Table of Contents
Holiday Party
A Thankyou
New Hartford Schools—A Short
History
Community Christmas
Entertainment
The Castorland Adventure
Christmas Carol Quiz
Roy Seaman Remembers
Who Was Good King Wenceslas
Name Santa’s Reindeer; All Nine
Welcome New Member
Early 1900’s In New Hartford
ADULT DINING AND RECREATION CENTER 1 SHERMAN ST. New Hartford, NY
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 2 1:00 PM
Covered dish dinner at 1:00 PM followed by entertainment. Please bring a main dish or salad and your own dinner ware. Beverage and dessert will be provided. This is a good time to socialize and sing a few carols and just enjoy each other. Please try to attend and make this a special holiday gathering.
to all members who renewed their membership through to June 30, 2008. The Board of Directors voted to not hold public meetings in the months of January and February. Previously we have just skipped January but this year we will skip February as well. Therefore, you will be receiving only 8 newsletters this membership period. Look for your next newsletter around the middle of February.
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ACT NOW LIMITED NUMBER OF COPIES AVAILABLE |
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Just in time for holiday giving, New Hartford Schools—A Short History, an 115 page book, written by Burke Galer, retired music teacher of New Hartford Schools. Pictures of the district schools that once dotted the rural areas of New Hartford and of our present schools; thumbnail sketches and pictures of former superintendents; reprints of newspaper articles written during times of change when new buildings were being erected; lists of current faculty members; pictures of maintenance staff; just a partial list of what this book contains. It was written with the help of Regina, his wife, Dr. Robert Bradley, the New Hartford and Oneida County Historical Societies, and Janice Trimbey Reilly who typed the text and prepared it for printing. The book sells for $15.00 and a limited first printing is available—25 copies at the Society rooms and 25 at the New Hartford Foundation. If you attended New Hartford, or if your children did, this book will provide you with very interesting facts and pictures of the history of your school system. The Society is open Mondays 1pm to 3pm and Saturdays 10am to 2pm. Our telephone number is 724-7258. |
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Ed. Note: Are any names familiar to you? This must have been a festive occasion in Dec. 1915
The following is taken from a May, 1983 New Hartford Historical Society Newsletter.
THE CASTORLAND ADVENTURE
Written by Ken Fuller
Continued from the November 2007 issue of “Tally-Ho!”
On July 5 the parties involved, including Judge Ostrom, Jedediah Sanger, Desjardins, Constable Trull and a couple of others set out from Whitestown, or possibly New Hartford village, to take the prisoner to the grand jury in German Flatts. They stopped at Bagg’s Tavern in Utica for their noonday dinner where they caused quite a stir.
“The thief was as well served as the rest, and without any distinction, was placed without ceremony, at the same table as the judge and myself, and entered into conversation, so that the curious people, who are not rare in this country and whom rumor of our affair had drawn together at the tavern, asked which one was the thief!”
During the afternoon and evening the party proceeded on horseback to German Flatts where the prisoner was jailed.
On July 7th the matter was presented to the grand jury who indicted Crocker. Thomas R. Gold, prominent lawyer and later legislator of Whitestown, was the prosecutor and Judge Robert Yates was the Chief Justice before whom the accused was arraigned. Since the term of court was about to adjourn, there was not time for the prosecution to get its witnesses together for an immediate trial, so the case was put over the term and the prisoner released on bail.
The French Company’s officers in Paris, in 1796 had appointed a new head for the operation in America to displace Desjardins who wound up his affairs here in the remaining months of 1796 and in early 1797. There is no further mention of the Crocker affair in the Journal. I have tried to find court records of the trial, if it did, in fact, ever take place, but unfortunately the Whitestown clerk’s records were destroyed by fire in the 1880’s and the records in Herkimer County were burned in 1804. So far I have been unable to find any docket for the Court held in German Flatts (presumably at Herkimer) in July 1796 or the years immediately following. Can any of the friends or relatives of Elijah Crocket tell me what happened to their infamous predecessor?
Dissatisfaction had brewed among the shareholders of the French Company in Paris in 1796. They sent M. Rodolphe Tillier to take over the Castorland operation. He was elderly, pompous and possibly a rascal. He and Desjardins disagreed on almost all points. On October 2,1796 Desjardins wrote in the journal;
“Our newly arrived from France have found the real very different from the ideal that they had formed. They had looked upon Castorland as a Normandy, or a suburb of Paris, where they had nothing to do but to come and live:—they did not suppose when they came here, that in order to eat bread, they must get flour, etc,. etc.”
Desjardins had worked against almost insuperable odds. He had had the good sense to realize that to develop the potential of this beautiful country would require hard work, time and some skillful diplomacy. The new Commissioner did not posses this good sense. Upon departing for the winter Desjardins wrote on November 2, 1796:
“I left Castorland with the presentiment that I should never return, and that I had encountered all the pains and perils on my part, only that a newcomer should enjoy, or rather squander the little that I had done with our slender means. It was a little hard for me to quit, at the moment when the survey was finished, and the condition of the company would furnish the means sufficient to realize the plans I had formed, and to contribute to the prosperity of the county, of which I hoped one day to be called the founder. But the projects of this world are frail as an infant's life…”
Sadly Desjardins left Castorland for good and the Company soon went bankrupt.
The end
See if you recognize these altered Christmas Carol titles
1. Noel void of color
2. Ivory spherical dude
3. Divine hours between dusk and dawn
4. A question asked to make sure your ears are healthy
The following excerpts are from an oral history tape made by Roy Seaman in 1976.
Back in the early 1900’s when I was a kid, all the streets were dirt roads. No pavements. Oxford Road had a cinder path between the sidewalk and the road for bicycle riders.
My Dad bought this house (Note: on Park Street) in 1907. When he bought the bakery, we lived in an apartment upstairs. The lower end of the Oneida National Bank was the bakery. (Note: where the bank referred to stood is now the park next to Blimpie’s). The upper end was Manual Ackler's store. There used to be a bench in back of the store and we used to sit over there. This truck used to come with kerosene in those days. Kerosene was a big item then. You had kerosene lamps, kerosene stoves and so on. I got a job there one summer working in Ackler’s store filling the kerosene cans. You’d have one gallon, two gallons, and five gallons. And, boy, you wouldn't get over a quart every time you pumped it. Ackler used to sell groceries, patent medicine, and in a back room he had shoes and boots.
Right on the corner of Campion Road (Note: Where Byrne Dairy is now) was the Humphrey Williams Hotel. I used to peddle papers when I was a kid and I used to have to take the paper into the kitchen. Mrs. Humphrey would say, “come on boy, sit right down there” and there was a free lunch on the bar. Cheese and crackers and things like that. Mrs. Humphrey used to do all the cooking. She’d say “Come on boy. It’s cold out. You sit right here”. And I used to sit down and have a bowl of soup. Then I’d come home and I wouldn't be hungry and my mother would think I was sick.
There was another hotel over where the Chicago Market is (Note: now Bank of America, next to Butler Hall) that was run by a lady named Lib Sedgewick. We were told not to go near the place. My father was a teetotaler. My mother got so she wasn’t feeling so good and the doctor ordered Old Stock ale. That was a great cure in those days for something, I don’t know what.. Anyways, that was the hardest job my father ever did. He waited until it got dark and then he’d go over there and go in the back door and get a pail of beer and then come home with it. He never got caught, and he never took a drink in his life.
When I first started school I went to the Point school. My mother got permission to put me in school when I was five years old to get me off the streets. I always had nose trouble; I had to see how everything was done. And I had to spend two years in the first grade because you had to be six years old to pass into the second grade.
When the trolley came to New Hartford they had two sets of tracks, one to go up and one to go back on. Then they had a yellow brick pavement on Genesee Street. Around 1907 or 1908 I saw them lay that pavement and it was pretty. They put concrete down first, and then they put sand on top of the concrete. They they’d lay the bricks, and then they put a very thin cement that would roll over it and go down into the cracks. It was a very attractive road.
New Hartford went as far as Prospect Street in Utica in those days. That was what was known as No Man’s Land and the city of Utica took it over in the early 1920’s.
In the winter Harry Benton used to plow the sidewalks. You didn’t bother with the roads because you didn't have automobiles and the horses and sleights would go through.
Charlie Niece lived up on Tibbitts Road. He was quite a guy with fancy horses. He had a big bearskin coat with a fur hat, and he had a whole strap of these bells that went around the horse’s belly. When he’d come up Oxford Road it was quite a sight. You could hear the bells way up by the Methodist church (Note: the old church that was on Oxford Road near the funeral parlor) and we kids would stand there in awe looking at that fancy horse doing fancy stepping.
Here in the corner of Park Street and Pearl we had a row of church sheds and the farmers would come in and put their horses in those rows while they went to church. C.O. Jones, who had the paper box factory (Note: where the fire station is today) had the first automobile in New Hartford. It was a one-cylinder Cadillac and he used to keep it over in the church sheds during the week. We used to see Charlie coming and he’d be in there a half hour cranking it on the side and there was no fancy cab, it wasn’t enclosed —-just two seats where he’d sit and there was a seat in the back of it. He’d spend half an hour getting the thing started, and then he’d back it out onto Pearl Street and he’d go over to Genesee Street, and he’d go up Genesee Street which was a dirt road in those days, and he’d get up to about where the entrance to the Shopping Center is now, and the damn thing would quit on him. He’d crank it, and finally we’d see him coming to get about ten of us kids to go up and help him push it back and push it into the church shed and he’d be out brushing his hands and he’s say, “Well, boys, the next time I have the car out, you’ll get a ride” We still have rides coming. (Laugh) He was quite a character. He was President of the Village for a good many years.
Although there were many Wecenslasses, the one who seems to have been honored in the tradition Christmas carol is probably the German king who ruled Bohemia from 1361 to 1419. He was martyred and canonized for his efforts to resolve the Great Schism in the Christian church.
NAME SANTA’S REINDEER; ALL NINE
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder/Donner, Blitzen. And Rudolph. (Clement Moore’s poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas” which opens with “Twas the night before Christmas,” called the beast Donder. The song “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” calls him Donner.)
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John Shaw—New Hartford
EARLY 1900’S IN NEW HARTFORD
1. White Christmas
2. Frosty, the Snowman
3. 3. O Holy Night
4. 4. Do You Hear What I Hear?
5. Away In a Manger
Table of Contents
November Meeting
Robert Eastham Letter
Articles From The May “Town
Crier"
November Display In Library
The Castorland Adventure
Jedediah
Sanger’s New Grave Stone
Building In Washington Mills
Al Smith
7:00 PM
Meeting to be held at Clinton Historical Society
One Fountain Street, Clinton,. NY
Speaker—Edward P. Fynmore
On Thursday night, November 8, 2007 at 7:00 PM the Clinton Historical Society will host this meeting at the Clinton Historical Society at One Fountain Street, Clinton. The topic for the evening is the Black River Canal Museum. Edward P. Fynmore will talk about his book, “Black River Canal”. that he wrote with Harney J. Corwin. The Black River Canal linked the Erie Canal in Rome with the Black River at Lyons Falls. Come and meet with our Clinton friends.
Your response to the Robert Eastham letter that was in the September “Tally-Ho!” was so positive that we thought you would like another one. This was written Jan. 16, 1848 to Elizabeth Eastham from her brothers and sister in England. It was not an easy time in England. The original spelling is used in the letter.
Dear Sister and Brother,
I am glad to informe you I received your letter on the 8 of Jan and was glad to here that you landed safe and I am glad to inform you that we are all well at present but we are sorry to informe you that Mr. Taylors and Dawson factory stopt work 4 weeks after you left Preston and they only began work this week after having stopt 8 weeks and they have made another reduction of 15 percent all over Preston and if there is no better Markets they will all stop work again before long There has only been 3 Mills running in all Preston this last 2 months Dear sister if you had been in Preston we do not know what you wold have done for potatoes and provisions is getting up same as they did last year potatoes is 16 and 17 pence per score at present and is still rising in prise same as last year and no work at all for more then one half the people in Preston Dear sister I hope you will write a letter back and send us all particulars about how you like the country and how much a steam loom weaver can get in America and how many hours you work per day and if the work is anything like it is in Preston and if you get paid in money or in meat and if you think there is a better living to be got in American then England your brother James has alterd his mind since you left Preston and wold like to come very well as things is so very bad here if he was as safe landed as you is wife and family is all very well at present also your brother John wishes he was were all that beefe was to cut up for he has a family that could eat it very well only Ann is very porly at present your brother Thomas is more willing than ever and if you can send him money to come with he will come any time as soon as you can make it convenent for him to come and his intended wife and family for he is tired of England he is weaving the same sort as you did at 14 pence per cut and he will recompence you back as soon as he posable can after he comes he is making preparations for coming as soon as he get the money you must send him word if work is good to get and how much he could get if he was there at work you must send us word how provision is in American if they are any thing like they are here
So no more at present from your brothers and sisters.
Robert Eastham had to sign papers to become a citizen of the United States. Mary Anne Buteux found these papers at the County Courthouse in Utica.
State of New York, Oneida County
I, Robert Eastham do swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States of American, and that I do absolutely and entirely Renounce and Abjure forever, all Allegiance and Fidelity to every Foreign Power, Prince, Potentate, State or Sovereignty whatever; and particularly to the country of Great Britain whose subject I was; And further, that I have never borne any hereditary title, or been of any of the degrees of Nobility of the Kingdom of Great Britain and I have not been out of the United States for five years last past.
Sworn in open Court, this 21st day of March 1885. Robert Eastham
ARTICLES FROM THE MAY “TOWN CRIER
published by Ed Juergensen, Jr. and Ted Gurley in 1939.
From the May 26, 1939 issue
In 1862, John Butterfield and other businessmen of Utica organized a railroad company. It was known as the Utica, Clinton and Binghamton Railroad, the object being to construct a horse or steam road to connect Clinton with New Hartford, and Utica with Whitesboro.
By 1863, rails were in place and horse car transportation was begun between Utica, New Hartford and Clinton.
An unsuccessful attempt was made to construct a railway company that was to extend the entire length of Oxford Road. It was called the “New Hartford and Washington Mills Street Railway.” Horse cars were to be used. This did not materialize
New Hartford, like every other town during its early settlement, was the scene of various crimes, principal among which was horse stealing. This was after the Erie Canal was completed, and better facilities were offered thieves and vagabonds to do their unlawful pillaging. In 1830 the inhabitants of New Hartford became aroused to the need of prompt action to protect their property and the following notice appeared in the papers.
“All persons are desired to take notice that a society has been duly organized in New Hartford for the purpose of detecting horse thieves. The treasury of the society is supplied with ample funds, and young and active men have been appointed pursuers, who are ready to start, on any emergency, to recover the stolen property and bring these thieves to the bar of justice.
Dated New Hartford, June 8, 1830.
From a March 17, 1939 issue
PHEASANTS WILL NOT STARVE
A large number of pheasants are seen daily in the vicinity of the Partlow Corporation on Campion Road eating a hearty breakfast of corn. The birds are fed by the Partlow Company employees. As many as thirty-five of these beautiful birds have been observed at one feast.
From a April 28, 1939 issue
PRAISE DUE
A word of praise is extended to Mr. Charles Hunziker, janitor of New Hartford High School, for the fine work he has done in keeping the school property in such good condition. One can not help but notice how well-kept the school lawn is.
April 5, 1939 issue
SCHOOL PUBLICATION TO BE SOLD THURSDAY
The Yearbook of the Senior Class of New Hartford will be sold Thursday at the high school. The name of it is the “Jedediac”, derived from the personage, Jedediah Sanger, founder of this town.
If you desire a copy of the book, phone the school and have one reserved for you. The price is $.75.
(ed. note. How prices have changed!)
The month of November the New Hartford Public Library will feature a display from the New Hartford Historical Society created by Linda Brennan. It will consist of turn of the century clothing worn by boys and girls and teachers and pictures of the early schools in New Hartford. The display cases are in the corridor as you enter the building.
The following is taken from a May, 1983 New Hartford Historical Society Newsletter.
THE CASTORLAND ADVENTURE
If you would like to read a thrilling adventure story and at the same time learn something about the life and times of settlers and travelers in the wilderness and in the frontier establishments of Upstate New York in the 1790’s, you should peruse the pages of the Castorland Journal, a copy of which, translated into English, has been acquired recently by the Oneida Historical Society at Utica. This remarkable journal was kept by Simon Desjardins, the leader of an expedition of Frenchmen who made an ill-fated attempt to establish a colony in the neighborhood of Lyons Falls and Carthage in the years 1793 to 1797. The idea for such a colony in which to settle refugees from the French Revolution had originated with William Constable, a land speculator of New York, who obtained the support of James LeRay de Chaumont, a wealthy Frenchman who had become an American citizen. A company was formed in Paris which bought 225,000 acres of land in northern New York. The promoters, by means of an elaborate prospectus containing fanciful descriptions of the land and of the certain acquisition of wealth by investors, were able to sell enough shares to finance a preliminary expedition and survey party. The journal tells the story, day by day, of the party’s trip to American and into the wilderness and of four years of their struggle to make the dream come true.
The original party, some with their wives and children, landed in New York City, proceeded up the Hudson by sailing vessel, and thence up the Mohawk River by bateau to Fort Schuyler (Utica) and Rome. In the fall of 1793 a small contingent reached the western end of their tract by way of Lake Ontario, but the work of the survey was not begun until 1794 when they obtained wagons and horses at Fort Schuyler and some supplies from New Hartford with which they pushed into the wilderness and began to set up their establishment at the “High Falls” (Lyons Falls).
During the following years Fort Schuyler was their usual taking-off place from the valley. They bought many of their supplies, wagons, horses and oxen at Fort Schuyler and in New Hartford from such merchants as John Post of Fort Schuyler and Benjamin Merrill of New Hartford. Disasters in the field, and lack of any significant number of successful settlers coupled with changes in leadership and failure of land titles brought about the eventual collapse of the venture in the early 1800’s.
The company’s prospectus, after describing the probability of cities soon to be built on the fine navigable river (Black River), and the immediate construction of good roads, tells of the riches to be obtained by the production of potash, lumber, ginseng, grain and maple sugar:
Among the comments on American life, the journalist notes regarding their trip up the Hudson River on the sloop General Schuyler:
“During the night we had occasion to observe the American way of making love. The Bennington merchant courted the New York lady all night, and went out five or six times to get her little glasses of Madeira wine. Her married sister was present at all of this, and laughed heartily at everything, but it greatly offended our French ladies, and prevented them from sleeping. In the morning these tender lovers reclined alternately on each other’s breast , and combed each other's hair, which nothing could be more amusing to them, but it was extremely shocking to French delicacy. But every country hath its customs, and we advised our ladies not to appear surprised at anything.”
Describing some of the overnight accommodations, Desjardins says:
“to escape the expense of hospitality every good American puts a tavern sign at his door, if located on the public road;-and in these inns we sometimes can find neither bread, nor meat, nor bed."
Speaking of John Post’s establishment at Utica:
“Mr. Post keeps the dirtiest tavern in the State of New York, which is not saying a little. Following the custom they only change the linen on Sundays, to the misfortune of those who arrive on Saturday, and I therefore resolved to sleep on the couch they gave me with my clothes on.”
Besides the unspeakable rutted and muddy roads, the labor of clearing the land and building cabins, and the difficulty of getting adequate food supplies, the mosquitoes drove them nearly to distraction:
Baron Steuben’s tract and his cabin were located on the way from Fort Schuyler to the “High Falls” where the expedition had its headquarters. The Baron was fluent in French and befriended the adventures.
“He received us with all his German hospitality, and made us sensible of all the pleasure of finding ourselves in company with an old warrior, both intelligent and amiable, and in conversation alike pleasing and instructive.”
Steuben permitted them to build a storage shelter on his land which became a sort of advance base for their operations for the next two years. When Pierre Pharoux a professional architect in the French party, became ill, Steuben took him in for a number of days to recuperate. In appreciation Pharoux drew up a plan for an elaborate estate for the Baron, including a splendid mansion, with extensive gardens and water works. The original plan now rests in the archives of the Oneida Historical Society.
One of the exciting incidents that connects the project with New Hartford occurred in the summer of 1796. During the evening of June 28th, while the leaders and workmen were at supper, a thief broke into the company’s office at the High Falls and stole a small trunk containing several hundred dollars in silver and bank bills, two fine watches, some jewelry, documents and surveying instruments. After two or three days of tracking and chasing through the woods, one of Desjardin’s men came across Benjamin Merrill of New Hartford who had seen an advertisement that Desjardins had put in the Western Sentinel, a paper published in Whitestown. The ad sought help in catching the thief. This made Merrill suspicious of a man named Elijah Crocker who had been a worker for Desjardins and had left or been fired a short time before. Crocker was indebted to Merrill for a substantial sum for which he was delinquent in payment. Merrill's suspicions were fortified when Crocker had come to him and to Jedediah Sanger to get change for some large bank bills. Merrill decided to have Crocker arrested for failure to pay the debt. He was apprehended and held at the Hill Tavern located about five miles from Fort Schuyler. Desjardins went there and confronted Crocker who denied the theft. On July 4th Desjardins made a complaint to Justice of the Peace David Ostrom of New Hartford (Ostrom was a Revolutionary soldier, who later became a county Judge of Oneida County and a member of the State Assembly). A warrant was issued and Crocker was arrested on the theft charge. A search of his dwelling brought to light $40 hidden in his bed. Justice Ostrom held a preliminary hearing and witnesses Desjardins, Merrill, Jedediah Sanger and others testified. The clinching piece of evidence was a file handle produced by Desjardins which he had found at the place where the thief had broken open the stolen trunk. This was identified by a witness named Root as belonging to Crocker and by another witness who had lived in the same house with Crocker.
Since the crime was a felony, the trial had to come before a higher court. The Justice decided to hold the prisoner and then transfer the case to the Supreme Court which was then in session at German Flatts. Mr. Merrill agreed to advance the constable’s expenses to transfer the prisoner to German Flatts.
(to be continued next month)
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Jedediah Sanger’s new grave stone marker is unveiled by Bob Dicker on Saturday, October 13, 2007 at Forest Hills Cemetery,Utica. About 20 people witness the unveiling. Representatives from the village, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Rotary and the Landmark Society were present. The stone was blessed with a prayer by Rev. Joell Szachara, Priest-in-Charge at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Jedediah Sanger’s parish church. |
Two views of the same building in Washington Mills on Oneida Street across from Mallory Road. The top picture was taken in 1884 when it was a Variety Store run by Lewis Davies. Below is a view of the building after it was remodeled. in the early 1900’s. It was then run by James T. Davies. Later still A.S. Champ had a variety store there from 1921 to 1943 and the Washington Mills Post Office operated in a corner of the store. Stanley Champ’s wife, Blanche, was the postmistress. During the 50’s and 60’s it was a grocery store, the Suburban Market., run by the Mitchell brothers. A fire forced the closing of that store. Since then many small business operations have come and gone. Today Synergy Communications Systems uses the building. The building is owned by John Bentley who operates an auto body shop in the rear.
The upstairs had a large room used as a dancing hall. It was the site of many festive occasions.
They tell a story about the late Al Smith when he was Governor of New York and making his first visit to Sing Sing Prison. After touring the place he was ushered into the auditorium to address the inmates.
“My fellow citizens ,” he began, then remembered that prisoners in state prison are no longer citizens.
“My fellow convicts, “ he began again, but felt that was not quite right. Finally, in desperation, he said,
“Well ,anyhow, I’m glad to see so many of you here.”
Table of Contents
October Meeting
The Endurance Test
Welcome New Member
Our Condolences
Jedediah Sanger’s Grave Site
New Hartford’s Official Seal
Historic Cemetery On Oxford
Road
Washington Mills
We Need Your Membership
A Few More Quickies
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2007 7:00 PM
Community Building (Train Station),
Kellogg Road, Washington Mills, NY
Program—Evelyn Edwards “ Around Utica”
Postcards of Allen J. Manning, Utica photographer
Evelyn, one of our members, is no stranger when it comes to programs. She has done many for us over the years and each one has been interesting and educational in regards to the history of this area. So, remember the date and come to the meeting. We need more participation in our Historical Society if we want to keep it growing and thriving.
The following was brought to our attention by Steve Grant. Steve loves old cars and he reads many automobile magazines, old and new. In an October, 1901 edition of “The Automobile Magazine” he came across this article. This Endurance Test ran through New Hartford. Each driver received a map of the route and driving instructions. Locations of where water was obtainable was high lighted because the cars overheated and their radiators boiled over quite often.)
THE ENDURANCE TEST
The 500-mile automobile endurance test held by the Automobile Club of America and scheduled to be from New York to Buffalo, was commenced Monday, September 9, at New York and finished Friday, September 13, at Rochester, the total distance traveled being 394 miles. The original plan was altered on account of the death of President William McKInley, Friday evening, September 13. The committee decided to end the run then. As a result of the President’s death the club also abandoned the week of automobile events which was to have been held at Buffalo, beginning Monday, September 16, and which included the much looked forward to road race between Erie and Buffalo.
(There follows the description of the Endurance Test for Thursday Morning, September 12.)
In leaving Herkimer go down Main Street, cross New York Central Railroad and follow street railway through Mohawk and Ilion to Frankfort. There is water on left of lumber yard. Rough road until a mile beyond Frankfort, then a fine road for a mile, then sandy and rough to Utica.
Turn to right, go under a railroad bridge, and in half mile cross or ford a brook.
Turn to the left where the cinder path crosses the road, and go toward the Masonic Home (which is on the outskirts of Utica.)
8 MPH THROUGH UTICA
Crossing bridge over canal and two railroad tracks, bear to the left just a little, and sharp to the right through the Masonic Home grounds. Keep to the left after passing the house, and go down a hill, and up another in the grounds to the asphalt, on which continue for two mile,
Turn to left into Genesee Street, and go toward New Hartford which is four miles away; water on both sides of the road in front of hotels. Take road to the right after passing hotels.
Cross railroad track in about a mile and take road to right at next fork for Kirkland, which is four miles away, passing a cemetery on the left. At the next fork take road to the right, and just beyond is a water trough on the right. Good road from here for about a mile, then fair to poor to Lairdsville, then improves; the road is rolling but in good repair.
Five miles from Lairdsville is Vernon, and just beyond is water trough on the right. Again in about a mile water on left in a farm yard.
Go under railroad bridge near the silk mills of Oneida Community and turn sharp to right following West Shore R.R.; then go under West Shore railroad bridge again and keep to left again for Oneida, three miles.
8 MPH THROUGH ONEIDA
After crossing railroad track at Oneida Castle take first street at right, which is Main Street, and continue as far as Madison Street. Turn to right into this street, and Madison House is half-block on the right, where time for noon control will be taken. Record sheets must be filled in here. Lunch at Madison House.
A COURSE DESCRIPTION
(Another small article Steve contributed is from the book “Motoring In America—The Early Years” by Frank Oppel. This book covers almost every aspect of pioneer automobiling, from benefits of horseless carriage ownership to the speed and endurance competitions of the early 1900’s. This particular article is from one of the driver’s who decided to start the run a day earlier so he “would not have to deal with the crowds that gather along the roadside’s to view these events”.)
Leaving Schenectady at 9:45 AM, Tuesday, September 10, we ran through without a single stop to Little Falls, 56.7 miles, through deep sand all the way, little traveled, in fact, an apparently abandoned road, arriving at 1:30 PM. Left Little Falls at 2:00 PM, after seeing town but making no stops, reaching Herkimer 2.45 PM for lunch. Here we put in 6 gallons gasoline, the amount used on the run of 97 miles from Albany, a very good showing considering that the roads all the way were hardly passable and the engine at all times working at its maximum, and for long stretches through deep sand on the hill gear.
We left Utica at 5 PM, and reached Oneida, 23.4 miles, at 6:30 PM, over uniformly wretched sandy or rutty roads. Left Oneida Wednesday the 11th at 8:45, and shortly after one of the rear wheels picked up a large nail, the first puncture since using the machine.
Soon after leaving Oneida, a horse gave us battle with his fore feet , as follows: The road was narrow, and a farmer driving a pair of heavy horses to wagon ahead of us paid no attention to the horn. Farmers do not regard the horn, as they hear horns often, while town people have become so used to the trolley gongs that they often pay no attention to the bell. We crowded up to the farmer on the right-hand side and when he saw us he pulled his team out to let us pass. As we went slowly by, the horse nearest us struck out with his fore feet, the first blow striking a front wheel tire and doing no harm. The second hoof-stroke, however, tore away the front wheel mud guard. This is the first time I ever knew a horse to fight an automobile.
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John Shaw—New Hartford
To the family of Leah Gadlow from Chestnut Hills, Mass. Leah died in August, She had been a member since 2004.
And to the family of Sherman Mears who passed away August 20, 2007 at the age of 99.He was a charter member of the Society, joining it in April, 1976
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This is Jedediah Sanger’s gravestone as it looks today in Forest Hill Cemetery. The inscription is barely legible. Through the efforts of Bob Dicker, the New Hartford Historical Society, the village and town of New Hartford, the New Hartford Rotary and the American Legion Post 1376 there will be a stone placed in front of this memorial on which the inscription will be preserved so that future generations will be able to visit the grave site and read the tribute to our founder.
On Saturday, October 13, 2007 at 1:00 PM there will be a ceremony at this grave site when the new stone is in place. The site is on lot 22 on the Spencer Eames grave site. Sarah Eames was Jedediah’s daughter. She had his remains moved first from the old burial ground on Oxford Road to a family lot on the Eames property and later still to Forest Hill Cemetery.
You are welcomed to attend this ceremony.
At the Fun Fest on September 8th we had a booth with pictures of various places in New Hartford and a table with some of our books for sale. There was interest in our display and many people took our brochure, (potential new members?) We hope so.
One of the items for sale was a copy of the New Hartford Seal. A young man who purchased one asked about its origin. We did not have the information with us, but have since found it and pass it on to all of you who may be interested,
In July, 1976 an article in the Observer Dispatch stated the following: “The emblem was adopted at a special ceremony in Butler Hall, attended by Brewerton Clarke of Clinton, the artist who designed the emblem; the Village Board, and members of the New Hartford Historical Society.
Mayor John Kazanjian said the emblem was selected to serve as an element of local pride during the village’s Bicentennial celebrations and firemen’s convention next month. It will also appear on village vehicles and village stationary.”
The emblem was drawn by Clarke and researched by Clarke’s friends at no cost to the village. Clarke said it was his Bicentennial gift to the village.
HISTORIC CEMETERY ON OXFORD ROAD
This interesting letter sent to Ralph Humphreys, the New Hartford Town Supervisor from Thomas Christ, Utica College Anthropology Professor, came to light regarding disinterring the remains in the cemetery on Oxford Road.
“In 1968 while visiting with Elwood T. Day, a Utica undertaker at his funeral home at 1108 State Street he told me that years before he had bid on and won a contract offered by New York State to disinter the remains in an historic cemetery on Oxford Road where New Hartford Central School was being built. He said he had to obtain an individual permit from the NYS Health Dept. for each disinterment and showed me a four drawer filing cabinet in his office that contained a file for each grave. If I recall correctly he said there were about 150 persons buried there. He said the contract required him to purchase an indemnity bond from an insurance company to protect the state against any claims that could ever result from the bodies being removed. He was required to match the records available from the historic cemetery as he opened each grave and keep a record for each disinterment which gave information as to any artifacts that were found and a description of the skeleton. He had small wooden boxes constructed that were the length of the longest bone in the body and as each skeleton was removed it was cleaned and all the bones placed in the box which was then covered and labeled. These boxes were temporarily stored in the vault at Forest Hill Cemetery until the completion date of the project. If I understood him correctly he said that after all the skeletons were removed a concrete room/vault was poured underground on Oxford Road in front of the school and he brought all the small boxes containing the skeletons back and they were placed inside this vault and concrete poured on top to seal them inside and a monument placed above them.
One interesting disinterment he spoke of was of a women who was buried in that cemetery in a cast iron sarcophagus. The top was glass and it had been sealed with tar. When they removed the dirt from over the glass, her body was completely undisturbed, having been in an airtight seal inside from the day she was buried. He had a grave dug in Forest Hill Cemetery and brought a crane to Oxford Road to have the iron box removed and transported for reburial there. When they were digging the dirt from around the sides with pneumatic shovels so they could attach chains to the bottom of the container, they accidentally hit a corner and cracked the sealed glass cover. The minute air went inside, the body completely turned to dust in front of their eyes. They continued to attach the chains and pull the extremely heavy iron box from the grave and transported it to Forest Hill Cemetery for burial.
For some of the graves it was required that members of the Daughters of the American Revolution be on sight when the grave was opened and the skeleton was removed, in particular a drummer boy from the American Revolution.
He said that metal buttons from his uniform were found in the grave.
Elwood and his brother Harold who owned the funeral home with him are both deceased.
The following is from “History of Oneida County, NY” 1876
The village of Washington Mills is situated on Sauquoit Creek about two miles above New Hartford. Frederick Hollister was a business man of Utica, who had been associated in the drug trade there in what was known as “the checkered store.” Isaac Mason had established a mill on the site of Washington Mills, which Mr. Hollister purchased in 1849. This was burned and rebuilt by him, and was also painted in colors, giving the local name of “Checkerville” to the place. The second mill, which was of stone, was also burned, with little insurance, and the loss was heavy. But Mr. Hollister had unbounded energy and the firm of Hollister & Stanton built again a large frame mill, to which was given the name “Washington Mill.” This ultimately became the property of A. T. Stewart of New York and is still owned by his estate; it is idle. The post-office was established here between 1840 and 1850, and Adna Ingham was one of the earlier postmasters holding the office fifteen years.
A Fork and Hoe factory was established here in 1865 by Babcock, Brown & Co.; the firm was afterwards Huntley & Babcock. The product for some years reached $100,000 annually. The property is now owned by the Utica Tool Co., in which C. H. Philo and Ladd J. Lewis are prominent, and a successful business is carried on.
Your membership in the New Hartford Historical Society ran lst year from July 1, 2006 to June 30 , 2007. It is past time to renew your dues. If your mailing label on this issue of the “Tally-Ho!” reads June 30, 2007 you need to send us your renewal. In October we will be sending a reminder to everyone who has not renewed. As of this date there are 109 members in arrears. If we do not have your renewal by October 31, 2007 we will reluctantly remove your name from our mailing list. That means that this may be your last “Tally-Ho!”
If you enjoy reading about New Hartford History, the camaraderie of the monthly meeting and the dinner, the feeling that you are helping New Hartford preserve its history, then you will want to renew your membership. Why not do it right now while you are reading this notice? It would save us the postage of notifying you by a special mailing and make us pleased that you still want to be a member.
Thanks so much for giving this some consideration.
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A CHALLENGE
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God made man before woman so as to give him time to think of an answer for her first question.
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Every morning is the dawn of a new error.
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I was always told to respect my elders, but at my age, it keeps getting harder to find one.
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If it doesn’t move, but should, use WD-40. If it moves, but shouldn’t, use duct tape.
Table of Contents
September Dinner Meeting
Robert Eastham Letter
Welcome New Members
Upcoming Programs
High School Graduates
Letters
Donations
Yearbooks Missing
From “The Village Crier”
A Few Quickies
Thursday, September 6 , 2007
First United Methodist Church 105 Genesee St. NH
6:00 PM Social Hour—6:30Roast Beef Dinner—Cost $10.00
Program—Remsen Railroad Depot—Al Heywood, Speaker
Al Heywood has been instrumental in the restoration of the railroad station at Remsen, NY. Al, a retired social studies teacher of Remsen, is on the board of the station. He has an exciting story about this project and the future plans for the depot area. Special items from vendors from Wales are expected to be available in the station’s gift shop.
SSara Humphreys graciously supplied us with letters written by Thomas and Robert Eastham, and Robert’s wife in 1845, 46 and 47. This one, written in 1847 is fairly long but we thought you would be interested in this shortened version. We have put in some punctuation to make it easier to read, however the spelling is the original spelling in the letter. All are on file at the Society rooms.
From: Robert Eastham
To: Elizabeth Eastham
No.8 Goodier Street Near Water Lane Ends Preston, Lancshire, England
Postmarks: New Hartford, NY July 14, 1847
Preston August 28, 1847
Dear Wife,
You will be supprised and disapointed at my not writing sooner but I must tell you that it has not been my neglect. No the sole reason was this, I could not get my money from Wisconsin. And now I have only got part of it. The other I am to receive at the Fall, yet I think I shall have enough with great care that my bring you over, so you may expect in 2 to 3 weeks eather the money for you to pay your own passage at Liverpool. I know if they are not crowded with passingers you may get them for about 2 pound each and children 1/2 price. You must call John age 11 and Edmond 6 and Thomas 3. Get a birth as near the middle of the ship as you can and on the right side of the ship. Attend to all these things and the benefit will be yours. Fasten all your boxes and tubs with ropes or nails to the side of your birth. Bring your bed tick with you and get it filled with straw at Liverpool, Bring your beding your bed cloathes—bring your frying pan so you can fry your bacon and bake cakes on your jurney. Bring a strong stone bottle or a tin with a bottle neck for your fresh water which you will receive once every day. It must hold 2 gallone. Bring your kettle and one of your pans to cook your tea, coffee, potatoes, porrage in. All your pots and crockery pack them up in your boxes among your cloaths as they are very deer here. Bring some oate meal to make thick porrage and get some treacle—have your treacle in a stone bottle so it will not spill when the ship is sloping. Get some oate meal and bake some riddle cakes and let them get hard and then pack them up in a box or barrel with a lock on, and make some thin clap cakes pack them the same way, let the quantity be as such as you think will do for 6 weeks. You might bring some flour as much as you think you will need for making some cakes and some puddings. But buy no briskets in Liverpool nor buy none anywhere else. Bring some vinegar and a few good lemons, some good cheese, some good bacon and this must be good or it will spoil on shipboard. Get Billy Wiggins to chuse you some bacon. A few red hearing and some black currons, some good potatoes, some tea and sugar. Bring no bandy nor gin, rum nor whiskey, but get a few bottles of porter if you can. This would be useful when you are recovering from your sea sickness—some turkey rubul (rhubarb) root for opening medicine the captain will find you medicine while sick if you will ask him or get some one to ask him. Your directions is as follows—From Preston to Liverpool 30 miles From Liverpool to New York 3500 miles From New York to Albany 160 miles From Albany to Utica 100 miles From Utica to New Hartford 4 mile. And then enquire for Thomas Eastham at the post office and you will be directed to me.
Now I would have you mind all these things I have said and perhaps you may think some of them you will not need to mind but if you wish yourself and the children well you will attend to them all. Now give hear to what follows , buy all your provision in Preston. Let them all be good, or they will not keep on the water . As soon as you get to Liverpool go on the ship you have engaged with and that will save you paying for lodgins. Keep as much on deck on the voyage as you can. Remember the captain will have to find you water and 1 pound of bread stuff a day for every one wether it will be bisket flour meal or rice I do not know—keep your bodys open while on the sea and when you make a bargain for your passage to New York - ask there if what they tell you encludes the bread stuffs and the hospital money—the hospital money is 1/2 dollar per head the bread stuff is 2 dollar per head. When you land in New York do not stop in New York one hour if you can help it—get your boxes and children down on the wharfs on the boats that are going right off for Albany You will see great numbers of men wanting you to engage with them to Utica. Engage with none of them—go to a proper office and engage for Albany and no further, do not engage for Utica at New York as you would have to pay over again at Albany. From New York to Albany is about 1/2 dollar per head children 1/2 price. When you reach Albany then engage for Utica on the cannel. You will have to pay 1 dollar a head children 1/2 price and 25 cents a hundred for you ludgage but do not pay your money till you arrive at Utica. When you arrive at Utica place your ludgage and the children in some tavern and come up to New Hartford and I will soon fetch the children while you get some good tea and tell some of you sea tales. I want you to bring me some old tune books if you can. Ask my cousin William Wignall to send me that tune called Church Street— bring me some Gilleves seed and any other seeds you may get them from my Aunt Nannys husban William Hodson. If you could bring some a few papers of good needles you would find them very usefull as they are deer and not good here.
When you reach here I will play you 2 tunes Sweet Home and The Girl I Left Behind Me.
Affectionate husband
Robert Eastham
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Paul Doyle —Schenectady
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John Satterlee —Schenectady
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Ray Cooley —New Hartford
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Jack Monaghan —New Hartford
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Kaitlyn Monaghan —New Hartford
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Bill & Sue Gorton —New Hartford
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Harold Wakefield —Chadwicks
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October 4th Thursday 7:00 PM—”Around Utica” Evelyn Edwards—Community Building, Washington Mills
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November 8th Thursday 7:30 PM—Joint meeting with Clinton Historical Society “Black River Canal Museum,” Boonville—Edward P. Fynmore
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December 2nd—Sunday 1 PM
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Christmas Party Adult Dining and Activity Center, Sherman St. , New Hartford
We are indebted to Paul Clement of North Chili, New York for the above photo. He sent the following information:
“A small group of high school graduates from New Hartford High School in 1940 faced uncertain futures as with any graduating class before or since...including jobs, college, etc., etc...plus World War II soon to be a major concern. One thing was sure...none of us thought of what we would be doing 67 years in the future! But this past April eight of us (including two from the class of ‘39 and one from the class o f ‘43) sat down to dinner at a motel dining room in Ithaca, NY to feast, talk, laugh and remember back to those high school days. We stayed overnight at the motel and met again the next morning for breakfast and posing for the picture.
Picture Identifications:
MEN (Left to Right)
Presently Residing
Class
Jim Norton
Near Watkins Glen, NY
'40
Bob Kelly
Near Buffalo, NY
'39
Jack Garrett
Near St. Louis, MO
'39
Gib Jones
Near Utica, NY
'40
Paul Clement
Near Rochester, NY
'40
Bill Lux
Near Rome, NY
'40
LADIES (Left to Right)
Alice (Hoover) Kelly
'40
Alie (Brubaker) Clement
Annette (Jones) Lux
'43
The following letters were found among the items that were returned to us by the Oneida County Historical Society. These items had been placed there for safe keeping when our New Hartford Society went out of existence in the early 1950’s OCHS recently returned several boxes of documents, many relating to New Hartford schools. There is lots of interesting reading in these boxes.
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New Hartford, NY
January 29, 1885
To the Board of Education
Gentlemen:
My son Richard Read, who attends the Union School in the New Hartford district, has been notified by his teacher, Miss Potter, to provide himself with certain drawing materials.
I have sent notice to the teacher that I do not wish him to take drawing lessons at the School; and I have, therefore, omitted to provide him with the articles required.
Miss Potter sent me the note I herewith enclose. It has been indicated to me that if I do not get the articles dictated and consent to his taking drawing lessons, the boy will be dismissed from the School.
I make this communication to you in order that I may be informed whether the law gives any such arbitrary right to the teachers.
Yours truly.
I.C. Read
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New Hartford
January 27, 1885
Mr. Read,
Drawing is one of the subjects taught in graded schools by law; and is not studied wither by choice of teacher or pupil. It has been delayed this year in the Intermediate Department by my sickness and absence, and plenty of time has been given when it has not been convenient to get them immediately. In the “School Manual,” section 72, is the rule concerning scholars who are not promptly provided with books.
Yours respectfully,
C.F. Potter
(editor’s note: The school was located between Pearl Street and Hartford Terrace, about where Allport Place is now located.
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The Society has received the following donations this summer:
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Folding table, books, postcards, office supplies, railroad spikes from Judy Wenner
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Coffee mugs from Jack & Andy’s, Lion’s Club pins, Oneida National Bank tie clips from Mrs. Robert Sheridan.
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Yard sticks from Wanamaker’s, Gidden Paint and political promotions from James Miller.
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Filmstrips and slides from Libby Hughes
We have a sizeable collection of New Hartford High School yearbooks. The following years are missing::
1964, 1965, 1967, 1968
1971, 1972, 1973, 1978, 1979
1983, 1984, 1988
1990, 1991, 1994, 1999
2001, 2006
If you should have one of these and are willing to part with it, please let us know by calling 724-7258.
Spring 1982
The Village Board has added it’s newest member due to the resignation of Bill Hettie. Roswell W. Buckingham of one Scott Avenue was appointed in January to fill Hettie’s unexpired tem
Bucking, 57, is a former Assistant Jr. –Sr. High School Principal/Teacher of 29 years with the New Hartford Central School District. He is a graduate of Utica College with a Bachelor of Arts in Statistics and later received his Masters Degree from SUNY at Albany in Social Studies and Administration
He presently serves as an Emeritus Director of the Utica College Foundation Board and was a past recipient of the College’s Outstanding Alumnus Award..
A veteran of World War II, Buckingham and his wife Doreen are the proud parents of 5 children and 4 grandchildren.
I dialed a number and got the following recording: “I am not available right now, but thank you for caring enough to call. I am making some changes in my life. Please leave a a message after the beep. If I do not return your call, you are one of the changes.”
Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting.
The irony of life is that by the time you’re old enough to know your way around, you’re too old to go anywhere.
Table of Contents
June Meeting
The Town Of New Hartford
Welcome To New Members
We Are In Need Of
What Time Is It?
Point in New Hartford
Train Station in Washington
Mills
Remember the Spartans
A Letter Written In February
1918
Sunday, June 3 , 2007 2:00 PM Donovan Building (Train Station)
Chadwicks, NY
Ted Wakefield, son of Charles Wakefield who owned a sawmill on Elm. St., Chadwicks, will present a program on “The History of Elm St.” which will include information about the sawmill, stone house and Huber tractors his father owned and sold. A 1930 Huber tractor and a 1925 Mack truck will be on display. As this is our annual meeting, election of officers will take place. In addition, St. George’s Episcopal church will be open for a tour. There will be a lot to do and to see. Note the day and time, please. Not our usual June meeting time!
Dinner Reservation Form
(final installment)
From “History of Oneida County, NY” 1896
Of the early schools in this town very little can be learned, the territory being a part of Whitestown until a comparatively recent date. It is know, however, that there were early schools taught in the village of New Hartford.
The reader has already found an account of the establishment in New Hartford of the Whitestown Gazette in New Hartford Village in June, 1796, by Charles McLean; it was the second newspaper in this county, and was removed to Utica in 1798.
On the farm of Zenas Gibbs, before mentioned, iron ore was early discovered, where an ox had thrown some dirt out of a ditch with his horns. Further prospecting developed considerable deposits and the ore was shipped in large quantities to furnaces in Paris. Litchfield and Franklin. The industry finally declined, and is now abandoned.
The first town meeting in New Hartford was held April 24, 1827, at the house of King Strong, and the following officers were elected: Supervisor, Eli Savage; town clerk, Samuel Dakin; assessors, Ashbel Mallory, Stephen Fitch, Thomas R. Palmer; commissioners of highways, Abel Mosher, Collings Locke, Truman Kellogg; overseers of the poor, Joshua Palmer, Edward Blackstone; collector, Isaac G. Stratton; commissioners of common schools, Daniel W. Randall, Charles Babcock, Warner Wadsworth; inspectors of schools, Proctor C. Samson, Zedekiah Sanger, James McElroy.
The village of New Hartford was incorporated in 1870, by a vote of 32 to 9. In the next year the boundaries of the village were slightly changed so as to make Sauquoit Creek the easterly village limit. A post-office was established in the village at about the beginning of the century. Dr. Calvin Sampson was one of the early postmasters and held the office many years.
Manufacturing began early in the village. A man named Butterfield established a factory for making ingrain carpets early in the century, his product being claimed as the first of the kind made in this state; he removed later to Oriskany. The first cut nails made in the State were probably manufactured here by Jonathan Richardson, father of Joseph Richardson. Mr. Richardson died in 1838. A tannery was early established by Thomas and Ezekiel Williams, west of Sauquoit Creek and north of Genesee street. Another was built nearer the creek by Stephen Childs, where a large product was turned out. Messrs. Reed & Allen established a factory for the manufacture of cotton yarn, batting, etc., under the name of the Half-Century Manufacturing Company. Their building was burned after it had passed to possession of Armstrong, Baker & Company, and the latter firm then located in what had been the Childs tannery, above mentioned, where they established a large knitting factory. This burned and the present factory of this company was erected.
A paper mill was built here early by Samuel Lyon, who came from Vermont early in the century. It stood above the later cotton factory and was afterwards removed next to the grist mill, which Mr. Lyon had purchased. The business long ago disappeared. A door and sash factory was formerly operated by A. Sweet, in which J. C, Roby afterwards established a batting factory. The building was burned and on the site was erected the present factory of Devine Brothers, who manufacture buffing wheels extensively.
The New Hartford Cotton Manufacturing Company was organized and erected its main building about 1815-16, under the management of Samuel Hicks. The south addition was built in 1838 by a company formed about that time. The factory is operated by water and steam power, and was burned and rebuilt in brick. It is still operated by the New Hartford Cotton Manufacturing Company—John W. McLean, vice-president; James Irish, secretary and treasurer. This company was organized in 1870, with a capital of $150,000. They purchased the mill from John Adams who had operated it since before the war. (Civil War) The product is what are known as bunting and about 150 hands are employed.
There are two factories for canning corn in the village, one operated by the New Hartford Canning Company, and the other by the Excelsior Canning Company. S. F. Sherman is superintendent of the first and William M. Osborn of the other.
General stores are kept by F. N. Russell and George Ireland, and Joseph Killian has a hardware store. Enoch Morris carries on harness making. The hotel long known as the Entwistle Hotel is kept by Mrs. Fred Durrenbeck; the Williams House by H. A. Williams, and the Myers House by D. F. Myers.
The village constitutes Union Free School district No. 1, and an excellent school is taught, with Frank B. Spaulding, principal, and five teachers. The town is now divided into eighteen school districts with a school house in each.
Butler Memorial Hall was erected in 1889 for the use of the village and contains the post-office, a hall and various offices. It was donated to the place by the late Morgan Butler.
Phil and Betty Pearle—New Hartford
dress forms to help us display our vintage clothing. Does anyone have one to donate? Call the Society at 724-7258. Someone is there Saturdays from 10 to 2 and Mondays from 1 to 3, or you can leave a message on the answering machine.
Well, it is not “Tool Time” but it is time for you to renew you membership.
Please look on your current label attached to this newsletter. If it reads June 30, 2007, then you need to send in your renewal . Some members have already paid and we thank them.
If you enjoy the programs that are offered for your entertainment and if you want to continue to receive the nine issues of the “Tally-Ho!” that are published yearly, we need your renewal membership. As we have said before, you are the Historical Society. Without you we would not exist.
Hope to hear from you.
Pictured above is the point in New Hartford. On the right is Genesee Street and on the left is Paris Road. Behind those trees was a beautiful home originally owned by the Sanger family. Later it was purchased by David Golden, a prominent Utica merchant and a “fancier of fine horses”. After his death it housed the Home School for Girls from 1878 to 1883. It burned in 1901 and the Point School was erected on this point.
The train station in Washington Mills soon after it was moved from its location across Kellogg Road by the railroad tracks. This is the same building we meet in today for our monthly meetings of the New Hartford Historical Society.
Jack Murdie 1946
Memories of My Youth—Remember the Spartans
The movie Remember the Titans prompted me to consider my own mortality, and my friends from New Hartford High School. So many of these friends of my youth are gone, and how I loved those guys.
New Hartford High School during the years of World War II was a small school in a small village. It was not anything like the large community of today. The total enrollment was probably 400-500 students, including the 7th and 8th graders who were also housed in the Oxford Road school.
My family moved to New Hartford in the summer of 1941. The first grade that I attended in New Hartford was 8th grade. The first person whom I encountered was Jerome Madden. As I sat at my desk wearing new suspenders, he was sitting directly behind me. He promptly reached over, yanked my suspenders and said, “Welcome to New Hartford, kid.” Jerome (Punch) Madden thus became a life-long friend.
Sports soon became much more important to me than school work. This was much to the disdain of my parents! However, I soon learned that in order to compete in sports, one had to maintain a good grade average.
The athletes were the heroes in that time and place; the football and basketball players, in particular. The bonding between players was something to admire and strive to emulate. The friendships that I made through sports were lifelong ones. Though separated after our high school years, we still maintained a closeness. During many holiday vacations, I would receive a phone call from one or another of my old teammates saying, “Hey—everybody is home, and we’re meeting at Frank and Eddie’s. Be there!” With our dates or wives in tow, we partied!
Many times over the years, I would remark to fellow employees that I was meeting some former high school chums over the weekend. They would invariably remark with a surprised response of, “You are still close to your high school friends?” You bet!
The closeness and the love that we shared was remarkable. It was evident in our various and sundry nicknames. A sampling: “Lefty” - Frank Wenner, “Speed” - John Dorrance, “Blo” - Tom Hartman, “Runt” - Bill Synal, “Quack” - Fred Kowalki, “Jess” - Bob Legro, “Goat” - Don Roberts, “Fish” - Art Mettelman, “Fatman” - Jack Fraser, “Leakster” - Ted Max, “Blo 2nd” Jack Murdie, “Senor” - Jack Wakely, and “Zoot” - John Barnaba.
Many of these men went on to excel in college, both academically and through athletics. John Dorrance graduated from Cornell. Tom Hartmann from St. Lawrence. Jack Fraser from Williams. Art Mettleman received his undergraduate degree from Colgate. Dick Daiker graduated from Syracuse. Frank Wenner from Wesleyan.
Most of the group also went on to become very successful in their chosen fields. John Dorrance became an engineer and CEO of his own company. Frank Wenner was an insurance executive. Tom Hartman was a telephone company executive. Jack Fraser went on to own his own oil company. Ted Max is a physician. Art Mettelman is a dentist. Don Roberts became a geologist. Jack Murdie was an insurance agent. Bill Synal was an engineer.
Most of us served our country. Maybe not in war time, but we served: Jack Murdie was a Marine; John Dorrance, Tom Hartman and Bill Synal served in the Army. Frank Wenner and Art Mettelman were in the Navy. Frank was a Jet pilot– carrier certified. As a private pilot myself, he was my hero.
Once, after Frank qualified in jets, he and a fellow pilot flew from Virginia Beach NAS to Griffis AFB for the weekend. They made a low level pass, wing tip to wing tip—down Paris Road (Frank’s parents’ home), and across the village, nearly blowing the rooftops off of several establishments. My father was driving through New Hartford at the time and stopped at a red light when this occurred. He later called me to say, “Jack, I think your friend is home!” Needless to say, that night we had quite a welcome home party.
It may be that I’m getting on in years. People tend to remember their youth and get nostalgic. We not only remember friends, but our girlfriends as well. There was Babs, Susie, Rita, Betty, Judy, Carol, June, Marilyn, Joan, Jan , Barbara, etc. Of course they were all beautiful, witty and charming. Most of all, however, they were patient. When we all got together they had to endure endless discussion reliving athletic heroics.
This accounting is an attempt to recapture memories of the best years of my youth. It is also a tribute to my friends who’ve passed away. God rest your souls; Speed, Lefty, Blo, Runt, Quack, Jess, Punch and Rod.
(We were so pleased to receive this very interesting account of New Hartford High School memories. Thank you, Jack, for giving us permission to publish it. Anyone else out there writing down their memories? People would love to read them.)
A LETTER WRITTEN IN FEBRUARY 1918
This letter was written by John Crippen to his mother in New Hartford while he was on active service with the Y.M.C,A. American Expeditionary Forces during the World War I.
Dear Mother,
At last I have arrived at “somewhere.” Let me assure you that “somewhere” is a safe place so far as I can see. Four of us left Paris yesterday at 10 and arrived here about 3. The Y.M.C.A. hut is a big shed with a dirt floor. Here we do everything except eat. There were three men here and they were very glad to receive help. Two of our party are builders, who expect soon to put up another building.
After looking around for a few minutes, I went to work in the canteen, or general store, which the Y.M.C.A. runs. I kept it up until 9:30, with a short intermission for supper, and I am now quite an expert in keeping store in French money. In the evening there was a picture show and then a magician’s exhibition at the other end of the hut. When it was time to close, we cleaned up, got out our cots and blankets and went to bed.
It is now 7 A.M. and the bugle has just finished sounding. Already our cots are put away, and the Catholic chaplain has held mass in the hut. You know there is only one room to the hut. I haven’t found out yet what the possibilities are for washing, but shall in a few minutes.
We had a fine supper last night in the officer’s mess. There is no shortage of food in the army. Plenty of butter, sugar, and white bread, which looked good. But it costs about $10 a week.
2:00 P.M.
I feel more settled now, though it is uncertain whether I shall stay here or go to another headquarters a few miles away. Also we have all decided that it will be better as a permanent arrangement to mess with the men rather than with the officers. We have a queer old piano in the hut, also a phonograph, so that some kind of music is going most of the time.
I took a walk with two of the men this morning. The country here is beautiful. It looks as though it might be the last part of April. I picked some water cress and some flowers. The last snow I saw was on the coast of American, and I may not see any more this season.
I am very anxious to hear from you, but everyone says that the mails are very uncertain. Some letters come quickly and some very slowly.
Think of me as busy and having a fairly good time,
Your loving son,
John
Table of Contents
May Meeting
How Times Have Change
The Best Meat Market Has Closed
St. Stephen’s Church Fair Success
Welcome New Members
Boy Scouts Visit
Condolences
1954 Article
The Town Of New Hartford
(Continued)
Two Views Of The Pearl St.
School
Collins-Brennan House
Paving
Did You Know
Thursday, May 3 , 2007 - 7:00 PM
Community Building, Kellogg Rd. Wash. Mills
Cheryl Pula
“Pearl Harbor”
We have been fortunate to have Cheryl as our speaker on several occasions and she always provides a thoroughly entertaining evening.
Cheryl has an associates degree from MVCC, a bachelor of arts degree in Russian from SUNY at Oswego, and a masters in library science from the university of Michigan. She does history lectures at MVILR (Mohawk Valley Institute for Learning in Retirement) at SUNYIT and at various historical societies in the area. She is a reference librarian at the Dunham Public Library in Whitesboro.
We really need your support at our monthly meetings. Hope to see you there.
The following is from a March 31, 1955 newspaper
NEW HARTFORD BECOMES 1ST CLASS TOWN AS POPULATION INCREASES ABOVE 10,000
By passing the 10,000 population mark, the Town of New Hartford has become a first class town in the state classification system. The town has previously been a second class town.
In addition, the town has now been authorized to replace the present justices-supervisor system of town government with elected councilmen. Under the new proviso, the entire form of government of the town will be gradually changed to convert to the new type of management. Legislation to make this possible was introduced in the state legislature this week by Senator Fred Rath of Utica and Assemblyman William S. Calli, also of Utica.
At the next election, the voters will chose a pair of councilmen for two years, and two more for a period of four years, in addition to one peace justice, who will serve for four years.
The present form of government included four justices of the peace, Leo C. Townsend of New Hartford, Walter Williams of Washington Mills, William Combelback of New York Mills, and Edwin Sweet of Chadwicks. In addition, Town Supervisor Robert J. Thomas serves on the town board. Thomas will continue to serve on the board, but Townsend and Williams will be up for re-election this year, and could quite possible run for the councilmen posts.
As the present legislation is set up, the present governing board will continue until the first of next year, and from then until January of 1958, would be governed by the supervisor and four councilmen. Then in the 1957 election, two more councilmen would be elected for four years, along with a peace justice. With that system, after it got effectively into action, voters would name two councilmen for a four year term at every election. Elections are held each two years. Thereby, it would be possible to have a staged system of election.
From a newspaper of January 4, 1957 came the following article.
THE BEST MEAT MARKET HAS CLOSED
New Hartford has noted with a sense of loss the closing of one of its oldest established businesses, and misses the faces of two of the best known merchants in the community. After nearly 30 years of operation in the same store, Down’s Market has closed.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Down have been individuals well known to the generation of New Hartfordites, and no longer seeing them in the business section will be a loss.
While they never attempted to compete with the chain stores, their grocery establishment was always known for outstanding quality, and “Bill” Down was always cited as having the best meats to be found anywhere.
The loss will be felt by everyone.
More nostalgia. This is dated June 30, 1955
ST. STEPHEN’S CHURCH FAIR SUCCESS IN BIGGEST OF 14 ANNUAL CARNIVALS
Over a thousand persons turned out Saturday for what was recorded as the most successful St. Stephen’s Church Fair ever held in New Hartford. More than 150 children participated in a street parade through the village to mark the opening of the 14th appearance of this event.
The parade was headed by a calliope, and all the marchers were decked out in costumes suitable for the theme of the “Caribbean Carnival”. More than 30 dogs, all entries in the dog show at the fair, joined the marchers.
Henry Kassing headed the parade committee, which awarded prizes to the most outstanding costume wearers in the parade. First prize awards were made to David Cook, Melissa Gurley, Jimmy Cook, and Philip and Steve Ingalls. Second place awards were presented to Sharon and Diane Green and to Helene Damara.
The entire program was carried out on a tropical theme, with most of the participating parishioners attired in huge straw hats, and many of the parading children managed to find tropical drums and costumes. Various booths were arranged throughout the church grounds on Oxford road, as well as inside the parish house. Stands included a fun house, rummage sale, baked goods, while-you-wait photographer, dart games, and similar carnival attractions.
Closing the day’s activities was a picnic supper, served from 5 to 7:30.
Those in charge of the program reported the largest crowds in the history of the affair.
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Gary Burkle—New Hartford
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Kevin Copeland—New Hartford
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Kelly Koziok—New Hartford
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Kay Rasmussen—Clinton
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Thomas White—Bozeman, MT
The Saturday before Palm Sunday the Historical Society was invaded by New Hartford Troop Pack #52. Twelve scouts, guided by Bill Runge, and 8 other adults enjoyed viewing the miniature churches, displays in the show cases, and especially, the History Room with all the old tools. They were on a journey that included visiting churches in the village. We were very pleased to have been part of their itinerary,
We recently learned of the death of Charles Pace. Charles was a long-time member of the New Hartford Historical Society, serving as our treasurer for several terms. Many of you will remember him. We send our sympathy to his family.
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(continued)
From “History of Oneida County, NY” 1896. Continued from April issue of “Tally-Ho!”
Among others who settled south of the village of New Hartford, according to French’s Gazetteer, were two families named Olmstead, and the Seymour, Hurlburt, Kilborn, and Montague families. Henry Blackstone, also, migrated to this town prior to the erection of the county, and settled east of Washington Mills on the farm afterwards occupied by his son, Alfred. His first journey hither was made in company with Zenas Gibbs and Ashbel Tyler, with an ox team. The Gibbs farm was owned in later years by his grandson, Gould G. Morton. Nehemiah Ensworth came into the town in the fall of 1791 and in the following spring settled on a part of the 500 acre lot on which Mr. Gibbs and Mr. Blackstone had located. Mr. Enswoth’s brother, Elihu, came in with him; the latter was father of Ezra Ensworth.
Very soon after the first settlement was made in this town, steps were taken for the organization of a church. A meeting was held in a barn belonging to Judge Sanger, in New Hartford, on the 27th of August, 1791, and there the Presbyterian church was organized with thirteen members. It was organized under the Congregational form, but was changed to the Presbyterian in 1802. The first trustees were Jedediah Sanger, Needham Maynard, Uriah Seymour, first class; Capt. James Steel, Lieut, William Stone, Jesse Kellogg, second class; Capt. John Tillotson, Capt. Joseph Jennings, Capt. Nathan Seward, third class. Rev. Dan Bradley was the first pastor. It was proposed at a meeting that he be given “ten acres of land near Colonel Sanger’s old log house as a settlement,” and if this land was not of the value of $200, that amount should be made up to him; he was then to have $160 a year salary, $60 of which should be in cash and the remainder in produce. This probably did not satisfy Mr. Bradley, for at the next meeting it was resolved to “give Mr. Bradley $200 in cash as a settlement, and one hundred pounds current money of the State of New York annually as a salary—one third in cash, the remainder in produce at the cash price, and thirty cords of good firewood annually, as long as he continues to be our minister; accepted.” On March 5, 1792, the trustees agreed with Colonel Sanger to build them a church at a cost of “seven hundred pounds.” The church was mainly built in 1793, though it was not entirely finished until 1796; it was the first church building erected in the State west of Herkimer. The lot on which it stood was donated by Judge Sanger, who also gave a lot in Sangerfield for the benefit of the society.
Among those who settled west of the village were Ashbel Beach, Amos Ives, Solomon Blodget, Salmon Butler, Joel Blair (the last thee at what is known as “Middle Settlement”), A. Hill (who located on the farm owned for many years by Oliver Sandford, esq.) ——Wyman, and Stephen Bushnell. On the road leading from Middle settlement to Whitesboro was Joseph Jennings. East of the village of New Hartford were Messrs. Higbee, Seward and French. To the south of the village the settlers were more numerous. Eli Butler, a resident of Middletown, Conn, the same place whence came Hugh White, the first permanent settler in the county—arrived in what is now New Hartford in 1789, and settled on the farm afterwards owned by his grandson, Morgan Butler, the house of the latter being just within the corporate limits of the village. Mr. Butler had been to this region in the year 1785, and purchased farms for three of his sons– John and Sylvester in Paris, and Ashbel in New Hartford. He had a family of four sons and seven daughters, and the daughters and one son, Eli, Jr. (father of Morgan Butler), accompanied him here in 1789. Eli was his youngest son, and remained on the farm settled by his father in New Hartford until his death. The farm included three hundred acres.
(to be continued)
TWO VIEWS OF THE PEARL ST. SCHOOL
In 1884 the school district purchased the Chase mansion pictured above. It was located at the southwest corner of Pearl Street and Allport Place and was formerly the home of Jedediah Sanger. It was a very imposing brick house, with a brick wing to the right and to the left. A wooden ell extended from the rear of the house. In 1955 that ell still existed and was the barn-garage on the property of Mrs. Kittie Upham of Pearl Street. In the first years, when Jedediah Sanger owned it, the lawn extended across what is now Pearl Street at the location of the Masonic Temple, through to Oxford Road. The house was remodeled into a school and was used until the Point School was built in 1902. It was in the northwest dooryard of this large house that the great elm stood that sheltered Jedediah Sanger from the wolves upon his arrival in this area. The tree existed into the 1950’s.
A picture of the house when it was a school
This is an excellent picture of the Collins-Brennan house that stood on the corner of Park St. and Oxford Road. It was taken in the late 1890’s. Notice South Street (Oxford Road) was a dirt road lined with elm trees. The building was a lovely Gothic cottage surrounded by a picket fence and tall trees. Built by Augustus Hurlburt , it had a board and batten exterior. The deed to the lot was given to him by the First Religious Society of Whitestown (now the New Hartford Presbyterian Church) April 26, 1853 for a consideration of $150. This was before Park Street and been put through. In 1973, in order to make room for the new firehouse, the building was moved to Reservoir Road in Sauquoit, approximately 3/4 of a mile from Sulphur Springs Road. It has been resided and looks quite differently today.
From the New Hartford Business Association publication of November, 1946
The first paving done in the village was in 1910, from the Sauquoit Creek bridge to the end of the corporation on Genesee Street. Genesee Street is a State highway, and the State agreed to pave sixteen feet. If the village wanted it wider, it was to pay the difference, which was $3,900. Bonds therefore were issued. The trolley company had double tracks and had to pave between the tracks and one foot outside of the outer rails. This pavement was of brick.
In 1937, Genesee Street was repaved with concrete reinforced with steel, which continued until the trolley company discontinue its trolley service to Clinton and bus service was substituted. Then the pavement was resurfaced by the State.
The trolley company then, in consideration of being released from its franchise, which required trolley service through the village on Genesee Street, agreed to give loop service up Oxford Road to Sherman Street, up Sherman to Hartford Terrace, and over Hartford Terrace to Paris Street. All principally used streets of the village are either paved with reinforced concrete or are macadam.
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In 1911, historians at Cambridge University discovered wallpaper dating back to 1509.
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One of the first electrical appliances was a hand iron introduced in 1882.
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The first drive-in theater opened in Camden, New Jersey in 1933.
Table of Contents
April Meeting
Do You Remember Her?
Additions To Our Archives
Welcome New Members
Trivia
Genesee Street
Roberts Turkey Farm
Heinrich Staring
The Town Of New Hartford
In 1903
Thursday April 5 , 2007 7:00 PM Community Building, Kellogg Rd. Wash. Mills
Lou Langone
“Memories of the Lackawana Railroad, Utica Division”
The speaker, Lou Langone, who will tell us about “Memories of the Lackawana Railroad, Utica Division” is no stranger to our group. He spoke at our October, 2006 meeting about World War II memories. He is a Syracuse University graduate and taught high school history for over 30 years. He also served in the Navy during the Korean War. Our attendance at monthly meetings has been very low. We need your support. Come and enjoy an interesting lecture.
On January 29, 1957 the O.D. ran an article titled “Whistle While You
Work? Hear This One” by Edna Coe. The following is taken from that
article.
You could say that Mrs. John Salter “whistles while she works.” When she does, folks hear her all over New Hartford, in parts of New York Mills and down below French Road in Utica.
Her “whistle” is the New Hartford fire alarm.
Her husband, John J. Salter, was chief of New Hartford’s Volunteer Fire Department, until he resigned last year. The organization he headed ranks second to none in its class, and Mrs. Salter helped make it so.
When Salter took the job, the fire department had no place to put its phones. So they installed one phone upstairs in the Salter home, 16 Pearl Street, and another one downstairs. The Salters put another phone in their candy, cigar and news store.
There is an emergency fire call box right in front of the store, too. It is there that Mrs. Salter, or her husband, sounds the call when a fire is reported.
“You press the button and the signal sounds,” Mrs. Salter says. The districts are identified by code numbers and numbers are sounded by punching the button a given number of times and spacing the sounds with silence. “You have to be sure the signal is clear and right,” says the diminutive Mrs. Salter.
When a fire call comes, she runs from the store to the emergency box and sounds the alarm; or if she is at home, she taps out the code number on the button.
What happens if the alarm button fails, she was asked. “That seldom happens, “she says, but she knows what to do, and has done it on occasion. “You run for the fire house as fast as you can go and operate the signal manually there.”
She remembers as her busiest times the accident when a man was trapped in a sand pit at exactly the same time that a fire broke out; and again on VJ Day when World War II ended. “Everybody called the fire department to find out what the whistles were blowing for,: Mrs. Salter believes. “And one misguided individual went out and sounded the signal alarm.”
This is a thumb nail sketch of the fire-fighting Salters. He and she are Vermonters. That explains the New England accent. The Green Mountain Boy of Barre married a Windsor girl, Miss Mamie Sargent, and they came to New Hartford in 1933. He opened his little shop “on a shoestring,” and within a month it was a going concern.
It is comparable to the “coffee houses” of England. High school boys, students of MVTI, business men, like its club-like atmosphere. They hold informal and unexpected forums there. The Salters serve sandwiches, coffee and luncheonette dishes and you will find one or the other of them, or their assistant, Mrs. Harriet Campbell, staffing the store continuously from 6:15 in the morning until 10:30 at night.
If you order a chocolate soda there, some day, and if the service is halted, you will not mind the delay. It probably will mean there is a report of a fire coming in over the store phone.
When eventually the day’s work is over, and the Salters are home, their watchfulness does not end. Night alarms are rung in to them and they go into action,—-no matter what the hour, the temperature or the weather.
Next time you hear the New Hartford fire signal , give a silent salute to the Salters.
(The” the Village Crossing” shop now occupies the space where Salters store was.)
The following items were donated by Joyce Shepherd, Kellogg Road, New Hartford
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Red Willowvale Fire Co. shirt
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Telephone Book
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Numerous newspapers
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Post Magazine 1947
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Program “Community Christmas Entertainment” Standard Silk Mill, Chadwicks
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The Little Towne Club program “Soup to Nuts”, Washington Mills
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100th Anniversary Celebration Program, New Hartford High School 1999
Mel & Evelyn Edwards donated a file on the Willowvale Fire Company
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Gary Burkle—New Hartford
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Kelly Koziol—New Hartford
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Kevin Copeland—New Hartford
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Thomas White—Bozeman, MT
Trivia enthusiasts might be interested to know the origin of the word “shotglass.” During the old-time game dinners held by sportsmen's clubs here and in Europe, a small glass was given to all guests during the meal. As they feasted on venison, pheasant, ducks, and other game dishes, the shot pellets that they came upon were politely deposited in the glass, which came to be known as a shotglass.
(Reprinted from SCOPE, Connecticut department of Environmental Protection-Wildlife Bureau)
Genesee Street looking towards Utica. Notice the trolley tracks in the middle of the unpaved road. From the dress of the people in the photo it appears to be the early part of 1900. Trolley service to Clinton through New Hartford began in 1901.
This billboard was on Oneida Street on the Roberts property. We are not sure who the children are but they are probably from the Roberts family.
The Roberts Turkey Farm was in Washington Mills on the very edge of the town of New Hartford at the Utica city line. It was owned by Ellis Roberts and Catherine Humphreys Roberts. Catherine was the sister of Hugh Humphreys of Tibbitts Road. Hugh sponsored Ellis as a farm worker when he came to America.
Ellis Roberts immigrated to New York in 1911 from Garn Dolbenmaen, North Wales. Catherine followed in 1912 with their two children, Ellis Griffiths and Catherine “Kate”. They traveled on the Baltic and arrived at Ellis Island where they were to be met by Ellis. They were almost turned back as Ellis had trouble making his way to New York City from upstate New York. Family lore has it that Catherine's brothers dissuaded her from traveling on the Titanic because they were superstitious about a maiden voyage.
They lived in property on Oneida Street owned by the Bentons and eventually purchased that home on the Sauquoit Creek.
Ellis and Catherine had three more children who were born in the home on Oneida Street:: William Harold, Humphrey Wynn and Jane. Ellis eventually took a job as a deliveryman for Benson Coal Company. Catherine was very ambitious and resourceful and hatched turkey eggs in her home. She started by placing the eggs in her oven until she could purchase an incubator. She sold eggs and turkeys ready for the table to friends and neighbors and the business flourished with a flock of 25 to 30 hens. She eventually raised white turkeys.
Today the Sauquoit Creek has eroded away much of the land behind the home where Jane still lives. The creek was a great place for the family to swim and it provided water for the two cows they had. They were never allowed to swim in the creek on Thursdays because that was the day the Willowvale Bleachery cleaned out the dye tanks and it poured into the Sauquoit Creek.
The information in this article was taken from the “Farmlands of New Hartford” Vol. 2 by Janice T. Reilly and Barbara Owens Couture.
In the March 2007 edition of the “Tally-Ho!” there was a story about Heinrich Staring and his encounter with the Indians.
The following article was sent to us by Nancy Burns. Alan Sterling, mentioned in the article was a relative of her husband. It appeared in the Sunday O.D. of May 29, 2005, written by Frank Tamaino. .
Staring was farming land near day West Schuyler when the call went out to the Tryon County Militia to assist the besieged Fort Stanwix in August 1777. Staring was among 750 or so Mohawk Valley patriots who were with Gen. Nicholas Herkimer when American Revolutionary troops and their Oneida Indian allies were ambushed at Oriskany. Staring also was one of the lucky ones who returned. He eventually became the first judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Herkimer County. His great-great-great-great grandson, Alan Sterling, is the chief of interpretive services at the Herkimer Home Historic Site in Little Falls.
Gravesite:
Heinrich Staring is buried in the family plot on the land he once farmed, off Route 5 in West Schuyler. A blue state plaque marks the site just east of where Staring creek crosses Route 5, across from Barge Canal Lock 19. An obelisk marking the plot can be seen beyond the state marker; a dirt road leads to the site.
The following is taken from" Our County & It’s People :History of Oneida County, NY” edited by Daniel E. Wager, 1896. Some of the information, such as where Jedediah Sanger was born and where he lived in New Hampshire is inaccurate. The information included in the parenthesis was taken from Jones’ Annals of 1851, according to Daniel Wager, the author of this article.
New Hartford was the last town formed from the once great town of Whitestown, and was erected April 12, 1827. The name had many years earlier been given to the village and was retained for the town. The territory of New Hartford was mainly included in the Bayard and the Coxe patents, and embraces at the present time 16,941 acres.
The surface of New Hartford is level or gently rolling, except in the extreme east part where there is a low range of hills. The soil is a rich calcareous loam. Sauquoit Creek flows northerly through near the center of the town and with its branches affords sufficient drainage. That stream in early years supplied large water power and was an influence in the establishment of the extensive manufacturing interests of the town; but in later years the volume of water has decreased and steam power has been placed in many of the factories. Through the influence of Judge Sanger, the pioneer in the town, the old Seneca turnpike, constructed in 1800, passed through the village of New Hartford, giving the place a considerable impetus and making it for a number of years an active rival of Utica. The course of the Erie Canal through the latter village wrought the change that made Utica a city and New Hartford its suburb. The Chenango Canal, and what was the Utica, Clinton and Binghamton Railroad cross, parallel, the northern part of the town, and the Utica and Chenango division of the S. L. & W. Railroad follows up the valley of the Sauquoit, with a station at New Hartford village.
Previous to 1788 Col. Jedediah Sanger, born in Sherburne, Mass., probably, February 29, 1752, had purchased 1,000 acres of land lying about equally on both sides of the Sauquoit, and in March of that year he came on to his purchase and began making improvements. He had agreed to pay fifty cents an acre for his land, and it included the site of New Hartford village. Within the year mentioned he sold the part on the east side of the creek to Joseph Higbee for one dollar an acre. Higbee’s tract was afterwards found to contain 600 acres. Colonel Sanger was, as seen, thirty-seven years old when he came to New Hartford; he had received only a common school education and had kept a small store in Massachusetts. In May, 1771, he married Sarah Rider, why whom he had four children. In 1782 he removed to Jeffries, N.H., and purchased a large farm, and kept both a store and a tavern in his dwelling. In 1784 his dwelling and contents were burned, rendering him bankrupt. Hearing of the “Whitestown country,” he determined to seek a new home, and in 1788 he made the change as stated. He later paid all of his indebtedness to his eastern creditors.
(In 1796 he erected the first grist and saw mills on the outlet of Skaneateles Lake, now in the beautiful village of Skaneateles, Onondaga county. He was one of the active and leading partners in the Paris Furnace, which was erected in 1800, and went into operation 1801. In 1805 he was engaged in the manufacture of cotton. H spent eleven winters in Albany as a member of the Senate and Assembly, to each of these bodies having been elected by the people. He was the first supervisor of Whitestown, and held the office for three successive years. He was appointed first judge of Oneida county upon its organization, and held the office until 1810, when he resigned, as by the constitution and laws his age (sixty years) disqualified him from holding that office.)
Judge Sanger was thrice married, the last time to Fanny Dench, October 3, 1827. He died June 6, 1829, and is buried in the village cemetery.
Oliver Collins settled, it is believed in 1739, on a farm on the Whitesboro road a short distance from Middle Settlement, where he passed the remainder of his life; he was quite prominent in local, civil, and military affairs and bore the title, “General.” A native of Connecticut, he served in the line of that State as sergeant during the Revolution. Soon after his settlement here he was commissioned captain of the militia company, and subsequently rose step by step to the rank of general. In this capacity he called out the militia under him and marched to Sackett’s Harbor where he served in 1814. The militia under General Collins numbered nearly 3,000, of whom 2,500 were from Oneida and Herkimer counties. The service and quarters at Sackett’s Harbor were very trying on the raw troops, and many deserted. In spite of determined opposition the court was held in Utica, and the offenders were ordered to have all their back pay stopped and be drummed out of camp as far as Deerfield Corners to the Rogue’s march. The sentence was executed. General Collins retired to his farm and there died August 15, 1838.
John French settled in New Hartford, coming from New Hampshire, about 1792, on the farm afterwards occupied by his son John, who was born on that place in 1797. The father died February 25, 1839. Nathan Seward located about the same time on the farm adjoining Mr. French’s on the east. He was subsequently interested in the Capron cotton factory north of New Hartford village.
Capt. David Risley, a Revolutionary veteran, with his brother, Allen, and Truman and Webster Kellogg, settled very early south of New Hartford village and west of what is now Washington Mills. They built a shanty and began making other improvements. There was no grist mill of much account, if indeed there was any at all, nearer than twenty or thirty miles in Herkimer county, and these pioneers, and probably others, resorted to the well-known method of pounding their grain into coarse meal in the top of a hollowed hard wood stump. Soon after his settlement Captain Risley built and opened a small store on his place; it was a log building, and he also built a log tavern which was a popular stopping place for travelers. Later he built a large frame store, which became extensively patronized by the pioneers. This building was later removed to Washington Mills where it was used as a dwelling.
(to be continued next month)
Genesee Street in the 1950. The bank building is gone, The gas station on the corner of Oxford Road and Genesee is where Blimpie’s is now located.
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The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower
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Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn’t been invented.
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The average wage in the US was 22 cents an hour.
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Most women only washed their hair once a month and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
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One in ten US adults couldn’t read or write. Only 6% off all Americans graduated from high
Table of Contents
March Program
Men And Events
Elm Street, Chadwicks
The Family Of James Sears
Foster
Welcome New Members
Did you know that?
PROGRAM -- SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2007 2:00 PM
COMMUNITY BUILDING, KELLOGG ROAD, WASHINGTON MILLS
SPEAKER, FRANK TOMAINO
“Trade Cards of Utica and Area”
Frank Tomaino, member of the Oneida County Historical Society and known for his column “This Week in Mohawk Valley History” in the Sunday O.D. has consented to do a program based on the trade card collection of Elliott Hughes. This collection, the property of the New Hartford Historical Society, is a wonderful trip down memory lane with its reminders of the businesses that used to flourish in Utica and the surrounding area. No stranger to our society, Frank gave the program at our September 2004 meeting on “Daniel Butterfield”. Please note the time and day. Hope to see you there.
By William Tracy
The following is an excerpt from an address given by William Tracy delivered before the Young Mens’ Association of the City of Utica in 1838.
Heinrich Staring , a native of the Mohawk Valley, was born about eleven miles below this city in the settlement of German Flatts. He was present at the Battle of Oriskany and held the office of colonel of the Tyron county militia during the remainder of the war. Possessing great shrewdness, strong common sense, and unflinching intrepidity, he enjoyed the unlimited confidence of the German and Dutch settlers on the Mohawk, and became a prominent object for seizure by the enemy. A great number of anecdotes illustrative of the extraordinary means that were used by the enemy he had to deal with to procure his person or destroy him might be related.
This event took place sometime late in November about the year 1778. He had, for some purpose, gone into the woods at some distance from his home, and while there, by chance, came suddenly upon a party of hostile Indians, who, during those years, were frequently prowling about the settlements on the Mohawk, and occasionally making murderous incursions among the inhabitants. Before he became fully aware of their presence he had got so completely in their power that flight or resistance was out of the question. He was seized with every demonstration of hellish delight, and rapidly hurried away in a contrary direction from his home and southward of the pursuit, when they directed their march westward, and at night reached a small uninhabited wigwam at a little more than a quarter of a mile from the right bank of the Oriskany Creek, above Clinton, in what is now called Brothertown. This wigwam consisted of two large rooms, separated from each other by a partition of logs. Into the larger of these there opened an outside door which furnished the only entrance to the house. Another door communicated from the larger to the smaller room. The latter had one window, placed nearly six feet above the floor. The whole structure was logs, substantially built.
The Indians examined the smaller room, and concluded that by securely fastening their prisoner hand and foot, they could safely keep him there until morning. They therefore bound his hands behind him with withes, and then fastened his ankles together in the same manner, and laid him thus bound in the small room, while they built a fire in the larger one, and commenced a consultation concerning the disposition of him. Staring, though unable to speak the Indian language, was sufficiently acquainted with it to understand their deliberations and he lay listening intently to their conversation. The whole party were unanimous in the decision that he must be put to death, but the manner of doing this in the way best calculated to make the white warrior cry like a cowardly squaw, was a question of high importance, and one which required a good deal of deliberation to settle satisfactorily to all his captors. At length however, it was agreed that he should be burned alive on the following morning, and preparations were accordingly made. During the deliberation, the horrible fate that awaited him suggested to Colonel Staring the question of the possibility of an escape. As he lay on the ground in the wigwam, he could see the window I have spoken of, and he determined to make an effort to release himself from the withes which bound him, and endeavor to effect a passage through it. Before they had sunk to rest, he had so far succeeded as to release one of his hands from its fastenings, sufficiently to enable him to slip his wrist from it. On finding that he could do this, he feigned sleep. And after the Indians came in to examine and see if all was safe, they retired to the larger room and went to sleep
Staring waited until all had for a long time become quiet, when, slipping his hand from the withes, he was enabled silently to release his ankles, and by climbing up the side of the house by the aid of its logs, to escape from the window without creating an alarm. In the attempt, and while releasing his ankles from the withes, he had necessarily taken off his shoes, and had forgotten to secure them with him. He was now miles from his home, without a guide or a path, hungry, and in a frosty night in November, and with a band of enemies seeking his heart’s blood lying ready to spring upon him. But he was once more free from their clench, and this one thought was nerve, and strength and food—-was all he needed to call into action his every power. He stole with cautious silence from the wigwam, directing his course toward the creek, and increasing his gait as he left his captors and got beyond the danger of alarming them. He had got about half way to the creek, and had begun to flatter himself that his whole escape was accomplished, when he heard a shout from the wigwam, and immediately the bark of the Indian dogs in pursuit. He then plunged on at the top of his speed, and knowing that while on the land, the dogs would follow on his track, in order to baffle their pursuit, as soon as he reached the creek, he jumped in, and ran down stream in the channel. For some time he heard the shouts of his late masters, and the baying of their hounds in the pursuit and now that he had reached the water where the dogs could not track him, he laughed out-right as he ran, in thinking of the disappointment they would feel when they arrived at the bank. The fear of the faggot and all its accompanying tortures, furnished a stimulus to every muscle, an he urged on his flight until he heard no more of his enemies, and became satisfied that they had given up their pursuit. He deemed it prudent, however, to continue his course in the bed of the creek, until he should reach a path which led from Oneida to old Fort Schuyler—a mud fort, built on the present site of this city during the French war, and which was situated between Main street and the banks of the river, a little eastward of Second street. The path crossed the Oriskany about half a mile westward of where the village of Clinton now stands. He then took this path and pursued his course. I have mentioned that in his haste to escape he forgot his shoes. He had a pair of wool stocking, but in running on the gavel in the creek, they soon became worn out, and the sharp pebbles cut his feet. In this difficulty he bethought him of a substitute for shoes, in the coat he wore, which, fortunately, was made of a thick heavy serge. He cut off the sleeves of this at his elbows, and drew them upon his feet, and thus protected them from injury. But he used to say he soon found this was robbing Peter to pay Paul, for in the severity of the night his arms became chilled and almost frozen. He reached the landing at this place just in the gray dawn of the morning, and cautiously reconnoitering in order to ascertain whether anyone was in the fort, which was frequently used as a camp ground, he satisfied himself that no one was in the neighborhood. In doing this he fortunately discovered a canoe which had floated down the stream and lodged in the willows which grew on the edge of the bank. He instantly took possession it, and by a vigorous use of the paddles, with the aid of the current, succeeded in reaching his home with his little bark in the middle of the forenoon.
Recently our President, Barbara Couture, has been in communication with Ted Wakefield of Rochester, New York regarding the sites of places he remembers in Chadwicks. He is the grandson of Charles Wakefield, and son of Edward Wakefield. His grandfather and father operated the saw mill marked in this picture. Ted worked in the mill from 1946 until 1954 when he went into the army. The sawmill was closed because his father could not operate the mill alone. Ted remembers the stone house and shop that were adjacent to the mill.
The stone house was built about 1824, and had the first and second story walls built from left over stone from the construction of the silk mill on lower Elm Street. The stone blocks were drawn up Elm Street, which was a dirt road, by horse and wagon, to where the stone house was built. The walls were about two feel thick. The third floor walls were built of wood and it had a bridge walkway to the ground. For cooking there was a big wood kitchen stove with a tank on the right for heating water. A large woodstove in the living room was used for heat. There was no heat for the second floor. There were no locks on any of the doors. The homestead property included the stone house and land going up to the corner of Mohawk Street. On the corner was a blacksmith shop, and the corner was known as “Shopville Corners”. The stone house was destroyed by fire in 1954.
Ted’s grandfather bought the stone house in 1909 at a tax sale. It was formerly owned by a Mr. Wilder. His father’s half sister bought the blacksmith shop and made it into a home, keeping an area for a small shop.
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Mr. Charles Wakefield |
