A Biographical Sketch of
ASA DANFORTH
From Onondaga; or Reminiscences of Earlier and Later Times, Vol. 2, by Joshua V. H. Clark, A.M., Stoddard and Babcock, Syracuse, N.Y., 1849, pp. 115-118
Click here for picture of Gen. Asa Danforth's home, from Pioneer Times in the Onondaga Country, by Carroll E. Smith, LL.D., C. W. Bardeen, Publisher, Syracuse, NY, 1904, pg. 61
At the instance of General Israel Putnam, Capt. Danforth joined the army of the United States, and served through the war as we have been informed, with a Major's rank and commission.
At the time he entered the army, he was the owner of extensive iron works, which property he sold, and received his pay for, in Continental money, which soon after depreciated; and, at the close of the war, he found himself destitute of property. This was the cause of his leaving Massachusetts, and of his seeking a new home, whereby his shattered fortune might be repaired. He located himself in the town of Mayfield, Montgomery County, where he spent a few years, and where he had his first interview with Mr. Webster.
General Danforth occupied a wide space in the early history of Onondaga County. His whole life was one of eventful interest. He passed through all the trials and sufferings incident to a patriot and soldier of that "mighty period which tried men's souls" - the American Revolution; and, after having lost the means of securing for himself and family, a competent support through life, by his earnestness to serve his country, he was formed, as it were, penniless upon the world. In this hour of his adversity, his fortitude and courage never forsook him. These traits, with which in a remarkable degree he was endowed, enabled him successfully to stem the torrent of disappointment and misfortune, and exemplified in a remarkable manner, the steadfast resolution and indomitable perseverence of the man. Nothing daunted, he pushed far beyond the abodes of civiled men, and voluntarily shared all the toils and dangers attendant upon the life of a forester, isolated from the blessings of civilization, in a land inhabited only by savages. With a character, bold, determined, independent and uncompromising, where his own interests and the good of his fellow men were to be advanced; with a physical constitution capable of enduring every vicissitude of climate and fatigue; with a mind thoroughly imbued with every lofty sentiment of courtesy and honor comporting with the dignity of a citizen and soldier, he was most admirably calculated to assume the high responsibility and position of a pioneer in a wilderness land.
Upon his arrival at Onondaga, he found himself and his family the only white persons (except Webster) in the country. Judge White at Sadaquate, (Whitesboro) fifty miles distant, was his nearest neighbor on the east. A British garrison was still kept at Oswego, which took every occasion to foment discords and jealousies between the Indians and their new neighbors, which was a source of continual annoyance to them. The tide of emigration had not then set towards the wilds of western New-York. Single-handed and alone, he encountered the hardships, privations and discouragements of a frontier settler, and prepared the way for others less bold and adventurous than himself; and, as the lonely woodmen, one by one wended their way into this land of promise and prospective plenty, this fatherly man kindly took them by the hand, welcomed them on, and pointed out to them the most favorable places for habitation.
He was a striking example of pure and disinterested benevolence. No man who passed his hospitable threshold, but was received with kindness and affection, and none retired from it but with feelings of regret. During a long and gloomy period, his house was the seat of hospitality, the resting place of the traveler, the home of the stranger, and the abode of charity. The bounties of his cabin were freely dispensed to all who entered; and, although thousands shared the blessings of his board, it was always without money and without price.
From his early sojourn here, and for a long period, he was personally and intimately known to every individual on the Military Tract. He was looked up to as a father, and enjoyed for many years, the high consideration of bearing paternal sway among the primitive settlers of his favored country. He knew and was known of every one; his counsel and advice were sought and received with respect and deference, and none had occasion to regret their solicitations or confidence.
His capacity and enterprise fitted him for almost every station and duty in active life; hence, he became identified with every interest which tended to promote the welfare of his fellow-men, and advance the prosperity of the country.
He enjoyed in an eminent degree the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. Consequently, he was often called upon to fill the most important offices of trust and honor in the county, and he performed the duties assigned him, with credit to himself and with satisfaction to his constituents.
For a number of years he was a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas; was one term a Senator for the Western District; and Superintendent of the Onondaga Salt Springs, and held numerous other offices of less importance, in all which stations, he exhibited a high degree of capacity and manly bearing. Besides, he was for many years, from the first organization of the militia, the highest military officer in Onondaga County; ascending the several grades from Major to Major General; at a period too, when a military commission implied worth, and conferred distinction.
He was a man possessing a large fund of general intelligence, was remarkable for his social conversational powers, for the kindness of his disposition, his readiness to oblige his neighbors, and those refined and softer feeling which adorn the human heart.
After a long and active life, more than thirty years of which was spent at Onondaga; during the whole period of which he was a leading man in all the most important enterprises of the day, he ceased from his labors.
He may be with propriety (as he often has been) styled the father of the country; an appellation well deserved.
He died at his residence, at Onondaga Hollow, September 2d, 1818, in
the seventy-third year of his age, universally lamented and mourned by
an extensive circle of friends.
Gen. Asa Danforth's House, rebuilt and used as a barn; original land place, Onondaga Valley
picture taken from Pioneer Times in the Onondaga Country,
by Carroll E. Smith, LL.D., C. W. Bardeen, Publisher, Syracuse, NY, 1904, pg. 61
Information on Asa Danforth from Onondaga's Centennial, by Dwight H. Bruce, Boston History Co., 1896, Vol. I.
Updated 22 August 1998