LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 434 120 A # 
 
 HoUmger 
 
 pH8.5 
 
 Mill Run F3i.l7l9 
 
Stories of Old 
 Oswego 
 
Copyright, 1919 
 by Lida Scovil Penfield 
 
Stories of Oswego 
 
 Tales of the early days told 
 to the children of the Oswego 
 Normal Training School 
 
 I 
 
 fm 
 
 hy 
 Lida Scovil Venfidd 
 
 Made in the Normal Print Shop by the Students 
 May. 1919 
 
It was over the great lake that the first white men sailed to 
 this place. Who these white men were and why they came will 
 be our next story. 
 
 The First White Men At Oswego 
 
 ^NE day, in the middle of August, about two hundred fifty 
 years ago, down the Oswego River came several canoes, 
 in every canoe except one w^ere Indians of the Onondaga 
 tribe. In that single canoe sat two white men, one dressed in the 
 rough clothes of a woodsman, the other wearing the. long black 
 robe of a missionary priest. On his bare feet were leather sandals, 
 around his waist was a girdle of rope, and at his side hung a 
 rosary and crucifix. These two are the very first w^hite men to 
 come where the river flows into the lake. 
 
 Along the river their boats glided easily, but out on the lake 
 a heavy wind storm was driving the waves straight to the shore, 
 and far up the river. The Indians in the leading canoe made a 
 sign to the others that they could go no farther against the storm 
 and turned their prow toward the river bank. The others 
 followed, and soon they all had landed. 
 
 The Indians w^ere especially careful of the man in the black 
 robe, and he spoke to them in kind gentle w^ords. The Indians 
 built a little shelter for the men from poles and big pieces of bark. 
 They brought food for them to eat and spread blankets for a bed. 
 For tw^o days that small company of Indians and tw^o w^hite men 
 camped on the river bank, w^hile out on the lake the storm raged 
 and the waves broke in silvery spray along the shore. 
 
 The white man asked, "What is the name of this river?" 
 The Indians answered, "We call it 'Oshwakee'." 
 At last, on the third day the wind died down, the lake 
 became smooth, and the sun came out. Then the Indians and 
 tw^o white men launched their canoes. Their paddles flashed 
 in and out of the water, as they passed down the river, out 
 into the lake. They guided their boats to the east, past Baldw^in's 
 Bay, around Four Mile Point, Pleasant Point and on and on 
 
even to the great St. Lawrence River, the Indians guiding and 
 ijuarding the two white men all the way back to Montreal. 
 
 Who ware these white men, the first to come to Oshwakee, 
 and why did they take that long journey to the fierce Onondagas? 
 The man in the black gown was the French missionary. Father 
 LeMoyne; the w^oodsman w^as Jean Baptiste. They came alone 
 all the way from Montreal to make Christians of the Onondaga 
 Indians. Father LeMoyne brought presents to their chiefs, so 
 that the Iroquois would be friends to the French, 
 
 The Onondagas w^ere pleased w^ith the gifts and the kind 
 words of Father LeMoyne. They said they would be glad to 
 have the French come and live in their village. When Father 
 LeMoyne was ready to go back to Montreal, the chiefs said, "We 
 w^ill show^ you the best way to go back to the big lake." So 
 a party of them took their canoes and brought Father Le- 
 Moyne down the Oswego River. 
 
 The next year the French sent an officer with fifty white 
 men and three missionaries to live among the Onondagas and 
 keep them friendly. They came in wooden boats. They brought 
 guns, sw^ords, and five small cannon. They w^anted to show^ the 
 Indians hov/ strong the white men w^ere. It took them more than 
 six w^eeks to come from Montreal to the mouth of the Osw^ego 
 River. When they at last arrived their food was all used up. 
 They entered the river and landed. They sent a messenger to 
 tell the Onondagas that they w^ere coming, and soon down the 
 river came the Indians in their canoes to welcome their "French 
 brothers" and take them to their village. 
 
 The Indians were amazed at the w^onderful cannon. They 
 gladly traded great quantities of fine furs for a knife or a gun, 
 or china beads. But the French soon became afraid of their 
 fierce neighbors, and in about tw^o years they hastily built boats 
 in secret, and hurried back to Montreal. The French explorers 
 and missionaries were the first white men to visit Oshwakee, and 
 some times the French traders came to get furs of Indians, but 
 they never built their homes w^here the river flows into the lake. 
 
 ^ 
 
^ 
 
 The First House in Oswego 
 
 HE first house in Oswego was built by the English. The 
 English and Dutch were friendly with the Iroquois. They 
 traded with them, giving guns, powder, lead, knives, 
 beads, and cloth in exchange for the pelts of beaver and 
 other animals. The Onondagas showed them the Oswego River. 
 At the mouth of the Oswego River was a fine place to trade with 
 the Indian hunters, because it w^as easy for the Indians to come 
 from the Iroquois country and from the west. At the mouth of 
 the river on the west side was a small harbor, or cove, where 
 boats were sheltered from storms by a neck of land. 
 
 Every spring the Dutch and English came down the 
 Oswego River to trade with the Indians. Their boats were 
 loaded w^ith lead, powder, guns, knives, and blankets. The 
 Indian canoes were filled w^ith pelts. The best pelt w^as a 
 soft, thick, warm, brovv^n beaver skin. 
 
 The traders built log huts for themselves, a w^hole row^ of 
 them along the bank of the river. In front of these huts the 
 Indians set up their tents, and the trader would go to look at 
 the pelts of the Indian and show the Indian w^hat he had to ex- 
 change. The Indians liked not only the w^eapons for fighting, 
 but they liked the iron and copper kettles of the English. An- 
 other w^onderful thing to them was a looking glass The traders 
 brought plenty of these things. 
 
 The French had hoped to keep all of the trade on the lake 
 to themselves. They w^ere angry about the big trading post at 
 Oswego. Now, the French charged more for their goods than 
 the English did. When an Indian traded with a Frenchman 
 he had to pay five beaver skins for a gun. An Englishman 
 w^ould trade him a gun for tw^o beaver skins. It w^as so w^ith 
 everything. The French charged four beaver skins for eight 
 pounds of powder. The English charged one beaver skin for 
 eight pounds of powder. For blankets, shirts or stockings the 
 French charged twice as much as the English asked. 
 
 The Indians came in great numbers to trade with the Eng- 
 lish, even from far away. Soon there were two rows of log huts 
 
for the traders, with a wide space between for the posts of the 
 Indian tents. 
 
 The logs and posts w^ere cut from the thick forests. The 
 canoes and boats crowded the river bank. Sometimes there were 
 as many as three hundred traders and as many Indians here at 
 the same time. 
 
 When the French saw how the English were taking all the 
 trade they said, "We must drive the English from the lake." So 
 they sent orders to the traders to go aw^ay. But the English stayed. 
 When the French threatened to come with guns and drive them 
 away, the English knew that the log huts w^ere not strong enough 
 to protect them from the French, so they determined to build a 
 big strong house. 
 
 They made the walls of the lower story of stone, four feet 
 thick, with long narrow^ slits instead of window^s, through which 
 they could safely fire their guns. The upper story w^as made of 
 logs and projected over the lower story so that if an enemy tried 
 to break down the door, the guard could shoot down at him from 
 above. There w^as also in the upper story a ro'w of narrow w^in- 
 dows. The new house was 30 feet wide and 60 feet long. 
 
 The English built their new^ trading house near the lake, so 
 that they could see w^ho w^as coming over the lake, and near the 
 river, so that the boats could be landed close to it in the cove. 
 Masons, carpenters, and blacksmiths came to build this house. 
 They also repaired and built boats. The blacksmiths made bolts 
 and hinges. They repaired the weapons and tools. 
 
 When the trading season was over, the traders and builders 
 went back to Albany w^ith their pelts. To protect their new trad- 
 ing house during the winter the English sent a company of sold- 
 iers. When the weather w^as cold, they lived in the stone house 
 but in the spring they set up their tents around about it. Beside 
 the trading house stood a flag pole made from a tall forest tree, 
 and from its top floated the English flag. The English named 
 their trading post Osw^ego. 
 
 French traders heard about the strong stone house from the 
 Indians. They sent men to see it. They thought the stone and log 
 house w^ould be hard to destroy. When the English soldiers 
 came to Osw^ego, the French knew that they would be ready to 
 
fight to keep the trading post for the EngHsh. The French 
 planned to take a great many soldiers with guns and cannon to 
 capture the stone house and drive away the English. 
 
 Our next story is about how the French came with an army 
 to Oswego. 
 
 $ 
 
 When the French came with 
 an Army 
 
 HE English began to think that the stone trading house 
 was not strong enough to protect the traders from the 
 French, so they sent masons and carpenters to make a 
 stone wall around the trading house. After this the house was 
 called Fort Osw^ego. 
 
 The English saw that the trading house was well placed for 
 trade, but that the hill on the east side of the river was a better 
 place for a fort. So the carpenters set to work to build a 
 fort on the east bank of the river. They cut down great trees 
 and set the trunks up close together to form a strong wall. They 
 piled the stone and earth about it to make it stronger, and dug 
 a ditch around it, so that it would be hard for the enemy to come 
 close to the wall. These walls of tree trunks w^ere called stock- 
 ades, and w^ere often used in the old times. The w^alls of this fort 
 were built like a star with eight points. Inside the stockades 
 they built a big log house for the soldiers to live in, and they set 
 their cannon at the loop holes in the wall. At the top of the 
 flagstaff floated the English flag, and they named the new fort 
 after the big lake; Fort Ontario it was called. 
 
 To the west of Fort Oswego there rose a hill, and the English 
 commander knew he needed a fort there to protect Fort 
 Osw^ego from attack on that side. So the carpenters cut more 
 trees, and built a stockade on the hill to the west, just about vv^here 
 the stone house w^e call the Castle now stands at Seventh and 
 Van Buren Street. In those days there were no streets, just a nar- 
 row^ path through thew^oods. This fort w^as built in a great hurry. 
 The commander named it after the English King, Fort George. 
 
 8 
 
But the soldiers, who knew what a poor defense it was, for fun 
 sometimes called it Fort Rascal. 
 
 Now there were three forts: Fort Oswego, by the lake 
 shore and the cove ; Fort Ontario, on the eastern bluff, over- 
 looking the mouth of the river; and Fort George, on the west 
 hill, looking down on Fort Oswego. The English felt sure that 
 the French would come by way of the lake. 
 
 if the English had built a good fleet of boats armed with 
 cannon, they could have gone out on the lake and driven the 
 French back, but they were so busy trading with the Indians 
 that they said" Our three forts will protect us v/ell enough this 
 year. Next year w^e can build boats." So there were only a few 
 small boats at Oswego to use for fighting. 
 
 Now^ the French King had determined to drive the En- 
 glish out, so he sent his bravest and best general to Canada w^ith 
 orders to destroy all the English forts. He was General Mont- 
 calm. He had made up his mind to capture Oswego. He 
 gathered a large army of soldiers, Canadians, and Huron Indians. 
 He had boats built — ever so many — to carry his troops in, and 
 he had several ships of w^ar, armed with cannon. They set out 
 secretly. They travelled as much as they could in the dark. 
 They always camped on a river so that if the English in boats 
 came cruising along, they could not see the French camp. They 
 came along the shore from the east planning to seize first Fort 
 Ontario. If they could capture Fort Ontario on the high bluff, 
 they could aim their cannon at Fort Oswego and force that 
 fort to surrender. 
 
 The night before the attack the French camped at Baldwin s 
 Bay and drew their boats out of sight all they could, but one of 
 the small English boats discovered them and hurried back to give 
 warning at the fort that the French were coming. 
 
 The commander at Fort Oswego was Col. Mercer. He sent 
 Col. Litdahales to command Fort Ontario on the east bluff and 
 Col. Philip Schuyler to command Fort George on the west hill. 
 The English worked hard all that night getting ready for battle, 
 and so did the French. The French dug a trench and threw up an 
 earthen wall behind which they were to fire at Fort Ontario. 
 All that next day the guns fired again and again from Fort On- 
 
tarlo, and the French General Montcalm expected that he would 
 have a hard time to capture Fort Ontario. But late that night some 
 French scouts noticed that boats were crossing the river from 
 the east side to the west side. In the boats were the red-coated 
 English soldiers from Fort Ontario. Col. Littlehales had sent 
 word to Col. Mercer that the French were bringing heavy cannon 
 that would soon batter down the stockade walls of tree trunks. 
 Col. Mercer sent back word to Col Littlehales: "Spike your guns, 
 throw^ your powder into the w^ell, and bring your men to Fort 
 Oswego." 
 
 When the French scouts hurried to tell their commander 
 that the English had left Fort Ontario, General Montcalm prompt- 
 ly marched up and took possession of Fort Ontario. In the morn- 
 ing the white flag w^ith the golden lilies of France floated from 
 the walls of Fort Ontario, and a row of brass cannons pointed 
 their black mouths straight at Fort Oswego. General Montcalm 
 wanted to capture Fort George on the hill, to prevent Col. Schuy- 
 ler and his men from helping Col. Mercer at Fort Oswego. So 
 General Montcalm sent a captain writh a large company of sol- 
 diers and Indians across the river, about a mile from the mouth, 
 to make their v/ay through the forest and attack Fort George be- 
 fore the English knew that the French were coming near them. 
 
 The French captain took his men along the east bank up 
 the river, so that the English in Fort Oswego would not know^ 
 of his plans. They crossed the river just about where the first 
 dam now is. They plunged in up to their waists, up to their 
 necks, so eager were they to accomplish their surprise attack 
 
 The French cannons could send their deadly fire right over 
 the new stone wall into Fort Oswego. A shot killed brave Col. 
 Mercer. Just about that time, the Indians w^ho w^ere w^ith the 
 French began to shout their w^ar cry, and Col. Littlehales, the one 
 who left Fort Ontario and who was now commander of Fort 
 Oswego, because Col. Mercer w^as dead, sent orders to Col. 
 Schuyler to abandon Fort George and bring his men to Fort 
 Osw^ego. This w^as done and soon the French took Fort George, 
 w^here they ran up the white flag of France with its golden lilies. 
 
 Now the French held the tw^o hill forts of Oswego. The 
 English were discouraged. Col. Littlehales thought it was better 
 
 10 
 
HARBOR 1875 
 
 <y ^s:t.:''^Ji\.^j^i,'J'd^. 
 
 AN OLD TIME VIEW IN OSWEGO 
 
to surrender than to fight when the French had all the advant- 
 ages on their side. Col. Littlehales sent a small company with a 
 white flag of truce to Gen. Moncalm to say that the English w^ould 
 surrender. Then the firing stopped. The English Colonels gave 
 their swords to the French General Montcalm. All the English 
 soldiers laid down their guns. The English flag was pulled down 
 from Fort Osw^ego, and the French flag put in its place. All the 
 English w^ere taken prisoners on French boats to Canada. 
 The French took away all the tools and guns and food. 
 They tore down the w^alls of the three forts; they burned all 
 the store houses and huts, and left the famous trading place of 
 the English in smouldering ruins. 
 
 Our next story tells how^ the great peace treaty was held at 
 Oswego between the English Sir William Johnson and the 
 Indian Chief, Pontiac. 
 
 The Council between Pontiac and 
 Sir William Johnson at Oswego 
 
 JOR tw^o years after the forts at Oswego were destroyed, 
 the French were successful. The Iroquois Indians saw 
 that the English were beaten at Oswego, so they believed 
 that the French must be the stronger nation. The English gath- 
 ered a large army to go against the French and capture some of 
 their forts. Sir William Johnson w^as a man so friendly w^ith the 
 Iroquois Indians that they adopted him into their tribe. He spoke 
 the Indian language, and the red men w^ere alw^ays ready to listen 
 to w^hat he said. The English sent Sir William Johnson to ask 
 the Iroquois chiefs to help the English capture the French forts. 
 He said to the chiefs, "The French are friends to your enemies, 
 the Hurons. If the French win this war, all your lands w^ill be 
 given to the Hurons. If you help us drive out the French, you 
 shall be safe in your lands." The chief said, "We will help 
 the English." They sent many Indians to fight with the English 
 against the French. 
 
 The English came back to Oswego and began to build many 
 
 12 
 
boats to carry their soldiers to the French forts. Soldiers and 
 Indians came in large numbers to Oswego. \^hen all was ready, 
 they crossed the lake and captured a French fort. In that 
 fort the English found many valuable things, including some of 
 the very cannons that the French had carried away from Oswego. 
 
 The English captured the French forts, one after another. 
 The brave General Montcalm was killed in battle. The French 
 were beaten and gave up all Canada to the English. 
 
 The Indians who had helped the French wanted to continue 
 to fight the English. There w^as in the western country a very 
 great and powerful chief named Pontiac. He was an enemy to 
 the English. Sir William Johnson sent soldiers to fight against 
 Pontiac, and at last Pontiac knew that he would have to give up 
 to the English. Sir William Johnson sent word to him, "The 
 French have given up Canada to the English. The English do 
 not w^ant to have w^ar. They want to have peace w^ith their red 
 brothers. " Pontiac replied, " We see that our brothers, the 
 French, have left us to fight alone. We, too, want peace. Tell 
 your chief that Pontiac w^ill come to meet him. Take to him 
 this pipe. Pontiac will come to smoke this pipe with Sir William 
 Johnson as a sign of peace between the English and the Indians 
 of the far West." 
 
 In the spring Sir William Johnson sent word, "Let Pontiac 
 and his chiefs come to meet Sir William Johnson and his chiefs 
 w^here the river flows into the great lake. There they w^ill hold a 
 council, talk over matters and smoke the pipe of peace." Pontiac 
 sent back a belt of wampum and the message " I will come with 
 my people. ' 
 
 Ten years after Montcalm destroyed Oswego, Pontiac came 
 with his warriors of the West, gliding in their canoes over Lake 
 Ontario to the mouth of the Oswego River. Here on the bluff the 
 English had rebuilt Fort Ontario, from which cannon boomed a 
 welcome to the plumed red men of the west. Waiting to receive 
 them were the chiefs of the Iroqupis, their friend Sir William John- 
 son, and many English officers and traders. 
 
 The day was fair and warm. The council was held on the west 
 bank of the river. A canopy of evergreens had been set up as a 
 
 13 
 
shield from the sun. There stood Sir Wilham Johnson, dressed 
 in uniform and wrapped, Hke an Indian, in a red blanket bor- 
 dered with gold lace. He held out his hand in greeting, and the 
 haughty chief Pontiac grasped it firmly. 
 
 On the first day, Sir William gave to the Western chiefs belts 
 of w^ampum as a sign of friendship. The great peace pipe of 
 Pontiac was lighted and passed solemnly among all the company. 
 Every man took a whiff and passed it to his neighbor. The next 
 day Sir William Johnson made a great speech. He said, "My 
 children, peace is best. In peace times the traders w^ill come once 
 more to you w^ith goods. The great English king, your father, 
 will attend to your w^ants. Children, by this belt I turn your eyes 
 to the sun rising where you w^ill find your brothers, the English." 
 
 The third day Pontiac spoke. "Father, when our great father 
 of France w^as in this country, I held him fast by the hand. Novv^ 
 that he has gone out of the land, I take the English father. Here 
 is a belt to strengthen the friendship between us." Sir William 
 gave each chief a medal inscribed, "A pledge of peace and friend- 
 ship w^ith Great Britain." So with many friendly words and gifts 
 the council came to an end. The Western Indians launched their 
 canoes, and chanting their w^ild songs, paddled av^ay over the 
 lake to the land of the setting sun. Sir William Johnson and the 
 Iroquois w^ent to their homes by way of the river. 
 
 The English still ow^n Canada, but today Osw^ego is an 
 American city. Our next story will tell howr the stars and stripes 
 came to float above Fort Ontario. 
 
 $ 
 
 14 
 
ALLEN CASTLE -FORT GEORGE 
 
 FIRE IN OLD OSWEGO 
 15 
 
How Fort Ontario Became American 
 
 m 
 m 
 
 : FTER the French gave up Oswego to the EngUsh at the 
 fh end of the war, the Enghsh did two things: they re- 
 buih Fort Ontario, and opened trade. The commander 
 at the new fort was, for a time. Major Duncan. He was a fine 
 man. He treated the young officer- as if they were his sons or 
 pupils, though he was Hke a stern father and a strict teacher. 
 
 The fort was a large place built entirely of earth and logs. 
 The barracks, where the men lived, were cf wood, cold and com- 
 fortless. The quantities of wood used in these buildings had been 
 cut from the forests round about, and a wide space had thus 
 been cleared near the fort. Major Duncan lived in a queer w^ood- 
 en house set on wheels, that he had ordered built for himself. It 
 could be moved about w^herever he w^anted it to stand. There 
 w^ere tw^o rooms, his bedroom and his sitting room. The w^alls 
 w^ere hung with deer skins, and rugs of bearskin covered the 
 floors, in his sitting room he had books, globes, flutes, dumb- 
 bells, and chess boards. The young men came there to study 
 and practice. He had books on war, history,, geography, and 
 arithmetic. Through the long winter he set the men to studying. 
 Every day Major Duncan spent two hours examining the students, 
 a few at a time. This was the first school we know about at 
 Oswego. 
 
 In the spring Major Duncan planned to use the fertile 
 cleared land around the fort. He laid out a vegetable garden 
 and a bowling green, or smooth lawn, where men could play 
 tenpins and other games. First, he had the men build a palis- 
 ade, or fence; then they dug up the ground and planted it with 
 beans, peas, and Indian corn. The garden was beautiful. Where- 
 ever there was a mulberry, wild plum, or cherry tree, it was left 
 standing to blossom and bear fruit. They built a summer house 
 in a tree. They made a fish pond, and gravel walks. The 
 vegetables were fine and big. Soon they also had pigs, poultry, 
 and even cows. All these things furnished gcod food for the 
 soldiers, and this was the first farm and garden at Oswego. 
 
 But trouble was coming. The people in America did not 
 like the way the King of England treated them, so they rebelled, 
 
 17 
 
and said, "We w^ill make an American nation and govern our- 
 selves. " Thus the war of the Revolution began. Some Amer- 
 icans favored the English king; they were called Tories. The 
 son of Sir Willam Johnson w^as a Tory. The Indians joined w^ith 
 the Tories. Many Tories came by w^ay of the Osw^ego River to 
 go to Canada. The English still held Osvsrego. One winter 
 General George Washington sent Col. Willet with 400 American 
 soldiers to capture Fort Ontario. Their Indian guide lost his 
 way. They came out from the forest at last on a hill overlook- 
 ing the gardens and the fort. That hill was Oak Hill. They 
 tried to capture quietly some English soldiers w^ho came out to 
 cut wood, but two escaped and gave the alarm at the fort, so Col. 
 Willett and his men had to turn back without capturing Fort 
 Ontario. 
 
 The Americans won the war of the Revolution and made 
 a new nation called the United States of America. England 
 kept Canada, and she kept some of the lake forts on the Ameri- 
 can side a long time after the w^ar w^as over. At last, in July, 
 1 796, England agreed to give up Fort Ontario. .American sol- 
 diers came down the river; they were received w^ith great polite- 
 ness by the English officers w^ho turned over to them the fort 
 and the beautiful gardens, all in fine order. The English flag 
 w^as hauled down from the flag pole, and the stars and stripes 
 went up to the top to show to all the world that, from that time 
 on, Fort Ontario was to be American. 
 
 Our next story w^ill tell how^ the village of Osw^ego grew^ 
 where the river flows into the lake. 
 
 How Oswego Village Grew 
 
 )OON after the end of the Revolutionary War, men began 
 to build their homes where the Oswego River flows into 
 Lake Ontario. The first man who brought his family 
 here w^as Neil McMullin. They came dow^n the river in a boat. 
 They brought w^ith them a frame house ready to set up, beams, 
 door, windows, and all. Rankin McMullin, his little son, vkras 
 the first child born in this house, which stood by the river bank 
 
 18 
 
wh-re now Seneca Street is. The next family to arrive were 
 the McNairs. They came across the lake from Canada. Matthew 
 McNair, the father, was a Scotchman who had learned in Scot- 
 land how to build ships. 
 
 Mr. McMuUin and Mr. McNair earned their living by ship- 
 ping goods on the lake and river. Matthew McNair built boats. 
 
 Daniel Burt was another early settler. He had several sons 
 who came with him. Bradner Burt built the first school house, 
 at the southeast corner of West Third and Seneca Streets. This 
 school house was also used for a church, and for a court house. 
 Lumber was needed for houses. Bradner Burt built a saw mill. 
 Joel Burt ran the ferry across the river from the village on the 
 w^est side to the f ew^ houses on the east side. Joel w^as the first 
 postmaster in Osw^ego, and the first mail man w^as Onundiaga, 
 an old Indian chief of the Onondagas. Once a week he started 
 on foot from Salt Point, as Syracuse was called in those days, and 
 w^alked forty miles, carrying the bag of mail for Oswego. The 
 next day he would walk back again to Salt Point, with the letters 
 from Oswego. 
 
 Soon a blacksmith came to settle in the little cluster of log 
 houses. A hatter, a shoemaker, a cabinetmaker, all found plenty 
 of work. A grist mill to grind flour was built. A small tavern, 
 or hotel was opened. The government built a stone pier to 
 make the harbor larger, and on the high bank by Fort Ontario 
 the first lighthouse was built. The tall stone lighthouse on the 
 pier was built a little later. 
 
 Alvin Bronson was a man who had a large business among 
 the ships at Oswego. He built a stone warehouse by the river. 
 He also built a beautiful stone house for himself that still stands 
 at the corner of Cayuga and West Fifth Streets. Wherever you 
 see a big square stone house, or a stone mill, you may be sure 
 that it was built when Oswego was a village. 
 
 The first church was built in the middle of the West Park. 
 It was the First Presbyterian Church, and the people were very 
 proud of it, because it was beautiful and because it had a bell 
 in the steeple. There was no fire department in the village. 
 Every house had buckets to use for fire. When the cry of 
 "Fire, fire!" rang out, every man caught up his buckets and ran. 
 
 19 
 
The boys helped too. From the burning building the men form- 
 ed in long lines to the river bank, or to the nearest well, and 
 passed the buckets, filled with w^ater, from hand to hand, up to 
 the fire. This was hard work, and often the house or store 
 would burn to the ground, but it was the best the villagers could 
 do. 
 
 One cold, snowy night late in the fall, there came the shout 
 of "Fire!" Men rushed out to find that the beautiful First Church 
 was all in flames. They formed a bucket line to the river, and 
 to the nearest wells, but the wind fanned the flames furiously, 
 and the water froze to the hands and clothes of the bucket men. 
 They worked like beavers, but it was no use; the roof went 
 down with a crash, and then the steeple, blazing like a great 
 torch, toppled and fell. The bell rang out for the last time as 
 it dropped into, the glowing mass of embers, and all the people 
 looked sadly at the ruins of their church. 
 
 Out in the lake, tossed about by the waves, was a small vessel. 
 The captain was trying to make Oswego harbor. The wind drove 
 the boat out of her course. The snow, falling thickly, hid the 
 beacon light. The captain said to himself, "If we cannot find the 
 harbor, we shall be wrecked! " All at once, a glow in the sky 
 caught his eye. It grew brighter and brighter. The captain 
 guided his boat towards the glowing light, and brought safely 
 into the harbor his boat and crew^ of eight men. They w^ere saved 
 by the burning torch of the church. 
 
 When the canal w^as built along the Osw^ego River, boats 
 came through the locks instead of going around the portage at 
 the falls. Commerce on the canal and lake made Osw^ego a 
 thriving village. A bridge w^as built. Roads were opened to 
 Syracuse, Watertov^n, Rome, and Auburn, over which many 
 people travelled in stage coaches. At last the first railroad was 
 built to Oswego, and when the great iron monster of an engine 
 came snorting and clanging into town everybody was at the station 
 to cheer. That same year Oswego became a city. 
 
 Our next .story is about a discovery that made Oswego 
 famous. 
 
 20 
 
How Starch made Oswego Famous 
 
 V^i^yN the year when Oswego saw the first engine come puff- 
 
 ll^A ing in over the new railroad tracks from Syracuse; in the 
 
 year when Oswego changed from a village into a city 
 in the year I 848, a inan who had made a wonderful discovery 
 came to open in Osw^ego a factory where he could make large 
 quantities of this discovery. This discovery can be used in 
 several ways. Men vv^ho made calicoes and cotton cloths can 
 use it to make the goods stiff. Women can use it in their 
 homes to mf»ke the freshly washed clothes crisp and smooth 
 when they w^ere ironed. Cooks can use it to make delicious 
 puddings, or to thicken gravies and sauces. This substance had 
 been made from potatoes, w^heat, and rice, but this man discover- 
 ed a way to make it from a grain that grow^s abundantly in Amer- 
 ica, a grain that the Indians used and planted. This man had 
 discovered how^ to make starch from corn, and this is the way 
 he found out. 
 
 Thomas Kingsford was a poor young man who w^orked in 
 a factory. He knew about making starch from potatoes and 
 wheat. He knew, too, that there was starch in Indian corn, so 
 he kept trying to find a way to get rid of the part of the grain 
 that was not starch. He soaked corn meal; he ground the grain 
 up fine, he cooked it, he mixed it with chemicals, he dried it, 
 but he could not get the smooth white powder that w^ould make 
 good starch. At the back of his house he had a room with 
 pans, kettles, and tubs in it, where he used to experiment with 
 corn w^hen he came home from w^ork. His wife used to watch 
 him. At first she said " Why do you take so much trouble? " 
 He answered, "When I find starch, we shall be rich." She be- 
 lieved that some day he would surely discover the way, because 
 he was so patient and worked so earnestly. 
 
 One night, after he had tried everything he could think of, 
 he was discouraged and tired. He said to his wife, "It is no use, 
 I shall have to give up," and he emptied all the pans and kettles 
 into one tub. The mixture looked all milky and frothy. His 
 wife said, "Dont throw it out yet. Let it stand over night, and 
 perhaps the starch will settle by morning." 
 
 21 
 
Early the next day they both went to look, and what do 
 you think they found? On the bottom of the tub there was a lay- 
 er of smooth fine paste. Mr. Kingsford carefully poured off 
 the liquid, and there was the reward of his patience, and of the 
 faith of his good w^ife. That was the first Kingsford's Corn 
 Starch, and it proved to be the best kind of starch. 
 
 Mr. Kingsford took for a partner his son, Thomson Kingsford, 
 and together they came to build their factory in Oswego. Why 
 did they choose Osw^ego ? There were two good reasons : first, 
 the fine water power of the river to turn the wheels of the 
 factory; second, the many ways of sending the starch to other 
 places, by boat, and by train. The starch was so good that 
 everybody w^anted to buy it, and soon it w^as sent all over the 
 w^orld. The Kingsford Starch Factory w^as for many years the 
 largest starch factory in the w^orld. 
 
 Mr. Kingsford called his invention Kingsford's Oswego 
 Corn Starch. Where ever it was sold, people saw the name 
 Oswego. Thus Kingsford's Starch made Oswego famous. 
 
 Our last story is about the school that has made Oswego 
 famous, and the man who founded it. 
 
 
 
 22 
 
The School that Made Oswego Famous 
 
 |EOPLE who live far away often say to visitors from 
 Oswrego, " Oswego ? Oh, that is w^here the Norma! 
 School is; — the Oswego State Normal School. " Why 
 is it that they have heard of our school } How long has our 
 school been in Oswego ? Who started it ? How did it grow ? 
 Why are v^e proud of it ? 
 
 When the first lighthouse was built in Oswego, a year after 
 the first bridge was built across the Oswego river, in 1823, there 
 w^as born in a small wooden house at Perry, New York, a boy. 
 That boy was Edward Austin Sheldon. He grew up in the 
 country. In his home his mother spun and wove the cloth for 
 their clothes, made their candles from tallow, their soap from 
 fats, and their sugar from maple sap. His father raised all the 
 food they had. The harvesting and threshing were all done by 
 hand. He went to school, but the teachers were so rough and 
 harsh that he never enjoyed studying. He loved to know about 
 things, and learned a great deal in the fields and woods. When 
 he was seventeen years old he had a fine teacher who taught 
 hisn what wonderful knowledge is stored in books, and prepared 
 him for college. 
 
 In the year before Oswego became a city, 1847, Edward 
 Sheldon came to Oswego to work for a man who had a green 
 house and raised trees and shrubs. 
 
 In those days, there were no free public schools. Only 
 those parents who had money to pay for the lessons could 
 send their children to school. In Oswego there were ever so 
 many poor children who had no chance to learn to read and 
 write. Some of them had no father or mother, and they ran 
 about the streets, dirty, ragged, cold, and neglected. Edwsid 
 Sheldon loved children, and it made him sorry to see any little 
 ones neglected and in want. He made friends with some of the 
 boys and girls, visited their homes and thought how he could 
 help them. He found 1 500 persons who could neither read nor 
 write. He began to talk to some of the men and women about 
 opening a school for these children. 
 
 Edward Sheldon was the first teacher of this school for the 
 
 25 
 
poor boys and girls. There was a big wooden building on 
 West Second Street, w^here the engine house now stands. In 
 the basement of this hall he opened school for the one hundred 
 thirty wild, ignorant boys and girls who came to be taught. He 
 was most kind to them and they loved him dearly. They used 
 to run to meet him and crowd about him. People called this 
 first class " the ragged school. " 
 
 When men saw how much good "the ragged school" did, 
 it was easier for Dr. Sheldon to persuade them to have free 
 schools in Oswego, and in a few^ years the free public schools 
 were opened. Mr. Sheldon w^as made the first superintendent 
 of public schools in Oswego. 
 
 He soon found that he needed nnore good teachers. Away 
 over in Europe there w^ere other men w^ho loved to teach little 
 children. One of these w^as Pestalozzi, who taught children to 
 study the real things around them, just as you are doing, instead 
 of trying to get all they knew^ from books. When Dr. Sheldon 
 found that he needed such teachers to help him, he made up 
 his mind to open a class to train teachers. He sent to England 
 for a lady who knew all about the right kind of teaching. Her 
 name was Miss Jones. That first training class for teachers was 
 so successful that it grew into our Normal School, and New York 
 State took charge of it. 
 
 Year after year, young men and women have been trained 
 here to be good teachers, and they have gone to teach in all 
 parts of the United States. When people would ask, " Where 
 did you learn to be such a good teacher ? " The answer always 
 would be, " I was trained in the Oswego State Normal School. " 
 Thus the name of Oswego was made famous by the school 
 founded by Edward Austin Sheldon. 
 
 When we look at Dr. Sheldon's portrait we can understand 
 why the children loved him. We honor him for the good he did. 
 Dr. Sheldon was the first principal. Dr. I. B. Poucher, Her- 
 mann Krusi, Miss Cooper, and Dr. Mary V. Lee were four of the 
 teachers who helped him. 
 
 We love to remember that he founded " the ragged school," 
 that he helped to make the schools of Oswego free to all the chil- 
 dren of the city, and that for so many years he devoted his strong 
 beautiful life to training teachers in our Oswego Normal School. 
 
 26 
 
EDWARD AUSTIN SHELDON 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 434 120 n §