Seeing Oneida County

Seeing Oneida County Jay G. Williams Gwenfrewi Santes Press Seeing Oneida County Jay G. Williams Gwenfrewi Santes Press “Wherever the head rolls” 2015 2015 The front cover is a photograph of the Oriskany Valley taken from Roberts Road. The inside back cover picture is of the Mohawk valley taken from Austin Road near where Asahel Grant was born. Table of Contents Introduction Maps Chapter One: 1 Chapter Two: Settlement Begins 25 Chapter Three: A New World in the Making 67 Chapter Four: Transforming Society 91 Chapter Five: The Great Conflict and Its Aftermath 127 Chapter Six: Oneida County Comes of Ages 167 Indices 211 Further Reading 216 Introduction I should make clear, first of all, that this is not an “official” introduction to Oneida County. In fact, one might say that it is highly “unofficial” and personal. It is just one person’s attempt to express his own delight with the history and riches and beauties of the world that surrounds us here in Central New York. I could have, of course, widened my focus to include the surrounding counties that have their own special places of interest, but I decided to leave that task for others. There is enough right here in Oneida County to make quite a big and many-sided book. I should also say that this book is named “Seeing Oneida County,” so the emphasis will be upon pictures and not upon extended text. Yes, there will be explanations and an occasional footnote, but I do not intend this to be a scholarly tome. Most of the information contained herein can be found quite easily on the Web where there are sites for each of the several townships of Oneida County as well as for many of the historical figures mentioned in the text. Nevertheless, I believe that seeing may be more important than just “the facts.” I should also emphasize that this is not meant to be an “aesthetic” book. The pictures are snapshots, sometimes just of old signs. The camera is very ordinary and so is my “aim” sometimes. The objective is not to overwhelm with beauty but to encourage the readers to see for themselves. I should also apologize ahead of time for missing this or that important person, place, or event. I am sure that some readers knowledgeable about the area will ask “Why didn’t he mention this or that?” The truth is that although I have lived in Oneida County most of my life, there are many things I do not know about it. So I apologize even before you speak. But do speak, for maybe in the next printing (if there is one) I can include what you suggest. My biggest regret is that the book includes very few important women in its discussion. That is not because I did not look for important women but because, during much of the period we are looking at, women were considered inferior to men. Christianity was highly patriarchal and it took years to overcome the belief that only men are made in the image of God. Women did not even get the right to vote until 1920!!! I should also say that what I am looking for in the county are evidences of the past and not so much images of the present. Therefore, there are no pictures of the Utica Comets in their play-offs in 2015 nor even of the Boiler Maker. I offer very little by way of modern industries or modern housing or famous people living in the county today. Emphasis is upon where we have been and not where we are. Although all townships are mentioned in the text, I should also admit that some are far more emphasized than others. That is not because of my internal prejudice but because several townships1 have far fewer residents and, quite frankly, far less history. Several townships, in fact, contain no incorporated villages and only a very small population. Others, such as Whitestown, contain four villages and, as a result, much more history to think about and see. Some may criticize the fact that Clinton and the Kirkland township are more emphasized than many other places. Perhaps that is because I am a Clintonian, but it is also because Hamilton College was really, for many years, the county’s only institution of higher learning and hence attracted students and faculty with strongly intellectual interests and abilities. In any event, I hope you enjoy this excursion into Oneida County. I encourage you to get in your car and see it for yourself. Jay G. Williams 1 Townships without an incorporated village include Annsville, Ava, Bridgewater, Deerfield, Florence, Floyd, Lee, Marcy, Verona, and Western. Marshall escapes the list only because a small piece of the village of Waterville extends into the township. I should also say that Bridgewater was once a village but has recently unincorporated itself. Maps Oneida County when settlement began. Oneida County as it is today . Chapter I: Beginnings Perhaps the most important geographical feature of Oneida County is the Mohawk River that flows down from the north and then turns eastward to receive the waters of other streams like the Oriskany, Sauquoit, and West Canada Creeks to form the Mohawk Valley. From Rome, the river runs from west to east, connecting with the Hudson River near Troy, N.Y. as its largest tributary. This fact was very important for the history of America, for at the beginning, the colonies, and then the states, were hemmed in by the Appalachian Mountains that made slow going for those who sought to go west. The Mohawk River offered a way of sailing west, at least half way across the state. One should not assume, however, that there was no travel west before canals were built. Indeed, right after the Revolutionary War, many left their homes in Virginia, North Carolina, and several other states and headed to what is now the Midwest. Still, the Mohawk River, converted into the Erie Canal, made American travel and shipping much easier. In the north country, the Mohawk appears as a relatively small brook. Here is the river in West Branch, in the town of Lee. After it connects with its east branch, it begins to look like a river. 1 Here is the way it looks in Rome, N.Y. just before it turns east and heads for the Hudson. 2 It is interesting that flowing down the west side of Rome is another very small stream called Wood Creek. When it reaches the area south of Rome, however, it turns west, not east, flowing toward Oneida Lake and then, in a different river on to the Great Lakes. Although much, much smaller than the Mohawk, Wood Creek became the link between east and west. Rome then is a watershed and that played a vital role its development. 3 Long before European settlers arrived, Native Americans used this area between the Mohawk and Wood Creek as a carrying place. Once across what they called the “Deo- wain-sta” they could continue their voyage from the Hudson River all the way to the Great Lakes and what we call the Midwest. Today, the marker for the carrying place is south of the train tracks in south Rome. The Deowainsta marker Oneida1 County is named, of course, for a major Haudenosaunee tribe that had long lived in the area. Their central Long House was in the western part of the county in what is now know as Oneida Castle. The “castle” refers to the Long House that once stood on what is now a park in that village. 1 Oneida is actually a corruption of Onyota’a:ka that means People of the Upright Stone. 4 Site of the Longhouse in Oneida Castle Oneida Lake at Sylvan Beach The Oneidas were also very active around the eastern end of Oneida Lake, the easternmost finger lake often described as the “thumb.” Many, many items related to 5 Native American life have been found near the lake where Oneidas apparently often fished, hunted, and farmed. Today, of course, the eastern end of Oneida Lake has become a summer resort. In the southern part, in the town of Verona, we find Verona Beach, a lovely State Park with plenty of room for swimming and picnicking and camping. The northern half is Sylvan Beach, a town with many summer homes, restaurants, and a large marina. Here is one of the many boats that may be seen on the lake. Not far away is an amusement park that operates all summer. 6 Sylvan Beach Amusement Park Our concern, however, is not with modern amusement but with those peoples who occupied this land for 10,000 years. This is, after all, Oneida County. Oneidas were linked with other New York tribes: the Mohawks, who also, in part, resided in Oneida County, as well as the Onondagas, the Cayugas, the Senecas and the Tuscaroras who lived to the west. These “Iroquois” tribes, as the French explorers called them, occupied most of the central New York region from what is now Amsterdam to Buffalo. They also hunted in regions far beyond that. Although the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts as early as 1620 and had spread through much of New England by 1750, very few people had moved to central New York. One reason for that is that the Hudson River area was occupied, for some time, by the Dutch and that inhibited western expansion by the English. So Albany and Schenectady had been founded, but to the west most of the land was occupied and defended by Native Americans and by the French who claimed the western part of what was to become New York State.

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