Tally-Ho 2006

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December 2006

Table of Contents
December Program
Old Age
McLean's Grist Mill
1888 Speech by James Harris
Transportation
Welcome New Members
Open House Report
Utica Patriot
Condolences
Anyone recognize this house?
New Hartford Point School
Seneca Turnpike Swimming Pool

Thursday, December 7, 2006   6:00 PM

Adult Dining and Recreation Center—1 Sherman Street, NH

Pot Luck supper and Holiday Party

Come and help us celebrate the holidays.  This is always a fun time.  Bring your own place setting.  Desert and beverages will be provided. There will be decorations and entertainment will be provided by Bob and Jeanne Jones.  We’ll sing some carols and play some games and go home feeling a little more in the spirit of the season.  It is a good time to bring a guest, eat, relax and be happy!  Put the date  on your calendar now.

Found in the walls of a room at the Fehr farm (formerly the Sherman farm) on Tibbitts Road, these  words of Mary F. Sherman were written by the young girl who was to become the wife of Richard Updike Sherman.  The essays  were written in 1838, ten years before Mary became his wife.  Her maiden name was Sherman, which is a little confusing.  Her family was not  related to this Sherman family.  Her father was a well-known steamboat captain on Lake Champlain, Richard W. Sherman.

These writings may have been part of a diary that young Mary Sherman kept and brought with her to this farm when she married Richard Updike Sherman.  Richard and Mary had six children, one was James Schoolcraft Sherman who was vice president of the United States during the Taft administration.

OLD AGE

Old age is a period that seems universally dreaded.  We find that persons in all ranks of life cling with the greatest tenacity to youth; and why is this?  We know that as we advance in years, we shall progress in the paths of knowledge, yet even this consideration seems not sufficient to balance the objection made by our vanity to the great change which is wrought in our personal appearance by the rude finger of Time.  Of what consequence is it that the once brilliant eye looses its luster, the fair skin becomes shallow and wrinkled, the long dark hair is silvered, the pearly teeth are gone, and the graceful gait is broken by age; then, when no longer admired by the giddy  throng of fashion’s vanities, we see our aged friends turning with disgust from the follies of the world, and lifting their thoughts to higher and purer objects.  They reflect with regret upon the misspent years of their youth, and the many advantages allowed to pass unimproved and forgetting their temporal concerns, resolve that the few remaining years allowed them upon the Earth, shall be devoted to the service of their Creator, that they may when their spirits shall be called to leave this frail tenement of clay, be prepared to join him in mansions above. It is at this advanced age of life that they are able, by their counsel and experience,  to assist the young in avoiding and resisting temptations, and are amply repaid by our gratitude for all the interest felt in us.  The aged are enabled to tell us of the many discoveries made in the arts and sciences since the days of their youth, and of the great and essential improvements in the system of education made during the last half century, endeavoring by these means to impress our minds with a sense of gratitude to the giver of all those benefits, and persuade us to endeavor to spend our lives so, that when we shall have numbered their years, out retrospections may be pleasing, and we may enjoy the bright hope of a blessed immortality.

Mary F. Sherman

Oct. 12, 1838

MCLEAN'S GRIST MILL

This picture of the McLean’s Grist Mill, taken in May 1897, appeared in the New Hartford Centennial 1870-1970 booklet printed for the celebration of that event in 1970.  It is a rare picture and one we are not aware of having at the Society Rooms.

We believe this mill was the original Sanger grist mill which was built in 1790.  He had built a saw mill a year earlier in 1789.  On September 13, 1806 he sold the grist mill to Jacob Sterling and Timothy Soper, who together ran the business for about a year, when Mr. Soper transferred his interests to Mr. Sterling.  The mill ran under this management until December 1, 1818 when it was sold to Jacob and Lewis Sherrill on May 10, 1826.  The Sherrill's sold the property to Samuel Lyon and Mr. Lyon, on March 14,1851 sold the property to Charles McLean who ran the business for many years.

 During  Samuel Lyon’s occupancy , his daughter , Persia Lyon, was married to Hiram Shays, a grandson of Gen. Daniel Shays of Connecticut, the famous leader of Shay’s Rebellion.

 1888 SPEECH BY JAMES HARRIS

The following is from a speech delivered by James Harris of New Hartford on the occasion of the 1888 Centennial Celebration

                 The origin of the knit goods business in the village of New Hartford was instituted in May, 1864, by James Armstrong of New Hartford and Henry Hurlburt of Utica, who commenced the business of manufacturing shirts and drawers in a brick building owned by James Armstrong, and known as the Half Century factory, it having been used for many years by James Reed for the manufacture of bed tick yarn.  This business was conducted by Armstrong & Hurlburt on a very small scale, they running but one set of machinery.  At the end of the first year Armstrong bought out the interest of Hurlburt, and continued this business until April 1, 1870, when the mill was wholly destroyed by fire.  The business was then transferred to its present location on the opposite side of the pond, and A. E. Baker became associated with Mr. Armstrong.  The business was enlarged at that time, and was run by Armstrong & Baker until December, 1873, when George H. Armstrong became a member of the firm, which from that time has been known by the firm name of Armstrong, Baker & Co., having increased from one set of machinery to five sets of cards and spinning and eleven sets of knitting machinery, producing over 200 dozen of shirts and drawers daily, and employing over 100 hands.  On the site of this mill was the tannery owned and operated by Stephen Childs for several years.

 Below this factory was  a brick building owned by Charles McLean and operated by him as a coloring factory.  This building was burned down and on its site a frame building was erected by John. W. McLean, now occupied by the New Hartford Scotch cap factory, which was incorporated in 1887, by John W. McLean, Frank S. Lowery and Alfred J. Wainman. 

Next along the creek  Jacob Lewis Sherrill’s carding mill which was destroyed by fire, and on its site was erected a building in which Lane and McLean carried on a calendar and coloring factory, and still below this was a paper and saw mill.  Next is the Utica cotton company’s mill, erected in 1814 by the “Capron Cotton Manufacturing company”.  The heaviest stockholders were Seth Capron of Whitesboro, Jeremiah Van Rensselaaer and Ashbel Seward of Utica.  It was later owned by E. B. Sherman & Co., and since has been owned by C. C. & H. M. Taber of New York City. Their agent  and manager is William H. Cloher, Jr.  It presently has 11,544 spindles or 250 looms.

Next below was a saw mill, then below is one of the three cotton mills constituting the New York mills.  Its origin under the present owners was in the year 1840, but was the outgrowth  of a grinding or grist mill built in 1794 by General George Doolittle of Whitesboro.  The name of this mill was the “Burrstone” from the circumstance of the French Burrstones being used in it for grinding purposes.  About the year 1815 General Doolittle, the owner, desired Benjamin Stuart Walcott, his son-in-law, and who was reared a cotton manufacturer in Rhode Island, to change the mill to a cotton mill, which task was undertaken and accomplished in a credible manner.  In the year 1824 a proposition was received from Benjamin Marshall of New York City inviting Mr. Walcott to join him in the erection  of the New York mills and the manufacture of fine shirtings, the first attempt made in the country at producing yarns of the finest grades.

TRANSPORTATION

The following is taken from “Scattered Leaves Along the Sauquoit”, a history paper written by Judge John Walsh

  In the early days   of New Hartford, there was no public transportation except by stage coach, and the residents were required to travel by horse or carriage to come to Utica to visit friends or shop.  A favorite place to stop to rest was Pegg’s tavern on Oneida square.  When it was built is obscure, but the city directory of 1847-48 lists Henry Pegg as the proprietor of the Oneida Street House.  The humorous Utica Evening Telegraph of August 8, 1865 mentioned the well there, and said,

“We have know for several years that during the dry season in summer the well in front of Pegg’s tavern gave forth good sulfur  water.  We suppose that by proper tubing the spring could be made to flow pure sulfur water the year round, but then the idea of going ‘up to Pegg’s to take a drink of water’ would seem rather strange, especially in cold weather.”

  The Oneida Morning Herald in 1853 announced: “The new line of omnibuses between this city and New Hartford commence running today.  They will run every hour during the day.  Fare 6 1/4 cents each way.  Cheap enough certainly.  We are rejoiced that a line communication between our city and that enterprising town has at length been established.”

  John Butterfield was the prime mover in the plan to construct and operate a regular “horse car” street railway system in Utica.  He organized a company in 1862 and by September 14, 1863 drove the first horse car up Genesee street to the end of the line, about where the Uptown Shopping Center is located today.  In December 1863, the tracks extended to New Hartford.  The cars ran every hour with 45 minutes running time.  The fare was 12 cents.  Later tracks were laid to Whitesboro.  Francis Laird, an old time conductor once recalled:  “I can remember how in stormy weather, when those old horses used to plug up Genesee street, that they used to get into a pile of snow drifts on the way up.  Then the passengers would get out, and help the horses around the snow drift, and then help drag the car back again on the other side of it.  Then the car would go on”

In 1890,  the Utica Belt Line Railway was electrified.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

OPEN HOUSE REPORT

The New Hartford Historical Society Open House held Saturday, October 28th provided a number of people with the opportunity to visit the rooms, view displays, partake of refreshments and enter contests. Although a very rainy day, inside the Society rooms was warm and cheerful.

We celebrated 30 years of being a viable organization for the town of New Hartford and a keeper of its history. 

Winner of  the 70/30 raffle was Earl Cunningham. 

Winner of the Tony D’Apice outhouse was Rosemary Sears

Winning the New Hartford Town coverlet was our own president, Barbara Couture.  A little ironic, but Barb was delighted.

We want to thank all of the people who took the time to come and help us  celebrate.

UTICA PATRIOT

In the Society Rooms is an old trunk that was on the Sherman farm.  It is a small trunk lined with an old newspaper called the Utica Patriot dated January 19, 1808.

The following items are reprinted from that paper.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

A rumor was circulating yesterday, founded as was on letters from Washington, that in a caucus held for the purpose of determining on the characters proper to be supported for President and Vice President of the United State at the approaching election—James Madison, Esq. the present Secretary of State for President; and DeWitt Clinton, Esq. of New York, for Vice Presidency.

SLAVES

There were imported into Charleston, S.C. from the 1st of January, 1807 to the first of November following, nine thousand seven hundred and sixty-six African slaves.

Congress has refused to hear the petition of sundry of the merchants of Charleston, stating that many vessels had cleared out from thence, for Importing Slaves, both before and immediately after the passing of the prohibition law, and had been detained by accidents beyond the time limited by the said law, praying relief.

  Mr. Masters said, the petitioners were not entitled to relief by the laws of God or man.

SHIPS IN NY HARBOR

On the first day of the present month were lying in the harbor of New York, 135 ships, 94 brigs, 92 schooners, and 81 pettigaugers; making altogether the establistical number of 666.

DETROIT, NOVEMBER 30, 1807

We concluded a treaty with the Indians on the 13th inst. Probably the most advantageous which has yet been made.  They have, for the sum of 50,000 pounds, ceded to the United States about 5 million of acres of land, of excellent quality, and well situated for improvement, extending from Fr. Defiance on the Miami, to about 260 miles on that river, lake Erie, the river Detroit, lake and river St. Claire and lake Huron, comprehending all rivers falling into these waters, and all the islands.  Every Chief has signed who has been requested, and all appear perfectly satisfied.  We had many difficulties to combat, but fortunately surmounted them all.

CONDOLENCES

On October 27, 2006 Dr. Robert V. Anderson passed away at the Presbyterian Home.

Bob was a charter member of the New Hartford Historical Society, serving on the board for many years and also was our archivist.  He was truly interested in history. All who knew him admired him, especially for the care that he took to research the many inquiries that the society receives.

Our condolences to  his family.

Does anyone recognize this house?  We found it among some photographs of homes in New Hartford.  Someone had  penciled on the back 1943 with a question mark.

Call us at 724-7258 if you think you know where it is.

This picture of what was the New Hartford Point School was in the Utica newspaper on August 20, 1963.  The building is now the Point Apartments and the home of the New Hartford Historical Society museum rooms.

Pictured above is the Seneca Turnpike swimming pool.  This was where the J K Lumber store is today.  Do any of you remember  it?  Your editor remembers swimming there with her brothers and sisters.

Do any of you remember it?

November 2006

Table of Contents

November Program
Follow-Up To Rip The Dog
Welcome New Member
Gift Ideas
How Tisdale Ave Came To Be
Huber Tractor
Morgan Butler
Oops!
Watchtower
A Letter To Richard Updike Sherman
Books for Sale
How Some New York State Counties Got Their Name

Thursday, November 2, 2006   7:00 PM

United Methodist Church, Genesee St., New Hartford

Speaker:  Terry Kehoe  “The American Tragedy”

    This will be a combined meeting with the Clinton Historical Society at the United Methodist Church in New Hartford at 7:00 PM. 

Terry Kehoe, adjunct professor of math at SUNYIT and retired teacher of mathematics at New Hartford Central School will be the speaker. He also teaches a course on the tragedy and one on Abraham Lincoln at MVILR (Mohawk Valley Institute for Learning in Retirement) .

Terry has a very interesting program about Chester Gillett and Grace Brown and the tragic drowning in the Adirondacks 100 years ago. The meeting  is free and open to the public.

FOLLOW-UP TO STORY ABOUT RIP THE DOG

Thomas Schafer, of Washington Mills, sent  the following article that appeared in the Observer Dispatch in 1946 to Burke Muller. Burke sent it us. We thank both of them.

 POISON FOOD KILLS RIP IN NEW HARTFORD

Rip, the seven-year-old St. Bernard, which was as well-known in New Hartford as any village resident, died yesterday afternoon in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Tracy Humphrey, 24 Oxford Road., after being ill for four days with food poisoning.

 A page series of pictures showing Rip making his daily visits through the neighborhood was printed April 14 in the Observer Dispatch. (Ed. Note: Some of these pictures were reproduced in the October issue of the “Tally-Ho!”.)

 Rip formerly was owned by Ralph Owens, who moved away several years ago, and left Rip behind.  The dog became a village pet and had always depended on the village residents to feed and shelter him.

The genial canine giant had every medical aid and care but failed rapidly, with the heat a contributory factor.  He was buried by his friends yesterday afternoon in the rear of St. Stephen’s Church.

Ed. Note: What a sad ending for such a loveable dog.  Many of us remember Rip and your editor received several phone calls about the story from people who remembered him with affection.

WELCOME NEW MEMBER

Rev. Janet Hoover,  New Hartford

GIFT IDEAS

We have enclosed a list of books that are for sale in our book store.  If you know someone interested in history these are a good gift idea.

We also have New Hartford coverlets for $40.00.

And a year’s membership in the New Hartford Historical Society is another Christmas idea.  Some of your children might like reading about New Hartford if they grew up here.

The Society rooms are open Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm and Mondays from 1 to 3 pm.

HOW TISDALE AVE CAME TO BE

Have you ever wondered why some of the streets and roads in New Hartford were so named?  The following essay will tell you how Tisdale Avenue came to be.  The information was found in various articles of the Utica newspapers by Janice Reilly.

In 1923 a deed was given to the village board that conveyed a strip of land about fifty-one feet in width to be used as a public street connecting Hartford Terrace and Pearl Street.  “The street will be a great convenience and open up one of the largest blocks of building lots in the central  part of the village.  Arrangements are being made for putting in a sanitary sewer, gas and water mains, as soon as weather conditions permit”, said A. D. Eldred, a local real estate agent who had charge of the disposition.

The property was willed to the village by Frank S. Tisdale, son of the  Rev. William and Mrs. Tisdale who had lived on this parcel for nearly sixty years.  William Tisdale was born in Ontario in 1828 and came to this state at age 14, settling near Buffalo.  After graduating from the Biblical Institute in New Hampshire in 1855, he served several communities in New York State—Carthage, Phoenix, Camden, Madison, Sauquoit,  Rensselaer Falls and Little Falls to name a few.  He built a new church in Frankfort.  In Sauquoit he held a revival in which over one hundred were added to the church.  Rev. Tisdale was a member of the Northern New York Conference of the Methodist Church.

When Civil War broke out, Mr. Tisdale joined the United States Christian Commission and went to the front.  “It was called the Christian Commission because it was along Christian lines, but it knew no denominational distinction and cared for Jew as well as Gentile”.  The United States Christian Commission was a volunteer organization founded in 1861.  The volunteers served, without rifles or bayonets or uniforms, ministering to the spiritual needs of soldiers.  Sometimes they distributed medical supplies to field hospitals and assisted surgeons.  The group distributed bibles and bandages.  They wrote letters home for the wounded.  At times, the minister’s duty may have been to inform the family of the death of their loved one.  The work  Rev. Tisdale did was ‘most sacrificing, yet beneficent work and was highly appreciated by the boys in blue.’  He was in the prime of life and very energetic, and had charge of most of the work along the Atlantic Coast.

In 1907 he moved to New Hartford where he lived until his death in 1918.  He had married Fannie Davidson, and left three sons, William, Frank, and Wesley; and two daughter, Mrs. Henry Dexter and Amy Tisdale.

Mrs. Tisdale lived until the early 1930’s and was around the age of 90 when she died.  Mrs. Fannie Davidson Tisdale came from strong stock.  Her father was an ardent Methodist layman in the Frankfort Church.  “He gave the first $500 toward the removal of Genesee College at Lima, New York, to Syracuse, to make it Syracuse University.”  She was valedictorian of her 1861 class at Fairfield Seminary and was a teacher prior to her marriage.  Her sister Mary Norris was also a resident of New Hartford.  The two widowed sisters lived together on Sherman Street.

This pictured Huber tractor was an exciting find on the Thomas farm on Mallory Road on Saturday, October 14, 2006.  According to Ken Thomas, there were only 10 of this type gas engine tractor made by the Huber Mfg. Corp. in Marion, Ohio in 1930 and it is believed there are only four in existence now.  The tractor was purchased by Charles Wakefield who owned a sawmill on Elm Street in Chadwicks, approximately 8 miles from the Thomas farm.  It cost $3,000 in 1933 and it was used to power the sawmill.  William Thomas, the uncle of Ken, drove the tractor from Elm St.  over Mohawk Street to the Mallory Road farm.  It was used to plow and drag the fields and to power the corn chopper for silo filling.  That is William Thomas on the tractor.

 Ken Thomas, who is now 85 years old, decided that his prize possession needed to be in the hands of a man that would restore it and take care of it.  Don Odin is that man and he is very excited about his new find. Don invited Barbara Couture to witness the transfer and take pictures.  Ken Thomas, Lewis Smith and Marge Prescott were there, also.  Attempts to fire it up that day were unsuccessful but it was up and running by the next day

MORGAN BUTLER

  1807—1892

Morgan Butler was born on the family farm on South Street, (Oxford Road) in New Hartford on July 7, 1807 to Eli Jr. and Rachel Kellogg .   As a young man he was active in the affairs of the days.  At age 18 he was the bugler in his company of the militia and escorted General LaFayette to Oriskany when the General made his distinguished visit to this county in 1825.

When Morgan’s father died in 1832,  he  purchased the interests of the other heirs and became sole proprietor of the property.    Mr. Butler lived on the farm until he was 85 years old, and was widely known for his progressiveness as a farmer, and his public spirit as a citizen.

In 1841 he married Marianne Howard of  Frankfort, New York.  She was the sister of General Rufus Howard.  They were married for 51 years.  There were no children.

As a farmer, he  was noted for his progressive spirit.  He owned the first mowing machine in Oneida County and , as  agent for the Howard & Ketcham firm, sold 1500 mowers.  He also sold hayracks, field loaders and barn forks. He grew corn for the canning factory and provided milk for the cheese factory and dairy.  At one time he raised a 4,200 pound ox which was the wonder of the neighborhood.   He took a deep interest in all that pertained to agriculture in Oneida and surrounding counties.  He was President of the Central New York Farmers Club and a member of the State Agricultural Society.

In politics he was an Independent and generally voted the Republican Ticket. He was a  prominent member of Stephen’s Episcopal church and, for a time,  an assessor of the town of New Hartford.

In 1889 he built for the village of  New Hartford, at the cost of $15,000,  a public hall which stands today  as a monument to his memory.  The building, when it was erected,  contained a large hall for general meetings,  offices for  the village and town trustees, a post office, reading room, library, and bowling alley.  Mr. Morgan’s sisters furnished the books for the library.

On August 3, 1892, after a succession of illnesses from the previous winter months, he died.  He had a long and useful life.  His leadership among the farmers of Central New York was widely noted.  He was an honorable, warm hearted man and worthy of recognition by the Oneida County Historical Society.

 This information was taken  from the book “Morgan Butler; Obituary Notices and Testimonials of Respect in Memory of Morgan Butler.  New Hartford, NY 1892”.  The New Hartford Historical Society, through Robert Dicker,  submitted Morgan Butler’s name to be considered for the OCHS Hall of Fame.

TO BE INDUCTED

Morgan Butler will be inducted into the Oneida County  Historical Society’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday, November 1, 2007.

OOPS!

How many of you caught the mistake in the September 2006 newsletter.   We ran a picture of the Sears Gas station that was located on Genesee Street with a caption that the man pictured in front of the station was John Margolis.  However, we have been told by reliable sources that the man is Bart Rasmus.  We stand corrected.

Pictured is the watchtower of the D L & W train station in Chadwicks, New York.   The man pictured is Henry  Heidel. The tower is no longer there but the station still stands and is used as a community building.  It is dedicated to James Donovan, former New York State senator who lived in Chadwicks almost across from the station

A LETTER TO RICHARD UPDIKE SHERMAN

The following is a letter  from Washington D.C. sent by his brother F.M. Sherman, when Richard was 20 years old..

Monday, December 23, 1839

Dear Richard,

I have been here now just long enough to get my ideas settled and have about got over the novelty of witnessing for the first time the Congress of the U.S.  In the looks of many things I am disappointed.  The House of Rep. has been since I have witnessed it a perfect bedlam.  Such is the noise and confusion that reigns there triumphant, that nothing scarcely can be heard of the business transactions that are going on.  I am perfectly astonished at the utter confusion that exist in the House.  There is, however, now a little prospect of better things.  The House is now nearly organized.  The clerk and doorkeepers and Speaker have all been elected and at this point the House is discussing the point of whether the public printing shall not be given out be contract.  A Chaplain is then to be elected and the House will be organized.  Tomorrow at 11 the message will be delivered to both houses

I see by some of the Whig papers that the Speaker of the House is claimed by the Whigs.  He is a SubTreasury man and but a few days before his election declared himself anti-Harrison.

I have met Mr. Clay several times and like him very much.  His manner is very agreeable, his conversation not less so.  Pity it is that he is not the Whig candidate.  The finest looking man I have seen is Thos. N. Benton of Missouri.  Mr. Calhoun I have not yet seen.  The Senate has merely met and adjourned from day to day so I have no opportunity to witness the Senators in deliberation .  Mr. Webster is expected in a few weeks.

Some time during the present week Mr. Crary, Senator Norrell and myself deign to call upon the President.    I have not time this afternoon to send you a decent letter but will do so soon.

In haste, 

Your brother, FMS

The President referred to is Martin Van Buren who served from 1837 to 1841. We were not  able to find out the name of this brother that wrote to Richard. 

Richard, in 1860, was appointed assistant clerk of the house of representatives, so he interested himself in politics all his life.  He was President of New Hartford for three terms.

He was the father of James Schoolcraft Sherman, Vice President of the United States during the Taft administration.

 

Books for Sale at the New Hartford Historical Society
Malio  Cardarelli   Jim Parker  
I’ll See You In Heaven:  Utica’s Mother Lavender 

$16.00

 Mist Fairies & Leprechauns of the Adirondacks $10.50
McConnell Field via East Utica  $12.95 Lou Langone  
Cornerstone of Pride – History of UFA $ 13.95 The Star in the Window  $20.50
Classical Music in Utica $ 17.50 J.A. Mowris  
John F. Hughes School   $  5.95 History  117th Regiment NY Volunteers $15.00
Early Utica Preserved in Oil & Water $15.00 Norman Ritchie  
Utica Portrait Artist Leon Cardarelli $13.95 4 Years in the 1st NY Light Artillery $15.00
Downtown Utica; Looking Forward to the Past $15.95 Norton Sheppard  
East Utica  $14.95 Out of the Wilderness  $ 5.00
 Allan Foote $ 6.95 Hill-Hughes  
The Defiant Dozen $ 6.95 Ice Harvesting in America  $ 7.00
Gateway to Freedom $ 6.95 Soc. of the  Cincinnati
In Search of My Grandfather  $ 9.95 Why America Is Free $15.00
 The Young Liberators  $14.95 Steuben –The Baron & the Town           Hard cover $25.00
Liberty March  $20.00 Steuben –The Baron & the Town         Paper back $16.00
Valley of Liberty $12.95 Flying to Marcy $24.95
 Barbara Couture   History  Papers  
Farmlands of New Hartford  $15.00 No Mans Land $ 1.00
Raymond Ball   Rambling Tales of a Rambling Town $ 3.00
Cast In Metal Historic Markers of O.C.  $15.00 Romantic History of Old New Hartford  $ 3.00
Nelli Perri   Scattered Leaves Along the Sauquoit  $ 3.00
A Renaissance Woman in the 20th Century $18.50 Churches of New Hartford $ 3.00
Robert Gurley   And the Band Played On –Citizen’s Band $ 3.00
Here Comes the Trolley  $ 7.00 1970 New Hartford Centennial booklet $ 5.00

HOW SOME NEW YORK STATE COUNTIES GOT THEIR NAME

Albany: In honor of  the Duke of  York and Albany, who later became James II of England.

Genesee: A Seneca Indian word meaning “good valley”

Rensselaer:  In honor of Killiaen Van Rensselaer, the original Dutch patron.

October 2006

Table of Contents

October Program
Open House On Saturday, October 28th
Welcome New Members
A Letter About Paving
Reminder Letter For Dues
Rip
A Letter Written By Chloe Higby
First Court In This Area Was Held In Barn Belonging To Judge Sanger.
Annual Dinner
Funny

Thursday, October 5, 2006

 Community Building—Washington Mills   7:00 PM

Program:  “Memoirs of World War II”  by Lou Longone

Our  speaker is Lou Langone  who has written the book “The Star In the Window”,  a unique collection of memoirs from World War II veterans who lived in Central New York.  He personally interviewed 100 men and women  who told their wartime stories from bombing missions over Europe to the “island-hopping” campaigns of the Pacific, or the suffering of prisoners of war. 

Mr. Langone is a graduate of Syracuse University with a Master of Arts degree in social studies.  He has been a high school history teacher for over 30 years.  He served in the Navy during the Korean War.  He was recalled into the Navy for almost five months during the Persian Gulf Conflict and retired from the Naval Reserve in January, 1991.  We invite you to come and hear his very interesting lecture.

OPEN HOUSE ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28TH

10:00 AM TO 2:00 PM

          Come and help us celebrate our thirtieth anniversary on Saturday, October 28th, 2006.  We will have a 70/30 raffle (winner gets 70%, we keep 30% to honor our anniversary). Tickets are $1.00 or six for $5.00.  There will be a drawing for a FREE New Hartford Coverlet at 2:00 PM.  Sign up and you do not have to be present to win.

            Also, win a Tony D’Apice one-of-a-kind outhouse by guessing the number of sunflower seeds in a jar.

            Refreshments of  pumpkin doughnuts as well as other flavors will be served with cider and punch.

            Visit  the Society Rooms during our Open House.    You will be surprised to see all the things we have on display.  And, of course, there is the Elliott R. Hughes Room with tools from the colonial period and early 19th century to look at, all labeled .  There will be an old fashion dress display, also, as well as milk bottles from New Hartford dairies to name a few more things to see.  We hope you will save the date and come and see us.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

“A Letter About Paving”

(The following are excerpts from a  letter sent to the taxpayers on May 10, 1929.  It was given to the Society by Mayor Don Ryan.)

To the Taxpayers interested on Sanger avenue, Hartford Terrace, Tisdale avenue and Sherman St.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

            We are pleased to announce that we signed last evening the contract for paving your streets with Mr. James H. Corbett, Jr., 306 S.A.& K. Building, Syracuse, N.Y. at prices, which, upon the Engineer’s estimate of the amount of work to be done, give a total of $45,089.45.  We received nine bids from firms competent to do this work, and Mr. Corbett was $2,911 below the next lowest bidder.  The highest bidder asked $67,633.20.  From the Corbett bid is to be deducted $1,726, because we have chosen vitrified instead of cement pipe on Hartford Terrace, so that his net figure is $43, 363.45.  The village of New Hartford usually gets more bids for its work than its neighbors, and we are confident this bid is a favorable one.  We congratulate you upon the substantial reduction it gives you from the original estimate of our Engineer.  His figure was intentionally high, to avoid disappointments.

            Mr. Corbett will begin work at once, and contracts to finish in sixty working days, weather permitting.  He wants to take the streets in this order:—Sanger avenue, Tisdale avenue, Sherman St., and Hartford Terrace, but under the terms of his contract will be given possession of them as he requires.  The work will probably be done as follows; house connections, storm water sewers and rough grading, including manholes, curbs, fine grading,  paving.  The contract permits us to offer you the following rates for house connections:  $1.25 per food for sewers, and for tapping water main, including the fee of the Consolidated Water Co., furnishing one curb box, one curb cock, one gooseneck, all materials, for use with copper pipe, including labor $14; for lead $12.50.  Copper pipe guaranteed for maximum pressure of 125 lbs. 40 cents per foot; same for installing and furnishing lead pipe, AA quality, 34 cents per foot.  These prices have been obtained by us from Hesse & Scharff, who agree to give prompt attention to services, when notified that the trench is open.

            We, the trustees of the village, to avoid breaking into hard pavements later on, have previously taken action that all house connections for gas, water an   sewer must be made before paving.  If the property owners do not attend to this in time, and that means at once, we shall order it done by the contractor, and connections by Hess & Scharff of Utica, and shall assess the cost to the lots benefited.

            The contractor promises that he will keep people from the use of their driveways and garages just as brief a period as possible.  He does not expect it will even be for more than thirty days, unless the weather should cancel all plans and limits.  He will be prepared to lay driveways for house or lot owners desiring it, and will quote prices upon application.  We must know within ten days where curbs are to be dipped for driveways.

REMINDER LETTER FOR DUES

This October we are sending out a letter to all members who have not renewed their membership.  We hope, if you receive the reminder, that you will take the time to send in your renewal.

Again, we need your support!

RIP, THE ST. BERNARD OWNED BY RALPH OWENS OF OXFORD ROAD, WAS THE TOWN PET IN 1946.

Town Guardians– Harold Shepardson, mounted, and Rip, on foot, keep things in order in New Hartford

Larry Gibbons, Dick Hamilton, John Baird and Rip spend much time together

 

PICTURES AND CAPTIONS FROM APRIL 14, 1946 EDITION OF THE UTICA OBSERVER DISPATCH

Rip wants—and gets—service at the ice cream bar.  Dorothy Roberts even holds the cone for him.

 

Nosing in for a bite to eat, Rip reports regularly to Mrs. W. H. Kirtland, 28 Oxford Road.

First adventure in friendship for Susan Williams, 20-month-old daughter of the Rev.  Roswell B. Williams, rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, and Mrs. Williams, results in a petting party.

A LETTER WRITTEN BY CHLOE HIGBY  -- JUNE 9,1840

The letter was sent to Mr. Chester Higby at Hopewell, Ontario, Canada.  Spellings and punctuations have been changed to make the letter more readable.  A note in pencil at the end of the letter says, “My great grand mother’s letter,  Name Chloe Higby— A.C. Divine”

 Dear children,

            I take pen in hand to let you know how we are.  Your father is not so strong as he was before he was hurt.  But he is so he can walk to the village and back.  The rest of our family are as well as can be.  Only myself was taken about the first of April with my lame limb swelling.  It got just below my knee and  the doctor thought it was the best to blister it.  And when the blister drew it seemed to go  all over the system.  I had quite a fever.  I got down weak and don’t get so as I can work much.  It has got into my back and I can’t lift so much as the teakettle without being in great pain.  If I sit about and do almost nothing, I am quite uncomfortable.  If I don’t get better than I am now your father and I shall hardly visit you this summer.

            Chloe has left home and gone to live with Nancy.  She says she will never come home any more to live on account of Joseph being so bad.  She has made complaint to the church against him.  Don’t know whether they are going to take it up or not.  Nancy is unwell.  She has the palpitations of the heart. 

            It has been hard times for the doctor for the factory hasn’t gone  from December to April.  He had enough if he could collect it.  He could not get enough to get his medicines with.  And since the factory has got to going there has been not much to begot for.  Mr. Wolcut found folks their victuals through the winter and now they have got to pay for it before they can pay any other debts.  Your father has had to sign with the doctor to borrow money or his things would have been sold to pay for medicine and other debts.  There never was such a time for money.  We can’t sell all our butter for money.  Today we could not sell it to the store.

            I thought I would never write again.  We have wrote since we had your letter dated February and I wrote a letter before.  And I thought I should never write again, but I want to hear from you so much and I want to see you all but I think it doubtful whether I do if you can’t come and see us.  My head is confused.  I can’t  think of  anything to say.

            We have preaching in our society half the time.  I must tell you about the neighbors.  Mrs. N. Richardson is quite unwell with the dropsy.  Her sister Almira died in March with it.  Corneta Starling died yesterday and Mr. Starling and his wife aren’t expected to live from one day to another.  Richard Will died in April.  Elizabeth Richardson was married in May to a gentleman from Ilion and they have gone their to live.

            If I could but see you I could tell more than I can write in two days.  I have scribbled more than you will find out.  Now I want you should write your own situation for I think of you a great deal.  If it was in my power to help you, it would be done.

            Give love to all yours and tell them to write to me.  Father and Orra send their love to you all.  Please give our love to brother Elisha and  family.

At the turn of the century this meat market, owned by John M. Law, was located on the corner of Oxford Road and Genesee Street, the spot that has been  occupied by Blimpy’s and ,earlier , a gas station.  Shown with Mr. Law, who is on the right, is.Frank Lonsdale.  The block was destroyed by fire early in 1900.  In 1899 J. M. Law lived at 2 Pearl St., New Hartford.

FIRST COURT IN THIS AREA WAS HELD IN BARN BELONGING TO JUDGE SANGER.

From Pomroy Jones’ “Annals of Oneida County”. Published in 1851.

            The first court record held within the present limits of the county was a term of the Herkimer Common Pleas and General Sessions at the “Meeting House in the town of Whitestown,” on the third Tuesday in January 1794.  Eight men were convicted of assault and battery, and fined from 16 shillings to three pounds each.

            Mr. Tracy in his lectures states that this term of the Herkimer Common Pleas was held in Judge Sanger’s barn. A half-burned record in the Herkimer County Clerk’s Office shows that the above statement, as to time, is correct; and as there was no meeting house at that time in the town of Whitestown other than the one in New Hartford (and that in quite an unfinished state).   This, with other evidence obtained, is conclusive that the term was held in the New Hartford meeting house.  The law authorizing the term to be held provided that the Herkimer County Courts should be held alternately in Herkimer and Whitestown.

            New Hartford was then in Whitestown, and as Judge Sanger was never “found napping” when any thing for the benefit of his village was at stake, he exerted himself successfully with Judge Staring and a majority of the bench,  and the court was appointed at New Hartford. This term, however, was the only one held in this village, for Whitesboro ever afterwards succeeded in getting it at that place.  An anecdote of this first court is thus told by Mr. Tracy.

            “A gentleman who attended the court as a spectator, informed me that the day was one of those cold January days frequent in our climate, and that in the afternoon and when it was nearly night, in order to comfort themselves and keep the blood circulating at a temperatures at which it would continue to circulate, some of the gentlemen of the bar had induced the Sheriff to procure, from a neighboring inn, a jug of spirits.  This, it must be remembered, was before the invention of temperance societies.  Upon the jug appearing in court, it was passed around the bar table and each of the learned counselors in his turn upraised the elegant vessel, and decanted into his mouth, by the simplest process imaginable, so much as he deemed a sufficient dose of the delicious fluid.  While the operation was going on, the dignitaries of the bench, who were no doubt suffering quite as much as their brethren of the bar, had a little consultation, when the first judge announced to the audience that the court saw no reason why they should continue to stay open any longer, and freeze to death, and desired the crier forthwith adjourn the court.

            Before, however, this functionary could commence with a single  ‘Hear ye,’ Colonel Colbrath jumped up, catching as he rose the jug from the lawyer who was complimenting its contents, and holding it up towards the bench, hastily ejaculated: “Oh, no, no, no, Judge—-do not adjourn yet; take a little gin, Judge;  that will keep you warm; ‘taint time to adjourn yet;” and suiting the action to the word, handed his Honor the jug.  It appeared there was force in the Sheriff’s advice, for the order to adjourn was revoked and the business went on.”

            Like terms of the court were doubtless held in the town of Whitesboro on the third Tuesday in January, 1795-6 and 7.

            The records of the Clerk’s Office of Herkimer County were destroyed in fire by 1804 and it is impossible now to learn particulars of other terms of the courts affecting the inhabitants of Whitestown.  From a scrap discovered in our Clerk’s Office, it seems that at a term of the General Sessions held at the church in Herkimer on the Third Tuesday in January, 1792, Hugh White, Jedediah Sanger, and Moses Foot, were fined one pound, 14 shillings each for non attendance as Justices; and John Alden, Lemuel Bradley, and Smith Miller, were fined one pound, four shillings each, for like default as petit jurors.

            It is also interesting to note the results of voting for governor held in the town of New Hartford since the year 1828 to 1850.  The victor in the state elections should be evident from history, and it is equally evident that area voters did not always support the winner

            The first census in which the actual population of New Hartford was shown was that of 1830, when the town’s population was 3,599.  By 1840, the town had grown to 3,819 and in 1850 it had 4,847 inhabitants.  By 1850 the county population had soared to 99,543.  In 1800, even with a much larger area, including some of Lewis and Jefferson counties, the population was only 22,837.

ANNUAL DINNER

82 people came to eat and enjoy the program  on September 7th at the United Methodist Church.  A delicious pork dinner was served by the ladies of the church.

Our speaker, John Taibi, gave a very interesting slide show and lecture on the third rail and the Utica trolley. 

The mum plants, donated by Carlton and Shelly Corey of the Mum Farm were decorative and were presented to the person at each table who had a birth date closest to July 7th, Morgan Butler’s birthday.

We thank those people who worked on the dinner arrangements and reservations.

FUNNY

September 2006

Table of Contents

September Program
Village of New Hartford General Ordinances
Welcome New Members
Report Of Principal
Additions to the Archives
WGAT Drive-In
Sears Gas Station, Genesee Street, NH
New Hartford Historical Society Dinner
A Few Truths

Thursday, September 7, 2007

 Dinner Meeting—First United Methodist Church  105 Genesee St, New Hartford

6:00 PM Social Hour—6:45 Roast Pork Dinner—Cost  $10.00 per person

Program-"New York’s Third Railroad and Utica Trolley"

John Taibi

John Taibi and his family purchased the railroad station in Munnsville, N.Y. and have made it their home.  He has written several books about railroads in New York State.  A native of Long Island, he acquired his interest in railroading from his father and his research on the subject began in 1963.  His books can be obtained from Mid York Library through the New Hartford Library.

This will be an excellent program for guests to hear.  It may inspire them to become interested in history and join our society.  Remember, reservations for the dinner must be in by  August 30th. A form is enclosed with this newsletter.

Also there will be an opportunity to pay your dues at the dinner.  Renewals were due July 1st.  After the October meeting anyone who has not renewed will no longer be considered a member, and  we don’t want that to happen.  Check your mailing label.  If it reads June 30, 2007 you are current

Village of New Hartford General Ordinances

July 19, 1938

Article III  Section 13  Animals and Vehicles in Streets

No person shall immoderately lead or drive any horse or other animal, whether attached to a public or private conveyance or other vehicle, in any avenue, street or lane in the Village, or lead or drive any horse or ride a bicycle or motorcycle on any sidewalk, or permit any horse and carriage or other vehicle designed to be horse-drawn or motor-propelled, to be on any sidewalk or stand on any crosswalk in the Village; or leave any horse or horses or other animals, except dogs and cats, in the street without being securely tied or attached, or fasten any horse or other animal to any tree, shrub or fixture of any kind in any street or public place within the Village limits or permit any such horse or animal to injure any tree, shrub or fixture.

There shall be a penalty of not to exceed $10.00 for each violation of the provisions of this section.

Section 15  Droppings in Streets

No person while transporting through any public street or avenue any manure, gravel, dirt, stones, garbage, ashes, refuse, and other substance shall permit the same or any portion thereof to escape from the load or bulk transported and to fall and remain upon the surface of any public street or avenue in the village of New Hartford.

There shall be a penalty of not to exceed $10.00 for each violation of the provisions of this section.

In case of the accidental dropping of any such substance upon any public street or avenue in the manner aforesaid, the offending party may relieve himself of the above penalty by immediately removing the substance so falling upon the public street or avenue, provided the same is done before such party has been arrested or summoned for violation of this section.

(Other sections in this pamphlet of ordinances cover Traffic Regulations, Public Health, Public Safety, Provisions Relating to Licenses For Certain Trades and Occupations, Provisions Relating to the Construction, Alteration, Repair, Removal and Inspection of Buildings, etc.  Interesting reading.  A copy is at the Society Rooms.)

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

From papers concerning the schools in early New Hartford that have recently been returned to the New Hartford Historical Society from the Oneida County Historical Society comes the following report

REPORT OF PRINCIPAL

New Hartford Union School

June,  1885

With regard to the amount accomplished and kind of work, the school is now in the best condition it has been since graded work was undertaken.  The same may be said of general discipline.  This is due not only to having the work thoroughly systematized, but to the faithful work of the assistants.

The outgoing 3rd grade is the grade which best shows the results of the system.  Many of the third grade, who have been in a special preparatory class, will pass to the 5th grade, having tried the same examinations as the 4th grade.  This extra work was undertaken because of a difference in ages, not only, but because the coming 5th grade would be small and the 4th grade large.  It is a part of grading.  There will be three promotions from the 4th to the 6th grade.

Nearly 11 pupils tried the Regents Examination in various subjects at the Advanced School, this time, in Utica.  The result as yet has not been ascertained but, whatever it is, it is safe to judge that, because of the newness of the test, place and teachers, it is not what it may be in future when the pupils become more familiar with the idea of preparing for and trying these examinations.

The advantage to be derived from passing regents examinations is not of present value to the school.  But when the conditions necessary to having the advantages of Regents examinations are complied with, the Board of Regents will distribute money from the literature fund of the state, according to the number of pupils who have passed