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TEr-UTI\T-10IoIT


0F THE
SONS AND DAUGHTERS
OF TIHE OLD
TO~iNY OPF~ POME
HELD AT
POMPEY HILL, JUNE 29, 4874,
PROCEEDIN'-'ýGS OF TIHE MEETI-NG-)'F, SPEECHES, TOASTS AND OiTHER
INCIDENTS OF TIHE OCCASIO-N.
A LSO,
A hJISTORY OF THE, TOWN, REMINISCENCES
AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF ITS
EARl-lk'LY INHABITANTS.


Publication Committee:
XVMl. iV. VA-N             LEOCLEOY MOEE GN,     EIIZICHAE F.STEVE'N'S,
ETEIENEZEZ BETTLERIJ, hOrER D. L. SWEET.
POMPEY:
Published bY Direction of the Be-Union Meetine.
1875.





SYRACUSE, N. Y.:
COURIER PRINTING COMPANY.
1875.





To THE DESCENDANTS
-OFThe Pioneer Residents of the Old Town of Pompey,
THIS BOOK
-IsMOST AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED;
HOPING
That. the Bright and Shining Example of their Fathers
and Mothers
HEREIN TRANSMITTED TO TIHEM,
May be ever their Guiding Star through the
Voyage of Life.










= ^..=====....,........=,....-...-...= lfc J:......................................
<      PREFACE.
The undersigned committee, appointed to supervise the
publication of the proceedings at the Re-Union of the former
residents of Pompey, have felt, and upon inquiry have found,
that a simple history of that day's proceedings is not all
that will be expected at our hands. We have accordingly
obtained, by considerable effort, material for a more extended book. In the following pages will be found, riot
only the re-union meeting, including speeches, toasts, &c.,
but also an historical sketch of the town of Pompey, and
short biographical notices and reminiscences, of some of the
prominent and early settlers, to which we have added a directory of the names, post-office address, occupation, &c., of
as many of her distinguished men and women as we have
been able to obtain, with a brief mention of their public
life.
The publication of this volume has been long delayed,
hoping that we might be able to give biographical sketches
ot many more early citizens of Pompey than will be found
in the following pages. Our'efforts for the last year and a
half in reference to this book, have been directed to this
end. Notwithstanding our appeals repeatedly made through
the press, and personal applications to the descendants of
the fathers of old Pompey, the absence of many sketches
we had hoped to obtain is annoying to us, and will be painfully manifest to all acquainted with the names to which we
refer. While our desire has been to produce such a volume





6                     PREFACE.
as would mreet the approbation of all, we are sensible that
many things worthy of remembrance have been omitted.
For the production of the volume as it is, we have cheerfully given our services, and hope that it may prove a pleasant visitor at the fireside of Pompey's children wherever
they may be, and a source of lasting happiness to us all.
WM. W. VAN BROCKLIN,
RICHARD F. STEVENS,
LEROY MORGAN,
EBENEZER BUTLER,
HOMER D. L. SWEET.





A BRIEF ACCOUNT


OFA. desire seems simultaneously to have possessed the
minds of many of the Sons of Pompey to revisit the home
of their childhood, and very naturally this desire was communicated to others only to find a hearty response. Some
time during the year 1870, Hon. Horatio Seymour, Hon.
William G. Fargo, Hon. E. C. Litchfield, Leonard Jerome,
Esq., Dr. Lucien B. Wells, and others, having expressed a
very strong desire that a meeting of former residents of
Pompey should be held, Dr. L. B. Wells, of Utica, communicated by letter with E. Butler, Esq., of Syracuse. The
following is I)r. Wells' letter:
UTIcA, July 10th, 1870.
DEAR SIR:-A few days since, meeting Gov. Seymour, he
stated to me that he had been urgently solicited by W. G.
Fargo, of Buffalo, to have a movement initiated for a reunion of former residents of the town of Pompey. The
Governor expressed the same desire and promised to be
present on such occasion, and requested me. to write to some
of my friends who may feel an interest in the matter. From
your extensive acquaintance in Ponmpey, and in Syracuse,
where so many families reside who were former residents of
Pompey, I have taken the liberty to present the subject for
your consideration, earnestly desiring that this proposed reunion shall take place at no distant day.
Respectfully Yours,
L. B. WELLS.
To Ebenezer Butler, Esq., Syracuse.





8


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


This was the first measure taken which finally culminated
in the Grand Re-Union of June 29th, 1871. Very soon the:substance of this letter became known to many former residents of Pompey, then residing in Syracuse and elsewhere,.and a very general interest was created in the subject. Citizens of Pompey were informed of the stat of feeling existing-abroad, and at Pompey initiatory steps were taken to
bring about a re-union. Accordingly, meetings were held
at Pompey, and finally, one on the 6thl day of August, 1870,
at the Presbyterian Church, of which Win. W. Van Brocklin was Chairman, and Wells M. Butler, Secretary, it was
then resolved to invite the Sons and Daughters of Pompey
from abroad to a Re-Union, to be held sometime in September following, and a committee of arrangements was appointed. The committee met.on the 13th day of August,
and after full consultation it was decided, in view of the
magnitude of the enterprise, the distance from Pompey
many of her children reside, and the lateness of the season,
that adequate preparations could not be made in time to
secure a full attendance. The committee therefore adjourned
to June, 1871, to meet at the call of the chairman. In the
month of May, 1871, some fifty or sixty former residents of
Pompey, then residing in Syracuse, held a meeting at the
office of Dr. R. F. Stevens to make arrangements for co-operating with the citizens of Pompey in preparation for a
re-union. Levi S. Holbrook, Esq., was called to preside,
and on motion, it was resolved that a committee be appointed by the chair, to attend the contemplated meeting at Pompey, and to co-operate with the Pompey committee in making arrangements for the coming re-union. The chair
appointed the following gentlemen as such committee:Henry L. Duguid, Dr. II. F. Stevens, Calvin S. Ball, Jr.,
Wm. A. Sweet, Edward S. Dawson and Ebenezer Butler.
At subsequent meetings held at the same place, efforts
were continued in aid of the re-union, and preparations
made to ensure success.
During the time intervening between August, 1870, and





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


9


June, 1871, a continued intercourse was kept up among those
who were in earnest in reference to the matter, to the end
that the residence of all entitled to an invitation should become known; and especially were the more eminent and
active descendants of Pompey informed of the.enterprise,
so that they might be able to accommodate Iheir business
or pleasure to an attendance at the contemplated re-union.
A delegation of the Syracuse committee visited Pompey,
and were present at a meeting held June 3d, 1871. It was
then determined that the Syracusians should co-operate
with the citizens of Pompey, and Dr. R. F. Stevens was
appointed Corresponding Secretary. It was also resolved
to publish an invitation circular, to be sent to all former
residents of Pompey and their descendants, which should
be signed by the invitation committee, inviting them to a
re-union to be held at Pompey Hill, June 29th, 1871.
The daily press of Syracuse was enlisted in the project,
and notices published calling the attention of the public to
the high degree of enjoyment anticipated, and the large
number of distinguished guests expected.
The invitation circular was also published, and these papers and hundreds of the circulars were sent; to every part
of the Union, wherever a Pompey man or woman could be
traced. The office of the Corresponding Secretary assumed
the proportions of an immense business corporation, sending and receiving mail.
At the meeting of June 3d, held at Pompey Hill, various
committees were appointed, and the committee of arrangements enlarged and sub-divided, so that everything calculated for the. comfort, pleasure and convenience of the
expected gathering of the clans of Pompey, should receive
attention. The names of the persons who constituted the
different committees, and the officers selected for the reunion day, are all noted in their appropriate place. From
this time up to the time appointed for the re-union, the
town of Pompey, and especially the village of Pompey





10


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Hill, was the theatre of constant plans and labor, and numerous other meetings were held for the purpose of consumating the arrangements projected at the meeting of June 3d.
It is highly appropriate in this connection to acknowledge
the obligation the committee of arrangements were under
to the Press of Syracuse, and especially to the Standard,
Courier and Journal, for the interest taken by them in publishing the invitation circular and notices of the Re-Union,.
both before and after the occasion. The following resolution was unanimously adopted by the committee of arrangements:Resolced, That the citizens of Pompey are under high
and lasting obligations to the Press of Syracuse for the unselfish interest manifested by each of the daily papers in
gratuitously publishing the notices and circulars of our ReUnion, and giving to the public so just and full an account
of the interesting proceedings on that occasion, and in their
behalf, and also in behalf of her sons and daughters abroad,
we tender them our sincere and heartfelt thanks.
The following is the invitation circular above referred to,
printed on tinted note paper. On the outside,
RE-UNION AT HOME.
POMPEY, Onondaga Co., N. Y., June 1, 1871.
You are most cordially invited to attend a Re-Union of
the former residents of the old Town of Pompey-now Pompey and Lafayette-which will be held at Pompey Hill on
Thursday, the 29th day of this month.
WELLS M. BUTLER,
RICH'D F. STEVENS,            FRANK JEROME,
Cor. Sec'y, Syracuse, N. Y.  Rec. Sec'ys, Pompey, N. Y.
On the inside, the following appeal, signed by the committee:
AULD LANG SYNE.
A desire has been implanted in our natures to visit, in
after life, the graves of our ancestors and the homes of our





THE POMPEY BE-UNION.


11


childhood-to renew old acquaintance and revive reminiscences of by-gone days.
Most of the early settlers of Pompey are gone, and the
survivors are. fast passing away.  They, with those of
younger years, join in inviting the sons and daughters and
former residents of the old Town, to a joyous Re-Union,
promising them all a warm welcome to their old and honored home.
It is desirable that all should arrive at the village as early
in the day as possible, and the time will be occupied with
meetings, (both day and evening,) addresses, music, feasting,
visiting and recreation, with ample arrangements for the
comfort and happiness of all.
Addresses are expected by ex-Governor Horatio Seymour,
of Utica, ex-U. S. Senator Geo. II. Williams, of Oregon,
Judge Charles Mason, of Washington, Maj. Gen. Henry
W. Slocum and Judge Lucien Birdseye, of Brooklyn, Hon.
L. R. Marsh, Leonard W. Jerome, Esq., and Hervey Sheldon, Esq., of New York, Hon. Wm. G. Fargo, of Buffalo,
E. C. Litchfield, Esq., of Cazenovia, Hon. R. H. Duell, of
Cortland, H-on. D. G. Fort, of Oswego, Dr. Chas. W. Stevens, of St. Louis, Mo., Judge Leroy Morgan and Hon. C.
B. Sedgwick, of Syracuse, and others who have signified
their intention to be present; also a poem is expected to be
read by "Grace Greenwood" (Mrs. Lippincott) who intends
to be present and join in the festivities of the occasion.
From Syracuse persons can reach the Hill by the Binghamton Railroad to Lafayette Station, or by private convevance.
Each one receiving this, is requested to extend the invitation to other old residents of Pompey, and all who accept
this invitation, will please communicate their intention to
be present, by letter, to the Corresponding Secretary-Dr.
R. F. Stevens, Syracuse, N. Y., at their earliest convenience.
COMMITTEE OF INVITATION.-Jehiel Stearns, Asa H. Wells,





12


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Beach Beard, Harvey M. Woodford, John J. Taylor, 0.
Jarvis Wheaton. Merit Butler, Chas. R. K. Hill, Noah Palmer, Zenas A. Jones, Elias Barnes, David Hibbard, Edmund
O. Clapp, Manbah Pratt, Samuel Baker, Hiram Clement,
Miner B3. Murray, Alvin M. Ball, Alanson P. Benson, Chester Baker, Luther Cole, Elijah Parks, C. C. Midler, Sandford K. Newell, Warner Butts, Isaac C. Wicks, Geo. Doolett,
Gersham Wheelock, Uriel Wilson, John H. Clarke, Lewis
O. Hill, Victory J. Birdseye, John C. Jerome, John Smith,
Warren Sloan, William Savage, Reuben Edgarton, Harry
Knapp, D. G. Soutihard, Taber D. Williams, Julius Mason,
Joseph Wallace, John I-atch, Joseph Jennings, Silas L.
Holbrook, Hiram Sutherland, Daniel Kellogg, Orace Newman, Benjamin F. Wheeler, Reuben Billings, David Williams, Chas. Hill, Matthias Berry, Henry Candee, Russell
Duguid, Nicholas VanBrocklin, Parker Borden, Ira Dodge,
Hiram  Perry, Myron Sharp, D. E. Hayden and Orrin
Bishop.
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS.-Marshal R. Dyer, Geo.
E. Wells, Frank Jerome, W. B. Sweet, R. D. Slosson, Levi
Wells, W. W. VanBrocklin, Frank Porter, Henry l)oolett,
0. G. Dibble, Ira Ellis and Rensselaer Northrup.
COMMITTEE OF RECEPTION.-0. C. Pratt, Col. M. B. Birdseye, A. H. Clapp, Morris Beard, J. Haskell Stearns, Frederick R. Murray, Samuel A. Hibbard and Samuel Jerome.
Other Committees were subsequently appointed as the
work of preparation progressed, but the names of those who
constituted those Committees have not been preserved.
The Committee to prepare the tables-as near as can be
ascertained-were Jas. VanBrocklin, Chas. E. Hopkins,
Nicholas VanPatten, Geo. Kenyon and Eli Pratt.
The following are among the persons who served on the
Committee on Decorations, the Committee to prepare various Refreshmerits and Furnish the Tables, and the Committee to wait upon the Guests at the tables. Many of them





TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


13


served on two or three Committees, and some, doubtless,
whose names do not appear, were active in helping:R. Northrup, Melvin Webster, Frank Robinson, Josie
Downs, Laura Beard, Gertrude Beard, Mr. and Mrs. A. S.
Hale, Mr. and Mrs. Levi Wells, Dr. 0. G. Dibble, Fannie
Wheaton, Ada Wheaton, Lizzie Wills, Dora Ellis, Phoebe
Curtis, Alice Dunham, Olive Corwin, Lucia Robinson, Minnie Beard, Irving Robinson, Frank Waters, Fletcher Soule,
Wm. Mason, Mr. and Mrs. E. Pomeroy, Mr. and Mrs. O.
C. Pratt, Mr. and Mrs. John Soule, Wim. H. VanBrocklin,
Ellen VanPatten, Sarah J. Robinson, Ida Sonle, Celia Butterfield, Sophrona Hayden, Mr. and Mrs. J. V. Butts, Sophrona Wilby, Orlando Robinson, Fannie Fisk and Julia
VanBrocklin.
All the arrangements having been perfected in detail that
were deemed necessary, all awaited the approach of the appointed day with eager expectation.
THE RE-UNION DAY.
The morning was chilly, and clouds overcast the sky. A
heavy rain had fallen the night before, but the roads were
in fine condition; a light shower fell during the forenoon
of the Re-Union Day, but soon after noon the clouds disappeared, leaving one of. those beautifully clear and transparent atmospheres that so grandly displays the gorgeous
scenery of the surrounding hills and valleys-the pride and
glory of old Pompe>. Many from abroad had arrived the
night before, and the early morning saw the Hill busy with
life. A large tent had been spread on the village green,
sufficient to accommodate three or four thousand people;
evergreen banners had been thrown across the various
avenues leading to the village, and one spanned the village
green from the Presbyterian Church to Capt. John J. Taylor's store, bearing the magic word "WELCOME."
A special train had been prepared at Syracuse to convey
guests to the Hill by the Syracuse & Binghamton Railroad,





14


THE POMPEY IE-UNION.


via. Lafayette, and it was filled with an eager and expectant
throng. Teams had been sent by the citizens of Pompey,
and at Lafayette Station awaited, the arrival of the train.
A procession was soon formed, consisting of sixty-eight well
filled farmers' wagons, which was met near the "old Anderson I-ome" by two mounted marshals and an escort, sent
from the village. Dresher's full band, from Syracuse, was
at the head of this procession, and as they came in sight of
the village the band struck up "Home, Sweet Home," and
as they reached the village, about nine o'clock in the morning, a wild scene of enthusiastic welcoming greeted them.About this time every avenue leading to the village, (of
which there are nine,) was full of vehicles of every description, conveying thither its freight of human hopes and expectations for a glorious Re-Union. From  Syracuse, in
addition to the special train, hundreds came with their own
conveyance, among whom was Hon. D. P. Wood, the
chosen President of the Day, Gen. John A. Green, Jr., of
Syracuse, and Hon. Wm. G. Fargo, of Buffalo, who, with
his family, Judge Verplanck and Hon. Joseph Warren, of
Buffalo, came in his mammoth family carriage drawn by six
splendid horses, which he had transported from Buffalo for
the occasion, affording him an opportunity to pass the home
of his childhood in the vicinity of Watervale. From Cazenovia, Fayetteville, Manlius, Delphi, and the eastern portion of Pompey, came an immense throng, over three hundred carriages passing the Academy Green upon their approach to the village green. Among these was Governor:Seymour, who came from Cazenovia with friends with whom
he had stopped the night before. From the south, also,,came an equally large concourse, and as the immense streams
of humanity from every direction poured in upon the village
green, they mingled together in serene confusion. Here
met those who had been separated for many long years, and
on every side was seen the greeting of relatives and friends
-the aged fathers and mothers living over the sunny days
-of childhood. Tears and smiles, sorrow and joy, chased





TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


15


'each other over the gathered multitude. Here was a crowd
listening to the reminisccences of the early'days of Pompey
by Harry Hopkins. At another point mighn t be seen the
tall and commanding form of Senator Williams receiving
the congratulations of the friends of his youth. While yet
again, in the conscious digmty of a virtuous life, moved the
presence of Governor Seymour, greeting the playmates of
his youthful days. And yet again, at various points, might
be seen Hon. Wm. G. Fargo, Ex-Mayor of Buffalo; Hon.
Charles Hayden, Ex-Mayor of. Rochester; Hon. Daniel G.
Fort, Ex-Mayor of Oswego; Hon. Charles B. Sedgwick and
Hon. Horace Wheaton, Ex-Representatives in Congress;
Hon. LeRoy Morgan, Judge of the Supreme Court, and
many others, surrounded by groups of admiring friends, relating incidents of early life in Pompey. And yet again,
among the multitude were a large number who, though not
so distinguished, have yet an equal claim to our esteem for
their consistent and upright lives of integrity, honoring, as
they have God, humanity and their native town. Such
scenes of happy greeting as were witnessed from the time
the people began to assemble till the closing of the day, and
especially from 9 to 11 o'clock, on the village green, are
seldom witnessed in a life time. No words can convey an
adequate idea of the emotional feeling which the occasion
called forth.
At eleven o'clock, the hour appointed for the meeting in
the tent on the green, the loud-mouthed cannon and the joyfully sad peals from the old bell in the Congregational
church, that had in early days summoned many present to
the house of worship, now announced the hour for the
formal exercises of the day. The tent was already crowded
to its utmost capacity, and thousands were unable to gain
admittance. Dr. Richard F. Stevens called the vast assembly to order, and Hon. D. P. Wood assumed his position, by
order of the Committee of Arrangements, as President of
the Day. The Vice-Presidents were as follows:
Dr. Jahiel Stearns, Asa H. Wells, John C. Jerome, O. J.





16


TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Wheaton, Myron Sharp, Morris Baker, Dr. E. Parks,
Miner B. Murray, Harry Knapp, Harvey M. Woodford,
Orace Newman, Zenas A. Jones, Samuel Baker, Charles R.
K. Hill, Joseph Jennings, Warner Butts, Silas A. Holbrook,
Horace Wheaton, Manoah Pratt, H. W. Van Buren, Nathaniel Foster, Dr. L. B. Wells, C. J. Hayden, J. M. Taylor,
A. T. Dunham, Solomon Judd, Addison G. Williams, Merrit Butler, Wm. J. Curtis.
RECORDING SECRETARIES.-Frank Jerome, W. M. Butler,
of Pompey.
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.-R. F. Stevens, of Syracuse.
The services were commenced by the batlnd playing the
"Anvil Chorus."
The Throne of Divine Grace was then invoked by Rev.
Mr. Cooper, pastor of the Congregational church, in a solemn and impressive prayer, the language of which, it is to
be regretted, has not been preserved. The immense concourse then sunig the words, " Praise God from whom all
blessings flow," &c., to the good old-fashioned tune, "Old
Hundred," accompanied by the band.
At the conclusion of the singing, the President, Hon.
Daniel P. Wood, said:Sons and Daughters of Pompey:
Upon an occasion of so much interest and importance, when those who have been long absent from their
childhood's home have returned to visit the companions of
their youthful days, and to look again upon the places
familiar in life's fresh morning, it is eminently proper that
some present resident of Pompey be called upon to address
appropriate words of welcome to the returning pilgrims. I
therefore have the pleasure of introducing to you Wm. W.
VanBrocklin, who will now address you.










40P~





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


17


MR. VAN BROCKLIN'' ADDRESS OF WELCOME.
Fellov CGitizens, Sons andl Daughters of Pompey from Abroad:
The occasion which has called together this
vast assembly, is one which will ever be remembered as the
brightest period of our earthly existence. To-day, Pompey
welcomes home her sons and daughters. And as one who
still lingers upon this soil, consecrated by the sacred ashes
of your fathers, I have been commissioned by the present
citizens of Pompey, without distinction of party or creed,
in their behalf to express their most sincere and cordial
greeting-to extend to you who have come hither from
every quarter of our great and glorious land, the hospitalities of the town-to assure you that every door in Pompey
is thrownl.wide open to receive you, and that you may feel
the same degree of freedom that a child would, upon returning after a long absence to visit the parental roof. Thus
are youwelcomed; yet the occasion is so fraught with recollections of our early life, and so eminent are the characters
of those who have come back to honor the place of their
nativity, that I cannot dismiss the subject without briefly
expressing a few thoughts that seem to me appropriate.
You are welcomed; not as the prodigal son, yet with an
equal degree of affection. Unlike him, in poverty you left
us, with nothing but your unblemished reputations, which,
thank God, you have kept pure, and your stern purpose and
firm resolves to do and conquer upon the battle fields of
life. Unlike him, you have not spent your substance in
riotous living, yet, while Plenty has crowned your efforts,
in the various appointments, which, under God, you have
been called.to fill, and "want goes smiling from your door,"
we have killed the fatted calf, and upon it will you be
feasted, in token of our appreciation of your exalted worth;
and as you will soon surround the table of your re-union
with the loved and cherished companions of your youthful
days, you will find, while joy and gladness shall abound,
and mirth and song and dance shall speed along the happy
hours of this day, that this is not entirely an occasion of





18


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


unmixed festive enjoyment. Room will be left to drop the
tear of affection over the vacant chairs, and over the graves
of those we loved and honored, twenty, forty, sixty years
ago. To them is due much of your success in life. Their
careful supervision of your early education, the sterling
worth of the early settlers of Pompey, their examples. of
economy, virtue, honesty and strict integrity have left an
imperishable impress upon your characters. And so we
find that this re-union of Pompey's sons and daughters is
composed of an array of talent seldom. equalled, never excelled, and it impresses the mind with the transcendant
value of our institutions, which open to the rich and poor
alike, throughout our vast domain, opportunities to acquire
fortune and fame. Within my own recollection, Pompey
has furnished to our State Legislature thirteen members, six
representatives in our National Congress, one United States
Senator and member of the recent Joint High Commission,
two Governors, five Mayors of cities, three Supreme Court
Judges and one Major-General of our victorious armies,
while we have heard with pleasure and pride of the promotion of many who have left their Pompey homes to posts of
trust and honor in other States, not to speak in detail of the
large list of minor offices and nominations for important
trusts that would tire your patience to hear. In addition to
all these, the agriculturists, artisans, commercial men, citizens who represent all the industrial pursuits of life that
Pompey has thrown forth upon the world, challenge the respect and admiration of every community from Plymouth
Rock to the golden shores of the Pacific. Nor are the
learned professions wanting in illustrious examples reared
upon this sacred soil: Of them I need not speak, for soon
they will speak for themselves in yonder grove, in strains of
stirring native eloquence. And yet again, Pompey's sons
and daughters have plucked the fairest roses from the field
of science, and the literary world does homage to the artless
word painting of the unapproachable Grace Greenwood.
While. all I have said, and more, is true of Pompey's chil




THE POMPEY BE-UNION.


19


dren, I am not left in wonder that in your hearts welled up
a yearning desire to visit once more'the magic spot that has
given to the world so rich a legacy. There is a philosophy
closely connecting a people with the land of their birth.
God, nature, divine revelation, and humanity in its normal
condition, are all in harmony. Hence the transcendently
lovely scenery, beautiful, landscape views, healthful, invigorating breezes, enlarged and comprehensive views of nature
in her, sublimest moods, witnessed and enjoyed by your
mothers and yourselves during your early existence, have
left an impress upon your minds and assisted to form characteyrs that will continue to exert a salutory influence which
will reach ever onward and upward throughout the boundless.cycles of, eternity. This glorious old town of Pompey,
of classic name, overlooking the lakes Onondaga and, Oneida.
in yonder fertile valleys-with landscape views extending
into seven counties of the State, itself but-a succession of
lofty, luxurient hills and fertile valleys, with its beautiful
rivulets and cascades, separating the waters upon this inhabited summit of the Empire State, to find their meandering
way to replenish the exhausted streams under the burning
suns of a Southern clime, as well as to mollify the- freezing
current of our Northern lakes, is one of the spots upon:this
green and rolling earth where the true lover of nature would
like to be born. Therefore, in conclusion,; I repeat, welcome to these sylvan shades and cool retreats; welcome to
these academic halls, where, under the tuition of a Stebbins,
who now sleeps 'neath the clods of Chenango's beautiful
valley, a fit resting place for the ark of a spirit so noble and
so good, we together learned to climb the hill of science;
welcome to the holy places where step your buried dead;
welcome to our mountain homes; welcome! thrice' welcome
to our hearts! and should we never meet again on earth, be
assured it is ours to know that this re-union we to-day are
permitted to witness and enjoy, is typical of that never ending re-union, that God, the Father of our spirits has reserved
for all his children.





20


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


The band then played "Home, Sweet Home."
Hon. Horatio Seymour was next introduced, and responded to the address of welcome, as follows:
GOVERNOR SEYMOUR'S ADDRESS.
There is a living cord which binds men and animals to
the spots where they first feel life. A wonderful instinct
guides the fish of the sea through the dark floods of the
ocean to the streams where their existence begins; that directs the bird through the vast expanse of the air back to
the hidden spot where it was born, and enables the beast of
the forest to track its way through dense shades to its native
lair. A secret vague yearning for our first home draws today to this retired village men from all parts of our broad
country. They have left the exacting busy pursuits of their
several stations at the bidding of this instinctive demand of
nature at no small cost of time, of effort, and of means.
They are here from the shores of the Atlantic and the Pacific; from the great valley of the Mississippi; from Northern and from Southern States. Whatever their stations in
life may be, and although they may have become old men,
the spirit of childhood comes over them when they stand
again in the places where everything recalls the feelings and
the associations of early youth. But beyond an instinctive
desire to revisit our native homes, there are moral and intellectual reasons which have moved us to accept the invitations of the citizens of this town to meet here on this occasion. We sometimes think of the sorrows and joys of
childhood as trivial things, and we smile at the deep feelings they once excited. As we grow older we look upon
them in a different light. We find they had much to do in
forming our characters and shaping our fortunes. Their
memories have gone with us through life. They are golden
threads woven into the warp and woof of our existenceThey grow brighter as the rest of the fabric fades and decays. No man comes back alone to this spot thus hallowed.
Each is surrounded with a crowd of those'whom he has in





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


21


imagination called back from their graves. On this day and
in this place he sees with vivid clearness their forms and aspects, and he holds with them a closer communion. If each
of us could see the cloud of such visions, which fills the
minds of this assemblage, we should then feel that we are
in the awful presence of the multitude of the spirits of those
who once lived and acted here, and whose memories we
cherish among the sacred things of our hearts.
Beyond those instinctive thoughts which crowd upon our
mind, there are many matters of historic interest connected
with this town and this vicinity. They would make ample
topics for a more full address than would be in place at this
time. This is not an occasion for any one man's speech,
but for an exhibition of the feelings of each and all who
meet here to indulge their memories with the past and to
do honors to their forefathers. I will therefore say but a
few words, and I will then give way to others.
Those of us who have reached the age of three score years
will remember this spot as one of the frontier statiotns of
civilization. The land was covered as with a pall by great
and gloomy forests. The first settlers placed their homes
upon the hill tops, where they could most readily get air
and light and an outlook over the land then covered as if by
a great ocean with the green and waving foliage of lofty
tree tops. The deeper and darker valleys were shunned.
Their luxuriant but excessive vegetation was fraught with
disease and death. We used to look off upon the lower
lands, where the city of Syracuse now stands with its population of fifty thousand, as a pestilential place to be avoided.
It was then an unsightly swamp, in whose miasamtic air
many sickened and died. At that day the toil and energy
of the country were given to cutting down the overshadowing forests. The trees were felled in the winter months.
In the spring their huge trunks were piled up and burned,
filling the country with smoke of the log heaps; in the summer the crop was cultivated with painful toil amid the
stumps and roots that covered the ground with a net work





22


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


of decaying wood; in autumn they gathered the slender
harvests, which gave them their simple food and scanty
clothifig. For these blessings they thanked God and were
content. It took a lifetime of hard and patient work to
make a cleared farm in this hill region. I do not think the
men of this generation are equal to the work done by their
fathers. I will not recount the events and changes which
have taken place since their days. They are censtantly
forced upon our attention when we turn our mind towards
the past. It is enough to say that we who saw the forest
cut down in this region, who watched the retreating steps of
savage tribes, and who witnessed the destruction of the wild
beasts of the woods, have lived through social changes and
a material progress equal to that of ten centuries of English
history. We have seen changes in the condition of our people as marked as those which have occurred in Britain from
the reign of Alfred the Great to that of Queen Victoria.
We have witnessed the first steps, and the highest achievement of civilization.
Let me say a few words about the social condition of this
town at the beginning uf this century. The people were
poor; their condition was one of constant toil and hard
struggles to gain food and clothing; but these evils were
relieved by the kindly sympathies which sprung from common wants. All intercourse was upon a level. Where all
were poor there was no glare of wealth to shame poverty or
to cause repining. In this respect this community was then
like all others in Central New York. But there was one
fact which every native of this town loves to speak of, which
sent so many of its sons forth into the world to become prosperous men, which brings so many of them back to-day with
feelings of gratitude to their fathers. Amidst all their poverty, toil and privation, their first thought was to get schools
for their children, and to found an academy which should
give instruction in the higher branches of education. To
do this, great efforts were made, and in some instances men
put mortgages upon their lands to enable them to do their





TIIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


23


share towards building up this institution. For a long time
it was the only academy in a large section of this State, and
many pupils were sent to it from adjoining counties.. The
people of Onondaga have always given the founders of this
town. great credit for their wisdom and foresight. Among
the first in-comers were persons of culture and ability,
who did niuch to form the characters and shape the policy
of their townsmen. At one time all t:he four members in
the Legislature of the State from this county, and at or
about the same time the representatives in Congress, were
natives of the town of Pompey.
It can be claimed for its academy that it was of National
consequence. In the Senate of the United States, in the
House of Representatives, in the Judiciary of the Nation
and of New York, in the Legislatures of the States, in the
armies of the Union, in the pulpits of our churches, in the
learned professions, and in all useful pursuits, those born
and educated in this town have held positions of honor and
responsibility. One of the earliest recollections of my childhood is that of looking upon a meeting of the friends of
that academy, on a winter's evening, in a room which was
lighted, as well as warmed, by a huge wood fire, which
roared and flashed in the cavernous fire place. All the
means and efforts of its founders could only put up an humble building for academical uses. If seen now, we might
smile at its rude workmanship and its meagre endowment
of books and apparatus, but it we could see it in the light
of the benefits it has done, we should bow reverentially to
the memories of those who founded it, amid all the wants,
trials and poverty of frontier life.
The social condition of this country has changed in the
last half century. At the outset it was rude, but it was free
and void of shams and hypocrisy. They had a kind of
teaching too, which, in some ways was better than that
gained by modern improvements in books and schools. At
an early day; in poor communities only those who were able
to put up comfortable houses could entertain travelers.





24


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Hence fifty years ago Inn-keepers were among our leading
men. The village bar-room was not only made attractive
by its ample space, and made cheerful by its great fires of
logs and sticks, which would be called logs in those days,
but it was also the place of common resort for all classes.
Here the lawyer, the doctor, clergyman, and. men of business and of labor, met to talk over the affairs of the town,
The State and nation. These discussions were open to all,of the wide circle which filled the room.
Men then heard both sides of the questions of the day.
They learned to temper their prejudices, and to correct their
opinions. Nor was the gain to the uneducated only. The,members of the learned professions were taught much that
was valuable to them in their pursuits. Clergymen and
lawyers knew more of human nature then than now. Opinions were not formed in studies alone, or from association
with one class of minds. Hence they were not put forth in
those terms of bitterness, and with those feelings of bigotry
-vhich are apt to mark those who see but one side of questions. The village bar-room had its evils and its temptations. If these could be done away with, and its ch!eerful
rooms and bright fires could be restored, and above all, if
the old kindly and free intercourse among all classes could
be ienewed, we should not only have better order and
morals throughout our social system, but we should all have
wiser and better men at the bar, in the pulpit, and in the
halls of State and National legislation.
The amusements of those old days were more robust than
at this time. Physical strength and activity were admired.
Each town had ambitions of having the swiftest runner and
the most skillful wrestler. The battle with the forest could
only be fought and won by hands hardened to toil and endurance. These were the qualities most admired, for they
were most needed. Our deacons would not now think of
calling out the country to aid in lifting up the frames of
their churches by a promise that some adventurous man
would stand upon his head on the highest ball on the





TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


25


steeple's top, and twine his feet in the tines of the lightning
rod. Yet, if my memory serves me right, the church which
stands in its fair proportions on this village green was helped
up by some such inducements. I am sure the deacons would
not try to stimulate the sale of pews by putting a pail of
punch on the pulpit stairs to warm up the liberal spirits of
the church members. I know that was the case when the
pews were sold in the church just by.
It has been said that those were the 'days of pure liquor,
sound Democracy and vital piety."  We can dispense with
the liquor, pure or impure. Of Democracy in a partisan
sense, I have nothing to say, but as it is held by all classes
and all parties as a part of our political system, I think it is
true that in all social intercourse, in public morality, in
official virtue, it was better practiced then than now. So
far as piety is concerned, I can only say I believe that then,
as now, devoted meni preached the truths of religion, and
toiled with faithfulness in their Maker's cause. Many of
those who rest in yonder grave-yard went down to their
resting place soothed and comforted by an assurance of future joys, and I trust all of those who stand before me are
animated by the same hopes, and will, in their last hours,
be sustained by the same consolation.
The President, with some appropriate remarks, presented
Governor Seymour with an exquisite bouquet, the gift of
Mrs. P. P. Miller, of DeWitt, whereupon Governor Seymour
responded as follows:-" I am very much gratified for this
beautiful bouquet. I have said already how I reverenced
the memories of the fathers of Pompey, and how I admired
their sons. I can now only say how much I love their
daughters." [Applause and laughter.]
Governor Seymour, in a few moments, rose and said:
" My friends, pardon me for lifting tp my voice one more.
[Applause.] I spoke of the early men in my county. I
tried in very feeble and inadequate terms to tell you what
their claims were upon our respect. I can do more now.





26


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


I want to give you an example of one more of them in presenting to you Judge Strong, a gentleman ninety years of
age, who has spent his whole life honorably and well, trying
to serve his fellow-men, to honor his God, and to uphold
the institutions of our country. I now present you Judge
Oliver R. Strong, of Syracuse, one of the early settlers of
the town of Onondaga."
The aged patriarch stood uncovered before the immense
assemblage, his clear eye indicating a vigorous intellect in
his green old age, and in eloquent silence he gracefully
bowed his acknowledgements to the hearty welcome of applause he received.
After Judge Strong had resumed his seat, the entire assemblage arose and joined in singing the following beautiful
anthem, the effect of which will ever be remembered by all
present on the occasion. It seemed as though one soul animated the vast concourse and one sympathetic cord united
all the people. At the close of the singing a solemn stillness pervaded the place, and a happy expression beamed
forth from thousands of tearful eyes.
AULD LANG SYNE.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne we meet to-day,
For auld lang syne;
To tread the paths our fathers trod
In days of auld lang syne.
We've passed through many varied scenes,
Since Youth's unclouded day;
And friends, and hopes, and happy dreams,
Times hand hath swept away.
And voices that once joined with ours,
In days of auld lang syne,
Are silent now, and blend no more,
In songs of auld lang syne.
Yet ever has the light of hope
Illumed our darkest hours,





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


21


And cheered us on life's toilsome way,
And gemmed our paths with flowers:.
The sacred prayers our mothers said.
In days of auld lang syne,
Have ever kept us in the right,
Since days of auld lang syne.
Here we have met, here we may part,
To meet on earth no more,
And some may never see again
The cherished homes of yore;
The sportive plays and pleasant days
Of childhood's auld lang syneWe ne'er shall meet to know again
Those joys of auld lang syne.
But when we've crossed the sea of life
And reached the heav'nly shore,
We'll sing the songs our fathers sing,
Transcending those of yore;
We there shall sing diviner strains
Than those of auld lang syneImmortal songs of praise, unknown
In days of auld lang syne.
The President stated that he was compelled to make a.n
announcement that would undoubtedly be painful to all;:
Grace Greenwood can not be present. He then read the
following telegram:-"'It is impossible for me to be with;
you to-day, my aged mother is not well enough."-Grace
Greenwood.
The President then announced that Mrs. Dr. H. V. Miller, of Syracuse, would read a paper of " Reminiscences of
Pompey," in place of the poem by Grace Greenwood.
Mrs. Miller then read as follows:
It is related by that famous traveler, Bayard Taylor, that
far up among the fastnesses of the Pyrenees he found a race
of sturdy mountaineers, who for centuries have preserved
intact a Republican form of government, despite the threats
of the two Despotisms of France and Spain, that crouch on
either hand. Strong only in their patriotism and their natural defences, they have defied intrigue, diplomacy and





28


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


brute force, and still maintained the letter and spirit of a
pure Republic. The same traveler tells us of a similar instance among the Alps, where he found in the "little Land
of Appenzell," a hardy nation, of limited numbers, but
strong in the patriotic principle, and the love of frecdom,
who refuse even to join the confederacy which unites the
Cantons around them; whose rulers are chosen directly by
the people, and who have preserved, along with their free
institutions, a simplicity of life and manners almost patriarchal.
When the shores of what is now Great Britain were invaded by foreign hordes, first of Saxons and afterwards of
Normans, the Cymry, the ancient people of Wales, retreated to their mountain fastnesses, and long after the plains
had become the prey of the invaders, they retained their
independence, and only yielded when war and hardship had
reduced the race nearly to extinction.
From these, and other similar facts, we cannot resist the
conclusion that the continuous toil of a mountaineer's life,
the contest with the elements that rage unobstructed around
the high lands, the daily habit of climbing and overcoming
obstacles, and above all, the pure and invigorating air of
the hills, tend to develope strength of character, independence of thought and action, sturdiness of purpose, and
physical force, as well.
It is said that during the Crimean war, the regiments of
Scotch Highlanders were so affected by home sickness, that
ithe regimental bands were forbidden to play the national:airs, "Bonnie Doon" and "Annie Laurie," so greatly were
-the spirits and health of the men affected by the remembrance of their native land. I believe it is an acknowledged
fact that love of home prevails most powerfully with those
born and reared among the hills. This numerous assemblage of the sons and daughters of the hills, who have
gathered from all points of the compass to this common
tcenter, like pilgrims to a holy city, is proof that we are true





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


29


to our instincts; that though some of us have felt in former
times, and while under the spur of youthful ambition, that
"Pompey was rather slow," that "we wanted to get away
from this knoll," still the home of our childhood has power
to win us for a time from the pursuit of fame, or wealth, or
pleasure.
And the noticeable fact, that of.all this crowd so large a proportion have won for themselves a competence of this world's
goods; so many have become men of mark in our country's
annals; so many have helped to raise the general average
of morality and prosperity in the community at large, goes
far to prove the correctness of the conclusion that a youth
passed among the hills is a good preparation for the arena
of life.
In the case of many here present, years have passed since
they parted from the home of their youth, while others have
by frequent visits, kept fresh and bright the links of memory's chain. With all of us it is love and loyalty to old
Pompey that brings us here. I remember, some years since
-when House's Printing Telegraph was first invented--being taken by a friend to the office in Syracuse, to inspect its
operations. My friend introduced me to the. operator as
from Pompey, whereupon the latter telegraphed my name
and address to the office in Rochester; in a few minutes the
answer was unrolled before me, it ran thus:-" God bless
old Pompey! Are the old wind mills standing yet?"  It
seemed as if I could see that man swing his hat as he gave
that telegraphic cheer for his old home, and though I have
forgotton his name I cherish for him a kindly feeling still.
Many such pleasant surprises I have enjoyed, when by a
word and a grap of the hand old associations have been
called up, and long buried memories revived. I have stood
in a crowd of strangers, and felt all the dreariness incident
to such a position entirely dispelled, when some familiar
voice has said "I used to know you.in Pompey!" or, "I was
in the same class with you in school!'





130


TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


We are proud of our native town, and it is an honest, well
grounded pride that we cherish.. The annals both of our
State andnation,, bear honorable witness of the part her;sons have borne in the history of both. We are proud of
her far-reaching landscapes, of her broad emerald slopes,
now bathed in sunshine, and now swept by the trailing skirts
of a passing cloud; of her atmosphere of such crystaline.purity that objects which are miles away "as the crow flies,"
seem at the distance of only a few minutes walk. Down
yonder. among the "low landers," we boast even of her.8uperior snow drifts, though we are not anxious to face them,;and until lately we have been ready to venture our last dollar that Pompey winds cannot be beaten. But this summer
a son-in-laz of Pompey has found a place near the summit
of the Rocky Mountains, where a head wind absolutely
stopped the train. Now we are forced to acknowledge that.no Pompey breeze was ever known to brow. beat a train so
as to f6rce it to a stand still; possibly, because no railroad
ever ventured to climb her heights. So that, for the present, Pompey meekly yields the pre-eminence in this respect
to her Rocky sisters across the continent.
I have heard the following anecdote, which illustrates this
feeling of pride and attachment to Pompey: In the town
of Lysander, lived some years ago, a blacksmith known as
-" Dutch Jake;" around him had settled several farmers who
had emigrated from Pompey, and who were accustomed
frequently to apply to him for work in his line. They were,not satisfied with his work, however, and did not hesitate
to declare it inferior to similar work done in Pompey. On.one occasion "Dutch Jake" lost patience at a remark of
this kind, and exclaimed with emphasis, "Its all Pompey!
Pompey! I believe you folks dat come from Pompey, you:tinks you go to Pompey ven you die!"
In the early history of this region, this town held a conspicuous position. The reputation of the place for wealth,
intelligence and refinement, and the energy and talent of
its principal men, called hither a great amount of business,





TIHE POMPEY RE UNION.


and made it a sort of commercial emporium for the country
around. I remember to have heard from the lips of the
late Squire M. Brown, of Elbridge, accounts of his frequent
journeys hither when a young man, with loads of grain
from the farms of his father and his uncles, the. Munroes of
Elbridge and Camillus, this place being their most accessible market. Here they sold their grain to Henry Seymour
and carried back groceries, dry goods, &c., purchased of
him. The old wind mills near the academy were erected
by Mr. Seymour for grinding purposes, and supplied the
needs of the inhabitants for a long time.
The following facts (obtained from Samuel Baker, Esq.,)
concerning the first church organized here, will show that
the early settlers here were men of good moral and religious
principles and energy and perseverance to carry out the plans.
The First Congregational church of Pompey was formed
October 19th, 1796, by Rev. Ammi R. Robinson, pastor of
the church in Norfolk, Conn., and comprised twenty-two
members. Its first deacons were Levi Jerome and Daniel
Dunham. It first settled minister was the Rev. Joseph Gilbert, whose remains lie interred in the village cemetery.
In 1803 the Rev. Hugh Wallis was installed as pastor, and
in the year 1810 the church became a member of the Onondaga Presbytery. About this time the Rev. Artemas Bishop,
a native of this place and a pupil of the academy, was sent
by the American Board as a missionary to the Sandwich
Islands and is now living there. In the year 1836 Mrs.
Crane (Julia Ostrander) went with her husband as a missionary to India. As fruits of the religious training of this
church and the academy, we offer the following list of faithful ministers of the Gospel who have gone out from our
midst:-Rev. Jared Ostrander, Rev. Charles Jerome, Rev.
H. C. Hayden, Rev. Carlos Swift, and Rev. Delos E. Wells.
The large folio Bible given to the church by Mr. Henry
Seymour at the time of its dedication, remains in a good
state of preservation, although made to give place to a more





o32
C) -


TIIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


modern one, which, with a handsome silver communion
service, was given by another sister in the church.
For many years the above church was the oinly one in the
place; but in process of time three others have been organized, and now occupy their respective places of worship.
From these facts it will be seen that this first church m1ust
have exercised a powerful influence upon the early moral
and religious character of the community.
To the high standard of education, also, which prevailed
here at an early date, may be attributed much of the influence which the children of Pompey have exerted inilthe
community at large. In regard to schools, she has been the
pioneer, having established the first academy in this region.
The original building was erected about 1805, stood nearly
upon the site of the present edifice, and by one whose early
years were largely passed within its walls, is described as
follows:-A frame building, two stories high,.and painted
yellow. On the first floor were two rooms, used respectively as a high school and a district school. On the second
floor was a large room, used as occasion required, for a townhall or chapel. Up to the time that the present church edifice was built, in 1817, the Congregational society worshipped
in it, and my informant retains a vivid remembrance of its
bare walls and its uncomfortable high-backed pine benches,
where he spent the time of service in vain endeavors to touch
the floor with feet and to see the minister over the shoulders
of his grown-up neighbors.
In this room, the Rev. Joshua Leonard, (more familiarly
known as "Uncle Jock,") preached on the Sabbath, greatly
to the edification of his hearers; for he was a man of great
eloquence and power; but during the week he presided over
the youth of the community, congregated in the room below. It is related of him that he always prayed with open
eyes, and generally standing in front of the large open fireplace by which the school room was warmed. On one occasion a young man, a new scholar, entered the room while





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


BR


the Reverend teacher was engaged in the opening prayer.
While the stranger waited near the fire place for the conclusion of the exercise, a roguish boy, the son of the principal,
stepped slyly behind him and dropped a live coal into his
open hand. Uncle Jock, whose watchful eyes saw the perforrance, broke off his prayer, administered condign punishment to the offender, then quietly resumed the broken
thread of his devotions, and finished as if there had been no
interruption.
Edward Aiken, Flavius Littlejohn, (a brother of D. C.
Littlejohn, of Oswego, who afterwards became a noted lawyer of Michigan,) Henry Howe, since for twenty-five years
a teacher of youth in Canandaigua, and Andrew Huntington, were Mr. Leonard's successors in the old academy. It.was under the tuition of Mr. Leonard that Charles Mason
and Seabred Dodge received their thorough mathematical
training, which fitted them for the responsible positions
which they have since filled.
In the new academy, built in 1834, we, of later days, recall
Samuel S. Stebbins, classical and stately; Ensign Baker,
renowned for his hobbies, successively, of elocution, agricultural chemistry, and-circular swings! T. K. Wright, eminent as a drill-sergeant, and a host bf younger men, whose
term of office were so short that they failed to impress the
public memory as did the earlier teachers.
Among those who presided over the female department
in the new academy may be mentioned Miss Anne Hopkins,
afterwards the wife of Professor Kendrick, of Rochester;
sweet, saintly Harriet Rand, whose blessed influences have
not yet ceased to echo in the hearts of her pupils; Mrs.
Elizabeth Stone, late Mrs. Niven, whose dignity and rare
culture still grace the society of Syracuse; Julia Reynolds,
whose magnificent physique, winning ways and charming
conversational powers secure for her the admiration of all
who know her; and Adelia Payson, who, a few years since,
left a large circle of friends and pupils to bear the tidings of
a free gospel to the women of China.





34


THIE POMPEY RE-UINION.


A few facts in regard to the district and select schools,.
held here at an early date, may be of interest. Before the
year 1800 a school was taught in a log house near where
Colonel Kellogg's house now stands. Miss Lucy Jerome,
afterwards the wife of James S. Geddes, and mother of Hon.
George Geddes, of Carnillus, was the first teacher.. Later,
a frame building was erected upon the village green, about
due west from the hotel. In this building a district school
was taught by Leman H. Pitcher, father of L. B. Pitcher, of
Salina. It is supposed that about the year 1801, Miss Hepey
Beeber taught this school. Merrit Butler remembers that
his father, one of the trustees, sent hinl for her with a horse,
to her home on Newman's Hill, and that he rode home behind her. When the first academy was built, the district
school was removed thither, and Manoah Pratt, Daniel F.
Gott and James Robinson, were among the teachers.
One of the earliest select schools was taught by Miss Philene Hascall, afterwards Mrs. Samuel Baker, in the front
chamber of what was known as the " Joe Colton " house,
afterwards occupied by Dr. Stearns, and later still by Joseph
Beach. Another was taught about 1819, by Charlotte Hopkins, (Mrs. Beardsley) in the north west room of the hotel
kept by her father, Colie Hezekiah Hopkins.
In these twoschools, Charles B. and Henry J. Sedgwick,
Mary, Sophia and Horatio Seymour, Victory J. and Ellen
Birdseye, Charles, Richard and William Stevens, Cornelia
Stearns, and many others, who are now in the prime and
vigor of life, received their earliestinstruction. Later, probably, about forty-five years ago, Miss Rowena Wells, (Mrs.
Jared Ostrander,) taught a select school in the upper story
of the building next north of the church, known as the Stevens house. The family chronicle of the writer abounds in
anecdotes of this institution, only one of which will be recorded here. One.of the numerous sons of the family, had
received in his face a paper wad, skillfully snapped by his
next neighbor, who immediately became absorbed in his
studies, and kept his face buried in his book that he might





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


35


not be exposed to a return of the compliment. The other
urchin prepared his paper missile and awaited his opportunity but none came. The little fellow tried various strata_
gems to no purpose, and at last in his ecstasy of impatience
resorted to extreme measures, "Miss Rowena, Miss Rowena,"
he called out, " Mayn't Dave Porter look here?  "Dave
Porter, look there!" replied the teacher. Dave did look,
and received full compensation for the injury he had inflicted,
whereupon order was restored and the operations of the
school resumed.
The district school house, from about the year 1820 to
1845, stood west of Dr. Stearns' office. In this building
many present will remember, as among tbeteachers, Asa H.
Wells, Calvin S. Ball, Jno. Doolett, Alfred Sloan, and Harry
Gifford. Since this latter building fell to decay a more commodious one has been built on the opposite side of the
street, which was burned down in the year 1867, and replaced in 1868 by the purchase and remodeling of the church
near by.
Thus have I endeavored in brief to span the interval between the present and the rapidly receding past; to offer
some slight tribute to the memory of those who have borne
a part in preparing the children of Pompey for positions of
responsibility. The task has been a pleasant one, and lovingly performed.
To the aged who in spite of the burdenf of-years and infirmities have come to visit the scenes of their past, this day
must wear a tinge of sadness, for of many whom they once
knew and loved, the only memento they will find will be a
monument on yonder marble-crowned hill-top. Let us who
are in life's prime, go forth to our toils, refreshed by the air
of our native hills, cheered by the greeting of old friends,
remembering that ' old age creeps on apace," and to us, the
time may come, when the scenes of middle life will, to our
backward vision, grow dim and indistinct, compared with
the vividness with which we shall recall the scenes of our
early years.





36


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


At the close of Mrs. Miller's paper, the quartette from
Syracuse, Joseph Durston, Mrs. S. B. Wood, Mr. and Mrs.
J. E. Van Cleeck, sang with thrilling effect, " We have come
to our homes in the old Empire State."
The President next announced that they were fortunate
in having one of Pompey's younger sons present who had
been remarkably busy since he had gone forth from his old
home to the busy world. He had represented a distant State,
on the Pacific coast, and more recently had been a member
of the Joint High Commission, and his name would be
handed down to future generations in enduring remembrance.
He introduced Senator George H. Williams.
SPEECH OF SENATOR WILLIAMS.
Mr. Chairman and Friends:
One of our distinguished poets has written beautifully of
the "Voices of the Night," but under some circumstances
the daytime too, has its voices, and from the suggestive surroundings of this day I seem to hear a voice saying, " Backward, flow Backward, Oh tide of the years."  Our lives, it
appears to me, may properly be divided into two periods.
One is when every thought, passion and emotion of our natures is absorbed in visions of the future-sorrow, repentance and regret for misfortunes, misdeeds or mistakes suffered or committed are then unknown-our life appears to
be spread out before us like a beautiful panorama, in which
we see the green fields, the flowery pathways, the bright
and cloudless skies, but in which, the pitfalls, the thorny
acclivities, the clouds and darkness, are artfully concealed
from our view. This was the period of life through which
I passed in the town of Pompey. Imagination easily carries
me back from this stand point to that time, when I was one
of those poetically described as "whining school boys,"
with satchels and shining morning faces creeping to school.
The tender associations, the happy scenes and the sportive
incidents of my boyhood now comes back to me, like the





TIHE POMPEY RE UNION.


37


half remembered pictures of a morning dream. Life then
was little more than a succession of ecstatic sensations.
Whether I chased the butterflies in the summer sunshine,
or like Maud Muller " raked the meadow sweet with hay,"
or whether I toiled through the snow to my allotted labor,
or joined in the pastime of snowballing or sleigh-riding metaphisically speaking there was " no snow in my song or winter in my year."  Well do I remember the day when like
another youth of whom we read bearing aloft a banner with
the strange device, " Excelsior," I come up from the district
school of the country to the Academy on the Hill-yonder stands the old Academy - foundation and superstructure, walls and windows, roof and belfry as they were
more than twenty years ago. Unattractive and inanimate
that time-worn and weather beaten pile of stone and mortar seems to be, but every crevice and nook and corner
is quick with the memories of you thful friends and by-gone
years. They inhabit every room. They occupy every seat.
They sit at every desk. They are regular at the morning
prayer and at the recitation. They are as bright and joyous
as ever. Unseen and unheard, they steal out of those portals with which so many of us are familiar, to take part in
the proceedings of this day. Many things crowd upon my
mind from the reminiscences of that old Academy, but none
are more prominent or pleasing than those connected with
its then flourishing Lyceum. The beauty and the chivalry
of Pompey were accustomed to meet there. Debate was not
confined to those connected with the school; but Gott,
plausible, persuasive and eloquent, Birdseye, always lawyer-like and logical, Dodge, with his strong practical views,
appeared upon that arena of intellectual combat. They were
" giants in those days," as it then appeared to me, and I still
think that their speeches compared favorably with those I
have heard in bodies of much higher pretensions. I have
met with a reasonable share of success and prosperity since
I left this town, but whenever I review my life, I always





38


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


decide that the happiest of its days are those I passed in the
Pompey Academy.
Circumstances of fortune as many of you know were not
very favorable, but I had a heart for controversy with these.
Spurning all such embarrassments, I only looked up that ladder which I had set out to climb, whose 'top appeared to
penetrate the shining temples of fortune and fame. Time
and experience have satisfied me, I am sorry to say, that the
enjoyments of this world unmixed with trouble, are found
more than elsewhere in these illusions of early life. When
I considered myself sufficiently prepared I applied to one
with whose name most of you are familiar, and whose memory I shall always revere, to pursue the study of the law in
his office. Do you know said he, in answer to the application, " How long Jacob was compelled to serve for his wife
Rachel?" 'Being a little more familiar with the scriptures
then than I am now, I was quite ready with the answer..
He then said what I have since found to be true, that the
law for its favors demanded the same fidelity and devotion
that Jacob displayed for Rachel, and pointed out with paternal kindness the difficulties and discouragements I would
have to encounter. I told him that my resolution was made
and could not be changed; three years for the most part of
the time, I passed in his presence, and among the books of
his office, and I can only say that if Jacob enjoyed his service for Rachel as much as I did then my service for the law,
it is probable that he was quite as happy in his protracted
courtship as he was in his wedded life. (Laughter and applause.) I ventured, about the time I decided to be a lawyer, to visit the Court House, in Syracuse, while the Circuit
Court was in session. Judge Moseley was presiding, his
hair was as white as silver, and he was the very personification of Judicial propriety. Around him and in the bar were
Noxon, Lawrence, Hillis, Gott, Birds'eye, with other lawyers,
and bailiffs, with long pikes, moved around with noiseless
steps to preserve perfect order and stillness in Court. I can
remember how much I was overawed by that presence, and





THE POMPEY BE-UNION.


39


what misgivings crossed my mindlas to whether I could ever
appear with credit to myself in such a forum.
I am reminded of my first and greatest professional victory. One r citizen of this town sued anotherto recover the
value of.a horse gored to death, as it was alleged, by an unruly ox. Mr. Gott, my preceptor in the law, appeared for
the plaintiff and I was employed by the defendant. My
point to defeat the action was not that the ox did not gore
the horse but that the owner of the ox did not know at the
time- that he was a vicious animal. I marshalled my authorities and made a desperate effort for my ciient, but no
Pompey jury could withstand the persuasive powers of Mr.
Gott and he recovered a judgment of eighty dollars. Confident that I was right, I appealed the case to the Common
Pleas. James R. Lawrenee, Esq., represented me as I was
not then admitted to practice. Failing thei e as in the Court
below, to prove the scienter on his motion, Judge Pratt nonsuited the plaintiff and I had won the case. No doubt the
Emperor William was proud to witness the triumphal entry
into Berlin of his victorious legions returning from the conquest of France, but it is not at all probable that he experienced that keen sense of pride and satisfaction which I felt
at this my first professional victory. (Laughter and applause.)
When I reached the age of twenty-one, I applied for admission to the Common Pleas of this county; Judge Pratt
appointed a cornmnittee for my examination, of which the
Hon. C. B. Sedgwick was chairman. I appeared before
that committee with fear and trembling.. The chairman.enquired what I would do to collect fees for professional services which were not voluntarily paid. I made as I suppose,
a: satisfactory answer, and was admitted, and. I have. since
found that one of the first accomplishments of a lawyer is to
know how to collect his own fees. (Laughter and applause.)
Twenty-seven years ago, with the proof in my pocket that
I was a lawyer, signed by Judge Pratt, and a small library
of law books, I started in that direction in which it is said,





40


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


" The star of Empire takes its way."  I have many reasons
to believe that I was accompanied by the good wishes of
those who had known me here. One act of generous kindness I cannot forbear to mention upon this occasion. Determined to go west, I had neither money or books. David
F. Dodge and John S. Wells borrowed for me what money
I needed. I repaid the money within three years, but the
debt of gratitude I can never pay. Twenty-seven years ago
is an expression that forcibly and in some cases sorrowfully
suggests to the mind the idea of change; what changes have
occurred since 1844? Some who were then in their nurse's
arms I now see before me full grown men. and women.
Some who were then boys and girls I now find presiding
over flourishing households. Some who were then in the
prime and vigor of middle life, now bend under the weight
of accumulated years, and not a few have passed away to
'' The land of the great departed;
Into the silent lands."
When I left Syracuse in the canal boat that was to carry
me away from friends and home, the convention by which
Silas Wright was nominated for Governor, was then and
there in session. He is dead, and so are most of the great
men associated with him in the government of the country.
Parties and opinions have changed wonderfully since that
time. Administrations have come and gone. War has
stricken the land with its multiform afflictions. Great discoveries in science and art have been made. Telegraphic
wires have been stretched across the ocean. Thousalds of
miles have been added to our railway system. Six times
have I crossed from ocean to ocean, on the trans-continental
railroad. Many new States have been added to the Union,
two of which I have helped to make. Our country, though
not without some suffering, has grown greatly in wealth,
power and glory. I believe in freedom, education and progress, and have faith, though the indications are not always
favorable, that manikind is slowly but surely advancing to a
higher and better plane of existence. I have said that.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


41


life may be divided into two periods. One is, when the
prospective absorbs all, and the other is, when the faculties
of the mind loosening their hold upon the future, seek pleasure in a retrospective view of passed events. I will not say
on which side of the line separating these two periods, I
stand, but I am obviously near enough to it, to find my attention divided between what of the past is unforgotten, and
what of the future is unrevealed.
Time and change have scattered many of the associates of
my early life far and near. Some have gone in one direction and some another, and I have found a home upon the
shores of the Pacific ocean. I live in a populous and flourishing city, where but a few years ago rolled " the distant
Oregon and heard no sound save the dash of its own waters."
I would not entice any away from the good old town of Pompey, but if any of you are disposed to emigrate, I invite you
to the land where I live. Come where a great, genial ocean,
snow-capped mountains, majestic rivers, with woodland and
prairie will give you every variety of soil, climate and scenery. Oregon is not -a -land " flowing with milk and honey,"
but it is a land of Ihealth, plenty and beauty. This is a reunion of the old residents of Pompey. Some have come
here from the " cool sequestered vales," and others from the
conflicts of professional and public life. -All are here to revive old associations, renew old acquaintances and especially
to do honor to our old home; various have been my experiences since I left here, I have been in the whirl and vortex
of political life, I have lived thousands of miles away, but I
have never forgotten my old friends in Pompey, or " the old
folks at home."  Accept my greetings and congratulations.. am about to return to my distant home upon the Pacific,
but I shall remember this occasion with pleasure, and as
long as I live, shall cherish -the hope that peace, plenty
and happiness may be and remain in the old town of Pompey.
After music by the band the President stated, I have now
the pleasure of introducing to you one whose boyhood was





42


TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


spent in this village, and all present who then resided here
will quickly recall the pleasant recollections of hisactive,
sportive young life; and I will only say that the physical
energy and intellectual.promise thus early, manifested have
developed into the successful competitor among the gifted
intellects of our gfreat Metropolis, for th.ehighest honors of
his profession. I refer to Hon. Luther Rawson Marsh, of
New York.
REMARKS OF LUTHER R. MARSH.
My Tolwnsmen, old and young, one and all:
I am glad, this day, to meet you; glad to talk with you
of the present and the past; and, in doing so, we should miss,
to some extent, the object of our brotherly reunion if we did
not gossip a little of ourselves, and push our personalities
somewhat to the front. Let us then commune in treedom
and with unconstrained joy.
It is curious to notice how a little town like this will ramify
its influence through all the land, and bind itself with every
part of the country. What portion of the Union, North or
South, or on either ocean-what essential business or interest, private or public, but is represented here to-day?
These town celebrations have, of late, come much in vogue
amongst the old settlements of New England-a custom that
should extend throughout the land. They have an interest
beyond the pleasure ot the meeting and the renewal of
bIroken ties; they are the best historians, gathering materials
for the home life of the nation; they help to collect and
preserve the facts and domestic reminiscences connected
with the starting and growth of our country, as the line of
population, with a rapidity unknown in history, advanced
across the continent. Every town may thus contribute its
quota; and, ere those who saw the beginning are removed,
their memories are evoked and recorded.
Though we stand, now, on land so recently reclaimed from
aboriginal sway, and though we are assembled on the One





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


43


Hill, and not on the ancient Seven, yet are we on classic
ground. We meet at the villas of Pompey. We bear
the name of him-a foremost soldier of the world-at the
stamp of whose foot armies arose, and at the base of whose
statue '"great C esar fell."  Our allies are near; and our
Roman friends, like sentinels, are all around us-Fabius and,
Tully, iMarcellus and Cicero, Camillus and Manlius Torquatuswhile within our Eastern border, we may consult the mystic
utterances of Delphi.
Nor is the history of our town so recent as it seems. The
mists of antiquity rest upon it. It was by no means the beginning when the present dynasty started here. There had
been enacted, in this locality, at some period of the- unknown past, events which no pen has written and no tradition preserved. Generations and races have preceded c us
on this chosen spot and disappeared. Whence they came,
whither went, is not yet ascertained; mystery enclouds their
origin, their life and their departure; conjecture starts her
various theories, but authentic history is silent. The evidences of a former population, now wholly extinct, are thick
around us. A second growth of trees, of such age and magnitude as to take rank with the original forest, astonished
those who thought they had come to a place entirely new.
If, when we were boys and girls, a museum had been established here to hold the reliques discovered in our soil, this
would have been a famous resort for the curious and scientific. Here would have remained your stone tablet of Anno
Domini, 1550, now reposing in the Institute at Albany, whose
hieroglyphs so many Champollions have endeavored to decipher. Here would have been collected not only the rude
arrow-heads and granite tomahawks of the savage, but the
proofs of aformer and unkn own civilization-the blacksmith's forge, iron implements of husbandry, fragmeits of
earthenware and church bells, and numerous coins and medals, whose devices and inscriptions age has obliterated.
Long before the ancestors of the present residents clambered
here-long before the time when a bounty of five dollars.





44


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


was offered for a wolf's scalp-there was imbedded in the
soil, since upturned by the coulter, not only the utensils of
peace but the weapons of civilized warfare-if warfare can
be said ever to be civilized-guns, and cannon, and cannon
ball; indicating advance in the arts both of living and killing; showing that wherever man goes cruelty goes with him;
and that he is ever ready to unite the elements of destruction with those of progress. It was because of this profusion of antiquities, no doubt, that, after modern chisels had
done their artistic work, the soil of our town was chosen for
the clandestine deposit of the Gypsum Giant; but he was a
stranger, not a native-not indigenous, but imported-the
only humbug, as with due modesty we claim, Pompey ever
turned out.
How different the scene this day from that presented to
our fathers, as, at the close of the last century and the beginning of this, they clomb these hills, to plant here a new
community. There were no roads to guide them up the
wooded acclivity but the Onondaga's trail. Soon, however,
they mingled the echoes of their industrious axes with the
roar of the wild beast and the sigh of the wind. Cleared
fields appeared. Fruit-bearing trees supplanted the towering monarch, aind grass and grain invited the sickle. The
red man and the wolf, who had so long held a divided dominion, retired before the rifle and the plow-reluctantly
retired, for some still lingered to a recent day. The Indian,
with his wampumed moccasins and beaded leggings, his silver-banded hat and ornamented ears; his blanket and his
bow, yet remain, vivid frescoes on the walls of our memory;
and some present, no doubt, remember when Bruin came
over the hill, strolling and swaying leisurely on the green,:as if to attend town meeting, then in progress. But, though
native born, he was not permitted to exercise the rights of
citizenship till he had shown a prowess worthy of it. Ac*cordingly, Major Case, the constable, stepped forth to test
his credentials. The amiable visitor rose on his haunches
to give the bailiff welcome, quicklly struck his extemporized





THE. POMPEY RE-UNION.


45


tip-staff from his grasp, and gave him the bear:salute-a.
back-hug so pressing as to leave no doubt of its cordiality.
Old Hawkeye, himself, would never have tempted it.a second
time. Possibly the grizzly stranger may have anticipated
the service of some process upon him-for Bears, even to
this day, in Wall street, sometimes receive such documentsas he put his mark of cancellation, like a railroad conductor,
through many a summons and execution in the officer's
pocket-book, till his teeth met in the Major's breast; who
only escaped (to die from his wounds some three years after)
when the axe of Canfield Marsh sank in the victor's skull.
The new settlement grew and flourished. Adventurous
men and women, chiefly from the New England hive, came
hither-bringing with them the Yankee's outfit of good
habits, indomitable pluck, and a desire for education. This
lovely village arose, cresting the mount, near two thousand
feet above the sea-so high, that no Vesuvius can ever
shower it, like ancient Pompeii, with its ashes; an elevation
from which eye-shot may sometimes touch the blue of
Ontario, some fifty miles away; nested here,- as it seemed,
where old Hyem lived and feathered down his '"eautiful
snow;" wheretwo fountains, but a few rods apart, and bubbling from the same field, send their sparkling salutations to
the ocean-one, through the Susquehanna and the Chesapeake, the other coasting the thousand isles of the St. Lawrence. It soon became a centre of influence; men of character
and might, and genuine grit, were developed. For years this
village was a power in the politics of the County and the
State. When, some forty-seven years ago, a Senator from
Onondaga applied to the Council of Appointment, at
Albany, for the re-appointment of. one Luther Marsh to the
office of High Sheriff, DeWitt Clinton slapped him on the
knee, saying: "Squire Birdseye, I wish you to understand,
that the good people on Pompey Hill cannot have all the
offices in the State of New York."
I fancy, however, that the Sheriff received his re-appointment, for as he was riding through Christian Hollow-as





4,6


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Edwards states in his "Pleasantries of the Bar"-he saw a
muan in the field suddenly drop his hoe and run for the
woods. The officer quickly dismounted, tied his horse to
the fence and gave pursuit. After a long chase he captured
the pantiIg f gitive, who gasped that it was what he feared.
"Well," said the Sheriff, "I have no process against you
now, but I thought I would let you know that if I ever.shloul he, it  uldn't do you any good to run."
He was a man, I think, of pretty strong impulses. Mr.:Sedgwick has just told me that, at a time happily now past,
when political hostility implied personal as well, a bitter,opponent, who was usually kept in salutary restraint by the
will and physical endowments of the Sheriff, presumed, on
the occasion of seeing a, wounded right arm in a sling, to
press his personalities so far that he received an argumentum
ad hominem from the left, which sent him not only against.but through the door-latch and hasp and hinge giving
way--and the offender fell, at full length, in an- adjoining
room.
At another time, Mr. Sedgwick tells me, a Deacon from.a distant part of the town, while waiting for blacksmith
Davis's services, was accustomed to tie his team to one of a
cherished row of sapling maples-now, as you can see, quite
fully grown-which the Sheriff had planted in front of his
house. One of them was nearly girdled by the teeth of the
horses, at which the Deacon received an indignant remonstrance and prohibition. The next time he came to town,
however, he repeated the offence, Whereat the Sheriff cut
the reins and let the horses run. Fortunately, only the
wagon was seriously damaged; but the lesson was thorougly
taught, and the Deacon, ever after, gave a wide berth to the
maples.
The Academy of Pompey-to build and maintain which
the.early settlers, with a large wisdom, sacrificed so muchwas presided over by a succession of accomplished scholars.
-Among, and of the earliest of them, the Rev. Joshua Leonard, remarkable as a linguist and mathematician-with a





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


4.7


condensing engine in his head-and of so sweet a voice that
when from the pulpit he gave out his favorite hymn, Wesley's, "Jesus, lover of my soul," and joined in singing it,
both audience and choir stopped, entranced, that they might
hear the minister carry it through alone. He was succeeded
by Rev. Eleazar S. Barrows, a sermonizer of much power,
Dr. Edward Aiken, Henry Howe and Flavius Josephus Littlejohn. This institution, standing so long alone in Central
and Western New York, drew to this conspicuous summit
crowds of youth from the surrounding counties.
When Victory Birdseye, with his large and accurate learning, and the eloquent Baldwins, and Sedgwick, a man of
strength, and Daniel Gott, with memory of steel and voice
of deep and solemn music, displayed their powers before a
Justice of the Peace, the entertainment richly repaid the
thronged attendance.
Here Henry Seymour, that courtly gentleman, laid the
foundations of the fQrtunes, social and political, of the future Governor.
But new times came on. Great arterial thoroughfares
were established on easier grades, and 6ur native village
has been compelled to stand aside, somewhat solitary in her
loftiness and her lovliness, and see the increasing inland
travel and freightage of the country passing by her, as, in
its transit between the commercial East and the abounding
West, it veined the distant valleys. The law of gravitation
is a mighty agency in advancing or retarding the growth of
localities, and determining the routes of trade. We may
not soon expect to see a railroad depot on the top of Holyoke, nor cotton mills on Mount Washington. A position
in alliance with the eternal laws of Nature receives perpetual aid from an exhaustless fund in the sky. And so it has
occurred that our native peak, though rejoicing in its beauty, its fertility, its healthfulness and its traditions, has not
been able to solicit the currents of modern traffic up its
steep sides. They seek, rather, the furrowed channels, and
the level plains.





48


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


And therefore, also, has it happened that through the last
half century, Pompey has sent away so many of her sons
and daughters, to fulfil, elsewhere, their various spheres of
duty; taking nothing from the homestead but the dowry of
good birth, fair education and strong constitutions-the last
not the least in the long struggle of life.. In a letter from a
brother on the Pacific coast, he says:.' Though the frosts
are on my head I feel like a 'colt.' " I must confess to something of the same exuberance, as if the tonic oxygen of these
hills, inbreathed in youth, still continued to invigorate.
Though Pompey, as we see, still i'emains a pleasant place
to stay at, yet it has certainly been, as Webster said of his
own New ifamnpshire, an excellent place to gofrom. Accordingly, these Onondaga highlanders have swept down on
the lowlands and invaded the valleys. When, not long
since, the Census Marshal inquired at my door the names,
ages and birthplaces of the inmates, he could hardly think
us serious when he was told that thje owner was born on
Pompey Hill and his wife in Cherry Valley.
Indeed, they seem to have interlinked themnselves with
distant parts of the world, for, when the late Jas. T. Brady
was in Rome, he desired his brother, Judge John R. Brady,
of New York, to tell me that he had paid his respects to my
cousins, the Pon.tine MIarshes. Now that was a branch of the
family quite intimate, in his day, with our sponsor, Pompey
Magnus, who used to visit them and traverse their estates,
whenever, as he often did, he led his legions along the Appian Way.
And now, to-day, for the first time since their dispersion,
does a common impulse move her children to return-and
they come bearing their sheaves with them. The thousanjds
under this tented roof, and the thousands for whom there is
not room, attest the interest felt in this family festival.
We cannot permanently return to the home we left so
early. We may not deck with our cots her upswelling
dome, nor hang them on her slopes, nor join our hands in















THIIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


49


friendly cordon around her base. Our lines are cast, some
by the eastern, some by the western sea, while others dot
the intervening space; and there we dwell, enriched only
by boyhood's possession of these high citadels. But one
there is-our good President, Daniel P. Wood-who is not
willing that a day shall pass without regaling his eyes and
refreshing his soul with. glimpses of the sightly top; and
who has so chosen his home, that, from the observatory in
his own grounds at Syracuse, he may send at will his loving glances through fourteen miles of sky, to the beloved
towers of Pompey.
We tread the ancient green, w.here the athletes used to
gather to jump, to run, to wrestle, to throw and catch the
rapid ball and pitch the heavy bar. The intervening years,
and all the cares and din of active life, are, for the moment,
swept away, and we seem again to partake in.
"Those healthful sports that graced the peaceful scene,
Lived in each look, and brightened all the green."
Was there ever a daintier wrestler at arm's end-our favorite game-than Palmer, a slender and cultured youth,
whose fustian coat seemed niade to withstand the grips of
the strongest, but which, while it enclosed the lithe and
graceful form, the strongest could never lay upon its back?
When, with electric spring, he gave his toe-lock trip, how
often have I seen the sturdiest champion, who had been allured from a distance by the fame of. our Olympians, go
down.
Since Asahel-"as light of foot as a wild roe"-overtook
the Hebrew Captain, could man ever swallow the ground
like Gridley?
We revisit the strawberryfields!. Has any one forgotten
the Birdseye lot, by the old barn, flush with its lowly treasures, where summer strewed the earth with fragrant rubies,
too lavish to be hidden beneath the clover? Whose taste
gave realization to the quaint saying of an English writer,
"Doubtless God might have made a better berry, but he never





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


did."  A little cousin, came up from Onondaga to make a
visit. lie crept into this crimson field through the fence he
\vas too small to surmount, and when his capacities were satisfied, he sought in vain the fissure by the broken rail. A
passer by, hearing his despairing sobs, inquiredl the cause.
"I came,' the urchin cried, "to Pompey Hill to see  iy
cousin, and can't find the hole out."  More fortunate have
we been in retracing our steps to the well remembered
haunts.
We stray among the orchards! Even to this day, through
the memories of more than forty years, can I pick you out,
whether in the orchards of Elihu Parsons, or Jasper Bennett,
or Merrit Butler, or in the bordering Sedgwick nurserywhich seemed a garden of the Hesperides-the very trees,
if standing, which bore the gglden prizes of the autumn;
delicious globes; which Eve nor Adam could have resistedvhich Atalante would have lost the race for-which would
have comforted King Solomon, and their nectar stayed him
with flagons-and which, whether by your leave or without
your leave, it were hard to blame a boy for taking; appletrees as worthy to play a part in the history of the world as
the one which gave Newton the suggestion of an universal
and planetary law-as the one under which the great rebellion was quenched at Appomattox.
Put, alas.! the full tufted pear tree in my father's garden,
so long and widely known, has bowed its bowery head before the vandal chopper-no longer a stimulus to rising with
the lark, lest earlier boys should find the juicy bells shaken
down from grafts by the night winds. Oh, Woodman, thou
should'st have spared that tree on whose limbs many a Sunday school lesson has been learned-honored for service rendered, for its fair fame, and for the menories clinging to
every bough. -This tree, the cradle of the robin and the
nursery of song-and the windmill, beating the air with its
mighty wings-and the liberty pole, from whose top the
bunting caught the earliest gales, are missing features in





THE POMPEY BE-UNION.


51


which the present reality differs from the youthful photograph.
We walk again tle halls of the old Academy, and listen
for the arma ivirumque cano, or for the lisping echoes of Grecian verse.
We turn in to the venerable mansions in which we were
first launched on this ocean of human life-an ocean sometimes lit up with roseate clouds, sometimes swept by relentless storms, but ever its gulf stream bearing us on to a destination and a destiny which only heavenly revelation can
interpret.
Reverently we press the verdure between,the hollowed
mounds and marble records on yonder ridge-a place of taste,
suggestiveness and beauty-from whence extends. an unbroken circle of lovely landscape, till the earth rounds it out
of view. There, is the history of our town,,ca!yen  stone.
There, are its biographies, short and condensed, but vera.
cious and comprehensive, recording the two great events in
each one's life-birth and death-the Alpha and Omega; no,
not the Omega-but rightly viewed, the Alpha, rather, of
another life. And there, on the very crown of the knoll,
with dewy e3es, and thronging memories, and holier resolves, I trace the letters of a mother's name.
We give a hearty hand shake to those we left here and
who yet remain, some of whom are patriarchs indeed, whose
vigor vouches the salubrity of this upland village; and we
interchange with each other the ýrecollections of the past,
the giatulations of the pi-esent, and the' best wishes for the
future.
But list! I hear the Marshal's trump summoning us to a
mc'e attractive feast in yonder wood. Let us go thither.
[The President.-We will consent to adjourn to the grove
for dinner, now awaiting us, on condition that Mr. Marsh
will afterwards continue his remarks.]
After dinner he was called on to resume.





52


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


If you will insist on making two bites of a cherry,. am
afraid your ivory will touch the cherry pit at last. This
breezy grove is not unfamiliar ground. Though in yore a
frequent resort, it was never the "shade of melancholy
boughs;" and to-day the hills break forth into singing, and
all the trees of the grove clap their hands. Never, in the
olden time, when Fays nestled under every leaf, and
Dryads
"and sylvan boys, were seen,
"Peeping from forth their alleys green,"
and Romance ruled the hour, have I known the holt so
charmed with wood nymphs,.nor these shadeful branches drop
such manna on the tables. I knew, yesterday, that the
coming hours were filled with good assurances, for when,
toward nightfall, while bordering fields on either hand
waved their bearded heads with a growth unequalled even
in the fat soil of the valleys, we breasted the uprise, wet
with the tribute of the passing clouds, as our.native village
burst on the sight, lo! God's seven prismatic colors came
and blent and bent in beauty their glorious span, against
the dark ground of the retreating stoirm, pointing, with rainbow promise, to the heart of the hamlet.
When I came up the hill I brought another Hill with meone J. H. Hill, from Lenox. He was a Delphinian and
Pompey born. We knew him in boyhood as Hull Hill, and
he has acted, ever since he came, as if he owned the whole
hill. I speak with some severity, for, with insufferable audacity, he has doubted my veracity. I would have him
know that the word of a Pompey boy is steadfast, and that
though his foot may be on his native heath, his name is
neither Micawber nor Munchausen. I beguiled his way
with many a story of our good old town; how the sun earlier
rose and later set, than elsewhere; how Boreas whistled and
Euroclydon roared; how we jumped from barn roofs into
the deep drifted snow; how many yards we leaped, how
many miles we ran; how, at dawn, we used to brush the
morning gems from the meadow grasses in quest of the er




THE POMPEY RE-TNITON.


53


rant kine; how we learned to skate by the roadside and to
swim in the goose pond; how long-leagues of wild pigeons,
week after week, in their annual migration, winnowed the
air with million wings; how the brook at Pratt's Falls, after
pouring its energies through crank and cog, in grinding the
neighbors' grain, shoots the perpendicular abyss of a hundred and sixty feet-down which, one day, a woman fell,
but escaped unhurt; with many another truthful recollection-all which, as he should, he greedily devoured, till I
came to, a story of the steeple, at which his unfaith arose,
and he declared it threw discredit on all the rest. Now,
there are many here who know that when our church steeple
was completed, Smith the builder, ascended to the very top
of the spire, and, twining his limbs in the tines of the fork,
hung with his head downwards, suspended only by his legs;
at which Dominie Chadwick strode out in front of the church,
and cried loudly to the reckless architect, "In the name of
Jehovah, God Almighty, I command you to come down."
Now, though I have brought some twenty of our best citizens
to verify this incident, and though it is attested in the Governor's address, yet Hull Hill still doubts. He is a Judge,
somewhere down in Massachusetts. I wonder what rules
of evidence he has established for his Court? a tribunal
where parties should always demand a jury on questions of
fact, and never trust to the stubborn incredulity of the Judge.
I felt this imputation the more keenly, as I left this burgh
with a fair record; for, about that time, Nathaniel Bakerwhose son is owner of this grove-desired me to bring a bag
to his house; which done, he filled it to the mouth, as full
as Benjamin's sack, with butternuts, saying, " There, Rawson, I give those to you, for you " are the only boy in town
who hasn't secretly visited my nut grove." No doubt Hull
Hill was there-every dark night.
[Mr. Hill:-I am converted.]
Some honor have these sons of Pompey rendered to their
native town. But they are present, and I may not recount
it. I may only say that one of them, Horatio Seymour,





54


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


rising to many a station of trust, has filled.the highest office
in our State. I see him-plainly as at this moment-as he
stood by the pillar, glibly scanning his dactyls and spondees,
the first day I entered the Academy. We began our admiralty studies together; he, as a shipwright, whittling buoyant vessels out of corn stalks; while I, themiariner, for want
of other water than the clouds dropped on us-a habit they
have not forgotten, you perceive-fearless of reefs or cyclones,
navigated the stately flotillas-in the rain trough. And afterwards, under the tuition of Capt. Alden Partridge, at
Middletown, we pursued our military education together,
which fitted him, as Governor, to be the ex-oficio Commander-in-Chief of the forces of the State; and me, to marshalpleadings. I take some credit for this production of Pompey, for, but the nuptials at which my grandfather officiated,
you would have had no Governor talking to. you to-day.
Another, Charles Mason, who, at West Point, from the
beginning of his course standing at the head of each successive class, took, at last, the highest of the graduating honors,
though many of his competitors-among them the late leader
of the late Confederate armies-have since won distinction
for superior abilities. He has since administered the Patent
Office, and given law from the Supreme Bench of Iowa.
Another, Henry W. Slocum, also a West Point graduate,
as a Major-General in our army, consecrated his sword and
rare abilities to the service of his country, in her recent contest for life.
And still another, George H. Williams, a representative
in the National Senate from distant Oregon-fresh from his
labors in the accomplishment of the great international
tieaty-the inauguration of a new mode of determining disputes between nations; a new departure in the settlementof
belligerent claims; a victory of civilization, in which arbitrament takes the place of war; where arguments are not
pointed by bayonets, nor rounded reasons rendered from
columbiads; where Peace no longer stands with ensanguined





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


feet, lifting. her misty head above' the smoke of battle; a
sacred stadium in the journeyof ourrace a milleniuim herald
in- theEast.
You come, also', from professional chairs, from Congressionil seats, from high judicial'stations, from scul'ptor's studios and places ofinfluence, and soine stand in rank with the
kings of finance. While others of us assemble Irom less
conspicuous, though not less laborious posts of duty in the
world.
But a celebration of hermits, unsunned by the smiles of
Pompey's daughters, would have bereft our programme of
its cheer. They also come with an equal enthusiasm. The
voice of one of them, Mrs. Miller, hasjust wafted its musical reminiscenses to our ears.- Yon Laurel, it is true, shadows a vacant chair, around the brow of whose destined occupant Grace Greenwood, its bays might fittingly be bound,
and who speaks to us to-day only in her song; but then, in
consolation for her absence, our Greenwood is full of Graces,
at sight of whom we sigh to be foresters, and to spend our
days in the witching shade.
Some there were, starting life with us, or not long before,
who are not here; or, if here, not visble through the vale.
Among them, Charles Baldoin, the genius of our town-not
permitted to acquire the future honors to which his gifts
seemed so justly to entitle him: Judge Hiram K, Jerome,
from Palmyra-of Pompey growth-has just told me-that
it was his fortune to room with Baldwin in yonder office of
Daniel Gott, and that neither Joshua A. Spencer, nor Henry
R. Storrs, nor Elisha Williams more deeply impressed him
as a speaker. In a Masonic address, he came to speak of the
origin of that ancient fraternity. Some, he said, placed it
at the time of Josephus, others even earlier; but for himself,
if called on to state the period, he should say it was at the
time when the Almighty said, "Let there be light and there
was light."
And Seabred Dodge, the giant of our town-physical and





56


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


intellectual-whom I have seen toss a barrel as a plaything,
its hoops and staves tumbling together in their fall, and of
whom I remember to have heard Joshua Leonard say-no
small praise to those who knew the menj-" his attainments
in mathematics. are superior to those of Dr. Aiken, Priest
3arrows and myself, all combined."
I said.this was the first time the children of Pompey had
gathered, from their scattered homes, to the bosom of the
mother. It probably is the last. Other and younger generations may come. This, it is likely, never again. So
there is joy for our re-union, and there is sadness for our
parting. And many a day shall go by, and many a year
close on its bleak December wing; but the radiant hours
which have inlaid this social re-union shall glow and purple
with thoughts of the princely hospitalities which have welcomed home the Pompey legion-true to the memories.of
their ancestral hearth-stone. And oh, how much richer are
we for the fond meeting of heart with heart; and back to
our busy haunts we take fresh inspiration from this beacon
hill-top, that ever looks up to the heaven's broad face, lit by
God's constellation of watchful stars. And now, having
climbed the upland together, and together mingled uur joys,
and hopes, and recollections, and pledged anew our fealty
to the dear old eminence, we will descend, as pilgrims from
a sacred shrine, with the maternal blessing on our heads, and
giving back, as with one voice, the filial benediction, "May
the'summits of Pompey, as they catch the earliest and latest
gleam of the sun, so also receive, and ever retain, the flivor
of our Lord."
At the point in Mr. Marsh's remarks, where he refers to
the Marshal, there was a postponement of the speaking, and
the vast concourse repaired to the grove where refreshments
awaited them. The last part of his remarks were made after dinner at the grove. The place chosen for the pic-ric,
was in a large grove owned by Deacon Samuel Balker, situ.
ated a short distance north-west of the village. The road
leading to it was through an arched gateway, handsomely





TIHE POMPEY RE-UNION.


57


decorated with evergreens, with the figures 1793, the date
of the organization of the town of Pompey, and 1871, the
date of the re-union. The'grounds were thickly shaded,
and in every way adapted to the purpose. The scene presented was alike pleasing to the sense of sight and taste.
Three long tables running north and south, and with ais les
between them, were set apart for the accommodation of
visitors and guests. They were laden with substantials and
delicacies, including strawberries and ice cream in great
profusion. They were spread with white linen, and decorated with boquets and evergreens. They were the model
of neatness and good order, and attracted universal attention. To the west of them Reuben Wood, of Syracuse, the
well known caterer, was superintending the preparation of
immense quantities of coffee. To the east was a long row
of " family tables," set at right angles with those just mentioned, where family re-unions took place. Among them
were those of Hon. W. G. Fargo, the Birdseys, Mr. Sloan,
Orrin-Bishop, John Soule, Messrs. Northrup, 0. J. and
Daniel G. Wheaton, Eli Pratt, Joseph Wallis, Morris Bush,
John P. Robinson, Julius, and W. E; Mason, Edmund 0.
Clapp, Messrs. Beards, of Fayetteville and Pompey. Frank
Jerome and Chas. Cook had a table with an evergreen arch
in the centre, bearing the word "greeting," handsomely
wrought, and underneath the symbolic device of crossed
hands. The Pompey Center and Manlius and Fayetteville
tables were neatly and tastefully arranged, and attracted
general attention. On the south the Sweet and Garrett
families had a fine table and capacious tent; and the family
and friends of John Q. Smith of Syracuse, occupied another
tent to the west, where one of the finest collations on the
grounds was spread. Miner B. and Fred. Murry also had
an elegant table to the north-east, and bountifully spread.
Evergreen arches were. also made over the principal tables.
Means for preparing coffee were provided at various points,
and comlmon use was made of them. Large wooden tanks
of lemonade, as cold as a January day on Pompey Hill, oc




58


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


cupied a prominent position, and also a tank of ice water.
Long before the procession reached the grove, hundreds,
aye, thousands of people had congregated and were enjoying
themselves in a most rational manner, and from many gatherings song and music echoed through the wood. At about
2 o'clock the sound of music in the distance was heard, and
the words " they are coming," brought all to the margin of
the route.
The young people who were to wait upon the tables
dressed in uniform, with badges and flowers, arranged themselves on either side of the route of the procession, and all
was in readiness for the reception. The procession entered
the grove, headed by the Marshal and his assistants, mount
ed, and Dresher's full band, and in good order the guests
took seats at the tables. The Rev. Mr. Brace offered thanks
to the Throne of Grace. The waiting committee filed in in
good order, and the work of destruction commenced. The
attack was long and perseveringly continued, but the committee was too well armed to be defeated, and when the tables were cleared two hours later, the fragments gatherecdup
were sufficient to have maintained a small army during a
short seige. There was an abundance of everything, and
right heartily were the bounties partaken of by the entire
assemblage. Before Mr. Marsh concluded his address after
dinner was served, the Durston quartette favored the assemblage with another of their choice selections, singing,
" Oh, how I love my mountain home," and were followed
by music by the band.
At the conclusion of Mr. Marsh's address, the President
read the following toast and sentiment.
The Old Town of.Pompey-Glorious in her past memories,
proud of her fertile soil, magnificent scenery and noble sons
and daughters. To these she points with pride, and says in
the language of the Roman matron, " These are my jewels,"
and called upon William Barnes, Esq., of Albany, to respond.





THE POMPEY RE 'JUNION;


RESPONSE OF MR. BARNES.
Mr. Chairman:
For unknown cycles of years, before any white man settled in the county of Onondaga, there lived and ruled over
these pleqasant hills and lovely valleys, those celebrated
tribes of:Indians known as the Confederate, or United Five
Nations. These Romans of the New' World had subjected
to their sway most of the other tribes from the Hudson to
the Mississippi rivers, and from the Carolina's to the Great
Lakes. The hills of Onondaga formed the grand Council
Chamber, where their dusky Seifators convened and counselled, and where the painted Chiefs and Warriors planned
their far-reaching campaigns. This soil was classic in the:
annals of tradition, reaching back to an era of which the
memory of man knows not the beginning. The advance of
the white man, from the time of King Phillip's war in the
east to the present Indian warfare raging on the outskirts
of our civilization in the west, has been but an ever repeated history of the yielding of the native red man to the
Anglo-Saxon race.
This is not the time or the occasion for Aboriginal enquiry or discussion-but at this glorious re-union at the household shrines of our fathers, we cannot fail to remember the
sadly eloquent sentiment which runs, like a minor chord,
through all the speeches of their orators, and seems to have
nerved the Savage arm in almost every Indian conflict that
has occurred on this continent-" You ask us to leave the
homes of our ancestors; you are attempting to drive us from
the graves of our Fathers!"
To this sentiment, certainly every human heart assembled
here to-day can thrill. We all feel that we are treading today a soil consecrated to us, also, as the chosen home of our
fathers, and which contains within its bosom all that of them
is earthly. I am proud to say that in your quiet churchyard at the base of Pompey Hill, I have a grandfather and
grandmother quietly reposing. My grandfather, Deacon
William Barnes, emigrated from Great Barrington, Mass.,





60


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


to Otsego County, N. Y., and from thence in 1798, to a
farm about one mile south of the village of Oran. In the
immediate neighborhood three of his brothers, Phineas,
Roswell and Asa Barnes, had previously settled. My grandfather was a farmer, and had upon his farm a small blacksmith shop, as it was not unusual in those days for the farmer to understand and practice, occasionally, some mechanical trade. Animated by that stern monitor necessity, as
well as by the promptings of his Puritan blood, he painted
in conspicuous letters, first above his forge, the motto which
was the guide of his life, ' Work or Die," and alternating
between the two pursuits of blacksmith and farmer, laying
down the ponderous hammer.only to assume the equally
severe labor of felling primeval trees four or five feet in
diameter, and guiding his oxen through virgin acres, where
the stumps impeded every onward step-his life stands as
the representative of the lives of nearly all those early settlers in Pompey, whose memory we revere to-day.
These early settlers were mostly God-fearing New Eng-'
landers of Puritan origin, and fervently inspired with religious zeal and enthsiasm.. In my grandfather's house, no
secular book or newspaper could be read upon the Sabbath
day, the sacredness of which was kept with punctillious
rigidity. An amusing incident has been recently related to
me by one of the parties, still living, and now in his eightysixth year, (Mr. Luther Buell of this town.) In the early
part of the present century he was working for my grandfather, and one Sunday afternoon, being sent to drive up
the cows from the woods to be milked, a young deer was
found with the herd, and by quiet and shrewed management
was driven up also to the barn yard with the domestic cattle.
Young Buell, much elated at the prospect of a fine haunch
of venison, hastened into the house to notify my grandfather
of his prize, but alas! for the impatient Nimrod-the sun
had not yet set in the west, and the sacred day could not be
profaned by secular pursuits-venison or no venison, no gun
could be discharged on those premises, and the young man





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


61


was compelled to watch and stealthily guard his game until
the sun had fairly sunk below the horizon, and the New
England Sabbath had terminated. Then the deer was duly
shot, and my grandfather's conscience preserved inviolate.
Our present generation have little conception of the herculean task lying in the pathway of the early pioneers of
Central New York. It was no small undertaking to travel
through dense forests in search of the military lot which the
settler had purchased from the soldier of the Revolution, by
whom it had been drawn as a reward for military services
during the war. Once upon his lot, (perhaps a dozen or
more miles from a Doctor, a neighbor or grist-mill,) he wvas
confronted not alone by wild beasts and Indians, but by the
no less stern realities of a primeval, forest out of which he
must by his strong arm alone, create and build up a Christian
home. What was to be done? Wife and children werethere, needing food and shelter; sometimes in addition, a
mortgage upon the lot with a no less ravenous appetite for
interest on each recurring anniversary of the purchase. We
read of heroism on the field of battle, where frantic men rush,
on to death, nerved by the maddening stimulus of martial
music and the cannons roar, but here in the solitary wilderness was no flag flaunting in the breeze, no flying artillery,
no support from other thousands of sympathetic hearts throbbing in unison, no pensions, no honors, no promotions, no
glory, no immortality. No; none of these-here were only
the wife and children, born and yet to be born, two strong
stalwart arms, and a loving, honest and manly heart, intent
only on serving God and performing its duty here on earth.
The sturdy faith which led these men into the wilderness,
did not desert them when they faced its dangers, and the'
settlers axe soon resounded through its majestic solitudes.
~One by one the stalwart monarchs of the forest were laid
low, until the sunlight crept coyly into the modest "clearing,"
and laughed with the wife and children, as the open space
was consecrated to the Lares and Penates of the Christian
home. Those days were not without their sunshine. Did.





62


2THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


you ever hear of the tender friendships and hearty hand-grips
of those early pioneers? If not, watch closely when you see
any of the survivors casually meet. The whole combined
energy of " Fifth Avenue," could not concentrate as much
soul and electricity as was generated ini one " barn-raising,"
or town-meeting. And then the midnight fires when the
log-heaps were lighted in the dry season of June; no costly
illuminations in the N. Y. Parks, in Paris, or in London,
could equal the quiet joy of the farmer at the ever-changing
pyrotechnics of the "fallow" and "'log-heap."  And then
for the children; could Delmonico with all his art furnish a
dish equal to fresh warm maple sugar to be eaten on the
pure and unsullied snow of the vernal equinox?
And after churches were erected, what holy joy welcomed
the quiet Sabbath, the day of peace and rest, and how soulsatisfying the sermons of those pioneer clergyman, teaching
their earnest hearers to look "from Nature up to Nature's
God."
The church was often a Log-House or Barn, but it mattered little to the true Christians there assembled. The
fervent prayers and aspirations that arose to Hieaven from
those humble walls, let usIdevoutly believe werea as acceptable to God as the anthems of Westminster, or the formalisms of Ecumenical Councils, convened in the broad aisles
of St. Peters, at Rome.
In this stern conflict year after year, with poverty and
want,, many noble men and martyred women died a premature death, oveiborne by their excessive burthens. The
mass, however, came out victorious, the mortgages were
gradually satisfied, comforts and conveniences were added
to the household, from year to year, while numerous stalwart
sons and handsome daughters joined hands with them in
the crusade of labor, until the earth began generously to
reward the faithful husbandman, and the wilderness blossomed as the rose.
I have, been asked to-day to respond to a sentiment hon




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


63


oring the memory of these men--how can I speak of them,
without laying also my tribute of grateful reverence upon
the graves of the honored mothers and grand-mothers of
these early days, who with scanty means literally created
the food and clothing for their families, and trained and
taught us, their children, with all the fidelity and devotion
of guardian angels..Many of them had disciplined intellects
which were stimulated and fed only at the fount of classic
English literature, and in the intervals of their daily toil,
they were often able to talk with you more critically, and
quote more freely from the Spectator, from Pope, Addison
and the earlier poets than would be possible for many of the
so-called literary women of to-day, while they gave to Humanity and to the State, not merely one or two feeble and
dyspeptic offsprings, but well-endowed, fully perfected children, (sometimes numbering more than a dozen,) and all
nursed at their own bosoms, and trained to manhood and
womanhood, in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
My revered Father, Orson Barnes, (with whose name
many of you are familiar, although he has been dead for
twenty years,) having removed from this neighborhood during my childhood, I had few opportunities to become acquainted with your older citizens. As a law-student, I well
recollect the Websterian brow of DANIEL GOTT, and the able,
honest and cheerful face of VICTORY BIRDSEYE. They belonged to that honored class of lawyers, not yet I trust, enti:r.ely extinct, who performed their professional duties with
all -the honesty, zeal and conscientiousness of ministers of
the gospel. I well recollect when studying law in Baldwinsville, with the late lamented Judge Geo. A. Stansbury,
walking twelve miles, day after day, to the Court House, at
Salina, to. hear such lawyers as Noxon, Lawrence, Hillis,
Gott and Birdseye, and feeling amply repaid for the physical fatigue.
Among the many men of mark, who have been born in
the town of Pompey, and who I see aroind me to day, I
miss one face that should have lent its geniality and charm





64


TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


to this gathering. I refer to the celebrated artist and greatest of American sculptors, E. D. Palmer, of Albany, N. Y;
Born upon these hills, almost within sight of our festivities,
and early inured to toil, his hardy frame gathered and consolidated year by year the strength and vigor which at manhood vitalized and invigorated his genius, and enabled him
without the training of the European schools or having even
seen the classic models of the old world, to wrest from his
trans-Atlantic rivals a fame that grows brighter and brighter,
with each succeeding effort of his genius. Pompey has produced great orators, lawyers, statesmen and financiers, but
I recall no other of her sons who has achieved ai ider reputation, or who wears his honors more worthily, than Erastus
D. Palmer. A representative American in every pulse and
fibre of his being, the town of Pompey honors herself when
she honors him.
Mr. Chirnian-I have already occupied too much of your
time, and the lengthening shadows admonish me that the
afternoon is rapidly passing away, but I cannot leave you
without referring to one historical fact connected with the
settlement of the Military tract in Central New York. The
twenty-six towns composing this tract, were with the exception of four, named from ancient Romans and Grecian
Generals, Orators and Statesmen. Our own township, No.
10, comprising 60,003 acres, received the name of Pompey,
from POMPEY MAGNUS, the son of Strabo, who was born in
the year of Rome, 647. He was as you all know, a brave,
successful General, and was honored with three Roman
triumphs for his victories over Africa, Europe and Asia, and
was esteemed the conqueror of the world. Having been
elected consul and invested by the Roman Senate, with extraordinary powers, he ruled the Empire with almost supreme authority, and was considered as the rival of Alexander the Great. One incident in his life occurs to me, which
I desire to relate, not merely to "adorn a tale," but to
"point a moral,"' which it may be well for us in these latter
days to heed. Rome, the haughty mistress of the world,





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


was suffering from famine, and cries for bread arose in her
streets. By a Senatus Consultnm, Pompey had been entrusted   thwi  th e important duty of providing and importing corn
and other provisions. He sailed with his fleet to the coast
of A'rica, and having obtained vast supplies, was preparing
to:etlarn, when a fearful storm arose, threatening the destruction of the whole expedition. His mariners refused to
re-embark, and were on the point of mutiny, when Pompey
seized the helm of his vessel and ordered them to weigh
anchor, with these decisive words,. "It is necessary that woe
should go, it is not necessary that we should live."  It was this
spirit which animated the early pioneers of the town which
bears his name. Fidelity to duty first of all, and after that,
considerations of personal safety and ease; this was inculb
cated in their daily teachings, and in every action of their
lives, and on this festal day, as we meet to commemorate
their virtues and emulate their exaniple, let us consecrate
ourselves to the same high ideal, and make ourselves wvorthy inheritors of their heroic blood, always remembering
that
" Ill fares the land to hastening ills a prey
Where wealth accumulates and men decay!"
At the conclusion of Mr. Barnes' speech the President
said:
The fair daughters of Pompey-we never forget themWe cannot marry them all, (laughter,) if we would-They
would not let us if we could. (Laughter). But Pompey has
long been the hunting ground for wives by outside barbarians. (Laughter). I propose to give a toast appropriate to
that c1as of men, and shall call upon a distinguished individual fCom yonder city to respond. He has become a son-in-law
of Pompey, by uniting in marriage with one of the Daughters of the late Doctor Urial Wright, so well and so favorably known to all the residents of Pompey, and who for a
number of years held the office of ( Superintendent of the
Onondaga Salt Springs," and discharged its duties with
marked ability. The widov of Doctor Wright--four daiugh5





846


THE POMPEY RE-UNION,


ters, two sons, two grandsons, and two sons-in law, are present with us on this occasion. I offer the following toast:
"Old Pompey's sons-in-law, their good judgment in the selection of their wives prove them worthy of the true and noble
women who have captured them."-(Applause.) I call upon
lion. James Noxon, of Syracuse, to respond.
MR. NOXON'S RESPONSE.
Mr. Chairman and Fellow. -Citizens
It is a pleasure to be called upon to respond to the sentiment given by your chairman, relative to the fair daughters
of Pompey and the men who have been captured by them.
The introductory remarks of the President upon the reading
of the toast, inspires me with more than ordinary feeling at
the present time, to reply in a manner worthy of the sonsin-law of Pompey. The sons of Pompey have spoken well
for her in her younger days. They have justly and proudly
referred to the men and women who laid the foundations of
this good old town, which has sent forth so miany good and
worthy daughters and sons. Our acquaintance with the
history of the State and the men who have taken part in the
transactions relative to its policy and government, leads us
to point with pride to the men who have gone forth from
these hills and inscribed their names high upon the roll of
honor in every department of life. The reputation and
character of the men who have gone forth from Pompey,
extends far beyond the limits of the county of Onondaga,
and who does not well remember in casting his eye over
the State, that no individual locality has produced-betteu or
greater men than she. It well behoves the young men, not
only here in this locality but everywhere in the State, to
look about them and around them, and see where they had
better be born-(laughter)-I wish my voice could reach the
ears of the young men of the valley below us, not alone
tliose-who have been accustomed from youth to gaze admiringly upon these mountain tops, but those living fardistant and beyond the bounds of our county. I would





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


67


point them to the fertile hills, and ask them to look well: to
it, that their sails were well trimmed, and if they loved high
places, and to be honored and distinguished among men to
come hdre, and if they could be born again, be born in the
good old town of Pompey, (applause and laughter). It produced great men, and the record'of this day will long be remembered as a day of treasuring up and recounting her
jeivels. Why was it that the town of Pompey and the other
hills of the county of Onondaga, whose tops were away up
among the clouds, were so early settled by the hardy men
who emigrated from New England? It was because here
was a fertile soil, beautiful mountain streams, fine breezes, a
county unaffected by the low and marshy region of the valleys, and hence the early settlements were made here, and
the pioneers from other counties, and other States pitched
their tents on these proud eminences, where the physical
and mental condition of men best flourished, and where great
men must and will be born. I beg you will note that it was
not altogether my fault that I was born on yonder Hill, in
the town of Onondaga, instead of this more elevated one in
Pompey. Onondaga has proud old hills, aiid she too, has a
noble record of good and great men who have gone forth
from her majestic hills and been leaders in the vain of civilization. It may not be amiss to state that those hills, like
the hills of Pompey, have been subject to the depredations
of the venturesome young men of the valleys, who have
committed trespasses upon the estates of the good farmer,
and been captured and made Sons-in-Law by their fair
daughters. (Laughter and applause).
Now, my friends, be it known to you, one and all, that at
an early day I made the discovery that I was laboring under
a most difficult and embarassing perplexity, which it was
hard to overcome, while in dreams I yearned and desired' to
be born here, my lot had been cast elsewhere, and I could
not if I would be born on both these glorious Hills. This
difficulty I managed to overcome as best I could, next to
being a son I reckoned a son-in-law would be pre-eminent,





68


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


so I ventured to try these hunting grounds, and extended
my heart and hand to ons of the daughters of this venerable
town; and we together walked down into yonder valley,
where our lot is cast in full view of these magnificent hills.
(Applause). Young men of the valleys who hear me this
day, whether you live far r--near, I say try on, you may
grieve and mourn over the misfortunes of your lives, that
you were not born here. It is not probable your tears and
griefs will alter the Providences whichhas cast your lot elsewhere, but the way is open, your tears and grief can be
turned to smiles and joy, when I teach you by a joyous experience that the best work of your lives is to be captured
by one of the fair daughters of Pompey, as you surely will,
if you venture upon these hill tops, and then your baptism
will be complete, and although not a son, the law will recognize you as such, andyou will be a son-in-lawo. (Great laughter
and applause). I have no doubt our President, who for so
many years roamed over these hills, knew well when he
framed the beautiful sentiment to which he has called me
to respond, that I had never had cause to regret that my
fortune had been united with one of Pompey's daughters,
and that the son-in-law and daughter rejoiced alike in this
re-union of kindred spirits on this delightful occasion. Allow me to say to the daughters here present, you need have
no fear of the young men from these valleys. If they have
the heart and the bravery to climb these hills, and face the
storm king upon the top of your mountain heights, they are
worthy of your kindest solicitudes, and should be warmly
received. If laudable ambition rivits them here to be engrafted into this great family of joyous and loving spirits, I
entreat you to receive them kindly, and if needs be, and
heaven approves, walk hand-in-hand down into the valley
together; and when the centennial year of the foundation
of the town of Pompey shall roll around in 1894, let them,
and you, and your children, and all the rest of us who shall
live to that day, come around another festive board, and
rejoice in the pleasures of another re-union of the sons and
daughters of Pompey.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


G69


SMr. President-sometimes the question of our birth is invested with peculiar interest. I remember not long since of
hearing of a speech made by one of our citizens, (a friend of
mine), who had occasion to allude to his parentage, and the
stock from which he came. He said that on his mother's
side he came from Plymouth Rock-that on his father's
side he came from Blarney Castle, and he gloried as well he
might that this union produced sons and danghters worthy
of memorable sires. (Laughter) This speech was called out
in a political contest of great excitement., I shall not refer
to the questions at issue, we came here to lay aside and bury
politics, this day we flock around this common altar, and
know nothing beyound the words, loveliness and womenand on that altar we swear allegiance. Not long after this
speech I was called upon to address a public meeting, in
which seemed to me if there was any thing to be proud of
in stock and ancestral glory, I was entitled to a small share,
and said to my hearers that on my father's side, I boasted
of Scotch desc ent, and that my forefathers came to this
country from the romantic hills of Scotland, about 250 years
ago. That on my mother's side, was German, and. rejoiced
in the good old Dutch appellation of Van attached to the
name of my mother and her ancestry. My audience was
pretty well attended by Irish citizens, and I added playfully,
that I came very near being born an Irishman-one of my
auditors who was a native of the green Isle, demanded of
me in his own peculiar brogue, "How is that?" To which I
replied, I was born on*St. Patrick's day. (Laughter). My
friends, the thought now strikes me how much glory it would
have been to me, if I could on this occasion claim I had
running in my veins the Scotch, German. and Irish blood,
and then on top of all, been born on these hills of old Pompey. (Laughter and applause).
You, Mr. Chairman, knew well when you called me to
this platform, that nothing could intimidate me fiom telling
the mpst solemn truth, relating to the sons and daughters.
(Laughter). I invoke the women of Pompey who have got





70


TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


husbands in the valleys to stand by me and fortify every
word spoken as being true as gospel. (Laughter). Sir, I
speak from sweet experience on the subject of this toast.
My wife is here present and if she was in the habit of speech
making, she, too, might speak of her experience. She has
graciously permitted me to speak for both of us, and we
here rejoice together with you on the success of the sons
and daughters, and sons-in-law, and daughters-iu-law of
Pompey.
We mourn over the fate of one poor Pompey boy who
came to this re-union after many years of absence, and who
ventured to kiss one of the fair daughters of Pompey, but
his pleasure was nipped in the bud by being unceremoniously introduced to her husband, and then made a second
effort to kiss the daughter of her whom he had first attempted
to' kiss, when again he was introduced to the husband of
the daughter. Our friend had evidently kept no note of
time, and exclaimed much to our merriment that he would
shortly go home and kiss the mother and daughter he had'
left behind him, both of whom were Pompey-ites of blessed
memory. (Laughter). Fellow citizens of Pompey, may
God bless your town, may God bless your men and
women, and may God bless the girls of the town of Pompey.  (Applause).
At the conclusion of Mr. Noxon's speech, President
Wood, in proposing the next sentiment, said:-A speech
was made a few days ago in the British House of Lords, by
that distinguished man, Earl De Grey, which has been transmitted to us by telegraph, under the Atlantic Ocean, a sentiment in which is very appropriate to be used on this occasion, and a fit one to call out one of the noble sons of
Pompey. It is this:-." The American Members of the
Joint High Commission; they were men of business, knew
what they wanted, and asked for it,"-and (added the chairman) got it I call upon the Hon. George H. Williams to
respond.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


71.


MR. WILLIAMS' RESPONSE.
Mr. Chairman Ladies and Gentle en:I have exhausted the time to which I am entitled on this
occasion already; and I have heard others refer to many
incidents in the history of this town with great pleasure.
All professions and all trades, and all sections of the country.
are represented here to-day. They all ought to have an
opportunity to speak to you, and you ought to have an opportunity to hear them. It is not right that any one person
should monopolize the time. I shall, therefore, do little,
more than to express my acknowledgements for the compliment which was implied in the sentiment proposed by
the chairman.
To adjust understandingly the complicated question, arising between two great, free and powerful nations, is, of
course, a business attended with no little difficulty. Fortunately for both countries, the British Commissioners came
to the consideration of the questions involved in a spirit of
candor and fairness; and the American Commissioners endeavored to meet them upon the same ground. No doubt
many of our countrymen feel as though enough was not
conceded by the representatives of the British government.
But a question appears very different when both sides are
thoroughly argued instead of only one. Proceeding to a
consideration of the difficulties between the two countries,
of course the arguments and the reasons by which the British
government is influenced in her actions were presented to
our minds in a most forcible and persuasive manner, and
we endeavored to meet these arguments and these reasons
by showing the claims of our country growing out of the
conduct of- Great Britain during the late rebellion. Our
effort was to make a treaty consistent with the interest, the
dignity, and the honor of this nation, and conducive to the
best interests of the whole world. (Applause.) We supposed that the question was simply one of skillful negotiation, as of a war between the two countries. Manifestly





72


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.,every expedient had been exhausted for the purpose of adjusting the questions between these two nations, and this
Commission was the only peaceful mode that was left for
their settlement. Had those Commissioners failed to agree,
then the two countries must necessarily have resorted to the
sword for the settlement of these great questions. Our true
policy is peace. Our country at this time is not prepared
for war.  War would have inflated our currency; war
would have increased our taxes; war would have depreciated
our public securities, to say nothing of the sufferings and sorrows, the vices and crimes that follow in the footsteps of
war.
I am happy, fellow citizens, that the services which I
rendered upon that Commission have redounded to the
advantage of this country and to the advantage of the
world. That is compensation enough for me. I think
the universal acceptance of this treaty in both countries,
without any considerable distinction on party grounds, is,evidence that the Commissioners struck as near as possible
the golden mean upon these questions.
I find, however, that I am, contrary to my determination,
making a speech. (Cries of " Go on.") I am proud and
happy, fellow-citizens, to meet you here to-day. I am proud
to have been a resident of the towri ofPompey, and to have
been a son of the great Empire State. While I had the
hoifor to hold a seat in the Senate, there were nine members of that body who were born ih the State of New York,
and this is a State, on account of its size, its population, its
wealth, and its power, entitled to such a representation in the
Senate of the United States.
I nmet here persons from all parts of the 'ountry; some
have come from the north, some from the south, some from
the east, some from the west to gi~et each other td revive
the reminiscences of early days. I have come fron the hot
atmosphere of Washington to look upon- the green trees
and the' waning fields once more, and breathe again the





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


73


pure fresh air of Pompey Hill. Ladies and gentlemen, I
can hardly express the feelings that I entertain upon this
occasion. But I am rejoiced at this opportunity of meeting
once more so many of my friends of Pompey, and I express
the earnest hope that all honor, happiness and prosperity
may attend them through the future days of their lives. (Applause).
The President then read the following:Pompey Academy-A light set upon a hill, which has
spread its effulgence afar.
And said: " I call upon the Hon. LeRoy Morgan to respond, an honorable descendant of this old town, and now
Judge of the Supreme Court, living in the city of Syracuse:"
JUDGE MORGAN'S RESPONSE.
AK. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, and Fellow TownsmenI wish it was in my power to make my voice heard over
this vast congregation. I think I would give you some of
the history of the early struggles of the young men who
graduated from Pompey Academy, some of whom have since
become the most distinguished men in the State and nation.
But my voice is entirely inadequate to be heard for a distance. I shall therefore content myself with saying a very
few things. It would have been gratifying to me tohave
held a class meeting somewhere in this vicinity, and to have
had each old resident of this town, who has become distinguished and who now resides abroad, tell you his early experience, and to tell you how he contrived when a young man
to win his way into, public favor, and finally, to attain the
highest positions known to our government.
Now, our forefathers who emigrated to this town, inostly
from the Eastern States, built wisely, wisei, perhaps, than
they knew. One of the first things they did was to endow
an institution for the education of their children.
If you want to know Why it is that Ponpey has produced
so many eminent men, go back to your fathers; ask them





74


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


what it meant after they emigrated, when they collected together in council to forecast the future! They first collected themselves together and built up this Seminary of learning or Academy, which, for a long time, was the only one
within reach.
Well, we all remember that our fathers, many of them
were poor-many of us were born-of "poor, but respectable parents."
How was it that we were enabled to educate ourselves?
It was by working in summer and teaching school in winter, thus mostly paying our own way with the wages which
we were able to earn by our own labor. Now, it is not a
miracle that Pompey should be the most distinguished town
in the State; there is no great end attained without some
adequate cause to produce it; and the only reasons that you
can give as to the origin of the great fame which your own
town has reached in her distinguished sons, flowed naturally
from the incipient steps which your fathers took at that early
day in buildng up the institution called the Pompey Academy, then the great nursery of learning.
You sent your boys, or rather they sent themselves, to
that institution until they arrived at an age suitable to enter
upon the business of life. One would seek one vocation,
another another, and occasionally a man desired to become
a lawyer. Many of such applied to be admitted to a clerkship with a distinguished lawyer of this village,-and I am
proud to mention his name,-Daniel Gott, who always held
out his kindly hand and received every applicant that came
to him with the patronage of a father.
Many men, distinguished now, can go back to their early
history, and remember with a kind recollection his manhood. They always admired his talents; and they cannot
but recollect with gratitude the kindly good feelings, he always manifested towards the young men of the country. It
is not best Mr. President, by any means, that I should occupy much time. I have said perhaps all that is necessary
to say.















THE POMPEY BE-UNION.


75


I am proud that I was born in Pompey. A certificate
showing we graduated from Pompey Academy has become
a sort of title of nobility which- we love to carry around with
us.
I see before me " Great Pomp," an.d there is "Little
Pomp,"-Horatio Seymour and John F. Seymour, born in
this town; their early life spent here.; They left here at an,
early day and took up their residence in Utica, and their
name of" Pomp" followed them. I should like to hear now
from the younger "Little Pomp."  But if he is little, gentlemen, he has got a heart as large as any man in this. crowd.
There are a great many from whom I would like to hear.
I see here several distinguished men. who left at an early
day. Let them step up here and tell you their experience;
and I think when one of the graduates of the Pompey Academy who has actually won his way to fame, gets upon this
stand and tells you his whole experience, every young man
of ambition will know exactly how to go. and do likewise.
(Applause.)
He closed by calling on John F. Seymour. Mr. Seymour
came out after repeated calls, and spoke as follows:
REMARKS OF JOHN F. SEYMOUR.
I was a child, Mr. Chairman, when tossed upon the top of
a wagon load of furniture and carried from this place to
Utica, but I recollect my playmates, the village green, the
old Church, and the garden and brook behind my Father's
house, and I can with truth, repeat Hood's beautiful lines,
I remember, I remember,
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn.
I remember, I remember,
The fir trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops,
Were close against the sky.
It was a childish ignorance,
But now 'tis little joy





76


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


To know I'm farther off from heaven
Than when I was a boy.
"Pompey Hill," as a name is not attractive. It is a common saying that school masters have been abroad in this
land, and some may think that this, and similar names are
their stately, pedantic steppings. We will do them  the
credit to believe they would have chosen the descriptive: and
more appropriate Indian, rather than unmeaning Latin and
Greek words. We regret that our Surveyor-General, Simeon 'DeWitt, has fastened the worn out names of -the old
world upon our towns and villages, but when we look at
these meadows dotted with cattle and sheltering woods, at
the fields of waving barley, and the pure streams of water,
which with beautiful falls, leap down yon hill-sides into the
valleys far below us, then the feelings of home, and nativity
become masters of us, and we exclaim with all our hearts,
Thy name I love,
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods, and templed hills.
What a crowd of people throng up here to-day, who with
me; feel more than we have the power to express.
What a multitude have lived here and called it home, and
thein have gone forth reaping success in every department of
life, in every portion of our country. I think I know the
reason of this success. I might not care to mention it much
abroad, but the truth is, the first settlers were brought up
on potash. The thick forests which covered theselhills were
cut doWin, anld burned, and their ashes converted into potash.
Potash paid for their farms, potash bought flour and merchandise of every sort, it was the staple, the money of this
country, and the people who could live on potash, could live
on anything and anywhere, and so when they went down
into the valleys, they swept everything before them. Some
of us, Mr. Chairman, were born a little too late for that
potash
As this is an occasion when records are sought and made
of all the families which have resided here, I will briefly





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


77


mention that of my father, Henry Seymour. He was a son
of Moses Seymour, of Litchfield, Conn., his wife the only
child of Jonathan Forman, of Middletown Point, New Jersey, her mother was a Ledyard, of New London, Conn. The
children left by my father and mother were six, this was
their original number, and death has not broken it, the gray
hand of time has scarcely touched the eldest, and all of them
are in the midst of their several family circles, with almost
the full health and strength of youth. In the order of their
ages, they are as follows: Mary, the wife of Rutger B. Miller, of Utica, Horatio Seymour, of Utica, Sophia, the wife of
Edward F. Shonnard, of Yonkers, John F. Seymour, df
Utica, Helen Clarissa, widow of Ledyard Lincklaen, of
Cazenovia, and Julia, the wife of Roscoe Conkling, of Utica.
We trace back to these hills many of the tastes and principles of our lives, not only to that Academy founded and sustained by a noble race of men, but to a home influence,
maintained by a noble race of mothers, and we must not on
this occasion fail to pay our tribute to such women, who
were help's meet for such men. They were the descendants of revolutionary heroes, and knew more of genuine
elegance and honest poverty than most of the present day.
If they had fewer books than we, they knew more of what
was in them. They were familiar with the best English authors of the time, both of prose and poetry. With fewer
schools they gave more personal attention to the education
and discipline of their children. They were not ashamed of
work, but were taught to be as skillful in the kitchen as in
all the graces and refinements which adorn social life; the
same hands which were accustomed to the choicest books
and the rarest flowers, nursed the sick, and prepared tables
which would excite the envy of an epicure.
If fortune favored them they avoided all display of any
disparity between themselves and their neighbors, and they
endeavored by self-denial to build up instead of dragging
down their husbands. Their toil on.these hills did not unfit Them for any place in life elsewhere. They may have





78


TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


heard and known less of what are now called the rights of
women, but they knew as much, if not more, of their duties.
Believing their highest sphere'was that'of true wives and
'faithful mothers, they were rewarded by the admiration and
devotion of men, and by children who gather here to-day
to pay a tribute to their worth, and influence, more noble
and lasting, than any which can be won in a political arena.
The President then read the following sentimentThe City of Syracuse-Pompey greets her younger though
more ambitious sister on this glad and festive occasion.
Though above her always, we consent to stand on a level
with her to-day.
In obedience to loud calls, Hon. D. G. Fort, of Oswego,
took the stand, and delivered the following address.
MR. FORT'S RESPONSE.
My Old Friends and Neighbors:
I can hardly understand upon what principle I have beei
sandwiched in here to-day, between Governors and Senators
and Judges, to make a speech, unless it is upon the,princi-.ple that the painter, when he makes a picture, paints upon
the background something dark, that the picture itself may
be more distinctly seen. It is almost forty years since first
I came among this people. I brought with me few years,
little knowledge, and less experience. My lot was cast upon
these hills, with parents who had come out [West to seek their
fortune. I was educated in these schools-long live the
memory of the old academy there; I have worshipped in
your churches, and some of my kindred are sleeping in yonder cemetery. My lot is now cast among others, and standing here to-day, I say with pleasure, that no memories of my
past life come home to me stronger or furnish keener emotions of pleasure than those connected with my residence
amobg this people and the anticipation of occasional returns
here. I remember, also, when a boy, and first began to
have youthful aspirations and build air castles of what I
would be in the world. " In the neighborhood where I lived





TIE POMPEY RE UNION.


79


was a man-doubtless many of you will remember himwho spent his summers upon the Erie Canal as captain of a
line boat, an occupation much more honorable then than
now, and hip winters with his family in their country home.
Evening after evening have I sat and listened to his welltold stories of startling adventures and experience in the life
which he had chosen. My mind filled with delight at the
greatness that he had achieved, and I then resolved that
when sufficient years and wisdom had gathered around my
head, I would strive for the same high position that he occupied. But, as many have found, I too found that frequently " the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft
aglee."  Many years have come and gone since then, I have
never forgotten the ambition of my early life; but alas, alas,
the dream of my childhood has never been realized and
it seems to me to-day to be further off than ever before.
(Applause). "Man proposes, but God disposes."  I look
around upon this vast audience, and endeavor to find the
faces of those that were so familiar to us in the days that are
past. Thanks to a kind Providence, they are not all gone.
A few still remain, like ancient landmarks in the well-settled country, but theyare fast growing less, and soon we
shall find them, " like angels's visits, few and far between."
I ask myself, "Where, where are the friends that to me were
so dear?" and the answer comes swelling up, some have
gone away from us, many of them are lying in yonder
church-yard, sleeping quietly, and the remainder have come
out here to-day, with warm hearts and whitening locks to
welcome Pompey's children home again. All that remains
now of many warm hearts that beat with life and love a few
years ago, is the stone in yonder cemetery, marking the place
where they sleep. May the grass grow green and fresh over
their graves, and may the memory of their many acts of love
and kindness be as fresh and enduring in the hearts of their
children. Here again we meet under these old shades, while
familiar voices of the past call up recollections that long
since had slumbered in forgetfulness. It is a source of pride





TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


and gratification that we who have always pursued the common and private walks of life, can point to so many old
friends from this town who have achieved the greatness
which has been denied to us; but here we meet to-day; and
meet as brothers; here for once we meet upon one common
level, as we sit and chat around the old hearthstones and
these well-filled tables. But boys and times have changed
since then; years ago we were in the habit of greeting the
boys or Pompey Hill as Horatio, George, Charley, Leroy,
Lucien and Henry; but to-day when we speak to Horatio,
we must take of' our hat and address him as Governor, and
George, who used to be so well acquainted with all of us,
comes here to-day from the golden shore, and we must
greet him as Senator of the United States; while Charles,
Leroy and Lucien, have dropped the old names that we used
to give them, and come here to be introduced to our people
as Judge; and the epulets on Henry's shoulders speak to us
of noble service he has rendered his country, and bid us
address him only as General. Well, well, boys! you have
done nobly. Although we belong to the class where high
privates aie always n ceded, we can assure you that while
our children cannot hear their fathers called "Governor,"
"Senator," "Judge," or "General," it is with pride that we
tell them that we were once permitted to attend school and
play marbles with boys who have since achieved that high distinction. But I must stop. I will, however, tell you that I
well remember a lesson that was taught me in yonder Academy by Mr. Stebbins, anl old teacher there. I am not going
to let this vast audience pass from here without endeavoring
to press upon them the lesson he taught me. He was trying
to teach his class what so many of us have tried to teach
others-not to talk too much. (Laughter). The doctrine
he held out to his class was, if we would only sit still and
"look wise," we might pass off for great men; whereas, if
we undertook to talk, we must talk sense, for nonsense would
surely expose shallowness. I remember the story he illustrated it by. He said there was a certain man who had a





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son who was a fool. One day the man was to be visited by
his minister and a deacon in the church; he told his son,
"Now, John, when these visitors come, don't you speak a
word; it don't make any matter what they may say to you,
don't you speak a word to them."  The boy promised; the
visitors came. In the afternoon the father had occasion to
leave the room, and the visitors began to talk to the boy,
but not a word would he answer. At last one of them reimarked, " I believe our brother has one son that is a fool,
and I guess this is the one."  The boy jumped up and
rushed to his father, saying, "Father, father, they have
found it out, and I never said a wzord,!" (Laughter). Just
here I am reminded that perhaps I had better make a pert
sonal application of this lesson to myself. (Laughter). If
I had kept still, and tried to look wise in silence, perhaps
some of these strangers might have taken me for a Governor
or a Judge, but inasmuch as I have not done that, I will do
the next best thing and leave the floor for some one who is
to follow. (Applause).
President Wood, then stated that he was about to call
upon one who had come from beyond the Mississippi to
engage in the festivities of this occasion. One who received
his early education in Pompey Academy, and who has since
become eminent in the medical profession, and for the last
twenty-four years has filled the Professorship of Anatomy
and Physiology in the St. Louis University. He then called
upon Dr. Charles W. Stevens, of St. Louis, Mo.
Dr. Stevens then took the stand and said:
Friends and Associates of my early life:I take pleasure in responding to the call made upon me
by our President. We have heard eloquent and appropriate
speeches, full of wit, humor, and sentiment, from the gentlemen who have preceded me.
They are all lawyers, and eminent in their profession;
they have praised each other magnificently, and have done
so in hearlfelt sincerity, and we are well assured that the re6





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cipients have well earned, and well merited such eulogy. I
am indeed proud of the fact, that so many who were, in
years long gone by, my schoolmates and playmates, have
attained such high position and excellent reputations., But
I would ask you to call to mind the many worthy men who
have in other callings, or in other professions done service,
entitling them to worthy mention.
He that does the most to benefit his fellow man, should
stand highest on the roll of honor, and could honors be bestowed or made commensurate with the good accomplished,
many who are now unknown, or in comparative obscurity,
would stand highest in good repute. In making this remark I have an object in view, and that is to call to your
minds the name and services of a man who was a Pompey
boy, and who has accomplished more of substantial good,
and is more of a benefactor than any lawyer or any doctor
who ever went from Pompey, or Pompey Academy. The
man about whom I have thus awakened your curiosity, is
the inventor of the melodian-Jeremiah Carhart. He worked
at his trade as a cabinet maker in this village for some years,
and while following his occupation in the city of Buffalo,
he invented this soul-stirring instrument. I venture to assert that no instrument ever invented has been so fully adapted to the purpose of rousing those ennobling sentiments or
feelings which music is capable of doing, as the melodian,
and were it now at once swept from existence, an hiatus
would be created that could not easily be filled. It has been
manufactured by-thousands upon thousands, and is found
everywhere from the Atlantic to the Pacific. You find it in
the houses of the rich, but oftener among middle classes, and
very often in- the cottages and log cabins of the poor; you
find it in thousands of churches, even way off on the verge
of civilization, in the frontier settlements, in the humble
churches of the prairies have I seen it and have been charmed
by its vibrations. Perhaps you will not find it in St. Paul's
or in Trinity, but look into all those churches like the " little one round the corner," where there is true piety and





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hearty devotion, and there you will find it. The man then,
who has made music for the million, who has made so many
hearts and homes more cheerful, bright and glowing with
inspiration and happiness, who has added life or heightened
the enjoyment of the religious worshipper deserves to be
ranked as a benefactor, and truly may it be said of him,
"that the world is better for his having lived in it,"  Jeremiah Carhart sleeps in Greenwood, but the good he has
done lives after him. Well, my friends, I am glad I am
here to-day, I have come from beyond the Mississippi, and
would have traveled twice twelve hundred miles to join you
on this festive occasion. My life in the great west, I am
proud to say, has not been mis-spent, I have practiced my
profession nearly thirty 3 ears, and during twenty-four of
these years I have been engaged in Medical institutions as
a teacher of Anatomy, and am. now ministering, as best I
can, to the " mind diseased" of three hundred unfortunate
fellow beings. I saw St. Louis in its infancy, when it had
but sixteen thousand inhabitants. She now numbers over
three hundred thousand, and isthe fourth city in the Union.
There she sits as a Queen, on the bluffs of that mighty river;
she is sweeping into her lap the products, the wealth of that
great valley; she is the center of over'twenty thousand miles
of inland navigation, and is now-the terminus of fourteen
railroads. She is now domancdiing "to be -made the capital
city of the nation, and mark my prediction, that in ten
years, the marbles, the beautiful columns, and cornices of
yonder splendid edifice will travel across the continent in
the direction where it is said the " star of Empire wends its
way;" and I am not certain but if we had a half dozen of the
energetic sons of old Pompey there, we might accomplish
the matter in half the time.
Well, I have said enough about St. Louis, and I trust you
will excuse me for my enthusiasm; but I, am glad I was
born in Pompey. I look back to my boyhood, and my early
manhood, as the happiest period of my life, and as I stroll
over these hills and valleys, the rocks, the trees, and streams





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call up most pleasing reminiscences, and I wish I were a
boy again. I see about me here, the familiar faces of several who were my teachers; there is Miss Charlotte, who
taught many of us our A. B. C., and I see yonder Manoah
Pratt, who afterwards in a room of the old Academy, taught
me other rudiments, and here on my left stands Asa Wells,
who taught me geography and grammar, and I see all
around me the boys and girls of those days, now most of
them happy husbands and wives, or fathers or mothers; but
how are we all changed; time has made his mark, most of
us have come to that period when we look at the short future
and contrast it with the long past.
We have had here a grand and joyful re-union, soon we
must shake the parting hand, and by the lightning train
speed to our distant homes. May the sunset of our lives be
bright; and
"In life's closing hour when the trembling soul flies,
And death stills the heart's last emotion,
Oh! then may the seraph of mercy arise
Like a star on Eternity's ocean."
Dr. Stevens having concluded his remarks, the melody of
"music" from Dresher's:full band again filled the grove.
After which the President said: "' We have heard much from
Pompey's sons and it may be pleasant and interesting now
to hear from some person who was not born in Pompey, not
that there is any want of material here, for Pompey has yet
remaining some thousands more of statesmen and orators.
I therefore, propose the following toast:
"The unfortunates of the human race born outside of the
town of Pompey. They have our hearty sympathy and condolence, and we can only say that we hope they will do better the next time."
I call upon Col. Andrew J. Smith, ofSyracuse. Col.
Smith responded in a humorous and amusing speech, and
closed by reciting in an effective manner,  Miles O'Reiley,
after the fall of Richimofid:"





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The next toast proposed by President Wood, was as follows:"The towns of Onondaga County-The town of Pompey extends fraternal greeting to her sisters, and invokes
for them a future as bright, honorable and prosperous as
her past has been."  And called for a voluntary response,
when F. W. Fenner, Esq., of Lysander, took the stand and
spoke as follows:
MR. FENNER'S SPEECH.
IMrt. Chairiman, Ladies and Gentlemen:I have been listening with feelings of pleasure to the remarks that have been made by the distinguished ex-residents
of Pompey-those who have " gone out" from the old town,
and made themselves distinguished as Governors, Statesmen, Judges, Lawyers, Doctors and Poets. But I think it
is fair that those from old Pompey, who have not gained a
handle to their names should have a representation upon
this platform.
I claim to hail from the old town, although it was my
misfortune not to be born on the hill, but down inthe valley. In 1818 I was carried with my father and his family,
by.the force of circumstances, to the forlorn and forsaken
town of Lysander, and from there to Camillus, where but
few then lived. Well, my father lived until 1851, an industrious farmer, a good citizen, and a credit to the old
town of Pompey. He was a tiller of the soil, a hewer of
the timber; but he came out victorious, with nine children,
but no lawyers or professional men among them! However,
the old fathers and mothers of Pompey taught their children good morals, industry and economy, and may God be
praised that we have been blessed with such fathers and
mothers. Pompey may well be proud of them; for without,them none of our distinguished and honorable friends who
have addressed us to-day, could have said that they were
born in Pompey! (Laughter).
I am not a public speaker, I plow the soil, but I did think





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


that we of the hardy hand ourselves, needed a representative here, and I determined to be that one, as no other responded. We cannot all be statesmen, judges and lawyers,
and we don't want to be, and we would not be if we could.
(Laughter). Some of us must look to the soil, and to the
genuine, hard honest workers the country owes its prosperity, and I think the dear old town has abundant reason to be
proud of her farmers, as well as of her other great men,
for without them the professions would come to naught.
(Applause).
The Chairman then announced that an original poem,
entitled "A FRAGMENT," would be read by H. D. L. Sweet,
of Syracuse. Mr. Sweet then read the following poem:
We who boast that our grand-parents formed that noble little band
Who subdued the mighty forests that encumbered this fair land;
They who made the howling wilderness to blossom like the rose;
In their dusky neighbors finding friends, and not insatiate foes,
Should remember that the relics which we find in all our fields
Point to people who once dwelt here that no history reveals.
I have sought the tomes historic, I have roamed tradition's shade,
For some hidden written record that this people must have made;
I have watched for the revealing by some dusky Indian Chief,
Such a legend as would strengthen every link of my belief;
But alas, in vain I've sought them, still they all elude pursuit;
All conjecture ends in chaos, every witness still is mute.
Thus I thought and thus I'd written, it was only yester night,
That once more I roamed the forest in a sad disheartened plight,
Ind I saw as it was near a mighty monarch of the wood,
Quite unthinking I approached it, and beneath its branches stood.
All unconscious I addressed it, as I viewed its form with pride;
Few, and simple were the questions, and in whispers it replied:" Mountain pine tree, standing in the glory yet,
Half forgotten of the nation which this hill
Once supported with its plenty?" " I forget?
Sooner cease the murmur of yon little rill;
Brothers fell by fire and ax in sight of me;
Fields were cleared of forests and the waving corn
Grew in place of beeches, maples, that you see,
Years, and years before the eldest ones were born.
Rudely, bleakly whistled winds around my form;
Lonely, bravely stood I in a century's storm."





THE POMPEY RE UNION.


Carry back your mental visioni through the far receding years,
When these trees you now term monarchs could have formed the shaft
of spears;
'Ere the Plymoth rock was trodden by those puritanic feet,
Or the classic James was rippled by a Newport's modest fleet;
Ere the Spaniards built Augustine, or the Frenchmen reared Quebec;
Or the Dutchmen on thelHudson found that little island speck;
Here a colony resided, these the fields that once were tilled
By a purely peaceful people, in the arts of war unskilled.
Here the sound of rural labor in the sweetest gentlest strains,
Filled the breezes with their music, where no jar of discord reigns;
Where no sound of selfish traffic could be heard within the mart;
And disasters born of commerce brought no anguish to the heart.
Here were no conflicting dogmas; here no quarrels of the press,
Here the wealthy were not worried by pale poverty's distress.
Here the poor were free from envy of a neighbor's greater wealth,
For the man was counted richest who enjoyed the finest health.
Politics were uninvented, office-seekers all unknown,
Non-producers lean and stinted lived on what they earned alone.
Women knew no height of fashion, wore no ribbons, pearls or lace;
Decled their forms in simple vesture, with a modest native grace;
Won their men with love, not passion, that divine but subtle force;
Raised their babes to honest manhood, (never seeking a divorce);
Novels then did not attract them, no, nor Saratoga Springs,
Or a thousand dollar Cashmere, or a pair of diamond rings;
Ignorant of all around them, save their duty-is it queer
They enjoyed the rights God gave them, each in her respective sphere?
Years and years this people flourished, in the plentitude of peace,
Giving praise with hearts unsullied, as each harvest brought increase.
Huts were built of trees and branches, covered o'er with curling bark,
Roun'd which trailing vines were clustered, bearing blossoms rich and
rare
In the spring-time; but in autumn stripped of all their foliage stark,
Giving fruitage to the people as a recompense for care,
Fields were cleared, and plowed and planted, smaller seeds were deftly
sown,
Corn we hoed and flocks were tended, blooming grass was duly mown,
Smiling plenty crowned their labors, gentle peace encircled all,
Till the jealousy of Indians reached its climax, wrought their fall.
It was in the early autumn, when the evening breeze was mild;
That arose a midnight tempest, louder rose the war-whoop wild;
Flashed the lightning sharp and vivid, but as quick the forest child
Whirled the gleaming bloody hatchet, buried in some settler's brain,
Freeing souls from earthly bondage, trials, troubles, cares and pain;





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Flowed the red tide like a torrent, fuller, freer, flowed the rain,
Washing from the reeking greensward every spot of bloody stain!
Wailing went the tearing tempest, as its moans grew low and soft,
Rose the flaming lights more fearful, leeping terribly aloft,
From the cabin, barn and cottage-in the valley, on the hill,
When the morning blessed the landscape, all was gone and all was
still."
At the conclusion of Mr. Sweet's poem, George H. Jerlome, of Niles, Michigan, was loudly called for, who stepped
upon the platform and said:
Mr. President:At the call of my friends about me here, I have consented to come forward to show you what grand old Pompey
has done and can do in the way of her physical productions.
While the brains of Pompey have been well represented
here to-day, and her moral average has been shown to be
a good deal above par, none have had the courage to stand
up for physical men. I stand before you as a pretty fair representative of a well-preserved physical Pompey boy-do I
not? Look at me. and see if you detect any egotism in that.
Well, muscle has its advantages as well as any thing else, as
an incident or two this day occurring, and on these grouids
will show. As we this morning came down from the Globe
Hotel in Syracuse, we saw standing on the side walk, two
or three boys-one of them a good chunk of a fellow, as we
passed, spoke out, " there's some good looking men"-" I'll
bet they are going up to that Pompey re-union."  "By
George, I wish I had been born on Pompey Hill.," -Now,
Mr. President I ask you if ever a neater cleaner compliment
was paid to physical development than that?   Another
incident. A little while ago, a lean Cassius-like friend of
mine, one whom Euclid must have had in his eye when he
defined a straight line-" the shortest distance between two
given points," stepped up to me and said, Henry, you seem
to be doing more of hand-shaking and kissing than is your
share; why, my friend, said I, don't you know that the
Committee of Arrangements decided to have the hand-shaking and bussing principally done by Pompey's fat, well-to-do





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physical sons- men whom that kind of business don't tire?
My longitudinal friend almost instantaneously collapsed,
and has been seen but once since, and that was at a refreshment booth, making a most vigorous effort to recruit.
Some pretty tall bragging, as I take it, has been done
here to-day, about the glory of birth. Why you can't find
in all this vast crowd, a man, woman or child, who will
admit that they have been born anywhere else than in old
Pompey. Now, if there is any bragging to be done on the
score of birth I can beat at that game every mother's one of
you, for I was not only born in old Pompey, but I was born
twice. I had.here a dual birth. And if you don't believe
me, I can produce a two hundred avoirdupois witness, a
twin brother, nearly as big as myself, to swe'ar to it. Beat
that who can, for although Pompey has given birth to Governors, M. C.'s, Judges, and lots of big men, as we have today often been told, yet she has sent out but mighty few
men of double birth. Why, I have a brother, whenever he
looks at me, I mean at my dual-duplicated self, involuntarily exclaim, "' what a birth!"
Now, Mr. President, not a word has been said about the
Lyceums of old Porpey. A moment about that and I am
done. We all remember the Lyceum fever and furor during the reign of Stebbins. Not a place, not a time, not an
occasion was too sacred for spouting and debate. You, Mr.
Chairman, must recollect the time when you under the hill,
just below where you used to live, waxed eloquent, with nobody but stones, trees, fences, and G. H. Jerome well concealed under the fence, for your auditors. Don't you? Your
honest blush gives the answer. I was one of a number of
the Academy boys who organized a Lyceum, appointed a
chairman and held grand discussions in the belfry of the old
Baptist church. Nor was our discussions in that heavenly
locality always spiritual. Aye more, I was a member, in
good and regular standing of a debating club, organized and
its meetings held in a seven-by-nine ice house. And it was
at one of those debates on a political question, that a brother





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of mine, Wm. Watson, was converted from Whiggery to Democracy, and the very next day after his conversion, he
borrowed the money of a Whig.brother, and enclosed it to
Edwin Croswell, for the Albany Argus, the first Democratic
paper ever seen in my father's house. After that he held
office as a Democrat, and lived a Democrat up to the passage
of the Kansas-Nebraska bill. So it is, I hail with quickened
and glad remembrance those Lyceums, for it is to them that
we are so largely indebted here to-day, for those Ciceros
and Demosthenese, who have fulminated so acceptably at
this memorable re-union.
But, Mr. President, I came not here to talk, I simply consented to stand up here for a moment in defense, and if you
please, in illustration of Pompey's physical renown-to tell
you, that not alone is Pempey's fame intellectual, nor yet
alone is her grandeur moral-that wherever bold adventure
and physical heroism have thrown their gauntlet and piled
their monuments-that wherever sinew and pluck have recorded their victories-that on those cannon-riven battlefields, where liberty was the guerdon and muscle the implement of its achievement, there-there too-Pompey's
boys are seen at the front, in no spirit of self-glory, shouting to their comrades born of the lowlands, Come on! Come
on!!
At the close of Mr. Jerome's address, Dr. R. F. Stevens,
of Syracuse, made a few remarks, as follows:
DR. R. F. STEVENS' STATEMENT.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:For some strange reason or other, the committee of arrangements from the town of Pompey seemed to think it
necessary to have a corresponding secretary in the city of
Syracuse, and it fell to my lot to be named for that office.
I will not detain you now further than to mention that for
the last three weeks, I have not had any opportunity to
attend to a single item of my own business; I have a great
many letters with me, thirty or forty of which would be





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very interesting to you, and I will mention some of the
names of those that you will readily recognize.
Charles Mason, who says it was impossible for him to be
here. I would be glad to read it, but it is too lengthy. Rev.
Jared Ostrander and his wife, Lucien Birdseye, several letters from the Marshes, Murrays, Fargoes, Jeromes, Bostwicks, Wrights, and others, are in my possession. I will
state as corresponding secretary, that I have sent out over
fifteen hundred letters of invitation, and I will state also
that I have distributed to-day, among the multitude here
assembled, over six thousand circulars or programmes of
the exercises of the day.
This will indicate to you very clearly, the magnitude of
this re-union, and I merely mention it as secretary of the
organization, that I regard it most extraordinary, I have not
the slightest doubt, we have here to-day, over eight thousand people.
One more toast will be read, to be responded to by Mr.
VanBrocklin, and then so far as I know, the exercises of
the afternoon will be closed after hearing from the quartette
again, a piece selected by themselves.
The day being nearly spent, the President announced that
he would propose but one more toast, as follows:The present residents of Pompey-Worthy sons of noble,
sires. In their hands the fair fame of the old town will suffer no reproach. Its escutcheon will remain bright and untarnished. He called upon Wm. W. VanBrocklin, Esq., to
respond.
MR. VAN BROCKLIN'S RESPONSE.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is no occasion to render an excuse for this unexpected call. From what has already been said during the exercises of this day, which will ever remain sacred and fondly
cherished in our every heart, and from what we have seen,
we have a fair account, and a clear demonstration of what





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Pompey has produced. What the future shall be, depends
upon her present citizens. I noticed that an idea that I ventured to suggest this morning, in the address of welcome,
"that there is a philosophy closely connecting a people with
the land of their birth," was somewhat elaborated in. that
appropriate essay delivered on this occasion by one of my
early schoolmates, Mrs. Miller, who.so opportunely occul
pied the vacancy occasioned by the regretted absence of the
accomplished Grace Greenwood. You will remember that
she demonstrated the proposition, by facts observed by the
celebrated Bayard Taylor, among the rugged Pyrenees, and
the majestic snow-crowned Alps. Governor Seymour, too,
gently, almost poetically touched the same cord, in his beautiful allusion to the fishes of the sea and the wild denizens
of the forest. Now, while I firmly believe that nativity has
much to do with the characteristics of mankind, I just as
frankly confess, that all the transcendent excellencies of
character, that individualize the great and good of earth, do
not depend entirely upon the spot upon which they happened to be born. It has been said that Pompey is a good
place in which to be born, and a still better place from which
to emigrate. I think I can accommodate both of these
propositions, with the stamp of truth. The first has been
demonstrated. As to the second, I would say, if you have
ambition for wealth, or fame; if you would acquire distinction in forensic debate, or in legislative halls; if you would
reach the highest niche among the kings of finance, or the
ultimate goal of the statesman's ambition; leave these glorious old hills, and go where wealth, and worldly honors will
be showered upon you, for " a prophet is not without honor,
except in his own country."  But if you would hold a closer
communion with God, and be enabled placidly to view the
jarring elements of strife and contention, raging in the
world around and beneath you, then still linger around these
sacred peaks-Nature's self-appointed temples, that the
faithless and the false should ne'er pollute. I can assure
you from experience, having had a mixed existence of excitement from without, and' repose among the verdant hills





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93


of this my native town, that for comfort, and the full enjoyment of the amenities of social life, and the cultivation of
the more ennobling faculties of our nature, a country life is
the true condition of our being, where we can oft when
returned from the field, "drink deep drafts from the old oaken
b~ucket, the iron-bound bucket, the moss-covered bucket,
which hangs in the well."  A country life is conducive to
temperance. There remains, moreover, much good cheer
in the good old town of Pompey.
You have seen it here to-day, in the sumptuous tables
spread, from which so many thousands have been refreshed.
Health and happiness, innocence and virtue, too, are the
conditions of a life among these pure breezes of our mountain homes. This you have seen to-day, in the honest sparkling eyes of the young sons and daughters of Pompey as
ai with nimble feet, and gushing hearts of welcome, they
have passed through these aisles, administering to the physical wants of this vast multitude; while the bounding blood
of youthful vigor coursing their veins, has given them a vivacity and earnestness, which has assured you how welcome
you have been made to your early home. And while the
keeping of the enviable reputation of old Pompey, rests with
such as have to-day met and welcomed home the wandering
clans, I can confidently affirm the truth of the proposition,
"That in the hands of the present residents of Pompey, the
fair fame of the old hill-town will not degenerate."  For this
we have good reason, as it has been demonstrated, that
Pompey cannot naturally produce any but great men and
women. Yet, you will find in the future, that there will not
be that pre-eminent notoriety among Pompey's children,
that there has been in the past. This I am constrained to
say, as I am more in the habit of dealing with facts, than to
amuse or flatter.
As I have said, the land of our birth, however dearly we
may love it, does not entirely form our characters. And it
is.so with those who have acquired eminent distinction in
life, whose birth place was Pompey. Other circumstances





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


have had a controlling influence upon their destiny-to-wit:
the good character and example of their parents-the fact
that they, at great sacrifide, established in this then pioneer
town, good schools and churches-nurseries where the
young mind, naturally adapted to growth and cultivation,
has been fully developed, and thrown forth upon the world,
to achieve great good for Qod and humanity. Other localities have caught the spirit, which at that early day founded
the Pompey Academy, and emulating the bright example of
our fathars, set high up among the clouds, radiant with
light to illumine the surrounding hills and valleys, we find
that other institutions of learning have sprung up, in Onondaga Valley, Cazenovia, Homer, and other places in this vicinity, which, in their turn, will send forth great and good
men and women, to elevate and refine society. They are
to-day educating Pompey's children, and I apprehdeiidit is
the duty of the foster,fathers of our venerable Academy,
to entertain enlarged and comprehensive views of the necessities of the situation, and command at any price, the services of an excellent corps of instructors, who will call within
its sacred walls as of old, students from the valleys, and all
the surrounding country. It is thus, in this age of competition, of enterprise, and of progress, that the present citizens of Pompey can maintain her ancient glory and renown.
It is thus that the good character inherited from our ancestors, and the principles inculcated by our fathers, will
be experienced generations yet to come. It will not do for
Pompey to rest upon the laurels already won. She no longer enjoys the monopoly of Academic lore. And while she
may not degenerate, surrounding towns have already reached
the high plane of excellence it has so long been her privilege to occupy.
I have been amused to-day as I cannot amuse you, especially with the speech of Senator Noxon, in which he tells us
how near he came to being an Irishman. And this calls to
mind a class of present citizens of Pompey, unknown to us,
Mr. Chairman, in our school boy days. The town is being





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filled up with emigrants from the  Green Emerald Isle,"
and of them it need not be said, " That they were born upon
St. Patrick's day, to make them full blooded Irishmen. They
were born, not in Pompey, but upon the green sod of old
Ireland. And they come it seems, to inherit through their
economical and industrious modes of life, what you and
your fathers have left-the green hills and valleys of your
native town. Already upon the ruins of a church, they
have erected another, giving it a different name, and there
they worship the same God your fathers worshipped, upon
the same spot, sixty years ago. The future of Pompey will
somewhat depend upon this class of its present citizens, and
I am happy to believe, that under the genial influence of
our institutions, and the desirable opportunities offered in
this land to which they come, their future, will give to their
adopted country, the home of their choice tho' not of their
birth, the Currans, the Emmets, and the St. Patricks of the
United States. I look then for a brilliant future for Pompey, not only from the descendents of the original settlers,
but from those as well who have made it the home of their
adoption. Another new church has arisen, and within its
consecrated -walls, many worship the God of our fathers, who
were the playmates of your early life. In other portions of
Pompey, religious changes have not been so marked. In
Delphi, near where dwelt the Litchfields, Slocums, SheYdQns,
Blowers, Barbers, Hills, McClures, and many other old familiar names, you will find the present citizens, still worshiping in the Baptist and Methodist churches. The society of Pleasant Valley, too, at Oran, still remains, whose liberal creed embraces within the covenant of Divine grace
the whole human family. Here you may find the hospitable home of Noah Palmer, of Elias Barnes, a walking encyclopedia of that portion of Pompey, the genial Joseph Scoville, D. D. Denison, whose father the old Doctor Denison,
was noted for his sound democracy and skill in curing diseases, Col. C. C. M~idler, of military fame, when general
trainings were in fashion, and many other scions of a worthy stock,.whom I have not memory, or time to name. At





96


TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


the four corners four miles north of Pompey Hill, the
church erected by the Westons, the Clements, the Hibbards,
the Hinsdales, the Clapps and others, many of whose descendents yet remain, is now no more used as a church, it_
membership having been absorbed by Manlius, Jamesville
and Pompey Hill. And where once the bread of Heaven
was dispensed to the hungering multitude, the bread which
perishes is now sheltered upon the farm of Addison Clapp.
But of all the churches familiar to the early days of Pompey, located upon this venerable hill, none remain except
the Methodist and Congregational chriches; and especially
in the latter you will to-day find very many names familiar
to the early settlers of Pompey. There still you will find
the Jeromes, the Stearns, the Bakers, the Wells, the Woodfords, the Butts and many other descendants from the "old
stock," whose rigid discipline, and bright example of the
christian graces, continue to yield copious harvests of "peace
on earth, and good will to man."  May they remain to the
latest generation, land-marks upon the shores of time, where
the future pilgrim, returning like you to-day to the home
of his childhood, shall find a familiar spot, known and prized
in life's young day. I regret that the time has been too
short, in which to prepair sentiments appropriate to every
trade and occupation, represented here to-day. We would
have been pleased and instructed, had the artisans whom
Pompey has sent forth, greatly to her honor, been called upon
to respond to an appropriate toast. You will not be under
the necessity of going farther than the city of Syracuse, to
find shops conducted by sons of Pompey. They can make
machines, as well as machine poetry. I allude to the Sweet
brothers.
By Mr. John F. Seymour.
Palmer the sculptor, was he not born here?
By Mr. Van Brocklin--I believe he was, and so was Carhart, the inventor of the Melodeon. But should the Melodeon, notwithstanding the vast amount of happiness it has





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


97


conferred upon mankind, be struck entirely from existence,
we should not suffer much, as long as we have the "human
voice divine," which can discourse such heavenly,music, as
that to which we have this day listened, from the  Durston
Quarte.tte."  The -only mistake I apprehend, made in this
glorious re-union, is, that we did not appreciate the magnitude of the occasion, and resolve to have it continue three
days; instead of one, to give an opportunity more thoroughly to renew the scenes of early life. As it is, so soon we
meet, so soon to part; and while the lingering farewell
dwells upon our lips, the moistened eye of the thousands
who hear me, indicates the deep feeling that pervades this
sacred place.  And let us remember, with a faith that
reaches beyond the shores of time, and spans the: endless
cycles of eternity, that upon the resurrection morn will be
another re-union of Pompey's children, past, present, and
future, more gloiious and enduring, when we shall see, high
upon the scroll of eternity, amid the honored names of the
remotest generations, and the succession of generations,
down through the long vistas of the ages past, the namle of
Pompey, encircled with an immortal wreath of perennial
flowers, and all her children redeemed and purified, for the
society of a higher and purer life.
The exercises at the grove were closed by the Durston
Quartette singing a farewell song. The time intervening
between this and the evening meeting was spent in social
intercourse, in taking rides and walks to familiar places,
which awakened the slumbering memories of early days.
Some visited the Academy and the grounds upon which
once stood the " old wind mill." Some hastened to pay a
tribute.of respect and veneration to the " old homestead,"
now in the hands of strangers. Many repaired to the village cemetery, a beautiful spot located on the highest land
in Pompey, affording a comprehensive view of the surrounding, country. Here rests the sacred ashes of the fathers,
mothers and friends of early life. And as the various parties sought the places most to memory dear, and walked
7





o,98


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


again upon the soil that gave thfem birth, who can catch,
in imagination the panorama of thought and feeling, that
must have passed in review, as the thousand recollections of
youthful days crowded upon the minds? Who delineate the
varied emotions, that such a visitmusthave developed? While
many remained to attend the evening meeting, and to visit
for a few days, friends and early homes, very many, characteristic of American life, exchanged the hasty farewell, and
were off to distant homes, to mingle again in the busy
scenes of life.
EVENING MEETING.
At seven. o'clock, the old bell that had in " olden time,"
summoned to religious duty, pealed forth its familiar tones
announcing the time for the final meeting of the day.
Soon the Presbyterian church was filled to overflowing;
on motion of Victory J. Birdseye, Dr. Richard F. Stevens
was appointed chairman, who upon assuming the duties of
his position, made appropriate remarks, as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen:-I thank you for the partiality
shown in calling me to preside at this the last meeting of this
most interesting re-union occasion. I am reminded by these
sacred walls of times long gone by of childhood days, when
here I was taught the words of Holy Writ in Sunday lessons,
and my eye rests upon.the family pew where I sat with my
parents more than fifty years ago, and listened to religious
teachings from the pulpit.  I see before me, men and
women who were children with me, whose heads are already
silvered, and whose changed appearance tells its fruitful story
of many years. I see also before me those who were the
active men and women of those early days, now full of years,
aiid bent with age. It would much more comport with my
feelings to remain silent, when I remember that on the spot
where 'I now stand I have seen deposited, on funeral occasions, the encoffined remains of my parents and many dear
friends and neighbors who rest in the quiet old buryingground on the hill. I see at my right my former school





THE POMPEY BE-UNION.


99


teacher, Mr. Asa H. Wells, and in yonder pew, I see Mrs.
Beardsley, formerly Miss Charlotte Hopkins, who taught me
my A. B. C's. The house adjoining this church, was my
birth-place, and in this immediate locality, many-who now
listen to my words, ran and played with me in all the joyous
sports and pleasures of childhood's happy days. To one returning after so many years, everything that remains is vocal
with reminiscences of early days, the churches, the houses,
the village-green, the shade trees I helped to plant, now a
foot in diameter, the gardens, the apple-trees, everything
however small, has its history of some childhood event.
I,.cannot express the gratification I-feel in being permitted
to enjoy: with you this re-union of so many of our former
friends and neighbors as-have been assembled here to-day.
From all parts of our country the descendants of the old
town of Pompey have come to meet.and revive recollections,
to shake the friendly hand like brothers and sisters in a common family, to call each other by familiar names, to tell of
the passing events of life, and, as the hours of the re-union
draw to a close, to give the parting aud affectionate "goodbye."
We have met this evening to listen to those who may be
pleased to give us such reminiscences as will be most interesting to us all.
It is to be regretted, that no stenographic reporter was
secured for the evening meeting, and therefore, no full report of the proceedings has been preserved.  Historical
reminiscences, and interesting remarks were made, in their
order by the following persons: Rev. Samuel W. Brace, of
Utica; Rev. Charles Jerome, of Clinton, Oneida Co., since
deceased; Victory J. Birdseye, and Wm. W. VanBrocklin,
of Pompey; Leman B. Pitcher, of Salina; Ebenezer Butler,
of Syracuse, since removed to Whitehall, N. Y;; Dea. Asa
H. Wells, of Pompey, since removed to Manlius; Hon. Wm.
Barnes, of Albany, and Hon. Daniel G. Fort, of, Oswego.
An original poem was read by Flora Butterfield, daughter





100


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


of Mrs. Catharine Clarke Butterfield, a cousin of Grace Greenwood. Miss Flora was only thirteen years of age at the
time of the re-union, and her production, not designed for
rehearsal or publication, is here produced without correction:
TO OUR GUESTS FROM ABROAD.
BY FLORA BUTTERFIELD.
The old residents of Pompey have here again met,
That your old native land you might not forget;
To renew old acquaintance with the few that are here
That you hold to your hearts, by memories dear.
There's but few that are left where in childhood you played,
To welcome you home from the lands where you've strayed;
But your'welcome is warm, as we all can proclaim,
For long years it will be 'ere you all meet again.
Alas! what sad memories this day brings to some,
As fresh to your minds come the days past and gone!
When children, you played 'round this dear old Hill
With kind friends you loved, who in death are now still.
As you gaze once again on each familiar spot,
How they rush to your mind, scenes long since forgot;
And a sadness steals o'er you as of the past you tell,
And you turn once again to take a farewell!
Yes, farewell! 'till we meet above
In a blest re-union of peace and love!
Where no ties will be broken, for all will be there,
And happiness forever, free from all care.
REMARKS OF HOIN. WILLIAM BARNES.
1Mr. Chairman:Interested I have been, and deeply, in the many
narratives of early events and incidents in the settlement of
this town, which I have heard this evening. These stories
from eye-witnesses and participants cannot long be enjoyed
by any of us, as the tottering steps and white hairs of some
of the speakers too plainly indicate. I grieve that my beloved father, (the late Orson Barnes,) personally known to
many of you, is not with us this evening in body as I know
he is in spirit, for he could add many items interesting to





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


101


you all, relating to the original settlers, their trials, privations and triumphs.
During my teirm of office as Superintendent of the Insurance Department of this State, I noticed one New York
City Fire Insurance Company, the annual statements and
accounts of which were always marked with especial fullness and accuracy. Analyzed however critically, and subjected to any accountant's rules or legal tests, everything
was found. to be sound and coirect.
Its stockholders numbered on its roll several of the richest and most influential men of New York City. From
year to year certain delinquencies required more full returns
from the Companies, and detailed lists of bond and mortgage securities of stock loans, lists of stockholders, and other
requirements; which additional and specific requirements
met with serious, determined, and even personal opposition
on.the part of several Companies.
I always anticipated that the Fire Insurance Company to
which I allude would interpose the strongest objections to
these new and onerous requirements, but I was always disappointed in my expectations, for every new blank form
which was presented to the New York Bowery Fire Insurance Company, however full, or complicated, or onerous,
was promptly filled up and sworn to, and generally the first
return on file made by any of the Insurance Companies.
For -ten years this fact was a matter of wonder.and astonishment to me, and it is only to-day that I have had a satisfactory explanation, by learning that its respected President,
Dr. William Iibbard, was born in the town of Pompey,
and belonged to the " Hibbard" family of Pompey Hill.
The above are all that have been preserved of the evening meeting.
The following resolutions were adopted, when the evening meeting adjourned:
Resolved, By the guests at Pompey from abroad, that we





102


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


tender to the citizens of Pompey our earnest and sincere
thanks for. the magnificent entertainment which. we have today.. enjoyed, and for. the ample provisions made, and the
arduous and well directed efforts used to make our re-union
pleasant and agreeable to all.
Resolved, That our-thanks are especially due to the Committee of Arrangements and Officers of the Day-their wise
and admirable conception of the necessities of the occasion,
in providing for the immense multitude of visitors, with
wants so numerous, and for the good order manifest in every department of the day's doings.
Resolved, That we most cordially tender our thanks to
the Orators, Singers and Musicians of the Day, for the pleasing and instructive speeches to which we have listened, and
for the songs and music which have attuned our hearts in
unison, to appreciate the sublime and transcendently glorious spectacle to-day witnessed, of a re-union on earth of
the sons and daughters of Pompey.
OF THE INCIDENTS OF THE DAY.
Numerous incidents occurred during the day, to mention
all of which would fill a volume. A few only will be related, as illustrating the spirit that pervaded the entire assembly. The greetings of long absent friends were interesting
to witness, and that none should be slighted, the friendly
hand was extended to all. A gentleman of some sixty summers, met a lady of about the same age who had been his
schoolmate of fifty years ago; after recognition and a cordial greeting, unbidden he extended his hand to a lady in
company with his former schoolmate, "and this," said he,
"is:?" "'My daughter," responded the lady, "and this is
her husband."  And extending the friendly hand to still
another lady, he said "and this is another daughter?"  "0,
no; that is my grand-daughter, and this is her husband."
Then as the obtrusive tear filled his eye, 'he turned to his
schoolmate, on whonl the rolling years had apparently made
but little impression, and said "truly, Mary, we must be





TIE IOPM~PEft  1 E-UNION.


10-3


growing old, and yet to-day I feel as though I were a child
agairi."
Again, at various points might be seen groups of friends
and acquaintances, long separated, calling up the ircidents
of early days, and occasionally might b  heard a brief
speech. Lloyd Slade, of Kelloggsville, N. Y., in the fillness of his heart was constrained to speak substantially as
follows to a group of friends:-" I was not born in Pompey,
but like many fortunate sons of other towns, I married a
wife from the fair daughters of Pompey, who is now present, and whose father, Willoby Millard, was one of the
Board of Education in 1800, and who did much to erect the
first Academy building and establish the Pompey Academy.
As to-day it is customary to push personalities to the front,
I would say of myself that I taught school thirty winters,
and one of them in Pompey, as many present, will remember. From among my scholars in that humble school, have
arisen self-made men-as successful financiers and noble
philanthropists as ever honored a nation. I refer to Hon.
Wm. G. Fargo and his brothers. Now, my hearers, this is
probably the last re-union of the present sons and daughters
of Pompey that we shall ever enjoy on earth; but let us lay
aside mourning and sadness, and with an eye of faith behold the resurrection morn; when the re-union of cherished
ones departed and those journeying with us, will occur at
our Celestial Home, where pleasures never end, and joys
immortal bloom."
Another indication of the universal interest in the occasion,was the rehearsal by Homer A. Billings, to some of his
companions of the following poem:
POMPEY, THE LAND OF THE BRAVE AND THE
HOME OF THE FREE.
Hurrah for old Pompey! the land of the free,
I think that you still are the right place for me,
Within thy fair borders I chanced, to be born,
To own thee my birth-place, I never shall scorn
To sing of thy beaiuties-my theme it shall be
Hurrah for Old Pompey, the land of the free.





104


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Our scenery's delightful, our climate is healthy,
-Our wants are but few, our farmers are wealthy;
The heighth of our land makes us know well our station,
(Since we know that " High standing's the pride of our Nation)
For reasons like these, you're the land still for me.
Hurrah, &c.
We're a free happy people, contented we are,
In. haps and misfortunes, we never despair,
Our government's mild, and wholesome ourrules,
Interested we are in our Common Schools,
Oh! Yes, I will say, you're the land still for me.
Hurrah, &c.,
Thy name, old Pompey, oft' puts me in mind,Of the great Roman general, in hist'ry we find,
Who lived in the days of " Cesar the great,"
That noted old Emp'ror and great potentate,
We all trust thy downfall never will be.
Hurrah, &c.,
How oft' have I traveled thy fair meadows o'er,
Where the wild beasts and savage had traveled before;
How oft', o'er thy valleys and landscapes I've gazed
With fancies bewildered, confounded, amazed,
-Old Pompey! thy landscapes are dear unto me.
Hurah, &c.,
My own native Home-in the Cot on the hill,
'The place of my birth! Oh! it gives such a thril
'Of joy and sensation! I cannot forget
The little Log Cottage-I honor it yet,
When long years have pass'd-still rcmember'd 'twill beHurrah, &c.,
-Oh! Home of my birth! will it e'er be my lot
To find in this world, so endearing a spot?
How true is the saying-that " search the whole earth
No spot's so endeared, as the home of one's birth,"
In life's last decline, I shall oft think of thee.
Hurrah, &c.,
May this meeting, to-day, and'these social coinmunions
Be but a prelude to future re-unionsAnd may this re-union, of Friendship and Love
Foreshadow a blissful re-union above,
Where " Forever and ever," re-united we'll be
And from sin and temptation, and sorrow set free.
But adieu! for these days will not last long with me.
For in other lands soon, perchance I may be,





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


105


But of this I am sure-" wherever I dwell,
Of the scenery of Pompey to others I'll tellYea, tell it with pleasure, with joy and with glee,
As the Home of the Brave, and the land of the free.
LETTERS.
The following are among the many letters received by
the Recording Secretary:
BROOKLYN, 20th June, 1874.
R. F. Stevens, Esq., Sec'y, &c.
DEAR SIR:-I regret very much that I shall not be able to
attend the re-union of the former residents of the town of
Pompey, which is to take place on the 29th inst., as I sail on
to-morrow's steamer, for Europe.
It would give me great pleasure could I be with you on
that occasion, and thus meet many of those whom it has
been my good fortune to know-personally, as well as many
others, whom I have known only by reputation. Should the'
former residents of Pompey,generially avail themselves of
this opportunity for visiting their untive hills, you will have
a gathering of which you may well be proud, for you will
find there assembled, many who are eminent in the various
walks of life. The pulpit, the bar and the berich, the Legislative Hall, and the business Exchange, the official rolls
of civil and of military life, each can show distinguished representatives of the old town o.f Pompey, while many others
of her sons, to fame unknown, have well performed their
part in life by the honest and successful discharge of the
duties pertaining to the various positious in which Providence has placed them, and I repeat that it would be a great
pleasure to me could I be present to.witness the return of
these wanderers to the scenes-of their childhood, and to listen
to the eloquence of the heart which such a gathering will
be sure to inspire. Trusting that you may have a full attendance, I am,.
Yours, very truly,
EDWIN C. LITCHFIELD.





106


TIHE POMPEY RE-UNION.


BROOKLYN, N. Y., June 26th, 1871.
Richard F. Stevens, Esq.
DEAR SIR:-I wrote you some days since in reply to your
kind invitation of June 1st, saying that I should endeavor
to be present at the re-union of the fog mner residents ofPompey; I regret now to inform you that the illness of a member of my family will deprive me of the anticipated pleasure.
As a former resident of " The Hollow," it grieves me to
think that this important meeting, and one which will probably be the most pleasant and longest remembered of any of
the assemblages ever held in our native town should be held
on "the Hill."  I can recall to mind a time when every
man in Delphi would have " died in the last ditch," rather
than to allow such an event to take place. We should have
contended that Delphi was entitled to the honor, but for the
sake of harmony we might have compromised on Green's
Corners. Now, I suppose from your high stand-point, poor
old Delphi will be entirely over-looked, and little will he
heard at your re-union, except in glorification of " The Hill,"
its great eminence, its bracing breezes, its time-honored
Academy, and the great and good men and women it has
sent forth.
The fact that Delphi quietly s.ubmits to all this, convinces
me that the old village has greatly changed since the days
when we demanded for the Hollow its fair share of all the
town offices, down even tc the sealer of weights and measures, and would under no circumstances consent to the holding of a town meeting at any point west of the Corners.
The Hollow must have been " re-constructed" since my day,
or this re-union would not have heen held on the hill without a terrible struggle. However, if Delphi can stand it, I
can, and I sincerely hope all your pleasant anticipations connected with this meeting will be realized, and that the reunion will result in renewing and strengthening the attachments of all present to our noble old town.
Very TrulyYours,
H. W. SLocUM.





-o


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TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


107


PRATTSBURGH, June 23d, 1871.
Mr. Richard F. Stevens.
SIR:-I have just received your circular inviting me to a reunion at Pompey H-ill, on the 29th inst., I regret that circumstances will prevent my attendance. Age alone would
reader it difficult, as I was 86 years old in April last. It
would be extremely gratifying to have an interview with
many friends who may be there present. In addition to the
associations of a former residence, it may be said, that the
place has a most salubrious air, and is richly worth a visit for
a view of its far-stretching landscape. Memory recalls the
list of strong men who have resided there; and from time
to time have officiated in our National and State councils.
On this topic, the limits prescribed to this note forbid my
expatiating. As I cannot be a participant in the approaching
"Feast of reason and the flow of soul,"
I must content myself with the hope that we may all finally
meet in that higher and better world where our re-union
will be perpetual, and our happiness without alloy.
I am, very respectfully Yours,
R. S. ORVIs.
SYRACUSE, June 19, 1871.
Dr. R. F. Stevens.
DEAR SIR:-An invitation to attend a re-union of the old
residents of Pompey came to me a few days since-A " reunion of the old residents of Pompey!" I read that sentence
with many a heartfelt throb, for
"They are not all here
Some are away
The dead ones dear!"
From off my family altar nearly every flower hath withered,
faded and died. Gone from us in early life! But one (and
he far away in a western home,) is left me ofi y once joyous home-circle. Oh! not for me is that re-union! Too





108


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


many sad memories of the past cluster around that dear old
"hill-side home."
The grass hath grown green and long upon the eloquent
dumb mounds, where sleep my dead! Can I go up to the
re-union? There will be the school-mates of my girlhood.
The teachers I both loved and feared in childhood. The
friends of later years, my father's and my mother's friends.
All will be there! Shall I too go? Yes!. I will take the dear
ones " God hath given me," and climb those hills "sublime
and gloribus still," Up! up! to the "re-union," and for one
day I will strive to prove in social greetings that "clouds
have theii- silver linings," and after storms, comes ever the
bright sunshine.
Yours, in hopes of a blessed re-union, "Up Higher,"
ESTHER A. CLAPP DORWIN.
SYRACUSE, July, 1871.
Dr. RF.F. Steven.
DEAR SIr:-For us the "glorious re-union at old Pompey"
hath come and gone, but the memory of that day can never
pass away-with us it liveth forever! Like the sunny
dreams of childhood, its memory will brighten our future
pilgrimage down the shady slope of life; it revived old
memories long since dead; it taught us, though we had
years ago learned, that life was "real and earnest," that
there was still left for us much of love, of poetry and sentiment.
There old friends, and perchance old lovers met, and as
they grasped the hand the " light of other days" beamed
from the eye, and the eager " God bless you! are you here?"
was not a studie.d expression, but an outburst from the abundance of the heart. What if the brown hair of the one was
threaded with silver, and the jetty locks of the other grown
thin and grey? What if the voice once so musical had acquired, by.contact with the world, a harsh note, and the
bright eye become less bright? Did we note these changes?





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


109


Ah, no! the heart was young again, and the expressions "I
know you! how little you have changed!" were heartfelt,
no matter if our mirrors at home told a different tale, and
after this, how proud we were to say to such a friend, "this
is my son," as we presented our noble, stalwart boy, or, this
my daughter, as we led up our girl, just blushing into
womanhood.
Proud day for ancient Pompey! Proud day for fathers
and mothers! for young and old-proud day for all! And
yet with all the pride and joy of the occasion, there were
sad hearts there, hearts desolate of love; hearts which amid
all these fond greetings continually cried out "where is my
father, my mother, brother or sister?" Kindred and friends
were around them, but those loved first and best, were gone.
A green spot in the church yard answered the wailing heart,
gone home! Safely housed from wind and storm! A family around the Great White Throne! Would you wish them
back to-day?
You, my friend, visited the home of your fathers; I went
to mine beneath the hills, the home of my grand-sire, my
father, and the home where my childhood flitted by. Thirtyfive years ago its halls echoed to the tread of fond parents,
and the tiny feet of children. There the treble of my fair
haired foster sister, the rich tenor of my gentle mother's
voice, the second of my loved elder brother, my noble
father's bass, with the accompaniment of cousin Charlie's
viol, floated at eventide among the hills, while Willie and
"Sis" and I frolicked upon the grass or climbed the stately
Balm of Gilead at our door. Now what a change! The
echoinig hails resound to the step of the sons and daughters
of the " Emerald Isle," and our fathers, where are they?
The little red school house on the green still reared its head
in humble pride, as in years gone by; it looked to me
smaller than when I there stood up at spelling, and battled
for the "head;" and, to, its sombre sides had taken on a
shade of brown; but as I looked at its high windows, out
of which I had slily peeped many a time, and its quaint old





110


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


benches and desks, bearing many a mark of mischievous
girls and boys,&and saw my own name iudely, out with the
knife of one of my boy lovers, I knew it was the same dear
old school house; every bench and desk seemed to tell a
tale of school girl's joys and sorrows, of schdol mates and
masters gone; for
"None were there to greet me now,
And few were left to know,
That played with me upon the green
Full forty years ago."
There, to, stood the old elm tree upon the corner; though
shorn of much of its original beauty and grandeur, it still
spread its gnarled branches far and wide, showing how
nobly it had braved the fury of "Old Pompey's" winds for
ceituries. Beneath its cool shades I remember sleeping,
and dreaming such dreams as come to us but once, and thit
in our sinless, happy childhood. I remember standing on
tip-toe and spelling out the bills which told of the wonderful things to be found in the city of salt, for the old tree
was used as a bulletin board in those days by the agents of
the merchants of the infant city of Syracuse.
The ancient Columbia Poplars too, were there near by;
which seventy years ago shaded the house of my grand-father.
How familiar they looked, tall and straight, their dark
leaves whispering as they did years ago. Many a whip I
have cut from their leafy sides, with which to urge on my
"Arabian Steeds," which so often in those days bore me "o'er
the hills and far away!"
But do you know Doctor, how sadly I missed the dear old
country church? How desolate the green looked without
it? for it had been borne away, as a store house, for a thrifty farmer; who instead of "pulling down.the old and
building greater" chose rather to take the old church, with
its ample dimensions; and now in place of the voice of prayer.
we daily hear the cooing of doves from its high dome. Fondly and tenderly, do I remember the church of my early love;
whenfirst my infant lips learned to join in the Response the





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devout Litany and prayer. There, too, when but a child I
took the solemn vows of confirmation; promising to love
God and keep my spirit " free from earth-taint."  Still do I
feel the kindly pressure of the good Bishop's hands upon my
head; and hear the accents of his gentle voice;
', When he spoke, what tender words he used,
So softly that like flakes of feathered snow
They melted as they fell."
I was but a light-hearted child then of thirteen, and long
years have passed since the echo of that good man's voice
died away in that dim old country church; and he with
many of my loved ones " rests from his labors."
Ah! Dr. it is good for us to live over the past, as we did
on that never to be forgotten day! We shall ever look
back upon it as a " bright green spot in the desert sands of
life!" We will remember it ever, and teach our children to
echo the cry which daily goes up from our hearts. Thank
God for the Re-union.
Yours, very Truly,
ESTHER A. CLAPP DORWIN.
MANTORVILLE, MINN., June 23d, 1871.
Dr. R. F. Stevens:Your favor, inviting us to attend a re-union of the former
residents of the old town of Pompey, has been received, and
has awakened many thoughts of the "Auld Lang Syne."
Again and again, through all the " halls of memory," have
been stirred anew the lon'g-slumbering echoes of the past.
Half forgotten forms have reappeared with sharper outlines
and more than usual distinctness, claiming former appreciation. Few things would be more gratifying to us than to
meet and greet once more the many surviving friends of
"long ago" on the grand old hills of Pompey; but growing
infirmities, a long and wearisome journey, with other reasons, will compel us to forego the pleasure. But we shall
be with you in spirit and measurably share the festive joy ol





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1THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


your gathering. And should any there still kindly remember "Jared" and " Miss Rowena," and enquire of our wellfare and zohereabouts, please tell them that we now hail from
the "Land of the Dakotas," just over the eastern line of
what we here call the "West," alias Miinnesota; and like
many who were young when we left our native hills, are far
in the "sear and yellow leaf."  Our lot has been cast among
the Pioneers of the West. Left the " Hills" when the first
railroad pointing westward was being built, from Utica to
Auburn. Found Milwaukie a small village. Preached the
first sermon ever preached in Madison, the Capitol of Wisconsin, standing behind a dry goods box covered with an
Indian blanket, in the upper story of a store, the best meeting house the place could afford. Now it is a beautiful and
proud city, full of churches and elegant public buildings,
and the whole country, a few years since the home of a few
filthy Pottawatomies, Menominies and Winnebagoes, now
blossoms out with cities, villages, and homes of culture and
refinement. The Indian trails, once the only guide to the
Wiscohsir pioneer, have given place to a net-work of railroads' which bear along their iron traceways the burden of
a great and growing commerce. All these changes have
we witnessed within the last thirty-five years. The last
five years have been spent in Minnesota. This State,
twenty years ago, had but a few hundred inhabitants. Now
her population of half a million can take excursions on a
thousand miles of her railroads; and as they witness the
rapid movements in building the N. P. Railroad, some fancy
they can almost hear the thunder of the iron horses from
Puget Sound, as they rush over the mountains, bringing
the commerce of China with them, and gathering up, as they
course the great Plains, the products of a thousand industries already being opened up from a territory large enough
to make twelve or fifteen States as large and as good as New
York.
Our three score years and ten are nearly filled; but with
such a western experience, and such an outlook still westward,





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our old friends will not think hard of us if we express a willingness to live a few years longer to see what we may see.in
the West.
I can but think your gathering will make a proud day for
Pompey, and that you will realize, as never before, that your
town has furnished her full average of notables, and that the
old Academy, and olden churches, (however imperfect in
their workings,) have had much to do in moulding the character and in shaping the destiny of those that meet in your
union.
Could I have the pleasure of meeting the multitude that
will gather at yodr union, and hear recalled the names of
others that have passed behind the vail, I would gladly recall the memory of one, now perhaps half forgotten by the
older inhabitants, and entirely unknown to the new. I refer to Theodore E. Clarke. His life was scarcely considered
a success, even by his best friends. His powers were too
restive to be curbed down to those pursuits necessary to give
success. But among the long list of gifted minds Pompey
has produced, I have long regarded Theodore's as the tallest
of them all. For pure intellection, for logical acumen, for
profound abstract thought, for far-reaching and comprehensive views, for bold excursions into the unknown in
search of hypothesis to explain known facts, he probably
had few equals in this or any other country-in this or any
other age. But he passed away in middle life, comparatively unknown, and has gone where thinking is a business and
profound logic appreciated.
Through you we would send our kindest greetings to old
friends, hoping that the renewal of old acquaintances-the
stirring memories that will be awakened there-the lessons
of instruction that will be suggested by the occasion-will
better qualify for a grander, nobler and enduring 're-union
beyond the River.
We hope to meet you on the other shore.
Yours, in memory of past,
JARED F. OSTRANDER.
8





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TIE POMPEY RE-JUNION.


MANTORVILLE, MINN., Aug. 29th, 1871.
Dr. R. F. Stevens.
DEAR SIR:-Your request for a few items from my pen
shall be cordially complied with. The grand gathering of
the scattered sons'and daughters of Pompey, on the 29th of
June, is an era in the history of that place. The friendly
meetings and greetings of those who came back to the homes
of " other days"-the reminiscences awakened-the long
past brought back with its memories of sadness and of gladness-all conspire to invest the day with an interest which
will live when other days are forgotten. Thanks for the
papers sent, giving an account of the doings and sayings of
that day, that grand event, in which it was my misfortune
not to participate, has, nevertheless, more than any other of
my life, stirred up memories of the past, brightened up
scenes of my childhood and youth, until they seem but a
little ways back in the dim distance, although my three
score and ten years are nearly told. The schools of Pompey
Hill are among my earliest recollections. The one taught
in the school house, near D. Kellogg's residence, I attended
and remember-the teacher, I think, was Leman Pitcher.
ThL house was used for meetings on the Sabbath, and the
Rev. Mr. Wallace was the minister. The desk used as a
pulpit was sometimes, also, used to shut up naughty scholars
in. One day Hugh Wallace, the minister's son, was sent
there for some misdemeanor, and after looking around to
view the situation, exclaimed: "I don't want to be shut up
in father's pig pen." After my father removed to his
Swilderness home," half a mile east of the Academy, it was
my lot, with sister Chloe, to go to school through the woods
by marked trees, with only a faint foot-path that led to the
hill. One morning, as we were leisurely wending our way
to school with our dinner bag and books, we heard a terrible crash in the bushes near us. We halted, and on turning
around saw a big black animal near the path, sitting on his
haunches and looking at us. As we had'not been frightened with stories of bears, we had no fears. We stood





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facing the animal and wondering what it might be, until
Bruin, not being in want of a breakfast, or taking pity on
us poor, unprotected children, walked majestically away,
leaving us to pursue our course. On telling of our adventure to the scholars, and they to the teacher, quite an excitement was produced; and our return home after school was
guarded by two or three big boys,. around the road, nearly
a mile and a half. We were not allowed to tread that path
alone again.
You aslk me to say something of the schools I taught.
My first attempt at teaching was in the chamber of your
father's house. You probably recollect it, for there you
learned your "A, Be, Abs."  Mrs. Miller, in her address, alluded to that school, though I think she must have been too
young to have been a pupil. It was forty-eight years ago
this summer. I remember the circumstance to which she
alluded. It occurred in this wise: Her sister Ellen was
wanting a " copy set," as we then termed it, and I was
obliged, while writing, to turn my back to the school. It
has always been my impression that it was James Beebe, a
cousin of Mrs. M.'s, who called out-" Miss Rowena, mayn't
David (not Dan.) Po'rter turn his face this way?"  Without
stopping writing, I said: "Yes, David, turn around."  "I
don't want to," said he,. "for James wants to spit in my
face." By this time I was ready to attend to matters. One
of the Birdseye boys, (Eben,) in that same school, was, one
day, for playing truant, compelled to stand in the middle of
the room and study his lesson. This he did with unusual
energy and application. Looking off his book, he said:
' Miss Rowena, do bears have chickens?"  This called out
a burst of laughter from teacher and pupils, and he was sent
to his seat without any new light on the subject of natural
history.
This school was succeeded by one taught the next Summer, in the house near the Academy;: then occupied by
David Hines. After that I taught five terms in the Schoolhouse then standing near the spot now occupied by the new





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church. The path of. life has ledme far away from those
scenes of labor, and of interest; but I have ever looked back
to them as among the pleasantest of my life; and with very
kindly feelings towards all those who were my pupils.
Among them I saw the names of ten or more, who were to
be present at the gathering on the Hill, and I felt an honest
pride in the thought, that perhaps my feeble endeavors were
not all lost. It has always given me pleasure to hear of the
welfare of my pupils, and have ever sorrowed with them,
when hearing of their afflictions. I have ever regretted that
in my occasional visits to the home of my early life, I met
so few of them. They were scattered here and there, and
some were sleeping their last sleep. On a visit to the cemetery in Pompey, sixteen years ago, I counted sixteen stones
erected to the memory of those who were my pupils. In
other lands some have found their last resting-place, and
perhaps some repose on the battle-fields of our late distracted and bleeding country. I regret that Grace Greenwood
was not with you in the re-union, to add to the interest with
her poetical talent. She, too, learned from me her alphabet,
and "a, be, abs."  A few years ago, I received a letter from
her with a graceful acknowledgement of my endeavors to
instil into her young mind the first rudiments of knowledge,
and start her on her literary career. I do not forget among
my hundreds of pupils, the three brothers, William, Charles
and Richard Stevens, who were some of the first on whom
to try my hand at teaching. Especially the latter, a feeble
little boy, who had so much of.my sympathy, that he was
left to "run loose," and awakened the envy of the others for
my partiality.
Yours, Respectfully,
ROWENA M. OSTRANDER.
Perhaps you will deem me intrusive, but I will venture
to make a few more suggestions; altho' others may do the
same. You may cast mine aside, if so, as though they were
not made. Pompey, will after this, gain a new celebrity.





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Perhaps very few dreamed of the great wealth of intellect
and influence, that has gone out from that town, to enrich
the world. Besides the notables mentioned in connection
with the grand re-union, there are others, who are entitled
to a remembrance, among the great and good of Pompey's
sons and daughters. They are found in all the professions,
in all the wvalks of usefulness. Many* are the ministers of
the gospel of peace, who have gone, here and there, some
to the privations and hardships of our western land, and
some to carry the gospel to the heathen. Two, certainly,
were Pompey's children. Artemas Bishop, who, some now
living, will remember, left the grand old hills, and the
home of his childhood and youth, to preach  Jesus and the
resurrection," to the far-off islands of the sea. It was, I
think, in 1821, he sailed from Boston for the Sandwich Islands. Mrs. Julia A. (Ostrander) Crane, sailed from the
same port, in 1836, as a missionary to the benighted Hindoos. The year before, (1835,) Mrs. Theresa Patten Howard
left her home and friends, to labor as a missionary in Burmah.
Among the earlier teachers in Pompey, who 'deserve a
passing notice, at least, were the Rev. Eli Burchard, J. J.
Deming, and Miss Upham. Among the many names that
Iwill pass into, oblivion, I would snatch two which might
have been ennobled upon the annals of literary fame, had
-not death interposed. Almira Campbell and Adelaide Delia
Clarke, sister to Grace Greenwood. But few ever knew of
the wealth of intellect hidden away in these young minds.
I possess a few poems of the former, written between the:ages of fourteen and twenty, which show more than ordinary perception of the beautitul and the true, even in older
persons; and her letters, a maturity of thought and judgment far above her years. I cannot forbear quoting from
her obituary notice written by Seabred Dodge. for the On-.ondaga Journal. " She was a young lady of distinguished.accomplishments and virtues.. She possessed a mind well
*Perhaps, I am mistaken in the many.





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


stored with useful knowledge. She courted not the society
of the gay and thoughtless; unassuming in her manners,
she made no pompous display of her mind, conscious that
the great and majestic river makes its way in silence to the
ocean; it is thelittle rill that froths and frets as it rolls. "As
pure her life, its close as calm, as bright, as moonbeams
radiant with their softest light; as whispering winds or
shades which twilight throws, peaceful she sunk, in nature's
last repose."  She died in 1823, in the twenty-third year of
her age.
R. M, OSTRANDER.
Mr. Richard F. Stevens, Cor. Sec'y of the "  e-union at Home,"
and Gentlemen, committee of invitation.
SIRS:-"When silent time wee lightly foot had trod on
thirty years," I find myself honored by an invitation from
you to join with the friends of other. days in a social and
friendly re-union to be held at Pompey Hill on the 29th inst.
Gentlemen, I should be very glad to be able to mingle
with you on that day; but I regret to say that the sore affliction of inflamatory rheumatism forbids my attendance, and
I fear that I shall be doomed to my chamber. However, I
shall be with you in spirit, and in fancy shall enjoy the refining pleasures to be derived from the humanizing emanations that will flow from the poets, orators and large hearted,
who will assemble together on the appointed day to join in
the mutual and agreeable essay of reviving the joys and
pleasures of Auld Lang Syne..
Praying that pleasant weather and all things auspicious
may be vouchsafed to you all, I am   fraternally yours,
&c., &c.
SANFORD THAYER.
Syracuse, June 26, 1871.
BURLINGTON, Iowa, June 16, 1871.
My Dear Sir:Your favor of the 12th instant, enclosing an invitation to





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the Pompey re-union on the 29th, is just received. It would
afford me the highest gratification to join in that jubilee, but
other engagements will probably prevent. But in compliance with your alternative request, I take occasion to express some of the reflections and reminiscences which the
occasion elicits.
It calls up the past with all of its hopes and anxieties andvicissitudes. The panorama of a life time stands unveiled
before me; I watch its dissolving views as they tollow eachi
other in quick succession on the curtain of memory. The
child whose wondering gaze at first scanned the blue dome
of Heaven, supposing it to shut down at equal distances on
all sides of his humble house, and who hardly attempted to
speculate as to what was beyond, changes in rapid gradation
to the boy, the youth, the man-all the while enlarging the
scope of his knowledge, but finding the suggested unknown,
to increase in perhaps still greater proportion, until with
whitening locks he looks forward to the limitless future
and.backward to the equally limitless past, and all around
to the infinitudes of space, and forms perhaps just as inadequate and erroneous notions as to what is beyond the scope
of his enlarged but still narrow comprehension as had been
those of any previous period. When I had mastered my
first exercise in arithmetic, I was in my oinn estimation much
nearer the ultima thule of mathematical knowledge than I
have ever found myself since, and never did I feel myself so
far from home as when I was first at Green's corners, though
then but one mile distant from the paternal roof.
How vivid are many of the thronging recollections of my
school boy period. The noonday sport, so full of interest,
and which was so suddenly interrupted, never to Be resumed,
by the inexorable summons from the lord of the school-room,,
was but an epitome of a human life. The voices of my young
playmates seem almost still ringing in my ears, I watch the
staid demeanor and listen to the grave conversation of our
old puritan fathers, who have long since been succeeded by





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


their sons and daughters, and those again by a third generation of men and women.
All these seem but the occurrences of yesterday, after a
long and troubled dream from which it almost seems as
though I was yet to awake and witness their repetition.
And yet half a century has intervened between that time
and the present. Forty such intervals placed consecutively
backward, would reach beyond the Christian era, a hundred
and twenty would ante date the creation according to the
letter of the Mosaic history. But still, this whole time is
not so very long. Do not the results of our own experience
in this respect satisfy us that if Adam had lived till now, he
might still have regarded his life as short, and that he would
have looked back upon his days of primeval innocence and
ignorance with regrets, perhaps more piognant bul with
feelings nearly akin to those called forth by the voices of
our own memories?
My earliest recollections of things outside of my own
home neighborhood ale of the old Pompey Academy. And
ever since, its well remembered dingy and weather-worn
exterior has excited a veneration unequalled by that of any
other structure. This is partly due to intrinsic causes, but
none to the effect of early associations. Its commanding
position made it distinctly visible from the play-grounds of
our district school house, which was situated on a more
humble but parallel ridge to the eastward; I well remember
with what feelings of awe it was always regarded by me in
those earlier days, as something superior to the sphere in
which I was born and to which I seemed confined. I sometimes attended " meeting" in its large upper hall, which
was fireless in winter as well as in summer, and supposed
that this was all the connection I should ever have with its
venerable existence. I looked upon the students who were
so fortunate as to enjoy its full advantages as a privileged
order, and could imagine no earthly condition which I
should pride so highly as to become one of their happy
number.





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My wishes in this respect were destined in some degree
to be gratified. A few weeks of mathematical instruction,
under its most distinguished principal, Mr. Leonard, just at
the close of his connection with that institution, was followed
by a longer period of both classical and scientific study, under his successor, Mr. Aikin, and the supervision of the iRev.
Mr. Barrow.
Brief as was the relation of instructor and pupil between
Mr. Leonard and myself, it was sufficient to give me an exalted estimate, and a life-long recollection of his capabilities
in that connection. I have never known a more lucid expositor of an abstruse subject, or one who would present any
idea more clearly with the same number of words. He was
the soul of the Academy and gave it most of its well-merited
celebrity; and whenever memory calls up that institution
from among the shadows of the past, prominent in the foreground, is the figure of Mr. Leonard, with his cane and
spectacles and with his erect military bearing.
Mr. Barrow was a gentleman of high intelligence and
culture, and manifested the greatest interest in the welfare
of those under his charge. lie gave a new direction to the
current of my life by inducing me 'to change my intention
of soon bringing my academical studies to a close, and to
attempt by mny unaided efforts to acquire a full collegiate
education. The usual recourse in such cases that of teaching school a portion of the year to supply the means of
studying during the remainderwas suggested and adopted.
During my seasons of study I lived at home, walking
every morning an devening nearly three miles to and from the
Academy. This instead of being a disadvantage, doubtless
contributed not only to my health but also to my educational progress. It gave me the needful exercise without
any loss of time. In fact I always regarded this long walk
as the most favorable opportunity for studying such subjects
as did not involve the necessity of carrying a burden of
books. The distance was passed over mechanically and al




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TIHE POMPEY. RE-UNION.


most unconsciously with less to interrupt the intellectual
current than though I had been all the while seatedat nmy
desk. And ever since from force of habit or otherwise,
whenever I have had an intricate and perplexing subject to
untangle, I have resorted to walking as a means of rendering my mind more active and less liable to confusion.
Among the many pleasing recollections which cluster
around the Pompey Academy, were the exhibitions (as they
were called,) with which the students and the public were
sometimes indulged. These I always anticipated with the
liveliest interest, long before I was in a condition to become
an actor therein. And if as a spectator I could obtain a position where I could see and hear all that there took place,
I was on one of the pinnacles of human happiness.
The dramatic portions of the exercises on those occasions
were most completely to my taste, and no theatrical exhibitions which I have ever witnessed since that time, when
measured by the effect produced on my own mind, were
superior to those there presented. Among the actors Iparticularly remember Orange Butler, who would have made
his mark as a comedian on any stage and before any audience, had he turned his chief attention and devoted his
studies to his histrionic art.
I have also a vivid recollection of the effect produced on
my young mind by Miss Charlotte Hopkins, now Mrs.
Beardsley, as a vocalist on one of' those occasions. I have
since heard the voices of Jenny Lind, and Parepa Rosa and
Miss Nilsson, with. many others of wide celebrity, but the
sensations produced by any of these were tame in comparison with those which thrilled the soul of the rapt boy as he
listened to the rich warbhngs of a strain from " the bards of
Ayr," by Miss Hopkins. The echoes of that music have
never yet wholly died away.
Much of the effect in these cases was doubtless due to the
recaptivity of my own youthful nature. The keenness of
my moral and intellectual appetites had not been blunted by





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


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time or indulgence. Paucity of amusements caused a fuller
appreciation of those we were privileged to enjoy. Bit after making full allowance for all these considerations, very.
much of the effect to which I have alluded was doubtless
due to the intrinsic excellence of what I then witnessed.
In illustration of this idea, I will refer to another of the
few amusements of that early period, I mean the general
trainings which annually took place on Pompey Hill. One
of the chief charms on those occasions was the gingerbread
made by a baker name Nettleton, which was then sure to be
awaiting our expectant shillings. Its appreciated excellence
was doubtless, partly due to a healthful appetite, which had
then been rarely gratified and never pampered. But after
making full allowance for this cause, no one whose memory
extends back to those times, will ever question its intrinsic
merits. Nettleton's gingerbreadwas one of the beneficent
institutions of that day. Its manufacture is one of the lost
arts. Perhaps the world is never again to know the secret
of its perfection.
But there are other memories which the present occasion
elicits., and to which I will briefly allude. Pompey Hill was
then a village of no inconsiderable pretensions. It raised
its head above its rural surroundings as high socially, as it
stood geologically, and this pre-eminence was tacitly acknowledged by all the country people around. Thither they
went for law, medicine and merchandise, thither they carried to market the products of their farms and of their handiwork, and thither they wanded their way annually to elections, town meetings and general trainings, and on every
Sunday to " meeting."
My earliest recollections are of the large upper room in
the old Academy, to which I have already alluded, as the
most pretentions place of religious worship for the Presbyterians, who were then the most numerous and wealthy. denomination. In the progress of improvement, a new church
was built by them in a more central portion of the village,.





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


and the Academy was occupied by the Baptists, who, after
a few years, erected a building of their own. In the mutations to which all human affairs are subject, this building
*has since-passed into the occupancy and ownership of the
Roman Catholics. I was present when the erection of the
steeple of the Presbyterian meeting house was completed,
and saw a hair-brained man seat himself upon a threepronged fork which was fixed by a socket upon the point of
the spire. I turned away my eyes with a shudder, and when
next I looked, he was coming down the spire head foremost
like a squirrel. The bare thought of that transaction almost makes my blood run cold to this day.
I remember the time when most of our country people
dwelt in log houses, and how I used to be impressed with
the odor of aristocracy that seemed to surround the village
habitations, all of which were of frame work, and most of
them were even painted. The population of the town was
considerably greater then than now, for all these log houses
were crowded with children. The country had been chiefly
settled by'men in the prime of life, who had immigrated
almost simultaneously, and purchased small farms averaging
little if any more than one hundred acres each. David
Green, owned three hundred and twenty acres, the two Newmans, John and Amos, had each about the same number.
Conrad Bush had twice as many, but these were rare exceptions. The consequence was that the whole country was
densely populated at a very early day. The process which
has since been going on has been that of uniting farms instead of diciding them. A considerable proportion of the
country habitations have become tenantless, and have disappeared, in consequence of the emigration of their former
occupants with their families, until the number of scholars
in the district wherein I received my rudimentary education, is not now more than one-third, or perhaps one quarter of what it was when I was one of them; and this diminution would have been still much greater, but for the hiew





THE POMPEY BE-UNION.


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element of Irish immigration which has filled in part the
vacuum created by the causes above mentioned.
Away down the vista of the years that have forever fled,
come visions of many more of the early inhabitants of Pompey, who have passed from this mortal stage, to many of
whom I was connected by ties of respect and gratitude in
consequence of the salutary influence they have exerted over
my destiny. Prominent among these, I will mention Daniel
Wood, Victory Birdseye, Elisha Litchfield, Ansel Judd, Asa
Wells, David F. Dodge and Daniel Gott. It was while
struggling with an unfriendly fortune that these and others
of lesser note by kindly counsel or otherwise, 'strengthened
me in my purposes and aided in their accomplishment. A
suggestion from the first named of these individuals induced
me t' consult the second, who by a letter to the third, then
our representative in Congress, secured me an appointment
in the Military Academy, which thus unexpectedly changed
again the current of my life.
But the advantages thus presented for my acceptance
were not obtained without cost. They involved the necessity of a separation from home and kindre'd and friends, from
all that constituted the world in which I then lived, and of
entering upon a new and untried state of existence. One in
whom the domestic ties were unusually strong, and who was
called for the first time in his life away from their almost
immediate influence, may well be supposed to feel the sacrifice of all he has ever loved or valued; but the measure of
that sacrifice can only be fully appreciated by him who has.had a like experience. It was the mental anguish of death
while yet the life pulses were beating warm and healthful,
while the senses were all unclouded, and while relief from
physical agony afforded no part of a compensating equivalent. And when the nostalgic symptoms incident to such
a state of mind and circumstances had become fairly de'veloped,, actual death with all its attendant horrors seemed attractive and even welcome, provided my mortal frame could
be restored to the scenes for which my longing heart was





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


pining with a desire as unconquerable as it may now seem
extravagant.
But I persevered in the course I had chosen. The recuperative forces of youth and nature triumphed.  Another
world grew up around me. A new moral 'creation sprung
into existence, which has ever since been constantly extending and consolidating itself and becoming more and more a
subject of absorbing interest and affection.
Yet even still there is an inner world recognized and ever
unforgotten. It lies next outside of the charmed circle of
my childhood'shome, and partakes of its peculiar influences,
though these lessen in intensity in proportion as they increase in circumference. Its inhabitants seem different from
those of the outer world. Whoever was born or has long
resided in my native town, is bound to me by a tie unknown to others, and seems in some degree a relative. I
have always availed myself of every convenient opportunity
to keep alive the magic influence which connects my life
with the place of its commencement, and the surroundings
of its earlier stages, and have sometimes hoped it yet was
destined to terminate near where it first began.
The great change in my life to which I have alluded, took
place in 1825, a year not more momentous in my own history than in that of the human race. Railroads, in the
sense in which that word is now understood, were on that
year first made a practical reality. The Stockton and Darlington railway for the general transportation of freight and
passengers from place to place, commenced its operations
in that year, and was the first of its species.
It constituted an era in human history, a new departure
in the progress of civilization. Other inventions and other
causes have contributed to the great result, but an impulse
was then communicated which has elevated human nature
to a higher plane of existence and endued it with new attributes and new capabilities. The man of to-day is a very
different being from the man of 1825. He can fly through





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space with the speed of an eagle. He can practically navigate the summit of mountain ranges as well as the beds of
the deeper rivers. He can converse with his friends who
are a thousand miles distant, and is made instantaneously
conscious of its daily occurrences among the antipodes. If at
the expiration of another forty-six years, he is gfted with
powers attributed to the genii of Arabic fiction, the change
will hardly.surpass that which our own eyes have witnessed.
But this change, great and beneficial as it has been in most
respects, has not been without its disadvantages in others.
Our native town, and especially its chief village, have felt
some of its inauspicious effects. Its elevated position and
other circumstances have placed it beyond the reach of any
probable railroad or telegraph. In respect to other localities, its relative movement has been backward. Its men of
mark are mostly drawn to other centres. Syracuse, whose
prosperity has by the cause we are considering, been.so much
enhanced, absorbs most of its mercantile and manufacturing
enterprise. The great west which by the same causes, has
been brought practically nearer to the principal markets of
the world, entices its agricultural population, until like most
of the other rural districts of the State, it has been constantly diminishing in comparative wealth and in actual population.
Yet while its hills remain to give their beautiful diversity
to its unequalled landscapes, it will never be wanting in attractions for those who have an eye for rural beauty, wherever the places of their birth. But to one who was born
and nurtured among those hills, of whose moral view they
thus formed a living part and parcel, they will always possess
a charm which time and distance can never dispel. Hundreds of years hence, the wanderer from this his birth place,
shall wend hither his pilgrim steps, as I have often done,
to gratify the irrepressible promptings of his heart, to fortify the better principles of his nature, or to give his troubled
spirit rest, by contemplating the theatre of his early innocence and by watching the lights and shadows that sweep over





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


those grand and peaceful undulations, bringing calmness to
a soul that has long been tempest tossed, among the conflicts and commotions of the world without.
On the summit of the eminence which overlooks all its
surroundings, and which is in the village burying ground,
lies the brother by whose side I always slept in childhood,
taking his final rest. Thither have I sometimes repaired on
a summer's Sabbath hour, to meditate over the past and to
admire the beautiful panorama which spreads on every side,
as far as the eye can reach. The impenetrable veil of the
primeval forest has been withdrawn so far as to diversify
and unfold the beauties it can no longer conceal. The summer breezes, whose wings never are scorched by any
sultry sun, are there nestling in the groves or flitting out and
in at the windows of the hundreds of quiet homes that are
scattered all around. Hills and valleys all verdant and beautiful stretch themselves out in endless variety on every side,
until they meet and mingle with the skies in the dim distant horizon. It is the loveliest sight ofnature in her mildest
mood that can be found in all the earth, and never satiates
or ceases to delight the heart that is all attuned to its higher,
holier impulses. No one need ever seek a preferable spot
on which to await the momentous events of the rapidly approaching future. I hope that I may yet again be sometimes permitted to feast my moral appetite upon its rich but
unchanging treasures.
Frequent are the admonitions however, that such privileges will soon be ended. At brief intervals the news is
spread that some of our old familiar friends have passed forever away. Even with your letter came the sad intelligence
that Mr. Daniel Marsh, whom I remember from my earliest
years, and who then and for long years afterwards resided
within sight of my birth place, would never again be seen
in his frequent walks around your native village. One by
one the Great Teacher's call is summoning us from our
game of life, which, like our schoolboy sports, is often left
unfinished. The writer of these lines will doubtless precede





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


129


most of those for whom they are intended, but they all will
follow, and oh how soon!:Faith then looks up with hopeful eye to a higher destiny prepared by Him who has shaped
all things more in kindlier adaptation to our individual happiness- than could have been contrived by the most exalted
human intelligence. Till then.we all shall never meet again,
but my kindest wishes shall attend each one in life, in death
and in the realms beyond. From the narrow isthmus which
connects the unforgotten past with. the undeveloped future,
I send you all my greeting, and bid you all till next we meet,
adieu.
Yours, very truly,
CHAS. MASON.
DR..I. F. STEVENS.
NEW YORK, June 24th, 1871.
Dr. R. F. Stevens,. Sec'y, c.
DEAR SIR:-Your proposed Pompey re-union has just come
to my knowledge, having received from a relative this
morning, a circular, in which my name appears as one of
the speakers announced for the occasion.
The idea is novel, attractive, and admirably conceived.
I regret I did not know of it earlier, for I cannot thihk of
any event, vhich would give me greater pleasure; but it is
now too late; other matters will prevent my attendance.
It is natural to reverence my birth place, and early home.
The sweetest memories cling to the familiar scenes and
friends of sunny childhood and youth.
I spent several years at school and studying my profession
on good old Pompey Hill, which has purer air and water,
and is nearer Heaven than any inhabited place in the State.
I remember well preceptors Leonard and Huntington.
The old yellow Academy with its BELL; Declamation Hall,
&c. There was, as usual a great variety of talent among
the pupils. Some afterwards became graduates, studied the
different professions and met with varied fortune. And a
9





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


few have made their mark, and have founded a lasting fame,
but for pecuniary success, there was one, who never studied
at all, and who has far excelled all the others. The son of
a wealthy farmer of the county, he was sent to the Academy
to get educated and prepared for business, and he was provided with the necessary new books for the purpose. But
the boy understood trade meant business, not education, or
"Book-larnin," and he therefore spent most of his time at
the Inn of Capt. Pitt Dyer. All old inhabitants will remember the happy smiling face of the jovial Inn-keeper. This
was the Pompey E.xchange, where speculations, politics and
religion were ably discussed, and where Uncle Nat stood
champion of'the world at chequers, and it was here the
young pupil, between November and April, traded. Starting with the capital of a silver watch, he returned home in
the Spring with four horses, three watches, and fifty dollars
cash. The leaves of his books remained unsoiled. Uncle
P. his father, was a practical man, he saw the situation at a
glance, he made no farther effort in the line of the Academics, but made a virtue of necessity and allowed the talents
of his son to flow in their natural channel, and it is due to
the boy to say, that well he improved the opportunity, and
now in middle age, he is the wealthy man, sagacious trader,
able financier, and influential citizen, although his correspondence exhibits some deficiency in his early school training.
I am proud of my native town, she has always leaned toward the right, vice has found no abiding place within her
limits. Her farmers for intelligence and integrity, rank
among our best citizens. From my earliestrecollection her
common schools have been models not surpassed, if equalled,
by the best of the present time, and in them a good business education was brought to the door of every one, and
was well improved.
Among the able teachers in the old common school at
Delphi, (my house,) which was one of the best in the county from 1815 to 1830, were Joshua A. Spencer, Elephalet





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Spencer, Hiram Denio, Wm. H. Shankland, Orville Robinson, David C. Burdick and others, who afterwards became
eminent men. Among their pupils I might name many
who have done themselves great credit in after life.
Pompey was settled by hardy New England pioneers, who
well understood the importance of schools. Their first
business was to establish them, and thus they early shaped
the future of this good old town.
The present generation is enjoying the fruits of their
foresight and enterprise, long may they retain their just
reputation as an intelligent and'upright people.
In 1798, my father and mother, both from New England,
settled in the then wilderness, on the hill about two miles
from Delphi, the nearest neighbor was two miles away.
Within ten years the beautiful little village with its churches
and school sprang up, and all the neighboring farms were
occupied.
I cannot omit one more fact which commands my veneration and love for my native town. In her dust lie buried
my parents, brothers, sisters and many relatives.
Regretting that I cannot be present, and wishing you
pleasant weather for the occasion and a grand success,
I remain,
Your Obedient Servant,
HERVEY SHELDON.
CLAY, ONONDAGA,C., N. Y., June 21, 1871.
Dr. R. F. Stevens:
Having had an invitation to attend the " re-union at
Pompey, on the 29th inst.," I hereby make known to you,
my intention to be present.
I am not a native of Pompey. But in 1827, when a lad
14 years old, I went into the village of Delphi, to learn the
hatting trade of Canfield Marsh, brother of Marovia Marsh,
of Pompey Hill, also a hatter. In 1828, Marsh failed in





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


business, and I was compelled to seek a new home. I went
to the village of Fabius, and worked with Marvin Button,
at the harness trade, until 1831. I then went to Pompey
Hill, and worked with Edwin Dunbar, at the harness business, until May, 1834.  That finished my residence in
Pompey. October 12th, 1836, I married Miss Julia Penoyer,
a native of Fabius, Onondaga Co., N. Y. In 1838, Ilocated
in this little village, known as New Bridge, but the proper
name is Belgium. The name of our Post Office is Clay. I
hold a commission as Postmaster of Clay, N. Y., executed
by Montgomery Blair, (P. M, General of the United States,)
bearing date May 3d, 1861. I still continue as P. M.
My father had several brothers who were of the first settlers in Pompey. He had a sister who married Capt. Ptndason Avery.  The descendants of the Barnes clan are
very numerous, and may be found in almost any part of the
Union! They were well represented in the late rebellion.
I am a native of this county; was born August 24, 1812,
in what was then Cicero, but now Clay.
Pompey has very many attractions, and I feel a deep interest in the forthcoming re-union of its former residents.
David Porter, a native of Pompey Hill, a son of the late
Dea. Porter, and a neighbor of mine, has been courteous
enough to invite me to a seat in his carriage, to attend this
anxiously looked for. gathering. I accept of his kind invitation. We anticipate a glorious time, one that will pass
down to posterity through the annals of history.
I have already extended this letter beyond its proper limits, still, I will venture a quotation from a native of Pompey.
"Pompey has produced more men of talent, than any other
town in the county."      Yours,
ORRIS BARNES.
SYRACUSE, June 27, 1871.
Hon. Daniel Wood:
DEAR SIR:-Previous engagemenets prevents my joining
NIIV  ~  LI Vz:1  -. ISý,. y..~





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133


you in the praise-worthy effort in gathering together all of
the surviving former residents of the old town of Pompey,
with a view to a re-union.
I do not rank as a pioneer, yet my parents came from
Massachusetts to Pompey, west Hill, in 1799, where I, then
an infant, resided for more than a quarter of a century, thus
being quite familiar with the early settlement of said town.
Respectfully,
CHARLES A. BAKER.
PALMYRA, June 13, 1871.
Dr. R. F. Stevens, Syracuse, N. Y.DEAR SIR:-I am in the receipt of an invitation to attend
a re-union of the former residents of the old town of Pompey. As this is my native town, and some years of early
life having been spent at the old Academy, I am persuaded
that the occasion will be one not only of general interest,
but to myself especially agreeable. At my age, (73,) I can
hardly expect to see many faces of the friends and associates
of my early life. But the home of your childhood, the resting place of your honored dead, and the sweet memories of
days gone by, will sanctity and hallow the " old Hill," and
revive the associations of the half century gone.
Unless prevented by sickness, it will please me to attend
and join in the pastimes of the occasion.
Very Respectfully,
HIRAM K. JEROME.
NEW YORK CITY, June 28, 1871.
Dr. R. F. Stevens, Secretary, c.
MY DEAR SIR:-Your favor of the 20th inst., inviting me
to the re-union of the residents of Pompey on the 29th inst.,
was duly received. I have delayed answering it, till this,
the last possible moment, in the hope that by some good
turn of fortune's wheel, I might respond in person, rather
than by letter. That, however proves impossible, owing.to
engagements made some weeks before notice of the time





134


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


selected reached me. I am, therefore, reluctantly compelled
to deny myself the pleasure of joining in this re-union, and
of meeting the many friends who will be present.
My annual returns to the home of my childhood have
kept me familiar with the scenes of my earliest days; and
it would delight me to be once more " at home," and to
point out to those who, as to these annual pilgrimages, have
been less favored than myself, some of the beauties of the
old place. In a life not free from wandering, it has been my
privilege to see large portions of my native land, and something of many lands abroad. It seems to me moreover, to
be one of the peculiarities of my own mind to remember
and recall, with something more than ordinary facility and
distinctness, the scenes which have been laid before my eyes.
But in all the countries I have been permitted to visit, I can
recall few scenes more beautiful than those which at this
season of the year are presented from the Old Hill. The
lakes, which are set like mirrors in the landscape; the distant bills, almost swelling into mountains, the mighty sweep
of vision to the east and north; the long valleys to the
south-west and south-east, the rich fields nearer by, and almost at your feet, and showing, like the divisions on a chess
board, farms and forests, dwellings and orchards, waving
corn and ripening meadows, yellow stubble and green pastures, flocks and herds, and running brooks; all these make
up a picture which is ever before my mind, and which seems
to me fairer than almost any other scene ever presented to
my eyes. In what stream in all the old town have I not
bathed or fished? Upon which of its waters have I not
skated? Down what hill have I not coasted over the deep
snows, only to drag the heavy sled again and again up the
steep ascent, with panting lungs and arid muscles? From
what tree, or bush, or sward, in forest, orchard and field,
have I not. gathered nuts and fruits and berries? In how
many meadows did I not make spoil of the honey of the
wild bee? Through how many fields and woods did I not
use to wander, hunting, or at least trying to persuade my




TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


13&


self I was hunting? In how many of the old School houses
have I not been present at some thronged " spelling school,"
to choose or be chosen, on one side or the other, and to contend for my standing, or yield at length, and among the last,
to inevitable defeat, with an interest as keen, and a regret asbitter as have come in after years in the contests that may
have seemed, (but were they really?) far more important?
Up what precipice was it not my delight to climb? And if
my poor name is not otherwise worthy of remembrance, is
it not, with so many, many others, handed down to lasting
immortality, in the carvings on the trees at Pratt's and
Conkling's Falls? What place in all the broad landscape
is not associated in my mind with some delightful recollection of itself, and of persons present or absent, living or
departed? And, turning to the highest point of the old
Hill, where the grave-stones point aloft, how many memories
throng upon us, as we cross the enclosure, and seek the
graves where rest the loved and honored of other days;
parents, brothers, sisters, kinsfolk, playmates, friends, how
many have there taken up their final earthly abode? How
long will it be before the old Hill can be forgotten for their
sakes, were every other tie that calls me thither, sundered
forever?
It would ill become me now to attempt any statement of
facts, whether of history or tradition, such as others who will
be present will delight you with. But surely, there is something in soil and climate and country, which stamps itself on
the character and shines out in all future life. Else why is
such a delegation gathered to the homes of their childhood?
The steep hills, the dark forests, the deep snows, the fierce
winds, the long, cold winters, the late coming springs; all
these were struggled against and overcome.    But, with
these, were the charms of spring, with wild flowers blossoming on the edges of the snow-drifts; the summers in their
beauty, the glories of sunset; and autumns rich with fruits,,
and bright with forest splendors. All these have left their
stamp upon the lives of too many children of the old birth




136


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


place, for us to doubt that such a commencement is oftentimes the best preparations for the duties of life, in whatever
occupation or station. They who come up to this re-union,
from the hall of the Senate, or the Chair of the Executive,
or the head of the army, or the bureau of the Cabinet, or
the counting houses of merchants, or the direction of great
railways, all will testify that the forces which have enabled
themn to surmount obstacles and conquer difficulties in their
future life, if not derived from, were at least largely strengthened and developed by the life they led in childhood and
youth amid the snows and storms of the old Hill.
The powers which have governed mighty States, or led
great armies victors through long campaigns, and over wide
realms, or held Senate's attentive listeners, or left their stamp
on the history of the world in the treaty that settles National
disputes, not by war with its bloodshed and devastation and
misery, but by weighing grievances, claims and complaints
in the just and equal balance of peaceful arbitration, or which
have built and operated vast railroads, or sent forth great
lines of steam ships over distant seas, the names of which
-were scarcely known to 'us in our school days. These
powers were trained and developed in the common schools
or the Academy, and by the libraries of the old town. What.honor is not due to those who in the earliest years, in the
midst of difficulties, privations and dangers, seeking new
habitations, and laying the foundations of new institutions,.gathered libraries and built schools and academies such as
these, and left behind them influences so potent and beneficial, to rule in affairs of State, to lead in war, and to become
as oil on troubled waters, soothing and assuaging the hates
and quarrels of great nations, and turning the spear and
sword into pruning hook and plow-share.    How many
through all this broad land, have been refreshed and invigorated by the writings of one whowentfrom the old Hill. But
how few, besides those who were born or bred there, know
that the graces which are properly reprcsented in the name





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


137


they know her by, were born and trained and cultured in a
simple farm house in our native town.
May these influences, so powerful and beneficent during
the lives of those who may be present on this occasion, continue to bear now, increased and widened sway through all
the coming generations. And may it long be the delight
of those whose early years shall be spent amid the old scenes,
to remember with pleasure the homes of their childhood,
and with affection and gratitude the memories of those who,
in hardship and privation, founded the Schools and Churches
wherein they shall be trained and fitted for usefulness and
power throughout the world.
Desiring to be remembered with affection to those who
may come up to this feast,' and not seeking to conceal my
sense, of their superior good fortune, and my sharp regret
that I am not able to share personally in all their pleasures,
I am,
Most respectfully and truly
Your friend,
LUCIEN BITDSEYE.





POMPEY ACADEMY.
The history ot the Academy in Pompey is very largely
the history of the town. It is a history of labors and struggles and gifts and self denials and delays; but not of defeats or disappointments.
The first settlers of the town were almost wholly from
Connecticut. Although, in entering the wilderness, theyleft schools and churches behind them, they were fully sen-,
sible of the advantages of churches and schools, and spared
no efforts to secure the same to themselves and to their
children.
In 1784, Washington, then scarcely rested from the
fatigues of the Revolutionary War, had made his wellknown journey up the valley of the Hudson, and as far as
Crown Point, and up the Mohawk and 'by the Portage at
VWood Creek to the Oneida Lake, that he might see for himself what means there were for communication by water
between the new States just established on the sea-board,
and the waters of the great lakes and the St. Lawrence.
What he saw then, as well as in his explorations, previous
and subsequent, in Western Virginia and Pennsylvania, led
him to the efforts, which lasted through his life, for opening
communication from the seaboard to the western Rivers and
Lakes. This journey, and the attention with which all his
movements were followed, turned public observation more
fully to the future advantages of settlements of the west, and
tended in a few years greatly to promote emigration to the
western wilderness.





TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


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By the Act of July 25, 1782, (1 Greenleaf's Laws of N.
Y. 55,) the State of New York had set apart and assigned
lands for the purpose of making grants to the officers and
soldiers of the State, who had served in the then present
war with Great Britain. By the Act of Feb'y 28, 1789, (2
Greenleaf, 281,) after a recital that the title thereto of the
Indians had been extinguished, the Surveyor General had
been directed to lay out the military county lands into
townships, each to contain sixty thousand acres of land,
and to be laid out as nearly in squares as local circumstances would permit, and to be divided into one hundred lots,
as nearly square as might be; each lot to contain six hundred acres, as nearly as might be.
This act contains minute directions for making surveys
and maps of the land, and for "' balloting" for the lots; so
that the soldiers, their heirs or assigns, should receive the
lands they were entitled to; six lots in each town being assigned " for promoting the gospel and a public school or
schools, and one for promoting literature in the State, as the
Legislature might direct."
During 1789-90, Simeon DeWitt, then Surveyor General,
surveyed the military county lands; laying them out into
townships and lots, and displaying his classical tastes and
learning by the names which he gave the townships; as
Pompey, Manlius, Cicero, Fabius, Romulous, Cato, &c.
The county of Onondaga was erected from the county of
Herkimer, by the Act of March 5, 1794. (3 Greenleaf, 110.)
Pompey and other towns were created by this Act. The
new county comprised the military county lands. It embraced all that part of the State, contained in the present
counties of Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Cortland, together with portions of Oswego, Wayne, Tompkins and
Schuyler.
The first settlement within the bounds of Pompey, was
made in April, 1792, by Ebenezer Butler, Jr., (afterwards:
commonly known as Judge Butler,) a native of Harwinton,,





140


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Litchfield Co., Conn.*     He had in 1791 purchased military
lot No. 65, in the township,f and in that year visited it; but
his family were not removed thither till 1792.        In 1793, his
brother Jesset and others, with their families, came to the
town.
The movement for founding an Academy seems to have
commenced very shortly thereafter. As early as January,
1800, a petition of the inhabitants of the town and vicinity,
to the Regents of the University for the incorporation of an
Academy at Pompey, was prepared, signed and forwarded to
Albany.
It was presented to the Regents at a meeting held on the
17th March, 1800, and was referred to a committee of examination. At a meeting of the Regents, held March 31,
1800, the report of that committee was considered.          There
seems to have been at that time no other Academy in the
county.    The Regents adopted a preamble and resolutions,
by which, (after reciting that it was uncertain whether Pompey was the most proper place for an Academy in the county
of Onondaga, and that there was reason to doubt the expe<iency of having more than one Academy in one county,)
it was resolved that the secretary should transmit a copy of
said petition and of that resolution to the supervisors of Onondaga county, and request that they would at their next
session inform    the Regents whether in their opinion there
were any, and what, objections to granting the prayer of
said petition.   (See.Appendix No. 2.)
* Judge Butler died in Ohio, Sept., 1829, aged 96 years.
t Lot 65 is that part of the town on which the Academy, Churches, burial ground, &c.,.&c., are situated.
$ Jesse died at Fabius, N, Y., November 30th, 1856, aged 93 years 1 mo.
-This Petition, like many other documents hereinafter referred to, throws much light
*on the history of the town. The first settlement had been made less than eight years
before; and hereis a paper setting forth the advantages and necessity of a School of high
character, it is signed by twenty-five different persons; all apparently heads of families,
every one subscribing money, the lowest $25: the highest $125; the total amounting to
$1,195. So much of useful information as to the names of the first settlers, their efforts,
labors and sacrifices, and so much of family history, worthy of hdnest pride, may be.gathered from these papers, that it has been deemed proper to print them at length, in
the Appendix to this sketch. The petition here mentioned is No. 1 in such Appendix.





THE IOMPEY RE-UNION.


141


The supervisors of the county met at Pompey Hill in October, 1800. Their action was favorable to the views of the
petitioners. (See Apendix No. 3.) The same having been
certified to the Regents, the original petition and the proceedings of the supervisors were, on the 16th Feb'y, 1801,
referred to a committee. (See Appendix No. 2.)
No further action being had by the Regents, the good
people of Pompey seem to have become impatient; and in
the winter of 1802, they prepared another petition, which
was signed by sixty persons, and presented to the Regents
March 15, 1802. (See Appendix No. 4.) On the receipt of
it, and on the same day, the Regents resolved to approve of
the application of sundry inhabitants of the county of Onondaga, for the incorporation of an Academy at Pompey, in
said county, and that they would incorporate the same upon
satisfactory evidence being given, within a reasonable time,
of a compliance with the resolution passed by the Regents
March 23, 1801.
This latter resolution, (after reciting that Academies were
intended to teach branches of literature superior to those
taught in common schools, and requiring to that end a more
extensive provision for the support of well qualified instructors,) declared that in future no Academy ought to be incorporated, unless it be made to appear to the Board by satisfactory evidence that a proper building for the purpose
had been erected, finished and paid for, and that funds had
been obtained and well secured, producing an annual income of at least $100; and further, that there be a condition in
the charter of incorporation, that the principal or estate producing such income should never be diminished or appropriated; and that such income should be appropriated only
to the maintainance, or the salaries of the professors or tutors of the Academy.
The resolutions of March 15, 1802, and March 23d, 1801,
were communicated to the petitioners, by certified copies
thereof, which are still among the files of the Academy.





142


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


The erection of the first building for the Academy, must
have been commenced in or about 1803. Mr. Samuel Baker states that when he first saw the building, in August,
1806, as his father Nathaniel Baker was moving into the village, the building was erected and covered, but was not completed or ready for occupation. William Lathrop was the
builder.
On the 20th July, 1807, Win. Lathrop and George W.
Wood entered into an agreement, (see Appendix No. 5,)
with Manoah Pratt, Henry Seymour and Samuel S. Baldwin, who were " a committee to build the Academy in Pompey," to do certain specified carpenter's work in completing
the building designed for the Academy, for the sum.of $200;
the same to be paid by assignment of subscriptions which
should be good aud collectable."  Mr. Wood soon after
retired from the job. Mr. Lathrop proceeded with it for
some time, but on the 2d March, 1810, he relinquished the
unfinished part of the job, and agreed to accept $140, in fall
of what had then been done. In July, 1810, a new subscription was raised, and in the same paper the same committee
entered into an agreement to procure the Academy to be
completed for the sum of $450. (See Appendix No. 6.)
It is easily to be gathered that, up to this time, the project
tor the establishment of the Academy had met many difficulties and much opposition; among the files of the Regents is an affidavit of Walter Colton, sworn to March 2d.
1802, and delivered to the Board at their meeting of March
15, 1802, when the second petition for the Academy was
presented and conditionally granted. (See Appendix No. 7.)
In this affidavit, Mr. Colton, who had signed the first petition for the Academy, subscribing $100, but who had in
the meantime removed to Onondaga Hill, charged fraud,
it would seem, in the getting up of the first petition, in January, 1800.
Opposition however, proved ineffectual. The great difficulty was the raising of money to build and complete, and





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


143


then to endow, the Academy. When we consider the condition of the country, emerging, as it then was, from the
utter bankruptcy of the Revolutionary War, with its continental currency; and especially of this part of the country,
without money, or roads, or canals, or markets, or any
means of improvement or communication, we shall see how
great was the undertaking to found and rear such an institution. The original subscription of January,1800, proved
wholly insufficient. A new one was raised in 1807, to pay
Lathrop and Wood for finishing the then half built house.
That also failed. No doubt it was true, as Mr. Colton had
stated in his affidavit, that some had died, and others were
insolvent and unable to pay what they had subscribed. But
the public spirit of the town was sufficient to overcome all
these obstacles. In 1810, the new subscription above mentioned was effected, which amounted to $2,345. (See Appendix No. 8.) It was sufficient to finish the building that
had so long remained incomplete, and to furnish an endowment with such an annual income as should meet the conditions on which alone the Regents could grant the charter.
It is no doubt to the great and generous endeavoi then
made that the tradition of the town refers, which tells of the
efforts for the raising of money, when subscriptions were
doubled, and the increased value of farms and property, if
such a school were established, was made the ground of appeal to the timid, the doubting and the frugal.
At length, in the Autumn of 1810, the building for the
Academy was completed and paid for; and there remained
$1,450, to serve as an endowment for the yielding of the net
annual revenue of $100, required to warrant the granting of
a charter.
In February, 1811, the final steps for the incorporation of
the school were taken. A petition, (in the peculiar and well
known hand writing of the late Mr. V. Birdseye,) was drawn
and generally signed; and after being verified by the late
Henry Seymour, (whose influence and labors for the school





144


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


everywhere appear,) was forwarded to the Regents, in March,
1811. (See Apendix No. 9.)
On the 11th March, 1811, by vote ef the Regents, the
Academy was incorporated, by the name of " The Trustees
of Pompey Academy," Daniel D. Tompkins, then Governor
of the State, was Chancellor of the Regents, and Francis
Bloodgood was Secretary. The charter is signed by them,
and sealed with the seal of the Regents, and bears date
March 19th, 1811. It recites that a proper building for the
Academy has been erected, finished and paid for, and that
funds have been obtained and well secured, producing a net
annual income of $100, and provides that the principal or
estate producing such income shall never be diminished, and
that the income shall be appropriated only to the maintainance or salaries of the professors or tutors of the Academy.
The persons named in the charter as the first Trustees
were Henry Seymour, Senior Truste; Samuel S. Baldwin,
Manoah Pratt, Daniel Wood, Ithamar: Coe, Asa Wells,
Hezekiah Clark, John Jerome, Silas Park, Jacobus DePuy,
Daniel Allen, Chauncey Jerome, Daniel Tibbals, Joshua
Johnson, Derrick C. Lansing, Benjamin Sanford, Charles C.
Mosely, William  J. Wilcox, Jonathan Stanley, Jr., Levi
Parsons, William Cook, Victory Birdseye, Jasper Hopper
and James Geddes.
At a meeting of the Trustees, held April 4, 1811, Henry
Seymour was elected President, Victory Birdseye, Secretary, and Daniel Wood, Treasurer. On the 20th May, 1811,
Henry Seymour, Daniel Tibbals and Victory Birdseye were
elected a prudential committee. On the 3d of November,
1812, tho following officers were chosen: Asa Wells, president; V. Birdseye, secretary; D. Wood, treasurer; Asa
Wells, S. S. Baldwin and D. Wood, prudential committee.
Rev. Joshua Leonard was hired as a teacher, at a salary of
$500 per annum.  On 6th October, 1813, the following officers were chosen: Rev. J. Leonard,.president; V. Birdseye, Secretary; H. Seymour, treasurer; D. Wood, C. Jerome and D. Tibbals, prudential committee.










OLD PO-MPEY ACADEMY.





ii,









TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


145


By this time, the organization of the Academy had been
substantially perfected, and its appropriate work had been
begun. Thenceforth, the principal labor of carrying on the
institution, devolved either on the treasurer, who had charge
of the funds, or the preceptor who tiaght in the school-i'6om.
Henry Seymour, remained treasurer from Oct. 6, 1813, till
January 10, 1821. On the 24thjMarch, 1819, he had been
appointed one of the Canal Commissioners of the State, and
his labors in superintending the construction of the Erie Canal, then well advanced towards completion, no doubt prevented his continuing to serve longer as treasurer. It was,
however, several years later, when he removed to Utica,
and he continued to be a trustee till Oct. 30, 1833, when his
resignation as trustee was accepted, and Mr. Samuel Baker
was chosen trustee in his place. On Mr. Seymour's resignation as treasurer, in 1821, Luther Marsh was chosen in
his stead; remaining treasurer till May 15, 1827, when Mr.
V. Birdseye was elected to the office, which he held till'his
death, Sept. 16, 1853. Levi Wells was then elected to the
office, and held it till his death, March 31, 1872, when IDr. O.
G. Dibble was chosen to succeed him.
A singular fiet should be noted as to the title of the
Academy to its lot of laud. On his accession to the office
of treasurer, in the fall of 1853, Mr. Levi Wells, while examining the papers that had come to his hands, found the
deed for this lot of land. It was given by Jesse Butler and
Louisa his wife, to Pompey Academy, It was dated "the
-day of-A. D. 1811," was in the usual form of a deed,
with a covenant of warranty. Consideration, $100. It conveyed in fee to the Academy, "All that certain piece or parcel of land lying on lot number sixty-five, in the township of
Pompey, bounded as follows, to-wit: Beginning at a stake
ninety-six links, south, fifty-six degrees west from the southwest corner of Daniel Wood's house; running from thence
west, sixteen rods to a stake; thence north nineteen rods;
thence east nineteen rods to 'the east line of the highway;
thence along the highway southerly to the place of begin10





146 -

THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


ning, contanining two acres of land, be the same more or
less."
Though imperfect in the date, it was otherwise in due
form, and duly signed and sealed by both grantors. Andit
was witnessed as to Mr. Butler by H. Clark. But it was
neither acknowledged, proved or recorded. Of course it was
liable to loss or destruction. It could only be read in evidence, if that should ever be necessary, by giving proof of
signtatures nearly half a century old at that time, and likely
soon to be wholly incapable of proof. Mr. Wells lost no
time in endeavoring to cure this defect. On presenting the
deed to Mrs. Butler, she at once freely acknowledged it before him as a Justice of the Peace. Mr. Butler, however,
rrefused to do the same, and it became necessary to resort
to a provision of the recording act, very rarely used of
late years. The genuineness of Mr. Butler's signature to
the deed was proved by Mr. Samuel Baker. The genuineness of the signature, and the death of Henry Clark, the
witness to Mr. Butler's execution of the deed, were proved
by Mr. John H. Clark, (brother of Henry Clark.) Then, by
filing the deed with the County Clerk, to remain forever on
file in his office, it was admitted to record on the 5th of
January, 1854, and recorded in Liber 115 of Deeds, p. 138.
Thus, after a lapse of more than forty years, the title of
the Academy to the site of its school building was first
secured against loss and danger.
By a law passed April 13, 1813, the Commissioners of
the Land Office were " authorized and required to grant by
L.etters Patent to the trustees of Pompey Academy, and
their successors, in fee simple, Lot Number Fifteen in the:town of Camillus, in the County of Onondaga, any law to
the contrary notwithstanding."  It was then, in the law,,made the duty of the trustees, when they should," sell the;said lot or any part thereof, to loan the money arising from;such sale on landed security, to double the value of the sum
so loaned, and on the payment of any such loan, then to reloan the sanme forever, and to appropriate the interest arising





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


147


from such loans forever to the support and maintenance of
instruction in said Academy."
The passage of this law is believed to have been secuired
by the late V. Birdseye, at a time when he was in Albany,
to attend the Supreme Court.
This lot of land, (15 in Camillus,) now in the town of Van
Buren, lies on the south bank of Seneca River, about two
miles below, or east of, Baldwinsville. It contained 638.88
acres, and was originally covered with a large and valuable
growth of pine and oak timber, which was easily rafted to
the mills on the River. The Commissioners of the Land
Office had been for years vexed by the stealing of the timber from the lot, which they had been unable to prevent or
to punish. This fact no doubt made the obtaining of the
grant much easier than it would otherwise have been.
On securing the passage of the Act, and its signature by
the Governor, Mr. B. returned with a certified copy; no
one in Pompey knowing anything of it. He went immediately to the land, with the late Warren Scranton, and
with his assistance, and that of Spencer Smith as surveyor,
surveyed and subdivided the lot. Very soon, such portions
were sold, that owners were settled on parts of the lot to
watch the remainder, and prevent trespassing. The whole
of the land was soon:sold, producing a fund of about $4,000;
the income of which tended very materially to promote the
welfare and success of the school.-(See Clark's Onondaga,
I: 245.)
All the older inhabitants of the town and the early scholars
will well recollect the old Academy. It was a large building
for that time and place, of wood, painted yellow, nearly
square, being 50 feet by 40; its gable fronting the south;
of two stories, and With a hall tern feet wide running through
the middle of the first floor. On each side of this hall, at
the.,front,. was-astudoy'ibnm,teli feet by fifteen. Behind
each of these, and on each side of the hall was a long room
extending to the rear of the building, forty feet by fifteen.





148


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


In the long room on the west side of the hall, the common school of the village was taught for many years; it
being in fact a department of the Academy, long after the
charter was granted. It had been'so occupied even before
the whole building was completed, and the charter obtained.
In the room on the east of the hall, the Academy was taught.
All the old pupils will recollect the long room; with its
broad fire-place at the south end; the entrance from the
hall, by the door about a third of the distance from the south
end; the Preceptor's chair and table at the north end; the
sloping desks, fastened to the wall, on either side; the long.benches before the desks; both benches and desks of the
finest white pine, ahd well whittled and marked. On the
west side of the room, behind the door leading into the hall,
and at the Master's right hand, sat the girls. On the other
side, and below the hall door on the west side, sat the boys
the smallest of each sex being nearest the teacher, and rising by age, till the oldest scholars were trusted farthest from
his eye. The favorite seats were those on each side of the
massive walls of the projecting fire-place, with but a step
between the seat and the boards that covered the bricks of
the chimney. The seats could be seen and approached only
from the side next the master. Here, many a game and
trick were played; much fruit and many nuts eaten. From
one of these secluded corners it was that about December,
1819, the live coal from the fire was dropped into the open.hand of the new scholar who, on his first day at the school,
stood before the fire, with closed eyes, and hands spread
behind his back,'during Mr. Leonard's morning prayer.
That scholar recently died at a good old age; and he told
the writer that he never knew or suspected whose sleight-ofhand had played the neat trick. If the perpetratpr of it
shall see these lines, he may now safely make due confession. Let him do so. "Better late than never."
In after years, when the District School-house had been
built, the common school was removed thither. Then the
west room became the chemical and philosophical laborato




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


149


ry and lecture room, which was so attractive on the Wednesday afternoons, when the routine of studying and reciting
gave place to more enticing lectures and experhinents. How
pungent was the chlorine? How pronounced the odor of
the sulphuretted hydrogen?  IHow proud was the pupil
chosen to stand with the teacher behind the table, to lend
an occasional hand in helping an experiment through to success? Of what matter w as even an extra breath of chlorine
to one who was enjoying such a distinction?
The second story was the chapel. It occupied nearly the
whole of the upper part of the building, and was forty feet
square. The stairs leading to it were at the north, at the extreme rear end of the hall. At the south, or front of the
chapel was " The stage," a broad platform raised just three
feet from the floor. On each side of the stage, at the front
cornei of the building, was a small room for study, ten feet
by fifteen. The roof was supported by four columns of
carved or turned pine, at equal distance from the corners and
centre of the room.
Church service was conducted here for years, and until.
the Congregational Church of the village was erected and
dedicated, in 1817. Here also were held THE EXHIBITIONS
which were the gala days of the town, when the pupils of
Leonard and Littlejohn declaimed, and the laughing gas
was administered, and the audience scattered before the
steps of the happy but unconscious victim, whose brief delusion soon left him, to wonder what folly he had committed while under the influence of " the gas."
In 1833, the old Academy had become so dilapidated, and
so unsuited to the wants of the school, as to require rebuilding. It was found necessary to have also a dwelling
house for the Preceptor. A new subsciption was made,
and money raised; the effort therefor commencing about
the year 1831.
In 1834, the old building was vacated, and the new one
commenced, which was finished and opened in the fall of





150


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


1835; the school being in the meantime taught in the District school house. The Preceptor's house was completed
in May, 1836. The cost of the Academy was $3,000, withi
extras to the amount of $110. The cost of the Preceptor's
house and extras, was $1,285.56. Timothy Butterfield was
the builder.
Many curious entries appear in the minutes and among
the files of the Academy.
On the 6th of October, 1815, the Prudential Committee
order the Treasurer to pay " the bearer, the Captain of the
band of musick, thirty-four dollars for the services of said
band at the Exhibition of said Institution."  This order is
receipted by John Hoare who was therefore the " Captain
of the band of musick."
There are, during several years, charges by, and payments
to John Handy and Hezekiah Hopkins, (the two tavern keepers of the village,) for liquors, board and " horse bate," for
the musicians.
During 1817, the scholars numbered 152; During 1818,
135; During 1822, 77; During 1824, 85.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to obtain a perfect list of
the teachers who kept the common school, while it was held
in the west room of the Academy. But the following list is
believed to be nearly complete
James Robinson, kept a school in which he taught the
classics and higher English branches, in 1805-6-7.
Abraham Plaunt, taught for some three or four winters.
Smith Dunham, taught, A. D. 1813-14.
Harvey Canfield in 1814.
Hugh Wallis, Dartmouth 1791; died 1848; aged 81, in
1814.
Miles Dunbar, Jr., in 1814-15.
Orange Butler, in 1815.
J. J. Deming, April 25, 1816, to Oct. 1, 1817.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


151


Daniel Gott, 1817-18.
Daniel Munson Wakeley, 1818.
Manoah Pratt, (then Jr.) for three winters,
B. Franklin Chappell for one winter.
The list of teachers in the Academy proper, is believed to
be more perfect.
The first teacher employed in the Academy was Ely Burchard; (Yale 1811, died 1866,) at a salary of $350. He
taught from Dec. 5, 1811, to Oct. 5, 1813. Prior to the engagement of Mr. Burchard, three separate efforts had been
made to engage other teachers; but all had for some reasoil
proved unsuccessful.
On the 4th Sept. 1813, the trustees of the Academy approved of contracts made with Rev. Joshua Leonard* to
take charge of the Academy as principal,at at salary of $500,
and Smith Dunham to take charge of the common school,
under the superintendence of the Academy, at a salary of
$300. Mr. Leonard continued in charge of the Academy
till 1822; being also most of the time pastor of the Congregational Church in the village.
On the 25th April, 1822, Rev. Eleazer S. Barrows, (Middlebury, 1811; and Tutor and Professor of Latin, in Hamilton College; died 1847,) and who had become pastor of
the same church, took charge of the Academy under a written agreement, by which he was to take the interests of the
Academy under his care and superintendence; to provide
for its instruction by the employment of suitable teachers,
and to superintend its government and general internal
management. He continued in charge of the school till
*Rev. Joshua Leonard, born June 25, 1769. Graduated at Brown University, 1788, A.
M. Yale, 17C2. First settled in the ministry at Ellington, Conn., whence, about 1797 or 8,
he removed to Cazenovia, N. Y. Here, on thh 17th May, 1798, he organized a Presbyterian Church, of nine members, the first Church formed there. Continued pastor of
that- church for about 14 years, when he resigned his charge on account of impaired
health; the church then numbering 127 members. From Cazenovia he removed to
Pompey. He was Preceptor of Pompey Academy for about 8 years. lie died at Auburn,
N. Y. Dec. 18, 1843, aged 75 years.





152


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


April, 1828. But the actual teaching and management of
the school were committed to others. Edward Aikin, (Middiebury, 1815; Died 1831,) came ip May, 1822, and remained for about three years. Flavius Josephus Littlejohn,
(Hamilton, 1827,) taught during part of 1825, infusing very
great interest and life into the school. Henry Howe, (Middlebury, 1817,) succeeded; remaining till September, 1828,
when he removed to Canandaigua, to take charge of the
Academy there, and which he conducted with success for
the next 15 years; dying in 1865.
Mr. Barrows, no doubt,, made " a good thing" by this arrangement; as he received the Regents and tuition moneys,
and $300 per annum out of the funds, with an annual allowance for repairs; making in all about $1,000 per annum, while he secured the services of the gentlemen who
actually taught the school, for about half that sum, or less.
On the 25th October, 1828, Rev. Andrew Huntington,
(Yale, 1815,) who still survives, took charge of the Academy, and taught it till July 14, 1834.
In October, 1834,'Samuel S. Stebbins, (Yale, 1816; Died
1860,) and who like Mr. Huntington, was a line scholar,
became preceptor, continuing in charge until January, 1843.
Hon. Amos Westcott, lately mayor of Syracuse, now
deceased, and a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute at
Troy, N. Y., was assistant to Mr. Stebbins, from Sept. 1836,
to Sept. 1838. Wm.,E. Mason, succeeded him as assistant;
teaching till August, 1839.
In September, 1843, Ensign Baker became preceptor, remaining so, till. April, 1846. Harrison V. Miller,,M. D.,
(Hamilton, 1851,) was assistant teacher in 1845-6. From
Sept., 1846, to July, 1852, Truman K. Wright, (Middlebury,
1839,) was preceptor. Charles H. Payson, taught from
Sept., 1852, to April, 1854. He was then succeeded by E.
Delos Wells, (Williams, 1854,) who taught till August, 1855.
Rev. John F. Kendall, (Hamilton, 1855,) succeeded teach




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


153


ing till August, 1856. Win. W. Waterman taught from,
Sept., 1856, to April, 1857. S. Marshall Ingalls then taught
till April, 1858. Theodore Beard, (Hamilton, 1856; Died
1860,) succeeded, teaching till Aug., 1859, with the exception of the latter part of 1858, when Daniel P. Baldwin,
(Madison University,) supplied his place, during a sickness.
George W. Kellogg, (Hamilton, 1859,) taught from October, 1859, to April, 1860; being then succeeded by Joseph
Dow, (Dartmouth, 1833,) who remained two years. Lozenzo
Fish succeeded him, teaching till August, 1864. Ile was
succeeded by Orson G. Dibble, (Yale, 1864,) now the physician at Pompey, and the Secretary and Treasurer of the
Academy. IHe taught till August, 1867, and was followed
by Edwin S. Butterfield, (Yale, 1867,) and who taught till
April, 1868, when Dr. Dibble returned for a term. P. V.
N. Myers, (Williams, 1867,) taught from Sept., 1868, to July,
1869. Rev. Lemuel S. Pomeroy, (Hamilton, 1835,) for the
next year. 'C. E. Havrens, to March, 1871, and W. H. Avery, during the summer term of 1871. The first preceptress
in the Academy, 'ias tlhe late Miss Lucretia Upham, who
taught for six quarters in 1815-16. Miss A. M. Cufts, conducted a Female Department for six months, in 1825, under
the administration ot' Mr. Barrows.
'Upon the completion of the new school building, and the
re-or1ganization of the school, Miss Anne Hopkins became
preceptress for the year 1835-6, assisted a part of the time
by Miss Mary 8. Hascall. Miss Margaret Saylos taught
during 1836-7. Miss Eliza E. Randall being the music
teacher. Miss Harriet N. Rand taught from October, 1837,
to December, 1840. Miss Charlotte Buttrick, taught during 1841.
Miss Elizabeth H-. Stone from January 1, 1842, to April,
1843. Miss Algenia Knox to April, 1844. Miss Giffing,
Miss Hoskins and Miss Stella Whipple had charge of the
ladies' school during the residue of 1844 and 1845, Miss
Julia E. Reynolds during 1846-7. Miss Maria Doolittle in
1848. Mrs. T. K. Wright taught in this-department much





154


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


of the residue of the time while her husband was preceptor
of the Academy.
Adelia M. Payson taught in 1853-4. Charlotte A. Birdseye, (Mrs. Harrison V. Miller,) to April, 1855; Ellen Hunt
to April, 1856; Mary S. Griffith from Sept., 1856 to
1857; Pamelia Beard, from 1858 to April, 1860.
Minerva Adams taught from January, 1864, to April, 1864;
Mary A. Birdseye, January to April, 1865; Laura J. Reddy
for the same time in 1866; Elizabeth M. Hayden for the
same time in 1867, and again in 1869; Annie Carroll from
October to December, 1869; Clara Pomeroy from December, 1869, to April, 1870.
To make here any extended reference to the pupils of the
Academy who have since become distinguished in the world,
is impracticable, even if it were proper. It must suffice to
say that the Academy left its stamp on almost all those who
have gone forth from the town. Those who were here fitted
for College, gained high honors in the institutions of the
land. Here, Seabred Dodge became the great mathematician
and engineer that he was. One of the pupils of this Academy laid here the foundations of scholarship which made him
the first, and almost the only student at West Point, who
was, throughout his entire course there, the first in every
study, not excelled by any of his class in anything. Here
future Governors learned to govern; and growing lawyers
and clergymen, and congressmen and senators acquired that
knowledge of books and things and men, that mastery of
tongue and pen, and that discipline of mind, which fitted
them for their places.
There can be but few among them who will not pay the
tribute of grateful affection and respect to the wise and farsighted men who founded and endowed this institution.
Consider what they did!
Within the first seven years from -the settlement of this
wilderness, while their own dwellings were but log huts,





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


155


and their farms merely narrow clearings in a dense forest,
where church and school were unknown; when the mill
that ground their corn was fifty miles away through woods,
threaded by a few paths, but without a road, and alive with
wildl beasts and more savage men; and, above all, in the
midst of that terrible destitution of money, through which
the new nation was struggling up from the abyss of bankruptcy into which it had been cast by the depreciated "Continental currency" of the Revolutionary War. Then it was
that they, in a day of small things, put hands that faltered
not, to a work so great, that its visible benefits have already
outrun all record and all competition.
Lasting honor to their memory.
L. Bt.
APPENDIX NO. 1.
Whereas, the liberal disposed inhabitants of the town of
Pompey, and other towns in the county of Onondaga, have
generously contributed, and many others are disposed to
contribute, considerable sums of money and other property towards erecting and instituting an academy in
said Pompey, for the instruction of youth in the languages and other branches of useful learning.  Of the
necessity and utility of such an institution every individual
is concerned. The rapid increase of the population and
wealth of the county renders such an establishment highly
necessary and important. The situation, fixed upon for
erecting the academy is nearly central, and for salubrity of
air and accommodations for the students preferable to any
other spot in the county. We, therefore, whose names are
hereunto subscribed and seals affixed, having contributed
more than one half in value of the real and personal property appropriated for the use and benefit of such academy,
do request that an academy may be incorporated in said
Pompey, to be called and distinguished by the name of
Franklin Academy, subject to the visitation of the trustees
in this instrument nominated and recommended, namely:





156


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Ebenezer Butler, Junior, Timothy Jerome, William Stevens, Jeremiah Gould, Phineas Howell, Elihu Lewis, Dan
Bradley, Comfort Tyler, James Knapp, John Lamb, Elijah
Rust, Deodatus Clark, Hezekiah Olcott, David Williams,
Walter Colton, Joseph Smith, James Beebee, John Kidder.
We, therefore, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do
for ourselves and our legal representatives, promise to pay
for the benefit of said academy, to any person whom  the
trustees shall appoint to receive the same, the several sums
annIexed to our respective names.
Pompey, January twenty-fifth, Eighteen hundred.
To the Regents of the University of the State of New York:
Eben Butler, Jr _-------$100 --L. S.
Asahcl Smith,--------                   125--------L. S.
John Kidder,_ -------------------------L. S.
Freeman Lewis, --------------------      50      L. S.
George Catlin,-..          _             50....L. S.
Walter Colton, -------100-----L. S.
Hezekiah Olcott---                       50 ----.- L. S.
Chancey Jerome,.                         50 ------L. S.
Joseph H. Smith,-  --     --  --         3)-----L. S.
Timothy Jerome, -..            -----75------L. S.
Johni Jerome,-                           50...L. S.
Josiah Moore,----                        25 ------L. S.
Joseph Strong,..   -------  -            25-------- L. S.
Daniel C. Judd, ---25--    ------L. S.
Gad Loveland,                            25----L. S.
James Beebee,-----25.---L. S.
Solomon Owen,---------                   50 _...._.L. 6.
Reuben Pixley, Jr ------------ -------. 50 ----L. S.
Isaiah Olcott,------------------------   40      L. S.
Jonathan Eastmanl                       3 ---------------- 30.L. S.
John Fowler, --_ _-----------------      30 ___  L. S.
David Williams,   -----            --    30.-----L. S.
Thomas Mighells,   ----    ----------30---L. S.
Jesse Butler, ------50--                         L. S.
Salmon Butlei',                          50--..- L. S.





THE POMP1EY RE UNION.


157


(Endorsed.)  "Petition Pompey Academy. To be laid
before the Regents."  1800.
APPENDIX NO. 2.
Extracts from the minutes of the Regents of the Unicersity, relating to Pompey Academy:
At a meeting of the Regents of the University, held in
the Senate Chamber on the 17th March, 1800. Present
His Excellency, John Jay, Chancellor, Judge Benson,
Judge Kent, Mr. DeWitt, Mr. Sylvester, [Mr. Rupell, Mr.
VanVechten, Mr. L'Hommedien.
"A Petition from Ebenezer Butler and others, praying for
an incorporation of an Academy in tl1e town of Pompey, in
the county of Onondaga, was read and committed to Mr.
Benson and Mr. DeWitt."
At a meeting held on the 31st day of March, 1800. Present His Excellency John Jay, Chancellor. His Honor, the
Lieutenant Governor, Judge Benson, Judge Kent, General
Schuyler, Mr. Russell, Mr. L'Hommedien.
"The Board proceeded to the consideration of the report
of the committee to whom was referred the petition for the
incorporation of an Academy at Pompey in the county of
Onondaga. And whereas, it is uncertain whether that
place is the most proper place for an Academy in the county of Onondaga, and there is reason to doubt the expediency
of having more than one academy in one county. Resolved,
That the Secretary do transmit a copy of said petition and
this resolution to the Supervisors of Onondaga county, and
request that they will at their next meeting inform the Regents whether in their opinion there be any and what objections to granting the prayer of said Petition."
At a meeting of the Regents, held February 16th, 1801.
" The Petition from the inhabitants of the town of Pompey, in the county of Onondaga, praying for an incorporation
of Academy in said town, received at the last session, tc




158


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


gether with the proceedings of a meeting of the Supervisors
of the said county, on the first Tuesday in October last,
relative thereto, was read and referred to Mr. L'Hommedien, Mr. Cochran and General Schuyler."
At a meetirg of the Regents of the University, held pursuant to adjournment in the Senate Chamber, in the city of
Albany, on Monday the twenty-third day of March, 1801.
Academies being intended to teach branches of literature
superior to those which are taught in common schools, and
requiring to that end a more extensive provision for the
support of well qualified instructors, therefore,
lResolved, That in future, no Academy ought to be incorporated, unless it shall be made to appear by satisfactory
evidence to this Board, that a proper building for the purpose hath been erected and finished and paid for, and that
funds have been obtained and well secured, producing an
annual net income of at least one hundred dollars. And,
further, that there be a condition in the charter of incorporation that the principal or estate producing the said income
shall never be diminished, or appropriated; that the said income shall be applied only to the maintenance or salaries of
the Professors or Tutors of the Academy.
An extract of the minutes.
FR. BLOODGOOD, Sec'y.
At a meeting of the Regents of the University, held pursuant to adjournment in the Senate Chamber, in the city of
Albany, on Monday, the 15th day of March, 1802.
Resolved, That this Board approve of the application of
sundry inhabitants of the county of Onondaga, for the incorporation of an Academy in the town of Pompey, in the
said county, and that this Board will incorporate the same
upon satisfactory evidence being given within a reasonable
time, of a compliance with the resolution of this Board of
the 23d day of March, 1801, and that a copy of the said





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


159


resolution, together with a copy of this resolution, be certified by the Secretary, and delivered to the applicants.
An extract from the minutes.
FR. BLooDGOOD, Sec'y.
At a meeting of the Regents held in the Senate Chamber, March 11th, 1811. Present, His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Kent, Mr. Selden, Mr. VanVechten, Mr. Spencer, Mr. DeWitt, Mr. Clinton, Mr. Jenkins, Mr. Elmendort,
Mr. Taylor, Mr. Smith.
" The committee to whom were referred the application
for the incorporation of an Academy at Pompey, in the
county of Onondaga, by the name and style of Pompey
Academy, reported that said application ought to be granted.
Whereupon, Resolved, That the same be approved of, and
that the Secretary cause a charter to be made out for the
said Academy."
APPENDIX NO. 3.
"At a meeting of the Supervisors of the county of Onondaga at Pompey, on the first Tuesday in October, Eighteen
hundred.
The Board proceeded to consider the resolve of the Regents of the University, in which they requested the opinion
of the Board whether there be any and what objections to
granting the prayer of the petition of sundry inhabitants of
the county of Onondaga, for the incorporation of an Academy at Pompey, in said county: Noted,
That in the opinion of this Board there exists no objection why the prayer of said petition should not be granted,
and that the place mentioned in said petition is as suitable
as any in the county."
A true extract from the minutes.
LEVI CURTIS, Clerk.
To the Regents of the University of the State of New York.
[Endorsed.]





160


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


"Vote of Supervisors of the county of Onondaga, where
the Academy ought to be placed."
Committed to General Schuyler, Mr. L'Hommedien and
Mr. Cochran."
APPENDIX NO. 4.
" To the Honorable Board of Regents of the Unicersityof the
State of New York.
The inhabitants of the county of Onondaga, humbly
sheweth, that we, being impressed with the belief of the importaice of aliterary establishment in said county of Onondaga, where the higher and more useful branches of literature are taught than in common schools, and being convinced also of Pompey in said county, being the most eligible situation in said county for such an institution  We,
under these impressions and beliefs, did in the year 1800,
present to your Honorable Board a petition praying the incorporation of an Academy in said Pompey, and we still
being of the opinion and belief of the infinite importance
and utility of an academy in the said county, and also *that
said Pompey is altogether the most proper place in the
county for said Academy. We do, therefore, humblypray
that the Honorable Board will take into consideration our
aforesaid petition, and grant the prayer thereof. And your
petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
Ozias Burr, Daniel Wood, John Lamb, John Bowers, Reuben Pixley, Jr., Gad Loveland, Salmon Butler, Curtis
Chappel, Joseph Jackson, Moses Lilly, Jr., Samuel Jones,
Allen Butler, Amasa Wright, Elias Conklin, George Catlin, Josiah Holbrook, Timothy Cossett, Israel Mun, Salmon Squire, Selah Cook, Elijah Webb, Nathan Davis,
Obed Handy, Haven Webster, Asher Frost, Ebenezer
Hay, John Willard, Daniel Tibbals, Rupell Clark, Abel
Bigelow, Orange King, Dix Hoar, Daniel C. Judd, John
Baar, James Price, Ezra Hart, Meigs Brown, Ezekiel
Webster, John Fowler, Jonas C. LemdH, Harvey Luce,










0
0
z
z
0
0
0







THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


161


James Griffin, Jr., Joseph Mather, Benjamin Butler, Hezekiah Dodge, William Miller, Joseph Shattuck, Joseph
Luce, Stephen Hayes, Levi Farnham, Isaac Higbee, Roderick Smith, Richard Crocker, William Howard, James
Beebee, Epaphs. Emmons, Joseph H. Smith, Isaac Catlin,
Isaac Hall, Artemas Bishop.
[Endorsed.].
"Petition for an Academy atPompey, in Onondaga." "Recorded March 15th, 1802."
APPENDIX NO. 5.
This article of agreement, made and concluded this 20th
day of July, in the year of our Lord, one thousand, eight hundred and seven, between William Lathrop and George W.
Wood, parties of the first part, and Manoah Pratt, Henry
Seymour and Samuel S. Baldwin, Committee to build the
Academy in Pompey, parties of the second part, witnesseth:
That the said party of the fi2st part for and in consideration
of the sums hereinafter specified, agree toAlay all the floors
on the lower story of said Academy; to make all the inside
doors and hang them; to case the windows on said story;
to make the bases and sur-bases in the several rooms; to
lath the several rooms on said story; to make mantle-tree
pieces when it is adjudged necessary by the Committee,
and closets with shelves; to make the tables ind benches
which by said committee shall be adjudged necessary in the
two large rooms designed for the public school; and to do
all the joiner work on the lower floor which is necessary to
finish the said story; the same to be done in a plain, neat,
strong, workman-like manner.  The making the outside
doors are to be paid for independant of this contract. The
said parties of the fir4 part further agree to make the stairs
and stair case in said building, which is to be done in a style
and manner suitable to the othei' work done. The materials to be furnished by the parties of the second part. The
work to be done in sufficient time, so that said story may
11





1,62


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


he plastered this season, unless the said parties are materially delayed on account of materials. And the said parties of the second part, for and in consideration of the work
covenanted to be done, agree to pay to the said parties of
the first part, two hundred dollars, to be paid in obligations,
which obligations are to be warranted collectable by the
said parties of the second, and turned out to the said parties
of the first part, when the above work is done; the said obligations to be due at the time they are turned out to the said
parties of the second part.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands and
fseals, the day and year above written.
Sealed and delivered in the presence of Henry J. Baldwin.
WM. LATHROP, [L. S.]
G. W. WooD, [L. s.]
For the Committee, S. S. BALDWIN, [L. S.]
Agreed this 2d day of March, 1810, to relinquish the unfinished part of the within mentioned job, and to accept of
one hundred and forty dollars, in full of what has been done.
$140.                                 WM. LATHROP.
APPENDIX NO. 6.
This indenture or article of agreement made between
Henry Seymour, Samuel S. Baldwin and Manoah Pratt, of
the one part, and the several other persons whose names are
hlereto subscribed, witnesseth, that the said-Henry, Samuel
S. and Manoah, do hereby agree to procure the Academy in
Pompey to be finished and completed for the sum of four
hundred and fifty dollars. And the said other persons whose
names are hereto subscribed, hereby severally bind themselves, in consideration of the said undertaking, to pay the
several sums annexed to our names respectively, to the said
Henry, Samuel S. and Manoah, in our obligations forthe said
several sums, to be payable on demand, and to be given on
or before the first day- of October, 1810. Provided that no





THE POMPEY RE-UNIO.N.         -163
person shall be bound by this. subscription, unless the said:aUm of four hundred and fifty (ollars -sh all. be subscribed
Pocreto. Witness our hands and seals at Pomipey; and we,
thfe said Heniry, Samuel So and M~anoah, do agree to pay the._-veral sumis ann-exed to our names, towards and as a part
of the said sum of four hundred and fifty dollars.
Natlianiel Bak,ýer.----------------------- $8o---L. S.
Ree'd note for this. Cr. $5 in futll of Mr. "Baker.
J-amnes WhyffimsJr. joiners' work__---------$20---
Plaid by discount with D. Wood.
1rphraim Bond,.------------------------  2)a----L. S.
Ree'd note for $25.
Joseph B ennett,----------------------- $20 ---
Ree'd note for $20.
{iarovita MNarsh,~-----------------------1-L.S
R1ee'd note for- $15.
AugTustus                                 --eat--for30 L. S
v.Birdseye,-------------------------- o----- - 0 L. S.
Endorsed on Wood's contract with Commnittee.
A Alisba Simitb,.....-- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---------------...$10- -----L. S.
Ree'd note for $10.
Cheste'r Coe__--.------------  --- -- -- -- -----$10- -----L. S.
Ree'd note for $10.
--oty---c,~.--------------------$ý-10 -     L----S.
Ree'd note for $10.
Seymour Coe,- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- ---$10------
Ree'd note for $10.
Joseph Al. Bostwick_____----------------$1~L      S.
Endorse d on Wood's Contract.
lame11s Chappehll,------------------------ $10----L. S.
Recýd $5. Ree'd note forQ,5.
I-.-eonard Hoar, ----------------------- $10----L. Sip
I ~Ree'd note for $10.
J-anwes Carr,  - --$10-- - -- - -         - - -
Charg'd J. Cowan, H. Seymour's -Book.
Abr. Plaunt, --------------------------- $10--.-L. S.
Ree'd note for $10.
Nathan Williamis,.-- ------------------ $10 ---
Ree'd Cash in full. Cr. on H. Seymour's Books to Academy.
T"itus Marsh5, ------------- I-------------- $10---.
Paid to Bald.
Jamies Toimai, -------------------------..$10 ----L. S.
Reeld D. Wood's Receipt.





164             THE POMPEY RE-UNION.
Chester Howard, in blacksmith work,-..--$10 ------L. S.
In Note.
David Hine,.--..-..-._               $10--_   -.L. S.
Paid.
Luther Marsh, $----_---------------$10 --..L. S.
Rec'd note for $:0.
Aaron C. Hoar,_-$---,.    __    ___20-_Aaron C. Hoar has paid D. W., ten dolls, same endorsed on Contract with E. W., the
Committe, March 12, 1811. Attest, V. B. Remainder charg'd on HI. Seymour's ac't.
Henry Seymour will advance one hundred dolls, on
condition of collecting it on old subscription,.__..L. S.
Samuel S. Baldwin will advance twenty-five dollars, on
condition of collecting it on old subscription,.___ L. S.
Charg'd to S. S. B. in H. Seymour's Books, April, 1812.
Allen W. Heyden $10 in wood work to H. Seymour__L. S.
Stephen Hall has given his note for ten dollars, $10..-L. S.
Due on this subscription $5, March, 1811, including notes.
James Higgins,-           $__-   ___,   _-------__20 00
Victory Birdseye, --  ----------20 00
James Carr,                 -10 00
Nathan Williams,.-------------------   ----     10 00
Titus Marsh,                                   10 00
A. C. Hoar,                                    20 00
H. Seymour,-----------------------            100 00
S. S. Baldwin,,-----------                ---25 00
A. W. Heyden,     -10 00.Stephen Hall,-       -  -.--------------- 10 00
L.Marsh,.--    ---.-------- -----      -      10 00
Chester Howard                                 10 00
Abr. Plaunt,           -   -------             10 00
Leonard Hoar, Jr.,--.---      --    -           8 00
Seymour Coe, ---------------------------- 10 00
Chester Coe,---------------------     ----, 10 00
MaroviaMarsh,____-        ____                 15 00
Jasper Bennett,    _ -    -    ----    ------ 20 00
Nath.Baker,                                     24 46
Dan.   ood rec't.--------------                 5 00
do   do   do.                                 654





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


165


APPENDIX NO. 7.
Walter Colton, of the town and county of Onondaga and
State of New York, being duly sworn, deposeth and saith,
that he was an inhabitant of, and resided in the town of
Pompey, in the county aforesaid, at the time a petition was
in circulation addressed to the Regents of the University of
the State of New York, purporting to be from,the iiihabitants of the county of Onondaga; that he saw John Kidder
set the names of a considerable number of persons to said
petition without their knowledge or consent, as the said:
Kidder then said. That the said Kidder then applied to
this deponent to set the names of other persons to said petition, so that the names might not appear to be in one
hand-writing; That this deponent declined setting the
names of persons to said petition, believing it to be improper. That the said Kidder then applied to Hezekiah.Olcott,
who set the names of a number more to said petition, but
the exact number set by the said Kidder or Olcott, this deponent does not recollect. And this deponent saith that he is
acquainted with the persons;who subscribed money to build
an Academy in said Pompey. That several of the principal subscribers have since left the county. That Hezekiah
Olcott has since died insolvent. That a considerable number more are in the opinion of this deponent wholly unable
to pay the sums by them subscribed. And this deponent
further saith, that he hath heard several of the subscribers
who are able to pay, say that they were determined not to
pay the sums by them subscribed,if they can avoid it. And
this deponent, further saith. not.
WALTER COLTON.
Sworn before me this 2d day of March, 1802.
MEDAD CURTIS,
Master in Chancery.
(Endorsed,)
"Aff't of Walter Colton, respecting the subscription for
an Academy at Pompey."   " Ree'd March 15, 1802."





166


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


APPENDIX NO. 8.
This Article of Agreement, made this 25th day of July,
1810, between Henry Seymour, Samuel S. Baldwin and
Manoah Pratt, of the one part, and the several other peasons whose names are hereunto subscribed,
Witnesseth, That the several other persons whose nanmes
are hereunto subscribed, do covenant, each for himself, with
said Henry, Samuel S. and Manoah, that we, the said subscribers, within six months from the date hereof, will give
and execute unto said Samuel, Henry and Manoah, our several bonds, conditioned to pay the several sums annexed to
our names hereunto subscribed, in the penalty of double the
said sums so subscribed, with interest on said conditions,
payable annually at seven per cent., to be payable on demand; but with a proviso in said bond, that so long as the
interest shall be perpetually paid, the principal shall not 1:c
sued for or collected, and that we also will give our separate
mortgages to the said IHenry, Samuel S. and Manoah, as
collateral securities of the said bonds, on good real property, unencumbered, of at least double the value of the said
several sums, situated within the County of Onondaga.
And we, the said Henry, Samuel S. and Manoah, do hereby
covenant with the said several subscribers separately, that
we will hold this subscription and the said several bonds
and mortgages, in trust for, and for the sole use, benefit and
behoof of the Academy in Pompey; and that, so soon as
the said Academy shall be incorporated, we, the said Samuel S., Henry and Manoah, will transfer, assign and set over
to the said corporation this subscription and covenant, and
also all mortgages and bonds thatlmay or shall be given in
pursuance hereof, and will also pay over to said corporation
all sum or sums of money that may or shall be collected c.
received on this subscription, or on any bond or mortgage
to be given in pursuance hereof. This subscription beingfor the purpose of raising and securing a fund for the support of said institution, and securing the same on real prcerty. It is understood that interest is to be computed frolr
July 28th, 1811,





THlE POMPEY RE UNION.1C




Asa Wells___-----------_Fifty Do~lalqrs--L. S.
Mlanoal-i Pratt,------------ One Hunidred-Dollairs-.--L -S.John Jerome,-----------Fifty. Doll~ars__.L. S.'
Henry. Sey mour, ---------One Hundred Dolla'rs----L. S.'
Samuel 8,, Baldwin,    ----Fifty Dollars-_L. S.
Daniel Wood,---------FfyDo'llars-_L. S.
Chancey Jerome,-------------- Fifty Do'Ilars__._L. S.
Daniel Tibbafls------------------- Fifty Dollars-L S.
Ebenezer Carr,___------- Fifty Dollars____L. S...
Charles Morris, ----------- Twenty-Five IDollars.____.L. S.
John.Marsh,--------------Twenity-Five Do~IIars__*_L. S..
Marovia Marsi,.--------------- ý__Fifty:Dollars__L. S.Stephen Tiffany,----------- Twenty-Five Dollars ----L. S.
Joseph Bennett, --------- -------- Fifty, Doflars___L. S.
Conrad Bs,---------ifty Dollars-- _L S'.
Timothy Hatch,------Twenty-Five Dollars--..-L..S.
Eliha mit_-------------Fifty Dollars-__L. S..
Daniel. Gillett,-------Twenty-Five Dollars---L. S.
1 wviii. give mny bond accordin~g to the above sub-)
scription, but non.mortgage, fo~r 4hirty Dollars.
V. Birdseye. f-L. Sw
-Leonard Hoar,          - Tvventy-Five- Dollars---L. S.
Aaron C. Hoal'r,---------- Twenty-Five Dollars--L. S.
Ozias Wrigght,------------- Twen-ty.-Five Dollars,. -_-.185c
kgaac  Hall,--------    ---- Fifty Doll ars..-~L. S.;
Silas Park,--------------------- Fifty Dollars___L. S-.
True'W..:Cook,------------------ Fifty Dollars___L. 5.Lemuel Cook, ------------Twventy-Five Dollars- -L. S.
Hezekiah Dodge,---------- Twenty-Five Dollars--L. S.
Amos Abbott,------------- Twenty-Five Dollars---.1S. 5
Joseph Sacket,------------ Twenty-Five Dolla'rs,;-__L. S-.'
Za'doc Seymour, -  ---Twenty-Five Dollars----L. SJacobus DePuy,----------- Twenty-Five Dolhars--,--.L. S.
Hery Tifn,-----Twenty-Five Doll'rs--..L. S.
Ithamner Coe,--------------------Fify  ollars ---L. S.
Sylvanus Bishbop, - --Twenty-Fv      ollars.-~L. 5





-168


168         THE POMPEY RE-TJMON.ý


ilezekiali Clark,------ *------------ Fifty Dollars--'-.1S.
"Samuel Dunhami,----------- Twenty-Five Dollars. __L. S.
Artemas Bishop,----------- Twenty-Five Dollars----L. S.
ElijahWellsW--W---------WWTwenty-Five Dollars ---L. S.
'Timothy Northrop,, -------.------Twenty Dollars----L. S.
Abraham Northrop,-------------- Twenty )Volilars___L. S.
Gideon M-Norley,__-----------Twenty-Five 1)ollars----L. S.
Charles Sweet,-------- Twenty Dollars-_. L. S.%
Samuel Johnsoni, -------,Twenty-Five Dollars---L. S..
Elijah Owen, ---------------7-"--- Fifty Dollars---L. S..
Timothy Cossit,--------____Twenty-Five Dollars____L. S.
William Cook,     -----~One Hundred Dollars- _L. S.
OziasBurrOne Hundred Dollarsj___L. S
Jam-es Lanktoiu,---------Twenty-Five Dollars-_.L. S.
Samuel Wright,.9.9.Twenity-Five Pollars----L. S.
Leonard Lincoln,--,---------.---Twenty -Dollaris-. -._L. S.
Ephriam Clevelanid,- -- -.-Twenitv-Five 1)ollars__- L. S.
Lewis Piood, 99-------wenty Dlas9~.S.
Iagriee to grive myv bond on the above cond~ition,
but no mortgalge, for Twenty-Five Dollars.
Ephriam' Bond.)-L. S.
Lev-i Chase,--------Twventy-Five DollI Ars-    L. S.
Titus.Mar-sh  -  -    -   -.9otio as.S.
JaniesCrrTetFieIoas1.L.S
Josiah Holbrook ----- Twenty-Five Dollarsi -L. -L.Jonathan S'tanley, J.-------Fifty _D6111.1rs ---L. S
Aug~ustu-s Wheat~on',------ -----.Fifty1)la~~.L
Joseph Bushýi--------FfyD]tr
APPENDIX No. 9.
To the Roniorable,'the Board of -Regents of TMe Unic-ersityofthe.State of Newv York.
Thle petition of the selveral persons whose nanies are herleunto subscribed,, inhabitants of the countyx of Oniondaga,,
humbly -sheweth: That being desirous to facilitate the eu
cation of youth in the langruages and othier bi-anches of useful learning,( and being convinced that the establi'shment of





TIlE POMPEY RE-UNION.


an Academy at Pompey in saidl county, would greatly promnote so useful a design, your petitioners have at great eoxTfense procured a suitable sit'ý- for an institution of that
kind, consisting of two acres of land near the centre of said
town, and erected a large and commodious buildi ng for that
purpose  that the building is forty by fifty feet on the
ground, two stories highrand completely finished and painted, inside and out, and paid for. Your petitioners have also procured a fund of one thousand, four hundred and fifty
dollars to be subscribed for the purpvose of prodkiicing a not
annIual income for tlihe support of the said institation, and
that the same is well secured to Samuel S. Blaldwin, Henry
Syevmour and Alanoallh iPratt, as trustees, for the sole use of
said academy, at an annual interest of seven per cent; and
that said Saiuel S., Henry and Manoah have become obligated to transfer the said securities to the said academy
when the same shliall be incorporated.
Your petitioners furthe-r represent, that tlihey have been
eneouraoed to o to so considerable an expense by a resolution of the Board of tie IRgegnts, of the 1 5th day of March,
1O,- by which the Board were pleased to resolve that they
aprovedl of the applhcations of sundry itnhabitants of the
county of Onondaga, for the incorporation of an academy
in, the town of IPomnpey, and that the said Board would incorporate the same,upoin sat isfiteto y evidence lbeing gOiven
within a reasonable time of a comliainice with said resointioni of said Boa.rd of the t wlenty-tliird day of March, 1801.
Your petitionQers belie1* that tIheyhl"ave no1W comnlplied with
the above nientioied i-&solution of the twventy-third ofMarch,
Ii     w il  and ti h le the difficulties attending so considerable a
Ipniblie unlde takiimg, in an interior par't of the county, and
in one so 4ltel an uentire wilderness, and whlien the general
pecuniary embarrassments ofthl-e county for some ti*1me past,
1r1e duly conisidered, your petitioners believe that the compIliance with that resolution has been as speedy as could
reasonablvy have been expected.
Yonur p1etitioners furtliher represent that the several per




170


TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


sons whose names are hereto subscribed, have contributed
more than one half in value of the real and personal estate
collected and appropriated for the use and benefit of said
institution.
Wheeorre, your petitioners request that the said Academy may be incorporated, and be subject to the visitation cf
the Regents of the University of the State of New York,
and they nominate for the first trustees of the said Academy, the following persons, to-wit: Henry Seymour, Senior
Trustee, and Samuel S. Baldwin, Daniel Wood, Manoah
Pratt, Ithamar Coe, Asa Wells, Hezekiah Clark, John Jerome, Silas Park, Jacobus DePuy, Daniel Allen, Chancy Jerome, Daniel Tibbals, Joshua Johnson, Derrick C. Lansing,
Benjamin Sanford, Charles C. Moseley, William J. Wilcox,
Johnathan Stanley, Junior, Levi Parsons, William Cook,
Victory Birdseye, Jasper Hopper, James Geddes; which
persons we pray may be incorporated by the name, style and
description of "Pompey Academy," with a condition in the
act of incorporation that the said principal sum of the said
fund shall never be diminished or appropriated, and that
the income of the said principal fund shall be applied only
to the maintenance or salaries of the professors or tutors
of the said Academy.
As, witness our hands and seals this 11th February, in the
year of our Lord, one thousand, eight hundred and eleven
Amasa Wright,-----   -   -  -------  --- ----  L. S.
Daniel Wood,-----------------------------      L. S.
Norris Case,---------  --------------------    L. S.
Geo. Catlin,--------------- ------------------L.S.
Hezekiah Clark, ------------------------------- L. S
Silvanus Bishop, -------  ----------------L. S.
Artemus Bishop, L----------------------------. S.
Henry Seymour, ----      ---   -L. S.
Victory Birdseye,----------------------- --    L. S.
Elijah Wells,-----------        -   ----  --   L. S.
Asa Wells------------ ----- -----._--.----. L. S.





TILE POMPEY RE-UNION..171
Nathianiel Baker,..------------------------------ Lo S.0
Titus Rust,----------------------   -------     Le.-8
Daniel Tibbals,.-----------------------.SJames -Carr, ---1 ----------------------------   L. *
Jeremiah Buitler, ---------------------------   L. S..
Da-niel C. Judd,-1---------------------L. S.
John Jrm,---------------I.S.AarotA: C.: Hoar,--------------------------     L. SoTimothy Northrup,-----------------      ------- L. S.ý
Conrad Bush,-.-... ------------------------------ L.*S.
HezekialiLtrp--------------L. S.oChancy Jrm,----------                    ---L. S,
Jasper Bennett,----...------------------- L.S.
Win." Cook___--------------------------    -4   L. S.,
Ebenezer- Carr, ------------------------------  L. S.
Josiah Holbrook,------------- ----------------- L. S*Charles Morris,-._------------  -------L.S
Allyn Hedges,                                    L. So,
Hezekiah Hopkins, ------o------------------- -L. S,
John Marsh,.---------------------.S
Manoah Pratt,---.---------------------------- L. S.
_True W. Cook,------------.                      L. S.
Levi Jerome, ---------------------------        L.S
Jesse Butler,----------.                -    -  L. So
EzraHar,------------------------------        L.S
Johnatha'n Stanley, Jun.,---,---------------------- L4.8.
Nathan Williams,-----------------. L. s.
Jos. W.' Gould,--------------------------      L. S.
Ithamer. Coe,--t-------------------------------- L. S.
L.emuel 06opk, -----------------------------    L. S.
Win. Lathrop,---------------L                      So.
Salmon Butler,   ----------------------------- L. S.
Apollos io---------------L. S.
Ichabod Lathrop,. ------------------------Lo S.
Stephen Tfny--------------------L. S.
Auigustus 'Wheaton----------------------------- L.- S.
Abel Olcott,----------------L. S.





172              THE POMPEY RE-UNION.
Thomas Olcott,                ----------------L.S.
~------~L-----LL----- -----
Solomon Owen,       ------------     ---------   L. S.
Enoch Wilcox,------    -------------------       L. S.
Joseph Brush,----------        -      ------     L.S.
Jabesh Castle,        -L. S.
James Lankton,--    --- ----------               L. S.
James HIiggins                                   L. S.
James Higgins---------------------------- ----L. S.
Joseph Mather,-------------------   ------       L. S.
Henry Tiffhay,----- ------- ------------         L. S.
Levi Chase,         --L.S.
Robert Swartmont,      ----   ------    ------L. S.
Daniel Hubbard,                                  L. S.
Chester Coe,                     ------------L. S.
Moses Lilly,                                     L. S.
Moses Liny,------------------       ---------L..
Samuel S. Baldwin,-   ---                        L. S.
Onondaga ss: Henry Seymour being duly sworn, saith,
that he hath examined the statement of facts set forth in the
above petition, and that he believes the same to be true, and
further says 'not.
HENRY SEYMOUR.
Sworn before me this second day of March, A. D., 1811.
DANIEL WooD, Justice Peace.
APPENDIX NO. 10.
Report of. the trustees of Pompey Academy for 1817.
To the Regents of the University of the State of New
York.
The Funds of the Academy consist of the Acadeny lpt
and building, estimated at                     $5,000
Personal Estate,  "                           2,500
Apparatus and Library, estimated at             150
Real Estate, being one lot in Camillus,       5,920
Amount,                           $13,570
The teachers are Rev. Joshua Leonard with salary of $600
Gott                 "      300





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


173


The students number now 152; of whom 14 study the
learned languages; of the higher branches of the Mathematics, and the others Reading, Writing, Arithmetic,
English Grammar, Geography, Belles Lettres, &c.
REMARKS. 1. The building is of wood, 50 feet by 40;
two stories high, and divided into seven rooms, viz: One
40 feet square for an Exhibition Room; two 40 by 15, for
School Rooms, and four 10 by 15 for study rooms, all of
which, except the Exhibition Room, have fire p!aces. Besides which^ each of the long rooms have stoves.
2. The Real Estate consists of one lot of land, which lies
in Camillus,.in the county of Onondaga. This lot has been
contracted to be sold at different prices from 9 to 10 dollars per acre, and the contracts obligate the purchasers to
pay the annual interest and instalments towards the principal, until one half of the principal shall be paid, then the
purchasers to have a deed, and give a bond and mortgage.
3 The Personal Estate consists of Bonds aud Mortgages,
and covenants to give bond and mortgages, on interest at
7 per cent., payable on the 28th of January, annually.
4. Prices of tuition are: For reading and writing, $1.50.
English Grammar $2.50; Arithmetic, Geography, Logic,
Rhetoric and Belles Lettres, $3; Mathematics, Natural
and Moral Philosophy and other learned languages, $4 per
quarter.
5. The Apparatus consisting of one pair of Globes, 12
inches in diameter, and two large stoves with pipe, and other articles of furniture for the school rooms.
6. Average price of board is $2.
7. The tuition is estimated at 600 dollars.
8. The benefits of the Institution are uniformly extended
to families Which are unable to pay the tuition.
-Dated at TPompey, in the county of Onondaga, A. Dori.
1818.





HISTORY OF TOWN OF POMPY.
Cottaining Account of Settlements and Improvements, its
Geographical Features, a History of the Military
Tract, &c., &c., Edited and Compiled by
Ebenezer Butler, Member of Publication Committee.
GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES.
BY II. D. L. SWEET.
That portion of the State of New York, comprised in the
original township of Pompey, lay between the parallels 42~,
51', and 420, 59', 20", north latitude, and between meridians 750, 54', 13", and 760, 11', 58", west longitude from
Greenwich.
The present township lies between parallels 42~, 51', 20",
and 42~, 59', 20", north latitude, and between meridians
75~, 54', 13", and 76~, 4', 52", west longitude. Pompey
Academy being located 42', 54', 5", north latitude, and 76~,
1', 2", west longitude from Greenwich.*
The name given by the Indians to this region was Ole-gcga-ja-ke, a place of much grass, openings or prairies. Another name given to this locality, not often repeated, and
about which there is much superstitious resource, is Otequch-sah-he-eh, the field of blood, a place where many have
been slain. (See State Gazetteer.)
Pompey is a part of the Military Tract, and was designated as township No. 10, on Surveyor-General's maps of
surveys. On Saturday, 3d day of July, 1790, it received::We are indebted to S. W. Clark, of Syracuse, who, from survey, has given us the degrees of latitude and longitude.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


175


from the Commissioners of the Land Office, in New York
City, the name it now bears. It was first given a municipal
government as a part of Onondaga County, by Legislative
enactment, in the year of 1794, in following words:-"All
that part of the said.County of Oncndaga, comprehending
the townships of Pompey, Tully and Fabius, together with
that part of the lands called 'The Onondaga Reservation,'
bounded northerly by the road leading through the said
Reservation, commonly called the Genesee road, and westerly by the Onondaga Creek, shall be and hereby is erected
into a town by the name of Pompey."    By subsequent
Legislation, the boundaries of the township, as then fixed,
have, (in the years 1798, in 1806 and in 1825,) been changed,
its present boundaries being:-North by town of DeWitt
and Manlius; east by the county of Madison; south by the
town of Fabius; west by LaFayette.
The township is located upon the great dividing iidge,
from which the waters flow north to the valley of the St.
Lawrence, and south to the Chesapeake Bay.
Tlis great ridge is divided within the township limits, by
four great valleys. The first on the east, is on the east line
of the township, cutting entirely across it, and with but
very little inclination. The stream, the east branch of the
Limestone Creek, which flows through it, has but few mill
seats on its entire length.
The second valley lies about three miles west, and nearly
parallel; has a greater inclination, and, although the valley
extends entirely across the township, a portion of the water
fiows to the south! The stream which flows north, has at one
place a fall of 137 feet, perpendicular, (Pratt's Falls,) and is
quite rapid in all its course.
The third, or the Butternut Creek Malley, lies nine miles
west of the east line, within the limits of the township, and
has but little fall.
The fourth, or Onondaga Valley, lies about four miles
cast of the western boundary, and four miles from Butter




176


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


nut Creek Valley, and within the limits of the township
has fall sufficient only for two or three water powers.
The greater portion of the township lies on three, a small
portion, however, on a fourth, of hills or ridges, the axis of
which are nearly due north and south.
The first, or the one on the east, has an altitude of nearly
1,200 feet above tide water, or 800 feet above the level of
the Erie Canal, at Syracuse.
The second attains an altitude of 1,743 feet above tide
water. This point is in the cemetery at Pompey Hill.
The third attains, near the village of Lafayette, an elevation. of from 1,400 to 1,500 feet.
The fourth, or Bear Mountain, is but little less in altitude
than Pompey Hill.
The slopes of all these, except the last named, are not
steep, and were originally covered with a heavy growth of
timber-mostly deciduous trees.
Carpenter's Pond, which lies in the second valley, and
from which the water flows south, is the only naturaljbody
of water.
Swamps are few and small; as also are'gulfs and ravines.
There are not, it is probable, 1,200 acres of the 60,000 in
the original township, that may not be cultivated.
The soil is chiefly a clayey loam. Eighty years tillage
has.proved it of excellent quality.
In the northern part, a small quantity of limestone shows
at the surface.
The surface, however, is generally underlaid by the Hamnilton group of sholes, while.upon the extreme highest portions, Genesee slate is found.
The climate is subject to sudden changes, and is particularized by high winds; the average temperature is lower by
31 degrees, than the general average of the State. In the
village of Pompey, on.Pompey Hill, the wind often blows





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


177


with terrific violence. The cool breezes of summer render
this locality a remarkably pleasant one for those, who,
through the warmest months of the year, seek relief from
the oppressive heat of the city and valleys below. But the
high winds of winter make it at times a situation most unfavorable for comfort or pleasure.
Although the annual temperature of this section is found
to be lower than the general average of the State, and vegetation is uniformly backward, yet the robin appears here
earlier, and the autumnal frosts are later than in many
other sections.
This is. one of the most healthy, as it is one of the highest
inhabitated portions of the State.
The natural scenery is rarely equalled. The vision, from
one stand point on Pompey Hill, is uninterrupted, being
bounded by the horizon at every point of the compass, and
embracing views in seven different counties..
The landscape consists of hill and dale, placid lakes, dotted with sail, meandering streams, villages, forests, cultivated fields, beautiful farm houses, steam car, together with
the beautiful city, and its hum of busy life.
Within the present limits of the town there are five villages containing Post Offices, viz:-Pompey Hill, Pompey
Centre, Delphi, Oran and Watervale.
There are flouring mills at Pratt's Falls and at Watervale,
two manufacturies of edge tools, one near Delphi, Sampson's on east branch of Limestone Creek, and one, Wood's,
on west branch of Limestone; formerly there was, as will
be remembered by many old residents, a woolen mill four
miles north of Delphi, one-half the way between Oran and
Delphi.
Population of the town in 1875, was three thousand,
three hundred and sixty.:Onondaga, Cortland, Herkimer, Madison, Oswego, Oneida and Cayuga.
12





178


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


SETTLEMENT AND IMPROVEMENTS.
POMPEY HILL AND VICINITY.
The township of Pompey obtained great celebrity abroad
at a very early period, and was principally settled by people
from New England, many of whom took up their residence
here while the township was a part of the town of Mexico,
Herkimer County.
The first white settler in the town of Pompey was Mr,
John Wilcox; he came in 1789 from Oneida, in company
with an Indian Chief, for the purpose of exploring the country. He imade a settlement near an Indian orchard, which
was located about two miles north of the present site of
Lafayette village. (For these and further particulars relative to his settlement, see Clark's Onondaga, vol. 2d, page
241.)
The first settlement made within the limits of the present
township, was made at Pompey Hill, by Ebenezer Butler,
who originally came from Harwington, Conn., to Clinton,
Oneida County, in the year 1788 or 9; remaining in Clinton till 1791, he left and came, guided by marked trees, to
this place, and settled on lot 65, which tradition says, "he
bought of a soldier for a horse, saddle and bridle." He erected
his first, a log house, near where is now " the Stone Blacksmith Shop," and near to the spring which supplies the
watering tub in the present village. Here in the same year,
1791, he moved his family, consisting of his wife, four children, his father and a maiden sister.
The following year, 1792, his brother, Jesse Butler, came
from Connecticut, and buying 100 acres of him, on the
north half of his lot, made a small clearing and put up a log
house on a knoll about 30 rods north of the present site of
the M. E. Church. He returned to Connecticut in the fall,
and in the imonth of April, 1793, in company with George
Catlin and their familes, on an ox sled, came back and made
this his residence. Mr. Catlin, having bought of his broth




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


179


er-in-law, Ebenezer Butler, Jr., 100 acres, near the south
side of his, (Butler's) section, settled on the same, and afterwards kept the first tavern that was opened in this vicinity. His house was located a little south of the one lately
occupied by Judge Asa Wells.
Jacob Hoar came from Onondaga in the spring of 1793,
and settled on lot 48, near a spring of water, at the first four
corners on the road leading from the village of Pompey to
Jamesville.
Here, afterwards, about 1800, was found something of a
village, named Log City, which grew to contain ultimately,
a store and ashery, owned by Justice Fowler, (uncle to 0.
S. Fowler, of New York,) a shoe shop and tannery, a turning lathe, a school house, together with a respectable number of settlers. Log City and the Hill were, for a time,
rival settlements.
In the year 1794, Messrs. Jerome & Smith came from
Massachusetts and settled on lot number 85, which is the
lot first but one, south of that on which the Butlers had
settled.
In 1797, Ebenezer Butler, Jr., or, as he was afterwards
more familiarly known, Judge Butler, built the first framed
house that was raised in the vicinity of Pompey Hill. This
was located on the west side of what is now the public
square, and on the present site of Hon. Manoah Pratt's
dwelling, formerly Handy's tavern. The next year, 1798,
he erected for his father a house, on the present site of the
wagon shop so long owned and occupied by Joseph Beach.
In the same year, his brother, Jesse Butler, built a frame
house on the site where the M. E. Church now stands.
On the corner where the public house is now standing,
Truman Lewis had,,before 1800, built a small frame house
and opened a tavern. From that day till this, there has
been a house of entertainment kept in that place. A part
of the house located.near the Disciple's Church, and when
taken down a few years since was owned by Mrs. Orr, was





180


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


a part of the house built by Mr. Lewis, and, together with
part ot the frame of Mr. Pratt's house, (Handy's tavern,)
and a barn situated on the place so long occupied by Calvin Dean, are the oldest frames recently standing in the
village, or this locality.
North from the village, on the Pompey and Manlius road,
near the barn on the land owned by David King, was located Nathan Davis. From him the farm passed to Victory
Birdseye, Esq.; thence to Ansel Jones; thence to Mr. Geo.
E. Wells; and thence to David King. A gentleman by the
name of Mills, a tailor by trade, lived north of Davis, on
the knoll by the "old thorn tree."
Farther north, and next neighbor oil a fifty acre lot, settled John Bars, a Hessian, one of the thousand taken prisoner by Washington, at Trenton, in 1776. Bars remained
for a time; he sold to Mr. Anger, from whom the farm has
passed successively, to Capt. Ebenezer Carr, to Messrs.
Smith, Handy, Wicks, Wells and to its present owner, David King.
The next farm north was owned by the Lillys, who resided at the foot of the hill, near Mr. Wells' house. And,
on the top of the hill they built a blacksmith shop, and were
for a long time the only, as they were the first blacksmiths
who carried on this business in the locality.
On the farm now owned by Randolph Beard, and where
he resides, was located as early as 1800, Mr. Orsemus Bowers. Before this date it had been owned by one Bond, who
also worked at blacksmithing. From Mr. Bond the farm
passed to Capt. Carr, and to Beach Beard, father to present
owner.
Mr. Orsborn, a carpenter, and the first in the place, settled
on the farm formerly owned and occupied by Augustus W.
Chappell. Mr. Orsborn sold to Mr. Fisher, who sold to Mr.
Chappell's father, from whom it passed to the son. First
north from Mr. Chappell, on hill opposite stone quarry, was
one Foster. At the four corners, beyond, was first located





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


181


James and Samuel Curry. They sold to " The M'Keevers."
Augustus Wheaton afterwards came into possession, buying,
we.think, of McKeever. Between Foster and Curry on
west side of road, was Mr. White, who married a sister of
Jacob Hoar.
At a later day than 1800, Morton Bostwick was settled,
on corner opposite Augustus Wheaton. On the place now
owned by Jas. VanBrocklin, first settled Mr. Sandiman Culver, who sold to Mr. Jakway, from whom it passed to Jasper Bennett, to Isaac Wicks and to Mr. Van Brocklin.
Where Nicholas VanPatten n9w resides, Jacob Hoar settled.
His first house however, was on the side west of the road,
near to a spring of water, as it was the aim of the early settlers to locate at or near a spring, that water could easily he
obtained. The first well that was dug in the village, was by
Truman Lewis, and has since been filled.
Where now lives Messrs. Cramer Johnson and Eli Anderson, were located two brothers, Abel and Thos. Orcutt,
and on the farm of Hiram Butts, lived Daniel Webster.
Obed Handy lived on the farm of Ira Anrderson, whose
grandfather bought of Handy.
Mr. Timothy Cossitt, Sen., lived on the farm, so long
owned by his son Calvin Cossett. Benjamin Butler and his
son Salmon, settled opposite the farm so long owned by
Rensselaer Johnson. They owned at first the farm of Mr.
Johnson, and sold to his father, Rufus Johnson, who married Mary, sister of Judge Butler.
The Butlers sold to Ami Butler, son of Benjamin, a farm,
which forms a part of that now owned by Mr. Doolett. Ami
settled near where is now Mr. Doolett's house. Across
from Butler's, Dea. Ezra Hart made a settlement. His
house took fire from some cause, and burned to the ground,
the.Deacon loosing nearly every article of furniture and
wearing apparel he possessed: He afterwards built another house, and after occupying it a few years, sold it to Jesse
13utler, who occupied it till about 1847 or 8.





182


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Dr. Walter Colton, the first resident physician, settled on
the farm, and had at that time, a house situated a little north
of the one now owned by Geo. Wqlls. He sold to Edward
Boylston, a silver-smith, who for a time carried on his trade
in that place; Boylston sold to Rev. Hugh Wallace, one of
the first settled ministers of the Presbyterian church. It is
just to remark, that Rev. Mr. Gilbert, who settled near where
Mr. Albert Butterfield lived, and where Mr. Blair now lives,
was at Pompey, and preached to the settlers before the settlement of Mr. Wallace, which occurred in 1801. So was
also a Mr. Williston, 1798.,Mr. Gilbert lies buried in the
cemetery at Pompey Hill. Mr. Daniel Gillett settled and
built a log house near where Mr. Seubal Knight lives.
Samuel Johnson bought and made a clearing, where Daniel
Marsh lived at the time of his death. In 1805, he sold to
Asa Wells, who built a house and lived a little east, and
back from the road. Mr. Wells sold to Judge Butler, or
rather exchanged for 100 acres, the farm now owned by the
Ryan estate, situated at the foot of the hill directly east from
the village.
Mr. Wm. Lathrop resided where Frank Porter now lives.
Mr. Lathrop drew the plan for, and framed the " Old Academy" building. Opposite Mr. Lathrop, lived one Titus Rust,
a shoemaker, who afterwards sold to Mr. Marovia Marsh.
Farther south, where Calvin Dean lived, was Nathaniel
Brace; nearly opposite, lived Gad Loveland; farther south,
(and where is now a few apple trees, beyond the Wells'
house,) lived George, afterwards MaOj. Catlin, who, as before
stated, kept the first public house in the place.
Where Robert Ellis recently lived, Jas. Cravatt settled.
He, very'soon, sold to Chauncey Jerome, who lived upon
the lot till his death. Next south, lived Jas. Lankland.
Where Ira Ellis lately lived, Capt. Sely Castle made a.clearing and built a house. Where Eli Pratt lives, was Jabez,
afterwards Gen. Castle.  Mr. Godfrey Williston settled
where Mr. Guynn lived. Mr. Williston bought of one Doty,
who first settled upon the farm. Mr. Urial Wilson was on





TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


183


the farm now owned by his son-in-law, Truman Woodford.
Next, came Messrs. John Jerome and Joseph Smith, who
came to Pompey, as before stated, in 1794. These lands are
still owned by the Jeromes.
At the foot of the hill, on the road ruuning east from the
cemetery,, where Mr. Elizur Seymour now lives, Sylvanius
Bishop bought of-Cravatt, and settled. Further east, where
is " the Bliss place," Benjamin Hopkins settled. He bought
of one Whitney, who had built on the site of the present
dwelling. Isaac Frost settled where Maj. Berry now lives.
Beyond the four corners east of where Frost resided, Mr.
Curtis located, owning the farm on which is located No. 8
School house, the farm now owned by John VanBrocklin.
Nearly {opposite the old Curtis home is the VanBrocklin
residence, where Nicholas Van Brocklin lived over fifty
years. He purchased of one Campbell the father of Almira
Campbell referred to in Mrs. Ostrander's letter. On this
farm Wm. W. Van Brocklin was born. Next east lived
Elijah Wallis for over fifty years, and next on the north side,
Millard IRobinson.
At and near the four corners, at the top of the hill east of
Frost, were located Deodatns, Hezekiah and Thaddeus Clark.
The first two, physicians. Thelast, father of Grace Greenwood, who was located on the farm next west of Van Brocklin's at the corners.
There were also in same locality, south, Berry. Davis, the
Judds, Samuel Dunham, Almer Pratt, Reuben Billings and
Hanchett. Further east, at Wood's Corners, was Wood,
and near by, were James, Noodiah and Epiphras Olcott.
North from Dr. Clark's was Rev. Mr. Gilbert; since Timothy Butterfield's home; then followed Samuel Flint, Elijah
Wells and Artemus Bishop. At the foot of the hill, on
road to Cazenovia, near the Pratt's saw mill, was Hooper
Bishop, who only a few years since, was living in Michigan,
at the advanced age of over a hundred years.
One Ackley lived west of the mill, and afterwards built
the ho.use occupied by Lewis Pratt.





184


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


On the farm now owned by Marshall R. Dyer, first lived
Edward Hoar, who built avery substantial log house-the
logs being hewn and made square, a circumstance quite unusual in those days, Mr. Hoar sold to Mr. Allen Hayden,
who sold to Miles Dunbar. Elijah Howard bought of Duibar. He sold to John Todd, from whom it has passed to
Pitt, and now to Marshall R. Dyer. By Pratt's Falls, Manoah Pratt and the Smiths-Jared and Roderick-   took
up" a lot of land one mile square, and settling, built a flour
and saw mills. The first.built in the present township of
Pompey. These mills were erected in 1797 and 8.
In thus giving names of the original settlements made,
we have taken a circuit about the village of Pompey, and
named the settlers en route. By this review, we find there
were, within the circle thus described, as early as about1800,
sixty or seventy families.
In Clark's Onondaga, we find that the entire population
of the county at this time, was 1,036, and of this town, 309.
Showing that nearly one-third of the entire population of
Onondaga Co., (which then embraced HIomier anld Solon,
now Cortland Co.,) was located in this viciniity.
At that time, what is now Onondaga Co., numbered only
885,'Pompey containing nearly 50 more than onc-third of
the entire number. Clark further says, "At this time such a
vehicle as a horse wvagon was not in existence in this town
or county; and the visiting was done mostly in wýititer on
ox sleds, and happy and rich indeed was he who could yoke
a pair of oxen of his own, make his way through the woods
with wife and child or two on the sled, on an evening's visit
to a neighbor's several miles distant-in fact, such a man
was consideied in rather opulent circtumstances; and too, it
was no disparagement for the belles and beaux of that day
to attend singing school, or spinning bee on the ox sled."
Within the next few years many changes took place; settlers came in rapidly; a very thriving community was established at what was then called Butler's Hill. Besides those





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


185


already named we find named by Clark, the following parties who had settled in the town, " True Worthy and Selah
Cook, the Holbrooks, Hibbards, Hinsdales, Messengers,
Westerns, Aliens and Burrs."
But, during the advancement of the community to this
time, the trials attendant upon the emigration of the settlers, the deprivations necessary to be endured by themr, in
clearing the forests and commencing a settlement and a
new home, were, by no means, light. Coming as many or
nearly all of them did from Mass. and Conn., where they
had enjoyed the comforts of a home in a comparatively old
settled country; churches, schools, stores, mills, good roads,
warm and comfortable dwellings, 1he social circle, and all of
the comforts which a long established community enjoy;
and breaking aloof from these, and either on foot, with axe
across the shoulder, or with the family and family effects
upon an ox-sled or cart, often bidding adieu to friends
and kindred, they took up their line of march for this the
then far West. To do this, and under circumstances so
unfavorable, was not so pleasant a task as we, viewing it
from  our present stand-point, in days of rail roads and
telegraphs, might suppose it to have been.
A journey then to '" the West," was further than that of
to-day, to California olr to Oregon.
The " North River" then, was a distance so far from
home, that the criminal who should escape to it, was safe
from his pursuers. And New York and Albany were places
farther, apparently, from them, than Pike's Peak or SanFrancisco from us to-day
When they were about to leave on their journey, the
friends and neighbors for a great distance around, met at
the homestead; prayers were said, psalms was sung, and
those who were left behind, felt that those who had gone,
were to them no better than buried. During the last 30 or
40 years, we have been accustomed to witness the departure
of friends and neighbors who, by rail road, were to tlke





186


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


their departure for Wisconsin, Minn. and California, but
never with feelings such as saddened the hearts of those who
bade adieu to those who were to be the first settlers of this,
our native town.
Not unfrequently, the journey was performed by our
grand-mothers in company with their husbands, sons and
daughters, much of the way on foot,'beside the cart or sled
which carried the household goods!
As the young of to-day take a retrospect of those times
and trials, and of thejourneys performed by our grand-parents, may we not learn lessons of heroism, of self-denial
and of devotion to the best interests of our descendants,
which should they be acted upon, would somewhat improve
our physical, and perhaps our social and moral condition?
Then society could boast of men and women possessed with
strong physical, and often strong mental abilities, to whose
development we owe much of our present prosperity and
happiness.
We can hardly realize the change since then. Fancy
yourself surrounded by a 'number of little ones, cutting
loose from the enjoyments of your present comfortable
home, and all the blessings surrounding you, and wending
your way, not by the comfortable and elegant rail road car,
but by the slow, sure, tedious foot or sled-passage, over
rough roads, across fords often deep and dangerous, over
causeways, through swamps, through dense forests, the
home of the panther, bear, wolf, deer and Indian; and, by
the aid of marked trees, seeking your future home in a country which, because of these difficulties, is far from friends
and the comforts you now enjoy; and in the lone wood,
stopping to rear a log hut, commence a clearing and the settlement of a new country. Picture the gradual completion
of your rude dwelling; the felling of the trees; the clearing of the land; its seeding and the growth of the little crop
of corn or rye that is to become the bread of yourself and
family; the hollow stump or mortar for cracking the same;
and, in case of sickness, of the silent watch, the long lonely





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


187


trip for the physician and medicine, in the absence of neighbors or the possession of the many comforts which make the
sick.room cheerful and'the patient comfortable; the anxiety
felt for the recovery of a dear friend, it may be wife or child;
think of being now and then visited by the prowling wolf
or bear, robbing you of stock whose flesh or wooly coat was
to make your meat and clothing; of the trip on foot for
miles through the forest, which on every side surrounds
you, to the store, the shop or mill. In fine, if you can, think
of being alone in the wilderness, with naught but trees, wild
beasts and Indians for companions, and you may in some
small degree realize the position and painful self-sacrifice of
those who, eighty years ago, settled in Onondaga county,
which to-day boasts so proudly of its thriving city and towns,
its broad, well-tilled farms, its teeming graineries, its large
and beautiful dwellings, and its one hundred thousand population.
It is to be hoped that this retrospect made by us, shall
enable us fully to realize the debt of gratitude we owe to
those who cleared our forests and left to us the benefits of
their labors. And in so much as they labored for us, and
at no great cost, have left so great an inheritance, let us
guard well the homes they made, as well as the principles of
government they established and secured to us. In spite of
every difficulty, let us perpetuate, as far as in our power it
lies to perpetuate, for those who shall come after us, the
same homes and free institutions, unimpaired, to the end of
time.
Clark says, " the earliest settlers were obliged to go to
Whitestown, Oneida Co., a distance of 40 miles to mill.
They, however, often used a stump as a mortar, and for a
pessle a hard wood stick of proper dimentions attached to a
spring pole, for the purpose of breaking corn, and other
grain. Marketing and trade was mostly done at Whitestown, old Fort Schuyler and Herkimer, and the transportation was mostly done by ox teams, in the winter season."
The first grist mill built near the settlers, was that at





188


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Jamesville, in'1794, called Jackson's mill. " The first mills
erected in this town, were at Pratt's Falls, by Messrs. Pratt
and Smith. A grist mill in 1798 and a saw mill a year or
two earlier."  Mr. Pratt brought the material used in erecting his mills, excepting the hewn timber, from Connecticut,
hauling the same on an ox sled or cart. About the year 1810
or 12, Mr. Henry Seymour erected a windmill on Pompey
Hill, near what is. now the site of the Roman, Catholic, formerly the Baptist church. It proved a failure. In a year
or two after, he built near the site of the first, another windmill, which was used only in the preparation of grain for distilling. These mills stood for many years, and till about
1838.
The teams used by the earlier settlers were universally
ox teams. There were no wagons in town. Only a single
horse or two; these were used to work with the oxen, and to
go to mill or to store. The first chaise was brought here by
Judge Butler, from Philadelphia, where he had purchased
it in exchange for cattle that he had driven thither from
Central New York, to sell.
The plows used were what they called" The Bull Plow,"
made of wrought iron. The grain was covered by means
of a crotch harrow with nine teeth; one such implement
answered for a neighborhood. Scythes were brought from
the East. The snath was a straight stick, found in the
woods. Messrs. Abram and Timothy Northrop made the
first bent snaths manufactured in town. Wooden forks
were used for turning hay, Pitching forks were iron, with
heavy tines. There being no barns, it was usual to stack
the hay. This was done by means of a long handled fork,
one answering for a community.
Other farming utensils were of the rudest fashion. Household furniture was very limited in quantity, and often rude
in style. One table; the old chest with drawers; the cupboard in which were a few dishes; a few chairs; and onehalt of a hollow log for a cradle would frequently complete
the list.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


189


At about the year 1800, the trading at stores was mostly
done at Manlius Square. The first store, where a general
assortment of goods was kept, was opened by John Meeker,
about the year 1803 or 4, and in what was then Col. Hopkins' Tavern stand, at PompeyHill. Before this, for a short
time,'Truman Lewis, who kept tavern, kept also afew goods.
And, as-before stated, at Log City, was a place where tea,
sugar, coffee, &c., could be procured.
Mr. Meeker was soon followed by Clarke & Emmons, who
built and used for a store, what was at. the time it was taken
down called "~Dea. Baker's Old Red House."    At about
the time Clark & Emmons came, Henry Seymour and Orrin
Stone opened a store. Clark & Emmons in a year or two
left the place, and' the firm of Seymour & Stone was the
principal one doing a mercantile business-in this village for
a long period afterwards.
At this date, the cloth (flannel) which had been woven by
our grandmothers, from wool they had carded and spun,
was taken to Manlius to be colored and dressed-this making the full cloth worn by the settlers. Some of the families, it is related, wore deer skin breeches, the skins having
been tanned by themselves; these when wet, would shrink,
and instances are cited wher6e boys were obliged to wear
them without taking off till they became dry."  In time,
other fulling mills were built; one in the hollow, near Mr.
Conrad Bush's place; this mill, in the fall of the year, being well stored with cloth from the vicinity, took fire and
burned, together with its contents, causing serious loss, and
in many instances suffering, among the settlers.
Mr. Ezra Dodge, who lived on the farm so long occupied
by his son, David F. Dodge, was a wheel-wright. He used
to mend cart wheels, to make plows, &c.
The first blacksmiths after the Lillies, were Stewart &
Smith; about 1804 or 5 they came from Vermont; they
were brothers-in-law; one had a shop near the dwelling
which Jesse Butler first built; the other one nearly opposite the present site of the M. E. Church.





190


TIHE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Stewart moved to Ohio, and Chester Howard came and
worked at the business. Merrit Butler and Harry Hopkins,
who learned the trade of him, (Howard,) entered into pirtnership with him, and together they conducted the business
for three years. Butler bought the. shop, and afterwards
worked at the trade in Pompey for forty years.
At about the time this partnership was dissolved, Harry
Hopkins and George Merrill entered into co-partnership,
for the purpose of manufacturing " thirty toothed harrows,"
a patent for which had been obtained by Jacob Pratt and
Hopkins. They built the long shop which was located
nearly opposite the site of the present Disciples' Church.,
Joseph Beach worked at this trade on the Hill for many
years. He also carried on wagon making extensively.
Horace Butts and Merrit Butler at one time were somewhat
extensively engaged in the manufacturing of wagons.
Mr. Hurlbut was the first cabinet maker; afterwards,
Henry and Hezekiah Stevens settled in the village, and for
many years conducted that.business.
By reference to the laws of 1789, chapter 11, we find that
authority was conferred on the General Sessions to organize
townships; and accordingly, this township was organized
by the General Court in session at Whitestown, in the same
year. We believe, from the best information at hand, that
for a period, Pompey embraced under this action of the
Court, all the Military Tract bounded on the west by Preemption line, north by State line to McComb purchase, east
by line south to mouth of Chittenango Creek, thence on
line of military tract to Chenango River, on south by Pennsylvania State line. Settlements at or about this date, 1789,
were made at Horsehead's, Morehouse Flatts, Cayuga Bridge,
Chenango Point, at Manlius and at Pompey Hill. It is related that at the first town meeting held in 1794, after the
formation of the town by direct legislative enactment, there
were present settlers from many or all of the settlements
above named.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


191


' This first town meeting was held at Pompey Hill, at the,
house of Ebenezer Butler, Jr., April 1st, 1794. Moses DeWitt was chosen Supervisor, and Hezekiah Olcott, Town
Clerk, Allen Beach, Wm. Haskins, George Catlin and Ebenezer Butler, Jr., Assessors, Thomas Olcott, Jeremiah
Gould and John Lamb, Commissioners of Highways. A
special town meeting was held 20th September, 1794, at the
house of Ebenezer Butler, at which Wm. Haskins was
chosen Supervisor, in place of Moses DeWitt, deceased."
-(Clark.)
The first lawyer, or rather pettifogger, who came to Pompey Hill, was a Mr. Dunham, a man whose stay was of short
duration. The first settled lawyer was John Keedar, who
came here before or about the year 1800, and located near
the site of Pompey Academy; he and his brother kept
bachelors' hall; he was a first-class lawyer for his time; he
was a German by birth, and because of a. failure to receive
some appointment at the hands of the State Government,
he left the district and country. He was succeeded in 1806,
by Daniel Wood, who bought the residence occupied by
Keedar; Mr, Wood continued a resident of Pompey many
years, and in the successful practice of his profession, till
his death, which occurred in the year 1838. He was appointed the first Post Master at Pompey Hill, in 1811, (previous to this date the settlement went by the name of Butler's Hill,) and he was intimately connected with all the
early history of the village. Almost simultaneously with
Esq. Wood, came Samuel Baldwin; he was a man of great
promise, and obtained al. enviable notoriety as a lawyer;
his office was near where is now located the watering tub,
and in the north-east corner of what is now Mr. 0. Jarvis
Wheaton's door yard; afterwards it was removed to the site.
of what is familiarly known as "Esq. Gott's Office."  Victory Birdseye, in 1809, settled in the place as a lawyer, and
a partner of Mr. Wood. Daniel Gott afterwards' came,
taught school for a time, and theni commenced the study of
law.with Wood & Birdseye. Then followed Chas. Bald




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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


wind, Chas. B. and H. J. Sedgwick, Lucien Birdseye, LeRoy Morgan, Geo. H. Williams, R. H. Duell and others,
whose name is legion-either as students at law or practitioners. Wm. W. VanBrocklin is the only lawyer at present located in Pompey; he i's also Justice of the Peace.
The first physician in the town of Pompey, was Dr. Holbrook, who settled at Pompey Centre in 1793. The first
resident physician at Pompey Hill, was Dr. Walter Coton.
He was followed by Daniel Tibbals, who settled here in
about the year 1800; he, Dr. Tibbals, spent in Pompey
many years in the practice of his profession; he left the
town about thirty or thirty-five years since, and moved to
Erie, Pa., spending the residue of his life with his sons in
that city.
Cotempory with Dr. Tibbals from the year 1814, Dr. Jehiel Stears has been a physician at Pompey Hill; he is still
living at a good old age, and has not entirely given:up the
practice of medicine. Dr. Hezekiah Clark, in the year 1805
or 6, settled east of the village of Pompey, and practiced
medicine in this locality for a great number of years. He
was a surgeon, serving as such in the Revolutionary war.
Dr. Rial Wright was a partner with Dr. Stevens for a number ofyears. Dr. L. B. Wells, during the first years of his
practice, was a resident physician in this place. He was the
first Homcepathic physician in Pompey.
Dr. J. Deblois Sherman settled at Pompey Hill about 1825.
Resided opposite the old home of Marovia Marsh, where
Frank Porter now (1875) lives. Office was on site of
" Beard's stone store."  He ranked high as a physician,
went to the West or South Western States. Dr. Tibbals had
a Drug store just south of Sherman's office.
The early settlers, with few exceptions, were young
married people, or those with families of small children;
and they early perceived the necessity of establishing schools.
As early as 1794, do we find that a school was opened; and
shortly after, a house was built for the purpose, and every





I


]VRJ.SI3YTRjRIAN  CIWI(CH, yPONPEY TIILL










THE POMPEY!E-UNION.


193


advantage possible was secured, that the children might be
taught. Not that the facilities for obtaining a liberal education were then as available as now, but such advantages
as were demanded by the times were procured, and the
school was a leading feature or institution of the community.
The first school kept, was in a log house located near
Where Mr. Daniel Kellogg now lives. And among the first,
if not the first teacher, was Miss Lucy Jerome, afterwards
Mrs. James Geddes, mother of the Hon. Geo. Geddes, of
Camillus.
The first house built for school purposes, was a frame one
built in 1798, and located in the forks of the road on the
village green; in the rear of which, was the first grave
yard; afterwards, the house was moved north to near the
present site of" Gott's office."  There school was kept for
a number of years, till the Academy building was erected,
Then the" Common School" was kept for a number of years
after, in a room of that building.
Among the early teachers, was Miss IHepsabah Beebee
and Mr. Lyman Pitcher; as well as Mr. Jas. Robinson who
first taught English Grammar, a science that only the oldest
and most advanced scholars aspired to study.
As the interest in education increased, the settlers coniceived the idea of establishing an Academy. And as early
as about 1800, the frame for such an institution was raised,.
and in the year 1811, was incorporated by the Regents of
the University. And the trustees under the charter held
their first meeting in the month of April, of the same year.
The educational interests of the people seemed to be
among the more important, and whatever was done by them,
it is evident, they meant should be well done, and that the
benefits resulting from this institution be not for them and
their children only, but for those who should come after
them for generations to follow.
To this end, they saw the necessity of making it a funded
institution. Citizens in the vicinity, and for miles around,
13





194


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


owning real estate made contributions to it of from 50 to
100 dollars, and upwards,, in mortgages on their farms. The
interest accruing on the same to be paid annually. By this
means there was accumulated, together with that received
from the sale of Public lands and other sources, a fund of
several thousand dollars, and the institution has been able,
(though sometimes lacking a sufficient income from tuitions
charged, to render it self-sustaining,) to support itself till the
present time; and has ever, till Academies and Union as
well as good district schools have become so numerous about
it, ranked among the first Academies of the State.
Perhaps to this school, more than to any other one cause,
do we owe the general intelligence of the people of this vicinity, which has won for the citizens of Pompey so fair a
name abroad. And that has enabled her to send out so
many sons to fill positions in councils of the State snd Nation, as well as to distinguish themselves in the law and
other of the learned professions.
The men of those days seemed to believe that the interests,of Education and Religion should go hand in hand, in a.community   And that virtue and good morals, to be the
result of th- one, should be taught by the other. Conse-.quently, we see springing up simultaneously with this institution, one being a part of the other, the church, where
the gospel was to be preached,-the people taught their
duties to their Maker.
The first organization of this kind was what is known as
the Presbyterian Church, properly, "The First Congregational Church of Pompey.
This organization was effected, October 19, 1796, by
Ameni R. Robbins, pastor of the church in Norfolk, Conn.
The membership at first, consisted of the following twenty-.two named persons:
MALES.                   FEMALES.
Ebenezer Butler,          Desire Butler,
James Olcott,              Dorothy Butler,





THE. POMPEY RE-UNION.


195


Benjamin Butler,          Molly Jerome,
Joseph Shattuck,          Lucy Cook,
Ichabod Lathrop,          Freelove Cook,
John Jerome,              Amarilla Jerome,
Trueworthy Cook,          Lucy Jerome,
Selah Cook,               Susanna Carol,
Levi Jerome,              Hannah Griffis,
Moses Lilly,              Zeruiah Catlin,
Daniel McKeys,            Louisa Butler.
The last survivor of them, Mrs. Louisa Butler, died April
30, 1857. Having been for more than 60 years a communicant of the church.
The number of members increased from time to time, till
in the year 1834, over 300 (305) persons were reported in
good and regular standing in the connection.
The meetings were first held in the school house that
stood in the fork of the road, near the centre of the green.
When the old Academy was erected, meetings were held in
that building in a room suited to the purpose.
At length, the congregation becoming too large to be accommodated there, the present church edifice was erected
in the years 1817 and 18, and dedicated in the year 1819.
The number of ministers that have, since the date of its
organization been settled over the church, has not been small.
Among these, have been some of the best and most talented
men of the country. The following is a list of names embracing all, or nearly all who have survived as pastors of
this church..
Rev. Mr. Williston,  ---                        1798
"  Joseph Gilbert,                             1799
"  Hugh Wallis,_-    ---_    -.__---  -.-__  1801
"  Jabez Chadwick, ---   --.                   1812
SE. S. Barrows,--..-..-----------1822
"  B. B. Stockton,__   ____-------------------- - 1829
SJ. B. Shaw,-....    -....1833
" Ethan Smith,- ----......     _  1835





196


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


"  John Gridley,-_ _,_--        _--   __    _  1836
"  Asa Rand, ----------_------------------     1837
"  Mr. Wheelock,------       __ -  __   __
"  Clinton Clark.     -------------1845
S. P. M. Hastings,.  ------------------------1848
SA. A. Graley,-----------------------------1856
J. H. Morron,-----------------------------1862
"  N. Bosworth,--_---       __,                186.
"  Mr. Eggleston, -------------1866
"  A. Cooper,---------------------1869
"(  J. Petrie, _. _...........     1872
J. Petrie,-----------------------------------187
The Baptist church was organized in the year 1817, and
at one time was equally as thriving as the Congregational
church. But owing to certain causes; the organization haý:
ceased to exist, and most of the original members living ten
years ago, were members of the Disciples', or Christ's church,
an organization of comparatively recent date.
The Baptist congregation first held their meetings in
barns and at the private dwellings of the members.
Among the early ministers, and the first who preached to
them after their regular organization, was the Rev. Frederick Freeman, a resident of Fabius. They built the church
which they subsequently occupied in the year 1819 or 20,
immediately after the Presbyterian house was completed.
The Methodist church was organized at a later period.
Rev. Mr. Torry or Father Torry as he was called, was among
the first, if not the first, minister that had charge of this
church. Since his day, the church being under the supervision of the Oneida Conference, has received its ministers
by appointment, from the Bishops of the church, and has
made changes regularly as per rule of the Itinerancy. No
denomination can boast of more zealous or devoted pastors,
than the M. E. church.
This society was first formed in the neighborhood west
of the village; and they built a church which has stood
till a recent day, opposite the dwelling of Mr. Nelson Hall.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


197


About the year 1839, the house of worship in the village
was erected; its membership may never have been very
large, but it has embraced some of the pure and good men
and women of the earth. Its early founders have gone to
their reward and their works do follow them.
The Disciples of Christ's church was organized under circumstances which are fully given in the subjoined paper
friom the pen of the present pastor, Rev. A. S. Hale.
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST.
Early in the year 1833, the Baptist church at Pompey Hill
was left without a pastor. Duringthe Spring or early Summer of this year, the church formed an acquaintance with
Elder J. I. Lowell, who preached before the church several
times "on trial."  Though a Baptist minister in regular
standing, he was not fully in sympathy with all the doctrines of the Baptist creed, and he so distinctly informed the
church. lie was, however, nevertheless employed as the
pastor of the Baptist cburch. At the time of his coming
here, Mr. L. had recently had his attention called to certain
ideas that he had once held as true, but which he was now
firmly convinced were errors. Not being a man to hide
any truth, or cover up any light he might possess, he began
at once to declare " the whole counsel of God" as he had
now come to understand it. Whatever his faults may have
been, his great thought-the ruling idea indeed in his mind
and life was-God has spoken, let His toord stand, and His will
-c done, though all humanisms come to naught. It was then,
perhaps, more dangerous than now, for any minister to advocate ideas not contained in "the creed."
But, regardless of creeds, Mr. L. was determined to follow truth wherever it might lead, or whatever might be the
consequences. His ministry was popular for awhile, until
it began to be whispered that he was a " Campbellite,"
whatever that might be. But the cry of "heresy" now
raised with reference to his teaching, could not deter a goodly number from accepting the truths of God which he so for




198


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


cibly setforth. Nicknames applied to truth, will not frighten
the real truth-lover, who, like the noble Bereans of old, will
for himself search the Scriptures to know what they really
teach and require. Many persons accepted the views of
Gospel truths presented by Mr. L., and many warmly opposed them.
Before the expiration of the first year of his labor in
Pompey, the portion of the church which rejected these
views, closed the meeting-house against the pastor. The
church also, as its records shows, (on May 9th, 1834, and
again May 17th,) excluded quite a number of its members,
for no crime, immorality, or unchristian conduct, for no overt
act committed in joining any other society, but simply for
entertaining new, and as they thought, enlarged views of
Gospel truth; or, as the record states it, "for embracirin
the Campbell or heretical principle."
Early in 1834, several persons were converted under Mr.
Lowell's ministry.  These, together with those who no
longer found sympathy nor countenance in the Baptist
church, desiring a home religiously, were necessarily led to
the formation of a new religious society in the place. On
May 3rd, 1834, as the records show, " The First Congregation of Disciples of Christ in Pompey" was organized, with
twenty-eight members, whose names were as follows:
Calvin Peck,               J. I. Lowell,
Asa Wells,                 Mary P. Lowell,
Thos. M. King,             Eliza Nearing,
Alson Nearing,             Polly Wilson,
Charles Little,            Mary A. Bush,
Malcom Bennett,            Temperance Wilson,
A. H. Squires,             Paulina Talbot,
Uriel Wilson, Jr.          Mindwell Thomas,
Samuel Talbot,             Harriett Pratt,
Harry Knapp,               Catherine Bennett,
Willard Heydon,            Betsey Wright,
Darius Wilson,             Rhoda Parsons,





TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Jacob Bush,                Polly Thomas,
Alvin Talbot,             Mary Knapp.
Seven of these persons still, (Aug., 1873,) remain members of the church. At the end of the year in which the
church was organized, there were 50 members, and by the
end of the next year (1835,) the number had reached 93.
In the year 1837 the society built the house in which
they worshipped until 1868, when a new church was built,
the old one having been sold for the use of the |District
school, in place of the school house which was burned down
on the night of Feb. 11, 1868.
The first pastor of the church was J. I. Lowell. The
first Elders were Calvin Peck, Asa Wells and Thomas M.
King. Deacons, Alson Nearing and Charles Little. Treasurer, Malcom Bennett. Clerk, A. HI. Squires.
The following ministers have served the church as pastors:-J. M. Bartlett, M. 1H. Clapp, M. H. Slosson, IT. M.
Selmser, J. M. Shepard, Andrew J. Smith, W. T. Horner,
L. Southmayd, J. B. Marshall, J.. C. Goodrich and A. S.
Hale.
The present Elders are Harry Knapp, George Nearing
and Lucius Crandall.
Deacons-U. Wilson, J. W. Garrett, Morris Bush and D.
B. Knapp.
The church numbers now about 160 members.
The dead were first buried in a yard located on the public green, and back of the first school house. The first
buried, were two children of Geo. Catlin,.who died of scarlatina. The first adult buried there, was Mrs. Cravatt, wife
of him who settled on farm recently owned and occupied by
Robert Ellis. Col. Hezekiah Olcott, a resident of this town,
an officer in the Revolution and a surveyor, while engaged in
surveying the State Road, was taken ill of fever and died at
Pompey West Hill; he was brought to this village and
buried with military honors. He, it is said by those who





200


TIHE POMPEY RE-UNION.


remember him, was a very intelligent man, one of great influence, first among the first men of the country; a man
much loved and whose loss was severely felt, not only at
home but all through the county and central portion of the
State.
About the year 1802 or 3, measures were taken to locate
a new burial ground. The location selected was opposite
Dr. Stearns' present residence, and the bodies that had been
buried at the place before named, were desinterred and
buried there. On reflection, however, it was determined
that the locality was an unfavorable one, and the lot was
abandoned as a burial place; and what is now the east or
back part of the present beautiful cemetery was selected,
to which place the dead were taken and buried. About the
year 1823 the " new part" was purchased of Peter Smith,
father of Hon. Garrett Smith of Peterborough. The first person buried in this new part, was Mr. Daniel Knapp, who
died in the month of August of the same year in which the
lot was fenced, 1823; he died suddenly, of Billious cholic,
being ill only a few hours. A second " new part" situated
north of the first, was recently added; and thle whole yard
under the direction of the present incorporate company, is
kept in most pleasing order, with excellent fences, walks and
shade trees.
A complete record of every burial is kept.
In speaking of Pompey Hill, Clark says: " This village
was, within the memory of men still living, as prominent a
place as any in the county. It gave more tone to Ihe surrounding country and settlements, on account of its refinement and wealth, its intelligence and learning, than any
place in the vicinity. People came here for legal advice,
they came here for medical advice, to do their trading, and
they came here for fashions, they came here for military parades, for political discussions and for general consultations
of a public nature; they came here to engage in all the
events incident of men in public life."





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


201


LA FAYETTE-(POMPEY WEST HILL.)
The first settler in this locality, was John Wilcox, before
named as the first settler in the original township. He settled about two miles from the present village of La Fayette.
The first settlers in and near the village, were Joseph
Rhoades, Apollos King, Zara D. Howe, Caleb Green, Joseph
Smith, Dr. Silas W. Park, Mr. Owens and the Bakers, all
or nearly all coming from Chesterfield, Hampshire Co., Mass.,
in or about the year 1801.
Rhoades built a log tavern and kept a public house on the
site of the present one. He afterwards moved to Marcellus,
where many of his descendents are now living. Mr. Apollos King did not remain any great length of time; he settled one-lalf mile south of "The Corners," moving from there
to Otisco. Howe settled near an ashery on the Caleb Green
farn, and put up a frame to a house. He did not complete
the house, but sellinghis improvements to Dr. Silas W. Park,
he moved to Otisco. Dr. Park finished the building and
lived in the same, during the remainder of his life, a period
of 24 years. The house was standing in 1870.
Joseph Smitl settled near the site of Dr. Elijah Park's
dwelling; lie was a fitnmer, lived here about 20 years and
till his death.
Erastus Baker, tihe first of the fimnily by that name who
settled in this locality, came in 1801, with Stephen (" Ensign') Cole and 1%hoades, and settled on the hill just west of
the village. In 1805 Seth made a settlement joining Erastus on the West, and Sydenham located to the north of him.
Thomas, in 1803, settled one and one-half miles southwest of
the Corners, in what is now called Sherman Hollow. The
greater part of these lands remain in the hands of the Baker
family to this day.
Joseph & Lemuel came in 1804, but made no permanent
home; Joseph moving to Otisco, and died there. Lemuel
went to the far West, and it is said, was finally killed by the
Indians in Texas, when hunting for his cows.





202


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Orange King and his brother, (if at all connected with
Apollos King, it was a very distant connection,) came from
Chesterfield, about 1800. They settled one mile north of
the Corners. There was another brother who settled one
mile west of the Corners.
About the same time Gen. Isaac Hall came from Great
Barrington, Mass., and settled one mile south of Corners,
on a soldier's claim. He purchased ten or twelve hundred
acres, was the wealthy man of Pompey. It is said, that he
brought into town with him half a bushel of silver dollars.
He gave his attention to the raising of stock. It was his
custor to let to his neighbors, and to citizens elsewhere,
cows, sheep, colts, &c., to double. He died about 1826 or 7,
being worth, it was said, about 70,000 dollars.
Joseph S. Cole settled half mile south ot Corners, came
in at an early day, remained a short time, then went to
Pennsylvania, afterwards returned to West Hill and died
here.
The first and only licensed lawyer settling at West Hill,
or village ofLa Fayette, was Samuel Baldwin, who had previously been located at Pompey Hill. He remained a number of years practicing his profession, afterwards went to
Geneva and died, while living with his daughter.
The first resident physician at this village, was Dr. Silas
W. Park, who settled as before stated on N. W. corner of
Public Square. He cleared this Square of forest trees. He
practiced medicine during his life-time. About 1814, Dr.
Chauncey Williams became a partner of Dr. Park, which
partnership continued for three years. In 1817, Elijah,
brother of Dr. Silas W. Park, came and read medicine with
him. Afterwards was his partner for three years. He then
moved to Otisco, where he remained three or four years,
then moved to Adrian, Mich., where he died. One Dr.
Squires came and made a residence of two years, and then
left.
After Dr. Silas W. Park's death, Dr.Ward Bassitt, of Sa




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


203


lina, came and made a stay of one or two years. He then
went to Cazenovia, Madison CD. In 1825, Dr. Rial Wright
came and remained one and a half years. At this time Dr.
Elijah Park, son of Dr. L. W. Park, who had previously
studied medicine with his father and uncle, bought of Dr.
Wright his ride, paying him $150.00 for the same. Dr. W.
went to Pompey Hill, and, as a partner of Dr. Jehiel Steam,
practiced medicine in that village and vicinity for many
years. Dr. Elijah Park has remained in the village and is
to-day, (1872,) in the practice of his profession. Dr. Lyman
Rose was a resident physician in the village for many years
prior to his death, which occurred in 1867.
Lemuel Smith, father of Rev. Marcus Smith, was the first
blacksmith settling at West Hill. Coming about year 1800,
and remained till his death, 1817. His shop was located on
site of the church. His anvil was situated near the spot
where now stands the pulpit in the church.
M" orris Clapp, brother of Mrs. Silas W. Park, came and
settled as a blacksmith, in 1818. He worked here at his
trade, 45 years. He died in 1870, aged 76.
SNathaniel Stearling, a carpenter and joiner, settled on
fiarm now owned and occupied by Luther Baker. He built
the Baptist church at Pompey Hill, and the church now
standing in this village. The latter part of his life was spent
upon a farm. He died in Connecticut. He was connected
with, and was a leading man in the church, and in educational matters.
Before Stearling, James, Asa, and Joseph McMillin, brothers, carpenters and joiners, settled about one mile N. E. of
Corners. Joseph and James built the first framed hotel,
and the one now standing in the village; Stoughton Morse
being landlord. The first hotel was built of logs, and James
Higgins was landlord; this was in about 1808. The McMillens remained many years, finally selling, moved away and
died in different localities West and South-west.
Dorus Porter, a cabinet maker, from 1820, lived in the
village; was Deacon in church, now lives in Michigan.





204


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Ansil King was a tanner and shoemaker at the Corners,
for many years, a prominent man as a mechanic.
Caleb Green owned and gave half of the lot now used for
a public square, Erastus Barker giving the other half.
Ansil Smith, Chas. Jackson, and General Hall were Justices of Peace. (The latter a number of years) before the
division of the township. Col. Johnson Hall, son of Gen.
Hall, was sheriff and member of State Legislature. He was
a merchant at West Hill, carrying on a very extensive trade.
The first merchant was Stoughton Morse,'the tavern keeper. Had a little store the first at the Corners, in connection
with his hotel, in 1805. Then followed Ansil Smith as merchant, till 1812 or 14. During the war of 1812, Smith run
a distillery, bought cattle for troops, sending stores of provision to Sackett Harbor, and to Granadier Island. After
the war, Judge Hall was the merchant of the place.
Amos IPalmeter settled one mile south of La Fayette
Square, at about 1803. He had a pig pen covered with
logs to protect the pigs from the bears. At a time when
he had a lot of pigs in this pen, one of the logs happened to
be moved so as to leave an opening; and in the night the
squealing of the pigs aroused the family; but Amos was
afraid to go out. His wife took an axe and went to the pen,
and seeing a bear coming out of the opening, she gave him
a blow, and pulled the log over the hole. She then took a
fire-brand in her hands, and went south through the woods,
three forths of a mile to a Mr. Johnson's, and had him come
to help dispatch the bear. But, opening the pen, old Bruin
was found dead from the blow she had already given him.
This story illustrates the courage and pluck of our grandmothers in those days. Not, however, a very good story
for Amos, we think.
In Sherman Hollow, the first settlements were made in
1793.
Among the first who located herere ere Solomon Owen
and JamesSherman.. They built, in 1795 or 8, grist and





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205


saw mills. The saw mill built by them is still in good
working older.
Mr. Sherman was father of Dr. J. e Blois and Joseph
Sherman. The first was at one time a prominent physician
at Pompey Hill. The latter a Justice of the Peace from
1830 to about 1840.
In 1794, Reuben Bryan, Amasa Wright, Samuel Hyatt,
James Pierce and Amaziah Branch, settled in this hollow.
The last named, was the first school teacher at this place
and at La Fayette Village. He died at Dr. S. W. Park's,
of nightmare, in about 1818. He is said to have been one
of the good men of the earth. He was poor, but well educated. He came from Massachusetts.
In the north part of Sherman Hollow, were John Houghtaling, William Haskins and Comfort Rounds, located as
early as 1792.
The first white child born within the limits of the town,
is said to have been Amy Wilcox. Born in 1791.
Chas. Johnson, a blacksmith, has carried on business at
Sherman Hollow for about 50 years; and he is still at his
forge working as industriously as ever.
DELPHI.
About six miles East and South from Pompey Hill, is
located the beautiful valley of the Limestone Creek. A
valley which became settled at an early day by a race of noble men and women, many of whose descendants to-day are
tilling positions of trust in State and Nation.
As early as about the year 1800, there were located within the present limits of the township of Pompey, and within
this valley, a few settlers, who during the next five or ten
years were joined by many others, and a settlement embracing fifteen or twenty families was [formed. At a later
time a Post office was located there. At this time, when
the settlers had met for the purpose of changing the name





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


from "Pompey Four Corners," one of their number declared the valley and its surroundings, were similar to one
with which he was familiar in Italy, and suggested that the
name of a village in that valley be given to the village in
this. The suggestion meeting the approval of the citizens,
the Italian name " Delphi" was given to the settlement.
It is impossible for us to give the exact order in which the
settlers came into this valley. Neither can we be sure that
in every instance, correct dates are given. We are largely
indebted for information to a gentleman who first settled in
the township of Fabius; but who was in reality a member
of this community; and who, to-day, (1873,) is a resident of
the village. Mr. Elnathan Griffith, who, at 90 years of age,
possesses a reliable memory; his statements corroborating
the best information obtained from other sources.
Mr. Griffith came into the valley in the year 1806. And
has since, without interruption, been associated with its history. He was intimately acquainted with those who had
preceded him, and was made familiar with the date and the
attendant circumstances of their settlement.
Samuel Sherwood was, probably, the first settler in this
vicinity. He located in 1795 on lot No. 84, about one mile
northwest from the present village, on a farm afterwards
owned by Patrick Shields, who married Mr. Sherwood's
widow. Samuel Sherwood was a Maj. Gen. of a regiment.
He came from Saratoga county.
Rufus Sheldon, father of a very talented family, among'
whom is Harvey Sheldon, Esq., of New York, settled in
March, 1800, near Maj. Sherwood's, one and one-half miles
north-west from the village. In 1798 or 9, Elijah Hill, coming from Pittsfield, Mass., settled three miles down the valley, north from the village. In 1800, Col. Ensign Hill,
brother to Elijah, came and settled a little south of the village. In 1802, James McClure settled one 'mile south of
Elijah Hill. Samuel Draper came from Vermont, and settled in the vicinity, about 1803. Benjamin Coats and Wil




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


207


liam Peas came with or near the time James McClure
did. The three came from New Lebanon, Columbia Co.,
N.Y.
McClure and Coats settled on lands now occupied by their
descendants. Mr. Peas settled one half mile north of Elijah
Hill. Osias Burr and William Cook, also came from New
Lebanon about this time, 1802. Burr was Justice of the
Peace and Judge of Court of Common Pleas.
Elihue Barber came in 1801, and settled on the hill west
of the valley, and about one and one-half miles from the
creek. He was induced to settle out ot the valley because
the opinion prevailed that where the timber was off the
bottom land, they would have little value, and " be too
poor to raise beans."
Moses Blowers and Stutson Benson settled at an early
day near Barber's, on lot 84.
Capt. Theopelas Tracy settled one-half mile S. E. on a
farm now occupied by Henry Ryder. He built the frame of
the first Grist mill on Limestone Creek. The same mill is
now owned by Alex. Maxwell. This frame was erected by
Capt. Tracy in about 1803 or 4. He sold to Moses Savage,
who employed Mr. Elnethan Griffith, a mill-wright, to complete the mill.
The stone, " two run," were brought from Albany by
teams that had taken wheat thither, to market. These stone
are French Burr stone, and are still running in the mill.
They cost S100.00.
Dea. Moses Savage settled on the east side of the Creek,
and built the first carding mill that was erected in the valley. Also, iu about 1825 or 30, he built the grist-mill now
owned by Edgar Pratt.
Zebulon Edgerton, in 1806, had a good sized clearing one
mile south of Delphi. The same farm is now occupied by
Wm. H. Savage. His son, Mr. Reubin Edgerton, who came
with his father, in 1802, is still living (1873) in Delphi, at the
age of 92 years.





208


TIIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Dr. Joseph Ely kept an Inn on site of present hotel, and
also practiced medicine in the locality. He bought, in 1804,
of Peter Root or of Mr. Goodrich a Justice of the Peace. Mr.
Ely found on the lot a " brush house," which some previous
settler had left. This he occupied till fall of 1806. He
then employed Mr. Elnethan Griffith, the only, carpenter in
the place, to put up a frame addition to this house  Dr.
Ely came from Montgomery Co., N. Y.
At this time, 1806, there was a frame barn and several log
houses in the vicinity. Salmon G. Willard and Daniel IH.
Hubbard had built a store in the fall of 1805, opposite, west
of hotel. The wife of Mr. Hubbard, is still livingo at Delphi,
aged 91 years.
In about the year 1808, William Shankland, father to
Judge Shankland, of Cortland, settled in this valley, his
house being located on the east side of the creek, and of the
County line. He was a member of this community, although a resident of Madison county.
On what is called " the Hitchcock place," settled Walter
Bates. This is near the old Indian Fort, on lot 99. This
was, probably, the first settlement made on this lot. Robert
Swarthout, son of the soldier [who drew the lot, was, verbally authorized by his father to come on and to sell out
the lot. He was here for a short time for this purpose.
After selling the lot, or much of it, he moved to Ithaca.
Hon. John M1. Jaycox, is, we are assured, a descendant on
the maternal side, from this family. Mr. Swarthout sold
from this lot, in 1806, to Jasper Galliway, and, we believe,
to Thos. Derbyshire. One of these sales embraced the land
now occupied by Russel and Sheldon Strickland.
Horace Yates' name is also associated with this same farm.
Elisha Litchfield came in 1812. His dwellingl was located on the site of Alanson N. Godfrey's house. He kept a
store on the corner, near his house. His relative, Enhraim
Cleaveland, came in 1810, and kept hotel on the site of the
present one, for a year or two, when he died. His property





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


209


fell into the hands of Maj. Litchfield, who continued for a
short time to act as landlord. Hon. Elisha Litchfield was a
prominent man among the prominent men of his day. Maj.
of Regiment, Member of Assembly, Speaker of the House
and Member of Congress.
Reuben Benton was an early settler and Justice of the
Peace. Bela Cole lived at an early day where N. F. Potter
lias recently built a house, opposite the Baptist church.
The settlers at one time, did nearly all of their trading at
Cazenovia, with John Lineland, who was agent for the Holland Purchase Co.
Messrs. Hubbard & Willard were the first parties who
kept a full assortment of goods in Delphi, this was in 1805
and 6; they sold to Esli Squires. In 1810, Squires built
and occupied a store on the corner, where Marble's store is
now located; he then sold the building purchased of Hubbard and Willard, to Richard Taylor, father to Rev. Elisha
L. Taylor, D. D., and to James M. Taylor, of New York.
Herrick Allen bought of Taylor; he was a leading merchant for many years, and became wealthy. His father.
Daniel Allen, in 1802, settled two miles north of the village.
At an early day Schuyler Van Rensselaer was a merchant
at Delphi. In 1818 he sold to Matthew B. Slocum, father
to Maj. Gen. Henry B. Slocum, U. S. A.
Up to 1810, there was but one store.
Of the physicians, probably Dr. Joseph Ely was the first
who settled in the valley; he remained about three years.
The following named physicians have practiced their profession, being at the time, residents of Delphi:
Doctor Frisby, Dr. Shipman, brother of A. B. Shipman,
recently of Syracuse, was at Delphi, 45 years ago; he remained many years; he died in Rochester, in 1871. Dr.
John L. King and Dr. Pettit, brother of Judge Pettit, of Fabins, were partners. Dr. Hiram Adams, so long a prac14





210


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


ticing physician in Fabius, was at one time connected with
Dr. Pettit, in his office.
Dr. Goodell, succeeded Dr. Shipman. Others have followed; among them were Drs. Marsh, Hiram Wiggins, Eli
Cook, Isaac Baker, Dr. Todd and Dr. Potter. / The last
named being the only resident physician living in the village at this date, 1873.
Amos Benedict had in 1806, two miles north from Delphi, a blacksmith's shop; the first shop of the kind in the
village was owned and carried on by two brothers named
Townsend.
Oliver Rogers was a wagon maker in 1816. Mr. Prinafore was a wheel-wright, and beside, made the " bull plow"
as it was called, with wooden mould-board. Jabez Groudevant was cabinent maker in 1810, and worked here at his
trade till his death, which occurred about the year 1850.
Deacon Abbott was the first tanner; as early as in 1807 or
8, he built all the vats belonging to the old tannery; he sold
to James Reeves. About 1820, John and Michael Spencer,
from England, came into possession of the yard and the
business; they conducted the business for many years. FinIally, it was determined that one should move to Cardiff;
and continue the business there; to decide which should go
they "jipped coppers," John was elected to go; he became
Judge of the Court. Afterwards, Member of Asssembly;
he was much beloved by his fellow-townsmen, and his ab-sence was a great loss to Delphi.
Caleb Perry, afterwards bought the tannery and worked
at the tanning business till the building and yard was destroyed by a freshet.
One mile south-east from the village, Clark Rogers, in
1823, built an edge tool factory; this factory was afterwards
owned and conducted by Holmes and Sampson, whose reputation as excellent workmen is wide-spread; their tools,being known as of the best make in the country. This factory is now owned by John Sailsbury.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


211


Henry TenEycke owned, till 1853, when it was destroyed
by fire, a Woolen factory, which was established in 1812.
It was located on the creek north from the village, and during the whole period of its existence did a heavy business.
To-day the village of Delphi is one of thrift. Two churches,
a school, in which many celebrities have taught, among
them are Jesse T. Peck, one of the Bishops of the M. E.
church, Dr. Amos Wescott, recently of Syracuse, and Hon.
D. G. Fort, of Oswego.
Several stores-among them a Drug store-a good hotel,
shops, neat residences with beautiful yards, all contribute
to render this village one of the most beautiful inland towns
in Central New York.
From this valley and community, as descendants of the
early settlers, whose names we have here recorded, have
gone forth a Judge of the Supreme Court, a Maj. Gen.
United States Army, a Doctor of Divinity, successful physicians, tradesmen, mechanics and lawyers.
WATERVALE.
FROM TIE PEN OF WAKEMAN G. SPRAGUE, OF SYRACUSE.
Watervale, a village situated on West Branch or Limestone Creek, and about four miles north-east from Pompey
Hill, was settled by Col. James Carr, about the year 1809.
Mr. Carr built the first saw mill erected on the stream in
this vicinity. He was soon followed, about the same year,
or in 1810, by Willoughby Milliard, who almost simultaneously with Mr. Carr, erected the second saw mill. This
place was first called Carr Hollow, then Hemlock Hollow,
also Slab Hollow, on account of the great quantity of slabs
mXde by those mills.
Ansil Judd, father to Solomon Judd, of Binghamton, and
of Orvan R. Judd, of American Express Co., Buffalo, settled
in the Hollow in 1812, and built the first wool-carding and
cloth dressing establishment in the town.





212


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


The Post Office was established in 1820, and Ansil Judd
was first Post-Master. He selected the name of Watervale,
and published lines announcing the fact, viz:"The hemlocks are gone,
The Slabs are set sail,
And we'll call it Slab Hollow
No more, but Watervale."
George Ostrander settled about the year 1815, and built a
distillery, using about ten bushels of grain a day, which
amount in those days, was considered very large.
Benjamin F. Wheeler carried on the business of tauning
and shoe making, for a long time.
Ira Curtis moved to Watervale at an early day, and opened
the first store. He also built, and for many years kept the
first hotel.
Wm. C. Fargo, 0. Abbott, Benjamin Patten and V. 11
Taylor, were among the first settlers.
Anson Sprague settled on a farm south of Watervale, in
1818. On this farm was found the celebrated Monumental
stone, now in the State Agricultural and Historical rooms
at Albany. The following description of this stone we take
from Mather & Brockett's Geography of the State of New\
York, published in 1847, by J. H1. Mather & Co., Hartford,
Editor:
"In the town of Pompey, a stone was found some years
since, about fourteen inches long, twelve broad, and eight
thick. It had a figure of a serpent entwined about a tree,
and this inscription.
Leo X De o L. S.
VIx 1520-    1   n
This inscription has been interpreted-Leo X. by the grace
(or will) of God, sixth year of his pontificate, 1520. L. S.
the initials of the person buried, (as it was undoubtedly a
sepulchral monument,)-the cross, an indication that he was
a Catholic, and the character n perhaps a rude intimation





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


213


that he belonged to the masonic fraternity. The date is correct, Leo X. having been elected Pope in 1513-14. It seems
probable that some Spanish adventurers, in quest of silver
or gold, lured by the 1eport of the salt springs, and hoping
to find there the object of their search, had wandered hither
from Florida, which had been discovered and explored in
1502. One of the number dying here, his companions erected this simple memorial to mark the place of his burial."
Col. John Sprague and Ansil Judd built the grist-mill in
1830.
John Sprague and Anson Sweet, builtthe first two brick
dwelling houses that were erected in the north part of the
town, near the " Clapp Settlement."  Capt. John Sprague,
father to John and Anson, came from Milton, Saratoga Co.,
in 1798, and settled just out of Watervale, near the farm of
the late Reuben Murray.
Wm. C. Fargo, father of Wm. C. of American Express
Co., resided at Watervale at an early day; he had for a long
time the contract for carrying the mail from Manlius via.
Watervale, Fabius, Delphi and Pompey Center, three times
a week. William G. Jerome and Chancellor Fargo for
years rode the horse that carried the mail. North of Watervale prior to 1800, and about 1793, settled David Williams,
Nathan Williams and another brother, all farmers, at what
was called WVilliams' Corners. David Williams-and wife at
the age of 93 years, are still living in 1875,
HISTORY OF THE MILITARY TRACT.
f Extract from the Journal of the Assembly of the State of New York, Dated
March 27, 1783.]
"A copy of certain resolutions of the Honorable the Senate, delivered by Mr. Duane, was read and in the words following, to-wit:
Whereas, Congress, by act of the 16th day of September,
1776, did resolve that the following quantity of Bounty





214


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Lands should be given to officers, non-commissioned officers
and privates, serving in the Continental Army, to-wit:
To a Colonel,. --  -----    -------..500 acres.
" Lieutenant Colonel, _   ------------------450 "
SMajor,..    ----------------400              "
" Captain,..---------------              300"
*' Lieutenant, -----------------------    200  "
' Ensign,,--------------------------150       "
Each non-commissioned officer and private-..-.--100  "
And by an act of the 12th of August, 1780, did declare
that a Major-General should have 1100 acres, and a Brigadier General 850.
"And, whereas, the Legislature of the State are willing
not only to take upon themselves to discharge the said engagement of Congress, so far as it relates to the line of this
State, but like as a gratuity to the said line, and to evince
the just sense this legislature entertain of the patriotism and
virtue of the troops of this State, serving in the army of the
United States.
Resolved, Therefore, (if the Honorable the House of Assembly concur herein,) that besides the bounty of land so promised as aforesaid, this legislature will by law provide that the
Maj. Generals and Brig. Generals now serving in the line of
the army of the United States, and being citizens of this
State, and the officers, non-commissioned officers and privates of the two regiments of infantry commanded by Colonels Van Schaick and Van Cortlandt, such officers of the
regiment of artillery commanded by Col. Lamb, and of the
corps of sappers and miners, as were, when they entered the
services, inhabitants of this State, such of the non-commissioned'officers'and privates of the said last mentioned two
corps as are credited to this State as part of the troops thereof, all officers designated by any acts of Congress subsequent to the 16th day of September, 1776, all officers recommended by Congress as persons whose depreciation on
pay ought to be made good by this State, and who may hold





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


215


military commissions in the line of the army at the close of
the war, and the Reverend John Mason and John Gano,
severally have granted to them the following quantities of
land, to-wit:
To a Maj. General, -------------    -------5500 acres.
" Brig.    ".-----,--, -----.4250  "
" Col. -----  -     --     --------------2500 "
" Lieut. Col    ----------------     -2250
Major.--------- ----- --------------------2000
" Major.....     ____________2000 "
A Capt. and Regimental Surgeon, each------. 1500 "
Each of said Chaplains, -.---  __.. ____-- 2000 "
Every Subaltern, and Surgeon's Mate,--------1000 "
Every Non-Commissioned officer and private,.... 500  "
That the lands so to be granted as bounty from the United States, and as a gratuity from this State, shall be laid
out in townships of six miles square; that each township
shall be divided into 156 lots of 150 acres each, two lots
whereof shall be reserved for the use of a minister or ministers of the gospel, and two lots for the use of a school or
schools; that each person above described shall be entitled
to as many such lots as his bounty and gratuity land as aforesaid, will admit of; that one-half of the lots each person
shall be entitled to shall be improved at the rate of five
acres for every hundred acres, within the term of five years
after the grant, if such lots are sold by the original grantee,
or within ten years from such grant, if the grantee shall retain the possession of such lots; and that the said bounty
and gratuity lands be located in the district of this State
reserved for the use of the troops by an act, entitled "An
Act to prevent grants or locations of the lands therein mentioned; passed the 25th day of July, 1782.
Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor be requested
to communicate these resolutions in such manner as he shall
conceive most proper.
Resolved, That this house do concur with the Honorable,
the Senate, in the last preceding resolutions.





216


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Ordered, That Mr. J. Lawrence and Mr. Humfrey carry
a copy of. the preceding resolution of concurrence to the
Honorable, the Senate."
Previous to the date of above extract, the Legislature of
the State had by an act passed March 20, 1781, provided fdr
the raising of two regiments for the defence of the State;
and by an act passed March 23, 1782, had further provided
for the raising ot troops to complete the line of this State in
the service of the United States; and two reginients to be
raised on bounties of lands, and for the further defence of the.frontiers of this State. The land granted by these last mentioned acts being BOUNTY LANDS. Those granted, as provided for in extracts above made, being GRATUITY LANDS.
The original acts granting these lands, were subsequently,
and from time to time, modified and amended, till finally, it
was ordered by an act passed Feb. 28th, 1789, " That the
commissioners of the land office shall be, and they are hereby authorized to direct the Surveyor-General to lay out as
many townships in tracts of land set apart for such purpose
as will contain land sufficient to satisfy the claims of all
such persons who are or shall be entitled to grants of land
by certain concurrent resolutions, and by the eleventh clause
of the act entitled "An act for granting certain lands promised to be given as bounty lands, by the laws of this State,
and for other purposes therein mentioned, passed the 11th
day of May, 1784; which townships -shall respectively contain 60,000 acres of land, and be laid out as nearly in squares
as local circumstances will permit, and be numbered one
progressively, to the last inclusive; and the commissioners of
the land office shall likewise designate every touwnship by such name
as they shall deenm proper."
By same act, it was also ordered " that the surveyor general, as soon as may be, shall make a map of each of said
townships, and each township shall be subdivided on such
map into one hundred lots, as nearly square as may be, each
lot to contain 600 acres, or as near that quantity as may be;





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


and the lots in every township shall be numbered from one
to the last, inclusive in numerical order."
After such map had been made and deposited in the office of the Surveyor-General, and in the office of the Secretary of State, the commissioners were ordered " to advertise
for six successive weeks, in one or more newspapers printed
in each of the cities of New York and Albany, (whereof the
newspaper published by the printer to this State, if any such
there be, shall be one,) requiring all persons entitled to grants
of bounty and gratuity lands, who had not already exhibited
their claims, to exhibit the same to the commissioners on or
before the first day of January, 1791."
By same act, it was further ordered,: that all persons to
whom lands shall be granted by virtue of this act, and who
are entitled thereto by any act or resolution of Congress, shall
make an assignment of his, her or their proportion and
claim of bounty and gratuity lands under any act or acts of
Congress, to the Surveyor-General, for the use of the people
of this State."  This being o[one by the said parties, it was
provided that for lands thus assigned, an equal number of
acres were to be given by the State, and so far as possible in
one tract, and under one patent, " provided the same does
not exceed one-quarter of the quaintity of a township.'
It was also further provided ta:at the iands to be granted
by this act, be actually settled, for every six hundred acres
which may be granted to any person or person-, within seren
years from the first of January next, after the ldate of the patent by which such lands slhall be granted; and on failure of
such settlement, the unsettled lands shall revert to the people
of this State."  The letters patent were ordered "to be in
such words and forms as the commissioners shall direct, and
shall contain an exception and reservation to the People of this
State, of all the gold and silver mines."
By an act passed April 6th, 1790, it was ordered " that
the quantity of Ifty acres, in one of the corners of the respective lots to be laid out in squares of 600 acres, shall be





218


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


and are hereby subject to the payment of the sum of fortyeight (48) shillings to the Surveyor-General, asa compensation in full for his services and expenses in marking, numbering and surveying each -of ithe said lots; and in every
case where the said sum of 48 shillings, or any part thereof,
shall remain unpaid for the term of two years next after the
issuing of the respective patents, it shall and is hereby made
the duty of the Surveyor-General to sell the same at public
vendue; and the money arising from such sales, shall be applied in payment of expense of such survey." And in case a
surplus of money was in hands of the Survey-General, after
paying such expenses, it was to be applied to the payment of
expense of laying out and making roads in the said tract."
By act of Feb. 28, 1789, six lots in each township were
reserved and were to be assigned, "one for promoting
the gospel, and a public school or schools, one other for promoting literature in this State, and the remaining four lots
to satisfy the surplus share of commissioned officers not corresponding with the division of 600 acres, and to compensate such persons as may by chance draw any lot or lots, the
greater part of which may be covered with water."
The act of 1780 provided "that whenever it appeared that
persons applying for bounty or gratuity land, and had received from Congress the bounty promised by that body, or
in case they failed to relinquish their claim to such lands,
then the commissioners were to reserve for the use of the
people of the State, one hundred acres in each lot to which
such person was entitled; designating particularly in which
part of such lot such reserved part was located. This gave
rise to the term "State's Hundred" so frequently applied to
sections of land on the Military Tract.
The Land Commissioners consisted of his Excellency, the
Governor, or person administering the government of the
State for the time being, the Lieutenant-Governor, the
speaker of the Assembly, the Secretary of the State, the
Attorney-General, the Treasurer and the Auditor thereof,
the presence of three being necessary to form a quorum.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


219


Ats meeting of this Commission, held at the Secretary's
office in the city of New York, on Saturday, the 3rd day of
July, 1790, there were present,
His Excellency, GEO. CLINTON, Esq., Governor.
LEWIS A. SCOTT, Esq., Secretary.
GERARD BANCKER, Esq., Treasurer.
PETER T. CURTENIUS, Esq., Auditor.
The Secretary laid before the Board, maps of the surveys
of twenty-five townships, made by the Sutrveyor-General--
Simeon DeWitt. On each of which maps, the said townships respectively were sub-divided into one hundred lots,
as nearly square as possible, each lot containing six hundred
acres, whereupon the Board caused the townships and lots
therein to be numbered according to the law and designated
them by the names they now bear, to wit:-Lysander, Hannibal,
Cato, Brutus, Camillus, Cicero, Manlius, POMPEY, etc.
The claims of persons entitled to land by virtue of law,
were presented, and Lewis A. Scott and Robert Harpur
were appointed to draw by ballot, (as had been provided by
acts of Legislature) the lots of land to which they were entitled. It was resolved that for these lots of land thus
drawn, Letters Patent should be made by the Secretary,
signed by the Governor, to which should be affixed the seal
of the State. The same to be delivered to the original proprietor, purchaser, attorney, heir, executor or administrator.
It was also resolved that the " States Hundred," when
occurring in any lot, should be located in the South-east
corner of said lot, and be laid out in a square, or as nearly
so as may be. No resolution being passed or law providing
for the location of the "Survey Fifty," it was variously
located.
The balloting in Township No. 10, or Pompey, resulted
as follows:
No.   Patentee's Name and Rank.  No  Date  To Whom Delivered.
Lot                      Acres. Patent.
1790.
1 William Dunbar, pri----------500--July 8-----------Isaac Brooks
2 Cornelius Woodmore, pri -----600-- " 6---Wm. J. Vredenburgh
3 Jas. Clinton, brig. gen.----.600-- " 3 ---------Himself





22)


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Patentee's Name and Rank.  NO  Dateof     To Whom Deliverdd.
Lot                            Acres Patent.
4 Thos. Dixson, matross--------600--July 7--------iWm. DePeyster
5 Titus Underdunk, pri----     500--  "  8----------Jas. B. Clark
6 Michael Leaster, pri- - -------600  " 8 Jeremiah VanRensselaer
7 Jeremiah.McGowen, pri- _    600__ " 8---------Robert Fowt
8 Nanning Vanderheyden, lieu-500--    " 29-Gerrit VanSchoonhoven
9 John Wells, pri         __ - _600   " 7 Jeremiah VanRensselaer
10 Geo. Springsteen, pri- --------600  " 8 --------Wm. Henderson
11 Thos. Nellson, matross-___ 600      " 9----- John Quackenboss
12 Martin Waller, corp----.---_6--_600--  " 8--------Simon Veeder
13 John Snowden, pri-- --------600--   " 8------------Patrick Shay
14 Abram Hyatt, lieut-------      0    " 7     Bernardus Swartwout
15 John List, pri--------------   0-   " 8-------Major Connolly
16 Joseph Kitcham-.-----------600     " 8-------Capt. Benj. Pelton
17 Stephen Powell, pri.-_     600_   " S-      -Himself, by Order
18 Joseph Morgan, serg----------600--  " 8------       Mr. Connolly
19 John Ramfier0--------------60--     "  8------8-_---Wmi. Cockburn
20 Stephen McDougall, A-d-C maj.500--  " 3-------- John Lawrence
i21 Mathew Colford, fifer--------500--Sep.13J.B.Clark,per Mrs.Banker.22 John Chevalier, pri----  ----600--July 8.--------  Elisha Camp
23 Israel Coleman, corp --------- 600--  " 9-------- Ebenezer Clark
24 Elisha Harvey, lieu---------600--   " 9--------- Asa Spaulding
25 Reserved for Gospel, &c._   _26 John Brown, matross ---      600.   " 8------     Asa Spaulding
27 William Murray, pri --.-_    600-   " 8-------------- No Name
28 John Lambert, pri------------600--  " 8        M_______ichael Connolly
129 Geo. Taggonman-----------600--     " 8------ John Quackenboss
30 Joseph Maroney, matross- _600--     " 9--------David Quintcn
31 Reserved for Literature-------
32 Christopher Medler, matross--600--     9------------Philip Stout
33 Benjamin Kelso or Kely, pri.500--   " 8----------- John Fisher
34 Philip Caldwell, pri---------600--     8 Jeremiah VanRensselaer
35 Nicnolas VanRensselaer, capt60-0    " 9     ---------   Himself
36 Conrad Hilty, matross------   00--  90 --Win. J. Vredenburgh
37 Isaac Bogert, lieu ----------- 600-  " 9       M______ichael Connolly
38 Wiliiaim Malcom, col -.---   600--      - -- ------ ---- Himself
309 Henry Miller, pri ----- ------600--  "  SCap.Cooper,for S'ICurray
40 Matthew Geeson, matross __500-      " 9-----------Maj. Connolly
41 Christian Brandt, pri ---------600--  8 - Bartholomew Fisher
42 Cornelius T. Jansen, capt- _ 600    " 9--------------- Himself
43 Cornelius VanTassell, pri-_  500--Sep.13--Augustus Sackett, Adm.
44 John Bateman, lieu5---------00--      13--------Elmer Cushing
45 Winm. Stevehs, capt---------- --600--July 9 -        Wi. Moore
46 Leonard Chapin, matross------600-   "  9-------- Samuel Broome
47 Conradt Bush, matross --------600-- " 9    Gen. Clinton, for Bush
48 Win. Stocker, pri_______-_____600- " 8-----------Maj. Connolly
40 John Neilson, fifer-----------500--  " 9___-__-- Daniel Rodman
0) Clias. Kinney, pri-----------  -    " S-------- Ebenezer Clark
51 Abner Prior, surg'ns mate-..--_400  " 9-------   John Mills, Esq.
-  SSmith Wait, nmatross-----00           6    ---------  No Name;)0 Chas. Parsons, capt---------600--  " 9-       David Noble, Esq.
54 Samuel Torrey, serg--------- 600OSep.13   ----Lieut. Palmer Cady
55 John Uthest(al Han JostHess)p600--July 8 Jeremiah VanRensselaer
A6 John Dobson, pri-------------600--  " 8-----------Jas. HIamilton
57 Fred Weisenfels, lieu.col. com600--  " 9--------------- Himself
58 David Morrison, serg--------500--   " 8------------ --Himself
50 Philip Burch, pri------------- 600--  " 8----- Jer. VanRensselaer
60 E dward Wright, pri----------600-- "           64





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


221


No.    Patentee's Name and Rank.  No  Date of  To Whom Delivered.
Lot                          Acres Patent.
61 Jonathan Briggs, pri------600-July 8 ------David Crosby, Jr.
62 Reserved for Gospel, &c.-----
63 John Shaw -----------------500-Sep.13 --- W. J. Vredenburgh
64 John Brown, matross--------600-   " 9 ---John Lawrence, Esq.
65 Hanjost Deymont----------  600--July 8--- ---Peter Smith
66 Edward Curvin   ----       500-- S" 8 ----.   Wm. Campbell
67 Reser'd for Gospel, Schools, &c.
68 John Ryan ------  -----    600-- " 9---------David Quinton
69 Christian Shantze, pri----- ---600_ " 8--------Thos. Duncan
70 John Ackler, pri --------600-- " 3--           Nicholas Fish
71 Thos. O'Bryan, Drummer-----500_ " 3-- -----     Mr. Connolly
72 Sam'l Townsend, paymaster,---500_- Sep.13 Gen. Cortland and others
73 Reserved for Gospel, &c.----- -
74 Geo. Alkyser, cor-------------600--July 8 --- Isaac Stoutenburgh
75 Martin Rees, pri------     600   " 8        -----Jas. Lowrey
76 Wm. F. Dougherty, maj---600-- " 8 --        Lt. Col.VanDyck
77 John Lamb, col- -600             " 7-----..Capt. Thompson
78 Samuel or Lurance Fletcher_--500.-Sep.13 __-W. J. Vredenburgh
79 Conradt Hyle----- ---.-----. 500--  " 13---  "
80 Ashbel Dean, matrcss---- --500July 9---------No Name
81 John Tilliday, pri-------_ 600_-  " 8--------Samuel Smith
82 John H. Devrance, pri------600-- " 8--------Jacob Clingman
83 John George Reamer-------500-Sep.13---Rich. Edwards, Adm.
84 Samuel Lewis, lieut---------600--Aug7-.------       Himself
85 Daniel Loder, pri---------- 600--July 7----------Capt. Hagstaff
86 John Bogg, pri ------------   -  " 8 --- John Quackenboss
87 Henry Elliott, pri----------00Aug24 -----       Jacob Elliott
88 Othniel Preston, pri.---.---600_July 8----     m. Cockburn
89 John Thayer, matross--------600-  " 9--------Jos. F. Sebor
90 Abijah Ward, pri-------    600--    9-------John Blanchard
91 John F. Hamtramck, capt-----600-- " 6-      Michael Connolly
92 Thos. Willson, pri --- ---500    " 8--Jno. Dill for Cor. Rose
93 Thos.Williams, lieu--      600-- " 9---------John Bag
94 James Purdey, matross----- 500-- " 9-------    Elias Newman
95 Jeremiah VanRensselaer, lieu-600--  " 8--------------Himself
96 Reser'd for Gospel, Schools, &c.
1791.
97 HanyerTewahangaraghkan,cap600--Jan.29--- ---Michael Connollv
98 Christopher Codwise, lieu--  600--July 7---W--. J. Vredenburgh
99 Barnardus Swartwout, ensign--600-. " 7------------  Himself
100 James McCoy, pri--------600-    " 8---------Elisha Camp
The following tabular statement shows the several owners
of each lot of land in the township of Pompey, from 1790 to
1800, as recorded in County Clerk's Office, Onondago Co.
The Revolutionary     soldier, Mr. Conrad Bush, relates
"that at the time his regiment was discharged, so often had
they been disappointed    by the promises of Congress, that
when their certificates were made out for their individual
shares of land, a large majority had no confidence in the al





222


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


lotment of these bounties, and many cried out, "who will
give a pint of rum for mine? Who will give a blanket for
mine?"    A great many sold their shares for the merest
trifle. "-(Clark.)
It will be observed by this table, that the records confirm
Mr. Bush's statement; at least circumstantially, for we see
that soldiers sold or conveyed their titles, in many instances,
more than once; and we are not sure that the consideration
named in the deed was that actually received.
At so early a date as 1790, it was not possible for deeds to
have been recorded, and no " searching the Records," could
avail to assure purchasers as to the validity of their claims.
Frauds were practiced in selling titles.    In this town the
soldiers themselves, did not, except in two or three instances, settle upon their lands.
It will be noticed that the dates of deeds and the time of
actual settlement by the purchaser do not agree.      The settlement dating anterior to the conveyance.
The reason for this, we have not been able to ascertain.
LOT ONE.
Date of Sale.   GRANTOR.            GRANTEE.       Acres. Consd'n
July 8, 1790--State of New York ---William Dunbar- -  500- Soldier:Sep. 12, 1791-William Dunbar-----Isaac Brooks-----  500--25 pds.
Aug. 28, 1795--  "     "   -----Benjamin Wallace---500--60 pds.
" 31, 1796-Isaac Wells-----        "       "   ---un. h'f-10s.
Sept. 5, 1797-Zebulon Mary----Zephaniah Platt-----500--- 10s,
Nov. 17, 1798-Onon. Commissioners-Benj. Wallace------500 awarded
" 29, 1798   "         "       Elkanah Watson ----100-----
LOT TWO.
July 6, 1790 State of New York---- Cornelius Woodmore 600- -Soldier
Feb'y 3, 1789--C. Woodmore ---- --.W. J. Vredenburgh--600-val. re'd
Mar.18, 1796-W. J. Vredenburgh_--Comfort Tyler ------600-240 pds.
Oct'r 5, 1796--Comfort Tyler----..---Moses Carpenter -- -340-- $1,250
Afterwards---   "." ---  Jos. Bartholomew ---200 -"     ".-------Stephen Angell--   100 ---
" ------Elijah Rust    ------ 20 -----
LOT THREE.
July 3, 1790--State of New York----Jos. Clinton, brig. gen.600 -Soldier
Mar. 27, 1792-Jos. Clinton----  Moses DeWitt--    - 600-600 pds.
Subsequently divided among his heirs, who settled lot.
LOT FOUR.
July 7, 1790--State of New York-- -ThomasDixson----600-Soldier
LOT FIVE.
July 8, 1790--State of New York----Titus Underdunck---500 -Soldier





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.                     223
Date of Sale.    GRANTOR.             GRANTEE.        Acres. Consd'n
Mar. 3, 1796 --Titus Underdunk ----David Holbrook-- -450-150 pds.
Aug. 16, 1798--Com. Tyler, as Sheriff,
sold D. Holbrook's int.Benj. Grover--- ----450---- $6.00
S21, 1798 Benj. Grover --- ---Nathaniel Weston---450--   $15.00
Apr. 28, 1797--Surveyor-General ----Jer. VanRensselaer--150-----
J. VanRensselaer ----John Rogers --------100------
Jas. Caldwell--- _ --McGregor--- - ------100 --------
Onon. Commissioners-Heirs of Rog. & McG100 -------
LOT SIX.
July 8, 1790--State of New York----Michael Leaster - -600- -Soldier
Nov. 25, 1790--Michael Leaster------Jer. VanRensselaer 600--20 pds.
Aug. 6, 1792--VanRensselaer -------David Hibbard-6----600-200 pds.
LOT SEVEN.
July 8, 1790--State of New Yoik----Jer. McGowen ------600--Soldier
Mar. 24, 1784--Jer. McGowen------  Robert Towt ------600 --------
June0, 1793--Robt. Towt---------Isaac Beekman------600 -------
LOT EIGHT.
July 29, 1790--State of New York----Nan. Vanderheyden-500 -Soldier
LOT NINE.
July  7, 1790 State of New York-.--John Wells - --    6 800--Soldier
Dec. 11, 1783--John Wells --------  Edward Crompton ---00-10 pds.
Feb. 26, 1785--4.4  ---------Jos. Johnson--- ---_ 600      $20
Oct'r 7, 1700--Edward Crompton_ -Jer. VanRensselaer 600--20 pds.
Feb. 29, 1792 --Jer. VanRensselaer &
Abram TenEyck------Sam'l1 Messenger ----300-120 pds.
3 1796-       "            -300 320 pds.
Mar.    1798S-Abiathar Hull, as Sheriff, by virtue of exec'n
ag'st Elias Jackson_ -Robert Jordan -__-600
0une 8, 17099--Onon. CommissionersSam'1 Messenger     600 --------
LOT TEN.
July 8, 1790--State of New York----Geo. Springsteen ----600--Soldier
Nov. 8, 1783-Geo. Springsteen ---Jonathan Owen--_    _600-13 pds.
Apr. 4, 1789--     "-W. J. Vredenburgh__600 ----
Nov. 3, 1791- Wm. Constable------- Josiah 0. Hoffman -600------
june 3, 1794 J. 0. IHoffman --------Wm. Cooper- _______ 00  __
3, )1794 Win. Cooper---_- -_ Thos. R. Gold-------300----
S), 1796 --Thos. It. Gold ------David Campbell--- 300-300 pds.
Mar.31, 1801 _Onon. Commissioners Jonathan Owen -----600 awarded
LOT ELEVEN.
July  ), 1790 --State of New York--  Thos. Nellson---- 600--Soldier
Aug. 209, 1783 Thos. Nellson -------Augustus Jones------60013 pds.
Nov. 12, 17 84 --Augustus Jcns ------- John Quackenboss
Garrett Patterson--
Leonard Fishers-_375 -Sep. 13, 17 01 John Quackenboss---John Lawrence------
LOT TWELVE.
Jul   8 8, 1790 --State of New York--__Martin Walker--  600-Soldier
Apr. 5, 1785--l Martin Walker-------Lincoln Veeder
Mar. 3, T1792 --Lincoln Veeder-------Jacob Judson--- ----600-100 pds.
')9, 1792 --Jacob Judson------- David Tripp-------100-    -5s.
May:30, 1792  "      "      ------Chas. Tripp ----   100
Sep. 2, 1792              ---------Elnathan Pickard __40    ---__
OcIt'r 8, 1794  Lewis Day ------- --Asa Starkwather ---100--72 pds.





921


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Date of Sale.    GRANTOR.             GRANTEE.        Acres. Consd'n
July 17, 1795--Jacob Judson--------Sami'1 Edwards-     27 30 pds.
" 17, 1790- -.-"Levi Jerome                   ______244 195 pds.
Nov. 18, 1795 --Jos. Annin --------    "      ---       6 90 pds.
LOT THIRTEEN.
July 8, 1790--State of New York-._-John Snowden --    600 soldier
Jno.Snowden probablyPatrick Shay _.____   00
Aug.2 4, 1790 Patrick Shay.__. J. Vredenburgh  600  30 pds.
May 30, 1797-- W  -J. redenburgh   Wmin. Haskins ---- 600 300 pds.
Apr. 4, 1798 W-- in. Haskins ---.____Reuben Hustis --- 150 450 pds.
LOT FOURTEEN.
July 7, 1790--State of New York-_-Abram Hyatt -       6----00-Soldier
Abram Hyatt probablyW. J. Vredenburoh
May 16, 1795--W. J. Vredenburgh C-Caleb Northrup -    50-37 pds.
LOT FIFTEEN.
July 8, 1790--State of Neiw York--_John List ---------- 600--Soldier
" 2, 1789--John List.----------Isaac Bogert- ----  60012 pds.
Sept. 4, 1784       " -.------Henry Plature ------600--12 pds.
Aug. 14, 1792-Isaac Eogert.  ---Jeremiah Gold---600-480 pds.
LOT SIXTEEN.
July 8, 17900State of Neiw York ----Joseph K-itchum --- 600- -Soldier
Aug. 16, 1791 --Joseph Kitchunim_-.Benj. Pelton ---_ -600-035 pds.
LOT SEVEN-\TEE\N.
July 8, 1790- State of New York-- --Stephen Powell -----(600- -Soldier
Sep. 15, 1795--Stephen Powell-___John Sprague_ -.    600100 pds.
Mar. 1, 1796John Sprague-------    f Jno. D. Dickinson
I  Elijah Jones -  (500-..$480
LOT EIGHTEEN.
July 8, 1790--State of New York----Joseph Morgan- 0       Soldier
S 6, 1791 --Joseph Morgan--- __Theodorous Fowler--600A40 pds.
Oct'r 4, 1791--Theo. Fowler ---------Nicholas Fish -----600 -Sep. 10, 1800-- Onon. Commissioners-  "      " ---    600 awardedl
LOT NINETEEN.
July 8, 1790--State of New York-- --John Ransier______ --  (00- Soldier
Nov. 17, 1783--John Ransier---------Thos. Tillotson.-__600-5 pds.&c
Aug.18, 1790--  "         ---------Isaac Davis-----.-500--
Jan. 13, 1796-  -C6          __Elkanah Watson 6---600'        $ -105
Apr. 10, 1794--Thos. Tillotson -----J. W. Gold_--  --___600----
Jan. 22, 1797--Elkanah Watson-.                       600 "  "  - -- 600  ___
May 23, 1800--Onon. Commissioners- "                  0"  0 awarded
LOT TWENTY.
July 3, 1790--State of New York- --Stephen McDougall500--   Soldier
Mar. 3, 1797 --Robt. McClellen,claiming patent from State-Alex. Ellice--------- 600---
LOT TWENTY-ONE.
Sep. 13, 1790- -State of New York-- __--Matthew Colford --500--Soldier
Colford's heirs-------- Jas. B. Clark---
( Joshua Briggs_____ - 500__
Feb. 2, 1796--Joshua Briggs..-- - Chas. Roys---.. 225
" 22, 1796--            ------- ( Sam'i Messenger --
SSam'l Edwards ---225 2 4 TXds.
LOT TAWENTY-TWO.
July 8, 1700 --State of New York-___John Chevalier--__600--Soldier
Feb. 8, 1785 --John Chevalier ---- Elisha Camp.. -    - --600.. _





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.                      225
Date of Sale.    GRANTOR.             GRANTEE.        Acres. Consd'n
Apr. 15, 1791--Elisha Camp--------Wm. Constable------600 -- ---
Nov. 3, 1791--Wm. Constable--- --Josiah O. Hoffman --600------
LOT TWENTY-THREE.
July 9, 1790--State of New York----Israel Coleman----- 600--Soldier
Sep. 17, 1784--Israel Coleman-------Rob't Shutes --------300--30 pds.
Feb. 6, 1797-- "       "             "     "    -----. 300-150 pds.
May 6,1790--    "      "    -----Ebenezer Clark ----.600-J--.    -
" 12, 1798--Ebenezer Clark -----Enos Peck --------600-525 pds.
Dec. 18, 1798--Onon. Commissioners-Ebenezer Clark----600 awarded
LOT TWENTY-FOUR.
July 9, 1790-State of New York----Elisha Harvey ----600--Soldier
Aug. 10, 1793--Elisha Harvey------Ebenezer Gay-------600--45 pds.
" 10, 1793-   "      "   -- ---  Asaph Drake----1---100--_ -10s.
May 2,1795-     "      "   --------Joseph Hurst..-----180 -   _
Dec. 6, 1800--Onon. Commissioners-Ebenezer Gay------   600 awarded
LOT TWENTY-FIVE.
Reserved for Gospel.
LOT TWENTY-SIX.
July 6, 1790--State of New York----John Brown---------600--Soldier
18, 1792--Asa Spaulding, Att'y
for John Brown------Joseph Purdy-------..00
Jan. 13, 1798--John Brown, person'y Samuel Cobb-----.  600 ---. $600
July 18, 1792-Joseph Purdy ------Ephriam Willard---600 --
Sept. 8, 1792--Ephriam Willard ---Samuel Beebee-.--.
Sam'l Beebee---------Josiah Bigelow-----
Mar. 1, 1802--Onon. Commissioners-Sam'l Beebee-----..600 awarded
LOT TWENTY-SEVEN.
July 8, 1790--State of New York----Wm. Murray--------600--Soldier
Jan'y 4, 1792-_Wm. Murray-------     John Robinson-.
Oct. 28, 1795-- "         --------   Daniel Hall-------600--64 pds.
4" 28, 1795-- "      "  ------   f Jeremiah Schuyler
John J. Cuyler----600--80 pds.
Jan'y 5, 1792--Daniel Hall--  ----John Robinson------300--10 pds.
"   6, 1792--John Robinson-------Jer. VanRensselaer_-600__53 pds.
Dec. 10, 1794--Asa Danforth-  -----Richard Hiscock -..--100-130 pds.
June 10, 1795-- "      "   ------  Aaron Bellows ------100-140 pds.
LOT TWENTY-EIGHT.
July 8, 1790--State of New York----John Lambert-------600--Soldier
Nov. 26, 1796--John Lambert-- ----Nathan Williams-- 600-- --$500
Oct'r 3, 1797--Nathan Williams----
LOT TWENTY-NINE.
July 8, 1790--State of New York----Geo. Waggonman-- 600--Soldier
Nov. 7, 1789--Geo. Waggonman----John Quackenboss---600 -.
April 1, 1792-- "       "     ---- Michael O'Brien ----600--40 pds.
July 27, 1790--John Quackenboss----Henry TenBrooks---600
Joseph Annin ------Levi Jerome --------146--90 pds.
LOT THIRTY.
July 9, 1790--State of New York.----Joseph Maroney-- --600--Soldier
Feb'y 1, 1784--Joseph Maroney------Peter Nestell6----600__-8 pds.
Jan'y 2, 1793--Peter Nestell-------Moses Phillips------600
May 1, 1793--MosesPhillips--------John Grant -------_  600_100 pds.
June 3, 1791--David Quinlan, as assignee of J. Maroney--Wm.Dur--.-------_  600------
15





226


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


LOT THIRITY-ONE.
Date of Sale.    GRANTOR.           GRANTEE.       Acres. Consd'n
Rteser'd for, Gospel, &c.
LOT THIRTY-T WO.
July 19)1790_- State of New York --- -Christopher M edler _60- -Soldier
Aug. 10, 1793- -Christopher. Medler--Buekhart Livinigston-600-1.40 pds.'
oet'r 1, 1794_'B. Livingst6n -------Thos.-Cooper--__'_600_-_
Jan..22 1790_-Thos. Cooper-----__._Geo. -P. Wfckhian<--'_600-----
On on. Comimissi oners.-Heirs of C. Medler- -600-----
LOT THIRTY-THREE.
July 8,1790--Stale of New York ----Benjamnin Kelso- _500- -Soldier
Feb; 27 1784- Beij. Kelso ----------- Geo. BartholomewSJohn Fisher-----500--------
May 9, 179a             --------Joshua Briggs-      500------
Mar. 21 2b794           ----I--- -(EphrianYil~arwvin--
IPhil. -Van Cortland- 500--..$300.00
May 6, 1795--                   Gideon.Ball ---------500--SO pds.
61 196- Daniel Kelso, broth &
henr of Benj. Kelso --- Robert Smith-___'_500_
Mar. 15 1-797--Daniel Kelso------- Evander Childbs__
1Luke Owens ----500--40 pds.
Pee.    17194--Isaac Smith & others--Joshua Fisher - 500-------_
July 22, 1794.--Francis Warner-- Chas. Tripp -0- --$1.00
Onon. Commissioners- (John Fisher  -----333-y ---
Eleaniore Clark----
-.                     Miron (Clark-____1600
LOT THIRTY-FOUR.
July 5 -1 90--Stite of Newv Yoi~k--- Philip Cadwell------_000--Soldier
Aug. 5,1783o Philip) Cadwell-----Joseph Cadwell-:___000-----
Jan. 11h19------ cc    c           eo-. Pearson-____6001400 pds.
May 1-,196-OOGeo. Pearson--.---Joseph Cadwell______00----
LOT THIRTY-FIVE.
July. 9, bOO  State of New York___fiN. YanRensselaer --0600--S'old'ier
Oet'r 4, 17i94-Jeremniah. Gold-----Jahez Hull-.---------a part:.--$400
May,30, b703 Jabez I-lull__---------Jas. Low-------      `81~  pds..
MAay 30,1706----           ---~Na     Hoyt ----------500-50 1)ds.
LOT THIRITY.-SIX.,Jul y 9, 1190-State of _NeOV York-... Conrad1 Hilly-.- OOO__00_Soldier
S811792- Conrad H-ilty ---------Thos. Ruggles -----00OA10 pds.LOT THIRTY-SEVEN.
July 9, 1790 --State of New York. ---Isaac Bogpart  6 -000--Soldier
Au. 1, 92J-saae  oat,__...-Jerem--iah Gold ----600-480 pds.
May- 41 b95Jeiemiah iGold----I. Thos. Coe-______009`300 pds.
LOT THIR-ITY-EIGHT.
July 19, 1-190 -State of New York____Wm. Maleome-   -000- -Soldier
LOT THIRTY-NINE.
July 8, 1790- State of N ew Y ork ---Henry Miller-0600- -Soldier,Junie 21 1-7830-H-emry.Mle-----aulCary _______00__1.O pds.Nov. 4,18713--------------------- Edward Cramipton- - (iO -----
1Mar. 10,"1.784- Edward Cr'unpton._--Nathaniel Platt ------600_-10 pds.
lOT FORTY.
July 9t, 1790--State of -New Yoik___Matthew Geeson ~500- Soldier.
M~attliew  Geeson ----ehem-iiali.R-.ocýkwNell.-500- -10 p~ds.





TILE POMPEY RE-UNION.27


90,-7.6;.jLj 1


-Date of Sale.
-Nox's ) 17 9 0
July 4) 1-91-7
Octs 4.,1-92.
Jiii\  S I I)(
Feb. 147 1-14 -

GRANTOR.           GRANTEE.       Acres. Colisd'n_Nedie Rockwell -----qrdecai Hl-;5O43d.
-M-1os tecas Hall -------- heýodosiusFolsO) -
-Theo. Fowler ---------Nicholas Fish----. 500
-Niceholais Fish------Abra~m Smith ---
M Aanoali Pratt-SO__50OO li0 ds.
ILOT FORTY-ON-E.
_, tatc of -New York-.--Christian Bra~ndt___iOOSoldier-Christianus Liandt-__Bernard Bond-__._0007
_____G---------(. B. & J. Fisher- iliOO _____






Au'g 30, 17S4'--Iaaemith--------__0OO--2 pds.
Api.7 1795 13 lerlnardl Bond -   Ith el Battle - -  0-. 40 pds..
Sep's.2, 1l795-Laac Smiithl----------JohinFisher ---------600O~--
1),c'sr  1.1  94-1 sme-s S  iii  s
Isaae Px. Smth -    R---1-obert Petit----(0
((non.( oinnmissioners-John Fisher------(00 awarded
ILOT FOR,)TY-TWO1.
Joby 919.Stteof -Neiv Yorkýý---(ornielios T. Janlsni-.-C000Soldiei'I
I,17   T.( I lnsen___----.___David Green------000AS8O pds.
1L01 1ORTY -THREE.,Sep. 18, 17900-State of -New Xosk --( ornieliuisVaniTass;el!500--Soldier
Junle(9, 172x( N. anlassell h leinsý__un 1{ againiais-_500-800 ps
N-ov'r 4,1 9 )n0on'.( ommnissioneri> Robert Troop--.--_500 awarded
101,--TIORIX -FOURt.
Sep1. 18,17  State of -\e YXoil  -John Batesn      5(1-ode
Jolhn B'stem ains \tt'y_ Jbohis Jacob Astori>
Peter Smiith-    500--150pds.
I O(-T FORLTY FI-VE.
Jutly,[\ 7I -Staite Of -New Y oil \-X -Amn. Sevns G(00_.-Soldier
D~ec. 8)), 1794__\Vni Stev ens-___Silas Ilolhsook__:
\T iathers hull ---60(1 300 pd)(s.
i~e, )9; 1 95  aI s Hotibooh -----Abiathes Hofll-   400 160 pds.0
July 22 1 1499 Y_,biathes Hull -----mnbrosHul       10   --
i)ec. s,1_7971_              -Bletsev.Lec(yett     iO$11.00.00
Job9  91 ~tteof New XYos'k  Lcoinsild(Isapin   090 Soldier
41784  LeI~ossird C(lapin - --- s.muel BonG (11   0pds.
Jan' '5.19   '-oo   1)1 ~ooiis    Joins Pattersoii_
AV. J  \-sedenbm,(ohG_0  -----
101 lORIX SEVEN..Jssl             o 9  ~  cf -Nw Y cii  ( -o~nslt Bosh ----(i00-sobliev
No 's  1 796-(ThiraIdt Bush   ___loias Jackscon -~--- _0()_450 lids.
101T IORIYY IGHT.
Juily 81 1 i91)5t iteoof N-ewiv oiL WinA~. Stockýer-----Wot--soildier
Sep'r 2,1b 9-M-WiStoces-in-H---iis                  00_14 j)(s.
Miiir21-t. Ij )  I '1-beneic  Iowl  Joloa----50--jo pds.
I 1499 53 m n.11>1,iins   Js iifn----       -10~     00
I OT FORZTYNIN-E.
Juily 9 1490-)-Stateof Mw York   folin -Neilsons - 5OO-Soldier
Anl' 4,1.791 -b-oho Nielson ---------IDudley AWoodbricloe-500-99 lids.
Feb-'\ 1, 1798 D-udley W~oocibridoc  Mo\1ses i, eA~itt --------- --8"37.50
ROT FIFTY.
Joby 8, 1490--State of -New Yorkz--Cl'isis. Kiisnev------OO--'Soldier
AU'r..)14 194, Chas. Kinney --E.____4benezer Clark -----00--Soldier
01ioii. (onmrnissioiners '------'000 awarded





228                  THE POMPEY RE-UNION.
LOT FIFTY-ONE.
Date of Sale.     GRANTOR.             GRANTEE.        Acres. Consd'n
July 9, 1790--State of New York-- -Abner Prior------4QO--Soldier
Oct'r 12, 1791--Abner Prior--------Jacob Hallett-------400-115 pds.
May 30, 1793--Jacob Hallett-------Trueworthy Cook --400- -$300
May 1, 1796--    "     " i -------Nicholas Low.--- --200- ---.
LOT FIFTY-TWO.
July 6, 1790--State of New York----Smith Wait.----- --600--Soldier
Mar.14, 1784--Smith Wait--  -------William Bell--------600--
Apr. 16, 1791--  "    " -----      Isaac Miller---- ---600--20 pds.
Oct'r 5, 1791--Isaac Miller--  ---Frances M. Wickham600-75 pds:2
Apr. 18, 1795--Jonathan Bunnell ----Geo. D. Wickham---600-100 pds.
June 9, 1796--William Bell-..- -- --. Walter Wood-----
Aug. 5, 1796--Walter Wood--------Deodatus Clark---- 600-709 pds.
Mar. 21, 1800--Onon. Commissioners-    "      "   --..-600 awarded
LOT FIFTY-THREE.
July 9, 1790--State of New York----Chas. Parsons ---6- 600--Soldier
May 1, 1792--Chas. Parson-------. Josiah Holbrook, Jr.-300--20 pds.
May 23,1794--Josiah Holbrook----.Baruch Holbrook--. 75--.
Nov. 4, 1799--Onon. Commissioners.Robt. Troup--------- 50 awarded
LOT FIFTY-FOUR.
Sep. 13, 1790--State of New York----Samuel Torry--- ---600--Soldier
Mar.21, 1791--Samuel Torry------- Elisha Gridley.----600----  ---
Oct'r 24, 1792--Palmer Cade-  --
Elisha Gridley--- ----Ozias Burr--- -..--.600-240 pds.
Nov. 10, 1792--Ozias Burr---------William Cook- ------100--40 pds.
June21,1793--        " ----.---David Allen---------140--56 pds.
Oct'r 5, 1792--Nathaniel Meghell---   "    "   -----  - 54--30 pds.
"   1, 1796--Ozias Burr- -------Nathaniel Meghill_--160-.--,
LOT FIFTY-FIVE.
July 8, 1790--State of New York----John Uthest--.--.-. - 600--Soldier
Jan. 15, 1791--Jno. Uthest alias Hass-Jer. VanRensselaer--600--_5 shil.
Apr. 12, 1792--Jer. Van Renssellaer--Eleanor Bassitt------600---5 shil.
May 13, 1795--Eleanor Bassett-------Jas. S. Tripp ------6..00 -  ---
LOT FIFTY-SIX.
July 8, 1791--State of New York----John Dobson---.-.  600--Soldier
"   2, 1796--John Dobson------- Barney Connolly --_-600L250 pds.
Feb. 17, 1791-- "      "   ---------Henry A. Tanner----600--10 pds.
Nov. 28, 1798--Onon. Commissioners-Henry A. Townsend-600 awarded
"         i        John Tayler-------   50    "
LOT FIFTY-SEVEN.
July 9, 1790--State of New York----Fred Weisemfels -..--00--Soldier
" 11, 1789--Fred. Weisemfels----Richard Platt -------600--10 pds.
S2, 1795--    "        "    -.-- Jer. VanRensselaer- 600- --
May 3, 1795--Richard Platt---------Sam'l Meradeth -    6-- 600--  -
Dec. 6, 1800--Onon. Commissioners- "        "     -----600 awarded
LOT FIFTY-EIGHT.
July 8, 1790--State of New York----David Morrison -----500--Soldier
Dec. 29, 1791--David Morrison ------Simeon VanAntwerp 500---- ---
Robert McClellan-----John Rogers -------100---.
Jan. 22, 1796--Jas.Cadwell----------Call McGregor ----100--   -
Onon. Commissioners-John Rogers --------100 awarded
LOT FIFTY-NINE.
July 8, 1790--State of New York----Philip Burch --..---600--Soldier





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


229


Date of Sale.     GRANTOR.            GRANTEE.        Acres. Consd'n
Dec. 15, 1783--Philip Burch---------Edward Crampton---600--10 pds.
Oct. 2, 1790--Edward Crampton---Jer. VanRensselaer--600--20 pds.
Apr. 2, 1795--Jonas Stansbury-----f Isaac Nicoll-------
I Walter D. Nicoll---300-700 pds.
Nov. 2, 1796--Abram Ten Eyck- ----Joseph Rodes -------300---- ---
Mar. 19, 1798--Asa Danforth---------John Carpenter ----600---- ---
Dec. 24, 1800--Onon. Commissioneri-Daniel Pixley -----300 awarded
" 24, 1800--   "                 Abram TenEyck ---300       "
LOT SIXTY.
July 8, 1790--State of New York --Edward Wright------600_ -Soldier
May 30, 1794--Edward Wright ------ Eben. Willoughby- v
IWalter Wood------600--50 pds.
Mar. 3, 1789--    "          ------Jos. Shelden -------
Nov. 4, 1794--Walter Wood -------- Abiather Hull- ----600-480 pds.
May 20, 1795--Jas. Shelden----------Elkanah Watson ----550-100 pds.
"   5, 1797--Abiather Hall -----Walter Wood------
Jan. 10, 1798 --Elkanah Watson------Asa Smith--
Dec. 23, 1800--Onon. Commissioners-John Tayler------- 50 awarded
LOT SIXTY-ONE.
July 8, 1790-State of New York-- Jonathan Briggs. -- -600--Soldier
Feb'y 6, 1792--Timothy Titus & Wim.
W. Morris assignees of
David Crosby, Att'y of
Jonathan Briggs----_ John Carpenter---
LOT SIXTY-TWO.
Reser'd for Gospel, &c.
Aug. 12, 1800- -Onon. Commissioners-Theo. V. W. Graham  50 awar.dd
LOT SIXTY-THREE.
Sep. 12, 1790--atte' of New York _--John Shaw------- --500- Soldier
LOT SIXTY-FOUR.
Sept. 9, 1790- -State of New York----John Brown---------600-.Soldier
Jan. 30, 1797--John Brown------ __Sam'l Cobb, Jr.------O600--- $100
Apr. 19, 1784--.  "    "-----     MAlex. McDougalL ---- 3 pds.--4s.
July 10, 1792--Ex. Alex. McDougalL-John Lawrence---_600__ __ --_Dec. 27, 1796- Ebenezer Butler, Jr ---Benj. Butler-_--_-  50J-30 pds.
Feb. 26, 1798--    "        "   ---Ezra Hart--------100--- --- $100
LOT SIXTY-FIVE.
Sept. 9, 1790--State of New York---.Hanjost Deymont----600--Soldier
Nov. 1, 1793--Deymont's Widow.---Ezra Hull-----------600--50 pds.
Mar. 3, 1795- Ezra Hull--------- Ebenezer Butler, Jr.-600--40 pds.
Oct.    1798- Ebenezer Butler, Jr--- Nathan Davis--.  - 100---- $100
"  4, 1798--   "       "     ---John Willard-------- 2 -    $129
LOT SIXTY-SIX.
July 8, 1790--State of New York---_Edwin'Carvin     ---500--Soldier
May 20, 1792--Edwin Carvin- ----Eli. Kellogg, Jr.-----_500-25 pds.
Nov. 24, 1792--Eliphalet Kellogg, Jr.-Jas. B. Clark ------ 500-- -
Dec. 9, 1793--Edwin Carvin--- -----Dan'l Delivan ------500---2 pds.
Oct. 14, 1794--Daniel DeSavin---_  --Philip VanCourtland 500--..25 pds.
Mar. 2, 1796-Wm. Gilliland-------John D. DickinsonO--100----
Apr. 13, 1795--Augustus Sackett- ----Jos. B. Clark,----
May 6, 1796--Jos. B. Clark--- ---- -Sam'l Sackett..-------
1799--Onon. Commissioners-Philip VanCourtland 350 awarded
---     1799--  "                  Theo. V. W. Graham   50    "
----    1799-..  "        t        John D. Dickinson---100    "





230                  THE POMPEY RE-UNION.
LOT SIXTY-SEVEN.
Date of Sale     GRANTOR.             GRANTEE.        Acres. Consd'n
Reser'd for Gospel, &c.
LOT SIXTY-EIGHT.
July* 9, 1790- State of New York_-_John Ryan--------600 -Soldier
M.ar. 3, 1791--John Ryan-----------Daniel Quinton --__600-  ---
July 14, 1783--  "   '   ---_.Anthony Maxwell- -600- 11 pds.
June 3, 17927-Daniel Quinton --Wn-m. Duer -.-     ----_ 6001
Nov. 15, 1792--Anthony Maxwell   --Robert Affleek -__:600 -2, 1795--John Ryan----------- Jer. Schuyler---
2John Cuyler-------600----
" 12, 1794--Robert Affleek ------ Sam'l BeebeeJan. 3, 1795--C. Olbrath -------- --Jas. Greenleaf------- 600-140 pds.
Dec. 14, 1799--0non. Comminissioners-Sam'1 Beebee --------600 awarded
LOT SIXTY-NINE.
July 8, 1790--State of-New York-_Christian Shantz.e - 600--Soldier
Apr. 5, 1792--Christian Shantze ----Wm. W. Gale---''
Dec. 6,1799--Onon. Comnmissioners-Geo. D. Wickham      600 awarded
LOT SEVENTY.
July 3, 1790--State of New York' --John Ackler-_ _.  _600_ Soldier
Aug. 24, 1784--John Ackler-------- Abram Freer--------600--11 pds.
Oct. 24, 1790--Nicholas Fish-- -----Jos. McCluer ------- 600------
Sept. 20, 1792--Jos. McCluer -------- John Lamb---.- -- ----200.-- $200
Sept.20, 1792-- "    "    ---------Sam' Draper-_      200 $--- $ 1200
LOT SEVENTY-ONE.
July  3, 1790--State of New York----Thos. O'Bryan-------600Soldier
Jan. 20, 1784 --Thos. O'Bryan- ---.--Alex. McDougall_ --5003--- pds..
Dec. 20, 1796-     "         -Jos. C. YatesJohn Prince--- --_-500 -- -
July    1797--Jer. Van Renssellaer.-John Rogers ______-100- -.- --
1799-- Onon. CoinissionersJohn Taylor--------- 50 awarded
1799--   "                 Heirstof John Rogers 100
LOT SEVENTY-TWO.
Sept.13, 1790--State of New York- _Samn'1 Townsend-   500--Soldier
Dec. 10, 1790-- Samuel Townsend ----Elijah Hunter ----50060--GO pds.
Nov. 20, 1791--Elijah Hunter----  - Phil. VanCortland__500-_
Onon. Commissioners-   "       "       --350-    -
Theo. V. Wl. Graham 100 awarded
LOT SEVENTY-THREE.
Reser'd for Gospel, &c.
LOT SEVENTY-FCOtR.
July  8, 1790--State of New York----Geo. Alkyser...---600--Soldier
May   5, 1793--Geo. Alkyser-- ------Wm. Radcliff,Jr. -- 600------
William Radcliff, Jr --Isaac Hall-.-- ---__-300----
Onon. CommiissionersrWm. Radcliff-- --H'f awarded
Ismac Hall---------H'f     b
LOT SEVENTY-FIVE.
July  8, 1790 State of New. York  -Martin Rees------   600 -Soldier
Sept. 10, 1783,-MIartin Rees--------James Luvrey -------800 10 Span.
Mar. 23, 1793  Cornelius Glen-----Jos. Anning.        600-----
LOT SEVENTY-SIX.
July  8, 1790 -State of New York  W     Fm. F. Dougherty---600--  Major
M1ar. 8, 1789- Wm. F. Dougherty - _-Robt. Dunlop__----6--_00_10 pds,
Feb. 19, 1790--Mathew Visscher-...---Albelower'Stepentine6-00. 25 pds.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


231


LOT SEVENTY-SEVEN.
Date of Sale.    GRANTOR.            GRANTEE.        Acres. Consd'n
July  7, 1790- -State of New York -John Lamb -----600-Colonel.
LOT SEVENrTY-EIGHT.
Sept. 13, 1790--State of New York __Sam'l Fletcher _---- 500-- Major
-  Heirs of Fletcher----W. J. Vredenburgh  500 -- $650
Feb. 8, 1796--Peter Elmendorf - -l-Reuben Pixley --__1000    $400
D)ec. 22, 1795l-Wm. J. Vredenburgh-Jos..B. Clark ----500-  ----
Jos.-B. Clark-R-------Reuben Pixlev ---450------
Onon. Commissioners Th. VanW. Graham - 50 awarded
Peter Elmendorf   -100
LOT SEVENTY-NINE.
Sept.13, 1790--State of New York ----Conradt Hyle- -- --.500 - -Soldier
May 15, 1793--Conradt Hyle--. ----Sam'l Hackett -------500 ---$37
10, 1796_Saimuel IHackett -, Reuben Pixley        50     ---
June 1, 1797--               -----Jas. B. Clark -------200------
July    1797--Jer. Van Rensselaer- -John Rooers-:__ _.-100-------
June 21, 1796--Jas. Cadwell---.-- ---Call McGregor-------100
Onon. Commissioners-Heirs of John Rogets -100 awarded
LOT EIGHTY.
July 9, 1790--State of New York ____Ashbel Dean  -5___ 00--Soldier
Apr. 20, 1700.--Ashbel Dean--- -----Stephen Thorn ---500--40 pds.
Mar. 14, 1790 Stephen Thorn.. -  Charles Roe -------- 500-200 pds.
Feb. 16, 1792-Timothy Benedict----Phil. VanCortland--.500-45 pds.
-   1I800--Onon. Comissioners.Peter E. Elmendorf-;50 awarded
LOT EIGHTY-ONE.
July 8, 1790--State of New YorkJ----ohn Tillday -------600--Soldier
Oct. 14, 1789 John Tillday--  ---Sam'1 Smith---------600 -__$3.
July 5, 1791--Samuel Simnith      Chas. Platt Rogers- 600_ 25 pds.
LOT EIGHTY-TWO.
July 8, 1790 --State of New York --John.H. Deverance--600- Soldier
Jan. 10, 1799--John H. Deverance --Joshua Briggs -------600--67 pds.
Apr. 10, 1793 John H. 'Deverancee  1cob Clinman-      600 -45 pdi
Msay* 3, 1793--Jacob Clingmani -----Jos. B. Clark __-___-600 -------
Feb. 292,    Iugh'Sakey
Joshua Briggs--      D. & Smith Hibbard-450-495 pds.
Nov. 6, 199.--Onon. Commissioners Th. VanW. Graham--  50 awarded
LOT.EIGHTY-THREE.
Sept.13, 1790--State of New York-  John Geo. Reamer---500-Soldier
July 8, 1791--Elkanab Watson ----Isaac Carpenter------ 500--47  ds.
June 5, 1797--Jer. Van Rensselae-- E1lkanal Watson -.100-------
"10 1, 1798--Elkanah Watson- ----sa Smith ----------.
Onon. Commissioners-Elkanah Watson. ----100 awarded
LOT EIGHTY-FOUR.
Aug 17, 190 --State of New York---Samuel Lewis ------600 -Soldier
Jtly 4, 1792--Somuel Lewis-- ------John Taylor--------- 600- _ _
Nov. 1, 1791- Daniel Gould--------Johathan Wood -_    600_300 pds.
LQT EIGHTY-FIVE.
July 7, 1790--State of New York.--Daniel Loder--___    00--Soldier
iec. 10, 1791 --Daniei L oder-------Samuel Palmer -.____600_40 pds.
LOT EIGHTY-SIX.
July 8, 1790--State of New York.-John BoggsL
Jan. 17, 1784--John Boggs ---     Alex. McDougal





`232                 THE POMPEY RE-UNION.
Date of Sale.    GRANTOR. -          GRANTEE.        Acres. Consd'n
July 7, 1790--John Quackenboss----Henry TenBrook--.--600------
Mar. 1, 1802- -Onon. Commissioners-  "       "     ----600 awarded
LOT EIGHTY-SEVEN.
July 8, 1790--State of New York---Henry Elliott-- -- -500--Soldier
April 2, 1792--H. Elliott's heirs. ----Jasper Cropsey -----
-   ----f Augustus Sackett --
SJos. B. Clark ----.500 --------
Onon. Commissioners- f Heirs of H. Elliott
I Wm. Thompson ---
LOT EIGHTY-EIGHT.
July 8, 1790--State of New York----Othniel Preston -.--600-Soldier
LOT EIGHTY-NINE.
July 9, 1790--State of New York----John Thayer ---- --600--Soldier
May 25, 1790--John Thayer--- -----Sam'l Bostwick-- --_600---8 pds.
Oct'r 5, 1793-- "     "  - -----Richard Rogers -----600-31 pds.
June20, 1794-- "      "   - ------James Reed--------_600-100 pds.
Nov. 5, 1796--Jas. Reed ------------Isaac Reed -
LOT NINETY.
July 9, 1790--State of New York-- -Abijah Ward--------600 -Soldier
Feb. 19, 1791--Abijah Ward--------  H.J.VanRensselaer
1 Joseph Town--    -600-20 pds.
Jan. 6,1796-Sybrant Bleeker------Stephen Raynard.-- -100_--$98,50
Apr. 8, 1795--H; J. VanRensselaer--Sam'l Forbes----
Feb. 20, 1796--Samuel Forbes- __  Thos. White-------_500 -Nov. 6, 1799--Onon. Commissioners-Stephen Raynard--100 awarded
6, 1799--  c                 Thos.VanW. Graham    50 awarded
LOT NINETY-ONE.
July 6, 1790--State of New York----John F. Hamtramck-600-Soldier
Apr. 14, 1791--John F. Hamtramck--Michael Connoly--600 - --$100
Oct. 4, 1790-Thos. Fowler-------Nicholas Fish-     -
" 14, 1791- -Michael Connelly-----Thos. Fowler-----
LOT NINETY-TWO.
July 8, 1790--State of New York...Thos. Willson ------500 -Soldier
Jan. 3, 1792--Thos. Willson-- -----Justus Banks--------500-43 pds.
Mar. 4, 1787--Walter Wilson's heirs- Andrew White --500     -
Wm. Preston.
Wm. Pool ------- - 500 -- $500
Dec. 7, 1798--Onon. Commissioners -White, Preston & Pool500 awarded
LOT NINETY-THREE.
July 9, 1790--State of New York ---Thos. Williams -.---..800  Soldier
LOT NINETY-FOUR.
July 9, 1790--State of New York ---James Purdey.---500-.Soldier
Jan. 26, 1784--James Purdey------Ebenezer Fitch------500-1A5 pds.
Nov. 16, 1785--        "    - ---- Elias Newman- ____--500_ -8 pds.
Sep. 25, 1791.Timothy Benedict ----John W. Watkins -4500-45 pds.
June 28,1793--John W. Watkins ---Wm. Sprague_ --_- _500-100 pds.
Mar. 25, 1801--Onon. Commissioners-David Hobby--_---_100 awarded
Peter E. Elmendorf -100 awarded
LOT NINETY-FIVE.
July S, 1790--State of New York---Jer. VanRensselaer - 600--Soldier
J. Van Renssellaer -_John Juan---- _---_600_-36 pds.
LOT NINETY-SIX.
Reser'd for Gospel, &c.





THE POMPEY RE-UNIOXh.


233


LOT NINETY-SEVEN.
Date of Sale.   GRANTOR.            GRANTEE.       Acres. Consd'n
J'an. 29, 1791--State of New York - -Tewahangaraghkan--600- - Soldier
Dec. 22, 1791-H. TewahamgaraghkanCor. Van Slyck-  --600--20 pds.
"   7, 1792--Cornelius VanSlyck- -John Atkinson -----600----
LOT NINETY-EIGHT.
July 7, 1791--State of New York---Chris. Codwise ------600--Soldier
Sep. 2, 1790--Chris. Codwise- ------W. J. Vredenburgh- 600-----
May 17, 1786-Codwise' heirs-------Abram Wilson ___600 ------
Feb. 23, 1795--Geo. McCall----- _--Abiathar Hull------600--  ----
Nov.14, 1797--Abiathar Hull--------Geo. M'Call--.------600
" 7, 1799--Onon. Commissioners- Penelope Hughson-200 awarded
Catharine Remsen-200 awarded
LOT NINETY-NINE.
July 7, 1791--State of New York----Barnardus Swarthout600- -Soldier
LOT ONE HUNDRED.
July 85, 179L1--State of New York----James McCay---.600- -Soldier
Oct. 11, 1791- -James McCay---------ElishaCamp---------600-------
Nov..30, 1783 Elisha Camp----- ----Goose VanSchaick---600-------
Dec. 3 1791-    "     " --- -----Elisha Burdict -.-_600
Mar. 23, 1798-Zephaniah Platt-----
Nathaniel Platt-------Jonas Platt--     --____600-----
Mar.10, 1794--Ed. Crampton- - ----Nathaniel Platt------ 600 ----
Feb. 6, 1795--Jos. Greenleaf-------Samuel Wilcox  -600 ---- ----
Oct. 18 1796--Samuel Wilcox ---J--- os. Greenleaf- -----600 - -
Novy. 16, 1798--Onon. Commissioners-Nathaniel Platt-----600 awarded
Aug. 20, 1801--N. Platt---- --------- G. Platt ----- --111------
Nov. 19, 1804--Chas. W. Goodrich---Josephily  -    -- 50   $1900
",22, 1804--Joseph Ely---------Chas. Ely ---------- 55------
Feb. 17, 1803--Thee. Platts ---_  - --. Jas. Foot ----- ----- 58 -- --
July 2, 1805--Reuben Benton----- -   Connected with
Bela Cowles---------this lot as owners
Elijah HalL-----   - of parts of it.
Theophelas Tracy---
We append a copy of a deed or bounty land warrant given
by the State, as a specimen of the original deeds given for
land.   The deed is partly printed and partly written, on
heavy parchment paper and reads as follows:
The People of the State of New York by the grace ot
God, free and independent:-To all to whom thefe prefents
shall cone, Greeting:-Know ye, that, in purfuance of an
act of our legiflature, paffed the fixth day of April, one thoufand  feven hundred and ninety;I entitled " an act to carry
ihto effect the concurrent refolutions and acts of the legiflature, for granting   certain lands, promnifed to be given is
bounty lands, and   for other purpofes therein mentioned."
We Have Given, granted and Confirmed, and bythefe Pref




234


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


ents, Do Give, Grantand Confirm unto Abraham Tompkins,
All that certain tract or lot of land, fituate, lying and beir:;
in the County of. Montgomery and in the Township of Marcellus known and diftinguished on a map of the faid Township (filed by our Surveyor-General in our Secretary's Office,
agreeable to law), by Lot number Twenty-four, containiing
six hundred acres; Together with all and fingularthe rights,
hereditaments and appurtenances to the fame belonging, or
in any wife appertaining; excepting and referving to ourfelves all gold and filver mines, and also five acres of every
hundred of faid tract or lot of land for highways; To Have
and to Hold the above described and granted prernifes, unto
the faid Abraham Tompkins, his heirs and affigns, as a good
and undefeafible eftate of inhelitance for ever. On Condition nevertheless that within the term of feven years, to be
computed from the firft day 'of January next enfuing the
date hereof, there fhall be one actual fettlement made on
the faid tract or lot of land hereby granted, otherwife thefe
our Letters Patent and the eftate hereby granted fhall ceafe
determine and become void. In teftimony whereof we have
caufed thefe our Letters to be made Patent, nd the Great
Seal of our faid-State,to'be hereunto affixed. Witness our
trufty and well beloved George Clinton, Efquire, Governor
of our faid State, Geneial and Commander-in-Chief of all the
militia and Admiral of the. navy of the fame, at our city of
New York, this eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord
one thoufand feven hundred and ninety and in the fifteenth
of our independence. Approved of by the Commissioners
of the Land-Office, and paffed the Secretary's office the 20th
day ofNovember, 1790.
GEO. CLINTON.
RoBT, HARTNER, D. Sec'y.
"Attached to the deed by white cord, is the pendant
Great Seal of the State of New York, being a beeswax cast
of the original seal, about four inches in diameter and threeeights of an inch thick. On the obverse is a rising sun,and
the motto "Ekcelsior;" and legend the " Great Seal of the





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


State of New York.. On the reverse a rock in the ocean;
legend, 'Frustra.'"
TOWN MEETINGS.
Copy of original records as found in Town Clerk's Office
of Pompey, 1794.
At a meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the
town of Pompey, in the county of Onondaga, as lately ordained by a law of New York, passed the 5th of March, 1794.
That the first town meeting be held at the House of Ebenezer Butler, Jun;, Esq., in said town. April 1st, 1794, was
chosen by a plurality of voices:
Moses DeWitt, Supervisor.
Hezekiah Olcott, Clerk.
Ozias Burr, Allen Beach, William Haskin, George Catlin, Ebenezer Butler, Jun., Assessors.
Thomas Olcott, Jeremiah Gould, John Lamb, Commissioner of Highways.
John Lamb, William Haskin, Overseers: of the Poor.
John Wilcox, Samuel Draper, Joseph H. Smith, Constables.
Voted that the Constables shall be Collectors.
Joseph Atwell, Daniel Allen, Peter Messenger, Joseph
Bartholomew, Samuel Sherman, William Rin, John Wilcox, Samuel Jerome, Trueworthy Cook, Overseers of Highways.
Timothy Sweet, Elisha Clark, Fence Viewers.
Elisha Clark, Pound Keeper.
Various by-laws were made, and among them one that
there shall be a bounty of three pounds for every wolf killed.
within the bounds of this town. It was also
Voted, that the ensuing election be held at three different
places, viz: At Moses DeWitt's on the fourth Tuesday in
April.





236


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


At Ebenezer Butler Jun's., the Wednesday following.
At Daniel Allen's the Thursday following.
At an adjourned meeting of the inhabitants of the town
of Pompey, legally assembled at the House of Ebenezer
Butler, Jun., Esq., on the 20th September, 1794.
William Haskin was chosen Supervisor, in the room of
Moses DeWitt, deceased.
Voted, that the sum of twelve pounds be raised for the
purpose of purchasing books and paper, and other expenses
of the town.
SECOND TOWN MEETING.
At the annual Town Meeting held at the House of Ebenezer Butler, Jun., Esq., in the town of Pompey and county
of Onondaga, 7th April, 1795.
Voted that the mode of choosing Supervisor and Clerk be
to speak and mark against his name, and the remainder of
Town Officers by nomination.
The following persons were unanimously chosen to their
respective offices:Ebenezer Butler, Jun., Supervisor.
Hezekiah Olcott, Clerk.
Thomas Gastin, George Catlin, Jeremiah Gould, John
Wilcox, Josiah Holbrook, Assessors.
William Haskin, Samuel Messenger, Jun., Hezekiah O1 -cott, Commissioners of Highways.
Josiah Holbrook, William Haskin, Overseers of the Poor.
Daniel Allen, Ezra Hart, Jabez Hall, Constables.
Daniel Allen, Ezra Hart, Collectors.
James Olcott, Enos Peck, Adonijah Cowles, William
Pease, Bariah Holbrook, Ebenezer Carr, Timothy Coleman,
Hoar, John Jerome, Salmon Butler, John Vaugihai,





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


237


Daniel Messenger, Timothy Sweet, Asa Barns, David Green
Isaac Carpenter, Selah Cook, Overseers of Highways.
William Clark, Ozias Burr, Fence Viewers.
George Catlin, Pound Keeper.
Voted that a bounty of five dollars be given for the scalp
of every full grown wolf killed within the limits of the town.
Voted that the next annual town meeting be held at this
place.
THIRD TOWN MEETING.
At the aunual town meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants of the town of Pompey, legally assembled at the house
of Ebenezer Butler, Jun., Esq., on Tuesday, the 5th day of
April, 1796.
The following persons were chosen to their respective offices:
Ebenezer Butler, Jr., Supervisor.
Hezekiah Olcott, Clerk.
Jeremiah Gould, Timothy Coleman, William Cook, Henry Clark, Timothy Jerome, Assessors.
Hezekiah Olcott, Samuel Hyatt, Josiah Moore, Commisers of Highways.
John Lamb, David Williams, Overseers of the Poor.
Daniel Allen, Chancy Jerome, Constables.
Daniel Allen, Collector.
David Tripp, Samuel Chaffee, Samuel Messenger, Samuel
Sherwood, Joshua Owen, David Porter, Henry Clark, David
Williams, Hezekiah Wilcox, David Hibbard, John Bowers,
Jacobus Depuy, Louden Priest, John Jerome, Joseph Tubbs,
William Haskin, Joseph Smith, Henry White, Abel Olcott,
Ichabod Lathrop, Overseers of Highways.
David Green, James Griffes, Fence Viewers.
Jeremiah Catlin, Pound Keeper.





328


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Jeremiah Gould, David Williams, Ozias Burr, Thomas
Olcott, Timothy Jerome, Commissioners of Schools.
Voted, that the next annual town meeting be at this place.
FOURTH TOWN MEETING.
At this meeting held April fourth, 1797, John Lamb, was
chosen Supervisor, Walter Colton, Clerk, Five Assessors
were chosen, Three Commissioners of Highways, Two Overseers of the Poor, Three Constables, Barriah Holbrook, Collector, Twenty-eight Overseers of Highways, Four Fence
Viewers, George Catlin, Pound Keeper, and Five Commissioners of Schools.
It was also " Voted, that it is the wish of the town to have
the township of Fabius and Tully incorporated into a town
by the name of Fabius."
" Fifty dollars were also voted, to defray the expenses of
the town."
School Commissioners were voted six shillings per day,
for services.
At a meeting held December 25,1794, it was again "voted.
that itis the wish of the town to have the townships of Fabius and Tully incorporated into a town by the name of Fabins, and that the first town meeting be held at the house of
Joseph Tubbs.
Voted, that the Town Clerk be directed to forward the
proceedings of this meeting to the Legislature, at their next
meeting.
W. CoLToN, Clerk.
At the next town meeting held at the house of Ebenezer
Butler, Jr., April 3, 1798, the following votes were passed:
Voted, that the mode of voting for Supervisor and Town
Clerk be viva roce.
Voted, That John Lamb be Supervisor.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


239


Voted, That first vote be reconsidered, and that the Town
Clerk be chosen by uplifted hands.
Voted, That Walter Colton be Town Clerk.
Voted, That there be five Assessors.
Voted, That the last vote be reconsidered, and there be
but four Assessors.
Three Commissioners of Highways were chosen, also
three Constables, Jacobus DePuy, Collector, five Commissioners of Schools, two Overseers of the Poor, twenty-eight
Overseers of Highways, three Fence Viewers, Jesse Butler,
Pound Keeper: Deodatus Clark, Timothy Sweet, Levi Jerome, Commissioners of the Public Lots.
A bounty of fivesdollars was voted on wolves killed within the town.
This last vote was reconsidered.
Voted, That the next Town Meeting he at the house of
Manoah Pratt.
At a Special Town Meeting held at the house of Manoah
Pratt, on Thursday, the 29th day ofNov., 1798, agreeable to
previous notice.
Voted, That Levi Jerome be Town Clerk.
After taking into consideration the Public Lot 67, designated for Gospel and Schools.
Voted, That the same be leased.
Voted, That the Commissioners of said land, lease the
same discretionary.
Voted, to petition the Legislature for division of the
County.
Voted; That one tier of lots be taken off the county of Onondaga and annexed to county of Chenango, to-wit: Cicero,
Manlius, Pompey, Fabius, Solon and Cincinnatus.
Voted, That a committee be chosen to petition the Legislature for division of said county.





240


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Voted, That Hezekiah Olcott, Levi Jerome and Deodatus
Clark, compose said committee.
LEVI JEROME, Clerk.
The next Town Meeting was held April 2, 1799.
The meeting organized at house of Manoah Pratt, and
by vote, "adjourned to the barn of said Manoah Pratt."
Voted, that the Supervisor and Town Clerk be chosen by
ballot.
This last vote was reconsidered and it was "Voted, that
Supervisor and Town Clerk be put in by viva voce."
John Lamb, chosen Supervisor, Levi Jerome, Town
Clerk. The usual number of town officers were elected.
"Voted, That the next Annual Town Meeting be held at
the SchoolHouse, near Ebenezer Butler's and Truman Lewis'.
LEVI JEROME, Clerk.
At next Town Meeting held at the School House named
above, on first Tuesday in April, 1800. The Supervisor and
Clerk were for the first time chosen by ballot. The remaining officers were chosen by the uplifted hand.
John Lamb, chosen Supervisor, Levi Jerome, Clerk,
Jesse Butler, Collector, Truman Lewis, Pound Keeper.
At next meeting held April 7, 1801, it was "voted that the
Supervisor and Clerk be chosen by going round and mentioning to the Town Clerk. Voted that Supervisor and
Clerk be put in by once going around.
John Lamb, chosen Supervisor, Levi Jerome, Clerk.
Voted that the Assessors be voted in by uplifted hands,
and that there be three Assessors, one in the western district, one in the middle district and one in the eastern district.
Forty-three Overseers of the Highways, were chosen.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


241


A bounty of five dollars was again voted to be paid for
killing a full grown wolf, and two dollars and fifty cents for
killing a young wolf.
It was "voted, that those who have taken leases on the
Public Lot designated for Gospel and School be released setting out one half the number of Apple trees contained in
said lease.
At next meeting held in School House near Truman Lewis',
March 2d, 1802, the Supervisor and Clerk were chosen by
ballot.
John Lamb, Supervisor.
Levi Jerome, Clerk.
Forty-six Overseers of Highways were chosen.
"Voted, That James Russel should have a lease of that
part of the Public Lot that William Lilly had a year, for
ten years from the time that he took possession of the same.
Next town meeting held March 1st, 1803.
Ozias Burr, chosen Supervisor.
Levi Jerome, Clerk.
Voted that there be a Pound and that it be built near John
Osbourn's.
Voted that John Bowers be pound keeper.
Voted That the Supervisor build a Pound, of the first
money coming into his hands.
A bounty of five dollars voted on wolves.
The total town expenses for year 1802, was ___, _$123.85
For year 1803 -. ------------------------_262.00
For 1804, expenses was.------------------_----.312.00
The meeting held 9th of March, 1804, was in School
House near Hezekiah Hopkins.
It is the same School House occupied for this purpose from
16





242


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


1800 till 1809, in which year, the meeting was called at
the Academy building. This School house was situated on
what is now the Public Green in the village of Pompey.
At meeting held April 5, 1808.
It was "voted that hogs to run at large in the town be
yoked and ringed, except within half mile of Col. Hopkins',
and there not allowed to run."
(Up to this time hogs have been allowed to run without
restraint.)
Voted that " Nathaniel Gillett be Pound keeper.
Voted that no man shall let Canada thistles go to seed on
his land, or path-master on the highway, within his distrct,
on forfeiture of $10.00.
Voted, That Nathaniel Baker and Jesse Butler be hog
constables.
CHANCY JEROME, Clerk.
At the Town Meeting holden on the fourth day of April,
1809, at the Academy, Ozias Burr was chosen Supervisor,
and Henry Seymour, Clerk.
Sixty-one Overseeirs of roads; Nathaniel Baker, Pound
Master.
The meeting resolved that they will permit the Pound to
be moved into the village, near the Academy.
Resolved, That all overseers of the roads in Pompey, shall
be fence viewers.
Resolced, That the owner of every dog pay fifty cents.
Resolved, That hogs or cattle shall not be permitted hereafter to run at large within half a mile of Col. Hopkins', and
that hogs shall not be permitted to run at large in other
parts of the town, unless ringed and yoked. That hogs
found running at large within the aforementioned limits
shall subject the owner thereof to the payment of twelve
and one half cents to the Supervisor, besides impounding





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


243


fee to the Pound Master, who, with all other persons, are
authorized to impound said hogs. And it shall be the duty
of every person so impounding, to give public notice of the
same, on pain of paying two dollars and fifty cents for every
neglect to the Supervisor, for the use of the town.
HENRY SEYMOUR, Clerk.
At a meeting held April 3d, 1810, Ozias Burr was chosen
Supervisor, and Victory Birdseye, Clerk.
Resolved, That this town remonstrate against the proposed
division, and that the Supervisor and Town Clerk be appointed to remonstrate and do all other things necessary to
prevent the said division taking effect.
Resolved, That it be left discretionary with the Commissioners of the Public Lots to lease them for such time as
they shall think proper, not exceeding twenty-one years.
VICTORY BIRDSEYE, Clerk.
At next meeting, held April 2d, 1811, before the meeting
proceeded to any business, the following notice was read to
the meeting:
" Notice is hereby given to the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the town of Pompey, that a petition will be presented to the Legislature of the State of New York, at their
session in the year 1812, praying a division of the said town
of Pompey, and the town of Manlius, including in the town
to be erected, the three south tiers of lots of Manlius, and
three of the north tier lots of the town of Pompey."
March 11, 1811.
Signed,        ELISHA BEEBEE,
JACOBUS DEPUY,
JOSEPH WILCOX,
ELNATHAN MARSH,
TIMOTHY COLEMAN.
At this 'meeting all of the town officers were chosen by
ballot--Ozias Burr, Supervisor; Victory Birdseye, Clerk.





244


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Resolved, unanimously, That this meeting disapprove of
the proposed division of the town, and that a committee of
three be appointed to remonstrate to the next Legislature
against the said division, and that Samuel S. Baldwin, Ozias
Burr and William Cook be that committee.
VICTORY BIRDSEYE, Clerk.
At the meeting April 7, 1812, Jacob R. DeWitt was
chosen Supervisor, and Asa Wells, Clerk.
It was voted that $80.00 be raised for support of the Poor.
At next meeting April 6, 1813, William Cook was chosen
Supervisor, and Chas. Baldwin, Clerk.
It was Resolved to raise $350, for support of the poor.
Resolved, That the Commissioners of the Public Lot apply to the Legislature for permit to sell the lot appropriated
to the use of the gospel.
This year, April 29, Ebenezer II. Hale was appointed by
Justices of the Peace in and for the County of Onondaga, a
Constable in and for the town of Pompey, in the place of
Philo Loveland, who refused to serve.
CHAS. BALDWIN, Clerk.
Town meetings were held at the Academy from 1809 to
1814.
At meeting held April 5, 1814, Asa Wells was chosen
Supervisor, and Chas. T. Baldwin, Town Clerk.
It was resolved to raise the sum of fifteen dollars for support ot Common Schools.
Also, that the proceeds from the Public Lot be devoted to
the same use.
Resolved to raise $222, for support of the poor.
That one dollar and fifty cents per day be paid to Commissioners of Schools.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


245


At a meeting held April 5, 1815, Asa Wells was chosen
Supervisor, and Chas. Baldwin, Clerk.
Resolved, That any person having canada thistles on
his land, shall cut them twice a year; once in June and
once in September, on penalty of $5.00.
Resolved, That no cattle shall run at large within half a
mile of any Tavern.
Resolved, That partition and all fences be four and onehalf feet high.
April 2d, 1816, meeting met at the house of Hezekiah
Hopkins, and adjourned to the house of John Handy. Asa
Wells was chosen Supervisor and Charles Baldwin, clerk.
Resolved, That $300 be raised for support of the Poor
the ensuing year; and also eighty-jive dollars for the relief,of Asa Cook.
At a meeting April 17th, 1817, it was resolved " to sell
for keeping, at public auction to the lowest bidder, all paupers chargeable to the Town.
April 7th, 1817, it was resolved to apply to the Legislature to alter the time of holding Town Meetings to the Second Tuesday of March.
At a meeting held March 9th, 1819, Asa Wells was
chosen Supervisor and Samuel Baker, Clerk.
Voted that there be a committee of five appointed to investigate the concerns of the Public Moneys, and how it be
expended.
The following is a list of the names of persons elected to
the office of Supervisors and Towns Clerks, in the Town of
Pompey, from 1794 to 1875 inclusive, together with number
of years they served:





246


246         THlE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Year.           Supervisor.          Clerk.
1794------ Moses Dewitt and---- Hezekiali Olcott.
William ilaskins.
1795 --------- Ebenezer Butler, Jr.,           b
1796 ---------
1797 --------- John Lamb,-----.-,-. --Walter Colton.
1798 -----               ----- Walter Colton amnd
Levi Jerome.
1799 ----------''----------           4   4


1800-- - - - - i
1802-- - - - - 4
1803 --------- OziaE
1804 - - - - -
1805 - - - - -
1806 - - - - -
1807 --------- John
1808---------- Ozias,
1809-- - - - - 4
1810----------4




44      44


sBurr,...---------
4 ----------- Asa Wells.
44          46
Lamb, ---" ---"
3Burr,-------- --Chancy Jerome.
----------------- Henry Seymour.
----------------- Victory Birdseye.


1812 --------- Jacob R. DeWitt.-----Asa Wells.
1813 --------- William Cook, _.---- Chas. Baldwin.
1814 --------- Asa Wells, ---------C4.4
1815 --------- 44  4  -- - -  - --  4.4
1816 --------- 64  4  -----4
1817-- - - - - 6   44 - - - - -  -
1818 --------- Asahel Smith,---------James Chappell.
1819 --------- Asa Wells,. ~.----------Samfuel Baker.
1820 --------- Elisha Litch-ileld,.----
1821 --------- AsaWel,---
1822  --- - - - 4  44 - - - -  - -
183----.John De LaMatter, --- Moses S. Marshi.
1824 ----------Charles Jackson, ---- 44     4
1825 ----------  4      4   ---      4      4
1826 ----------ElishiaLitchfield, ---- 94  4
1827 --------- Warren Scr~anton, ----Nathan'l Andrews.
1828 --------- John Smith, ---------        C





,THE POMPEY RE-UNION.           247
Year.          Supervisor.          Clerk.
1829,...------- John Smith,.----Nahn1Alidrews.
1830-------__-Manoah Pratt, Jr.,----Rial Wrig-ht.
1831- ---,-----''John Sih  -------Da'vid. Mallory.
1832 ----------"44--------- Calvin S. Ball.
1833 ----------"4         ------44        4
1834 ----------''        -------''4
1835 ----------"------"4                  4
1836 ----------           ----" "--'9     t
1837------------
1838----------'41
1839 ---------IlHorace Wheaton, ----6
1840- -------- Levi Wells,4
1841 ----------''   't'4
1842 --------- Horace Wheaton,--__William J. Curtis.
1843 --------- Levi Wells, -----      t
1844 --------- Daniel CCCCCCCCCCCCCCalvin S. Ball.
1845.--------- Levi Wells,--------
1846--.        it   44 " "- --  -Dan. W. Holbrook,
1847 --------- Sam uel Hart,---------- Levi S. Holbrook.
1848 ------"II         --------Calvin S. Ball.
1849ý -------- Manoah Pratt,-----4
1850           ---- - - - 4  4 - - - - - 4
1851 --------- Samuel Hart ----- E., Henry Hill.
1852 --------- Manoa~h Pratt, -------- Calvin S. Ball.
1853.1--------- Levi S. Holbrook,----
18541-------
1855 ---------------
1857 ----------4         -----
1858 --------Levi   ells----------
1860 -----------"-------
1863 ----------"-------
1864 ----------"    "   --....--
1865 ----------"i   "                     4





248


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Year.           Supervisor.           Clerk.
1866 ------   Levi Wells, -.----Calvin S. Ball.
1867 --------   "    "     ----       "
1868            " - ------ -
1869 ---------  "    "    ----_Frank L. Porter.
1870-    _      "        ___      _   "
1871--- ---          "                "
1872 --------Levi Wells and.---              "
Julius Candee.
1873 -------Marshall R. Dyer,.__Orson G. Dibble.
1874 ------
1875T            "                  W" ---Wells M. Butler.
POMPEY, August 25th, 1828.
We, the undersigned, promise to pay to a building committee hereafter to be chosen from  among ourselves, the
several sums affixed to our names, for the purpose of erecting an Episcopal Church, at the four corners, formerly called
Clapp's corners; one-fourth to be paid by the first of March
next, and the remainder in November, 1829. This church
when erected shall be under the care ot Wardens and Vestrymen and be governed according to the rules and regulations
of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.
The sum subscribed by each individual may be applied on
payment in the purchase of a pew.


Names.


Sums.


Names.


Sums.


John   Sprague ------.$100
Isaac V. V. Hibbard-_ 100
Moses Hinsdale------- 125
John Clapp_-------_    100
Samuel Hibbard -_--    100
Carleton Clapp-----_   40
Marovia Marsh-------, 50
Samuel Clement ------ 75
Chester Clapp-------- 75
Chauncey Hinsdell --- 126
Anson Sweet -----   - 100


Milton Slosson --------$25
Horace Sweet---------   25
Ansel Judd              32---
Adolphus Sweet-------- 50
Joel B. Hibbard --  ---20
Heman Murray---         20
Ira Curtis --------- 20
James Carr_--  ------ 25
Lucius Cook, in labor on
building            - 10
Reuben Murray-------- 25





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


249


Names.             Sums.
James Lusk--_    -     100
Rhoda Gold, Lumber      20
Philemon French ----- 50
Kneeland Sweet -----.  130
Anson Sprague-------- 20
Jacob R. DePuy------- 10


Names.            Sums.
Truman B. Stanton-_    10
Seymour Marsh.--_      50
Joseph W-Bostwick-_. 10
Ephraim Salmons..--. 10
Jacob Hadley, 2 chairs
for vestry room and
Communion Table___ 10


A return of Mount Pleasant School, No. Three, in Pompey, taught by Levi Jerome from the fourth of December,
1799, till the fourth of March, A. D., 1800.  Number of


days of Instruction is 66.
Scholars' Names.   Days.
Moses Hinsdell------- 63
Asahel Hinsdell--------50
David Hinsdell------_ 53
Sally Hinsdell---------43
Elizabeth HinsdelL --- 56
Jonathan Hinsdell ----.- 66
Polly Hinsdell.    _ 38
Samuel Hibbard --------54
Robert Hibbard.------   6
Rachael Hibbard------ 48
Jacob Hibbard --------_ 51
Isaac Iil)br---------d 60
Sally Hiblhrd-------- 62
Jonathan IIibbard------. 22
Nathaniel Hibbard __-  14
Desire Messenger ___   50
John Kellers----------63
Isaac Jerome __-------63
Betsey Jerome ---------66
Libbeus Jerome------- 65
Jared Woodwortli       53
Lewis Woodwortl------_ 54
Phebe Jerome-.------ 53
Mary Jerome---------- 36


Scholars' Names.    Days.
Isaac Woodworth---- 42
Adolphus Sweet -------60
James Sweet----- ----58
Charles Sweet ---------58
Anna Sweet-----------60
Anson Sweet--------- 23
Pamelia Sweet-------- 19
Anson Cole------------64
Polly Cole.-  ------- 26
John Cole-------        54
Samuel Jerome --------47
Electa Jerome --        48
John Jerome----------64
William Jerome ----     59
Cyrus Messenger------- 58
Chloe Messenger_------  61
Rebecca Messenger.--..  49
Stephen Messenger_--.- 50
John Closs ---------    64
Moses Soles   ---     _ 35
Electa Jerome- _----_ 61
Levi Jerome    --------65
William Williams._.. 28
David Williams.------    8





250


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Scholars' Names.  Days.
Sophia Jerome--------27
Daniel Williams ---   59
Nathaniel Williams....-- 49
David Williams -----  38
Jobe Williams-------- 29
Rebecca Williams ---.-- 35
Lavina Williams..----- 27
Elsa Williams--------- 28
Charles Slocum------- 37
Abel Brotherton------ 29 -

Scholars' Names.   Days~
John Williams-------- 18
Solomon Baker ------10
Andrew Guile-------    65
Leman'Pitcher ---      27
Amy Pitcher----      - 50
James Pitcher --------47
Obadiah Williams--.-   37
Anson Sprague ----- 20
Isaac Higgins ---------13
Achsah Messenger ---- 12


Total, Seventy scholars, 2,995
The Instruction compensation for his services was $16per
month.
The above is a true return.
Attest, DANIEL MESSENGER  Trustees.
DAVID HIBBARD     j
Commissioners of School, Pompey.





BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
---OF-.
|?i@6fi& |ar1y l&iMat Qloiaf
DR. EDWARD AIKEN, was born in Windham, Vermont,
in October, 1796, and graduated at Middlebury College;
he was preceptor of Pompey Academy soon after its organization; subsequently he practiced medicine in Utica up to
the year 1829, when from failing health, he removed to
Tallahasse, Florida, and died in the year 1831.
He was a gentleman of culture and fine sensibilities, and
wherever he was located attracted a large circle of friends;
as a teacher he was thorough and efficient; as a physician,
he was kind and humane, one whose memory will not soon
be forgotten by those whose pleasure it was to know him.
ANDERSON FAMILY.
Addy Anderson came to Pompey about the year 1803,and
settled on fifty acres of land about half a mile west of the
village of Pompey Hill, on the State road; he died soon
after, leaving a wife and eight children, to wit: Margaret,
John, William, Elizabeth, Samuel, George, James and
Mary. John was about sixteen years old when his father
died, and being the oldest son, his mother very naturally
looked to him for aid in providing for so large a family,
and in this she was not disappointed; for he filled the place





252


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


of a father, assuming responsibilities,bearing heavy burdens
and discharging obligations most faithfully. At the age of
about twenty-seven, John married Miss Lydia Safford, and
settled on the farm  purchased by his father; they were
blessed with nine children, to wit: Jane, James, Joseph,
Juliet, Ira, Josiah, Harriet, Eli and Maiy; as a farmer he
was among the best in the town; he was a highly respected citizen and for many years a very valuable member of
the Methodist Episcopal Church of Pompey Hill. He died
of cancer in the face, at the age of fifty-six; his wife preceded him  to the spirit world about two and a half years;
only two are living of his father's family, Margaret and
Mary, who reside inPalmyra norW.
The former is well known in Pompey, having spent most
of her life there; she never was married and is now (1873)
nearly ninety years of age. Five of John Andersons children are deceased. Four, viz: Jane, James, Juliet and
Harrie t, died before their father. Eli, who married Miss
Hellen Baker,of LaFayette, and located on a farm purchased of Ely Beard, died at the age of thirty-two years on the
Ely Beard farm. He was a member of the M. E. Church,
loved and esteemed by all; he left a wife and two sons who
reside in Wisconsin. Joseph, the oldest of the four living
children, has for many years been a resident of the State of
Wisconsin,and has been over twenty years in the work of the
Christian Ministry and a member of the Wisconsin Annual
Conference. Eight years he has served as Presiding Elder,
and he is at present pastor of the Second M. E. Church of
Oshkosh, Wis. Three years ago he was missionary in the
Rocky Mountains and built the first Methodist Church in
Wyoming Territory, at Cheyenne. He has been married
twice, and has five sons living by his first wife.
Ira is settled upon the old homestead, thinking it doubtless the dearest spot on this green earth. He is still at the
age of forty-five unmarried, strongly attached to Pompey,
his native town, and an upright honest citizen. Josiah soon
after reaching his majority married Miss Margaret Baker of





T-HE POMPEY RE-UNION.


253


La Fayette, N. Y. Four or five years later he built a house
on a part of the "old homestead" intending to make it a permanent home. His house scarcely completed is enveloped
in flame and burns to the ground on a dark night. A little
son two years old was burned to death while the other members of the family barely escaped with their lives. Instead of
rebuilding he soon sold and moved with his family toWisconsin, only to remain a few months, when he returned and settled on a farm in LaFayette. This he sold and purchased
the "Morgan place" the early home of Judge LeRoy Morgan, which his father Lyman Morgan owned two miles
north-west of Pompey Hill, where he now resides. He is a
good farmer, having accumulated a handsome property.
He has one son living, having lost a son and daughter.
Mary married a Mr. Hall, a wealthy and respectable farmer
of Wayne Co., N. Y., where she lived a number of years.
At present she is living in Michigan, having a family of five
children.
AVERY FAMILY.
Christopher Avery, a weaver, came from Salisbury, England, dewetW     and settled at Gloucester, Mass.; he was a
Selectman of that town from 1646 to 1654; in 1658 he removed to Boston, and on August 8th, 1665, he purchased
land in New London, Conn.; died in Groton, 1681. James
Avery, the only son of the above, was born in England in
1620; he married Joanna Greenslade, in Boston, Nov. 10th,
1643; he removed to New London, in 1650; took an active
part in the business affairs of the new plantation; he was
chosen Townsman in 1660, and held the office for twenty
years; he was captain in the only train band in the town,
and was in active service in King Phillip's war; he was
twelve times elected Deputy to the General Court, was one
of the Commissioners of Peace, and an Assistant Judge; he
died at Pequannock, in 1696. His four sons were James,
Thomas, John and Samuel. The latter was born Aug. 14th,
1666, and married Susanna Palms, Oct. 27th, 1686; his sons





254


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


were Samuel, Jonathan, William, Christopher, Humphrey,
Nathan and Waitstill.
Humphrey, born July 4th, 1699, married Jerusha Morgan, Feb. 5, 1724; his sons were Humphrey, Wilian, Solomon, James, Samuel, Christopher, Waitstill, Isaac and
Nathan.
Solomon, born June 17th, 1729, married Hannah Punderson, Feb. 18th, 1751; his sons were Solomon, Miles, Stephen, Punderson, Henry, Cyrus and Humphrey.
Punderson Avery was born in Groton, Conn., May 21st,
1765; he consequently was not old enough to enter the war
of the Revolution, but to show that he was of the right
stock, we mention that at the massacre of Fort Griswold,
on the 6th of Sept., 1781, nine of his uncles and cousins
fell, and he waded in blood over his shoes to obtain their
remains from the Fort. He married Lovina Barnes, daughter of Phineas Barnes and Phebe Bernent, Dec. 15th, 1786,
at Great Barrington, Mass.; here he resided some time, and
then removed to  e the then so called "Royal Grant," in Herkimer County; here he built and run a grist mill for a few
years, and it was believed to be located farther west than
any mill for grinding grain on the Continent. In 1796, he
removed to Pompey, and settled on a farm a mile south of
Oran; here he reared his large family, and died Sept. 10th,
1840.
Mr. Avery was peculiarly fitted by nature for a pioneer;
he was among the first in any enterprise to improve the
minds, the morals or condition of his fellow men; the,church, the school and public library, always found in him
*an ardent supporter; his patriotism secured him a place as
captain in the militia; and his integrity, as administrator
for many a widow and orphan; his love of justice made him
often the arbiter in his neighbors' quarrels, and his excellent
judgment often turned the scale, for or against, many an incipient undertaking.
But he was most useful to his fellow men, perhaps, as a





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


255


mechanic; his trade properly was a mill-wright, but he often
was employed on small machinery, and on one occasion, by
a very wealthy man, to construct a perpetual motion; he
had been taught to work by square rule, and a barn still
standing next.south of his old residence, is believed to be
the first in the county framed by "square rule;" hejwas almost continually employed in building grist mills, saw mills,
fulling mills, carding machines, tanneries, and later, cider
mills and threshing machines. About 1820, he constructed
a cast iron plow, which, for many years, was a general
favorite in this locality; his inventive faculties were large,
and he would probably have allowed them some little scope,
and at some cost, had not prudence and the demands of a
family of twelve children, kept him busy in labor that paid
every day. His children were Hannah P., who became first
Mrs. Samuel Willard, the mother of W. W. Willard, of Syracuse; her second husband was William Higgins, of Van
Buren; Sally B., who married George Miller, of Tunkhannock, Pa.; Lucy, who married Balden Resseguie, VanBuren; William; Phebe, who married Colonel Reynolds, of
Cazenovia: Candace, relict of Horace Sweet; Lucetta, who
married William M. Wood, of Mishawaka, Ind.; Perlena,
the wife of Abner Duell, Manlius; Perlina, the relict of
Euroclyden Gerre, who resides in VanBuren; Cyrus; Nancy, the wife of Elam Thomas, Knowlesville, Orleans Co.;
and Samuel.
William Avery, son of the preceding, was born in Herkimer county, August 16, 1793, married Eunice Hart, daughter of Comfort, October 24, 1815. He early manifested a
disposition to be a mechanic, was continually contriving
water mills and wind mills to drive other machinery, and
long before he attained his majority he was employed in all
parts of the country to repair machinery, and was considered
the most skillful workman known in Central New York.
His inventive faculties were of a high order, but often from
a lack of books on mechanical subjects, he lost much valuable time in experiments that had long before been tried





256


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


and exploded. His first invention of any importance, was
a machine for making wire harness for looms in 1824. His
other inventions were numerous, and hardly a year passed
without a patent being granted to him. The one by which
he is best known, was the rotary engine, believed to be still
the simplest and cheapest in the world, and in a limited
sphere has proved for about 40 years extremely valuable.
The first steam saw mill at Centerville, this county, was run
by one of these engines for many years, and did a vast
amount of work.
In 1822 he built a small steamboat which was first launched
on the mill pond at Buellville; it was afterwards taken to
Cazenovia lake, and finally to the Erie canal. The Onondaga Gazette of October 1, 1823, says: "A steamboat built
at Buellville, in Pompey, passed through this village last
week."  The engine from this boat was purchased by the
late Henry Gifford, of Syracuse, who used it to pump salt
water for many years.
Mr. Avery moved to Salina and carried on a large foundry and machine shop, and afterwards removed to Syracuse,
where he was for a time in company with Elam Lynds; he
built the machinery for the first steamboat on Lake Ontario,
and was the first white man to navigate the St. Lawrence
river, from Kingston to the head of the Long Sault Rapids,
passing two considerable rapids before reaching that point.
Travel on that route in those days was so inconsiderable
that it did not pay, and the proprietors withdrew the boat in
a year or two. In 1837 he removed to Chicago, which he
then described as a little sickly sunken hole. He soon took
a contract of the State of Illinois to make the rock cut on
the summit of the Illinois and Michigan canal; the price was
$1.49 per cubic yard, and the estimated cost $240,000; this
was considered the largest contract that had ever been taken
in this country at that time. While completing this great
undertaking, by which the waters of Lake Michigan were
calculated to be diverted to the Mississippi, he was attacked
by a fatal disease, and died on the 16th of November, 1840,





THE POMPEY RE UNION.


257


at Athens, and is buried at Rockport, Illinois. Some of his
feats of walking when the country was new were considered
very good; he walked on one occasion from Oran to Ithaca
in a day and back the next.
Cyrus, the second son of Punderson, was born in Pompey,
July 28th, 1807; married first, Calista Hibbard, February
3d, 1828; second, Lurinda Jones, February 3d, 1831; third,
Sabra Vosburgh, January 3d, 1847. His early life was spent
in Pompey and mostly at mechanical work. He removed
to Tunkhannock, Pa., about 1840, where he has since resided, except for the last ten or twelve years, he has been in
Europe selling his inventions, which are numerous, and some
of them quite valuable. One winter he spent in Russia and
threshed wheat for the Emperor several months; was on the
most intimate terms with the Grand Duke, Constantine, and
finally presented his machine to the Government. Ile has
a large family of children-five sons, all mechanics, and five
daughters.
Samuel Avery, youngest child of Punderson, was born in
Pompey, February 18th, 1812; married first, Lucinda Jones,
February 3d, 1831; second, Eliza Flynn. His natural bent
was mechanics as with the others, but forced by circumstances to be a farmer, he came near being ruined for anything useful. Dr. Daniel Denison, who had had the credit
of his misguidance, took him into his office as a student of
medicine, and in 1844 he graduated at Castleton Medical
College, Vermont. He removed to Rochester, and commenced the practice of medicine and surgery, his natural
mechanical ability aiding him materially in the latter. He
stayed here but a few years and finally removed to Phcenix,
where, with the exception of a few mnonths in Syracuse and
a year in Baldwinsville, he has since resided. He gave up
practice a few years since, and at present is the Secretary of
the Oswego and Onondaga Insurance Company.
G*itrdmrtia H. and Florello P., sons of Cyrus, born in
Pompey, reside at Tunkhannock, Pa., machinists. IHenry
17





258


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


M., only living child of Samuel, resides at South Haven,
Mich., a watchmaker and jeweler.
REV. ELEAZER STORRS B ARROWS
Was born January 18th, 1790, in Mannsfield, Conn.; in
October, 1797, moved with his father's family, to Middlebury, Vt.; he prepared for College at the Addison County
Grammar School, and entered Middlebury College, October, 1807, from which he graduated, October, 1811; he was
in Castleton in 1811 and 1812; in the Carolinas from 1812
to 1815, where in 1815 he was ordained a minister of the
Gospel; he finished his Theological studies at the Princeton
Theological Seminary, 1815-16; was tutor in Middlebury
College a portion of the year 1815; preached in Middletown
N. Y., 1816 and 1817; December,1817,was appointed Tutor
in Hamilton College,Clinton, N. Y., and in September,1818,
Professor of Latin, which position he held for about three
years; in April, 1822, he settled at Pompey Hill, and was
soon after installed Pastor of the Congregational Church of
Pompey; here he remained till 182 8, and a portion of the
time in addition to his duties as Pastor of the Church he had
charge of the Pompey Academy. He edited the Christian
Journal a:t Utica, N. Y., from 1828 to 1833, supplying the
pulpit of theWaterville Presbyterian Church a portion of the
time; from 1833 to 1842 he was Pastor of the Presbyterian
Church at Cazenovia, N. Y., when his tailing health compelled him to resign the position.
The remainder of his life was spent at his home in Utica,
N. Y., performing such ministerial labors as his health permitted until his death, which occurred July 28th,1847.
He was married May 7th, 1822, to Miss Catharine C.,
daughter of Dr. Thomas Fuller, of Cooperstown,N.Y.,where
she now resides enjoying a green old age and "her children
arise up and call her blessed." Seven children were born
to them, five of whom are now living; Mrs. M. F. Cooper,
of Albany, N. Y., is the only one who can claim Pompey as





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


259


the place of her nativity. Their two sons reside at Janesville,
Wisconsin, and two daughters at Cooperstown, N. Y.
Such is a sketch of the life of one of Pompey's early ministers,furnished by one of the members of his family. How
full of activity in good works from its commencement to its
early close! Although only fifty-seven years of age when
called to bid adieu to earthly friends, and enter into that
rest which remains for the pure in heart, he had filled the
measure of a long and useful life; he has ceased from his
labors but his works follow him. Eternity can only reveal
the extent of the influence he has exerted even as Pastor of
the Church in Pompey and Preceptor of the Academy, not
to speak of the other fields of labor in which he was engaged. The following letter written by his aged wife in response to a communication from Dr. L. B. Wells, of Utica,
requesting the foregoing sketch for publication, will be of
interest to those especially who knew her and who appreciated her many virtues.
COOPERSTOWN, Oct. 16th, 1871.
DR. L. B. WELLS.
Dear Sir:-Your favor requesting a history of my husband's life to be handed down to posterity with the worthies
of Pompey, was duly received, and estimated as a mark of
respect to myself and family; I sentit to my son, the Doctor,
who has written the enclosed brief sketch which I hope may
meet with your approbation,
Respectfully Yours,
CATHARINE F. BARROWS.
SYLVANUS AND ARTEMUS BISHOP.
Sylvanus Bishop was one of six brothers who settled in Pompey in 1793-94; he had previous to this served in the Revolutionary war; he came from Kinderhook, Columbia County, N. Y., in the year first mentioned, and bought land in
the vicinity of Pompey Hill and began to clear and improve
it; in the following year he brought his wife and eldest





260


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


child, making the entire jorney on horse back and carrying
their baby, then but six months old, in their arms. After
about twenty years residence in Pompey they removed to
Oswego; he lived to be over ninety-five years and died inJune
1860. During his early residence in Pompey, his second
son, Artemas Bishop,was born December 30th, 1795, whose
life has been one of marked success and usefulness in the
profession of his choice; when but a child he manifested a
love for study which induced his parents to give him the advantages offered by the towns people in the "Old Pompey
Academy," under the tuition ofMessrs.Burchard and Leonard. He entered Union College in 1815, with Orange Butler and others from Pompey, and was a class-mate of Hon.
William H. Seward; having graduated,he studied Theology
at Princeton, during which time he made a number of professional visits to the Chappel in the "OldAcademy"in Pompey; while at Princeton he decided to devote his life to the
Missionary work, at the Sandwich Islands. In October,1822,
he married Miss Elizabeth Edwards, of Boston; they immediately joined the second company of Missionaries, then
about to start from Hartford, Connecticut, in the ship
Thames; after a voyage of over six months,they reached the
Island in safety. Among the earlier labors of this faithful
and eminent Missionary, were his translations of the Bible,
and a Hymn Book into the Hawaiian language; he also
made an excellent translation of Pilgrims Progress, in the
same language. Later in life he was employed by the United States Government, in making Geological Surveys of
the Island; he is now the Senior Missionary in that field; he
has accomplished his half century of labor in that department. A son and daughter have both been sent to the
United States to receive an education suitable to assist him
in his arduous labors, both having returned some years ago.
REV. ARTEMAS BISHOP.
One after another, the venerable laborers, whose lives of
faithful service have done so much for the people of the Sand




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


261


wich Islands,are passing away. The death of Mr.Bishop,one
of the second company who went as Missionaries to those
islands, was mentioned in the "Herald" for February. The
notice of his life is gathered from  a sermon preached at
Honolulu, on the Sabbath after he died, by Rev. Dr. Damon:"The Rev. Artemas Bishop was born in Pompey, N. Y.,
December 30th, 1705; hence, in a few days, he would have
been seventy-seven years old. He graduated at Union College in 1819, and at Princeton Theological Seminary, in
1822. After marriage with Miss Elizabeth Edwards, of
Boston, he embarked in November, 1822, at New Haven,
with the first reinforcement of Missionaries destined for these
islands. Among his asso ciates were the Rev. Messrs. Richards and Stewart, Mr. C hamberlain, and several others. At
his embarkation a large concourse assembled, and then was
sung, for the first time, the hymn written by William B.
Tappan, which has been so oft repeated:"' Wake, Isles of the South,! your redemption is near,
No longer repose in the borders of gloom.'
"The company landed at Honolulu on the last Sabbath of
April, 1823, and Mr. Bishop was stationed at Kailua, there
to become the associate of the Rev. Asa Thurston. Having
acquired the language, he became associated with Mr.
Thurston in the work of translating the Bible. Together,
they translated the books of Genesis, Numbers and Deuteronoiny, and the Epis ties of Paul to the Romans and Galations; while alone, he tr anslated the 2d book of Samuel and
the 1st of Chronicles.
"After remaining about twelve years at Kailua, he removed to Ewa, on the island of Oahu, where he labored for
about twenty years with great usefulness and   success.
While residing at this station, he translated ' Pilgrim's Progress,' and many other books. His accurate knowledge of
the Hawaiian language always gave him authority in all
matters involving questions of criticism and translation.
THis fondness for study, reading, and literary pursuits was





262


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


preserved to the very close of his career. He was wont to
take cheerful views of life, ever looking on the bright side
of all subjects. There was a golden thread of quiet humor
interwoven into the texture of his mind. Solomon says, 'A
man that hath friends, must show himself friendly.' He
was one of those friendly, genial, and companionable men
whose presence does not chill, but warms society.
"It is quite remarkable, that with the rapid tide of travel
rushing past our islands, he never should have left them after his arrival, except on a visit as delegate to the Marquesas
Mission, in 1858. He never rode upon or saw a railroad, or
witnessed the operation of the telegraph. Few men, however, were better acquainted with the progress of scientific
discovery. Emphatically might Goldsmith's description of
the Vicar, in the 'Deserted Village,' apply to him, while
officiating, for nearly forty years, as a missionary at Kailua
and Ewa:
"'A man he was to all the country dear,
And passing rich with forty pounds a year;
Remote from town he ran his godly race,
Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change his place.
Unskillful he to fawn, or seek for power,
By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour;
Far other aims his heart had learn'd to prize,
More bent to raise the wretched than to rise.'
"It is quite impossible not to admire the life of such a
veteran Missionary, who left his country fifty years ago, and
after voyaging around Cape Horn, settled down among the
Hawaiians to learn their language, assist in reducing it to a
written form, and then spend a long lifetime in preaching
and laboring among this people. His thoughts have become their thoughts. By means of the sermons which he
preached, books and hymns which he wrote and translated,
and above all, by the life which he led, his own life-thoughts
have become interwoven    and intertwined with the lifethoughts and literature of Hawaiians.
" As a minister of the gospel, he necessarily made the
whole Bible his life-study, but when he ceased from the ac




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


263


tive duties of the ministry, and enjoyed time for calm reflection and meditation, his mind dwelt almost exclusively upon
the prophetic parts of Scripture, and especially upon the
Book of Revelation. It afforded him unspeakable satisfaction to contemplate the future triumphs of the gospel as unfolded in these prophetic portions. IIe had no doubts and
misgivings upon the subject, but from his extensive reading
of history, and the progress of the nations in science, art,
religion and civilization, he confidently anticipated the universal spread of Christianity over the whole earth."
ELIZUR BRACE,
BY HIS SON, REV. SAMUEL W. BRACE, OF UTICA, N. Y.
In opening Mr. J. V. H. Clarke's reminiscences of Onondaga County, I find that he has set down Pompey as one of
the original towns formed at the first organization of the
County in 1794, and that it comprised at that time the townships of Pompey (as it now is), Fabius and Tully, and a part
of the Onondaga Reservation, including LaFayette; he informs us farther, that the township obtained great celebrity
at a very early period, and was principally settled by people
from New England, many of whom took up their residence
in it while it wýs a part of the township of Mexico, Herkimer County. The first settlers, he says, in the present town
of Pompey, were Ebenezer Butler, from Harwinton, Connecticut, who located on Lot number 65, in 1792. His brother,
Jesse Butler, and Jacob Hoar, and Mr. Clarke might have
added his brother-in-law, Nathan Davis, and others, came
on in the spring of the same year. My father, Captain
Elizur Brace, was a native of the same town of Harwinton,
in Litchfield County, and a neighbor of those adventurous
pioneers to the then far west, but did not move to Pompey
until four years afterwards, that is in 1796. In the spring
of that year he made a journey, mainly on foot, to thei wilderness settlement of his former neighbors, and purchased
of Ebenezer Butler a portion of land south of the present
village and covering entirely the summit of the hill. OrL





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


this he commenced the erection of a log house, after the
fashion of others who had preceded him in the new and far
off settlement; this house, however, he did not finish until
after his removal there with his family, in the latter part of
October of the same year; hence our accommodations, as I
well remember, for I was then six and a half years of age,
were scant and uncomfortable, until our famous log house,
with two rooms, and a linter, as it was then called, was fit
for occupancy. We located, by the kindly consent of our
old neighbors, in the first school house ever built on Pompey Hill, and this, of course, was a log structure of but one
room, and at that time, for a few weeks, unoccupied. On
its split-out, hewed and uneven floor, we spread our beds,
for our bedsteads had been left in the country where they
were made; here, also, we cooked and ate our homely meals,
sat upon our rough benches and hoped for a day of better
things. Such a day at length arrived, for before the setting
in of winter, we found ourselves comfortably located in our
new and highly elevated dwelling, as it was not only like a
city set upon a hill, but probably the second best in the settlement. Our neighbors were munificently mindful of us in
their offerings of vegetables and other materials of an edible
character, as they had them to spare. In the meantime, or
before leaving our pent up quarters in the school house, my
father had manufactured a table from cherry planks, split
from a log given him by Esq. Butler, as this gentleman was
then beginning to be called. To her great sorrow, my
mother's fine table, the only one we attempted to bring with
us, got completely shipwrecked on the way. According to
the custom of olden times, a house warming was expected
when we were fully settled in our log palace. With its two
windows, of twelve lights each, which my father had been
careful to bring with him; beside these and other things
which might be named, an excellent split and hewed basswood floor-two doors of like material, with latches and
latch-strings hanging out, a chimney -in the middle, partly
of stone, and topped out with rift-sticks and plastered, were





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some of the leading characteristics of our new dwelling;
and as to the house-warming, so much desired and talked of
by our friends and neighbors, that was deferred till midwinter, when the marriage ceremony of my oldest sister was
to take place. She had early on our arrival, become affianced to Dr. Walter Colton, the young physician of the
town, and the first that ever settled in it for practice, though
Mr. Clarke, in his reminiscences of Pompey, states the case
entirely different, informing us that Dr. Samuel Beach was
the first physician in this town, having come there in 1798.
and that Dr. Josiah Colton settled two miles east of Pompey
Hill in 1801. This statement, with sundry other mistakes
of Mr. Clarke, is too palpable to need refutation. Dr. Tibbals, of whom he speaks in after years, became a resident of
the place, and a co-practitioner with Dr. Colton, as the
ride of the latter became very extensive, hardly circumscribed by the limits of the whole large county. Dr. Colton
early entered into the politics of the day, although such a
thing as a newspaper was unknown, except as fugitive copies
of the Albany papers were obtained from the postoffice at
Onondaga Hollow. This was the only postoffice in the
County, and all the region round about. Daniel Wood,
Esq., was the first postmaster at Pompey Hill in 1811; previous to that time, the Hollow was the principal postoffice
tor the town, and to it, the writer, in the days of his early
youth, ofte, wvent as the post-boy for the neighbors, sometimes on iorse-back, but oftener oln foot. At that period
there was no Syracuse, but a miserable drunken place,
known as Cossit's Corners, and approached by roads of corduroy construction, and as the Irishmen of Salt Point used
to say, a plentiful variety of mud holes. In those days,
slavery was rifo in all parts of the Empire State, nor did it
entirely cease until 1828, when it camne to an end by gradual
em1ancipation. Pompey had its slaves; a number were held
on the Hill by some of the most respectable families, but
treated not. as slaves in the south were said to be, but with
much lenity and kindness. They were, however, quite. nu





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merous in the northwestern part of the town, near what is
now Jamesville; sundry families there as the DeWitts andl
DePuys, of Dutch extraction, held numbers of them, and
with their labor entered largely into the cultivation of tobacco; hence it was that Pompey became the first town in
all Central and Western New York that was defiled with the
raising of this filthy and poisonous plant. I do not remember to have seen a one, or even a two-horse wagon on Pompey Hill earlier than 1804; indeed, horses were scarce and
riding vehicles drawn by them were things of after consideration. The saddle, Dr. Franklin's seat of health, was in
vogue for getting about, when the use of fret was relinquished; my mother, of course, had her down country
pillion, like sundry others who had immigrated from the
land of steady habits with their husbands and families. Ox
teams were the order of the day, both in summer and winter, when the feet or saddle were not used; hence, carts and
sleds, and those often of a clumsey character, were the modes;
of swiftest conveyance. The earliest school that I attended
was taught by Miss Lucy Jerome, afterwards the mother ot
the Hon. George Geddes, a lady of distinguished talents and
high mental culture. Mr. Merrit Butler, of Pompey, and
myself, are probably the only persons: living who attended
that school, which was kept two summers in succession, but
as Mr. Butler is twenty days in advance of me on life's rugged and eventful journey, he is allowed to speak for himself
and to correct me, if wrong in this matter of more than
seventy years memory. As descendants of Puritans, the
early inhabitants of Pompey were strict observers of the
Sabbath, keeping themselves and their children at home, except when they were favored with some kind of public religious services on that holy day. If no Missionary or regular minister of the gospel was among them, a prayer meeting
was usually held, or a sermon read, and for attendance on
Sabbath service, not men only, but women,. (ladies, indeed,)
would walk two or three miles or more.. They used to meet
in barns, private houses and school houses.. The Rev.





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Joseph Gilbert, from Harwinton, Conn., a nephew of my
father, a hatter by trade, settled about two miles east from
the Hill in 1793, and then quietly pursued his early vocation
of hat making, in connection with farming, on a limited
scale; wool hats and these usually exchanged for such commodities as the inhabitants had to spare, were the main production of his log shop. Mr. Gilbert was an uneducated
man, but a man of fine natural talents, and of rare Christian
character; in him the word of Christ dwelt richly in all
wisdom; his example and influence in attending funerals,
visiting the sick and meeting with the brethren on the Sabbath, were of the most salutary kind, and though dead, he
yet speaketh. At the time of the Re-Union, June 29th,
1871, I visited his grave, and the graves of many others
whom I well recollected from my boyhood, and found myself irresistably impressed with the solemn fact that the
fashion of this world passeth away.
THE BALL FAMILY.
Stebbins Ball, Jr., who came to Pompey in the winter of
1799, from Saratoga County, was born in Granville, Conn.,
in 1775; his father was Maj. Stebbins Ball, who served
seven years in the revolutionary army, and was wounded;
at the close of the war, he was honorably discharged, with
the rank of major. Stebbins Ball, Jr., settled on lot num29 Pompey, on the farm now owned and occupied by Benjamin F. Wheeler; he was a carpenter and joiner, an excellent mechanic, and gave promise of great usefulness in the
new country where house-builders were so much needed;
but death early closed his career, in the year 1802, at the
age of twenty-seven years; his children surviving him were
Stephen C.,and the twins, Alvin M., and Calvin S., also two
daughters, Betsey and Charlotte; Betsey married William
J. Millard, of Watervale, in Pompey, and Charlotte married, Manoah Pratt, Jr., of Pompey.
Stephen C. Ball, son of Stebbins Ball, Jr., was born in





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Charlton, Saratoga County, N. Y., in 1797, and came to
Pompey with his parents; he served in the war of 1812, and
was in the battle of Niagara; he died in Homer,, Cortland
County, N. Y., February 22d, 1871, leaving nine children,
-one son and eight daughters; he was a tailor by trade.
Alvin M. Ball, (twin with Calvin S.) was born in Charlton, N. Y., October 11th, 1798, married Miss Lucretia
Vickery, of Pompey, and settled on the farm now occupied
by his son Frederick, two miles north east of Pompey Hill.
He raised a family of ten children-one son and nine daughters.
Calvin S. Ball, (twin with Alvin M.) was born in Charlton, N. Y., October 11th, 1798; lived in Pompey about seventy years; was a silversmith, and taught school several
years in Watervale and Pompey Hill; was Town Clerk of
Pompey, from about the year 1837 to 1862, excepting one
year; he also held the office of School Commissioner, and
that of Inspector of Schools for several years. He was twice
married; first to Miss Adaline M. Wood, of Watervale, by
whom he had four children--three sons and one daughte,who
are enow living. His second wife was Miss Sarah H. Hungerford, of Watertown, N. Y., by whom he had two daughters, twins, one of whom lived to the age of seven years;
both wives, and the twvins lie burried in the grave yard at
Pompey Hill.
Mr. Ball, moved from Pompey in 1869, and now resides
at Milo Center, Yates County, N. Y., in the enjoyment of
good health, having outlived the expectation of everyone
who knew him in early manhood. About 1822, when at
Trenton Falls, he was attacked with pleurisy, which left
him with a severe cough. From Trenton Falls, he was
brought on a litter to his home inPompey,and with him a coffin and shroud, as the doctor declared it was very doubtful
whether he could survive the journey; but he arrived in
safety, and finally after fo ur years of suffering, he recovered
from what all supposed to be an incurable consumption, and
entered upon the active duties of life. The coffin is still in





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existence, but long ago the shroud was used for other purposes; his son Calvin S. Ball, Jr., is a dealer in Watches,
Silver Ware, Jewelry, &c., a prosperous business man, and
resides in Syracuse.
JOSEPH BAKER,
Was born at Chesterfield, Mass., November 21st, 1778; at
the age of twenty-six years, he moved, following his brothers,Erastus, Lemuel and Thomas, to Pompey, west Hill,
now LaFayette, where he settled on a farm near his brothers, where he remained till 1810, when he removed to Otisco, where he died June 8th, 1855, aged 77 years; he was
married March 23d, 1802, to Betsey Danforth, by whom he
had eleven children; she died April 4th, 1840, aged sixtytwo years; he was again married to Mrs. Hannah, widow of
CaptainTimothy Pomeroy,of Otisco; he is described as a very
tall and straight man, with lungs of unusual size, possessing
a strong loud voice, a robust constitution, never sick, and
scarcely knew how to sympathize with those who were; at
lastwithout a moments warning, while at work fixing some
brine in the pork barrel, he was stricken down, and in an
instant fell upon the floor from the effects of a paralytic
stroke. He was a farmer, and spent the greater part of his
early life in clearing thle forest; he in company with Lewis
Billings, used to take land to clear at $10 per acre; they
would go out in the morning and each strive to be the first
to fall a tree, which was no sooner down, than the sturdy
pioneer was cutting it into logs; the first finished, they would
run to the next, and all day long the strife was continued.
The logs were drawn into heaps by the neighbors, every
man owning a team participating in the bee; on these occasions, song and mirth, strife and victory, made all joyous and
happy.
Mr. Baker was in the habit of calling his boys, seven in
number, in the morning,saying in his stentorian voice, "come
boys, shoulder arms," and suiting the action to the word,
would swing his axe on his shoulder, the boys following in





270


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


single file to the woods. He was a very hard working man,
and often when working and sweating in the field,he would
say to one of his boys, "go to the well and get me a Orink
from the bottom, and out of the north west corner."
Ile survived two years and a half after one side was paralyzed and his mind gone; then as of old he would call his
boys, and when they failed to come, he would say, " I have
brought up a large family of boys, and not one will now
come at my call!" When in health he was fond of music and
fun, and was a leader in the sports of the day; his tenacity
to life was strong, and not till one foot had decayed from the
body, did he yield to the fell destroyer.
BENSON.
Peter Benson came to Pompey about the year 1793, being then thirteen years of age; he came to assist his older brother in building a barn, for Samuel Sherwood, on lot
number 84; the compensation for building which paid for
100 acres of land on the saime lot.
This farm is located about one nile north-west from the
village of Delphi, and was afterwards owned by Peter Benson. The father of Mr. Benson, came a few years later;
his name was Stutson Benson, was a farmer, and resided
in Pompey till his death, which occurred in 1820. One incident of his life is worthy of note. At the time of his marriage, he was unable to read or write; like Andrew Johnson, he learned his alphabet of his wife; he became a well
read man, particularly in the Bible, and occasionally engaged in preaching the Gospel; much of his writing is now in
possession of A. P. Benson, of Pompey, and is a neat legible hand with correct orthography. Peter was the eighth
child and fifth son, in a family of ten children; he was five
feet and ten inches in height, with broad shoulders and
firmly knit frame, and weighed in the prime of manhood,
200 pounds; he had a firm, quick step, and never would
allow his children to move at a slow pace, or as he termed





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it, "as though they were pulling stakes out of the ground;"
he was of a jovial turn, was never morose or austere in
his family, though his rule with his children, vaas instant obedience, and they found it the part of wisdom to
pay strict attention to this inflexible rule. He was a farmer,
and acquired a fair competence in his calling; he died in
1864, at the age of eighty-four years; at the time of his
death, he was a resident of Fabius.
EBENEZER BUTLER, SR.
Ebenezer Butler, Sr., who accompanied his son, Ebenezer,
in making the first white settlement at Pompey Hill, was
born December, 1733. He was grand-son to Jonathan Butler, one of two Irish adventurers who came to Connecticut
about the year 1710; he served with the Connecticut troops
against the French during the French and Indian War; he
was with Washington in the revolution; and also, in a detachment called out to suppress "The Shay's Rebellion " in
1787. Although a farmer by occupation, after locating in
Pompey he took little part in business life; he was a religious man, and took a very active part in organizing the
first church established in Pompey, being chosen one of its
trustees. This church or religious society was formed June
16th, 1794, and was called "The First Presbyterian Society
of Pompey." This was not only the first religious association in Pompey, but in Onondaga County, when it embraced
the whole military tract; he was also a member of the
church subsequently organized by Rev. Ami Robbins, in
1800, under the name of the " First Congregational Church
of the Town of Pompey."   He lived in Pompey till his
death, which occurred in 1829, enjoying in an unusual degree that choicest of Heaven's temporal blessings-good
health. He never was ill, and died at the age of ninety-six
years, falling dead with a quanlity of wood in his arms
which he had just been preparing for the fire.
Ebenezer Butler, Jr., the first white settler at Pompey





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Hill, and within the limits of the present township, was born
at Harwinton, Conn., in 1761. He served, as did his father,
in the Revolutionary War. He was taken prisoner and
suffered all the hardships and cruelties imposed by the
British upon those unfortunates who were confined on board
" The Prison Ships" in New York harbor. After his release, and at the close of the war, he returned to his native
town; married Miss Rebecca Davis, and moved to Clinton,
Oneida County, N. Y. When located there, he bought a
soldier's claim to Lot No. 65, of the town of Pompey, and
in 1791 or 1792, moved with his family, consisting of his
wife and four daughters, his father, aged about sixty years,
and a maiden sister, to, and made a settlement upon this
Lot, at what is now Pompey Hill. He built alog house for
himself near where is now the ruins of the old stone blacksmith shop; another for his father and sister, near the corner by the wagon shop. He afterwards bought Lot No. 64,
and in 1797, put up the first frame building in this vicinity;
this was a house located on the present site of Hon. Manoah
Pratt's residence. Here he kept a hotel for a number of
years; he was largely engaged in buying and selling real
estate, and for many years also bought cattle in Central
New York, and drove them to the Philadelphia market.
Before he came to Pompey, in 1791, he was Collector of the
District of Whitestown; he was Supervisor of the town of
Pompey, Justice of the Peace, a Member of the State Legislature in 1799 and 1800, Judge of the County Court, and
one of the first Trustees of Pompey Academy before its incorporation by the Regents; he was associated with the first
company formed for the manufacture of salt at Salina. Ie
left Pompey in 1802 or 3, and moved to Manlius. His wife
died in 1808, and her remains lie buried in the cemetery at
Pompey Hill. He lived in Manlius till 1811, and then
moved to Central Ohio, where he died in 1829, aged sixtyeight years; he has descendants living near Columbus, Circleville and Chillicothe, Ohio, many of whom rank among
the first families of the State.










K





THE POMPEY RE UNION.


273


VICTORY BIRDSEYE.
Victory, eldest child of Ebenezer and Eunice (Tomlinson)
Birdseye, was born at Cornwall, Conn., December 25th,
1782.
Through each of his parents he came of the best stock of
his native State. His 'paternal grandfather was the Rev.
Nathan Birdseye, who    was born August 19th, 1714,
graduated  at Yale College, 1736; was     settled  as
pastor of the Congregational Church, at Westhaven, Conn.,
in 1742; remained in that pastorate for 16 years; in 1759,
removed to Oronoque, in the town of Stratford, Conn.,
where he resided till his death on the 28th day of January,
1818, at the age of 103 years, 5 months and 9 days. A
single fact will show of what stuff, both of body and mind,
this man was made, who,born in the first month of the reign
of George I,lived to within two years of the end of the reign
of George III. After he was more than 100 years old, he
rode on horse-back one Sunday, to and from the Church, in
the village of Stratford, a distance of some five miles; went
into the pulpit, and conducted all the exercises of the worship; and, |being too near-sighted to read, repeated from
memory, the chapter and psalms which were read and sung
and preached the sermon, much to the pleasure and edification of the audience.
The maternal grandfather was Beach Tomlinson, of Huntington, Conn., a man of uncommon strength, both of body
and mind, and who died early in the present century, at a
very great age.
Among the objects most early sought, obtained at great
sacrifice, and cherished during his whole life by the subject of the present sketch, were the portraits of his grandparents Tomlinson. Many of the residents of the town
have seen these portraits in his dwelling; and all the older
inhabitants will remember the pride and affection with which
he regarded them.
The unusual name of "Victory," came into the family by
18





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


an incident so singular as to be not unworthy ot mention
here. It was first given to the infant son of Captain Tomlinson, under the following circumstances:-The child had
been born in thle early fall of 1759, in what was then one of
the outer and most exposed settlements of the Colony of
New IHaven. It was during" the "Seven Years' War," as it
was called in Europe; but known in America by the name,
implying so much, of tlhe "French and Indian War."
Wolfe had gone up the St. Lawrence with his fleet and
army, to attack the French in their strong-hold of Quebec.
On his success seemed to depend the safety of almost every
family in all the Colonies; especially those in the backwoo s-on the edges of the wilderness. For the defeat of
the English army would let loose on the Colonies the
French, with their murderous allies, the Indians.
On a Sunday morning, late in the fall of 1759, as this infant was being carried to the church to be baptised, and to
receive some name that had been borne by older members of
his family, and just as pastor and people were gathered at
the Church, an outcry was heard in the distance. A Courier from the back settlements on the Hudson came riding up,
wavi-ng a white flag, and shouting "victory, victory, victory!" For a moment he drew rein at the steps of the Church,
to give breath to his horse, while he told to pastor and people the story of the battle of the Ieights of Abraham, on
the 13th of September,the death of Wolfe, and the great victory of the English. To every one who heard, the tidings
seemed as of life from tihe dead. For the power of the
French and Indians was broken; and now the Colonists.could lie down and rise up, without fear of rifle or tomalawk, or scalping knife. After a short halt, and repeating
his glorious news, the messenger departed, bearing tle glad
tidings to the eastern towns; still, as he went, waving his
flag, and shouting '"victory."  When he had vanished,
the congregation gathered in the Church for worship and
thanksgiving; but before they could proceed, the child must
be christened. As he was brought forward for: baptisns,the





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minister, an aged man, dipping his hand in the water, and
placing it on the lorehead of the child, and apparently forgetting the family name which it was intended he should
bear, said:-"Victory, I baptize thee, in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost."
Such a name, so given, became so dear to the family, that
when at the successful close of another great war, the first
child of a new generation was born to them, it was, as a matter of course, given to him.
This second Victory early displayed great aptness, as well
as fondness, for learning. [le was fitted for college, partly
at the Grammar School at Cornwall, and partly at Lansingburgh, N. Y., where one of his uncles, Tomlinson, then resided. Entering Williams College, Massachusetts, in September, 1800, he graduated there September 5, 1804, in the
same class with Luther Bradish, Robert and Henry D. Sedgwick, and others, and preceding only by a year, Daniel
Moseley and Samuel R. Betts, subsequently so prominent in
the judicial history ot this State. Returning to Lansingburgh, he pursued the study of the law with his uncle,
Gideon Tomlinson, and Cornelius Allen. There, as at
school and in college, he was noted for the thoroughness of
his studies. Mr. Allen said of him many years after, that
he was the most industrious student he had ever known.
Mr. Birdseye was admitted an Attorney of the Supreme
Court of New York, Feb. 12, 1807, and as Counsel, Feb.
15, 1810. He removed to Pompey in June, 1807. On the
14th of October, 1813, at Onondaga Hill, he married Electa,
daughter of Capt.James Beebee,of the Revolutionary Army.
He early took high rank, and obtained decided success as a
lawyer, commanding, at the same time, the respect and good
will of his neighbors and the whole community, and receiving, during his whole life, many tokens of public confidence,
both private, political and professional.
In November, 1814, he was elected to the Fourteenth





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Congress, in which he served from March 4th, 1815, to
March 4th, 1817.
He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of
1821, which formed the second Constitution of New York.
He was a Member of the Assembly for 1823, and of the
Senate during 1827 and 1828. He there took a leading part
in the perfecting and passing of the Revised Statutes of the
State.
He was also a member of the Assembly in 1838 and 1840,
and in Nov., 1840, was elected to the Twenty-Seventh Congress, in which he sat from March, 1841, to March, 1843.
At the extra session, held in the summer of 1841, perhaps
the most exciting question presented arose out of the proposed Bankrupt Law, which was very strongly pressed.
The Whig party was then in power for the first time. Mr.
Birdseye was a Whig. The Bankrupt Law was proposed
and passed as a party measure; but he deemed it so impracticable, as to be unworthy of his support; and, after
striving in vain to perfect it, he voted against it with the
warning that it would prove unsatisfactory to the country,
and dangerous to the party.
The soundness of his judgment was vindicated by the repeal of the law by a large majority of the 'very Congress
which had enacted it.
But, while thus made known to the public at large by
these offices, he was best known at home and among his
immediate neighbors, by the services which he rendered
them in their own affairs.
SSoon after his removal to Pompey, he was appointed a
Justice of the Peace, and held that office for the term of
four years. On the 8th of April, 1811, he was appointed a
Commissioner in Insolvency, under the Act of April 3, 1811.
He was appointed Postmaster at Pompey, April 25, 1817,
and held that office for about twenty-one years. On the 13th
of April, 1818, he was appointed Master in Chancery, serv




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


277


ing a term of four years. On the 20th of June, 1818, he
was appointed District Attorney of Onondaga County, and
held the office for about fifteen years.
On the 26th of May, 1830, he was appointed Special Counsel, in place of John C. Spencer, resigned, to conduct the
prosecution of the persons accused of the abduction and
murder of William Morgan.
Within the town of Pompey, and in its vicinity, Mr. Birdseye was as well known and as greatly esteemed and beloved
for his services in connection with the founding and putting
in opeiation of the Academy at Pompey, as for any other
ser ices ever rendered by him. Up to the time when he
became a resident of Pompey in 1807, all the efforts for the
obtaining of the necessary endowment of the Academy and
the erection of its building, though vigorously prosecuted,
had failed of success; but, shortly ater his settling in the
toWn, he devoted himself to the establishment and endowment of the Academy. From that time forth, nearly every
paper connected with its history was prepared by him, and
many of them are still in existence, in his well known and
peculiar handwriting.,
Within less than three years after his removal to the
town, a sufficient endowment had been raised. Within another year,the building was completed; and directly thereafter the Academy was put in operation.
Until his death, he remained closely connected with it;
being for many years Secretary, Treasurer or President of
the Board of Trustees, and at times holding all these offices,
and performing their duties. IIe prepared the reports; he
invested and made available its funds; he procured for it
the grant of the lot of land(number 15,in the Township of Camillus,)which formed a large part ofits property; and during
the last 30 years of his life, while he was carrying on a very
large professional business, was weighed down by political
cares and labors,and was rearing and educating h islarge family, he gave the same attention to the interests of the Acade




278


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


my, conducting its aflairs, investing and collecting the income of its property, collecting the tuition bills, and giving
personal attention to the course of instruction ii the School,
with apparently the same zeal and interest and affection
with which he had assisted in laying the foundation of the
Institution, in his earliest manhood.
Besides this active political and professional life, and his
zealous labors in behalf of the Academy, he was the common adviser and friend of the people of the town, and of
many in the surrounding towns for long distances. The natural kindness of his heart, the fairness and openness of his
mind, his love of truth and justice, and fair dealing, his
dislike of strife, and his hatred of litigiousness, made him
the general arbitrator and peace-maker of the neighborhood;
he brought and defended no suits which could be avoided
by any efforts at peace-making, short of most serious sacrifices; and, with all his other occupations, he superintended
the large farm he had acquired, giving much care and no
little time to its management. He seemed rarely happier
than when he could turn his back upon the Courts and his.
law office and give himself up to the care of his farm. He
often said that in the hay field, in the harvest, and the care
of his sheep, he was again a child on his fathers' farm and
in his fathers' family, and that such occupations alone had
made possible his professional labors.
His life, filled with such labors, drew gradually, and in
fact imperceptibly, to its close. On Christmas day, 1852, he
attained the age of three score and ten; but he was apparently in the enjoyment of as good health, and nearly as great
vigor, as he had ever known; he had, years before, had several serious attacks of disease of the lungs; but they had all
passed off, leaving few, if any, visible traces behind. For
months, he continued to perform all his accumstomed labors in the office, on the farm and about the Courts; he
was as full of interest as ever in public affairs, and in all that
claimed the thoughts of those around him.  He conducted
his cases, and attended the trials in which he was engaged,





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


279


with undiminished vigor; there were, certainly, occasional
symptoms and indications of advancing age and approaching weakness; and late in August, 1853, when some such
sign had attracted attention and caused remark, lie said:
"It is of little moment; merely something to remind me
"that I grow old; I must not forget, and I am not allowed
"to forget, that I am a mere tenant at will of this frail
"tenement of a body;-that I may be called away to leave
"it at any time; lest I forget it, my Great Landlor-1 gives
"me occasionally a notice to quit."
Scarcely any words could better indicate his temper and
the tone of his mind. Early in the last week of his life, he
had kept an appointment, made sometime before, to try a
case in a neighboring town. Hie returned in the middle of
the week, apparently well; Thursday and Friday wer. spent
as usual; a part of each day in his law office, and at his usual labors, and the afternoon upon his farm; on- Friday evening, he received his mail matter, and looked it over as usual,
conversing of the news of the day; he retired early, remarking that he must rise early, in order to visit the county
town on the morrow.
After retiring, he was seen to be sleeping with the natural
easy breathing of a healthy old age; when sought to be
aroused at the dawn of the next day, he was found cold in
death!.Not a limb had moved; not a pang had been felt;
nor had even the fingers been clasped! The machinery of
life had simply stopped,-the Great Landlord had merely
repeated His notice,-the tenant hadl obeyed, and gone without a struggle, whither he was summoned! Thus peacefully ended this long, laborious, useful, peaceful life in the
night of Friday, or on the morning of Saturday, the 16th
and 17th of September, 1853.
Mr. Birdseye was a kind husband, a fond father, a good
neighbor, a faithful friend, a wise counsellor, a public
spirited citizen, an incorruptible servant of his fellow-citizens in every office and in every trust. iHe loved children





'280


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


ardently-in fact he loved all his fellowmen. His aim in
life was to make all his fellowmen wiser and better; his
aim in his business life was to make all with whom he had
to do, honest, true and just. He was an unerring judge of
men and their character; he knew whom to trust and whom
not to trust. In fact, it may be doubted whether this profound knowledge of men, and this sagacity in weighing and
measuring them, and their motives and actions and character, was not his most remarkable endowment; but he
possessed also a singular knowledge of affairs and events,
both of his own time and of the past; he continued all his
life to read largely, and he seemed never to forget anything
he had read; every fact in history, science, philosophy and
politics seemed to be assimilated with, or made a part of his
own thoughts; he preserved to the last his fondness for the
classical studies of his youth, and Tidd and Blackstone never
drove from   his memory Virgil, Horace, Tacitus and
Homer.
As a lawyer, he had few superiors in those parts of his
profession to which he devoted himself.
His knowledge of men and things, his full mastery of the
principles of the science of the law, his sagacity, his patience,
his industry in preparing, and his coolness in the trial and
argument of causes, secured for him a success in his cases
that was indeed remarkable. Not that the first successthat before a jury-was always his; for his tastes and habits,
the very frame of his mind, fitted him rather for the arguments at the bar of the Court than for captivating juries;
but he seemed ever to try his causes for the ultimate triumphs and success of the final juidgment; hence it was, no
doubt, that it was truly said of him, that although he was
sometimes beaten in the Courts below, he was almost uniformly successful in the Appellate Courts.
Of this soundness of judgment, this accuracy of knowledge, this thoroughness of mental action, it will not be easy
to speak too strongly; he used ever to inculcate them,as he





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


281,ever inculcated kindness and honesty and truth. Once, in
answering an objection that such accuracy could not possibly be secured in the great majority of cases, and was, therefore, scarcely to be expected or striven for, he replied that
that was not so. And, among other things, he said he
would venture to cite his own experience, and he went on
and stated that experience. He said that, during the four
years of his acting as Justice of the Peace, he rendered
about 4,000 judgments, being, on an average, 1,000 per
year. That only four of them were ever sought to be reviewed in the higher Courts; that three of the four were
affirmed in the Common Pleas, (the first Appellate Court,)
and no further appeal was ever taken; that, in the fourth
case, his judgment was reversed in the Common Pleas; but
that that reversal was itself reversed in the Supreme Court,
and his original judgment was affirmed. So that not one
of his judgments was ever in fact set aside. He stated also,
that, during the fifteen years of his service as District Attorney of Onondaga County, (then the fourth or fifth County
of the State in population and wealth and standing, perhaps
even higher than that in the extent, variety and importance
of its criminal business,) he had with his own hand drafted,
he believed,every indictment found in the County, and had
tried every one that was tried; and that, during the whole
period, he did not remember that a single indictment was
quashed, or found defective on a demurrer, or a single prisoner was ever acquitted by reason of any technical failure
or flaw in an indictment; of course, he had not convicted
all the criminals indicted and brought to trial during his
long term of office; but none of them had escaped, so far as
he could recollect, by reason of any fault or flaw of his in
preparing the indictment. When he was told that this implied an accuracy, a care and a patience that were almost
super-human, and which it was therefore useless to try to
equal, he replied: Not at all; it was simply the result of
carefully applying ordinary powers to the faithful discharge
of ordinary duties; that another could do all that he had





282,


TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


done and more; and that probably he owed as much of his
success in the discharge of these important duties, to t he
good will and confidence of the public, and of the members
of his own profession towards himself, as to anything else;
that they believed he meant to do his duty fairly and honestly, and so failed to look for, and of course to see, the
errors he must no doubt have committed-that it was not
human to avoid every error or mistake; and that there was
the best authority for saying, " Loquando dormitat bonus
Iomerus.'
The wife of Mr. Birdseye, who was almost eleven years
younger than himself, survived him more than seven years,
dying on the 5th day of October, 1860.
They reared a family of twelve children, viz:
Victory James, married Betsey Anne, second daughter of
Daniel and Anne Marsh, of Pompey, now residing in Pompey.
Ellen, married Charles A. Wheaton, then of Pompey and
subsequently of Syracuse.
Ebenezer, died in New York City, May 12, 1846.
Emma Rawson, resides in Syracuse.
Lucien, graduated at Yale College, August 16, 1841,
married Catharine Mary, daughter of Samuel and Philena
Baker, of Pompey, resides in Brooklyn, N. Y.
Henry Clay, graduated at Yale College, July, 1844; died
at Albany, N. Y., Feb. 18, 1847.
John Clarence, Lowell, Mass.
Albert Franklin, married Mary Catharine, daughter of
Elias and Hannah Post, who died Sept. 4, 1875. Resides
in Pompey.
Charlotte Amelia, married to Harrison V. Miller, M. D.,
of Syracuse.
Horatio, married to Laura Amelia Chapman, resides in
Pompey.





TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


283


Julia Catharine, married to Rev. John F. Kendall, D. D.,
then of Baldwinsville, N. Y.,and now of LaPorte, Ind.
Eunice Electa, resides in Syracuse.
BARBER FAMILY.
Elihu Barber was born at Hebron, Conn., March 17th,
1768,and was the seventh and youngest son of David Barber,
who at that time was a rich merchant, buying his dry goods
in Boston, but shipping potash, beef and horses, from New
London, Conn., to the West Indies in exchange for rum,
sugar and molasses for his trade; like most younger sons of
rich men, Elihu was a petted, indulged and I might say,
poiled boy, thinking his father rich enough to supply his
every want, without any exertion of his own; and this state
of things continued till the close of the Revolutionary War;
when in consequence of a forced payment of a bill for several
thousand dollars due a Boston house, for goods bought just
at the commencement of the war, (the parties going to England during its continuance as they were Tories) he was irretrievably ruined; having armfuls of Continential money
which at that time however was of very triffling value, as we
read that Thomas Jefferson gave $6,000.00 of it for an overcoat.
A little farm of thirty acres, in the sterile town of Hebron,
and a tract of two hundred and fifty acres of wild land in the
extreme northern part of Vermont, was all that was left of
his father's large fortune, and a life of toil and privation was
before him, where before, was ease and plenty. January
25th, 1791, he married Hannah Gott, and together they
toiled on; her busy hands, ripe judgment and sterling good
sense, helping to cheer and direct him, until in the early part
of 1801, they sold out for $700, and started for Pompey,
having all their worldly goods upon an ox sled drawn by two
yoke of steers, all their own.
In the latter part of February they reached Pompey andmoved into a log-house, on lot 84, and the property of Maj..





284


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Sherwood, where they lived three weeks; buying in the
meantime one-hundred acres out the north-west corner of
lot 69, from Stutson Benson, paying therefore his hard
earned seven hundred dollars, the deed bearing date March
7th, 1801. They almost immediately moved into their new
home, and the ringing of his axe as he labored to increase
his three acre clearing, and the clang of her loom as she
wove woolen and linen cloth for the neighbors at the rate
often yards a day, and doing her own work, soon began to
tell in the way of bettering their circumstances, the clearing
steadily enlargening, a fruit orchard of all kinds suitable to
the climate soon in bearing, with thrift and plenty everywhere. In a short time a large frame barn was built, and
in 1810, a thirty by forty house after the pattern so common
in dear old Connecticut is furnished, and moved into-that
busy loom having paid for the brick in the chimney, the sawing ot all the lumber, and the carpenters'wagesfor the labor
in shingling and clap-boarding the house.
About this time. theybeg an to enlarge their boundaries,
adding piece after piece, until they had paid for, and owned,
over five hundred acres; the request the active house-wife
making when told from time to time, I can buy a hundred
acres of Mr. -; "can we pay for it?"always was "get me
fifteen more cows and you may buy it."
This butter business was carried on until Elihu Barber
was as well known by the name of "Butter Barber;" for
during the war of 1812, it was his custom to carry, on certain
days of every week, three pails of golden rolls of butter to
market; one in each end of a bag across the saddle, and one
in front of him, thus riding into Manlius, nine miles distant,
and arousing the proprietor of the hotel from his slumber
with his customary call of "halloo the house," and by nine
o'clock he was back on his farm.
At intervals of a few years, now that want was no longer
probable, they made their pilgrimage to the land of their
birth, toward which, notwithstanding its roughnesss and





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


285


sterility, their hearts turned as faithfully as the needle to the
pole. When the First Baptist Churchhof Pompey was organized, and a house of worship erected, Elihu Barber took
an active part in its construction, and gave liberally toward
it, and his wife was one of its most zealous and influential
members; showing her faith by her works, and being a constant attendant and worshiper until old age prevented-and
truly it may be said of her, " she did what she could" for
the glory of God.
This long walk together was sundered March 27th, 1848,
by his death at the homestead, four score years of age. In
1857 she died at the house of their youngest son, David Barber, at Manlius, aged over eighty-eight years. The early
years of their married life, were years of toil and privation;
but industry, economy and an indomitable energy that knew
no such word as failure, brought them while yet they were
middle aged, to comfort and plenty. And although the
monumental marble that marks their resting place records
no victories won on tented field, still when in early life,
grim want and pinching poverty threatened to assail and
overcome them, they, by steady advances, utterly routed
them. The forest that encircled their home, at first, echoed
the howling of wild beasts; but soon was heard the looing
of cattle and bleating of sheep, whose wool the humming
spindle and clanging loom, transformed into clothing; and
the forest itself melted away before the continuous strokes
of the axe, and in place of it came luxuriant harvests. Plain
and assuming people were they, in the front rank of pioneers, whose onward tread has carried civilization from
ocean to ocean; by whose industry, the desert now blossoms like the rose; and by whose examples of stern integrity, unbending principle and Christian faith, towering
temples and modest churches dot the land, spreading the
gospel of peace. Truly their victory has proven greater
than any record written in blood.
Four children were born to this couple, viz: Henry Barber, born February 13th, 1792, died in 1850; Lydia Barber,





2y6


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


born June 6th, 1797, died in 1804; Hannah Barber, born
October 14th, 1799, died April, 1872; David Barber, born
September 8, 1802, died January 21, 1867. Henry Barber
was some nine years of age when his parents moved into
Pompey, and being a strong, vigorous boy, soon bore a hand
in the labors of the period. About 1819, he married Sarah
Shields, and lived about one mile from the old homestead
until his death, which occurred in 1850, leaving tour sons
and two daughters. Hannah Barber was married about
1816, to Daniel W. Carver, living for a long period in the
Valley, two miles north of Delphi, afterward removing to
Saratoga Springs, where Carver died in 1857, and Mrs.
Carver died at the home of her son in Illinois in 1872.
They had three children, two sons and one daughter. David Barber was married to Harriet Hinsdell, Oct. 6th, 1828,
and settled close to the homestead, where he lived until
1852, when he moved near Fayetteville, living there until
his death, which occurred Jan. 21st, 1867. His wife is still
living, as also are their two sons and one daughter. Being
possessed of a strong constitution, great energy and perseverance, and a farsifghtedness and good judgment, that
would have made him successful in any occupation or profession, it is not strange that David Barber succeeded as a
farmer. Earnest in purpose, when his decision was once
made, nothing turned him aside from the prosecution of his
plan, and he was often successful in an undertaking, in
which a weaker man would have met with a disastrous defeat. He was proud of his occupation, and stood in the
front rank of agriculturists. Firm and unyielding in what
he thought right, still his social qualities were of a high order, his integrity unquestioned and his word as good as his
bond.
REUBEN BILLINGS' FAMILY.
The oldest living couple(residents of the Town) who were
present at the Re-Union, at Pompey, held June 29th, 1871,
were probably Reuben and Sally Billings; the former being





TIE POMPEY RE-UNION,.


287


in his 83d, and the latter in the 86th year of her age; and
while making mention of this fact, it may not be deemed
a miss to give a brief synoposis of their history, as follows:
Reuben Billings' was born in the Township of Longmeadow, Hampshire (now Hamden)County, Mass., February 13th, A. D., 1789; he was the second son of a large
family, (12 in all) and has survived them all, except his
youngest sister, who lives at Warehouse Point, Conn., and
is upwards of 73 years of age. On April 30th, 1809, he was
married to Sally Denio, eldest daughter of Joseph Denio, of
Delhi, Delaware County, N. Y.; she was born on George
Washington's birthday, February 22d, 1786; she has also
outlived all the members of her father's family, (8 in all) the
last one having died over 20 years ago. From Delhi they
first went to Longmeadow, Mass.; but in June, 1812, they
moved to Pompey, N. Y., arriving there the 23d of the same
month, after a tiresome journey of thirteen days, being
hauled the whole distance by an ox team. They first moved into a house on the "Cape" as it was called in School
District, Number 8, a few rods south of where Dr. Hezekiah
Clark formerly lived, and is now owned and occupied by
John H. Clark, Esq.; he had not been in town three hours
before Peter Ostrander,the path masl er,warned him to work
on the road. In the winter of 1812 and 1813, he taught the
School in District Number 8, but a few rods from the place
where Grace Greenwood was subsequently born.      In
1813 he moved on to a part of lot number 96, one mile south,
where he has ever since resided. In those early days of our
town's history, he taught singing school at Pompey Hill and
various places, and was leader of the Choir at the Dedication of the Presbyterian Church, in 1818, and when Rev.
Jabez Chadwick was ordained its pastor. He also vividly
remembers about the sale of pews and the little incident that
led little Horatio Seymour to afterward become a noble
friend of temp erance.
In those early times, a tailoress was deemed of as much
use to society, perhaps, as a tailor, and Mrs. Billings was





288


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


considered an expert as a tailoress, dress and cloak maker,
and also milliner; she used to make all sorts of wearing apparel; besides she could cut coats, vests and pants, equal to
the best of tailors. She used to keep apprentices to the
trade, while she, day after day, was kept busy in cutting
"mens' clothes;" and people from the adjoining Counties of
Madison and Cortland were generous patrons of Mrs.
Billings, or "Aunt Sally" as she was frequently called.
Many a tailor in those days en vied Aunt Sally her skill and
reputation. Reuben and Sally Billings, had but two children-a daughter and ason; Amanda M. Billings, was born
May 19th, 1811; married, May 13th, 1832, to Pierce Ellis,
who died December 9th, 1864; consequently she is now a
widow and lives with her aged parents. Her brother Homer
Augustus Billings,was born inPompey,N.Y.,on the old place
September 4th, 1826; consequently is a native citizen of old
Pompey. On Nov. 9th, 1835, he commenced the profession of School Teacher, and has taught fifteen terms of four
and five months each; he also traveled for several years in
several States as Agent for the sale of Patent Medicines.
On April 14th, 1862, he married Helen M. Smith, of Dublin,
Wayne County, Indiana; he brought his wife to Pompey
shortly after, and has since resided with his parents and sister, on the farm where he was born.
ELIAS CONKLIN.
Elias Conklin, one of the pioneer settlers of Pompey, came
from Long Island and settled in Pompey in 1797. He cut
his way through the forest from Pompey Hill, making the
first road to the place where he built the first saw and grist
mills in the town, which then covered a large territory, if
not the first in the County. These mills are still known as
the Conklin Mills, now in LaFayette, and are owned by
Conklin Brothers. Mr. Conklin married Rachael Haight,
and they reared a family of five children. Betsey, the oldest
daughter, was born January, 1801; Harriet, February, 1803;





THE POMPEY RE UNION.


289


Daniel N., October, 1807; Sarah A., February, 1810;
Josiah D., June, 1812.  Daniel N. died September, 1826;
Mrs. Elias Conklin died in August, 1840. The subject of
this sketch died April, 1854. Harriet Conklin married
Publius V. Woodford, and died February 14, 1872; Betsey
Conklin married Warren Butts, and died April 15, 1872;
Sarah Ann Conklin married Samuel P. Hayden, and died
May 7, 1872. The three sisters all dying within less than
three months. Mr. Elias Conklin, commonly known as
"Boss Conklin," a carpenter and joiner by trade, was a
large and successful farmer, as well as miller. He employed
a large number of workmen, and built houses and barns and
did other mechanical work for his neighbors, such as making wagons, sleighs, carts, ploughs, &c.; at an early day he
made very many coffins, sometimes for pay, sometimes when
persons were poor, without pay, and would assist in digging
graves without charge, so great was his sympathy for the
unfortunate. He was a very active and prominent man in
society and church matters, being Trustee, and very effective and liberal in building the "First Congregational"
and Baptist churches at Pompey Hill. He was a very
benevolent man, giving very many bushels of grain to the
poor, and never turning any away empty from his tables or
his mills.
SAMUEL CLEMENT.
Samuel Clement was born in the town of Northbridge,
Worcester County, Mass., January 1st, 1772. At the age
of three years, his parents emigrated to Croydon, Sullivan
County, N. H., a newvly opened region, where they were exposed to, and encountered the trials and hardships of pioneer
life. Their situation was rendered more embarrassing by
the distracted state of the country, placed as they were upon
the border of civilization, between the demands of their
friends on the one hand and the encroachments of foes on
the other. The aggressions and treacherous warfare of the
Tories and Indians were particularly distressing at this
19





290


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


period, and the border settlements were often thrown into
consternation and danger at the sudden and stealthy approach of the savage enemy. Many in this little settlement
were the atrocious murders committed, and the dwellings
plundered and consumed by the torch of the incendiary.
Thus early was Mr. Clement schooled in the hardships of
frontier life and to face danger and death in its most appalling form. The lack of educational advantages was severely felt by the rising generation at this Revolutionary
period; but Clement, not daunted by the want of teachers
or the scarcity of books, availed himself ot all the means in
his power. While his hands were employed with the axe
or hoe, his brain was busy with reflections upon what little
science he had acquired; at the age of twenty he was con-,sidered competent to teach a district school, and he com~nenced teaching at Milton, Saratoga County, N. Y. In the,autumn of 1793, in company with Timothy Sweet, he visited
Pompey, and concluded to make it his future home. He
spent the winter of 1793 and 4, teaching in Westmorelandi
Oneida County, and early in March came with his axe on
his shoulder to his forest home, by the aid of marked trees,.(there being no roads laid out) and built himself a log cabin
and covered it with the bark of trees. Early in April, he
lent his aid to organize the town of Pompey and acted as
clerk of the meeting which effected that object. In the fall,of 1794 he married Ruth Hibbard, daughter of David Hibbard, who battled with him in life's stern necessities for
thirty years, when she died leaving eleven children. Mr.
Clement taught school in the winter of 1794 and 5, on Lot
-No. 28, Pompey, about a mile from his residence. This is
`believed to have been the first school taught in the County;
Major Danforth sent his brother's son, and in the summer
of 1795, his own daughter; some of the scholars who attended that school are still alive. He continued to teach in
that district for some time, till the growing cares of the farm
and a rising family, compelled him to relinquish the occupation. He died in Pompey, May 29th, 1856, in the 85th





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


291


year of his age. Five of his children are still living; Polly,
Diantha, Lucy, Elihu, Jacob and Charles, are dead. Of
those living, John Clement resides in Cold Water, Mich.;
David, in Darlington, Wisconsin; Hiram, in Pompey, N.
Y.; Julia and Charlotte, in DeRuyter, Madison County,
N. Y.
HENRY CLARKE.
Henry Clarke, the oldest son of Dr. Hezekiah Clarke,
was born January 25th, 1789, in Lanesboro, Berkshire Co.,
Mass., and came with his father to Pompey in 1805. He
entered the law office of Wood & Birdseye, as a student under them. While there, in 1812 or '13, he was drafted as
Sergeant-Major in the army, with quarters at Oswego, N.Y.
At the close of his term he was offered a Captaincy in the
Regular Army; but he declined the flattering offer, and resumred his studies. When Wood & Birdseye dissolved their
partnership, he continued and finished his course with Victory Birdseye, Esq., and was admitted to the Bar of the
Supreme Court in February, 1814, then in session at
Albany.
In March of that year he formed a co-partnership with
Caleb B. Drake, Esq., in Ithaca, N. Y., where he closed his
life February 19th, 1817. Few young men in so short a
time have acquired so flattering a reputation for ability in
his profession and moral worth, as he. It is believed that
he was the first student at law in Pompey.
At the same time that Ienry Clarke was in Wood &
Birdseye's office, Daniel Gilbert, (son of Rev. Joseph Gilbert, a Congregational Clergyman, who lived and died on
the farm now owned by Albert H. Butterfield, on lot No.
66, Pompey,) was a student at law in Cazenovia. He established himself in his profession in 1813, in the village of
Salilia, now First Ward of Syracuse.
CLARKE FAMILY.
As all, or nearly all, of the early settlers of the town of





292


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Pompey have passed away, the responsibility of rescuing
their names from forgetfulness, especially those of them
who, by their intelligence, thrift, skill or moral worth, have
been prominent in their generation, devolves upon, and is
the imperative duty of their descendants who have the
knowledge of their worth.
Of the Clarkes, there were seven brothers; six of them
were professional men, and one of them a farmer; and five
of them had special interest in Pompey.
Dr. Deodatus Clarke was born July 27th, 1762, and died
January 10th, 1847; he settled on lot 66 in 1795, and owned
the whole of lot 52. He moved thence to Oswego, in 1807,
where he died. Two of his sons are now living, Edwin W.,
(a lawyer, retired from practice) now lives in Oswego, N.Y.,
and Ossian, his youngest son, a physician and surgeon, in
Neosho, Wis.
Henry Clarke, farmer, settled in Pompey about 1795, and
moved to Manlius prior to 1805,where he died in 1810. None
of his children are now living.
Thaddeus Clarke was born February 12th, 1770; he settled on lot 81 in 1820, and moved thence to Fabius, about
the year 1830; thence to Rochester, and thence to New
Brighton, Pa., where he died February 15th, 1854. His
widow now lives in Dowagiac, Mich. His children now
living, are Joseph B., Attorney, Dowagiac, Mich.,Frederick
J., Merchant, Ottumwa, Iowa, Charles E., Colonel in the
Regular Army, Rufus L. B., Attorney, Dr. William E.,
Chicago, Ill., Lucy C., wife of Rev. Amory D. Mayo,
Sarah I., (Grace Greenwood,) Washington, D. C., and Albert Henry.
Erastus Clarke was born May 11th, 1768, attorney, another brother, settled in Utica, N. Y., in its infancy, of whom
the Hon.Ambrose Spencer said:-"He is the only man I ever
knew who could split a hair, and then show the difference
ot the parts."
He owned the whole of lots 81 and 54, and about 200 acres





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


293


of lot 37, Pompey. It is said that he took a petition to Albany, for the incorporation of Pompey Academy, and a bill
prepared for that object, the passage of which through the
Legislature he procured, with an appropriation of a military lot for the benefit of the Academy. He died November
6th, 1825.
Dr. Hezekiah Clarke, the eldest brother of the five, was
born December 19th, 1757, in Lebanon, Conn, and was the
son of Dr. John Clarke, grandson of Moses Clarke, greatgrandson of Dr. Daniel Clarke, Jr., and great-great-grandson of Daniel Clarke, who emigrated to America in the
year 1640, and settled at Hartford, Conn. His maternal
grandmother, was Elizabeth Edwards, daughter of Timothy
Edwards, and sister of President Jonathan Edwards.
He studied Medicine and Surgery under his father; was
appointed by Governor Trumbull, Surgeon's Mate in the
Third Connecticut Regiment, in the army of the Revolution, commanded by Colonel Samuel Wyllis, General Parsons' Brigade. Subsequently, on the re-organization of the
army, denominated the First Connecticut Regiment.
He was in the regular service two years, when, by reason
of protracted sickness he left the army.
Afterward, when Fort Griswold, on the river Thames,
opposite New Lonidon, was captured by the British under
the traitor Arnold, he repaired to the scene which might
put savages to the blush, and gave his professional aid.
When he arrived at New London, he found a large number of men who could not pass over, the enemy having destroyed all the craft on the river, but by searching he found
a rickety skiff, utterly unseaworthy. Here he found himself in a dilemma; for he could not cross in it alone, and
they who were standing there refused to accompany him,
concluding that, if it could not carry one, two must inevitably go down with it. After much effort, he prevailed on
one man to row the skiff, while himself bailed the water out
of it, and thus, by their united effbrt, they arrived safely on
the opposite side.





294


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


He immediately repaired to the scene of murder, (for it
was nothing less,) and assiduously devoted himself to the relief of the unfortunate victims, by dressing their wounds,
and rendering any other assistance of which they stood in
need. Thirty years after, three of the sufferers called on
him in Pompey, to express to him their gratitude for his
timely and kindly aid.
Soon after the close of the war, he settled in Pittsfield,
Mass., where he remained one year. He then (June 2d,
1786) married Miss Lucy Bliss, daughter of Hon. Moses
Bliss, of Springfield, Mass., and grand-daughter of Timothy
Edwards, and settled in Lanesborough, Berkshire County,
Mass. There he pursued his profession about eighteen
years, then moved with his family to Pompey, where he
arrived November 3d, 1805; he lived in the house then
owned by Daniel Wood, Esq., near the Academy, one year,
and then settled on the farm on lot 66, where his son John
H. Clarke now lives. Here he continued to labor in his
profession till infirmities incident to old age terminated his
labors, and he closed his useful life in Pompey, March 4th,
1826.
Dr. Clarke's reputation as aPhysician and Surgeon, stood
high; but his reputation as a Surgeon did not consist so
much in the number of limbs amputated, as in their preservation; but when it became necessary to resort to the
tourniquet and knife, he knew how to use them. He was a
skillful operator.
His children were:
First-Henry, who studied law    with  Hon. Victory
Birdseye, served as an officer in the war of 1812, and died at
Ithaca, February 19th, 1817.
Second-Harriet, married Hon. Daniel Gilbert, and died
at Coldwater, Mich., November 27th, 1864.
Third-Charles, died at Dowagiac, Michigan, April 22d,
1874.
Fourth-Lucy, died July 29th, 1846.





TIHE POMPEY RE-UNION.


295


Fifth-John I., now lives on lot 66, Pompey.
Sixth-William NM., now lives in Onondaga, near Syracuse.
Seventh--Moses B., died November 20th, 1865.
Eighth-Theodore E, died October 26th, 1853.
PAUL CLAPP.
Paul Clapp, the father of John, Chester and Carlton, was
born in the year 1752, at Chesterfield, Mass., aud when the
youngest son, Carlton, was two years old, he immigrated to
Pompey, in the year 1798. His family then consisted of his
wife, whose maiden name was Hepsibah Guilford, and nine
children, to-wit:-Paul, Jr., Sally, Electa, Hadessa, Patty,
Philena, John, Chester and Carlton. Electa lives in George
County, Ohio, and is the only surviving member of the
family. Paul Clapp was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and at the time of his death was a recipient of a
pension; he was a member of an expedition through the
northern wilderness, which made an aggressive war upon
the Indians and Tories, and was taken prisoner, carried to
Canada, and suffered great hardship. After coming to Pompey, he took up a large tract of land, to which he afterwards
added largely; being engaged in agricultural pursuits till
his death, which occurred in 1845, upon the land which he
reclaimed from its wilderness state.  lhree of his sons settled on his land in Pompey-John; Chester and Carlton.
Paul Clapp, Jr., went to Ohio, being one of the pioneer
settlers in that State. John Clapp married a daughter of
David Hinsdell; his children now living are Addison Clapp,
of Pompey, Edmund O. Clapp, of Syracuse, Therissa, wife
of Chester Baker, of LaFayette, N. Y., Mary Clapp, of
Manlius, N. Y., Rhoda, wife of Dr. Tollman, of Onondaga
Valley, and Flora, Mrs. Reed, of Manlius Village.
Chester married Sally Hinman about the year 1819; their
living children are Morris H. Clapp, of Urbanna, Ohio, and
Esther, Mrs. Dorwin, of Syracuse.





296


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Carlton Clapp married Harriet Foote, of Manlius; their
surviving children are Mary A., Mrs. Hervey Jerome, of
Lincoln, Nebraska, Guilford C. Clapp, of Pompey, N. Y.,
and DeLancy Clapp, of DeWitt, N. Y.
Edmund 0. Clapp, named above, died in Syracuse since
writing this sketch.
JOHN J. DEMING.
Sacred to the memory of John J. Deming, whose biography it has been impossible to obtain. lie was an accomplished gentleman, a profound scholar and favorite teacher.
He was one of the early teachers in Pompey, and taught in
the west room of the old Pompey Academy.
"Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
DODGE FAMILY.
Hezekiah Dodge came to Pompey with his brother, Ezra,
in 1795, and settled on the same tract of land on Lot No.
50. He owned that portion of the land subsequently known
as the John Wells' farm. Like his brothers, his life was devoted to agriculture. He, too, was one of the early contributors to building and endowing the Pompey Academy.
He removed from Pompey in 1842, and went to live with
his son, Oren, who moved to Lysander, Onondaga County,
in 1826. With him he lived till his death, which occurred
in 1844, at the age of sixty-five. He was married in Connecticut, to Hannah Roberts, whose father was a Revolutionary soldier; by her he had six children; in the order of
their ages, they were Nehemiah, Oren, Charles, Julia,
Joanna and William. Nehemiah went to Oswego, and died
at about the age of fifty-two. He was married to Fannie
Beebe, and left four children who live in Wisconsin, except
one who resides at Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Oren, who was seventy-five years old Jan. 3d, 1875, married Almira Russ, by whom he had three children, Caroline,





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297


Sarah and Julia, two of whom only, Caroline and Julia, are
living and both married. They reside in Schroppel, Oswego
County, N. Y. His first wife died, and he married Almira
Lyboult, who died in 1868. He now lives with his third
wife, who was Mrs. Susan Smith, at Plainville, in Lysander.
Two years ago, at the age of seventy years, she wove eleven
hundred yards of carpeting, manufactured twenty pounds of
wool and did her own house work, her husband and herself
constituting the family.
Julia, the fourth child of Hezekiah, married Dr. George
Morley, who lived on the farm now owned by Joseph
Wallis. She died leaving no children.
Charles, the third son of Hezekiah, married Nancy Wells,
of Cazenovia. At first they went to Lysander, and thence
to Michigan, stopping a short time near Rochester, N. Y.
From St. Joseph, Mich., they moved to near Austin, Texas,
Dec. 3d, 1853, where they now reside. He is a farmer and
largely engaged in, raising cattle. One child, a son, died in
Michigan, and he has remaining one daughter, Helen, who
married Judge Turner, of Texas. lie, on account of his
Union sentiments, was obliged to leave his State and come
north. During the campaign which resulted in the second
election of Lincoln, he advocated the Republican cause
upon the stump, in various places through the North.
Joanna Dloge married Jerome Sweet, a nephew of Horace
Sweet, late of Poripey. They went to Indiana, near Albion, where he engaged in farming. They have four
children, having lost one son in the late war; three daughters and one son are living near their parents; they are all
married.
William Dlodge moved to Michigan and engaged in lumbering; he was married to Juliette Dunham, of Little Utica,
N. Y. Ie met a violent and sudden death while at work in
the saw mill which he built. HIe left a widow and five
children.
Ezra Dodge came to Pompey from Litehfield, Conn.,





298


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


about the year 1795, and located on Lot No. 50, where
Thomas Cox now resides, the farm still being known as
"The Dodge Farm."    He was a farmer, and changed from
its wilderness condition the land upon which he settled, and
which his son, David F., subsequently owned. He, in common with the pioneer settlers, was subjected to the toils,
privations and hardships incident to pioneer life; and yet,
in common with the early settlers of Pompey, he found time
to devote his attention to the early establishment of schools
and churches. He was among the subscribers to the endowment fund of the Pompey Academy. IHe was old
enough to remember the Revolutionary struggle, and believed and acted upon the principle that the general diffusion of knowledge and virtue is essential to the perpetuity
of the system of government which the patriots of '76
fought to establish. Before he came to Pompey, he had
married Polly Foote, and six children were the fruits of that
union; they were, in the order of their ages, David F., Ira,
Clarissa, Hezekiah, Seabred and Ezra, Jr. His family were
of more than ordinary intellectual ability. He and his wife
lived and died upon the land they reclaimed from its wilderness state.
David F. Dodge, his eldest son, married Ada D. Roberts
in 1824, and inherited a part of the farm of his father,
upon which he lived till 1854, when he purchased the village house and lot, now the Catholic pastoral residence, and
subsequently the Daniel Wood residence in the village of
Pompey Hill, together with the farm attached, where he
lived till his death, which occurred in 1869. His widow
still survives, living in the family of her daughter, Mrs.
Daniel G. Wheaton, upon the farm where her husband died.
In early life Mr. Dodge was, for eighteen winters, a successful teacher, and he and his wife were Protestants, but about
the year 1835 they renounced the faith of their fathers and
embraced the Catholic faith, and Mr. Dodge was largely instrumental in establishing the Catholic Church at Pompey
Hill. He was a man of extensive reading and of strong in




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


299


tellectual power, and although devoted to agricultural pursuits during his active life, was always fond of debate, and
was accustomed to attend and participate in the discussions
at the Lyceum   of the Academy. Their children were
Diane, Mary, Hoilart and Cynthia.
Diane died in 1856, and though young, she had acquired
among a circle of choice friends, an enviable reputation for
intellectual and moral worth. She gave early promise of
authorship of a high grade of excellence. Mary became the
wife of Daniel G. Wheaton, of Pompey, and resides on the
farm her father left, surrounded by a large family of
children.
Hobart is a lawyer, and resides in Perrysburg, Ohio; he
married Sarah, a daughter of Capt. Wilkinson, of Lake
Erie; they have three children-two daughters and a son.
Cynthia has chosen to devote her life to the service of the
Church; she is Sister of Charity at Mount St. Vincent, on
the Hudson.
Ira Dodge, the second son of Ezra Dodge, commenced
life with little inheritance but his strong arm and strong
common sense; these he has made the most of, and now at
a ripe old age resides in LaFayette, which was originally
a part of Pompey, enjoying the fruits of his labors. His
sons Harvey, Daniel and Homer, all in affluent circumstances and devoted to farming, live in his immediate neighborhood.
Clarissa is the wife of Nelson Hall, of LaFayette.
Clarissa, the third child of Ezra, died at an early age unmarried.
Hezekiah Dodge was a practicing Physician and Surgeon;
he went south, and in Georgia married a Planter's daughter: here he lived about twenty years; from Georgia, he
moved with his family to Mount Pleasant, Ill. They are
both dead, leaving them surviving a large family of chil-dren, who are residents of Illinois.





300


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Seabred Dodge was the intellectual giant of the family,
and with the assistance of his eldest brother, David F., acquired a thorough classical education; he graduated at
Hamilton College, and took high rank as a scholar; espepecially did he excel in mathematics, being, in his day, one
of the best mathematicians in the United States. He chose
engineering for a vocation, and went to Ohio in 1826, and
at first located at Cleveland; he was the chief engineer of
the Ohio Canals, and had the supervision of their construction. Late in life he married Jane Town, and they located
at Acron, Ohio. His arduous labors and exposures incident
to his calling, among the miasmatic swamps and lowlands,
engendered disease which took him prematurely from this
world, and he died in 1849, leaving his widow but no children to survive him. He was a man of the highest integrity, always guarding with exact justice, the interests of the
State. One circumstance in his life illustrates this truth:Water lime was an article much used in the construction of
the canals, and the Ohio lime seemed not to be suited for
the purpose; a limited contract was made for a supply from
Onondaga County, N. Y., and his brother David F. was
chosen to negotiate for what should be needed; making a
position for him which promised weath, at what was supposed at the time, a necessary expense to Ohio; the brothers very soon ascertained how to make the Ohio lime answer
the purpose, and his brother's rich prospects were quickly
ended, to the great saving of the people of Ohio. It would
be refreshing for officials and contractors in these days to
imitate an example of integrity thus manifested by these
two brothers. His widow now resides in the city of Cleveland.
Ezra Dodge, Jr., married Miss Armena Hendricks, and
they went to Ohio, but remained but a short time, and finally settled at Mount Pleasant, Ill.
Here he remained till his death, which occurred about the
year 1865, leaving a large family, who reside in the vicinity
of Mount Pleasant.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


301


THE DUNHAM FAMILY.
Deacon Daniel Dunham, emigrated from Windham, Connecticut, in the year 1795, and established the clothiers'
trade, at the old mills in Manlius; he also bought a wild lot
of land, of about one-hundred and thirty acres, three miles
south-east of Pompey Hill. Captain Samuel Dunham, his
son, was born in Windham, Conn., in the year 1780. When
he was seventeen years of age, his father sent him alone to
work and clear up his new lot of land in Pompey. He
boarded at the four corners near the old residence of Dr.
Hezekiah Clarke, about two miles south-east of Pompey Hill, also near the place where "Grace Greenwood"
was born. From here he went daily to his work, one mile
south by marked trees, for two years clearing the land, and
he put up a log house. Then his two sisters came, and kept
house for him, for five years longer. He then at the age
of twenty-five, married a Miss Parmerlee, of Cazenovia; he
continued to reside on this farm up to his death, at the age
of sixty-nine years; his wife survived him, and he left a
large family of children. His son Samuel Mosley Dunham,
was born on the old farm in Pompey, September 17th, 1805,
and lived with his father until he was twenty-five years of
age. He then married and lived for five years on the farm
which was the birthplace of Grace Greenwood, and next
west of the farm then and till his death, owned by Nicholas
Van Brocklin. When at the age of thirty years, the winter
of "the deep snow," March 10th, he moved to the town of
Clay, where he still resides. The following are the remaining children of Captain Samuel Dunham: General Albert
Tyler Dunham, who resided many years at Chittenango.
married the daughter of Colonel Sage, of that place, and
subsequently removed to Troy, N. Y. He has been engaged
on Public Works for many years, and acquired a handsome
fortune; he now lives in New York City with his second
wife, his first wife having died several years ago; Mary
Ann Dunham, now Mrs. Clute, resides in Syracuse; Charlotte Sophia, now Mrs. St. John, now resides in Orange,





302


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


New Jersey; Nancy Maria, now Mrs. Knight, resides in
Collins, Erie County, N. Y.; Susan Amelia, now Mrs. Abbott, now resides in Fort Dodge, Iowa; Charles Parmerle,
the youngest son lived and died on the old homestead,which
is now owned by Lewis H. Robinson, married a daughter
of Deacon Asa H. Wells, Doxanna, by whom he had two
children-Luella and Harriet; his widow and daughters now
reside at Pompey Hill.
THE FENNER FAMILY.
James L. Fenner, the father of Frederick W. Fenner,
who, it will be remembered very happily responded to a
sentiment " to any body," on the occasion ot the Pompey re-union, was born in Rhode Island, May 2d, 1777.
His wife, Betsey Perry, was born in Dighton, Bristol Co.,
Mass., June 18th, 1780. They were married February 22d,
1801, and in the Spring following moved to the State of
New York, and temporarily settled in the vicinity of Manlius village. But after looking for a favorable locality for
his business (being a Millwright,) he resolved to locate on
the farm now occupied by Charles Carr, but was unsuccessful in obtaining a good title. It became the property of
James Carr, (afterwards Col. Jas. Carr.) Mr. Fenner then
located on the farm next west. Soon after saw mills were
built and the pioneer settlers became active in lumbering
and building dwellings 'and barns. Slabs became plenty,
and the pioneer flourishing village was named Slab Hollow.
Mr. Fenner was active in erecting the saw mills, and was
one of the proprietors who erected the first grist mill in Slab
Hollow. It was built on the creek nearly north of his residence on the road running west to the Murray neighborhood. Mr. Fenncr permanently settled in Slab Hollow, in
Pompey, as early as 1804. Their second child, a son, was
born in Pompey. So early did he come that lie had to cut
his road from Manlius to his residence in Slab Hollow. He
and his family continued to reside in Pompey until March
20th, 1818, when he moved to Lysander, Onondaga Co.,





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


303


where he owned over three hundred acres of wild timbered
land, nearly all of which he lived to see under a state of cultivation. During the war of 1812 he was a volunteer in the
service of his country. His wife died at Lysander, March
16, 1849, being at the time of her death nearly sixty-nine
years of age. Mr. Fenner survived her till January 16th,
1851, being then nearly seventy-four years of age.
Nine children were born unto them, six of whom claim
Pompey as the place of their birth: Betsey Fenner was
born in Manlius, July 25th, 1803; James L. Fenner, Jr.,
was born in Pompey, Sept. 14th, 1805; John L. Fenner
was born in Pompey, Dec. 1st, 1807; Darius P. Fenner was
born in Pompey, Oct. 12th, 1809; Frederick W. Fenner
was born in Pompey, Sept. 9th, 1811; Russel B. Fenner
was born in Pompey, Feb. 9th, 1814; Harriet J. Fenner
was born in Pompey, Sept. 21st, 1816; Luther W. Fenner
was born in Lysander, May 14th, 1820; Ethalannah Fenner
was born in Lysander, July 21st, 1822. Of these, three
have died; Betsey Washburn died in Granby, Oswego
County, N. Y., March 20th, 1847; James L. Fenner, Jr.,
died May 1lth, 1856, in Lysander, Onondaga County, N.
Y., and Ethalannah Blackman died January 20th, 1862, in
Northfield, Minnesota.
Frederick W. Fenner, whose son, James I. Fenner. now
resides in Delphi, in Pompey, after living in Lysander four
years, came back to Pompey and lived with his aunt, Anna
Allen, with whom he lived at the time the name of Slab
Hollow was changed to Watervale. It seems that about the
year 1823, the citizens of Slab Hollow became dissatisfied
with the name of their village; one of two things must be
done they said, either to move out or change its name. So
they resolved, in a public meeting called for that purpose,
to change its name to Watervale, that name being suggested
by Ansel Judd, who was always consulted at that day upon
all important matters touching the interests of the village.
It was also resolved, that Mr. Judd, who was somewhat
given to the muses, should originate some lines appropriate





304


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


to the occasion. Of much that was written, the following
lines are given from memory:
"The timber's all gone, of the Slabs we've made sale,
We've no more now Slab Hollow, but we've now Watervale."
THE FLINT AND RICE FAMILIES.
Thomas Flint and his brother, Henry, emigrated from
England in 1635, where they and their ancestors had dwelt
for eight hundred years, as appears by the record. It was
Matlock in Derbyshire, by the river Darrow, which place
Thomas sold for forty thousand pounds. Thomas came to
Boston and: settled there, and in 1637 removed to Concord.
His property was chiefly expended in improving the town of'
Concord. For three years he was a representative of the
General Court of Massachusetts and Assistant until his
death, which occurred Oct. 8th, 1653. Henry was a minister of the gospel and was ordained at Braintree (now called
Quincy), March 17th, 1640. HIe married a sister of President Hoar, and died April 27th, 1668. The eldest son of
Henry Flint graduated at Harvard College in 1673, and afterwards becam-e' a Professor in that institution. John
Flint, son of Thomas, was Lieutenant and Representative in
1677 and 1679. He married a sister of President Oaks, of
Harvard College, in 1677, and died in 1687. His children
were Mary, Thomas, John, Abigail and Edward.
John Flint, son of the above John, settled in Concord as
did his father. His children were Ephraim, Abigail, Mary,
Sarah, John, Hannah and Jane.
The next list includes the children of the last named John
Flint, who was born May 12th, 1722, was married to Hipsibah Brown, Jan. 12th, 1744. Their children were born and
died as follows: Hepsibah, born Nov. 1st, 1747, and died
June 4th, 1790; Edward, born Aug. 14th, 1749, died
March 25th, 1812; John, born Aug. 11th, 1751, died Oct.,
1822; Nathan, born Feb. 11th, 1755, died March 2d, 1824;
Ephraim, born April 17th, 1757, died Aug. 22d, 1769;





THE POMPEY RE UNION.


305


Thomas, born May 6th, 1759, died Nov. 6th, 1839; Eleazer,
born Aug. 9th, 1761, no date of his death; Cumming, born
Sept. 11th, 1763, died July 1st, 1831; Abisha, born Oct.
20th, 1766, died April, 1807.
Samuel Rice married Hepsibah Flint, daughter of John
Flint and Hepsibah Brown, named in the last foregoing list.
Their children were Hepsibah Rice, born Aug. 15th, 1766;
John, born March 18th, 1768; Samuel, born Jan. 5th, 1770;
Abigail, born May 6th, 1776; Elizabeth, born April 18th,
1778; Ephraim, born May 26th, 1780; Sarah, born March
4th, 1784; Abisha, born March 20th, 1786; Eleazer, born
May 20th, 1790.
Shortly after the birth of Eleazer, June 4th, Mrs. Rice
died, and her husband, Samuel, married Mrs. Davis about
1792, and they had two children; Thomas, who was born
July 30th, 1794, and Amos, born Feb. 5th, 1797. All of
Samuel Rice's children were born in Ashby, Middlesex
County, Mass.
Thomas Rice, the youngest bul one of Samuel Rice's
children, married Charlotte Flint, daughter of Edward
Flint, named hereafter in the next list of Flints, Jan. 25th,
1814.
Their children were Elizabeth F., who was born in Ashby, Mass., December 16th, 1814; Thomas was born in Ashby, September 17th, 1817.
The following four children were born in Pompey:
Samuel F., born February 3d, 1820; Elmira C., born June
20th, 1822; Amos, born June 27th, 1824; Edward F., born
July 2d, 1831.
Thomas Rice and wife, with two children, Elizabeth and
Thomas, moved from Ashby to Pompey, and settled on a
farm half a mile east of Oran, in March, 1818; he lived on
the farm for several years, and then moved into the village
of Oran, where he died March 25th, 1843. Elizabeth F.
Rice, daughter of the above Thomas, married Erastus P.
Williams, of Pompey, July 31st, 1842, and died without
20





306


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


children, November 23d, 1844. Thomas Rice who is a resident of Syracuse, and engaged in the grocery trade, married
Mary Dorsey, of Geneva,,September 2d, 1846; their children were all born in Syracuse, and are all living except the
eldest, who died September 12th, 1852.
The following are their names and date of birth:
Eva Mary, born August 26th, 1848; Ella Elizabeth, January 12th, 1854; Thomas Dorsey, March 29th, 1858; Paran
Flint, September 11th, 1759; Ernest, September 11th, 1860;
Arthur Cleveland, June 7th, 1866; Mary Sera, November
14th, 1872.
Samuel F. Rice, son of the elder Thomas, died September 25th, 1840, and was not married.
Elmira C. died March 29th, 1843, and was never married.
Amos married Mary Gilbert, October 24th, 1854, in Ly-.ons, N. Y.; they had one child-Charles Edward, who died,
and Amos died, February 19th, 1858.
Edward F. Rice married Ellen A. Eaton, in Fayetteville,
August 31st, 1854; they reside in Syracuse, and he is engaged in the dry goods trade.
The following are the names and date of birth of their.children:
Nellie, born June 30th, 1857; Lizzie Elmira, May 25th,
1860; Edward Eaton,June 11th, 1866,and died August 22d,
1866; Edward Irving,born July 12th, 1868. They were all
born in Syracuse.
Amos Rice, who was born in Ashby, Middlesex County,
Massachusetts, February 5th,1797,mnarried Betsey Fairbank,.ofAshburnham, Mass.,April 3d, 1817. They moved to Pompey in the fall of 1821, and remained about twenty-two
years, when they moved to Tecumseh, Michigan. They
both died in 1859; the wife January 1st, and the husband
August 15th; they had five children-the first two born in
Mass., and three in Pompey, as follows: Sminuel Leonard





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307


Rice, January 27th, 1819: Mary Ann, Aug. 30th, 1821;
Elizabeth F., August 31st, 1829; Artemus F. January 24th,
1831; Ellen M., May 7th, 1837; the youngest died May 8th,
1839.
Samuel Leonard Rice married Charlotte H. Tracy, March
31st, 1844; and the following are their children: Joseph E.,
born July 29th, 1845; George W., September 8th, 1851;
Charles H., November 25th, 1854; John T., August 23d,
1856; Frank T., May 13th, 1859; Herbert E., November
13th, 1863.
Elizabeth F. Rice married Henry B. Wier, of La Porte,
Iowa, November 27th, 1850.
Mary Ann Rice married Charles Strong, of Tecumseh,
Michigan, March 7th, 1841, and died April 12th, 1845, leaving one child-Mary E., who was born February 23d, 1843,
and lives in Tecumseh.
Artemus F. Rice married Eugenia H. Chaplin, of Tecumseh, April 24th, 1860; they have one child, Alice; Frances,
born January 28th, 1868; they reside in Tecumseh, Mich.
Of the children of Samuel Leonard Rice, who was born
January 27th, 1819, two are married; Josephine E. Rice
married Lucius W. Parish, October 1st, 1868.
George W. Rice married Francis L. McGregor, November 2d, 1871, but in a few months, death severed the tiethe bride only living till February 14th, 1872.
We will now return to the Flint family, and conclude
this extended record. The Edward Flint who was born as
before related, August 14th, 1749, married Hepsibah
Fletcher, February 28th, 1770; their children were as follows:
Ephraim,,born September 14th,1770, and died September
9th, 1774; Rebecca, born February 2d, 1773, and died September 13th, 1774; Hepsibah, born February 22d, 1775,
and died June 21st, 1851; Rebecca, born June 22d, 1777,
and died April 6th, 1861; Samuel, born March 16th, 1780,





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


died March 18th, 1855; Ephraim, born August 5th, 1782,
died September 21st, 1868; Elizabeth, born April 22d,1785;
Abigail, born December 6th, 1787, died October 12th, 1859;
Edward, born March 30th, 1790: Charlotte, wife of Thomas
Rice above named, born December 22d, 1793; John, born
February 20th, 1797, and died October 14th, 1844.
Samuel Flint, named in the last family above, was born
at Concord, and as before stated March 16th, 1780. He obtained a liberal education, and was an excellent mathematician; many of the years of his early manhood were spent in
teaching, and for several years in New York City. In 1819
he cameto Pompey, and engaged in farming, having purchased and settled on the farm north of the one so long
owned by Timothy Butterfield.
On the 27th of January, 1825, at Pompey, he was married
to Betsey McKnight, who was born Sept 11th, 1802, at Oxford, Chenango Co., N. Y. Mr. Flint continued the pursuit of agriculture till his failing health prevented him, and
he continued to occupy his farm till his death, which occurred March 18, 1855. His wife survived him only a few
years. They left only one child, Charlotte, who was born
June 16th, 1826, and was married to John Soule, July 12th,
1843. Mr. Soule and his wife retain the Flint farm to which
they have made additions more than doubling the area.
Their children are as follows: Edward F. Soule, born
May 24th, 1844, and died January 14th, 1850.
Samuel Fletcher Soule, born November 2d, 1847. He resides in Pompey, and is agent for the American Sewing
Machine.
Ida Elizabeth Soule was born May 2d, 1851, became a
teacher, was married to Mr. Clark, June 16th, 1875, and resides in Fabius.
John Flint, born Mayv12th, 1855, and resides with his parents in Pompey.
Delia 'A. Soule, born February 23 1858. Is a teacher,
resides with her parents during vacations.





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Eudora Josephine Soule, born June 24th, 1862, and lives
with her parents.
Edward Lawrence, born May 8th, 1865, and died June
14th, 1872.
JOSEPH W. GOLD AND MRS. RHODA GOLD.
Mrs. Rhoda Gold was born in Harwinton, Litchfield Co.,
Connecticut, in the year 1777. At the early age of thirteen
she commenced teaching in her native town, and although
the opportunities for acquiring knowledge where not what
they are now, she possessing a studious and enquiring
mind, dignified and pleasing manners, soon became a successful teacher. At the age of eighteen she was confirmed
by the venerable Bishop Seabury. At twenty-five she was
married by the late Bishop Griswold, then her beloved pastor and predecessor in the Parish school. Soon after her
marriage to J. W. Gold they removed to the then almost
wilderness of Pompey, where the fifteen years of her married life were passed. Mrs. Gold was one of the members
of Christ's Church in Manlius, from its first organization,
and although she lived at a distance of four miles towards
Pompey Hill, neither storm nor sunshine detained her from
her accustomed place in the church. Waited on by her
faithful negro Prince, Sunday morning always found her at
her post of duty.
She was always interested in the advancement of education and was one of the original subscribers to the fund for
founding Hobart College. She was a constant reader of the
Gospel Messenger from its first publication, and when age
and infirmities prevented her hearing the word preached in
church she solaced herseif with her paper, her prayer-book
and her Bible. The last years of her life were spent in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, having survived her husband nearly
fifty years.
Joseph Wakeman Gold left his paternal inheritance in
Cornwell, Connecticut, to endure the hardships of frontier





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


life in the wilderness of Pompey, in 1796. He was in prosperous circumstances but afflicted with the asthma for thirteen years, which he bore with fortitude, and closed his life
at about the age of forty with resignation.
DAVID    GREEN.
The early citizens of Pompey will remember David Green.
He was born in New Milford, Connecticut, in 1760, and
with his wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Pease, immigrated to Pompey in 1796. He took up three hundred
acres of land around the Corners which still bear his name.
Physically he was a man of large size, weighing three hundred and twenty pounds. As a citizen he was held in high
esteem by his neighbors. He was an exemplary christian
and a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. He has
long since gone to rest with his fathers. Two daughters
were the fruits of his marriage, Ellinor and Hannah. The
latter of whom married Benj. F. Freeman, of Ray, Michigan. She is dead having left a large family. Ellinor married David Southard, and she also is dead, having left one
child living, David Green Southard who is a resident of
Pompey, owning and occupying the same land his grandfather, as a pioneer, reclaimed eighty years ago.
CALEB GREEN.
Caleb Green, son of Jedediah Green, was born in the
State of Rhode Island, in 1753. Arriving at the age of manhood he married Miss Elizabeth Moon, and moved to
Dutchess county, N. Y., just before the outbreak of the war
of the Revolution. From information in possession of the
family, it is probable that he was with one of the expeditions
which marched to the relief of Fort Schuyler in the valley
of the Mohawk, in the Summer of 1777, and that he did
much other service during the continuance of the war. A
few years after the conclusion of peace he removed to Eas




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


311


ton, Washington Co., where he engaged in farming. In
1806 he came to LaFayette, then a part of the town of Pompey, and purchased a farm of Joseph Rhoades. Here he
built the homestead which is now occupied by his grandson,
Mr. George H. Green. One acre of the farm was donated
for church and school purposes, and on it now stands the
Presbyterian church.
Mr. Green died March 29th, 1817, aged 63 years. His
wife died Feb. 6, 1828, aged 73 years.
The following were the names of the children of Caleb
and Elizabeth Green:-Zilpha, wife of Johnson Babcock, of
Tully, (born in 1774); James who died in Bridgeport, Ct.;
Comfort, wife of Job Andrews, of LaFayette; Russel, late
of Cardiff, (died Nov. 1871, aged 86 years;) Griffin, of New
York city; Betsey, wife of John Norton, of Ellery, Chautauque Co., N. Y.; Sally, wife of Minot Hoyt, of Harmony,
Chautauque Co., N.Y.; Turpin, who succeeded to his father's
estate in LaFayette, and where he died Dec. 20, 1851; and
Ransom, the only surviving member of the family, now in
the 76th year of his age, who resides in Cleveland, Ohio.
HON. DANIEL GILBERT.
Daniel Gilbert was born in Sheffield, Mass., Sept. 12th,
1786. He was the youngest son of Rev. Joseph Gilbert,
who was at that time pastor of the Congregational Church
in that place. In 1790, he moved with his father's family to
Waybridge, Vt., and thence, in 1799, to Pompey, Onondaga
County, N. Y., and settled on Lot No. 66, on the farm lately
owned by Albert H. Butterfield, where his father died in
1806, and was buried in Pompey Hill Cemetery. Of his
childhood we can learn but little; but very likely he was
reared in the industrious and christian manner of such families in those times, and hence the virtue and stability of his
riper years. He studied law in Cazenovia, N. Y., and in
1812 was admitted to practice, at which time he moved to





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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Salina, now the First Ward of Syracuse. He was soon appointed Justice of the Peace, which office he held for twelve
years in Salina, and afterwards for about the same length of
time elsewhere. In September, 1817, he was married to
Miss Harriet Clarke, eldest daughter of the late Dr. Hezekiah Clarke.
In 1832 he removed to Fayetteville, N. Y., where he remained only one year, moving then to Gaines, Orleans County, N. Y. While there, he was appointed Associate Judge
of the Court of Common Pleas for that County, which of'fice he held for five years, being at the same time Justice
of the Peace and Postmaster.
In 1844, he moved to Coldwater, Mich., whither his sons
had preceded him. There his infirmities were such as to
preVent his engaging actively in business; the only office
which he held there was that of Circuit Court Commissioner.
He was a patriot as well as a christian. When traitorous
hands sought to rend the country, to destroy the glorious
unity of a nation born in the agony of his fathers, and paptized in the blood sweat of his brothers, old political lines
and shibboleths were of but little note in the presence of
the question, wvhether we shall be, or shall not be, as a nation;
whether we shall have and maintain a national government
or not.
Too old and infirm to bear arms, he gave his first-born,
(Henry Clarke Gilbert, Colonel of the Nineteenth Michigan
Regiment, who fell at the battle of Resaca, gallantly leading
a successful charge upon a battery); and when that son was
borne home and laid in the tomb, leaving him sonless, he
calmly said: " He was dear to me, but our country is worth
the life of many such."
He died at the city of Coldwater, Mich., Feb. 15th, 1865.
Having faithfully ' served his generation, by the will of God
he fell asleep," and was laid by the side of kindred dust, to
rest until the morning of the resurrection.










WI!  F> H-A




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313


HAYDEN FAMILY.
Allen Willard Hayden, a direct lineal descendant of the
English baronet, William Hayden, (who came to this country in 1630 and settled in Dorchester, Mass., and who served
in the early Pequot Indian War with some little distinction
and notoriety,) was born at Harrington, Litchfield County,
Conn., in June, 1783, and, together with his father, Allen
Hayden, and his three brothers, Zora, Harvey and Alien,
Jr., came to Pompey, Onondaga County, N. Y., in Sept.,
1800, and settled on what was since called the Todd Farm,
about one mile east of Pompey Academy. They cleared
about three acres of land and sowed it to wheat that fall.
The spring following they cleared the land and set out the
orchard west of the house, where it now stands. Four
years after, Alien Willard married Abigail Castle, sister of
Gen. Jabez and Philo B. Castle, and with his father bought
Lot No. 94, situate about two and one-half miles south of
the village of Pompey, on which he lived about fifty years.
In personal appearance he was commanding, standing six
feet in height and very heavily built, being well calculated to
bear his part in the hardships of those early times, and many
stories are told of his great strength and courage. A man
well liked by his neighbors and of a kind and genial disposition. By profession a farmer, he did his work well and
was successful, having a large and fine tract of land under
good cultivation. He reared a family of eleven children,
seven boys and four girls, who all lived to a good age, and
to see both father and mother close their earthly career.
When the father died, in June, 1858, in his seventy-fifth
year, and the mother in January, 1864, in her seventy-ninth
year, the whole family, in an unbroken circle, gathered
around their remains as the last few words were said before
depositing them away from sight forever. Then that united
circle of brothers and sisters, all of whom had reached the
years of maturity, and some of whom were verging upon
old age, and were themselves the heads of families, could
feel, as perhaps they had never before felt, that in each they





314


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


had lost a parent indeed-one who had reared them in the
paths of sobriety, honesty and rectitude. Having but little
fortune to bestow upon their children, they left them the
noble example of a moral and religious life-a heritage which
the subsequent history of their descendants has shown that
they knew how to appreciate and to profit by.
The first child of Allen Willard Hayden was born in 1806,
and lived only a short time.
Rowena, the next child, was born on July 4th, 1807, and
was married to Archibald H. Colby, and reared a family of
five children, Helen, Henry, Caroline, Spencer and Imogene,
all of whom are now living. Rowena died in Rochester,
N. Y., in March, 1872.
Samuel P., the third child, was born in July, 1809, and
was married to Sarah A., the youngest daughter of Elias
Conklin, a short sketch of whose life may be found in this
volume. Samuel P. Hayden was a successful farmer, and
also a carpenter and joiner, and carried on that business for
about thirty years. He lived on the farm adjoining his father's
till 1855; he then sold his farm and bought the Wheaton and
Jesse Butler farms adjoining, and also the stone store at the
village of Pompey Hill, built by Beach Beard, and there
carried on the mercantile business successfully for sixteen
years. He held prominent positions in society and church,
and was a very active member of the Board of Trustees of
the Pompey Academy, being one of the executive committee
and its President for fifteen years. He was well known, and
was often appointed to town offices and filled them with satisfaction to all; he was also appointed Postmaster in 1860
and held the position for six years. He reared a family of
six children: Sabra A., born in 1834, and now married to
Homer J. Crandall, and living in Syracuse, N. Y.; Ellen L.,
born in 1887; Elizabeth M., born in 1839; Daniel E., in
1844; Elma D., in 1847, and George, in 1854, Daniel E.
served in the Union army during the late rebellion, and is
now (1876) residing in Syracuse. In 1869, Samuel P. Hayden left Pompey with his family and moved to Syracuse and





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315


engaged in the lumber business. The family all remained
together, an unbroken circle, until the spring of 1872, when
Mrs. S. P. Hayden, a very amiable, Christian lady, a good
mother and an ornament to society, died at the age of sixtytwo years, and was buried in the beautiful cemetery at Oakwood. Samuel P. Hayden died in 1874.
The fourth child of Allen Willard Hayden was born in
January, 1811, and died in March of the same year.
Seymour, the fifth child, was born in 1812. He was a successful farmer, and lived both in Pompey and Cazenovia,
N. Y., and afterwards moved to Syracuse and there died,
the first of an unbroken chain of brothers aud sisters so long
united and without a missing link. Seymour Hayden married Mary Ann Coburn, of Cazenovia, in 1837. They had
two children-Loren C., and Sarah A.
Willard, the sixth child of Allen Willard Hayden, was
born in 1813, and married Almira Hanchett, of Pompey; he
was an active and hard-working farmer, and lived on the old
homestead for a long time. In 1870, he with his family
moved to Iowa, where he is now living and engaged in carrying on a large farm. His oldest son, Wilson, died when
about two years old; Cora J. is married to L. B. Curtis, of
Pompey; Oscar E., the third child, now resides in Rochester, N. Y., and is engaged extensively in the manufacture
and sale of furniture. William is with his father.
Charles J., the seventh child of Allen Willard Hayden,
was born in 1816. He married Esther Dannals, of Fabius,
and removed to Rochester early, and there engaged extensively in the furniture trade and manufacture. He was, in
1855-6, mayor of Rochester, and has held other prominent
positions. He has been very successful in business, establishing large warehouses and manufactories of furniture,
and has amassed a large fortune. His family consisted of
Frances J., Oscar E., Omar D., Ella and Charles, Jr. Oscar
E. died when quite young, and Omar D. when about twenty-two years old.
Carmi, and a twin brother, who died, the eighth and ninth





816


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


children of Allen Willard Hayden, were born in 1818. Carmi
Hayden married, in 1847, Ellen Butler, who was a daughter
of Merritt Butler, one of the first settlers and at the date of
this sketch the oldest resident of Pompey. Carmi is a farmer, keeps a summer boarding house, is also a carpenter and
joiner, and is at present (1876) post-master of the village. He
is now the only one of the family left in Pompey. He has
but one child, Nellie.
Angeline,the tenth child of AllenWillard Hayden,was born
in 1819, married Solomon G. Chesebro, of Manlius, in 1842,
and removed from there to Syracuse. They reared a family
of three daughters-M. Dorleska, Anna L. and Frances M.
James E., the eleventh child, was born in 1822, and married Catharine Ives, of Oswego, in 1848, and settled early in
Rochester, where he has since carried on very extensively
and successfully the furniture trade. He too has succeeded
in establishing a large manufactory and warerooms, and has
amassed a large fortune. He has had five children, of
whom only three are living, Eloine, Alexander and Aggie.
A. Louisa, the twelfth child of Allen Willard Hayden,
was born in 1825, married Salmon P. Bishop, of Pompey,
in 1859, and lived with her mother on the old homestead
until the latter's death. She then,being broken down in health,
removed to Syracuse, where she died in 1867, at the age of
forty-two years. She left no children.
Mary Ann, the thirteenth child, was born in 1826, married Lucius A. Nearing, of Pompey, in 1851, and now lives
in Syracuse, where Dr. Nearing is a successful and prominent dentist. They have two children-Jennie and George.
Sely C., the fou,'teenth child of Allen Willard Hayden,
was born in 1830, married Anna J. Coburn, of Cazenovia,
in 1855, and the same year located in Syracuse, where he
has since been extensively engaged manufacturing and dealing in furniture, has established a large business and amassed
a good fortune.
This is, in brief, the record of one of the largest and oldest, as well as one of the most successful families of Pompey.





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317


PELATIAH HAYDEN AND DESCENDANTS.
Pelatiah Hayden was born in Newington, Connecticut,
moved into Pompey from Kingsboro, N. Y., with his wife
Hepsibah and three children, Almira, Lucy and David
Ellsworth. This was in February, 1816. He settled two
miles south of the present village of Pompey, on a farm partially cleared, joining the farms of John C. and Ira Jerome.
Here he remained till his death. His father was a soldier of
the Revolution. Almira married Erastus Colton, of Pompey, and died without heirs, November 13, 1838. Lucy
married James H. Child, of Sullivan, Chenango county,
whorm she still survives, also without issue, but the foster
mother of two or three, making her home with her brother
in the village of Pompey Hill.
David E. was eight years of age, when the family moved
from Kingsboro. Arriving at suitable age he married Lucinda Cooley, and continued on the old homestead more
than fifty years, bringing up a family of four children-Hirain C., Caroline, Hector and Lucy. Two others died in infancy.           -
Hiram C. became a minister of the gospel, having graduated at Amherst College, and Union Theological Seminary
of New York. At the time of this writing, (1874,) he has
preached at Montville, Conn., a year and a half, four years
as pastor of the First Congregational church, of Meriden,
Conn. Four years as pastor of the First Congregational
church, Painesville, Ohio, and is now pastor of the First
Presbyterian church of Cleaveland, Ohio. At intervals of
labor he has traveled in Europe, Egypt, Palestine, Sinai and
California. He has been twice married, first to Elizabeth
R. Coit, of Norwich, Conn., May 1st, 1861, who died thirteen months thereafter, leaving an infant daughter who is
still living. His second wife was Sarah J. Merriman, of
Meridan, Conn., who is the mother of two children.
Caroline Hayden gave herself to the vocation of a teacher
of music, and is now located at Lester, Michigan. Hector,





318


TIE POMPEY RE-UNION.


married Amelia Jones, of Pompey, after serving his country in a cavalry regiment during the civil war of 1861 to
1865, and settled in Meriden, Conn., pursuing the calling of
a carpenter and builder. They have one child. Lucy married Richard Bishop, of Pompey, a farmer, and now resides
in Lester, Michigan. They have four children.
IINSDELL FAMILY.
In writing a history of the first settlers of Pompey, the
writer has to bear in mind; first, that but little space can be
allowed for each family; and secondly, that he must not
paint the bravery, honor and virtue of "a long line of noble
ancestors," but confine his history to those only who actually
settled in Pompey.
Among the above named was David Iinsdell, who was
born at Salisbury, Conn., June 30th, 1854; but soon after
his birth, his parents were compelled by the hostility of the
Indians, to move to Lenox, Berkshire County, Mass., where
they had formerly lived. Here David Iinsdell grew to
manhood, was married to Farozina Rerius, and in due time
became the father of five children, removing in 1787 to Galway, Saratoga County, N. Y.
At this place five more children were born; when he came
to the conclusion that in order to support his growing family, he must remove to some more fertile locality, aid Pompey seemed to him the modern Canaan for which he longed.
The purchase of one-fourth of lot 6 was made 1794, and
preparations made to move and occupy it the next season;
but his house taking fire in the night, the family escaped
with but little save what clothing they chanced to have on,
thus rendering their migration impossible for a time. However, in September, 1795, he sent Moses, his oldest son, then
eighlteen years of age, to Pompey to build a house and make
such  preparations as  would  enable the   family to
follow the coming winter: once arrived upon the scene of
his future labors, the youthful Moses found that he had no





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319


resources to draw upon, but his brawn and muscle; therefore, he drew upon them, and his draft was honored, for he
first cut, logged, and burnt over two acres, which he sowed
to wheat; then from the logs he had sawed for the purpose,
he built a log house, covering it with bark and having it
completed ready for the occupancy of the family who came
in February, 1796. Here David Hinsdell had two more
children born, and from a school roll now in possession of
the family, it appears that in the winter of 1799 and 1800,
six of his children attended a school taught by Levi Jerome.
David Hinsdell died in 1822, and his wife some years
later, the homestead passing into the possession of Chauncy
Hinsdell, who lived on it until his death, which occured a
few years since, and his children still own it. All the sons
except Chauncy and Moses,sought homes in other localities;
Moses buying fifteen acres on lot 17, in 1801, ot Mr. Sweet,
giving therefor his note, as he had nothing else to
give-adding   however, in   the course  of  time, five
hundred  acres to   the first purchase.  In  order to
follow  out in detail my  sketch  of Moses   Hinsdell,
I must go back to 1798, when being twenty years of age,he
bargained with his father for his time, cutting off therefor,
a certain piece ot timber, which being duly finished, he
stepped out into the world to make his own furtune, being
possessed of good vigorous constitution, the clothes he had
on, two pairs of shoes and his good axe. In 1800 he joined
hands and fortunes with Rachael Hibbard, marrying her
in November of that year; her worldly possessions being
one cow, eight sheep, and I think a little crockery; she also
was possessed of good common sense, a kind loving heart
full of noble impulses and good will to all, and a self sacrificing disposition, which stood the test of more than forty
years of married life; helping over the rough places,
cheering the despondent, restraining the wayward and volatile, developing into a pure Christian mode of life which
enabled her to say " thy will be done," when she was called
to her reward in 1841. There were born unto this couple





320


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ten children--six sons and four daughters, viz: Eli B. Hinsdell, who died at Salina, in 1856. Harriet Hinsdell, (Mrs.
David Barber,) now living in Syracuse. Polly Hinsdell,
(Mrs. John S. Wells,) who died in 1863. Eliza.Hinsdell,
(Mrs. L. B. Pitcher,) living in the town of Salina. Samuel
Hinsdell, living at Fairmount, N. Y.
David H. Hinsdell living at Manlius, N. Y., Stephen
Hinsdell living at Syracuse. Myraette Hinsdell, (Mrs. D.
Fairbank,) living at Kalamazoo, Mich. Perry H. Hinsdell
living in the town of Salina, and Moses B. IIinsdell who
died in Lyons, Mich. In 1843, he was again married to
Mrs. Phebe Underwood, who is still living at Forrestville,
N. Y., but in 1857 he died in Pompey, at the age of seventyeight years. I have remarked that Moses Hinsdell started
out in life at twenty years; and he so started determined to
succeed, if truth, integrity and industry could succeed-as he
knew they must. Following firmly in the path he marked
out, he soon was a man of influence among his fellows, and
during his long life, no man could accuse him of extortion,
fraud or untruth. In his later years, he often remarked
with pride, that no note he ever gave came to maturity unpaid, except in one instance, when an $100 note given on
demand to the holder's order, came back to him after "many
days," having passed current from  one man to another in
the usual first of April payments, until over twenty endorsements graced its back, having passed through over a score
of hands, and paid over $2,000 of indebtedness. A verypositice man, and one accustomed to think and act quickly, he
was often wrong, and clung to that wrong with a tenacity
worthy of a better cause; but no man was more willing to
accept the truth than he, when it was shown to him. He
was generous to a fault in a cause he deemed worthy, but no
man, or set of men, ever caused him to swerve from a position his judgment told him was well taken. He was just
the kind of a man to settle in a new country, and help to
develop it, and there are too few of them in this present
day. He never mixed much in politics, always refused of




THE POMPEY RE-UNION. "


321


fice, and really accomplished what he said ought to be every
man's mission, viz: "to make the world some better for
having lived in it."
DAVID HIBBARD.
The reader will recognize the above as a Pompey name.:
The subject of this sketch was a revolutionary soldier, like
many other pioneer residents of Pompey. He settled in
Pompey on lot No. 6, in 1794. In addition to agricultural
pursuits, he was a carpenter and joiner.  During his early
residence in Pompey, his son John was killed by the falling
of a tree. This left him four sons and five daughters. The
names of the four remaining sons were Samuel, Robert, Jacob and Isaac V.V. Hibbard, the latter of whom was a member of the N. Y. Assembly in 1853. Samuel M. Hibbard, a
son of Isaac V. V., now occupies the old homestead of his
grandfather, David. Samuel Hibbard, son of David, has
two sons resident in Pompey; one bears the name of his
grandfather, David Hibbard; the name of the other is
Charles Hibbard.
HEZEKIAH HOPKINS.
Col. Hezekiah Hopkins was born in Harwinton, Litchfield Co., Conn., and moved thence with his family in 1800
to Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y. Here he remained about
two years, and then came to Pompey Hill. He was married
to Eunice Hubbell, by whom he had nine children; five of
them were sons and four daughters-Sheldon,Milton,Harry,
Hezekiah, Jr., Richard, Fanny, Laura, Dothy and Charlotte,
the latter being born about a year after their arrival in Pompey. Col. Hopkins kept the hotel on the site now (1874,)
occupied by Peter Oley, some twenty-four years,very much
to the satisfaction of the public, keeping a very temperate,
quiet and orderly place. He sold to his son Harry and
purchased a small farm near the village, where he and his
wife lived with his son Hezekiah until their death, being
at the time of their decease about seventy-eight years of
21





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


age. Soon after purchasing the hotel, Harry built an addition and continued to keep the hotel about three years,when
he leased it to Capt. Pitt Dyer, for a term of years.
He was Deputy Sheriff under Doctor Granger, and a very
faithful and efficient officer. He aiso held the office of Commissioner of Highways. In 1837 he sold his real estate in
Pompey,and moved to Cleveland,Ohio,leaving his oldest son
Jerome and daughter Caroline behind,both being employed
in Manlius village, Jerome as a clerk in the store of Azariah.Smith, and Caroline as a teacher. His wife, (Theodocia Jerome,) died of consumption, in Cleveland, in 1839. In 1841
he married Mrs. Theodocia Hamilton, near Medina, Ohio,
where he lived on a farm with her for thirty years, when she,died. And now being eighty-one years old and in failing
health, he came to live with his son Jerome, in Cleveland,
where he continued till his death in 1872. He was present
at the Re-Union, June 29th, 1871. Mrs. Beardslee, of Syracuse, is now the only surviving member of the old Col.Hopkins' family. Harry Hopkins' surviving children are Jerome, George and Sophia, all living in and near Cleveland,
Ohio.
ENSIGN HILL.
Colonel Ensign Hill, who was one of the pioneer settlers
of the east part of Pompey, near Delphi, was born in Washington, Berkshire County, Mass., May 28th, 1772; his wife
Polly H. Kellogg, was born in Dalton, Berkshire County,
Mass., February 29th, 1776; they were married September
29th, 1801, and moved to Pompey in the fall of that year.
Mr. Hill had been to Pompey the year before,had purchased
fifty acres of land and cleared enough to put up a pioneer
house, near where the watering trough now is, about one
hundred rods south of Delphi village. All he had when
coming to Pompey, was a horse, saddle and bridle, which
he sold to Judge Platt near Utica; the avails were paid
towards his land; although possessed of the usual amount
of energy and pluck characteristic of early settlers, the toil





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323


and hardships incident to pioneer life caused him occasionally to feel despondent. When one day indulging in a melancholy mood, a stranger rode up to where he was clearing
the forest and entering into conversation, finally offered
him fifty dollars for his bargain in the purchase of his land;
hethought if the stranger could see fifty dollars in it, he
could find it, and so he still toiled on, never more indulging
the wish to return permanently to the home of his childhood.
He added largely to his first purchase, and became one of
the leading farmers in his neighborhood; and although his
pursuit was the tilling of the soil, he always manifested a
lively interest in public affairs. Descended from revolutionary ancestors, he early formed an attachment to the
military service, and became colonel of a regiment of militia. He was a New, England Democrat, and an ardent admirer of Andrew Jackson. He was an earnest supporter of
the administration of Madison, during the war of 1812. He
lived to see Pompey, the home of his adoption, a populous and thriving town; his first wife died December
20th, 1818, after which he married a widow lady, Mrs.
Humphreyville. Mr. Hill died December 4th, 1832, having lived to see his favorite general and statesman elevate. to the Presidency of the United States a second time.
All his children were born in Pompey. Ensign W., the
eldest, was born June 20th, 1802, was a farmer and merchant, an excellent penman and book-keeper; he resided in
Pompey the whole of his life, which terminated September
7th, 1870. Three children, Orange, Lydia S. and Charlotte,
died in childhood.
A second son, Orange, was born February 21st, 1806,
and now lives in Delphi, and is a farmer.
Charles R. K. Hill was born January 3d, 1810, and now
lives on the old homestead in the elegant mansion erected
by his father; he is now an acting Justice of the Peace in
Pompey, elected as a democrat, although his party is in a
large minority in the town.
William Hull Hill was born July 4th, 1812, and was





324.


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


named in honor of Hull's victory over the English. He retains the patriotism of his childhood, born as he was upon
the nation's biithday; he it is of whom Luther R. Marsh
said, upon the occasion of the Re-union ot Pompey's children, June 29th, 1871: " that he came from New York with
one Hull Hill, who had since acted as though he owned the
whole Hill.
Mary Ann Hill was married to Dr. Rocius Morse, and
lived in Elmira; died January 6th, 1870.
James L. Hill was the only child by his second wife; he
married an only daughter of Hamilton Allen, of Pompey
Valley, and now resides near Syracuse.
JOSIAH HOLBROOK.
Josiah Holbrook was one of the early settlers of Pompey.
He was born in the year 1757, in Adams, Mass., and married
Rachel Wright. They resided in Adams, where some of
their children were born, till 1792, when they commenced
their journey to Pompey. Mr. Holbrook had purchased of
a soldier a wood-land farm in Pompey, which he had never
seen. Equipped as pioneer settlers usually were, with all
their household goods loaded upon a cart drawn by a yoke
of oxen and a single horse for a leader, in 1792 they came to
Springfield, Otsego Co., N. Y. Here they tarried with his
sister till the spring of 1793, when in March they finished'
their pilgrimage to their future home located on Lot No. 53,
the farm recently owned by Mr. Hubbard, east of Pompey
Center. The family at that time consisted of Josiah Holbrook, his wife, father and mother and six childrenAbigal, Silas W., Patty, Frestus, Rachel and Electa. After they came to Pompey four more children were born
unto them, who, in the order of their ages, were Adolphus, Josiah G.,, Amanda and Samuel.   Adolphus was
born in 1793, and is said to be the third white child born in
Pompey. Few were then the conveniences of life, and
many hardships were encountered. There were no roads or





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


325


bridges; by marked trees they came; they pounded their
corn in a mortar or went to Whitestown, near Utica, to mill.
It is true that Surveyokrs, the pioneers of civilization, had
come before them and marked the trees, but before the golden harvests could be reaped, the majestic forests must yield
to days of constant toil. How many of our generation are
fitted for the obstacles which they manfully met, and heroically overcome? About this time, over in Pompey Hollow
came Ozias Burr, Samuel Draper and Mr. Lamb. David
Green, too, came the same year and settled on what has
since been called "Green's Corners."  Soon after came Barak Holbrook and Luke Holbrook, who married Wm. Duguid's sisters. William Duguid, another of Pompey's pioneers, who is the ancestor of the Iuguid family.
Notwithstanding the limited resources at command, Mr.
Holbrook, in common with his town's people, early became
interested in public impro Iements. He was one of the first
subscribers to the Pompey Academy fund. As we look
over the individual,history of Pompey's pioneers, and note
the personal sacrifices they made from their small and'toilsome gains to the establishment of schools and churches and
the interests of society, and make comparison with the
present public spirit manifested, we may well pause and ask
ourselves whetherthis is an age of progress in Pompey or of
retrogression. Mr. Holbrook was a Christian, and attended
the Presbyterian church.
Only two of his children are living. Festus, at the age of
eighty-six years, resides in Michigan, having raised a large
family who are all dead. Josiah G. resides south of Cold
Water, Michigan, and has a large family. These two sons
left Pompey and went west in the spring of 1815. All of
his children were married while living in Pompey. He died
in November, 1831, at the age of seventy-five years, and he
and his wife, his father, mother, two sons and three daughters, all lie beneath the green sod of the old hill town which
they assisted to make rich with golden harvests.
Silas W. Holbrook, the eldest son of the pioneer Josiah,





326


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


married Thankful Skinner, whose father was also a Pompey pioneer, having settled on Lot No. 22, near Oran, in
1794. Their children were Silas L. Holbrook, Levi S. Holbrook, Aurelia Holbrook, Chapin M. Holbrook and Josiah
E. Holbrook. Of these Silas L. married Nancy Hubbard,
by whom he had three children, Henry L., B. Franklin and
Dwight. They all live in Pompey.
Levi S. Holbrook married Fidelia Woodward, September
1, 1831; they have no children. He now resides in Syracuse, having left Pompey a few years ago. He has been
honored by his fellow citizens with various public trusts.
From 1853 to 1858 inclusive, he represented Pompey in the
Board of Supervisors, and the latter year was a member of
the State Legislature. From 1862 to 1869 he was a revenue
officer of the general government.
Aurelia Holbrook married Samuel E. Tarbell, and they
reside in Wisconsin.
Chapin M. Holbrook married Malinda Safford, and they
and their only child live in Pompey.
Josiah E. Holbrook married Alcemena Smith, daughter
of John Smith, a Pompey pioneer, and they reside in DeWitt, N. Y. They have no children.
Daniel W. Holbrook, another grandchild of the old pioneer, married Martha Porter, of Pompey, and moved to
Michigan, where he died. His wife now resides in Syracuse,
and her son, Levi, with her. Their only remaining son,
Daniel, is a resident of California.
Adolphus Holbrook was twice married, and Josiah G.
Holbrook, of Jamesville, N. Y., was one of his children by
his first wife. By his second wife he had two children,
Maria and Henry H., the son only being now living, making
his home in Jamesville, N. Y. His widow lives in Pompey
with Lucien Northrup, who was the husoand of Maria, who
died several years ago. Thus have we traced an imperfect
record of another Pompey family, and the reason why we
have not made mention of them all, is because our information is not sufficient to make any further record authentic.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


327


JONAS HINMAN.
Jonas and Esther Hinman settled in Pompey in the year
1796 or 1797; he was one of the earliest pioneers of the
wilderness of Onondaga County.
It is not necessary in this sketch, to give in detail, nor
delineate particularly the hardships and sufferings of those
times of which the surviving children and grand-children of
those strong souls are conversant; therefore, I pass to the
time when Mr. and Mrs. Hinman were two of nine persons
who organized the first Baptist Church of Pompey, which,
at a later period, moved to Manlius village.
Mr. Hinman's family consisted of twelve children, and
while the youngest child was an infant, by trusting too implicitly in human nature, he lost his property, since known
as the Hubbard farm. He transplanted the apple orchard,
still standing-nearly three-fourths of a century ago, when
his oldest children were so small that with difficulty they
carried water in little bottles to water and keep alive the
trees. At the time he met with his reverse fortune, he was
past his prime in life, and broken in health; still, with his
hopeful temperament and natural energy, he divided his
family, and boldly entered on his second pilgrimage as pioneer in the wilds of Lysander.
When he had there completed his log-(abin, he removed
his wife and the younger children to the new home, to share
the privations attending a new settlement, with this difference between the first and the last-in the last instance
he had eight children to suffer with him, instead of two.
Mr. HIinman was generous to a fault, and his benevolence,
supported by a deep-seated sense of christian piety and
honor, and a full trust in Providence, and his natural firmness, all working together on his active nervous brain, set
the ball in motion which should abolish imprisonment for
debt. He looked upon that law as oppressive, unjust and
wicked. He was bondsman for the poor, unfortunate men,
till at last he released a villain, St. John, who was not a





328


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


poor man, but secreted his property, and absconded; consequentlyMr. Hinman was. obliged to. sellhis farm to pay
the bond, and beggared his family, for which they suffered,
as only natural pride and a preponderance of inherited sensitiveness can be made to feel, where poverty was looked
upon as low and degrading by those who were more fortunate in possessing material wealth.
I will say to the mothers of the present young generation
*of Pompey's children-instruct your children that ignorance is far more degrading in every position or department in life to which they may be called, than honest poverty.
Nearly twenty years later Mr. and Mrs. Hinman returned
to Pompey to die among their brethren; their married
life was sixty-two years, and in death they were not long
separated. Mrs. Hinman died aged seventy-eight; Mr. Hinman survived  his wife but one year, aged eighty-six;
they were buried in the cemetery at Manlius village.
The names of Mr. Iinman's children,;and where located,
are as follows: Mary W. Symonds, Watertown, N. Y.;
Electa Drake, Yonkers, N. Y.; Sarah Clapp, dead; THervey,
dead; Betsey, dead; Hiram, dead; Horace, Lapeer City,
Mich.; Lydia M. Wisner, Mahattan, Kansas; Charlotte N.
Clement, Pompey, N. Y.; Heman, St. Catharines, Canada
West; Samuel Hayden, unknown; Emily H. Robinson,
New York City.
DANIEL KNAPP.
The subject of this notice was Daniel Knapp, who emigrated from Orange County, N. Y., to Pompey, Onondaga
County, N. Y., about the year 1800; he located on a farm
one mile north from Pompey Academy; his wife's maiden
name was Christianna Phelps, with whom he settled on the
above mentioned farm in 1803; they lived together on that
farm till 1823, enduring the hardships and engaged in the
active labor of pioneer life. During this period, six sons
were born unto them. He died August 6th, 1823, and was















THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


329


the first one buried in the Pompey Hill Cemetery as it is
now located. His wife assumed the responsibility of settling the estate and managing the farm, exhibiting great
energy and tact in her arduous duties; she paid off the heirs
as they became of age, which left her full control of the
whole farm, which she managed for over forty years; at the
age of eighty-three years, having become incapacitated to
continue the management of her farm, 'she went to reside
with her son, Harry Knapp, who still continues to'reside in
Pompey, where she died January 1st, 1869, at the advanced
age of eighty-seven years, leaving her children to inherit a
second time the same estate upon which she and her husband had settled sixty-six years before. The value of her
estate at the time of her death, was about eight thousand
dollars. Such in brief is the history of one of the early settlers of Pompey and his faithful wife, furnished by one of
their children. It is refreshing in these days of indolence
and ease to notice the energy and pluck of such pioneer settlers as these, and it is eminently proper to rescue their
memopy from iorgetfulness and presentthem as examples to
the rising generation.
REV. JOSHUA LEONARD.
COMPILED BY LUTHER R. MARSH.
Rev. Jotv'iia Leonard was a conspicuous feature in the
early hist -ry of this town; he came of Einglisli stock; through
the unuvalulable records published by the New England Historic--Genealogical Society of Boston, we are enabled to
trace his ancestry. Rev. Peres Fobes, L. L. D., pastor of the
Congregational Cllurch in Raynrham, Mass., furnished, some
seventy years ago, an account of the Leonard family, which
is believed to be the first family genealogy of any considerable extent printed in New England; and, in 1851, William
R. Deane, a member of the Society, brought the memoir
down two generations later. From these records, it appears
that the progenitor of Rev. Joshua Leonard was James
Leonard, who, with his brother Henry, son of Thomas





330


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Leonard, came from Pontypool, in the maritime English
County of Monmouthshire, bordering on South Wales; a
region rich with collieries and blazing with furnaces, penetrated by the fertile vales of the Usk and the Wye-the
scene of important historical events; where Owen Glendower was defeated, and where, long after, Cromwell triumphed.    The  brothers, James  and Henry Leonard,
came to Taunton, Mass., in 1652, and James established
there the first iron-works in the United States, and died,
1691, aged seventy-three years. The manufacture of iron
seems to have been an inheritance of the Leonards-not
only before they came, but afterwards; both in New Jersey,
where Henry settled and established that business-followed
there by successive generations-and in Massachusetts,
where, at Lynn, Braintree, Rowley village, and Taunton,
and at a later date at Canton, they set up their mills; so
that it came to be said that, "where you can find Iron
Works, there you will find a Leonard."
" They were probably interested in most, if not all of the
iron works established in this country within the first century after its settlement, and it is a remarkable fact," says
Mr. Deane, in 1851, " that the iron manufacture has continued successively, and generally very successfully, in the
hands of the Leonards or their descendants, down to the
present day. Their old forge, though it has been many
times remodelled, has been in constant use for nearly two
hundred years, and is now in the full tide of successful operation."
" James and his sons," says the same authority, " often
treated with the Indians, and were on such terms of friendship with them, that when the war broke out, King Philip
gave strict orders to his men never to hurt the Leonards.
Philip resided in winter at Mount Hope; but his summer
residence was at Raynham, about a mile from the forge."
Tradition says he was buried there under the front porch
of the old Leonard mansion-a mansion which sheltered





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


331


the heads of six generations of the name-the brick used in
its construction havinig been brought from England.
James Leonard, (son of above James,) and his son James,
were both Captains, and each lived to be more than eighty
years old. Stephen Leonard was a son of the latter, and
was a justice of the Peace, and a Judge of the Court of
Common Pleas. His oldest son, Major Zephaniah Leonard,
born March 18th, 1704, of Taunton, died on the same day
his wife, 23d April, 1776; he in his sixty-third, she in her
sixty-second year, and were both buried in the same grave;
the inscription on the monument is historical.
He was a man of enterprise and energy, possessing great
native dignity of character, and filled with honor the distinguished station in society which he attained. In 1761
4e was appointed a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas,
which office he held until his death. Their oldest son, Captain Joshua Leonard, was born January 5th, 1724, and died
27th November, 1816, aged 92 years.
His oldest son was the Rev. Joshua Leonard, (of the sixth
generation from the progenitor James,) the subject of this
notice, who was born June 25th, 1769. He graduated at
Brown University, 1788; was first settled in Ellington,
Conn., whence, about the year 1797 or 1798, he went to
Cazenovia, Madison county, N. Y., then in its infancy; stationing himself on the rim of civilization as it advanced
westward across the continent. At this place, on the 17th
of May, 1799, he formed a Presbyterian Church--the first
one there, consisting of only nine members; he.continued the
pastor of this church about fourteen years, when, on account
of impaired health, he resigned his charge; the church then
numbering 127 members. In a theological work published
by him at Cazenovia in 1834, " Ihe Unity of God,". he says:
1I was the first pastor who settled in this wide region of
country,; my church was a single, independent, Congregational Church; I was a single, independent, Congregational
Minister. From Cazenovia to. the Pacific Ocean, there was
not one Congregational or Presbyterian pastor; not one in





332


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


this,State to the north or south of me; not one to the east,
nearer than Mr. Steele, of Paris, in Oneida county."  On
leaving the Cazenovia church, he moved to Pompey, and,
in 1814, became preceptor of the Pompey Academy; occupying that position for eight years. Under his administration that Institution flourished, and had a wide influence.
He still continued to accept the frequent invitations to fill
the neighboring pulpits. He was a man of sterling integrity, untiring industry, of a fetterless independence and boldness, of very extensive reading, large and accurate acquirements, and a singular power of condensed expression.
As, robed in a long flowing morning gown, with high
hose and knee-buckles, staff in hand, he used to take his
rapid morning walks through the village, he left an impression of dignity and goodness on the minds of the youth so
vivid, that it has yet scarcely been dimmed by the half century intervening.
He died at Auburn, at his daughter's, Mrs. Helen L. Williams, December 18th,.1843, aged 75 with faculties unimpaired, retaining his undiminished interest in all the literary
and scientific progre,.of the day; Mrs. Leonard having died
at Lincklaen, Ch2nango county, nineteen years previous. Of
their nine children, six survive, and reside at Chicago, Ill.
the youngest of whom is sixty-three years old; longevity
being one of their characteristics, as if some of the iron of
their manufacture had entered into their composition; asister still surviving, at Raynham of the age of ninety-nine.
LUTHER MARSH
Must have come to Pompey sometime prior to 1812. Born,
Walpole, N. H., October 14, 1782; died, Chicago, November 14, 1859, aged 77. He was son of Captain Elisha Marsh,
(who subsequently removed from Walpole to Guilford, Vermont,) and grandson of Rev. Elisha Marsh, a graduate of
Harvard, and the first minister at Westminster, Mass., from
1742 to 1757.





17- M ET  LA--LEL










THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


333


This cl ergyman was arraigned for heresy, for saying that
"obedience is the condition of Salvation;" and that "he
would as soon worship the devil as worship such a being as
requires more from his creatures than they are able to perform;" for saying that "if all that was required of a man
was to believe, then the condition of salvation was easy and
pleasant to fools."  He was a spicy character. One morning, on meeting the sheriff from a neighboring town, who
was on his way to sue the town, and who, pursuant to the
custom to serve writ on some one of the citizens,served it on
him; saying in a pleasant manner as he handed him the
writ; "The grace of God, Mr. Marsh."     "Yes, by the
hands of the Devil," was the quick retort. He moved to
Walpole, Cheshire Co., N. H., and became Judge of the
Court ot Common Pleas.
Luther Marsh was the fifth, in direct line, from John
Marsh, one of the first settlers of Hadley, Mass., and afterwards, 1639, of Hartford, Conn., where he married Anne,
daughter of John Webster, Governor of Connecticut. Luther Marsh, June 24th, 1812, married Emma Rawson,daughter of Doctor Thomas Hooker Rawson, of Canandaigua, N.
Y. She was the fourth from Rev. Grindal Rawson,of Mendon, Mass., the friend and classmate at Harvard, of Cotton
Mather; who, in preaching his funeral sermon, (1715,) said,
"We honored him for his doing the work of an Evangelist
among our Judeans, of whose language he was a master that
had scarce an equal, and for whose welfare his projection
and performances were such as to render our loss herein
hardly to be repaired. Such services are Pyramids." Grindal Rawson was the twelfth child of Edward Rawsonof Boston,who came over from England in 1636, and was, for
thirty-six years, 1651-1686,Secretary of the colony of Massachusetts. Emma Rawson was also the sixth from Rev.
Charles Chauncey, the second President of Harvard College.
She died at Pompey, April 4th, 1820. By this marriage there
were four children, of whom two survive; Luther Rawson
Marsh, lawyer, New York city, and Elisha Azro Marsh,
dealer in mines, California.





334


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Luther Marsh married, for second wife, Margaret Leonard, daughter of Rev. Joshua Leonard, of Pompey. She resides at Chicago. By this marriage there were two children, Alexander Marsh, lumber merchant, and Joshua Leonard Marsh, lawyer, both of Chicago, Ill.
Luther Marsh was High-Sheriff of Onondaga county for
two terms, 1823-6.
NOAH PALMER, Sn.
Was born in Brantford, Conn.,in the year 1764. When
he was seven years old his father died in Connecticut,about
the beginning of the Revolutionary War. As early as 1790
he came from Brantford to Cazenovia, and bought a place
with Col. Linclaen, in 1797, in Pompey, near Oran, now
owned by his grand-son Daniel D. Palmer. Uponthis farm
he lived thirty-eight years. After he died his son Noah
owned it thirty-six years. He was a nail maker, and worked
for old Col. Linclaen at that business for five or six years.
It is said he made the first nails that were used in building
in the town of Pompey. He died in the year 1835, upon
the land which he purchased in 1797, in Pompey; his son
Noah succeeding him in the title to the estate. Two of
his children, Noah and Martha, were born in Pompey,
and these are both now (1874) dead. One daughter Mrs.
Edmund Thomas, is living. Mr. Palmer was of that type
of manhood whose stern and unyielding integrity bears
fruit, in the years when his form lies silent in the grave,
of whom it may be justly said, "Tho' dead he yet speaks."
DR. SILAS PARK.
Silas Park was born in Litchfield, Conn., December 1st,
1778. Having acquired a good education, he commenced
the study of medicine with his uncle, Dr. Robt. Starkweather in Chesterfield, Mass. He moved to Pompey West Hill,
in 1800, and commenced the practice of his profession,his
ride extending from Liverpool, on the north, to Port Wat




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


335


son, (Cortland village,) on the south, and from Skaneateles
on the west, to Cazenovia on the east. This area then contained less than 3,000 white settlers whose population is now
over 200,000 people. In 1802, he returned to Massachusetts
and married Miss Dolly Clapp, of Chesterfield, daughter of
Col. Amasa Clapp, of Chesterfield, a soldier of the Revolution. On his return to Pompey, crossing the Hudson river
at Albany in a sleigh, the ice broke, letting sleigh, horses,
baggage, wife and all into the water. They narrowly escaped drowning. They were rescued by citizens of Albany,
who by chance saw them in their danger. This accident
compelled them to remain in Albany a day or more.
Nothing unusual occurred during the remainder of their
journey. In 1803 their first child and only son, Dr. Elijah
Park was born. In the war of 1812, Dr. Silas Park went as:a surgeon with the soldiers who were called from this section to Smith's Mills and Sackett's Harbor. There he met
surgeons of the regular army, and he took a high position
among them as a skillful physician and surgeon. He died
in 1824. His wife survived him, living at the old home till
she reached the age of 95 years, and died in the year 1867.
When we ask what can be said of her, the answer is, "Anything and all that is good."
Their only son, Dr. Elijah Park was born in Pompey, now
LaFayette, April 1st, 1803, and he studied with his father,
and also with Doctors Beach and Davis of Marcellus, and
his uncle Dr. Elijah Park, ot Otisco, He graduated at the
Berkshire Medical Institute, December 26, 1826. He was
at the time he graduated and has continued to be a practicing Physician up to the time of his death, his home being in
LaFayette village. He was married twice, the first time
August 24, 1824, to Miss Catharine Parent, of Otisco. By
her he had ten children, four sons and six daughters; seven
of them,two sons and five daughters are married and living
within three hours ride of the old home. One married a
ýcarpenter and joiner, the others are farmers or farmers'
wives. He was married a second time, April 14, 1843,





336


THE POMPEY RE-UNLON.


to Betsey Parent, his first wife's sister, by whom he had two
children, both of whom are dead. Both his wives are also
dead, Catharine died September 20, 1842, and Betsey December 4, 1867. Dr. Park held the office of Supervisor of
the town ofLaFayette, three years 1861-2 and 3, and was a
Justice of the Peace one, 1869. His medical practice extended over the county of Onondaga, and often in the neighboring counties. For nearly fifty years he rode over the
hills and through the valleys of his native county, kindly administering to the wants and necessities of the afflicted.
His life was too busy in dispensing the healing art, to allow
him time to make collections, and like Dr. Win. Taylor, of
Manlius, although he did a business that would have yielded a large fortune, he died June 17, 1873, leaving but a
moderate share of worldly possessions, but rich in the kind
wishes of his many friends, and richer still in the smiles of.his beneficent Redeemer.
The following notice of his death appeared in a Syracuse
paper, the day after his decease.
DEATH OF DR. ELIJAH PARK OF LAFAYETTE.-Dr. Elijah
Park, one of the oldest and most respected residents of this
county, died at his residence in LaFayette, on Tuesday morning, aged 71 years. Dr. Park was born in the town of LaFayette, and was the son of Silas Park, an eminent physician, who resided in that town. The son followed the footsteps of his father, attended medical lectures at Berkshire
Medical College in Pittsfield, Mass., in 1827, and became
one of the most popular physicians in this section of the
State. He had a very extensive practice in his immediate
neighborhood, and was frequently called as counsel to
other localities. The deceased was always an active politician and popular citizen, and represented his town for several terms in the Board of Supervisors, and held other responsible town offices. He was elected Justice of the Peace
three terms in succession at a period when the party with
which he acted was in a large minority in the town, but his
well known integrity and capacity carried him over party





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337


lines and elected him to the office. HIe was always among
the foremost in village or town enterprises, and his judgment, sagacity, and proved integrity and honesty, placed
him in the front rank among his fellow citizens on all occasions where intelligence, prudence, and sagacity, were needed to direct the councils of the people. He had a wide' circle of relatives and acquaintances, and his loss will be sincerely mourned by all who knew him. The funeral will
take place on Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock, under the
direction of the order of Odd Fellows, of which the deceased
was a prominent member, and of the order of Free and Accepted Masons of which he was also a member.
LEMAN    HARMON PITCHER.
COMPILED BY LEMAM BAKER PITCHER.
Leman H. Pitcher was born in Rutland,Vermont, November 26th, 1781; he was the son of Retben, the son of Ebenezer, the son of Samuel, Jr., the son of Samuel, Sr., the son
of Andrew, who came of Somerset County, England,in 1633 -and settled in Dorcester, Mass., where he died in 1660.
Leman H. Pitcher went to school about six months before
he was eight years old, and about three more between the
age of twelve and thirteen. From eight to twelve he lived
with his uncle Harmon, who was too poor to send him to
school, yet rich enough to send his own son of like age,
summer and winter. At one time he asked his uncle if
he might go to school, and the reply was "that it cost
money," and "that it was not expected that everybody would
go."  This caused him to cry, for which he was called a
"booby," and ordered off to bed. In later years, he has often
told his children, that this circumstance caused him to form'
a resolution, "that he would know something if he had to
steal it." While young Oliver, his cousin, played and slept,
Leman H., as opportunities offered, read his books, and at
twelve he was the better scholar. The next year he lived
with his mother, and the two succeeding years worked out
22





338


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


for $50 and $65 peryear. In 1796, he and the family moved
to Pompey, and settled where Adison H. Clapp now resides.
In the winter of 1797 or 1798, he and John Sprague studied
arithmetic during the evenings with an old surveyor, who
lived near Watervale, to whom they gave a bushel of oats,
then of the value of fifteen cents, for each evening.
In November, 1798, his right foot was nearly severed just
below the ankle joint. When climbing a well post to assist
in adjusting the well sweep, his step-father Starkweather,
attempted to strike the axe in the post, to assist him in
climbing, but his foot slipping just as the axe fell, received
the full force of the blow, and his foot was held only by the
skin of the heel. A council of Doctors was held, and all advised amputation; one said, " it might possibly get well;"
to this he replied, "I am without education, trade or money,
and I had rather go to the grave with my foot, than to live
a poor cripple all my life;" "do the best you can, I am resolved to live or die with my foot."  During the following
year while the wound was healing, he studied hard to prepare himself for teaching schoool and for business. In 1800
he taught his first school in a school house that stood near
the corners about a mile north-westerly from the Hill towards Jamesville. In 1801 and afterwards he taught on the
Hill as related by Mrs. Miller in her paper, June 29, 1871.
He continued to teach five or six years, winters, and sometimes summers. Between 1801 and 1808 he was constable
and deputy sheriff, and about this time he became a free
mason. In the Spring of 1808 he married Iannah Baker,
aunt of Dea. Samuel Baker, of Pompey Hill, and moved to
Camillus, N. Y.
Leman B. Pitcher was in Camillus January 30th, 1809.
Mr. Pitcher was engaged in the fall of 1810, and the winter
and summer following in preparing and rafting hewn timber for the Montreal market. Going down the Oswego river he ventured too near the falls and was carried over with
a broken raft with two other men one of whom was drowned.
All he had (about $4,000) and something more, was embarked





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339


in the business. After some loss of timbers and many delays he sailed from Oswego with his re-collected raft and was
again damaged in running the rapids of the St. Lawrence
river, and finally when about fifty miles above Montreal the
news of the declaration of war reached him. This news was
unexpected. Two days later his timber in,Montreal was
worth only half price, and the next only a third and no cash
at that, and to make bad worse he was notified to take the
oath of allegiance or leave in three days. If he left his timber, it would be confiscated. He therefore sold it for dry
goods, being the best he could do, and as non-intercourse
was declared, his only chance was to smuggle the goods
home. This'he attempted, but when near Ogdensburgh, his
goods were seized and he arrested. His excuse was that
the circumstances compelled him to do as he had done, and
throughthe influence of his masonic brothers he was allowed
or enabled to escape. He reached Oswego with sixteen
cents and a roll of coarse cloth. All else was gone. When
he left home he expected to return in five or six weeks with
$6,000 or $7,000. He was gone from June to January, and
came back with almost nothing. In the Spring of 1812, he
took a farm on the ridge road two miles east of Lewiston on
the Niagara frontier, where he raised vegetables which he
sold to the soldiers stationed at Lewiston. He also bought
of others and sold. In this way he accumulated over $2,000,
before the 19th of December, 1815&3  Then the British and
Indians who had crossed. the river about three miles below
the night previous, surrounded his housi "~ fdtbok him and
his family prisoners, plundered them  of every thing they
thought worth carrying away, and burned the remainder
with the buildings. Mr. Pitcher was taken by one party
who had charge of the men prisoners destined for Halifax.
On the road half way to the river, this party was attacked by
the Tuscarora friendly Indians, and while the skirmish was
going on he escaped. The mother and her three children,
Leman B., Sally and Nancy were stripped of every garment
that could tempt the cupidity of a savage. The last gar




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THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


ment was an old red cloak. This an Indian demanded and
an. officer told him he  must not have it," for which the
Indian shot him. The snow was about six inches deep, and
Mrs. Pitcher with a babe in her arms, a sick boy on herback,
and a little girl walking by her side, half naked with other
prisoners was driven on by a drunken and uncontrollable
rabble of Indians and a few British soldiers. On the road
they saw one child tomahawked, another gun-clubbed, and
still another empaled upon the stake of a fence. The number of women and children prisoners from.Mr. Pitcher's
neighborhood, was nineteen. They had rations for three
days, and after that they were turned adrift to live and sleep
in the. woods near Queenstown, without fire, food or clothing. For nearly three weeks they lived on what the soldiers
and indians threw away, and slept close together to keep
warm in a rude cabin made of poles and brush. They were
put over the river and set at liberty at Lewiston, without
foqd, the snow nearly 10 inches deep. They followed the
ridge road east by the ruins.of their home, and coming to an
old house, they covered the blood-stained floor with straw;
aidpestled down to rest. About 11 o'clock at night, they
were, startled by the cry of," who comes there," and" I have
a flag pftruce" It was Mr..itcher who had that day been
to:prtsjagara and George,,and up to Queenstown, where
he earnp. that his wife, chilclqa and others had been set at
libprty.:  When he bfond the1l he was returning to get horses
to gto Buffalo that,night.,I The sleigh he procured was
soqn filled wihth,nnetegn happny pps~,)omen and children,
while he, his brother James and a fr1iend, ran by their side,
thirteen miles, when they all found food and rest. A few
days after, in the early part of January, 1814, Mr. Pitcher
and his family arrived safely in Pompey. Thus twice was
Mr. Pitcher ruined by the war. In the following fall he
commenced keeping a hotel five miles east of Buffalo,
where in sixteen months he cleared $1,800.00, with which in
the Spring of 1816, he moved into Chautauque:county on a
branch of the Allegany river.





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341


The cold seasons of 1816,17 and 18, were unproductive,and
in 1821 he moved poor and discouraged to the Cataraugus
creek, and ever after only tried to "bring the year about."
Here he acted as Justice of the Peace for thirty-six years,
noted as a peace-maker, and no judicial decision of his was
ever reversed. In 1826, while traveling on a journey in
Genesee county, a heavy shower coming up he stopped and
finally remained over night with a farmer, and there found
"The old family Bible," which was taken in 1813, carried to
Canada, retaken by the U. S. soldiers, brought back and sold
at Black Rock for whiskey, and afterwards bought by the
farmer for half a bushel of potatoes. The last eight years
of his life Mr. Pitcher spent with his son Leman B. Pitcher,
and he died April 14, 1867. His brother James P. Pitcher
will be remembered by the early residents of Pompey as a
successful school teacher from 1805 to 1810. He married
Anna Brewer, and went with his brother to Buffalo and
Chautauque County, and about forty years ago, to Oakland
County, Michigan, where he and his wife died in 1868, respected by all who knew them.
MANOAH PRATT, SR.
Manoah Pratt, Sr. was born in 1754, in Glastenbury, Connecticut, and in 1796 he came to Pompey. He and Abraham Smith purchased five hundred acres of land on Lots No.
39 and 40, obtaining title thereto through General Fish, of
New York city. Pratt's Falls are upon this land. At this
time but few settlers were located in this part of the town.
Murry had settled on Lot No. 28, and Hezekiah and Ezra
Dodge on Lot No. 50. Messrs. Pratt and Smith commenced
immediately to reclaim their wilderness farms, and a beautiful creek running through that of Mr. Pratt, he erected a
saw mill and a flouring mill in 1796, being among the first
mills built in Onondaga County. These mills were built
upon the rock overlooking the falls, where the miller attending to his accustomed labor was in constant communion with
the magnificent natural scenery of the place, viewing at





342


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


will objects of grandeur and sublimity, that the lover of nature would travel miles to witness.
Mr. Pratt, had married a Miss Elizabeth Loveland, daughter of Solomon Loveland, of Glastenbury, and all his children were born in Connecticut, except the youngest, Manoah Pratt, Jr., who was among the earliest of the sons of
Pompey. Having procured a frontier home his family came
to Pompey in February, 1797, and with them  came his
father-in-law, Solomon Loveland, who was a miller, and
who for some twenty years attended the mill. At the age
of eighty-five years he would take a bag of two bushels of
wheat from the back of a horse and carry it into the mill.
He died at the age of ninety-seven years, and was buried in
the cemetery near what was known as "Dodge's school
house," near the center of the present town of Pompey. Mr.
Pratt, in addition to carrying on his saw and flouring mills,
engaged in agriculture, making large additions to his first
purchase. He was active in the early improvements of the
town, and contributed freely to the establishment of schools
and churches. He was one of the first to organize the
Pompey Academy, was a member of the building committee and spent much time and money in assisting to bring
the enterprise to a successful termination. He finally donated one hundred dollars to the institution, for which he
gave a mortgage on his land, wbhich his son Manoah Pratt,
Jr., finally paid after his father's death. He closed busy
life in death at the age of eightyseven years, in the year
1841. His wife survived him only one year, and died at
the age ef eighty-eight years, and the memory of their heroic labor and constant toil remains a rich legacy to their
descendants.
Their children in the order of their ages, were Lucretia,
Joseph, Betsey, Daniel, Jared, Onor and Manoah, Jr. Lucretia, the eldest, married Chester Howard, and they in turn
became pioneers, moving to Ohio in 1836, and settled in
Westfield, about thirty miles from  Columbus. At ages
above eighty years both have gone beyond the final river,





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343


leaving them surviving four sons. Two of these have since
died. One lives in Ohio, and the residence of the other is
unknown to the writer. So runs the stream of life until it
is lost in eternity. Joseph Pratt was a farmer, and lived and
died upon the land inherited from his father. He married
Eunice Smith, who is also dead, and three children survive
them, one son, Joseph, resides upon a part of the old homestead. Two daughters are also living.
Betsey Pratt married Henry Cook, a son of Truworthy
Cook, who was a pioneer of Pompey. When her father's
family came to Pompey a severe accident happened to Betsey on the journey. It was near Schenectady, where they had
stopped for refreshments. Active as children will be, she
was on the street engaged in play, when a loaded sleigh came
down a hill with such speed as to prevent her getting out of
the way. She was thrown down and the loaded sleigh
passed over her leg grinding it to a jelly. The limb was
amputated and yet the accident only detained them three
days. Although thus crippled she would dance with ease.
They moved to a place near three river point and settled
near the Seneca river. They too, are both dead, and their
daughter Jerusha also. Freelove lives with her aunt Onor,
and of the remaining two, Henry lives in Antwerp, and Munson in Philadelphia, Jefferson County, N. Y.
Both of the sons are wealthy farmers, engaged extensively
in dairying and dealing in cattle.
Daniel Pratt married Mary Morgan, and they lived in
Pompey till their death, engaged in farming. They left
five children, of whom Mrs. Hodge, widow of the late John
Hodge, of Fayetteville, and Eugene D. Pratt, reside in Fayetteville, N. Y., S. D. Pratt, in Penn Yan, N. Y., Edward
Pratt, at Oran, in Pompey, and Homer D. Pratt, at Manlius
Center, N. Y.
Jared Pratt, resided in Pompey till about the year 1830,
when he moved to Jeffersen County, N. Y. After a residence there about five years he moved to Michigan, upon





,ý44


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


the territory in dispute between Michigan and Ohio. The,dispute terminated in favor of Ohio, and this left him in the
latter State, where he remained engaged in farming till his
failing strength obliged him to abandon that vocation. He,died in Ohio, and only one grand-child now remains of his
family.
Onor Pratt married Joseph Chase, a wealthy farmer who
resided in Jefferson Co., N. Y., till his death. His widow
survived him and is still living on the farm at the age of
eighty-one years. Although blind, in which condition she
has been for several years, she carries on a dairy farm of
three hundred acres, with sixty to seventy cows. A sister's
daughter, Freelove Cook, lives with her, giving the old lady
the benefit of her sight in the management of the farm.
Mrs. Chase has no children.
Manoah Pratt, Jr. was born in Pompey, in 1798. He
early showed an interest in books, and was sent to the Academy, where he received a liberal education under the tuition
of Burchard and Leonard. After he had completed his
Academical course he entered the law office of Daniel Wood,
Esq., the father of Senator D. P. Wood, of Syracuse. With
him, and subsequently with Samuel Baldwin and Victory
Birdseye in succession, he finished his legal studies and was
admitted to practice in 1823. Before this, in 1819, he had
engaged in teaching school in connection with his studies.
He taught in the common schools and the Academy, and
among his pupils were Governor Seymour and other Pompey boys of his age, who cherish the remembrance of their
school boy days when he was their teacher, with the greatest pleasure.
About the time he was admitted to the practice of law his
father's advanced age incapacitated him to attend to his
farming and other duties. His older brothers were mostly
settled and he was pursuaded to abandon the law and embark in agriculture. Accordingly, having married Miss
Charlotte Ball, he became a farmer, and settled upon the old
homestead, taking care of his aged parents for nearly the





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345


remainder of their lives. His fellow citizens, however,
would not allow him to remain entirely in retirement upon
his farm, and for four years he representeed Pompey in the
Board of Supervisors, and for one year was a Member of
the State Legislature. In all his public official duties he
manifested capacity and integrity that would be refreshing
in these days of venality and corruption.
His first wife lived only ten years after their marriage, and.she left five children who were in the order of their agesOthello C., Calvin B., Helen C., Mary E. and Leonidas E. A
few years after the death of his first wife, he married Miss
Pamelia Slauson, by whom he had one child, Marcus M.
Pratt. With her he lived twenty-two years and she died.
It was during this latter married life that a severe affliction
came upon him, the nerve in his right leg became diseased to such an extent that he was obliged to submit to a
painful surgical operation by which a part of the nerve was
taken out, and he became again comparatively strong but to
some extent lame.
After the death of his second wife, he married a Mrs.
Adams with whom he is now living in the village of Pompey Hill, having sold his farm some twenty years ago. By
his third wife he has one child, Carrie D. Pratt, now eleven
years of age, the pride and comfort of her parents. During
the past few years the nervous affection of his leg returned
to trouble him, if possible, with redoubled fury. This time
the attack was in the lower extremity of the limb, and the
excrutiating torture which he suffered was beyond the endurance of any ordinary man. Although he had the most
skilful medical aid and the best of care, his limb finally began to mortify and a counsel of Physicians gave him up to.die. It was, however, determined to amputate the lower
part of the leg, that it might be endurable to nurse him.
This being done, to the surprise of all, his unconquerable
tenacity for life mastered the difficulty, and he became well
again. He manages to get about with the aid of a chair, refusing to use crutches.





346


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


But his suffering did not end. Last winter as he was going home from Capt. Taylor's store, he fell and injured the
unlucky limb and received a great shock to his nervous system. Again his life is in iminent danger, but again that
iron will and tenacious clinging to life overcomes the difficulty, and to-day, (Summer of 1875,) having a full head of
black hair and black whiskers with a sound limb to help his
locomotion, he would pass for a man of forty-five. Physically incapacitated as he is, he cultivates his garden, saws
his own fire-wood, takes an interest in public affairs and
keeps posted on all the current topics of the day. His mind
is vigorous, and his memory retentive. In politics he has
always been a democrat, and hopes to see the day when the
people will wake up to the necessity of demanding of their
public servants honesty in the administration of government, or if otherwise, to require them to step down and out.
He is, probably, the oldest living person who was born in
Pompey, and nothwithstanding his physical afflictions, is
quietly passing down the declivity of life with apparently as
much enjoyment as falls to the lot of man. Othello C. Pratt
his eldest son, like his father, received a liberal education at
the Pompey Academy, as did all Mr. Pratt's children. He
was in 1849 a pioneer Californian, and knows much of the
hardships of pioneer life. Having seen the golden State
arise from infancy to a condition of wealth and influence, and
having himself acquired a competency, he returned in 1857
to his nati 7e town, and married Lucinda, eldest daughter of
O. J. Wheaton, of Pompey, and he is now a resident of the
healthful village of Pompey Hill.
Helen C. Pr att married E. Beard, of Pompey, and they
reside in Syracuse, N. Y. He is engaged in the furniture
trade with Seley Hayden, also a son of Pompey.
Calvin B. Pratt went to California among the early adventurers, and died in Nevada.
Mary Pratt married Orville Slauson, of Pompey, a farmer, and resides on the old Slauson homestead, about two
miles north of Pompey Hill.





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347


Leonidas Pratt, a lawyer, and married, resides in San
Francisco, California. He hns acquired some distinction in
the golden State, having held the office of District Attorney, Supreme Court Judge and State Senator.,
M. M. Pratt resides in Phoenix, Osw.ego Co., N. Y. He
is adjuster of claims, and assistant Secretary of the Onondaga.t:
and Oswego Insurance Company.
Carrie D. Pratt, the youngest child, remains with her parents. So closes an imperfect record of a family that has
kept the ancestral name untarnished. So should it be with
all the families of our land.
MILLARD ROBINSON.
The old residents of Pompey will remember the earnest
and impressive singer at the Methodist Camp Meetings.
That singer was Millard Robinson. His father, Isaac Robinson, was a soldier in the revolutionary war, and died in
Otisco, Onondaga Co., having early come to that town from
Saratoga Co., N. Y..Millard was born in the town of Edinbury, Saratoga Co., Nov. 13th, 1792. At the age of 16
he became converted, and united with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was an earnest and prominent
member till death called him away. October 10th, 1810,
he was married to Electa Grimes, a daughter of Tuomas
Grimes, Esq., and in 1811, moved to Pompey, and stt tled
two, and a half miles south of Pompey.Hill. He, served as a
musician in the war of 1812. Built a section of the Erie, canal, and afterwards purchased a farm of one hundred actes,
three miles east of Pompey Hill, about the year 1825, on
Lot No. 65. Here he raised a large family of children and
remained on this farm till his death, which occurred in 1867.
JOHN SMITH.
Almost every community has its John Smith. The list
of the pioneers of Pompey would be incomplete without a





348


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


John Smith, but of him who was among the first settlers of
Pompey there is more than simply the name John Smith.
Pompey's John Smith was born in Buckland,Hampshire Co.,
Massachusetts, July 20th, 1787, and died in Pompey, September 15th, 1872, in the 86th year of his age. His father
having heard a good report of the country in central New
York, resolved to send his son John on a tour of inspection,
that he might know from him what advantages the new country offered. Accordingly, there being no public conveyance, he came all the way on horseback to Pompey, through
the wilderness, oft times having no companions but tie wild
denizens of the forest. Having explored the country to his
satisfaction, he returned to his eastern home on foot, having
sold his horse. His report fully corroborated all that had
been before related of Pompey's healthful clime and fertile
soil. His father then resolved to find a home in the "western world," and called to his aid some neighbors, who assisted him to make a " sled." Soon they were on their way,
his father with the other members of the family, and he,
with a "yoke of stags," and the " sled," with their household goods. There was a gathering of neighbors, the farewells were spoken, and they were off. Scarcely had they
started when the sled broke down. It was quickly repaired
again, kind wishes were exchanged and very soon the "old
homestead" was lost to view. The route they pursued lay
over the Hoosac mountains to Williamstown, when they
came upon bare ground. Here they purchased a cart, unloaded and repacked their goods, and left the " sled" at the
hotel at Williamstown, where, long years after, the subject of
this notice saw it in the same yard where it was left.
Before they got to Litchfield the axletree of the cart was
broken. Again the goods were unloaded, and while the repairing was going on, some unruly swine made a raid upon
their commissary department, and the good things prepared
for their journey as was the custom irn those days, were either
consumed or greatly disarranged. When they came to
Litchfield, snow again appeared, and they were obliged to





ij~ ~\










THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


349


change from wheels to runners. 'With such incidents as
usually happen to persons traveling in a forest region, they
continued to the end of their journey upon runners, and
arrived in Pompey early in 1804, having been upon the
road fifteen days. They moved into a log house about one
mile northwest of Butler Hill, now Pompey Hill, on the
road towards Syracuse, near where Baxter Knapp now resides. Mr. Smith was a resident of Pompey from that time
up to the day of his death. He was twice married-first to
Alcemena Ailable, of Aurelius, Cayuga county, N. Y., by
whom he had eight children, and secondly to Mrs. Betsey
Wright, by whom he had three children. He was a man of
sterling integrity, and enjoyed in a large degree the confidence of his fellow citizens. He was elected and held the
office of Justice of the Peace for fifteen years, and was appointed Associate Judge of the Common Pleas, which position he held five years, when the courts were held in Onondaga Valley, and about the time of the removal of the Court
House to Syracuse. He was a member of the Board of Supervisors several years, and gave the casting vote to locate
the " old Court House," between Syracuse and Salina. He
held the offices of Associate Judge, Supervisor, Justice of
the Peace, and was a member of the Court House building
commission.all at the same time; and when the Court House
wai finished he resigned all his official positions and devoted
the remainder of his active life to the pursuit of agriculture.
His father, Elisha Smith, Sr., was a revolutionary soldier,
andl was in the army of Gen. Gates, and at the capture of
Burgoyne. His father-in-law, Edward Anable, was also a
soldier of the revolution, and fought in the battle of Bunker Hill. He continued in the service till the close of the
war, and was one of six men who attempted to blow up a
British frigate in.the North river, barely escaping with their
lives.
John Smith's children, eleven in number, were Ansel A.,
Calvin E., Isabella, Alcemena Holbrook, Angelina Ellis,
Cleopatra Ellis, John Q.,Andrew, Dexter, Hesley and Frank.





350


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


The names of those living can be found in the directory
near the close of this volume.
THOMAS D. SAFFORD
Was born at Preston, Conn., and at the age of 18 years he
came to Pompey, and worked at the carpenter and joiners
trade for some time. In 1807 he purchased a farm of 80
acres, only four of which was cleared. The same year he
married Huldah Palmer, daughter of Rev. Nehemiah Palmer, of Brookfield. He served in the war of 1812, having
been drafted. Their children numbered twelve, two of whom
died quite young. In September,'1832, the eldest son was
taken with typhoid fever, and the whole family one after
another, were taken down with the fever except the mother
and one daughter. Three of the family, the husband and
two daughters, died with the fever, and the family was afflicted from September till the last of February. Five years
later, a daughter died with consumption. Seven childreli
amd the mother are yet living, and Mrs. Safford attended
the re-union of Pompey's children June 29, 1871. She was
84 years old the 18th of March previous. The eldest son,
Barnard C., married Laura A. Palmer, and they reside in
Wayne, Erie Co., Pa. He is a farmer. Charles P. married
Lorinda Bently, in Michigan. Warren D. mirried Irene
Bogardus, of DeWitt, N. Y. They live near Janesville,
Wis., and are both farmers.
One daughter, Harriet S., married Rev. Geo. M. Jenks,
and resides at Centreville, Iowa. He is the pastor of the
Congregational church at that place. Malinda A. married
Chapin M. Holbrook, and resides in Pompey. He is a farmer. Alonzo T. married Miss Lydia Peet, of Conn., is a farmer. His mother and youngest sister Sarah L., live with
him a short distance west of Pompey Centre.
JOSEPH SHATTUCK.
Joseph Shattuck with nine sons, "( grown up men," came





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351


to Pompey at an early day, and settled on the lot Conrad
Bush had drawn. He bought his land of some person who
had no legal title, and paid eleven'shillings per acre. Soon
with the help of his sons he cleared sixty acres and put up a
double log house, but was ejected from the land by Conrad
Bush when he came to settle on his section. And he refused
to remunerate Mr. Shattuck for the improvements made.
He then bought and settled on what was known as the Mory
farm from which he was also ejected. Feeling that there
was no security in purchasing on the Military tract, he with
six of his sons, Sabina, Joseph, Alfred, Truman, Eli and
another, left Pompey and went to the town of Cohocton,
Genesee Co., on "The Holland Purchase," and there they
made a settlement. The misfortune of Mr. Shattuck was
that of many others who purchased "Soldier claims."  The
government had so often failed to keep faith with the soldier,
that they ceased to have faith in it, and believing the titles
to lands which were promised at the time of enlistment, were
likely never to be given, they would offer them for sale at a
nominal price. Speculators bought these claims in great
numbers. Often the soldier repeatedly sold his claim. After
the war the lands having been surveyed, were drawn and
awarded to the soldier, who having been honorably discharged from the service could present a valid claim. They
found the previous sales and transfers were not binding, and
in many instances sold again. Parties who bought these
lands were subject to great annoyance and often loss.
This fact for a time retarded the settlement of this portion
of the State. The Legislature finally made a law establishing a commission called "The Onondaga Commission,"
whose duty it was to settle the conflicting interests of the
claimants. After this work was accomplished, settlers feeling they could be secured in their purchases, and allured
by the richness of the soil, healthy climate, and central location came on rapidly,and the "Military tract" was in a short
time filly settled.
Three of Mr. Shattuck's sons, Stephen, Chester and An




THE POMPEY RE-UNLON.


sel remained in Pompey, declaring " they were determined
to fight it out." The last named of these brothers, Ansel,
and others, Thomas Eldridge being one, settled upon the lot
upon which Col. Henry Tiffany had located. Each buying
of the Colonel a fourth of the section. They built and located each on a corner of the lot. The other two brothers
located on farms south of Pompey Hill, where they lived
long, exerting a salutary influence upon the societyin which
their lot was cast. Stephen lived to be 90 and Chester 70
years of age.
SWEETS.
Mary Sweet, the widow of Isaac, came to Salem, Mass.,
in 1631, with her three children, John, James and Meribah.
She removed to Rhode Island in 1636; had land granted to
her in 1637. For -a second husband she married Ezekiel
Holliman, the first minister of the colony under Roger Williams.
John Sweet, son of the above, born in England, followed
the fortunes of his mother. He settled about three and a
half miles south-east of Greenwich village,onWarwick Neck.
He built a mill on theKingston side of the stream. In 1638
he received land of Roger Williams, was a commissioner of
Warwick in 1653, a Freeman in 1655, had permission to
buy land of the Indians in 1663. In 1675 his mill was burnt
by the Indians, and descendants of the family say the stones
still remain, showing the site of the mill. His children were
John, Daniel, James, Henry, Richard, Benjamin, William,
Jeremiah and a daughter. His wife was named Eliza.
James Sweet, son of Mary, born in England, settled in
Warwick, near his brother. He was a commissioner of
Warwick, in 1653, purchased land of the Indians in 1662,
was a commissioner from Providence in 1657, and was called
General in 1658. He married Mary Green, the daughter
of the 1st John Green. Their children were Phillip, James,
Mary, Benoni, Valentine, Samuel, Jeremiah, Renewed and
Sylvester.





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353


From some one of these seventeen Sweet families that ex-,istedi'nt-1&69O-,the Sweets of Pompey claim to be descendants.
e1Joseph Sweet, the son ot Henry and Mary, was born
March 7, 1687. He married Rachel. His eldest son Henry,
born August'9, 1710; and 2d son Timothy, May 27, 1713; he
married Alice, the daughter of William and Thankful Sweet.
She was born February 18, 1721. Her first husband was
Thomas Mitchell, married November 20, 1739; and children, George, Dorcas and Deborah; married Timothy, about
1750, children: Charles, who was killed in the Revolution,
Timothy and Oliver. He removed to Virginia, on the forks
of the Potomac, was killed by the Indians, when Alice returned to Rhode Island, with her two children, on horseback, Oliver unborn, a nine day's journey in 1757. For her
third husband, she married Sherwood,and had one son Seth,
who was an early settler in Wyoming ocounty. She died in
Pompey, May 6, 1814, aged 93 years three months.
r6 Timothy Sweet was born in East Greenwich, R. I., Oct.
24, 1753. Of his early life we know nothing, but at the
dawn of the revolution, he enlisted undei Col Seth Warren, and was at the taking of Forts Ticonderoga and Crown
Point. In the autumn of 1775, he was captured at " the
cedars," in the expedition against St. Johns, Canada, and
was taken to Halifax, and afterwards to New York, and
placed in the Sugar House Prison. Here he lay for years,
and in the fear of death from the inhumanity of his keepers,
he enlisted into the British army as a servant to Captain
Miles. As soon as health and strength permitted, he escaped
from Long Island to the Connecticut shore, but not daring
to join the Continental army for fear of a recapture, he visited Salisbury, Conn., where in September, 1780, he married
Eunice Woodworth. They emigrated to Saratoga, were within the sound of the great battle, and Eunice personally
saw the surrender of Burgoyne. They emigrated to Pompey in 1794, reaching what is now the " Old Homestead,"
on the 28th of January, where within eight days, Kneeland
Sweet, was born.
23





354


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Within three months after his arrival, he was elected to
the office of fence viewer, and at the next town meeting to
the office of Commissioner of Highways. In this capacity
he labored for many years, and assisted in laying out most
of the roads in the original township.
He soon became a prominent if not the leading farmer
in the town, and one of the first in the county. In 1803,
he purchased of Dr. Mordecai Hale, of New York city, two
cows of Mr. Livingston's importation. These were of the
best short-horned stock of that day; one     came  to
Pompey in calf, which proved to     be a male; Mr.
S. paid $500 for the cow and calf, an emormous sum for
that day. The other cow, equally good when she started,
was injured on the passage, and she was sold for $60. She
entirely recovered, and from these three sprang the celebrated " Sweet breed."  The "dam" of the bull was red and
he the same, the other was spotted. The bull was sold in
1808 to Israel Chapin, of Canandaigua, for $350, where he
founded the " Norton breed."
The cows of this stock were remarkable milkers, Mr.
Geddes said in 1857, " there are persons now living who attest that the mother of the bull gave 40 quarts of milk in a
day."  Mr. Sweet originally took up the 600 acre lot No.
18, he also had No. 86 in Fabius, and 10 in Camillus, at the
same time. No. 18 was about half sold, a fair sized farm given to his eldest son, and the remainder retained under his.own control till 1817. No. 86 Fabius, was sold, and No. 10
Camillus was partitioned among his sons and sons-in-law.
IHe afterwards purchased the most of Lot 17, a part of this
was sold, and the remainder distributed among his sons and
sons-in-law. From 1800 to 1817, he was the most prominent farmer in the country, tilling more land, and producing
the most grain, cattle and horses and sheep. About this
time he distributed his land among his children, and retired
from active life at 65, in full health and active faculties.
The giving up of all activity and responsibility in worldly
affairs, was a sudden start in the down-hill of life, which he





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355


descended rapidly, and twenty years that might have been
usefully spent, was absolutely squandered, and the last few
of them in mental darkness. He died March 7, 1837.
His children were Adolphus, Aurel, who married John
Sprague, Charles, James, Anson, Anna, who married Nathan  Williams, Pamelia who married Jest C. Finck,
Kneeland and Horace.
Eunice Woodworth, daughter of Abner Woodworth, and
Hannah Dyer, wife of Timothy Sweet, was born in Canaan,
Conn., November 22, 1762. Being deprived of educational
advantages in her early years, she learned to read after her
marriage, and acquired a decent education for those days.
About 1800, at the earnest solicitation of Dr. White, of
Cooperstown, she commenced the study and practice of
obstetrics, he furnishing her books and instruction gratis.
She was peculiarly adapted for the profession by nature, and
made a most successful practitioner for about 45 years. In
the sparsely settled country where she first commenced practice, her " ride" was often extensive, but professional calls
few, but in later times, her ride was not so distant, and the
calls more numerous; in the aggregate some hundreds. She
was present also on hundreds of occasions, when not called
professionally. She closed a long, honored and useful life,
January 25, 1845.
Adolphus Sweet, born in Milton, Saratoga Co., married
Obedience Johnson, June 17, 1811. He was a farmer on
the farm next north of the old Homestead. He was crippled for many years, and died April 10, 1839. Obedience
died in Michigan, January 11, 1862.
Their children were Andalucia, who married Edgar A.
Brown, widow, resides at Covington, Kentucky. Timothy,
the only bachelor in the tribe resides at Rhonersville, Cal.
Henry, a farmer at Dover, Lenawe Co., Michigan. Harriet
who married George A. Wright, died in Michigan, 1858,
and George who is a farmer and resides at Dover, Lenawe
Co., Michigan.





356


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Aurel Sweet, born in Milton, Saratoga County, married
John Sprague, August, 1803. They resided on the farm
now owned by Guilford C. Clapp, until 1834. Their children were Anna, who married John Morley, resides in
Cayuga Co. Belinda, who married Harry Weed, and resides at Forestport, Oneida Co. Mary, who married Hiram
Wood, and Aurilla, who married Alonzo Wood, Clarissa,
who married II. V. S. McMechan, widow, Trenton, N. J.,
and Charlotte, who married W. D. Stewart, Northville,
Minn. They removed to Fayetteville in 1834, where she
died April 19, 1835.
Charles Sweet, born in Milton, Saratoga county, married
Theodosia Clapp, Nov. 12, 1805. He was a carpenter and
joiner and bridge builder.  He removed in 1811 to the
Holland Purchase, and built a saw and grist mill, he went
to Greenupsburgh, Ky., aoout 1820,and has never been heard
of since. He left two children in Pompey, with his relatives,
Charles, who removed to Chicago, in 1835, and Philura,who
married the Hon. Alvin Raymond, of Racine, Wisconsin.
James Sweet, born in Milton, Saratoga county, married
Betsey Jerome, October 28, 1806, and a second wife Laura
Clark, 1821. He was a cabinet maker, and specimens of
his handicraft are in the houses of most of the relatives.
In the war of 1812, he enlisted into the Navy, on board
the Brig Argus, was in an engagement with a British vessel, took a prize, six boxes of gold. The firing of cannon
made him deaf forever after. He returned from the war
and went on to a farm, on Lot 10, Camillus, where he resided till November 25, 1828, when he died. By his first wife
he had one son, Jerome.
Jerome Sweet, son of James, born in Pompey August 11,
1806. On the enlistment of his father in the Navy, he went
to reside with his-uncle Anson, with whom he remained
until he reached his majority.  He married Joanna Dodge
in 1827, and soon after went to reside on a part of the farm
given his father, on Lot No. 10, Camillus. Here he remained





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


357


several years, and then removed to Ohio.  In 1842 he removed to Noble county, Indiana. The country was new,
and from the first he took a leading position in all that pertained to the welfare of the country. He was a representative man in the church, school, agriculture and politics. In
1851 he was chosen to the Legislature of that State, and
upon that body at that time devolved the labor of revising the Statutory code, and a new and complete code of
Jurisprudence. He discharged his duties to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. He died August 24, 1869.
Anson Sweet, born in Saratoga county, Oct. 23, 1788,
married Charlotte Seeley, January 18, 1810. He resided
on the farm now owned by Ezra Casler, on Lot 17, until
1834, when he removed to Fayetteville, then to the Old
Homestead and finally to Manlius.
As early as 1818, he practiced ulder-draining on Lot 17,
bringing into cultivation quite an extensive swale. The
drains were dug very deep and stoned like a cellar drain in
those days--a sound stone on each side, and a flat one on
top clincked tight, and the drain filled above with moist
earth. These drains work well to this day.
He was a successful farmer and laid up a competence,
which he still enjoys. He resides with his only daughter
in Rochester.
Mrs. Sweet died at Manlius, February 18, 1861. His
children were Charles, who for a time managed the old
homestead, but removed to Wisconsin in 1850, and now resides at Granby, Missouri; James B., who owned the old
homestead for some years, removed to Manlius, then to
Syracuse, back to Manlius, then to Fayetteville, Skaneateles,
and finally to Syracuse; his life was a checkered one,
sometimes on a farm, sometimes in a public house, but always cheerful to the last few months of his life, when he became deranged, and died Sept. 2, 1871; and Charlotte L.,
who married the Hon. George G. Munger, of Rochester,
where she now resides surrounded by a happy family of
girls.





358


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Anna Sweet, born in Milton, Saratoga county, a twin
with Anson, was married to Hon. Nathan Williams, March
14, 1805. Her husband was a merchant and had a store on
the Four Corners, north of the old homestead, opposite of
Charles' Hotel. She died Aug. 22, 1807, leaving two
children, Luna, who married John R. Wright, and Miphry,
who died young.
Pamelia Sweet, born in Saratoga Co., married Jost C.
Finck, a lineal descendant of General Andrew Finck, of
revolutionary fame, and of German origin, in 1808.  He
was the lawyer of the family; removed to Johnstown, Montgomery county, then back to Pompey, then on a farm
which his father-in-law gave him in Camillus, on No. 10,
where he remained till 1832, then to Cato, then to Weedsport, then to Allegany county, where she died January 18,
1839. Her children were Mariah, who married Asoph Kinne,
Anna, who married Orlando Galt, Jacintha, who married
Lewis P. Roode, Edmund A., Amelia, who married Rev. A.
J. Crandall, Eliza, who married Rev. Walter Hare, Lucy,
who married B. Brooks Joslin and Hulbert.     Amelia
resides at Cazenovia, all the remainder are west.
Kneeland Sweet was born in Pompey February 5, 1794,
we think the oldest person born in town, at this writing.
He received the best education attainable in that day, being sent by his father to Johnstown Academy for the polish.
In 1820 he came in possession of the Old H-omestead, about
300 acres of land, and heavily stocked with horses, sheep
and cattle, and implements of every kind, the most complete in town.
He married Julia Ann Kennedy, of Marcellus, in 1819;
they removed to Manlius about 1833, and to Mason, Mich.,
1842, previous to the war he removed to Granby, Mo.,
where Mrs. Sweet died 1866. Their children were Warren
G., a farmer at Granby, Mo., Loren, a farmer and merchant at Mason, Mich., J. Frances, who married the Hon.
James A. Chase and resides at Buffalo, William G., a





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


359


farmer at Mason, Mich., Isabel, who maried the Hon. Jerome
B. Fitzgerald, Edgar B. and Andalusia, who died young,
and Frederick K., the youngest grand-child of Timothy, a
Druggist at Lockport, N. Y. Kneeland resides with his
daughter Isabel at Niles, Mich.
Horace Sweet, born in Pompey April 1, 1796, was never
calculated for anything but a farmer, it was his glory, his
pride and the height of his ambition to be called a "good
farmer."  His earley education was on the farm, and that
continually, it being thought worse than useless to expend
time and money on any one who expected to be a farmer.
He lived in the expectation of having the "Old Homestead"
all his early life, and by diligence and industry fitted himself for the responsible situation.  In 1817 he married
Candace Avery, and for two years managed the farm. In
1819 his father gave him    a small farm  where Hiram
Clement now resides. In 1823 he removed to the farm two
and one-half miles north of the Hill, where he added to his
acres and his family in about equal proportion.
His experiments in farming were continual and always
too extensive, for when a failure, the loss was too great
He tried all sorts of grain and all kinds of implements. He
purchased the second cast-iron plow in town, and used the
first. He had the first threshing machine, the second horserake, the second mowing machine, the first drill, the first
roller, the first sub-soil plow, one of the first of the Michigan sub-soil plows, and among the minor implements, was
ever ready to try for a better one.
In the cultivation of his farm he always desired to be in
advance. He purchased stone for the front fence in 1834
at quite a cost, and had drains in every low place as early as
1840. IHe always wanted to "plow deep" and in many of
the fields every stone that the plow hit in the bottom of the
furrow was taken out. Foul stuff was his abomination, and
many a day was spent in pulling charlick and daisies with
corresponding backache. He always wanted to do things
so much better than was absolutely necessary, that he





360


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


needed a fortune to back him. As we said at the commencement his ambition was to be called a "good farmer."
This distinction he achieved "if he did not make a cent."
His back was injured by a fall about four years previous
to his death, and he suffered long, but finally like a shook
'of corn cut by an early frost, he departed August 4, 1858
aged 62. His children are Clarence H., mechanic, who resides at Knowlesville, Anson A., mechanic, Syracuse,
Homer D. L., Genius of the "Claud Melnot school," resides
at Syracuse, Wheaton B., the only representative of the
fifty grand-children of Timothy remaining in town, William
A., mechanical engineer at Syracuse, John E., Professor of
Applied Mathematics at Cornell University, Helen L., who
died 1842, and Anna E., widow of Charles C. Bates, resides
at Syracuse.
JOHN TODD.
John Todd was one of the early settlers of Pompey, and
owned and occupied the farm now occupied by M. R. Dyer.
He and his wife will be remembered as good, honest christian people-members of the Baptist church. Mrs. Todd
was decidedly opposed to instrumental music in church, and
when Mr. John Talbert assisted the choir with his bass viol,
she left the church, for she said, "having introduced fi(ldling
in church, the next thing would be dancing."
Mr. Todd died about the year 1830, and Mrs. Todd lived
several years thereafter-a member of the family of the late
Pitt Dyer. They left no children.
SAMUEL TALBOT.
Samuel Talbot, one of the early pioneers and settlers of
the old township of Pompey, was born in the town of
Stoughton, Mass., August 15, 1778. Young Talbot when
about twenty years of age, started with his wile, together
with the families of Asa Drake, and--  Holmes to seek
heir fortunes in (what was then considered) the far west,





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


361


amidst the wilds and uncultivated regions of "York State."
Their means for transporting their families and household
goods were very primitive and simple, yet their perseverance and courage overcame the many perplexing annoyances they met with on their journey. Their course was
pursued through the unbroken country and forests, fording
streams and rivers, frequently being delayed in making
rafts upon which the latter were crossed. Their furniture
and provisions were drawn by two yokes of oxen, hitched
to each sled. On arriving at the Hudson near the city of
Albany, they crossed upon the ice. Here it was found necessary to make a halt long enough to put new wooden shoes
upon two of the sleds which had completely worn off; the
third sled proved equal to the task, and did not receive any
repairs until they arrived at Pompey.  Talbot settled in
the north-west part of the town, where he remained about
ten years; he then removed to Cleveland Mills, Steuben
county. The house he occupied in that place caught fire and
was consumed together with nearly all its furniture. He
then removed to the Cohocton River, one and a half miles
from Liberty Corners, and purchased a farm of 108 acres,
exchanged that land with one Sexton, of Poultney, but the
title of the property proving spurious, he lost everything he
paid on it, and was left with only a few articles of household
goods,besides a pair of young cattle, with which he removed
back to Poiipey and worked the Grimes' farm upon shares
for two years. He then purchased a small farm of fifty
acres, paying for it from a dowry his wife received from her
father. The same farm is now occupied and owned by his
only living daughter, Mrs. Morse. He died with small-pox
in 1859, aged eighty-one years; his wife also died from the
same disease the same year, being one or two years his
senior.
Mr. Talbot was a descendant of the Talbots of Straffordshire, England, whose history, both civil and military, are
well known to many historical readers of the present day.
The first American Talbot was impressed upon a British





362


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


man-of-war vessel, while bathing with other boys of about
his own age on the English coast. His name was Peter, son
of the Earl of Shrewsbury. lie escaped from the vessel in
1662, and swam to the Rhode Island shore. From thence
he proceeded to Stoughton,Mass.:He left a son George,who
left Peter, who was father of the subject of this sketch.
Samuel, not unlike his progenitors, was six feet and five
inches in height, large bony frame, muscular and was possessed of an enduring constitution. There are many incidents told of his remarkable strength and endurance, among
the number we will relate the following: Talbot had acquired considerable skill in the use of carpenter's tools, and
in those days he was often called upon to assist the early
settlers in building their cabins and houses. HIe had occasion to work at house building in Ohio, soon after the Erie
canal was opened for business; on his return from that State
in the fall, he came from Buffalo in a boat, landing at Syracuse with his large tool chest which was left upon the bank
of the canal, while he sought for some means to transport it
to Pompey Hill. He could find no farmer or neighbor of
his in town, and it being Saturday in the afternoon, he concluded to carry it upon his back, which he did by the aid of
straps and cords, arriving at his home about midnight. He
did not remove the chest from his back until he arrived
home, only stopping occasionally and resting by leaning the
chest upon a stump or by the side of a tree on the route
through the forests. As a wood-chopper he had but few
equals in this section of the State. An incident is frequently told by residents of Pompey, who are now living and can
vouch for the facts.
Talbot's wife wanted a pair of andirons or " fire dogs" for
their huge fire place, which were already decorated with
" cranes" and " hooks," but not complete without the articles above mentioned. Young Talbot with his axe upon his
shoulder started for Mickles' Furnace, which was located
about two miles south of Syracuse, near the junction of the
two roads leading from Onondaga Hill and Onondaga Hol




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


363


low; he saw Mr. Mickles and made a bargain for the fire
dogs, he (Talbot,) agreeing to chop and pile up seven and a
half cords of maple wood for them. He returned home put
his axe in excellent order, and on the following day a little
after day-break he commenced his work felling the trees,
chopping, splitting and piling up the wood; about sunset
Mr. Mickles went into the woods to see what progress Talbot was making, and found him cording up what he had
chopped, which measured a little over seven cords. Mr. Mickles was surprised to see the result of the day's work, and
said to Talbot, " you need not chop any more I am satisfied
and you can come to the furnace and make your selection of
"fire dogs," which he did, taking them, together with his axe,
upon his shoulders and started for home.
Mr. Talbot was a devoted member of the Disciples church,
and a consistent temperance man, honest and square in all
his dealings with the world. He left a son (Alvin, since deceased,) and a daughter, (Mrs. Morse,) who is now living on
the old homestead in Pompey, on the road leading to the
Hollow and Jamesville.
ELIJAH WELLS.
Among the pioneers of the town of Pompey may be numbered Elijah Wells, who was born in the town of Wethersfield, Hartford County, Conn., February 27, 1775; he was
married January 16, 1800, to Lucy Sellew, of Glastonbury,
6f the same county; he came to Pompey in the fall of 1799,
and purchased a forest farm of one-hundred acres, on Lot
No. 51; after making his purchase, he returned east to
spend the winter. In the spring of 1800, he returned to
Pompey, and applied himself to clearing up his land. During the summer he cleared ten acres and also built a log
house for his future residence. In the fall he returned east
and prepared to remove his family to what might be regarded his wilderness home. In February, 1801, he left
the home of his childhood for his chosen residence in the
then far west. The journey was performed at this incle




364


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


ment season of the year in an open sleigh with the additional responsibility of caring for an infant child of a little
more than three months old. Deacon Asa H. Wells, who,
till 1874, resided a half mile north of Pompey Hill, was that
little child whose familiar voice in the choir of the Congregational Church at Pompey, for nearly a half century
has been heard nearly every Sabbath, singing praises to the
God who then preserved him. Thus they came into this
western wild, bringing with them their effects to commence
the battle of life. Often has the writer of this little sketch
been thrilled in listening to the recital of the perils and
trials of those pioneer days. Elijah Wells and his wife
were both for many years active members of the "First
Congregational Church," in Pompey, and for many years
he was one of the Deacons of the Church. Their children
feel that they owe very much to them, and cherish their
memory with feelings of veneration. Those early days in
the history of our fathers, were days of severe struggle and
privation; and this was peculiarly so with the subject of this
sketch. In order to dispose of the heavy timber of the
dense forest, and get hisilogging done-not having a team of
his own, he was obliged to depend upon a neighbor who
had an ox team, giving two days of his own labor, for the
services of his neighbor with his team one day. In this way
he accomplished the clearing of the first ten acres. In the
fall of the same season, he sowed it to winter wheat, which
gave him an abundant crop the following season. The
nearest market to him at this time was Utica, fifty miles
away, and in the winter of 1801 and 1802, he hired another
neighbor, Artemus Bishop, who was always actuated by a
high sense of honor and ready to accommodate as are pioneer settlers generally, and who had a horse team to carry
his crop to market; for it when delivered at Utica, he received forty cents per bushel. From this he had to pay for
the transportation to market. This was the manner of beginning to build up the town of Pompey, and from such
small beginnings, they contributed by mortgaging their





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365


farms to build up Pompey Academy. From this, let the
present generation learn a lesson and show a little public
spirit by stopping the decline of that venerable institution,
by contributing out of their abundance sufficient to place it
financially upon a firm basis.
To them were born five sons and two daughters; four of
the sons are yet living; one son and the daughters have
passed away. Elijah Wells, the subject of this sketch, died
in the fall of1830. Lucy Wells, his companion, died in the
fall of 1857. Of their family Asa H., the eldest son, now
resides in Manlius, and George, the youngest, still remains
in Pompey. John S., the second son who married Polly, a
daughter of Moses Hinsdale, died at his residence near the
old homestead in 1854. Russell, the third son, is a resident
of Manlius village. Elijah, Jr., the fourth son, resides in
Naples, Ontario County, N. Y.; he alone chose a mercantile
life, while all the others have made agriculture their pursuit for life. Of the daughters one died in infancy, the
other at the age of twenty-five unmarried. The sons have
all been married, and have long enjoyed the society of their
respective families.
EDWARD WICKS
Was born at East Hampton, Long Island, in 1752, and died
in the year 1834, aged 74 years. His father, Capt. Edward
Wicks, was a sailor, and having charge of a schooner which
sailed between Connecticut and the West Indies, took his
son, the subject of this sketch, with him. He was thus
taught the rudiments of a sea faring life, till he was about
fourteen years old; then he was bound to a tailor; but being ill used he ran away from his master, and in company
with his younger brother, Capt. John Wicks, father of the
late E. B. Wicks, of Syracuse, took charge of a vessel making voyages to the West Indies, until the war of the revolution. He was then obliged to return to his trade for support, and worked in Providence, R. I., from house to house
for fifty cents per day, taking pay in Continental money, of





366


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


which he paid $210.00 for a pair of shoes; these, however,
he said were a "good pair." He married Elizabeth Conklin, of East Hampton, daughter of Lineas' Conklin, and
aunt of Judge Conklin, formerly of Auburn, who was the
father of Hon. Roscoe Conklin, of Utica, and of Frederick
Conklin, of New York. During the revolution, his father
had moved to Guilford, Conn., with his family, and remained there till 1800, and then emigrated to Oneida Co.,
N. Y., between Clinton and Paris Hill. In 1816 he came
to Pompey, and bought of Mr. Handy the farm which Barrs
the Hessian, one of the thousand taken prisoner by Gen.
Washington at Trenton, had settled. The farm was lately
owned by Dea. Asa H. Wells, and now by David King.
Here he remained till his death, which occurred in 1834.
His wife died at the age of sixty-four years, in the year 1826,
in Pompey. They left four children. Harriet, the eldest,
married Augustus W. Chappell; Marvin died in 1848; Isaac
C. now lives at the age of seventy-five years, in Pompey Hill
village; Eliza, who was six years younger than Isaac C.,
married John Clark, and settled in Brunswick, Medina Co.,
Ohio, and died in 1850. Mrs. Chappell died in 1829 in Pompey, of a malignant fever then prevailing, as did also her
son, Edward F. Chappell. She left surviving three other
children--Helen, Sylvia and Byron.
DANIEL WRIGHT.
The subject of this sketch was born September 9th, 1794,
in Hebron, Conn., and from there emigrated to Pompey, arriving February 29, 1799, with his parents, who settled on
Lot No. 16. His father died Nov. 13, 1805, and his mother
March 13, 1806, the year of the great eclipse. Then young
Daniel went to live with his brother-in-law, and remained
with him two years. He then commenced to work by the
month and day for different persons, always strictly fulflling his contracts, till 1812, when he bought a farm and paid
for it with the money that years of toil had secured. But
the title to his land failed and he lost it. Again he went to





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


367


work by the month and day, and when over thirty years of
age he married Miss Eva Helmer, of Manlius, April 21st,
1826. Their children were ten in number, and were raised
to become men and women. To support his large family
he continued to work by the month and by the day. His
wife died July 17th, 1866, since which time he has lived with
his sons. The 18th of February, 1869, his leg was broken
by a fall and the broken limb was cared for by Dr. Knapp,
of Jamesville, under whose skillful treatment aided by the
strong vitality ot his patient, he was enabled to be about in
a short time. At the age of 78 years he could chop and
pile two cords of wood in a day, and although the vigor of
his younger days is departing, he can walk ten miles in
a day. His life spent among the farmers of Pompey, has
demonstrated that though poor a man may be honest. But
his life's labor is nearly done, and he is now only waiting
to join the pioneers of Pompey, who have gone before him
over the river. In conversation he shows that though
young when he came to Pompey, he well remembers the
scenes and hardships of pioneer life. He remembers of
families suffering for the want of food, and so reduced as to
eat beach leaves. In a mortar they pounded their corn
and baked their corn cakes in the ashes, rolling them up
in cabbage leaves and covering them up with coals. But
they thanked God and were contented, looking for a better
day.
AUGUSTUS WHEATON.
Augustus Wheaton was born in the year 1775, at New
Milford, Conn., and died at the age of seventy-seven years,
and was buried within a mile of the place of his birth. Four
brothers emigrated from Scotland and settled in Connecticut.
Their names were Esuek, Orange, Sylvester and Joseph
Wheaton, the last named being the father of Augustus, who
came to Pompey in 1810. He had purchased land in Pompey in 1807, but did not move his family till 1810. Three
sisters, Lydia, Sylvia and Loraine had preceded him. All





368


THE POMPEY RE-UNLON.


of them were married and were older than Augustus, who
was an only son.
Lydia married Jasper Bennet, of Connecticut, and settled
in 1806, on the farm now owned by James VanBrocklin,
about a half a mile north-westerly from Pompey Hill. They
had one son Malcomb and four daughters-Orphia, Oladine,
Lurianne and Jane, of whom Oladine married Ozias Wright,
late of Pompey. Sylvia married James Chappell, of Mass.,
and settled on the farm now owned by Geo. Kenyon, in 1808.
Their children were Lydia Ann, Augustus W. and Franklin. Augustus W. inherited his father's farm. Franklin was
first a teacher and subsequently a lawyer. He went to Kentucky and married a daughter of Gov. Metcalf. Augustus
W. married Harriet Wicks, and lived most of his life upon
the farm inherited from his father. Their children were
Helen, Sylvia and Byron, the former of whom married Henry Baker, son ofDea. Samuel Baker, late of Pompey.  She
died and Henry Baker now lives on his father's farm with
his second wife. Sylvia Chappell married Dr. John Clark,
of Brunswick, Ohio; Byron married Delia Bowles, and they
reside in Jasper Co., Indiana. Loraine Wheaton married
Joseph M. Bostwick, and came to Pompey about 1806, and
settled on the farm now occupied by Watson Watkins. She
died in 1829 and left four children, Nancy, Laura, Wheaton and Bennet. Nancy married Myron Wheaton, of Conn.
Laura married Albro Leach, Wheaton Bostwick married a
Miss Bennet, of Conn., and now resides in DeWitt, Onondaga Co., N. Y. Bennet moved west, married and still resides west.
Augustus Wheaton married Hannah Givens, of Conn.
Their children were Orlin J. and Flora, both born in Connecticut, and Julia, Horace, Homer, Louisa, and Charles A.,
all of the latter born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., to where Augustus moved after the birth of the first two children. After mo ring to Pompey, four more children were born tnto
them, whose names were Sheldon, Elvira, Caroline and
Harriet.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


369


Augustus purchased a farm of 410 acres and lived on the
east side of the road south of where A. C. Sloan now resides, from 1810 to about 1823. While in Pompey, he engaged in the pursuit of agriculture and droving, and about
the latter date, he disposed of his farm and moved to Syracuse, and became inspector of salt. After a residence in
Syracuse of five years, he returned to Pompey, and remained
till about the year 1833, when he returned to the place of
his birth, and died about the year 1852, and as before related, was buried within a mile of his birth place. His wife
died in 1825, and her remains repose in the cemetery at
Pompey Hill.   Mr. Wheaton was a man of energy and
public spirit, always interested to advance and better the
condition of his town. He was a leading man in building
the first Congregational church in Pompey.
Orlin J. Weaton, the eldest son of Augustus, married
Sophronia Stone, of New Milford, Conn., in 1821. They
have reared a large family, all of whom were born in Pompey. These are Lucinda, wife of O. C. Pratt, of Pompey.
Leman S., who died at the age of six years; Daniel G., who
married Mary, second daughter of David F. Dodge, late of
Pempey, Delia, wife of the late Geo. B. Senter, of Cleveland, Ohio, Ellen M. wife of H. B. Dodge, of Skaneateles,
N. Y. Flora, wife of John C. Grannis, a lawyer of Cleveland, Ohio; Francis, wife of Dr. O. G. Dibble, of Pompey,
and Garret S., of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. Orlin J. Wheaton
has led a very active life. He has mostly been engaged in
agricultural pursuits, but for many years was a drover, and
as such has traveled over very much of the western country, and especially Ohio.
Flora Wheaton, the second child of Augustus, married
Moses Seymour Marsh, who came to Pompey, in 1816. Mr.
Marsh was a clerk for his uncle, Henry Seymour, the father
of Gov. Seymour, and he subsequently owned the store
which he purchased of his uncle, and Horace Wheaton became his clerk, and in turn became the purchaser of the
store, which he continued to occupy till 1846 or 1847.
24





370


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Seymour Marsh built the stone store now owned and occupied by Capt. John J. Taylor, upon the site of the old
Henry Seymour store. The children of Seymour and Flora
Marsh, were Henry S. Marsh, now of New York, Clarissa,
wife of E. S. Dawson, Treasurer of Onondago Co. Savings
Bank, of Syracuse; Richard Marsh, of New York; Flora
Marsh and Charles Marsh, of Cleveland, Ohio; and George
Marsh, of New York.
Julia Wheaton, the third child of Augustus, married
Richard Cuyler, of Aurora, N. Y., who went into business
at Vienna, N. Y., and there died. Their children were
Mary, wife of Hon. R. II. Duell, of Cortland, N. Y. Louisa
wife of Giles Lawrence, of Philadelphia, Pa. Jane, wife of
Hon. Chas. Foster, of Cortland, N. Y. Julia and Glenn,
the latter being a resident of New York, and engaged in the
insurance business. Mrs. Cuyler, now Mrs. Lawrence, is
again married and resides in CortlanTd, N. Y.
Horace Wheaton married Helen Webb, of Syracuse, a
daughter of James Webb, who had been County Judge and
member of the State Legislature. Their children are James,
Helen, Edward and George. Helen is married to Mr.
Turner, a merchant of Chicago; Edward resides in New
York; George is a traveling agent. Mr. Wheaton has
been a leading democrat and represented the town of Pompey for a number of terms in the Board of Supervisors; was
for two terms a representative in Congress, having been
first elected in the fall of 1842. As before stated he purchased the store at Pompey Hill, of Moses S. Marsh, and there
continued the mercantile business till about 1846, when he
removed to Syracuse, and there he has since resided. For
a time since hisresidence in Syracuse, he engaged with his
brother Chas. A., in the hardware trade. More recently,
he has been a Justice of the Peace, which office he riow
holds.
Homer Wheaton is a graduate of Hamilton College. In
1826 and 7 he studied law with the late Victory Birdseye,





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


371


and afterwards with Judge Nehemiah H. Earll; was admitted to practice and opened an office in Syracuse with Henry
Davis, Jr., son of Dr. H. Davis, president of Hamilton College. Subsequently pursuing the practice of law, but a
short time he became an Episcopal clergyman, which vocation he followed many years. He is now extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits, and devoted to the production of fine stock. He married Louisa, daughter of Judge
Isaac Smith, of Dutchess County. Judge Charles Wheaton
of Poughkeepsie, is his son.
Louisa Wheaton, married John Flemming, late of Manlius, N. Y. He was a lawyer, Surrogate of Onondaga
County, Indian agent and Master in Chancery.    Their
children were John, Louisa and Mary, who are dead, and
Elizabeth who is married and resides in Tennessee, and
Flora who resides in Washington, D. C.
Charles A. Wheaton married Ellen Birdseye, daughter of
lon. Victory Birdseye, late of Pompey. They had twelve
children, as follows: Cornelia, wife of Frederick Ayer, of
Lowell, Mass., Ellen L. wife of Dr. A. R. Morgan, late of
Syracuse, now of Astoria, Long Island; Edward of SanFrancisco, Cal., in the Express and Banking business of Wells,
Fargo & Co. Homer, who is dead. Emma C., principal of
the St. Paul, Minn., Young Ladies' Seminary. Clara who is
in San Francisco, Cal., teaching.  Florence B. Wheaton,
Lucia C., a teacher at St. Paul. Henry B. Wheaton, a student at law, Boston, Mass. Mary H., wife of Mr. Kittridge,
a lawyer of Boston, Mass. Charles A., now of Harvard University, and Mabel F. who is at her fathers, Northfield, Minn.
Mr. Wheaton married a second time, his first wife having
died Dec. 1858. His second wife was a Mrs. Wagoner,
whose maiden name was Archibald. By her he has five
children, all living at home with their parents. Mr. Wheaton, while a resident of Syracuse, was a successful merchant
at first in the dry goods and subsequently in the hardware
trade. Several years ago, he went south and engaged in





372


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


the construction of a railroad. In this enterprise he was
unfortunate. Subsequently he went to Minnesota, where he
now resides. He has held many positions of public trust,
and is now editor of the Rice County Journal.
Sheldon Wheaton, the first child of Augustus, born in
Pompey, died from being scalded, at the age of two years.
Elvira Wheaton, married, being the second wife of John
Flemming, by whom she had two children, Caroline and
William. Caroline is the wife of John A. Baker, of Seneca
Falls, William is in the express business at Coxsackie,
N.Y.
Caroline Wheaton, married a Mr. Clark, of Montezuma,
who is now dead. She resides in New York, and has two
children, James and Caroline Clark; James is a merchant in
New York, and Caroline is with her mother.
Harriet Wheaton, married Geo. B. Walter, late of Syracuse, but now residing at Astoria, Long Island. He is a
lawyer, doing business in New York. They have three boys
one of whom is at the Cornell University.
TABOR D. WILLIAMS.
Mr. Williams was not among the Pioneer settlers of
Pompey, having emigrated to Pompey in 1831. His family
consisted of his wife, whose maiden name was Miss Lydia
Goodrich, formerly of Lenox, Berkshire Co., Mass., and his
two sons George H., and Charles T. Williams, aged respectively nine and six years. Mr. Williams was a shoemaker,
and followed that occupation for several years, after he came
to Pompey. His eldest son George H. Williams, entered
Pompey Academy at the age of' 14 years, and remained
there four years under the tuition, of the late Samuel S.
Stebbins, an accomplished teacher, scholar and gentleman.
At the close of his academic course, he entered the law
office of the late Hon. Daniel Gott, of Pompey. Three
years thereafter and in the year 1844, he was admitted to





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


373


the bar at Syracuse; in September of the same year, he
went to Iowa and entered the office of Hon. D. F. Miller, at
Fort Madison; in 1846 he was elected to the convention
which framed the constitution of Iowa, serving on the committee which reported that instrument. On the admission
of the State into the Union, he was elected Chief Justice of
tne Supreme Court; in 1852 he was elected presidential
elector, on the democratic ticket and cast his vote for Pierce,
carrying the vote of the State to Washington as messenger
of the Electoral College. On his way home he received intelligence, of his appointment to the Chief Justiceship of
Oregon Territory, by the new President. In 1857 he was
re-appointed to this office, by President Buchanan; he was
also elected delegate to the convention, which framed the
constitution of Oregon, two years thereafter, he resigned the
Judgeship and resumed, the practice of law at Portland. In
1864 he was elected United States Senator, from Oregon
and served the full term. At the expiration of his Senatorial term, he was appointed by President Grant, to serve as
a member of the Joint High Commission, which convened
at Washington for the settlement of the Alabama Claims,
his last appointment, recently received from  President
Grant, being to fill the office of Attorney General of the
United States. In 1850 he was married to the daughter, of
General V. P. Van Antwerp, of Keokuk, Iowa, who died in
1863, and he contracted a second matrimonial alliance, with
Mrs. Kate George, of Oregon in 1867. Mr. Williams second
son Charles F., is by occupation a harness-maker and resides
at Honeoye, Monroe Co., N. Y. Mr Tabor D. Williams and
his wife, are still living in Pompey and are very proud, of
the high position their son George has attained
TAIE FARGO FAMILY.
WILLIAM C. FARGO.
The biography of no family identified with the history of
old Pompey more clearly illustrates the advantages of a republican form of government, than that of William C. Far




374


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


go. His father, whose surname was also William, was a
descendant of Moses Fargo (or Firgo as it was often written),
who emigrated from England to Connecticut, about the year
1670, and settled in New London. The history of New
London by Frances Manwaring Caulkins, published in 1852,
has the following statement: "With other new inhabitants
that appear between the years 1670 and 1700, and to whom
house lots were granted is Moses Fargo in the year 1680.
He had nine children of whom the five youngest were sons,
Moses, Ralph, Robert, Thomas and Aaron."
The histories of New London and Norwich contain frequent reference to members of this family in connection with
the annals of the revolutionary war. William C., at the age
of seventeen, was among the first to enlist, and he served
faithfully during the whole of the memorable struggle for
independence. At the close of the war he engaged in commercial pursuits, his principal business being the shipping
of cattle and horses to the West Indies. For a time this enterprise proved successful; but the loss of two ships during
a stormy voyage brought a reverse from which he never recovered financially. He died about the year 1800, leaving
a widow and several children, one of whom was William
C. Fargo, who was born in New London, Connecticut,
March 20th, 1791. Left thus early without inheritance, he
was thrown upon his own resources. In those days, as now,
fortune was to be sought in the west, and having learned
the trade of a distiller, on the 23d of January, 1807, he left
Connecticut with his uncle John Ames, emigrated to Plymouth, Chenango County, N. Y., where he worked as a laborer, until the November following, when he moved to
Jamesville, Onondaga county, N. Y., and found employment in the distillery of Benjamin Sandford.
He remained in this position until the latter part of the
summer of 1809, when he made his first visit to his uncle
Chappell, who married his father's sister and resided in Pompey. His visit over, he,continued his westward journey,
and in September commenced work in Ontario Co., about





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


375


seven miles north of Geneva, for a Mr. Smith. His term of
service expiring the following April, he resumed his westward route, working by the day or week as he traveled, and
reached Buffalo in September. It was his intention to find
employment in a distillery at Eleven Mile Creek: but Buffalo offered what he regarded a more lucrative position,
and he engaged as a bar-tender for Robert Cook. Buffalo
was not a populous city at that time, but it gave him employment until May, 1812, when he was drafted in company
with James Ellis, William Adams and John Coon, as a
soldier in the United States army in the pending war with
Great Britain. John O'Connor, of New York, was then
recruiting in Buffalo, and preferring to be voluntary rather than drafted soldiers, Mr. Fargo and his three associates
enlisted for the war in the third regiment of heavy artillery,
under command of Col. Alexander Macomb, who was afterwards promoted to the rank of General, when the command
of the regiment devolved on Col. George E. Mitchell.
The recruits were first ordered to Canandaigua, but the
4th day of July, 1812, found them at Fort Niagara. On or
about the first of October, fifty picked men of whom Mr.
Fargo was one, were detailed to open 'communication with
the Canadian side of the river, so that the troops could be
safely crossed over. It was a hazardous undertaking at the
best, and as the enemy was informed of the enterprise by
sympathizing rebels on this side, the fifty were compelled
to return. On the 12th of October, the attempt was renewed,
only fifty soldiers at first embarking. * One boat, load was
carried down by the current and taken prisoners. On the
morning of the 13th, under cover of the darkness that then
prevailed, the rest of the fifty were able to land, the boats
returned, and as soon as possible the militia under Gen. Van
Rensselaer, were conducted to Canadian soil. About sunrise, Mr. Fargo was one of the number who forced their
way up the steep acclivity and captured the enemy's battery
on the heights which by this time was being actively used
against the Americans who were crossing the river. A se




376


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


cond engagement occurred about eleven o'clock, during
which the British General Brock was killed. Mr. Fargo
was wounded in his right thigh, just before the Americans
won possession of the ground.    When reinforcements
arrived from Fort George, Mr. Fargo, with other wounded
Americans, was brought back to the American side, and
placed in a barn with a Mr. Bennett, the log-house hospital
being full. They remained here all night before their
wounds could be dressed. Mr. Fargo's wound was very
painful, and his leg so much swollen that a council of physicians decided that the limb must be amputated. Dr. Brown
of Cherry Valley, N. Y., obtained permission to make an
effort to save the limb, and resorted to a poultice of beachleaves and new milk boiled together. No material improvement was manifested at the expiration of the first twentyfour hours; but on the day following the beneficial influence
of the treatment was apparent, and Dr. Brown was permitted to take charge of the patient until the following April,
when Mr. Fargo was removed to Fort Niagara. His wound,
however, did not heal until June. On his recovery, Mr.
Fargo had charge of the artillery in what was known as
the Block House. From this station in August, 1813, he
kept up an incessant firing on Fort George, for four days.
Soon after this, orders were received for the discharge of invalid soldiers, and Col. Mitchell gave Mr. Fargo his choice,
to be discharged, or accept an unlimited furlough and engage in recruiting apd apprehending deserters. He chose
the latter and was so engaged until the close of the war. It
was while recruiting that in February, 1814, he again visited Pompey, and from there went to Albany where he received orders to enlist no more soldiers. He immediately
repaired to Sackett's Harbor, and was placed in charge of
the Ordnance Department. In 1815, after peace was established, still continuing in the army service, he went to the
Island of Mackinaw with Capt. Benjamin Pierce, who died
about 1871. Here he was sergeant-major of the garrison,
under command of Col. John McNeal. In 1816, orders





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


377


came to construct a fort at Green Bay, at the mouth of Little
Fox River. This work was designed for the protection-of
explorers and others against the Indians who were then very
hostile. Mr. Fargo was detailed with twenty picked men
to protect the workmen who were building the fort. Having accomplished the purpose of the expedition, he returned
to Mackinaw in July, 1816, and remained there until the
expiration of his term of service, on the 7th of May, 1817.
No longer a soldier, he commenced his journey to Pompey. To Detroit he came by water, and thence on foot. To
Norwalk, Ohio, he had the company of James Gates. From
there twenty-one miles towards Cleveland, there was no human habitation,and Cleveland, then, could boast of only two
families and two houses, one of them a public one. From
Cleveland his fellow-footman was a Mr. Fellows, and together they trudged on to Pompey, where they arrived in June,
1817. Mr. Fargo made a visit to his uncle Ames in Chenango County, shortly after, and returned in July. On the
10th of August, 1817, he was married to Tacy Strong, who
was born September 14, 1799, in Hebron, Conn. They remained in Pompey until 1819, when they went to Jamesville, and for the first time commenced house-keeping. At
the expiration) of a year, they returned to Pompey, where
they resided, in and near the village of Watervale, until the
spring of 1848.
All their children were born in Pompey, and Dr. Jehial
Stearns who now, at the age of eighty-four years, resides at
Pompey Hill, attended at the birth of each of them. The
following are the names and dates of the birth of their children:
William G. Fargo ----------May 20th, 1818.
Jerome F. Fargo --------     -     February 6th, 1820.
Rufus Fargo --------------------_ December 26th, 1821.
Chancellor L. Fargo ---- ---------January 12th, 1824.
Sarah Ann Fargo -------------__----  March 24th, 1826.
Maryette Fargo ---------__       December 18th, 1827.
James C. Fargo -----------------------May 5th, 1829.





378


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Charles Fargo-----  ------------     April 15th, 1831.
Thomas B. Fargo--------------------May 7th, 1833.
Emeline Fargo -------    ----------May 17th, 1836.
Willett H. Fargo -----------      February 15th, 1840.
Mortimer H. Fargo -   ----------September 27th, 18 4.
While in Pompey, Mr. Fargo was engaged in distilling
and farming. When the.office of constable was held in
higher public estimation than at present, he held the postion
for six years. From Pompey, he removed to Cicero Corners
and bought nine acres of land of John Van Bramer. Here
he resided from April 1, 1848, until November, and then removed to Manlius near what is known as the High Bridge,
and lived there for fifteen years, when he consented with
his wife to accept the gift from his children of a substantial
and comfortable home in the city of Syracuse where he has
resided for the past ten years, surrounded with all the accessories of a life of ease and repose. His wife died November 9th, 1870, and was buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery,
at Buffalo, in the lot of W. G. Fargo.   Her resting
place is marked by a beautiful monument inscribed
"Mother."  Mr. Fargo was acquainted with many of the
pioneers of Pompey and his retentive memory of incidents
and his correct and clear narrative of facts, which came under his obsevation, renders it very interesting to spend an
hour or a day with the veteran. At one time lie knew personally every resident from Marcellus to the east boundary
of Onondaga county, and can still name many of them from
memory. He still retains much of the vivacity and humor
of his earlier years, and preserves the quiet and unobtrusive
manner which always characterized him and which always
won him friends.
William G. Fargo, the eldest son of William C. Fargo,
as may be inferred from the statements above, commenced
life financially at the bottom of the ladder, and he commenced it practically at a very early period. His childhood
was that of the son of a laboring-man, who was struggling
under adverse circumstances to make his expenses meet his





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


379


income. He had the advantages of the country school in
the winter months, and made ordinary proficiency in the
elemental English branches. He learned to read, write and
cipher, and, at the age of thirteen, was employed by Daniel
Butts, farmer and mail contractor, to carry the mail on horseback, twice a week from Pompey Hill by way of Watervale,
Manlius, Oran, Delphi, Fabius and Apulia, back to Pompey Hill, a circuit of about forty miles. This Post-office
business compelled him to promptness and persistence. The
circuit must be rode and the mail delivered in all weathers,
and under all circumstances, and in this service he was
grounded in the idea that when a contract is made it must
be performed to the letter.
From this time until 1835, he worked as opportunity offered for different persons; but for the most part, for Mr.
Ira Curtis, of Watervale, who kept a country tavern and a
store. In this employment he learned something of the
routine of business, and refreshed his arithmetic in the way
of keeping accounts. He was permitted to attend the district school occasionally during the winter months. But
young Fargo's ambition was not to be restrained in these
narrow limits, and his father encouraged him in enlarging
his sphere of action. In the winter of 1835, he made an engagement with Messrs. Hough & Gilbert, grocers, of Syracuse, which was continued for about one year, when he obtained a better situation with Messrs. Roswell and Willett
Hinman, grocery merchants, with whom he remained three
years, perfecting himself constantly in business habits.
Next, we find him a clerk in the forwarding house of
Messrs. Durnford & Co., of Syracuse, where he remained
about a year. He was steadily climbing the financial ladder,
and began to think of embarking in business on his own account. In January, 1840, he married Miss Anna H. Williams, daughter of Nathan Williams, one of the pioneers of
Pompey. Eight children have been born to them, only two of
whom-Georgiana and Helen-are living. Georgiana in





380


THE POMPEY RE-UNTON.


1866 married Mr. Charles W. M'Cune, who is now a resident of Buffalo.
Soon after his marriage, Mr. Fargo removed to Weedsport, and, in company with his brother Jerome, started a
grocery and provision store and a bakery. The business
did not prove successful, and at the end of the first year the
balance was on the wrong side of the ledger.
In 1841, Mr. Fargo removed to Auburn, to accept the
freight agency of the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad Company, then just completed, and in 1842, he resigned this position to accept that of messenger for Pomroy & Co., who had
established an express line between Albany and Buffalo.
At this time, the rails were laid to Batavia, and express
packages were carried by stage from Batavia to Buffalo, until the completion of the Buffalo and Attica Railroad. After a year's experience as a messenger, Mr. Fargo was appointed agent for the company at Buffalo, to which city he
removed in November, 1843. The Express business was in
its infancy then, but Mr. Fargo recognized in it the elements of indefinite growth and expansion. In January,
1844, in company with Mr. Henry Wells and Mr. Daniel
Dunning, he organized an Express Line from Buffalo to Detroit, by way of Cleveland, under the firm name of Wells
& Co. The capital these partners possessed, was principally
industry, energy and determination. The one who was able
to borrow $200 on a short note was regarded by the firm as a
financial success. At this time, the only railroads west of
Buffalo was the one in Ohio, from Sandusky City to Monroeville, and the one in Michigan from Detroit to Ypsilanti.
These expressmen employed the steamers on the lakes in
the season of navigation, and stages and express wagons in
winter. They did not do a very heavy business, but it was
a growing one, and they pushed it forward as rapidly as
practicable. They extended the line to Chicago, Milwaukee,
Cincinnati and St. Louis and westward to Galena.
After a year's experience, Mr. Dunning withdrew from





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381


the partnership, and, in 1846, Mr. Henry Wells sold his interest to Mr. William A. Livingston, and the firm name was
changed to Livingston & Fargo. About this time, Mr.
Wells removed to New York, Mr. Livingston came to Buffalo, aud Mr. Fargo was located in Detroit, where he remained about one year, returning to Buffalo in 1848, when
Mr. Livingston took up his residence in Cincinnati.
The express business west of Buffalo was managed in
this way until March, 1850, when the American Express
Company was organized, consolidating the interests of
Johnston Livingston and Henry Wells and the firm of
Livingston, Wells & Co., proprietors of the line between
New York and Buffalo; those of Butterfield, Wasson & Co.,
proprietors of a rival line between these cities, and those of
Livingston & Fargo, who owned the lines west of Buffalo.
Henry Wells was the first president, and William G. Fargo
the first secretary; these positions were held by these gentlemen respectively, until the consolidation with the Merchants'
Union Express Company, in December 1868, when Mr.
Fargo was elected the president and remains such. This
company has a capital of $18,000,000; maintains two thousand and seven hundred offices and gives employment to
more than five thousand men, of whom six hundred are
messengers.
At the time the western lines were established, the whole
number of offices, between New York and the most remote
western station, did not exceed thirty, and the number of
men employed, from seventy-five to one hundred. This
simple statement illustrates the growth of the express business, and is of itself proof of the energy, executive ability
and the perfect system of the gentlemen who have made it
the magnificent success it is.
In 1851, Mr. Fargo, Henry Wells and their associates organized a company, under the firm name of Wells, Fargo
& Co., and commenced to do an express business, between
New York and San Francisco by way of the Isthmus, and





382


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


to operate interior lines on the Pacific coast. This enterprise proved successful, and was continued over this route
until the completion of the Union and Central Pacific railroads, when the water was abandoned for the rail, and the
management of the company transferred to San Francisco.
While the control was in New York, Mr. Fargo was director and vice-president, and he still continues a director.
This company has a capital, of $5,000,000. and is doing a
lucrative and constantly increasing business.
In 1857, the several express companies in the United
States, were requested by the government to make proposals
for the transportation of the mail overland from St. Louis,
by way of what was known as the Southern route, through
El Paso, Texas, Fort Yuma and San Diego, to San Franeisco. A contract having been made, the companies organized for this service under the name of the Overland Mail
Company. The mails were carried by this route until the
outbreak of the rebellion. The company had been at large
expense for outfit, the construction of roads, the sinking of
wells, and the erection of buildings, all of which was a total
loss. The government ordered the company upon the middile route, substantially that of the present railroad, and a
new contract was made for daily service, for the sum of
$1,000,000 a year. At this price, however, it was not remunerative. The government paid in greenbacks and the
company was compelled to pay all its expenses in gold. The
business was done at a great risk. Property to the value of
hundreds of thousands of dollars was destroyed, and many
murders committed by the Indians. The company could not
protect life or treasure, the passenger business ceased almost
entirely, and when the company disbanded upon the completion of the Pacific Railroad, it had lost directly and indirectly fully, $10,000,000, and for this investment its stockholders have never received a dollar.
Mr. Fargo was for some time a director and vice-president of the New York Central Railroad Company; was connected with and a large contributor to the enterprise 'of the





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383


Northern Pacific Railroad, and for several years a director.
He is now a director of the Buffalo, New York and Philadelphia Railroad Company, and is largely interested in the
Buffalo Coal Company, and the McKean and Buffalo Railroad Company, all of which are enterprises undertaken to
advance the manufacturing interests of Buffalo. Mr. Fargo
is also a stockholder in several of the large manufacturing
establishments of Buffalo, and thoroughly identified with the
growth and progress of the city of his residence.
Mr. Fargo was Mayor of Buffalo for four years, from 1862
to 1866, and distinguished himself for his courtesy, impartiality and executive ability. He has been a large and constant contributor to charitable, religious and, in fact, all
public enterprises. He is a man of remarkable decision of
character, an instinctive judge of men with the rare power
of organization and control, and of unflinching resoluteness
and determination. His success has been in no sense accidental. He has trod with a purpose all the rounds of the
ladder of his fortune, and at no step has the faintest breath
of suspicion attached to his integrity.
Jerome F. Fargo, now a resident of Buffalo, led as a child
the life of all his brothers. He worked on a farm in the
summers, attended school in the winters, until he was fourteen years of age, when he hired out to a farmer with the
understanding that he was to remain until he became twenty-one. Farm-life, however, did not agree with his health,
and, in 1835, he engaged as a clerk in Curtis' store on Pompey Hill. In 1836, he found employment in the grocery
store of Polley & Goetchius, at Syracuse, where he remained
a few months, and then hired to John Stone, as an apprentice to the baker's trade. He remained here until 1838,
when he removed to Weedsport, and engaged as a journeyman baker with Peter Sampson. After a years service in
this capacity, he was clerk in the grocery and dry goods
store of Baylis & Mills, in whose employ he remained something more than a year.  Then in company with William
G. Fargo, he commenced business in Weedsport as a mer




384


THE POMPEY RE-UNLON.


chant and baker. Upon the termination of this partnership, he continued the bakery until 1841, when he removed
to Auburn, in the employ of the Auburn and Syracuse Railroad Company. For two years he acted as local freight
conductor, and ran the first through freight train from Rochester to Albany without transfer, in the winter of 1846. In
1847, he was promoted to a passenger conductorship; removed to Syracuse in 1849, and had charge of the train from
Auburn to Syracuse, and, upon the consolidation of the Auburn and Syracuse and Auburn and Rochester railroads,
continued in this capacity until the organization of the New
York Central Railroad Company. He served the Central
road until June, 1856, when he removed to Buffalo. He was
one.of the proprietors of the.Corn Dock Elevator, had charge
of its construction and was engaged in its management until
its destruction by fire in 1865. For five years, he was one
of the lessees of the City Elevator, and continued in this
business until the Spring of 1872. In July of the year following, he was appointed to the position of superintendent
of the real estate and personal property of the American
Express company on all the lines west of Buffalo, which position he still holds.
On the first of July, 1839, he married Miss Hannah Watson, of Weedsport, N. Y. They have been the parents of
seven children, of whom only two are living. George W.
Fargo, of Buffalo, and a daughter named Bessie.
Rufus Fargo died at the age of two years, and his remains
lie in the cemetery at Pompey Hill.
Chancellor L. Fargo learned the trade of a carriage maker,
at Auburn, N. Y. He conducted that business for about
five years at Watervale, and subsequently engaged in the
Express business. His first wife was Phoebe Williams, a
daughter of Nathan Williams, of Pompey, who died soon
after marriage, and his second wife Rebecca Winchester.
He died while a resident of Manlius, and was buried at
Watervale. Three sons survive him, Samuel W., of-Auburn; Orrin, of Buffalo, and Fayette, of Chicago, Il.1










CIO







00


o










THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


385


Sarah Ann Fargo, married Harvey S. Reed, a brother of
Col. Ralph T. Reed, late of Watervale. They reside at Detroit, Mich., and have two children, Charles F., and Fannie,
who reside with their parents.
Maryette Fargo, married Samuel P. Wormley, formerly
of Ontario County, but now a resident of Marshall, Michigan. They have three sons--Frank, George and James.
James C. Fargo came to Buffalo, as clerk in the office of
Wells & Co's Express, in 1844, and advancing step by step
in the Express business, now occupies one of the most responsible positions in connection with the American Express Company. He was made agent of the company in Detroit, in 1848, and was afterwards agent and manager of the
lines which center at Chicago. He remained] here until
1866, when he removed to New York city, to accept the position of General Superintendent and Manager of all the
business of the company, which he still holds, to the satisfaction of all parties. He is, also, President of The Merchants' Despatch Transportation Company, an organization
which has a capital of $3,000,000, and owns and operates
more than three thousand freight cars. He is, also, one of
the directors of the National Express Company. He has
mastered the Express business as thoroughly as any man in
the country, and possesses in a marked degree the family
characteristics of energy, promptness and decision.
James married Fannie Stuart, of Battle Creek, Mich., and
his family consists of three children-William and James,
now students in Williams College, and Anna.
Charles Fargo commenced his express education in the
Detroit office under the charge of his brother James, and
worked his way steadily up. After several years of experience in the Detroit office, he was appointed agent at Toledo. When James C. was transferred to Chicago, Charles
took his place at Detroit, and upon the transfer of James to
New York, he removed to Chicago, where he still resides,
holding the important'position of Assistant General Super25





386


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


intendent of the Western Division of the American Express
Company, and, also, that of director in the company.
Hie married Mary Jane Bradford, of Cooperstown, N. Y.
They have four children--Irene, Livingston, Ada and Florence.
It should be said of the brothers James C., and Charles,
that they have grown up in the Express business, and have
given it their close and undivided attention. In its general
scope and in the most minute details, they are equally at
home. They deserve and have won the confidence and respect of all the Express managers in the country, as gentlemen of marked ability and conspicuous exactness and trustworthiness. Their relations with the railroad companies
and other transportation lines extend over a period of nearly
thirty years, and they are probably acquainted with a greater
number of railroad officials and business men in the country, than any other two men of their years. To these brothers may justly be given a large share of credit for the perfect organization and successful working of the American
Express Company.
Thomas B. Fargo, married Miss Lou Winfield. They reside in Detroit, Michigan, and have one daughter.
Emeline Fargo, married Frederick Deese, of Syracuse,
who was for fourteen years passenger conductor on the New
York Central Railroad, and is now engaged in the Express
business. They have two daughters, who reside with their
parents.
Willett II. Fargo died at Decatur, Ill., on Monday, Feb.
14th, and was buried in Detroit. He married Emeline
Caldwell, of Chapinville, N. Y. They have nochildren.
Miortimer H. Fargo, the youngest son, married Mary
Drake, of Painsville, Ohio. Hie is now agent for the American Express Company, at Green Bay, Wisconsin, where his
father nearly sixty years ago guarded the construction of a
fort to protect the pioneers of civilization. During the





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


387


summer of 1875, the veteran Fargo, at the ripe old age of
eighty-four years, visited his son at Green Bay.
This is a hasty and condensed biography of a family that,
as much as any other from Pompey, has been and is identified with the growth and progress of the prese cnt century.
THE VAN BROCKLIN FAMILY.
Nicholas Van Brocklin, late of Pompey, although not a
pioneer, resided in Pbriopey over fifty years, and mostly reclaimed the land on which he settled in 1821. He was born
May 26th, 1786, in Johnstown, Montgomery county, N. Y..
at a place called Sammon's Hollow, about four miles west of
the village of Johnstown. A brief mention of his ancestors
will show that his father's name was Gilbert Van Brocklin,
and he had three brothers, Malachi, Nicholas and Harpet,
all of them patriots in the revolutionary war, and engaged
in the cruel contest which occurred in that eventful period,
upon the borders of civilization, with the remorseless tories
and Indians. One of the brothers, Nicholas, was taken prisoner by the tories and Indians, transported into the wilderness and was never heard of more. This vicinity was
the theatre of the operations of Brant and the Johnsons
whose baronial mansion was near Johnstown.
The grand-father of the subject of this sketch, emigrated
from Holland about the year 1730, with two brothers and a
sister. The names of two of the brothers were Nicholas and
Alexander, the other is thought to have been Harpet and
the sister Barbara. Only two of the brothers who came
from Holland were married and from them have sprung
probably all the Van Brocklins in the United States. The
maternal ancestry of Mr. Van Brocklin was Scotch and his
mother's ancestral name was Wilson.
In early life he was surrounded by a settlement remarkable for its independence and patriotism, including the Sammons, the Fondas, the Vedders and others of revolutionary





388


THE POMPEY RE-UNLON.


fame. The political contests in the early days of the Republic waged in his native county, which but a few years before
had been the witness of a ferocious savage warfare by patriots on the one hand and tories and Indians on the other,
made a lasting impression on his mind and closely allied him
to that party which opposed the Federalist, and always
through the subsequent years of his life, he was a zealous
supporter of the Democratic party.
At about the age of twenty-four he married Margaret, a
daughter of John and Mary Shields, who with their family
one son and seven daughters emigrated from Ireland about
the year 1800. Mrs. John Shield's maiden name was Mary
White and three of her brothers were Presbyterian ministers. Mr. Shields first landed in Delaware, but soon came
north to Montgomery- county, and in 1820 to Pompey, where
he resided till his death. Of his children, Mary married a
Mr. Newkirk and after his death a Mr. Dawson. Jane married Bela Farr, late of Norwich, N. Y.
Isabella married Jeremiah Van Epps, late of Homer, N.Y.
Martha married James Gilmore, late of Manlius, N. Y.
Elizabeth married a Mr. Frazier and her husband died soon
after, and she ever after lived with her sister Sarah, who
married Henry Barber a son of Elihu mentioned on another
page of this volume. Patrick Shields, the only son, married
Mrs. Sherwood a widow of one of the Pompey pioneers, and
lived near Delphi in Pompey, till his death. As before
stated Margaret married Nicholas Van Brocklin. From
these seven sisters have sprung a numerous progeny and
among them were several men of influence and eminent
ability. Among them may be noted Hon. Joseph Farr, late
of Norwalk, Ohio, James Farr, late of New York, Drs. James
and John Gilmore of Nunda, N. Y. Mrs. Van Brocklin
was a remarkable natural mathematician, being prompt
and accurate in mental computation of all the business transactions of her husband, often correcting the errors of merchants who used pen and paper. Mr. Van Brocklin was a
farmer but always evinced a lively interest in public affairs.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


389


Their children in the order of ther ages were Gilbert, Jane,
Ann, Eliza B., John S., James W., Margaret, Martha and
William White. The first six were born in Johnstown, and
the two youngest in Pompey. Wl;en they moved to Pompey in 1821, they first located on a farm near Elihu Barber,
but soon disposed of this and purchased of Robert Campbell the farm next east of where Grace Greenwood was
born. Here they lived till the day of their death. Mrs.
Van Brocklin died Aug. 29, 1855, at the age of sixty-eight.
Nicholas Van Brocklin died March 1st, 1872, in the 86th
year of his age, never having used eye glasses and having
read the bible five times through the last five years of his
life. His son John Shields, and two of his daughters Eliza
B., and Martha still reside on the old homestead.
Gilbert engaged in agricultural pursuits at first, and subsequently became a successful occulist. He married Emma
Withey, of Port Byron. While on a journey from Buffalo,
where he resided, he died in Chicago in 1853. Jane Ann
married John King, a farmer of Pompey, and they reside
near what is known as the block school house. An only
living daughter, Mary, lives with her parents. Their only
son David owns and occupies the Asa H. Wells farm near
Pompey Hill. Margaret Van Brocklin died at the age of
three years, soon after her parents came to Pompey.
James W. is a carpenter and joiner, and has built many
dwellings in Pompey. In 1844 he married Tirza Tiffany,
by whom he has six children, Mary, Julia, Wm. H., James,
Charles and Frank. The first three are married. He owns
and occupies the Bennet farm near Pompey Hill.
Wmn. W., the youngest, worked his way through college,
graduating at Hamilton, in the class of 1850. He taught
school several years, commencing at Port Byron, N. Y., at
the age of sixteen.  Subsequently he taught in Fabius,
Pompey and Syracuse. Studied law in the office of Gardner
and Burdick, and was admitted to practice in 1853. Since
that time he has followed law and farming, and now is the
only resident lawyer of Pompey, owning and occupying the





390


THE POMPEY RE-UNIQN.


Daniel Gott residence at Pompey Hill, which he purchased
of Robert Ellis in 1874. He married in 1850, Lucy Aylworth,
a grand-daughter of Rev. Jas. P. Aylworth, and daughter of
Hon. 0. Aylworth, late of Fabius. They have no children
living.
DAVID WILLIAMS.
The subject of this notice was born in Halifax, July 16th,
1782, and when nine years old came to Pompey. At the
age of twenty-one, he married Mary Eastman, who was born
July 4th, 1782. The day after their marriage Mr. Williams killed a bear. With the exception of five years they
have ever since their marriage resided in Pompey, till last
fall, (1875,) when Mr. Williams died at the advanced age of
ninety-three. He was a farmer and lived about a mile and
a half north of Watervale. Mrs. Williams' father, Timothy
Eastman, served seven years in the war of the revolution.
Mrs. Williams is still living with her son, Hiram D., on the
old homestead. One other son Horace resides in Michigan,
and these constitute all that remain of the family. Two
brothers of David also early came to Pompey, and settled on
and near the corners where Egbert Avery now resides. They
too, were farmers and remained residents of Pompey, till
their death. One of them was Nathan, the father-in-law of
Hon. Wm. G. Fargo, and the other was Daniel. They all
bore the reputation of honest, upright citizens.
ASA WELLS.
Asa Wells was born in Colchester, Conn., Aug. 6th, 1774.
In the spring of 1803, he came to Pompey and built a log
house at Pompey Hill, on the place occupied by the late
Daniel March at the time of his death. In 1807, he located
east of Pompey Hill on the farm east of and adjoining the
Daniel Wood farm. Here also he erected a log house in a
small clearing in the woods. So small was the clearing that
it was necessary to remove his children and wife from the,





t-" a,










THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


391


house in falling the large trees. Mr. Wells was an excellent
mathematician and practical surveyor. He with a corps of
assistants laid out the road running north from the Academy
to Manlius, and being no house on the way they camped out
at night. He assisted the Senior Geddes in surveying for
the Oswego canal. His father being an officer in service
during the whole period of the revolutionary war, he inherited a military ambition, and for many years was an officer
in the militia. When Sacket's Harbor was threatened by
the British, he being then a captain of militia, his whole
company volunteered to go if he would lead them, which he
did. Afterwards he held the office of colonel of the militia for
several years. In the civil service he held various important
trusts. Was for a long time a Justice of the Peace, represented his town in the Board of Supervisors, was member of
the State Assembly, and Judge of the County Court. He
died in February, 1859, at the age of 79 years.
Chloe Hyde Wells, wife of Asa Wells, died in January,
1872, aged 921 years, retaining her faculties to the last.
Their children now living are Mrs. J. B. Pitkin of Oswego, Mrs. J. F. Ostrander, now of Mantorville, Minnesota, who
was for many years a teacher in the schools of Pompey, Mrs.
Morris Beard of Pompey, Levi Wells of Pompey, who has
been for 32 years a Justice of the Peace. He also represented the town of Pompey for eighteen years in the Board of
Supervisors, and became a living encyclopedia of the records,
of the Board. He was an honest, faithful and efficient officer. Like his father he was a practical surveyor.
Dr. Lucien B. Wells, of Utica, N. Y., was an early convert to the principles and practice of Homoeopathy. He has
been an active pioneer in the advancement of that system of
medicine and in 1870 was chosen President of the Homoeopathic State Medical Society.  Since writing the above
sketch, Levi Wells has gone to join his aged parents across
the river of death upon the land of Immortality. He died
March 31st, 1872, in the triumph of the christian's faith. In





392


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


his death the community lost a citizen of the highest type of'
integrity and virtue, and the loss was sincerely mourned by
all.
HENRY    SEYMOUR,
Was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1781. He was a
son of Major Moses Seymour of that place, who was an officer in the army of the revolution, andi for many years a
member of the Legislature of that State; and who died in
1827, at the age of 84.
Major Seymour had five children, namely, one daughter,
Mrs. Marsh, of Litchfield, (who lived to be 94 years of age,)
and four sons, Horatio Seymour, of Middlebury, Vermont,
United States Senator, from 1821 to 1833, Ozias Seymour,
of Litchfield, sheriff of Litchfield county, Moses Seymour a
lawyer, who also resided at Litchfield, Epaphro Seymour,
of Brattleboro, Vermont, President of the Brattleboro Bank,
and Henry Seymour, the subject of this notice.
Henry Seymour moved to Pompey Hill at an early day
and entered into business as a merchant. By his integrity,
sound judgment, and executive ability, he soon became so
well and favorably known that from 1816 to 1819, and again
in 1822, he was elected State Senator from that part of the
State, then called the Western District. In 1818, he was
nominated and chosen by the Assembly a member of' the
" Council of Appointment," which council had the appointing of a great portion of the civil, military, and judicial officers of the State. On the 24th of March, 1819, while
the Erie and Champlain Canals were being constructed, he
was made by the Legislature one of the Commissioners in
charge of those works, with DeWitt Clinton, Stephen VanRenssalaer, William C. Bouck, Samuel Youngs, and Myron
Holley. Mr. Seymour held this office and was actively engaged in the discharge of its duties until the year 1833,
having in the meantime and about the fall of the year 1819,
moved with his family from Pompey Hill to Utica. In 1833





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393


he resigned the position of Canal Commissioner, and was
chosen President of the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company
of the city of New York, and continued its President until
his death.
The change from an active life in the country to the sedentary life of an office in the city of New York, destroyed
his health, and he died at Utica in 1837. His wife survived
him, living at the family residence in Utica, until her death
in 1859. She was born at Monmouth, New Jersey, Feb.
18, 1785, and was a daughter of Colonel Jonathan Forman
of that place, who at the age of 19, left Princeton College
to join the revolutionary army, which he entered as lieutenant, and in which he served throughout the war, rising to
the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.
The mother of Mrs Seymour, was a Ledyard, a niece of
the Col. Ledyard who was in command at Fort Griswold,
opposite New London, at the time of its capture and the
massacre of its defenders by the British. About the year
1797, Col. Forman moved with his family to Cazenovia,
then a frontier settlement in Madison county. At that
time there was no wagon road west from Whitestown, and
in many places they were obliged to cut open the way, and
it is said itat the carriage of this party was the first conveyance ol the kind that passed beyond the site of Whitestown. Col. Forman drove to Chittenango, and from there
the family proceeded to Cazenovia on horseback. Col. Forman was accompanied by his brother, Major Samuel Forman, who subsequently resided in Syracuse, living to the
age of 96. Miss Forman was married to Henry Seymour at
Cazenovia, in 1807, their children were six in number, all
of whom are now living, namely, Mary the wife of Mr.
Rutger B. Miller, of Utica, Horatio Seymour, of Utica,
Sophia, widow of Mr. Edward F. Shonnard, of Yonkers,
Westchester county, John F. Seymour, of Utica, Helen,
widow of Mr. Ledyard Lincklaen, of Cazenovia, and
Julia, wife Mr. Roscoe Conkling, of Utica.





394


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


HORATIO SEYMOUR.
Horatio Seymour, the eldest son of Henry Seymour, was
born at Pompey Hill, in 1811. He studied law in the office
of Judges Beardsley and Bronson, at Utica; was admitted to
the bar and practiced a short time, but was soon diverted
from this profession by the care of property left in his hands
and by political studies and pursuits. As an advocate of
the principles of the democratic party, he was elected a
member of the assembly of this State in 1841; mayor of
the city of Utica in 1842; chosen speaker of the assembly
in 1845, and Governor of the State of New York in 1853-5.
In 1861, before the outbreak of the war, he endeavored
to arrest it by counseling conciliatory measures towards the
South. After the commencement of hostilities, he denounced the rebellion, and declared that his party meant
with all their "powers of mind and person to support the
Constitution and uphold the Union, to maintain the laws
and to preserve the public faith."
In 1862 he was again elected Governor of the State. Early
in 1863, when a portion of the republican press was threatening to supercede President Lincoln, the President was assured by a messenger from Governor Seymour, that the
democratic party of the State of New York would sustain
him in the exercise of his Constitutional powers as President of the United States, against all comers. When arbitrary and illegal arrests were agitating the people of the
State and endangering the cause of the Union, the firmness
of his opposition to these violations of personal liberty, and
the measures taken by him to enlighten the public on the
dangers which might ensue from a disregard of the rights
of the humblest citizen, changed the current of opinion
among republicans, and tended largely to put a stop to such
unwise and unlawful measures.
In 1863, when the southern army entered Pennsylvania,
he was called upon by President Lincoln for volunteers to
protect that State and repel the invaders; in response he















THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


395


forwarded troops with such promptness and energy that
Mr. Stanton, Secretary of War, twice telegraphed the
thanks of President Lincoln. The State of New York during his administration, furnished her full share of troops in
the United States army. His policy was to restore the
Union and at the same time to maintain the constitution of
the State of New York and the rights of its citizens. In
July, 1863, when a conscription upon the cities of New
York and Brooklyn (which subsequent investigation proved
to be unjust) caused the assemblage of an angry and frantic
mob at the City Hall, Governor Seymour appeared on the
steps of the City Hall, unprotected by any military force,
and by a few words of assurance that he would protect their
rights, induced the people to disperse. He was much criticised for addressing the excited multitude as his friends, but
his words separated the well meaning from those in the
mob whose intentions were evil, and some of them became
conservators of the city.
He was president of the National Democratic Convention
at Chicago, in August, 1864. He was again nominated in
1864 as the candidate for Governor of the State, but was
defeated by Reuben E. Fenton. He was again president of
the National Democratic Convention at New York, July 4,
1868, and nominated as its candidate for President of the
United States, but was defeated by General Grant. Since
that time Governor Seymour has devoted his attention chiefly to agricultural pursuits, and to the advancement of the
farming interests of the country.
HENRY WALTER DEPUY,
son of Jacob Rutson DePuy and Polly Clement, was born
in Pompey, Sept. 1820. His first rudiments of education
were obtained at the common district school, which were
perfected at the " Old Academy."
He learned the art of printing of the Rev. D. D. Rudd, oi
Auburn, and soon edited and published the Fayetteville





396


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Times, 1836. He next read law with the late Hicks Worden, and was admitted to practice. The profession was distasteful and he resumed journalism, and edited for a time
the Cortland Democrat, and while yet a minor. He removed
to Albion, Orleans Co., and while here married Theodosia
Thomas, of Lewiston. He next sought the " Great West,"
and edited papers in Indianapolis, LaFayette, Ind., and
Rockford, Ills., all we believe in support of the Liberty
party.
He was the author of several biographical and historical
works, among them "KossuTH and His Generals, with a
Brief History of Hungary," with an introduction by HENRY
J. RAYMOND. This work was submitted to the great Hungarian agitator himself, and carefully examined by Mr.
PULSKY, his private secretary, who pronounced it the most
correct account of the subjects treated of then extant. He
was also author of "Louis Napoleon and His Times, with a
Memoir of the Bonaparte Family;" and " Ethan Allen and
the Green Mountain Heroes of '76, with the Early History
of Vermont."  He was private secretary to Governor SEYMouR during his term of 1853-4, and subsequently served
as consul to Carlsruhe, and was appointed secretary of legation at Berlin, which place he resigned to take part in
the political struggle of 1860. He was appointed Secretary
of Nebraska by President LINCOLN, and organized that Territory. He served as the first speaker of the Nebraska
Legislature, and was also Indian agent to the Pawnees
under President LINCOLN, devoting much time to an effort
to reform the Indian service of the Government. He
was a constant contributor to the political press and the
author of several popular poems. Died in New York Feb.
2d, 1876.





ORAN---HISTORICAL.


In the vicinity of Oran, in Pompey, an old man remarkably well preserved and having a clear memory of the early
history of that portion of the town lives, Elias Barnes, upon
the farm upon whivh he was born in 1796. From Stockbridge, Mass., his father Asa Barnes came to Pompey, and
purchased this farm in 1793. Phineas Barnes and Roswell
Barnes, brothers of Asa, also came at the same time. In
the early part of 1794 they brought their families, arriving
at their new home March 5th, of that year, coming by the
way of Albany and Utica. The land upon which they settled is upon Lot No. 11 of the original survey of the town.
Job Bartholimew settled in 1793, upon the west part of the
same lot. Daniel Thomas and Capt. Peck settled about the
same time, on Lot No. 22. Thomas Foster and James Scoville, the father of Joseph Scoville, also settled near the
present village of Oran, on Lot No. 11. Joseph Scoville
now (1875,) owns the original farm upon which his father
settled but lives on Lot No. 10. James Midler who was a
revolutionary soldier, and the grand-father of Columbus C.
Midler, of Pompey, and of Philip P. Midler of DeWitt,
came with his brothers Christopher and Philip, about the
year 1800, and occupied his soldier claim. Two sisters also
came and one married a Mr. Horton, and the other, Betsey,
married Daniel Candee, who is dead, but she now resides
in Manlius. Geo. Clark who was the first merchant in
Oran, and the first teacher, and who was the father of
Brunson Clark, of Pompey, settled shortly after on the
farm  where Morgan Lewis now lives. Charles Thomas
settled where Sandford Lewis resides. Deacon Hart Capt.





398


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Pundason Avery and Wm. Barnes settled in the vicinity
where S. B. Safobrd now lives. Shubel Safbord, the father
Silas B. Safford, settled on Lot No. 10. Francis Hale in
1802, purchosed of Judge Butler, and settled on Lot No. 12,
Noah Palmer add Mr. Tripp of whom David Scoville purchased, had settled in this locality. Selah Goodrich reclaimed
and settled the land where Mr. Bowen now lives.
The first hotel put up at Oran, was built by Job Bartholimew, about 1796, and by him kept till 1808.  In 1809,
another hotel was erected on the site of the present hotel,
and was kept by Wm. Scoville. The first school house was
erected at Oran, about 1800, and Geo. Clarik was the teacher. A church was erected in 1808, and called " The Pleasant Valley Congregational Church." The first physician
was Dr. Daniel D. Denison, who came about the year 1810,
and remained till his death, about 20 years ago. He was
the father of Dr. H. D. Denison and William Denison, of
Syracuse, and D. D. Denison, of Oran. In an early day,
Oran was a more thriving business place than at present, as
well as most of the other villages in Onondaga county.
About 1810, there were at Oran, two stores, two hotels, two
blacksmith shops, a wagon maker shop, two tanneries, a
grist-mill, a distillery, an ashery and more inhabitants than
now.





REMINISCENCES.
The following papers, furnished by James W. Gould, of
Syracuse, from the original manuscript among the old relics
of his father, who was a pioneer of the original town of
Pompey, are deemed worthy of a place in this book:
A RESOLVE OF THE SUPERVISORS AT THEIR MEETING IN SCIPIO.
Resolved, That the following recommendations be transmitted to the different towns in this county by their respective Supervisors, viz:WHEREAS, The Supervisors of the County of Onondaga
have found many inconveniences by the various modes taken
in the different towns in assessing the ratable property in
the county, have thought it a duty to recommend to the
assessors of each respective town next to be chosen in said
towns, a mode of taking the valuation of property which
appears to us the most elligible in our local situation, desiring this to be publicly read at the next annual town meeting, which uniform mode will render the next Board of
Supervisors, our successors in office, more capable of doing
justice in levying taxes in our infant State, viz:-Estimate
as follows:
Improved lands of a medium quality,--------20s per acre
Working Oxen of a medium quality, -------~16 per yoke
Cows of a medium quality,----------------~5 per piece
Young Cattle of 3 years old and under,--- ---20s per year
Horses of a medium quality,---------------~10 per piece
Colts, 3 years and under,------------------_40s per year
Hogs that will weigh 100 weight, ----------20s per piece





400


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Negro Men----------------------------___-~50 per head
Negro Wenches,____-----------------------~30 per head
Grist Mills, ----~---_--------_-_____-~50 per piece
Saw Mills, ~----------     --      --_________- 30 per piece
And those articles of an inferior or superior quality in proportion, and other ratable property in like proportion.
The Board further recommends to the consideration of
the different towns, the following mode in taking the assessment, viz:-That each person holding ratable property shall
give in to the assessor a list of his or her ratable property
or estate, in writing, agreeable to the request of the assessor,
which will be an avoucher for the assessor, and prevent any
aspertions of injustice of being taxed unequally by those
having that part of duty to do in society.
The Board also recommends to assessors that they completely make out their list of assessment by the first of May,
as the law directs, so that the Supervisors may be enabled
to proceed on their business at their first meeting, and save
the county costs.
And further, we also recommend to the towns to adopt a
uniform mode of granting a bounty on wolves, and render
the reward of each man in his exertions for the destruction
of these animals. Therefore,, with submission, we think a
reward of forty shillings, in addition to the bounty allowed
by the county, to be adequate for the bounty of each wolf.
The Board submits the above recommendations to the
consideration of the several towns within this county of
Onondaga.
By order of the Board.
COMFORT TYLER, CLERK.
A true copy for the town of Pompey.
SCIPIO, December 20th, 1795.
We, the subscribers, inhabitants of Bloomingvale, in the
town of Mexico, county of Herkimer and State of New
York, takino into consideration the importance of the edu




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


401


cation of youth, as well to prepare them for a discharge of
those religious duties which we.owe our God, our neighbors and ourselves, as to' gain that knowledge of letters
which they may need to carry them happily and usefully
through life, which is, (to use the expression of the celebrated Dr. Watts,) one of the greatest blessings that ever
God bestowed on the children of men, have associated, and
by these presents do enter into a solemn compact for the
laudable purposes aforesaid, hereby pledging our good faith
each to the other to carry the following objects into execution under the following regulations:First, That we will build a school house at Bloomingvale
aforesaid, at or near the fork of the Genesee road with the
road leading to Mr. Gold's, adjacent to the stream of water
leading by the house of Mr. Rust; the size and fashion of
which said house, and the time in which the same shall be
completed to be determined on by a meeting for that purpose at the place aforesaid, on Monday, the second day of
September next.
Secondly, That we will on the day aforesaid, appoint a
committee, or otherwise provide to carry the result of our
then regulations into execution.
Thirdly, That we will contribute to and bear an equal
proportion, according to our number, in erecting and completing the said house.
Fourthly, That the said building when so completed shall
be held and considered as our private property, jointly and
severally; and that each proprietor shall be at liberty at any
and all times, to dispose of his share to any person or per.
sons who support the character or characters of good, whole.
some citizens, first, however, giving the refusal to the association.
Fifthly, That as soon as the said building is completed
we shall, if possible, procure a teacher for the said school,
for such salary or salaries and in such way as may appear
the most eligible to insure the objects of this association,
26





402


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


which shall be made up and paid by us in such proportion
as may be judged equitable and right.
Sixthly, That all future regulations and arrangements
necessary to answer the above objects, shall be legal and
binding on the whole, provided two-thirds of the association
assent and agree thereto.
In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands,
this twenty-second day of July, one thousand, seven hundred and ninety-three, (1793.)
MOSES DEWITT,
BENJAMIN MOREHOUSE,
ICHABOD LATHROP,
SAMUEL YOUNGLOVE,
DANIEL KEELER,
JEREMIAH GOULD,
THOMAS GASTON,
JOHN TILLOTSON,
THOMAS DIXON,
ELIJAH RUST,
COMFORT TYLER,
WM. HASKINS,
OLIVER OWEN,
JOSEPH WOODWORTH,
THOMAS WHITE.










(?~2~2~1~2





Additional Biographies.


SAMUEL BAKER.
Samuel, eldest child of Nathaniel and Lydia (Tallmadge)
Baker, was born at East Hampton, Suffolk County, L. I.,
October 2d, 1793. Died at Pompey, N.Y., Aug. 8, 1874.
The subject of this sketch, was the sixth in descent from
Judge Thomas Baker, of East Hampton, L. I. It cannot be
doubted that he received his training and character principallyat the hands of his mother, Lydia Tallmadge. She was
the daughter of one of the Deacons of Mr. Buel's church, of
East Hampton, and was a woman of the greatest sweetness,
simplicity, and yet strength of character. Deprived, as she
was, for so many years of her life, of her hearing, and singularly retiring and modest in disposition, she was yet known
throughout the town of Pompey, where so much of her life
was spent, as ready for every good word and work.
In 1798, Mr. Nathaniel Baker and his family removed
from East Hampton to Balston, Saratoga County. In 1806,
they removed to Pompey. Deacon Baker used often to tell
that as they drove into.the village, coming from the Oriskaney reservation by the State road, leading from Cazenovia
and Green's Corners, he saw the frame of the Academy standing gaunt and skeleton-like against the sky, as they drove past
it. His father soon purchased the red building at the northwest corner of the green, which had been erected in part as





404


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


a store house for grain purchased, and also the farm which
has been ever since in the possession of the family.
As the Academy in Pompey was still unendowed and unfinished, young Baker was compelled to seek his education
elsewhere. He pursued a full course of study at the Academy in Clinton, finishing his studies there with the last class
which was sent forth before its charter as " Hamilton College" took effect. Returning to Pompey in about 1812, he
proposed to devote himself to the profession of the law. He
entered the office of S. S. Baldwin, Esq., where he pursued
the study of the law for more than two years. Either the
study or the surroundings, however, proved not to his taste.
About that time, Mr. Morris desired his assistance for a
time in his store; and he left the law office apparently for
a few weeks only, but as it proved, for a permanent occupation. After a clerkship of considerable length in the store,
he became interested in it, and subsequently, sole proprietor of it; though he called to his assistance at various times,
Mr. N. Andrews, Mr. L. B. Pitcher, &c., finally retiring
from the business in 1841; having then, as it was said, been
employed as a merchant longer than any other person in the
County. On the 21st of Sept., 1819, he was married to Philena Hascall, fifth daughter of Joseph Hascall, of Pawlet, Vt.,
for forty years Deacon of the Baptist church, there. She
died August 17th, 1842. On the 3d Dec., 1826, Mr. Baker
and his wife became members of the Congregational church
in Pompey. On the 26th April, 1840, he was chosen one of
the Deacons of the church, and officiated as such till the
time of his death, having been absent, it is believed, but a
single communion service, and that only a few weeks before
his death.
At a very early period Mr. Baker was chosen one of the
trustees of Pompey Academy, and served for many years in
that capacity, being usually one of the Prudential Committee. Deacon Baker was a man of affable spirit, of sound
judgment, a kind husband, and loving father; a citizen
faithful in every relation of life. His life was, in fact, iden




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


405


tified thoroughly with the church, of which he was for nearly 40 years one of the most laborious and useful members.
He was, almost literally, never absent from his place in the
prayer meeting and in the church. And no church could
have a more thoroughly consistent or devoted member. He
wore his religion as a daily garment. With him, christianity was not a theory, but a practical, heartfelt, daily experience. His whole nature was moulded by it, and his whole
life was absorbed in it. It was at once his work, his life,
and his joy. Most strictly conscientious, always pursuing
the golden rule, it was not strange that no man should have
aught to say against him. He who never spake ill of any
one, might well enjoy the enviable distinction of having no
one speak ill of him. The thoroughness of his conversion,
reaching not only his moral nature, but extending to all his
possessions, seemed to make it both easy and natural for
him to live a truly christian life. This latter life was
marked by no special exaltation or depression, but was calm,
steadfast, consistent, faithful and always peaceful. His natural courtesy, his sterling good sense, and his equable temper, made him an admirable counsellor, a reliable friend,
and a true peace maker. He married for his second wife
Miss Eunice B. Birdseye, of Cornwall, Ct., who survives
him. The children who survive him, (all of the first marriage,) are as follows:
1. Henry II. Baker, living in the homestead; 2. Catharine M., wife of Lucien Birdseye, of Brooklyn, N. Y.; 3.
Tallmadge Baker, formerly a merchant in New York city,
and now resident in South Norwalk, Ct.; 4. Mrs. Frances
S., wife of Thomas Sherwood, Jr., of Kalamazoo, Mich.; 5.
D. Kellogg Baker, merchant, of New York city; 6. James
S. Baker, merchant, of New York city.
JESSE BUTLER.
Jesse Butler, son of Ebenezer Butler, Sen., was born in
Bradford, Conn., Oct. 30, 1764.





406


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


He was married in 1786, to Miss Louisa Soper, by whom
he had eight children-Riley, Merit, Lucinda, Orange,
Gould, Louisa, Maria D., and Jesse S. The first three
were born in Connecticut. Orange was the first white male
child born within present limits of the town of Pompey.
Mr. B. came to Pompey in the Spring of 1792, and bought
of his brother, Ebenezer Butler, Jr., one hundred acres of
land. He remained through the summer, made a small
clearing, and put up a small log house on the knoll near a
spring of water, a little to the north of the house now, (1873)
owned and occupied by Mr. Horatio S. Birdseye. He returned to Connecticut, in the fall of same year; and the
next spring, March, 1793, returned in company with Geo.
Catlin and their families, and made Pompey their home.
Their families and effects were brought hither on a sled
drawn by oxen-of which each owned one. They wended
their way from Whitestown, largely aided by marked trees.
Each of the two women having young children to care for.
During his life Mr. B. was a farmer-always in good
health, rarely, if ever, gone from his home and family for
24 hours together. He and his wife kept house for 60
years.
In 1847 or 8, they sold the farm and moving to Fabius,
spent the remainder of their lives with their daughter Louisa-Mrs. Ella W. Boss. Mr. B. died Nov. 30, 1856, aged
92 years. Mrs. Butler lived till the next April, 1857, when
she died, aged 92 years and 9 months. She was one of the
few original members of the Congregational church, in Pompey, and for more than 61 years and till her death, a communicant in that church.
Of their children, Riley Butler was born in Harwington,
Conn. He was about five years of age when with his father,
he came to Pompey. Was married in 1811, to Rachel Frisbee, of Harwington. He moved from Pompey to Albion,
Orleans Co., N. Y., in 1824. His wife died at Albion, leaving six children. He afterwards moved to Mich., to a place





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


407 -

about 18 miles from Detroit. He died about the year 1869.
The children are now living in Chicago, and in the State of
Mich.
Merit Butler was born in Harwington, Conn., April 10,.
1790. He was three years of age when his father moved to
Pompey. From that time till to-day, (March, 1876,) he has
been a resident of Pompey,4 He lives to-day, being the last
of the original settlers of this township, and perhaps, (it was&
so declared at last meeting of Pioneers,) the oldest resident
of Onondaga Co. He still retains, at the age of 86 years, a
strong physical constitution, and mental faculties unimpaired. His memory is very reliable. To him, more than to
any other one individual, are we indebted for the facts and
dates which make the Historical chapter of this book. He
has an almost perfect recollection of the settlement and
growth of Pompey village. At one time he knew every
person, residing withi.n the town. He gives us names, dates,
and circumstances; relating, as few can do, the history of
Pompey, and of Onondaga Co.
He was married to Miss Sabina Bigelow, daughter of Josiah Bigelow, of Pompey, in 1813; by whom he had six
children-Josiah B., who died in Syracuse, in 1855; Sarah
L., wife of Rev. Geo. M. Peck, of Wyoming Conference,
now living in Honesdale, Pa.; Ellen, wife of Carnie Heydon, living at Pompey; Amelia S., wife of U. H. Patterson,
who died at Homer, in 1856; Ebenezer, for many years
Principal of Seymour School, Syracuse, now Supt. Schools,
Whitehall, N. Y.; and Wells M., still residing in Pompey.
Mr. Butler spent his youth on a farm; at age of 20, went
to learn Blacksmithing, at which trade he worked for 40
years.
His wife died June 24, 1875, at the ripe age of 82 years
and 8 mo. She will be remembered by the many who have
been inmates of her household in their younger days, as
the kind-hearted, benevolent, sympathizing friend; ever
ready, with willing feet and hands to minister to the happiness of others.





408


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


Lucinda Butler married Dea. J. Curtis, of Elbridge. She
lived in Elbridge many years. Afterwards with her husband moved to Malone, Ill., where she resided till her death.
She left two children, Louisa and Maria. The first named
is a prominent teacher in Chicago Public Schools-being
Principal of a Ward school of that city.
Orange Butler was born at Pompey, March 5, 1794,
graduated at Union College, and' soon after entered the office of Hon. Victory Birdseye, with whom he pursued his
legal studies till admitted to the bar-removing to Vienna,
Ontario Co. He commenced the practice of law, but remained only a short time, when he settled in Gaines, Orleans Co. He was District Attorney of Orleans County
for several years, and had a very extensve practice, being
prominent in the famous Morgan trials during the antiMasonic excitement.
Full of enterprise, he removed to Adrian, Mich. Soon
becoming popular by his ability and affable manners, he was
sent to the Legislature during the administration of Stephen
T. Mason. Declining political preferment, he addressed
himself studiously to his profession, establishing an enviable
reputation as a sound lawyer and brilliant advocate. In
1849 he removed to Lansing, where he resided till time of
his death in 1870. Abandoning his profession, for a number of years before his death he lived in agreeable retirement.
He was an accomplished classical scholar and fine linguist;
clear in judgment, cheerful, upright in all his intercourse
with his fellow men. He lived to fill up the measure cf a
long and useful life, being seventy-six years of age when
called away.
He married Miss Wealthy Handy, of Pompey. They had
five children-John, Chas. W., still residing at Lansing,
Augustus S., deceased, Helen, wife of 0. A. Jenison, and
Augusta, wife of C. M. Beebe of Lansing.
Mrs. B. lived till within the present year, 1876, and during fall of 1875 paid a visit to Pbmpey, enjoying for the
last time the scenes of her childhood's home.





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


409


Gould Butler was born in Pompey, lived many years in
Onondaga Co., as an active business man--married Bathia
Dodge. They had three children, Charles D., Caroline
and Charlotte. He removed to Springfield, Ill., where he
resided till May, 1849, when, in company with 20 others, he
started " Over Land" for California. While crossing the
Plains was taken ill of cholera, and died, May 16, 1849.
His wife survived him a number of years, and till about
the year 1854.
Louisa Butler was born in Pompey. In 1825 was married to Ella W. Boss. About the year 1837 they moved to
Fabius, where they have since resided. They have six children now living. The oldest, Henry W., is an artist, whose
work is second to few in the profession. lie, with four
brothers and one sister, resides in Binghamton. Helen
M., wife of J. Halloday, resides in Pompey.
Maria D. Butler was born in Pompey, Oct.,29, 1826, was
married to Chas. E. Webb, who,worked at wagon making
in Pompey village, for over 40 years. They now reside in
Syracuse; they have had six children, four now living; two
lie buried at Pompey. Franklin H. has been since 1847
a resident of Hudson, N. Y., is now, and has been for many
years editor and publisher of a weekly paper. Chas. E.
married Miss Julia A. Bishop, of Pompey, is a carpenter,
residing in Syracuse. Fannie married Mr. John Cadwell,
of Fabius, and now resides in Western part of this State.
James II. till recently lived in Syracuse.
Jesse S. Butler was born in Pompey. lie was engaged
as a merchant in Syracuse for many years. As a stirring
business man he has few equals. He married Miss Amanda
Bottom, of Syracuse, ini which city he now lives. His children are William, Sarah, wife of Mr. Alfred Luther, and
George WV. The first two named residing in Syracuse.
The last named died in the year 1870.
JOSIAH BIGELOW.
The subject of this notice was a native of the town of IIol




410


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


den, Mass., and when quite young emigrated to the town of
Guilford, Vt. He was born in 1755, and married Sarah Culver, of Guilford, by whom he had six sons and three daughters. They came to Pompey in 1800, arriving on the 10th
day of March. Mr. Bigelow had purchased of Samuel Beebe, of New York, five hundred and ninety acres of land opposite the Richard Hiscock place, which was thre birth place
and early home of L. Harris Hiscock and Frank Hiscock,
who became distinguished lawyers in Syracuse, and of their
brothers, Horace and Charles Hiscock. Mr. Bigelow, with
his older boys, immediately commenced to fall the stately
forest, and in three years they cleared one hundred acres of
heavy timbered land. Up to 1803 all was prosperous, but
that year was noted for the prevalence of the long fever.
Most of Mr. B.'s family had it, and he died with it, Dec. 17,
1803. Mrs. Bigelow survived her husband only three years.
Then comes a period of sad memories to the surviving members of the family. The time had come when brothers and
sisters must separate-leave the paternal home and go among
strangers. Soon'they were where broad rivers and lakes
rolled between them.- Jacob Bigelowwent to Concord,
Mich., and Josiah to Massachusetts, and other members of
the family were equally separated. Dr. Bigelow of Syracuse,
who married a daughter of William Williams, formerly of
Pompey, near Oran, is a descendant of this family.
DANIEL GOTT.
Although his name is incidentally mentioned in this volume in several places, this book would fail to meet the expectations of the public, without a biographical sketch of
Daniel Gott. For so many years of his brilliant life was he
identified with the history, growth and prosperity of Pompey, that he and his family occupy a large place in the memory and affections of the people. He was born July 10th,
1794, at Hebron, Ct., and died July 6th, 1864, at Syracuse.
Within the measure of those years he acquired wealth, distinction and fame, and his memory will grow brighter as the















THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


411


years roll round and the asperities of life's conflicts are forgotten. His early education was limited only to enjoying
the advantages which the common schools of his native town
afforded. At the age of sixteen he commenced teaching,
which he continued up to and including the first years of
his residence in Pompey, having taught in the West room
of the old Pompey Academy. At the age of nineteen he
thought to learn the Clothiers trade, and for that purpose
entered the service of his uncle, Ebenezer Snow. This not
being congenial to his taste, he soon entered the office of
Lawyer Gilbert of Hebron, Ct., and commenced the study
ot the law. About the year 1812 he visted his uncle, Elihu
Barber, in Pompey. It was probably then that he resolved
to make Pompey his future home, and il 1817 he located
permanently on the Hill and continued his studies with
Daniel Wood, and after his admission to practice became
the law partner of Samuel Baldwin, who afterwards located
at Pompey West Hill, now LaFayette. On the 12th day of
Sept., 1819, he was united in marriage to the widow of Stephen Sedgwick, of Pompey, a brilliant genius and eminent
lawyer. Her maiden name was Ann Baldwin, a sister of
Samuel and Charles Baldwin, a lady of large scholastic attainments and fine literary taste. By this union Mr. Gott
also became the foster father of Henry J., John and Clarles
B. Sedgwick, the second of whom died when a youth. Charles
B. Sedgwick and Henry J. Sedgwick both lived to become
eminent lawyers, and they have both held high and responsible positions in the State and Nation. Henry J. was a
State Senator from 1844 to 1848, and Post Master at Syracuse under Buchanan's administration. Charles B. wasmember of Congress for two terms, from 1859 to 1863, and
has acquired a brilliant record as a lawyer. Charles B. is
the only survivor of three brothers, and his residence is in
Syracuse.
Thus we find Mr. Gott at the age of twenty-five, with the
care and responsibilities of a family devolved upon him and
he assiduously applied his energies to the practice of his




412


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


profession. Being both physically and mentally a man of
remarkable power, he soon developed those qualities of indomitable energy, untiring industry and persuasive eloquence that won for him wealth and fame, and made him
the peer of Noxon, Forbes, Jewett, Spencer, Sibley and extended his practice through the central Counties of New
York. In 1828 he became afflicted with sore eyes, which
seriously impaired his usefulness for about twelve years. At
times so severe was this affliction, that he was obliged to
confine himself to a dark room. It was during this time
that his powerful and retentive memory came to his rescue,
and enabled him at times to continue in business that otherwise he must have abandoned. In 1840 he became permanently cured, and his practice continued to increase till 1846,
when he was elected a member of Congress, which office he
held two consecutive terms. When in Congress he was the
author of the famous " Gott Resolition" for the abolition
of the slave trade in the District of Columbia. In 1851 he
was nominated by the Whigs forJudstice of the Supreme
Court, and was defeated by lion. Daniel Pratt, by a largely
reduced majority. In 1844 he was on the Electoral ticket
for Henry Clay. In 1853 he moved to Syracuse, where he
resided till his death, continuing the practice of the law in
company with his son Daniel F.'Gott. His office was the
law school of Pompey, and with the solicitude of a father
he watched the progress of the numerous students who
sought his instruction, and prompted by his genial and
kind nature, and remembering the obstac'es that he had
encountered and overcome, he was ever ready to counsel,
advise and encourage. Among the large number of gifted
and eminent men who entered the legal profession from his
office were Seabred Dodge, Charles Mason, John U. Pettit,
Harvey Sheldon, Charles B. Sedgwick, Henry J. Sedgwick,
Geo. II. Williams, LeRoy Morgan, L. II. IIiscock, Charles
Foster, and these and all others who were students in his
office bear concurrent testimony to his kindness and anxious
solicitude for their honor and welfare. During his resi




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


413


dence in Pompey, he was trustee of the Academy for many
years, always laboring for its prosperity. He was a constant attendant of the Presbyterian church.
Ils children in the order of their ages, \ere Sackett, Ann,
Amelia and Daniel F. The two eldest are dead. Sacket
was never married, Ann married Hon. Geo. II. Woodruff,
a graduate of Hamilton College, and a lawyer and writer of
distinction of Joliet, Ills. HIe and one child survive. Daniel
F. graduated from Hamilton College in the class of 1849,
became the law partner of his father in Syracuse, married
Sarah Clary, a daughter of the late Dr. Lyman Clary, of Syracuse, is Register in Bankruptcy, to which he was appointed in 1867. Amelia married Frank H. Hastings, a nurseryman of Rochester, N. Y. They have three children.
MORGAN.
LeRoy Morgan was the eldest son of Lyman Morgan, a farmer and one of the pioneers in the early settlement of Pompey, where he died February 24, 1864, universally respected for his consistent and upright life. Living about two and
a half miles from the Academy, to the endowment of which
he was an early contributor, his son LeRoy took every available occasion to attend this celebrated pioneer institution
and from it he graduated in 1830, at the age of twenty, having been born in Pompey, March 27th, 1810. At the age
of eighteen he taught school in Volney, Oswego Co., at a
compensation of $13 per month. The next year he taught
in Delphi, in Pompey, where he became acquainted with
Miss Elizabeth C. Slocum, a daughter of Mathew B. Slocum, and sister of Gen. Henry W. Slocum, whom he married in 1832. He also taught school in the Wells District
and the Murray District in Pompey, in the years 1830 and
1831. Thus by his own labor he educated himself, teaching
winters and attending the Academy summers. In 1830 he
commenced the study of the law in the celebrated Law office
of the late Hoi. Daniel Gott, and Hon. Amasa Jerome, af




414


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


terwards Judge of the Corrmon Pleas and Surrogate of Onondaga County, also a native of Pompey, was his fellow student. There were also three other students in the same office, E. A. Baldwin, Q. O. Andrus, and the late Hon. H. J.
Sedgwick. Remaining with Mr. Gott till 1831, he entered
the office of Hon. S. L. Edwards, in Manlius, and there continued his studies till he was admitted to practice in the
" Old Common Pleas" in 1832. The next year he was adanitted to practice in the Supreme Court. In 1839 he located in Baldwinsville, where he continued in the practice of
ihis profession till 1851. In 1843 he received the appointment of District Attorney of Onondaga County, which office he held with the exception of a few weeks, till the new,constitution came into operation in 1848.
In 1851 he came to Syracuse to reside, and formed a Law
partnership with the late Hon. D. D. Hillis, and this continued,until the death of Mr. Hillis, which occurred in 1859.
In the fall of the latter year Mr. Morgan was elected a Justice of the Supreme Cdurt for the term of eight years, and
at the expiration of his term was re-elected without opposition. He still resides in Syracuse.
DR. JEHIAL STEARNS.
Jehial Stearns was born in Rockingham, Vt., February
66th, 1790. His father wa; William Stearns, a respectable
farmer, and a soldier of the revolution. From pecuniary
considerations his early education was limited. At the age of
sixteen he commenced his academic studies in Charlestown,
N. H., and subsequently acquired the Latin language under
various competent teachers. In 1809 he commenced the
study of medicine under the direction of Dr. Oliver Hastings, a celebrated physician of Charleston, N. H. In 1811
was his first attendance of lectures at Dartmouth College,
under Dr. Nathan Smith. Having graduated with honor,
he located as a physician and surgeon in the town of Essex,
Essex Co., N. Y., where h enjoyed a good degree of pub




THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


415


lic patronage. In January, 1815, he came to Pompey, Onondaga Co., N. Y., where he was kindly and cordially
received, and the growing town being in need of a physician,
he was invited to remain, and he concluded to make Pompey his future home. Dr. Stearns ardently loved the practice as well as the science ot his profession, and by his assiduous devotion to its duties, his courteous manners and
more than all his kind and ready sympathy for his suffering
patients, he soon won reputation and success. He was never
ambitious to be called a money making doctor, but considered his profession rather a charitable calling. His circle of
practice if not so large as some of his compeers, was elligible and remunerative. Among the cotemporaries of Dr. S.
in the profession, and who were likewise his friends, were
Drs. Granger, Wm. Taylor, D. Denison, Upson H. B. Moore
and others, whose professional standing was of a high order,
and it is not too much to say that he was the equal of any
of them.
Dr. Stearns had some experience in the war of 1812, and
acquired skill and a taste for the practice of surgery, arid
this branch of his profession he made rather a specialty in
his practice with a high degree of success, not only as an
operator, but in exhibiting singular judgment in knowing
where to operate. In 1822 he received the appointmenit of
Surgeon of the 98th regiment of Infantry, under De Witt
Clinton, Governor of New York, which he resigned Oct. 9th,
1830, united with the Onondaga Medical Society in 1817,
of which he is a still a memb6r, having served one term as
its President, and one term of four years as delegate to the
State Society. In 1826 he was elected Vice-President of
the Onondaga Co. Medical Society. In 1839, January 21st,
he was constituted Honorary member of the Medical Society of Geneva College, and by that College the Degree of M.
D. was conferred upon him the same year. In 1840 the
Cortland County Medical Society elected him an Honorary
member, and in 1868 he became a member of the Onondaga County Historical Association. For many years he was





416


THE POMPEY RE-UNLON.


an efficient and useful trustee of Pompey Academy, and is a
member of the Presbyterian church at Pompey, with which
he became connected soon after he came to Pompey, and in
the prosperity of which he has always evinced a lively interest. On the 22d day of January, 1816, he was married to
Nancy Hascall, a sister of Hon. Ralph Ilascall, M. C., and of
Rev. Daniel Hascall, who was a Baptist clergyman, and
founder of the Madison University. She died July 11, 1856,
and for a second wife, Dr. S. married May 9th, 1860, Serepta S. Shattuck, a daughter of Chester Shattuck, a pioneer
of Pompey, and brother of Jo-eph Shattuck, whose biography is herein recorded. By his first wife he had two children, J. Hascall Stearns and Cornelia B. Stearns. The former was a pioneer Californian, and is a resident of San
Francisco,but he has never forgotten his early home to which
he pays his annual visits during the delightful summers of
the old Hills, as regular as the seasons roll round. Hie is a
bachelor, and not communicative as to his wealth, but their
is little doubt that fortune has favored him to that extent
that he might well afford to support a larger family.
Cornelia B. Stearns married Hon. John W. Dwinelle, of
San Francisco, California. She died Oct. 25th, 1873, leaving her husband surviving her, and five children. In the
order of their ages the children are, Ella C., the wife of Chas.
Pond, of Providence, R. I. Anna Louisa, of SanFrancisco,
Charles H., a graduate of Harvard College, largely engaged
in agricultural pursuits. Herman, now a student in California College, and Florence, with her father in San Francisco. Mr. Dwinelle has been mayor of San Francisco, a
member of the California Legislature, a lawyer of distinction and eminent ability, and a gentleman and author of
high literary taste.
Dr. Stearns at the age of eighty-six still survives-a resident of Pompey Hill, and to a remarkable degree in the enjoyment of both his physical and mental faculties. Although nominally lie has abandoned the practice of his pro




j9~ ~-/








V.










THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


417


fession, he is often called to administer to the necessities of
the afflicted.
HEZEKIAH W. STEVENS.
Hezekiah W. Stevens was born at Killingworth, Connecticut, in 1793. He came to Pompey in 1810, looking for a
place to locate in the cabinet and chair business. He was a
first-class mechanic, and was induced by Henry Seymour,
Moses S. Marsh and others, to establish himself there. His
first shop was located nearly opposite the Dr. Tibbals house.
He was married by Rev. Jabez Chadwick, at the house of
Henry Seymour, to Lois Field, who came to Pompey from
Jericho, Vermont, and boarded several years in the families
of Henry Seymour and Nathaniel Baker. They lived three
years in the small house still standing opposite the Dr. Tibbals house, and afterwards built and occupied the house and
shop between the Presbyterian church and Col. Hezekiah
Hopkins' tavern. Hie was a man of excellent taste, successful in business, and many of the young married people
received their "setting out" at his ware-rooms.  Many
pieces of furniture of his make are still to be seen in the old
residences of the town. He was injured at the burning of
Merit Butler's blacksmith shop, and died the following year,
in January, 1828, at the age of 37. When Merit Butler had
constructed the vane for the Presbyterian church steeple,
Mr. Stevens covered it with gold leaf so thoroughly, that
for sixty years it has glistened in the sunbeams, and it has
been said their work stands higher than that of any of their
successors. Henry Stevens, brother of Hezekiah, was at
one time in the partnership with him. He married Phena
Jerome, sister of Ira and John C. Jerome, and subsequently
removed to Fabius, where he died, leaving several children,
the only survivor being Mrs. Ann Wheaton, now residing
there.
Hezekiah's widow with her second husband, Wm. C.
Hendricks, and three sons, William  H., Charles W. and
Richard F., continued to occupy the family residence north
27





418


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


of the church for many years. The house was sold to Geo.
Merrell, and Mr. Hendricks and wife removed to the west.
She died in 1853, at Elkhart, Indiana, and was buried in the
family lot at Pompey. Mr. Hendricks subsequently married Emily Gould, of Jamesville, and now resides at Elkhart.
WWm. II. Stevens married Ann R. Bishop, who died at
Buffalo, in 1852, and was buried in the family lot of her
father near Oswego. He has resided sixteen years in the
city of New York, engaged in the manufacture of parlor organs. One of his three children survives-Richard H. Stevens, residing in New York, engaged in the stationery trade.
Charles W. Stevens married Susan Dillon, at St. Louis,
Missouri. He has resided in that city since 1840, engaged
in the practice of medicine, and filled the Professorship of
Anatomy twenty-four years in the Medical College. He
was several years Superintendent of the St. Louis Insane
Asylum. They have two sons, Frank H. and Charles D.
Stevens.
Richard F. Stevens married Esther Prentiss in 1844, at
St. Louis, where he resided several years engaged in the
practice of medicine. IHe subsequently resided in Syracuse,
N. Y., where his wife died in 1872, since which he has resided in the city of New York, and holds the office of Collector of City Revenue.
Of four children one survives, Jennie P. Stevens, now
engaged in the study of medicine in the Woman's Medical
College of New N ork city.





The influence of the re-union has been seen and felt in
various ways since it occurred.  It has given the town
a notoriety and popularity not hitherto enjoyed. Every
year since 1871, during the oppressively hot summer days,
Pompey Hill has become the resort of those seeking pleasure and repose from the dust, heat and inconveniences of
city life. Every year the number who seek its healthful
heights increases.
The benefits of the Academy to the past generations of
Pompey so plainly exemplified on that; occasion, have created a sympathy in behalf of, the venerable institution, and
more closely endeared it to the citizens of Pompey, so that
efforts are continually, being made for its prosperity. Festivals and other means have been resorted to for the purpose of raising money to make needful repairs. Upon one
occasion when an "Old Folk's Concert" was being held, August 21st, 1874, for the benefit of the Academy, William H.
Stevens, Esq., of New York, unexpectedly came to town
bearing a present to the Academy trustees of a miniature
fac simile of the "Old Academy building."  Taking advantage of the occasion the presentation was made at the
concert, the following notice of which appeared in the Syracuse daily papers.
" On Friday evening, Aug. 21st, 1874, was a concert for the
benefit of Pompey Academy. The entertainment was large




120


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


ly attended by the citizens of Pompey, and very many strangers who are here enjoying the rural pleasures of the country at this delightful season of the year. Among the distinguished visitors from abroad were Dr. Charles W. Stevens, of St. Louis, Mo., Charles Hayden, Esq., of Rochester,
N. Y., Wm. H. Stevens, Esq., of New York, and Mrs. Charlotte Beardslee, of Syracuse, one of the pioneer teachers in
the early days of Pompey. An interesting episode occurred
at the conclusion of the first part. Win. H. Stevens, Esq.,
of New York, was present at the Re-union in Pompey, June
29th, 1871, and upon that occasion hearing much said in
reference to the old academy building which was torn down
in 1834, to give place to the present structure, he conceived
the idea of constructing a miniature fac-simile of the old
building from memory. He was among the number who
had been educated within its sacred walls. And drawing
upon the recollections of his school boy days, he had finished
his model and happened to return to his early home the very
day the concert was to take place, bringing with him the
miniature building as a gift to the present board of trustees.
At the conclusion of the first part of the concert the trustees
of the Academy were invited to take their place upon the
stage, the audience and some of them not knowing for what
purpose. They stood in the form of a semi-circle, in the center of which upon a stand, Mr. E. Butler, of Whitehall, N.
Y., a native of Pompey, soon placed the gift. Mr. Stevens
also stood upon the stage. Around and behind them stood
the singers in the costume of one hundred years ago. Mr.
Butler then in behalf of Mr. Stevens, made the following
presentation speech:GENTLEMEN: I appear before you to-night, honored with
a pleasing part of this evening's entertainment. I have before me a model of the " Old Pompey Academy" building,
which was erected in 1801; within whose walls during more
than a third of a century, were educated, perhaps, more men
who have lived and become famous as governors, legislators,
judges, lawyers, physicians, generals of the army, ministers





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


421


of the gospel, missionaries to foreign climes, poets, orators
and eminent civilians, than any other similar institution in
this or any other State. Three years ago when was held on
yonder "green" the grand re-union of the sons and daughters of Pompey, when they came from far and near to meet
again at the old home hearth-stone as they grasped the hand
of cherished friends, you remember how the old academy
was the central theme of every conversation. Around it
clustered the pleasant memories and reminiscences of the
past; to it they turned with the fond eye of memory, and
beheld anew the classic walls, paying to it a deference akin
to adoration. Among the number who that day met with
us and enjoyed the festive occasion was one who on his return to his home in New York, resolved from memory to
reproduce in miniature, the old structure entire. He has
during his leisure moments labored upon it, and to-day as
he returns again to visit the home of his boyhood, does he
bring with him this memento, and as others have in words
so feelingly dedicated their affection to this institution, so he
now dedicates this the offspring of his handiwork. In the
name of our former townsman, Mr. Wm. H. Stevens, of New
York, the architect and builder of this fac-simile of the old
Academy building, I do now present this gift, asking that it
remain in the archives of your institution so long as Pompey Academy shall exist, and it in the future it shall happen,
as happen it may, that the organization as now existing shall
cease, it is his wish that you or your successors shall present it to the Onondaga County Historical Association.
Please accept as the offering of the devoted love of a noble
h-eart to its cherished Alma Mater.
MR. STEVENS then explained the construction of the model,
after which Win. W. Van Brocklin, Esq., responded as follows:
MR. STEVENS:-In behalf of the trustees of Pompey Academy and in behalf of this entire community, whose interests
in this institution it is their duty to cherish and protect, I return you most sincere and heartfelt thanks for this beautiful





422


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


gift so suggestive of the thousand golden memories of the
" olden time."  And to you Mr. Butler, I return thanks for
the appropriate afid feeling language you have been enabled
to use in the presentation of this perfect model of the old
Academy building, and for the stirring memories you have
awakened of the transcendent blessings and benefits which
have resulted from the establishment of this institution to,
the early settlers of Pompey and their descendants.
But above all, we give thanks to our God, the great preserver and benefactor of humanity, whose Providence has
so unexpectedly dropped down among us our former townsman on this interesting occasion, bringing this priceless gift
appearing at this opportune time, when an old folks concert
is in progress for the benefit of;that institution, whose first
edifice is here reproduced in miniature from memory; and
our thanks are further due to the great architect of the universe, for the gift of memory, that has enabled you my
brother, so faithfully and vividly to call up from the storehouse of your memory all the details and minute peculiarities that characterized those classic halls whose walls echoed
to the tread of a Dodge,,a Mason, a Marsh and a Seymour,
enabling you to construct it with that artistic skill that challenges the admiration and gratitude of all acquainted with
the old building, who have had the good fortune to examine
this. So perfect is it, that I understand the Hon. Luther R.
Marsh said when admiring its just proportions and elaborate finish, that the only thing lacking, was the birchen rod
of the venerable Joshua Leonard. I confess that language
is too poor to express the thoughts and emotions that crowd
upon my mind in viewing this memento of the past. The
emotional sentiments which the occasions calls up are of kin
to those inspired by the beautiful lines of the enraptured
poet.
"How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood,
When fond recollection presents them to view
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild wood,
And every loved spot which my infancy knew."





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


423


And those other immortal lines around which cluster a
thousand fonder and dearer memories.
"I love it, I love it, and who shall dare
To chide me for loving that old arm chair,
Have you learned the spell a mother sat there,
And a sacred thing was that old arm chair."
The lessons too, which this event teaches, are of the most
important character, and amiong them I may name the lasting impressions and unfading memories of our early life. If
our brother can in this matchless little building, so vividly
portray all the lineaments of the school-room where forty
years ago he spent the happy hours of life's bright morning,
how important that in the youthful mind be instilled those
principles of righteousness, truth, temperance, virtue and
integrity that shall make the child through all the future
years of life feel strong to resist the temptations that are scattered all along the pathway of life. For, rest assured, temptation will assail us through all the coming years, until the
dawn of eternity shall appear.
Thanking you again for this priceless treasure, which we
-will ever cherish in our inmost heart, with the kindest feeling of respect for the donor, we wish you prosperity and joy
through all the coming years of life, and unalloyed happiness
through all the boundless cycles of eternity.
Since the re-union, frequent notices of the healthful clime
and beautiful scenery of Pompey have appeared in the newspapers. From    among the number we clip the following
beautiful poem, which some time after the re-union, appeared in one of the Syracuse papers.
TO POMPEY.
All day in fancy I have seen
Thy green clad hills, vast and eternal,
O'er looking all the vale between,
And rising toward the skies supernal.





424


THE POMPEY RE-UNION.


All day I've roamed thy woodlands o'er,
And seen with fancy's glowing vision
Thy quiet streets, and fields so fair,
Fairer to me than fields Elysian.
Below thee in the distance seen,
The city's spires are brightly gleaming,
The whirr and clang of busy life
Within its crowded streets are teeming;
But tho' old hills upreared so high,
Escape the city's din and clashing,
The few within thy cool retreats
Enjoy the long, bright days now passing.
A happy home is mine beside
Oswego's brightly flowing river,
Yet, will my heart e'er yearn for thee,
My childhood's home, for aye and ever,
I tire of all this flatlowland,
I long for thy dear lights and shadows,
I want to climb thy rugged hills
And wander in thy quiet meadows.
I want to gaze upon thy scenes,
In Autumn's light serene, and mellow,
And watch thy graceful waving trees,
All beautiful, though sere and yellow,
But ah, for me, it may not be,
What need is there to murmur longer,
My feet must wander far away,
E'en while my love for thee grows stronger.
And I may roam in other lands,
May cross the deep and boundless ocean,
My heart shall ne'er forget that love,
While life its pulses keep in motion.
And oh, when all life's cares are o'er,
And swift from me is memory flying,
Old Pompey may thy hills arise,
To greet my eyes when I am dying.
SICILY SPRAGUE.





QI ^ $9oigaateat aE t41 Un IL.
In addition to the officers and committees whose names
appears in the foregoing pages, mention should have been
made of the marshal of the day and his assistants, whose
duties were very laborious, and discharged with a skill and
promptness Which commandeid tthe~probation of all.
The marshal was M. R. Dyer, and his assistants Samuel
W. Jerome, Moses TI Robinson, Dwight Kershaw, Wm. J.
Mason and Fred. A. M. Ball. The following additional
names appear upon the programme published at the time,
who were on the Committee of Arrangements: Chas. W. II.
Wood, S. S. Walley, Geo. Hopkins, Geo. R. Vail, Rodney
Hill and 1). G. Southard, and the following on the Committee of Reception: J. R. Fenner, Wilfred M. Scoville, Bronson Clarke and John P. Robinson.
The following named ladies and gentlemen were omitted,
who deserve to be remembered for untiring efforts in the
preparations for the day. Wakeman G. Sprague, who was
charged with making all necessary purchases in Syracuse,
E. S. Dawson who was treasurer of the Re-Union fund, Mrs.
Henry S. Doolett, Mrs. Jane E. O'Donaghey and Mrs. Wm.
AW. Van Brocklin, who were on committee to prepare refreshments, to make decorations and to arrange the tables.





CONCLUSION.
Having finally had charge of the publication of this vol
ume, I esteem it a privilege,and feel it a duty that I owe to
the publication committee, to write a few explanatory words
in conclusion. It will be observed that many biographical
sketches are wanting to make the volume complete. Among
the number omitted may be mentioned the Jeromes, Judds,
Murrays, Marshes, Newmans, Northrups, Duguids, Candees, Woods, Woodfords, Hiscocks, Blowers, Loseys and
many others, from whom have arisen distinguished and eminent citizens, mention of whom would be fully sufficient to
fill another volume of the size of this. For this the committee are not at fault, as over four years ago, public notice
was repeatedly given through "The Press," of the work in
contemplation, and asking for contributions of sketches;
moreover I have personally sought and importuned many
to furnish sketches or at least the data, to enable me to
write them up. It will not be overlooked, I trust, that the
labor of the committee has been arduous and unremunerative. At one time it was a question whether the work would
ever be accomplished, and it doubtless would have been
given up had not Gov. Seymour and Hon. Wnm. G. Fargo
generously come to our assistance with material aid. It
will be noticed also that the directory promised has been
omitted. This is an intentional omission to avoid too large
a volume for our resources. The embelishments are furnished by those whose lithographs adorn the work or by





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.             427
their friends. The old Academy, together with the inside
view are from the fac simile made by Win. H. Stevens, of
New York, and but for his conception, would have been
lost to history. It is to be hoped that the disadvantages
under which we have labored, will avoid many criticisms
which under other circumstances might be justly indulged.
WM. W. VAN BROCKLIN.
Pompey, June 17, 1876.










CONTENTS.
SUBJECT.                                           PAGE.
Preface -------------------------------    ---------- 5
Account of Measures that resulted in the Re-union----  7
The Re-union Day---------            ----   ------ 13
Address of Welcome------    -----------    -------- 17
Response    -      -      -----------              - 20
Reminiscences of Pompey --- ------------       --- 27
Address of Geo. H. Williams -------         -----    3
Address of Luther R. Marsh---  --- ----------  ---   42
Response to the toast, "The old Town of Pompey" -----------  59
Toast, "Fair daughters of Pompey"---------------- --- --  66
Toast, "The American members of the Joint High Commission ---- 71
Pompey Academy ----------------  --------------------- 73
Address of John F. Seymour--------------------------------- 75
Address of Daniel J. Fort------------------------------ - 78
Address of Charles W. Stevens--  ----------------- -   81
Address of F. W. Fenner----------------------------- 85
Poem of H. D. L. Sweet-- --- ----  ------       -     86
Address of Geo. H. Jerome-----        ------ -- ----  88
Satement of Richard F. Stevens----- ------ -----------  90
Address of W. W. Van Brocklin-   ------- -           91
Evening Meeting- ------       ------------ ---     _ 98
Introductory Remarks-------------  -------- ---_ 98
Poem by Flora Butterfield------- - --------   ----_  -100
Remarks of William Barnes          -100
Incidents ---------     --------------------------  101
Poem by H. A. Billings-------------------        --102
Letter from Edwin C. Litchfield-------------------  105
Letter from Henry W. Slocum-----------------------------106
Letter from R. S. Orvis-------- --   ------    --- 107
Letter from Esther Dorwin Clapp------ ----107
Letter from Jared F. Ostrander--  -------- -----  ------ 111
Letter from Rowena M. Ostrander---.----------- - ------114





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.     4.30
Letter froni Sanford rhyr---------------1
Letter from. Charles Mason________ ------------1
Letter from HarveyShlo---------------12
Letter from Orris Barnes----------------13
Letter fromn Charles A.Bae.--- ------ - - 13
Letter from Hirami K. -Jerome--------------------------------- 133
Letter from LueienBidee--------------13
History of Pompey. Academy ---------------------------------- 138
History of Pompey ------------------------------------------ 174
Geographical feature-------------------
P~ompey Hill and Vicinity ------------------------------------- 178
Disciples of Chit---------------------197
Watervale - - - - -  -   -  -  -
Town M\eetings ---------------------------------------------23.Supervisors and Town Clerks--------------24
Episcopal Church, Subscription. at Clapp's Corners --------------- 248
-Attendance at School No. 3, Pompey, 1800  -----'-------249
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Dr. Edward Aiken -- - - -   -  -  -  25
Anderson Famil~y------------- ---
A.:very Fml.---- -  -  -  -   -  -  -5
Sylvanus~anci Artemus Bishop ------------------29
ElizurBrace--~-------------------6
Ball,,Family -------------------------------------------27
JosephBae--------------------29
Benson---------   --   -  -  -   -   27
Ebenezer Butler-Sr -- -- --  --   --
'Victory  idee------------------------ 3 1
'Barber      ---          -  -   -  - 8
]ReenbinBiins-----.      -   -    -  28
Elias Cnln - ----  -  -   -  -  -   - 8
zSamuel Cleentei---------------------28
Henry Clark------        ---------9,Clarke, Famnily  ------        - ------
PaulCap95.John J. Deming-- ------------------------------------ 296
Dunham  Family----------- - - - - - 30
Femierai Fam-ily---------------- --- --- ---------------------30
Flint and Rice Families----------------30
'Jos. W. and Mrs. Rhoda Gold,-------- 00
David Green ---------------------------------------------3010
-Caleb Green ------------------------------------------------ ~310
Daniel Gilbert---------------------1





THE POMPEY RE-UNION.     '431
Hayden Family----------------------~1
iPelatiah Hayden and decnat.------------317
Hinsdell Family-----------------------1
David Hibbard ------------------------------------------------ 321
Hezekiah Hopkins-------------------------------------------- 321
EnsignHil-----------------------32
Josiah Holbrook ----------------------------------------------- 3241
Jonas Hinman-------------- ---------------------------------- 327
Daniel Kap~----------------------2
Joshua Leonard-------------------------------------------- 3029
Luther Marsh--------------------------------------------------3302
Noah Ple-------------      ----3
Dr. Silas Park--------------------33
L. H. Pitcher------------------------3
Mlanoah Pratt, Sr., and Family-------------------4
MillardRoisn--------------------34
-John  SiW - -   -  -   -  -  -   -  - 4
Thos. D. Safford-----------------------30
Joseph Shiattuck ---------------------------------------------- 350
Sweets -----------------------------------------35
John Todd-----------------------36
SamuelTabt-------------           -    36
Elijah Wells                         --6
Edward Wcs----------------------365
Daniel Wright---------------------------367
AVugustus Wheaton--.-----------. ---------37
'Tabor D. Williams------ - - - -  -  -7
Fargo Family               ---  ------ 0
Van BrocklinFaiy---38
David Williams -~---------------------'----  390
Asa Wls~                               9
HenrySemr--------------------
HoratioSemu---- -   -  -   -  -    -  39
Hienry W. DePuy---_ ------------------35
ORamnisecs   ---------------------------------------9
Remnisencs-----------------------------------399f
ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Samuel Baker------------------------------------------------- 493)
JesseBulr--------------------40
Josiah Bglw--------------------0
Daniel Gt-------------.   -   -   -  -1
LeRoy Morgan ------------------------------------------------ 413)
JehialStan----------    -  -   -  -    41
Hezekiah WV. Stevens ----------------------------1
Of Incidents the outgrowth of the R-no~--------1
Of the Oraiain___------------------425
Concusin-------------------------------------426





ERRATA.
At page 18, line 11 for transcendant, read transcendent.
At page 19, line 12 for salutory read salutary.
At page 22, line 8 for censtantly read constantly.
At page 25, line 25 for Mrs. P. P. Miller read Mrs. P. P. Midler.
At page 29, line 29 for grap read grasp.
At page 34, line 10 and 11 for Hepey Beeber read Hepsey Beebe.
At page 37, line 7 for snow read sorrow.
At page 67, line 13 for county read country.
At page 95, line 19 for descendents read descendants.
At page 96, line 23 for prepair read prepare.
At page 121, line 7 and 19 for Barrow read Barrows.
At page 125, line 33 for nostalgic read nosologic.
At page 130, line 35 for my house read my home.
At page 172, line 5 for Jabesh read Jabez.
At page 183, line 27 and 28 for Berry & Almer read Perry & Abner.
At page 185, line 32 for was read were.
At page 187, line 15 for graineries read granaries.
At page 187, line 22 for no read so.
At page 192- line 16 for Jehial Stears read Jehial Stearns.
At page 192, line 22 for Dr. Stevens read Dr. Stearns.
At page 201, line 29 for southwest read southeast.
At page 203, line 4 for Dr. L. W. Park read S. W. Park.
At page 209, line 24 for Henry B. Slocum read Henry W. Slocum.
At page 213, line 17 for second Wm. C. read Wm. G.
At page 261, line 8 for 1705 read 1795.
At page 297, line 2 for Schroppel read Scroeppel.
At page 302, line 6 for Doxanna read Roxanna.
At page 307, line 5 for Joseph read Josephine.
At page 86, line 31 for the glory read thy glory.
At page 86, line 32 for half forgotten read hast forgotten.
At page 87, line 2, for shaft read shafts.
At page 87, line 27 for plentitude read plenitude.
At page 176, line 29 for sholes read shales.
At page 254, line 17 for Berment read Bement.
At page 257, line 35 for Grandentia read Gaudentio.