increase  of  students  was  now  such  that  an  additional  building 
was  erected  containing  32  dormitories  and  the  lecture  rooms  were  im- 
proved and  enlarged.  The  college  faculty  was  contirmed  by  the  Regents 
in  lSo(),  as  follows:  Westt'l  Willougliby,  Emeritus.  i)rofessor  of  mid- 
wifery; James  Hadley,  professor  of  cliemistry  and  pharmacy;  T. 
Romeyn  Beclv,  professor  of  medical  jurisprudence  and  materia  medica; 
James  McNaughton,  professor  of  anatomy  and  physiology;  Jolni  Dela- 
mater, professor  of  prat  tice  of  physics  and  diseases  of  women  and  child- 
ren; Reuben  D.  Mussey,  professor  of  surgery  and  midwifery.  These 
remained  tln-oughout,  except  that  Professor  Mussey  was  succeeded  by 
Frank  H.  Hamilton  in  the  chair  of  surgery.  Dr.  \\'illoughby  acted  as 
l>resident  until  l.S4(>,  and  was  nominally  president  at  tlie  time  of  jiis 
death  at  Newport  in  1H44,  at  tlie  age  of  75  years. 

Tlie  organization  of  the  medical  department  of  Geneva  College  in 
lSo5,  and  the  founding  of  the  Albany  Medical  College  in  lSo8,  much 
reduced  tlie  uuiuIkm'  of  medical  students  at  Fairfield,  and  it  was  thouglit 
tliat  it  could  not  be  longer  successfully  main.tained.  To  this  emliai-rass- 
ment  weiv  added  s(une  dissensions  in  tlie  faculty  and  perhaps  some  con 
tlicts  between  the  college  and  academy.  Hospital  and  clinical  practice, 
so  essential  to  efficient  medical  education,  could  not  be  had  in  such  a 
location,  and  the  lack  of  subjects  for  dissection  had  always  been  felt, 
and  with  the  lecture  course  of  1839-40  the  active  work  of  Fairfield 
Medical  College  came  to  an  end.  In  the  last  class  there  were  105  stu- 
dents, and  of  these,  55  received  the  degree  of  M.  I). 

The  advantages  of  medical  instruction  in  a  city  like  New  Yoi-k  secur- 
ed for  its  two  medical  institutions  oiiO  students  in  ISTO.  But  the 
Albany  and  Geneva  institutions  from  whose  competition  the  Fairfield 
College  retired  thirty  years  liefore,  had  in  that  year  only  Tc  and  11) 
students  respectively.  In  1S70,  the  medical  students  of  the  State  were 
reported  at  1,019,  including  dental  students,  distributed  among  eleven 
different  institutions.  It  is  probable  that  harmonious  counsels  and  res- 
olute effort  miglit  have  ])i-olonged  the  existence  of  Fairfield  College  for 
many  years. 

This  retrospect  awakens  keen  regret  for  lost  opportunities.     Plad  the 


366  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

resources  of  that  early  day  been  equal  to  making  Fairfield  Academy 
Clinton  College,  in  181(j.  this  college  standing  by  the  side  of  the  :\Ied- 
ical  College,  each  mutually  supporting  each  other  under  the  favoring 
auspices  of  the  State,  Herkimer  county  might  now  be  the  sent  of  two 
important  and  ancient  institutions  of  science  and  leai'ning.  The  per- 
ishing of  institutions  titted  to  promote  a  salutary  growtli  of  learning 
affects  us  more  deeply  than  the  closing  of  ti-ansitory  human  life.  The 
world  mourns  the  loss  of  the  ripened  wisdojn  of  scholars  and  scientific 
sages,  but  these  the  course  of  nature  will  restore.  But  st>ats  of  learn- 
ing once  broken  up  can  only  be  re-established  by  special  effort.  Look- 
ing back  to  INK!  and  to  1840,  we  feel  the  touch  of  a  local  sentiment 
full  of  pathos: 

"For  of  all  the  sad  words  of  tongue  or  pen. 
The  saddest  are  these:     It  might  have  been." 

Let  us  hope  that  some  master  of  wealth,  or  some  body  of  men  in 
whom  cherished  nuinories  of  b^'airfield  still  abide,  may  reanimate  those 
silent  halls  with  a  renewed  life,  or  that  the  Stati'  may  utilize  them  for 
a  Normal  school,  for  which  the  location  and  the  plant  afford  signal 
advantages.  I'lans  for  a  I'eorganization  of  the  academy,  it  is  said,  are 
now  under  considei'ation  by  able  and  energetic  gentlemen,  which  it  is 
hoped  may  be  successful. 

The  institutions  whose  histoi'y  h;is  been  recalled  liave  not  wholly 
perislied.  From  them  has  c<mie  a  marked  growth  in  thought  .-lud  puli- 
lic  activity.  Of  their  teachers  and  students  some  will  be  mentioned. 
Of  these  and  of  others  extended  sketches  will  appeal-  in  the  writer's 
'■r.iographia"  of  Herkiiuei-  ;ind  othei    counties." 

Westel  Willoughby  was  a  native  of  Connecticut  .and  in  early  life 
began  practice  in  Norwjiy.  one  of  tlie  early  settlements  on  the  Royal 
Grant.  He  soon  after  removed  to  the  present  site  of  Newi)ort  village, 
wliere  his  residence  and  park  have  long  been  famous.  Resides  his  pro- 
fessional achievements,  he  was  a  member  of  Congress  in  ISIT)-!?.  mem- 
ber of  Asseml)ly  in  lSt)8-18(J9.  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Wil- 
loughby Medical  College  of  Ohio,  at  which  he  also  lectured.  He  was 
one  of  the  judges  of  tlie  C^omnion  Pleas  from  18n.5  to  1821.  A  record 
of  his  labors  on  tlie  marble  slab  at  Iiis  grave  in  tlie  Newport  cemetery 
is  read  with  interest  by  many  visitors. 

T.  Komeyn  Keck  was  born  in  Schenectady,  in  ITiH.  and  died  :it  LUica 
in  1855.  His  great  work  on  Medical  Jurisprudence.  l)ased  on  his  lec- 
tures at  Fairfield,  was  first  published  in  1823.  and  an  edition  was  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1842.  In  1850,  ten  editions  had  been  issued — a  work 
of  renown  in  Europe.  Professor  Beck  was  also  a  learned  miner.alogist. 
On  the  discontinuance  of  the  Fairfield  College,  he  became  one  of  the 
professors  in  the  Albany  Medical  College,  and  was  at  one  time  presi- 
dent of  the  board  of  managers  of  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum  at  Iltica. 

James  Hadley  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire  and  was  born  in 
1785.     He  was  a  distinguished  chemist,  upon  which  subject  he  lectured 


FAIRFIELD   ACADEMY    AND   FAIRFIELD  MEDICAL  COLLEGE.  367 

at  Fairfield  as  loim'  ass  iiu'dical  liH'tures  wciv  luaiiitaincd  tluTf-,  and  in 
1840  tilled  the  same  eha.ir  in  the  .Medical  Collejie  at  (Jeiicva.  I'rofessor 
Hadley  made  chemistry  a  favorite  study.  I'l'ofcssor  .Mather  there  de- 
voted liiiiiseit  to  it  as  Ills  work  dnrln.i;-  his  life,  and  a  son,  <leorj;e  Had- 
ley. became  professoi-  of  chemistrN  in  the  Huffalo  Medical  College,  in 
1S47.  Anotlier  son,  .Janu's.  was  the  professor  of  <;reek  at  Vale,  and  his 
son.  Henry  Hamilton,  was  [)idfessor  of  Helirew  in  ("olnmbia  College. 
These  three  sons  were  born  at  Faii'tield.  The  advice  of  Professor  Hud- 
ley  to  tlie  botanist.  .\sa  (ii'ay.  turned  his  attention  to  that  study.  In 
person.  Professor  II;ulley  w.-is  tall  and  c(nnniaiidin.y'.  his  countenance 
was  dark  and  his  features  made  up  a  distinuuislied  personal  presence. 

James  McNauiihton  was  a  nati\c'  of  Scotland,  where  he  was  born  in 
IT'JT.  and  died  at  Paris  in  1S74.  He  liradu.ited  at  the  Medical  Univer- 
sity of  Kdinbnr.ii'li  ;ind  c;ime  to  .\lliany  in  1.S17.  He  was  called  to  the 
cli.-iir  of  anatomy  .-lud  physiology  at  F;iirheld  ("olle.uc.  in  lS2l!.  and  in 
1S4(I  he  Hlled  the  same  chair  in  tlie  .Medical  College  at  Albany.  He 
lectured  Hfty-three  consecutixc  years  and  delivered  Tf)  courses  of 
lectures. 

James  Hadley.  son  of  the  ehh'r  .bimes  Hadley.  was  born  at  Kairtield 
in  IS'-'l.  and  his  early  education  was  at  Fairtield  Academy.  After  act- 
ing as  assistant  tutor  in  the  .academy,  he  entered  the  junioi'  class  at 
Vale,  and  there  ;;radn;ited  at  the  head  of  his  cl;iss  in  1S41*.  In  tS4r)  he 
was  tutor  in  classic.-d  histoiy  at  Vale,  .ind  in  IS.'.l.  succeeded  Prof.  The- 
odore W.  Woolsley  .as  jjiofessor  of  (Jreek  langua.t;e  and  literature.  ;ind 
lias  been  ranked  ;is  first  among  the  (Jreel^  scholars  of  America.  His 
linguistic  knowledge  (inbr.aced  Sanscrit.  Hebrew.  .Vr.ibic,  (iothic, 
Welsh  and  otliers,  including  the  mo(h'rTi  languages.  Ills  lectures  on 
the  Koman  Civil  Law  were  included  in  the  ciu'ricnlum  of  the  ^'.-ile  L;iw 
School,  and  were  repeated  at  Harvaid.  He  was  a  mastei-  of  the  results 
of  resjnircli  on  comparative  philology,  and  vice-president  of  the  Amei"- 
icJin  Philological  Association.  He  was  author  of  a  Creek  Crammar. 
History  of  tlie  English  language  (prefixed  to  Webster's  Dictionary),  and 
Elements  of  the  Creek  lianguage.  His  le<-tures  on  lioman  Law  were 
edited  by  President  Woolsey,  and  his  Philosophical  and  Critic.il  Essays 
were  edited  by  Prof.  W.  D.  Whitney,  after  his  death.  He  was  an  adept 
in  many  sciences  and  as  strong  in  mathematics  as  in  I'lierature.  Such 
were  the  achievements  of  the  student  and  tutor  known  at  Fairfield  as 
"Jimmy"  Hadley.     He  died  ar  New  Haven  in  1S71.'. 

Albert  Barnes,  by  his  Commentaries  on  the  Scrii^tures.  is  known  to 
millions  of  readers:  the  flora  of  the  continent  grows  .and  blooms  on  the 
pages  of  Asa  Gray's  botanical  works,  and  he  ranks  as  one  of  the  first 
of  botanists;  Hiram  Deiiio.  cl.assmate  of  Barnes,  was  one  of  the  great- 
est jurists  of  the  State  .and  of  flic  Nation;  .Vddison  (Jardiier  w.ns  Lii'U- 
tenant-governor  of  the  State  .and  one  of  its  eminent  Judges;  Arphaxed 
Loomis  was  so  r.adical  ;i  reformer  of  our  leg.al  procedure  that  we  may 
justly  claim  for  him  the  title  of  hiw-giver;   H.  Wager  H.alleck.  Lieuten- 


868  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

lint-general  of  the  Union  army,  writer  on  military  science  and  interna- 
tional law,  whose  military  strategy  cleared  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi 
of  rebel  control  from  St.  Louis  to  Corinth — a  man  greater  than  his 
fame;  Jeremiah  ('linton  Drake,  commander  of  Drake's  IndejxMident 
Brigade,  named  after  him,  was  cut  off  fn)m  a  brilliant  cai-eer  early  in 
the  war:  Elisha  I*.  Hulburt,  an  able  writer  on  political  topics,  one  of 
the  ablest  of  onr  lawyers  and  judges — a  man  great  enough  to  decline 
being"  GoA'ernor  of  the  State;  Charles  A.  Mann,  renowned  in  his  day 
as  the  ablest  real  estate  lawyer  of  Oneida  county;  Duther  Bradish,  a 
distinguished  speaker  of  the  Assembly  and  Lieutenant-Governor;  John 
Swinburn,  a  surgeon  of  great  skill,  employed  by  the  French  govern- 
ment to  apply  his  methods  in  the  French-German  war  of  1870;  Orin 
I*\iville  of  Manheim,  Lieutenant-governor  and  for  many  years  superin- 
tendent of  the  schools  of  Iowa;  John  Foster,  an  eminent  professor  of 
Union  College. 

Among  those  at  Fairtleld  after  ISHO,  were  \yatson  (_'.  Stinire,  of  Uion, 
Governor  of  Washington  Territory  and  United  States  Senator  from  that 
State;  Robert  J.  Reynolds,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Delaware;  John 
M.  Knight,  of  Delaware,  Mayor  of  Ashland,  Wisconsin;  William  T. 
Lord  of  Delaware,  Governor  of  Oregon  and  chief  justic(>  of  that  State; 
Mahlon  M.  Gilbert,  Coadjutor  Bishop  of  Minnesota  with  Bishop  Whip- 
ple; Albert  B.  Watkins,  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Regents;  Stephen 
Blake,  assistant  district  attorney  of  New  York  city;  Judson  W.  Ward, 
superintendent  of  the  New  Jersey  Lunatic  Asylum;  Jean  R.  Stebblnis, 
long  the  able  editor  of  the  Little  Falls  .btnrnal  and  Courier,  and  who 
closed  a  useful  career  as  president  of  the  Agricultural  Lisuran<*e  Com- 
pany; Albert  M.  Mills,  an  eminent  laAvyei-,  who  has  served  his  district 
in  the  Senate  and  his  country  in  the  Civil  war;  George  Griswold,  an 
eloquent  anti-slavery  leader  in  the  forties,  and  his  brother,  William  M. 
Griswold,  sons  of  Colonel  Amos  Griswold  of  Salislniry,  attained  dis- 
tinction in  this  county,  and  about  1850  and  in  succeeding  years  were 
in-ominent  members  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin. 

Prof.  William  Mather  was  born  on  Bartow  Hill,  Fairfield,  in  1802. 
On  arriving  at  the  age  of  14.  he  attended  Fairfield  Academy  for  several 
years  and  then  took  a  full  course  of  study  in  the  medical  college,  gradu- 
ating in  1826.  He  did  not  pursue  medical  practice  for  the  reason  that 
his  sympathetic  nature  could  not  endui-e  the  witnessing  of  physical 
suffei-ing,  and  he  turned  his  attention  to  scientitic  teaching.  He  began 
by  teaching  a  private  class  in  chemistry  in  the  Buffalo  Medical  College, 
and  for  several  years  maintained  that  connection.  In  1828,  he  was 
invited  to  give  lectures  to  the  academic  and  theological  students  at 
Hamilton  and  continued  them  until  1838.  In  that  year  he  was  appoint- 
ed professor  of  chemistry  in  Madison  (uoav  Colgate)  University. 

From  1838  to  1860,  such  time  as  he  was  not  engaged  at  Hamilton. 
I'rof.  Mather  gave  lectures  on  chemistry  at  most  of  the  important 
towns    in    the    State.     His  lectures  outside    the    university    included 


FAIRFIELD   ACADEMY   AND   FAIRFIELD   MEDICAL   COLLEGE.  369 

coiirsos  lipfore  the  State  Normal  School  at  Alltany,  the  Yoniic;  Men's 
.\ssoeiation  in  Albany,  and  the  I'.erkshiiv  Medical  College,  Massachn- 
sclTs.  In  1841.  lie  accepted  the  professorship  of  chemistry  and  phar- 
macy in  the  medical  collem-  ol  Castleton.  N'ermont,  Avhei'e  he  lectm'ed 
se\-eral  years.  Asich-  from  his  eiithnsiastic  pursuit  of  chemical  instruc- 
tion, he  h'ctnred  on  licoioi^y  and  nnneralogy.  Prof.  Malher  died  at  Fair- 
l!.-l,i  .Inn,.  -Jl.  is;i(l. 

.\er.\es  .\.  W'illard  was  a  son  of  iNatluin  S.  Willai'd,  who  uradnateil 
from  the  Fairheld  .Medical  School  in  ISlt),  and  who  was  a  prominent 
idiysician  until  his  de.-ilh  in  ISLIT.  Pi'of.  Willard  was  boiai  in  ISiM.  He 
made  dairy  pi-od\iction  a  si>ecial  study  and  wrote  lar.uely  ui)on  it.  He 
was  employed  by  the  W  S.  aui-iculrural  lU'partment  to  visit  10ur(Ji)e  in 
that  interest.  11  is  reiiort  largely  aHected  the  (hury  industry  of  this 
comitry.  .\t  the  instance  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society  of  Eng- 
land he  wrote  several  works  on  dairying.  He  lectured  at  the  fairs  of 
most  of  the  counties  of  this  state,  and  gave  coui'ses  of  lectures  before 
Cornell  I'r.iversity  .ind  the  .Vgricutural  college  of  Maine.  His  works 
became  stand.aid  authorities;  J>r.  Edward  Smitli,  F.  R.  S.,  s;ii<l  in  the 
London  St.ind.ird  of  one  of  Ids  works  on  "'Condensed  i\Iilk  Manufact- 
ure," that  it  was  incomiiarable  "in  clearness,  detail  and  correctness," 
'i'lie  jught  iM-e\ions  to  his  (h'ath,  October  2t;,  ISSli.  he  was  engaged  in 
]iiei(ai-ing  :in  juticle  on  dairying  for  the  "•Encyclope<lia  Hrittanic.a." 

.\mong  other  gradn.Mtes  of  the  medical  college  still  renH'ndirre<l  are 
ls;i:ic  .Munsoi;.  of  Solisburx'.  of  the  class  of  ls;^,4,  of  high  repute  as  ;i 
physician  in  Jefferson  coiudy.  a  potent  factor  in  its  jiolitics.  county 
clerk,  .and  whose  org:ini/ang  and  linaucial  .ability  as  jiresident  of  the 
.Vyricultural  Insui-;ince  Company  gave  to  it  signal  success;  Daniel 
I'.elknap  of  the  cl.iss  of  IS'J.S.  whose  e.\ti-aordinary  liuadty  of  diagnosis 
i^■.  a  tradition;  l.estei'  Creen.  of  the  cl.ass  of  1S21,  iiracticed  .-.t  Little 
Falls,  w.is  twice  president  of  the  St.ate  Medical  Society,  and  was  its 
delegate  to  the  .Medical  Society  of  the  Fuited  States:  Silas  Ingham, 
:ii)  eminent  physici.-in.  graduated  in  the  cl.ass  of  1S;-!lt.  studied  witli  Dr. 
.\(iilon  until  !S !  t  was  associ;!  ted  with  Dr.  F.ooth  of  Kussia.  afterwards 
l)iacticed  at  Inghanis  .Mills  and  in  1S4;»  removed  to  Little  l-'alls.  where 
he  was  in  pr.-iclice  for  thirt.\   years. 

'IMie  foregoing  .are  tar  fi'om  exh;iusting  the  names  of  those  who  have 
l;oiaie  their  iiart  in  the  public  sia-vice  ;ind  in  advancing  the  general  wel- 
fare. l''orty  ye.-iis  iigo  the  grjiduates  of  Fairtleld  Medical  college  were 
in  .active  ])ractic<'  throughout  our  state  and  in  the  lai'ger  part  of  tlie 
states  of  the  Fnion.  <)\ia'  the  same  terrirory  are  now  found  a  great 
munbei-  of  those  who  began  their  scliolastic  career  at  FairlieUl  Acad- 
emy .and  who  are  giving  youthful  energy  or  matured  mental  power  to 
the  common  welfare. 


THE  MODERN  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION;  ITS 
ORIGIN  AND  ITS  MEANING. 

ANNUAL    ADDKESt^    BY     PUOF.     1).     DEW    SMYTH,  OF    HAMILTON    COLLEGE. 

Delivered    before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Societ}'  March  13,  1902. 

It  is  witli  greut  pleasure  that  1  meet  uith  tlie  members  of  t!ie  Her- 
kimer County  Historical  i^ociety  this  (>veiiiu^.  It  is  altogethe:-  tit  that 
the  neighboring  counties  of  Herkimer  and  Oneida  slionld  maintain  such 
societies  and  the  Mohawk  valley  with  its  legends  and  its  liistory  forms 
a  tit  home  for  such  activity.  Coming  to  yon  from  Oneida  county  and 
representing  as  i  do  that  college  that  at  its  birth  was  called  '"Kirk- 
land's  Folly,"  I  am  glad  that  in  tlie  close  intermingling  of  our  common 
liistory,  Oneida  county  can  share  in  the  story  of  him  who  is  i)erhaps 
your  greatest  hero.  Here  he  lived.  There  he  fought  and  gave  his  life 
to  win.  It  is  but  eight  miles  as  the  crow  flies,  from  our  college  campus 
to  where  that  granite  shaft  marks  the  fateful  battlefield.  Your  village 
and  your  county  bear  liis  name. 

But  it  is  not  as  a  liistorian  but  as  an  economist,  I  am  to  speak,  though 
with  my  economics  I  shall  blend  so  mtich  of  historj'  as  is  due  the  occa- 
sion and  the  theme. 

Tlie  subject,  "The  Origin  and  Meaning  of  the  Modern  Industrial  Or- 
ganization," would  in  itself  suggest  the  historical  view-point,  and  it  is 
liere  that  modern  economics  differs  from  tliat  "dismal  science"  against 
wliich  Carlyle  inveighed.  Moren  economics  is  liistorical.  It  reads  tlie 
present  in  the  past.  It  studies  history  and  statistics;  it  observes  and 
seelis  to  understand  complex  economic  plienomena  as  a  part  of  a  vast 
social  evolution.  It  is  not  so  simple  as  it  seemed;  yet  the  newer  science 
that  is  making,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  in  truer  touch  with  facts. 

Our  view-point,  then,  is  tliis:  tlie  modei-n  industrial  system  is  new. 
It  is  not  what  it  was  a  century  ago;  not  what  it  will  be  a  century  hence. 
Laws,  institutions,  methods,  as  well  as  .machines,  are  new  and  chang- 
ing. Wlience  came  tlaey?  Why  came  they?  How  efficient  are  they? 
Will  tliey  last?    These  are  serious  questions  and  they  are  ours. 

"It  is,"  says  Sir  Henry  Sumner  Maine,  "in  spite  of  overwhelming 
evidence,  most  difficult  for  a  citizen  of  Western  Europe  to  bring  thor- 


THE  MODERN   INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION.  371 

oiighly  home  to  himself  the  tnilh  tliat  the  eivilizutioii  which  surrounds 
him  is  a  i-are  exception  in  the  liistory  of  tlie  world,"  and  yet  the  truth 
is  plain. 

It  is  customary  to  illustrate  this  fact  in  somewhat  loose  iind  broad 
manner  by  mention  of  the  so-called  industrial  stages  in  social  evolu- 
tion: tiist,  the  hunliiiL;'  and  lishini;  a.ye.  next  the  pastoral,  then  the 
a.iii'icultural  a.^e,  followed  by  the  age  of  commerce  and  lastly  the  in- 
dustrialism of  to-day.  With  slightly  different  emphasis,  the  same  story 
may  be  told  in  terms  of  exchange  as  a  development  from  barter, 
thi'ough  money  economy,  to  the  present  system  of  credit.  And  while 
this  may  not  be  a  very  accurate  or  scientific  basis  for  classification,  the 
narration  of  this  story  of  develoi)ment  will  serve  to  point  out  not  a 
few  important  truths. 

In  primitive  life,  among  a  hunting  or  tisliing  people,  then'  is  no  effect- 
ive industrial  organization.  Industry  is  intermittent.  si)oradic. 
IMvision.  or  diffei-entiation.  of  labor  and  of  occupation  does  not  exist, 
save  possibly  that  determined  by  sex.  Property  as  a  social  and  legal 
institution,  is  not  recognized.  Possession  of  implements.  ornament.s 
and  weapons  alone  is  guaranteed.  Commerce  and  trade  have  not  be- 
gun. Capital  in  the  form  of  rude  implements  of  war  and  the  chase 
lends  little  aid  to  man  .and  the  savage,  face  to  face  with  an  unknown 
and  uncomiuered  environment,  is  crushed  and  helpless.  It  is  from  such 
beginnings  civilization  is  sprung. 

The  first  step  upward  came  through  the  subjugation  of  animal  na- 
ture and  in  the  domesticated  flocks  and  herds  of  a  pastoral  age.  the 
savage  found  a  more  abundant  and  more  regular  food  supply,  a  higlier 
standard  of  comfort,  the  possibility  of  advancement.  Here,  too,  it  was 
that  labor  found  its  first  definite  organization  in  slavery;  a  system 
which  we  to-day  abhoi-,  but  which  in  primitive  times  marked  an  ad- 
vance upon  those  conditions  under  which  all  captives  w^ere  of  necessity 
slain,  as  it  also  marked  an  essential  step  in  industrial  progress.  If  no 
men  would  work,  some  men  must  be  made  to  work;  else  stagnation. 
Savage  inertia  must  be  overcome.  The  advancement  of  the  few,  though 
:it  the  expense  of  the  m.any,  was  the  essential  stimulus  to  rivalry  and 
.•ind)ition.  In  the  pastoral  age,  too.  the  right  of  property,  though  lim- 
ited in  content  and  scope,  began  to  be  recognized.  Capital  increased 
man's  productive  powers  and  trade  and  commerce,  though  as  yet  lim- 
ited to  commodities  of  large  v.-ilue  in  small  bulk,  began.  Man  had  con- 
quered one  domain  of  nature.  This  is  the  nomadic  age  of  Old  Testa- 
ment story.     The  picture  is  f.-imiliar. 

I'rogress  from  the  pastor.al  to  the  agricultural  life  involved  greater 
[lossibilities.  We  know  not  that  far  off  .-lucester  who  bi-ought  the  fire 
from  heaven.  I'ot'try  and  legend  have  r;ghtly  celebrated  his  .achieve- 
ment.  We  know  not  tlie  home  nor  the  race  of  that  first  discoverer  of 
the  poteiitialities  of  iilant  life  for  man  and  of  the  primitive  nu'thods  for 
its  utilization.     Yet  the  two  slioidd  be  classed  together  as  benefactors 


372  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

ot  the  luiuiaii  race.  Agriculture  meant  settled  homes.  Agriculture 
meant  a  higher  level  of  subsistence  and  the  rest  followed;  a  systematic 
organization  of  industry  with  the  beginnings  of  its  differentiation,  the 
development  of  permanent  political  institutions,  with  u  growing  regard 
for  law  and  order;  the  integration  of  society,  constituting  the  condition 
precedent  to  that  socializing  process  we  call  civilization.  These  were 
the  essential  facts:  others  only  a  little  less  important  were  the  increas- 
ed use  of  capital  and  the  growing  imitortiince  of  trade  and  commerce, 
which,  while  characteristic  of  the  age.  ;it  tlie  same  time  mniked  the 
beginning  of  its  breakdown. 

At  its  inception,  agriculture  was  crude  and  ivlatively  unproductive. 
Implements  were  rude  and  methods  ineffective,  rotation  of  crops  was 
unintelligent;  fertilization  unknown,  lands  must  lie  fallow  to  recu 
perate;  but  it  is  the  lirst  step  that  counts.  Agriculture  begins  with 
slavery;  it  ends  with  free  labor.  Between  the  two,  lies  serfdom.  It 
begins  with  communism  in  land;  it  ends  in  private  property.  Uetween, 
lie  feudal  tenures.  It  begins  in  economic  isolation;  it  ends  in  an  age 
of  commercial  expansion.  Between,  lies  the  age  of  the  coinmercial 
adventurer,  the  age  of  the  occasional  market,  the  philosophy  of  medie- 
val scholasticism,  the  usury  law^s  and  the  doctrine  of  ".lust  price."  For 
Kurope  and  for  us  the  turning  points  in  this  developvoient  were:  the 
Crusades,  involving  the  very  general  manumission  of  slave  aiul  serf, 
the  breakdoAvn  of  custom  and  privilege,  a  stimulus  to  enterprise  and 
adventure;  the  "Black  Death,"  creating  ucav  dennind  for  lalior;  the 
growth  of  cities,  wath  their  free  artisans  and  systematic  in<lustrial 
organization  into  trade  and  merchants'  guilds,  the  activities  of  the 
Honseatic  and  other  great  commercial  leagues;  the  achievements  of 
the  early  voyagers  and  discoverers,  than  whom  none  other  are  more 
representative  of  the  new  life  and  among  wJiom  ('hristopher  Columbus 
stands  pre-eminent.  These  are  some  of  the  historic  accidents,  if  such 
there  be,  that  wrought  the  change  then  and  there  and  brought  in  com- 
merce and  manufacture.  But  that  such  changes  were  inevitable,  is 
clear.  The  old  disappeared;  the  new  came  in.  because  the  new  brought 
with  it  greater  efficiency.  Free  labor,  intelligent  and  moved  l)y  the 
motive  of  self-interest,  met  tlie  growing  needs  of  society,  as  the  bond- 
man could  not  do.  PriA^ate  property  in  land,  ensured  more  intensive 
cultivation  than  was  possible  under  the  legalized  possession  of  feudal 
tenures.  Exchange  and  commerce,  growing  out  of  social  and  industrial 
differentiation  and  realizing  the  productive  capacities  of  individuals 
.nid  of  localities,  could  but  supplant  the  relative  unpriductiveness  of 
economic  isolation.  In  the  struggle,  the  more  ht  supplanted  the  less  fit 
and,  if  rightly  understood,  this  would  seem  to  be  the  law  of  social  and 
of  economic,  as  well  as  of  physical,  development.  Yet  the  old  system 
"died  hard"  and  many  of  the  laws  and  precepts  of  the  old  were  carried 
on  into  the  new\  The  right  of  property  in  land  was  recognized,  yet 
tlae  power  to  alienate  the  same,  Avon  its  way  into  law  only  by  slow 


THE   MODERN    INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION.  373 

* 

and  iutlirpct  means.  The  medieval  notion  of  the  sterility  of  capital  still 
held  and  the  doctrine  and  the  laws  of  "usury"  persisted.  The  pliilos- 
ophy  of  trade  and  commerce  was  still  that  of  scholasticism.  Exchange, 
it  was  thought,  could  inxolve  no  mutual  benetit  and  profit  came  by 
trickery  ami  sharp  i)racfice.  In  the  domestic  market  custom  and  strin- 
.gent  laws  lixed  i)rice,  while  sumptuary  legislation  regulated  consump- 
tion. In  international  trade,  the  narrow  i)olicy  of  the  "mercantile 
school"  dominated.  Freedom  of  movement  and  of  enterprise,  tliere 
was  none  and  where  not  controlled  by  trade  and  merchant  guilds, 
Industry  was  in  the  h.-mds  of  government  made  monopolies.  To  us  the 
picture  seems  strange  and  yet,  if  1  may  A'enture  it,  we  have  by  no 
means  entirely  outlived  this  sam<'  medievalism  in  law  and  in  outlook. 

Despite  all  hindrances,  however,  the  age  of  commerce  and  manu- 
factures was  a  gre.nt  age  for  lOuropc^.  ('omnierce  once  b(>gun,  grew  and 
in  its  growth  ex^'rcised  its  norma!  functions,  stimulating,  harmonizing, 
unifying,  sociali7,ing  through  contact.  Mauufactui'es,  simple  at  the 
start — manufactiu'es  in  the  erigiiial  sens<^  of  the  term-hand  crafts — 
trained  tlie  workers,  developed  skill,  educated  tlie  masters  ami  paved 
the  way  to  that  modeiai  system  under  which  manufactm'e  means  ma- 
chine production.  It  ixas  a  great  age:  The  ;ige  of  the  sui)remaey  of 
lOrulish  wool,  the  iige  of  ('albertism  in  Fi'ance  ;ind  of  ('I'omweirs  nav- 
igation laws  in  I'^nglaiid.  It  \v;is  then  the  Dutch  Uei)ul)lic  rose.  It 
was  the  ;ige  of  <-oloiiial  plaiit;it  ion.  the  age  wherein  a  golden  sti-eam  of 
colonial  treasure  raised  Sn.-iin  to  pi'oiid  but  tem]>orary  dominion.  'It 
was  then  that  Drake,  and  Hawkins,  and  Kjileigh  sailed  tlie  seas  and 
and  that  the  Dutch  and  the  JOngiish  Hast  India  Companies  disjiuted  the 
ti'ade  of  the  Di'ient.  .Never  before  or  since  h;is  there  been  sucli  an  era 
o*'  insi>ii';it ion  and  I'ea wakening.  It  was  the  age  of  Luthei'  and  <if 
Shakespeare,  ot  the  reformation  and  of  the  renascence  and  modern  in- 
dustrialism is  its  outgrowth. 

The  beginnings  of  this  last  moNcmeiit  .are  to  be  found  in  England's 
Iristory.  probably  Ix'cause  ther<'  feudalism  and  absolutism  ncn'er  riegn- 
ed  sujireme  .and  its  oi-igiii  dates  back  to  incidents  that  at  the  time  seem- 
ed little  significant.  In  ITb'.).  .Fames  Watt  patented  his  steam  engine. 
In  177(1,  Ii;irgreves  i»;itented  his  "si>inning  .jenny."  In  1771,  Arkwright 
invented  his  "water  fr.ame."  In  177!>.  ('romi)ton  cj)nd)ined  these  in  his 
"Spinning  mule."  In  nsf),  Cartwright  devised  his  "power  loom." 
These  are  ai)parently  simjile  facts,  yet  they  were  weighted  with  enor- 
mous potentcy  for  futui'(>  tim(>.  They  meant  tlie  breakdown  of  the 
domestic  system  of  pi'oduction.  the  passing  of  the  handcrafts,  the  rise 
of  the  machine,  the  subjugation  of  nature's  forces  in  the  comiuest  of 
nature's  resources  by  man.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  so-called  "In- 
dustria  1  Kevobition." 

Of  the  inventions  mentioned,  the  first  in  tinu'  and  in  inu)ortance 
was  the  last  to  be  utilized.  It  was  nearly  one  Inindred  years  before 
steam  power  was   lai-gely  used.     Meanwhile  it  was  water-power  that 


374  HERKIMEE  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

drove  the  mills,  and  populations  coneentrated  wherever  such  power 
existed,  gathering  in  large  factories,  aided  hy  machines  that  did  the 
work  of  many  men,  multiplied  commodities  in  iuuounts  tliat  tlien 
seemed  marvelous.  The  immediate  and  revolutionary  effects  of  the 
change  can  hardly  be  appreciated  by  us  to-day;  its  ultimate  effects  are 
still  to  be  realized. 

England  made  the  start  and  at  the  outset  held  a  monopoly.  Hefore 
the  continent  could  participate,  there  must  come  that  vast  sc^cial  up- 
heaval, through  which,  beginning  with  the  French  Revolution.  Europe 
should  throw  off  the  shaekels  of  Feudalism.  JNleanwhile  it  is  iiiterest- 
ing  to  note  that  England's  machine  made  wealth  paid  the  armies  of  the 
coalition  in  their  long  but  successful  struggle  against  the  despotism  of 
Napoleon.  For  us  the  change  came  earlier.  English  policy  sought  to 
monopolize  the  field,  but  in  1780.  Samuel  Slater,  Avell  called  the 
"Father  of  American  Manufactures,"  evading  the  laws  that  forbade  the 
exportations  of  machines  and  models,  defying  tlie  laws  tliat  forbade 
his  own  emigration,  sailed  for  America.  Trained  from  youth  in  the 
methods,  versed  in  every  detail  of  the  new  machinery,  the  knowledge 
that  he  brought  with  him  proved  the  most  fruitful  imporiation  ever 
brought  to  these  shores.  In  1790,  he  founded  a  factory  at  PaAvtucket, 
K.  I.,  and  the  new  movement  was  begun.  In  1704.  Eli  Whitney  invent- 
ed his  "cotton  gin."  In  1807,  Fulton's  steamboat  sailed  the  Hudson, 
and  in  1814,  Francis  Lowell  set  up  at  Waltham,  Mass.,  the  first  com- 
plete factory,  in  which  the  spinning  and  the  weaving  and  tlie  dying 
were  performed  under  one  roof.  The  factory  system  was  here,  and 
while  it  is  interesting  for  dwellers  in  the  Mohawk  valley  to  note  th.-it 
the  movement  began  in  tlie  textiles,  it  was  but  a  little  time  before  it 
spread  throughout  the  industrial  realm. 

What  did  it  mean?  It  would  be  entirely  possible  to  tell  the  story  in 
yards  of  cloth,  bushes  of  wheat  and  tons  of  steel,  but  that  would  weary, 
while  at  the  same  lime  it  would  ignore  the  deeper  meaning  of  the 
movement.  Beneath  the  outward  phenomena  of  qua.ntities  and  values. 
the  fundamental  signiticance  of  the  movement  lay  in  the  f;ict  that 
nature's  mighty  forces  had  been  sidjjugated  to  the  use  of  man. 

Through  all  history  man  and  nature  are  face  to  face.  "In  the  sweat 
of  thy  face  shall  thou  eat  bread"  is  as  true  to-day.  however  unicli  we 
may  rehne  commodities,  however  much  the  social  organization,  may 
hide  the  time  rel.-ition.  as  in  the  days  of  pi-imitive  m:in.  Man  woi'king 
on  and  through  his  environment:  this  is  tlie  tield  of  industry,  the  lield 
of  economic  research  and  in  the  intelligent  utilization  of  n;itui'e"s  forces, 
the  powers  of  man  have  been  multiplied  a  hundred-fold.  The  "Indus- 
trial Revolution"  marked  the  dominion  of  inteliiiicnce  in  indusvry  and 
trade.  This  was  the  central  fact  and  the  rest  followed.  Willi  the  use 
of  power,  water,  steam,  and  now  electricity,  the  factory  system  was 
born,  and  in  that  system  was  involved  the  concentration  of  industrial 
population,  the  differentiation  of  labor  and  of  occupation,  the  realiza- 


THE   MODERN   INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION.  375 

tioii  of  individual  pi'oduct i\ c  caiiacily,  the  stratitication  ol"  society  into 
industrial  classi's.  the  ditfcrcntatiiui  of  (luploycr  and  cniployt'e,  the 
LTowiui;  [>redoniinance  of  (•ai)ital.  the  dei)Midence  of  class  on  class  and 
man  on   man. 

With  the  application  of  machine  power  to  transportation,  has  come 
the  exploitation  of  world-wid,'  resources,  the  realization  of  local  capac- 
ities, the  dependence  of  locality  on  locality,  the  development  of  u  world 
niarkel  for  .all  staple  commodities,  and  tlie  revolution  wrou.ulit  in  the 
cai'ryinu'  tr.ades.  lias  been  no  less  e]ioch-m;ikini.;'.  than  that  ^\■hl<•h  has 
tiiken  place  in  manufacture.  The  Suez  canal  ;ind  our  own  trans-conti- 
nental railw.iys;  the  Trans-Siheriaii  railway  .-ind  the  Trans-Isthmian 
can.'il  of  the  future,  have  been  and  will  he  turninij'  points  in  social  and 
jiolitical  histoi'y  ;is  well  ;is  in  the  stoi'y  of  economic  pro,t;ress. 

It  is.  however.  v,-itli  the  (>cononnc  or.uJHiization  .and  its  meaning,  that 
we  h.ave  pi'ini;iri!y  to  deal.  ;ind  its  significance  A\'ill  lie  best  illustrate<l 
by  refeience  to  the  oldei-  institutions  nnd  ideals  which  have  Iteen  su))- 
planted  in  this  Later  d;iy.  hespite  the  lilteralizing  insiuration  of  the 
comnurcial  .-ige.  mediexal  ignorance,  intolerance  and  absolutism  per- 
sisted loiri:'  and  feud.alism  would  not  doAvn.  It  was  not  until  the 
eighteenth  century  th;it  the  reaction  cann-  hut  -uiien  It  came,  it  came 
with  a  rush. 

\'oltaii'e"s  satire  discredited  the  old.  ivousseau's  philosophy  formed 
the  working  basis  of  the  new.  ".Xatur.al  Law"  liecnme  the  creed  of 
the  century,  finding  its  most  perfect  expression  in  our  own  Declaration 
of  Independence.  ■".Men  are  created  free  and  e(iual,"  endowed  with 
natural,  inalienable  ;ind  absolute  rights.  Let  but  (Government  be  strip- 
eil  of  its  usurped  power  and 'men  will  ■'rise  in  the  ini.age  of  their  mak- 
erl"  In  politics,  this  was  Ihe  jiliilosophic  b.asis  of  the  Americaji  and  of 
the  French  Revolutions.  In  economics,  it  found  expression  in  the  writ- 
iiigs  of  the  "physiocrats""  and  in  the  growth  of  industrial  liberty. 
"Laissez  fa  ire,  Laissez  |)asser.'"  became  the  watchword  of  the  industrial 
levolution.  and  it  w.-is  French  ]ihysiocracy.  Idended  with  Scotch  keen- 
ness and  English  common  sense,  tlmt  gave  us  the  first  true  philosophy 
of  that  inovement.  It  was  no  accident  that  gave  the  world  "The  Wealth 
of  Nations"  in  our  own  great  year  of  'TG,  for  in  it  Ad.am  Smith  sounded 
the  (h'clar.af ion  of  industrial  independence.  Freedom  of  labor,  freedom 
of  c.aiiit.al.  fi'ccdom  of  enterprise,  freedom  of  competition  and  non-inter- 
veidion  of  goNcrnnient :  industrial  liberty;  this  in  rough  w.ay  was  the 
message.  "The  Wealth  of  .Xations"  is  the  product  not  of  legisl.ation  V)Ut 
of  labor  and  in  the  woi-king,  I'l-ovidence  provides  the  law,  wliereby  each 
seeking  his  own  must  serve  the  whohv  This  is  the  substratum  of 
.\dam  Smith's  pliilosojihy  and  in  large  measure  it  will  be  ours,  thcmgh 
we  sh.-iU  be  forced  to  ipLilify  somewhat. 

Out  of  the  philosophy  of  Adam  Smith  and  his  followers,  out  of  the 
revolutionary  need  of  changed  and  clianging  conditions,  gradually  came 
the  new  law.  the  new  institution,  the  modern  system.     The  eighteenth 


376  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

century  saw  the  final  breakdown  of  feudalism.  The  nineteenth  saw 
the  right  of  private  property,  including  the  rights  of  alienation  and 
bequest,  extended,  liberalized.  It  saw,  too,  the  freeing  of  capital,  as 
evidenced  in  the  growing  obsolescence  of  usury  laws,  which  though 
they  may  still  be  found  on  the  statute  books,  are  to-day  practically  non- 
enforceable.  Fi'eedom  of  the  domestic  market  came  early;  though,  for 
most  of  us,  freedom  of  the  international  market  is  still  unrealized. 
Freedom  of  enterprise  was  characteristic  of  the  movement  and  showed 
itself  in  the  limited  field  of  government  industry,  in  the  extended  scope 
of  private  property,  in  general  corporation  laws,  in  our  patent  laws, 
which,  though  they  legalize  temporary  monopoly,  are  intended  to  stim- 
ulate pi'ivate  enterprise.  The  field  is  open;  the  prizeto  the  swiftest. 
The  nineteenth  century's  message  was  freedom  in  politics,  in  religion 
and  in  industry  and  trade  and  in  the  latter  sphere,  its  fundamental 
institutions  are  the  rights  of  private  property  and  of  free  contact  con- 
ceived of  as  natural,  inherent  and  absolute. 

What  does  it  mean,  this  system  of  industrial  liberty?  Is  compete- 
tion  a  fixed  and  absolute  concept?  The  older  economists  would  have 
ansjvered,  "Yes,"  but  to-day  we  nnist  (lualify  the  affirniiition.  'I'hc 
A'alidity  of  the  competitive  principle  rests  upon  the  theory  that  wealth, 
essential  to  man's  existence,  must  be  won  from  nature  throuuli  labor, 
that  hope  of  reward  or  fear  of  starvation  must  furnish  the  impetus, 
that  laboring  to  produce  A^alues  for  himself,  ni.aii  ninst  produce  values 
for  his  neighbors,  that  led  by  enlightened  self-interest.  ial)or  .iiid  cap- 
ital will  seek  those  occupations,  wherein  as  they  create  most  \ve;illli 
they  will  be  socially  njost  productive,  that  no  motive,  other  (han  self- 
interest,  can  so  stimulate  exertion  and  enterprise,  that  no  fo!i-<>  other 
than  social  demand  can  so  efficiently  diri-ct  social  production:  ;ind.  in 
the  main,  we  concede  the  validity  of  the  projxjsition.  In  our  own  d;iy 
Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie,  stimulated  by  intelligent  self-interest,  has  am.-iss- 
ed  vast  wealth,  but  that  in  so  doing  he  has  contributed  largely  to  the 
industrial  well-being  of  the  United  States,  those  great  mills  at  IMtts- 
bnrg  and  Bethlehem  bear  ample  testimony,  nor  can  the  pliil:intiii'oi»y 
of  his  days  of  aflluence  bear  greater  fruit,  than  havt-  his  d;iys  of  eai-nest 
and  intelligent  striving  for  success.  In  a  different  Held.  .Mr.  .1.  I'ierpont 
Morgan,  inventor  of  method  and  of  organization,  uniting  with  trained 
financial  skill,  a  creative  imagination,  no  less  remarkable  than  that  of 
an  Edison  or  a  Marconi,  is  likewise  contributing  his  share  in  organ- 
ization and  reorganization  based  on  financial  integrity.  II.-ul  Ihat  vast 
landed  domain  acciuired  by  the  United  States  tunler  the  treaty  o<"  Paris 
and  extended  ])y  subsequent  purchase  and  tre.aty.  i-emained  in  the  hands 
of  the  government,  its  exploitation  would  still  be  largely  in  the  future. 
Railway  subsidies  alone  would  not  have  availed.  Through  homestead 
law,  through  private  property  and  competition,  it  has  been  peopled  in  a 
century,  Its  resources  developed,  and  its  products  laid  down  in  a  com- 
mon market.    Jefferson  said,  "it  would  take  a  thousand  years  to  settle 


THE   MODERN    INDUSTRIAT,   ORGANIZATION.  ^77 

tlu'  iiortlnvi'st  territory."  To-day  tlic  rccU'inptitvn  of  our  aiMl  lands 
tlii-or.^l;  :rr:,:;:;l:o!'.  N  a  ualiuual  probleiu.  Tlie  story  of  llio  pasi  ecu 
tury's  acliicveincTits  tonus  llic  roucrclc  cNiircssion  ot  tlio  poloiicy  nl' 
individual  initiative.  T.nt  farther  than  this:  in  this  stru^ule  to  sulidiie 
its  enx'ironnient.  society,  throuyii  its  coiniietitiN'e  organization,  not  oni\' 
enforces  the  strongest  motive  to  acti\  ity  and  entei'pi-ise.  hut  also  throws 
tile  respousihilily  of  failui'e  on  the  indi\idual;  and  the  validity  of  sucii 
l)roeess.  rests  upon  the  assumption  that  the  ])re\ious  ac(pilsitiou  of 
wealth.  necessa!\\'  foi'  such  nn(h'rlal<inu.  sliall  he  sutiicieut  in(h'N  ot 
industrial  capacity. 

Iii<livi<lual  oppni-tuiiily.  iiidi\idual  responsibility,  these  ai'e  the  essen 
tial  characteristics  of  our  cui'rent  iudusti'ial  oi-.ii:inizati(ui  and  involved 
in  tht'in.  is  \et  another,  namely  this:  that  modern  industry  is  essen 
tially  speeulati\e.  Itetwcen  the  planlin;;'  and  the  harvest,  price  clianues 
determine  the  farmei-'s  profit.  'I'he  manufacturer  buys  laixir.and  raw 
materials  and  wafers  Ids  judgment  of  future  markets  a;iainst  the  jios 
sibility  of  loss.  'I'he  lailroad  pushes  foi-\\ard  to  de\cl()]i  unknown  re- 
sources and  unknown  Irattic.  The  pi'oinoter.  thi'  brokei'.  the  inventor, 
the  captain  oi'  industry,  each  in  his  own  way  sjM'culates  on  market 
unc<>rtainties.  It  is  as  easy  to  bei  on  the  |)rii-e  of  ho|)s.  staking  yoiu- 
labor  and  capital  .i^ainst  the  market  as  it  is  to  bet  on  the  price  of  stocks 
and  in  ('eutral  .New  'i'ork.  1  xcnture  to  say.  that  the  former  is  the  more 
prevalent  form  of  speculation  and.  I  am  also  inclined  to  think,  is  ecpial 
ly  uncertain.  Sa.vs  Tresident  Iladley;  ■'The  suci-ess  or  failure  of  a 
man  enua.i:ed  in  ma uufact ui'e.  ti-ansportation  or  auriculture  de|iends 
more  on  his  skill  as  a  prophei  than  U|)on  his  industry-  as  a  i)roducei':" 
and  auairi.  th;it  I  he  line  beiween  the  leuilimate  and  the  illcuiitima  te 
deiK'nds  not  on  the  method  or  form  of  the  transaction,  but  wiiolly  on 
"the  intent  and  purpose."  Moreoser.  it  must  be  added  th.at  the  moi'c 
distant  the  niai'ket.  th"  newer  the  method,  the  swifter  the  pi'oyress: 
th<-  more  the  speculatixc  element  pi'e(h)minates.  .Mistake  means  loss: 
loss  to  the  communnty  in  wasted  cajtital  and  labor,  but  a  loss  the  iue 
medi.ate  buiden  of  which  is  shifted  to  the  shoulders  of  the  individu.al. 
iiain  means  social  bet  termeut  progress-  -but  here.  too.  the  immediate 
l>i-otil  beloniis  to  till'  individual,  as  it  was  for  such  prolil  the  risk  was 
lioi'iie.  'I'o  (piote  a.^ain  from  Tresident  Hadley:  "TIh-  i)robleni  of  indus- 
trial i;rowtli  can  be  sohcd  (udy  by  eueouratiiuu'  t'uouuh  e.x]>eriuu>uts  to 
secure  progress  without  encoin'auiuK  so  many  as  to  destroy  the  whole 
accumulat((l  cajiital  of  the  country."  Such  in  bi-ief  is  the  mcauinti'  of 
the  competitixc  principie.  such  the  |)hilosophy  back  of  our  current  in- 
(bislrial  or;^aniy.a  t  ion.  It  l)as  been  said  that,  in  the  last  one  hundretl 
ye.-irs.  man  has  ;ichieved  uce.ater  iudustri.al  progress  than  in  all  the 
(cului-ies  of  his  previous  de\-clopmeut,  and  that  prouress  has  been  in 
and  by  this  system.  It  is  this  system  that  has  uiven  us  a  .Moi'se,  an 
l^dison.  aTi  Aiinoui'.  a  W'annamaker.  a  ( '.irne.uie.  a  Uockefeeler,  a  Mor- 
.t;au.     It  is  this  system  that  has  built  our  railroads  and  our  steamshii) 


378  HERKIMER  COUNTY    HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

liiu's;  thill  li.is  liiiilt  our  factories.  (U-vcIuIxmI  our  resources,  aud  peopled 
our  faruis;  lli.-it  li;is  lilven  us  the  teleyrai'li.  the  telephone  and  electri- 
cal powt'r:  thai  ii.is  devised  and  perfected  our  \ast  and  intric:i(e  sys- 
leiii  of  ci-edit:  that  lias  oryauized  capital  an<l  labor  in  joint  co-operation 
for  the  exploitation  of  the  world. 

I'.ut  is  the  j)icture  all  so  fair"/  Is  the  optimism  of  the  early  econo- 
mists justiliedV  Is  their  i)hilosoidiy  without  tlawV  May  not  theirs 
prove  to  h;iv(>  been  but  a  partial  view  of  the  truthV  Is  it  not  ti'ne  that 
society  li.-is  not  ;ind  could  not  realize  to  the  full  the  system,  they  pos- 
ited as  the  ideal?  What  is  the  meauin.i;'  of  sti'ikes  ;ind  "lockouts V" 
What  the  meanin.^  of  connnt'rcial  crisis,  wh.at  the  lueaning  of  labor 
unions,  what  the  nu'anin,s;'  of  trusts,  wliat  the  meaniny  of  that  social 
discontent  th.-il  tiiids  ex])ression  in  that  false  hut  significant  phrase, 
"the  rich  are  .Lii-oAviiiy  licher:  the  iioor.  poorer?"  What  and  whence  is 
socialism  ? 

Throu.yh  values  ojierative  on  Labor  aud  on  c;i|)ital  social  demand  is 
met  bnt  neither  \;ilue  nor  demand  have  in  themselves  any  ethical  or 
utilitarian  sinniticauce.  ^^■ealtll  is  wealth,  whether  it  rests  upon  w.ants 
intelligeid  and  morally  commendable  or  upon  wants  ignorant  and  vic- 
ions.  The  truth  lies  deeper.  In  Knskin's  line  phrase.  "There  is  no 
wealth  but  bfel"  Self-interest  is  a  fundamental  economic  motive  bnt 
self-interest  is  by  no  n.eans  a  tixed  concei)t ;  iioi'  is  it  vo  />e  interpreted 
only  in  food  aud  clothes.  Fortunately  for  man.  in  these  later  days, 
indnstri.al  inogrcss  ii.-is  so  f;ir  satisfied  these  primal  wants,  that  hun- 
ger, thirst  and  cold  are  for  the  great  mass  of  humanity  only  indirectl.v 
felt  as  economic  stimuli.  Tlie  stand.ard  of  life  for  which  men  strive, 
is  not  subsistence  only,  bur  more;  nor  is  the  wealth  nieii  prize,  prized 
for  itself  alone  but  rather  for  the  iiower  it  brings  ;ind  for  the  social 
prestige  it  confers.  I'.y  that  same  human  trait  that  causes  the  savage 
to  value  rude  ornament  next  to  food,  man  nieasiues  wealth  in  terms 
of  social  aiiiu'obai  ion.  Self-interest  is  not  simple  but  coini)lex.  not  ti.xed 
but  variable  and  in  public  opinion  largely  lies  the  power  that  shall  de- 
termine its  content  ;ind   its  direction. 

"Tiaissez  faire"  Noiced  a  timely  i>olicy  bnt  contains  no  scientitic  ])rin- 
<-iph'.  Free  comiKlition  among  laborers  ended  ,i  hundred  yeai>  ;lgd  in 
the  comiilete  degradation  of  England's  laboring  population.  It  is  the 
law  of  tlie  "sweat-shop"  and  it  meant  aud  means  long  hours,  vile  hous- 
ing, low  wages,  the  exhausting  and  destructive  toil  of  wo;nen  and 
children.  I'nintelligent.  unorganized,  pitted  ag.ainst  the  power  of  cap- 
ital. Labor  was  heli)less  and  only  the  Law  could  intervi'ue  to  save  the 
race  from  the  competitive  greed  of  self-interest.  F.actory  laws  regu- 
lating hours  and  conditions  of  employment  followed  and  labor  unions 
growing  out  of  the  im'w  conditions  ga\('  the  lie  to  the  economists.  Com- 
petition among  employers  under  a  capitalistic  i-egime.  brouglit  with  it 
overproduction,  "(Mit-throat"  prices,  commercial  i)anics  and  to-day  the 
'"trust."      Wherever   capital   plays   large     part,      competition,    lowering 


THE    INIODERN    INDt'STRlAL  ORdANIZATION  .'u'.) 

|ii'icc  S(p  loiii;  ;is  an  .-iiipi't''"!''!  <  i\<'  rcluni  on  lixcd  cliarucs  is  cariu'd,  iiicans 
war  to  the  dcatli:  tin'  dcslructioii  (d'  ad  s|)cciaiiy.cd  capital.  The  •■Iriisf" 
is  tlic  iialiiral  dfvclopiiicni.  .Mdrcovcr.  aitciiipli'd  coinpcl  it  ion  in  ticlds 
liy  nature  lutniopolisi  ic.  tiifoni;li  needless  dnplieatinn  of  plants,  serves 
only  to  make  eeonoinie  ser\  ie<'  and  reasonable  jpfiee  ini|iossil)le.  Two 
water  ('oni|)anies  snpplyinu  the  same  eity.  two  uas  mains  oecitiiyinji 
Ilie  same  street,  two  i-ailroads  ser\  inu  the  same  commiiiiity,  involve 
waste — \\'aste  of  soeial  capital  and  labor.  Moreover,  such  conditions, 
in  that  they  malce  conddnation  prolitable.  make  nionop.dy  inevitabl(>. 
It  is  folly  to  trust  to  competitive  control.  It  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to 
recognize  the  inherent  monopolistic  tendency  and  to  safe;.;iiard  the 
social  interest  tlirou.i:!:  etfective  control  (d  fi'anchises  j^'ranted.  Com- 
petition between  capital  and  labor  involves  the  time-WM.t;-e  with  its 
leveliiiu'  tendency  and  their  <-o-oi)eration  in  lU'odnct ion,  offset  l>y  conrtict 
in  distribution,  is  a  clumsy  makeshift.  ( »ur  cni-ieid  nupvement  toward 
arbituttion  is  a  necessary  corrective  of  snch  artilii-ial  antm'onism. 
Specidative  indnslry  does  brinu  jprouress:  but  speculation  uone  mad 
I;rin.i;s  tinancial  ruin.  .\Iore<iver,  to  the  extent  that  specn.lative  proiits 
result  fr(un  fraud  and  chance:  1((  that  extent.  specnlati(Ui  throws  tiie 
control  of  induslr\-  not  into  the  hands  <d'  tiie  lit  but  of  the  unlit  ;ind 
defeats  its  end. 

Snch  is  our  system  in  reverse:  such  some  of  its  weaknesses.  Will  it 
lastV  Us  defects  do  not  overbalan<'e  its  merits  but  it  is  idle  to  answei 
eriticisrii  on  any  assumption  of  perfection  and  tinality.  Our  system: 
our  institutions  and  our  or.ua niza lion,  has  developed  out  of  anti(Hiity 
by  slow  and  paiid'nl  process.  It  has  stirvived  the  older  order,  because 
ii  was  more  lit.  \\'e  ma\  .iidicipate  in  a  .general  way,  that  so  much  of 
it  as  is  lit  to-d:iy.  so  much  of  it  as  may  adapt  itself  to  chanuinu'  and 
evei-  more  coinple.v  ccmdilious  will  survive.  P.ui  if  the  trntli  1k'  told, 
the  pieseni  would  seem  to  nnirk.  not  the  triumph,  bnt  the  passini;  of 
t  he  old  <-ompet  iti  ve  idea  I. 

.\atnial  ri?^hts  ;ind  natm-ai  laws  are  no  loirucr  "words  to  conjure 
with."'  .\ll  cconondc  laws  .issuuh'  those  le.ual  and  social  institutions 
vvliicli  must  change,  as  they  have  chanjied  in  the  i)ast  and  with  each 
chan.^c,  will  come  some  modilicat ion  of  man's  relation  to  naturt' — some 
modification  of  economic  law.  Iutelli.uent  individualism  will  eonlinne 
as  the  motive  force  (d'  industry.  In  it  lies  the  sprin::;-  of 
proL;ress;  in  it.  too,  lies  the  only  jiossible  solution  td"  thai 
v;',st  uudeiiyinu  social  lu'oblem  of  iiopulatiim:  in  if  lies  tlie 
l:ivv  of  individual  UHH-ality.  Thrift.  i»iaidence,  audiition,  are  anion.'; 
man's  highest  elidcal  attributes.  Industrial  individualism  will  endure 
bill  d  will  be  roblied  of  any  noti(Ui  of  absolutism.  The  freeinu  (d'  tlie 
lln.ssian  serf  in  iscl  did  not  solve  his  eeonoinie  iirobl;  in.  He  has  used 
his  freedom  of  eoulract  to  sell  himself  and  his  posterity  into  ti)e  hands 
of  the  usurer.  In  .\merica,  the  work  at  Tuskegee,  so  far  as  it  .^'oes,  is 
the  (essential  complement  of  llie  lu-oelamation  of  emancipation.     Among 


380  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

:iii  intclliucnt,  tlirifty.  iiidnstrious  puitul.-ilioii.  trained  to  labor  and  by 
ip.licritaufc  possessed  of  eommercial  integrity,  individual  initiative  and 
large  industrial  freedom  are  essential  to  progress  and  consonant  with 
social  well-being.  This  was  the  true  message  contained  in  the  eight- 
eenth centui'y  i)hilosoi)hy  and  as  thus  stilted  it  may  challenge  the  at- 
lacks  of  socialism,  (iii  the  other  hand  and  in  the  words  of  another, 
■■(here  is  no  gi^eater  in(»()Uality  than  Ihe  (Mjual  tre;itment  of  unecpials," 
and  if  reason  and  history  prove  anything,  inecpiality,  mental,  moral, 
physical,  is  part  of  the  necessary  order  and  a  principle  of  development. 
Fapiality  is  easily  said;  e(iuality  is  easily  legislated  under  the  law  but 
equality,  save  Itefore  the  law,  is  not  to  l)e  realized,  (iovernment  inter- 
vention, classifying,  protecting,  limiting  competitive  action,  is  as  nat- 
ural, as  normal,  as  is  com])etition  within  Ihe  group  and  against  it  the 
cry  of  ecinality  and  free  competition  will  not  av.-iil.  \or  will  tlie  same 
cry  avail  against  the  growing  organization  of  labor.  The  present  pro- 
cess is  a  process  of  integration — socialization.  On  the  one  hand,  it 
means  inlerpendence;  on  the  other  organizations.  In  the  ticld  of 
labor,  Mr.  (iompi'rs  and  Mr.  .Uitchell  are  i)ei-foi-ming  the  same  function 
as  are  Mr.  Morgan  and  Mr.  Kockefeller  in  the  field  of  capital.  It  is 
idle  to  seek  to  check  the  movement  iind  in  Ihe  attemj^t,  society  is  sacri- 
ficing the  opi)ortunity  to  direct  tlie  process  tlu'ougli  effective  control. 
Concerning  the  trust  the  same  principle  and  statement  will  hold.  The 
capitalistic  monopoly  contains  within  itself  great  possil)ilities  for  good 
as  well  as  for  evil.  As  Mr.  Charles  Schwab  has  repeatedly  said,  "tlie 
trust  caii  hope  permanently  to  succeed  only  on  the  Iiasis  of  ect)nomies 
achieved  tlu'ough  large  production,"  and  tliis  fact  will  empliasize  itself 
a"-'  experience  in  trust  management  shall  teach  tlie  normal  limits  of  trust 
l)owers.  Moreover,  as  organized  to  meet  "cut  throat"  competition,  so 
far  as  their  influence  goes,  intelligent  trust  management  will  work 
toward  market  stability.-  If  I  read  the  market  aright,  the  ITnited 
States  Steel  Corporation  is  to-day  straining  every  nerve  to  ward  off  a 
disastrous  boom  to  l)e  followed  by  disastrous  depression.  Indeed,  in 
market  stability  rests  the  permanent  integrity  of  this  and  :ill  other 
such  combinations.  The  Nortliern  Securities  Company  m;iy  not  be 
good  law.  but  it  is  good  economics  and  the  sooner  we  learn  this  fact, 
tlie  sooner  we  shall  be  able  to  legislate  laws  that  shall  be  not  only 
enforceable  but  truly  remedial.  The  trust  contains  possibilities  for 
good.  Many  of  its  evils  are  due  to  a  transitional  period  of  development. 
Some  of  the  evils  will  cure  themselves.  The  ITnited  States  Steel  Corpo- 
lation  in  its  i)ul)lic  financial  statement  is  meeting  one  of  the  greatest 
evils  connected  with  this  new  phenomenon,  namely,  over-c;i])italization 
and  dishonest  stock  niiinipulation.  and  iii  the  ])recedent  establislied  lies 
a  force  that  will  drive  others  to  the  same  publicity,  if  they  would  hold 
the  market  for  their  securities.  Should  such  force  prove  insutlicient, 
then  must  government  intervene,  enforcing  publicity  of  accounts  and 
responsibility  on  the  part  of  directors.     We  must  reconcile  ourselves  to 


THE   MODERN   INDUSTRIAL   ORGANIZATION.  381 

tile  fact  that  under  modern  conditions,  freedom  of  contracf  involves 
freedom  to  contract  foi-  comhination.  Ixitli  in  respect  in  Inboi-  and  t<> 
capital,  and  while  we  deplore  ;ind  <-ondcnin  snch  conditions  as  the 
recent  investii,'ation  of  the  affairs  of  the  National  Asph.-iit  romitany 
disclosed,  we  must  not  seek  to  destroy,  hut  to  control  tlirou.i;h  the  pros 
sure  of  public  opinion  as  well  as  thi-onuh  intelligeiU  legislalion.  Com 
petition  will  endure,  hut  its  limits  will  change  and  its  level  rise.  'IMie 
institutions  of  private  proi)erty  and  of  lre(>  contract  will  persist,  hnl 
the  terms  will  cease  to  he  shihholelhs.  l<'reed  from  blind  obedience  to 
the  older  philoso|)liy  ,ind  precei)ts.  man  will  seek  that  true  l»alance. 
which  to  our  thinking  must  exist,  tlnnigh  differing  for  every  age.  be- 
tween the  spheres  of  individual  and  sot-ial  activit.\'.  Xo  longer  will  we 
seeli  to  combat  tlie  socialist!.-  propagamla  on  the  nnhistorical  and  tin 
scientitic  ground  of  natural  law  and  natural  rights,  but  recognizing 
that  the  justification  of  essential  institutions  lies  in  their  social  utility. 
we  shall  seek  to  prove  such  utility  in  a  perfected  organization.  To  do 
otherwise  is  to  invite  revolution.  Freed  from  the  older  precepts,  too. 
there  will  come  a  juster  conception  of  the  relation  of  the  individual  to 
society.  No  longer  c;in  the  individual  shirk  the  responsibilities  of 
wealth.-  Wealth  is  power,  wealth  is  opportunity,  wealth  Is  duty.  Wealth 
is  a  social  product.  Society  is  partner  with  every  prodncei'  Ihrotigh 
government,  through  institutions,  through  those  "inapproiirijiable  util- 
ities," our  lieritage  from  past  discoveries  and  inventions.  That  crude 
phrase  jjopularly  attributed  to  the  elder  \'anderl)ilt  is  evi'u  im)re  f;ilse 
to-day  than  when  it  was  uttered.  Man  cannot  to-day  "Damn  the  pub- 
lic," tlirougli  wliom,  with  whom,  by  whom,  his  wealth  has  come.  In 
greater  realization  of  wcilth's  responsibilities,  in  .a  truer  knowU'dge  of 
wealth's  possibilities,  in  a  higher  individual  and  so<-ial  morality,  many 
of  our  industrial  ills  will  solve  themselves  and  it  is  to  such  sources  we 
must  look,  ratlier  than  to  law,  for  the  solution  of  many  ;i  knotty  prob- 
lem. Eighteentli  century  philosophy  spoke  a  timely  word,  but  it  saw 
one  side  of  the  truth  only.  Man  had  reached  that  stage  in  development 
wherein  it  was  essential  th.at  he  should  be  freed  from  all  the  hiiteful 
restrictions  of  a  coercive  culture.  Hut  with  its  overtlu'ow.  came  the 
need  of  a  new  compelling  force,  a  new  social  bond  and  that  can  to-day 
be  realized  oidy  in  the  growth  of  higlu'r  ethical  spirit;  a  timer  and 
broader  altruism.  It  is  the  old  probh^n  of  the  individn.al  and  society. 
and  neither  the  crude  ])hilos()phy  of  early  individualism  nor  the  still 
cruder  socialism  of  to-day  has  solved  it.  Its  solution  lies  in  the  oft- 
<luoted  statement  of  Aristotle,  namely,  that  in.in  is  ".a  social  animal." 
Society  is  based  on  the  individiiiil.  The  individual  linds  his  trm^  devel- 
opment only  in  society.  Neither  can  exist  without  the  otluM-.  Without 
the  iiutiative  of  strong  individualism,  a  society  must  pei'ish:  without 
the  co-operation  of  sociel.\.  the  individual  is  helpless.  It  is  for  the 
future  to  work  out  a  tiaie  harmony  of  these  forces. 
The  future  then  does  lie  with  industrial  liberty.     But  liberty  is  no 


382  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

mere  negative  concept,  nor  does  it  exist  in  the  negation  of  social  con- 
trol. "There  is  no  liberty  save  under  the  law."  At  a  recent  meeting 
of  the  American  Economic  Association  and  speaking  on  the  suiiject  of 
industrial  liberty,  Dr.  Richard  T.  Ely  quoted  these  words  from  Plato's 
Republic:  "The  most  aggravated  forms  of  tyranny  and  slavery  arise 
out  of  the  most  extreme  form  of  liberty;"  and  again,  quoting  from 
Italy's  apostle  of  liberty — Joseph  Mazzini — "If  you  enthrone  it  (liberty i 
alone  as  means  and  end,  it  will  lead  society  tlrst  to  anarchy,  afterwards 
to  the  despotism  which  you  fear."  And  in' closing,  I  can  do  no  better 
than  to  quote  Dr.  Ely's  own  words:  "Liberty,"  he  says,  "cannot  be 
an  absolute  ideal  because  authority  is  needed  in  society  in  order  to 
secure  the  harmonious  co-operation  of  its  various  elements.  *  *  * 
Industrial  liberty  is  a  conception  having  relative  and  not  an  absolute 
value.  *  *  *  It  is  not  something  which  can  be  decreed  off-hand 
"^  *  *  but  rather  is  it  a  social  product  to  be  achieved  by  individuals 
working  socially  together;  *  *  *  jt  comes  not  all  at  once  but  slowly 
as  the  result  of  long-continued  and  arduous  process.  It  is  not  the  be- 
ginning of  social  evolution  but  rather  one  of  the  goals  of  social  evolu- 
tion and  one  which  must  be  brought  into  harmony  with  other  goals, 
such  as  quality,  also  relatively  conceived,  and  fraternity,  the  only  one 
of  the  three  goals — liberty,  equality  and  fraternity — which  can  in  any 
way  be  conceived  absolutely.  We  have  then,"  he  concludes,  "among 
others,  three  goals  of  industrial  evolution:  liberty,  equality,  fraternity 
— but  the  greatest  of  these  is  fraternity." 


KING  HRNDRIC. 

AN    ADHRESS    HY    \V.    MAX    KEIT).    OF    AMSTKHOAM. 

Delivered   before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society  Ajiril    Ir.',    l'.t()2. 

Hi  rtc-cei)tiii.i;'  youi-  iii\it;iIioii  to  read  a  ])ai((  r  lu'l'ore  yoiir  society,  I 
was  soveriied,  not  liy  any  confidence  in  my  al>ilily  to  interest,  'nstrnct. 
or  even  to  anius.",  hnt  Uy  ,i  desire,  to  visit  yonr  in  yonr  historic  home, 
and  to  look  upon  yonr  hills  ,ind  dales  made  nn-morahle  by  Idood  slied 
I'or  the  canse  ot  liberty. 

I  wislied  to  see  yonr  IVrlile  fields,  won  from  the  wilderness  by  hai'd 
and  •.■aniesf  toil,  and  sprinkled  witli  tlie  Ht'e-lilood  of  yonr  liollander 
and   I'alatine  ;inc"stors. 

Over  these  fields  the  liardy  impefnons  Dntcli  Itoers  followed  dear  old 
'Jener.-i!  Uerkinier  to  death  .uid  victoi-y  in  tlie  ra\incs  ;iiid  pl.itean  .il 
Oi'iskany-  In  tl'e  iiuiit  of  the  •JOtli  cenfiu-y,  1  spc  ;ik  advisedly  wlieii  I 
claim  tliat  Ki'^'t'^omc-  en.i;at;(Mnent  as  a  victory,  because,  a!tlion!^li  ({en- 
eral  Ilerkimei-'s  troops  failed  to  accomplish  that  which  they  sei  ont  to 
perform,  their  sfnbliorn,  ferocious  resistance  broke  the  spirit  of  the 
Hidians  and  drove  the  Hritish  troops  from  the  field  and  saved  the  Mo- 
liawk  valley,  for  the  time  bein.u'.  fi'om  desolation  by  torch  and  scalpins 
knife. 

Did  you  ever  thiiik  nf  the  analo.yy  between  the  Dutch  I'.oers  of  the 
German  Flats  and  MoIl-hn  k  N'alley,  and  their  kindred,  the  IJoers  of 
8outh  Africa? 

During  the  eai-ly  iiart  of  tlie  Jltli  cerdury,  Dutch  Itoei's,  that  is, 
Dutch  fanners,  settled  alont;  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson  v;illeys,  and  at 
the  same  period  Dtitch  P.oers  (farmers)  established  .1  colony  in  South 
Africa,  afterward  called  Cape  Colony.  Dnrin.u  the  reiun  of  (Jum-u  .Vnne 
a   number  of  Palatiiu's  also  inimiiirated  to  both  countries. 

The  Hollanders  of  \ew  ^'ork  liad  to  contend  with  the  ind'ans,  the 
ifollanders  of  the  (';iiie  with  the  <}na(pias,  or  Hottentots,  as  they  named 
them.  Both  becanu'  exiiert  witli  their  rilles,  whicii  weic  their  constaid 
companions  at  home  or  .•ilield.  and  were  o])lijL;('d  to  endure  many  ])riva- 
lions  in  search  of  liberty  of  t  hou^'ht  and  lilierty  of  action.  Kach  had 
their  controversies  wilii  their  mother  country  ;ind  each  li:ul  their  con- 
flicts. 


384  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

In  New  York  province,  the  colonists  had  frequent  conflii-'ts  with  hostile 
Indians,  in  Cape  Colony,  with  hostile  l)hu-k  men.  We  had  the  ol)nox- 
ions  stamp  act,  they  the  successfully  resisted  attempt  of  Eni;-land  to 
make  tlieir  chosen  home  a  penal  colony. 

We  had  our  Washington,  tliey  their  Pretorius  and  "Oom  Paul."  Your 
.•incestors  tjoniiht  foi-  lilierty  and  theii'  homes,  they  .-ire  doin.u  the  same 
now  on  m;iny  a  bloody  "field.  We  had  our  Tories,  they  their  Outlanders. 
Your  f.nthers  achieved  independence  in  the  latter  part  of  the  ('i.uhteenth 
century,  they  are  attempting;-  to  accomplish  the  sanu^  tliin.y  ;i  hundred 
years  lalei'.  Is  nctf  this  a  struKt^le  for  libert.v  as  truly  as  the  strnji-.iile 
of  your  heroic  ancestors  of  the  Ainei'ican    Revolution V 

NotwilhsfandiuK  the  friendly  feeling  existing  between  the  Aniei-ican 
people  and  <>reat  l>ritain  on  acc-ount  of  her  sympathy  foi'  us  during  the 
recent  war  with  Sjtain.  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  dee])  down  in  the 
hearts  of  the  dwellers  of  the  Mohawk  valley  will  be  found  that  strictly 
American  characteristic,  sympathy  for  tlu'  nnch'i-  dog. 

One  of  the  most  picturestjue  figures  in  the  coloni.-il  history  of  .\e\v 
York  is  that  of  the  Mohawk  Indian.  misc-iUed  "King  Ilendrick."  This 
man  is  particularly  interesting  to  the  residents  of  the  Mohawk  valley 
on  account  of  his  connection  with  Sir  William  Johnson.  Joseph  Hr:int 
and  other  noted  personages  during  the  last  French  and  Indian  war.  and 
from  the  fact  that  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  was  his  home  by  adoi)tiou. 
His  father,  it  is  said,  at  one  time  lived  on  the  Coiuiecticut  River,  and 
may  have  been  a  Atohig.'in.  In  the  colonial  history  of  Xew  York  his 
Indian  n;ime  is  gi\en  as  Te-o-hi-ak-i-g.-ii'a -we.  .-uid  his  lOnglish  name 
Henry,  which  was  undoubtedly  changed  to  Hendrick  l)y  the  Dutch.  It 
is  thought  that  he  was  born  about  KiT")  or  'SO,  as  it  is  recorded  in  KV.IS 
that  he  had  been  a  Christian  eight  years.  Assuming  th:it  he  was  hfteen 
years  old  when  converted,  would  make  the  date  of  his  birth  iciri.  Loss- 
ing  and  others,  however,  make  the  date  KJSo.  which  is  prob.-'.bly  ;is 
near  right  as  we  can  get  it  after  a  lapse  of  over  two  centuries. 

It  is  also  recorded  that  Henry  and  Joseph,  two  Mohawk  lads,  wert' 
taught  to  preach  by  (xodfridus  Uellius,  a  Reformed  Dutch  minister, 
about  KiitS.  Although  but  little  can  be  learned  of  his  early  life,  the 
little  that  is  recorded  would  seem  t(v  indicate  that  even  in  his  (nirly 
manhood  he  was  ii  perscui  of  itiuence  among  the  Moh:iwks  ;in(l  con- 
secjuently  among  the  colonists. 

As  early  as  Kil'T,  he  was  sent  to  Canada  to  represent  the  ^iohawks 
in  a  mission  of  importance,  and.  together  with  an  Indian  named  .Joseph 
(who  probiibly  was  also  nanied  Brant  and  the  grandf.-ither  of  ,l<isei)h 
Hrant  of  Sir  William  Johnson's  time),  used  his  influence  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  Protestant  religion  among  the  Indians  of  the  ^Mohawk 
valley,  and  was  of  great  assistance  to  Kev.  Mr.  Skaats  and  the  noto- 
rious Rev.  Godfridns  Dellius  in  their  early  efforts  to  introduce  Chris- 
tianity among  the  Mohawks.  It  is  said,  however,  that  Godfridus  Del- 
lius, Peter  Schuyler,  Major  Dirk  Wessels  and  one  William  Pinchon, 


KING   HENDRIC.  385 

schemed  to  obtain  deeds  of  immense  tracts  on  the  Mohawk,  Hudson 
and  Sclioharie  Kivers.  Dellins,  through  the  friendship  of  Hendrict;  and 
Josepli,  did  succeed  in  obtaining  deeds  foi-  "a  tract  of  hind  lyini;-  on  the 
Mohac(ius  liiver  four  miles  wide  and  lifty  miles  long,"  also  "a  tract  on 
the  Tiononderogn  (Schoharie)  about  thirty  miles  long,"  and  "a  tract 
seventy  miles  long  and  twelve  miles  wide  on  the  east  side  of  Hudson's 
Uiver."  The  Mohawks  were  told  that  it  Avas  only  a  deed  in  trust  to 
lireveut  the  government  from  taking  their  lands  away.  The  grants 
(o  Hellins  were  not.  however,  deeds  of  trust,  but  bona  nde  deeds,  mak- 
ing him  absolute  owner  of  vasts  tracts  of  lands  on  the  streams  spoken 
of  al>ove.  These  grants  were  confirmed  by  Governor  Fletcher,  who  is 
said  to  liave  lieeu  interested  in  the  fraud. 

On  August  31.  170U,  Hendrick  appeared  before  Lord  Bellomont,  then 
Governor  of  the  province  of  New  York,  and  said:  "We  complained  to 
yonv  lordship  two  years  ago  in  the  name  of  the  Five  Nations,  that  our 
land  was  taken  from  us  by  Colonel  Peter  Schuyler,  Captain  Evert 
P.anker,  Major  Dirk  Wessels,  and  one  William  Pinchon,  of  New  York, 
and  Mr.  Dellius,  the  late  Dutch  minister  at  Albany;  whereupon  your 
lordship  wrote  to  the  King  and  we  have  our  lands  again."  The  deeds 
were  not  abrogated,  however,  until  170S,  when  an  act  to  annul  was 
conlirmed  i)y  Queen  Anne.  In  the  meantime  the  Rev.  Godfridus  Del- 
lius was  driven  from  ihe  country,  having  first  been  deposed  from  the 
ministi-y. 

Hendrick  and  Joseph  had  been  instructed  by  Dellius  to  preach  and 
pray  in  the  Mohawk  language  by  means  of  a  woman  interpreter.  Hen- 
drick, Joseph  and  the  woman  all  testified  against  Dellius  and  proved 
that  he  (Delliusi  had  tried  to  suborn  Hendrick  in  the  matter  of  the  great 
grants  to  him. 

For  nearly  a  half  century  the  government  of  New  France,  through 
their  .Fesuit  i)riests,  had  been  more  or  less  successful  in  converting 
Indians  of  the  Five  Nations  to  Catholicism,  and  inducing  the  converts 
to  remove  to  Canada  and  settle  at  a  Jesuit.  Indian  mission  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  cnllcd  l,n  Prairie  de  la  Magdelene.  Somewhat  Inter  this 
mission  was  removed  up  the  river  to  the  St.  Louis  rapids,  and  given 
the  name  of  "St.  I-'i-ancois  Xavier  du  Prez."  This  name  was  afterwards 
changed  to  "St.  Fr;incois  Xavier  du  Sault,"  or  "St.  Francois  Xavier" 
at  the  i.ipids.  A  tew  yeai's  later  we  find  the  placed  called  by  Ihe  Indi- 
ans. "Cauglina  waga."  an  Indian  word  meaning"  .\t  the  Rapids."  It  is 
;ilso  known   in  history  as  "La   Prairie." 

To  comiteract  the  inlluence  of  the  Jesuits,  and  to  i»i-eveiit  the  whole- 
sale inunigration  of  the  Five  Nations  to  Canada,  the  English  and  Dutch 
sent  Protesant  missionaries  among  them  and  many  were  converted. 
As  early  as  17(l(»,  the  Five  Nations  prayed  for  a  Protestant  minister  to 
be  settle<l  at  Onondaga,  the  central  fire  of  the  Confederacy,  and  at  this 
conference  Hendrick  spoke  as  follows.  "We  are  now  come  to  acciuaint 
you/ lordshii)  (Bellmonti  that  we  have  pre\ailed  upon  Brandt  and  Jacol) 


386  HERKIMER   COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

and  three  more  of  our  people  not  to  go  to  Canada  to  live." 

The  continual  warfare  between  the  Five  Nations  and  the  French  and 
their  Indian  allies,  and  the  frequent  incursions  of  the  French  and  Al- 
.u:oi;<iuins  in  the  Mohawk  valley  was  a  soiu'ce  of  continual  terror  and 
alarm  to  the  frontiersmen  of  New  York  jind  New  England,  and  efforts 
were  frequently  made  to  induce  the  hoiu"-  government  to  adopt  stren- 
uous measures  to  drive  the  French  out  of  Canada  and  thereby  give 
peace  to  the  whole  border. 

There  was  no  man  in  the  whole  province  wlio  had  more  extended 
views  of  the  importance  of  driving  the  French  out  of  Canada  than  Col- 
onel Peter  Schuyler.  To  preserve  the  friendship  of  the  Five  Nations, 
without  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  prevent  the  frontier  from  be- 
coming a  field  of  blood,  he  studied  all  the  arts  of  insinuating  himself 
into  their  favor,  he  gave  tliem  all  possible  encouragement  and  assist- 
ance, and  very  much  impaired  his  own  fortune  by  his  liberality  to 
their  chiefs.  They  never  came  to  Albany  but  what  they  resorted  to 
his  house,  and  even  dined  at  his  table;  and  by  this  means  he  oi)tained 
an  ascendency  over  them  which  was  attended  with  good  consequences 
to  the  province.  Impressed  with  a  strong  sense  of  the  necessity  of 
some  vigorous  measures  against  the  French,  he  resolved  to  make  a 
voyage  to  England  at  his  private  expense,  the  better  to  make  known 
to  the  ministry  the  absolute  necessity  of  reducing  Canada  to  the  crown 
of  Great  Britain.  For  that  purpose  he  proposed  to  take  with  him  to 
Queen  Anne's  court  five  Indian  chiefs  representing  the  x^'ive  Natoins. 
There'fore  in  due  time  the  journey  was  made  and  the  embassy,  consist- 
ing of  Peter  Schuyler,  i'olonel  Necholson,  the  ^Nlohawk  chiefs  Hendrick 
and  Brandt,  and  three  other  sachems,  together  with  Abraham  Schuyler 
as  interpreter,  arrived  in  London  after  a  voyage  of  considerable  dis- 
comfort to  the  Indians.  It  is  recorded  that  three  Sa^,-nems  and  their 
interpreter,  Al)raham  Schuyler,  were  presented  to  the  Lords  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  April  2r),  ITKt.  '"The  arrival  of  the  Five  Sachems  in 
England  made  great  bruit  throughout  the  kingdom,  the  mob  followed 
wherever  they  went  and  small  cuts  of  them  were  sold  to  the  people." 

We  enn  imagine  the  appearance  of  those  five  stalwart  Iroquois  on 
their  (list  arrival  in  the  crowed  streets  of  London,  led  by  Hendrick 
Tall  and  commanding,  with  his  princely  form  clad  in  the  barbaric  cos- 
tume of  the  Mohawk,  with  a  countenance  that  would  not  have  dis- 
honored royalty,  he  was  a  very  striking  figure.  The  garments  of  all 
the  Sachems  of  the  finest  finished  buckskin,  i)rofusely  decorated  with 
wampum,  their  raven  hair  adorned  with  bands  of  silver  and  eagle's 
feathers,  while  each  chief  Avas  enveloped  with  a  bright  colored  and 
gaily  decorated  blanket,  gracefully  draped  around  their  majestic  forms. 
Even  the  lines  of  verinillion  and  black,  with  which  their  faces  were 
seamed,  did  not  detract  the  least  from  their  noble  countenances  or  the 
stoic,  independent  demeanor  of  those  typical  Amerinds.  At  this  time 
Queen  Anne's  court  was  in  mourning  for  Prince  George  of  Denmark, 


KING   HENDRIC.  887 

ii  brother  of  tho  kiiiR  of  Doiini.nrk,  ;ind  hushand  of  Queon  Aune.  Think- 
iii.i;-  it  more  seemly  .-iml  ;it  tlie  soivie  (iine  linving  :in  eye  to  tlu>  pictur- 
esque, she  resohcd  tlint  the  Saeiieiiis,  as  j;npsts  of  the  Qlieeu,  l)t^  also 
clothed  ill  iiiiMirniiiji:  and  fliey  were,  1  herefore,  turned  over  to  the 
"dress(M-s  of  I  lie  playlionsc,"  who  were  advised  by  tlie  (^neen  to  make 
a  sliow  of  tiiem.  W'heieiipon  they  were  dressed  in  black  nnch'rclothes 
ma(h'  after  the  Uiitish  pattern,  with  scarlet  in,L;rain  cloth  manth's  eilj^cd 
with  ^old  thrown  o\cr  the  black  ,i;arnieiits  in  pla<-e  of  a   lilanket. 

Ima.uine  licndrick  and  his  companions  in  short  breeches  and  tine  silk 
stockinii's.  shoes  with  ornamental  b>u-kles.  long  <'oat  and  waistcoat, 
frilled  shirt  and  cocked  hat.  It  is  said  that  more  than  ordinary  solemn- 
ity attended  the  andieiice  they  had  with  her  majesty.  Sir  James  Cot- 
terell  condncted  them  in  two  coaches  to  St.  .lames',  and  the  Lord  Cham- 
berlain introdnced  them  into  tlie  royal  jiresence.  Their  speech  on  April 
IH.  ITlo,  lias  been  pi'eserved: 

"Gieat  (.Mieeii:  ^^'e  lia\c  undertaken  a  long  voyage,  which  none  of 
our  pi-edec  'ssors  could  be  pi'evailed  upon  to  undertake,  to  see  our  great 
Queen  and  relate  to  hei'  those  things  whicli  we  tlKnight  ab.solut("ly  nec- 
essary for  the  good  of  her.  ;ind  us.  lier  allies,  on  the  other  side  the 
water.  We  doubt  not  but  out  great  Queen  has  been  accjaainted  with 
our  long  and  tedious  war  in  conjunction  witli  her  chihh'en  against  her 
enemies,  the  French:  and  tli;it  we  have  been  as  a  strong  wall  for  tlieir 
security,  even  to  the  loss  of  our  best  men.  We  were  mightily  rejoiced 
wlien  we  heard  our  gre.-it  (,»ueen  had  resolved  to  send  an  army  to  reduce 
Canada,  and  hiime(]ia1ely  in  token  of  friendship,  we  hung  up  the  ket- 
tle and  took  uj)  the  hatchet,  and  with  one  c(nisent  assisted  C<ilonel  Nich- 
olson in  making  prep.-natioiis  on  this  side  the  lake;  but  at  length  we  were 
told  our  ureal  (Jiiecii.  by  some  important  affairs  was  preventc'd  in  her 
design  at  incseiit.  which  made  us  sorrowful,  lest  the  French,  who  has 
liitheito  dreadt  d  us.  should  think  us  unable  to  make  war  against  them. 
The  n  diiclion  ol'  i'aiiada  is  of  great  weight  to  our  free  hunting,  so  that 
if  GUI'  gre;it  (.Mieeii  slioiild  be  not  mindful  ol  us,  we  musi  with  our  fam- 
ilies fors.-ike  oiir  i-oiiiiliy  and  seek  other  habitations,  or  stand  neuter, 
either  of  which   would   be  niiich  against   our  inclinations. 

In  toi<en  of  the  sincerity  of  these  nati(Uis.  we  do  in  tlii'ir  names,  pre- 
sent oiir  great  C*"een  with  belts  of  wamiium.  and  in  hopes  of  our  gi'eat 
CKUHMi's  favor,  leave  It   to  her  most  gracious  consideration.'" 

In  London  they  were  <-alllrd  tlu'  Indian  ■"kings",  which  name.  gi\eii 
liy  the  I'higlish,  clung  lo  lleiidrick  all  of  his  life,  and  is  used  to-day 
when   we  speak  of  him.  ■■King  llendrick." 

CoNciiior  Hunter  reported  in  171.'!  that  l''ort  Hunter  and  <,>ueen 
Anne's  ch.ipel  .at  rioiioiideromi  was  linislied.  bill  thai  the  Uev.  Mr. 
Andrews  the  lirst  minister  to  the  ch;ipel  had  a  very  indifferent  recep- 
tion by  the  .Mohawks,  because  one  Ih^idrick  who  was  one  of  the 
Sacln  nis  who  weiii  to  Ihigland  had  told  them  tli.it  the  I{e\i'iend  was 
to  claim  1  1(1  of  all  their  lands  and  goods. 


'688  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

That  he  was  a  warrior  of  no  mean  ability  is  well  known  and  that  he 
led  a  war  party  of  05  Mohawks  against  the  French  during  the  year  of 
1745  is  a  mattter  of  record.  A  little  later,  however,  Johnson  reported 
an  attempt  of  the  French  through  a  Jesuit  priest  to  induce  him  to  go 
to  Canada  to  live. 

About  this  time  there  appears  to  have  been  a  season  of  great  uneasi- 
ness and  great  uncertainty  among  the  Six  Nations  in  their  attitude  to- 
wards the  English  of  the  Mohawk  Valley.  Stories  were  circulated 
among  tlie  Indians  that  a  scheme  was  under  way  whereby  the  French 
and  English  were  to  combine  and  destroy  tlie  Indians  of  New  York 
and  Canada  and  talvc  their  lands.  This  seems  to  have  been  believed 
by  the  Mohawks  to  be  true,  and  a  very  bitter  feeling'was  manifested 
by  them  against  the  Albanians  on  account  of  the  fraudulent  manner 
in  which  the  great  Kayaderosses  and  other  large  grants  had  been  ob- 
tained. Rumors  were  in  circulation  among  them  from  time  to  time, 
that  the  measures  for  extermination  were  already  in  progress,  and  at 
one  time  the  Indians  of  the  lower  castle,  Tiononderoga,  were  stamp- 
eded by  a  report  that  several  hundred  Albanians  were  marching 
against  them,  and  tied  to  the  upper  castle  at  Danube  in  terror  and  con- 
fusion. 

The  discontent  of  the  INIohawks  was  so  universal  that  even  Ilendrick 
and  otlier  leaders  were  effected  by  it.  Col.  Johnson  Writes  in  1750  that 
Hendrick  was  insolent  to  him  and  would  not  shake  hands  with  him  be- 
cause he  (Hendrick)  had  lieard  that  Governor  Clinton  and  Johnson 
were  in  league  with  the  French  to  kill  all  the  Indians  and  take  their 
lands.  Johnson  was  soon  able  to  convince  Hendrick  of  the  falsity  of 
the  report  and  the  alarm  subsided. 

Hendrick's  counsel  to  Sir  William  at  Lake  George  is  well  known  to 
.^ou  all,  and  also  his  tragic  death,  September  8,  1755,  a  few  miles  away. 
It  is  said  that  his  son,  Paulus,  Avas  with  liim  at  the  battle  of  Lake 
George  and  when  he  heard  of  his  father's  death  he  exclaimed,  placing 
his  hand  over  his  heart,  '"My  father's  still  alive  here.  The  son  is  now 
the  father  and  stands  liere  ready  to  tight."  He  was  ever  after  called 
Te-yen-da-ga-ges,  or  Little  Hendrick. 

It  is  told,  that  at  the  battle  of  I^ake  George  when  the  F'rencli  under 
Dieskau  Avere  marcliing  by  the  way  of  Wood  Creek  to  attack  Johnson 
in  his  camp  on  the  lake,  that  the  information  was  communicated  to 
General  Johnson  at  midnight,  September  7,  and  early  in  the  morning 
a  council  of  war  was  held.  It  was  determined  to  send  out  a  small  party 
to  meet  the  French,  and  the  opinion  of  Ilendrick  was  asked.  He 
shrewdly  replied,  "If  they  are  to  fight  they  are  too  few;  If  they  are  to 
be  killed  they  are  too  many."  His  objection  to  the  propositio)i  to  sep- 
arate them  into  three  divisions  was  set  forth  Avith  this  remark,  tak- 
ing three  sticks  he  said,  "Put  these  together  and  you  can't  break  them. 
Take  them  one  by  one  and  you  break  them  easily."  Johnson  was  gov- 
erned by  the  opinion  of  Hendrick  and  a  detachment  of  twelve  hundi-ed 


KING  HENDRIC  389 

men  in  one  bofly  under  Colonel  Williams  was  sent  out  to  meet  the  ap- 
proaching enemy. 

It  is  said  that  Joluison  was  very  nuicii  chagrined  at  the  small  number 
of  Irocjuois  that  Followed  him  to  Lake  (ieorge  (less  than  ."tOiM,  when  he 
had  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  number  would  be  at  least  800. 
Hendriek  also  was  inortihed  at  the  poor  showing  mado  by  tlie  Six 
Nations.  He  liowever  explained  to  .lohnson  that  the  overbearing  van- 
ity and  Jealousy  of  (tOv.  Shirley  and  his  unreasoning  attack  on  General 
Johnson  was  the  main  reason  why  the  ri)per  Indians  did  not  come 
down. 

HeniU'ick  said:  '"(Jovernor  Shirley  told  us  that  although  we  thought 
you,  our  brotlier  Warrauhiyaghey.  had  tii"  soh>  management  of  Indian 
affairs,  yet  he,  (Shirley,)  was  over  all,  that  he  could  pull  (h)wn  and  set 
up.  He  further  told  us  that  he  had  always  been  this  great  man,  and 
that  you,  our  brother,  was  but  an  upstart  of  yesterday.  These  kind  of 
discourses  from  him  c.-iused  a  gre.-it  uneasiness  and  confusion  amongst 
us,  and  he  conhrnuMl  these  things  by  a   Large  belt  of  wampum.      *      * 

*  *  lirothei',  we  h.ave  taken  this  opportunity  to  give  you  this  rela- 
tion, that  the  gentlemen  here  present  may  know  and  testify  what  we 
h.ave  said,  and  liear  tlie  reasons  why  no  more  Indians  have  joined  the 
army."  W.  K.  Ston(>  says:  "Thus  c1os(h1  the  last  forui.al  speech  that 
the  great  Mohawk  chieftain  lived  to  make.  True  as  tempen^d  Pteel  to 
the  interest  of  the  f-hmli.^h,  his  last  moments  were  in  !i;irmoiiy  with 
those  of  his  life  spent  in  keeping  the  Six  Nations  steadfast  to  their 
an.cient  alliance.  Although  he  wjss  ;i  rnd(  brave  of  the  forest,  yet  his 
noble  appreciation  of  the  exigencies  of  the  jjublic  welfare,  the  more 
jiolished  Governoi-  of  Massacliusetts  migiit  -well  havi'  imit.-ited."  I  can 
imagine  the  appearance  of  the  old  warrior  and  sachem,  as  lie  went 
forth  to  death  that  beautiful  morning  in  September,  at  the  head  of  his 
band  of  Mohavk  br:iv<'s.  Although,  perhaps,  a  septuagenarian.  Ills  age 
was  indicated  by  the  deep  lines  in  Ins  lace  and  increase  of  adipose, 
rather  than  any  loss  of  energy  or  jxnvers  of  reasoning.  In  considrn'ation 
of  his  age  ;!nd  size,  Johnsoi,  lent  him  a  horse  \\hich  he  bestrode  and 
was  soon  at  the  head  of  the  column,  followed  l)y  two  hundred  Indians, 
and  was  ev(MitualIy  involved  in  tiu'  f.atal  anduisc.'ulc  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bloody  Tond.  Tall  and  connnanding  in  jippearance  on  foot,  he  was 
particularly  conspicuous  on  liors(M)ack.  II  is  s.aid  that thesharpeye  of 
Hendriek  detected  some  signs  of  theenemylnit  too  late  to  withdraw  from 
t!>e  trap  the  troops  had  Ikh'u  drawn  into.  At  tlie  first  tire  his  horse  was 
shot,  and  falling,  i)iui(m(Ml  him.  In  trying  to  rise  he  was  killed  by  a 
bayonet  thrust.  Wv  are  ;iware  (hat  Hendriek  and  General  .Johnson 
were  closely  cdnnectcd  in  matters  relating  to  the  Iroquois,  both  mili- 
tary and  ixditical.  but  I  thiid<  that  it  is  not  generally  known  that  they 
were  also  connected  in  affaii-s  domestic.  It  has  been  frequently  re- 
marked that  vei-y  little  is  known  of  .Tohnson's  domestic  affairs  during 
the  earlv  vears  of  his  life  at  Mount  .Tohnson.  or  Fort  .Johnson,  as  the 


390  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

old  stone  mansion  near  Amsterdam  was  called  after  IToG.  From  a 
lineal  descendant  of  Sir  William  and  thron.uli  the  kindness  of  Ausustus 
C.  Buell,  the  author  of  "Paul  Jones,  tlie  Fiinnder  of  the  Vmerieiin 
Navy,"  I  am  able  to  furnnsh  the  missing  links  of  Sir  William's  domes- 
tic life  between  IT-K!  and  MT>'A.  It  has  been  said  Ihat  after  tli<'  death 
of  Catherine  Weisenberji'.  the  mother  of  his  son  .Injni  and  danyhters 
Mary  and  Nancy,  he  had  a  Dutch  widow  as  housekeeix-r.  l>nt  that  she 
did  not  remain  with  him  lonK,  as  her  iilace  was  taken  in  17-ir>  by  a 
neice  of  Ilendrick,  bein^-  the  dau.iihter  of  his  l)rotlier  Abi-;ih;nn,  Avho 
is  fretiuenlly  spoken  of  in  the  Documentary  History  of  Xcmv  York. 
As  in  tlie  case  of  Molly  Brant.  Sir  William  did  not  wed  this  Indian  .uirl. 
who  took  the  lOnglish  name  of  Caroline.  She  had  three  children  by 
Sir  William,  one  son  and  two  daughters.  The  son  was  named  William 
and  the  daughters.  Charlotte  and  Caroline.  The  mother  died  in  giving 
birth  to  the  third  child.  Caroline;  Willi;im  \v:\s  the  Hrst  born.  This 
half-breed  son  is  the  William  .Johnson,  alias  Tag-che-nn-to.  who  is  men- 
tioned in  Sir  William's  will  as  William  of  C.anajoharie.  Th(>  date  of 
Caroline's  death  was  in  1758.  which  conse<nu'ntly  makes  the  iiii'th  of 
Caroline  .Johnson  the  half-breed  in  17.');'.;  and  the  installation  of  ;Mary 
Brant  as  Sir  William's  mistress  was  snbsecinent  to  that  date.  I'robably 
this  occurred  soon  .after  the  <leath  of  Caroline,  as  her  dauglitei's  (Char- 
lotte and  Cai'oline  .Johnson)  .are  said  to  h:ive  been  adopted  by  .Molly  and 
treated  as  her  own  children,  while  Willi;ini.  tlie  half  ln-eed.  was  m;nn.ly 
raised  by  his  grandfather.  Abraham,  or  his  uncle,  ••Little  ,Vbe,"  at 
Cana.ioliarie  Castle,  at  Danube.  The  history  of  the  two  dauuhters  is 
of  interest.  Charlotte,  the  eldest,  married  ;i  young  British  otticer  short- 
ly before  the  Uevolution.  but  who  afterward  Joined  the  Continental 
ai'my  and  fell  at  Monmouth  Court  House.  1 1  is  nanu'  w.is  Henry  Ran- 
dall. She  had  two  children,  one  named  Charlotte  Jtandall,  who  nnirried 
George  King,  (ieorge  and  Charlotte  King  had  ;i  daughter,  Charlotte. 
who  Avas  the  grandmother  of  my  informant. 

The  other  daughter  of  Mollie  Brant's  predecessoi'  (Carolinei,  whose 
name  was  also  Caroline,  married  a  man  n;nned  Mich.-u-l  I^>yrne,  a  clerk 
in  Sir  William's  office  of  Indian  affairs.  Byi-ne  w;is  killed  ;it  Oriskany 
in  Butler's  Rangers.  His  young  widow,  Caroline  .lohnson,  went  with 
the  Brants  to  Canada  .and  afterwards  nnirried  an  Indian  agent  named 
MacKim.  whose  descendants  are  still  living  in  Canada. 

Mr.  Buell  also  inforn)s  me  that  the  Brant  who  went  to  England  with 
Hendrick  and  others  in  171(»  was  the  grandfather  of  .losepli  and  Mollie 
Brant.  When  Joseph  was  born,  1742,  his  gi.indfather  w.-is  prolcibly 
between  GO  and  70  years  old.  Brant's  father  was  called  Nickus  by  the 
Dutch.  He  must  liave  been  at  least  .'io  ye.irs  old  when  Joseph  was 
born,  and  Molly  w:is  at  le.ast  six  years  older  than  .losejdi. 

The  mother  of  Joseph  and  Molly  w;is  also  a  daughter  of  .Vbraham 
(the  brother  of  Hendricki  and  a  sister  oi-  half-sister  of  "lattle  Abe,"  of 
the  lower  castle  at  l'"'oi-t   Hunter.     This  made  her  a   neice  of   Hendrick 


KING   HENDRIC  391 

also,  and  a  sister  of  the  ^ii'l   r'aniliiie  wiifi  Aveiit  to  live  with  ^ir  Wil- 
liam in  174o. 

It  is  also  said  that  Joseph  liraufs  wife  was  a  dauiihter  of  the  Oneida 
♦  liief  SaiKpioit.  and  lii'i-  mother  was  a  dan.uhter  of  Hendrick.  So  it 
will  be  seen  by  tiie  fore^oinu  that  tlie  families  of  I'.i'aiit  and  Hendrick 
were  olosely  inter-related.  As  .Molly  I'.raut's  mother  was  the  sister  of 
Caroline,  ^Molly's  predecessor  was  lier  own  annt  and  Sir  \\'illiam  niight 
be  called  lier  nncle.  Retniaiinti'  to  William  .lolinson.  the  half-breed 
mentioned  in  .Iohnson"s  will,  lie  was  cdnc-ited  by  Sir  Willian;  at  I>r. 
^N'heelock's  school  at  Lebanon,  Conn.,  and  was  at  the  battle  of  Oriskany 
with  P.rant.  Here  lie  was  killed  in  a  hand  to  hand  contest  with  the 
half-l)reed  Thomas  Spencer,  who  jilayed  a  consi)i<aions  part  with  Her- 
kimer's trooi)s  and  at  the  sie^e  of  l''ort  Schnxler.  In<iden1all>'  it  ma.v 
lie  of  interest  to  know  that  the  said  Tlionias  Sjienccr  is  said  lo  hnw 
been  a  son  ot'  the  niission;i r.\',  Kev.  lOlisha  Spencer,  by  an  Uneidu  girl, 
born  at  (hihwa.^a,  abont  the  year  ITo."*. 

I   know  not  wh.-it  the  troth  may  be: 

I  sa.v  the  tale  as  'twas  said  to  me. 


THE  TOWN  OF  MANHEIM. 

AN    ADDRESS    BY    JOHN    B.    KOETTEKITZ,    OF  LITTLE    FALLS. 

Delivered    before  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  Society  May  10.  1902. 

The  town  of  ]\Ianheini,  in  the  county  of  Herkimer,  is  very  ueaiiy 
the  center  point  of  the  Htate  of  New  York,  and  is  loc-ated  on  tiic  north 
side  of  the  Mohawlv  Kiver,  l)etween  4.'5  (hjrrees  and  4.'!  decrees  and  7 
minutes  northerly  latitude,  and  74  decrees  42  miinites  and  74  degrees 
52  minutes  westerly  longitude,  and  the  approximate  area  is  about  4"_: 
square  miles. 

The  town  is  kite-shaped,  with  the  blunt  or  head  end  at  the  northwest 
corner  and  the  sliarp  or  the  tail  end  at  the  southeast  corner.  The  low- 
est elevation  is  about  820  feet  above  tide  at  tin-  junction  of  the  Mo- 
hawk River  and  East  Canada  Creek,  and  the  highest  i)oint  is  the  spur 
of  the  hill  on  the  west  side  of  the  Salisbury  road  on  Ed.  J.  J'.urreU's 
farm,  which  is  1,4(58  feet  high.  The  southern  boundary  of  the  town  is 
the  Mohawk  Kiver,  the  eastern  boundary  is  the  East  ('nnad:i  <'reek, 
and  the  west  and  north  lines  are  artiticial  and  will  be  descrilnMl  i.-iter. 

The  principal  creeks  in  the  town  are  the  ('rum  Creek,  tlie  Cillet  or 
Ransom  creek,  and  the  Beaver  Creek.  The  town  is  well  w;it(  red,  the 
soil  in  the  town  is  excellent,  and  the  dairy  farms  of  Manheim  have  .al- 
ways enjoyed  great  reputation  for  productiveness. 

The  writer  of  the  history  of  this  town  is  confronted  with  the  dithculty 
that  very  little  material  of  historical  value  has  been  iireserved.  Of 
course,  the  town  books,  the  county  clerk's  records,  the  records  of  i)at- 
ents,  and  the  local  histories  give  some  outline  upon  wliidi  to  base  a 
historical  sketch,  but  it  is  hard  to  gather  enough  data  of  gener;!l  inter- 
est and  worthy  of  preservation  Avliich  are  not  containetl  in  such  lecords. 

It  has  always  been  the  tradition  among  the  old  i»eoi)le  of  Manheim 
that  the  town  at  its  erection  was  named  by  Dr.  William  Petry  of  Her- 
kimer, who  called  it  Manheim,  on  account  of  some  itersonal  associations 
with  that  city  in  Germany  in  his  early  life. 

Manheim  (meaning  "Home  of  Man"i  is  the  second  cai)itai  of  the 
grand  duchy  of  Baden,  and  lies  on  the  right  b;ink  of  the  Khin:>  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Neckar.  It  is  the  most  regularly  built  town  in  Cci'inany. 
perhaps  the  earliest  in  the  world  surveyed  on  strictly  rectangular  lines, 
and  the  prototype  of  American  city  construction.     Opposite  Manheim 


THE   TOWN   OF   MANHEIM.  393 

lies  LiulwigsliafoM  in  tlie  Bjivnrian  I'alatiiiate.  The  town  contains  now 
aI)ont  7a,(M)()  iit'oplc.  The  In'slory  of  the  modern  Manlu'im  begins  witli 
the  openinj;  of  flic  ITtli  centnry.  when  <'!ector  John  Fi-ederick  the 
Fourth  foundcil  a  t<iwn  tliere  wliicii  he  iMMiiiJcd  willi  I'rotestant  refn.uces 
from  Holland.  The  sti'on.uly  fortilied  castle  which  he  erected  had  the 
unfortunate  result  of  makiui;-  the  infant  1(>wn  an  object  of  contention 
in  the  thirty  years'  war.  durinj;'  which  it  was  hve  times  taken  and  re- 
taken. In  IChS!*,  Manheim,  which  had  in  tlie  meantime  recovered  from 
its  foi'nier  disasters,  was  cajitni'ed  liy  the  l''i'ench  under  Melac  aial  laith 
lessl.\'  (h'stroyed.  Ten  years  later  it  was  relmilt  on  an  extended  scale 
and  provided  witli  fortirtcations.  l<'or  its  sulise(|uent  importance  it  was 
indebted  to  elector  ('haries  I'liiliii.  who,  owinu  to  clnu'ch  disputes, 
transferred  his  residence  fidm  lleiddbcri;'  to  .Manheini,  in  I7"_'<».  It  re- 
mained the  capital  of  the  I'alatinate  for  sixty  years.  It  is  now  an 
important  trade  ceider  and  its  people  are  known  for  liieir  musical  and 
literar\'  sjiirit.  II  was  in  this  city  that  llu-  dramas  of  the  .m'eat  (iermaii 
juiet.  .M;ix  von  Schiller,  were  hrst  pfoduced  upon  tlie  stai^'e. 

Manheini  h.-is  a  comjiarat  ix'cly  restricted  history  on  account  of  the 
total  loSs  of  the  private  papers  of  Sir  William  .lohnsoii.  who  was  the 
owner  of  all  the  Land,  exceptinu'  three  or  foin-  small  tracts. 

The  oldest  |ialent  in  the  town  was  uranted  to  the  Ke\ .  Tetrns  \'an 
I'rieseii.  (if  .\lban.v,  a  well  known  Iteformed  iireacher  of  early  colonial 
times,  who  erected  dnriny-  his  pastorat<'  at  Albany  the  Old  lUitch 
clmr<-h  ;il  the  foot  of  State  street,  and  who  was  also  buried  under  the 
a  Itar  o{'  that  church. 

'I'lie  jiait  of  the  \an  Driesen  patent  in  Herkimer  county  is  now  in 
eluded  within  the  I>eardslee  farm.  For  information,  I  will  include  iii 
this  paper,  at  tlie  end  of  the  history  of  each  pateid.  the  references  to 
the  I'ccords  in  the  othce  of  the  Seia'etary  of  State. 

.Inne  'J4,   IT.'U,   Land   I'apers,  Nolnme  Id,  pau'e  Kil'.     I'etition  of   I'etrns 
\';in   Hrieseii  lor  a   license  t^o  inu'cliase  2.. ")()()  acres  of  land  in  the  coniU.x' 
of   .\lbany,   and    reiiorl    of   I'^raiieis   Harrison,   chairman   of   the   commit 
tee  (d'  coinicil   to  whom  the  s.inie  was  refeired. 

September  'S>.  li.'ll.  Land  Fajiers,  xolmne  11,  i>a,t;c  <>,  Tel  it  ion  of 
I'elrus  \'an  I  >riesen  and  .lohannis  lOhl,  iirayinu  ;i  itatent  for  '.'.(mio  acres 
of  land  lyinu'  on  the  north  side  of  the  Moh.awk  Uivei-. 

Sept(  inber  •'Ui.  ITMl.  rejiort  of  I'liiliji  Livii'.j^ston.  chairman  of  tin- com- 
mittee of  council,  to  whom   the  same  was  ref(M-red, 

May  '.».  I7.'!"_',  \-olnnie  11  of  Land  r.apers.  j-aiic  ."JS.  The  Indian  deed  to 
i'etrns  \'an  1  >riesen  and  .lohannis  VA\\.  ministei-s  of  the  ndsjiel,  of  all 
that  tia'-t  of  land  l,\in,u'  in  tli<'  county  of  .Mb.aiiy.  on  the  north  side  of 
tlic  .\Iolia\'-ks  Kixcr,  bci^innini;'  .at  the  wesfeiamiost  coiaier  of  the  land 
granted  to  FraiK-is  Ilai'risoii  \-  Co..  on  the  bank  of  said  rix'ci'.  and  runs 
northeasterly  aloiiu'  the  bounds  of  said  tract  two  I'hi.ulish  mih"-'  and  a 
half,  thence  northwesterly  one  mile  and  a  half,  thence  sonthwesterl.\" 
two  liiites  and  a  half  to  the  Mohawks  Kiver  and  down  the  samt'  to  the 
idace  where  it  bejian. 


394  HERKIMER   COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Septemlier  l.'i.  ITMi:.  volume  11  of  Land  Tapers,  page  45.  Petition  of 
Petnis  N'an  Drieseii  and  Joliannis  Ehl  and  others,  praying  a  patent  for 
a  certain  tract  of  land  on  the  north  side  of  the  Mohawks  River  recently 
released  to  the  Crown  liy  the  Indian  i)i'oi>rictors,  and  report  of  Uiji  Van 
Dam,  from  the  conunittcc  of  conncil,  to  whom  the  same  was  referred. 

Octolier  2;!,  \7'-'>'2,  \'olnme  11,  of  Land  Papers,  page  4!t.  Warrant  of 
snrvey  for  I'ctrns  \'an  Driesen,  Joliannis  Khl  and  others,  for  a  tract  of 
land  on  the  nortli  side  of  the  Mohawk  Uivt-r. 

Febrnary  7.  17."!r..  xoinnu'  12,  of  Land  Papers,  page  <t3.  Description 
of  a  snrvey  of  a  tiacl  of  land  for  Petrus  Van  Driesen.  lying  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Moh.-iwks  River,  near  ("anajohar.v.  beginning  at  the 
nionlli  of  a  ci'iljiin  bidok  called  the  ('anad;i  Kill,  and  co'ntaining  L'>2(5 
a<-res.     (/adwall.-Kh'r  ('olden.  Snrveyoi-  (ieneral. 

M.iy  1.  IT:;?.  Ndlniuc  12  of  Land  Tapers,  |ia,i;es  74  and  7.").  Warrant  for 
a  p;itenl  lo  Tchns  \an  Driesen,  for  a  certain  trad  of  land  lying  in  the 
connty  of  Albany,  with  a  certihcate  to  Telrns  \'an  Driesen,  for  all  that 
ccrlain  tr.ict  of  l.-ind  on  the  north  side  of  ihc  Mohawks  Ri\er  near  (-ana- 
Joliar,'.  licginnjnu  at  the  north  of  \\\v  ('anad:i  Kill,  and  cotaining  1,000 
acres. 

Map  of  tract  of  land  granted  to  Tetrns  \an  Driesen,  in  1737,  and  its 
snltdivisions,  and  the  (piantity  of  acres  each  contains,  and  giving  also 
the  names  of  the  proprietors.     State   Library,   ^L^nuscrfpt  room,   Map 

No.  y,:\. 

From  papers  tiled  in  1785,  it  appears  that  John  Van  Driesen.  the 
grandson  of  Petrns.  experienced  a  gi'eat  deal  of  trouble  in  locating  this 
land  and  showing  proper  title.  It  does  not  fully  appear  how  this  was 
settled,  but  in  178<).  this  same  John  Van  Driesen  obtained  an  ad.iacent 
patent,  to  which  the  following  are  references: 

July  5,  178(!,  Land  Papers,  volume  42,  page  122.  Map  of  428  acres 
of  land  lying  in  the  county  of  Montgomer.v,  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Mohawk  River,  on  the  west  side  of  a  creek  called  by  the  Indians  Tega- 
huharougliwhe,  and  by  the  Christians,  Canada  Kill  or  creek.  Surveyed 
for  John  \'an  Driesen  l>y  Simeon  De  Witt,  Surveyor  Genei'al. 

July  d,  178<;,  Land  Papers,  volume  42,  page  122.  Return  of  survey 
for  John  Van  Driesen.  of  428  acres  of  land  on  the  north  side  of  the 
MohaAvk  River,  on  the  west  side  of  a  creek  called  by  the  Indians  Tega- 
huharougliwhe.  and  by  the  Christians  Canada   Kill  or  creek. 

August  14,  178(1,  volinue  iUi  of  l,;nid  T;ipcrs,  i)age  54.  Abstract  of 
letters-patent  granted  to  John  \'an  Driesen,  for  328  acres  of  land  on  the 
west  side  of  Tegahnharoughwhe  or  Canada  Creek.  Montgomery  county. 

The  next  oldest  patent,  part  of  which  is  included  in  the  town  of  Man- 
heini.  is  the  so-called  (tIcu's  Purchase.  Six  lots  of  that  purchase  are 
located  within  the  town,  viz:  lot  11.  originally  granted  to  John  Schuy- 
ler: lot  15.  to  .lacob  (ilcn:  lot  IC.  to  Andrew  .MacDowel;  No.  17.  to 
Patrick  McClaugry:  lot  18.  to  Philip  Schuyler;  lot  19.  to  Abraham 
(ilen.     Glen's   i>urchase   was  originally   granted   to   various   parties   in 


THE   TOWN   OF   MANHEIM  395 

hii'Se  sulidivisidiis.  U  would  lejid  loo  f.ii-  to  PimniPnitt  ;ill  tlir  suhso- 
qiient  steps  t;ikcn  in  Mciniiriiiu  this  title.  ;ind  I  will  ,ui\c  only  ;i  lew  ;is 
refereiH-es. 

On  ( >ct(ilier  "J'.*,  i7;;(,  Noimiie  11.  <,['  L;ind  r.-ijiers.  pav.e  i;;(;.  \\(.  (iiid  the 
peliliiin  III'  .laeoi)  (Jleii  and  olliers.  pi-a.viii:4  a  paleiii  U,v  '-'Lddii  aeres 
<iii  tlx'  iKnili  side  of  the  Maipiase  Ui\-er.  Kepurl  ul'  .lames  D-Laneey. 
froiu  the  eoinniittee  of  ((inneil.  tu  wlami   Ihe  same  was  I'et'en-ed. 

Land  I'apei-s.  xdlumedd.  pauc  l-Vl.  .Mapdl'a  tract  ul'  land,  inirehased 
in  the  year  IT-'lt.  in  his  Ma.jesty's  name,  from  the  nali\e  indians,  hy 
.laenl)  (iien  and  others.  ("adwalhider  Celden  and  Ale.xander  ('ulden. 
Survi'.\((i's  (ieneral. 

Au.i;ust  l"".  IT.'IS.  Land  Tajiers.  voiunie  pj.  ])aue  IC'J.  ( 'eitilnate  to 
James  T>e  Lanee.\.  John  Lyiuh'say.  and  Alirani  (;ien  Tor  ei^hl  several 
tiaets  of  land,  heinu'  a  i>ai-t  of  a  iturehas^-,  ts  miles  alio\c  Sclieneetady. 
which  lieiiins  at  the  common  landing  and  runs  aloni;  the  AL-i(|uase  IJiver 
to  tlu'  r\enned,\-  Kill,  thi-ee  of  which  containini;-  loucther  L'.Titi  acres,  for 
James  1  >e  Lanrey.  two  conta inin.ii'  to.yetliei-  l.TiKt  acres,  lor  John  Lynde 
say.  and  the  remainiui:  thice  containin.y'  L'.i.'ir.  acres,  foi'  .\liraham  (;ien. 
And  for  which  eirjit  da.\s  later  (see  volume  1"_',  \>:ns{'  H'll'i  a  wariant  for 
a  iiatenf  was  issued  to  James  De  Laneey.  John  I  >e  Lindcsay  and  Al>i-a 
ham  (Jlen. 

Auuust  17.  17.'!S,  vdlume  LI.  of  I^and  I'aiiers.  iia^e  l.'il.  Warrant  for  a 
patent  to  Patrick  .Mc<'lauhr.\  and  .\ndrew  .M(d>owal  for  Hve  se\-eral 
tracts  of  land  situal(^d  on  the  north  side  of  the  ALaipiase  Itiver  and  con- 
taining .';,7iM>  ;icres  of  land  in  the  southeastern  jiart  of  the  tract  Iietween 
the   ci-eek    :ind    Ihe    Mohawk    Ki\<'r. 

The  Snell  and  'IMmmerman  jiateid  was  proWahl.x"  the  lii'st  larue  part 
of  the  town  a<-tually  settled. 

.NLiy  17.  17.".L'.  Land  I'apei's,  volume  14.  [laue  147.  Jai'oli  Zimmerman 
and  John  Joost  Schnel.  made  a  jietition  lor  a  license  to  pureliasp  4,r)00 
acres  of  the  tract  of  land  l.vin.i;  in  the  count.\-  of  Albany,  on  the  north 
^idl•  ol  ihe  .Mohawks  Kiver.  ahoui  si.\  miles  below  the  ureat  tlatts,  he 
tween  the  lands  there  helon.uiny  to  Petrus  \'an  I  •riesen  and  CorTielius 
•  'uyler. 

July  '_'(",.  17.".;;.  Land  I'aix'rs.  volume  \7>.  ]ii\v:<'  CI.  Petition  of  Jai^oli 
'i'imliernia  n  and  Johan  Joost  Snell,  |ira.\in.i;'  a  license  |o  purchase 
of  Ihe  Indians  t.dtM  i  .acres  of  a  cerlain  Iracl  of  land  l\in,u  in 
Ihe  coindy  of  .Mhan.w  on  Ihe  iioi'lh  side  of  the  Mohawks 
I'Imt.  ;iiionl  sj.\  miles  helow  ihe  i;rael  Hats  helween  Ihe  land  there  lie- 
lonLiini;    III   Pelrns   \';in    hriesen   and   ('ornelius   ('n.\lei-. 

Ma.\  ■_".!.  n.'il.  L.ind  {'ajiers.  volume  lo.  pauf  lo.'i.  Indian  deed  to 
.liihn  .loost  Schnell  and  Jacob  'I'imberm.i n,  for  .i  certain  trad  of  land 
l.virm  al  < 'anajohare.  on  Ihe  iioi'lh  side  of  Ihe  .Moh.awk  river  in  Ihe  coun- 
t.\-  of  Alban.v.  beiiinninu  al  a  lar.tic  white  pine  I  ree  marked  with  a  blaze 
Ihe  three  nolches  on  four  sides,  standing'  on  Ihe  wesi  side  of  a  creek 
Ol'  sti'eam  uf  waier  called  i'annail.\'  Kill,  el'xen  chains  below  a  ureal   fall 


396  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

in  said  creelv,  ninety  cliains  from  said  Moliawks  River,  measured  on  a 
noith  twenty  desirees  east  course,  and  runs  from  said  tree  nortu  eighty- 
four  defiTt^fs  west  one  hundred  elaaius.  then  north  forty-five  degrees 
west  eighty  cliains.  thence  south  three  degrees  thirty  minutes  west 
sixty-eight  cliains  to  the  said  Mohawks  River,  at  a  marked  tree  standing 
eiylit  cliains  Ik'Iow  the  month  of  a  creek  called  by  the  Indians.  Cathe- 
tacne.  tlien  up  the  stream  of  the  Mohawks  River  as  it  runs  to  a  young 
walnut  tree  marked  on  three  sides,  standing  opposite  to  the  dwelling 
house  of  Man  Xicholl  Herchimer,  then  north  fifty  degrees  east  forty 
cliains.  thence  south  eighty  degrees  east  (>ighty  chains,  to  the  said  creek 
called  ( "athetackne.  then  up  the  stream  thereof  as  it  runs  to  a  birch 
tree  niaikcd  with  I.  S.,  being  ninety-five  chains  in  a  straight  line,  and 
fioiii  thence  north  seventy  degrees  east  nin(>ty-one  chains  to  the  said 
Cannady  Kill,  and  thence  down  the_  stream  thereof  to  the  place  of  be- 
ginning, containing  about  3,(iOO  acres;  certificate  of  Cadwallader  Col- 
den.  .Ir..  that  the  same  was  surveyed  by  him  and  the  purchase  money 
mentioned  therein  paid  in  his  presence  and  also  certificate  of  Hendriok 
I''ry.  justice  of  the  peace,  that  the  same  was  duly  executed. 

February  r»,  17;"),  Laud  Papers,  volume  1."),  page  135.  Petition  of 
.lacob  Timbei-man  and  .Tohan  Joost  Schnell.  praying  letters-patent  for 
a  tract  of  land  at  ('ana.joharie  on  the  north  side  of  the  Mohawks  River, 
in  the  county  of  Albany,  containing  about  3,()(l(»  acres.  The  map  of  the 
patent  dated  March  2S.  IT;").^),  can  be  found  in  the  State  Engineer's  office, 
in  Fieldbook  3;"),  on  page  214,  and  field  notes  on  page  215. 

A  small  patent  to  the  west  of  .lohn  ^'an  Driesen's  was  granted  to 
Isjiac  \'rooman  in  17SS.  A  certificate  of  location  was  issued  \ugust  4. 
171M)  (see  Land  Pa])ei's.  volume  40.  page  00)  to  Isaac  Vrooman  and  Fred- 
erick Hassold,  for  a  tract  of  land  of  483  acres  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Mohawk  River,  opposite  the  Canajoharie  Castle. 

Tlie  history  of  the  Itoy.-il  (irant  has  l)een  so  ably  narrated  by  Judge 
i^niith  that  I  will  not  repeat  ;iny  parts  of  his  paper,  and  only  add  some 
I'eferences. 

October  15,  17(iO.  L.-md  Pai»ers,  volume  bi,  page  5.  Petition  of  Johan 
.loost  Petrie  and  his  associates  to  the  numlier  of  fifty  persons,  praying 
a  renewal  of  the  license  granted  to  him  on  the  <)th  day  of  Apiil.  1755, to 
purchase  50,000  acres  of  land  bounded  southwardly  by  the  Mohawks 
River  and  partly  by  patented  lands,  eastwardly  by  Caioharee  or  Can- 
ada C'reek,  opposite  Fort  Henry,  and  northwardly  by  Canada  Creek  at 
Rui-netsfield  and  extending  back  into  the  woods.  The  original  petition  of 
1755  was  made  by  Jaco!)  Folz.  John  Joost  Petrie  and  others  for  50,000 
.•icr<'S  and  to  run  into  the  woods  20  miles.  The  original  petition  of 
Sir  William  Johnson  was  dated  March  17.  17(51.  and  can  be  found  in 
Land  Papers,  volume  <iO.  page  45.  Whether  this  petition  was  made 
before  "the  dream"  occurred  we  cannot  tell,  but  it  might  seem  plausible 
that  he  began  to  dream  as  soon  as  the  Palatines  began  to  apply  for  the 
land. 


TtlE   TOWN   OF  MANHEIM  397 

^he  Royal  Grant  was  not  .snrveycd  until  17<i4,  and  a  copy  of  the  sur- 
vey made  by  Isaac  Vrooman  is  on  tile  in  the  State  P^ngineer's  office. 
The  survey  began  on  Monday.  October  2i>.  17(i4.  on  the  west  line  of  the 
Petrus  Van  Driesen  tract  on  the  shore  of  the  Caieharonde  or  Canada 
C3reek,  and  followed  then  the  west  line  of  said  creek.  The  survey  party 
camped  the  tirst  night  near  the  noi'th  line  of  the  Snell  and  Timmerman 
patent.  As  they  passed  along  said  creek,  lie  describes  th(>  present  loca- 
tion of  Dolgeville  as  "some  good  land  along  the  bank  of  the  creek" 
and  camps  the  next  night  in  the  town  of  Salisbury.  Surveying  west- 
wai'dly  from  the  present  location  of  Stratford  along  what  is  now  known 
as  the  Jerseytield  line,  he  (luarreled  with  the  Indians  about  the  direc- 
tion and  they  forcibly  moved  his  compass  so  that  he  would  run  in  a 
due  westerly  direction.  Running  on  tliis  bearing  he  reached  the  West 
Canada  Creek,  followed  the  same  down  and  stayed  at  the  houses  of 
John  Roback  and  Mr.  Herkimer,  and  took  with  him  Adam  Barse  and 
Nicholas  Weaver,  Jr.,  to  sliow  him  the  lines  of  the  (Jerman  B^'lats  pat- 
ent. He  continues  his  report:  Friday  morning  I  intended  to  tinish  my 
survey  from  the  Little  Falls  down  the  river  to  the  land  granted  to 
PetruS  Van  Driesen,  but  tlie  Indians  had  hunted  some  beaver  and 
martin  during  my  survey,  and  had  sold  them  for  rum  and  got  so  drunk 
that  it  was  out  of  my  power  to  get  them  together  or  to  do  anything 
witli  them."  Tlie  men  with  liini  on  this  survey  are  of  interest,  as 
they  were  possibly  the  first  white  men  crossing  the  ujtpcr  part  of  the 
town.  They  were  John  Van  Driesen,  Philip  (iarlock,  Jacob  Contremau, 
Jacob  Zeeber,  Safrenus  Zeeber  and  William  Zeeber,  Jr.,  and  tlie  follow- 
ing Indians:  Paulus,  Onnoghario;  William,  Tagourante;  Philip,  Ojon- 
ha:  Thomas,  Jagyowarne;  William.  Teyaharo;  William,  Tecannossa- 
ronne;  Adam,  Charestagelia;  Adam,  Wateii-aitke;  two  lioys,  Peter  and 
Gideon. 

The  line  of  the  grant  which  was  unlinislied  on  .-icccnint  of  the  inter- 
ference of  the  Indians,  was  corrected  by  Vrooman  in  17(')8.  when  lie 
started  from  tlie  liouse  of  Sufreiias  Snell  at  Canajoharie  with  white 
men  and  Indians,  among  whom  was  Joseph  Brant,  Desuegenekara. 

The  map  of  the  first  survey  can  be  found  in  the  St.ite  Engineer's 
office,  portfolio  "B,"  No.  218,  and  two  maps  of  the  later  survey  are  con- 
tained among  the  MSS.  in  the  State  Lil)rary,  All)aiiy,  X.  Y. 

All  of  the  lands  in  the  Royal  Grant  with  the  excei)tioii  of  lliose  willed 
to  such  of  the  Indian  children  of  Sir  William  Johnson  who  wei-e  too 
young  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  to  take  an  active  part  against  the 
Americans,  were  forfeited  and  sold. 

I  cite  from  the  testament  of  Sir  Willi.im  .lolinson.  the  following  sec- 
tions relating  to  the  Royal  Grant  as  far  as  it  interests  the  ft)wn  of  Man- 
lieim:  ''To  my  prudent  liousekeeper,  JNIary  I'.rant,  mother  of  (he  above 
mentioned  children,  I  give  and  bequeath  the  lot  No.  1  .being  the  i»;irt 
of  the  land  now  called  the  King's  Land,  which  s.-iid  land  is  to  go  after 
her  death  to  my  son  Peter  and  his  heirs  forever."     This  is  part  of  the 


398  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

fjirin  now  occupied  by  I'eter  M.  Bidleniiin,  on  the  turnpike.  "1  sive 
;ui(l  devise  unto  I'eter.  eldest  son  of  Mary  Hrant.  4,0(M»  acres  in  tlie 
Koyal  (Ji'ant,  now  called  Kiny's  Land,  n(>xt  to  tlie  .Moliawk  liiver,  heini; 
a  strip  of  land  in  tlie  Koyal  Grant  near  the  Little  Falls,  and  wesi  t<> 
lot  No.  1,  opposite  the  house  of  Nicholas  Herkimer,  and  incjndes  two 
lots.  Nos.  2  and  o.  along'  the  riverside,  ami  which  are  now  occ;ii)ied  l»y 
TTry  TTouse."  These  lat-ter  two  lot's  are  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Dr.  (Jar- 
lock,  and  were  formerly  the  property  of  AL-iJor  Andrew  Fin- k.  The 
4,(Hl(»  acres  willed  to  I'eter  .lohnson  would  embract'  the  lower  i)art  of 
the  town  of  .Manheim  np  to  Ira  Tinnneiinan's.  and  also  part  of  the 
l)resent  city  of  Little  Falls.  Peter  Johnson  was  a  captain  on  the  Hritish 
side  during'  the  Ke\olutionary  war  and  his  lands  were  forfeited  to  the 
State. 

The  will  continues:  "I  devise  and  beiiueath  to  Elizabeth,  my  daugh- 
ter of  Mary  Brant.  ■'  *  *  2, ()(»(>  acres  in  the  Koyal  (li'ant  riow  call- 
ed Kings'  Land."  This  embraces  the  centei'  jiart  of  the  town,  and  her 
lands  were  also  forfeited.  , 

He  willed  to  Magdalene  (usually  called  Lanai  sister  of  the  said  Eliz- 
abeth and  daughter  of  .ALnry  Brant.  2.000  acres  of  land  in  tlw  Royal 
Grant,  now  called  King's  Land,  joining  the  tract  of  her  sist<  r  Eliza- 
beth. 

The  extreme  northei'n  jtart  of  the  tract  gi'anted  to  Magdalene  would 
be  hi  the  town  of  Salisbm-y,  south  of  the  tract  still  known  as  Margaret 
Johnson  tract.  The  tract  of  .Magdalene  Johnson  would  include  the  vil- 
lage of  Dolgeville  and  <ill  the  lands  west  of  it  up  to  the  William  Peck 
farm. 

The  tirst  special  refei'eiice  to  the  territory'  emlir;iced  in  the  [H'esi-nt 
town  we  tind  in  the  I'aris  documents,  \olume  b">.  It  is  taken  from  a 
description  of  the  country  between  Osucgo  and  Albany  in  IT.'T.  anil 
says:  "The  portage  at  the  Little  P'alls  is  a  cpiarter  of  a  league  and  is 
passed  with  carts.  There  is  a  road  on  both  sides  ot  the  river,  but  that 
on  the  left  bank  is  preferable  being  better.  From  the  portage  at  the 
Little  l^'alls  continuing  along  the  left  baid<  of  the  ri\-er  there  s  oidy  a 
foot  path,  which  is  tr.aveled  with  <lirh(  iilty  on  horseback.  Three 
leagues  must  be  made  over  this  path  to  ;irrive  at  the  ('anad;i  Creeli. 
when  we  meet  the  !iigh-ro;id  tliat  passes  from  the  termin.atloi!  of  the 
Little  Falls  portage  along  the  righi  b:iidv  of  the  Mohawk  Kiver.  where 
there  is  a  ford  above  Fort  ( 'annatchocari,  opposite  the  mouth  of  tlie 
Canada  Creek.  There  is  also  a  ferry  boat  at  this  place  to  piil  carts 
across  when  the  river  is  higii."  So  it  a.ppoars  that  at  that  time  the 
wagon  road  from  Little  Falls  to  East  <"reek  went  along  the  south  side 
of  the  river  to  the  above  named  fort.  This  fort  was  the  castle  of  King 
ilendrick,  mentioned  on  Sauthier's  map,  and  also  shown  on  the  recent 
map  published  by  the  Regents  on  aboriginal  locations.  Here  wagons 
or  carts  could  be  transferred  across  the  Moliawk  Kiver  by  ferry  and 
then  continue  their  voyage  through  the  present  town  of  St.  Johnsville. 


THE  TOWN   OF   MANHEIM  399 

This  castle  of  Kiiis'  Ilondrick  was  localcd  on  tlic  Sinitli   f.inii    ()i)|n) 
site  Bejirdslee's,  south  of  the  river. 

Tryon  eoiinty  was  ereetert  from  Albany  ronnly.  on  .Mardi   \2.  17T"J. 

By  act  of  Legislature  of  March  -A.  ITT'J.  lii^liway  roniinissioners 
were  appointed  for  the  Stone  Araliia  dislricl  as  follows:  Safriinis 
Tyger,  Adam  Lonx.  .Iniy  Copcrnol.  Arcnt  Ihowcr  and  llend.ick  Mcr- 
cliel. 

By  an  aet  of  the  same  date  all  that  paii  of  the  said  ronnty  of  'I'ryoii. 
which  is  bounded  as  follows,  to  wil:  on  the  east  and  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Mohawk  Kiver  by  the  Mohawk  distrirt  (i.  e.,  I)\  llie  north  and 
s«iut)i  line  drawn  fi-oni  the  Kill  commoidy  called  Anthony's  .\ose  con 
tinned  to  the  north  liounds  of  the  colonyi;  on  the  west  by  a  north  line 
from  the  Little  Falls,  on  the  north  by  the  north  lionnds  of  this  colony 
and  on  the  south  by  the  Mohawk  Uiver,  shall  be  one  separate  :\nil  dis- 
tinct district,  and  be  heneefonh  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  Stom- 
Arabia  district. 

On  iNIa'^ch  8.  177."!,  the  name  of  tliis  district  was  clian,i;i'd  to  the  Pal- 
atine district.  The  town  of  Talatine  in  those  days  liefore  the  ftevolu- 
tionary  war  endjraced  a  larj;e  part  of  the  pres(>nt  counties  of  Herkimer. 
Montgomery,  Fulton.  Hamilton,  and  St.  Lawrence,  and  llie  total  area 
of  the  town  was  2.800  square  nnles.  and  went  from  the  .Mohawk  Kiver 
to  the  St.  Lawrence. 

On  February  0,  177o,  an  a<'t  for  the  better  laying  out  roads  was 
passed  and  commissioners  of  highways  were  appointed  for  th.'  district 
and  the  same  were  reapjiointed  by  the  law  of  April  :;,  177.*i.  '1  he  com- 
missioners so  appointed  were  Harmanus  \  .an  Slyke.  .lacoh  Klmk.  John 
Frey,  Adam  Loucks,  and  Isaac  Paris. 

Tlie  glorious  record  of  the  town  of  I'alatine  during  the  Uevolntionary 
war  is  known  to  you  and  rather  the  suli.ject  of  another  icipei'.  The 
present  territory  of  .\hinheim  at  the  tinu'  of  the  lievolution  contained 
to  our  best  knowledge  only  the  settlements  of  Riemensnyder's  Bush 
and  of  Snell's  Bush,  all  other  settlements  were  the  results  of  the  influx 
after  the  Revolution.  1  shall  cite  from  Sinnus  such  exeiifs  -\vliich  par 
ticularly  interest  the  town.  Tradition  exists  among  the  old  inh.abitants 
of  Snell's  Bush,  that  their  church  and  settlement  was  totally  destroyed 
diu-ing  the  Revolutionary  war;  I  liave  not  been  able  to  verily  the  truth 
ot  that  tradition.  Riemensnyder's  Bush  was  also  a  (Jernian  settlemenl. 
It  is  probable  that  it  received  its  greatest  in<Mt'ase  after  the  failure  of 
the  Hassenclever  exjx'dition  in  Schuyler.  .V  few  of  the  families  settle<l 
there,  as  for  instance,  the  Boyei's  and  Windeckers.  may  i»ossibly  claim 
descent  from  the  Palatines.  This  settlenuMit  was  twice  the  scene  of 
bloodshed  during  the  struggle  of  the  colonies,  and  1  insert  here  verbally 
from  the  frontiersmen  of  New  York,  tlie  story  as  told  by  Simms.  coi- 
reefing  only  a  few  obvious  errors. 

"About  the  middle  of  .M:ucli,  1778.  a  party  of  tht  enemy.  India.ns  and 
Tories,  made  a  sudden  invasion  and  lu'oke  up  tlie  settlement.     A  sur- 


400  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

jtrise  thus  iinlooked  for,  was  accomplished  by  journeying  upon  snow 
shoes,  and  just  at  a  time  wlien  some  of  the  settlers  were  endeavoring- 
to  tind  less  exposed  situations.  Cobus  Mabee  was  in  the  act  of  remov- 
ing his  family  to  the  vicinity  of  Indian  Castle.  His  children  then  were 
two  sons  and  two  daughters.  He  had  gone  with  most  of  his  household 
effects,  accompauied  by  his  wife  and  two  younger  children,  to  the  Mo- 
hawk valley,  leaving  .lohn  and  Polly,  his  oldest  children,  to  rake  care 
of  the  premises  until  his  return,  on  the  following  day.  As  the  invaders 
scattered  about  the  settlement,  Hess,  who  was  at  the  murder  of  the 
Mount  boys,  and  another  Indian,  who  was  well  known  to  the  Mabee 
family — probably  Catarotiua — visited  the  premises,  expecting  as  be- 
lieved, to  kill  or  capture  Mr.  Mabee. 

As  the  tv«'o  Indians  came  there  they  saw  John  near  the  house  in  the 
act  of  cutting  potatoes  for  cattle,  and  ran  directly  to  him.  Hess  held 
out  his  left  hand,  with  a  salutation  of  friendship,  while  his  right  hand 
grasped  a  sharpened  tomahawk.  As  the  lad  took  the  proffered  hand, 
he  read  his  fate  in  the  significant  look,  so  peculiar  to  the  defiant  eye  of 
the  Indian,  and  discovering  his  sister  at  the  moment  a  little  distance 
off,  his  voice,  in  German,  sounded  the  caution — "Polly,  take  care  of 
yourself,  or" — the  sentence  remained  initinished  upon  his  lips.  She  saw 
the  gleam  of  the  weapon  that,  as  it  cut  short  his  warning  to  herself, 
fell  heavily  upon  the  skull  of  her  brother,  fled  and  effectually  concealed 
herself  under  some  cornstalks.  Her  brother's  scalp  was  torn  of¥,  the 
dwelling,  which  afforded  little  plunder,  was  soon  on  nre.  ^nd  the  In- 
dians were  on  their  way  to  find  other  exposed  victims. 

Returning  to  his  former  ivsidence,  after  tlie  enemy  left  it,  Mr.  Ma- 
bee found  his  unfortunate  son,  then  15  years  of  age,  still  alive  and 
receiving  the  caresses  of  his  sister,  two  years  younger.  As  stated, 
these  childi'en  had  been  sent  to  school,  and  well  had  improved  their 
time.  They  were  devotedly  attached  to  each  other,  and  John  was  con- 
sidered the  most  promising  boy  In  the  settlement.  Placing  his  son  upon 
the  sled,  where  I'olly  again  acted  the  nurse,  he  drove  as  carefully  as 
possible  to  the  Mohawk  valley,  but  soon  after  arriving  at  the  castle, 
the  boy  was  released  from  his  suffering. 

Of  the  settlers  surpris(>d  and  carried  into  captivity,  were:  Conrad, 
Jacob,  Adam  and  Joseph  Klock;  jNIabus  Forbush,  Robhold  Ough,  Adam 
and  Rudolph  Furrie,  Henry  Shafei-  and  son  Henry.  Shafer  had  mai'- 
ried  the  widow  of  Jacob  Moyer,  and  at  the  time  of  the  surprise,  was 
preparing  to  move  on  the  place  Cobus  Mabee  was  vacating.  Indeed, 
his  son  Henry  had  been  sent  thither  with  a  load  of  some  kind,  and  was 
captured  on  his  way.  No  females,  it  is  believed,  were  killed  or  t-aptured 
on  this  settlement  at  that  time;  and  the  father  of  Forbush,  who  was 
too  old  to  make  the  journey,  and  too  bald  to  afford  a  bounty-paying 
scalp,  was,  by  a  freak  of  humanity  or  some  other  motive,  left  behind. 
On  leaving  the  neigliborliood  the  enemy  crossed  over  to  the  East  Jei-- 
seyfield  road,  and  there  captured  John  Keyser  and  his  sons,  Michael 


THE  TOWN   OF   MANHEIM.  401 

and  John,  burned  his  bnildin.us.  and  from  his  sheep  and  cattle  they 
replenished  their  larder.  Calvin  Barnes,  who  married  into  the  Keyser 
family  after  the  war,  was  living  on  the  Keyser  place  in  IH'A).  The  pris- 
oners received  their  share  of  sufferinj;  on  their  way  to  Canada,  and 
prohahly  all  came  hack.  Some  of  the  dwellings  in  the  settlement, 
from  motives  of  policy,  were  not  burned  until  a  later  invasion  of  the 
enemy.  Whih'  some  of  the  incidents  took  place  in  the  present  town  of 
F;iirheld,  most  of  the  i)eo])le  mentioned  in  the  above  article  lived  in  the 
present  town  of  Manheim. 

On  the  .".(1  of  Ainil,  17TS,  and  about  two  weeks  after  the  above  event, 
another  party  of  the  enemy,  fifty  sti-onj;.  consisting  of  Indians  and 
Toi-ies.  the  latter  outnundn'ring  their  allies,  whose  dress  and  c'laraeter 
they  emulated,  led  liy  Captain  Crawford,  a  royalist,  visited  Hiemen- 
snyder's  Hush  and  its  neighborhood.  Among  the  Tory  visitors  were 
Suffrenes  Casst'lman,  one  Countryman  ami  several  Howens,  who  had 
gone  from  the  lower  Mohn  \vk  settlements.  Not  longbeforethisinvasiou, 
Frederick  Windeeker  had  removed  to  tlie  vicinity  of  Fort  Plain;  and 
•lames  \  an  Slyke,  wlu!  m.-irrii-d  (iertrude,  a  daughter  of  Windeeker, 
was  then  liviiig  on  the  homesteail.  At  the  grist-mill  located  on  the 
Lorenzo  Carry  1  f.-irm  the  enemy  captured  its  proprietor,  John  (iarter, 
and  his  son,  .lohn,  a  lad  entering  his  teens,  and  .loseiih  Newman  and 
P,arthol(mie\v  Fickeit,  who  chanc'd  to  be  at  the  mill.  The  invaders 
arrived  at  the  Windeeker  place  as  the  family  wei'e  at  dinm-r.  The 
family  was  threshing  wheat,  and  ,Iohn  House,  who  was  related  to  Van 
Slyke  and  had  come  to  assist  him,  together  with  a  man  named  Forbush. 
\  an  Slyke  was  that  day  sick  in  bed,  and  what  was  unusual  on  similar 
occasions,  Ite  was  suffered  to  remain  there  with  his  scalp  on.  The 
enemy  ca]>tured  at  Windecker"s,  .John  House,  Forbush,  my  informant, 
.lohri  U'indecker,  then  in  his  bUh  ye;ir,  and'(Tarret,  a  brother  of  James 
\aii  Slyke.  about  the  same  ;ige  as  young  Windeeker.  They  also  cap- 
tured in  and  contiguous  to  this  settlement,  John  Cyi)hers,  Mr.  Helmer, 
Jacob  Youker,  and  (iemge  Attle.  'I'he  two  latter,  who  were  out  on  a 
s(out  friiiii   I''oit  Keimensiiyder's  I'.ush,  were  cajitured  in  the  woods. 

( tf  this  nuiiiher  was  .bilin  Carter,  the  Keimensnyder's  Hush  miller; 
Snltrenes  L>ygert,  and  one  Ilaiiley,  of  the  Herkimer  settlement;  the  two 
latter  from  the  south  side  of  the  river  near  Little  Falls.  In  attempt- 
ing a  midnight  escape,  the  fugitives  were  discovt'red  liy  flu  water- 
guard  not  far  from  the  fort,  and  were  brought  back  :ind  flogged  as  de- 
serters. (Jarter,  whose  punishment  was  the  most  severe,  received  a 
thous.and  strijies  save  one.  lie  was  literally  tlayed,  but  sui'vived  to  be 
transportt'd  for  life.  ne\-er  to  again  see  his  family." 

After  this  i)aper  was  wrilleii.  the  lifth  volume  of  the  Public  I'apers 
of  (Joveinor  (Jeorge  Clinton,  edited  by  Hugh  Hastings,  our  State  Flis- 
toiian,  was  receixed.  As  the  testimony  in  regard  to  tlie  invasion  of 
the  settlements  north  of  the  present  city  of  Little  F.-ills  and  of  the 
events  preceding  and  subsetpient  to  it  is  told  by   the  military   leaders 


402  HERKIMER   COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

of  that  sootioii,  I  give  here  now  some  brief  extracts.  On  August  4th, 
1770,  a  large  number  of  tlie  inhabitants  of  Ti-yon  eonnt.y  addressed  a 
l)eti1ion  to  tlie  Governor,  "'setting  fortli  tlie  givat  Distresses  tliey  labor 
under  on  Aeconnr  of  the  Indians;  whereof.  Numbers  pretending  to  be 
friends,  stroll  about  tlie  County,  draw  and  eat  up  our  provision,  and  are 
fed  by  public  Stores,  wliilst  they  watcli  to  cut  our  Throats."  This  i)eti- 
tion  was  si.gned,  among  others,  l)y  Cornelius  Laniberson,  .Jacob  Klock. 
(ieorge  Klock.  Menryjviock,  Adam  Snell,  Jacob  Snell,  Jost  Snell,  <  Jeorge 
Loucks,  .lacob  Small,  Conrad  Zinnnerman,  Conrad  C.  Zinunerman.  Wil- 
liam Zimmerman,  .John  Favill,  and  about  two  hundred  more. 

On  September  MO,  177I>,  the  military  officers  of  Tryon  county  address- 
ed the  Governor  and  implored  liim  to  ])rote<'t  the  western  bound.-u'y  "by 
tr(3ops  under  proiier  officers,  posted  at  the  several  frontier  forts,  in  order 
to  frustrate  and  opixise  with  the  assistance  of  the  militia  all  revengeful 
(U'signs  of  a  cruel  enemy."  Tliis  petition  was  signed,  anu>ng  otliers, 
by  Colonel  Jacob  Klock,  and  Quartermaster  .John  Pickerd.  The  answer 
of  Governor  Clinton,  Octobei-  4th,  ]77!>,  gave  them  little  encoviragement 
ajid  urged  them  to  rely  on  the  strength  of  theii-  own  comity  and  the 
militia  of  General  Ten   Hroek's  brigade. 

A  retin-n  of  Colonel  Ivlock's  regiment  of  Tryon  county  on  February 
Ibth,  17S0,  shows  that  the  whole  regiment  consisted  of  1!>9  men,  of 
which  not  less  than  89  were  commissioned  and  non-commissioned  offi- 
cers. On  March  21st,  1780.  Colonel  Gozen  Van  Schaick  sent  to  the  Gov- 
ernor two  letters  of  Colonel  Jacob  Klock,  botli  dated  Marcli  17th,  1780, 
of  which  I  quote  a  fe^^  sentences:  "HoiioieiJ  Sir:  The  ir>th  Instant  a 
party  of  the  Enemy  to  tlic  amount  of  fifty,  have  made  their  appciirance 
at  Reemsnyd^>r"s  Bush,  and  have  taken  Capt.iin  Keyser  witli  liis  two 
sons,  and  two  <>tlier  [irisoriers,  Jcilled  one,  .-ind  l)Urnt  tlie  Captain's 
House.  1  was  nj)  with  the  Palatine  P.altalioii  yesterday:  the  Kneniy 
an'us  gone  off.  I  could  not  make  a  farther  i)ursnit  for  \\ant  of  Snow 
Shoes.  There  is  ditfei'ent  reports  tliat  there  is  an  other  party  of  lOU  out 
— an  other  coursi'  but   nothing  came  officially." 

Clinton  in  a  letter  dated  "March  2()th,  1780,  writes  to  Colonel  Klock 
that  he  was  led  to  lioiie  "that  the  distresses  the  savages  were  reduced 
to  last  year  by  om-  successful  campaign  (Sullivan'si  against  them, 
might  have  induced  them  to  sue  for  peaco."  He  writes  Mr.  Klock  that 
he  highly  approves  of  his  exertions  and  states  that  he  h:is  written  t<i 
Colonels  \  an  Schaick  and  4"en  P.rock  to  ;;ssist  Jvlock  in  his  endeavors 
to  protect  tlie  frontiei-.  On  April  Ith,  17Sn,  Colonel  Klock  sends  (Jeorge 
Ecker  with  the  payrolls  of  the  regiment  to  tlie  <;overnor  and  r(^ports 
also  as  follows:  "Since  my  last  to  y(Ui,  we  ha\e  been  most  Constend 
in  alarm  here;  a  Party  of  the  Enemy  has  been  Dracketl  Near  Fort 
SclHiyler.  I  kijit  out  Scouts  and  Ccnild  not  discover  them  as  yet;  It 
comes  very  hart  uixm  our  meletia  iiei'e.  I  have  Posted  part  of  the 
inelitia  in  seven  ditirend  i)osts  on  tlie  Frontiers,  and  if  we  do  not  Cit 
assistance  soon,  I  am  afrait  the  Greatest  part  of  the  People  will  moove 


THE  TOWN  OF  MANHEIM.  403 

away;  tlioi'ofore,  I  lioi)o  yon  \aou1<1  fti-ant  lis  assistance  as  soon  as  Pos- 
sible yon  can.  and  Remain.  Sir,  yonr  most  ohetiant  Ilnniltje  Serv't, 
.lacol)  K'.ocic." 

On  April  r)tii.  iTSd,  ('olonci  Kloclc  is  forced  to  tlie  fort  and  another 
disaster  wliicli  I  will  let  him  tell  in  his  own  ([naint  lanjtnane:  "Hon- 
ored Sir:  Last  Monday  the  ."d  Instant  a  PiU'ty  of  the  Eneniie  broot 
out  here  in  a  i»lace  ("ailed  Keniersnyder's  Hush,  Consisting  of  Fort}' 
two  Indians  and  forty  white  men;  they  have  taken  Nineteen  of  our 
men  I'risoners;  we  have  pursued  them  about  Twenty  tive  miles;  Could 
not  furthei-  for  want  of  Snow  Shoes.  This  Ramersnyder's  Bush  has 
been  a  Larjie  settlement;  now  the  People  is  all  moaving  away  fi'om 
there.  Except  a  fue  families  that  Lives  in  a  Fort  there,  where  I  have 
kept  a  small  guard.  I  am  sorry  that  I  must  inform  your  Excellency 
that  my  opinion  is.  if  we  are  not  very  soon  assisted  with  Troops,  that 
this  County  will  be  Intirely  destroyed,  for  the  Regiments  is  but  very 
small;  the  Half  of  our  people  is  Inlisted  in  the  Batoe-Service  and  Taken 
I'rissiners.  Therefore,  hopes  if  Possible  your  Excellency  will  assist  us 
with  Troops  otherwise  we  cannot  stand  it.  The  Enemie  has  made  a 
very  old  man  prlssoner  the  other  day,  which  they  Discharged  again. 
They  told  him  they  woud  before  long  destroy  the  whole  County.  Tho 
this  Last  party  Burnt  notliing  Except  a  mill,  I  am  very  Certain  the 
Indians  will  if  jjossible,  liave  Revenge  for  what  damage  they  have 
liec'd  luist  Summer,  ^^  hich  they  Can  very  easy  here,  if  no  assistance 
Comes." 

.\fter  the  Revolution,  the  lands  of  Sir  William  Johnson  came  imme- 
diately into  the  maiket  and  neaiMy  tiie  whole  of  them  were  purchased 
b\-  .lames  <'.ildwH||  ot  .VIbany.  w  lio  sold  them  to  settlers.  The  price 
usually  obtaiiK'd  itv  him  was  fi'oni  tix'e  [u  ten  dollars  an  acre.  The 
original  field  noli's  of  C.-ildwell's  survey  of  the  hinds  of  the  town  of 
r\lanheim  arc  in  the  collection  of  .Mr.   Watts  T.  Loomis. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  follow  for  some  time  the  genei'al  events  in 
the  town  of  Palatine  from  II, o  KcNolntion  until  Maidieim  became  a 
town.  The  tii'st  town  nuM'ting  of  Palatine  was  held  in  17.S(>,  and  John 
i''rey  was  elected  supeiwisor  and  Chailes  .Xewkirk  town  clerk. 

The  tiist  entry  of  any  highway  within  the  boundaries  of  Manheim 
occms  in  an  old  I'alatine  district  clerk's  book  and  is  the  following:  Re- 
turn of  a  public  lijg!i\\;iy  fioin  the  \aidvee  Busli  settlement  in  Palatine 
district  *  '^  *  beginning  east  by  or  near  the  new  dwelling  house 
of  John  tJrant  in  said  district,  in  a  settlement  called  Itiemensnyders 
Bush,  running  then(e  north  passing  the  houses  of  Itichard  Young,  Bar- 
ent  Keyser  .ind  the  lot  of  .l(»hn  Keyser,  now  in  jiossession,  thence  north 
passing   the  house  of  .bilni    Feeble  si.\   chains,   thence  easterly   jtassing 

the  house  of  l!e li   l<\ird  to  the  boundai'y  line  of  William   Lee,  thence 

along  his  ljn<'  to  a  fell  in  a  hill,  thence  l(,  said  William  I>ee's  house, 
llience  to  William  Lee's,  .li-..  liouse,  as  ihe  road  now  lies.  It  is  date(t 
Stptendier  27,  J7SS,  and  signed  by  Highway  Commissioners  Jacob  G. 
Klock,  .lohn  Zielley  and  Samuel  (Jray. 


404  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

This  road  is  a  part  of  the  pi-esent  Salisbury  road  and  the  Yankee 
Hush  mentioned  therein  is  a  settlement  of  Connecticut  and  Massachu- 
setts inimiiirants  wlio  came  tliei'e  immediately  after  the  Revolution, 
and  from  whicii  settlement  such  families  as  the  Bui-rells,  Hrocketts, 
Fords,  Ives,  Cooks,  Thompsons  and  others  orifjinate. 

It  would  hardly  he  of  interest  if  I  enumerated  all  the  liiuhways  which 
were  laid  out  before  the  organization  of  the  town.  As  records,  the 
same  are  of  little  importance,  as  the  descriptions  are  in  all  cases  indeti- 
nite  and  cannot  be  resnrveyed,  and  1  will  mention  only  a  few.  On 
May  2r»,  179r>,  the  road  was  laid  out  from  the  county  line  on  the  line  of 
Jolin  Windecker  and  Zachariah  ('ramer.  passing  the  houses  of  William 
Kissnor,  Elijah  Barnes  and  William  Harris,  tlience  to  tlie  grist  null 
of  Jolm  Feeble.  In  September,  IT'.MI,  a  road  was  laid  out  from  tlie 
Snell's  Busli  scliool  house  along  the  middle  line  of  tlie  patent  to  the 
Hoyal  Grant.  1  might  say  liere  that  one  of  the  oldest  roads  is  tlie  one 
ealled  in  the  old  records  tlie  .Terseytield  road,  and  whicli  leads  from  tlie 
carrying  place  at  Little  Falls,  along  tlie  present  Fairtield  road,  and 
thence  through  the  towns  of  Norway  to  the  aliandoned  settlements  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  .lerseytield  patent.  The  present  Salisbury  road 
we  find  sometimes  designated  as  the  East  .Terseytield  road,  and  it  went 
from  Little  Falls  to  Mount  Pleasant  meeting  house,  noAV  BurrelTs  Cor- 
ners, through  the  papei-  mill  and  thence  along  the  road  now  known  as 
the  Slip  road.  ,Tuly  4.  17!»;!.  a  road  was  laid  out  on  the  east  side  of  the 
East  Canada  Creek  to  the  place  where  .lolin  Beardslee  will  erect  a 
bridge,  thence  westwardly  to  the  [iresent  Snell's  Bush  road  neai'  Christ- 
man's.  A  road  was  laid  out  in  17!>4  from  Cornelius  Lamberson's,  pass- 
ing the  clearings  of  Joseph  Lobdell,  Mrs.  Turner  and  the  Widow  Clark, 
to  a  cei'tain  bridge,  thence  south  to  the  saw  mill  of  Samuel  Low,  Estj.. 
tm  the  East  Canada  Creek,  leaving  the  same  on  the  left,  thence  south- 
wardly and  westwardly  to  the  old  .Terseytield  road.  Part  of  ihis  road 
h;  now  .Main  street  in  ihe  village  of  Dolgeville,  and  the  mills  of  Samuel 
Low,  were  located  wheie  the  felt  mills  an^  standing. 

The  meeting  house  at  Yankee  I^ush  was. erected  before  17'.t4.  when  it 
was  mentioned  in  the  records. 

On  April  24,  17!>4,  Samuel  liOW  manumitted  two  slaves,  Anthony 
Lewis  and  Willet  (4ramniack. 

An  entry  in  th«'  town  book  on  Occember  2y>.  17'.i4.  shows  that  a  bridge 
across  the  East  Canada  Creek  had  been  built. 

Of  twelve  jurors  in  a  highway  case  in  this  i)art  of  the  town  of  I'ala- 
tine  in  T79fi,  five  signed  by  mark,  showing  the  illiteracy  of  the  jieople 
after  the  Revolutionary  war. 

The  list  of  the  supervisors  for  the  town  of  Palatine  wei'e,  17S(;,  .John 
Frey:  17S7,  17SS.  17SJ),  Christian  Xellis;  17'.t<»  and  17'.>1.  .Tacob  Eaker; 
17'.)'2,  Frederick  (xetnian:  179.*^,  Samuel  Cray:  and  17'.»4.  17!>.^».  179U, 
JacoV)  Snell. 

The  old  town  records  show  that  in  178i">,  1G6  votes  were  cast  for  Gov- 


THE  TOWN   OF   MANHEIM.  405 

ernor  and  2<io  for  the  Asscinlily:  in  IT'.Hi,  77  votes  for  Scii.itor  an<l  .S2 
for  Assembly  .iiid  ("oimrcss.  In  17'.il:,  1'.>s  for  Covcrnor  ;in(l  Senator. 
-~(\  for  Assenilily;  in  17".»-'!.  "-'ih;  voles  fur  ( "ontinenta  I  rfprescntatives; 
n'.M.  21^4  votes  foi-  Senatoi'  and  "JCd  for  Asscinlily. 

'I'lie  census  for  17'.>r>  for  the  town  of  Palatine  shows  171  electors  who 
were  freemen  not  possessed  of  freeholds,  hut  who  rent  l(>nenienls  to 
tlie  yearly  \alneof  forty  sliiliin.i^s;  27  electors  who  possessed  freeholds 
of  tile  value  of  twenl.x  pounds  and  under  oni'  hundred  pounds;  and  4(>7 
electors  possessed  of  freeliolds  of  tlii'   value  of  one  hundred   pounds. 

It  a)ipears  from  a  remonstrance  in  re-ard  to  uiakinu'  a  north  and 
south  line  through  I.ittle  I'alls  the  county  line  lielween  Herkimer  and 
Moiduomery.  in  l7'.>o,  that  many  of  the  iidiahilants  of  the  ]iri'seut  town 
were  anxious  to  lie  altadied  to  the  new  county  of  Herkimer,  wliile  oth- 
ers were  williuL;-  to  remain  with  old  Mout.u<imer.\'  county.  Opposition 
to  the  division  at  !>iltle  falls  was  siuucd  hy  Dr.  William  I'eti-y  and 
foiu'  hundred  others  who  wanted  the  division  at  f.'ast  ('reek.  The  old 
stoek  of  I'alatines  and  iironunenl  men  like  .lohn  Mey<'r  opii'iS(d  the 
Little  I'^alls  division,  while  (o'uc'ral  .Michael  .Myers,  the  leader  of  the 
I''e(h"ralists.  wauled  the  county  line  in  that  place  for  iiolitical  reasfins. 
The  original  rcm<inslrance  is  in  possession  of  .M.  M.  .loues.  Ksq.,  T'tica. 
\.  V. 

("haiiter  74,  Laws  of  \1'M.  delin"s  the  l.oundary  line  hetweeu  Herki- 
mer and  Mont.uonu'r.v  c(nint.\'  as  startiiru  at  the  east  end  of  the  easteiMi- 
nuist  lock  of  the  canal  on  the  north  side  of  the  .Mohawk  river  at  the 
little  falls,  thence  norlh  aureealile  to  the  magnetic  direction  of  the 
needle  in  the  .xcar  1772  lo  the  .lerseyiield  patent.  Ilerkimei-  county  was 
erected  l)y  Chapier  Hi  of  the  Laws  of  I7'.M. 

The  town  of  .Manheiin  was  erei-led  in  I7'.i7.  and  the  description  of 
tli(>  tow  11  reads  now  as  lollows:  Lounded  eastwardl.\'  li.\  I  lie  east  hounds 
<d"  the  couiit.w  soiiili  w  ardl.\'  hy  the  Mohawk  l\i\er  and  westwardly  and 
northwardl.v  h.\-  line  heiiiiiniim  at  the  east  end  <if  the  easternmost  lock 
of  the  c.'inal  on  the  iioiih  side  of  the  .Mohawk  l!i\er  at  J,ittle  L  ills,  and 
rniinin^  thenc-e  uorlli  as  the  needle  pointed  in  1T72  until  an  east  line 
strikes  tlie  northwest  corner  of  a  lar.uc  lot,  .\o.  H,  in  (Jleii's  pu!'chas(>: 
then  easterly  to  the  east  corner  of  (Jlen's  purchase;  and  then  east  to 
the  lionnds  of  the  eoinity. 

On  July  ir>.  17'.)7.  Sni)ervisor  Cornelius  Humphrey  of  Salisbury.  Jacob 
Siiell  of  ralatine,  ;iiid  .lacob  Market!  of  Manheiin.  met  and  arranvMl 
for  the  care  of  the  i)aupers.  ;ind  onehalf  of  the  person  of  Christian 
.\llnin  became  the  hrst  town  charge;  he  to  be  kept  ,jointly  with  the 
town  of  Salisbury;  also  one  third  of  \iolet.  who  was  the  sl;i\'e  recently 
manuinitted  by  Ksipdre  Low  ,  The  school  mone.\'  allotted  to  Manheiin 
in  17!>7  amoimted  to  .$iri;i,;i4.  .\ii  idea  of  the  general  state  of  education 
is  .uix'en  b.\'  ;i  .jur.x'  of  twehc  out  of  which  nine  could  iiol  si^ii  their 
i)\vu   iijiines. 

I    will   take  from  the  earliest      town     book  ;i    few   fads.     Children  of 


406  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

slaves  had  to  be  recorded,  so  for  ini<tan('»^,  we  find  such  entry:  "Be  it 
remembered  that  in  the  year  of  our  I^ord  ISOl.  on  the  Sth  day  of  Febru- 
ary, a  female  slave  child  was  born,  being  the  property  of  Adani  Bellin- 
ger. Recorded  said  child  on  the  17th  day.  JSni.  .Jacob  H.  Tinnnermnn, 
town  clerk.''  A  few  days  later  we  find  another  female  slave  Itorn  to 
Henry  P.  Smith.  The  town  laws  are  neaily  the  same  as  evervwhere. 
They  concern  mostly  the  keeping  up  of  stallions,  hogs,  etc.,  and  no 
horses,  cattle,  sheep  or  hogs  were  allowed  to  run  free  at  any  inn.  store 
or  blacksmith  shop. 

The  town  books  also  show  that  in  the  winter  time  the  inhaliitnnts 
had  to  keep  the  turnpike  open  during  certain  montlis,  wnen  the  com- 
pany received  no  tolls. 

To  show  the  political  status  of  the  town  in  ISOl,  we  gle;in  that 
George  Clinton  received  SO  votes  for  (Governor,  and  Stephen  V."n  Rens- 
selaer 23;  and  for  Senator,  Evans  Wharry  received  Sit  votes,  and  his 
opponent  about  22:  for  Assembly,  Charjps  Ward  received  11.3  votes,  his 
opponents  about  31. 

On  May,  14.  1810.  IHcU  and  Katy,  slavt^s  of  Barthlonirw  rickcrl, 
were  freed  by  him. 

There  were  in  ISll  six  school  districts  in  the  town.  The  town  ex- 
penses were  in  1797  a  total  of  .$236.40.  and  reached  the  high  water 
mark  in  18(i4,  when  they  amounted  to  $21,161.80.  The  present  budget 
of  the  town  is  about  eight  to  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year. 

I  give  a  list  of  the  supervisors  of  the  toAvn  of  ]\Ianheim  since  its 
erection,  especially  as  the  list  published  in  the  recent  histories  is  erron- 
eous: 

.Jacob  IMarkell  held  the  othce  of  sui»ervis<ir  from  1707  to  ISli:,  181S- 
19,  1824  to  '28:  Nathan  Christy.  ISi:-!  and  1S14;  laither  T'ardfe.  1815. 
1820  to  1822;  Frederick  Getnian.  ISKi,  l.'»17:  Lawi-eTice  Timmprman, 
1823;  August  Beardslee,  1820:  .John  .1.  Tinun(M-man.  is;]():  is.uic  S. 
Ford,  1831. '.S2:  .Jacob  I'owell.  1833:  John  V.  Snell.  1S34  to  1S37:  Sufre- 
nas  Snell,  1838  to  1,830:  .lohn  Hoover,  .Jr..  IS40  and  1SI1:  .Tohn  .T. 
Beardslee,  1842:  .ra<ob  Yonran,  1S43,  '44,  1S."»(»:  N.  S.  Green.  IS}."):  .John 
Markell,  18-16  to  1840:  Oliver  LaDue.  18.51.  1852:  .leremiah  G.  Snell.  1853; 
Hiram  Broat,  1854,  1855,  1867  to  1871.  1886,  1887;  I.evi  Belling(M-,  1856. 
1857;  Luke  Snell,  1858,  18.59;  James  H.  Weatherwax.  1860  to  1862: 
-Morgan  Biddleman,  1863  to  1864:  S.  S.  Lansing.  1865.  Isr.C:  Michael 
Ivevee,  1872;  Charles  Fj.Bauder,  1873.  1S7I:  Scynionr  Kcyscr.  1S75,  1S76; 
Norman  Timmerman.  1877,  1878:  John  <;.irlock.  1S70  to  ISSI.  isor,  to 
1002;  William  A.  (ioodell.  ISSi'.  1SS3:  Haiinii.,!!  Snell.  issi.  |SS5;  ( 'h.-irh's 
Cook.  1888.  Thomas  (^irry.  ISSO  to  ISO-.::  Tiinotliy  i>as.'y.  IS'.t;;; 
Wheeler  Kna])p,  1S04  to  1895. 

The  survey  for  the  Ctica  and  Schenectady  railroad  through  the  town 
wais  begun  at  the  end  of  the  month  of  Se])teimber,  1S.33.  ;in(l  I  be  road 
was  in  operation  about  18o(i.  A  railroad  to  Nieholsville  w;is  chartered 
by  Chapter  195  of  the  I^aws  of  IS.'U,  and  was  named  the  Manlieim  and 


THE  TOWN   OF    M.VNHEIM  407 

Salisliury  Ixiiilro.'ul  ('(iiiipaiiy,  ol'  wiiicli  .Fciciiiiali  iM'akr.  I>.  K.  Winton 
and  A  .A.  Kiiick  were  directofs.  'I'liis  laihdad  was  to  ctiiisist  ot  a 
.single  Ol'  double  track  from  the  I  tita  and  Scliciieclady  R.  K.  to  Xicli- 
oisvillf  mow  Stiatl'ord.i  'I'ho  stoik  of  the  coiuiiaiiy  was  $T."..(i(iu  and 
the  connnissiont'i's  besides  the  above  nuadioned  were  Jacob  I'owelk 
(iideon  Snell.  laitlier  rardec.  A.  A.   I'inck  and   K.   V.   Ilurlliert. 

By  ('lia]i.  \l-2  (d'  tlie  laws  of  IS.'ld,  ilic  caidtal  stock  of  this  company 
was  increased  to  $.'!(Ml,(Mi(i  and  lliey  were  empowered  to  make  a  con- 
lra<'l  with  the  llica  and  Scheneelady  railroad  In  ca-oss  o\-er  llial  road 
to  the  Erie  canal:  this  i)ro.|ecj  also  conlemplated  na  xi.iia  tion  to  the  out 
let  of  Lake  Pleasant.  \>\  <'hap.  ."INT  of  the  laws  of  is;;7  the  name  was 
changed  to  the  Mohawk  and  St.  Lawrence  .Vaxigalion  company.  This 
road  died  a  natural  death,  as  the  (  risis  of  l.s;;7  interfered  with  the  fin- 
ancial part  of  il.  but  the  same  scheme  was  revixcd  several  times,  and 
it  was  the  lorernniiei-  of  llie  late  Saralugi  and  Sacketts  liar 
bor  railroad.  In  ls;:(;  ihc  SI.  Jo'insx  ille  and  Ogdensbur^Ah 
Comitany  railroad  was  or^'anized,  and  was  In  ,i;n  f|-nni  St. 
.lohnsville  and  inlersecl  ihe  .\laidieini  and  Salisbury  I'ailrnail 
at  P.rocketts  P.ridge.  In  ISS'J  Ihe  Litlle  falls.  [»ol-eville 
and  I'iseco  R.  R.  (."o,,  was  nruanized.  snr\cys  wcic  made  and  liL'.hl 
fd"  way  se(Mired.  It  was  intended  In  extend  this  railroad  iido  the  laMrt 
of  the  .\diiondaeks.  Tlie  Adirondack  forestry  bill  of  Is.s;;  knoiked  tlie 
bottom  out  <d'  this  scheme  and  Ihis  road  died  a  lingering  death.  Tlie 
present.  Little  l''alls  and  l>nlge\ille  railmad  was  cnnsi  ructe<l  about  ten 
years  auo.  but  has  not  inoxcd  a  hnancial  success  and  has  been  in  the 
hands  of  a    receixcr  for  sexcral   years  jiast. 

The  Salisbury  and  Manlieim  .McAdam  b'oad  <'nmpany  was  incor- 
porated .May  Id.  IS."',?,  and  Harry  Pnrreli.  ,\rphaxed  Lonmis  and  At- 
water  < 'nok  were  made  cniiimissioners;  Ihis  charter  and  mad  were 
maintained  for  nany  xcai's  up  to  about  ri'teen  years  ago.  Two  plank 
roads  crossed  the  town  and  the  same  experience  was  had  here  as  e\-er\ 
where  w  hen  llial  lemporary  craze  of  plank  roads  prevailed  throughout 
the  country  ab(mt   hfty  years  ago. 

The  losses  of  the  Inwn  of  ALinheim  on  accniiut  nf  tlie  investment 
in  iilank   mads  are  said  In  have  been  r.ither  hea\y. 

I  will  say  ;i  few  woi'ds  regarding  those  men  (d'  flu'  town  who  achje'ved 
other  political  honors  than  electi(m  to  town  olhces.  Their  number  is 
so  remarkabl\  small  that  eillier  Ihe  iiolilicians  id'  .M.anheini  nnisi  be  too 
modest,  or  that  whenever  the  political  phnii  tree  is  shaking,  they  are 
caught  najiping.  I  Miring  In.'i  years  ol'  the  exisleiice  of  the  Inwn  we 
find  that  only  <ince  a  citizen  of  the  town  w.is  elected  to  congress;  tliat 
was  in  ISI.'i  when  .Facob  .\Larkell  w.is  elected  lo  that  othce.  The  follow- 
ing were  elected  to  the-  assembly:  ISdii  ;nid  IS(i;;.  Ch.iiies  Ward;  ISl.">. 
.Nathan  Christy;  ISIIO,  .l.acob  .\Lirkell;  IS:.'.".,  .lacob  Wire;  l.si'.S,  .John  V. 
Snell;  l.s;!-J.  Augustus  lie.ardslee;  hSCI,  .b.hn  .^Llrkell.  l*"rederick  P. 
(Jetman  was  elected  senator  for  the  years  17'J!>  to  1S(»"J.     Sanders  L.ins- 


408  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

ing  was  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1821.  and  Edward 
A.  Brown  of  the  last  convention. 

Morrell  D.  Beckwith.  a  native  of  Oppenheim  and  a  lawyer  and  sur- 
veyor by  profession,  was  elected  while  residing  at  Brocketts  Bridge  as 
school  commissioner  of  the  northern  district  of  Herkimer  county. 

.Tames  H.  Weatherwax.  l»orn  in  Maidieim.  Xev.  2".t.  1S2!).  was  a  i)r(iMii- 
nent  and  successful  farmer.  He  was  elected  supervisor  in  ISCO,  and 
held  the  office  three  successive  terms.  In  ISHT  he  was  chosen  sheriff  of 
the  county,  and  in  1880  Governor  Cornell  iippointed  him  :is  one  of  the 
state  assessors.  He  died  on  his  farm  in  Manheim,  now  occupied  liy  his 
son,  James  Weatherwax,  January  1,  1883. 

George  W.  Ward,  of  Dolgeville,  has  been  our  efficient  district  attor- 
ney for  tAvo  years  past.  ^Yhen  Edward  Sinuiis.  now  a  resideni  of  the 
town  of  Manheim,  held  the  office  of  county  clerk,  he  was  elected  from 
tlae  town  of  Danube. 

Only  a  few  families  settled  before  and  during  the  revorution  within 
the  present  town  of  Manheim.  From  local  histories,  church  records, 
and  old  town  records  it  appears  that  the  following  names  represent 
fairly  the  first  original  pre-revolutionary  settlement:  Boyer,  Baxter, 
Cramer,  Edel,  Faville,  Garter,  Garlock.  Keyser.  Keller.  Ivlock.  Kilts. 
Oxner,  Pickert,  Ritter,  Riemensnyder,  Scluiell.  \';in  yiyue.  Windecker, 
Zimmerman,  to  which  Avere  added  soon  after  the  revolution  and  before 
Manheim  became  a  separate  town  the  following  names:  Adamy,  Bel- 
linger. Beai'dslee,  Churchill.  Christy,  Clnistmaii,  Cummlngs.  Dacke, 
Ehl,  Graves,  Hart,  Hose,  Harris,  .Johnson.  LdUcks.  Lepper.  ]\rarkel!. 
Pickert,  Staley.  Scott,  Smith,  Seymour.  Vouran.  Young,  Van  Tassel  and 
Ward. 

As  far  as  known  now  the  first  settlement  in  the  town  was  made  at 
East  Creek  on  the  patent  granted  to  Kev.  Peter  \':iii  Driesen.  Here 
Henry  Van  Driesen,  one  of  his  sons,  and  ])crhaps  othci-  members  of  that 
family  were  located,  l»ut  this  information  is  only  inferential.  It  cer- 
tain that  near  the  middle  of  the  ISth  century  one  Roger  B.-ixter,  a  farm- 
er, was  settled  at  East  Creek.  He  leased  on  .Inly  2nd,  ITCtS,  to  Thomas 
Baxter  lands  on  Canada  Creek  near  Fort  Hendrick.  The  Baxt<'rs  were 
residents  of  Schoharie  as  early  as  17H0  and  itrob.-ibly  before.  Schuyler 
Baxter  lived  also  at  East  Creek.  He  was  the  son  of  Captain  .loltn  Bax- 
ter and  Mary  Schuyler,  his  wife,  and  was  born  April  loth,  17f>l.  John 
Baxter,  and  wife  went  to  England  and  never  retm'ued.  Another  mem- 
ber of  that  family  was  Eckerson  Baxter,  whose  widow,  .Vnn.-i  Marguerite, 
conveyed  on  October  11th,  ITSS.  to  Cornelius  Van  Schelluyne  of  Albany, 
all  that  tract  of  land  situate  at  or  near  Can.a.joharie  in  the  county  of 
Montgomery,  on  the  north  side  of  the  ^lohawk  River  over  against  F(M-t 
Hendrick,  being  part  of  a  tract  of  land  hei'etofore  gi'iintcd  to  Petrus 
Van  Driesen,  deceased,  bounded  as  follows:  South  by  the  Mohawk 
River,  north  by  the  rear  line  of  the  said  patent.  (>ast  by  the  lands 
formerly  belonging  to  Henry  Van    Driesen,   deceased,   west   by   other 


THE   TOWN     OF  MANHEIM  409 

lands  forinciiy  beldiiuiii.u  to  the  s.iid  Henry  \iin  Uricsen.  pxcrptinj;'  a 
tract  of  land  lic>r(^toroi>'  conveyed  liy  [{oi,^e;-  I'axtcr  to  Thomas  T'.axtcr. 

Wlicn  the  present  owners  of  the  lOast  ( 'leek  estate  tore  down  tlu'  old 
.Tud.se  Beardslec  residence  on  the  s(uuli  side  of  the  tni'npikt'  a  pajier 
signed  on  .Inne  "JL!,  ls;;i.  iiy  Aiiunsrns  and  John  .1.  I>eardslee  was  fonnil 
Uinlei'  the  hearthstone,  statin'-',  tha*  ""riiis  tonndation  was  laiil  .Inne  _'.'!, 
IS.'M,  '•■  •'■  o\-er  this  eellar  a  lionse  was  hni'iied  down  hy  t  he  I  ndians  in  t  !ie 
revolntionary  wai'  and  its  owner,  Ixouer  P.axter.  killed  and  scalird. 
Afterwai'ds.  aliont  the  year  isod.  aiiothei'  honse  oxer  this  cell.ir  was 
hnrned  down  by  aeeident.  the  premises  liein.u'  then  owned  hy  I''re(h'i'!e'; 
(Mlman."  The  .IndLie  I'.eardslce  honse  stood  JMsl  .aliont  opiiosite  tl.o  pre- 
sent mansion  on  the  sonth  side  of  and  close  to  the  tnrnpike. 

It  may  lie  (d'  inti'rest  to  the  (h'scendanis  of  the  lirst  settler-;  ami  to 
stndents  of  ufMiea  lo.uy  to  learn  the  names  of  those  who  lived  in  Man- 
heim  abont  IT'.tT  and  a  few  years  after.  1  lia\>'  taken  the  names  from 
all  available  sonrces  and  this  list  is  prob.ibly  as  fair  a  censns  of  the 
male  adnlt  |)o|inlation  of  .Manheim  from  ITbT  to  lS(r_'  as  cm  be  made 
at  this  late  date: 

Amstod.  Henry;  Adjntant.  Andi'ew;  Anderson,  .lann-s;  Ayres,  Henry. 
F;iijah.  I'Tiene/er.  Silvenns;  .\damy,  Heni'y,  .Mien.  Timothy.  Hezekiah. 
Aflams.  Aaron;  ftellin.uei'.  Adam.  .Vdani.  Jr.,  .lohn.  .Maicks;  Koyei'.  .bihn. 
l.oonaid.  Valentine.  Hobert,  .lohn.  Jr.;  Hloodou.uh  iT'.loodhowi.  Henry, 
("hrisfian;  Hi'own.  Xicholas.  riiiliii;  I!eardslee.  John;  Bishop,  <'om'ad; 
f'yteman  ( I'.iddlemani,  Simeon.  I'eti'i'.  Simeon.  Iiobert ;  liackns.  (leor.ye; 
P.of)yea.  .lohn.  <'om;id;  Beck,  .lohn;  F.arnes.  Klijali;  I'.nrr.  .\braham; 
P.nrke.  Benjamin;  r.oardman.  N.ithaniel;  Hateman,  l*"dijah:  Broat. 
llthi-y;  ('hnrchill.  I'.enjamin;  ('hiisty.  .Nath.in;  ('ook.  Undolf;  ('\|ilier. 
.lohn.  .lohn.  }\\:  ('hristman.  Isaac  .lacob.  .lohn.  .lohn.  ,ir..  P'rederick; 
('ady.  .lohn  < '..  Chattei-ton.  .Micli;iel;  ('nmmin.us.  Ste|ihen;  ('h;i,uo,  .lacob. 
lleiuy;  ('ahoon.  John;  Clark,  .loseph;  Mill,  .lohn;  l»acke  (Itockeyi,  .lohn; 
Dewey.  Hezekiah;  Ha.uuett.  .lacob;  Davis,  .lacob.  .lacob.  Jr.;  Dod^^e. 
Xathaidel;  Dnnlaji.  Thomas;  Doland,  .lohn;  I'^del.  .lost.  !Iein-v  .lohn, 
(^r-orsf'.  Jr.:  I'^hl.  I'eter;  l']l\\d<id.  Benjamin;  I'\'i\ille.  .lohn;  I'orbnsh, 
B.ii  I  holomcw.  .lacob.  \\'arner.  Mabes;  I'lsher.  .lohn.  Michael:  French, 
.loih.im;  I'orrey  (Fnrreri.  .\dam:  l''reymoyer.  D;i\id;  !'"reeinan, 
('hailes;  !'"erunsoii,  Daniel;  Fnrman.  Benjamin;  frame.  Samnel 
l''ort.  .lohn:  l'"eetcr.  William.  .\dani:  f'inck,  .\ndrew.  Andrew 
.\.;  (Jarlock-,  .\(laiii.  .\dani.  Ji'..  .lohn;  (;illiert.  Zalnion:  (Iraves. 
.lohn;  (i.-irter.  Ilenr.w  Koberl  ;  ( b'n'in.uton.  fredeiack ;  (Jillet, 
i;iilMi.  I'^lihn.  Jr..  ('ephas,  laiiher,  Boderick,  (b'U'ers,  Lewis; 
(loodbidle  or  (biodbread,  W'iliam,  Basti;iii;  (Jreeii,  I'^plir.-iim, 
Stephen;  (Irax.  .lohn,  .\dani;  •iraiit,  .lohn;  (Jelman,  l''rederick,  Jr.;  Hel- 
leiibold.  Tunis;  Honse.  .\daiii.  .lohn;  H:iil.  Daniel,  .lohn:  Hose,  ilenry: 
lleldrick  I'^dwai'd:  Halcock.  Daniel,  Hnber  (Hooxcri,  Ilenry;  Hoffman, 
.bihn;  Harris.  W'illi.im:  Hendri.x.  Samnel:  ila.uert.  John:  H.iKadorn. 
.iacob;  .lohnson,   .lames,    Benjannn,   (.Jeoriic    Bysander,    .Michat'l:  Jones, 


410  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Evans;  Kilts.  Peter,  William;  Xieholas.  Xicliolas,  jr..  George;  Kauf- 
man, Anthony;  Kissner.  William;  Kkx'k.  -lacoh  <'..  Arlam  J..  Aflani. 
jr.;  Kellei'.  John.  John.  jr..  IJenry;  Krat>nier  (Cranieri.  Zaehariah.  John; 
Kyser  or  Keyser.  .Miehael.  .!ohn.  Harent.  Miehael  B.,  Peter.  Michael, 
jr.;  Kingsley.  Aaron;  Kirk.  James;  Kern.  Backlus;  Kennedy,  Patrick; 
Loncks.  Peter  P.  or  Peter  jr..  Peter,  Georso.  jr..  .facol).  Cieorge.  John, 
Henry,  (i..  fleni-y;  I.yn  1 1 -inn  I.  Ceorge;  Liskan  (Liskinu,  Samuel;  Lep- 
per,  W\;int.  John.  J.icoh;  L;i\vreiice,  .lohn;  Lanrlfere,  RertwooO :  Lozier 
(Loesker,  Lasheri.  Jacob;  Leslie,  Daniel;  Lake,  John;  Murray,  John: 
Markell,  Jacob,  John;  ^loore,  James;  McCarty,  Charles;  Moyer.  John, 
liUdwig,  Theobald.  Jacob,  .lohn  J.;  .Munson,  Is;iac;  iNIetcalf.  .'osepli, 
Elijah;  Morse,  Kut'us;  ALnrsh,  Benjamin;  Ma  bee,  Abraham;  Newman, 
Josejili.  .b)hn;  Neeley,  John;  Norcross,  Isaac;  Norton,  John;  O'Connor, 
I'hilip;  Pickei't.  P.artholomew,  jr.,  Frederick.  Christian,  Conrad,  Barth- 
olomew, John,  Hezekiah;  Petrie.  John.  Henry.  Nicholas,  Hanyost, 
Joseph.  Marks;  Philips,  "cnry.  Silas;  Potter,  Peter;  Peck,  Samuel, 
Jonathan,  Elilin.  John,  •s.-.-c;  Pardee,  Augustus;  Piitten.  Robert;  Piatt, 
Epenetus;  Plank.  Philip  nisom,  .Jona  (li.in,  Robert,  Hufus;  Rosbach, 
Frederick,  Heni-y,  .biln,.  Reed.  Israel,  .\ugustns.  Willi;un;  Ridenburg. 
i'jiniel,  Uicniciisnyder,  bilin,  Ilciiiy;  Kidcr,  I'lcderick.  Heiu'y,  Matlien-; 
Rickerl,  T^udwig.  Henry;  Rouse.  .lohn.  Beijj.imin ;  Rolstone,  John;  Rob- 
inson, Robert;  Righlmyer.  I»avid;  Snell,  .lacob,  J.,  Jacol»,  Fi-ederic, 
Peter  .1.,  .lost,  jr.,  .lolm,  .lost.  Sevrcnus,  Jost  .1..  Petei-.  Peter  jr..  .lohn 
P..  -I.Mcob  P..  .bM'ob  <;..  .lost  C.  A(l;ini.  Peter  ('...  .lolin  S..  H.iiijost  S.. 
Hiinjost  P..  .\d:im  P..  .l.-icob  P.:  Scott.  David.  \Villi;im;  Shaver,  Henry, 
Nicholas,  .lohn;  Staley.  .lohn;  Stauring,  (icorge,  Jacob,  N'alentine,  Con- 
rad: Smith.  William.  Henry  P..  Peter,  .lohn.  Nicholas.  lohn  P.;  Stall, 
Henry.  lohn,  jr.:  Steiiible.  P.asti;ni;  Seebei-  (S;iveri.  .I;imes.  .lacol)Us: 
Shell.  .M.ircks.  I'l'cderick :  Stranch.  Baldus;  Stoii"'.  Benjamin;  SteAvard. 
Sanjuel.  .lesse;  Spencer.  I'.lijah.  Natli;inicl :  South,  Ezekiah;  Seymour. 
Elij.ah:  Shitt',  (Jeorge;  SliutI,  Pet<'r:  Storn.  .Marks;  Sherwood.  Dzias. 
ThoniJis;  Sampson,  Bar/JIla;  Shufeld.  /;icli.iria.  .lohn:  Sti'bblns.  .lohn; 
Shall,  Wilhelmns;  S|)olt'or<l.  'Plioni.-is:  J'ininicriiiau.  Heni'v,  (4eorge, 
John.  .Vd.ini.  Henry  L..  ('onrad.  I.orcn/.o,  Willi.ini,  Henry  H., 
.lacob  11..  Coiu'ad  ('.,  Henr>-  jr..  .I.icob.  John  C.  Adam  H..  Conrad  L; 
Taylor.  .lose]ih:  TlKtrp,  August:  Thombliiig.  Moses:  Thumb  or  Thume. 
D.MU.  <'onrad:  \  an  .Vllcii.  Kichard.  .l.-icob:  \';in  Driesen.  Henry,  .lohn, 
Peter:  \  ,in  Slyke.  .lacobus,  Ccrret:  \'an  T.issel.  Henry.  William.  David; 
Xnn  Lone.  .lolm;  \incent.  Allen:  \'an  \'alkenburgli.  .lames;  Ward, 
Ch.-irles:  \\';iggoiier.  I'hiimanuel:  \N;ilrath.  Ceorgc.  ('.isjier:  ^^'indecker, 
Fiederick  jr..  .lacob,  Nicholas,  .lolm.  l<'redei'ick.  Conrad:  ^^'olleben. 
Peter:  W.atkins,  .loseph,  lObene/.er:  Wiswell.  S.imuel:  ^^■ood,  \\'illi;nn: 
Williams.  .V.-iron.  .lohn:  Wi'ight.  Calvin;  Vouran,  .bacob,  Jacob  jr.; 
Young,  Richard:  /oiler.  C,isi)i'r.  Casper  jr.;  Zabriskie,  Andrew;  Zemeu, 
Moses. 

We  find  by  counting  up  the  names  that  there  are  1!)1   ftimily  names 


THE  TOWN    OF    MANHEIM  411 

rfprcsentcd  by  MSti  iii(livi<luii'  tJiximytTs.  ■uliicli  a\-(iu1(1  iii(lic;itM  ;i  jtro- 
Imlilp  i)oi)Ul;ition   of    l.SdO  people. 

Of  tlic  li'l  faiuilit's  tlieii  .-iitix'.'iriim,  mily  .">(;  ;irc  rcprrsriilcd  now  hy 
iiiiilc  (l('sciii(l;iiits.  'I'lic  oilier  fMiiiilif's  lime  died  (lut  or  luoxcd  els(^- 
wlii-re.  Of  the  .'iSK  iiulix  idn.-i Is  '^2'>  wcri-  iif  (Jerm.in  extnietidii  jiliotit 
.".(I  of  Iloll.-iiid  I)iif(li.  Tlic  iiMiiies  of  iL'd  iiidiciitc  lOn-lisli  or  New  Ent;- 
liiiid   ori.u'in   and   only    li\e  hear  ilisiindlx     li'isli   names. 

Sjiofford's  (iazetti'  ol'  1S2'-1  describes  .\l,i  nlifiui  as  follows:  "Kxeept 
alonii  the  .Moli;i\\i<  lliere  arr  no  inlcr\ah's.  hm  ihe  npiaiid  is  of  superior 
(piality  and  jtroliahly  yields  as  much  wheal  ;is  any  town  of  the  si/,f  \]\ 
tile  county.  The  iidiabitaids  are  principally  f.-irmers.  tlioimh  with  a 
coniftf'tcnt  niimbei'  of  meciianics,  :ind  there  ;ire  L'(mi  families,  prolcibly 
of  Oiiteli  extraction.  There  ;ire  two  I  Milch  Iteformcd  ( 'liiirclies.  nine 
school  houses,  six  urist  mills,  nine  saw  mills,  three  fnllin.t;  mills,  two 
eai'diii^   iiiacliines. 

"The  town  was  settled  lirsl  about  ITTb.  The  inhabitants  were  driven 
off  by  t  lie  w.ir  jilld  returned  with  Jiejice.  The  post  oHice  is  ill  the 
southeast  corner,  roimlatiou.  1,777:  .';■-;'.•  electors:  .s,,S(i'.t  acres  of  ini- 
ju'oved  laud;  brilL*  cattle:  (ilo  horses:  "J, ."(77  sheep:  l.'fsht  yards  of  cloth 
mauufaetured    per  year." 

'i'lic  ]Hd|iortion  of  mixture  of  Ihe  population  we  have  shown  abo\e. 
Let  us  now  say  a  few  words  about  tiie  hieiidint;  of  these  elements.  In 
those  da.\"s  the  (iernian  element  was  in  ,i  decided  majority:  the  major- 
it\  of  tile  leaders  in  this  county  ;iiid  town  were  (Jermaus.  as  ^ficllael 
.Myers.  Jacob  .Markell,  .\ndrew  {•'imk.  Or.  William  I'etry,  John  M. 
I'ftiie  and  others,  and  s((  it  was  over  in  .Moiit,i;(iiiiery  coiinly.  The 
::i('at  mass  of  Ihe  (Jeiiuan  populatiiui  A\as  not  pro,m'essi\  e,  not  well 
educated;  instead  of  rela  iiiiiii:-  their  own  lan,miai;e  or  achiptin.u,'  the  Eng- 
lish they  used  a  patois,  a  mixture  of  both,  commonly  known  as  Mo- 
hawk Oiilch,  and  similar  to  the  i'eniisylvania  I  Mitch.  lOxjiosed  for 
tiiree  (jiiarters  ot  a  ceiiturv  to  the  life  of  the  pioneer,  weducd  in  be 
tweeii  the  Indians  and  llollanders,  they  were  cut  olf  from  the  pro«i"<'f<>^ 
oi'  ci\  ili/,ation  and  the  benetits  of  edu<-atioii.  It  cannot  be  denied  that 
Ihe  majority  had  not  adxancid  much.  Their  personal  \alor,  their  loy- 
alty and  thiift  were  the  same  as  theii"  ancestors,  but  the  eoiiditious 
at  the  time  of  the  intlux  of  tiie  New  lOiiuiaiid  immigration  wore  asninst 
them.  'This  iiumi.mat  ion  was  of  the  best  ruiatan  stock  from  ('oiinee- 
ticut  and  .Massa<'liuset  ts.  had  Itetter  education,  and  was  more  eiiteriiris- 
ini;,  more  united.  It  rei|uire(l  onl.x-  a  few  decades  before  the  lOnylish 
siicakinu  population  ijaiiied  su|irenia<'.v,  tilled  Ihe  olhces  and  controlled 
atfaiis  'The  p.asiors  then  beijaii  to  pre.acli  in  lOnulish,  and  the  s;ime 
lanmiape  was  taught  in  all  the  schools  and  at  this  (hite  there  are  pi'f 
haps  not  h;ilf  a  do/en  descendanis  of  the  earl.x'  (Jerman  settlers  who 
uiideistaiid  a  few  sentences  of  .>b)liawk  Oiiti-h,  I'.ut  after  this  .\n.u'ii- 
ciziui;  process  was  com]ileted.  the  renaissance  of  the  (lermaii  stock  took 
place  and   now    the  two  races  are  socially,  i>olitieally  and   iiitelieetually 


412  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY, 

l)eers.  Tliis  ppriodjc-il  diM-liur  is  not  to  the  discredit  of  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Pal.-iliiics:  11  is  a  law  of  maiildiid  as  old  as  man.  that  the 
isolated  colony  of  a  strange  iicoidc.  sucaldn^'  a  stran^^e  tongue  and  ac- 
customed to  (iitfci-cnt  lialiils.  will  ma  Ice  only  feeble  resistance  to  the 
!  ace  rnliim  tlu'  land. 

At  tile  l)e.ij,inniii,ii  of  tlic  last  ccnlnrx  and  at  the  time  to  wliich  my 
list  of  inlialiitants  .-.iiiilics.  ilic  lands  in  the  town  were  nearly  ail  taken 
n]i.  .More  woodland  rfuiaincd.  and.  .-is  the  farms  were  smaller  than 
llie  i)rcsent  ours,  the  anmlier  of  clearings  and  habitations  were  larger 
and  more  excniy  distribnied.  Witli  ;i  few  exceptions,  the  dwellings 
were  mo(h  st  and  many  of  thcni  lou  houses.  The  raisin.u  of  wheat, 
cattle,  sheep  and  hous.  and  the  manufactm.'e  of  potash,  were  the  prin- 
<'ipal  sources  of  icveuue.  Uttle  Falls  existed  then  as  a  very  small 
village,  but  the  seHlemenl  of  that  lime  \\as  wholly  outside  of  the  limits 
of  Manlicini:  lluit  part  of  the  \illa;je  later  on  within  tin-  town  \vas  not 
settled  until  ;ifte!-  \s:\-J.  \\  m-;idu;illy  gi'ew  until  in  ISP."),  when  the  new 
city  limits  cut  this  jiart  out  of  the  town  when  about  l',.";(i(>  jieople  lived 
within  11i;il  ii.-irt  of  the  \ill;ige  .ind  within   the  town. 

About  two  nnles  .-iliove  Little  Falls  there  was  at  the  end  of  the  18th 
century  tlie  small  villa.i;e  of  Itiemensnyder  Rush,  already  mentioned, 
mostly  inliabiti  (1  by  (Jeiin.ins.  At  the  iii'cseul  site  of  Dolgevile  were 
some  small  mills  .ind  a  few  houses.  A  few  miles  nortli  of  the  north 
line  of  the  town  w  ei-e  three  settlcmeids:  S.ilisbiu'y  ("enter,  Salisltury 
Corners  and  .Mount  Pleasant,  .at   Yankee  I'.ush  (now  Hm-rells  Corners.! 

At  the  center  of  the  town,  ncai-  where  .lacob  .M.arkell  lived  was  a 
cluster  of  dw.-llings.  .\|  Ingh.ims  Mills,  then  called  Feeters  Mills,  the 
beginuin.i;  of  a  hamlet  w;is  to  be  seen,  founded  by  Colonel  Feeter.  wlio 
was  building  sonu-  mills  at  that  jil.ace.  One  of  the  most  imi)ortant 
villiiges  in  the  town  was  wh.at  no\\-  is  reuiembered  as  the  Old  City,  at 
the  fool  of  the  f.ills  ne;ir  IL-ist  ('reek.  Feunded  by  .lohn  Reardslee  in 
17i»4  or  prioi-.  .-i  bi'idge  w;is  built  oxer  the  Fast  ('.■in;id:i  Creek;  and  a 
number  of  mills,  taxcrns.  shojts  and  dwellings  made  nj)  (piite  a  town. 
\\'ilh  the  buildin.i;'  of  the  turnpike  ;ind  the  l.ayin.i:'  out  of  the  same  in 
its  present  pl.ice.  and  the  erection  of  a  new  brid.ue  oxer  the  Fast  Canada 
Creek,  the  settlement  dxxindled  aw.ay  .and  :i  nexx'  one  sprun.g  up  at  East 
Creek.  In  the  days  of  staging  on  the  turnpike  this  again  became 
(pdte    a   factor  to  be  in  turn  deserted  after  the  building  of  the  canal. 

Anothei'  sm.all  liandet  existed  on  (Jillett  Ci-eek  near  the  mills  of  .lohn 
Faville.  on  xvhat  is  now  called  tlie  Feck  f;irm:  .and  anothta-  near  by 
xxhere  .Ma.ioi'  I'Mnck  resided,  not  to  be  confounded  xxith  the  later  "I^'incks 
IJasiii'"  on  the  south  side  of  the  river. 

The  Snell  .and  Timmeriu.aii  fandlies  s"lt:ed  their  patent  imnn'diately 
.after  it  was  yr.anted  and  tr.adition  .among  the  families  says  th.at  .i  small 
clinrch  was  eri'ctt'd  .it  the  lime  of  the  settlement  and  stood  in  the  sonth- 
(vn  ]r,\v\  of  the  patent.  Before  the  revolution  four  of  the  Snells,  Siiff- 
renas.  IVter,  .Tacob  and  .Joseph,  donated  land  for  a  church  at  the  pre- 


THE   TOWN   OF    MANHEIM  4l3 

sent  ,sito.  Thnt  cliiirf-li  stood  until  is:')*)  wlini  the  i)i-csnt  ImihliiiL; 
w.is  erected.  The  eonjireyatiou  belongs  lo  llic  Tieforiued  <"lm;<li  ;iiid 
usually  keeps  a  uiiuister  of  its  own.  Iiu(  of  late  years  the  s<'t\i(  cs  have 
heeu  sui)plie(l. 

The  next  oldest  cliurcli  is  the  church  known  as  the  \'c!lo\\  nr  Mau- 
heiui  cliurch.  I'hitries  in  the  church  hooks  of  Stone  Ai-.ihia  show  that 
M'veral  years  prior  lo  th<'  revolution  tiie  pastors  of  the  laithei'an  church 
of  that  place  went  to  i)erfoi-ni  reliuidns  t  unctions  at  Icienuaisnyder's 
Hush,  and  that  the  church  was  supplied  until  IS.'M  .-md  i>erlia])s  later, 
from  Stone  Arabia.  .Vs  ;i  nnitter  of  fact  the  Stone  .Vrabi.i  churches 
acted  for  all  the  (h'rinan  population  of  the  .Meli.iwk  \;illey  ;is  i)arish 
ehurelu's.  until  the  end  of  the  fSth  century.  I'^xisliir:;-  records  i)rove 
that  prior  to  hsi  1  ;i  church  society  existe.l  at  Manh<'ini,  made  contracts, 
paid  salarii's:  but  the  lecord.-i  ai-e  so  incomplete  th.it  it  is  hard  to  give 
exact  facts.  In  hSiM  (he  society  was  incorporated.  In  fsl'L'  ;i  frame 
ehuroh  w;is  built.  'I'liat  building  was  remodeled  in  ]ST):\  .and  she  new 
present  church  was  erected  in  ISS;;.  'I'he  lirsl  church  bnildim;  stood 
probably  <m\  the  south  si(h'  of  llu'  ro.id  and  \\;is  surrounded  by  the 
original  burying  ground,  lii  the  e.arly  part  of  the  centui-y  the  llev.  Mr. 
Domayer,  of  Stone  Arabia,  was  for  m.iny  years  the  p.istor  sU|)plying 
that  church.  From  1X11  to  ISMl  he  was  assiste(l  by  .\ntlion.\  Kauff- 
man,  who  Avas  a  lo<al  t  .xhorter.  If  tradition  is  trne,  both  wei'e  charac- 
tei's  such  as  are  not  found  in  these  days  aniont;  the  bi'ethreu  of  the 
cloth.  About  four  tinu^s  each  yeai'  pastor  I>iunayei-  would  go  .around 
lo  his  outlying  churches  and  baptize  the  children,  marry  the  living,  and 
enjoy  a  round  of  festivities  which  sometimes  t;ixe(l  pretty  heavily  the 
old  Dominie's  staying  (pialities.  His  salary  at  .M.inheim  was  .t;,2r>.()U  per 
year. 

The  first  church  society  at  lirocketts  I'ladge  w;is  org.'inized  in  ISIl. 
and  the  original  cluu'cli  Ijuildiiru  still  exists  at  the  west  side  of  Main 
street  in  Dolgeville,  and  is  used  by  .Mrs.  Whitney  as  a  b.irn.  Kichard 
Hewitt,  Nathaniel  Spencer  and  John  Faville,  Jr.,  wei'e  the  building  com- 
mittee, and  the  hrst  meeting  was  held  ,it  the  house  of  Nathaniel 
Spencer.  Lorenzo  1  »ow  ami  (Jeorge  (iary  preached  in  that  old  build- 
ing, and  Abbey  Kelly  Foster  lectured  thei-e  repeatedly.  In  1S42  Ma.ior 
Winton  organized  some  meetings  which  caused  a  sjilit  in  the  (  huich, 
and  he  and  his  followers  held  their  meetings  in  the  loft  of  the  tannery, 
until  tlie  Main  street  church  was  buill  and  was  used  by  .i  sect  known 
as  "Christians."  Aftei'  Winton's  failure  the  or;:;iniz.alion  (h\indled 
away  and  the  Methodists  got  hold  of  the  building  .and  va<-ated  their  old 
i-hurch  which  was  sold  in  IS."):;.  About  six  years  ago  a  new  and  l.argei- 
building  was  erected  on  Helmer  avenue,  and  the  M.  10.  cliuich  of  holge- 
ville  is  now  the  largest  .and  most  ]>rospei(Mis  congregation  in  the  town. 

On  .June  II.  IS.*',).  ;i  .M.  1],  church  was  orii.anizt'd  at  Fast  ('reek  and 
called  the  ]A)Wer  I'^ast  Ci'eek  Society  of  the  M.  10.  church.  The  lii'st 
trustees    were   John    Uichtmyei',    Henry    I'.loodough,    Charles   C.    Chase, 


414  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

• 

Simon  Hendrick,  jr..  and  David  Snell.     Tlie  first  meeting  was  held  at 

tho  house  of  Henry  Kloodough.  I  understand  tliat  tliis  congrejiation 
met  at  the  East  Creek  school  house;  for  how  lon.y  it  was  kept  up  I 
ha  v(>  not  been  ahle  to  ascertain,  prol)al)ly  not  mucli  Later  tlian  IS.IO. 

Tile  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Manheim  Center,  lociited  near 
tlie  Uansom  school  house,  was  orf;anized  March  l.'t,  1,S4t;,  and  Daniel 
Hayes,  Henry  Bellingei-,  I'eler  HelliiiKcr,  Peter  Hoyer,  Adam  E^ellinsicr, 
.Jesse  I^ewis,  .lacoh  ,1.  D.ivis  and  David  Loucks  were  elected  trustees. 
The  same  church  was  reorganized  April  27,  IS.'tO.  as  the  Central  M.  E. 
church  of  Manheim,  with  a  new  set  of  trustees.  In  1850  Henry  Bel- 
linger sold  to  the  congregation  the  lot  on  which  the  churcli  stands,  and 
soon  after  the  present  building  was  erected.  The  preaching  was  done 
by  the  M.  E.  pastors  of  Salisbury  Center  and  Krocketts  Bridge.  At 
the  same  time  tlie  building  was  open  to  the  use  of  any  christian  denom- 
ination. The  church  as  organized  was  kept  up  until  after  the  war, 
when  on  account  of  the  removal  and  death  of  old  members  the  same 
was  abandoned,  but  the  organization  was  kept  up  until  about  188U, 
when  Charles  W.  Ransom  was  tlie  last  clerk.  The  members  were  then 
transferred  to  the  Brocketts  Bridge  M.   E.  church. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  anti-slavery  agitation,  the  Abolitionists  de- 
sired to  hold  meetings  in  the  M.  E.  church,  but  were  opposed  by  the 
majority  of  the  members  of  the  church,  consequently  the  anti-slavery 
men  under  the  lead  of  -Tohn  I).  Spofford,  organized  the  "Moral  and 
Religious  Society"  under  an  act  of  the  legislature  passed  April  15,  1884, 
and  eorporated  themselves  as  the  Free  Church  of  Brocketts  Bridge. 
The  first  trustees  were  John  D.  Spofford,  .losepli  Hewitt,  .Tames  Brown, 
Zeiias  Broekett,  Keubeii  Eaville  ami  Solomon  Cramer,  and  it  was 
voted  by  the  .society,  "Th.-it  the  seats  and  pews  in  the  (4iun'li  so  Imilt 
oi'  owned  by  said  siiiaety  shall  be  forever  free  foi-  the  occupation  and 
use  during  any  i»ul»lic  worship  or  discussion  withcuit  distinction  of 
coUn',  creed,  sect,  or  denomination."  This  was  signed  by  the  trustees 
and  witnessed  before  Ira  Beckwith,  Justice.  This  church  too  had  only 
a  brief  life  and  tlie  liuilding  got  somehow  into  private  hands  ••ind  has 
been  used  as  a  dance  hall  and  show  house  foi'  many  years  (last. 

The  St.  .lolin's  (lermaii  E\;ingelical  Lutheran  cliiir(4i  of  Dolgeville 
was  organized  Marcli  7,  188').  with  I'aiii  (irass.  Karl  Dedicke  and 
Adolph  Freygang  as  trustees.  The  Rev.  William  F.  Zell  was  the  tirsi 
pastor.  This  congregation  still  exists  and  owns  a  church  ()ii  Faville 
avenue  of  that  village.  For  some  years  a  (Jernian  Methodist  cliurch 
kcjit  u|)  an  organization  at   l)olge\ille,  but  is  now  defunct. 

There  are  now  in  iMjlgeville  a  Presl)yteri;in  church,  a  Baptist  (  liur(4i, 
and  ;i  very  popular  and  prosperous  Fniversalist  cliur(4i.  The  later 
owns  a  handsome  laiilding  and  the  church  is  active  and  growing. 

An  Episcopalian  chni'cli  was  organized  some  years  ago,  but  the 
membership  dwindled  away  and  the  church  was  sold  under  foreclos- 
ure and  is  now  owned  by  a  strong  and  promising  Roman  Catholic  or- 


THE   TOWN   OF   MANHEIM  415 

j;anization.      Even  the  ("liristian  Sricntisfs  nrc  said  to  liavt-  iiiailc  stmic 
inroads  in  Dolyovillc 

The  Baptist  clinrch  of  liiulianis  .Mills  was  oryani'/cd  in  ISIS  ;,n(l  tin- 
I'('\.  A.  lit'acli  was  tlic  lirsl  pasldr.  .Mrctin,i;s  wri-c  held  ;ii  private 
residences  and  at  the  scliool  house  until  is  II,  when  the  present  ehnrch 
was  erected.  The  society  was  organized  and  iucoi-porated  on  the  loth 
of  .lamiary.  IS-ll!.  with  Nathan  I'.rown,  .losepli  Hewitt,  liarvcy  Inu 
ham.    David    Snell    and   olliei's   as   Irnstees. 

After  Ave  have  made  a  sni-vcy  of  the  houses  of  worship  in  I'.m'  town. 
it  is  hilt  approijriate  to  make  also  a  short  visit  to  the  places  of  lun-ial 
of  tlie  dead.  The  Snell's  I'.ush  cemetery  snnonnds  the  church  on  an 
eminence  of  gTomnl  visihle  for  many  miles,  and  many  old  stones  mark 
the  Ki"aves  of  the  earlier  settleis.  In  that  cenu'tei'v  the  Sn<'ll,  'I'innner- 
man,  Markell.  (iarlock.  Feeter  and  Vonran  families  are  well  re])i-e- 
sented.  The  oldest  .yravestoiie  in  the  yard  seems  to  he  the  one  indi 
eating  the  last  resting  place  of  I'etcr  Snell,  who  died  July  4,  1S(I4,  and 
wIk)  was  horn  ITMI.  It  is  said  he  was  the  son  of  the  original  patentee, 
John  Joost  Snell. 

A  small  buryini;  ;4round  in  Snell's  Husli  is  sometinu's  called  the  Snell 
cemetery  or  Spook.v  Hollow  cemeter.v.  and  contains  the  praxes  of  many 
descendants  of  the  Snell  family,  Imt  the  cemetery  is  evidently  <  onsider- 
ahl,v  newer  than  the  one  siu'roundiny  the  church. 

In  the  pine  woods  on  the  Beardslee  farm  n«'ar  the  \ault  which  con- 
tains the  remains  of  Jnd,t;e  Beardslee,  is  an  old  (  emetcry  in  which  we 
find  the  graves  of  many  of  the  orininal  settlers  of  "the  (>ld  ('it,\  of  East 
Creek."  Amon.u  others  there  rests  John  I'.eaidslee  and  his  wife.  La 
vinia.  A  great  numy  memliers  of  the  Kills  family  are  buried  in  that 
gronnd.  The  oldest  monunn^nt  is  that  of  James  Pardee,  who  died 
April  2M,  181."i.  There  is  onl.\  (Uie  inivale  liui'.viuii  uroniid  renniinini: 
along  tlie  turnpike,  which  is  called  the  Finck  and  \an  \'a  ll;cnl)nrgh 
cemetery.  The  oldest  mai'ked  gi'ave  in  the  ground  is  that  of  .Ma.ior 
Andrew  Finck,  who  died  Feb.  ."!,  IS'Jd,  aged  .")!)  years,  .'1  days.  The 
ground  also  contains  the  gi'avc  of  I'^rederick  Finck,  gi'andson  of  the 
Ma.ior.  His  very  promising  cai'eei-  as  aii  artist  was  cut  short  at  thi' 
age  of  'A~  .vears.  .\  small  bur.\ini;  ground  on  l  >r.  Haighfs  faim  con- 
tains some  graves  of  }'(4i'ies  and  l.oiu'ks,  the  oldest  burial  being  in  the 
year  1822. 

The  Boyer  family  has  a  burying  plot  on  the  ("hannce,\-  Cook  farm, 
but  the  monuments  have  been  destroyed  and  only  the  markers  remain. 
There  are  buried  in  that  ground  John  Boyei-  and  his  son.  both  revolu 
tionary  soldiers,  and  Leonard  Boyer,  a  soldiei'  of   1S12. 

The  most  interesting  cemetery  in  the  town  of  Maidieim  is  I  he  one 
surrounding  the  Yellow  chui'ch.  I  have  stated  elsewhere  this  was  jiro- 
bably  not  the  tirst  cemetery,  but  we  tind  in  the  iircsent  one  a  great 
many  graves  of  the  original  inhabitants,  ami  the  Ke.vser,  Windecker, 
Feeter,  Bellin,uer,  Petrie,  Keeler,  Pickert,  Van  Slyke  and  P.roat  families 


416  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SO(^IETY. 

are  much  representd.  The  oldest  stones  in  it  mark  the  graves  of  Bar- 
tholomew Pickert.  who  was  born  in  1T2(>  and  died  in  ISOT.  Frederick 
Windecker,  who  was  horn  in  \~'2'>  and  died  in  ISOS,  and  .Foliii  Keller, 
who  was  horn  1740  and  died  in  1,S(m;.  A  small  hnrying  ground  opposite 
the  Manheim  Center  Uansom  M.  E.  church  still  existed  tiftei'ii  years 
afio,  but  has  now  entirely  disappeared. 

The  cemetery  containinf*  the  first  New  Kngland  immijirants  of  the 
town  of  JNIanheim  is  lot-ated  on  the  William  Peck  farm  and  is  known 
as  the  Sherwood  cemetery.  This  is  an  old  jii'ound  and  contains  the 
graves  of  the  earlier  members  of  the  Faville.  Karnes,  Bennett,  Sher- 
wood, Ransom,  Ayres.  Spofford  and  Peck  families.  The  oldest  grave 
is  that  of  Anna,  wife  of  Amos  Sherwood,  who  died  Aug.  14,  1S12,  age 
30.  The  Ing'hams  ^Nlills  cemetery  has  been,  if  we  can  apply  that  word 
to  such  an  institution,  the  most  popular  burying  ground.  It  has  been 
carried  on  for  years  i»ast  as  a  private  institution,  but  lately  has  been 
incorporated  according  to  law  and  is  well  cared  for  under  the  manage- 
ment of  Mr.  Norman  (".  Loucks,  who  devotes  much  of  his  time  to  that 
cemetery.  The  Pleasant  Hill  cemetery  of  Brocketts  Bridge,  at  Dolge- 
ville,  N.  Y..  is  the  largest  cemetery  in  town,  and  has  grown  out  of  a 
small  yard  which  was  opened  about  1S4().  There  are  many  and  elabor- 
ate monuments  in  this  cemetery.  The  Spofford,  Faville,  Sjiencer  and 
Brockett  families  liave  always  been  re])resented  on  the  btcird  of  trus- 
tees and  have  taken  special  pride  and  interest  in  these  grounds. 

I  have  to  contine  myself  to  a  few  general  remarks  concerning  family 
histories,  and,  if  any  families  are  omitted,  ov  the  apparent  due  credit 
is  not  given  them,  the  above  must  be  my  excuse.  The  family  which 
can  claim  by  .-ige,  by  numbers,  and  by  patriotic  showing,  the  right  to  be 
mentioned  tirst,  are  the  Snells,  who  are  the  descendants  of  .lohann 
Snell,  sr.,  who  was  born  in  the  year  ItliXi.  in  tlie  Palatinate  in  Germany, 
and  died  SeptenU)er  12,  1787,  in  Stone  Arabia,  aged  nearly  vr2  years. 
He  left  living  at  the  time  of  his  death,  3  daughters.  2(;  grand-children, 
72  great-grand-children.  3  great-  great-graTid-children.  Johanr;is  was 
probably  the  father  of  the  patentee,  Johan  .loost.  Johannis  appears  in 
the  early  German  records  on  the  Hudson  rivei-,  and  as  far  back  as  1733 
he  is  mentioned  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  militia  company,  "'In  Ye  Maquas 
Land."  The  colonial  history  mentions  often  the  name  of  S/iell;  and 
we  tind  there,  Jacob.  Adam.  Christian,  Frederick.  Frederick  jr..  (Jeorge 
jr..  Jacob  jr..  John  jr.,  Johannis,  George.  Nicholas,  Peter,  and  Sufrenas, 
all  performing  services  in  colonial  times  as  otlicers  and  privates.  The 
Suells  furnished  a  large  number  to  militia  and  levies  and  w<'  tind  in 
New  York  in  the  Bevolution.  "the  following:"  Adam,  Adam  jr..  Fla- 
than.  Frederick.  George.  Hanickle,  Han  Yost,  Jacob,  Jacob  Frederick, 
John,  John  jr.,  John  F..  John  J.,  John  P..  Joseph,  Peter,  Robert.  Sef- 
riiius,  Stephen,  Thomas,  Jacob  and  Zeley.  Simms  and  other  works 
state  that  nine  of  that  family  went  to  Oriskany.  of  whom  seven  were 
killed.     On  the  Oriskany  monument  the  names  of  Frederick,  George, 


The  town  of  manheim.  417 

.Tacol),  .Tncob  .Tohan,  .Tohan  jr.,  .loscpli,  I'ftt'r  and  Sopliroiiius  appear. 
Tlie  nnnilter  of  those  killed  at  Oriskany  probably  refers  to  those  of  all 
the  Snells  in  the  Mohawk  valley  ami  not  to  those  only  who  s',>ttled  in 
Snells  Knsh.  The  family  is  still  numerons  but  its  nninlier  in  the  town 
is  ^ettiny  very  small. 

The  Tinunerman  family  is  also  of  clear  I'alatine  stock  and  the  ori- 
ginal name.  Zimmeinian,  is  still  used  by  some  liranches.  Adam,  Chria- 
tiaii,  Ensign  Conrad,  ("onrad  L.,  Lieutenant  Ilendrick,  Ilendrick  L., 
Ensign  Henry,  Jacob,  .lacob  L.,  Lieutenant  .lohannis.  Lieutenant  John, 
John,  John  (L.  and  William  Tinunerman  and  L»e\vitt,  Ensign  Frederick 
Uenedrich  , Henry  and  Nicholas  Zimmerman  appear  on  the  muster  rolls 
of  the  revolutionary  army  and  Jacob  Zimmerman  was  a  i)risoner  of  war 
captured  by  the  Indians  at  Oriskany.  The  name  of  Henricli.  Jacob 
and  Conrad  Zinunerman  are  immortalized  on  the  Oriskany  Battleshart. 
Andrew,  Conrail.  Conrad  jr.,  Oeorge,  Henry,  Jacob.  Lawrence,  Theo- 
bald and  Matthew  Tinunerman  and  Zinuneinian  weic  colonial  soldiers. 

The  Markeils  n-ached  tiie  .Mohawk  valley  by  way  of  Schoh.u  ie,  and 
were  early  settlers  of  the  vicinity  of  St(jne  Arabi;i.  Henry  Markell, 
Lather  of  Jacob  Markell.  was  a  gallant  Revolution:iry  oiUcer  and  kept 
for  many  years  a  tavern  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by  C.  K.  i'licer,  in 
the  town  of  St.  Johns\ille.  His  sun  Jacob  w;is  liorn  in  1770,  and  set- 
tled after  the  Revolution  In  the  town  of  Manheim.  of  which  iown  he 
became  the  leader.  He  hehl  many  political  ottices  and  iiis  iidluence 
among  the  Oermans  was  great.  He  was  also  foi'  many  years  a  justice 
of  tile  peace,  and  nearly  all  the  suits  for  miles  ai-ound  were  tried  before 
Squire  Markell;  his  decisions  wert'  just  and  e(iuitalile.  lie  h.-nl  a  tine 
property  of  SOU  acres,  of  which  18l»  are  still  in  possession  of  his  grand- 
son, George  Markell.  who  lives  on  the  old  homestead. 

By  military  service  aiul  family  connections  Major  .\ndre\\  Finck 
held  in  tiie  early  days  of  the  town  the  most  prominent  juisiiion;  his 
son.  Andrew  A.,  was  known  for  ye^U's  as  one  of  the  famous  Mohawk 
turnpike  tavern  keei»ers.  and  as  a)i  enterprising  and  far  seeing  business 
man.  His  later  tinanci.al  luin  was  due  to  the  treachery  of  friends  for 
whom  he  sigiu'd  and  endorsed,  Thei'e  are  no  persons  of  tliit  nam<^ 
living  in  the  town. 

The  Garlock  family  claim  desfcnt  from  .iohn  Chi'isti.-in  (Jarlock.  who 
s"i-\ed  in  1711  as  captain  of  a  I'al.itine  com])any  in  the  ('aiiadian  w  a  i 
and  who  was  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  inunigi'ation  from  the  Hudson 
to  the  Schoharie  valley  and  .after  whom  (Jarlocksdorf  in  Schoh.ii'ie  was 
named.  He  became  om-  of  the  owiuas  of  the  Stone  .\raliia  i>;[i.'nt  .ind 
some  of  his  children  settled  there.  .Vdam  (Jarlock  came  to  .Waiilieim 
just  prior  to  the  lie\-olution  and  retinned  .-iftei'  the  w.ar  and  sellled  on 
the  place  now  occaipied  by  .lames  and  .John  (Lai'lock.  .lolin  Cailoci., 
the  great-grandson  of  Adam,  is  the  present  supervisor  oi'  (he  |o\\  n  and 
a  nnin  favorably  known  within  and  outside  of  our  county,  uilu  r  (ier 
man  families  as  the  Feelers,   Keysers,  P>ellin.gers,   Loucks.    I'.io.ils  and 

27 


418  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

Windeckers.  have  become  at  various  times  prominent.  Their  ances- 
tors were  patriotic  and  the  present  mem))ei-s  of  the  family  are  hind 
owners,  business  men  and  professional  n)en  of  liis'h  standing  in  the 
comnmnity.  The  Kellers  are  the  descendants  of  John  Keller  v.  lio  was 
a  native  of  Switzerland. 

Of  the  families  of  Holland  Dutch  extraction  I  mention  the  \  an  Val- 
kenbiir.!4hs.  descenchmts  of  James  Van  N'alkenbnrt;-,  who  was  an  eaiiy 
tavern-keeper  on  the  turnpike.  The  ^'an  Slykes  settled  before  the  Ite- 
volution  in  the  northwestern  ])art  of  the  town.  The  Lansings,  although 
later  comers,  became  identilied  with  the  affairs  of  the  town. 

Of  families  settliiif;'  Tlie  uppei-  part  of  the  town,  the  Favilles  ;ii-e  pro- 
balily  the  tirst  ai'rivals.  John  Faville  came  from  New  Jersey  with  the 
troops  durin.u  the  early  i)art  of  the  Tlevolntionary  war,  and  settled  at 
the  locality  in  Salisbury  known  as  Yankee  Hush.  Very  soon  after  the 
Revolutionary  war  he  purchased  of  Caldwell  the  water  pov.'er  and 
lands  now  known  as  the  Faville  Falls,  on  the  William  Feck  farm, 
where  ln^  st.ai'ted  ;i  Lirist-mill  ;ind  other  industries.  He  also  f.iianed  it 
and  raised  a  lari;*'  family.  His  descendants  ai'e  spread  all  over  the 
I'nited  States,  and  the  family  is  still  numerous  at  l>ol.neville. 

The  S])offords  settled  in  what  is  now  Ool.ueville,  at  an  early  date 
and  owned  a  larye  ])art  of  the  territory  now  occupied  by  the  vill.-iyc. 
J.  P.  SpoiTord  and  his  brothers  owned  and  operated  mills  on  the  stream. 
John  D.  Spofford  was  an  ai'dent  Abolitionist.  His  son,  (Jeneral  Jolin 
Fembertoii  Spofford,  the  lieutenant-cohmel  of  the  TiUh  reuiment  durin.!;- 
tlu-  Civil  war,  w:is  an  othcer  famous  for  u.-illantry  and  deserves  the 
credit  of  hrin.ninK  the  I)olj;e  industry  to  that  place.  The  Spencers 
,'in(!  Ayics  cann'  befor(»  the  close  of  the  ISth  century  and  settled  south- 
west of  I  >ol,ii('\  ille.  The  home  farm  of  the  Spencers  is  still  (K-cupied  by 
Howai'd  Si)encer.  the  only  one  of  th.at  nam«»  remainin.!i-  in  town.  The 
lirocketl  family,  descended  from  the  W'olcott  br;inch  of  the  C<nun'cti- 
(  ut  Brockelts  .and  settled  lirst  at  S.nlisbury.  .and  later  Zephi  Krockett 
settled  in  l^'ulton  county  Just  across  from  Ar.anheim  and  within  tlie 
present  village  of  1  >ol,ueville.  This  occurred  in  about  ISlr!,  and  in 
1S2(;  when  he  had  become  the  leadin.u  m.in  of  the  little  settlement,  u 
postolfice  A\;is  established  .and  named  P.rocketts  l'.rid.ue.  and  c(.ntinued 
uiidei-  that  name  until  ISSO  when  during  the  presidential  campaign  the 
n.'ime  w.is  ch.anged  from  Brocketts  P.ridge  to  Oolgeville.  The  bi'st 
known  member  of  the  P>rockett  family  was  undoubtedly  Zenas  Brock- 
ett,  who  I'csiding  .at  his  beautiful  home  called  IJberty  Home,  was  for 
niany  years  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  anti-slavery  p.arty  of  Central  New 
York.  His  place  was  :i  station  of  the  unilergi-onnd  I'.-iilro.ad  and  many 
;i  sl.ive  was  here  |)rotected  and  shelteriMl  while  on  his  way  to  C.-mada. 
Zenas  P.rockett  was  one  of  the  most  genial  of  men  but  one  of  the  most 
tenacious  of  fighlers.     He  died  in  1883  at  a  ripe  old  age. 

Of  other  families  of  New  England  extraction  and  which  have  made 
their   imiiress   upon    the  .alfairs  of  the  town.   1   mention  the   Itices  and 


THE  TOWN   OF   MANHEIM.  419 

Siulh'i'S.  .losejih  Hiee  of  the  noiihwt'stci'u  imi'l  of  tlic  town  is  t'lo  own- 
er of  one  of  the  hii'uest  and  ln'st  managed  farms,  and  a  man  onjuyinu  t<> 
a  ^reat  extent  the  esteem  and  coniidem-e  of  his  neii^ldioi's.  The  Sad- 
lers  have  lieen  <'n,i;'a,ii'ed  in  the  mei'iantilo  Inisincss  at  Iniiiuims  Mills 
for  many  years.  The  hnsiness  is  now  owned  liy  James  I>.  Sadler  of 
that  phiee. 

The  Beardsiees  of  East  Creek  l»eh)nK  also  to  the  New  En,i;iand  immi- 
gration, and  as  the  family  never  spread  vei'y  mneli  the  propi  rty  has 
been  kept  to.yethcr  and  is  the  most  valuahle  on*^  in  the  town.  Tlie  first 
one  here  of  that  name  was  John  Beardslee,  who  ^\•as  horn  in  Sharon. 
Conneoticnl,  in  ]7r>9.  and  died  in  Manlieim  in  ISlT).  lie  was  a  niill- 
riii'lit  and  en.nineer.  He  settled  first  at  Whitestowni;  he  Imilt  the  first 
bridge  across  tlie  Mohawlv  river  at  Little  Falls,  and  numy  other  ])nl)lie 
buildin.us  and  niills  too  nnmerous  to  mention,  lie  built,  in  17'.t4,  a 
bridge  across  the  East  Canada  creek  ne.ir  tlie  falls,  and  st.arted  tlu're 
a  settlement  now  remembered  as  ""(Hd  City."  His  son,  August  Keai'd- 
slee,  as  lawyer,  .iudge,  and  man,  was  well  known  and  esteemed.  His 
son,  Guy  K.,  lias  be.guii  to  utilize  the  great  water  power  of  the  East 
Creek  and  is  now  furnishing  electricity  to  many  Mohawk  valli>y  towns. 

The  history  of  Dol.geville,  which  1  wrote  in  ISST,  makes  it  nnneces- 
sary  for  me  to  ,go  into  tlie  details  of  that  interesting  little  comniunit.v. 

A  brief  outline  will  sutfice  of  Dolgeville's  history.  Mills  existed  ;it 
the  present  site  in  170J.  A  tannery  -was  locati'd  there  aliont  ISIS  by 
one  Reijben  Ransom  and  conduct(Ml  up  to  is:;(i.  The  Itansom  lamily 
ivere  e;iiiy  owners  of  land  and  watei'  i»ower  there,  and  the  old  house 
f-f  I>a\  id  Kansom  on  Main  street  is  one  of  the  oldest  buildings  in  town, 
now  occupied  by  Jolm  l'\  L.imbei'son.  The  largt^-  taniu'r.x'  which  w;is 
for  many  yeai's  tlie  source  of  life  of  tlie  vill.ige,  was  oi)ei-;iteil  l)y  I>. 
R.  Winton,  .\.  S.  (iieeii,  Amos  (iriswold,  ;ind  fin.ill.v  by  a  l.irgc  tannery 
firm  fi'oni  New  Yoi'k  cit.v,  (d'  which  John  Walsoii  was  the  best  known 
pai'tner,  and  Oliver  Ladue  the  man.ager.  one  of  tlie  most  iMipnlar  men 
of  Central  \e\\'  \'ork  of  his  time.  The  oper.ntion  of  the  t;inner.\'  ceasctl 
entirely  in  the  sixties.  The  \illage  in  the  nieantini<'  had  grown  Uj) 
from  a  few  houses  to  a  fair  si/.t-d  country  town.  When  l»olL;e  came, 
the  village  t-oiitained  alxtut  tiou  inhabitants,  .and  gi'ew  fn  nearly  '2.7>i»\ 
in  IS'.IS.  l>olge"s  failure  in  that  year  \\-as  a  serious  shock  to  t!\is  fact- 
ory town.  liul.  rising  like  the  l'heni.\  from  the  ashes,  the  town  has  re- 
vived ;ind  survived.  The  poimlation  is  nearly  the  s.-inie  ;is  iS  w;is  at 
the  time  when  it  liiul  its  greatest  liooin.  and  now  evei-yone  is  bu^y.  con- 
tented  and   confichMit. 

'I'he  farmers  throughout  the  town  of  .Manlieim  experience  ;ilso  the 
tact  that  the  wax'cs  of  prosperit.N'  begin  lo  Imich  our  ;mricul(  ural  i'l- 
leresls,  and  su  it  is  tiaie  that,  at  the  time  of  tlie  writing  of  this  !>a;M'i, 
the  citizens  of  .M:inlieiiii  are  Justitied  in  looking  with  sereiiit.\  to  the 
future. 


GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  MOHAWK  COURIER  AND 
THE  HERKIMER    DEMOCRAT,  AND  SOME 
INTERESTING  FACTS  OF  LOCAL-  AS 
WELL    AS    OF    GENERAL    IN- 
TEREST,    1 846- 1 850. 

AN    ADDRESS    BY    HON.    KOBEHT    EARL   OF    HERKIMER, 

Delivered    before  tlie  Herkimer  (Joiinty  Historical  Societ}'  June  14,  VM)2. 

Tln'  iH-wsi»:iiH'rs  Jirc  (he  rcitositorics  of  ciirreiit  history  of  uinMniMlled 
inlei-est  iuid  iinporlniicc.  In  Iheiii  nrc  iiicliircd  the  ahsorhinn-  interests 
.'iiid  eiiftrossiu.u'  |)iissions  of  Ihe  piissin;;  l\our,  and  there  we  lind  inii'- 
rored,  as  nowhere  else,  tlie  ciistonis  and  habils  of  the  people. 

1  am  forlnnate  in  lia\in.L;  in  my  possession  Hie  numbers  of  the  Mo- 
hawk Conrier  published  in  Little  Fails  from  .lanuai'y  1st,  IS-IC,  to  De- 
cembei-  .">().  1S47.  an<l  ol  the  Herkimer  County  Dennx-rat  pubbshed  at 
Herkimer  fi'om  March  Kith,  1848,  to  February  C.th,  LS.IO.  These  papers 
cover  a  \ciy  interest  in.u'  and  momentous  jieriod  of  our  state  and  national 
as  well   as  our  local   histor\'. 

TJnd«M'  a  law  p.-issed  in  ISlTi  lariidy  due  to  statesmen  re- 
sidiiii;'  in  this  county,  a  coiislil  id  ionaj  coincntion  was  held  in 
Alliauy,  ill  Ihe  siimmer  and  tall  of  184(i.  iiiHh'r  which  our  slate 
SO^'fr^ment  w.as  changed  ;ind  I'eoryanized.  The  deleiiates  to  that  cmi- 
vention  from  this  county  were  Micheal  Hoffman  and  .Vrphaxed 
Loomjs,  and  no  other  two  meudiers  of  the  convention  left  by  their  labors 
so  ureal  an  impress  iiiion  the  new  constitution  .as  liiey  did.  My  brother, 
then  studyin.ti  law  in  .VIbaiiy,  wrote  me  under  d.ate  of  September  17th. 
ISld,  of  Mr.  Hoffman  as  follows:  "The  convention  has  now  under  con 
sideration  Ihe  repoii  of  Mich.ael  Hoffman  (I'elatins  to  the  tiiiaiicial  [iro 
visions  of  the  consi  ilutioni.  Tliou,s;h  there  is  some  opposition  to  it, 
and  efforts  are  made  to  entra|)  him,  yet  he  stands  up  like  a  toAvering 
monument  which  no  one  can  a]iproacli  but  with  feelin.iis  of  admiration. 
He  treats  his  oiiiionents  with  the  utmost  I'espeet  and  courtesy,  but 
i.ften  confuses  them  in  the  mazes  of  tij^ures  and  statistics  -which  are 
as  fanuliar  to  him  as  household  jioods,  or  even  the  names  of  his  own 
fandly.     His  report  and  measures  will  triumph."     And  they  did. 


GLEANINGS   FROMTHK    MOHAWK    COURIER  421 

I  WilS  well  ;ir'|ll;lilllc(l  witll  Imlll  Mr.  H(irilll;in  .111(1  Mr.  !,(punii.s. 
TlM'  foniipi-  \\;i><  (il  tlic  two  llif  ;;i'<'.ilcst  idiilosoplirr  ;iii(l  stiuicnl,  .-iiid 
tlic  l.-iffcr  li;i(l  the  iimst  prncl  i<-;i  I  l.ilcnts  ;mi(I  \\;is  tlif  iiiMSt  sa.i;;ici(>iis 
politici.iii.  'I'lic  two  ;ii-tin.u  l.i^ctlici-  li.-id  inorr  wciiiht  t!i:m  any  I'cprc- 
si'ntati v«s  hoiii  tliis  (■(luiily  in  any  ic.uislalivc  or  conslilncnl  body  liavp 
at  any  iiin<'  sim-c  had.  'I'licy  w<'!('  in  the  convention  llic  It'adcrs  of 
linancial,  I  'L;islat  ixc.  and  Icuai  as  well  as  of  many  otlici'  rcfoiins.  and 
tl.(y  roprcscntcd  a  sriiool  of  iiolitical  pliilosopliy  and  statcsinaiisliiii 
wliosc  ideas  have  lieen  endiodied  in  llie  rnndanienta  I  law  of  llie  state 
e\er  since. 

'I'lie  pi-oposed  consliliilion  Was  snhniitted  to  llie  vote  of  the  peoplo 
a!  the  election  in  the  fall  of  IS)''.,  and  was.  after  most  thoronyh  dis- 
cussion. .i<h>ided  li.\  a  larue  nia.jority;  and  with  all  its  chanues  it  wont 
iidct  operation    in    ISIT. 

I'nder  an  act  of  ISir.,  in  :ill  the  'onnties  of  this  slate  excej))  tiiat  of 
Ni  w  York,  there  w.is  in  M;i,\.  ISK;.  an  eleclidn  to  determine  whether  li- 
censes shciild  lie  -ranted  to  rel.ail  into.x  ica  tint;  liipiors.  If  at  siich  elec- 
lion,  a  majority  of  the  \olers  of  .any  town  or  city  \oted  for  "no  license," 
tlieii  the  lio;ird  of  excise  of  siicli  town  or  city  could  not  -'rant  .-iny  such 
licenses-  if  the  m.ajority  \oted  "for  license."  then  tlic  lioard  could  m'ant 
licenses,  hut  ceuld  make  no  charge  for  them.  In  this  cotiuty  and 
thi  on.Lilioiil  the  sl.-ile.;i  m.-ijority  of  the  towns,  .and  ;i  m.-ijority  of  theelec- 
tors  in  nearly  all  the  comities  \oted  for  "no  license."  In  this  county 
the  result  l>y  towns  was  ;is  follows:  I'"or  no  license,  l-'airtield.  !''rank- 
fort,  Herkimer.  Litchtield.  latlle  l'\alls.  M.anheim.  .Newport.  .Vorway. 
<»]iio.  i;\issi;i,  Saiishnr.v.  Schuxier.  \\;iia-eii  .and  Wiidield.  l-'o'-  liciaise, 
("olumliia.  <;ernian   l'"lats  and  Stark;  and    I>anulie  w.as  a    lie. 

Cnder  the  l.aw  of  l.Si.",.  the  (piestion  of  license  or  no  license  was  .a.uain 
suliniitlcd  to  the  Ncters  of  most  of  Hie  towns  and  cities  of  tiie  state 
in  M.ay.  ISIT,  and  the  scrdict  of  the  |>re\ious  year  was  .L;-enei-a  ll.v  r<>- 
\eised.  In  this  counly.  in  Slai'k.  l»;iiinlie  and  (ierm.an  l*'lats  there  was 
no  election.  Ill  the  other  towns  I  he  following  was  Hie  i-esull  :  for  li- 
(MMise.  Columhia,  f'ra  nk  fort ,  Herkimer.  Little  I''alls,  .Manheim,  .Nor- 
way, \\';iia-en,  Oliio:  tor  no  license,  l'';iir{ield,  l.ilchlield,  Newport. 
Itnssia.  Salishm-y.  Winth^ld.  I  cannot  lind  wli.at  the  \ote  in  Schuyler 
and  Wilmnrt  was.  The  .\lli.iny  iOveninu  .lomaial  riulil  after  the  elec- 
tion sjxtke  as  follows  of  the  cause  of  the  revolution  in  pulili<-  sentinient 
relatixe  to  the  license  (|Uestiou:  "It  would  he  .a  ureal  <M-ror  to  assume 
Ih;!l  tin- ox'erwiielmini;-  majority  .just  cast  in  faxorof  license  was  a  \ot(> 
auainst  the  temperau<-e  cause.  Tens  of  thousands  of  the  best  and  trii 
os!  friends  of  temi»eraiice  h.ave  heconu"  satisfied  th.at  the  law  w.is  work 
\wj:  evils  and  mischiefs  not  the  least  of  wlii<-li  <'oncerued  the  cause  Ih.at 
it  was  intended  to  promote.  Tliat  the  law  has  set  hack  the  tide  of  t<au 
jier.ance  is  too  Irue.  It  will  take  years  of  zealous  efforts  on  Hie  part 
of  the  indomitahle  \\'asliin.i;tonians.  and  of  i)ati<'nt,  kimlly  labors  from 
the  Sons  and  Daujiiiters  <>\'  Teinix'rance  to  recover  the  .yi'ound   that  has 


423  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

been  lost.  The  grouiul  can  however  he  recovered — not  l).v  leua!  jtains 
and  penalties,  hut  hy  the  jjentler  intinences  of  the  law  of  klndnesss." 
The  law  of  1845  became  so  unpopnlar  that  it  was  repealed  in  obedience 
to  an  overwhelming  public  sentiment  soon  after  the  election.  May  12. 
3847. 

P\ir  many  years  prior  to  184(>.  there  had  been  disputes  over  the  north- 
-western  boundary  westof  the  Kocky  Mountains  between  (ii'eai  I'.ritain 
and  this  country  which  at  one  time  threatened  war.  Many  Ai.iciicaus 
insisted  upon  the  line  of  54  degrees  40  minutes  from  the  Kocky  Mount- 
ains to  the  Pacitic  Ocean;  and  their  partisan  cry  was  "54  dcyrees  4(1 
minutes  or  tiyht."  That  line  would  have  barred  (Jreat  Hritain  from 
the  ocean,  and  would  have  placed  Kussia  in  that  I'euion -on  our  north, 
(ireat  I'.ritain  claimed  that  the  proper  boundary  was  the  <'(ilumbia 
Kiver.  The  dispute  was  finally  setttled  in  the  summer  of  l.S4(;  hy  a 
treaty  which  established  the  line  of  4!)  degrees  as  the  boundary,  liy 
that  treaty,  our  country  obtained  the  undisputed  right  to  288,r)8!)  s(iuare 
miles  of  territory — ;in  area  nearly  eciual  to  one  thii'd  of  the  entire  area 
of  the  United  States  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Hevobitionary    War. 

By  a  joint  resolution  of  congress  passed  March  Isl.  1S45.  and  the  sub- 
se(juent  acceptance  of  that  resolution  by  Texas,  the  latter  country  was 
annexed' to  and  incorporated  into  this  country.  This  was  done  in  spite 
of  protests  from  Mexico,  and  led  to  a  war  with  that  country,  connnnec- 
ing  in  A])ril.  l.S4ti.  I'he  war  was  "onducUMl  by  our  country,  nndci'  (Jcn- 
eials  Scott  and  T^\ylor.  witli  unxaiwing  snccess  initil  the  roiichisjon  of 
pc'ice.  in  the  summer  of  1S4S,  while  our  army  was  in  iiosscssioii  ol  the 
t'ity  of  Mexico.  That  war,  its  causes,  conduct  and  results  were  greatly 
discussed  in  congress  and  othqr  legislative  bodies,  and  In  tlie  public 
luess.  It  made  and  nnirred  many  public  characters,  and  in  several  re- 
s]»ects  undoubtedly  sha])ed  the  course  of  oiu'  sul)se(iuent  national  his- 
tory. It  made  (General  Taylor  president  in  1848,  and  (ieneral  fierce  in 
1852;  and  it  made  (xeneral  Scott  the  unsuccessful  Whig  candidate  in 
1852.  It  intensihed  the  anti-slavery  agitation  which  led  to  the  adoption 
of  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  and  the  rupture  of  politi'-al  ]);n-tics.  and  finally 
to  th.'  Civil  W;ir.  It  added  to  the  territories  of  oui-  country  including 
Texas  W.i.sis  miles — an  area  larger  than  the  i;!  original  stat<'s.  and 
larger  than  the  Louisana  Purchase,  inider  .Jefferson  inlSil.",,  which 
was  875,025  sipiaiv  miles. 

Every  addition  of  territory  to  our  union,  with  one  exception,  (that  of 
the  purchase  of  Florida  from  Spain  in  1810|  encountered  strenuous  op- 
])Osition  from  a  large  portion  of  our  ])eoi)le  including  some  of  one  able;^t 
and  most  ]);itiiotic  statesmen.  lOven  .Feffcrson.  after  the  Louisana 
Purchase,  regarded  it  as  extremely  doubtlnl  whether  it  woulil  be  ]»os- 
sible  to  maintain  oiu'  government  over  so  great  an  extent  of  territory; 
and  he  was  ([uite  clear  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  extend  our  gov- 
ernment over  Oregon.  Albert  (Tallatin,  one  of  our  ablest  public  men, 
about  the  same  time  s])eaking  of  Oregon,  said:    "That  it  will  be  best  for 


OLEANINGS   FROM   THF,   MOHAWK     COURIFR.  42'S 

liotli  llic  .\tl;nilic  .-iiid  I'.-icilif  iiniidiis.  wliiist  ciitci-l;!  iniiiu  111-'  most 
lri(Mi(ll\  rcl.-it  idiis.  to  rcin.-iiii  iiKlcpciKlmi  I'lillicr  lli.-m  lo  l>c  iiiiilcd  iimlcr 
ill"  sniiic  :^<>\cnuiuMit.' 

•  lollll  <,Mliury  Adnilis.  llicll  scii.-iImi-  I'l'dill  M;iss;iclillsct  Is,  ill  ilisciissilli;- 
Hh"  hill  for  llic  ,i(liiiissioii  of  Loiiis.-in.M  ;is  .-i  sl;ilc.  s;ii(i:  "1  .-iiM  coiu- 
jK-llcd  lo  dccljirc  it  ;is  my  dclihcrnlc  o|Miiion  tli.it  it  this  hill  p.isscs  Ihc 
hoiuls  of  (his  union  ;ii-c  \iiin;illy  dissohcd:  tluit  the  st.-itcs  which  com- 
pose it  ;irc  tree  from  their  moral  (thliuat  ions :  and  that,  as  it  will  he  tht' 
I'iuiit  of  all.  so  it  will  he  the  (hity  of  some  to  pre])ar('  delinilel,\'  for  a 
se|iaiation.  amicahly  if  they  can.  \iolentl,\-  if  they  must."  Here  was  a 
ho'd  asseition  of  tlii'  doctrine  of  secession  announced  liy  the  southern 
statesmen   many  years  afterwards. 

'I'hoinas  !1.  Itenton  in  1S:^.')  e.xiiressed  tin  opinion  that  there  mi.^id  he 
a  new  independent  American  lieimhlic  on  the  racitic  ('oast,  and  that 
the  Itocky  Mountains  should  he  the  <li\idiiiv:  line  hetween  the  two  Ite- 
puhlics.  In  is^.*!.  prohahly  a  ma.joi-ity  of  our  pcojile  thouuid  the  an- 
ne\ati<in  of  Te.xas  woii'd  ;iro\c  to  he  a  dangerous  e.\|iansion  of  our  tei'- 
litory.  I'aniel  NN'ehster  was  of  this  numher.  and  he  said:  "■rei'liaiis  the 
time  was  not  far  distant  wIku  tliere  would  he  estahlislied  he.\  ond  the 
h'ocky  .Mountains  and  on  the  shores  of  the  western  sea  a  .^real  racitic 
Heuuhlic  of  which  San  t'l-aiicisco  would  he  the  capital."  ITohert  ( '.  Win- 
throp.  speaker  of  the  house  of  re|iresenta lives  in  isjl,  and  othei  uiem- 
hers  of  that  hody  from  various  parts  of  the  country  uave  expression  to 
similar  views.  Sciiator  .MclMithe  of  Soulh  ('aroliua,  in  a  dehale  on  the 
<'.reuon  question,  idctured  Ihe  ditliculty  <d'  hinldiu'^  a  railroad  into  that 
ie:^ion  "reiiuirin^-  tunnnelinu-  fhrouuli  nioiuitains  live  or  six  linii(h'<'d 
niih  s  in  extent."  and  e-Xclaimed;  ■■The  wealth  (d'  the  Indies  would  ho 
insutticient :"  and  as  foi- a.m'icultura  1  pur|>oses.  ■■[  would  not  uivc  a  i>inch 
of  snuff  for  the  whole  teri'itory."  (,\  Century  of  .\mei-tcan  I>ii>loniacy 
hy  .[ohii  W.  l'"oster.  pp.  .■',n:i.-;;i:;. i 

.Ml  the  diliicullies  anticinated  from  Ihe  extension  u\'  uuv  tei'ritory 
ha\('  heeii  (^\c!-ceine  hy  sti'aui  and  elect  ricit\'.  They  lia\'e  hrouv^ht  (he 
Pacilic  (teean  as  near  to  the  capital  (d'  our  country  as  .New  York  and 
r.oston  used  to  he.  and  have  ])racticall\  made  nei'.:hi'ors  of  the  entire 
l(co])|e  of  our  country  li\in^  hetween  the  two  oceans.  The  ultei'ances 
to  which  I  have  alluded  show  how  dillicult  it  is  for  the  wisest  states- 
man to  see  \-ery  far  into  (he  fnlnre.  .Now  no  one  (piesti(ms  that  ex'cry 
addition  (o  our  tei-ritory  upon  this  continent  li.as  heeii  a  ureal  .idvant- 
a.L'c  to  our  country.  I']\-en  the  ac(piisition  of  .\laska  in  hSdT  for  wliich 
our  i;(i\(rnment  paid  .'iJT.iino.dUi)  has  |)iov-'d  xcry  valuahle.  'i'he  sealin.y 
indusd-y  t>\'  (he  rryhiloff  Islands  alone  liax'e  \ielded  our  ,L;o\-ermnent 
over  .SI'J.OHd.cdo.  .\!Ljain.  we  hear  pro-nost  icat  ions  of  danger  to  our 
country  L'rowiiiL;  oul  of  the  i-ecen(  annexation  (d'  our  insular  territories, 
amounting  in  ;ill  to  l.'!S.;;'.)'.i  sipiare  miles,  ^^'hile  no  one  can  foi-see  the 
course  of  the  future  in  such  mattei's.  I  am  inclined  to  heli"ve  thai 
these  later  jirophets  id'  e\il   are   no  \viser  than    were   (hose   (o   whom    I 


424  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

have  allucled;  and  that  our  country  under  the  guidan<-e  of  Providenre 
will  be  al)le  nobly  to  meet  its  new  responsi])iiities. 

Silas  Wriffht  was  one  of  the  greatest  statesmen,  ami  noltlest  (harac- 
ters  our  country  has  produced.  He  was  one  of  tlie  ablest  debaters  that 
has  yet  appeared  in  the  United  States  senate,  and  his  personal  traits 
were  sucli  as  greatly  to  attach  his  friends  and  to  secure  their  ardent 
devotion.  He  resigned  his  seat  in  the  United  States  senate  to  become 
governor  of  this  state  in  1844;  and  in  1S4(;  he  was  again  the  I>eniocratic 
candidate  for  that  office.  The  Democrats  in  this  state  began  to  divide 
into  Radicals  and  Conservatives — finally  called  llarn-Hnrners  and 
Hunkers,  and  he  and  his  friends  came  under  the  former  chissificarion. 
There  were  differences  about  leadership,  about  patronag;e.  and  parti- 
cularly about  the  subject  of  slavery.  The  effects  of  these  dissensions 
tjegan  to  ap])ear  in  the  spring  elections  of  lS4»i.  There  wjis  occasional 
combinations  of  one  faction  or  the  other  with  the  Whigs  and  the  hreacii 
between  the  tAvo  factions  grew  wider  and  wider.  In  this  counry  in  that 
year,  the  regular  Democratic  candidate  for  sheriff  was  James  M.  Gray 
of  Little  Falls:  and  Abraham  A'an  Alstyne  of  Montgomery  comity  was 
the  regular  Democratic  candidate  for  member  of  congress  for  the  Her- 
kimer and  Montgomery  distriet.  They  wire  both  Barn-Burners.  Tiie 
Hunkers  bolted  and.  combining  with  the  Whigs,  nominated  Wlliani  I. 
Skinner  for  sheriff  and  General  George  Petrie  for  member  of  congress, 
both  Hunkei's  of  Little  Falls:  and  after  a  very  bitter  contest  tliey  were 
l)otli  elected.  Some  of  the  Hunkers  in  the  state  voted  against  Silas 
Wright  for  governoi':  and  the  result  was  thai  lie  was  defeated,  and  his' 
Whig  competitor,  .John  Yoniig,  was  elected.  Those  bolting  Democrats 
Avere  by  the  Barn-P.ii.niers  called  "the  assassins  of  Silas  Wright." 

In  February  ,1847.  a  1)111  was  introduced  into  congress  appropriating 
money  to  be  used  by  the  i>resi(h^nt  in  negotiating  a  treaty  of  pe;'ce  with 
^fexico:  and  David  Wiliiiot.  member  of  congress  from  I'ennsyl v.-inia.  iu- 
troduced  into  the  bill  by  amendment,  a  i»ro\iso.  which  c;ime  to  iie 
known  by  his  name,  that  slavery  should  not  exist  in  an^'  of  tlie  terri- 
tories to  be  acquired  from  Mexico  as  the  residt  of  the  war  :iiid  the 
trtaly  of  i)eace.  The  I'ill  with  that  proviso  passed  thidugli  llic  House 
of  llejiresentatives.  ne.irly  all  the  members  from  the  iKH'tli  \oling  for 
it,  and  all  tlie  memlters  from  the  south,  excepting  on<'  from  Delaware, 
voting  .igaiiist  it.  !*]vei'y  inendier  from  this  state  voted  for  it  but  one, 
Stei)|ieu  Strong  of  ( )wego.  Tioga  comity.  The  ])roviso  was  defeated  in 
the  Seii.-ite  li\'  ;i  vole  of  LIT  to  1.'!,  .ind  the  bill  jiassed  that  liodv  witlioui 
the  jnivviso.  and  afterward  passed  the  house  in  tlu'  same  w.iy.  The 
Barn-P.urners  of  this  state  were  all  in  f;i  \(ir  of  the  proviso;  and  the 
Hunkers  finally  with  ureal  niiaiiiniity  opposed  it;  and  the  hattU'  over 
the  \\'iliiiol  proviso  in  this  and  othei'  states  was  fierce  and  bitter,  .and 
coiitimicd  until  tlie  close  of  the  \\;iv:  and  its  echoes  were  heard  Ion;:; 
afterward.  The  South  threatened  seccession  if  the  principles  of  the 
proviso  were  adopted.     The  fight  went  on,  and  in  many  places  in  this 


GLEANINGS   FROM    THE   MOHAWK    COURIRR  425 

st;it«'  w.-is  cinicH  iiito  llif  lowii  chM'tioiis  in  (he  sprinu  <it"  1S47.  In  this 
t<i\vii.  Hi-(i\vii  II.  Willi.iins.  IhiiiktT,  liy  .1  ■■(Hiihin.-tlion  with  tin'  \\hii;s. 
\v;is  »"h'cl('(i  ^iipcTv  isor.  In  tlic  I  >ciii<icr.ilic  stale  coincnt  ion  held  in 
t!it'  fail  nl"  that  year  at  Syracuse,  (lie  Hunkers  were  in  a  ina.iuiity  and 
nominated  their  ean<rKhites  for  state  ottiees.  They  re.jeeted  I  lie  Wil- 
niot  ['i-oxiso  olt'ei-ed  as  part  oi'  tiie  i>enioeratic  platt'orni.  The  conven 
tion  was  a  vei-y  stormy  one.  and  much  iiitter  feelini;  was  there  en- 
Liendei'ed.  I  !a  in  linrnei  s  immediately  called  a  slate  mass  nieeliim  lo 
lie  lield  in  This  viilam'  (h-tohei-  li'.lth,  foi'  llie  jmrpose  of  taking  a'-tioii  in 
ret'eii'nee  to  the  Syiaci.se  conx'ention.  'i'he  Ilei-kimi'i'  conveniion  was 
lai^elx  .-ittended  1  iyrepres<'nla  t  i  ve  I'.arn-l'.urners  rroni  all  parls  of  t  he 
state.  *'ol.  William  ( '.  <'rain  of  this  county  was  chosen  lemporary 
eliairman.  and  Churchill  < ".  < 'amiii-ellin,:;-  of  Westchester  eoUMty  pei 
maneiit  cliaiiman.  The  convention  assaile<l  the  action  of  the  Syracuse 
eoiivenlion  ill  sfion^  I'TIiis.  adoided  resoiutioiis  ainoim  which  was  the 
Wilinot  I'roviso.  and  also  issued  an  addi(  ss  to  the  I>emocrals  of  tlie 
slate.  Uavid  Wilniot,  tlie  author  of  the  Wiluiot  Proviso,  was  iiresent 
and  wit!)  other  jiromiiK'nt  speakers  addressed  the  eonveiitioii.  I'.efore 
adjourning,  tl"'  conveniion  called  another  rei>resent;i  ti  ve  convention  to 
he  lield  in  this  villa,i:e.  on  llie  --\\(]  (hay  of  l<\'l)ruary.  ists,  |o  chose  dele- 
;;at<s  to  the  I»cniocralic  nalioiial  convention  to  he  held  at  Italtimore  for 
the  nomination  of  |iiesideiil  and  \ice  )ir<  sideiil.  The  tiiii(>  and  place 
for  holdiuu  that  convention  was  cham;ed  to  fehrua i\'  Kith  at  flica. 
'('here  the  coii\entioii  was  hc-ld  '-oinposed  e\clusi\-ely  of  r.arii  Iturners, 
and  itsele«-ted  delegates  lo  llie  national  1  >einocratii-  <'onvention.  The 
rrsnit  of  tli.at  action  was  Dial  there  was  a  <loiil>le  or.iianization  of  I  >emo 
ei-ats  in  this  slate,  and  a  douhle  set  of  delegates  to  the  national  con- 
vention. 

The  I'.arn-nnrner  paucis  pla<-<'d  at  the  head  <>\'  llieir  columns  the 
Wilniot  I'roviso  re.jecled  at  Syracuse  under  tjiis  caolion:  "'i'lie  stone 
which  the  builders  rejected,  the  same  siiall  liecome  the  lieati  of  tiie 
toiner;"  and  their  hallle  cry  became  "free  Trade,  l-'ree  Soil.  I''ree 
i.alioi'  and    l^'ree  Siieeceh." 

.\l  I  he  1  »eim>cratic  national  eoiivenlion  hehlal  i'.a  II  iiiiore  in  .May,  ISIS, 
foi-  the  jiurpose  of  promolinu  h.arinouy  in  tliis  slate,  it  was  deciih'd  to 
ndmil  hotli  sets  of  dele.uales  from  (his  slate,  and  Ceiieral  Cass  was 
noiiiinated  for  president.  The  r.arn-IUirners  witlnh'ew  fidiii  the  con- 
veniion, aiMl  a  convention  was  <-alled  to  nominate  presidential  candid- 
ates ,il  rtica  for  .June  "JJiid.  and  at  that  conveniion,  lO.x-l'resiih'ut 
Martin  \'an  I'.iiren  was  nmninated  for  president  iiikhi  a  i''ree  Soil  plat- 
roriii.  Thus  the  l»eiiiocrats  went  into  the  camiiaiiiii  divided,  .ind  (Jen 
era!  Cass,  undoubtedly  the  regular  I>einocratic  candidate,  was  defeated 
by  (b'ueral  Ta.vlor. 

In  conseiuieiice  of  these  divisions,  in  1S47,  two  Wlii,i;s  wer'-  elected 
to  the  assembly  from  this  county,  .iames  Feeler  of  Little  l''alls  and  L. 
L.  Merry  of  Mohawk:  and  Thomas  r.ureli  of  Little  Kails  was  elected  to 
the  senate. 


426  HERKIMER   COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Tlu'  Aloliiiwk  ('((drier  was  llic  (iruaii  x)i'  tlic  r.ani-I'.iinici-s  and  llic 
Ilf^ikinicr  ('ounty  1  »(Mn(iirat,  wliicli  I  owned  and  edited  foi-  several 
years  et.nunenein.^  .Mareli  IC,  1S4.S,  was  tlie  (.i-,i;an  of  tlie  Hunkers;  and 
li.Ulit  l)ra\-eiy  the  two  paixTS  t'on.ylit  the  hattles  ot"  the  respective  fae- 
tioiis  of  the  I  >enioei'atie  party. 

iMnini;  llie  jieriod  nn(h'r  eonsideiation.  Iliere  wei'e  several  events 
aliroad  wlueh  attracted  nuieli  attention  and  excited  much  interest  in 
this  country.  The  yi-eat  famine  occurred  in  Ireland  in  1S4(;  and  lS-17 
wliicl)  led  to  the  death  liy  starvation  and  fexci'  conseiiuent  upon  Insutti- 
cient  food  of  lietw.'cn  tw((  hundred  thousand  and  three  luindr( d  thou- 
sand people,  and  led.  Iiy  the  deaths  and  the  emigration  (-((nsriiuent  upon 
th(^  famine,  to  the  i)ernianenr  deiiletioii  <»f  the  population  o-f  that  coun- 
try. It  aroused  much  active  sympathy  in  all  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  seveial  shiji  loads  of  'provisions  were  sent  to  that  stricken 
land  for  the  lelief  of  its  people:  and  the  I'hi.^lish  I'arliamen;  ai)pro- 
])riated  in  successive  installments  aliout  lifly  millions  of  dollais  for  the 
same  imriiose. 

In  1S4S.  Louis  I'hillipe.  the  kin.u  of  the  !<'i-ench.  was  driven  from  his 
thione  and  his  conntr.w  and  a  repulilic  was  established  in  l-'rance 
which  exisled  until  it  was  overthrown  liy   Louis   Xapoleon. 

In  ISIS  I'^ather  Matthew  wlio  had  achieved  a  world  wide  reputation 
as  a  temperance  reformer  in  Ireland  and  I'hi.iiland  came'  to  this  coun- 
tiy.  and  reiiiaininL;-  here  alioui  two  years,  he  did  a  ureat  work  for  tem- 
peranct'  anioui;  the  [(coide  from  his  own  land.  In  Ireland.  England 
and  the  United  States,  he  induced  millio.is  to  sit^ii  the  pledge  of  total 
abstinence   fiom   iidoxicatin.u  driidvs. 

I  must  now  conu>  closer  to  matters  of  local  interest,  ("ol.  William 
( ".  ('lain  was  sjM'aker  of  the  assembly  in  islC.  and  no  more  jxipular 
ollicer  ever  Hlled  that  oliice.  In  that  year  the  Herkimer  county  poor 
house  ^\as  remoxcd  from  the  town  of  (Jernian  l''lats  to  its  present  sit<' 
in  this  town.  In  .March  of  that  year.  .Micheal  Hoffman  was  ai)pointed 
naval  ((tlicer  at  the  port  ((f  New  York,  and  he  held  that  ottice  to  tlie 
time  of  his  death  in  Itrooklyn,  Sei>tendier  L'Tth,  ISIS,  ;it  the  a.uc  of  (ill 
years. 

The  i'ep((rt  of  the  Herkimer  ("ovuity  bank  of  Little  Falls  for  April 
15th.  1S4<;.  shows  that  its  capital  stock  was  .fj( !U,( i( ii i :  its  loans  .';-:;!41.- 
473.01:  its  .-irculation  notes  ,f  I!ir>.-_'!1L  and  its  (h  itosits  -i^-Jii,:!  ID.'.ti.The  re- 
port of  the  A.uricultnrai  Haid;  of  this  villa.ue  for  Au.uust  1st.  ISt^'..  shows 
capital  of  $1(t(».S(i(i:  loans  .^sn,!").*!;  circulatiufi-  notes  .$44,4(;S:  ami  depos- 
its .^l-J.-'OL.").").  The  report  of  the  Mohawk  \'alley  T.ank  of  .X'ohawk 
for  the  same  date  shows  ca!)ital  .^UdO.r.UO;  loans  .H;.'>(l,.">:;i;.4  1  :  circula tin.i;- 
notes  .ST.'i.bCil  :  and  deposits  .^IS.l'77.17.  At  that  time  this  was  t'.e  sliow- 
in,u  as  to  dei>osits  when  there  were  only  three  banks  in  the  county. 
Now  there  .ire  ten,  and  the  smallest  of  these  has  deposits  at  least  twice 
lari:er  than  the  three  had  in  1S4(>  and  the  deposits  in  all  of  tliem  are 
now  more  than  -SS.OOO.OOO  besides  at  least  $2oO,OUU  in  trust  cotupuuies 


GLEANINGS   FROM   THE   MOHAWK    COURIER.  437 

.■111(1  s;i\in.:^s  liiuilvs  diitsidc  of  tlic  (•<iunty.  'IMini  tlif  <iiii'  li,-ink  lirrc  h.-id 
.*i^TJ,ri(»l.ri."'i.  Now  llic  I  \\(i  li;iiil<s  here  li;i  \  c  ;i  \  <'r;mc  dr, losits  ol'  iimi-c 
lliiiii  .t^TdO.diK*.  It  lliiis  .ipiK  .irs  tli;it  tlicrc  is  ikiw  \;islly  iiioi'i-  luoiii'V 
ill  tlic  roiiiity  tli.iii  tlicic  \v:is  tlicn,  ;iml  \vli;it  (licrc  is  cvidciitiy  tiiuls 
ils  \v;iy  more  rcuuliirly  into  tiic  li;inks  tJi.-in  it  liicii  did. 

It  is  reported  ill  one  of  tile  )i;i|iers  tli;lt  Clinries  Kiitlieni,  wlio  li\(<l 
ill  the  liouse  now  owned  .■iiid  occupied  l)y  I  >r.  I\;iy.  r;iised  in  his  u;n(h'ii 
in  l.S4(i  ;i  pe;icii  wJiii-h  nie;is\ired  ".M._.  inclies  .-iroiind  .-iiid  xviLdicd  s 
ounces. 

In  .l:niu;i  |-y.  lS-17.  SlierilV  Sidiiiiei-  ;ii)poinled  .-in  under  slierilT.  .-t  J.-iiler 
;Mid  eiiilit  deputy  siierill's.  ;ill  of  wlioin  are  di  ;id  hut  llie  vener.-i  li!e  nieiii- 
iier  of  this  society,  .\ie.\is  L.  .lolinson,  wlio  ;ii  tlie  a;;e  nf  niiclx'  years 
is  sliil   with   us. 

Sil.as  Wright  died  iniicli  l;i  ineiited  .all  oxer  the  country  Aumist  LiTlli. 
1SI7.  The  I'.ciiton  House  of  Little  I'.alJs.  now  tlie  <;iivaii  House,  w.is 
oi>ciied  ill  the  siiniiner  of  IstT.  Hon.  l-ahniiiid  \ainey.  mandfal  lier 
ol  Mrs.  Hazeliinrst  of  lliis  viil.aut'.  one  of  tiie  most  proiiiiiieiit  men  in 
our  county,  wiio  li.ad  lilled  a  lari:c  round  of  otMces,  .ainoiiu  lliem  tli.at 
of  state  senator,  died  <it  his  home  in  tlie  town  of  Uiissi.a  of  chronic 
hroiichitis  Deceiiilier  "_'.    IS-IT. 

'I'lie  court  of  eiior  .adjourned  sine  die  M:\y  lllli.  ISIT.  and  \sas  sue- 
cceiled  l»y  the  court  of  .appeals,  instituted  niaha-  the  coiislilulioii  of 
ISjC.  Duiiiii;  the  ye.ars  l.SJT  and  1SIS,  iil.ank  roads  were  constructed  in 
this  county  in  v.arious  directions,  .and  they  waac  maint.ained  for  many 
\e.ars  when  they  waac  found  to  he  too  expensive.  The  first  serious  ae- 
ciihait  on  the  I'tica  i^  S<-li(aiect,ady  r.ailroad  occurred  from  a  lie.ad on 
(oMisioii  at  tlie  (airve  now  calhal  the  K.ay  (air\e.  ahoiil  .a  mile  wa^st 
of  the  deiiot  ill  this  vill.a,L;c  on  Sunday.  .Iiiiic  ;;()tli.  ISIS.  Three  ixa'soiis 
were  killed  and  sexaa-.al  were  injured.  One  of  the  injiinal  was  William 
Bennett  of  Alb.any  who  brought  suit  a.nainst  the  railro.ad  company  to 
recovia-  d;inia;:cs.  .and  recovei'ed  .$10.0(10  .at  a  eir(aii1  court  held  in  this 
vill.auc.  Th.al  action  w.as  tried  for  the  plaintilf  by  Knfns  \\  .  reek- 
ham  of  Albany,  the  fatlaa-  of  the  iu'eseiit  .lud.ye  reckh.am  o!'  the  T. 
S.  snpnane  court;  and  it  w.as  the  lirst  of  its  kind  exaa-  tried  in  this 
county.  Ke\ .  .lohii  \'.  Spinner,  for  nearly  half  a  c(aitnry  .a  resiihait  of 
this  vill.a,:;c  and  during  most  of  the  time  niinisler  of  the  Hutch  Church 
laaa  .  died  here  .May  'J'-'iid.  ISIS,  auivd  SI  ye.ars.  In  the  Iha-kimei 
Conuty  l>emo(a-.a(  of  May  11,  ISIS,  the  inxention  of  the  sewing  m.achine 
is  announced  ,as  a  new  thiiii:  .and  ils  wonderful  iKM'form.ance  d'staibed. 
In  isp.i,  three  ii.assiaiui  r  .and  two  freii:;lit  trains  left  Albany  for  I'.nffalo 
each  d.ay.  .\ow  .as  many  as  two  do/.cai  ii.assiai.uia-  trains  and  still  a 
l,aiLj(a-   number  of    freight    trains    le.axc   llua'c   e.acli   d.ay. 

In  the  sja-iim  of  ISIP,  I  hairy  ri.ay  passed  throiu^h  this  vill.me  on  .a 
railioad  ti.ain  and  1  saw  him  and  heard  him  speak  from  the  pl.-itforni 
of  a  c.ar.  The  Iha'kiiiHa-  .loiiriial.  the  Whii;-  ort^aii.  having-  previously 
becai   piililished   in   this   \  illiiuc   was  in   the  fall  of  ISl!)  removed  to  the 


428  HERKIMER   COUNTY    HISTORICAL   SOCIETY. 

\i!l.im'  (if  Lilllc  l'';;lls.  Ill  (he  same  faH,  (Icdrj:..  H.  F(,x.  liviiis  at 
I'^oil  lli'ikiiiicr  ill  tlic  town  of  (icniiaii  flats,  wa.s  elected  senator, 
I»aiiiel  Ilawii  of  Starli  slieriff,  ;nnl  Slaiidish  Harry,  tor  llie  second  time, 
county  cler]<. 

lOx-1'resideiit  l'oll<  died  .laniiai'y  \7>,  and  I':.\ -President  Madison  died 
.Inly  '.itli.  lS4;t.  aiivtl  alumt  Si'  ye.irs.  In  that  \-ear  tlie  diolera  was  (|iiitp 
prevalent  in  this  st.-He.  At  least  two  persons.  Iiotli  of  wlioiii  1  saw  in 
the  death  tliroes,  dii'd  (.f  the  disease-  in  this  village:  and  I'rofessor 
^'ates  of  I  lion  college,  died  of  it  at  Sciieiiectarly.  (Jov.  l-'isli  appointed 
An.i;nst  .'list,  ISV.t.  .is  a  day  of  fasting.  Iminilalion  and  pr;iyei'  on  ac- 
coniit  of  the  clioiei'a.  to  lie  oliser\<(l  by  the  peojile  in  their  cliniches. 

.\ddison  II.  LaHin  and  his  brother  I'.yroii  liouuht  the  nilll  at  Hip 
I'pper  Didp  on  the  1 1  ydi-;i  111  ic  canal  in  this  \illa,L;c  and  converted  it 
into  a  p.aper  mill:  .-ind  <-onimenced  tlie  m.iimf.ictnre  of  p.iper  in  .luno, 
IS^;».  'i'hey  carried  on  tli.it  Inisiness  there  for  m.niy  years  until  they 
failed  ;iiid  madi'  .-in  assiunment  for  tlie  lieiielit  of  their  creditors.  Ad- 
dison led  liere  ipiite  a  successful  politic.il  career,  lia\iii;j:  lieeii  for  sev- 
cr.al  terms  nieiiiliei  of  coimress  and  lin.-ill.v  .\,i\al  (  Hhcer  of  the  port  of 
New  York. ;iiid  I'.yroii  liecaine.-i  colonel  in  tin'  I 'nioii  a  riny  ihiriim  t  he  ( 'i\il 
War..  'rhe< 'ode  of « 'i\il  Procedure,  which  siiiierceded  tlie  soinmoii  l;iw 
practice  was  adojited  that  year:  and  with  ^oiiie  e'liautACs  it  lias  lieen  in 
force  reiiUl.-itinu  the  law  practice  of  tliis  state  e\er  since.  Tlie  com- 
nioii  schools  in  this  state  were  lirsl  made  free  in  that  year.  .\n  act 
was  passed  in  March  suhmittini;  the  question  of  free  schools  to  tlie 
electors  at  the  fall  election,  and  if  apiiro\cd  |,y  a  majority  of  the  elec- 
tors it  was  to  Ud  into  (>ffect  at  once.  The  ipiestion  was  carried  for  free 
schools  by  a  larue  majority,  and  tlius  the  common  schools  became 
free  supported  by  public  money  and  ta.xation  as  they  now  are.  John 
Do-vtater,  the  urandfather  of  Mrs.  .\.  M.  Cr.-iy.  of  oiir  \illa.i;c.  a  Kevolu- 
ticmary  soldier,  at  the  a.^c  of  il."!.  was  alixc  .Inly  4tli.  l.St'.>,  and  partici- 
pated in  the  independence  celebration  in  this  village  at  which  I  read 
the  I  >ecl;iralion  of  1  ndeiieiideiice.  In  l.S.'iO.  the  rnion  I''ree  school  in 
this  village  was  constituted  out  of  districts  1  and  S  to  take  effect  .May 
1:  and  tlie  same  territory  has  constituted  our  villa.ue  district  ever  since. 

In  the  spriuu  of  hsrid.  (here  were  scmie  contractors  workinv;  in  the 
town  of  Frankfort  upon  the  Erie  ("anal,  and  their  laborers,  mostly 
Irish,  struck  for  higher  wa.yes  and  caused  a  riot.  Sheriff  II;iwii  (M-,i.',an- 
ized  ;i  jiosse,  and  arrested  ICiO  of  tliem  and  brou.nlit  tlieni  here,  so  far 
as  I  know  the  lar.u'est  number  of  prisoners  ai'rested  at  any  one  time  in 
the  state.  .My  br(>ther  and  I  defended  tlie  rioters,  and  all  of  llieni  wei-e 
dischar.^cd  but  I'.i,  and  ".»  of  them  were  l)ailed  and  so  far  as  I  can  now 
remember  muie  of  them   was  convicted. 

iMirin.u-  those  years,  1S4(;-1S.")().  and  for  some  years  later,  the  editor-. 
iais  in  weekly  newspapers  published  in  the  country  were  prominent 
and  important  features.  Political  issues  were  fully  and  a  lily  discussed, 
and  upon  them  the  people  in  the  country  had  to  rely  mainly  for  their 


GLEANINGS    FROM   THE   MOHAWK    COURIER  426 

Iiolificnl  »'(lnc;itii>n.  as  tlic  dail.N'  papers  liad  scarcely  aii,\'  circiilalion  in 
I  lie  villaucs  and  tcnvns  of  the  state.  I  tiiriiii;-  I  liat  peril  xl,  lliei-<>  \V(  i-e  not 
more  than  four  daily  papers  taken  in  this  \illa^e.  There  was  n(;t  mncli 
nu'rcanlile  adscrt  isin.u  in  the  papers,  the  advert  isini;  consistini.'  niaiid.\ 
(d'  jiatenl    niedit'ines  and   le.i;ai   notices. 

I  must  now  i)rin.t;-  tins  jiaper  to  a  dose  hopins^  that  I  haxc  liroui^ld 
t"oi-\\'ard  some  facts  that  will  prose  ol  some  interest  to  the  mendiers 
of  rids  societx. 


Ill)  flDcmoriain. 


THon.  IRobevt  Earl,  XX.  2). 

jfiiet  lpl•csi^cnt,  THcrl;fmcr  Countv  THistoiical  Socictv 

JBorn  September  10,  IS24 
IPie^  December  2,  1902 


THE  LIFE  HISTORY  OF  ROBERT  EARL. 

WRITTEN    BY    HON.    GEO.    W.    SMITH,    OF    HEKKIMER. 

(Robert  Earl  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Herkimer  County  Historical  So- 
ciety and  its  President  from  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  Society  until 
his  death.  Therefore  it  seems  meet  and  proper  that  some  record  should  be 
made  in  these  proceedings  of  his  life  work.  The  folio  kVing  sketch  of  Robert 
Earl  was  prepared  for  the  Herkimer  Citizen  by  Judge  George  W.  Smith,  his 
life-long  friend.  The  article  is  condensed  from  a  chapter  prepared  by  Judge 
Smith  for  his  Biographical  History,  on  which  the  Judge  has  been  at  work 
for  several  years.  The  sketch  is  a  fine  tribute  from  one  who  knew  Judge 
Earl  for  60  years,  and  who,  by  his  close  intimacy  and  long  acquaintance,  is 
particularly"  fitted  to  measure  Judge  Earl's  work  and  character.) 

Tilt  distingnishod  ciireer,  the  iiohh'  life  of  Robert  Enii  will  have 
S(  IMC  coinineiuonitioii  in  these  coluunis.  The  foremost  citizen  of  Her- 
kiiiiei  coiuity,  its  most  active  phihinthropist.  its  greatest  .jurist,  de- 
serves the  (•(<mmeiiioratioii  now  widely  given  throughout  the  stale. 

IJoltert  Ear!  wa.s  bom  in  Herkimer,  September  10.  l.Si:4,  the  son  of 
John  Earl  and  Margaret  Petrie  Earl.  His  ancestry  came  from  distin- 
guished lines  of  English  and  German  families.  The  E;'rl  family  in 
America  traces  their  descent  from  Ralph  Earl  of  Portsmouth,  R.  I.. 
v.-lic  died  there  in  KiTS.  He  was,  it  is  jjtobable,  a  descendant  of  Sir 
Walter  Earle.  one  of  the  tive  knights  who  in  Ki'Jt;  resolutely  resisted 
the  arbitrary  execution  of  foiced  loans  by  Charles  I.  (Hume,  Vol.  5, 
page  I'.'i;  Pliny  Earl's  History;  F.iographia  and  History  Central  X(>.v 
York  I. 

The  mother  of  Ifoliert  Earl  and  Samuel  Earl  was  the  youngest 
daughter  of  I>r.  William  Petry.  He  was  born  at  Neustoin.  near  Meiitz, 
in  the  Electoral  Palatine,  in  the  bailiwick  of  Oppenheim.  in  )~H:'>.  He 
had  a  classical  education,  attended  the  classical  college  at  Manheim, 
and  continued  his  studies  at  Straslturg.  He  became  distinguished  as 
a  surgeon  before  coming  to  this  country.  He  had  large  e.vperience 
ill  the  army  of  Frederick  the  Great,  and  liis  professional  standing  is 
attested  by  the  "Consitium  Medicus  Electorate  T'alatatiuum"  issued 
to  him  in  1704.  On  arriving  at  Herkimer  in  1705,  he  engaged  in  tnide, 
and  in  1766  married  Salome,  daughter  of  John  (Johannusi.  Wolffe.  .i 
pioiit  er  on  Crosby's  JNIanor. 

In  the  controversy  that  soon  ensued  between  the  colonies  and  (ireat 
P.ritain,  he  engaged  with  earnest  zeal  on  the  side  of  his  adopted  c(UU\- 
try.  He  was  surgeon  at  Fort  Dayton,  177(!-1779.  He  was  active  at 
the  battle  of  Oriskany,   where  his  military   knowledge  gained  in   the 


THE  LIFE  HISTORY   OP   ROBERT  EARL.  438 

r>i!ssi;iii  nniiy.  as  well  as  his  siiiuical  skill,  were  round  uscrul.  II<' 
was  wounded  in  that  hattlc  and  drt'ssccL  trniporarily.  tlio  wound  of 
(.(•iicrai  llcrkinifr.  but  had  nothing  to  (h)  with  thf  unskillful  anipu- 
ta(i(;n   that  I'csultcd   in   his  death. 

1  »r.  Teti-y  was  hiuhly  esteenie<l  liy  his  <'(nni)atri(i1s.  who  reconiniend- 
(■(]  hiui  to  (Governor  Clinton  in  1777  I'oi'  one  >>{'  the  <ounty  .judiics  of 
'I'lyon  county  iUKh-r  the  constitution  of  that  \-ear  and  in  the  same  year 
for  the  iKisitiou  of  justice  of  the  peace  as  a  "reiuddican  and  well  (jual- 
iheii."  In  17S1  he  was  with  ("oh-uel  Mai'inus  Willetfs  regiment  in 
tlie  |)ursuit  of  lUitler  and  l{oss  to  Hutler"s  I^'ord.  and  accompanied 
Colcnel  Willett  in  ids  aliortive  attempt  to  surprise  the  I'.ritish  jtosL 
at  Oswego.  Fi-(,ni  17dr.  he  was  the  .yvneral  surgeon  and  the  most 
respected  of  the  citizens  of  tlie  Mohawk  N'alley  to  tlie  time  of  his 
death,  ills  ohituai'y  is  found  in  the  Farmer's  Monitor  of  Sei)tend)er 
1'.  isor.,  the  date  of  his  (h'ath.  preserved  in  the  rooms  of  the  Herkimer 
(  ounty  Historical  Society,  the  oldest  copy  of  a  Herkimei'  county  news- 
paifer  known  to  exist. 

Koliert  Karl  was  reai'ed  on  tin-  home  farm  hy  his  uncle,  on  which 
h"  and  his  elder  brother,  Samuel  lOarl.  worked  in  their  boyhood.  His 
academical  education  was  at  the  Herkimer  Academy,  wheie  he  jire- 
parc-d  himself  foi-  colle,:;e  and  entei'ed  the  junior  class  of  I'nion  Colleye 
iii  184;:!.  At  college  his  standing;  as  to  conduct  and  s<-holarship  was 
the  maximum  Km  in  every  deiiartment.  On  uraduatin^  in  lS4r>  he 
b(  iian  re.-idini;'  law  with  his  cousin.  Hon.  Charles  Cray,  both  student 
and  preceptor  aftei  wards  sitting  in  the  court  of  appeals.  While  i>ur- 
suin^  his  law  studies  he  took  charge  of  tlie  Herkimer  Academy  in 
l8-l((-7.  The  first  year  aftei-  he  became  a  voter  he  w.is  elected  superin- 
tendent of  common  schools.  In  IM'.i  he  was  supervisor  of  Herkimer. 
tl<'n  trtistee  of  th'  villa;ie  ami  a^ain  supervisor  in  1S(;(). 

Uobeit  continUMi  ,iis  readin:^  uith  his  brotlu'r  Samuel  and  wa.>^ 
admitted  to  the  liai-  in  isjs,  and  the  linn  of  S.  \-  K.  lOari  was  tlu-n 
formed.  From  IMS  |o  ls".(i  Kob<il  Farl  was  the  pnbli>;lier  of  I  lie 
H«  I'kimer  DenKM-ral  and  in  IS.VJ  ( on(hicted  ;i  campaign  i>:iper  at  .Mo- 
hawk in  tlie  interest  of  l''r:inklin  i'ierce  tor  the  jiresidency.  In  IS,").! 
lie  was  (4ected  ((/unly  jiid^e  and  surroualc  on  the  '■.Vnierican"  ticket, 
h's  oi>poi,ents   beinu'  the  brilliant    Charles   A.    I'.urlon   ;ind    \'olney   Owen. 

Tlu    linn  of  S.  .V   K.  I']arl  st bl;iined  a  lar.^e  practice  in  all  l^e  courts 

oi'  the  stale  ,111(1  h'obert  iOarl  \\;is  retained  in  mos!  of  I  he  imporlanl 
lili.ual  imis  of  lie  county.  In  iSCi'J  IJoscoe  Conkliim  iiroiiosed  ,a  co  |i;iii- 
nciship  with  hi'ii.  which  he  ;it  lirst  a<'cepted,  but  .afterward  declined 
Of  :i<'co!!nt  <d'  111  health  and  .Mr.  ('onkliuL;-  made  similar  overtures  ia 
1S'.;S. 

.indue    l';;irl    w.as   .associated    wilh    .Mr.    I.ooinis    in    ls.">."i    in    Ihe    c.asi  s 

Imou,l:1i(    iiy    I>a\id    lUidley    I'ield,   (.McKinnoii    \'.    I'.lissi,   .and   ol  hei  s,   on 

■  tl:e  title  of  Sns.-iiin.ih.   one  of  Ihe    Indian   children   of  Sir   W'illi.im   .lohn- 

s(  n.  to  lands  in   tlie  koyal  (Jrant,   in   which   llie  plaintiff   w.as  defeated. 

(See  lioyal  Grant.) 


434  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Rev.  Henry  Budge  was  charged  with  the  murder  of  his  wife  at  her 
residence  near  Lyons  Falls  on  the  10th  of  September,  1850.  After  a 
second  inquest  upon  the  body  of  the  deceased,  Budge  was  indicted 
for  the  alleged  murder,  and  the  indictment  was  tried  in  August  and 
Stptember,  l.Sijl,  at  Rome.  He  was  defended  by  Roscoe  Conkling,  and 
the  district  attorney  was  assisted  by  Hon.  Henry  A.  Foster,  and  was 
acquitted  by  the  jury  pro  forma,  upon  the  direction  of  the  trial  justice, 
Hon.  William  F.  Allen.  The  (luestion  as  to  Budge's  guilt  divided  fam- 
illesi.  and  churches  In  Lewis  county  and  affected  its  politics  for  years. 
Hon.  Caleb  Lyon  "of  Lyonsdale,"  was  a  leader  of  the  anti-Budge  par- 
tisans and  he  published  doggerel  verses  reiterating  the  ch.-irge  of  mur- 
der and  imputing  against  Budge  unchastity  with  a  governess  residing 
in  the  family  of  an  elder  brother,  Hon.  Lyman  R.  Lyon.  There  was  a 
bitter  feud  between  these  brothers  and  Caleb's  effusion  was  partly 
Ci'used  by  the  fact  that  Lyman  R.  liyon  was  one  of  Budge's  parish- 
ioiicrs.  Lyman  R.,  Col.  Seth  Miller  and  others  of  the  foremost  men 
of  liCwis  county  believed  Budge  was  innocent,  and  if  he  was  not,  n? 
war  one  of  the  most  defamed  of  persecuted  men,  and  they  encouraged 
liim  to  bring  against  Caleb  Lyon  an  action  for  libel.  Hon.  Edward  A. 
Brown  of  Lowville,  a  brother-in-law  of  the  Lyon  brothers,  tiled  an 
ansM'er  fully  justifying  the  charge  of  murder,  but  leaving  the  other 
branch  of  the  libel  undefended.  Budge's  counsel  were  Francis  Kernan, 
Roscoe  Conkling  and  Charles  H.  Doolittle,  the  strongest  array  of  law- 
yers that  ever  appeared  in  a  case  in  Central  New  Yorli.  Judge  Robert 
Ei.ri  and  Hon.  Lyman  Tremain  were  associated  with  Judge  Brown 
ill  the  defense.  The  issue  so  formed  conpelled  a  retrial  of  the  charge 
of  murder,  and  after  a  trial  at  Herkimer  in  October  and  November, 
lS<n,  lasting  some  three  weeks.  Budge  obtained  a  verdict  of  $100. 
Since  the  undefended  part  of  the  libel  called  for  a  much  larger  verdict 
the  defense  claimed  this  ti'itiing  recovery  was  a  virtual  victorj'  and 
that  the  finding  by  the  jury  in  effect  athrmed  the  charge  of  murder. 
I'pon  tills  trial  Dr.  John  Swinburn,  who  conducted  the  autopsy  at  the 
second  inciuest  and  was  the  principal  expert  witness  for  Caleb  Lyon, 
testified  that  imder  the  conditions  proved  idrs.  Budge's  alleged  suicide 
(by  cutting  ner  throat)  was  utterly  impossilile,  while  Prof.  Alonzo 
Clarlv  of  New  York,  the  plaintiff's  expert  witness,  testified  that  no  one 
buL  herself  could  possibly  have  inflicted  the  fatal  wound.  This  trial 
hnu  the  spectre  of  the  Biidge  tragedy,  but  opinions  as  to  the  guilt  of 
the  accused  were  still  divided.  In  1870  Judge  Earl  successfully  defend- 
ed Mrs.  Lyman,  charged  with  the  murder  of  her  husband  by  poison, 
i'l  the  town  of  Warren. 

In  1808  Judge  Earl  was  chairman  of  the  Democratic  state  conven- 
tion that  nominated  John  T.  Hoffman  for  governor.  He  was  tlien 
piominently  brought  forward  as  a  candidate  for  comptroller,  l>ut  the 
state  ticket  was  adjusted  by  nominating  William  F.  Allen  for  that 
office.  In  the  meantime  Judge.  Earl's  reputation  at  the  bar  and  man- 
ifest genius  as  a  jurist  had  attracted  the  attention  of  such  men  as 


THE  LIFE   HISTORY   OF  ROBERT  EARL.  435 

Hiram  Deiiio,  Francis  Kernan  and  Samiu'l  J.  Tiklen,  and  tliey  secured 
his  nominati(ni  for  judge  of  tlie  court  of  appeals,  and  in  ISdiJ  lie  was 
elected,  succeeding  .ludge  Lewis  P>.  Woodruff,  who  had  been 
appointed  to  till  a  vacancy.  Judge  Earl  took  his  seat  .Tanusiry  1,  ISTo. 
and  served  until  July  1,  ISTo,  as  chief  .justice,  when  by  vii'tue  of  a  coii- 
stitution.al  aniendincnt  he  was  ti'ansferred  to  Ihe  Connnission  of  Ap- 
peals, created  for  a  term  of  thive  years,  a  term  extended,  by  a  further 
aniendnnnt.  to  IST-',  which  commission  disposed  of  the  cases  pending 
in  the  foi'uiei-  court  of  appeals  and  sulisequently  transferred  to  it  liy 
the  new  court.  Oi;  the  decease  of  Judge  Martin  Grover,  in  1871,  Judge 
Earl  was  appointed  by  Governor  Tiklen  to  succeed  him,  and  held  under 
tl.uT  appointment  until  January  1,  1877.  On  that  day,  Judge  Earl  hav- 
in,v  been  re-elected  at  the  preceding  annual  election,  began  a  full  term 
of  fourteen  years. 

In  1890  he  was  nominated  by  both  the  Democratic  and  Republican 
parties  and  elected.  This  extraordinary  compliment  was  paid  to  Judge 
Earl  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  age  limit  would  retire  him  at  the  end 
of  four  years,  with  the  full  salary  for  the  succeeding  ten  ..  ta:s.  ^>>;. 
ing  his  term  of  service  under  this  election  he  was  in  tii.  jou.r  :. 
December  31,  1894.  In  1892.  on  the  death  of  Judge  .-u.,ei.  .ic  >v,..-.  ..i- 
pointed  cliief  .iustice  by  Governor  Flower,  and  served  as  su;.li  lo  iA.' 
enci  of  the  year.  Union  College  in  1874  and  Columbia  College  in  13oo 
conferred  upon  Judge  Eai'l  the  degree  of  LL.  D. 

Some  1,800  opinions  were  written  by  Judge  Earl  while  in  this  couit, 
m.-iny  of  them  discussing  the  most  important  questions  arising  in  star- 
utory,  constitutioral  and  c-ommon  law.  All  of  these  opinions  sliovv 
wide  learning  -ind  research:  they  display  legal  principles  in  clear  out- 
line and  acutely  discriminate  between  doctrines  sometimes  confused 
by  less  careful  writers,  and  all  are  illustrated  by  strong  sagacity  and 
ccmmon  sense  and  what  Hacon  calls  the  ""dry  light"  of  pure  reason. 
It  may,  perhaps,  be  discovered  that  Judge  Earl's  exact  and  logical  cast 
of  mind  had  a  U'ore  congenial  field  in  the  common  law  than  in  equity, 
where  princii)les  are  somewhat  less  settled:  but  his  discussion  of 
euuity  cases  shows  the  same  vigorous  gi'asj),  the  same  clear  discern- 
ment an<l  the  same  f;uiiiliar  acquaintance  with  authority  and  with  the 
histoi-y,  and  reasons  ujton  which  general  .iurisprudence  is  based.  In- 
dt  ed.  Judge  Earl's  writings  furnish  a  copious  index  to  most  of  the 
great  dis(nissions  that  have  occupied  the  attention  of  our  highest 
courts. 

In  disposing  of  cases  l)efore  the  court  Judge  Earl's  prompt  percep- 
tioi  and  read.v  mastery  of  the  law  and  of  facts  were  greatl.y  relied  on 
;ind  he  was  there  an  authoi'ity.  While  careful  to  preserve  the  sym- 
metry of  the  law,  he  exei-clsed  ;in  independent  judgment  where  a<-- 
<■•  pted  decision  sought  to  be  moditied  or  reversed.  Though  a  devout 
churchman,  his  reliance  on  his  own  conclusions  led  him  in  his  earlier 
service  to  the  <'()urt  to  dissent  with  a  freedom  that  gave  him  the  title 
of  "the  Dissenter."     In  latter  years  the  court  did  not  so  often  dissent 


436  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

from  him,  ;iii(l  his  cdiiclnsions  were  senernil.v  in  nccord  witli  tlie  niii- 
j(;rity.  He  evinced  his  reliance  upon  his  Ivnowleds'e  of  le^al  principles 
I)},  a  remarlv  he  sometimes  made  tliat  wlien  tlie  facts  of  a  case  were 
accurately  and  clearly  ascertained  thei-e  was  little  diftieult\'  in  applying' 
the  law.  Wlien  his  views  were  variant  from  those  commonly  accepted 
l\e  supported  them  hy  careful  I'esearcli  and  argument  and  not  seldom 
Icgnl  princi|des  were  cst^ihlished  or  made  nmre  clear  by  the  "dayliiilif' 
or  his  luminous  reasonin;;-.  His  exposition  of  the  common,  the  consti- 
tutional aiul  tlie  statute  law  are  j^reatly  relied  upon,  and  it  is  s.ife  to 
say  that  his  oi)inions  are  as  often  cited  as  those  of  any  othei-  mcmlici- 
of  the  court.  In  all  his  writings  thei'c  is  jipiiarent  ;i  pervadinji'  sense 
of  justice  and  ciiiiity.  His  industry  and  c:ipa<-ity  for  work  were  i)he- 
n(  menal  and  after  writint;-  on  the  cases  allotlcil  to  him  he  often  helped 
otit  others  of  his  In-ethrcn  when  they  for  ;iny  reason  were  in  arrc.-us. 

In  189")  the  legislature  passed  an  act  foi-  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
nnssion  to  propose  the  outlines  of  municipal  cliarrers  for  cities  of  the 
second  class.  The  commission  was  <-onstituted  hy  one  member  from 
each  of  four  such  cities  named  in  the  .act  ami  hy  one  member  from 
tlie  State  at  la;-.ye.  Governor  Morton  n.amed  .ludye  Earl  as  the  mem- 
lur  at  larye  and  .Indue  Earl  was  made  chairman.  Tliat  body  di'afted 
a  scheme  for  Ih"  uovernment  of  cities  of  this  cl.ass,  which,  with  some 
few  nn)ditications,  was  adoi»ted  liy  the  legislature.  Tliis  is  now  the 
existinjj;-  law  of  the  state  and  in  many  of  its  leadinu  features  it  is  the 
work  of  the  constructive  l)rain  of  .Jud.ue   lOarl. 

The  ai;e  limitation  ujion  the  judicial  service  may  be  expedient  on  th;- 
whole.  Some  judp(>s  .after  seventy  would  "la^  superfluous"  upon  the 
bench.  Hut  this  limitation  found  .lud.yc  I'^arl  at  the  height  of  his  in- 
tellectual i)ower  and  with  unim])aired  jihysical  strength.  His  vigorous 
and  active  mind  at  once  turned  to  the  founding  of  useful  institutions 
and  to  the  work  and  research  neglected  by  those  less  public  spirited 
am.  aniniiited  by  h  ss  liber.al  views.  His  "taking  thought"  constantly 
added  to  the  mental  statiu'c  of  th"  community  and  promoted  the  more 
eleviited  and  refined  pursuits  and  enjoyments  of  society. 

(In  the  L!d  d.iy  ol  .I.inn.-iry,  ISPC,  .lodge  K:\v\  and  Mrs.  Earl  imide  a  for- 
mal  deed  of  their  residence  .and  grounds  in  the  village  of  Hei'kimer  to 
the  Herkimei-  I'ree  I.ibr.ary.  The  spacion.-^  building  was  fully  e(iuipped 
bv-  Judge  E.aii  lor  the  library  ami  looms  assigned  the  Herkimer  County 
Historical  Soei<"ty  and  to  tlie  Progressive  Club,  founded  by  the  Ladies 
of  Herkimer.  The  value  of  the  ri.al  estate,  books  and  furniture  thus 
gi\en  was  about  .$;!(>,(t(H).  He  also  gave  his  time  ;ind  labor  in  pro(air- 
big  tlie  charter  of  incoiporation  for  the  I.ibrai'y  Associaiion  ;ind  after 
\t^  foundation  continually  contributed  to  the  exjtense  of  its  mainten- 
ance. The  add'.'css  of  .iudge  E.arl  m.ade  ;it  the  preseiit.al  ion  of  this 
d(  ed  to  the  trnste<'S  and  the  response  of  the  president  of  the  bo.ard  in 
their  behalf  :iiid  in  the  behalf  of  the  |)ublic  will  be  found  in  the  •'I'.iog 
rai>ha  and  Hisloi'y  of  ("entral  New   York." 

These  cifts  were  received  by  a  vast  audience  with  deep   sensibility 


THE   LIFE   HISTORY   OF   ROBERT   EARL  437 

Mild    tlu'   fiPllsl.iilt    r;[V<'    ;iih1    ,\\i]    (ll:ll    .llldut'    IO;irl    I'X  I  clK  li  (1    Id    this    ilisti- 
tiitidii  wiTc  t li<ir<ini:lil\    ;i]ipi-('ci,Mtc(l   by  liis   IVIlow    citizens. 

.Iiidm'  K.iri  W.I-;  i-icctrd  pi-csidciil  df  tlit-  I  Ici  kiiiicr  «'(niiit.v  1 1  istdiiiMJ 
S(M'i(  ty  at  its  m  u;)  ni/.:it  idii  in  IS'.ii;,  .-md  lie  \v.-is  nidrr  active  tlian  any 
dlher  in  pionidt  in,:;  an  interest  in  its  pi'dccedinus.  His  industry  and 
leseai'cli  conf I'il-.uted  \alualile  papers  du  ideal  topics  and  Instdrienl 
essays  dt'  wide  scepe.  Tile  reading  df  tliese  lias  lieeii  the  iiidsl  inter- 
eslini;-  features  in  llie  nieelin.us  dl'  the  Sdciety.  'I'd  (h'aw  the  atleiilidn 
dl'  the  ydUth  td  tlii'se  snhjecis  he  diTered  in  IS'.i'.l  a  series  el'  vahiahle 
prizes  fdi-  tlie  'lesl  essays  dii  Idpics  which  he  siiuucst  I'd.  td  he  written 
hy  stuihMils  alleiidinu  the  s<-hddl  df  the  cdiinly.  This  led  td  the  prci- 
diictidii  dl'  several  interestinu  papers  which  were  read  hel'dre  the  soci- 
•  ■ty. 

.Indue  I'Larl  h;is  heeii  l.arucly  interestiMl  in  Imsiness  .-itTairs.  In  lsr,7 
he  w;is  .-issdi-i.-i  led  with  W'illi.ain  Sinitli,  S.ainuel  IO,-ii'l.  Ale.xandei-  Mc- 
('eiiih  (iray  and  .M.-in-iis  W.  I.'.ashach  in  fdnnini;  .a  pi-i\;it<'  hanKinu  cdin- 
p;ny.  eiititli'd  I  he  llerKinier  ILank.  This  .issdci.itidii  w.as  incdrpdi.a  led 
a-:;i  h.ank  in  Iss."..  and  it  became  the  IIer!;inier  N.alidn.al  Il.ank.  ()cldl)er 
1,  IN'.IS.  This  iiislilnlidii  at  e\'er\'  st.a.i-'c  dt'  its  e.\islen<-e  li.as  had  the 
.active  supiKirl  df-Indi;!'  i^arl's  lev,al  and  Imsiness  ahilily.  lie  w.as  vire- 
pKsideiit  and  directdr  and  this  instilididii  h.as  .ilw.ays  been  diie  (d' 
111'  nidst  pi'dsperdiis  df  the  li.a  iiIuiil::  institui  ions  of  this  p.arl  dl'  the 
St.-de.  In  1sr,7.  he  imrchased.  with  S.ainiiel  lOarl,  a  l.ar^e  Landed  est.ate 
in  llie  tdwn  <d'  Warren,  which  li.is  been  eiil.arued  lo  Sdo  .acres.  This 
pidperty  he  cdiidiicled  as  I  wii  I'.arnis.  which  .are  prdb.ably  ihe  liest  farm 
pH'lierties  in  the  cdiiidy.  lie  w.as  diie  df  the  dia^inal  pr(midlers  t)\'  the 
Ii(ikinier.  .Newpdrt  \-  I'dl.and  K*.iilrdad  t 'omp.aii.w  and  ;i  direclor  until 
il    was  nierued   in   the   .\ew    ^'nrk   ('entr.al   system. 

Ii.  I'.mH  .lud^c  I'iarl  was  chdseii  as  a  referee  td  repert  Ihe  fads  with 
his  dpiiiidii  d!i  the  i^re.ai  franchise  i.a.\  case.  This  liliualidn  eiiibrace.s 
17  cdrjidi  at  idiis.  iiidslly  in  ihe  city  of  .\ew  '^'ork.  .and  iinnlxi's  m.any 
iii'llidiis  df  ddll.ars.  The  referee  had  Id  cdiisidia-  iii  these  cases  (pies 
tidiis  tdUehim;  the  Ia\iiii;  jidwers  of  the  Lei^isl.a  I  lire,  .and  whether  the 
fr.anchise  t;i-\es  as  impdsed  \idhited  the  piiivisidiis  df  liie  cdiist  itiil  ion. 
Tin  anidunt  in\'dl\ed  .and  ihe  L;r;i\it\'  of  the  issues  Id  be  decided  iii.ade 
thi.-  liti.uatidii  diie  dl  the  nidst  iiiip(.rl.aiil  excr  cdiisidered  b.\'  the  cdiirls 
di'  lliis  cduntr.w  .IimIl;!'  I'larl.  after  .a  laboridiis  .and  exh.auslive  e.xam- 
in.  tidii  <d'  these  cases,  widte  a  leiiutliy  opinicn  hdldiiiL;  the  act  to  be 
cdiisl  iliil  idiial  .and  Ih.al  the  taxes  impdsed  .are  valid.  His  d|Mnidn  is 
,U(  iM  ra  ll.\-  re^.a'ded  b.\'  Ihe  ]irdfessidii  as  sal  isf.acidry.  The  Jiidmiieiil 
ei  It  red  on  his  iipctrt  will  be  reviewed  in  liie  Cdiirt  id'  Apjicals.  .and 
III  .ally,  il  is  prdb.able,  in  the  Supreme  Cdiirl  df  the  I'nited  Slates,  The 
impditaiit  suit  Ixlweiai  Ihe  cily  of  Kdiiie  ,aiid  the  Wiiitesldwn  W'.ater 
(  diiiiianv,  invdlvinu  tlieii  resjiective  ri.uhts  Id  apprd|iriale  liie  w.aters 
dl'  I'Msli  ('reek,   w.as  pendin;;'  before  him  at  the  lime  id'  his  de.alh, 

.hid.Lje  I^^.arl  was  married  td  .lulielte  Wilkersini,  d.auulder  (d'  Henry 
J    XN'ilkersdii,  df  Kichlield  Spriii.i;,  October  I'J.    1S.".-J.      I'.dtli   were  /ealdiis 


438  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

{iml  liberal  supporters  of  Christ  Chnreli,  Herkimer,  and  Judge  Earl  has 
represented  the  church  in  many  ecclesiastical  bodies  of  the  Episcopal 
Church.  Mrs.  Earl  died  INIarch  25.  1900,  at  Clifton  Springs,  where  she 
had  been  an  invalid. 

Judge  Earl's  versatile  literary  tastes  were  mostly  latint  during  his 
forty-six  years  of  laborious  work  as  lawyer  and  judge,  but  freed  from 
those  exactions  his  mind  found  recreation  in  new  and  possibly  quite 
as  congenial  fields.  His  papers  read  to  the  Historical  Society  were 
notably  interesting  and  valuable.  On  several  occasions  (in  1902)  he 
supplied  vacancies  in  the  pulpit  of  Christ  Church  and  his  discourses 
were  highly  appreciated.  He  composed  several  devotional  hymns  of 
great  merit  which  accompanied  his  pulpit  ministration.  He  wrote  a 
large  number  of  delightful  secular  poems  which  it  was  hoped  he  might 
some  day  permit  to  be  published.  The  following  lines  taken  from  one 
on  "Old  Age,"  seem  as  prophetic  as  they  are  expressive  of  the  ruling 
sentiment  of  his  life: 

I  see  the  shadows  on  that  farther  shore 
Which  soon  will  cover  me  forever  more. 
And  I  shall  hope  that  the  paths  I  have  trod 
With  other  travelers,  upward  lead  to  God — 
That  I  on  earth  may  be  remembered  then 
As  one  who  loved  and  served  his  fellow  men. 
The  public  honors  that  came  to  Judge  Earl  were  paid  to  personal 
merit,  to  ability,  to  a  character  "teres  et  rotondus,"  a  chnnicter  AvhoHy 
rounded  and  complete.     No  motive  ever  sought  to  stain  the  whiteness 
of  his  integrity  in  public  or  private  life.     Conscious  as  he  must  have 
been  of  abilities  equal  to  the  demands  of  the  highest  stations,  his  mod- 
esty was  a   covenant  to  self-denial.     In   1898,   prominent  men  in   his 
party  earnestly  solicited  him  to  accept  the  nomination   for  governor. 
He  declined  to  announce  his  candidacy     to     his     numerous     friends 
throughout  the  folate.     Had  he  seconded  the  wishes  of  his  friends,  it  is 
quite  probable  that  be  Avould  have  been  nominated  and  elected  and 
added  the  highest  civic  honor  to  the  Jiighest  distinctions  of  the  judic- 
h<rj.     When  the  leading  men  of  both  parties  proposed  him   to  fill   a 
v.'-cancy  in  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  and  pointed  to  his 
U'Tnimous  choice  by  both  parties  for  judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals 
as  a  precedent,  the  appointing  power,  admitting  his  fitness  was  con- 
strained bv  political  considerations  to  raise  the  sole  objection,  "he  is  a 
Democrat." 

Judge  Earl  was  stricken  by  paralysis  on  the  22d  day  of  November, 
l't02.  He  recovered  consciousness  at  times  but  was  unable  to  speak 
-••<i  he  co'iti"med  to  sink  until  December  2,  1902.  when  he  died. 

Judge  Earl  had  no  children.  His  immediate  relatives  are  the  child- 
ren of  his  brother,  Samuel  Earl,  viz:  Robert  Earl,  Jennie  (Earl)  Taber, 
v.nfe  of  William  I.  Taber,  casliier  of  the  Herkimer  National  Bank; 
Ralph  Earl,  lawyer  at  Herkimer,  and  William  P.  Earl,  physician,  at 
Dittle  Falls,  and  Jacob  H.  Petrie,  of  Herkimer,  and  Rev.  Jeremiah 
Pctry,  of  Canada,  his  cousins. 


THE   LIFE   HISTORY   OF  ROBERT   EARL  439 

The  passiu.u  away  of  .lud.iic  Karl  leaves  a  void  wliici,  caiiiHit  soon 
1)'^  tilled.  Herkimer  county  will  lonu  cherisl)  liis  dust  as  one  of  the 
most  sacred  of  lier  possessions  and  will  connect  the  recc.'d  of  his  lifi- 
with  that  of  the  noblest  of  her  past  worthies.  The  profound  esteem 
of  all  Ids  fellow  men.  tlie  public  gratitude  aiul  an  affectionate  rever- 
ei!C(  wei'c  the  attendants  of  his  closing-  days  and  were  conspit-uous  at 
his  death.  Some  trace  of  affection  may  be  seen  in  funeral  honors  paid 
to  eminent  men.  but  in  all  the  tolcens  of  public  feeling  at  tne  departure 
of  Uoliert  K;\v\  there  was  a  deejt  and  solemn  sincerity.  Above  his 
grave  rises  the  halo  of  sadly  i»leasing  recolh^ctions.  fond  regrets  and 
u.emories  whii-h  those  who  knew  liiuj  will  not  willinglv  let  die. 


FUNERx\L  OBSEQUIES. 

All  that  was  mortal  of  Robert  P^arl,  the  man  who  will  live  longer 
in  the  heai'ts  of  his  townsmen,  perhaps,  than  any  one  who  lias  yone 
before  him.  has  been  laid  to  rest  in  the  silent  tonil)  on  Oak  Hill.  Thurs- 
day, December  4th.  was  tlie  day  appointed  for  the  funeral  and 
some  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  the  state  journeye'l  to  Her- 
kimer on  that  day'to  pay  their  last  tribute  of  respect  to  him  whom  we 
all  honored  and  respected. 

Among  the  number  were  ex-Governor  l>avid  B.  Hill.  Chief  .Justice 
Parker,  Judges  Gray.  Vann.  O'Brien.  Cullen  and  Werner  of  the  Gourt 
of  Appeals.  ex-Attorney  (Jcner.-il  Simon  W.  Kosendale.  CoMgressman 
Sherman.  ex-Justice  Charles  Andrews  and  his  son.  Justice  William  S 
Andrews  of  Syracuse.  Judge  Scripture  of  Rome,  m.-my  lawyi-rs  from 
tltica.  nearly  ill  the  members  of  the  Herkimer  county  bar,  the  board 
of  supervisors  and  iMduiincnt  citizens  from  all  parts  of  wv  county. 
lM:ring  the  time  of  the  sei'viccs  all  places  of  business  in  "ic  village 
\v(re  closed.  At  11  a.  m.  a  iiri\;ite  ser\ice  \\as  held  at  the  Farl  home- 
stead on  German  street.  Rev.  W.  C.  Prout  olhciating.  After  this  ser- 
v'ce  the  remains  were  conveyed  to  Christ  church,  where  they  lay  in 
state  until  -  )).  m..  and  were  slewed  by  hundreds  of  citi/.ens.  The 
guard  of  honor  dtn-ing  this  time  were  F.  W.  Christman.  (iuy  H.  Miller, 
Jvulson  Bridenbecker.  C.  A.  Miller.  D.  M.  Richardson.  F.  P.  Addy.  C. 
E  Cronk.  W.  .1.  Thistlewaite.  M.aurice  Fikes  and  M.  O.  Wood,  .ippoint- 
ed  by  Herkinier  ^lasonic  Lodge,  of  which  the  deceased  was  the  last 
charter  member.  At  2  [).  m.,  the  hour  of  public  service,  the  church 
was  tilled  to  overflowing. 

The  Episcopal  service  was  used  and  was  conducted  by  R(  v.  W.  G. 
Prout,  rector  of  the  church,  assisted  by  Rev.  John  M.  ^Marvin  of  Albany, 
and  Rev.  W.  M.  Cook  of  Ilion.  Following  the  church  service  Hon.  W. 
C.  Prescott.  chaplain  of  Hei'kimer  Lodge.  No.  AS',.  V.  S:  A.  M..  con- 
ducted a  brief  Masonic  service.  The  cluu'ch  choir  rendered  the  follow- 
ing during  the  service:  Beethoven's  funeral  march:  hymn.  "Thou  Hast 
Been  Our  Refuge:"  hymn,  "For  All  Thy  Saints  Who  from  Their  Laboi's 
Rest;"  hymn,  "There  is  a  Blessed  Home;"  postlude,  Chopin  s  march 
funebre.  The  bearers  weiv  Hon.  .L  1>.  Henderson  and  Hon.  W.  C. 
Prescott,  representing  the  church:  C.  S.  Millington  and  E.  M.  Burns, 
representing  the  Herkinu'r  Xational  P.ank,  and  Henry  Chui'chill  and 
G.  E.  Snyder,  representing  the  Board  of  Library  Trustees. 


TRIBUTES  OF    RESPECT. 

HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAF.  StX'lETY. 

The  (Ir.-itli  of  .(u'Ilic  ilolicrt  ICnrl  lirinus  to  iio  sncicty  or  ori-.-Miizatiini 
sr.cli  sincere  ic;^i-el  .-iimI  inep.-ir.-i blr  loss  as  ii  dors  to  iiie  Herkiinei' 
("oiiiity  Ilistoriral  Society.  It  was  his  favorite  oi;.'aiiizatln,'.  and  i\n 
one  look  as  niU'li  interest  in  It  as  lie.  As  president  i'\'  tlie  soi-iety  since 
its  or.uani'/.at  ion  lie  ua\i'  lilieially  of  liis  means  for  Its  nc'-'ssary  ex- 
li(  nses  and  of  hi^  time:  lie  was  ne\cr  too  lins\-  to  write  foi'  and  en 
c(  rra.m'  liy  we'd  aiiil  deed  the  woi'k  of  the  or,L;ani/,a  i  ion.  (»v;'r  one-halt 
of  the  jiapers  read  liefor.'  the  society  durini;'  its  existence  ,<\'  seven  year.-, 
\-,i  r(  from  the  iertili'  iicn  of  .Indue  lO.arl,  ;ind  those  paiier;^  were  alw.ays 
of  the  .ui'e.atest  interest,  showiiru  carefnl  stndy.  ureal  research  and  the 
li;;nd  of  a  literary  ueiiins  in  their  ])r(  p.aration.  His  cont  rilait  ions  'o 
ti.e  early  histoiy  of  lleikinier  connty  .ai'e  well  niuli  in\a  In.ahle.  Ii 
'•.\;is  meet  .and  proper  tli;it  the  societx'  siioidd  take  action  on  the  (h'atli 
of  its  honon  d  .and  helo\('d  jiresident.  ;ind  on  Thnrsd.iy.  l»ecrnilMa'  Itli. 
;i  li.and  of  soiaowinu  men  met  at  the  society  I'ooins  m  spi'ci.a! 
meetin.u.  '!'he  \-ener.al)le  .\llicrt  N.  Unssell  of  llion.  tirst  vice  nresideid 
of  the  society.  c.-ilNd  the  meetiiru  to  orch'i-.  sayinu: 

The  Herkimer  Tounty  Historical  Society  convenes  ;it  thi>  time  be- 
cause (d'  till'  de.atli  of  its  honored  .and  beloved  presideni,  H(.n.  Robert 
i'Larl.  which  occairrcd  on  the  mornin.u  (d'  the  I'd  inst. 

We  meet  to  uive  exiiressioii  to  onr  .ui'i*"!'  and  to  n.ake  recid  of  oni- 
esleeni. 

Withont  exccpi  inn.  .all  oxer  the  bro.aii  domain  of  this  I'hiiMire  State. 
those  who  s|ieak  for  tlii'  peoide  are  p.ayiim-  tribntes  (d'  resp(  ct  to  his 
memory  and  rexiewiiiu  his  career  (d'  eminent  usid'nlness. 

We  Join   with  .all   who   honor  his  n;Mne  .and   testify   to  the  i>nrit.\-  .and 

neliility  id'   his   life;     Imt    intimately   .associated   .as    we    li.ave    1 n    with 

bin.  in  the  w  oi-k  of  this  society,  of  which  he  was  the  fonnder  and  most 
etlicicnt  niianbei-.  v;e  sh.all  nmnrn  his  loss  with  a  urief  that  none  others, 
e.xci  ]it    it    be  lii^   kindn  d.  c.a  n   feel. 

To  the  I'onimittie  of  .\e(aolou\'  is  .assigned  the  s.id  dnty  ol'  m.akm.u 
foinial  record  of  otir  bireasemeiit  .and  uixinu  exjn'ession  to  oni'  emo 
t  ions. 

While  we  sli.all  nnitedly  make  manifestation  of  onr  sadms'-;.  liecanse 
of  the  irrepar.able  loss  to  ns  as  a  society,  shall  we  not  bow  onr  heads 
with  deejier  uriv'f,  becanse  to  each  of  ns  has  come  the  loss  of  a   friend. 


443  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

Exalted  as  were  the  positions  held  for  many  years  by  Judge  Earl — 
eminent  as  was  tln'  aliility  by  whicli  lie  won  tliem — the  greatest  and 
best  of  all  was  the  gentleness  and  cordial  friendsliii)  whicli  character- 
ized his  intercourse  with  all  classes  of  people,  wliether  rich  or  poor, 
hnmble  or  exaltKl. 

^Yhile  we  make  mention  of  his  virtues  and  recall  his  generous  and 
nclile  benefactions,  we  shall  not  forget  the  beautiful  woman  who  was 
th"  chosen  companion  of  his  life  and  co-worker  with  him  in  his  labors 
of  love  and  benehcence,  and.  until  her  death,  a  most  useful  member  of 
this  societ.v.  Shall  we  not  think  of  them  to-day  as  re-united,  and  ny 
the  eye  of  faith  look  over  the  dark  river  which  they  have  crossed  into 
■"that  beautiful  land"  and  see  them  together  walking  the  golden  streets 
of  the  Celestial  City. 

John  D.  Henderson,  chairman  of  the  necrology  committee,  reported 
the  following  resolutions: 

Thi-  coniinittee  on  necrology  of  this  society  has  had  no  task  equal 
to  the  i)resent  one. 

(^ur  prcsit/tnt  is  dead.  Robert  Earl  was  the  founder  of  the  organ- 
izatioi!.  and  his  death  comes  as  a  personal  affliction  to  everyone  of  us. 

We  shall  hear  his  voice  no  more-  His  life  and  his  work  have  passed 
int(  liistory.  We  are  thankful  that  we  have  had  the  great  privilege 
of  knov.ing  him,  of  listening  to  him.  and  of  meeting  with  him  so  often 
in  this  rcom.  but  we  are  aware  that  there  is  no  one  to  fill  his  place, 
;uid  that  we  have  lost  our  greatest   our  wisest  and  our  ablest  man. 

.fudg»  Knr'.  took  great  delight  in  the  work  of  this  society,  and  ga/e 
it  I'luch  of  h's  time  and  thought.  He  was  anxious  for  its  success,  anx- 
ious tint  it  commend  itself  to  the  people  of  this  county,  and  receive 
theii  supiiort.  He  tried  in  every  possible  way  to  stir  up  the  enthusiasm 
of  its  uu  lubers,  and  increase  its  influence. 

\^ell  inj'oimed  himself  on  all  subjects  of  local  history,  lie  was  ever 
willing  to  impart  that  information  to  others,  and  he  welcomed  all  who 
had  anytliiiig  to  contribute  to  the  fund.  He  loved  his  home,  the  valley 
and  the  county  of  his  birth,  and  he  was  proud  of  the  part  they  played 
in  the  l'.;sTo'y  of  the  state  and  nation.  He  believed  it  to  be  the  duty 
n^■  good  cii'zcns  to  gather  up  the  facts  of  local  history  and  preserve 
then-  in  pcimanent  form;  he  performed  his  part  of  that  duty  well, 
and  his  life  furnished  an  example  for  us  to  emulate.  Pure  in  speech 
and  condcict,  ever  ready  to  contribute  of  his  means  to  every  worthy 
object,  cb.aritable  for  the  faults  of  others,  genial,  kind  and  cheerful,  it 
^^as  a  joy  and  pleasure  to  know  him,  and  his  personality  will  linger 
as  one  of  Tl\e  sweet  memories  of  our  lives.  Ijct  him  rest  in  the  eternal 
peace  which  God  had  prepared  for  him. 

John  D.  Hendersou, 
Charles  S.  Munger, 
Mrs.  F.  E.  Easton, 

Committee. 

After  their  reading  Mr.  Henderson  offered  the  following  resolutions, 
which  wer'»  adopted: 


TRIBUTES  OF  RESPECT.  443 

Itcsoh  I'd.  That  the  ivniarks  of  \'ict'-I*rcsi(i(Mit  Russell  and  the  report 
o*"  the  uecroloyy  coinniittee  be  received  and  adopted  ajid  Kiveii  to  the 
press   for  publication. 

liesolved.  That  the  reyuhir  meeting  to  be  helil  on  Satunhiy,  Deeeni- 
l»er  lolh.  b<  a  memorial  meeting  devoted  to  the  further  consideration 
d.''  tl'.e  rei.(  rt  of  the  committee  on  iieci'olouy  and  that  the  chair  appoint 
a  ( -jnuiiitce  of  three  to  arrange  foi'  that  meeting. 

Resolved.  That  the  society,  as  further  evi(hMice  of  its  regard  for  the 
distin.i'U.s!te(I  dead,  attend  the  funeral   in  a   body. 

Actnig  Piesident  Kussell  appointed  as  an  ai'rangement  committee 
for  tiie  n  enioiMal  meeting.  Kev.  J.  H.  Ilalpin,  A.  T.  Smith  and  W.  C 
Prescott. 


The  regular  monthly  meeting  of  the  Herkimer  County  Historical 
Society,  held  Saturday,  r>ecember  13,  1902.  was  made  a  vnemorial  meet- 
iiij''  and  was  largely  attended  by  friends  and  associates  of  the  late 
liobei't  Earl,  who  h;id  been  president  of  the  society  since  its  organ- 
ization in  iS'.Hi.  Ii.  the  absence  of  First  \'ice-pi-esident  Russell,  Frank 
H.  Parkhnrst  presided.  Letters  were  read  from  Ah'xis  L.  Johnson,  of 
Fast  Schuyler,  ami  (leorge  W.  Pine,  of  P.oonville.  Although  detained 
at  lionie  by  illness.  A.  i\'.  Russell  sent  the  following  tribute  in  memory 
of  his  brother  and  associate  worker  in  the  society: 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen : — To  spealv  at  the  memorial  service  of  such  a 
nian.as  oui-  l;imented  president,  thi^  Hon.  Robert  )']arl.  is  a  ideasant 
t;  sk.  even  for  a  hi\m.in  unaccustomed  to  making  public  addresses. 

Those  who  trace  the  routes  wlii(  h  he  travelled  in  his  illustrious  care;'r 
will  tind  no  devious  courses  to  be  avoided,  no  erratic  wanderings  to 
be  apologized  for  It  will  not  always  be  along  the  crowded  thorough- 
fa' es,  but  ever  upon  tlie  ways,  the  pavements  of  wliich  were  laid  u]ton 
ti:e  immovable  foi^idations  of  truth  and  righteousness. 

L  is  not  my  province  to  dilate  upon  Ids  achievements  as  a  lawyer 
ar  the  bar.  or  as  a  judge,  rilling  uith  distinguislied  honor  the  highest 
.judicial  positions  attainable  in  this  gi'eat  state.  Should  I  make  the  at- 
tempt it  would  be  but  a  faint  echo  of  wliat  lias  been  so  often  declared 
by  his  ablest  associates  in  the  profession  of  whicli  he  was  an  ornament, 
his  alilest  associates  in  the  profession  of  whicli  he  was  an  oiiiament, 
and  a  still  weaker  prelude  to  what  will  be  uttered  on  this  occasion. 

The  members  of  the  Herkimer  ("ounty  Historical  Society  and  the 
citizens  of  his  native  county  and  viliage  will  revere  the  memory  of 
Judge  Farl  because  the  tower  of  his  greatness  was  built  on  a  founda- 
tion of  goodness.  Without  this  foundation,  it  matters  little  how  mag- 
niticent  the  structure,  if  will  soon  sink  out  of  sight  and  be  forgotten 
by  man. 

ISothiiig  can  be  more  virongly  coiiiirinatory  of  our  contidence  in  the 
sial'ility  and  perpetuity  of  th(>  ■'government  of  the  people,  by  the  peo- 
ple" than  the  fact  tli.-it  in  their  linal  judgment  of  our  public  men  the 


444  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

"cuiiinion    iieople"    ;il\v;iys    uive   their    verdict   of   ;ii)i>r(iv;il    to    the    men 
M  liose  virtues  ,i;iive  charnctei'  to  their  .icbie\  eineiits. 

Said  ail  illit-rali'  old  ^  ir^iiiia  neiyldior  ot  mine  \\ho  could  scarcely 
read  tlie  titles  to  the  books  ot  the  .i^ospel.  to  uu'  one  day:  ■•^apoleon 
was  a  un  at  ma'i,  l)Ut  Washiu.uton  was  a  ureal,  yood  m:in."  An  epitome 
of  all  th.-it  could  lie  s.-'id  rei;ardiii,L;'  the  two  noted  ni"ii. 

To-day  the  nani»'s  dt  -Washington,  ot  Lincoln  and  McKinley  and 
others  (d  their  type,  are  held  in  re\erence  in  every  jiart  of  the  f^reat 
repniilic,  not  because  of  their  brilliant  achievements  .-iloiie  InU  Itecause 
their  deeds  w'.'re  inspired  liy  noble  ji.atriot ism  ;ind  made  eftc<'tive  l)y 
eaiiH'st   consecrnlion  to  duty. 

So  we  of  th;'  ■■c(^lnmon  jiedple."  nei,i;hbors  ;ind  associates  of  the  .uocxl 
m;iii  \-vhos('  Idss  \\('  mourn  ;ind  \\hose  memor\'  we  shall  alw.avs  cherish, 
sh.-ill  honor  his  name,  not  alone  for  his  !.;reat  nobility  and  ri'iidwii,  but 
becausi'  in  all  the  walks  of  life  he  exem])lilicd  the  character  of  the 
('hristiaii  uentlemaii.  the  .ijood  n(  iuh.lior  .and  the  kind   frit  nd. 

( )ur  youn.u'  people  \^"ill  ;ict  wisely  if  they  cmnlaie  his  e.x.imple  ami 
foinid  their  ambitions  on  the  rock  which  ,uave  strength  to  th"  structure 
of  his  noble  character. 

Of  his  deA'otion  to  the  work  of  this  Society  and  his  contril)Utions  t:> 
the  store  of  historical  iiiformaiion  wliich  we  hav<'  lieeii  able  to  .gather 
and  record  foi-  the  use  of  posterity,  others  will  spe.-ik  more  at  lenjitli 
Siitiice  for  me  to  sa.v  that  in  f.aithfulness  of  researt  h  and  deiiuileness 
of  descriiUioii  in  his  nnnierons  p.aners  coiicciaiin.u  the  early  lusiory  of 
our  couidry,  and  csjiecially  of  the  liistoric  Moh.awk  \alley,  li.ivc  been 
illifstra  led  the  persistent  industry  .and  paiustakinu  care  w'.iich  hav" 
ch.ar.-icterized  ills  work  in  excry  sphere  of  his  endeavors. 

( tf  his  demeanoi'  as  .a  presidini.'  othcer,  Imt  one  thin-  is  to  l>e  said.  It 
h;i;  been  but  an  .additional  illustration  u\'  th(>  ctuirtesx'  and  kindness 
\\licli  cliar.acterized  liis  iil'e  in  all   its  ])liases. 

lUit  best  of  all  we  sh.ill  cherish  the  memory  t>f  his  cordial  urt etiu'-is 
belore  and  after  the  sessions  (d'  the  Society.  wlu'U  we  fcli  the  warm 
jii'jisp  of  the  liaud  and  listened  to  the  kindly  words  of  friendship  which 
fell  from  his  iijis. 

Bye  and  bye  ;'.s  the  da.vs  [tass  on  and  the  years  roll  b.c,  fresh  tlowers 
will  be  strewn  on  tlu'  ,m-;i  ves  of  .lud.n'e  and  Mrs.  Earl  and  then  it  will 
s(  em  th.at  those  of  most  lo\ely  hue  .and  sweetest  perfume  h;,ve  come 
fi(.m  the  hands  (d'  the  coniiuon  people. 

Frank    I'..    I'arkhurst  spoke  ;is  follows; 

Ladies  ,111(1  (ientlemen  :--Much  as  we  honor  the  memor.v  of  the  de- 
c(  ased  piTsident  of  this  societ\'.  \\c  would  not  eiicro.ach  uiion  the  time 
of  tl'ose  who  have  enjoyed  ;i  life-Ion^  ac(pia  intance  with  llie  distin- 
fiuished  citi/eii.  the  lion.  IJobert  I'j.arl.  whose  cliar.acter  we  here  coni- 
munoiate.  Ilut.  we  cannot  Kdr.ain  from  addinu  a  brief  word  'd  respect 
and  an  e.\])ression  (d  sorrow  at  the  loss  (d'  our  worthy  friend  and 
Im  nefactor.  whose  de.ath  h.as  stirred  tlw  public  heart,  and  cast  .a  m.an- 
tle  of  alooni  over  this  commuuitv. 


TRinUTKS  OF  RESPECT.  445 

It  is  siuiiit'KMiit  winMi  lln'  iiicnilici-s  (if  liis  in-ofcssinn.  tliroiii^lHUit  llir 
Sliitc  <it'  Xcw  ^■||^k.  Jniii  in  ,ui\iii;-;  lln'  lii^licsl  jirnisi'  in  lin-  riiiiiicn! 
li'V;il  sdii:  it  is  till'  (■(iiKciisiis  of  ;lic  li;ii-  lli;it  in  icLi.-il  .•iciiini-n  lie  w.i-! 
sccnlid  to  IK)  jllslii-c  wild  il.-IS  (icrn]iif(l  tlic  liclicll  (it  (ilir  lli^ilisl  rnlirt. 
His  loiiu  niid  luiiinnihlc  cnn'cr  nf  piiMic  si'r\  ice.  iiis  sIim'])  Ic.-i  :-iiin,i;.  pro- 
fi  mill  iiiti'llt'cl.  .-iihI  iiicornijd  ililc  intr-i-ily.  jdincd  witji  his  simplicity 
(pf  cli.-ir.-ii-lci-  ••iiul  kindl.v  dispnsilini:,  ionised  him  In  hn  rcspi'dcd  hy  nil 
cIj.sscs.  .•ind  his  di'inisc  tn  lie  mii\  crs.-i  II  \-  dcplnrcd.  .lust  in  priiiciiilc. 
cN  .'ir  ill  words  .•ind  sl.-ilcmciil.  t'nrcclnl  ;iiid  precise  in  re.isnniim.  he 
was  ex'er  the  sincere,  ,-ilile  ;ind  .Mccninplisjied  friend,  lawyer  .-ind  nia;^- 
i  St  rate. 

Xntwithstandint:  his  distinctinn  in  his  cailinu.  he  was  plain  and 
uncnnveiitinn.al  amnii--  iiis  Imine  friends,  ever  appearing'  singularly 
t';,ir  niindt  il  and  teiiiper.ate,  .is  a  niemher  i)\'  the  Jiidiciary — the  inns! 
e>;;lted  branch  ni'  nur  ,un\'ernnH'nt — should  be. 

He  possessed  (lualities  which  lifted  him  for  any  civil  pnsillnn  which 
his  sfafe  or  cnlllitry  nii^lit  nffel'.  With  cnmilielldable  slrellL^lh  of  piii-- 
pnsc  he  made  the  most  ol  his  einii-onmenf  and  rare  natin-al  endow- 
ments. Not  alone.  iKiWever.  because  nf  tliese  marked  intelleclual  uiffs. 
lint  liecaiise  i>l'  I  lie  e\alte<l  statinlis  fn  wlli<'ll  iie  .Mfta'lied  and  which  in- 
.:;r;;ced  sn  well,  d  ■■  we  interiinse  a  simple  wnrd  e\pressi\e  iii'  niir  adini- 
ratinii  for  the  noble  char.ai-ler  who  founded.  ;ind  i.'Ui<l<'<l.  -'lud  orna 
11  eiited  fhis  Ilisl<.rii'a  I  Society.  I>el  us  trust  that  this  iiiit  iitMc.  with 
the  desire  of  lis  founder,  iiia.N'  lie  ke]it  ill  view.  It  is  a  blessing"  nf 
I'lnvidence  that  such  iiinti\es  are  not  obliterated  li.\'  time,  that  the.v 
l:\'e  be.vnlid  the  conlines  of  the  m'lNc;  this,  \\'e  believe,  was  a  sfiinil- 
biN  fn  our  honored  friend  amid  his  onerous  duties,  -iiid  a  solace  in  his 
(licliniuji'  years,  coiifribut  in.u'  personal  hajipiiiess  by  iiici"  a^ini;'  faifh  iu 
liuiuan  gratitiule  and  human  prouress. 

Mindful  of  the  well  beiim  of  his  fellowmeu.  .lud.ue  Earj.  wlu'U  releas- 
ed frniu  his  exactim:  iiublic  duties,  I'efired  in  fhe  jx'aceful  shades  of 
hi  old  hniiK".  not  tn  bask  idly  animm  Invin;,;  friends,  but,  aMeiitive  to 
the  need  nf  perpel  na  t  i  ni;'  Hit'  valuable  lessons  (>\'  liumani'.v'  which  had 
.t;(  lie  befnre,  he  ,L;ave  In  this  Society,  not  only  malerial  supiiort,  but 
his  rich  fund  of  historic  lore,  as  well  as  liis  broad  literary  altaiumenls 
and  niaiil.\'  culture.  The  iiispiral  ions  which  his  action  engendered 
hire  have  alread.*;  contribnied  to  the  betti'rmeiil  of  this  commnnit.x' — 
in  knowledge  and  citizenship. 

^'es,  ajiart  froir  the  t^real  .iurisi,  we  hax'e  eii.joyed  the  presence  of 
the  .yeiiial  and  exeiiiplar.N'  citizen,  lake  all  the  Irul.v  ,L;reat,  his  per- 
sniialit.\'  eiicniira^ed  and  warmed  into  action  the  dormant  energies  of 
hi:',  associates.  We  know  that  there  was  no  false  or  ;^ro\eliim  seiili 
meiit  ill  the  character  of  .IndLi'e  I^arl:  that  his  aim  to  the  l.asi  was  to 
s;  tisf.N'  an  honorable  ambition  in  iironiotinu  the  welfare  ol'  his  iiei^le 
b(  rs,  the  jieople  of  his  couiit,\-  .and  of  his  c<iinonwealt  h. 

It  is  not  in  ;lie  public  walks  of  life  that  personal  characlerisl  ics  ar«' 
SI)   readil.v   re\'ealed    .as    iu    social    and    jirixate   contact,    where   qualities 


446  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

ar(  often  displayed  which  unite  individuals  as  with  hooks  of  steel,  and 
when  these  are  torn  asunder  there  is  pain  and  sori'ow.  Indeed,  this 
chamber,  at  this  solemn  hour,  is  lonely  to  those  who  have  so  often  felt 
the  elevating  presence  of  him  whom  we  lament.  The  cheery  voice  is 
silenced  forever;  the  grasp  of  welcome  will  he  felt  no  more — he  has 
gone  "to  the  other  shore,"  to  the  Supreme  Judge,  the  higher  Tribunal, 
whither  we  must  all  come'at  last.  \ye  have  hope,  nay,  we  h;!ve  faith, 
that  he  there  occupies  a  place  compatible  with  his  splendid  preparation 
here  below.  May  eternal  peace  and  joy  rest  with  the  spirit  of  Robert 
Earl. 

Other  speakers  were  Hon.  George  W.  Smith,  J.  D.  Henderson,  Rev. 
J.  H.  Halpin,  Rev.  W.  C.  Prout,  Hon.  A.  B.  Steele,  Hon.  W.  O.  Trescott, 
0  D.  Thomas,  Major  E.  M.  Burns,  A.  T.  Smith,  Charles  Bell  and  C.  E. 
Snyder.  Each  of  the  speakers  touched  on  some  pronounced  trait  of 
character  of  the  deceased  jurist  and  brietly  alluded  to  his  successful 
career  and  well  spent  life. 

HERKIMER  COUNTY  BAR. 

Previous  to  the  funeral  and  at  noon  a  meeting  of  the  Herkimer 
County  Bar  was  held  at  the  court  house,  Hon.  George  W.  Smith  pre- 
siding. Remarks  eulogistic  of  the  deceased  were  made  by  Hon.  J.  D. 
Henderson,  Hon.  W.  C.  Prescott,  Hon.  A.  M.  Mills,  who-  also  read  a 
letter  from  H.  Clay  Hall;  Hon.  A.  B.  Steele,  Charles  Bell,  C.  J.  Palmer, 
Hon.  E.  E.  Sheldon,  County  Judge  I.  R.  Devendorf,  George  II.  Bunce, 
M  G.  Bronner,  C.  D.  Thomas,  E.  A.  Brown,  A.  J.  Smith,  J.  B.  Rafter 
and  D.  B.  Keeler,  of  Syracuse. 

A  committee  consisting  of  Judge  George  W.  Smith,  Hon.  J.  D.  Hen- 
derson, C.  D.  Thomas,  Hon.  A.  M.  Mills  and  M.  G.  Bronner  were  ap- 
pointed to  prepare  resolutions  on  the  death  of  Judge  Earl  and  present 
them  to  the  Supreme  Court,  which  they  did.  as  follows: 

The  earthly  career  of  Robert  Earl  is  ended.  His  lot  was  cast  in  a 
small  town,  and  in  a  rural  community,  but  veiy  early  be  becan<e  known 
as  a  good  lawyer,  and  soon  rose  to  eminence.  He  was  chosen  county 
judge  and  surrogate  of  this  county  when  he  was  only  21  years  of  age, 
and  he  filled  the  office  with  credit  to  himself,  and  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  bar,  and  the  people.  At  the  age  of  45  he  was  elected  a  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Appeals  to  fill  a  vacancy  and  according  to  the  law  as 
it  then  stood,  having  the  shortest  term  to  serve,  he  became  the  chief 
judge  of  that  court,  Avhicli  place  he  filled  with  great  honor,  until  the 
old  court  gave  way  to  the  neAV  court  in  1870. 

From  the  time  of  his  first  election,  he  served  almost  contiimously  in 
the  higuest  court  of  this  state,  until  he  was  retired,  luider  the  law.  -it 
the  age  of  70,  in  the  very  fulness  of  his  usefulness. 

No  other  man  has  to  his  credit  so  long  a  term  of  service  in  our 
Court  of  Appeals,  and  his  opinions  may  be  found  in  more  tlian  one 
hundred  volumes  of  the  New  York  Reports. 

The  extent  of  his  researclies  in  the  lav?,  and  the  magnitude  of  his 


TRIBUTES  OP  RESPECT.  447 

Ir.liors  are  uii^iirpasst'd;  while  tlip  sreat  viilu(>  of  his  deftsions,  and 
ojiinioiis,  is  recojiiiized  l).v  tlie  entiff  |)i-(ifessioii.  lie  av<)ide<I  no  resiion- 
siliility.  He  heard  patiently  every  aruiunent.  He  treated  '-otirteously 
ev(  i-y  adv(K-ate.  He  dealt  fairly  with  every  iiti,t;ant.  He  examined 
caiefidly  (-very  (|Uesti<in.  He  iierfornied  honestly  •■vei-y  dui;..  and  lu' 
lllunnned  every  sidi.jecl  that  lie  disenssed.  lOver  i-.'ady  to  share  with 
othei's  the  i-esnlt  of  Ids  laliois,  and  to  .t;ive  fi'cely  frtun  the  j^ieal  Ireas 
lues  of  iearniii;;',  and  wisdom,  which  he  posscssi'd,  lie  was  the  friend 
of  every  mendier  of  oni-  profession,  and  we  shall  ever-  I'eniMnber  his 
KHiial  personality  an«l  connt  it  a  [iri vile.tic  to  have  known  Mm.  It  is 
fitting  to-day  that  we  honor  his  name  and  we,  therefoiv, 

MOVE.  That  this  memorial  be  adopted,  and  spread  uiton  tlie  nun- 
r.tes  of  this  eonrt,  as  a  testimonial  to  one  who  has  furnished  a  eonspic- 
nous  example,  of  an  excellent  lawyer,  a  just  jndKe,  a  genial  t'eidelman 
and  an  honest  man. 

All  honor  to  the  memory  of  Rol)ert  Earl. 

HERKIMER  FREE  LIBRARY. 

The  trustees  of  the  Herkimer  Free  Library  share  in  the  gener.il 
grief  at  tli(>  death  of  Robert  Earl,  and  they  meet  not  only  to  ex])res-; 
their  gi'ief  at  the  loss  of  an  eminent  citizen  of  the  state,  but  to  recoi-d 
their  own  sense  of  the  i)eculiar  loss  to  tliis  institution  and  to  testify 
to  the  general  sorrow  of  its  beneticiaries. 

Tlie  Herkimer  Five  Library  and  its  connected  societies  were  tlie 
fiuits  of  a  generous  and  benevolent  spirit  to  which  the  gratitude  of 
our  whole  people  will  be  due.  so  long  as  men  appreciate  tlie  worth 
of  a  great  and  elevating  public  charity  that  promotes  the  liigiiest  inter- 
ests of  society. 

Wt  ought  not  to  be  unmindful  of  the  constant  and  heipfui  aid  which 
Robert  Earl  has  given  to  this  noble  charity,  whicli,  we  trust,  our  jx-ople 
will  transmit  with  continuing  public  liberality  and  good  will  to  the 
future  generations  of  the  noble  founders,  Robert  and  Juliette  W.  Earl. 

Resolved,  Therefore,  that  the  trustees  of  tlie  Herkimer  B^ree  Library 
evince  their  ])ersonal  regard  and  esteem  for  tlie  distinguislied  deceased, 
and  testify  the  public  gratitude  and  the  affectionate  sentiments  of  oui" 
whole  people  tow  ards  their  greatest  benefactor  by  attending  liis  funeral 
in  a  I)ody. 

Resolved  furtlier.  That  the  Library  he  closed  until  after  the  funeral, 
and  the  liuilding  be  draped  in  mourning  for  a  period  of  tliirt.y  days, 
and  that  this  minute  be  jdaced  upon  the  records  and  be  published  m 
the  village  papers. 

Adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  Herkimer  Free  Library,  held  at  tlii' 
library  building,  December  2,  1902. 

Henry  Churchill,  I'resident. 
Charles    Bell,    Vice-President. 


448  HERKIMER  COUNTY   HISTORICAL  SOCIETY. 

HERKIMER  NATIONAL  BANK. 

At  a  si»ecial  iiicctiii;;'  of  the  ilii'cctors  of  the  lU'rkinicr  Xnlioiial  liaiik, 
held  at  2  p.  in..  I  )('c('inl)*'r  '2.  I'.HV^.  llic  I'ollowiii.i;-  rcsol'itioDs  on  tlu' 
(Ic-itli  of  Iloiioialilc  Uolicrt  lOarl  were  nnaniniously  adoiitcd  by  a  risinij,- 

With  profoniid  sorrow  the  dir<'ctors  of  tlie  llcrkinier  National  Hank 
havo  learned  of  the  death  of  our  beloved  and  esteemed  associate,  Hon- 
oiiihle  Robert  Earl. 

.Judge  Ear!  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  and  has  been  (■onne<-ted 
with  this  bank  since  it  began  business  in  ISCS,  and  during  all  of  that 
time  he  has  gi-\en  to  the  liank  his  best  counsel  and  has  looked  uiion 
its  success  with  honest  pride. 

His  high  character  and  great  ability  have  )>een  of  much  service  to 
tliis  bank:  honest,  calm,  courteous  and  kind,  it  was  a  pleasure  to  be 
associated  with  him.  His  sterling  integrity,  sweet  and  composed  life 
Avil;  ever  be  before  us  as  an  example  of  sound,  conservative  and  cour- 
teous business  methods  and  conduct. 

Therefore,  Be  it  I'esolved.  that  the  board  of  directors  of  the  Herkimer 
National  Bank  and  its  otlicers  and  employes  attend  the  funeral  of  our 
late  beloved  and  esteemed  associate  in  a  body:  and  that  these  proceed- 
ings be  entered  in  the  records  of  the  Herkimer  National  Baidc  and  pub- 
lished in  the  village  papers. 

('has.  S.  Millington.   President. 

W.  I.  Taber,  Cashier. 

CHIEF  JUSTICE  PARKER'S  TRIBUTE. 

Chief  .Tustice  I*arker,  in  adjourning  the  Court  of  Aj)pi'als  for  the 
fniicral.  si)okc  of  the  lat"  Judge  Earl  as  follows: 

"The  man  with, the  longest  service  to  his  credit  in  this  court — su)-- 
passing  by  a  few  months  that  of  his  distinguished  associate,  ex-Chief 
Judge  Andrews — has  gone  to  rest,  leaving  behind  him  a  record  of 
useful  public  service  ecpialed  by  comparatively  few  of  his  generation. 
He  was  thoroughly  eipiipped  for  a  .judicial  career.  His  oi)ini()ns  evi- 
dence splendid  iraiuing,  painstaking  research,  careful  thought,  a  thor- 
ough grasp  of  llic  subject,  common  sense  .and  a  love  for  exact  justice. 
His  mind  w.as  to  him  a  \irile,  ready  and  competent  s.-rvant,  whic'.i 
performed  for  him  m.-iny  ai-duous  tasks.  Admirable  .as  he  w.as  in  all 
th.ese  respects,  he  had  that  which  endeared  him  even  more  to  his  asso- 
ciates, the  b.ar  .and  tlie  public — ;i  cordi.al.  genial  manner  which  betokens 
the  true  nobility  of  ch.aracter,  :i  love  (d'  fellowmen,  which  m.akes  the 
luni't  g<'ntle  ;ind  ex])i'esses  itself  in  cordi.al  words  and  kind  deeds. 
.\nd  he  h.ad  ;i  |):itriotic  s!)irit  which  stimnl.ated  him  to  become  a  bro.ad- 
nunded  student  of  governmental  affairs,  evidenced  in  many  publi'- 
utterances,  but  nowhere  more  effectively  than  in  his  opinions  involving 
the  consideration  of  constitutional  iiuestions.  Stevenson's  words  aptly 
describe  him: 


TRIBUTES  OF   RESPJ:CT.  449 

"I   knew  tlicc.  sti'dim  ;in(l  ((uict  ms  the  hills; 
1  knew  llict',  ;i])t  to  pity,  brave  to  ('iidurc: 
111  peace  or  war  a   Kouiaii  full  e(iuipt. 
And  just  1  knew  tliee.  like  the  fabled  kiiij^s 
Who  by  tlie  loiid  seashore  gave  jud.uineiit  forth. 
I'^idin  dawn  to  eve.   bearded  and  few  of  words. " 

UTICA  TRUST  COMPANY. 

.Tiidiic  Karl  was  a  stockliolder  and  one  of  the  officers  of  the  IJtica 
Trust  and  Deposit  Coinpany.  of  T'tica.  The  directors  of  that  fH'.naiiiza- 
tioi,  adopted  the  followin.L;  resolutions: 

lion,  ilobert  Earl.  LL.  )>..  born  September  10,  1X24,  died  December 
2.  lIHtl'.  He  served  as  surro.^iate  and  .iudye  of  Herkimer  county  and 
for  ei.uliteen  years  was  ;i  .iud,t;e  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  the  state  of 
New  York.  As  a  jurist  he  realized  the  highest  standards.  His  legal 
u;!rning,  liis  manifest  fairness,  his  uniform  courtesy  and  his  liigli 
character  won  for  him  the  respect  and  regard  of  lawyers  and  citizens 
gint  rally.  He  will  always  be  accorded  rank  among  the  very  best 
ji'dicial  olticers  who  ever  served  this  state  in  its  court  of  last  resort. 
lie  was  an  honor  to  his  profession,  to  the  bench  and  the  commoii- 
■wealth.  For  more  than  thice  decades  lie  lias  been  looked  to  as  ono 
of  the  foremost  citizens  of  Central  New  York,  a  section  in  which  lie 
wa.'-  deeply  interested  and  whose  welfare  he  alw.-iys  stood  ready  to 
advance.  His  death  is  a  he.avy  loss  to  the  community  and  as  such  is 
deeply  mourned. 

.Tudge  Earl  was  one  of  the  incorporators  of  tlie  Utica  Trust  and 
Deposit  Comjiany.  and  since  its  organization  had  b(>en  a  memlter  of  its 
board  of  directors.  His  sound  judgment,  his  wide  experience  and  his 
ackiiowledged  ability  made-  him  a  wise  counselor  and  .^afe  adviser. 
Hi.-'  associ.-ites  in  tills  coriioratioii  desire  to  make  foi'inal  (  xjiression  of 
tilt  ir  apineci.-itioii  ol  his  sidendid  record  and  career,  his  usefulness  in 
all  walks  of  life  and  of  the  loss  sustained  in  his  death.  Accordingly 
it  is  ordered  thai  this  memorandum  duly  iido])ted  be  s])read  on  the  min- 
utes. 

CHRIST  CHURCH. 

At  a  meeti'ig  of  the  vestry  of  Christ  Church,  held  Wednesday  even- 
ing. DecemlKM'  :i.  the  following  minute  on  the  death  of  .ludge  E.arl  was 
adoifted: 

Robert  Eaii  h.is  been  a  member  of  the  vestry  of  Christ  Churcli  for 
nearly  fifty  yeais  .-nid  v.arden  for  more  th.aii  thirty  y<'a!s.  Ih'  was 
chosi  n  to  represent  tlu"  palish  in  the  convention  of  the  diocese  of 
Albany  twenty-live  times  and  w;is  (lei)Uty  from  the  diocese  to  the  geii- 
(i.ii  conventions  at  Minneapolis  in  IS!).')  and  Washington  in  1S!)S.  Dnv- 
ing  his  service  as  judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  he  was  iKH-essarily 
away  from  Ilerkimei-  a  large  i»oitii>ii  of  his  time,  but  h.^  never  lost  his 
ii-.teiesf  in  tiie  i),irisli  and  its  work,  noi'  his  eagei'  desire  foi-  its  welfare 

29 


450  HERKIMER  COUNTY  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

and  influence.  No  small  part  of  its  material  prosperity  eame  to  it  from 
liis  large  generosity,  and  amongst  tiie  best  influences  which  liave  gone 
to  form  it  lias  l)een  the  (luite  regular  devoutness  of  his  attendance  at 
till'  services.  He  loved  tlie  cliurcli's  worsliip  and  was  most  ready  and 
glad  to  take  liis  due  part  in  it.  But  more  worthy  tlian  his  unstinted 
generosity,  more  even  tlian  liis  regular  attendance  and  devoutness  at 
church,  was  his  rare  integrity.  Diligent  in  duty,  self-denying  in  life, 
unobtrusive  in  manners,  simple  in  his  tastes,  gentle,  genial,  considerate, 
he  was  one  whom  to  know  was  to  honor,  whom  to  honor  was  to  love. 
Tl-us  his  examiile  will  be  long  cherished  and  preserved  ;is  a  model  and 
pattern  to  us  who  have  to  carry  without  him  the  respoiisi))i!ities  which 
hiive  been  so  greatly  lightened  by  his  presence  and  his  gifts. 

TRIBUTE  BY  BISHOP  DOANE. 

The  following  tribute  to  Judge  E.nrl  is  from  Bishop  William  Crosweil 
Doane,  of  the  l>iocese  of  Albany: 

"There  are  now  and  then  men  to  whom  office  cannot  liring  honor  nor 
olhcial  titles  dignity,  because  the  honor  and  the  title  belong  to  them 
by  their  natural  <"ndownients  and  by  the  cominon  consent  of  men. 
Judge  Earl,  who  has  just  ended  a  long  and  distinguished  life,  was  one 
of  these.  He  was  throughout  all  his  life  the  honorable  Robert  Earl, 
l:(]ore  his  appointment  and  then  his  election,  twice  successively,  to 
the  Court  of  Appeals.  The  story  of  his  public  life  at  the  bar  and  oa 
the  bench  is  better  known  and  will  be  better  told  by  others.  My  knowl- 
edge of  him  lies  chiefly  along  other  lines.  A  member  of  the  primary 
convention  of  the  Diocese  of  Albany,  at  which  I  was  elected  Bishop, 
he  has  been  continuously  and  constantly  a  member  of  that  body,  and 
the  Diocese  was  honored  by  his  presence  in  the  General  (.Conventions, 
189r>  and  1S9S,  as  one  of  its  lay  deputies.  lie  served  ther.-  with  Judge 
Andrews  on  the  committee  that  reported  the  canon  for  the  establish- 
nwnt  of  courts  of  ;(ppeal.  It  was  characteristic  of  him  that  he  used 
his  first  leisure  from  the  pressing  demands  of  his  official  duties  to  give 
himself  in  this  way  to  the  service  of  the  church.  And  there,  as  often 
elsf  where,  he  consecrated  to  church  work  his  fine  attainments  and 
tl'.e  rare  endowments  of  his  well  furnished  and  truly  judicial  mind.  It 
is  ;i  striking  and  very  touching  fact  that  Judge  Earl  should  have  kept 
ii!  his  heart  and  as  his  home  the  villjige  of  Herkimer,  wliich  was  his 
birthplace  and  which  he  adorned  by  his  life,  and  by  gen^^rous  and  gra- 
cious gifts.  There  was  something  in  the  whole  effect  and  appearance 
of  Robert  Earl  which  instinctively  inspired  confidence,  quietness,  com- 
posure, steadiness,  Avith  the  sort  of  equipoise  throughout  which  carried 
into  all  the  relations  of  his  life  the  judicial  temperament.  Quite  apart 
fiom  his  professional  tr;iining,  he  had  a  wide  range  of  general  knowl- 
edge, a  true  literary  taste  and  a  broad  intellectual  cultivation.  His 
citizenship  was  ])in)lic  spirited,  loyal  and  generous  in  eveiy  range  of  its 
responsibility.  He  was  a  churchman  by  conviction,  based  and  built 
upon  a  thorough  study  and  knowledge  of  the  church.     He  was  a  con- 


LBFe  '09 


TRIBUTES  OF  RESPECT.  451 

sisteut  ("liristiiin  iiiiin.  not  only  in  the  outward  conformity,  hut  In  tlie 
ii  ner  spirituality  of  his  life,  and  he  was  the  very  ideal  of  constancy 
in  his  affections  and  friendships  to  the  end.  Rounded  and  completed 
hen  as  his  eai'thly  life  was,  leavini;-  behind  a  memory  of  universal  love 
and  honor,  he  has  passed  through  a  peaceful  eudin,y,  into  a  fulness  of 
life  and  service  for  which  (4od  had  prepared  him  here  and  with  which 
wi'  believe  (iod  will  reward  him  hereafter. 

JUSTICE  ANDREWS  TRIBUTE, 

Justice  William  S.  Andrews  ad.journed  a  term  of  Suiireme  Court  in 
Syracuse  to  attend  the  funeral.  He  interi'upted  the  cas<>  on  trial  and 
said: 

You  are  aware  that  th"  funtM-al  of  Judue  Robert  Earl  takes  place  this 
afternoon.  There  is  no  man  whose  services  to  the  state  have  been 
nu  re  valuable  than  his.  He  was  longer  a  member  of  the  Court  of 
Appeals  than  any  other  member  has  been  and  at  one  time  he  was  chief 
jud.ue  of  that  court.  We  cannot  pay  too  much  respect  to  the  memory 
of  a  man  like  Jud.ue  Earl.  I  am  s'oinj;-  to  adjourn  this  court  until  to- 
morrow at  10  a.  m. 


SEP8S  1908 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

The  War  of  1812,  its  Causes  and  Consequences,  by  Robert  Earl            -  5 

Life  and  Pu'jlic  Services  of  Gen.  F.  E.  Spinner,  by  Albert  L.  Howell       -  15 

Joseph  Brant-Thayendaney^ea.  by  Edgar  Jackson  Klock*            -             -  23 

The  Town  of  L,itchfield,  by  Mrs.  E.  G.  Van  Housen           -               -             -  34 

Pioneer  Times  on  the  Royal  Gi'atit.  by  Geo.  L.  Johnson           -              -  45 

Abraham  Lin  :oln  in  his  Relation  to  SI  ivery,  by  Robert  Earl         -             -  66 
The  French  in  Canada  and   Our  Obligationto  the  Iroquois,  by  John  D. 

Henderson                 .......  go 

Arphaxed  L/Oomis.  his  Career  and  Public  Services,  by  Geo.  W.  Smith  109 

Indian  Scalping,  by  Robert  Earl          -             -             -             -             -             -  12S 

L/ife  of  Joseph  Brant,  dy  Albert  L.  Howell            .             -             .             .  136 

Stamp  Acts,  by  Robert  Earl     -------  145 

The  Herkimer  Hydraulic  Ciual.  by  William  C.  Prescott           -            -  151 
The  Relation  of  the  M  'hawk  Valley  to  the  Making  of  the  Republic,  Prize 

Essay,  by  Leslie  Kirke  Richardson              -             -            -             -  170 

Tryon  County  in  the  Rev;jlutionary  War,  Prize  Essay,  by  James  H.  Greene  i8'o 

Women  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Prize  Essay,  by  M.  Louise  Chappie  190 

Railroads  in  Herkimer  County,  by  Robert  Earl          -             -             -  199 

ICS23,  Gleanings  from  a  Herkimer  Newspaper,  by  Robert  Earl                 -  215 

Industries  of  Frankfort,  by  Frank  B.  Parkhurst        -             -             -  218 

Our  Common  Free  Schools,  Prize  Essay,  by  Estelle  Adelaide  Leach  231 

Common  Schools  in  New  York,  Prize  Essay,  by  Kate  Moran                  -  240 

Patriotic  Del  sions,  by  Robert  Earl     -----  248 

Abraham  Lincoln  and  Arbitrary  Power    During  the  Civil  War,  by  Rob- 
ert E'rl             -             -             -             -             -             -             -             -  256 

Our  Common  Schools,  Prize  Essay,  by  Loretta  O.  Douglass         -             -  268 

Some  Pha-es  of  the  Early  Agriculture  of  our  State,  by  Robert  Earl  277 

The  Town  of  Warren,  by  Dunham  Jones  v^rain                -            -            -  287 

Some  Dutch  Characteristics,  by  John  W.  Vrooman              -             -  298 
1828-1832  Gleanings  from  Two  Herkimer  Newspapers  and  other  matters, 

by  Robert  Earl  -  .  -  -  -  -  -311 

Herkimer  County  Peopl    at  the  National  Capital,  by  Dr.  P.  H.  Eaton  324 

The  Lutheran  Church  in  Herkimer  County,  by  Wm.  Irving  Walter  3^3 

John  Frank,   4is  Contemporaries  and  His  x\ccount  Book,  by  Robert  Earl  347 

Fairfield  Academy  and  Fairfield  Medical  College,  by  Geo.  W.  Smith  355 
The  Modern  Industrial  Organization    its  Origin  and  Its  Meaning,  by  Prof. 

D.  Dew  Smi  h                -------  ^70 

King  Hendric,  by  W.  Max  Reid            -             -             -             -  383 

The  Town  of  Manheim,  by  John  B.  Koetteritz                  -             _             -  ^92 
Gleanings  from  the  Herkimer  Democrat  and  Mohawk  Courier,  by  Rob- 
ert Earl                ---..-.-  420 


f^S*«^ 


■-—  -  ^