tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77485269150178773172024-02-08T10:10:51.076-05:00Heaps of HistoryHistoric writings and photographs collected by the Browns of Whiskey HollowUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-12759367881860550732017-10-07T10:25:00.002-04:002017-10-07T10:58:45.317-04:00Charlotte Buell Coman - Artist<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>(Written by PsBrown for her blog, "At Home in the Huddle" c. March, 2014</i></div>
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<i>as part of her "Women I Wish I had Known" series.)</i><br />
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<span class="s1">..........it was Genevie Brainard’s grandson Charles’ wife, Marion, who introduced me to the story of Charlotte Buell. We stood in the living room of the Brainards’ new home on Putnam Street, in the early 1970s, staring at a large watercolor of a bowl of white roses. It was signed “C. B. Coman” and I remember just standing there, wondering how a watercolorist could do such clear, shimmering work! Marion told me that Charlotte had been born here, in Waterville, in 1833, several years after her father, Chauncey, had come to Waterville and entered into first the tannery business and then the successful manufacture of shoes and boots.</span></div>
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<span class="s1">As Mrs. Brainard continued her story, she explained that even when Charlotte was a little girl she liked to draw. (Although I can't corroborate this, another person told me that it was Charlotte who, at the age of twelve, had drawn this picture of the first Presbyterian Church building – the one built in 1823 that stood across from the Village Green exactly where the Brunswick is, now.)</span><br />
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<span class="s1">Even as a child Charlotte suffered from some loss of hearing, and perhaps for that reason her father and mother encouraged her in her artistry to the extent that they presented her work at a special art exhibit. The local critics shook their heads, however, and quietly agreed that although a nice child, she’d never be a real artist.</span><br />
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<span class="s1">Drawing and painting may, in fact, have been the last thing on Charlotte’s mind when she married Elijah Coman, a man who had lived “about twenty miles away.” He was a man with a dream, people said, and the newlyweds loaded a covered wagon and set out for Iowa and frontier life on a farm. Several years later, however, “Eli” died and, at about that same time, Charlotte became completely deaf - something she jokingly said later was an advantage because she couldn't hear the scathing remarks of critics. She returned to Waterville and determined that in spite of her trouble, she was not going to be idle. At age forty, she committed herself to a career in art.</span><br />
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<span class="s1">Probably with her parents’ help, she moved to New York City and trained with James Brevoort, a landscape painter of some reputation. A few years later, she sailed for Europe where she continued her training in Paris, Amsterdam and London. A painting of hers, called The French Village, was displayed at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876, and after a decade overseas, she returned to New York City. She received much positive attention including election in 1910 as an Associate to the National Academy of Design, but well-aware of discrimination against women artists by male jurors, she always signed her work C.B. Coman.</span><br />
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<span class="s1"><i>"Clearing Off"</i></span></div>
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She spent summers in the Adirondacks and winters along the Atlantic shore, painting what she liked and displaying the best of what she created. It wasn’t until she was in her late seventies that she started to become very -known and collect award after award for her work. </div>
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<span class="s1">For several years she lived in a studio/apartment in New York City, moving to a retirement home in her last years. She continued to paint until she died in Yonkers, New York, in 1924 at age 89.</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-28116848034063728642016-06-17T05:29:00.000-04:002016-06-17T05:54:03.476-04:00Remembering the Bartons<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<u><span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Remembering the Bartons<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; font-size: 10.0pt;">PsBrown<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Both Edward and Hilda Ridings Barton had grown up on farms on the outskirts of the village but had climbed, comfortably, into positions of social prominence in the community along with other couples with names like Conger, Tyler and Brainard who enjoyed the financial fruits of their ancestors’ labors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I remember Mr. Barton as being a smallish man, sort-of stooped, always wearing a three-piece brown suit, tie, and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- outdoors - a brown hat. He had an “English” bicycle that he rode down White Street from his home (now the Petrie residence, across from the new municipal hall) to the post office, careening ‘round the corner and up into the parking lot with one hand on the handlebar and the other clasping his hat to his head, and with a worn leather briefcase slung across his shoulders, like a “book bag,” on a long strap. He was quiet, but - in my recollection - always courteous, offering a smiling “Good day!” to everyone he met and tipping his hat to the ladies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">At home, he must have spent most of his time in his study - more a library, with walls of bookcases holding scores of volumes of history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had two favorite areas of study: the histories of saints, and his family genealogy. Learning that I could draw, he asked me to turn verbal descriptions of some saints into pictures and, when that project was completed, we turned to his family tree only to discover, with mutual amusement, that roots of both his and my families had been somewhat intertwined back in 18th century Massachusetts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One afternoon, while chatting about “life back then,” I stepped near a wall to look at a small piece of artwork - a Russian icon, it turned out, that had come from the royal palace in St. Petersburg. He said, “Oh, do take it off the wall, Mrs. Brown (‘I was probably in my early 30s, but he always called me “Mrs. Brown”) and take it over to the window to look at!” And when I’d done that, “Would you like to take it home and enjoy it?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He probably knew I’d say, “Oh, no! I couldn’t do that!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, perhaps, he didn’t.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">While Edward Barton was studying saints and genealogy (and riding a state-of-the-art mechanical exercycle which was also in his study) his wife, Hilda. was out and around the community pursuing her own entertainment and projects. A rather non-descript woman with an Eleanor Roosevelt sort of smile, she was always tidily dressed in simple but expensive outfits and traveled not on bicycle but in silvery Lincoln - often down the middle of the street! She, it appeared, had always loved local history and had been collecting pictures and stories and artifacts for years. She went one step further than other collectors, ‘though, in that she had photographer David Chernoff make copies of all the old photographs that she could locate and went to considerable expense purchasing at auctions<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>numerous items that she thought should not leave Waterville. Most memorable might be the twelve straight-backed wooden chairs once owned by the eccentric Ruben Tower who had had the front legs of the chairs shortened by an inch or so so that the seats tilted forward, were miserably uncomfortable and did not encourage any quests seated in them to stay!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She didn’t do it for herself - they were stored in a barn on Putnam Street for several years - she did it for the community!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was the one, too, who persisted in researching and pestering the powers-that-be to have the “historic triangle” placed on the National Register of Historic Places - an event that took place in 1978. Not that she was always serious!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent enough time helping her on various projects to learn that:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1. She enjoyed both hearing and telling slightly risqué jokes, and, 2. She could really swear!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought she was lots of fun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The Bartons, as expected of anyone of their social standing, left matters of housekeeping and gardening to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>others - in this case, Frank and Mary Kilar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mrs. Barton complained mildly that “Edward can’t do a thing for himself!” while she, herself, actually admitted to having trouble opening a can of tuna fish!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One autumn, Hilda was hospitalized for a few days and I, having become fairly chatty with Edward, took him a freshly-baked apple pie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I delivered it early one morning and explained that I’d used disposable pie tins so that he wouldn’t have to worry about returning a pie plate and there were three or four layers so that it wouldn’t easily leak when he cut into the pie. He looked at the pie; he looked at me and said, “Oh, Mrs. Brown - I don’t believe I’ve ever cut a pie!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said it so sadly and apologetically, I’ve never forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I quickly said, “Oh - don’t worry!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary (Kilar) will take care of that!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But - as it turned out,, Mary didn’t cut and serve the pie:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when it was nearly noontime, Mr. Barton summoned the Kilars from their work,and asked them to sit down with him at the little kitchen table where he gave them each forks and spoons and invited them to share the pie with him<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>--- they just dug in from three directions: no cutting necessary!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I don’t believe I ever saw the Bartons together at any social function in the village, but there certainly was no coolness between them at home and, for their fiftieth wedding anniversary, Edward proudly presented Hilda with a gift from Tiffany’s - his pride not so much that it was made by Tiffany, but that it was one-of-a-kind and that he alone had thought up the design:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on a simple gold chain hung a rough, unpolished gold nugget about the size of a peanut and set into the nugget, a perfect diamond. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The last time I saw Edward Barton was on the occassion of his birthday, one June 21st.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hilda telephoned me a bit after dinnertime and said I “must come to help light the gas plant for Edward!” I had no idea what she was talking about, but it couldn’t have been too much of a dangerous, flamable or explosive emergency because she sounded very cheerful!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I arrived at the Bartons’ in my usual, grass-stained overalls (they were used to that!) to discover (with chagrin) that there were other guests there, as well, and they were wearing real, going-out-to-dinner clothes and were sipping sherry in the parlor!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the overalls paid off:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when Hilda judged it to be “getting dark out,” we all trooped through the kitchen, out the back door and across the driveway to the lawn and garden where Hilda, gesturing to a small shrub with stalks of pink blossoms, said to all of us, “There’s Edward’s gas plant!” And the two of them actually tittered, knowing the rest of us were thoroughly mystified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After we’d all arranged ourselves on the grass in a semi-circle around the mysterious “gas plant,” I was handed a box of matches and told to strike one and hold the flame just below and away from the lowest blossom on one of the stalks. I did, and - with everyone else - gasped as one-by-one, up the stalk, one blossom after another emitted a match-like burst of flame igniting the gas being emitted from the blossom above it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a mini fireworks display and evoked “Oooohs” and “Aaahs” and applause as stem after stem was touched off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we’d exhausted the plant’s supply of excitement, we happily sang “Happy Birthday, dear Edward!” and left, smiling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The last time I saw Hilda, years later, she was quite frail and sat propped up in bed, eager to hear the latest gossip, exchange a joke or two and talk a bit of history. I’d taken her a bouquet of flowers from my gardens - many cut from plants that she’d originally given me over the years - and, after talking for fifteen or twenty minutes, she picked up the bouquet and said, “These really should be put in water, now.” It was my clue to leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when I stood up, she said, “Wait just a minute: help me do something.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She started to take individual blossoms<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>off a stalk of foxglove and putting the little “hats” on each of her fingers! “And now will you ask Mrs. Ruane (Dottie was her personal aide, then) to come upstairs, please?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">And that’s the last image I have of Hilda, sitting up in bed and holding up both hands, palm outwards, admiring her childlike reflection in a mirror across the room! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">‘Til her death, she remained the most reliable source of historic information, always knowing who was who and what happened when and where to look for information. Too often, when someone asks me one of those questions, I have no ready answer, and can only shake my head and silently demand to know, “Hilda! Where are you when we need you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Althought the Barton Fund was established by Edward Barton alone, the Barton Legacy was given the community by both, for they contributed generously to their churches and -althought Hilda wanted it always to be kept secret - she, especially, - and anonymously - “helped out” a great many families who didn’t even know her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "century schoolbook"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">I think the most important aspect of their legacy was this : even if you have heaps of money to enhance your life,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>remember that there is even greater value and pleasure to be found in simple things like “gas plants,” foxglove blossoms and spoon-sharing an apple pie!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-10624297480937521342015-12-14T05:31:00.000-05:002015-12-14T05:37:09.270-05:00Aaron Stafford<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">MAJ. AARON STAFFORD.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A VETERAN OFFICER OF 1812.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>The Story of His Eventful Life - Rev. Dana Bigelow's Remarks - </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Long Life but a Point Compared With Eternity – </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">His Coffin Enveloped in His Country's Flag.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7748526915017877317" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7748526915017877317" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Aaron Stafford of this village, was born March 18, 1787, and died the 6th of September, 1885. He was </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">born and died on a</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sunday; and</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">was five months and twenty-nine days older than the federal constitution. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He had resided in the town of Sangerfield 84</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">years,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and lived 71 years in the house where he died. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">He was the last survivor of the soldiers of the war of 1812, who was known to have held an officer's commission; the last one before him having died about seven years ago. The first President he voted for </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">was James Madison, and the last, Grover Cleveland. All the Presidents of the United States were </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">inaugurated during his</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">life time.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mr. Stafford's funeral was attended from his late residence last Tuesday, and the services were performed by Rev. R.H. Nelson, Rector of Grace Church, and Rev. Dana W. Bigelow, pastor of the Memorial </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Presbyterian Church, of Utica. Mr. Bigelow ever since his boyhood had known Mr. Stafford personally, in whose character there was much that he admired. He delivered the following discourse on the occasion </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">of his funeral:</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But a few months since, a beloved grand-daughter, beautiful in youth, was</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">borne</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">from this house. Today, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">in the providence of God, we meet to bear to his last resting place the aged grandfather.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We had thought that Mr. Stafford might live to complete one hundred full years; and while he was </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">e</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">njoying</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a comfortable old age, in his own home, infirm but bright in mind, surrounded by those who ministered to his every want, we had earnestly hoped that this expectation might be realized. But an iron constitution yielded at last to bodily infirmities, and he who has been with this village from its settlement, and with this nation from before the day that its first President was inaugurated, has departed this life.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Can we speak of such life as a shadow? Yes, if we compare it with the life to come. We speak of this as </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">long life, but a century has beginning and end, and the hereafter is</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">eternity, the forever and ever. This measure of time is in</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">truth</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">but a</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">point,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and man at his best estate is as but a flower of the field. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Our times are in the hands of One with whom a thousand years are as one day and one day as a thousand years. Shall we not then be again reminded that our days are as a shadow, and there is none abiding? Our days on earth are numbered, and though they</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">be</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">multiplied beyond those of any other person of our generation, yet they will be certainly and soon passed. Blessed be the Lord, our God, that He who has life and</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">immortality,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">has given his own Son, that we may live by him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">resurrection and the life, and if on earth we live by faith in Him, in love and obedience, death is but the beginning of time and endless life. We may ask for the blessing of long life, and rejoice if many days are</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">gven</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">us on earth where we may find so much to do and so much to enjoy, but let it be our first and chief thought that under Divine guidance, in following Christ, we may be prepared for the Father's house in Heaven, for life in the presence of the glorified Saviour, and for reunion there with loved ones who have been redeemed unto God, to his own possession and joy,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">world</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">without end. If, however, we compare on hundred years with the time allotted to nearly all of any generation, how remarkable they appear as the period of one individual life.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When the last century closed, a boy of thirteen years enjoyed a pleasant home across the street from this house where we meet this afternoon. All this part of the village was then the Stafford farm, a place for work, and the field for many sports, for boys of that day loved</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">sport</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and knew where to find it, as did other boys who followed after in other years. Perhaps it was the memory of his own boyhood that made him so lenient when a man, toward boys who in</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">generation</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">after generation found a playground in his pastures and orchards, and by the stream that wound its was so pleasantly beneath the trees and through the fields of his</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">wide reaching</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">farm. We were never closely watched, never ordered off from the frequented fishing and swimming places, from croquet grounds and training fields. Surely his boyhood must have taught him, that boys are boys and that their sports last none too long.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When 1812 came Aaron Stafford was no longer a boy, but a young man, twenty-five years of age, and ardent lover of his nation, which was of his own age, nearly, not quite. He enlisted for war at the time of his country's</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">need,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and proved his valor and spirit of self-sacrifice in conflicts that left him severely wounded. Henceforth he bore in his body the marks of his participation. He gave other proofs of this regard for the welfare of his country. He served the State at one time in the halls of legislation; and when a private citizen, he maintained an intense interest in our history. If he differed from others in</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">judgement</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">at any time, none had reason to question the</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">depth,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">or the sincerity of his convictions. He was unwavering in his loyalty to his friends. Those who once esteemed him as a</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">friend,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">found him ever the same, cheerful in spirit and warm in personal friendship. His kindness of heart toward</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">all,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">made him a man well spoken of and esteemed by</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">tahe</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">whole community. Those who remember his not as an aged man, shut in and ministered to, but the man of strength and of affairs, will</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">expecially</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">affirm the truth of these statements. Another generation has grown to</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">manhood,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">since Mr. Stafford was very active among the leaders of society.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But in his own</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">home</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">he was best known. He had a worthy wife, who became a dearly loved mother. Children were born, grew to manhood and womanhood, went forth to take their places in the world, with fond memories of the old home, to which they love often to return. They remember him as a father ever thoughtful of their happiness, ever deeply interested in their welfare. Most affectionate, and most grateful for every act of kindness, he appreciated all that was done for his comfort in old age. He lived to witness how great changes were made in this village and this nation, and what overturnings in the world. He lived until his appointed time</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">was come; and after bearing trials in brave and patient spirit, he has passed from among us. His peaceful and pleasant face nay now be looked upon for the last time.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The pall bearers were J.A. Berrill, W.J. Bissell, G.H. Church, M.L. Conger, J.W. Hubbard, E.H. Lamb, A.O. Osborn, Geo. Putnam, F.H. Terry and</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Charlemange</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tower.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The remains were interred in the Waterville Cemetery, near the center of the grounds; he is the oldest person ever buried there. The stone over the grave of his father, Ichabod Stafford, whose grave is in the southwest corner is the oldest stone in the cemetery.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The following interesting sketch was prepared by Aaron Stafford's grandson, Martin H. Stafford of New York:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Aaron Stafford, born March 18, 1787 at Cheshire, Mass., and died at Waterville, N.Y., Sept. 6, at the advanced age of 98 years, 5 months and 18 days, was the second son of Ichabod Stafford by his wife Humility, daughter of James Green, Jr., of Coventry, R.I., and the lineal descendant of Thomas Stafford, one of the colony that settled at Portsmouth and Newport, R.I., in the spring of 1638.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At the close of the Revolution, in which he with four of his brothers had served their country, Ichabod Stafford, with his brother William, and their families, moved from Coventry, R.I., to Lanesboro, Mass., in 1783, and they were soon followed by his father and other members of the Stafford family, and it was here that Aaron Stafford was born soon after Lanesboro was divided and the new town of Cheshire created.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ichabod Stafford removed to Duanesburgh, N.Y., in 1788, where he resided until the summer of 1793, when with Joseph and Abraham Forbes, with their families, removed to what is now August, Oneida Co., N.Y., being the first white settlers of that town. In 1801 Mr. Stafford having purchased of Nathan Gurney,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bazerial</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Gurney, his son, and</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bincas</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Owen, all their rights in lot No. 40, in the town of Sangerfield, and what is now the eastern portion of the village of Waterville, removed his family to his new home, and in the following year built a house upon the lot where now stands the residence of Mr. George Putnam. Here Mr. Stafford lived until his death, July 30, 1804. At his death he left a widow and a family of five chi in a new, but</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">rappidly</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">growing country, he had few of the advantages enjoyed by those who were members of older communities, but he improved the advantages that were presented, and few indeed were the boys of his time who could equal him in natural abilities, or who had improved their advantages better than he. At the death of his father he took the most active part in the management of the property that his father had left, at the same time not neglecting to improve his mind.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 1801 his mother and the other children, of which Aaron Stafford was the third and then in his eighteenth year. Mr. Stafford left his family in comfortable circumstances and the farm was managed for several years by his widow, in which she was assisted by her two eldest sons, but Aaron in particular.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The early years of Aaron Stafford's life were passed much as the life of any boy in his station of life may be supposed to have been passed, without any particular event to distinguish it from those of his companions. The son of a pioneer the other children moved from the house his father had built to a new house they had erected on the opposite side of the road, and Mr. Stafford opened the old home as a public house, which he conducted successfully for two years, but the life was not in many respects pleasant to him and he closed it to devote his time to farming.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mr. Stafford was engaged in farming when the war of 1812 called the country to arms. He was the first to enlist and call upon the young men of the vicinity to join him. He raised a small company of men, of which he was appointed ensign, and in</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">May,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1812, went to Sacketts Harbor under Col. Marshall Bellinger in First Detachment N.Y. State Militia. When the three months had expired for which they had volunteered, he volunteered to remain and was in service twenty-four days before discharged, the service having been one of garrison duty.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Immediately on his return</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">home</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">he was visited by Major Maynard who, appreciating his ability and courage, offered him the position of adjutant of the 16th Reg. N.Y. Detached Militia</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">commanded by Lieut. Col. Farrand Stranahan. He accepted and at once went to Albany, where he successfully passed the examination and received his commission. After procuring his uniform he joined his regiment at Winfield on Sept. 8, 1812, and the regiment soon after took up its march for the Niagara River and reached Niagara Falls the Friday before the battle of Queenstown Hights. He was soon after dispatched with a company to Buffalo to convey provisions to the army, and executed his difficult commission with so much skill and dispatch as to win the applause of his superior officers.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At sunrise on the morning of October 13, 1812, the main body of the army, under the command of Gen. Winfield Scott, commenced to cross the river, and Stafford was left in command of a detachment to cross after the main body had landed. He followed close after the main body, under fire of the British, landed and commenced to ascend the</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">hights, but had not proceeded but a short distance before they were fired upon by a body of British and Indians, by which several were killed and wounded. Stafford was shot in the shoulder by an Indian, but still kept his horse and passed on at the head of his command, but was soon again shot in the thigh and fell from his horse. Several officers and men who saw him fall supposed him</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">dead,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">but rushed to the spot to prevent him from being scalped by the Indians, among the number Capt. Felt, who helped to bind up his wounds and assisted</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">to carry him down the hill. but the Americans had lost the day, being outnumbered, and all the wounded, with many others, were taken prisoners. Stafford, with many of the officers and men, were conducted to Ft. George, where they were confined as prisoners of war. Stafford's wounds proved severe and he suffered greatly from want of proper care and</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">attenion, though Dr. Sumner, the British surgeon in charge, did all he could under the circumstances to alleviate the sufferings of those under his care, but particularly of Stafford, who he admired for his high spirit and patient endurance of his wounds, and here was the commencement of a warm personal friendship between them which was only broken by the death of Dr. Sumner many years after.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Stafford, with other officers and men, were paroled after a week's imprisonment, and Dec. 8 he hired a boat to take him across the Niagara River to Black Rock, but nearly lost his life through the blundering of the men who rowed the boat. After a long and painful</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">journey</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">he reached home on Christmas night in</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a very exhausted</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">state of health, and weeks passed before he was even out of danger.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This terminated his military career, and though promoted to the rank of Major he did not recover from his wounds sufficiently to permit him to again enter the service until the war was over, much to his sorrow, as the martial spirit ran high in his character.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">June 26, 1814, he married Harriet, daughter of Zeno Terry, who moved from Enfield, Conn., to Sangerfield, N.Y., being one of the first settlers of that town. He commenced his married life in the house which he had previously purchased from his brother Welcome, which he considerably enlarged and improved and made his residence the remainder of his life. Here he lived in great happiness with his wife for sixty-one years, until her death, April 5, 1875, and here their children were born. Lothrop P.; Mary, wife of Henry T. Utley of Waterville, N.Y.; Harriet, wife of William B. Stafford of New York; Marshall B., and Aaron Jackson. The eldest and youngest died several years before him.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mr. Stafford was an active man in the community in which he lived, interesting himself in all measures for the advancement and improvement of the town, and though an active member of his political party, labored for its success from principles and not for political advancements. He was repeatedly urged to accept office, but only consented to the use of his name but once. That was in</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1833,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">when the Democrats were very anxious to elect their legislative ticket in his District. The district had become close, and it was generally supposed that the Whigs would win it. Members of the legislature were elected on a general ticket at the time, and not by single districts, as at present, and Mr. Stafford was urged to</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">gon</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">on the ticket to strengthen it, as he was personally very popular with all classes. He accepted the nomination and the ticket</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">was</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">elected, greatly to the surprise of the Whig candidates, who felt so confident of their election that they had engaged their quarters at Albany in anticipation of their sure</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">eleection. Mr. Stafford acquired</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">considerable</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">reputation for the share he had in the victory. Judge Pomeroy Jones of Westmoreland was associated with Mr. Stafford on this legislative ticket and was also elected. A long and sincere friendship existed between them, severed only by the death of Judge Jones about two years ago. Political life had no charms for him, and he took greater pleasure in contributing to a victory than being the recipient</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ofits</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">fruits.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mr. Stafford was a farmer, his whole active life being devoted to the cultivation of the soil, in which occupation he was successful, and his farm was one of the largest and best conducted in this section of the country. He and his brothers and sisters owned at one time all the land upon which the eastern portion of the village of Waterville is situated. Both sides of what is now Stafford avenue as far as the old Hooker road was once his farm and where are those yet living who can remember when there were very few houses on that avenue, except the house in which he lived and died, which was built in 1810 by his brother, and purchased by him in 1813, and which has undergone so many changes as to leave but little of the original design recognizable. It was here that he had lived for seventy-one years and died, and all his children were born. He had lived to see a prosperous and beautiful village grow up out of the wilderness, and be surrounded by more people than were to be found in the whole</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">county</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">when he came to it as a boy, for indeed there was no such</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">county</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">as Oneida then, or for several years after. Not a person is now living who remembers him as a boy, or young man; they have all passed away, and like the tall oak that has been spared by the woodman and stands alone, so stood he - the last survivor of the little colony in the wilderness, surrounded by a new generation and a new life. He was not only the oldest person in the town at the time of his</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">death,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">but the oldest citizen, not only of this town but of any in this section of the state. That is, there is no one</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">known</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">to be living in the county of Oneida, or of Central New York, who came to it as early as he - 1793. He was also the last survivor of the soldiers of 1812 who was known to have held an officer's commission.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">person</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mr. Stafford was five feet ten inches in height, of commanding figure, and like his father's</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">family,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">possessed of great physical strength. In his younger</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">days</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">he carried himself erect, with</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">dignified</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">bearing, and was regarded as a man of prepossessing appearance. Amiable in disposition, of even temper, and proverbial for his kindness of heart, strict</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">integrity</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">and unimpeachable honor, he commanded the respect of all with whom he came in contact. He was very firm in his convictions and bold in expressing his opinions, which were never formed hastily, but after due reflection, and when once formed he held to them with great pertinacity. Deprived of the advantages of an early thorough education beyond what was furnished by the new country in which he lived, he endeavored to repair the deficiency by extensive reading, and few men were better informed, or could converse more intelligently on all subjects of general interest than he. His memory was remarkable, and it was astonishing even in the later years of his life to note with what accuracy he could relate events, accompanied by dates, which one would hardly suppose would have been remembered. Nothing that he had ever seen, heard or read, appears to have been</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">forgotten</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">or worn</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">out of</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">mind. This tenacious memory he inherited from his mother, who was quite as remarkable in this respect as himself. He might truly be said to have been a walking</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">encyclopaedia</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">of events during his life, and many were the disputed questions among his townsmen that were referred to him for</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">decision, and the verdict accepted without dispute. He was never so happy as when entertaining his friends with reminiscences of the past or in conversing on favorite themes. Had Mr. Staffod inclined to</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">public-life, his great popularity, energy and strength of character, combined with a tenacious memory, would have given him great advantages and placed him in high</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">positons, but his modesty was quite equal to his other</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">merits,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">while his</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ambition</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "\22 georgia\22 "; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">appears to have flown in other channels.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-86795537338084861202015-07-11T10:35:00.002-04:002015-07-11T10:36:45.835-04:00Waterville House Dating Cards - 1976This list is 19 pages long - too long for one post, so you will need to click on this <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw3shUBbJ4LLYldYSllRSkJqVmM/view"><u><b>LINK</b></u></a> to download the PDF file.<br />
<br />
Houses are listed by Street, alphabetically, and by house number which is then followed by date of construction, if available. An "x" indicates that the date was unknown or the owner did not reply.<br />
<br />
If <span style="font-weight: bold;">you</span> can add any historical information about your house, I'd be pleased to add it to what volunteers gleaned from owners in 1976.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-6564071542815185472014-05-31T18:47:00.002-04:002014-05-31T18:50:41.306-04:00The ONEIDA PATH<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Excerpted from Amos O. Osborn’s address to the Oneida Historical
Society in 1886: <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">THE ONEIDA PATH</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">The
Oneida Path was a sort of highroad, and as Indians always travel in single
file, was scarcely more than 12 or 15 inches wide, and deeply trodden. It was
the only path used between the settlements at Oneida and their friends, the
Oneidas and Tuscaroras on the Susquehanna. It passed entirely through
Sangerfield (township), entering about three miles east of the northwest
corner, and leaving it about a mile north of the southeast corner, crossed the
Unadilla near Leonardsville, and thence pursued a pretty distinct course to
Otsego lake. It must have been this path that General Washington traversed when
returning from his visit to the Oneidas in October, 1783. In his letter written
to the Marquis de Chattelux, after his return, he says: "I proceeded up
the Mohawk river to Fort Schuler, formerly Fort Stanwix, crossed over to Wood
creek, which empties into Oneida lake, and affords the water communication with
lake Ontario. I then traversed the country to the head of the eastern branch of
the Susquehanna, viewed the Lake Otsego and the portage between that lake and
Canajoharie." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bac-OMUkvlY/U4pbzOha6tI/AAAAAAAA5pM/wiy1bTROy-U/s1600/oneida+path.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bac-OMUkvlY/U4pbzOha6tI/AAAAAAAA5pM/wiy1bTROy-U/s1600/oneida+path.jpg" height="492" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><i>(Click to Enlarge.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">As
there was every reason why he should prefer a route known to be direct and
feasible, there can be no doubt that he took this path. It is also according to
the evidence of an Indian taken in Albany early in its settlement, in an
inquiry before the Dutch justices, as to the location of the Susquehanna
"a day and a half journey" from Oneida to the kill, which falls into
that river, and this kill being the Unadilla and the crossing near
Leonardsville, the distance between that place and Oneida, on the line of the
path, would be then as now about 30 miles, and between Oneida, and this town
just a day's journey or 20 miles. Washington's first day's travel would
therefore end in Sangerfield; and as there was near this path on the land
afterwards taken up by Nathaniel Ford, a spring of water and near by an Indian
shanty used by the Indians on like occasions, it is reasonably certain that the
General and his party stayed over night at this place. This path had been a
well worn trail more than a hundred years before the settlement of this town;
and although the Indians soon afterwards ceased to use it, parts of it were
distinctly visible as late as the year 1849 when the late Aaron Stafford, who
had known it as a boy, pointed out to the writer 40 or 50 rods of it in the
woods north of the dead pond. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-14681211610866797582013-05-31T10:06:00.000-04:002013-05-31T10:48:40.034-04:00Masonic Temple Bells<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R0TDM2UIk9s/Uai2bDrjQWI/AAAAAAAAz44/DRwa3h2Q0Js/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.38.41+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R0TDM2UIk9s/Uai2bDrjQWI/AAAAAAAAz44/DRwa3h2Q0Js/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.38.41+AM.png" width="428" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> Photo by Virginia Keith</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CCgfF05_W9g/Uai2cNA5XjI/AAAAAAAAz5A/9HnpVXkc4hc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.39.13+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CCgfF05_W9g/Uai2cNA5XjI/AAAAAAAAz5A/9HnpVXkc4hc/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.39.13+AM.png" width="606" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><i>Photo by Virginia Keith</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7uPn0NPxEbI/Uais98VWLHI/AAAAAAAAz3Y/ataG28ulHDs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+9.38.40+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7uPn0NPxEbI/Uais98VWLHI/AAAAAAAAz3Y/ataG28ulHDs/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+9.38.40+AM.png" width="468" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Photograph by Alex Meszler</i></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px; font-style: italic;">I met Gerald Coggeshall in 1971, at the time of the Village's Centennial Celebration. He was a little gnome of a man, descendant of illustrious ancestors, who had lived in Waterville all his life. I don't know how many years he had been playing the bells, but it was probably something in the neighborhood of fifty, and he did so without music and with never so much as a frown on his face.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px; font-style: italic;">The way he told the story of the bells was fun, memorable and only slightly inventive! Stephen Gates (an historian who was also a chime afficianado and could play using a regular hymnal) complained bitterly that it was inaccurate and no way to record history, -------however ---- here it is!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">Once upon a time a rich man named </span><a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/reuben-towers-obituary.html" style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Ruben Tower</a> <span style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">decided to build himself a house across the street and, therefore, away from his parents’ home! And wanting to make sure that everyone knew that this new building was HIS house, he decided to put a tower on the front of it.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">He knew, right away, that there should be a large clock in that tower, one that had a bell that would sound the hours, and so he wrote to the Seth Thomas Clock Company and asked them to make him a suitable clock.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">“Of course, Mr. Tower. We’ll be glad to design an appropriate clock for your home, with visible faces that may be seen by all around the village. May we take the liberty of suggesting that a Mr. Meneely, of Troy, New York, be engaged to cast just the right bell so that it may be heard across the land when it strikes out each hour?”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">Tower thought this was a dandy suggestion, and wrote straight ‘way to Mr. Meneely asking for a perfect bell.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">Mr. Meneely not only knew his metels, he knew his money as well, and said to Mr. Tower,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">“Why, sir - with such a magnificent clockworks one really should have four bells so that a tuneful chime such as that heard at Westminster Cathedral in London may likewise signify each quarter-hour in Waterville.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">Mr. Tower thought it anther marvelous idea and so, bit by bit, the tower rose; the clock faces appeared* and - finally - four enormous bells were lifted to the topmost canopy of the tower. His dream was complete!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">Only to one such as Mr. Meneely would it occur that there was still a potential profit to be seen:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">“It has occurred to me, Mr. Tower, that you now have four bells and that number is, of course, just one half of a full scale of notes! It would be so easy for us to cast the remaining bells - don’t you see? - and then entire tunes could be played and enjoyed throughout the community.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">Another chord was struck -- Mr. Tower agreed with the proposal (which actually included 5 more bells) and so we have it that in mid-July, 1889, the day after Mr. Meneely left, Miss Flora Garvey came by train from Utica and played the “chime” for the very first time.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br style="font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;" /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">*The Seth Thomas clockworks were actually installed a few weeks after the chimes were complete.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, serif; font-size: 17.27272605895996px;">*****************************</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">"Playing the Bells"</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wmoVAVS3iYo/UaizapHY9YI/AAAAAAAAz4Q/AaZLlEUICAM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.23.42+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wmoVAVS3iYo/UaizapHY9YI/AAAAAAAAz4Q/AaZLlEUICAM/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.23.42+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<i>We don't worry about exactly where the hammer will hit .....</i></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XhqwYQdLtOA/UaizOJzvkkI/AAAAAAAAz3w/SHVE3MA7Zvs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.21.45+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XhqwYQdLtOA/UaizOJzvkkI/AAAAAAAAz3w/SHVE3MA7Zvs/s640/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.21.45+AM.png" width="424" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>....we just worry about which wheelbarrow handle to push down!</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6mPAZmsWraY/UaizmxEDujI/AAAAAAAAz4o/QCQDGVgkhTQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.25.15+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6mPAZmsWraY/UaizmxEDujI/AAAAAAAAz4o/QCQDGVgkhTQ/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.25.15+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>That basic action is determined by the "chimer's" ability to count from 1 to 9, following a "musical" score of numbers.</i></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mX9oaY26kFc/UaizNFVF9kI/AAAAAAAAz3o/wxKFvydwEQc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.21.23+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mX9oaY26kFc/UaizNFVF9kI/AAAAAAAAz3o/wxKFvydwEQc/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.21.23+AM.png" width="293" /></a></div>
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<i>Depressing a handle sets in motion a combination of straps and chains that finally signal the hammer to strike!</i></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_nGquahFDjs/UaizPmOAO6I/AAAAAAAAz34/YeX3CdepQ1U/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.22.35+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_nGquahFDjs/UaizPmOAO6I/AAAAAAAAz34/YeX3CdepQ1U/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.22.35+AM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The bells hang nearly 100 feet above the ground, two levels above the chime console.</i></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L8Aa9UUS5O8/UaizTn8GQaI/AAAAAAAAz4A/okO4r6tUYi0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.22.55+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L8Aa9UUS5O8/UaizTn8GQaI/AAAAAAAAz4A/okO4r6tUYi0/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.22.55+AM.png" width="243" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rHOQ3GY_BDg/UaizZC6GSzI/AAAAAAAAz4I/v4YZIpbWXE0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.23.13+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rHOQ3GY_BDg/UaizZC6GSzI/AAAAAAAAz4I/v4YZIpbWXE0/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.23.13+AM.png" width="285" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FmRI0frDjqg/UaizhI0F1BI/AAAAAAAAz4Y/ueELhxVoR1o/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.24.13+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FmRI0frDjqg/UaizhI0F1BI/AAAAAAAAz4Y/ueELhxVoR1o/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-05-31+at+10.24.13+AM.png" width="241" /></a></div>
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<h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0.25em 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 4px;">
<a href="http://homeinthehuddle.blogspot.com/2006/11/bells.html" style="display: block; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;">The Bells</span></span></a></h3>
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<span style="background-color: white;">The largest bell ("F") weighs 2,062 lbs. The others are as follows:<br />"G" bell, 1,589 lbs.<br />"A" bell, 1,025 lbs.<br />"B-flat" bell, 814 lbs.<br />"C" bell, 517 lbs.<br />"D" bell, 410 lbs.<br />"E-flat" bell, 370 lbs.<br />"E" bell and "F" bell each weigh 287 lbs.<br /><br />Total weight of the bells alone: 7,400 lbs.<br /><br />Being cast of 78 parts of Lake Superior copper and Malay Straits tin, they are genuine cast bronze bells. Meneelys made the finest bells obtainable. The original cost was in the neighborhood of $2,800.<br /><br />The "Hanks" bell (Masonic Memorial) weighs 800 lbs. It is dated 1824. Andrew Meneely was apprenticed to Julius Hanks* and started his own foundry in 1826.<br /><br />* An interesting bit of speculation makes Julius Hanks' daughter, Nancy, the bride of Thomas Lincoln and the mother of Abraham.<br /><br />(The "Hanks Bell" is often referred to as the "Baptist Bell", having - presumably - once hung in the present Baptist Church.</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-86258812491130991012012-09-09T14:01:00.001-04:002012-09-09T14:02:30.679-04:00N.Y. Hop Extract Works<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9uhOJwbmFuo/UEzZqu5ZJWI/AAAAAAAAqK0/vFXKDbobhLg/s1600/Hop+Extract+works+&+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9uhOJwbmFuo/UEzZqu5ZJWI/AAAAAAAAqK0/vFXKDbobhLg/s320/Hop+Extract+works+&+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b>New York hop extract works was once
important enterprise.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>From the Waterville Times October 8,
1936. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Industry established in 1875 flourished for
several years.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Decline of hop industry in-state resulted in suspension of manufacture
of extract.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Building has been demolished.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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In 1875 a new enterprise was
established in the village of Waterville which was to prove of great interest and benefit to Brewers
throughout the entire union and to hop growers, especially in this immediate
vicinity. This new industry was known as “hop extract.”</div>
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During the first year the works
were not completed and it was not definitely ascertained what the results of
the experiment would be. However, the numerous orders received for the extract,
combined with the "lots of testimonials "which poured into the office
from brewers, who had tested its qualities, evidenced the fact that there was a
future for the industry and steps were taken to increase the facilities for
manufacturing on the scale proportionate to the demand.</div>
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The first manufacturing plant of
the hop extract company was composed of several framed buildings surrounded by
a high board fence and located on the site where the home of Oscar Maine now
stands on Mill Street.</div>
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By 1879 the factory was too small
for the trade a larger quarters when needed. A large brick building was erected on Mill Street, about a
half-mile from the business center of the village, on the Waterville-Deansboro
highway about the year 1882.</div>
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In the winter of 1875 the works
were thoroughly overhauled and renovated, and the capacity for manufacturing
increased more than three – fourths.</div>
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At the time that the works were
erected but one tank or "extractor "was placed in position. This
extractor had a capacity for handling about six bales of hops per day: but the
demand for the extract increasing beyond all expectations, J.R. Whting, the
manufacturer, decided to place in position two new extractors of much larger
dimensions, with sufficient capacity for running 20 bales in from 10 to 15
hours, with the extract appeared ready for shipment. The equivalent of a bale
of hops was reduced to one – 20<sup>th</sup> it’s bulk and one – 10<sup>th</sup> its weight and securely packed into in
tin cans,.</div>
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The process of extracting the
hops was carried on entirely in the building. Hops which were not pressed were
preferred. They were placed in large steel tanks, which worked here – tight,
located on the second floor of the establishment. Other tanks below were then partly filled with
hydrocarbon, manufactured in New York expressly for the extracting
process. Water was next forced in
the lower tank by means of a large steam pump, forcing the carbon up into the
tanks above, which were connected with those below by means of numerous
airtight iron pipes from 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Steam was then applied in
such a manner that when a pressure of 130 pounds to the square inch was
obtained, the best part of the hop, and in fact all of the hop except the woody
substance, passed off and was run into a tank supply with what machinists termed a “worm“ where it was distilled
and drawn off ready for shipping.</div>
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The extract thus obtained
preserved all the valuable properties of the hop. At that time the state
assayer of Massachusetts remarked upon its analysis, “It is the hop without the
leaves; the meat without the bone; the wheat without the chaff. “</div>
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The extract was always of the
same color, the same strength in the same consistency, about that of tar. It
contained none of the deleterious or objectionable substances which brewers
were apt to obtain from the hop when used in its natural state. The extract
never changed with age and thus brewers were unable to secure fresh hops at all
seasons of the year. A greater benefit was derived from the same quantity of
hops, as more virtue was extracted by this process then could possibly be
obtained in any other manner as yet discovered.</div>
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The plant operated in all for about
16 years, at times running day and night, about 30 men being employed for all
operations. The process of extracting was carried on in the second building in
the same manner as in the original, but instead of two extractors eight tanks
were in operation. Patrick J Ryan of this village, who was connected with the
company for many years, explained that all operations were carried on in the
plant. Three tinsmiths were employed to manufacture the tin cans in which the
extract was packed for sale. </div>
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During the years when the hop yields
were low large quantities of the extract were used by brewers, who, however
preferred hops in their natural state unless a short crop caused prices of hops
to rise higher than they saw fit to pay. The valuable discovery of obtaining the
hop extract was controlled by a stock company with 3000 shares at $100 each. Messrs. Chas. Green & Sons of
Waterville purchased 1000 shares, the securing a third interest in the
enterprise. The remaining shares were held by New York capitalists, among whom
were Hon. H. M. Ruggles, president of the company; E. M. Wight, Sec.; Hon.
Salem H Wales, a gentleman of great wealth and then president of the Department
of Public Docks; Prof. Charles A. Sealy and J. Whiting. W. A. Lawrence of New York was
associated with Mr. Whiting as superintendent. </div>
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Mr. Whiting was lessee of the
sole right to manufacture the extract both in this country and abroad. He
manipulated the entire business, paying the stockholders a royalty on every
pound of manufactured. In 1875 he
had but one other manufactory in operation, which was located at Hunters Point,
L. I. That plant was later
abandoned as Mr. Whiting wished to concentrate his business and do the
manufacturing where he could avail himself of the opportunities afforded in Waterville
of securing choice, fresh hops and saving the heavy expense of freight, caused
by being located so far from the great hop growing districts of the continent.
The New York hop extract works also made surveys of the industry in the east,
having a record of each individual hop grower together with the number of acres
in his yard. In the year 1890 they also made a record of the number of bales
raised.</div>
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With the decline of a hop
industry in New York State the manufacturer of the hop extract also declined
and the only business carried on with the sale and shipment of stock on hand.
When prohibition came into effect the sale of the extract is reported to have
increased and in time the supply of extract was exhausted. </div>
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During the summer of 1935 the
work of razing the building was started and today all that remains of the one –
time important industry is a huge pile of bricks and the remains of the
enormous tanks which ones played important parts in the operation of
manufacturing hop extract. –
M.W. (Westcott.)</div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-70488003421093415742012-05-23T17:23:00.002-04:002012-05-23T17:26:00.989-04:00The Old Stone Church in Oriskany Falls<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EcCD5JxzSu0/T71Vs7g20YI/AAAAAAAAnaE/xkNW0hqkDbk/s1600/old%2Bchurch%2Bcard.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 249px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EcCD5JxzSu0/T71Vs7g20YI/AAAAAAAAnaE/xkNW0hqkDbk/s400/old%2Bchurch%2Bcard.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5745842929972728194" /></a><br /> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>Normal.dotm</o:Template> <o:revision>0</o:Revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:pages>1</o:Pages> <o:words>650</o:Words> <o:characters>3705</o:Characters> <o:company>philippasbrown</o:Company> <o:lines>30</o:Lines> <o:paragraphs>7</o:Paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>4550</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:version>12.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> <w:drawinggridhorizontalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:drawinggridverticalspacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:validateagainstschemas/> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables/> <w:dontgrowautofit/> <w:dontautofitconstrainedtables/> <w:dontvertalignintxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span style="mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight: boldfont-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;">Copied from <i>The Clinton Courier</i><span> </span>Jan. 18, 1978</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:7;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;mso-bidi-mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:24.0pt;">HISTORICALLY SPEAKING<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span style="font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:22.0pt;">By H. Paul Draheim<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:85%;">34th in a Series-<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"> </span></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"> </span></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;">THE OLD STONE CHURCH<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><i><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"> </span></o:p></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;">"The church tower reaches skyward<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Four square to the winds that blow, <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;">With sturdy independence <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;">And, a Holy Place below."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"> </span></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;">These lines by Fraser Mann, appropriately describe the stately spire of the Old Stone Church in Oriskany Falls, erected in 1834 by the Congregational Society.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>The Old Stone Church has had a very large and influential place in the life of Oriskany Falls during the 144 years. The tall, sky-pointing church steeple has inspired and uplifted the souls of hundreds who were home folk in the community.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>It stands as a witness faithful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>It speaks no words, but its silent but daily suggestion that causes all folks, young and old, to look upward, has a tremendous power.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Through the assistance of Mrs. Hazel Farquhar, church<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;">clerk, the records were examined some years ago by this writer. These records tell the story of the old church.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Samuel Ferguson, whose home was the farm later owned by Guy Morrow, was one of the first members of the Old Stone Church. He was one of the men who assisted in drawing the stone for its erection. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Prior to the organization of the society in Oriskany Falls, Ferguson and his daughters Mrs. Eliza Osborne and Mrs. Abigail Carter, attended the church in Sangerfield Center.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>For a number of years Ferguson served as chorister. His younger daughter, Mrs. Carter, was one of the early members and retained that membership until her death in 1903.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Her children, Mrs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Elizabeth Kimberley and Chauncey Carter were trained early in the Sunday School, and among their teachers were Mrs. Sheldon Barker and Mrs. Amos Allen.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>The church society was founded on January 31,1833—145 years ago. Almost immediately the small congregation made plans for the erection of an edifice that would stand for many years. Fashioned from stone taken from nearby quarries in an era when most of the work was done by hand, the church is one of the oldest and best preserved in Central New York. It is only nine miles from Clinton. Although the construction work was started in 1833 and the edifice was enclosed by 1834, it was not until 1845 that the structure actually was completed. No sand was used in mixing mortar to hold the stone together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Limestone was crushed and mixed with cement and wood ashes. The substance when it hardened proved as strong as the rock itself and through the years the building has stood unharmed by the elements.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>Only two changes have been made in the church in its long history. Twenty memorial windows were installed about 75 years ago by descendants of the charter members. At a somewhat later period it became necessary (in 1886) to add a new steeple after a windstorm carried away a part of the original one. Except in these two respects the church was unchanged from 1845 to 1952.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>One of the memorial windows was placed in honor of the Barker Family. The records show that at one time this family had 18 members on the rolls and furnished all the music. Thirteen of the<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;">Barker Family were members of the choir and the 14th was organist. The original pews each had a door of its own. These since have been removed.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>The memorial windows are to Philo and Sally Snow Holmes, Daniel and Almira King, Daniel W. and Abigail H. Barker, Harold Cross Langley, Ellen Oliver Juhl and Clara Juhl, the Brainard family, Shelton Stoors Barker, Olive Phelps Barker, Asenath Thompson,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>Larens H. Barker, Stephen R. and Lydia King Howe. Also, Everett E. and Melissa T. Allen; Abigail Ferguson Carter, Noah and Jane Ferguson Wells, Didelia A. Rice, Courtlandt and Abigail J. Barker, James and Phlena Allen, Sidney and Julia Putnam and Amos and<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;">Lucinda Allen.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>One immediately observes that the names of Daniel and Almira King are placed that you must read them from. the outside of the church, rather than from the inside.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>One of the pews, in the back part of the church, carries the words "Del Barker, 1865" which probably was carved by a youngster of that family during one of the long Sunday sermons.. The Barkers, indently, came to Oriskany Falls from Augusta Center.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;"> The church marked its centennial in 1933 when the Rev. William Davies was pastor. Participants of the program included Mrs. Fred Clarke, Mrs. Ethel King, Mrs. A.D. Grannis, the Rev. A.W. Allen, Syracuse; the Rev. E. C. Wattner, Fulton; Mrs. R. K. Miner, Miss Mary Nash, Miss Grace Cunningham and the Rev. E. D. Marriam, Ontario.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:15.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight: boldfont-family:";font-size:15.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-weight: boldfont-family:";font-size:15.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";font-size:22.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><o:p> </o:p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-21451381249764063262011-01-18T11:10:00.011-05:002011-01-18T16:37:38.208-05:00An experiment<a href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bw3shUBbJ4LLMmRiZWUwZWUtOWM4Mi00ZGVkLTgwM2ItNzE2NjAyMjFhY2Zj&hl=en"></a><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bw3shUBbJ4LLNmRlM2IzNWUtYjQxZS00NDU2LWIzMGItZDVhNWJmZjQ1YWVk&hl=en">Much more History for You - Online!</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-41337231467646712262011-01-17T10:47:00.003-05:002011-02-18T07:49:34.621-05:00History online<a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0Bw3shUBbJ4LLNWJkYjAyMzctMTVhNi00MzIyLTg3MDMtOWFlNTcxNTljMTM3&hl=en">1852 MAP of Marshall Township</a><br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bw3shUBbJ4LLMzk4ZmJmNTctZDk5OS00NGI5LWI4ZGYtOTVkODkzNTM5MDYw&hl=enhttps://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bw3shUBbJ4LLMzk4ZmJmNTctZDk5OS00NGI5LWI4ZGYtOTVkODkzNTM5MDYw&hl=en">1852 Map of Sangerfield Township</a><br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0Bw3shUBbJ4LLNmEyMzgxYTUtNDQyZS00ZTM5LWFjYTUtYmRiMDc3Y2U4Mjg0&hl=en">1852 MAP of Waterville</a><br /><a href="http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/%7Eraymondfamily/OneidaMaps/1874Marshall.jpg">1874 MAP of Marshall Township</a><br /><a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/loomis-osborn-connection.html">Aaron Stafford, Maj. Obituary</a><br /><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=800WAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=an+american+town&lr=&ei=OtziS5bsIYi-zATQ_JH2CQ&cd=1%23v=onepage&q&f=false#v=onepage&q&f=false">"An American Town"</a> Sociological study, Williams 1907<br /><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=VN6YAlke4yEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=back+home+in+oneida&hl=en&ei=_WReTcKvFsOatweIpIXgCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">"Back Home in Oneida" </a>Herman Clarke's Civil War Letters 1966<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/samson.htm">Betrayal of Samson Occom, The</a>, 1998<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/occum.htm">Brothertown Tribe, The</a> - Will and Rudi Ottery, 1989<br /><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=VhBCAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA305&dq=one+hundred+and+forty-sixth+regiment&hl=en&ei=g18fTcKVK4H78Aa2sKj5DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false">Campaigns of the One Hundred and Forty-Sixth Regiment</a>, Genevie Brainard 1915<br /><a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/candee-block.html">Candee Block; Fire and History</a> 1982<br /><a href="http://oneida.nygenweb.net/">CEMETERIES in Marshall and Sangerfield Townships</a> (Cemeteries>township>cemetery)<br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Charles%20Terry,%20First%20in%20Seattle.">Charles Terry, First in Seattle.</a><br /><a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/history-of-churches-by-n-cowen.html">Churches - History of</a>, by Norman Cowen<br /><a href="http://http//heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/civil-war-monument.html">Civil War Monument</a><br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/daysoflo.htm">Days of Long Ago,</a> A. O. Osborn, 1886<br /><a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/forge-hollow-caves.html">Forge Hollow Caves,</a> 1937<br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bw3shUBbJ4LLM2E0ZTE2M2MtNmRhYi00YTljLWI1ZGQtY2JjMjhlMzBmMjEw&hl=en">Golf Club Opening 1901</a><br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bw3shUBbJ4LLN2JiZjI2ZjQtOWQ1NS00Y2UyLWJhZWMtYWFjNTBkNzZlYzhm&hl=en">Historic Triangle District. 1978</a><br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/loomis2.htm">History of the Loomis Gang</a> - N.Y. Sun - 1877.<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/osborn.htm">History of Sangerfield,</a> A. O. Osborn, 1886<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/hopindus.htm">Hop Industry, The</a> - A. O. Osborn 1886.<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/hopextra.htm">Hop Extract Industry, The</a> - M L. Peterson 1973<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/klwelch1.htm">Kate Loftus Welch </a>- T. Barnes 1996<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/loomis3.htm">Loomis Family</a>, Norman Cowen's History of.<br /><a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/loomis-osborn-connection.html">Loomis-Osborn Connection,</a> The. PsBrown<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/marshall.htm">Marshall Township,</a> History of - Pomroy Jones, 1851<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/wtoi.htm">OBITUARY INDEX</a> from the Waterville Times - R.F. Brown<br /><a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/loomis-osborn-connection.html">Opera House History</a>, Norman Cowen<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/marshall.htm">Railroad Comes to Town</a>, The - 1867<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/marshall.htm">Reminscinces of Sangerfield - </a>Abner Livermore 1851<br /><a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/reuben-towers-obituary.html">Reuben Tower obituary 1899</a><br /><a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=SYACAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=samson+occum&hl=en&ei=iJUgTZWKE8Kt8Aap7fysDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=samson%20occum&f=false">Samson Occom and the Christian Indians of New England</a> - Love, 1899<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/masonic.htm">Sanger Lodge - Masonic Temple</a> - 1950<br /><a href="http://chla.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=chla;cc=chla;idno=6068875_5587_001;node=6068875_5587_001%3A3.1;size=S;frm=frameset;seq=5;view=image;page=root">Social Change in a Central NY Rural Community</a> - Anderson - 1954<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/tomkind.htm">Tom Kindness, One of the Last of the Mohegans</a> c.1905<br /><a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/tower-family.html">Tower Family, The</a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlemagne_Tower">Tower, Charlemagne I</a><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Charlemagne%20Tower,%20Jr.">Tower, Charlemagne Jr.</a><br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/sangerf.htm">Town of Sangerfield,</a> History of - Pomroy Jones 1851<br /><a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/Archives/70yrsago.htm">Waterville in 1806,</a> A. O. Osborn, 1876<br /><a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/col-wm-cary-sanger-obituary.html">William Cary Sanger, Col. Obituary</a><br /><a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/william-osborn.html">William Osborn(e)</a><br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/?hl=en&tab=wo&authuser=0#folders/folder.0.0Bw3shUBbJ4LLNzNkYmVlOGMtMmRmOS00YmQ5LWE3N2UtYmNjOTAyNjUwNWJk">Walking Tour of MAIN STREET 1971 </a><br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/?hl=en&tab=wo&authuser=0#folders/folder.0.0Bw3shUBbJ4LLYTM5NDBiZWItMTNmZS00YmIyLTlhYjUtNGM2MjFhZWEzNGFl">Walking Tour of PUTNAM STREET 1971</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-86435929309038406742011-01-10T07:42:00.000-05:002011-01-10T08:15:22.085-05:001852 Map of SANGERFIELDUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-91315143422066701292011-01-09T07:17:00.000-05:002011-01-09T08:52:02.898-05:001852 Map of WATERVILLEUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-79217258632658918822011-01-08T16:16:00.000-05:002011-01-08T16:18:23.633-05:00Waterville NY House Dating Project 1976 WHSUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-34534758222519875152011-01-07T06:38:00.000-05:002011-01-07T06:38:53.130-05:00Heaps of History: Walking Tour of PUTNAM STREET (1971?)<a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/walking-tour-of-putnam-street-1971.html">Walking Tour of PUTNAM STREET (1971?)</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-28434480364816978052011-01-07T06:37:00.000-05:002011-01-07T06:37:21.415-05:00Heaps of History: Walking Tour of Main Street - H. Barton, 1971?<a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2011/01/walking-tour-of-main-street-h-barton.html#links">Heaps of History: Walking Tour of Main Street - H. Barton, 1971?</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-46715690491228245932011-01-07T06:24:00.001-05:002011-01-07T06:32:26.461-05:00Walking Tour of PUTNAM STREET (1971?)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb5gUTOU-I/AAAAAAAAexk/4p7rpZbkzWE/s1600/Walking%2BTour%2BPutnam%2BSt.%2B%252771%2Bpg.1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb5gUTOU-I/AAAAAAAAexk/4p7rpZbkzWE/s400/Walking%2BTour%2BPutnam%2BSt.%2B%252771%2Bpg.1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559405123635925986" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb5fzuV8mI/AAAAAAAAexc/DzMqWtAGEk8/s1600/Walking%2BTour%2BPutnam%2B%252771%2B%2Bpg.%2B2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb5fzuV8mI/AAAAAAAAexc/DzMqWtAGEk8/s400/Walking%2BTour%2BPutnam%2B%252771%2B%2Bpg.%2B2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559405114891301474" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb5f-v0jiI/AAAAAAAAexU/KuSPI3n-BbE/s1600/walkihng%2Btour%2Bputnam%2B%252771%2B%2Bpg%2B3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb5f-v0jiI/AAAAAAAAexU/KuSPI3n-BbE/s400/walkihng%2Btour%2Bputnam%2B%252771%2B%2Bpg%2B3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559405117850291746" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb5GDM6oVI/AAAAAAAAexM/f2-omz5ZJIE/s1600/walking%2Btour%2Bputnam%2B%252771%2B%2Bpg.%2B4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb5GDM6oVI/AAAAAAAAexM/f2-omz5ZJIE/s400/walking%2Btour%2Bputnam%2B%252771%2B%2Bpg.%2B4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559404672369467730" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-72694494463111547902011-01-07T06:15:00.000-05:002011-01-07T06:22:28.422-05:00Walking Tour of Main Street - H. Barton, 1971?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb3RXd439I/AAAAAAAAexE/wsjDgQkcr4A/s1600/WALKING%2BTOUR%2BOF%2BMAIN%2BST.%2B1971%2Bcov..jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb3RXd439I/AAAAAAAAexE/wsjDgQkcr4A/s400/WALKING%2BTOUR%2BOF%2BMAIN%2BST.%2B1971%2Bcov..jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559402667764670418" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb3RHg_eVI/AAAAAAAAew8/HaBp21ar2zo/s1600/Main%2BSt.%2BTour%2Bpg.%2B1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb3RHg_eVI/AAAAAAAAew8/HaBp21ar2zo/s400/Main%2BSt.%2BTour%2Bpg.%2B1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559402663482718546" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb3EKz2raI/AAAAAAAAew0/aQ_twkAxVzI/s1600/Tour%2Bof%2BMain%2Bst%2Bpg.%2B2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb3EKz2raI/AAAAAAAAew0/aQ_twkAxVzI/s400/Tour%2Bof%2BMain%2Bst%2Bpg.%2B2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559402441028840866" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb27Whti0I/AAAAAAAAews/aAqlhI2ayZE/s1600/Tour%2BMain%2BSt.%2Bpg.%2B3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb27Whti0I/AAAAAAAAews/aAqlhI2ayZE/s400/Tour%2BMain%2BSt.%2Bpg.%2B3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559402289555147586" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb2e1q5PTI/AAAAAAAAewc/n6ZKuisXqMc/s1600/Tour%2BMain%2BSt.%2B%252771%2Bpg.%2B4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSb2e1q5PTI/AAAAAAAAewc/n6ZKuisXqMc/s400/Tour%2BMain%2BSt.%2B%252771%2Bpg.%2B4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559401799698955570" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-14524826477232451922010-01-19T06:25:00.002-05:002015-12-14T05:19:09.567-05:00Major AARON STAFFORD<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSm9abMIdiI/AAAAAAAAe1A/5VfgT58Ntq4/s1600/aaron%2Bstafford.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5560183476638479906" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/TSm9abMIdiI/AAAAAAAAe1A/5VfgT58Ntq4/s400/aaron%2Bstafford.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 325px;" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: ";">MAJ. AARON STAFFORD.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ";">A VETERAN OFFICER OF 1812.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: ";"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">The Story of His Eventful Life - Rev. Dana Bigelow's Remarks - Long Life but a Point Compared </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">With Eternity - His Coffin Enveloped in His Country's Flag.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aaron Stafford of this village, was born March 18, 1787, and died the 6th of September, 1885. He was </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">born and died on a Sunday; and was five months and twenty-nine days older than the federal constitution. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">He had resided in the town of Sangerfield 84 years, and lived 71 years in the house where he died. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">He was the last survivor of the soldiers of the war of 1812, who was known to have held an officer's commission; the last one before him having died about seven years ago. The first President he voted for </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">was James Madison, and the last, Grover Cleveland. All the Presidents of the United States were </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">inaugurated during his life time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Stafford's funeral was attended from his late residence last Tuesday, and the services were performed by Rev. R.H. Nelson, Rector of Grace Church, and Rev. Dana W. Bigelow, pastor of the Memorial </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">Presbyterian Church, of Utica. Mr. Bigelow ever since his boyhood had known Mr. Stafford personally, in whose character there was much that he admired. He delivered the following discourse on the occasion </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">of his funeral:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But a few months since, a beloved grand-daughter, beautiful in youth, was borne from this house. Today, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">in the providence of God, we meet to bear to his last resting place the aged grandfather.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had thought that Mr. Stafford might live to complete one hundred full years; and while he was </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">e</span>njoying<span style="font-size: 100%;"> a comfortable old age, in his own home, infirm but bright in mind, surrounded by those who ministered to his every want, we had earnestly hoped that this expectation might be realized. But an iron constitution yielded at last to bodily infirmities, and he who has been with this village from its settlement, and with this nation from before the day that its first President was inaugurated, has departed this life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can we speak of such life as a shadow? Yes, if we compare it with the life to come. We speak of this as </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">long life, but a century has beginning and end, and the hereafter is eternity, the forever and ever. This measure of time is in truth but a point, and man at his best estate is as but a flower of the field. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">Our times are in the hands of One with whom a thousand years are as one day and one day as a thousand years. Shall we not then be again reminded that our days are as a shadow, and there is none abiding? Our days on earth are numbered, and though they be multiplied beyond those of any other person of our generation, yet they will be certainly and soon passed. Blessed be the Lord, our God, that He who has life and immortality, has given his own Son, that we may live by him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;">resurrection and the life, and if on earth we live by faith in Him, in love and obedience, death is but the beginning of time and endless life. We may ask for the blessing of long life, and rejoice if many days are gven us on earth where we may find so much to do and so much to enjoy, but let it be our first and chief thought that under Divine guidance, in following Christ, we may be prepared for the Father's house in Heaven, for life in the presence of the glorified Saviour, and for reunion there with loved ones who have been redeemed unto God, to his own possession and joy, world without end. If, however, we compare on hundred years with the time allotted to nearly all of any generation, how remarkable they appear as the period of one individual life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the last century closed, a boy of thirteen years enjoyed a pleasant home across the street from this house where we meet this afternoon. All this part of the village was then the Stafford farm, a place for work, and the field for many sports, for boys of that day loved sport and knew where to find it, as did other boys who followed after in other years. Perhaps it was the memory of his own boyhood that made him so lenient when a man, toward boys who in generation after generation found a playground in his pastures and orchards, and by the stream that wound its was so pleasantly beneath the trees and through the fields of his wide reaching farm. We were never closely watched, never ordered off from the frequented fishing and swimming places, from croquet grounds and training fields. Surely his boyhood must have taught him, that boys are boys and that their sports last none too long.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When 1812 came Aaron Stafford was no longer a boy, but a young man, twenty-five years of age, and ardent lover of his nation, which was of his own age, nearly, not quite. He enlisted for war at the time of his country's need, and proved his valor and spirit of self-sacrifice in conflicts that left him severely wounded. Henceforth he bore in his body the marks of his participation. He gave other proofs of this regard for the welfare of his country. He served the State at one time in the halls of legislation; and when a private citizen, he maintained an intense interest in our history. If he differed from others in judgement at any time, none had reason to question the depth, or the sincerity of his convictions. He was unwavering in his loyalty to his friends. Those who once esteemed him as a friend, found him ever the same, cheerful in spirit and warm in personal friendship. His kindness of heart toward all, made him a man well spoken of and esteemed by tahe whole community. Those who remember his not as an aged man, shut in and ministered to, but the man of strength and of affairs, will expecially affirm the truth of these statements. Another generation has grown to manhood, since Mr. Stafford was very active among the leaders of society.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in his own home he was best known. He had a worthy wife, who became a dearly loved mother. Children were born, grew to manhood and womanhood, went forth to take their places in the world, with fond memories of the old home, to which they love often to return. They remember him as a father ever thoughtful of their happiness, ever deeply interested in their welfare. Most affectionate, and most grateful for every act of kindness, he appreciated all that was done for his comfort in old age. He lived to witness how great changes were made in this village and this nation, and what overturnings in the world. He lived until his appointed time was come; and after bearing trials in brave and patient spirit, he has passed from among us. His peaceful and pleasant face nay now be looked upon for the last time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pall bearers were J.A. Berrill, W.J. Bissell, G.H. Church, M.L. Conger, J.W. Hubbard, E.H. Lamb, A.O. Osborn, Geo. Putnam, F.H. Terry and Charlemange Tower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The remains were interred in the Waterville Cemetery, near the center of the grounds; he is the oldest person ever buried there. The stone over the grave of his father, Ichabod Stafford, whose grave is in the southwest corner is the oldest stone in the cemetery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following interesting sketch was prepared by Aaron Stafford's grandson, Martin H. Stafford of New York:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aaron Stafford, born March 18, 1787 at Cheshire, Mass., and died at Waterville, N.Y., Sept. 6, at the advanced age of 98 years, 5 months and 18 days, was the second son of Ichabod Stafford by his wife Humility, daughter of James Green, Jr., of Coventry, R.I., and the lineal descendant of Thomas Stafford, one of the colony that settled at Portsmouth and Newport, R.I., in the spring of 1638.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the close of the Revolution, in which he with four of his brothers had served their country, Ichabod Stafford, with his brother William, and their families, moved from Coventry, R.I., to Lanesboro, Mass., in 1783, and they were soon followed by his father and other members of the Stafford family, and it was here that Aaron Stafford was born soon after Lanesboro was divided and the new town of Cheshire created.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ichabod Stafford removed to Duanesburgh, N.Y., in 1788, where he resided until the summer of 1793, when with Joseph and Abraham Forbes, with their families, removed to what is now August, Oneida Co., N.Y., being the first white settlers of that town. In 1801 Mr. Stafford having purchased of Nathan Gurney, Bazerial Gurney, his son, and Bincas Owen, all their rights in lot No. 40, in the town of Sangerfield, and what is now the eastern portion of the village of Waterville, removed his family to his new home, and in the following year built a house upon the lot where now stands the residence of Mr. George Putnam. Here Mr. Stafford lived until his death, July 30, 1804. At his death he left a widow and a family of five chi in a new, but rappidly growing country, he had few of the advantages enjoyed by those who were members of older communities, but he improved the advantages that were presented, and few indeed were the boys of his time who could equal him in natural abilities, or who had improved their advantages better than he. At the death of his father he took the most active part in the management of the property that his father had left, at the same time not neglecting to improve his mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1801 his mother and the other children, of which Aaron Stafford was the third and then in his eighteenth year. Mr. Stafford left his family in comfortable circumstances and the farm was managed for several years by his widow, in which she was assisted by her two eldest sons, but Aaron in particular.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The early years of Aaron Stafford's life were passed much as the life of any boy in his station of life may be supposed to have been passed, without any particular event to distinguish it from those of his companions. The son of a pioneer the other children moved from the house his father had built to a new house they had erected on the opposite side of the road, and Mr. Stafford opened the old home as a public house, which he conducted successfully for two years, but the life was not in many respects pleasant to him and he closed it to devote his time to farming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Stafford was engaged in farming when the war of 1812 called the country to arms. He was the first to enlist and call upon the young men of the vicinity to join him. He raised a small company of men, of which he was appointed ensign, and in May, 1812, went to Sacketts Harbor under Col. Marshall Bellinger in First Detachment N.Y. State Militia. When the three months had expired for which they had volunteered, he volunteered to remain and was in service twenty-four days before discharged, the service having been one of garrison duty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Immediately on his return home he was visited by Major Maynard who, appreciating his ability and courage, offered him the position of adjutant of the 16th Reg. N.Y. Detached Militia<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>commanded by Lieut. Col. Farrand Stranahan. He accepted and at once went to Albany, where he successfully passed the examination and received his commission. After procuring his uniform he joined his regiment at Winfield on Sept. 8, 1812, and the regiment soon after took up its march for the Niagara River and reached Niagara Falls the Friday before the battle of Queenstown Hights. He was soon after dispatched with a company to Buffalo to convey provisions to the army, and executed his difficult commission with so much skill and dispatch as to win the applause of his superior officers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At sunrise on the morning of October 13, 1812, the main body of the army, under the command of Gen. Winfield Scott, commenced to cross the river, and Stafford was left in command of a detachment to cross after the main body had landed. He followed close after the main body, under fire of the British, landed and commenced to ascend the hights, but had not proceeded but a short distance before they were fired upon by a body of British and Indians, by which several were killed and wounded. Stafford was shot in the shoulder by an Indian, but still kept his horse and passed on at the head of his command, but was soon again shot in the thigh and fell from his horse. Several officers and men who saw him fall supposed him dead, but rushed to the spot to prevent him from being scalped by the Indians, among the number Capt. Felt, who helped to bind up his wounds and assisted to carry him down the hill. but the Americans had lost the day, being outnumbered, and all the wounded, with many others, were taken prisoners. Stafford, with many of the officers and men, were conducted to Ft. George, where they were confined as prisoners of war. Stafford's wounds proved severe and he suffered greatly from want of proper care and attenion, though Dr. Sumner, the British surgeon in charge, did all he could under the circumstances to alleviate the sufferings of those under his care, but particularly of Stafford, who he admired for his high spirit and patient endurance of his wounds, and here was the commencement of a warm personal friendship between them which was only broken by the death of Dr. Sumner many years after.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stafford, with other officers and men, were paroled after a week's imprisonment, and Dec. 8 he hired a boat to take him across the Niagara River to Black Rock, but nearly lost his life through the blundering of the men who rowed the boat. After a long and painful journey he reached home on Christmas night in a very exhausted state of health, and weeks passed before he was even out of danger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This terminated his military career, and though promoted to the rank of Major he did not recover from his wounds sufficiently to permit him to again enter the service until the war was over, much to his sorrow, as the martial spirit ran high in his character.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>June 26, 1814, he married Harriet, daughter of Zeno Terry, who moved from Enfield, Conn., to Sangerfield, N.Y., being one of the first settlers of that town. He commenced his married life in the house which he had previously purchased from his brother Welcome, which he considerably enlarged and improved and made his residence the remainder of his life. Here he lived in great happiness with his wife for sixty-one years, until her death, April 5, 1875, and here their children were born. Lothrop P.; Mary, wife of Henry T. Utley of Waterville, N.Y.; Harriet, wife of William B. Stafford of New York; Marshall B., and Aaron Jackson. The eldest and youngest died several years before him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Stafford was an active man in the community in which he lived, interesting himself in all measures for the advancement and improvement of the town, and though an active member of his political party, labored for its success from principles and not for political advancements. He was repeatedly urged to accept office, but only consented to the use of his name but once. That was in 1833, when the Democrats were very anxious to elect their legislative ticket in his District. The district had become close, and it was generally supposed that the Whigs would win it. Members of the legislature were elected on a general ticket at the time, and not by single districts, as at present, and Mr. Stafford was urged to gon on the ticket to strengthen it, as he was personally very popular with all classes. He accepted the nomination and the ticket was elected, greatly to the surprise of the Whig candidates, who felt so confident of their election that they had engaged their quarters at Albany in anticipation of their sure eleection. Mr. Stafford acquired considerable reputation for the share he had in the victory. Judge Pomeroy Jones of Westmoreland was associated with Mr. Stafford on this legislative ticket and was also elected. A long and sincere friendship existed between them, severed only by the death of Judge Jones about two years ago. Political life had no charms for him, and he took greater pleasure in contributing to a victory than being the recipient ofits fruits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Stafford was a farmer, his whole active life being devoted to the cultivation of the soil, in which occupation he was successful, and his farm was one of the largest and best conducted in this section of the country. He and his brothers and sisters owned at one time all the land upon which the eastern portion of the village of Waterville is situated. Both sides of what is now Stafford avenue as far as the old Hooker road was once his farm and where are those yet living who can remember when there were very few houses on that avenue, except the house in which he lived and died, which was built in 1810 by his brother, and purchased by him in 1813, and which has undergone so many changes as to leave but little of the original design recognizable. It was here that he had lived for seventy-one years and died, and all his children were born. He had lived to see a prosperous and beautiful village grow up out of the wilderness, and be surrounded by more people than were to be found in the whole county when he came to it as a boy, for indeed there was no such county as Oneida then, or for several years after. Not a person is now living who remembers him as a boy, or young man; they have all passed away, and like the tall oak that has been spared by the woodman and stands alone, so stood he - the last survivor of the little colony in the wilderness, surrounded by a new generation and a new life. He was not only the oldest person in the town at the time of his death, but the oldest citizen, not only of this town but of any in this section of the state. That is, there is no one known to be living in the county of Oneida, or of Central New York, who came to it as early as he - 1793. He was also the last survivor of the soldiers of 1812 who was known to have held an officer's commission.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: 100%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In person Mr. Stafford was five feet ten inches in height, of commanding figure, and like his father's family, possessed of great physical strength. In his younger days he carried himself erect, with dignified bearing, and was regarded as a man of prepossessing appearance. Amiable in disposition, of even temper, and proverbial for his kindness of heart, strict integrity and unimpeachable honor, he commanded the respect of all with whom he came in contact. He was very firm in his convictions and bold in expressing his opinions, which were never formed hastily, but after due reflection, and when once formed he held to them with great pertinacity. Deprived of the advantages of an early thorough education beyond what was furnished by the new country in which he lived, he endeavored to repair the deficiency by extensive reading, and few men were better informed, or could converse more intelligently on all subjects of general interest than he. His memory was remarkable, and it was astonishing even in the later years of his life to note with what accuracy he could relate events, accompanied by dates, which one would hardly suppose would have been remembered. Nothing that he had ever seen, heard or read, appears to have been forgotton or worn outof mind. This tenacious memory he inherited from his mother, who was quite as remarkable in this respect as himself. He might truly be said to have been a walking encyclodaedia of events during his life, and many were the disputed questions among his townsmen that were referred to him for decision, and the verdict accepted without dispute. He was never so happy as when entertaining his friends with reminiscences of the past or in conversing on favorite themes. Had Mr. Staffod inclined to public-life, his great popularity, energy and strength of character, combined with a tenacious memory, would have given him great advantages and placed him in high positons, but his modesty was quite equal to his other merits, while his ambtion appears to have flown in other channels.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-1627007429003875322009-10-03T08:34:00.000-04:002009-10-03T08:39:10.465-04:00Oneida Co. & Waterville in the Civil War - E. Kennedy<br/><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oneida County and Waterville in The Civil War</span><br /><br />by Eric Kennedy<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">(formerly of Waterville, now Fredericksburg, VA)</span><br /></div><br />Many Americans consider The Civil War ancient history. It’s not. The war ended 144 years ago. If you are middle aged or older, your grandparent’s grandparents were most likely alive during the war. The biggest threat our nation ever faced was not the World Wars or Cold War of the 20th century, or global terrorism of the 21st century, but the fratricidal war of the 19th century that threatened the very existence of the unique American democratic experiment. Could the world’s fledgling democracy survive an attempt by 11 of its states to form another country due to political differences?<br /><br />More than 600,000 American soldiers died during The Civil War. Those numbers are even more staggering when you consider the fact that the population of the United States at the start of the war was 30 million, including four million slaves. It was a national catastrophe of the first order and it affected the lives of virtually everyone in the country who lived through it, including residents of Oneida County.<br /><br />The rank-and-file of the Union Army were not professional soldiers, but civilian volunteers without military experience. To extinguish the rebellion, it was necessary to recruit hundreds of thousands of farmers and shop workers. Oneida County raised five infantry regiments of volunteers: 14th New York Infantry (First Oneida), 26th New York Infantry (Second Oneida or Utica Regiment), 97th New York Infantry (Third Oneida or Boonville Regiment), 117th New York Infantry (Fourth Oneida), and 146th New York Infantry (Fifth Oneida or Garrard’s Tigers). Oneida County’s contribution did not stop there as many joined regiments formed outside the county, including various cavalry and artillery regiments as well as other infantry regiments such as the 81st, 164th, and 189th New York Infantry regiments, among others.<br /><br />Growing up in Waterville, I was unaware of all of this. My interest in researching The Civil War only began in earnest after I moved to the central Virginia town of Fredericksburg in 2002. Within easy driving distance of my front porch lie four major battlefields: Fredericksburg (December 1862), Chancellorsville (May 1863), the Wilderness (May 1864), and Spotsylvania Courthouse (May 1864). This is hallowed ground that the National Park Service labels “the bloodiest landscape in North America.” What moved me was to learn that so many residents of Oneida County fought and died on these fields so far from their native state. Many participated in heroic and gallant feats that were completely unknown to me. In the five Oneida County infantry regiments, seven Medals of Honor were awarded. The casualty lists alone demonstrate the contribution and sacrifice made by these brave men:<br /><br />14th NY (“First Oneida”) 60 killed, 44 non-combat deaths, 194 wounded, 16 missing<br />26th NY (“Second Oneida”) 108 killed, 42 non-combat deaths, 243 wounded, 56 missing<br />97th NY (“Third Oneida”) 182 killed, 157 non-combat deaths, 444 wounded, 265 missing<br />117th NY (“Fourth Oneida”) 137 killed, 137 non-combat deaths, 291 wounded, 49 missing<br />146th NY (“Fifth Oneida”) 134 killed, 189 non-combat deaths, 180 wounded, 340 missing<br /><br />Each regiment has its own story to tell, but the 146th New York or Fifth Oneida, has the closest connection to Waterville. For not only did many of its soldiers enlist in locations such as Sangerfield, Paris, Westmoreland, and many other surrounding towns, but the history of the regiment was written by a Waterville resident.<br /><br />The Fifth Oneida was formed in the autumn of 1862 after President Lincoln called for 300,000 more volunteers to serve for three-year enlistments. By this time, the war had long ceased to be a romantic adventure, as attested to by the high casualty figures from such battles as Shiloh (24,000), the Seven Days (36,000), Second Bull Run (18,000), and Antietam (23,000). But so many volunteers came forward from Oneida County to form the 117th New York that it was decided that another regiment should be created in the 146th New York or Fifth Oneida.<br /><br />The ten companies of the Fifth Oneida were principally recruited from the following towns:<br /><br />Company A: Utica<br />Company B: Vernon, Rome, and Annsville<br />Company C: Utica, Rome, and Marcy<br />Company D: Boonville, Hawkinsville, Rome, and Whitestown<br />Company E: Camden, Augusta, Rome, Utica, and Marshall<br />Company F: Utica, Lee, Rome, Florence, Annsville, Ava, Marcy, and Whitestown<br />Company G: Clinton, Kirkland, Bridgewater, and Plainfield<br />Company H: Utica, Rome, and Sangerfield<br />Company I: Trenton, Remsen, Western, Westmoreland, Steuben, Lowell, Rome, Vernon, and Verona<br />Company K: Paris, Sangerfield, Clayville, Utica, Marcy, Clinton, Deansville, Marshall, and Whitesboro<br /><br />It is important to note that where you enlisted did not always identify where you were from. For example, Alonzo I. King was born in Sangerfield. He was living in Oriskany Falls when he enlisted and died in Waterville after the war. But he signed up for military service in August 1862 in Utica or Whitestown.<br /><br />The 146th New York was fortunate to have Colonel Kenner Garrard, a regular U.S. Army veteran and commandant at West Point, appointed regimental commander. Under Garrard’s tough but fair tutelage, the regiment became one of the best drilled and disciplined in the volunteer army. The Fifth Oneida soon to become known as “Garrard’s Tigers.”<br /><br />The Fifth Oneida left Rome for Washington, DC in October 1862 with approximately 850 men. When the unit was mustered out of service on July 16, 1865, 264 were accounted for. Yet many of these men were not from the original 850 as several other regiments had been folded into the Fifth Oneida during the war including remnants of the 5th New York, 17th New York, and 44th New York. When the regiment paraded through Utica and formed up at Chancellor Square in late July 1865, only 120 were on hand.<br /><br />The Fifth Oneida joined the Army of the Potomac in November 1862 and was present on the field during the Battle of Fredericksburg in December. However, its real baptism by fire came at Chancellorsville in May 1863, losing 50 men, but acquitting itself well.<br /><br />At Gettysburg in July, as part of Brigadier General Stephen H. Weed’s brigade, the Fifth Oneida reinforced the defenses of Little Round Top, one of the most decisive actions on the entire field. When Weed was killed by a rebel sharpshooter, Colonel Garrard took command of the brigade. He was subsequently promoted and the leadership of the regiment fell upon Colonel David T. Jenkins (from Vernon). If you visit Little Round Top today, you will see a memorial to the Fifth Oneida, and the 28 men lost there.<br /><br />The nadir for the regiment came during its gallant but futile charge at the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864. The Wilderness was a horrific two-day slugfest fought in dense forest and underbrush. It represented the opening stages of Ulysses S. Grant’s “1864 Overland Campaign” designed to relentlessly apply pressure against the Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee. Amid the almost impenetrable forest, there was one 400 x 800 yard stretch of open ground called Saunders Field. Running through the field was one of the region’s few roads, the Orange Turnpike. Unwisely assuming that the Confederate presence was light on the opposite side of the field, senior leadership ordered a Union division to attack across the open ground. However, waiting in the trees, entrenched behind earthworks, were 10,000 rebel soldiers. As the opening wave of the Union attack was being slaughtered, the Fifth Oneida was ordered forward to help support the 140th New York Infantry (from Rochester). Colonel Jenkins instructed his regiment to fix bayonets and then personally led his 580 men forward at “the double quick.” Those of the Fifth Oneida who survived the charge found themselves virtually surrounded in the woods.<br /><br />“Men ran to and fro, firing, shouting, stabbing with bayonets, beating each other with the butts of their guns,” wrote the regimental historian from Waterville. “Each man fought on his own resources, grimly and desperately…In such a place one cannot measure time very accurately. It may not have been more than five or ten minutes from the moment we charged across the field until we were forced to fall back, but during that brief time we inflicted and suffered a terrible loss. It would be impossible to recount all the deeds of individual bravery that transpired during those few minutes of terrific fighting. Many of the most heroic of our number perished in the conflict.”<br /><br />The severely-wounded Jenkins (head and body wounds) was last seen leaning on his sword, encouraging his men forward. Lieutenant Alonzo King (Oriskany Falls) asked Lt. Colonel Henry Curran (Utica), “Where are all our men?” As Curran responded, “Dead,” Curran was shot in the head and killed. In all, the Fifth Oneida suffered 312 casualties in only minutes of actual fighting. Of those taken prisoner, more than 70 were to later die in Confederate captivity. The bodies of Jenkins and Curran, along with many of their comrades, were never recovered or identified.<br /><br /><br /><br />But there was little time to mourn. In only a few days, the Fifth Oneida was back in action in another bloodbath at Spotsylvania Courthouse. Losses for the regiment were far lighter (16), but not for the Union and Confederate armies. In those two awful, back-to-back battles in May, the combined losses for both armies neared 60,000 men. Next came a grueling series of marches and engagements in May and June before the Union Army reached the outskirts of Petersburg, the lynchpin of the Confederate defenses for the rebel capitol of Richmond. The regiment lost another 55 men at Cold Harbor, 50 before Petersburg, and 45 at Weldon Railroad. And death not only came from the battlefield, but by disease, accidents, and captivity. A wound to the arm or leg often meant amputation.<br /><br />From June 1864 to May 1865, there was a 10-month siege of Petersburg. The stalemate was finally broken at Five Forks on April 1st. At the forefront of the breakthrough assault was the Fifth Oneida. Losing 65 of their own men, the regiment captured hundreds of Confederate prisoners and two battle flags. One week later, Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. For their efforts at Five Forks, three members of the Fifth Oneida were awarded Medals of Honor. These men were Colonel James Grindlay (the regimental commander after Jenkins was killed; Grindlay is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery), First Sergeant Thomas Murphy, and Private David Edwards. Edwards enlisted in Sangerfield and is buried in Waterville Cemetery. During the entire war, only 16 Medals of Honor were awarded to members of the Union V Corps, of which the Fifth Oneida was a part. Three of the medals belong to members of the Fifth Oneida.<br /><br />Many of these old battlefields are preserved today by the National Park Service. Saunders Field is still there, a lonely little field surrounded by trees. It looks pretty much like it did 145 years ago. The Orange Turnpike is still there too, now asphalt rather than dirt. There is a canon, a small open-air exhibit center, and a two-mile walking tour through the woods where you can see remnants of the former Confederate and Union earthworks. While there is also a small marker for the 140th New York (Rochester), there is none for the 146th New York. Few come to visit. Let us not forget the Fifth Oneida’s sacrifice on this field, or any made by Oneida County on any Civil War battlefield, in this, the noblest of causes.<br /><br />In an effort to humanize all of these facts and figures, let us take a brief look at the 19 men who enlisted in Sangerfield in August-September 1862 and who became members of the 146th New York Infantry. All except for one individual were members of Company H.<br /><br />Private Frederick Baker: 24 years old. Captured at Mine Run, VA in November 1863 and released April 1865 from the infamous Andersonville Prison in Georgia, where 13,000 Union soldiers died in captivity in atrocious conditions. Survived the war and mustered out in June 1865.<br /><br />Private Chester E. Burgett: 36 years old. Survived the war. Died in Waterville in April 1891 and buried in Waterville Cemetery.<br /><br />Private John Burnham: 44 years old. Died in Falmouth, VA in December 1862, most likely of disease. Many Union soldiers died of disease in cold and unsanitary camps at Falmouth that winter.<br /><br />Private Adam Cheesebrough: 28 years old. Wounded on March 31, 1865 at White Oak Road, VA only a week before the war ended; died on May 1st. Buried in Sangerfield Cemetery.<br /><br />Private David Edwards: 22 years old. Awarded the Medal of Honor for capturing a Confederate battle flag at Five Forks, VA on April 1, 1865. Survived the war and mustered out in July 1865. Died in Waterville in April 1897 and buried in Waterville Cemetery.<br /><br />Corporal John Edwards: 39 years old. Survived the war and mustered out in July 1865. Died in Waterville and buried in Waterville Cemetery.<br /><br />Private James Gibson: 21 years old. Wounded in May 1864 at the Wilderness, VA; died in June.<br /><br />Private William H. Hopkins: 28 years old. Died of disease in December 1862 at Falmouth, VA.<br /><br />First Sergeant Charles L. King: 21 years old. Captured at the Wilderness, VA in May 1864 and released in February 1865. Survived the war and mustered out in July 1865.<br /><br />Private David B. Lock(e): 26 years old. Became ill in July 1863 and was mustered out of the regiment. Buried in Sangerfield Cemetery.<br /><br />Private Edward Morris: 30 years old. Captured at Weldon Railroad, VA in August 1864; died in captivity in January 1865 at Salisbury, NC.<br /><br />Private Joseph Pennar: 41 years old. Captured at the Wilderness, VA in May 1864. No further record.<br /><br />Private John Reekard: 38 years old. Wounded at the Wilderness, VA in May 1864; died two weeks later.<br /><br />Private Charles Risley: 31 years old. Wounded at Petersburg, VA in June 1864; died in July.<br /><br />Corporal Lucius S. Tooly: 28 years old. Wounded at the Wilderness, VA in May 1864; died in June.<br /><br />Private Joseph Whalen: 21 years old. Captured at the Wilderness, VA in May 1864. Sent to Andersonville Prison; no further record.<br /><br />Private Ira Wing: 32 years old. Received disability discharge in March 1863.<br /><br />Private George W. Wright: 21 years old. Wounded in action and received a disability discharge in November 1864.<br /><br />Private Rensselaer Wright: 31 years old. Survived the war and mustered out in July 1865.<br /><br />There are also two interesting post-scripts in connection with the Fifth Oneida. First, the regiment was one of the most photographed units of the war. The reason being, after Chancellorsville, its uniform changed from the traditional dark blue Union jacket and kepi hat to Zouave attire. The flamboyant Zouave uniforms were based on French North African colonial troops, and the Fifth Oneida’s uniform specifically emulated the French Army’s Algerian sharpshooters. The new uniform was light blue in color with yellow trim, large baggy trousers, a red fez cap and sash, and white leggings and a turban. The distinct uniform stood out on the battlefield (which was not always a good thing), and the rank-and-file were proud to wear it.<br /><br />Second, the history of the Fifth Oneida was written by a woman, Mary Genevie Green Brainard of Waterville. It’s an oddity today to see a military history written by a woman, let alone in 1915, when Brainard’s book was published. Brainard’s book, Campaigns of the 146th Regiment New York State Volunteers, was re-published in 2000 with many new photographs and is available from Schroeder Publications (http://www.civilwar-books.com/).<br /><br /><br/>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-78574095671424112042009-09-14T16:21:00.000-04:002009-09-14T16:23:59.255-04:00Sangerfield/Waterville History 1976<div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">SANGERFIELD<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">by Mary C. Cleary, Town Historian,<br />M. L. Peterson, Researcher,<br />Hilda R. Barton, Martin F. Cleary,<br />Sydney Erickson<br /></div><br /> The Town of Sangerfield, with the neighboring Town of Bridgewater, occupies the most southern portion of Oneida County. Its water supply attracted early settlers and its rich soil provided the basis for successful farming through the years.<br /> U.S. Route 20 (east-west) intersects Route 12 (north-south) at the hamlet of Sangerfield, very near the site of the first dwelling built by Zerah Phelps in 1791 when he emigrated here from Massachusetts. The land then was owned by three land speculators, Michael Myers, John J. Morgan and Jedediah Sanger. Judge Sanger, anxious to have the area settled and named after him, promised a cask of rum for the first town meeting and 50 acres of land to the religious organization building the first church.<br /> In the next few years settlers trickled in, and the population grew. The Town of Sangerfield was offlcially established on March 5,1795. The first town meeting was held on April 7, 1795, in Mr. Phelps' home. Records show that "after the meeting was opened, they voted to adjourn to the barn," no doubt to sample Judge Sanger's rum, which had been delivered as promised. Incidentally, the 50 acres were equally divided between the Congregationalists, who had the first organization, and the Baptists, who had the first church building.<br /> The year following the first town meeting the tax rolls showed 85 taxable inhabitants who paid a total of $108.56 in taxes. The highest tax of $5.04 was paid by Benjamin White. From this inauspicious beginning the township has grown to include a population of 2475 in 1970. The 1976 budget was $206,000. <br /> Settlement was encouraged by the Cherry Valley Tumpike, built in 1811 as an extension of the Great Westem Turnpike. Tumpike travel made the thriving community of Sangerfield Center the most important settlement in the township, temporarily outshining the Huddle, the name given to the collection of houses, mills and stores built on the banks of the Big Creek, and later named Waterville. Numerous tavems on the village green at the Center catered to the needs of the drovers who passed back and forth between Albany and Buffalo. When hay sold for $20 a ton, innkeepers charged $1 to keep a span of horses overnight, but when hay dropped to $10 a ton, the price dropped to 50 cents. These wagons progressed slowly up the hilly terrain, sometimes taking a week to haul freight from Sangerfield to Albany. <br /> In those early days, the town also boasted its own newspaper, the Civil and Religious Intelligencer, founded in 1815. The name was later shortened to the Sangerfield Intelligencer, and then became the Sangerfield Intelligencer and Madison and Oneida Counties Gleaner in 1830. The paper's editor-publisher, Joseph Tenney, prided himself on his firm's efficient delivery of papers over sometimes dusty and sometimes muddy roads by a boy on horseback who loudly announced his coming with a blast of a horn. In 1856 the Waterville Times was established and is still published weekly in Waterville.<br /> By the late 1820s Waterville's expanding industries began to outstrip those of Sangerfield Center. Earlier established gristmills and sawmills were joined by taverns, stores, a distillery, a tannery, a brewery, a cotton mill and a foundry. Contributions to Waterville's early growth were made by many families who came here from New England, and were mainly of English stock. Prominent names include the Tower brothers: Jeduthan, Justus, John and Jotham; Benjamin White, Amos Osborn, Sylvanus Dyer, and Amos Muzzey. (Jeduthan Tower was the great-grandfather of Charlemagne Tower Jr., lawyer, industrialist and U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Germany in the late 1800s.)<br /> With the land cleared, houses built, and industries started, the people began to turn their attention to the educational needs of theirchildren. In 1815 the first public school was built on the corner of White Street and Academy (now Stafford Avenue South). Waterville Central School District was organized in 1928. The curriculum of this new school was expanded to include agriculture, shop, music and home economics; and the commercial and physical education departments were enlarged. The school had a separate auditorium, the gift of George Eastman, founder of the Eastman Kodak Company, who was born in Waterville. From 1930-1954 the student population doubled. A new open-space junior-senior high school was first used for graduation exercises in June of 1974.<br /> By far the most important industry in the town has been farming. Farmers once raised their own grain for milling, fattened cattle and hogs for meat, and made their own butter and cheese. With the introduction of hops in 1830 these practices were largely abandoned. Hop growing reached its peak in the 1880s, although it continued well into the 1900s. Waterville became the main shipping point for hops, and the exchange center for hops in the United States. In 1882, when hops sold for the high price of $1 a pound, deposits in the National Bank of Waterville totaled three-quarters of a million dollars. Many people who did not grow hops made a living in numerous outshoots of this industry, such as the manufacture of hop presses, buying and selling hops, transporting hop pickers, drying or shipping hops.<br /> In this time of prosperity, many farmers retired and built homes in Waterville. The village by this time had a thriving railroad, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Westem; a new residential street, Putnam Street; a new Opera House built in 1880; a new firehouse built in 1872 on White Street, several hotels, and a new public water supply. A public library system was begun in 1874.<br /> The hop industry began to decline around the turn of the century due to: the high risk involved in fluctuating hop prices, depletion of the soil, increase in hop diseases and pests, and most important of all, growing competition from hop growers in Oregon and Washington. When this happened, farmers in this area began to return to dairy farming and added peas or beans as a cash crop. Peas were a major crop through the 1930s and 1940s, but declined after World War ll, and practically disappeared in the late 1960s. Broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, and snap beans have replaced peas as major cash crops in this locality. Efforts were made to revive the hop industry in the late 1930s and 1940s, but proved unsuccessful.<br /> Potatoes are another important crop. Although the number of farms has declined in the past hundred years, the average size of farms has increased, a trend which is by no means confined to Sangerfield. Statistics compiled by the Oneida County Cooperative Extension Service showed the combined number of dairy cows in the Towns of Marshall and Sangerfield had risen from 2,606 in 1875 to 4,874 in 1964.<br /> Another interesting industry in the township was brick and tile manufacturing. A brickyard was built by John Haven of Connecticut in 1812. At the height of its production, 12 men worked year-round. Brick and tile were shipped to many parts of the country. When Hamilton College was built in Clinton, brick was drawn by horse and wagon, 1,000 bricks to the load. Little mention can be found of this industry after World War 1. <br /> An industry with a long history is the Buell Boot and Shoe Factory. At one time this industry employed 100 people, about 80 in the factory and 20 at the tannery. One of the fastest-selling items was a lumberman's boot which reached to the knee, and had two rows of wooden pegs in the sole, in between which the lumberjack could insert spikes to help him keep his footing on slippery logs. Most of the shoes and boots were shipped to the Midwest, which may or may not account for the story that the shoes worn by Abraham Lincoln at his inauguration as President in 1861 came from Waterville.<br /> At the present time Waterville's largest employer is the Waterville Knitting Mills, Inc. which employs 200. Its most important product is sweaters. It is owned by Barclay Knitwear Corporation of New York City. This firm succeeded the Waterville Textile Mills, Inc. which had been established in 1922 by LeRoy Harding and Shelby Jarman in the former Buell Boot and Shoe Factory.<br /> Smaller industries were the cheese box factory and the soap factory in Stockwell, a hamlet located in the southern part of the town. The cheese box factory was operated by members of the Benjamin Stetson family for over 150 years. Shoe boxes for the Buell Boot and Shoe Factory were made there, as were hop boxes.<br /> An enterprising businessman, Charles Marsh, made shoe pegs for the Buells. He also made a hard white soap that would float, which he called Ivory Soap, which became very popular. However, he failed to have the name patented, and so he was forced to change the name to Ivy Soap. Years ago, the stencils for Ivy Soap wrappers were displayed in the window of the Waterville Times in Waterville.<br /> Stockwell was first settled in the 1790s. Early settlers included Enos Stockwell and his wife Mary, John Berry and his family, and the Stetson family. Benjamin Stetson was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, and the father of ten children. The oldest, Joel, built a lumber mill.<br /> Throughout Sangerfield's history, its church organizations have been a vital force. Following the organization of the Lisbon Congregational Society in Sangerfield Center in 1796, a church was built on the green by 18 members. In 1823 the First Presbyterian Church was organized in Waterville.<br /> The Baptist chuch was begun in 1808 on a site near the present church on Main Street. The steeple of the first structure was finished on the day word was received the War of 1812 had ended. The people placed lighted candles in their windows, and a sailor climbed the steeple and placed a candle at the top. There was no wind, and the candle bumed to its base. The present brick church was erected in 1832.<br /> Grace Episcopal Church had its beginnings in 1840. The first society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Waterville dates back to 1835. Before 1850, when the first Catholic Church was built in Waterville, Catholics attended mass in private homes, the Berrill Foundry and the ballroom of the American Hotel.<br /> No history of Sangerfield would be complete without mention of its most colorful and notorious family—the Loomis Gang of Nine Mile Swamp. The Loomis homestead overlooked the Nine Mile Swamp Road between Sangerfield Center and Heads Corners. Although this house has vanished, stories of the family's cunning and ruthless exploits are still remembered and rival the deeds of the legendary outlaws of the old West. Accused of arson, counterfeiting, horse stealing and other offenses, the Loomis brothers, Wash, Grove and Plumb, and other members of the family were always able to avoid the punishment of the law. Sheriff James L. Filkins proved to be their undoing when he led a raid on the Loomis home, accompanied by three young men, Cort Terry, Henry Bissell, and John Garvey. This raid on October 31, 1865, resulted in the death of Wash, and severe injuries to Grove. A second raid took place on June 16,1866, in which the house was looted and burned and Plumb hanged almost to the point of death to get him to reveal information. Plumb, who had several brushes with the law after this, stayed in the Waterville area, and enjoyed cussing matches with men he knew in the Waterville taverns, although he was not a heavy drinker. Plumb died of a heart condition in 1903. The last member of the family, Wheeler Loomis, was a prosperous and respected farmer in Canada.<br /> In recent years, it appears that industry in the town of Sangerfield has come full circle with the building of two new feed mills— the Agway Regional Feed Mills in 1970, and Allied Mills, Inc. in 1973. The mills manufacture dairy and chicken feed from grain by-products. Another business, Wickes Building Supplies, was opened in 1960. This plant is one of 218 outlets of Wickes Corporation whose headquarters are in Saginaw, Michigan.<br /> In 1969, Edward Hanna, now mayor of Utica, opened the Hanna Manufacturing Corporation in the former roller skating rink outside the village line on Stafford Avenue. In this factory, rope products are made, as well as cameras, photo chemicals and electronic units relating to photography. In 1971 a new 92-bed nursing home, the Harding Nursing Home, was built. Sangerfield's newest industry is Champion Home Builders Company of Dryden, Michigan, which opened a plant here in 1973.<br /> There are numerous social, religious and civic organizations in the township. The Waterville Fire Department is probably the oldest organization in Waterville, dating back to 1829. The Volunteer Ambulance Corps was formed in 1971 to provide ambulance service to residents of southern Oneida and northern Madison Counties.<br /> Today the Town of Sangerfield remains predominately rural, but is able to provide services generally found in more heavily populated areas. Its blend of diversified manufacturing, farming and farm-related industries provides the stability necessary for steady and continued growth.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">SELECTED REFERENCE<br />Waterville, New York, Centennial History 1871-1971, (Waterville Centennial, 1971).<br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-14213111397319502052009-09-14T16:17:00.000-04:002009-09-14T16:18:38.934-04:00Sangerfield/Waterville History 1896<div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-style: italic;"> The following information is from the book "Our County and its People" - a descriptive Work on Oneida County, New York as edited by Daniel E. Wager and published by the Boston History Company, 1896. </span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">THE TOWN OF SANGERFIELD.<br /></div><br /> This is one of the two southernmost towns in Oneida county, and is bounded on the west and south by Madison county. It was formed from Paris March 5, 1795, and originally included what is now Bridgewater, which was set off March 24, 1797. Sangerfield remained a part of Chenango county until April 4, 1804. It includes a greater part of what was township No. 20 of the Chenango "Twenty Towns." The surface is mainly a hilly upland rising from 700 to 800 feet above the Mohawk. It is watered by the east branch of the Oriskany and the west branch of the Chenango Creeks. Along the latter stream is what is known as the Great Swamp, extending from near Waterville to the southern border of the town, and averaging a mile or more in width. Much of this has been cleared of its forest, drained, and converted into meadow. The soil of the valleys is a rich alluvium and on the hills is a gravelly loam. For many years this town has been noted for its large acreage of hops. In the year 1882 the price of hops exceeded a dollar a pound. While this brought comparative wealth to many of the inhabitants, it was in the main disastrous; producers thereafter based their calculations to a large extent upon a continuance of such prices, and when they were forced to sell in later years for a fraction of that sum, much financial distress was caused. It is stated that at one time there was only one farm in the town that was not to a greater or lesser extent devoted to hop growing. Under the depression and low prices of the past three years the acreage has been considerably reduced. The town has been noted for the proportionately large number of noted men in political, education and business life that have left its borders.<br /> The town was surveyed under a law of February, 1789, and within the next two years it was purchased of the State upon speculation, chiefly by Jedediah Sanger (from whom it takes its name), Michael Myers, and John J. Morgan; large parts of it were subsequently leased in perpetuity. The price paid for the purchase was a little over three shilling per acre.<br /> <br />The first town meeting was held April 7, 1795, and the following officers elected:<br /> Supervisor, David Morton; town clerk, Thomas Brown; assessors, Joseph Farwell, Daniel Brown, and Ezra Parker; constables and collectors, Jonathan Porter and David Chapin; overseers of the poor, Oliver Norton and Thomas Converse; commissioners of highways, Timothy White, Saul Smith, and Oliver Norton; pathmasters, Jonathan Palmer, Eldad Corbe, John W. Brown, James Kenny, Eri Brooks, Philip King, Asahel Hunt, Jesse Ives, Roger W. Steele, John Phillips, Thomas Stephens, Oliver Eagur, Zerah Phelps, Joel Blair, Solomon Williams, Benjamin White, John Stone, Joseph Putney, Moses Bush, Elias Montgomery, and Thomas Hale; fence-viewers, Ezra Parker, Joel Blair, Nathan Gurney, Uri Brooks, and David Norton, esq.<br /> The first settlement in this town was begun by Zerah Phelps, who in the fall of 1791 sent a hired man to build a log house on lot 42, of which he had previously become the owner. this house stood about a mile northeast of Sangerfield Center. Mr. Phelps was from Greenwoods, Mass. About the 1st of March, 1792, Minivera Hale and his wife, and Nathan Gurney and his wife and babe moved in the town from New Hartford. They brought in oxen and the snow being very deep, their journey in some parts was a very difficult one. The were a whole day making the last four miles, driving the oxen tandem. Mr. Hale had bought land adjoining Mr. Philps, and Mr. Gurney bought lot 40, on the site of Waterville village; a part of this lot was later owned by Aaron Stafford. They passed a few weeks in the house of Mr. Phelps, until their own log dwellings could be erected. In the month of April following Benjamin White settled on a part of lots 30 and 40, the farm that was later occupied by Amos Osborn. A number of other pioneers came in that year. Phineas Owen and Nathan Gurney's father settled on lot 40; other arrivals were Sylvanus Dyer, Asahel Bellows, Nathaniel Ford, Henry Knowlton, Jonathan Stratton, and a Mr. Clark. Mr. Clark had aided in surveying the town in 1789. These settlers met with disaster the first year through a heavy frost which destroyed their corn crop, and also served to keep away other setters. According to the Jones Annals, Mr. Clark had his leg crushed by a falling tree in May, 1792, and Mr. Hale started in quest of a physician. He found Dr. Guiteau at Old Fort Schuyler, and returned with him over the long journey; but the doctor would not treat the injury without medical aid, and Dr. Petrie, at Herkimer, was sent for. These two, with Dr. Elmer, of Paris, amputated the injured limb. It was an example of the privation and danger under which many pioneers lived on account of their distance from medical aid and the absence of roads. In July, 1792, a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Phelps, which was the first birth of a white child in town. The Phelps family soon removed to Batavia. The first male child born was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Hale, named Seneca, born January 20, 1793.<br /> On February 9, 1793, Col. David Norton and his family arrived in town from Arlington, Vt., and be became a leading citizen. He was the first supervisor, the first justice of the peace, the first captain of militia in the town and later a colonel, and the first postmaster after the office was removed to the Center. He was foremost in all good works. His daughter Hannah married Sylvanus Dyer, which was the first wedding in the town; the date was October 30, 1793.<br /> With better crops and prospects in 1793, the following year (1794) saw a considerable influx of settlers. Daniel Brown, Saul Smith, Thomas King, Daniel King, Solomon Williams, Samuel Williams, Justus and Ebenezer Hale, and Benjamin Dewey were among the new comers. In the same year the two Hales opened the first store in the town in their dwelling house, and were also the first to furnish accommodations to travelers. Ebenezer Hale built the second frame house in the town, Zera Phelps having erected the first one. In the summer of 1794 Polly Dyer taught the first school in Colonel Norton's house. In the following year the sum of the school money appropriated to this town by the Board of Supervisors of Herkimer county was forty-five pounds. Schools afterwards multiplied rapidly as their need was felt.<br /> <br /> The town was named in honor of Col. Jedediah Sanger, as before stated, in return for which it is said that he agreed to present a cask of rum at the first town meeting and fifty acres of land to the first church denomination which should first build a house of worship. Many of the first settlers desired that the town should be called New Lisbon, and when Sangerfield was chosen they manifested their displeasure by applying the name of New Lisbon to the Congregational society which was organized soon afterward, thus securing Colonel Sanger's bounty for a church bearing the rejected title. The rum was duly presented and twenty-five acres of land each given to the Baptist and Congregational societies; these tracts were part of lot 45.<br /> In September, 1796, Dr. Stephen Preston came into the town as the first resident physician. He practiced here more than thirty years and was also justice of the peace many years. Daniel Eells, sr., settled in that part of Sangerfield now included in Bridgewater in 1796, but in the following year removed to New Hartford.<br /> In 1793 Judge Sanger built the first saw mill in town on the site of Waterville, and in the following year Benjamin White, the second settler at that place, built the second mill. In 1796 Mr. White built the first grist mill, long known as White's Mills. Other early settlers at Waterville are noticed a little further on.<br /> Among the prominent farmers of past years were John Monroe, Delos Terry, Orin Kellogg, Philander Havens, Lyman Jewett, William C. Conger, Horace Locke, Jedediah Sanger and others. Other leading farmers are G.W. Allen, John C. Mason, C.B. Mason, Charles H. Jewett, S.A. Clark, W. Cary Sanger, Walter J. Bennett, C.L. Terry, and Charles G. Havens.<br /> Waterville village is situated on the northern line of the town about one fourth of its territory extending into the town of Marshall. It early gave indications of becoming an active business center. The mills which have been mentioned as in operation there before the beginning of the present century drew around them other manufactures, stores were opened and progress was rapid. The settlement of Sylvanus Dyer was made in 1799, when he came from the Center and opened the first store in a house at the west end of the village and also kept a tavern. Two men named Brown and Hewett, who had kept a store on the road to Oriskany Falls, opened a store here in 1801, and Robert Benedict established the third one soon afterward.<br /> Amos Osborn came from Fairfield county, Conn., to Waterville in 1802 and built the first distillery in the place near White's Mills. He purchased Mr. White's farm in 1810, for which he paid $30 an acre; he afterwards bought a second farm near by, paying nine gallons of gin per acre. Both of these farms were within the present limits of the village corporation, and Mr. White's house was the first frame dwelling erected in the village. Mr. Osborn operated his distillery thirteen years.<br /> Justus Tower settled in Waterville in 1802 and built a house and a grist mill. In 1803 he built the White Mills and operated both. A freshet in April, 1804, carried away all the dams of the place, and Mr. Tower and John J. Williams jr., were drowned.<br /> <br /> The Towers were from the town of Hingham, Plymouth county, Mass., and first located in the town of Paris. There were four brothers - Jeduthan (grandfather of Reuben and of Charlemagne Tower), Justus (father of Horace D. Tower), John and Jotham. John Tower was the father of John Tower, at one time proprietor of the Clinton House at Clinton. Jotham was the youngest of twelve children. Justus Tower was but thirty-seven years of age at the time of his death. He built a store in Waterville, and after his death Jotham Tower stocked it with goods, repaired the grist mill, which had been badly damaged by the freshet, and carried on both in company with Justus Tower's widow. Horace D. Tower, son of Justus, lived a long life in Waterville. His younger brother, Henry Tower, was for some years in the distilling business with J. and R. Bacon, merchants of the place, who purchased the stock of goods left by Justus Tower at his decease, and carried on the store for thirty years or more. (See biography of Reuben Tower in this volume).<br /> The post-office at Waterville was established in 1806, with Amos Muzzy, postmaster; he was succeeded by Col, John Williams, under whose administration it was removed to the Center, a little over a mile southward; this was done in 1808 and the name changed to Sangerfield. It was brought back and opened under its present name in 1823. Previous to that time the place had been locally known as "The Huddle." In 1802 the settlement had thirty-two dwellings and about 200 inhabitants. From that time forward the village grew rapidly. A tannery was established very early by Col. John Williams, who was also an early tavern keeper. Chauncey Buell afterwards became his partner in the tannery and finally purchased it and began boot and shoemaking in connection with it. The business increased in later years and a firm was formed under the name of C. Buell, Son & Co., which employed at one period nearly 100 hands and sold goods at wholesale over a wide extent of territory. Colonel Williams, who started this tannery, also established an earlier one in the southwest part of the town.<br /> Amos Osborn established a distillery in 1802, and several others were operated for a time in different parts of the town, but generally on a small scale. The one just mentioned was used in later years as the Cold Spring Brewery. The latter was operated until 1894 when it was abandoned.<br /> The grist mill operated in recent years, was built by Jotham Tower about 1815 on the site of the White Mills. Justus Tower built another grist mill in 1802 which was transformed into a paint factory in 1869 by Terry & Gridley.<br /> The Sangerfield cotton factory was built in 1816 by the Sangerfield Manufacturing Company. Henry B. Clarke afterwards obtained a controlling interest and operated it until 1830, when Goodwin & Bacon purchased it and changed it to a woolen factory. In 1837 J. A. Berrill took the building and established a foundry and machine shop, afterwards taking his son into partnership. They carried on the business many years. The plant was taken in 1895 by McLean & Co., who succeeded Brace Beardsley. Paint mills are made, in connection with the other business.<br /> The Waterville Wooden Novelty Works were established in 1895, for the manufacture of various household articles.<br /> Waterville has had several newspapers, the first one being the Civil and Religious Intelligencer, started in 1815 by Joseph Tenney; the name was changed in 1825 to the Sangerfield Intelligencer, and ten years later it was moved to Fabius, N.Y. The publication of the Oneida Standard was commenced in Waterville in 1833, but it was soon afterward removed to Utica. The Waterville Advertiser was begun in 1851 by R.W. Hathaway. In 1855 the Waterville Journal was started by A.P. Fuller & Co., C.B. Wilkinson, editor. It was discontinued in March, 1856. In 1857 the publication of the Waterville Times was commenced by McKibbin & Wilkinson, who continued it until 1860, and sold out to J.H. Yale. On November 8, 1866, the paper passed into the hands of R.S. Ballard. James J. Guernsey bought the establishment in 1870, and continued to July, 1881, when he was succeeded by Histed & Cutter (William L. Histed, Frank J. Cutter) who continued to June, 1882. Mr. Histed then retired and Mr. Cutter continued to April, 1887, when W.S. Hawkins & Co., (Dr. Claude Wilson) purchased the plant. This firm continued one year when Mr. Hawkins bought his partner's interest. In 1884 Patrick Loftus and Milton Barnum started a four page weekly called the Reflex. A little later W.S. Hawkins purchased the paper an in 1887 he consolidated the two papers, the name Waterville Times being continued. The papers is an excellent representative of progressive country journalism. The Waterville Y.M.C.A. is a thriving institution and publishes a small weekly called "Waterville's Young Men."<br /> Some of the early public houses have been mentioned. What became the American hotel was built about 1815 by Jonathan Hubbard and was afterwards extended and improved. There were three public houses in the village before that. The store occupied in 1802 by Robert and Hudson Benedict was afterwards converted into a hotel and became known as the Park House. M.B. Crossett built the Commercial House in 1875.<br /> The first bank in Waterville was established in 1838 under the State law and was changed to a national bank in 1865. Among early stockholders of the old bank were Stanton Park, Josiah Bacon, Amos Osborn, Julius Candee, Samuel Goodwin, D.B. Goodwin, Charlemagne Tower, Julius Tower, David L. Barton, E.B. Barton, Henry Tower, Horace Bigelow, Isaac Hovey. Daniel B. Goodwin was president of the national bank until 1888 when he was succeeded by William B. Goodwin. The latter was cashier until the above change was made, when he was succeeded by Samuel W. Goodwin. William B. Goodwin served as president until 1894, when Samuel W. Goodwin was chosen, and W.L. Race was made cashier.<br /> Charles Green & Son established a private bank in 1872, and in 1875 it was removed to Utica and continued until 1884. The firm was then changed to Charles Green, Son & Co., O.W. Kennedy and J.W. Hayes joining in the business. In 1891 the bank was removed back to Waterville, and the firm became Charles Green, Son, Brainard & Co., through the purchase of the interest of Mr. Hayes by I.D. Brainard.<br /> Waterville was incorporated April 20, 1870, and at the first charter election Daniel B. Goodwin was elected president; E.H. Lambe, George Putnam, E.S. Peck, trustees; Horace P. Bigelow, treasurer. The successive presidents of the village have been George Putnam, elected 1872; held the office to 1877; D. Snith Bennett, 1878; Reuben Tower, to 1883; E.C. Terry, 1884; Reuben Tower to 1886; A.R. Eastman, 1886; I.D. Brainard, 1887-88; F.H. Coggeshall, 1889-90; W.W. Waldo, to 1896, succeeded by F.H. Coggeshall. The village has an excellent fire department, owning a steam fire engine, ample hose and apparatus, with a company for both the engine and hose cart. The village is on what was the Utica, Chenango and Susquehanna Valley Railroad, the opening of which took place in November, 1869, giving a marked impetus to the business growth of the place. Among the leading business men of the village are the following: O.E. Wood, general store, who succeeded C.R. Nash in 1896; P.H. Landers, succeeded W.F. O'Connor in 1895; S.S. Bissell succeeding W.J. Bissell's Sons, drugs; William Jones, succeeded Jones & Marvin in 1893, drugs; D.B. Collins, clothing, began in 1890; Beers & Davis, succeeded William D. Jones in 1893, wall paper, paints, etc., E.G. Brown, drugs; A.H. Wilber, clothing, and many minor business establishments. Many new business blocks of modern character have been erected in recent years, and aside from the general depression incident upon the low price of hops, the village is in a thriving condition.<br /> <br /> One of the largest industries of the kind in the whole country is carried on here by the New York Hop Extract Company, organized in 1870. In April, 1873, W.A. Lawrence was elected superintendent. J.R. Whiting became sole licensee of the company for extracting from hops under patents, and soon afterward become president of the company. In 1875-76 the business was removed from New York City to Waterville, the center of the hop district. A large plant was erected with capacity of extracting 20,000 pounds of hops per day. Here an immense product of acknowledged purity is made and finds a market throughout the country.<br /> One of the oldest permanent industries in this county is the drain tile and brick manufactory of P.B. Haven & Son, which was founded in 1812 by John Haven, who came in from Connecticut. From primitive methods of early times this business has advanced until now it is conducted on the most modern and successful lines. In 1836 P.B. Haven, son of John, took possession of the works, made many improvements in methods and about 1855 added the drain tile industry. Two years later an iron tile machine was put in and in 1864 A.G. Haven, son of P.B., became a partner with his father. Horse power brick and tile machinery was used until 1880, when a modern outfit driven by a forty horse power boiler was introduced. Since then every valuable device has been added for the production of brick and tile. Twelve hands are employed.<br /> The schools of this town are in excellent circumstances, there being in 1895 twelve districts with school houses, and a prosperous Union school in Waterville. The building was erected in 1872 at a cost of $20,000. The whole number of children attending the schools of the town in 1895 was 790.<br /> There are now three post-offices in this town; Waterville, Sangerfield and Stockwell, the latter having been established in the southern part of the town, at the place known as Stockwell Settlement, with C.D. Marsh, postmaster. The post-office at Sangerfield has been in existence since early years, Col. David Norton holding the office of postmaster from 1808 to 1829, when he died. There has always been a small mercantile business there and a few shops.<br /> The first church society in Sangerfield was the "Society of Lisbon, Sangerfield," formed about the beginning of 1796, as the outgrowth of efforts made in 1794 to found a Congregational society and secure regular preaching. Services were regularly held from January, 1795, to March, 1797, with occasional preaching. The Society of Lisbon was formally organized March 15, 1797, with eighteen members; the first settled pastor was Rev. James Thompson. A house of worship was erected in 1804, on the village green at the Center, the land constituting the green having been conveyed to the society in October, 1796, by David Norton, Ebenezer Hale, Justus Hale, and Oliver Norton. In 1823 the society divided and about one half organized the First Presbyterian church. The church was removed in 1824 a little to the north, and in 1846 it was demolished and the present one erected. In after years the Congregationalists at the Center attended the church at Waterville and the old church was occupied by an Episcopal mission, services being held in connection with Stockwell Settlement, Oriskany Falls and Augusta Center.<br /> The Baptist church at Waterville was organized in December, 1798, and the first preaching was by Elder Peter P. Roots; the first settled pastor was Elder Joel Butler, who began in 1799. In 1800 a church was built on the green, the land having been granted by Benjamin White. In 1877 the church was extensively improved and its career has been one of prosperity.<br /> The First Presbyterian church at Waterville was organized May 19, 1823, with twenty persons from the first Sangerfield church, as before stated. Rev. Evans Beardsley was the first stated supply, and in 1824 Rev. Daniel C. Hopkins was installed the first pastor. The first church building was erected on the green in 1823; it was sold to the Methodists in 1844, and a frame church built on the site now occupied by a handsome brick edifice which was erected in 1872, at a cost with the lot of $37,000. The church is active and progressive.<br /> Grace church (Episcopal) Waterville, was organized in 1840, and Rev. Fortune C. Brown was the first rector. In 1842 the church was erected which was afterwards transferred to the Welsh Congregational society, and in 1854 the present church was built.<br /> The Methodist Episcopal society at Stockwell was formed in 1843, and the old Presbyterian church building was purchased. This was sold in 1848. In April, 1847, the second Methodist society was organized and the present church built at the Settlement.<br /> In 1857 Waterville was organized as a separate Methodist society, it having previously been in a circuit with other places; it was made one of three appointments under charge of Rev. F.W. Tooke - Waterville, Sangerfield and Stockwell. The frame church in Waterville was built in 1860.<br /> The Welsh Congregational church at Waterville was organized in 1852, and occupied the church sold to them by the Episcopal society.<br /> St. Bernard's Catholic church in Waterville was organized about 1850 and has grown to a large congregation, and has a substantial church.<br /> The town records are incomplete from 1797 to 1800 inclusive; after that year the list of supervisors and their years of service is as follows:<br /> 1801, Amos Muzzy; 1802, Oliver Norton; 1803-04, Justus Tower; 1805, Benjamin White; 1806-09, Oliver C. Seabury; 1801, John Williams; 1811, O.C. Seabury; 1812, Josiah Bacon; 1813, O.C. Seabury; 1814-20, Josiah Bacon; 1821-23, Reuben Bacon; 1824-27. Samuel M. Mott; 1828, Josiah Bacon; 1829--31, Samuel M. Mott; 1832, Reuben Bacon; 1833, John Mott, jr., 1834 Erastus Jeffers; 1835, Levi D. Carpenter; 1836, Erastus Jeffers; 1837-40, Horace Bigelow; 1841-42, Julius Tower; 1843, Horace Bigelow; 1844, Otis Webster; 1845, Amos O. Osborn; 1846, Erastus A. Walter; 1847-48, DeWitt C. Tower; 1849, John W. Stafford; 1850-51, George W. Cleveland; 1852-54, James M. Tower; 1855, Edwin H. Lamb; 1856, Hull Page; 1857-62, Platt Camp; 1863-76, James G. Preston; 1877-80, Marion B. Crossett; 1881, Horace P. Bigelow; 1882-84,George W. Cleveland; a special election was held in December 1884, and George Beach was elected to succeed Mr. Cleveland, deceased; 1885, George Beach; 1886-90, Reuben Tower; 1891, Lewis D. Edwards; 1892-96, Charles M. Felton.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-91532604430894447532009-09-14T16:10:00.000-04:002009-09-14T16:12:55.441-04:00"A Hop Picker's Life"<div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">The Waterville Times<br />September 16, 1875<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-weight: bold;">HOPS AND HOP PICKERS<br /><br />How They Enjoy Themselves<br /></div><br /> At four o'clock A.M., or as soon as the first streaks of light flow from the east, the clatter of the hop wagons are heard. Every street of the town is visited, and clatter, clatter, bang sharp and anxious, sound the wagons, one following another through every street, seemingly on purpose to wake all sleepers, and warn everybody of the passing hop harvest. Pickers have to crawl out, very many of them, no doubt, yet wearied from the past day's work, and more still, by the past night's revelries, and they begin to "load up". All manner of vehicles are used, from the heavy lumber wagon, with boards across the box for seats, or perhaps a rack seat around the vehicle, to the many seated spring wagons, made expressly for the purpose, which carries from ten to thirty, perhaps, and the elegant platform spring wagon, which carries from five to ten pickers with so much ease and comfort. Then back they go through the streets, the clatter reduced to a rumble by the load obtained, with occasionally a shrill voice heard as some boy more than usually wide-awake calls to a mate, or a loud "Hollow" to call some belated picker to their work. The teams all passed and away, silence settles for an hour or so upon the village before those left at home resume their usual avocation, and those somewhat broken in upon by the encroachments of the hop-raisers who take not only all the available women and children, but often draw largely upon laborers of all classes to aid in securing the crop. With so many gone, the village seems half deserted until the return at night.<br /> The various wagons, well freighted with pickers, hie away countryward one, two or three miles, arriving at the hop yards by the time it is light enough to see clearly, and the work begins. Hops picked in the dew lay up higher in the boxes, and fill up faster than those picked in the heat of the day. Those who go out this early, long before breakfast, "mean business." They work with a will, and many a picker, when hops are choice and the circumstances favorable, picks the larger part of a seven bushel box before breakfast, which usually comes about seven o'clock. Up to this time the yards have been rather quiet, but after the morning meal, and all hands have commenced the day's work, it is no uncommon thing for the song and jest to go round, for shrill voice to answer voice, and screams of laughter answer the cutting joke, the well told story or the pleasant song, and still the nimble fingers keep on, and pluck by ones, twos, threes, and handfuls, the aromatic, good-for-nothing produce of the vine. What though the pestiferous insects abound, "hop merchants" are plentiful, or bugs, spiders, worms and such are thick as spotters. The delicate young lady, who in her parlor at home feels in duty bound to scream at one of them, now recklessly dashes them aside by scores, and covered to the elbows in "hop gloves" handles insects and worms with impunity, or with only a sudden quiver of disgust and fear. By high twelve, not one in the yard but welcomes the sensation caused by the summons to dinner. In the long dining room, constituted perhaps with due reference to such an occasion, the tables are elaborately spread. All the substantials and luxuries of the season are prepared. The one who sets a meager or poor table one year, finds it hard work to get pickers the next one, therefore if the housewife has skill and ingenuity, they are in full exercise now. The groceries have yielded their choicest stores, the fields and orchards have been put under contribution, and such a dinner, to be thanked on one side by a splendid tea and on the other by a sumptuous breakfast. Roasts and boils, beef, fish, land and fowls, with such gravies, beautiful, mealy potatoes, and light, snow-white bread, rolls, or biscuits form the substantials, while mountains of cake, oceans of pie, pudding, custards, and often creams and ices, all in the nicest, choicest style serve to whet and appetite which needs no stimulation further than the work in the open air, and the aroma of the hops so freely given. Dinner over, to the yards again, and the afternoon passes like the forenoon, each one trying to gather from the company the greatest amount of enjoyment. Supper over, and hour or two in the yards and encroaching dusk winds up the labor, but in many cases only opens anew the enjoyments of the season. The hop-wagons return to the village those they gathered up in the morning, and as they come in we often hear such roars of laughter which betoken free hilarity and boisterous enjoyment, and at other times it seems as if the throat of each individual in the load was about to burst with the streams of song and chorus with which they "drive dull care away."<br /> With those who stay at the hop grower's over night, is now told the story of those trunks and marvelous large satchels and bags which we see with every party of hop-pickers which comes from abroad. Work over, and hour is given to dress and fixings. The metamorphose of the disagreeable looking caterpillar into the gorgeous butterfly is not astonishing. Silks and satins or more light and airy wardrobes take the place of calicos, bright jewels glisten, and of times gathered in a convenient place, from far and near, to strains of choice music, merry dancers glide, and "Soft eyes Look love to eyes which speak again And all goes merry as a marriage bell."<br /> In the small hours of morning the dancers return to their temporary homes and with the advent of the morning sun, again attired in working garb, they pick, friend discussing with friend, and boxmate with boxmate, the scenes and incidents of the day and night just spent; and thus the days go over and over again.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-21241591493113994622009-05-06T17:52:00.000-04:002009-05-06T17:57:27.608-04:00"Sangerfield House" Dreiheim, 1951<br/><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;">The following article is from the Utica Daily Press dated August 18, 1951<br />written by H. Paul Draheim<br /><br /><br /></div> <br />The picturesque Sanger Mansion located on the top of West Hill above Waterville, commanding a view of all sides for many miles of the equally beautiful countryside is a monument to one of the great names in American History, that of Sanger.<br /> Members of the Sanger family have played important roles in the molding of this great nation, the ancestors being among the pioneer settlers. They have been soldiers, diplomats, authors, lawyers and skilled in engineering.<br /><br /> The Sangerfield House, as it has been named, now owned by William Carey Sanger Jr., was erected in 1906-07 by Col. William Carey Sanger Sr., a Lt. Col. of Infantry, 203rd U. S. Volunteers during the Spanish American War, and a colonel in the New York State National Guard.<br /> He was born May 21, 1853 in Brooklyn and died Dec. 6, 1921 in New York. In 1874 he received his AB degree at Harvard and the following year his AM degree. In 18878 he earned his LLB degree at Columbia Law School and later received an LLD degree at Hamilton College.<br /> Col. Sanger served as Oneida county’s member of the State Legislature on three occasions, and later as assistant secretary of war under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.<br /><br /> His long record of achievements include serving as president of the American Delegation to the International Conference at Geneva in 1906 to revise the Red Cross Treaty; chairman of the National Guard Commission appointed by Governor Charles E. Hughes in 1908; member of the New York State Lunacy Commission from 1910 to 1911 and president of the State Hospital Commission from 1911 to 1913.<br /> In 1912 he was designated by the president of the United States to receive on behalf of the U. S. government the light house at Crown Point on Lake Champlain.<br /> Later he served as a trustee at Hamilton College, as chancellor of the New York Chapter Colonel (sic) Order of the Acorn and as governor of the New York Society of Colonial Wars.<br /> He married Mary Ethel Cleveland Dodge in New York City on Feb. 23, 1892, and to them six children were born, four of whom are living. They are, William C. Sanger, the present owner of Sangerfield House; Mrs. Mary (F.W.) Simonds, Boston; Mrs. Lillian Schieffelin D’Ardanne, England and Richard H. Sanger of Bayruth, Lebanon.<br /> This in brief is the sketch of the man who came to the Township of Sangerfield in 1892, to take a look at the town named after his great grandfather’s brother, Judge Jedidiah Sanger. He liked what he saw and decided to make it his permanent home.<br /> The First Home of Colonel Sanger was “The Maples” located about a half-mile northwest of the hilltop. About 15 years later while on the hilltop which has an elevation 1,483 feet above sea level, he decided “this is the spot for my new home.”<br /> At the time he owned a tract of 240 acres of land and had leased rights on 1,200 acres more. The hilltop was the center of the vast acreage.<br /> Colonel Sanger engaged the services of Architect Newton Phelps Stokes who drew up the plans for an English Country Home of the Elizabethan type. While the building is strictly English in design, it definitely is not a copy of anything in England or elsewhere.<br /> The J. W. Bishop Company of Worcester, Mass., was engaged as the general contractor, and in 1906 with the aid of a force comprising 30 to 40 men, ground was broken and construction started.<br /> It required one year to erect the large three-story building. The walls are of stone quarried from the pits at Oxford. The stone carefully was selected with about 25 percent being brown and the remainder, gray.<br /> The main building and the north wing which was used as the servant’s quarters, have between 30 and 40 rooms. Each of the rooms command an excellent view overlooking the valleys.<br /> The terrace overlooks the village of Madison, several miles away. The front, or main entrance, overlooks the village of Waterville, with Tassle Hill, Oneida County’s highest spot, in the distance.<br /> There are two square shaped loggias, featured by large Masonic Archways that overlook the Chenango Valley in direction of Hamilton. The north wing’s view is that with the Mohawk Valley in the distance.<br /> There are 10 large fireplaces in the main part of the building, two being in the basement and four each on the first and second floors. Each is an example of master craftsmanship.<br /> In addition there are three large furnaces. Still another feature is the hand operated elevator which connects all floors, a water system with source of supply from a deep well.<br /> <br /> Attached to the north wing is a large enclosed courtyard or service area in which there is an ice house (now used for storage), and a garage. The stables are located down the winding driveway nearer the highway.<br /> The present Owner, who like his forebearers saw service in his country’s army and diplomatic service and who is an author is his own rights, is great grandson of Dr. Zedikiah Sanger, a minister and a brother of Jedediah Sanger, founder of New Hartford. He graduated from Harvard in 1771.<br /> Tracing the ancestry, Sanger’s great grandfather was Dr. Zedikiah Sanger, also a minister. Sanger’s grandfather was Henry Sanger who was an importer and many items which he purchased in foreign lands may be observed in the mansion.<br /> The mansion contains a wealth of paintings, including several of the Mrs. Sangers as they appeared on their wedding day, five generations of the Sangers, Lt. Jacob Schieffelin of the British Army, Lt. Joseph Requa of the Colonial Army; Charles Stuart Dodge and many others.<br /> Each portrait, and their(sic) are life size, bears a brass plate with a detailed description. There also is one of John Haynes, the Fourth Colonial Governor of Massachusetts and the First Colonial Governor of Connecticut.<br /> The “Country-House” is filled with valuable antique pieces including the four-poster bed in which Judge Sanger once slept, many of his other furnishings, clocks from all parts of the world, various battle weapons dating back to the days of the lance, a suit of armor.<br /> One of the three giant-sized grandfather clocks once ticked away the time for Judge Sanger. Another was given to Mrs. Sanger, the wife of the colonel, by her parents.<br /> Mrs. William Carey Sanger Sr. is currently making her home in Watertown, Mass. She spends a great deal of her time in Washington, C. C. where the family has many friends.<br /> Pages of history are rapidly turned back through items in the Sanger House. One particularly interesting article is the Megalethosopia which is the fore-runner of television. In reality, it’s a giant sized stereoscope.<br /> There’s also an oar which was used by the present owner when he was a member of the crew at Harvard.<br /> The panelling in the dining room and the library is of rare workmanship and reaches from floor to ceiling. The tables and chairs in these rooms are more than 200 years old and were brought over Paris Hill by oxcart.<br /> The library, in addition to numerous portraits, museum pieces also contains shelves of books, many of them of great value. The railing on the staircase which connects all three floors, is in an artistic class by itself. All of the floors are of hard wood. The doors are solid oak.<br /> The furniture, some at least two centuries old, came from England, France, Italy and other overseas places. They are featured by hand carved trim and decorations.<br /> Rounding out the furnishings, there’s the China, glassware, and lighting fixtures, each a treasurer of its own.<br /> Like his father, the present owner was born in Brooklyn, in a house that was build by his grandfather Henry Sanger. The house on 10 Montague St. commands a view of towering Manhattan across the East River, the Jersey shore to the west, and Governor’s Island and the Statue of Liberty.<br /> At St. Mark’s School, he was editor of the “Vindex.”<br /> From 1911 to 1914 he studied diesel-electric poser for mainline locomotives, and made several drawing which were shown to his friend, W. B. Potter, chief engineer of the General Electric’s railway department.<br /> Many years later the first American built diesel-electric passenger engines made their appearance. Potter visited the Sangerfield House on several occasions, and in 1913 gave Sanger several blue print photographs of the new passenger locomotive for the New York Central.<br /> He graduated from Harvard in 1916, and in that year cast his first presidential vote - for Woodrow Wilson. As a boy he showed an ability to write and in 1915 he published “Tides of Commerce,” a series of poems. That same year he wrote an article urging the founding of a “League of Enforce Peace” among other nations and this piece appeared in “The City of Toil and Dreams” published in 1916 by Country Life Press.<br /> Sanger attended Plattsburg Military Training Camp in 1916, and that Fall just before sailing for France to drive an ambulance, he visited Washington, D. C., and informed President Wilson of his plan for a League to Enforce Peace.<br /> From December 1916 to May 1917 he drove ambulances over the battle fields, serving at Verdun and St. Mihiel. The Knickerbocker Press published his book of poems “With the Armies of France.”<br /> He was commissioned a First Lieutenant of Infantry Nov. 27, 1917, later became attached to the Military Intelligence of the Executive Division, and in 1918 served as assistant to the military attache, American Embassy in Paris.<br /> He saw war service with the 131st Infantry, 33rd Division, AEF in France, and was honorably discharged in May 1919. Later served another five years in the Military Intelligence, ORC, and in 1924 was an usher at Wilson’s funeral<br /> Sanger’s lifetime has been colorful and full of variety, and includes considerable travel. among other organizations, he is a member of the National Geographic Society, and the Founders and Patriots of America.<br /> This is a thumb-nail sketch of the present owner of Sangerfield House, which in reality is a castle, on top of a hill between Waterville and Oriskany Falls.<br /> <br /> <br /><br /><br/>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-23560282063048228122009-04-22T07:31:00.000-04:002009-04-22T07:34:32.801-04:00FRANK LUSK BABBOTT<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/Se8AnBvSLyI/AAAAAAAATKE/Jg58Hz45szY/s1600-h/The+Babbott+room.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 333px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/Se8AnBvSLyI/AAAAAAAATKE/Jg58Hz45szY/s400/The+Babbott+room.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327477554684243746" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The Babbott Room in "The Octagon" at Amherst College.</span><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Frank L. Babbott<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Native and Benefactor of Waterville, Dead</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">December 14, 1933</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Waterville Times</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">(Front Page)</span> </div><br /><br />First Graduate of the Waterville High School, Donor of Community Playground and Generous Giver to Public Library and Local Churches.<br /><br /><br /> Frank Lusk Babbott, a native son of Waterville and philanthropist of many local activities, died last Thursday morning in his home at 149 Lincoln Place, Brooklyn, of pneumonia. He had been ill for two months. He was 79 years old.<br /><br /> Funeral services were held Saturday morning in the Memorial Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, and interment was made in Greenwood Cemetery.<br /> <br /> Mr. Babbott was born in Waterville on August 14, 1854, the son of Miller and Mary Elizabeth (Crandall) Babbott. He attended the Waterville Union Free School and was the only member of the first graduating class in 1874. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst in 1878 and a Bachelor of Laws degree from Columbia two He studied law for a few years in the office of E. H. Lamb in Waterville. In 1903 he was made an honorary Master of Arts by Amherst and subsequently an honorary Doctor of Laws.<br /> Mr. Babbott married on February 18, 1886, Miss Lydia Richardson Pratt of Brooklyn. Mrs. Babbott is dead but he leaves a son, Dr. Frank L. Babbott, Jr., president of Long Island College of Medicine, and three daughters, Mrs. William S. Ladd of Manhattan, Mrs. S. Emlen Stokes of Moorestown, N.J., and Mrs. Helen MacDonald, London, England.<br /> Although a Bachelor of Laws, Mr. Babbott entered upon a business career, being a director and officer of the Chelsea Jute Mills from 1883 to 1901 when he retired. During this period he traveled extensively and made a thorough study of the jute industry particularly in foreign countries. He was also a trustee of the Brooklyn Trust Company and the Brooklyn Savings Bank and a director of the Engineers Public Service Company.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Distinguished in Art and Literature<br /><br /><br /> Since his retirement in 1901, Mr. Babbott's outstanding public interests were the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, of which he was honorary president, and Packer Collegiate Institute, of which he was president. He was president of the Brooklyn Institute from 1921 to 1929 and a trustee of the Packer Institute for forty years.<br /> In 1932 he received one of five awards of the Neighborhood Club of Brooklyn, "for distinguished service to the cultural and civic life of Brooklyn."<br /><br /><br />Art Collecting His Hobby<br /><br /><br /> Because of his hobby of art collecting, he was especially interested in the Brooklyn Museum of the institute. With Mrs. Frederic B. Pratt, he arranged the Italian Renaissance Hall of the museum, which was opened in 1932 and donated many pieces of the collection.<br /> In 1927 he presented to the museum embroidered silk garments belonging to the late Dowager Empress Tze-shi of China. In 1926 he contributed, $5,000 to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden of the institute, as part of a fund of $500,000 being raised to meet John D. Rockefeller Jr's contingent gift of $250,000.<br /> Mr. Babbott was a member of the Brooklyn Board of Education from 1895 to 1902 and of the New York Board of Education from 1902 to 1906, being vice president of the latter from 1902 to 1904.<br /><br /><br />His Many Interests<br /><br /><br /> He was a trustee of the Brooklyn Public Library for thirty years, honorary vice president of the Brooklyn Free Kindergarten Society, a trustee of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, vice president of the Municipal Art Commission, a member of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church from 1906 to 1917, president of the Eugenic Research Association in 1927 and a member of the Memorial Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, and of the First Presbyterian Church, Glen Cove, L.I.<br /> In 1925 he was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor of France, in recognition of his work in the cause of education and of art, as well as for his sympathy with France, particularly during the war. He was also a commander, second degree, Dannebrogordenen, a Danish decoration.<br /><br /><br />Interested in Italian Art<br /><br /><br /> As an art collector, Mr. Babbott in recent years was especially interested in Italian primitive paintings. His collection, which is notable for quality rather than quantity, includes the work of Carlo Crivelli and Lorenzo Monaco. It also includes four paintings by Arthur Davies, etchings and lithographs by whistler, and Chinese pottery and porcelain.<br /> Mr. Babbott compiled an~ edited "Classic English Odes," privately printed in 1902 and "John Donne's Poems," in 1905.<br /> He was a member of Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa Society and many prominent clubs.<br /> Besides his town home in Brooklyn, he maintained a summer residence at Glen Cove, L.I.<br /><br /><br />A Tribute<br /><br /><br /> The New York Times on December 9 paid him the following tribute:<br /> The late Frank L. Babbott was sometimes called The First Citizen of Brooklyn. Yet he never sought or held public office, except membership in the Board of Education. It was enough for him to lay upon his spirit the lowliest duties, at the same time that he gave time and strength and money to the institutions which stand for the highest aims in art and music and education. through his constant aid and leadership they became a power for "joy in widest commonalty spread."<br /> It is needless to repeat the long list of his activities and services in behalf of the city where he lived. Into that multifarious work he poured the life-blood of a master spirit. For his personality, so generous, so genial and sympathetic, was greater than anything he did. To him a multitude of friends were bound by links of affection and admiration which nothing byt his death could sever. His praise today is in the hearts of many who never knew him except through the benefits which came to them from his philanthropic and public-spirited activities. But the severest wrench will be felt by those who were admitted to the intimacy of his friendship. <br /> A lover and patron of art, he also had a delicate and sure taste in literature. Two volumes which he edited and privately printed show the resource and reinforcement which he always found in the best poetry. In the preface which he wrote for his reprint of "Poems of John Donne," he explained that he had selected only what he thought pure as well as beautiful, omitting the grossness found in other collections, in order that his own might "give greater pleasure by giving less offense."<br /> His life furnished a long and fine example of what may be done in the public service by a man who prefers to re main a private citizen. So long as our country can count upon the impulse which comes from such men as Mr. Babbott, we need not despair too much, because comparison with him of too many in office is so sadly to their discredit.<br /><br /><br />Generous to His Home town<br /><br /> <br /> Although Mr. Babbott's interests were naturally greatest in Brooklyn where he made his home, yet he never forgot the village of his birth and his school days here.<br /> He was greatly interested in young people and their recreational advantages. In 1916 when a movement was underway here to establish an athletic field, Mr. Babbott voluntarily sought out the committee having the project in charge and offered to furnish and equip a recreational field. Our well known "Babbott Field" was the result, which he gave to the community, fully equipped and endowed for its upkeep. It was a gift that will always be remembered in the hearts of our young people.<br /> He was a generous giver to the Presbyterian and Baptist Churches in Waterville and to the Waterville Public Library.<br /> in 1919 Mr. Babbott was the speaker at the commencement exercises of the Waterville High School and he took that occasion to voice his love for the institution in which he spent his boyhood years. The following Christmas he anonymously gave fifty dollars to every teacher in the school. Two years ago he visited the new Waterville Central School and was much interested in the use that had been made of the $50,000 gift to the school made by his friend, George Eastman.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7748526915017877317.post-30371868649840197702009-02-15T11:22:00.000-05:002009-02-15T13:19:02.965-05:00A Visitor's Guide to Historic Waterville<br/><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/SZhD5KQFbLI/AAAAAAAAR1I/xdgQMR9hmzA/s1600-h/visitors%27+guide+map.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 295px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0cO2nyo0Z5k/SZhD5KQFbLI/AAAAAAAAR1I/xdgQMR9hmzA/s400/visitors%27+guide+map.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5303063210512182450" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >(Click image to enlarge.)</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br />1. <a href="http://www.watervilleny.com/StBernards.htm">St. Bernard’s Catholic Church</a> - This is the second church building on this site. The first, a frame structure, was dedicated in 1854. The first Mass celebrated in this building was on July 14, 1912. The stained glass windows, depicting scenes of Christ’s life, were imported from Italy.<br /><br />2. Of Federal Georgian architecture, this brick home was built for Dr. W. P. Cleveland in 1829. Some of the windows still hold panes of Sangerfield glass and the hinges and door locks are handmade.<br /><br />3. George Putnam’s “Castle” was built around 1880. Presumed to have been designed by Charles Babcock, the bricks for the building were said to have been imported from France; the house had all the most up-to-date conveniences, a dumb-waiter, imported woodwork, etched glass and a ballroom on the third floor as well as a cistern on the roof.<br /><br />4. Grace Episcopal Church was constructed in 1854 when the congregation outgrew its first church building – now the White Street home of the Waterville Historical Society. This Gothic revival building has many beautiful stained glass windows two of which are by Tiffany. The Chapel was added in 1942.<br /><br />5. The <a href="http://www.watervillebaptist.org/">Waterville Baptist Church</a> was raised on this site in 1801 – the first church in “the Huddle.” The present building was built in 1832 and is the oldest church building in Waterville.<br /><br />6. The Woodman-Getman building was built in 1869 for the Waterville National Bank and the vault is still in the building. The Corinthian ornamentation is cast iron. From its establishment in 1838 until 1869, the bank was located at 126 E. Main.<br /><br />7. Now <a href="http://www.southgateministries.com/">SouthGate Ministries</a>, this was the third structure that served the Presbyterian congregation. The first was opposite the park; the second was erected on the present site in 1843. In 1872, when that, too, proved too small, the present building was constructed. In March of 1917, lightning struck the taller spire.<br /><br />8. The Buell Block was built in 1873 to house the warehouse, offices and showrooms of the Buell Shoe Manufactory. The New York State Hop Extract Works also had offices there and the third floor held the Masonic Hall. A microburst in 1997 damaged the roof to the extent that the Masonic Hall’s ceiling is no longer there, but all of the exterior wooden trim on the building is exactly as it was one hundred years ago.<br /><br />9. According to earlier historians, The Waterville Hotel was built in the early 1800’s and is probably one of the oldest buildings on Main Street. It has always been a “tavern.” It is currently operated as an English “pub,” and is called “The Red Lion.”<br /><br />10. According to a Tower descendant, the small brick “schoolhouse” may have been here even before Rueben Tower purchased the lot for his home, before 1829. It later served as the law office of Charlemagne Tower, Sr. It has recently been restored by Mr. and Mrs. Robert Harding who also own the<a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/tower-family.html"> Tower Homestead.</a> The eastern, Federal period wing of the main house was built around 1800; the central, Greek Revival period section was added by Rueben Tower I in 1830, and the west wing added c. 1910 by Charlemagne Tower, II. The wallpaper that had been hung in the “library” when the house was built – colored scenes of Italian seaports - is now in the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design in New York City.<br /><br />11. The granite base of the <a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/civil-war-monument.html">Civil War Monument</a> was erected in 1899 on a plot of land cleared, graded and given to the Soldiers & Sailors Monument Association by Charlemagne Tower, II, and at the behest – so the story goes – of several ladies in the community. The bronze statue was added in 1904. Two Columbiad cannon and eighty ten-inch cannonballs, acquired in 1926 for the Monument Park display, were given to the scrap metal drive of WWII.<br /><br />12. The Masonic Temple was built in 1896 by<a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/tower-family.html"> Rueben Tower</a> – younger brother of Charlemagne Tower, Sr. – as his residence and office. The 103’ tall tower holds a “chime” of nine bells, cast by the Meneeley Co. of Troy, which are still operating order and are played on Sundays and special occasions. (Rueben Tower was as unique as this building and stories about him are legend!)<br /><br />13. Italianate “Villa” with “icicle” cornice built c. 1850 by Julius Candee.<br /><br />14. <a href="http://heapsofhistory.blogspot.com/2006/11/opera-house-history-by-n-r-cowen.html">The Opera House</a>, constructed in 1880, is still – in a way – in existence in that the vast auditorium occupies the second floor of this building. Unused since the 1960’s the property is privately owned.<br /><br />15. The United Methodist Church was built in 1860 and renovated in 1902 and again in the 1950’s and in use until the new church on Tower Street was built in 1967. Since then, this building has been an auction house as well as store and, now, a private residence.<br /><br />16. The New <a href="http://www.midyork.org/waterville/">Waterville Public Library</a>. Although Waterville has had a collection of books called a “library” ever since 1847, it never had a real library building. This new structure – which opened in 2006 – replaces the Waterville Public Library which had been located in a former residence at 220 E. Main Street ever since 1908. Historians and genealogists will find a visit very rewarding!<br /><br />17. The <a href="http://www.watervilleny.com/WHS.htm">Waterville Historical Society</a> building was built by the Protestant Episcopal Religious Society in 1842. In 1854, when the larger church building (Grace Episcopal Church) was built on E. Main Street, this became the Welsh Church and then, in the 1930’s, the Waterville Village Hall. The Historical Society has made many improvements to the building and maintains a large collection of original hop equipment in the barn behind the main structure.<br /><br />18. <a href="http://www.watervilleny.com/vilofwaterville.htm">New Municipal Hall</a>, constructed in 2003, holds offices of the Mayor, Village Clerk/Treasurer, Judge, the Superintendent of Public Works and the Codes Enforcement Officer as well as the Edward S. Barton Community Hall and substations of the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department and the New York State Police.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Philippa S. Brown - revised February, 2009</span><br /></span><br /></div></div><br /><br /><br/>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0