TOWN OF RODMAN
A detailed 1864 town MAP showing residents. (508K file)
An 1864 map of The Hamlet of Rodman
An 1864 map of The Hamlet of Whitesville
1918 TOWN OF RODMAN FARM MAP
A list of POSTMASTERS in the town in existing and discontinued postoffices.
1810 Census--Town of Rodman
Fairview Cemetery--List of Names
Family sketches from CHILD'S GAZETTEER for the Town of Rodman.
Child's Business Directory for the Town of Rodman.
Haddock Family Sketches--Town of Rodman
Bartlett's Cemetery Inscriptions for the Town of Rodman.
Vital Records 1847-1849 for the Town of Rodman.
David Taylor's Will, Town of Rodman
Town of Rodman 1890 Census of Civil War Veterans
Civil War Soldiers Buried in the Town of Rodman
| OFFICE | CONTACT | PHONE | ADDRESS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Town Clerk | KRISTIN A. BENNER | (B)232-2522, (H)232-2475 | Main St; PO Box 523, Rodman 13682 |
| Town Historian | REBECCA STONE | (H)232-2486 | 21355 Co Rd 69, Rodman 13682 |
Historical Association of South Jefferson
Contact person:
Debbie Quick
History of the Town of Rodman linked from Shirley Farone's Home Page taken from CHILD'S GAZETTEER OF JEFFERSON COUNTY by HAMILTON CHILDS, published in 1890, transcribed by Shirley Farone. History of the Town of Rodman from "RAY'S PLACE" transcribed from OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE by EDGAR C. EMERSON, 1898 History of the Town of Rodman, taken fromA HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK by FRANKLIN B. HOUGH, A. M., M.D. linked from Shirley Farone's Home Page
The Town of Rodman is one of the six southern towns, with the Towns of Worth and Lorraine on its south, Adams, the mother town, to the west, and the Town of Watertown on its north. Rodman borders Lewis County on the east. Rodman, first called Harrison from an early proprietor, was formed from Adams 24 March 1804, Adams having been created from Mexico two years earlier.
Settlements in Rodman at one time included Rodman village, Unionville, also called Zoar, and Whitesville, all located from west to east along Sandy Creek. Lesser centers were Whitford's Corners, alternatively known as West Rodman or Toad Hollow, and Tremaine Corners.
TWO CENTURIES IN RODMAN
from Watertown Daily Times
Sunday, 26 Jan 1997 pB5
. History references from
"Our Heritage: Town of Rodman 1801-1985"
1801
Silas Stow, agent of Harrison and Hoffman, opens what is now Rodman for settlement at $3.50 per acre. Eight people settle there.1801 or 1802
Walter Harrison Moody is the first child born there; he dies three years later.1803
First school is formed, in a barn.1804
What is now Rodman is separated from Town of Adams and named Harrison. The first town meeting is held and William Rice builds a sawmill in what will become the Rodman hamlet.1805
First church in region formed in the Rodman hamlet that today is the United Church of Christ Congregational Church, the lone surviving church in the town.1806
William Rice builds a gristmill in the hamlet.1808
The Lewis County town of Pinckney separates from Harrison. Harrison becomes Rodman, named after a popular state Assembly clerk. (Harrison had been sometimes confused with Harrisburg in Lewis County.)1809
First bridge built, over Sandy Creek.1810
Town population is 1,281, with 214 families, four gristmills and six sawmills, including one that operated 80 years in the Rodman hamlet.1813
A typhoid like disease kills 60 residents in three months.1816 and 1817
Midsummer frosts and snow destroy crops.1818
Lotus Ingalls born in town. He would found the Watertown Reformer, which would become the Watertown Times, and purchase the Watertown Post.1821
Regular mail route starts to Rodman1824
Town has population of 1,735 people, 490 horses, 4,312 sheep, seven gristmills, two carding machines, five distilleries and six asheries (places where wood is burned to ashes).1835
Population 1,698.1840
Population 1,702. Sawmill built on Gulf Stream that would saw 200,000 feet of lumber per year by 1890.1845
Population 1,694.1850
Population 1,784.1852
Frank W. Woolworth born in town; family moves to Great Bend in 1859. He died in 1919 with a $65 million fortune.1853
First Limburger cheese in United States made in Rodman (Jefferson County once had 40 Limburger cheese factories.)1855
Population 1,752.1860
Population 1,808.1865
Population 1,654.1866
Sawmill built on Fish Creek, one mile west of Rodman hamlet, that by 1890 would make 600,000 shingles per year.1871
First band organized in town.1890
Only a school, a cabinet shop and 12 houses remain in Zoar hamlet, once called Unionville. It had been the primary village in Rodman, with a church, school, hotel, two stores, shoe shop, furniture factory and two blacksmith shops.Tremaines Corners on Route 177 has a post office and cheese factory.
East Rodman, formerly Whitesville, has post office, church, school, hotel, store, grist- and sawmills, cheese factory and blacksmith shop.
Rodman hamlet has two churches, school, hotel, creamery, seven stores, wagon shop, two blacksmiths, gristmill, tannery, post office and 35 houses.
West Rodman has gristmill and cheese factory.
Town makes 157,000 pounds of butter, 366,000 pounds of cheese, with eight cheese factories total.
1894
First round silo in state to be used for storing silage is built in town.1905
Rodman has four cheese factories and 110 bridges, ranging from 10 to 140 feet long.1910
Population 1,123.1915
Population 1,167.1916
Lighting district for Rodman hamlet is formed.1920
Population 1,027.1930
Population 9351940
Population 8561950
Population 816.1953
Rodman volunteer fire department formed.1960
Population 765.1966
Last Rodman school--the Rodman Village School--closes.1970
Population 772.1980
Population 836.1990
Population 1,016.
From the 1864 Jefferson County Atlas: a summary of statistics for Rodman
ACRES OF LAND
Improved 15,749
Unimproved 6,848
VALUATION
Real Estate 522,530
Personal Property 138,950
Total 661,480
POPULATION
Males 960
Females 958
Number of Dwellings 340
Number of Families 380
Freeholders 319
SCHOOLS
Number of Districts 13
Children Taught 584
LIVE STOCK
Horses 540
Working Oxen and Calves 1,200
Cows 2,149
Sheep 2,830
Swine 896
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
Bushels of Grain
Winter 2,018
Spring 68,289
Tons of Hay 3,972
Bushels of Potatoes 11,964
Bushels of Apples 12,716
Dairy Products
Pounds of Butter 181,235
Pounds of Cheese 121,325
YARDS OF DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE 2,179
Names of the Early Settlers |
|---|
|
ADAMS, John BABBITT, AMARIAH BALCH, Abigail BARKER, LEONARD BARTON, Alfeus BINGHAM, Augustus BLACKSTONE, EBENEZER BLANCHARD, ROSWELL BOOTH, PHILO BRAINERD, ANSEL BROWN, James Wilder BUCK, ALVIN BUELL, ZIBA BURR, JOHN BURTON, JOHN BUTTERFIELD, JOHN CASE, THADDEUS CLIFFORD, CALVIN COLE, ABEL COOK, STEPHEN COOLEY, Asa COOLEY, David COOLEY, John COOLEY, Stephen COREY, DAVID CRANDALL, William P. CROOK, NATHANIEL CUMMINGS, ALANSON DANA, JOSEPH DAVIS, JONATHAN DODGE, WILLIAM DYE, RICHARD EASTMAN, D. EASTMAN, LUTHER EASTMAN, STODDARD EDWARDS, ARIEL EDWARDS, BENONI ELMER, John FARWELL, LEONARD FASSETT, JOHN FIELD, DANIEL FLINT, WILLIAM A. FULLER, DANIEL GLASS, JOHN |
GLASS, Marinda GLEASON, BAZABEL GREENLY, Timothy HACKETT, JOHN HARRINGTON, NATHANIEL HARRINGTON, THOMAS HEATH, JACOB HILL, ASA HUNT, SIMEON INGALLS, Lotus KELLOGG, ABIJAH KELLOGG, GREN KELSEY, SAMUEL KING, TITUS KING, TITUS LARKIN, Covil LARKIN, Erastus LARKIN, Stephen LAWRENCE, LYMAN LOOMIS, AARON LOOMIS, JAMES LOVELAND, ABEL McKEE, Jerushia MOODY, AARON MOODY, ANSON MOODY, EBENEZER MURRAY, ENOCH NICHOLS, ALPHEUS NICHOLS, JOSEPH NICHOLS, NATHANIEL NICHOLS, SAMUEL PAGE, Zilla PALMETER/PARMETER, CHARLES PECK, JOHN POST, ISAIAH PRATT, JOSEPH PRIEST, JOB PRIEST, JOSEPH PRIEST, SOLOMON RALPH, JAMES REED, John RHODES, BELOVED RICE, William RUSSELL, ELIAH RUSSELL, RETURN SILL, WILLIAM |
SMITH, JESSE SMITH, REUBEN STONE, ARNOLD STONE, CYRUS H. STOW, Silas STRONG, NATHAN SWIFT, HEMAN TAYLOR, David (will) THOMAS, BENJAMIN THOMAS, GEORGE TINNEY, JOSHUA TODD, DANIEL TODD, DANIEL Jr TODD, DAVID TODD, ENOCH L. TOWNSEND, HORACE TRACY, WINSLOW G. TREMAIN, NATHANIEL TREMAIN, REUBEN UNDERWOOD, TIMOTHY VAUGHN, JOHN WAGONER, HARRY WALSWORTH, ZACHARIAH WARREN, BERNARD WASHBURN, JACOB WASHBURN, MOSES WASHBURN, MOSES WASHBURN, ROGER WHITE, THOMAS WHITMAN, NATHAN WHITMAN, NATHAN WINSLOW, WILLARD WITTER, Tacy WOODWARD, Caleb WOODWORTH, LUTHER WOOLWORTH, AVERY WOOLWORTH, Frank W. WRIGHT, JAMES WRIGHT, JESSE WYMAN, JONATHAN YANDES, PETER |
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