CHAPTER IV.
ERECTION OF THE COUNTY, TOWN FORMATION AND EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
The act of the Legislature erecting Madison County was passed March 21, 1806. Its first section is as follows:
Be it Enacted, That all that part of the county of Chenango lying north of the following described bounds, to wit: beginning at the southeast corner of the town of Brookfield, on the Unadilla River, and thence running west on the west on the south side of said town of Brookfield, to the east line of the town of Sherburne; thence north to the southeast corner of the town of Hamilton; thence west on the south line of said town of Hamilton to the east line of the town of DeRuyter; thence west on the division line between the sixth and seventh townships in said town of DeRuyter to the east line of the county of Onondaga; shall be and hereafter is erected into a separate county, and shall be called and known by the name of Madison, and all the remaining part of said county of Chenango, shall be and remain a county by the name of Chenango.
The act further provided for the proper division of the town of DeRuyter, through which the new county dividing line passed. Also, for holding a Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace, three terms a year, in the new county. The two counties, Chenango and Madison, were given each two members of assembly, and were made part of the Western district of New York and of the Sixteenth congressional district. A section provided for the confinement of prisoners in the Oneida county jail until one should be provided.
The following tabulated statement shows the genesis of the several towns of Madison county, and indicates which were in existence when the county was erected:
Brookfield, formed from Paris (Oneida county), March 5, 1795.
| Cazenovia, from Paris and Whitestown March 5, 1795. | Deyruter, March 15, 1798. |
| Sullivan, February 22, 1803. | |
| Nelson, March 13, 1807. | |
| Smithfield, March 13, 1807. | |
| Fenner (part of), April 22, 1823. | |
| Hamilton, from Paris, March 5, 1795. } | Eaton, February 6, 1807. |
| Lebanon, February 6, 1807. | |
| Madison, February 6, 1807. | |
| Sullivan, from Cazenovia, February 22, 1803. } | Lenox, March 3, 1809. |
| DeRuyter, from Cazenovia, March 15, 1798. } | Georgetown, April 7, 1815. |
| Cazenovia, March 5, 1795. | { Fenner, April 22, 1823. |
| Smithfield, March 13, 1807. | |
| Smithfield, March 13, 1807. | { Stockbridge, May 20, 1836. |
| Lenox, March 3, 1809. | |
| Vernon. | |
| Augusta. | |
| Lenox, March 3, 1809. } | Oneida, 1896. |
| Lincoln, 1896. |
As will be seen by this diagram, there were only five towns in the county when it was erected --- Brookfield, Cazenovia, DeRuyter, Hamilton and Sullivan. But five more were formed in the year following the county organization; since that date since that date five others have been erected, making that number sixteen. Coincident with the erection of the county, Sullivan was constituted a half shire town in the new county, with Hamilton, which had formerly been half shire town of Chenango county, as the other. The early courts were held alternately in the schoolhouse near David Barnard's in Sullivan in the part set off for the town of Lenox.
As a result of the first general election for Madison County, Erastus Cleveland, of Madison, and Sylvanus Smalley, of Sullivan, were elected members of assembly; their opponents were Jonathan Morgan of Brookfield, and John W. Bulkley, of Hamilton. The first county officers and justices of the peace were appointed by the then existing Council of Appointment and were as follows:
First Judge, Peter Smith, of Peterboro.
Associate Judges, Sylvanus Smalley and David Cook, of Sullivan; Edward Green, of Brookfield; Elisha Payne, of Hamilton.
County Clerk, Dr. Asa B. Sizer, of Hamilton.
Sheriff, Jeremiah Whipple, of Cazenovia.
Surrogate, Thomas H. Hubbard, of Hamilton.
Coroner, Jabish. N. M. Hurd, of Cazenovia.
Justices of the Peace --- Brookfield, Oliver Brown, Daniel Maine, Henry Clark, jr., Jonathan Morgan, Samuel Marsh and Edward Green.
Cazenovia --- David Tuthill, Samuel S. Breese, Phineas Southwell, Perry G. Childs, Elisha Williams, Daniel Petrie, William Powers and Joshua Hamlin.
DeRuyter --- Eli Gage, Hubbard Smith, and Eleazer Hunt.
Hamilton --- Joseph Morse, Simeon Gillette, Benjamin Pierce, Gen. Erastus Cleveland, Elisha Payne, Amos Maynard, Russell Barker, George Crane and Winsor Coman.
Sullivan --- Gilbert Caswell, Samuel Foster, Walter Beecher, Joseph Frost, Sylvanus Smalley, Peter Smith, David Cook, William Hallock, James Campton and Joseph Yaw.
The first board of supervisors of the county was composed as follows: Brookfield, Stephen Hoxie; Cazenovia, Lemuel Kingsbury; DeRuyter, Jeremiah Gage; Hamilton, Erastus Cleveland; Sullivan, Jacob Patrick. Complete lists of the supervisors of the various towns down to present time, as far as they are accessible, will be found in the later Gazetteer of Towns.
In 1810, Cazenovia was made county seat by act of Legislature passed April 2, and Col. John Lincklaen and Capt. Eliphalet Jackson were appointed commissioners to superintend the erection of courthouse and jail. (See Chapter XXV.)
Settlement in Madison County territory began almost simultaneously in the northern and southern parts, in what became the towns of Brookfield and Sullivan. The town of Brookfield is the extreme southeast town in the county and the largest in area. It was formed from Paris, Oneida County, March 5, 1795, and originally included numbers 17, 18 and 19 of the Chenango Twenty Townships. The former was set off in the form of Columbus in 1805. Settlement began in the territory of Brookfield in the spring of 1791, when Captain Daniel Brown, a Quaker from Stonington, CT, came on with a few friends whom he had persuaded to accompany him, but who returned in the fall. Stephen Hoxie and Phineas Babcock came in about the same time as agents of a company from Rhode Island and Connecticut. Captain Brown was sixty six years old at the time of his migration and started westward with the intention of locating in the productive Genesee valley; but taking a southern route he and his companions toiled on with an ox team for twenty one days, when in the latter part of June they arrived at the dwelling of Percifer Carr, who had settled on the east bank of the Unadilla in the town of Edmeston. They were hospitably received, and the charm of the season, the beauty of the surroundings and the character of the land prompted them to remain; Mr. Brown selected for his homestead land on the west side of the Unadilla, a short distance above Mr. Carr's residence, on lot 82 of the 19th township, and there he built his dwelling on a hill a mile west of the site of Leonardsville. He passed the remainder of his life there and died December 14, 1814. Others of the little party of immigrants settled near by, among them David Maine, Samuel H. Burdick, Samuel Billings and Stephen Collins. All returned east in the fall except Mr. Brown. In the following spring Captain Brown's family moved in and that year he built a sawmill on Mill Creek, which was the first one in the town and one of the first in the county. The first town meeting was held in Brown's dwelling on the 7th of April, 1795. Captain Brown had two children by his first wife and twelve by his second, all but four of whom were daughters. One of them, Anna, married Nathan Steward, who came on from Stonington in 1794 and settled about two and a half miles northeast of Clarkville. Another daughter, Fanny, married George Palmer, who settled in 1792 between Leonardsville and Clarkville, near the river; there in 1793 he built the first frame house in the town. He removed to the Genesee country about the close of the War of 1812. Jabish1 Brown, son of Daniel, left Stonington, June 12, 1794, and after a journey of seventeen days arrived in Brookfield with an ox cart and his family; he built a log house near his father's, but two years later he removed a half mile south and erected a frame house. Both he and his wife died on the farm, he on July 18, 1843. Their descendants still live in the county. Nathan Brown settled on a part of the homestead until near his death, when he removed to Leonardsville, where he died May 3, 1840. He has descendants in the county.
Stephen Collins, before mentioned, settled in 1791 about one and a half miles south of Clarksville, on Beaver Creek; there he soon built a grist mill, which he sold to Daniel White, by whose name it was long known. It passed to his son, Daniel D. White, who operated it until the dam was destroyed about 1861, and it was not rebuilt.
Samuel H. Burdick settled on the farm occupied until recent years by a descendant of his, where he died on February 14, 1813. He had only one son. Samuel Billings, who came in 1791, kept a public house several years in the dwelling now occupied by William Whitford. He sold his property about 1817 to William Brown and removed to the West.
When Stephen Hoxie and Phineas Babcock, the agents before mentioned, came on they stopped in Albany and purchased lots 79 to 86 inclusive, and 92 to 96 inclusive, thirteen in all, in the southeast corner of the 19th township, for which they paid fifty cents an acre.
In that year, Mr. Hoxie built a log house. The patent for lot 96, which Mr. Hoxie selected for himself, is dated May 3, 1791, and is still in possession of his descendants in this county.
In 1792 Stephen Hoxie, John and Elias Button, Lawton Palmer, Thomas and James Rogers, Paul and Perry Maxson, Eleazer and Simeon Brown, Samuel Langworthy, Elder Henry Clark and Phineas Babcock, all members of the above company before mentioned, came and settled on their lands ¾ Hoxie lot 96, the two Buttons on lot 82, Palmer on lot 95, the two Rogers on lot 83, the Maxsons on lots 93 and 94, Eleazer Brown on lot 84 and Simeon on lot 81, Langworthy on lot 80, Clark lot 92, and Babcock on lot 79. John Button was the only one who brought his family that year. He settled on the farm occupied in recent years by David Judge, where they resided until their death. In 1792 he bought land on Mill Creek, with the site since known as Button's Falls, and there built the first gristmill in the town. This was a great convenience and was highly appreciated by the early settlers. This mill, together with the sawmill built by Daniel Brown, and a freshet carried one built a little later on the same stream by Jabish Brown, away early in the century. A sawmill was built on the site of the Button gristmill, in 1848, by Hosea and David Welch, grandsons of John Button; it was operated until about 1865. Elias Button was a bachelor and lived with his brother until he reached the great age of 105 years. He taught school about sixty years of his life and by some authorities is credited with being the first teacher in Brookfield. Asa Carrier is said, by French's Gazetteer, to have taught the first school in the winter of 1796, but it is certain that Mr. Button taught a school a half mile north of Button's Falls in the winter of 1796-7.
Stephen Hoxie returned to Rhode Island again in 1792, leaving here his son, John, then seventeen years old. He returned in 1793 with his family, horse, and ox teams, the journey occupying six weeks. His grandsons, Stephen and Thomas, have in recent years lived on the homestead, half a mile above Leonardsville, where the pioneer died October 6, 1839, at the age of 101 years.
Lawton Palmer was a Rhode Island man and married a daughter of John Button, settling a little northeast of Five Corners and there died December 8, 1825. He donated from his farm the site of the old Baptist Church. His son Elias succeeded to the homestead and died there March 10, 1866. Lawton Palmer, son of the pioneer, was the first white child born in the town; born April 27, 1792.
Thomas, James and John Rogers were also from Rhode Island, the former settling a mile west from Leonardsville on a farm now owned by his great-grandson, Deloss Rogers. He died there January 17, 1815. James settled on Button Hill and John at Leonardsville and died there. His son Thomas occupied the homestead.
Elder Simeon Brown, one of whose daughters married James Rogers, was from Stonington, CT, and settled two and one-half miles east of Clarkville, where his grandson, Justus R. Brown, subsequently resided, and now occupied by Clay Brown. He was influential in organizing the First Baptist Church and was its pastor for thirty years. He was father of seven children. Eleazer Brown settled on land a part of which went into the John Searls farm.
Paul, Perry, Ray and John Maxson were brothers. Paul and Perry settled at De Lancy's Corners and there resided until their death. Paul operated a distillery many years. Ray settled in Columbus.
Elder Henry Clark settled near Unadilla Forks; he was a Seventh Day Baptist preacher and organized at Leonardsville the first church of that sect in the town and was pastor many years. His farm was afterwards occupied by Dr. Henry Clark, who lived and died there. George Hall is the present occupant of the place.
Robert Randall was a pioneer of 1792, coming from Stonington with his wife and nine children to Brookfield, where descendants still live. William and Roswell Randall were his sons and carried on mercantile business in South Brookfield, removing to Cortland, where they became prominent and wealthy.
Ethan Babcock and David Gates left Leyden, MA, in the latter part of April, 1793, and arrived in the Beaver Creek valley on the 25th of May, where Oliver Babcock had previously purchased the mill site in the north part of Clarkville, with two lots including the east half of the village site. Oliver Babcock was Ethan's father. They were the first to locate on the site of Clarkville and at once began clearing land. Having accumulated a quantity of ashes from the burning logs, they began making potash; it was the first made in this town. In the fall, Mr. Gates went to West Winfield, Herkimer County, and Mr. Babcock returned to his Massachusetts home, where he married. He came back the next spring bringing his wife and his brother Oliver and his wife. He now finished his uncompleted log house, which was the first one built in the Beaver Creek valley; and there both resided until their death. Ethan died April 4, 1859, and Oliver September 1, 1856. Oliver Babcock, Sr., father of Ethan and Oliver, came in 1795 and built the first sawmill on the site of the Elijah Clark mill; the property passed to Elijah Clark in 1857, who built the gristmill. Hezekiah and Phineas Babcock, sons of Oliver Sr., settled in the town, the former on the north line; descendants of these families still live in the town.
David Gates settlement was made on fifty acres of lot 65, which was afterwards owned by his son Darius. He had eleven children, seven of whom lived to maturity and were somewhat prominent in the town.
It was about this time that John J. Morgan and Jedediah Sanger began to open the lands they had purchased in 1791 in townships 18 and 20 and part of 19, to tenants on perpetual leases, a system that had a tendency to retard settlement, as it did in many other parts of this State. Mr. Morgan built a dwelling, which is still standing, in a beautiful spot on the west side of Beaver Creek about two and one-half miles south of Clarkville, where he passed many summers during many years. At his death, Morgan Dix became heir to these lands, which were, however, left under supervision to Gov. John A. Dix, who adopted the policy of selling them to actual settlers on easy terms. Wait Clark, whose father, John Clark, settled in the town in 1810, was agent for Governor Dix, in the sale of much of this property.
Among the settlers of 1794 was Zadoc Beebe, who came with his son of the same name, up the Mohawk to Herkimer and thence on foot. After selecting lands they returned to MA and in 1796 brought in their families with ox teams. The elder Beebe took up lot 28, both lots in the 19th township. Zadoc Beebe's children were six, all of whom settled near the homestead.
Joshua Whitford also became a settler in 1794, taking up half of lot 76, near the center of the town, where his grandson, Silas Whitford subsequently lived. One of his children was Deacon William Whitford who settled lot 71, but after his father's death he removed to the home farm and there died January 26., 1850, leaving four children all living in this town. Other settlers of that year were Wiot Hinckley (this family now spell that Wait) and John York; the latter settled east side of Beaver Creek midway between Clarkville and Brookfield. He had eight children.
Samuel Gorton came to Brookfield in 1795, selected two lots and returned to his native place, Greenwich, R.I. In the following spring his sons Varnum and Benjamin, came in on foot to prepare for the reception of the rest of the family. They made a clearing and built a cabin about three miles east of North Brookfield, at what is called Gorton Hill. The remainder of the family came in the fall consisting of the parents and ten more children. In the year 1796, also, Asa Frink, Nathaniel, Joseph and George Denison, Thompson Burdick came in company from Stonington CT with ox teams and all settled in the Beaver Creek valley --- Frink at Clarkville, Nathaniel Denison on the west side of the creek, Joseph on lot 65 in the 18th township, and George on the same lot three-fourths of a mile southeast of Clarkville. Thompson Burdick settled about a quarter of a mile south of Clarkville; he sold in 1809 to Eli S. Bailey.
Thomas Keith and Alexander Brewster came in on foot in 1797; the former took up 250 acres and sold 40 to Brewster. They built a cabin that summer, returned to MA in the fall and came back with their families in the next spring. Brewster sold his land many years ago to John Keith, who resided there until his death. The Thomas Keith homestead was owned in recent years by his son Henry.
Elisha Burdick, from Westerly RI, came as early about 1796 and settled a mile north of South Brookfield. He had numerous family, most of whom settled in that vicinity.
Augustus Saunders, of Westerly, RI, came as early as 1800 and settled three miles north of Clarkville, on 100 acres, owned in recent years by Dr. L. N. Griswold. He died in Clarkville March 23, 1868. Elisha Johnson settled in the town as early as 1800 and Harris Chesebrough about the same time. Johnson located half a mile south of North Brookfield, where his son, Col. Eli Johnson, afterwards resided. Chesebrough settled near West Edmeston.
The following persons came into town before and including the year 1800, locating in either what is now Brookfield, or in Columbus, which was then part of this town; most of these names appear in the records in connection with town offices:
1796 --- Asa Brown, Peter German, Eleazer Goodwin, Jonathan Kingsbury, John Noyes, Jabez Brown, Moses Ward, John Wilbur, Nathaniel Haskel, Josiah Rathbun, Roswell Haskin, Gurden Thompson, Peter McIntire, Eliakim Palmer, Benedict Babcock, Powell Hall, Eliab Underwood.
1797 --- Charles Welch, Edward Works, James Satterlee, Nath. Calkins, Peter W, Delancy, Joel Cutler, Nathan W, Brown, Thomas Giles, Denison Palmer, Jesse Palmeter, David Smith, Jesse Palmer, Richard Butler, Isaac Brown, George Palmer, Absalom Miner, Jr., John Payne, Gilbert Strong, Samuel Billings, David Dickey, Ezekiel Scott, Joseph Garner, Amos Scott, Augustus Crandall, John York, Samuel Hall, Amos C. Palmer, Jared Clark, Ebenezer Kelsey, Eld. Marsh, Jonah Slocum, Simon Brown.
1798 --- John Hoxsie, Capt. Daniel Berry, John Follet.
1799 --- Thomas Kenyon, Edward Green, Peleg Palmer, David Cole, Edmond Scott, Clark Maxson, Joshua Breed, David Whitford, Stephen Clark, John Whitmore, Jonathan Morgan, Weaden Witter, Jonathan Hubby, Elias Underwood, Joshua Morgan, Charles Lee Usher, Nathan Clark, Clark Barber, Nathaniel Mane (Maine), Benjamin Brown, James Marsh, Nathaniel Marsh, Samuel Mosher, Charles Babcock, Nathan Steward, Luther Brown, Thomas Bowman.
1800 --- Samuel Marsh, William Davis, Thomas Mills, Roswell Brand, Nehemiah Palmer, Samuel Langworthy, Caleb Miller, Amos Wheeler, William G. Greenman, Daniel Barber, Zebulon Brown, Gad Sutleaf.
Josiah Livermore, from Brimfield, MA, settled about 1804 on the site of North Brookfield, about where grandson, Charles O. Livermore, kept a store in recent years, which is now conducted by Hibbard & York, and operated a tannery. He moved about 1824 to a farm about a mile east of North Brookfield. Capt. Nathan Baldwin was another early settler on the farm occupied in recent years by Asa B. Baldwin. He died April 13, 1807.
There was considerable early settlement of Quakers in the western part of town. Among them were Joseph Collins,1st, Solomon and Hezekiah Collins, a Mr. Sheffield, Gideon and Thomas Kenyon, and James Larkin. The place formerly called "Moscow" was largely built up by the three sons of Joseph Collins --- Job, Peter, and Joshua --- who were harness makers; in later years the place was given its present name of De Lancy, in honor of John De Lancy. Peter Collins built a tavern, Albert Button a store and Job and Joshua Collins had other shops usually found in a small village. The Quakers had a large society and were connected with the one in Madison. They held meetings in Thomas Kenyon's house until their old church was built about 1820.
On the 1st of March, 1797, according to the records, tavern permits were granted to George Palmer, Samuel Billings, Henry B. Morgan, Rodolphus Edward, Peter German, Jonathan Brownell, and Amos C. Palmer, each paying $5.
During the progress of these settlements, made by the pioneers whose posterity have been instrumental in building up and improving the town, considerable advancement was made in the establishment of schools and churches, and various institutions of a business character.
The First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Brookfield was organized as a result of a meeting held in July 1797, by the many persons of this faith who had settled in the town from RI, CT and Petersburg, Rensselaer CO., NY. A committee was appointed to prepare articles of faith and covenant, and on October 3, 1797, there was met according to arrangement ministers, deacons and brethren from the church of Hopkinton, R. I., and Petersburg, and after consultation they organized under the title, First Sabbatarian Baptist Church of Christ in Brookfield, under the following persons: Henry Clarke, William Davis, Luke Saunders, Joshua Maxson, Paul Maxson, James Crandall, Benjamin Davis, Samuel Greenman, Elisha Burdick, Clark Maxson, John Davis, James Wamsly, Weden Witter, Anna Davis, Elizabeth Burdick, Hannah Maxson, Judith Maxson, Hannah Maxson (wife of Paul), Nancy Maxson, and Caty Clarke. Henry Clarke was chosen pastor and William Davis, deacon. This was the first church in this town, and the third one in the county. The records show that there were sixty-eight members in 1803, and the growth of the society was continuous, about 100 being baptized in 1821, at which time it is believed there were nearly 400 members. In January 1823, the northwest settlement was off in a separate church, and later the same year the southwest settlement was also set off. The first pastor served twenty-four years and was succeeded by William B. Maxson, who served ten years.
Almost coincident with the formation of this church, another was organized at Clarkville by a number of persons who met June 28, 1798, and agreed on July 7 as the date when they would enter into covenant and sign articles of faith. The name of the society, adopted January 26, 1799, was the First First-Day Baptist Church in Brookfield. There were many of this faith in the vicinity. Following is a list of persons who signed the covenant: Simeon Brown, John Button, Jr., Thomas Dye, Thomas Griffin, Thomas York, Simeon Brown, Jr., Jerusha Griffin, Tabitha Burdick, Theda Frink, Polly Griffin, Ruth Brown, Thankful Rogers, Lucretia Breed, Amy Breed, Amy Brown, all of whom were from the Second Baptist church of Stonington, CT; Denison Palmer and Delight Palmer, from the Second Baptist church of Colchester; Eleazer Brown from Sidney and Guilford church; Edith Brown from the First Baptist church of Stonington; Lois Rogers from Richmondtown church and Lucy Dey from the First Baptist church of Westerly. On June 7, 1800, Simeon Brown was called to ministry and he was ordained October 15, 1800, serving until his death about 1826. For several years meetings were held in the house of the Elder Brown, until a meetinghouse was built, which was occupied until 1837. A new church was then erected in connection with the Seventh Day Baptists at Clarkville, which is still occupied by the two societies. In 1817 twenty-five members were dismissed from this church to form the Plainfield society.2
The first Methodist Episcopal Church in Brookfield, at Clarkville, was organized early in the present century, but there are no records to give the exact year. The town was visited early as 1800 by Rev. William Vredenburg, one of the preachers of the Chenango Circuit, which was formed in 1798. A quarterly meeting was held in the town January 7, 1804. The present church edifice was built in 1850, but there was a meetinghouse certainly as early as 1827. 3 The society is still prosperous under the pastorate of Rev. I. J. Nourse.
The first mill was built in this town in 1795 by Oliver Babcock has been mentioned a little further back. Others soon came into existence to meet the needs of the pioneers in different parts of the town, in some instances forming the nucleus of the latter hamlets and villages. Joseph Crumb and Stephen Clark built a gristmill in 1801 or 1802 about a mile above the site of the present one in Leonardsville; but the dam caused the water to set back and interfere with operating the mill at Unadilla Forks, and was removed the same year to the site of the present mill. This mill was rebuilt about 1829 by Samuel Brand and in 1858 by Thomas W. Stearns, the second having burned in 1856; it has had various proprietors since. Mr. Stearns also built in 1856 the sawmill adjacent to the gristmill, which he sold in 1869 to Hamilton J. Whitford, Myron Anthony and Charles H. Willamson. It is now operated by Albert Whitford. The first sawmill in the vicinity of North Brookfield was built about 1807 by Mr. Balcom; it stood a few rods directly west of the latter one on the opposite side of the road. The first mill on the site of the present one was built around 1845 and was burned in the fall preceding the erection of the present one. Later Manufactures are noticed further on.
The first merchant in Leonardsville and in this town was Rueben Leonard, from which the family village took its name; he began trading in 1801 and long conducted a large business for the time. He also kept a tavern in early years, managed a distillery, a tannery and a large ashery; he was also the first postmaster. He failed about 1820. Ethan Burdick was a merchant a little later than Mr. Leonard, and failed a little earlier and was succeeded by David and Charles O. Munson in the same store, continuing until the death of Charles O. in July, 1831. David then sold to Mr. Otis Eddy and he three of four years later to James Van Valen. He sold about 1846 to William H. Brand and two years later N. V. Brand came into the business, buying out his brother six years later. Dennis Hardin began trading there about 1820 and continued many years, associated at different periods with his brother Daniel. Charles R. Maxson was a successful merchant for a time and James H. Brand and Edwin Clark carried on the clothing business in a store built by them about 1853, and afterwards occupied by F. P. King; it was burned about 1862. Samuel Collins, William H. Brown, A. M. Griffin, and H. W. North successively traded in a building erected by the former.
Samuel Marsh opened a store about a mile and a half southeast of the village of North Brookfield in 1804 on a road which was abandoned many years ago; he failed after about five years and was imprisoned for debt and died in jail in Whitestown. Samuel Livermore was the first merchant in the village, his store being on the site of Park's hotel. He traded there several years from about 1809. Laban Olby, a colored man, kept a grocery store from 1815 to about 1844, on the site of Livermore's store. He was also a blacksmith, aided in building the Park's hotel in 1844 and kept if five or six years. He had previously entertained guests as well as he could in an old log building. He removed to Norwich in 1863 or 1864. After Mr. Livermore left a Mr. Mills kept a store about five years, after which there was no store in the place for a period. Isaac Marsh traded there from about 1834 to 1860, his partners at different times having been Solomon Gorton, Albert Beebe, David Fisk and Daniel Bennett 2nd. Asahel P. Treat opened a store about 1855 in the building afterwards occupied by S. A. Fitch, which he built. J. V. R. Livermore began business about 1850 in company with Lucius E. Beebe, and ten years later bought his partner's interest, and was later associated with D. S. Bennett, and his own son, D. D. Livermore. About five years later, another son, Charles O. Livermore, joined him and eventually purchased the business.
The first physician in Clarkville, if not in the town, was Dr. Eli S. Bailey, who was born in West Greenwich, RI, September 23, 1783. In the fall of 1809 he removed to Beaver Creek valley with his brothers-in-law and a little later to Clarkville. As before stated he was called to the ministry of the First Seventh Day Baptist church. He retired from practice in 1841. Dr. Farrell was practicing in Brookfield about the beginning of the century. In 1806 he built the house occupied in recent years by Russell Maxson. Welcome Clark was an early practitioner and continued until about 1826, when he was succeeded by his brother Ray Clark. Pliny Roberts succeeded the later. The first physician at North Brookfield was Rufus Holton, who settled there about 1806, a half mile south of the village. Dr. John Antes settled about 1838 and Dr. Elam Root was an early practitioner. There was no lawyer in this town until long after the erection of the county.
While these settlements and other evidences of advancement were in progress in the southeast part of the county, similar conditions were developing in the opposite northwest part, in the town of Sullivan, which was set off from Cazenovia on February 22, 1803, three years before the county was formed, and received its name in honor of Gen. John Sullivan, the distinguished Revolutionary officer. The town was reduced in area more than one-half on March 3, 1809, by erection of Lenox from the eastern part. It is the northwest corner of the county and is bordered on the north by Oneida Lake. It is level in the northern part, hilly in the south, and includes across its north side the great Cowasselon swamp; this is bordered on the southern side by the so-called Vlaie, or natural meadow, which is covered with a thick deposit of muck, underlaid with marl, and supporting a heavy growth of vegetation, without trees. The remains of stumps indicate that this swamp has been covered with two growths of forest in past years. The channel in the Cowasselon and Canaseraga Creeks is now an artificial ditch, the cutting of which diverted those streams from their natural course and reclaimed several thousand acres of land. The value of the mineral products of this town has been an important bearing upon settlement and growth. Marl and peat abound in the swampy regions and gypsum was discovered about the beginning of the present century by Jacob Patrick, on the farm owned in recent years by John Lillie, about three-fourths of a mile east of Chittenango, and was bought into commercial importance during the war of 1812 and the embargo preceding it, when Nova Scotia plaster was excluded from markets of the country. A plaster bed was opened here, probably as early as 1810. Thousands of tons of gypsum were quarried here, most extensively on the farm of Capt. Timothy Brown, at Canaseraga. The discovery of water lime in this town is said to have been accidental, and it was probably the first discovered in the State, though there is claim that Onondaga county preceded it in this respect. Both date from the construction of the Erie Canal, the masonry on which was contracted to be laid with common lime, on account of the cost of hydraulic cement. Mason Harris and Thomas Livingston, of this town, were to supply a quantity of the lime for the middle section of the canal, and it was then discovered that the product of these quarries would not slack when burned. Examinations and tests were made by men of scientific attainments, resulting in the discovery that it was equal to the best cements from other sources. The first discovery of the limestone was on what was known as the old Moyer farm, now owned by Charles Button and Franklin Walrath, about a mile southwest of Chittenango.
Large quantities of quick and water limestone were subsequently quarried in that vicinity, but in recent years little has been done chiefly on account of the easier accessibility of the Manlius quarries.
The White Sulphur Springs, noticed on an earlier page, are in this town; they are situated about four miles south of Chittenango Station and two miles south of Chittenango village.
The settlement of the town of Sullivan at he time it took place and by the persons who made it was due chiefly to the Revolutionary event that occurred within its limits, described in Chapter II of this volume. It will be remembered that at that time (the fall of 1780) Captain Vrooman and fifty men were surprised and captured by Butler's Rangers and those prisoners who survived were taken to Canada and held two years. Those captives had seen the fertile lands in northern Sullivan and in 1790 ten of their number with their families squatted on the Canaseraga flats adjoining tracts of land. They were ejected in the following year as trespassers on the lands of the Oneidas, who complained to Governor Clinton. The dwellings of the squatters, after having been emptied of their contents, were burned. Settlement in this town, although it began early, was not as rapid as in other parts of the county on account of Indian title to the lands, which was not wholly extinguished until 1830. As a consequence much of the town was unbroken wilderness until long after a considerable part was fully settled and improved. The names of the ten squatters mentioned were James and Joseph Pickard, Jacob, David and Hon. Yost Schuyler, Jacob Seeber, Garrett and George Van Slycke, John Palsley and John Freemyer, most of whom became early and permanent settlers. The Pickards settled in the east part of town. Jacob Schuyler settled about a mile above the site of Chittenango where he remained until his death. He kept the first tavern in the town excepting one presided over by an Indian named John Denny, at Canaseraga, and there built also the first frame house in 1800. He had sons John J., David, Phillip, James and Barney. Jacob Seeber, who was a captain and later general in the militia, removed to Clarkville. Garrett Van Slycke lived near Pool's Brook, near the Manlius line. In that locality John and Peter Christman, George Chawgo, and the Herrings, all Dutchmen from Mohawk country, also settled early, and the region became known as Kinderhook.
These pioneers were soon joined by many others, among whom were John G. Moyer, Capt. Timothy Brown, Col. Zebulon Douglass, John Matthews, Philip Daharsh, Peter Dygart, Timothy Freeman, Martin Vrooman, Capt. Rosel Barnes, a Mr. Rector, Robert Carter, Mr. Owens, Joseph and Benjamin Hosley, Jacob Patrick, Judge John Knowles, John Adams, Robert Riddell, John Smith, John Walrath, the Beebe families, John Lower, Peter Ehle, David Burton, William Miles, John Keller, Ovid Weldon, Nicholas Pickard, John Owen French, Rev. Austin Briggs, and Rueben Haight. Descendants of many of these are now residents of the town.
The pioneers needed mills early and John G. Moyer built both grist and saw mills on the site of the paper mill a mile and a half above Chittenango. These were the first in the town; the gristmill was converted into a plaster mill as early as 1814, and was later in part fitted up for cloth works by John Knowles, Jr.; it was burned about 1826 and rebuilt by Mr. Knowles as a cloth and clothing works.
The parents of Capt. Timothy Brown, who were on their way farther west, left him with a family who had settled in Sullivan. In 1819 he purchased the farm at Canaseraga subsequently owned by his grandsons Timothy S., John, Barton and Albert Brown. At the time of the purchase, the farm was owned by Albert Queenall, a Hollander from the Mohawk country. Captain Brown became a leading citizen; was a stockholder in the Seneca Turnpike, a contractor on the Erie Canal, and a prominent farmer, becoming before his death a large landowner.
Col. Zebulon Douglass settled in 1796, on the turnpike two and a half miles east of Chittenango, where his grandson, Douglass Lewis, subsequently lived. He brought in his family in 1797 and became a well-known and respected citizen. His later purchases made him a large landowner. A sketch of his life is given in Part II.
John Matthews came from MA, settled half a mile south of Bolivar, about 1810 purchased the grist and saw mills long known as Matthews Mills, a little north of the center of town; he sold them about 1822 to his brother Samuel; they were subsequently burned and not rebuilt. He had six children by his first wife and one, Joseph, by his second; they were married and settled in the vicinity.
Philip Daharsh settled at Bolivar and died there. He had a large family, but all left the town. Peter Dygart settled in the same locality with Jacob Schuyler and married his daughter; some members of the family left this vicinity and others are dead. Timothy Freeman and Martin Vrooman, settled on the turnpike, Freeman two miles southwest of Chittenango, and Vrooman between two and three miles east of that village. Bradford and Charles Freeman were sons of Timothy.
Capt. Rosel Barnes was the first settler near Bridgeport and built the first frame house there, having previously kept a tavern in a log building; he subsequently removed to Illinois. The homestead passed to Leverett Barnes, his son, who also removed west. Other early settlers in that locality were Captain Rector, a militia officer, who resided at Bridgeport until his death; Robert Carter and his sons, Robert and John; Joseph and Benjamin Hosley, brothers, and others.
Gideon Owens was a pioneer on the point of the lakeshore a little east of Bridgeport, which perpetuates his name. Jacob Patrick settled before 1800 on the turnpike three-fourths of a mile east of Chittenango, on what is long known as Patrick farm; it was there that the first gypsum was found in the county. John Knowles came from Troy in 1805 and settled on the plains two miles north of Bridgeport. He became a prominent citizen, holding offices of associate judge, member of the assembly, etc. John Adams was also from Troy, coming a little later resided at Matthews Mills, where he died. He was one of the early pioneers of this region.
John Smith came from MA and settled at Chittenango about 1800, where he kept a tavern on the turnpike, just south of the creek. The tavern stood a little in the rear of the site of the house occupied in recent years by George Walrath, and is still in existence, but unoccupied. Mr. Smith first took up the 200 acres in Chittenango village, which included the water power which ultimately operated the gristmill and cotton factory. About 1812 he arranged with Judge Jedediah Sanger and Judge Youngs of Oneida county to give them one-half of this land upon their paying for the whole. Smith was bankrupt and the deed was made in the name of his brother, Jonathan, of New Woodstock. Soon after this arrangement was carried out new mills were built.
Reuben Haight settled a mile north of Chittenango about 1800; later he removed to Michigan. Robert Riddell, from Sherburne, MA, settled on the Chittenango about a mile below Bolivar, in 1805, and died there in 1808. There was a large family, who remained on the homestead until 1811, when they separated, the sons, Robert and David, remaining here; they were many years engaged in tanning and currying, as noticed further on. Thompson, another son died in this town.
John Owen French, from Williamsburg, MA, settled in 1805 between Canaseraga and Chittenango, and died there in 1808, leaving sons Horatio, Jairus, Samuel and Thomas, all born in Williamsburg, and all becoming prominent citizens; they had farms near the homestead, and Samuel was elected sheriff in 1843. David Burton settled in Canaseraga in 1806.
John H. Walrath was a native of Minden, Montgomery county, and came to this town in 1808 from Rome, having a contract to construct a section of the Seneca Turnpike. In the following spring he settled on a farm on the west bank of Chittenango Creek, on the site of the foundry and machine shop, where he resided until his death, September 16, 1816. He was only forty-seven years old at the time, but had already attained a prominent place in the community, and his family has always been conspicuous for their good citizenship. His sons were Henry I., John I., Abraham and Daniel; the latter was father of Peter Walrath, now of Chittenango.
David and Joseph Beebe settled at Canaseraga and the family became prominent in that locality. John Lower settled about a mile west of Chittenango and died there at an early day. His son Richard was the first blacksmith at Chittenango, where he was succeeded by his son, Jacob.
Peter Ehle was a Revolutionary soldier from Montgomery county, and settled in the southwest part of the town, where his great-grandson lived in later years. He died on that farm and was succeeded by his son Henry, born April 13, 1787, and afterwards moved to Chittenango and died there in 1870. Oliver Ehle, son of Henry, succeeded to the farm and died there in 1862. John P., eldest of Peter Ehle, settled and died on a farm adjoining his father's, and Peter P., another son, settled in that locality, but later moved to Fenner, where he died in 1847. George, another son, long kept the Dixon House in Chittenango, and removed later to Cazenovia, where he kept the Lincklaen House.
Rev. Austin Briggs, a Methodist preacher from CT, settled at about the beginning of the War of 1812, on a soldier's right in Manlius, but his title was not good and he soon removed to the lakeshore in this town. Other families among early settlers were named White, Eastwood, Crownhart, Dunham, and others.
These and other settlers in Sullivan mentioned in Part II and elsewhere in these pages, devoted their energies to the development of the town and the establishment of its institutions. Religious services in the Presbyterian faith were held here at about the beginning of the century and on the 11th of September, 1802, records show that the Bethzura Presbyterian Society met at the "house or barn" of Conrad Lower in Canaseraga, pursuant to a call of "Phineas Caldwell, a member of the Presbyterian congregation on the Genesee road (there being no ministers, elders, deacons, church warden or vestrymen belonging to the said society or congregation"), made August 21, 1802, and there elected Ebenezer Caulking and Oliver Clark, returning officers, and Walter Brasher, Oliver Clark, Phineas Caldwell, Harmanus Van Antwerp, Ebenezer Caulking and William Sternbergh, trustees. The first pastor of this church, as far as records show, was Rev. Ira M. Olds, who was ordained as minister over this society and also the church of Lenox, where he continued his labor until 1832. The remnant of this church residing in this locality formed the nucleus of a new society, which was organized soon afterward, and after a few years of feeble existence substantially lost its identity by a partial union with the Reformed Dutch. Other early pastors of the church were Rev. Mr. Adams, who removed from the lakeshore to the village about 1818; Charles Johnson and Revs. Huntington and Gazelee. The meetings were held in the so-called "Bethel," which was built about 1816 and used for both religious and school purposes and occupied a small park in Chittenango village. At a later date services were held on the second floor of the woolen mill, where Dr. Yates of the Polytechny, fitted up an apartment. This arrangement continued until erection of the stone Dutch Reformed church in 1828, which is still in use. The Dutch Reformed organization was effected January 12, 1828, the Presbyterians uniting, as before stated, for the building of an edifice. Baptists, Methodists and Universalists also held meetings in the "Bethel" a number of years. Rev. Hutchins Taylor was employed for about a year after the organization, when he was succeeded by Rev. Dr. Andrew Yates; other early pastors were Revs. William H. Campbell, John C. F. Hoes, James Able, S. P. M. Hastings, James R. Talmadge and C. O. Thatcher. The Presbyterians withdrew from the Reformed church soon after its organization and about 1831 built the church in the village that subsequently sold to the Baptist society and later to the Catholics; it was finally burned. This society had dissention with the Presbytery and in 1836 was struck from the roll. Services were intermittent and the organization passed out of existence.
In the very early years of the century Canaseraga was the most important point in town. In 1805 two stores were maintained there, one kept by Rueben Hawley (the latter the father of Gen. J. Dean Hawley, long a prominent merchant in Syracuse and now employed in the post office in that city), and the other by William Malcolm; they were probably the first merchants in that place. At Chittenango there were only two taverns, one kept by John Smith, and the other, which became Yates House, by Ball & Cary, with two or three dwellings. There was not a store in that village until 1812. The mills at Canaseraga were built previous to 1805 in their original form; the present mills were not erected until 1855. All this indicates that the principal village growth in the town of Sullivan did not take place until after the organization of the county and, therefore, will be taken up in later chapters.
1 - Spelled later years "Jabez."
2 - The Second Brookfield Seventh Day Baptist church was organized January 23, 1823, by persons who withdrew from the First church above described. Rev. William B. Maxwell was chosen moderator of the council and John Davis, clerk. The number of members was seventy. Eli S. Bailey was first pastor and served until 1840.
The First Sabbatarian Baptists Church and Society in Brookfield was organized February 8, 1802. The first trustees were Joshua Maxson and Ethan Clarke, for three years; Joshua Coon and Clark Maxson, for two years; Joshua Whitford and Abel Burdick, for one year. A meetinghouse was soon erected36 by 46 feet with a gallery. The trustees purchased of Nathan and Isaac Brown one acre of land for $72.50, which was a lot on the southwest corner of the original four corners of Leonardsville. The first edifice was occupied for forty-seven years when it was burned, on the anniversary of the day the frame was raised, October 7, 1849. A new church was built the next year on the same site.
The Second Baptist church in Brookfield is situated at North Brookfield and was organized June 4, 1800, at the house of Thomas Leech, with the following members: Absalom Miner, Ruth Miner, Joy and Polly Handy, Jason and Sarah Miller, Zadock and Lucy Beebe, and James and Anna Leech. Absalom Leech was subsequently educated in the ministry and preached his first sermon in this church. He afterward settled in Wisconsin. The records of the society down to 1806 are not in existence. At a meeting held June 3 of that year, Elder Joy Handy was the pastor. On January 14, 1809, the Second and Third churches met and agreed to unite into one body. In the spring of that year, Elder Nathaniel Marsh was appointed to the pastorate. The church was incorporated December 12, 1816, under the same name, The Second First-Day Baptist Church and Society. The first meetinghouse was built in 1815. The frame of this building was used in the construction of the second edifice, which was erected in 1848, and still stands.
3 - The Second Methodist Episcopal Church of Brookfield, at Leonardsville, was organized in March, 1875, under ministerial direction of Rev. Samuel Salisbury, who was then stationed at Clarkville; he continued his labor with this church until April, 1877. The church was incorporated March 23, 1876, and Luke Hoxie, E. A. Green, F.W. McIntyre, William R. Gardner, and William S. Risley were elected trustees. The meeting at which the legal organization was effected was held in Palmer's Hall, where the meetings had previously been held and where they were continued until the church edifice was erected in 1876.
Copied Exactly as Printed by
Dianne D
March 22, 2003
If you have resources for Madison County or would like to volunteer to help with look-ups, please e-mail me at Tim StowellMadison Co, NY Page
You are our 5089 visitor since 30 Mar 2003 -- thanks for stopping by!
Last updated: 15 May 2011