TOWN OF SMITHFIELD
From The History of Chenango and Madison Counties, New York
by James H. Smith (D. Mason & Co. - Syracuse, New York 1880)
SMITHFIELD
was organized March 13, 1807, being set off from Cazenovia. It derives its name
from Peter Smith, who at the time of the organization was owner of all the land
contained in the town, except a few farms which he had sold to settlers and a
strip one mile wide across the northern end. It contains at present 15,629
acres, of which 12,783 acres are improved. The town is bounded on the north by
Lenox and Stockbridge, on the east by Stock-bridge, on the south by Eaton and
Nelson, on the west by Fenner. Before 1823 it was the largest town in the
county, but is now the smallest. In that year the territory constituting the
town of Fenner, except a small corner, was all taken off from Smithfield. An
effort to make this division was commenced in 1816, but was opposed
strenuously. At the town meeting held March 4, 1823, the division was opposed
by 236 votes against 226 in favor*. Nevertheless the division was made and a
special meeting was held the 17th of May, to fill vacancies in offices caused
by the set-off. In 1836 the territory forming about one-third of Stockbridge
was set off without opposition.
*
This record in the clerk's book is probably an error; the number should
doubtless be transposed.
The
surface is mostly rolling, but a cedar swamp extends through the town north and
south, in places nearly two miles wide, a large part of which is still
unimproved. Much of this swamp is underlaid by a stiff marl upon which is a
spongy muck varying from four to ten feet in depth. The hills are sandy and
gravelly. The prevailing timber is maple. Most of the surface is drained by
streams flowing northward, chiefly of which are the Chittenango and Cowassalon
creeks, but the Chenango river in the south receives the drainage of a part of
the town. The highest point in the town is over 1,000 feet above the level of
the Erie Canal at Canastota.
Agricultural
products of Smithfield in 1874:
Pasturage,
5,562 acres; hay 5,772 tons from 3,976 acres; barley, 6,110 bushels from 261
acres; wheat, 6,151 bushels from 332 acres; oats, 47,192 bushels from 1,464
acres; corn, 15,238 bushels from 422 acres; buckwheat, 815 bushels from 51
acres; beans, 323 bushels from 22 acres; potatoes, 16,200 bushels from 140
acres; apples, 19,578 bushels from 11,764 trees; cider, 355 barrels; maple
sugar, 2,105 pounds; maple syrup, 220 gallons; hops, 116,693 pounds from 192
acres; dairy goods from 1,377 cows home
made cheese, 4,945 pounds, home made butter, 53,175 pounds factory cheese,
65,800 pounds; wool, 2,617 pounds from 507 sheep; pork, 8,028 pounds from 3,008
swine,
The
total valuation of farms was $1,064,068; the total valuation of buildings,
$169,040; the total valuation of stock, $162,751; the total valuation of tools,
$37,980; the total cost of artificial fertilizers, $834; total sales were
$285,667.
The
town contains five cheese factories, located as follows, and all in operation
at present, making both cheese and butter; one at Peterboro, one at Siloam, one
at Frederick Putnam's farm, one near the southeast corner of the town, one at
Mile Strip, all of which, except two, are operated by J. B. Wadsworth; the Mile
Strip factory is conducted by the owner, Rolland J. Hollenbeck. The Peterboro
factory was the first built in Madison county*, and the second in the State. It
was commenced early in the spring of 1861, under the direction of Mr. Williams,
of Rome, the father of cheese factories. The proprietor, Harry Blodgett, now of
Cazenovia, continued to operate it two years and leased it to Stillman
Fletcher; it has since passed through the hands of Thomas Tooke, Avery and
Wadsworth, and is now the property of W. I. Davis, who makes it a profitable
establishment.
*
It is stated in the history of Eaton, that the first factory was built in that
village. A more careful examination of dates settles a disputed question and
shows that the Peterboro antedates all others by several months.
The
town is traversed by the Oneida turnpike running from Vernon to Cazenovia, and
in the opposite direction (north and south) by the Stone Road, from Morrisville
to Canastota, both of which together with the several dirt roads in the town,
are in a very fair condition during most of the year. No railroad or canal
touches Smithfield at any point. A stage runs daily between Peterboro and
Canastota, nine miles, and carries the mail.
SCHOOLS
The
town is divided into ten common school districts, the largest of which is the
one containing the village of Peterboro, District No. 1, and its school was the
first one established. The town's first apportionment of public school money
from the county treasury was less than $125. The first levy of town tax for
support of schools was ordered to be equal to the amount received from the
treasury, and this ratio was continued many years, after which the levy was
made double that amount so long as the town continued to control the schools
directly. After the passage of the common school law of 1812, we find the town
meeting (1813) by resolution voting that "this town comply with the act of
Legislature for the establishment of Common Schools." The first school
commissioners were: Asa Dana, Thomas Dibble, Benjamin Wilbur, and they received
$1 for every day's service. The same year
1813 Enos Cushing, Wright
Bingham, Nehemiah Huntington, Harmonias Vanvleck, Jonathan Shearman and Nehemiah
Bacheler were Inspectors of Common Schools. Their report states that the text
books in use were:
Webster's
spelling book, American preceptor, Columbian reader, English reader, Daboll's,
Pike's and Root's arithmetics, Murray's grammar, Dwight's, Willet's, Parish's
and Morse's geographies, Walker's dictionary. Besides the district tax and the
annual apportionment of public money, which latter, in 1880, amounted to
$872.53, the common schools of Smithfield derive annually an income of $74 from
the Common School Fund, an endowment of $1,049.54, the gift of Gerrit Smith*.
The whole number of children in the schools in 1879 was 576, and the aggregate
attendance 125,509 days.
*
Mr. Smith made this donation in his early life to form the nucleus of a Town Poor
Farm, but the difficulties arose relative to using this poor fund in connection with the county "poor
moneys," hence the project was abandoned and in 1845 the money denominated
the Common School Fund of the town of Smithfield.
EARLY SETTLERS
Peter
Smith, born near Tappan, Rockland County, N. Y., in 1767, was the founder of
Smithfield. In youth he went to live in New York City, and while there formed
an intimate friendship with a fellow clerk and the two entered into a
partnership to carry on the fur trade. The other partner was John Jacob Astor.
He remained in the city to superintend sales and Mr. Smith went into the
interior of the State to deal with the Indians. After ten years the partnership
was dissolved, and Mr. Smith gave his attention to securing some of the best
lands in the middle counties. In 1794, he succeeded in leasing from the Oneida
Indians, for a term of 999 years, (they being debarred from selling their
lands,) a tract comprising over 50,000 acres, and which embraced nearly all of Smithfield
and Fenner, that part of Cazenovia lying north of the Gore, a part of
Stockbridge, and a large portion of Augusta, in Oneida county. This tract he
secured by treaty with the christianized part of the tribe, through
negotiations with their Chief, Skenandoah, a warm friend of his. The Pagan
members of the tribe revolted against a bargain by which they gave up their
lands for a mere trifle, (less than a $100 it is supposed,) and gave him not a
little trouble in his surveying. The next year this land came into possession
of the State by treaty of purchase, and Mr. Smith was given an opportunity to
secure title to his tract by payment of $350. After some hesitation he finally,
in 1798, accepted the proposal and was allowed $1.50 per acre for the expense
of surveying and his other expenditures. In 1799 he commenced the sale of farms
at auction; most of the parcels offered were 50-acre tracts, none larger than
200 acres, and the price per acre varied from $6 to $15. Mortgages were taken
in payment and these were turned over to the State in payment for the original
purchase. The title to this land, known as the New Petersburgh Tract, having
been confirmed, settlement upon the tract became rapid and for twenty-five
years Mr. Smith's land office was thronged with purchasers.
Mr.
Smith did not enter immediately as a resident on his possessions, but sent
thither in 1795 Jasper Aylesworth, a native of Rhode Island, (born Aug. 7,
1773, died in August, 1847.) Mr. Aylesworth walked all the way from Utica and
carried most of the distance a heavy iron kettle on his back. Arriving on the
site of Peterboro, he commenced clearing the two acres that now forms the
public square, or "green." This he planted to corn and then cleared
the ground now occupied by the Gerrit Smith mansion. Mr. Aylesworth was a hard
working, muscular, iron nerved man, of good principles, but poorly educated. In
the spring of 1767 he married Polly, daughter of John Taft, who had recently
entered the town as a settler. There were at the time only two other
marriageable girls in Smithfield, and this was the first marriage within its
borders. Their first child was born March 14, 1798, and she was christened
Safety. She was the first white child born in Smithfield and she lived in
Peterboro village during all her life, dying in 1872. When their second child,
Hiram, was born, June 5, 1800, there had been no birth in any other family in
the settlement. The subsequent children of the first settler were: Oran, born
April 25, 1802; Loren, born April 12, 1804; Henry, born June 14, 1805; John,
born June 19, 1807; Adeline, born Sept. 30, 1809; George, born July 3, 1812;
Eliphalet, born April 20, 1814; Van Ranssville, born Oct. 17, 1816; Sophronia,
born Aug. 8, 1818. Only Hiram, Sophronia and Eliphalet are living in 1880, the
first two in the Western States, Eliphalet, in Peterboro, the sole
representative of the family. Oliver Trumbull came from the east in 1798 and
bought 50 acres a half mile south from the Aylesworth clearing and his
posterity have held an honorable position in the growth of this and other
towns. In 1797-'99 came the family of Bump, first Ithamar, and afterwards his
father, Ichabod, and his brothers, Moses, Nathan, David, Jonathan, Gideon,
Jacob, and a sister, Hannah, wife of Ebenezer Bronson, mother of Hon. Greene C.
Bronson. Several of these remained in the town and by their thrifty lives added
much to the town's general prosperity; most of them have eventually gone
farther west. The only branches of the family at present in Smithfield are two
grandsons and a granddaughter of Ichabod, Ira and Jeremiah Bump and Mrs. Bush.
About
1800 came a large number of families of moderate means and industrious habits,
many of whom purchased farms in the southern part of the town. We find
prominent among them Solomon Merrill, David Shipman, Samuel and Jacob Walker,
Jabez Lyon, Robert Streeter, Shadrach Hardy, Gideon Wright, Ezra Chaffee, David
Tuttle, Mrs. Moody, with her sons Samuel and David, Mrs. Mattison, with her
sons John, Abraham, Eli and Nathan, the Northrups, the Mathewsons, Francis
Dodge, Salmon Howard, Stephen Risley, Moses Howe, John Forte, Reuben Rich,
David Blodgett, Daniel Petrie, (the first Sheriff elected in the county,) Capt.
Joseph Black. Peter Smith himself came from Utica with his family, in 1806, and
soon after commenced the erection of the family mansion*. Besides his large
land transactions, he entered at once into manufacturing and trade, and was
soon proprietor of nearly all the industries of the region. The year after his
arrival he was elected supervisor, and in June of the same year was elected
Associate Judge of County Court, and held the position till 1821. His education
was not liberal, but he possessed the faculty of making himself felt in all
circles, and as manager of large financial schemes had no superior in his
sphere. From first to last he handled 500,000 acres of land in Madison, Oneida,
Clinton, Essex, St. Lawrence and Franklin counties. In his dealings he was
close, in gifts moderate, yet public spirited and often tender. His nature was
emotional, so much so that he could with difficulty control himself under the
slightest excitement. While in his speech he frequently indulged in profane
expressions, the records of his daily thought reveals him as excessively,
almost fanatically, under the domination of conscience. His diary is an amusing
mixture of business entries and penitent reflections, from which it would
appear that his busy life was far from a happy one. Judge Smith, in 1819,
transferred all his property in Madison county to his son Gerrit and removed to
Schenectady in 1825. This step was probably occasioned by financial
embarrassment brought upon him by the recklessness of his oldest son,
Skenandoah, who involved his father deeply, and was possibly suggested also by the
death of his wife and a second marriage, which was not congenial. After he
removed to Schenectady he re-commenced the business of accumulating land, and
during the remainder of life devoted much time to religious duties, the
distribution of pious tracts and frequent exhortation in his conversation with
men of the world. In his business tours through the northern counties he
carried large stores of tracts and attracted attention to his object by ringing
a small bell as he entered a village or town, and by exhibiting in large
letters on his wagon religious mottoes and warnings to "repent." In
these trips he acted as agent for the American Tract Society, and founded
auxiliary branches of the society. He died in Schenectady, April 13, 1837.
*
It was a very plain, barn-like structure, three stories high, with no cornice
whatever. It remained as built until 1854, when Gerrit Smith remodeled it, taking care to leave as much as possible of
the original design and workmanship.
His
body was removed to Peterboro some years subsequently and buried in the family
plot of the public cemetery, where a plain marble slab lying on a pedestal
tells the dates of birth and death. He was a man of small stature, nervous
features and piercing eye. He judged human nature accurately and was seldom
imposed upon. He owned a few slaves during his residence in Peterboro.
TOWN
OFFICERS, ETC. The first town meeting
was held April 7, 1807, "in the school-house near David Cook's," in
that part of the town now included in Fenner. The polls were open three days,
and the number of votes cast was over 200. A good many votes were
"challenged" on the property test. Daniel Petrie was elected town
clerk and Peter Smith, supervisor, after a very warm contest. Large quantities
of whiskey were furnished on this occasion and in subsequent years, yet when
(in 1846,) the question of license was brought before the town it was opposed
by 158 votes to 51 in favor.
Among
the legislation of the town we find many curious measures passed, and much of
the phraseology is quaint indeed. Thus in 1813, on the proposition to set off a
part of the county for the formation of a new county between Onondaga and
Madison, the vote was almost unanimous on this resolution:
Resolved,
That we do highly disapprobate measures taken to half-shire this county.
In
1830 it was
Resolved,
That fences shall be 4 1/2 feet high and well proportioned.
In
1845 the sum of $5 was raised to reimburse Jacob Spencer, poormaster, who had
been so unfortunate as to take a counterfeit note in payment of interest on the
Poor fund.
At
the first State election held in the town the total vote for Governor was 203,
of which Daniel D. Tompkins received 89 and Morgan Lewis 114.
The
town officers for 1880 are:
Supervisor R. J. Hollenbeck.
Clerk W. E. Coe.
Justices George W. Coe, T. F. Petrie, Chester
Austin.
Assessors John G. Sanders, Coman Rich, Joseph Rice.
Collector Orvil Clark.
Highway
Commissioner E. E. Johnston.
Overseer
of Poor Carlos B. Palmer.
Constables Orvil Clark, L. B. Faulkner.
Supervisors
from 1807 to 1880: 1807, Peter Smith, Roswell Glass; 1808-10, Asa Dana;
1811-13, Elisha Carrington; 1814-19, Nehemiah Huntington; 1820, Daniel M.
Gilbert; 1821-4, Nehemiah Huntington; 1825, Elisha Carrington; 1826-9, Nehemiah
Huntington; 1830-4, Daniel Dickey; 1835, John M. Messinger; 1836-8, Czar
Dikeman; 1839, Daniel Dickey; 1840-2, John G. Curtis; 1843, Stafford Green;
1844, George W. Ellinwood; 1845, Silas W. Tyler; 1846-7, James Barnett; 1848-9,
Alexander McGregor; 1850, Amzi G. Hungerford; 1851-3, Caleb Calkins; 1854,
Isaac Bartlett; 1855-6, Chas. D. Miller; 1857-8, Joseph E. Morgan; 1859-60, Abi
A. Phipps; 1861-2, James Riley Stone; 1863, Alex. McGregor; 1864-6, Abi A.
Phipps; 1867-9, Edward Bliss; 1870, W. J. Wilbur; 1871, Gerrit S. Miller;
1872-4, R. J. Hollenbeck; 1875-7, James G. Messinger; 1878-9, Alex. O.
Johnston; 1880, R. J. Hollenbeck.
POPULATION
The
population of the town in 1870 was 1,227, distributed as follows: Native born,
1,171; foreign born, 56; white, 1,147; colored, 80; male, 608; female, 619.
The
population in 1880 was 1,219, a decrease of 8 in ten years, distributed as
follows: Native born, 1,178; foreign born, 41; white, 1,152; colored, 67; male,
642; female, 577. There were living in the town in 1880 forty-five persons
older than 70 years, and one older than 90 years Dolly Inman, who was born in 1783.
PETERBORO
Peterboro
is the Rome of Smithfield. It is an unincorporated village of somewhat over 200
inhabitants, located at the intersection of the Oneida turnpike and the
Morrisville stone road. Its business at present (1880) comprises the following
stores and shops:
W.
E. Coe, drugs and groceries; W. C. Ives, general merchandise; Thomas O. Taylor,
hardware and tin; Lucius P. Faulkner, meat market; Hiram Hadden, shoe shop and
shoe store; P. H. Rich, shoe shop; C. H. Ostrander, harness shop; H.
McWilliams, tailor; J. N. Woodbury, dry-goods, groceries, etc.; Joseph Carlon,
blacksmith shop; David DeVan, wagon shop; Robert Torrey, blacksmith shop; H. B.
Bush, veterinary surgeon; W. S. Martindale, proprietor of the Peterboro Hotel,
the only hotel in the town of Smithfield; Jeremiah Bump & (???) Nevil,
grist-mill and saw-mill; Coe, Campbell & Bump, cheese factory, (leased from
D. I. Davis). Jas. Livingston, whose sister Elizabeth was Mrs. Peter Smith,
opened the first store, 1801, in his tavern, mentioned farther along, and
continued to trade in general supplies several years. In 1801, also, Daniel
Petrie came from Herkimer county, and opened a store. Other merchants have
been: William Solon and Myron Taylor, Elisha Carrington, Royal and Dorman
Cooper, Asa Raymond, Chas. H. Cook, Peter Skenandoah Smith, Samuel Forman,
Dunham & Clink, Harry Curtis, J. G. Curtis, Eliphalet Aylesworth, Ives
& Woodbury, Dr. N. C. Powers, Andrew S. Douglass, Dr. A. C. Baum, Dr.
Watson, Jas. R. Barnett, Charles Cutler, John A. Campbell, Wm. T. Marcey, (???)
Hyde, W. C. Ives, Chas. N. Snow. A co-operative store was in operation about
1840, the stockholders of which were some twenty farmers.
POSTMASTERS
The
postmasters of Peterboro have been: Daniel Petrie, Nehemiah Huntington, Joseph
S. Palmer, John M. Messinger, N. C. Powers, Harvey Williams, Oliver Williams, A.
C. Stone, Thos. Petrie, Andrew Douglass, Emmet Coe.
MANUFACTURES
At
present there is no manufacturing of any sort carried on in Peterboro or in the
town of Smithfield, except at the cheese factories, but early in the history of
the village many of the industries flourished. The most important of the works
established here was the glass factory. No one now living in the town can
recollect the date of its starting, and no records of its existence are to be
found. The day book of an early merchant for the year 1809 contains entries of
"whiskey for the glass blowers," and there are reasons for believing
that the factory was erected about 1808, by Peter Skenandoah Smith, with money
furnished by his father, Judge Smith. How long the builder continued as proprietor
is not known, but in 1811 it was operated by Smith & Solon, and afterwards
a company owned it, the principal members of which were Peter S. Smith, Wm.
Solon, Daniel Petrie, O. S. Wilcoxen. The fuel used was wood gathered from the
neighboring hills, and a part of the sand used was obtained from the beach of
Oneida Lake. As wood became scarce close by the village another factory was
built, two miles distant, and both were kept in operation for the manufacture
of window glass, which found a market in Albany and New York. The largest of
the works contained twelve pots, and both together employed over 100 hands. In
1819 the firm of Backus & Fenn, (W. H. Backus, son of the President of
Hamilton College, and Dr. Fenn,) obtained possession of the property, and
continued the business on a smaller scale until 1829 or 1830, when the furnaces
were blown out and never relighted. The business was never profitable, owing to
inconvenience of location, and a large amount of capital was consumed in
sustaining it. The buildings are still in existence and well preserved, being
used for farm barns. The business called to Peterboro a large number of skilled
artisans, and during the years of its continuance, (from 1820 to 1830,) the
population was larger than it has been at any time since.
The
earliest manufactory was of course a distillery. The first was started in 1802
by a company composed of Daniel Petrie, Oliver S. Wilcoxen, John Downer, Peter
Webber, Elisha Carrington. The building stood about 100 rods south from the Smith
residence. This distillery was discontinued before 1813. Another was built in
1814 by Elisha Carrington, and operated by one Salisbury. It ceased operations
about 1830.
A
tannery was built in 1810 in the eastern part of the village by Benj. Wilber,
who employed some 15 hands until about 1830, when it was discontinued. The bark
mill belonging to it stood near the eastern end of the bridge and was removed
quite recently.
Abner
Hall & Son in 1836 built a tannery on the site of the present gardens of the
Downer residence, and kept it in operation until a short time before the War of
the Rebellion. Gerrit Smith bought it and tore it down to get rid of the
stench.
About
1801 or 1802 a small grist and saw-mill was built by Wm. Sayles near the site
of Greene Smith's bird house. It was owned by Peter Smith and continued in
operation until a few years before Gerrit Smith built the present mill, in
1850, which Mr. Raymond operated for a number of years for the builder. Another
grist-mill was built a few years after the first one.
Samuel
Stranahan in 1807 purchased the privilege of building a dam across the stream
near the site of Mr. G. S. Miller's residence and built there a fulling mill
the same year. He sold the mill and water privilege in 1816 to Perry G. Palmer
and Wolcott Skidmore, who operated it in company two years, and then Mr. Palmer
bought the entire business and continued alone five years. In 1825, finding the
work unprofitable, he took down the building and erected a short distance below
it a shingle mill and saw-mill, which he operated 22 years and then traded it
for a farm near the village, on which he still resides. A carding-mill and a
"clothier's works," Mr. Skidmore's, were among the early industrial
establishments of the village and in connection with the distilleries were
cooper shops, one on the Haddon place, the other at the distillery and owned by
Eliphalet Vibbard. A short distance north from the village, George Peck had a
small machine shop and wood working shop, and there, in 1836, he invented the
machine for cutting barrel staves, an invention which has revolutionized the
cooper's work.
PHYSICIANS
Dr.
Elijah Pratt settled in Peterboro, in 1801, and was the only physician in the
town for a number of years. He also taught a private school. In 1813 he was
sheriff of the county and in that capacity executed the Indian murderess, Mary
Antoine. He moved west in 1814. Dr. Phineas Lucas was the next physician. He
came in 1804 from Connecticut and died in 1806, at the age of 32. Dr. John Dorrance,
also from the east, succeeded him and remained until his death in 1855. Dr. R.
Nash took up his residence in Peterboro in 1807. Drs. Stevens, Messenger,
Mason, Watson, Joel, Norton and Powers (late of Syracuse) have practiced here
at various times. The physicians at present in practice are Drs. M. S. Jones
and F. E. Dewey.
LAWYERS
No
lawyers reside in the town at present. In times past there have been a number
of able and noted lawyers in Peterboro, among them Nehemiah Huntington, Greene
C. Bronson, A. C. Stone, Harmonias Vanvleck, Wm. Stone, Gerrit Smith.
HOTELS
The
old Livingston House, built in 1801, by James Livingston, stood on the ground
now forming the eastern end of the "green" immediately in front of its
present location. It fronted toward the west and had large barns and sheds in
the rear. This house was kept as a tavern until after 1850, and passed through
many hands; finally it became the property of the present owner, Eliphalet
Aylesworth who moved it to its present position. In this house about one-fourth
of the town meetings have been held and in it the condemned Indian girl, Mary
Antoine, was confined the night before her execution in 1813 by hanging, the
only woman ever executed in Madison county.
In
1830, through the aid offered by Gerrit Smith, David Ambler erected a hotel on
the corner of the Smith grounds, west from the land office, which was conducted
as a temperance house for about two years, but without profit. It was the first
temperance hotel in the State and Mr. Smith felt so warm an interest in the
success of the experiment that he bought it a few years later to save it from
being continued as a dram shop and subsidized it at different times, but to his
dismay and sorrow the people shunned it and only by selling liquor either
publicly or under cover could it be made profitable. Between 1855 and 1860, Mr.
Smith bought it once more and removing the building, together with two stores
adjoining, added the ground to his lawn. About the same time Mr. Smith built a
neat hotel fronting on the "green" at the west end and gave it free
of rent to any one who would keep a good hotel and pledge not to sell liquor.
The same experience was repeated in this case and the house was closed before
Mr. Smith's death. The property was sold to Mr. Jeremiah Bump, who has built on
the site a beautiful private residence.
The
present hotel, kept by W. S. Martindale, has been in existence but a few years;
it has license for the sale of beer and wine, the first license granted in the
town since 1846.
SCHOOLS
Before
the establishment of the common school system Peterboro had been the seat of a
number of select schools, the earliest of which was the one taught by Miss
Tabitha Havens about 1800. Of the six or seven pupils of that school not one
remains. Miss Havens was subsequently married to James Tucker and moved into
the western part of the county. In very early times Miss Ambler kept a small
school, and afterwards a Miss Webster, cousin to Noah Webster. In 1822 a Mr.
Johnson had a select school in the Aylesworth residence. In 1815 Elizabeth
Kelly had a school for small children in the Robbins house. The first district
school-house was erected about 1807; it was a small frame building and stood on
the lot occupied by the Hoffman residence. In 1836 it was found necessary to
build a larger house and the site of the present school was selected. During
the administration of Mr. Roberts*, the house was burned and the building in
use was soon afterwards erected. The first house was removed to Mr. Palmer's
farm and stood until 1878, when it was taken down.
*
Mr. Roberts during his life burnt three school-houses through carelessness.
Peterboro
Academy was built in 1853 by subscriptions amounting to some $2,500. The building
now occupied as the Orphans' Home was erected, and under the charter bearing
date of Jan. 23, 1853, the following board of trustees were elected: James
Johnson, Gerrit Smith, Caleb Calkins, James Barnett, Samuel Wells, W. C.
Powers, Nehemiah Huntington, Albert E. Coe, R. Northrup, A. C. Stone, Joseph
Sims. The number of students the first year, commencing in November, 1853, was
42, and the expenses for the year amounted to $319. The value of the property,
including lot (which was presented by Gerrit Smith), library of 200 volumes,
apparatus, etc., was estimated above $4,500. The principals from the first year
to the present time have been: Professors Port, Calkins (L. G.), Washburne,
Copeland, Powell, Clemenson, Avery, Dayton, Griffith, Flagg, Bridge, Parr,
Place, Wells, Southworth. The average term of service has thus been less than
two years.
In
1864 the Academy received an endowment of over $15,000 (mentioned elsewhere,)
the income from which, less a reserve of $300 given to the poor, yields for the
support of the school about $800. The balance of the annual expenses is paid by
a tuition charge of $4.50 or $5 a term to all students who are able to pay. The
trustees for 1880 are: W. C. Ives, President; Edward Bliss, Secretary and
Treasurer; Joseph Bliss, Hon. Caleb Calkins, Hon. Gerrit S. Miller, James G.
Messenger, Alden Record, John Dorrance, Conrad Ingalls, Jeremiah Bump, Greene
Smith**. The principal for 1880-1 is
Wm. Ingalls, A. B., a graduate of Cornell University. At the time of receiving
the endowment the trustees had the Academy named Evans Academy, in honor of its
benefactor.
**
Died July 23, 1880, at his residence in Peterboro, of consumption.
In
1871 Gerrit Smith bought the stock in the Academy at 29 per cent and
transferred the lot and building to the Home, at that time organizing, and
bought the unused Presbyterian church building (the lot already belonged to him
by lapse of title,) and by the expenditure of $7,000 upon it converted it into
a convenient school building, with a town hall above. This property he deeded
to the trustees of the Academy, and is to revert to his estate whenever
perverted to any other use.
CHURCHES
The
Baptist Church of Smithfield was organized Feb. 14, 1807, by a council composed
of Elder John Peck, Brothers Joseph Cooley, Abel Ainsworth, Solomon Merrick,
Anthony Howe, and Robert Nickerson, of Cazenovia; Deacon Ephraim Munger, O.
Bronson and Moses Clark, of Smithfield; Elder Ora Butler, Nehemiah Jones,
Samuel Wittemore and William Grant, of Westmoreland. Jacob Cropsey, Joseph
Black, Samuel Barnum, Joseph Ives, John Demott, Mary Barnum, Rachel Black,
Phebe Demott and Rhoda Burnett were the original members. Samuel Barnum and
Joseph Black were chosen deacons in 1809, and the Society was for two years
under the leadership of Joseph Cropsey, as lay pastor. Services were held in
the schoolhouse. In 1810 Elder Roswell Beckwith became pastor, and three years
later he was associated on a circuit with Elder Moore, they preaching
alternately in Peterboro. In November 1816, Dyer D. Ransom was ordained and
appointed to preach at a salary of $60 a year. During the anti-masonic
controversy the Society suffered almost to the point of dissolution and was
very greatly weakened. By the interposition of sister Baptist societies in the
county the breach was repaired and the church grew rapidly again. When Peter
Smith disposed of his property in 1819 he presented to the Society a lot
adjoining the old cemetery and a building was erected thereon the next year at
a cost of $1,500. In 1832 the membership was nearly 250, over 100 having been
admitted during that year under the pastorate of Elder Ford. About 1840 the
Society commenced to decline, owing to various causes, and continued to weaken
until 1866, when service was finally discontinued. The last pastor was Elder
Woods. The property still remains in the Society's ownership, and the trustees
last elected hold their office through failure to elect their successors; they
are Benjamin Bailey, L. W. Jones and W. C. Ives. About twenty Baptists reside
in the vicinity of Peterboro, and there is a probability that the church
organization may some day be resuscitated.
The
Presbyterian Church of Smithfield was organized in 1806 and was under the
spiritual guidance of Rev. Joshua Johnson, a teacher in the public school. He
remained in charge of the church a number of years. The membership was over
twenty at first and in the best days of the church reached 200. Services were
held in the schoolhouse until about 1812, when the little session house (still
in existence as a residence,) was built. Peter Smith gave the Society a lot and
other assistance in 1819, and the fine church edifice, now used as an academy,
was erected. The church began to decline about 1840, and in 1870 it was
dissolved, during the pastorate of Rev. Pindar Fields.
The
Church of Peterboro was instituted in 1843 through the promulgation of Mr.
Smith's idea that the true church should be free from ecclesiastical ruling and
from the requirement of uniform acceptance of creed and tradition. His views
were extensively circulated in printed pamphlets and had the effect of
estranging many from the denominational organizations. In 1847 he erected a
small chapel, which cost about $1,000. He placed it at the disposal of
clergymen of all sects, and no organized society whatever was at first thought
of and no regular pastorate. Preachers were to be paid as their necessities
required and their work warranted, and not by pre-arranged stipulation for a
salary. The first stated pastor was Hiram P. Crozier, who remained two years
and was then requested to resign on account of his teachings, which, being
purely atheistic, did not in the opinion of the church, tend to influence the
community for good or to advance truth. The stated pastors succeeding him were,
in order of time: Samuel Wells, Timothy Stowe, Francis Hawley, (father of Gov.
Hawley, of Connecticut, and an accepted elder in the Baptist denomination, who
held all the doctrines of the church, but disagreed with the church practices,)
and C. A. Hammond, now of Syracuse. Among the clergymen who have officiated
occasionally are found the names of the late Rev. Samuel J. May, Rev. S. R.
Calthrop, Rev. O. B. Frothingham. In the meetings the utmost freedom of speech
was encouraged, and whoever felt constrained to utter an opinion on any
question was welcome to speak. The expenses of the services were defrayed by
collections, and all deficiencies were made up by donations from Mr. Smith. Since
1874 the rector of the Canastota Episcopal Church has held services in the
chapel occasionally Sabbath afternoons, but others are welcome to use the
house.
The
Methodist Episcopal Church of Peterboro was organized in 1854, through the
efforts of Avery H. Forte, the first class-leader. The membership was small and
scattered. Services were held at various places in the village until 1858, when
a small frame church was erected at a cost of $2,200. The first pastor of the
society was Rev. A. L. York; the present pastor is Rev. T. W. Tooke. The
membership at present is nearly one hundred; for a considerable time previous
to 1879 it had but a single male member, the original class-leader, who still
holds that office. The trustees are John Campbell and Henry Berry; the stewards
are A. H. Forte, Philemon Tucker, John Campbell; district steward, John
Campbell. The Sabbath school was organized the first year of the church's
existence and has an average attendance of 65 scholars. The superintendent in
1879-'80 was Prof. L. N. Southworth. One of the teachers, Mrs. Forte, has held
her position since 1854. Hon. Gerrit Smith acted as superintendent the last
year of his life.
SOCIETIES
Post
Daniel Torrey, No. 144, G. A. R. was instituted Feb. 22, 1880, with twenty comrades
mustered. Officers were elected as follows: P. C., James N. Green; S. V. C.,
Wm. E. Matteson; J. V. C., John A. Campbell; Adjt., H. Niles Harrington; Q. M.,
C. V. Palmer; Surgeon, David DeVan; Chap., R. E. Torrey; O. D., S. L. Johnson;
O. G., Albert Robbins; S. M., Henry Rickard; Q. M. S., Neal Eastman.
Peterboro
Lodge No. 246, I. O. G. T., was instituted in May, 1880, with a membership of
fifty. Meetings are held Wednesday evenings. The officers are: W. C. T., Elisha
Johnson; W. V. T., Mrs. A. C. Hadden; P. W. C. T., S. Downer; Chap., R. E.
Torrey; Finan. Sec., N. Ostrander; Rec. Sec., N. S. Jones; O. G., T. Taylor; I.
G., Mrs. N. S. Jones, Treas., Mrs. Shafer; R. S., Mrs. Petrie; L. S., Mrs.
Ives; Ass't Sec., Minnie Dorrance; Marshal, Charles Osborn; Deputy Marshal,
Loneda Downer.
A
lodge of Free Masons was instituted in Peterboro before 1813. The charter
members were Samuel Stranahan, Daniel Petrie, John Downer, Wm. Downer, John
Hall, Wm. P. Barrett, Mason Cole, Fred Myers, B. Wilber, Silas Sayles, John and
Eli Mason. The first Master was Daniel Petrie, the last was Mason Cole. The
charter was surrendered in 1826.
The
Home for Destitute Children of Madison Co., though a county institution and
superintended by the board of supervisors, is a product of Mr. Smith's
philanthropy. He donated the lot and building and added ten acres of good land
which is worked by the boys of the Home. It was incorporated in the spring of
1871, and fifteen children were brought to it from the County Poor House. Under
its charter a board of officers is chosen annually and the accounts are all
audited by the supervisors, who also appoint annually a visiting committee. The
first managers were Mr. and Mrs. Charles Blakeman, who were in 1876 succeeded
by Mr. and Mrs. Philemon Tucker. The number of children received, dismissed (to
permanent homes, returned to parents or sent out on trial,) and the number
deserting, we give as follows:
|
|
1871 |
72 |
73 |
74 |
75 |
76 |
77 |
78 |
79 |
Total |
|
No. Received |
23 |
19 |
9 |
18 |
18 |
27 |
35 |
33 |
34 |
216 |
|
No. Dismissed |
10 |
7 |
4 |
11 |
25 |
16 |
34 |
30 |
20 |
157 |
|
No. Deserting |
0 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
There
are at present in the home 49 children, only 12 of whom are girls, only one of whom
is an orphan. The highest number ever in the home at one time has been 52. The
institution has a library of 230 volumes, suitable for the children, the
accumulation of generosity, and instruction is given daily. At one time a
number of children were taken to board in the Home, but this practice has now
ceased. The value of the property is $13,000. A legacy of $130 has been
received from Miss Roberts and another of $1,357.87 from Lucy Miller. The
annual cost of maintenance is about $3,000.
NEWSPAPERS
The
Madison Freeholder was established in 1808 by Judge Smith who employed Jonathan
Bunce to edit it. This was a small six column sheet of four pages. The earliest
copy known to exist at present bears date of November, 1811. The name was in
1811 changed to The Freeholder, and in 1813 to the Madison County Herald, which
title it retained until about 1819, when publication was discontinued. Mr.
Bunce sustained a job printing office for some time, but was finally burned
out. The Washingtonian movement brought into existence in Peterboro the Madison
County Temperance Union, edited by William B. Downer, a monthly, which became
the Maine Law Journal after a few months. It received feeble support and was
discontinued in 1852. In 1854 the Christian and Citizen was established by
Messrs. Walker and Pruyn* and continued about three years, advocating
abolition, temperance and political reform. Like its predecessors it proved
unprofitable and succumbed.
*
Abram Pruyn, a noted anti-slavery advocate, a minister and very fluent orator.
He carried on a discussion of slavery with Parson Brownlow in the prints and
afterwards met that noted man in debate at Philadelphia. He died in Wayne
county.
CEMETERIES
The
old Peterboro cemetery adjoining the Baptist church property, was laid out
about 1805, but no association was formed for its control. A part of it has
been leveled. The new cemetery, containing about two acres of ground, was laid
out before 1850, the land having been given to the public by Mr. Smith.
SILOAM
Siloam
is a small hamlet on the Oneida turnpike, two and one-half miles east from
Peterboro. A grist-mill and a small bottling works for putting up beer are the
only branches of business in operation. The Cowasselon Creek flows through the
place and affords a strong power. As early as 1804 a tavern was erected by
Joseph Black for the accommodation of his men employed in building the
turnpike. In 1808 Sam Ellinwood and Mr. Black's son John built a better house
and kept it many years as a tavern. Jeremiah Ellinwood and Elijah Manly built a
grist-mill in 1810. The same year Ellinwood and David Coe built a sawmill.
Black and Alexander Ostrander built a store, and about the same time a
post-office was established which was continued until after 1856. The tide of
travel along the road created a demand for liquor, and a distillery was very
early established by Samuel Ellinwood, also a brewery. The building of the
Chenango canal increased this demand and from 1824 until about 1830 three
distilleries and two breweries were kept busy.
The
Baptist Society of Ellinwood Hollow (the name of the place at that time,) was
organized in 1820 with a membership of 45. A church building was erected the
next year. Dyer D. Ransom, of the Peterboro church, was the first pastor, and
he was succeeded by Elder P. P. Beman, who held the position ten years, and at
the time of his resignation the membership was over 100. The name Siloam was
given to the place by Elder Beman, who fitted up the sulphur springs and
advertised the place as a place of healing. It was visited by large numbers of
invalids at one time and had a fame throughout all Central New York.
MILE STRIP
Mile
Strip is a four corners a half mile from the northern line of Smithfield on the
Stone road, containing a small blacksmith shop and a postal station.
In
1813 Oran Soper, an ingenious young mechanic, made in a small shop here the
first steel hay forks ever made in the State. His invention made him famous,
and he increased his facilities, continuing for a number of years the manufacture
of forks and other farm implements.
The
Mile Strip* Methodist Episcopal Society was organized as a "class" in
the spring of 1830 by Rev. Isaac Puffer. Meetings had been for several weeks
held by a local preacher, George R. Butler, and 63 persons had been converted.
The society has been continued ever since, holding its services in the
school-house, and since 1865 has been attached to the Peterboro charge. The
pastor, Rev. T. W. Tooke preaches Sabbath afternoons.
*
A strip of land one mile wide between Lenox and the New Petersburg tract,
extending from the Chittenango creek to the Oneida creek (12 miles) was by
accident omitted from the original survey, and was afterward allotted and sold
by the State under the name "Mile Strip Tract."
PROMINENT CITIZENS
GERRIT
SMITH, second son of Peter and Elizabeth Smith, was born in Utica, N. Y., March
6, 1797, and came to Peterboro in advance of his parents in 1806. In childhood
he worked in the little carding mill near his father's house, but was quite
early sent away to Clinton Academy, and on completing the college preparatory
course of study, entered Hamilton college and was graduated therefrom in
August, 1818. During the year after graduation (Jan. 15, 1819,) he was united
in marriage with Miss Wealtha A. Backus, whose father, Dr. Azel Backus, first
president of Hamilton College, had died in 1816. Mr. Smith established a pretty
little home in Peterboro, and was intending soon to commence the study of law
for a profession, but was diverted from this purpose first by the sudden death
of his wife, which occurred Aug. 15, 1819, and a few months later by the
transfer of all his father's property and business to his hands, which
determined his course in life, kept him from the study of law and from the
pursuit of literature, for which he had shown an ardent desire. He married for
his second wife, Jan. 3, 1822, Miss Ann Carroll Fitzhugh, daughter of Wm.
Fitzhugh, of Livingston Co., N. Y., formerly of Maryland*.
*
Seven children were born to them, only one of whom remains Mary, wife of Col. Charles D. Miller, of
Geneva, N. Y., whose son, Hon. Gerrit S. Miller, resides in Peterboro, a
successful and enterprising farmer and business man, highly esteemed in the
county. Greene Smith (born in 1842, died July 23, 1880,) inherited the family
homestead and resided in the mansion until his death.
Gerrit
Smith's life was so full of events and so intimately related to important
movements in the history of the nation during a half century that a complete
summary of it is impossible in these pages.
Three
leading ideas governed his career; liberty, independence and integrity. He was
brought up a Presbyterian and accepted the doctrines of Calvinism at first
without question. His first questioning of the faith arose from the
indifference of the Christian church to the two evils of great magnitude that
seemed to him of paramount importance; slavery and intemperance. At an early
age he showed aversion to the prevailing habit of drunkenness, and declared
himself an advocate of suppression of liquor selling through legal enactment, a
position that he retained to the end of his life. Opposition to secret
societies he manifested while in college, and during the anti-masonic conflict
(1826-'7,) he took strong ground against the order, and never receded from his
active opposition during his life. It was on this issue that he entered into
politics as anti-masonic candidate for State Senator in 1831. Politics as a
profession he abhorred and tolerated political parties only as a means for the
accomplishment of some good moral end. Yet he was the founder of two parties
and was four times nominated for the Presidency of the United States, twice for
the Governorship of New York, and once for Member of Congress from Oswego and
Madison counties. The Liberty Party was organized under his leadership at
Arcade, Wyoming County, in 1840, and continued in existence until the war. Mr.
Smith was its nominee for President in 1848 and 1851. The Industrial Congress
nominated him also in 1848 and the Land Reform party in 1856. The Anti-Slavery
convention in Syracuse in 1840 nominated him for Governor, and again in 1858.
Of all these nominations he accepted only the last, and he entered into the
canvass of the State with vigor. After having spent three months in constant
labor for the success of the ticket and upwards of $5,500, he received the mere
handful of 5,446 votes.
His
election to Congress in 1852 was by 8,049 votes to 6,206 for the Democratic and
5,020 for the Whig candidate. The nomination had been accepted only from a
sense of duty and he entered Congress against his inclination. After the first
session, which continued ten months, in which he made himself illustrious by
his bold eloquence, especially in opposition to the Nebraska bill, he resigned
on account of poor health and the demands of his business. The Anti-Dram-shop
party was organized at Peterboro, in 1842, through his influence and still
exists as the National Prohibition party. While he spoke unreservedly against
the churches because of their insincerity and formalism as well as their
reluctance to forward the cause of moral reform, yet he was the most devout in
his life, and might have been called excessively religious.
The
amount of his gifts to charity and education, in large part for the uplifting
of the colored race, amounted to about $200,000. Though opposed to bloodshed,
he heartily supported the Government during the civil war, and after its close,
counseled moderation in the treatment of the southern people. After the emancipation
proclamation he joined the Republican Party. His interest in Republican success
continued till his death.
His
intellect was powerful but his intellectual training was narrow. He read very
little except current news and opinions. This made him one of the most original
of thinkers, but failed to endow him with broad judgment. His will was iron,
and no discouragement could unnerve him, but this very persistence in pursuing
an idea against all opposition kept him ever in the minority and defeated himself.
He was too staunch and self-willed for statesmanship, too conscientious for
politics, too sympathetic for any place of eminence, but in the truest sense a
philanthropist.
He
died Dec. 28, 1874, in New York City; whither he had gone to spend the Christmas
holidays and was buried in Peterboro the 31st. His wife survived him only three
months.
Peterboro
has had many able and noted citizens aside from Mr. Smith. Among them were
Judge Bronson; Hon. H. S. Foster, who rose from a boyhood of poverty a shoemaker by trade to occupy a position of prominence at the
bar and a seat in Congress; William Evans, a lad thrown on the town to support,
who went early in life to Boston, engaged in contracting and real estate speculation,
and returned to Peterboro one autumn day to celebrate the 47th anniversary of
his birth by presenting to the town $10,000 in payment of two days' board and
lodging at the public expense while he was in charge of the poormaster as a
vagrant; and Asahel C. Stone, one of the most prominent lawyers of his time in
the State. Of the men who have borne a conspicuous part in Peterboro's history,
very few remain at this day; some of them have been mentioned in the foregoing
pages, others we briefly mention here.
Hon.
Caleb Calkins was born in Aurora, Erie Co., N. Y., Feb. 28, 1814, the son of a
farmer. He received a solid education at the Springfield Academy, which he
attended during a number of winters, and under private instruction. In 1835 he
entered Hamilton College and remained there two years. A somewhat exciting
occurrence* caused him to retire from his class, and he entered Union College,
where he studied one term and then retired to teach for the winter. In the
spring of '38 he received a letter from Gerrit Smith requesting him to become
his confidential secretary. The position was accepted and he has remained in
the service of Mr. Smith and his administrators ever since. He was more
familiar with the affairs of the large estate than Mr. Smith himself. Three
times he has held the office of Justice of the Peace, and in 1866 was elected
to the Assembly by the Republicans. He is a man of literary taste and rare
business ability, a perfect gentleman and an independent thinker.
*
Mr. Calkins circulated among the students a petition praying the State
Legislature to pass a resolution against the law permitting fugitive slaves to
be recaptured within nine years after their escape. The president of the
college was at the time seeking a favor of the Legislature, and this petition
thwarted his hopes of success. He required the signers to retract their action.
Mr. Calkins alone refused to do this, and received an honorable dismission.
Perry
G. Palmer is the oldest living resident of Peterboro. He was born in
Stephentown, Rensselaer County, Sept. 9, 1791. His early connections with the
manufacturing interests of the village have been mentioned. He subsequently
entered into woolen manufacturing in the town of Lenox, and by the high tariff
was ruined. Retiring to Peterboro he managed by hard work to pay his creditors
and to secure a small farm on which he is spending his last days. He held the
office of Justice, and for twelve years was Commissioner of State Loans and
Commissioner of Deeds.
General
Thomas F. Petrie was born in Herkimer County, June 1, 1809, son of Peter
Petrie, and came to Peterboro with his father in 1811, where he has resided
ever since, except six years. He has taken an active part in politics on the
Democratic side and is an officer in the State militia, having held all ranks
from Captain to Brigadier-General, which he holds at present as supernumerary.
He is the nearest living relative of General Herkimer. His memory of past
occurrences is acute and as accurate as a record.
A
person long identified with the interests of Peterboro was Elizabeth H. Kelty,
who was born in Morrisania, Westchester County, Jan. 20, 1791, and came to
Peterboro in 1811, from Oneida County. She was at first employed as a teacher
of a private and afterwards of the public school, and about 1828 or 1829
entered the family of Gerrit Smith as general housekeeper. Being a woman of
literary taste and generous nature, she became his valuable adviser and critic
of his writings, and the almoner of his generosity. She was personally known to
every family in Smithfield. For twelve years she was appointed to distribute
among the worthy poor of the town the $300 set apart annually from the income
of the Evans fund for that purpose. Many of Mr. Smith's benevolent enterprises
and benefactions were suggested by "Aunt Betty." She died Feb. 12, 1880.
