The Geology of Oneida County. 
 
 ALBERT P. BRIGHAM. 
 
 Reprinted from the Transactions of the Oneida Historical Society, 1887-1888. 
 
i 
 
j\J 4-^ -W ■ ■ 
 
 THE GEOLOGY OF ONEIDA COUNTY. 
 
 BY ALBERT P. BRIGHAM. 
 
 Delivered before the Society May 28, 1888. 
 
 It is not expected in this paper to add anything to what 
 is already known of the geology of Oneida County. The attempt 
 will be rather to bring together in compact form, the chief facts 
 about the rock history of the county, and their bearing upon its 
 economical productions. It is obvious that no attention can be 
 given to the organic remains, beyond the mention of a few prevail¬ 
 ing types and characteristic species. 
 
 It is affirmed as probable by Professor Dana , 1 that the Lower 
 Silurian age, in which he includes the Cambrian, was equal in 
 duration to all the time which has since elapsed. Yet the rocks 
 of Oneida County furnish a record which begins w T ith the Archaean, 
 passes up through the Lower Silurian and well on into the Devo¬ 
 nian System. With a north and south range of about fifty miles, 
 the county embraces at least sixteen fairly distinct geological 
 horizons, exclusive of the Quaternary, and only counting those 
 which exhibit outcrop within the limits of the county. Of these, 
 five have their typical development here and take their names from 
 our local geography. The county supplies none of the intricate 
 problems of geology, its rock history being written in plain 
 characters; mainly in undisturbed strata of organic and sedimen¬ 
 tary deposits, with no derangement or modification, save by the 
 ordinary geological forces. 
 
 The direction of outcrop of the successive formations is determined 
 by the fact that the county lies at the southwestern base of the 
 Archaean or Adirondack nucleus of the New York system. Thus 
 the geological map shows the northwest and southeast bands, 
 gradually assuming a more nearly east and west direction, until 
 they take their place in the great lines of outcrop passing westward 
 from the Hudson River region to Lake Erie and the Niagara 
 River. 
 
 Beginning with the lowest member of the Oneida County series, 
 the first to be noticed is the Archaean, or primary of the New York 
 reports. These rocks w r ere originally sedimentary, but have been 
 
 1 Manual of Geology, page 211. 
 
2 
 
 highly metamorphosed, upturned and crushed together, forming 
 the gneisses, granites and other crystalline rocks of early geological 
 time. They cover the northeast corner of the county, including 
 the whole of Forestport, the northeast part of Remsen, and 
 so much of Boonville as lies east and north of the Black River, 
 this stream marking the boundary line. These rocks are a part of 
 the Adirondack mass. 
 
 Passing upward, the rocks of the Cambrian age are wanting* 
 at least none have yet been found. During the long period of 
 their deposition upon the eastern border of the continent, Central 
 New York was a region of elevation, and hence no sediments 
 remain to mark the time. The next in order is the Calciferous 
 Sandstone, so called from its mixture of calcareous and siliceous 
 materials. The only reported locality of this rock in Oneida 
 County is at a point in the bed of the West Canada Creek, on the 
 boundary line of Herkimer County. It will be better known as 
 the mass overlying the Archaean gneiss at Little Falls,' and as 
 affording an abundance of quartz crystals at Little Falls, Middle- 
 ville and elsewhere. Its rough, knotty appearance is due to the 
 weathering off of the particles of lime, leaving the hard, sandy 
 portions. It is the first fossiliferous rock of Oneida County. 
 
 Above the calciferous we reach the Trenton Limestone. This 
 rock is known to all by its profusion of fossil remains, its econom¬ 
 ical uses, and the scenery of its typical locality at Trenton Falls. 
 Of the lower divisions of the Trenton, the Black River limestone 
 has a limited development along the river of the same name in the 
 town of Boonville. The main mass of the Trenton comes in from 
 Lewis County, and is at that point, according to Mr. Vanuxem,, 
 about three miles wide, but is broader to the southeast . 3 It forms 
 the chasm of the West Canada Creek and passes along its border 
 into Herkimer County. Thus it includes the central part of Boon¬ 
 ville, passing under the village from northwest to southeast, the 
 northeastern part of Steuben, the western and southern parts of 
 Remsen, a large part of Trenton and the northern part of Deer¬ 
 field. Exposures of the limestone appear westward of its principal 
 area, in the beds of streams, where the overlying slates and shales 
 have been swept away. Such are the valleys of Steuben Creek, of 
 Nine Mile Creek near Holland Patent, and extending by Stittville 
 into Marcy, along the bed of Lansing Kil, Big Brook and the 
 Mohawk River in Western. The gorge at Trenton Falls shows 
 the two common varieties of this rock, the lower mass being 
 
 2 Geology of Third District, page 260. 
 
3 
 
 black, thin bedded, soft, composed almost wholly of organic forms, 
 while the upper part is hard, crystalline, gray, thick bedded and 
 massive. The Trenton fauna is exceedingly abundant, especially 
 in corals, crinoids, crustaceans and the various classes of mollusca. 
 A few of the common fossils are: Chaetetes Lycoperdon, Orthis 
 Testudinaria, Pleurotomaria Lenticularis, several species of Ortho- 
 cerata or straight chambered Cephalopods, and Trilobites of 
 the genera, Asapbus and Calymene. No more interesting rocks 
 exist in Oneida County than the Trenton. They represent one of 
 thejgreat limestone making periods and exhibit most strikingly the 
 part which "organic forms have played in building up the earth’s 
 crust. Few localities have yielded a richer harvest to the palaeon¬ 
 tologist than the vicinity of Trenton Falls . 3 
 
 The next rock as we ascend is the Utica slate, nearly black in 
 color, fine grained, and decomposing rapidly under exposure. 
 According to Mr. C. D. Walcott 4 it has a thickness in this, 
 the typical locality, of six hundred feet. It has a characteristic 
 fauna, largely distinct from the Trenton below and the Hudson 
 River rocks above. Notable among the fossils are many species 
 of graptolites, with their graceful and feather-like impressions 
 often covering the upturned surface of the slate. To these fossils 
 according to Mr. Vanuxem, the slates probably owe their carbona¬ 
 ceous matter and dark color. Another characteristic fossil is the 
 Trilobite, Triarthrus Becki, whose heads, with their transverse 
 furrows, may be found in great numbers in the gulf east of Third 
 street, in the city of Utica. In extent of surface in this county, 
 the slate considerablv exceeds the Trenton. Entering from Ilerki- 
 mer County on the east, it covers Utica, Deerfield, except the top 
 of Deerfield Hill and a narrow tract along West Canada Creek, 
 that part of Whitestown along the Mohawk River, nearly all of 
 Marcy, the southern part of Trenton, all of Floyd except an area 
 near Floyd Corners, the eastern part of Rome, the central and 
 western portions of Steuben, except the highest summits, nearly 
 all of Western, the western part of Boonville and the eastern part 
 of Ava. It thus passes northwest through the county, in a broad 
 band parallel to the Trenton and from six to eight miles wide. 
 Among the favorable localities for observing the rock and its 
 
 3 Of especial interest in this connection, are the labors of Mr. C. D. Wal¬ 
 cott of the United States Geological Survey, and Mr. Edward Hurlburt of 
 Utica. 
 
 4 Utica Slate and Related Formations, page 1. (Transactions Albany Insti¬ 
 tute, 1879.) 
 
4 
 
 fossils are the gulf in East Utica, about Holland Patent, and the 
 ravines in Deerfield. 
 
 The next rocks as we ascend in the series are the shales 
 and sandstones of the Hudson River group. The members of the 
 group are the Frankfort shale at the base, followed by the 
 Lorraine or Pulaski shales. Where the rock enters the county on 
 the eastern border of New Hartford, only the lower mass, or 
 Frankfort shale, is present. It is a light brownish, arenaceous 
 shale, deficient in fossils, and has some thin alternating bands of 
 fine, compact sandstone. It appears in Sylvan Glen, east of Third 
 street, is the mass at Forest Hill Cemetery and the hill to 
 the southward, is seen at the bottom of Mason’s quarry, a mile east 
 of Washington Mills; also shows a thickness of forty feet in Hal- 
 leck's Ravine, towards New Hartford village, and is seen at 
 Ridge’s Mill north of Rome, passing northward into Lewis County. 
 It is further found in isolated patches north and east, having once 
 covered a much larger area. These patches are on the top of Deer¬ 
 field hill coming in from Schuyler, near Floyd Corners, and the 
 highest parts of Steuben. The upper division of the group begins 
 near Rome and extends northward through Lee and Annsville into 
 Lewis County. By the creek near the railroad, on Mr. Greenfield’s 
 farm, a mile south of Rome, it shows several feet of blue, soft 
 shale, replete with fossils, with two or three thin bands of compact 
 sandstone. In this part of the group is the Halleck spring, 
 near Westmoreland village. The sandstone increases until in the 
 upper beds of the group, it wholly replaces the shale, as in the quar¬ 
 ries of Messrs. Brush, Emery and Smith, near Spencer Settlement in 
 Westmoreland. Taken as a whole, the rocks of the Hudson River 
 group cover the following areas in Oneida County: A tract 
 of considerable extent through the northern part of New Hartford, 
 the central and western portions of Whitestown, nearly or quite 
 half of Westmoreland to the northeast, a broad tract through 
 Rome, all of Lee, the northwest part of Western, with parts 
 of Annsville and Ava. Some of the common fossils are Grapto- 
 lithus Pristis, Ambonychia Radiata, and Trinucleus Concentricus. 
 
 The succeeding rocks are those of the Medina epoch, including 
 the Oneida Conglomerate at the base and the Medina sandstone 
 above. The conglomerate, especially in its lower layers, is a 
 pudding stone of quartz pebbles, cemented together more or less 
 firmly, while the upper layers graduate into a coarse sandstone, 
 gray, or often bluish in color. Occasionally there are layers 
 of soft, dark shale, as at Johnson’s quarry on Frankfort Hill. 
 
5 
 
 There are also spots of pyrites which give the weathered blocks 
 their dark rusty color, as seen in the locks of the old Chenango 
 Canal in New Hartford and Kirkland. There are no fossils except 
 a few fucoids. The mass is from one hundred to one hundred and 
 twenty feet thick in this county . 5 Its usual thickness in the quarries 
 about Utica is from fifteen to forty feet. It occupies the following 
 areas in this county : A narrow band passing through the central 
 part of New Hartford, the northern extremity of Kirkland, the 
 central part of Westmoreland, southwestern Rome, northeastern 
 Verona, parts of Vienna and Annsville, all of Camden and Flor¬ 
 ence, except a few patches of Medina sandstone. In the latter 
 towns the rock becomes the “ gray sandstone ” of the New York 
 Reports. The localities for examinations are numerous, including 
 the quarries on Frankfort and Graffenberg hills, Mr. Blackstone’s 
 quarry at the head of Sylvan Glen, on the road out of Clinton a 
 mile toward Utica, Mr. Mansfield’s farm south of Westmoreland 
 village, near Lowell in Westmoreland, and at the old stone 
 pound in Verona. 
 
 The passage from the Hudson river rocks to the conglomerate 
 marks the close of the Lower and the beginning of the Upper 
 Silurian, and is the period of the elevation of the Green mountains. 
 This elevation in New England and eastern New York accounts 
 for the fact that the conglomerate is not seen going westward 
 until Herkimer county is reached, and first assumes prominence in 
 Oneida county. The same is substantially true of the two suc¬ 
 ceeding groups, the Clinton and the Niagara. Thus Oneida county 
 ranks with eastern New York in the completeness of its lower 
 Silurian development, and with western New York in the complete¬ 
 ness of its upper Silurian series. The disturbances of such a 
 period of elevation, with its folding and crushing of strata, also 
 account for the coarse sediments found in the lower layers of the 
 conglomerate. The upper rocks of the Medina epoch, the Medina 
 sandstone, show in this county only the beginning of the develop¬ 
 ment which becomes so extensive in western New York, as at the 
 falls of the Genesee at Rochester, and at Niagara. They probably 
 cover a wedge shaped area in Camden and Vienna, with some 
 patches in Camden and Florence. Thus the Oneida-Medina rocks 
 show a graduated series from the coarse grit of the former, where 
 it rests on the Hudson river shales, to the fine, sandy and clayey 
 sediments of the latter, such as are seen in the smooth flagstones 
 of the Medina. 
 
 5 Dana’s Manual, page 218. 
 
6 
 
 The next rocks are those of the Clinton group, resting on the 
 sandstone from east to west throughout the county. They consist 
 of bluish green shales, red, blue and reddish gray calcareous sand¬ 
 stones, and usually two beds of red oolitic iron ore. No other 
 group of rocks in the county is so variable in color, texture and 
 general character, and none is better known or more valuable. 
 The rocks cover a tract from two to six miles w T ide, more surface 
 being exposed westward. They pass through southern New 
 Hartford, the northern central portion of Kirkland, the.southern 
 central part of Westmoreland, covering a triangular area in the 
 north of Vernon, and more than half of Verona to the south and 
 west. The points where the group can be seen are numerous, 
 owing to the facility with which the streams have cut it down, and 
 the large number of openings for the extraction of ore and build¬ 
 ing stone. We may ment ion the ore beds of Mr. Davis on the east 
 border of New Hartford, Roger’s glen at Willowvale, Well’s ore 
 beds in Kirkland, the mines a half mile east of Clinton village, the 
 quarries at the base of the hill at Hamilton College, numerous 
 localities in Westmoreland, near Verona village and at the old 
 quarry near Sconondoa. Fossils are very numerous in the shales, 
 sandstones and ores of the group. Some of the common forms 
 are: marine plants, brachiopods, as Strophomena Depressa and 
 Atrypa Reticularis, the corals Zaphrentis Bilateralis, Palaeocyclus 
 Rotuloides, and tracks of crustaceans. 
 
 The dark colored limestone and shale of the Niagara are next in 
 order. This group, which is important both for its rocks and its 
 fossils farther west, is represented by a thin band of shale and 
 limestone in Oneida county, though in Vernon it becomes thicker 
 and shows some fossils. At Farmer’s Mills in the southern part of 
 Kirkland is a very interesting exposure of the peculiar concretions of 
 the group. It is the same described in the New York Reports as at 
 Hart’s mills . 6 A few feet of blue Niagara shale are seen in actual 
 contact with the green shale of the next group. In the blue shale 
 is a layer of limestone, a foot or more thick, almost wholly com¬ 
 posed of massive concretions, often two feet in diameter, whose 
 layers crack oft' like the coats of an immense onion. The same 
 concretions, though smaller and like hard, irregular knots, are seen 
 in the same order, under the oreen shale in the ravine back of 
 the residence of Professor Kelsey, at Hamilton College. The best 
 development in the county is along Sconondoa creek in the town 
 of Vernon. 
 
 6 Vanuxem, Geology of Third District, page 91. 
 
7 
 
 Upon the Niagara rest the rocks of the Salina group. The 
 lower member is a thick mass of soft, red shale, with occasional 
 green layers and green spots. The upper members, which give 
 the group its importance as the sources of gypsum and salt, are but 
 slightly developed in Oneida county. This rock has been so 
 extensively cut down by the streams that its surface area is more 
 irregular in form than that of most of the rocks northward. Thus 
 it has southerly extensions in the Sauquoit, Oriskany and Sconon- 
 doa valleys, and northerly extensions on the intervening ranges of 
 hills. This in a general way is true of all the rocks in the 
 southern part of the county, owing to their southward dip. 
 They first appear on the hilltops, pass down the hillsides south¬ 
 ward and disappear under the succeeding formations. The red 
 shale of the Salina is seen in many of the ravines of Paris; on 
 the north and west of Paris Hill in the towns of New Hart¬ 
 ford, Kirkland and Marshall, in the southern part of Kirkland in 
 the Oriskany valley, at College Hill, where it appears above the 
 Clinton and Niagara. It is quarried for the walks of the 
 campus in the ravines on either side, and exhibits in the north¬ 
 ern ravine an abundance of its spherical green spots. It passes 
 through the southern part of Westmoreland and is the surface 
 rock of about two-thirds of the town of Vernon. This shale 
 contains no fossils. 
 
 We come now to the lower Helderberg, a passage in geological 
 history from the shallow, briny, lifeless waters of the Salina 
 period, to deep, clear seas, with their hard limestones and numer¬ 
 ous and advancing forms of life. The lower division of the 
 lower Helderberg, the water lime, is well shown in Oneida county, 
 being below of a light drab color, a bed of passage from the 
 Salina, and above, a dark blue compact limestone. It is well seen 
 at various points in Kirkland, Marshall and Augusta. We men¬ 
 tion the following: Where the road from Washington Mills to 
 Paris Hill runs by the creek in the southeast corner of Kirkland, 
 a little further up the hill under the roadway, the jutting ledge at 
 the top of the hill as you descend from Hanover Green to Clin¬ 
 ton, at the bottom of the valley at Oriskany Falls and rising along 
 the western hillside, terminating on the hilltop, a short distance 
 south of Hamilton College, and Forge Hollow on the east branch 
 of Oriskany creek, midway between Waterville and Deansville. 
 At this locality Mr. Amos O. Osborn, of Waterville, found in 
 1882 the fossil Proscorpius Osborni , 7 which has a special interest as 
 
 7 Described by R. P. Whitfield, Bulletin of Am. Mus. of Nat. Hist., Oct., 
 1885. 
 
8 
 
 being the lowest fossil scorpion and possibly the earliest air- 
 breather yet found in American rocks. Although last described, 
 Mr. Osborn’s discovery antedates by some months that of similar 
 remains in Sweden and Scotland. The characteristic forms of the 
 water lime are: Tentaculites Irregularis, Meristella Sulcata, Leper- 
 ditia Alta, and that most interesting crustacean, Eurypterus Rem- 
 ipes, of which a number of splendjd specimens may be seen in the 
 private collection of Mr. Osborn. The upper members of the lower 
 Ilelderberg are seen in the ledges and quarries at Oriskany Falls, 
 where the whole group has a thickness of 120 feet. 8 The upper 
 members are hard, blue limestones, with great abundance of the 
 usual fossils, such as Pentamerus Galeatus, Rhynchonella Ventri- 
 cosa, Atrypa Reticularis, and various species of corals and crinoids. 
 The next rock is the Oriskany sandstone. The Ions; Silurian 
 record closes with the lower Helderberg and the Oriskany marks 
 the beginning of the Devonian. 9 The rocks of this period lie 
 above the lower Helderberg limestones at Oriskany Falls. They 
 form a ledge of about ten feet thickness, of a light yellowish color, 
 turning brown by exposure and made up of coarse quartz sand. 
 Although in many localities a coarse sand rock, it has a character¬ 
 istic and abundant fauna. Some of the more common species are 
 the Brachiopods, Spirifer Arenosus, a large shell, of which the 
 interior casts are exceedingly abundant, and Rensselaeria Ovoides. 
 There is another point of exposure in the town of Marshall, near 
 the Eastman quarry and under the succeeding limestones. 
 
 The next higher rocks are those of the Corniferous period. Here 
 the Caudi Galli and Schoharie grits have thinned out and dis¬ 
 appeared before the east line of Oneida county is reached. The 
 Corniferous rocks are well developed, including the Onondaga and 
 Corniferous limestones. The Onondaga lies below, is a thinner 
 mass and of a light color. The Corniferous is above, and is char¬ 
 acterized by extensive layers of hornstone or chert. These nodules 
 may be observed in almost every held and stone wall in southern 
 portions of the county. The organic forms are in the greatest 
 profusion, especially the corals, crinoids, some large coiled shells 
 and a peculiar species of Trilobite, Dalmanites Selenurus. These 
 rocks are found in the southern part of Marshall, as at Eastman’s 
 quarry north of Waterville, and the Greenslit quarry farther east. 
 The limestone also extends south under the village of Waterville, 
 
 8 S. G. Williams, American Journal of Science, February, 1886. 
 
 9 DeVerneuil; Newberry, in Geology of Ohio; etc. 
 
9 
 
 is found in various parts of Paris and along the eastern hillsides 
 in Bridgewater, as at the quarry on Babcock hill in the northeast 
 corner of the town. 
 
 The last rocks in Oneida county are those of the Hamilton 
 period. Of these the lowest are the Marcellus shales, of dark 
 color and closely resembling the Utica slate. They cover about 
 half of the town of Sangerfield, running diagonally across the 
 town from northeast to southwest, along the valley of Chenango 
 creek. They are also seen along the hillsides in Bridgewater 
 valley above the limestone. What was said of the irregular 
 exposure of the Salina rocks is especially true of all the rocks in 
 the southern extremity of the county, where the streams have 
 scored them down, flowing from the limestone ridge, both north¬ 
 ward and southward. Above the Marcellus, the Hamilton shales 
 begin, with their vast accumulations of soft sediments, bands of 
 limestone and great abundance of animal and plant remains. Only 
 a limited development of the group is seen in this county. The 
 Hamilton rock covers the southeast, or higher portions of Sanger¬ 
 field, runs up over the highest parts of Bridgewater, extending 
 north into Paris, where it caps the eminence known as Tassel 
 hill. 
 
 This completes the rock history of the county except for the 
 glacial and yet more recent periods, to which we now turn to 
 examine what we may term, the surface geology of the county. 
 
 If each group of rocks had remained as it was first deposited in 
 ocean sediments, we should doubtless see a somewhat regular 
 overlapping of rock surfaces, each layer receding and laying bare 
 portions of the one preceding and below it. Such is not the con¬ 
 dition which we find after restless forces have carved the surface 
 into new forms and buried it under the debris of underlying and 
 remote rocks. The configuration of Oneida county can scarcely 
 be understood without taking into account the vast system of 
 excavations throughout the State. Since the rocks of this county 
 were deposited, the north and south valleys and lake basins which 
 lie parallel to each other from eastern Hew York to Lake Erie, 
 have been made, the basin of Lake Ontario and the valley of the 
 Mohawk have been scored out and the'greater part of the soil has 
 been deposited and modified to its present forms. Doubtless this 
 work was begun by the streams of early geological times, but the 
 bulk of it has been done by glacial action and the subsequent 
 movements of water. Looking more narrowly at the area of this 
 county, we find that excepting at the extreme north and south, it 
 
 9 
 
10 
 
 lies in the broad depression of the Mohawk river, Wood creek and 
 their tributaries. Near the southern boundary is a limestone ridge, 
 south of which the Unadilla and Chenango rise. At the northeast is 
 another limestone ridge, beyond which the descent is towards the 
 Black river. Again, draw a line from Oriskany Falls north through 
 Borne and the eastern part of Lee. All streams west of this line 
 flow north and northwest, or southerly and south into Oneida Lake. 
 All streams east of this line, except at the extreme north and south, 
 flow south and north into the Mohawk river and West Canada creek 
 and pass out of the county eastward. The highest point north of 
 the Mohawk river is Starr hill in Steuben, 1793 feet above the 
 sea. 10 The highest point south of the Mohawk river and the high¬ 
 est elevation within the county, is Tassel hill in Paris, 1,948 feet 
 above the sea. 10 The lowest level in the eastern part of the 
 count} T does not vary much from 410 feet above the sea, which is 
 the altitude for Utica at the N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R. station. 10 The 
 lowest level in the county is that of Oneida Lake, 360 feet above 
 the sea. 10 Taking; into account these great differences of elevation 
 and also the unknown depth of alluvial materials in the Mohawk 
 valley, we gain some idea of the amount of rock which has been 
 swept away by denuding forces along the central east and west 
 line of the county. It is especially manifest also as one passes 
 southwestward from Utica to the summit of Tassel hill. The 
 course is constantly upward, across the eroded edges of an ex¬ 
 tended series of rocks. Thus also this excavation, together with 
 the southerly dip of the strata throughout the county, explains the 
 large superficial exposure of the formations north of the Mohawk, 
 while south of the excavation they run in narrow bands exposed 
 at the edges. 
 
 As to the precise order and method of these changes geologists 
 are not fully agreed. Mr. J. S. Newberry * 11 holds that the depres¬ 
 sion of the Mohawk valley resulted from the raising of the Alle- 
 ghanies ; that from the Carboniferous age to the ice period a great 
 stream passed this way to the sea at or near New York; that the 
 glacier mainly excavated the Lake Ontario basiiTand greatly en¬ 
 larged the river channel, and finally, that the filling of the Hudson 
 valley west of Albany by the debris of the retreating glacier, 
 deflected the stream and gave it an outlet by the St. Lawrence, 
 leaving the Mohawk to be a local drainage stream. Mr. G. K. 
 
 10 Dictionary of Altitudes in the U. S., Bulletin No. 5, U. S. Geological 
 -Survey. 
 
 11 See Ency. Brit., 9th Ed., Vol. 17, page 453. 
 
11 
 
 Gilbert, speaking of the age of the retreating glacier, describes 
 the changes as follows: 12 “The water of Ontario having no escape 
 by way of the St. Lawrence valley, sought the lowest pass south 
 of the Adirondacks, finding it where the engineers of the Erie 
 canal afterwards found it, and overflowing at Rome to the Mohawk 
 river. This discharge was maintained for a long period, giving 
 the waves time to construct massive beaches and carve broad ter¬ 
 races which still endure. They have been traced all about the 
 basin, except, of course on the northeast, where the waves broke 
 vainly on an unrecording wall of ice. The ‘ Ridge Road ’ from 
 Lewiston to Sodus, follows the crest of one of these beaches; a 
 railway from Richland to Watertown has found easy grades along 
 the base of another. * * * * Finally the blockade was raised 
 
 in the St. Lawrence valley, the outlet of Ontario was shifted from 
 Rome to the Thousand Islands, and its water level was drawn 
 down five hundred feet.” Thus whatever obscurity remains, two 
 facts seem to be accepted and clear; the extensive denuding 
 agency of the great glacier and the passage of the continental 
 drainage stream over the central portions of what is now Oneida 
 county. 
 
 The transported materials in this county afford abundant illus¬ 
 trations of the great southward movements during the drift 
 period in this region. The boulders, rolled stones, gravels and many 
 of the soils, reveal their northern origin, having been brought down 
 from the Archaean nucleus, and succeeding; formations. We notice 
 first the immense deposits of drift in the Oriskany and Sauquoit 
 valleys. They form the high, steep and often conical hills, so 
 numerous between Deansville and Oriskany Falls, and in the 
 valley of the Sauquoit in Paris. 13 The same deposits occur further 
 south and west in Madison county, and east in Herkimer county, 
 as in the hills around Ilion. They are composed of sand, gravel 
 and rolled stones commonly unsorted but sometimes stratified 
 :and were left in their places as the great glacier gradually re¬ 
 -ceded northward; while the hills have been cut down and 
 rounded off by the subsequent action of water and other agencies. 
 The characteristic materials of these moraines are well seen 
 between Oriskany Falls and Solsville, in the cuts upon the 1ST. 
 Y. O. & W. R. R. Boulders are numerous all over the county; 
 though in greatest number and size north of the Mohawk, as in 
 
 13 Changes of Level of the Great Lakes, Forum, June, 1888. 
 
 13 See article on Terminal Moraine of the Second Glacial Epoch, by T. C. 
 Chamberlin, Third Annual Report of U. S. Geological Survey, page 360. 
 
12 
 
 Forestport, Remsen, Boonville, Steuben, Floyd Hill, the gorge of 
 Lansing Kil and Florence. They are largely derived from the 
 Archajan, which is also true south of the Mohawk; but frag¬ 
 ments of later rocks abound everywhere, south of their lines of 
 outcrop. It is common to see in Kirkland, Paris, Marshall and 
 the other southern towns, boulders of Oneida conglomerate, often 
 of large size, which have been broken off from their original 
 place in the neighborhood of the Mohawk. Fragments of Clin¬ 
 ton rocks and ore abound. On the top of Paris Hill are great 
 numbers of cobble stones and boulders brought there from points 
 
 in the countv and far to the northward. The town of Vernon is 
 «/ 
 
 strewn with fragments from the Hudson river and Clinton groups. 
 The soils of the county are largely of transported materials,, 
 although the breaking down of the softer shales has formed the 
 soil of some parts of the county to no inconsiderable degree. Thus 
 Judge Pomroy Jones in the “ Annals of Oneida County,” alludes 
 to the flats formed by the washing down of the red shale in the 
 southern part of Westmoreland. Extensive deposits of modified 
 drift and alluvium exist along the Mohawk fromllion westward to 
 Rome; also along the Oriskany creek in Whitestown, and by the 
 same stream at Deansville, as seen in the stratified sand and gravel 
 of the railway cut south of the station. Other extensive deposits 
 are found around the head of Oneida lake along the courses of 
 Wood and Fish creeks, also where Nine Mile creek enters the 
 Mohawk valley, along the Black river in Boonville and on West 
 Canada creek above Prospect. An interesting illustration of the 
 river terrace, is seen on the Mohawk at Westernville, the village 
 being located upon the eastern or broader terrace. The same is 
 strikingly shown on a small scale where the Deerfield ravine opens 
 upon the Mohawk valley, three distinct levels being plainly visible. 
 
 Besides the extensive denudations already referred to, Oneida 
 county affords many examples of the erosive power of water in 
 producing rocky gorges and waterfalls. Most notable is the 
 chasm at Trenton Falls, where the process of removal has been 
 hastened by the fact that the lower strata are softer and more 
 destructible; and it will be remembered that in some places the 
 upper layers overhang the path of the visitor, thirty or even per¬ 
 haps forty feet. Other examples are the gorges of the Lansing 
 Kil, and the Mohawk in Boonville and Western, where the water has 
 cut away the slate to the limestone below. There are also extensive 
 erosions on the east branch of Kish Creek, in the town of Anns- 
 ville. All the higher towns of the county afford examples of 
 
13 
 
 extensive erosion, in the ravines that cut through their hills and 
 the cascades on many of the smaller streams, as the Deerfield 
 ravine, Sylvan glen and the small streams of Paris and Sangerfield. 
 
 We turn now to the economical geology of Oneida County. 
 The first thing to claim notice is soils. Soils largely determine the 
 resources, habitations and general quality of human life. For 
 example, compare two rural townships, Forestport and Augusta. 
 The one has a primary, the other to a considerable extent, a lime¬ 
 stone soil. The former has twice and a half the area of the 
 latter; the latter has more than once and a half the population of 
 the former. The greater part of Oneida County soils has been 
 transported from regions outside its own limits. In this respect 
 the whole drift region differs from more southern parts, where the 
 drift has not reached, and where the disintegrating forces are in 
 some respects more active in breaking down and pulverizing the 
 rocks in place. Nevertheless we have considerable soil made from 
 our own rocks. These facts, taken together with the vast sculptur¬ 
 ing of surface which has gone on here, give to Oneida County an 
 unusual variety of soils. Compare, for example, the sands of 
 Oswego County, or the level calcareous tracts of Genesee County, 
 with our own. We have already alluded to the soils of Forest- 
 port. Or, take the cold, barren soil of the hills in Florence, with 
 its preponderant archsean and sandstone constituents, and we need 
 not w T onder that a boy of the place thus described it to Judge 
 Pomroy Jones, saying that “ Grass did very well, they could not 
 raise much corn, oats did a little better, that the land was so cold 
 they could not raise much grain of any kind, but then it is very 
 healthy.” But there are abundant tracts in this county whose 
 healthfulness is not their only merit. Wherever the soil has been 
 affected by the destruction of the Utica slates, the result is 
 favorable, they, “producing by decomposition, a tenaceous, clayey 
 and highly favorable soil for grass, forming the best dairj, land of 
 the district.” 14 This fact doubtless has some application to such 
 towns as Trenton, and parts of Floyd, Marcy and Deerfield. Not 
 to be overlooked are the large tracts of rich alluvial soil along the 
 streams of the county, as the Mohawk, Sauquoit, Oriskany and 
 the Unadilla in Bridgewater. All the upland soils and rocks are 
 tributary to the fertility of these. This fact, had he known it, 
 might have changed the decision of a certain farmer who refused 
 to purchase the lowland part of a farm in Marcy, he having 
 inspected it in the spring when submerged by the Mohawk floods. 
 
 14 Vanuxem, Geology of Third District, page 56. 
 
14 
 
 This very farm receives its annual tribute from all the fields above 
 in Marcy, Deerfield, Trenton and Floyd. The soils of Westmore¬ 
 land, Verona and Vernon are in places much improved by the 
 decomposition of the soft rocks which mainly underlie them, such 
 as those of the Clinton group and the marly shales of the Salina 
 group. Thus Judge Pomroy Jones says: “There is no more 
 productive land in the county than the flats formed by this shale 
 thus washed down.” He refers to the Salina shale in the southern 
 part of Westmoreland. The excellence of the soils in such 
 southern towns of the county as Marshall, Augusta and the beauti¬ 
 ful section around Waterville, is due to a variety of causes, as the 
 decomposition and movement southward of the shales just spoken 
 of, the decomposition of the limestones of those towns in place, 
 the materials of the Marcellus shale, which is similar to the Utica 
 slate, and the numerous alluvial bottoms along the streams. 
 
 We next speak of building materials. Nearly every structure 
 one sees here, suggests local geology, for Oneida County is rich in 
 building stone. Among the most extensively used is the upper or 
 crystalline bed of the Trenton limestone. The quarries are 
 numerous in Trenton, Steuben, Remsen and Boonville. The State 
 Lunatic Asylum at Utica is built of this stone, and at least that 
 for the original part of the structure, was quarried near Stittville 
 on Nine Mile Creek. The foundation of the Park Baptist Church 
 is of this stone, as of many other buildings, and much of the 
 dressed stone used for trimmings. Good building stone is also 
 found in the upper part of the Hudson River group. It is the 
 light gray sandstone already described as found in the quarries of 
 Messrs. Brush, Emery & Smith in Westmoreland. The next stone 
 of importance, following the geological order is the Oneida con¬ 
 glomerate and sandstone. The best layers are blue in color, com¬ 
 pact and durable. The quarries run along the range of the 
 conglomerate throughout the county, being especially abundant in 
 this vicinity, comparatively little else being laid for foundations in 
 the city of Utica. 
 
 This brings us to the sandstones of the Clinton group, which are 
 firm and of durable quality, and are to be seen in the edifices of 
 Grace and Calvary Churches and the Church of the Reconciliation 
 in this city. The stone for these churches was taken from quarries 
 well up on the hill in the eastern part of New Hartford. The 
 stone for the Memorial Presbyterian Church was obtained, if I am 
 correctly informed, from this group near Clinton. The material 
 for the Stone Church in Clinton, except the trimmings, is from 
 
15 
 
 quarries of the same group in Kirkland, as also most of the stone 
 in the buildings of Hamilton College. From the same group, but 
 of somewhat different texture and color, are the excellent building 
 stones of the Higginsville quarries in the town of Verona. 15 They 
 may be seen in the foundations of Lewis Lawrence’s residence* 
 also the residences of F. Gilbert, T. E. Kinney, W. T. and T. F. 
 Baker are of this stone. There is also a reddish brown sandstone 
 in the Clinton group, which was opened many years ago, near 
 Frankfort, for the Ontario bank at Utica. The building is now 
 the store of W. S. Taylor & Son, but the color and texture of the 
 stone are concealed by paint. The same may be seen in the 
 Tabernacle Baptist Church of this city, and a similar stone forms 
 the foundation of South College, Clinton. It is fairly durable 
 when well laid up, but crumbles where exposed, as in the door¬ 
 steps of the church referred to. 
 
 The last important stone in the county is the limestone of the 
 Lower and Upper Helderberg, from quarries at Oriskany Falls, in 
 Marshall and in the vicinity of Cassville. The Hamilton becomes 
 important where more fully developed, as on the College Hill at 
 Madison University, and among the “North River flagstones” of 
 the Helderberg region. 
 
 It is interesting to see, as one may from the cars on the Ontario 
 road, how the underlying rocks of each section furnished the stone 
 for the locks and culverts of the old. Chenango canal; through 
 New Hartford the Oneida Conglomerate, with the characteristic 
 weather stains of iron oxide; in Kirkland, the red and brown of 
 the Clinton group, and further south, the drab and blue of the 
 Lower Helderberg. 
 
 Among building materials should be mentioned the brick clays, 
 so largely worked along the Mohawk river in Deerfield, Whites- 
 town and Rome; also at Sangerfield Centre, where both brick and 
 drain tile are made. Quicklime is also an important product in 
 the limestone regions of the county, as at Oriskany Falls, in 
 Marshall, at Thurston’s kiln in Paris, and doubtless others. I am 
 not aware that any waterlime is made in this county. It should 
 be said that the rock of the so-called waterlime group, does not 
 make hydraulic lime or cement. Only certain parts meet the tests 
 applied for this purpose, and these parts are more fully developed 
 westward, and on the Hudson River. In fact, the waterlime 
 group is used in this county as a source of quicklime. 
 
 15 Bulletin No. 3, N. Y. State Mus. Nat. Hist. Building Stone in the State 
 of N. Y., by John C. Smock, see page 71. 
 
 v 
 
16 
 
 There is no need to speak at length of the iron ore of the 
 county, whose character, localities and economic value are well 
 understood in this vicinity. Full information can be gained in a 
 very complete address given by Professor A. H. Chester, of 
 Hamilton College, before the Utica Mercantile and Manufacturing 
 Association. 16 
 
 There is now no repetition in Oneida County of the experiment 
 of the old Welsh farmer whom Murchison found digging for coal, 
 six formations below the one where it could be found. The results 
 of former searching for coal in the town of Marcy 17 fairly indicate 
 what may be expected in a search for oil or natural gas in any 
 town of this county. It is true that the Trenton and Utica forma¬ 
 tions do in some places afford mineral oil, but there is no 
 probability that it will be found in this county. In the oil regions 
 of Pennsylvania and Ohio, the oil is found saturating a porous 
 sandstone, lying over the fossiliferous rock in which the oil 
 probably originated, and under an impervious slate which keeps 
 the oil from rising until a boring is made. 18 Uo such conditions 
 exist in Oneida County. The Marcellus shales also contain com¬ 
 bustible matter. Many years ago a small quantity of coal was taken 
 out in Bridgewater, but while it had something of the appearance 
 it had not the qualities of true anthracite. It is interesting in a 
 scientific, though not in an economic sense, to note that the 
 surveyor in charge of the excavation for the reservoir of the 
 Waterville water works, recently found in the Marcellus shale, a 
 small seam of true cannel coal. Peat in large quantities is found 
 in the swamps near Rome. 
 
 There are in the county other minerals, but of little economical 
 importance. We note vast deposits of calcareous tufa on the hill¬ 
 sides and in the valleys at their base, in the southern parts of the 
 county. It is formed by the leaching down and compacting of 
 calcareous particles from the overlying limestone, and from its 
 porous, yellowish appearance, is popularly known as “ horsebone.” 
 It mav be seen on the road from Hanover Green to Farmer’s Mills, 
 at the foot of the hill, in the road, fields and wall fences; also at 
 Holman City and in the Dexter Brook, near Clayville, in Paris. 
 It is interesting as preserving the forms of leaves, twigs and other 
 objects, upon which the lime in solution has fallen. There are also 
 deposits of bog iron ore in the lowlands around the head of Oneida 
 
 16 Issued from the press of Ellis H. Roberts & Co., in 1881. 
 
 17 Jones’ Annals of Oneida County, page 243. 
 
 18 Ency. Brit. Art. Petroleum, Yol. 18, page 715. 
 
17 
 
 Lake, formerly worked, whether at present or not, we cannot say. 
 The Gypsum of the Salina group, so extensive farther west, is 
 found in Vernon, hut too deep for profitable working. There are 
 other minerals of interest, but not of economical importance. The 
 minerals of Kirkland are thus given by Dr. Oren Root: 19 Oxide 
 of iron, sulphuret of iron, carbonate of iron, sulphuret of lead, 
 sulphuret of zinc, strontianite, celestine, calcite, gypsum, quartz 
 crystals. A few others are given in Dr. Beck’s report on the 
 mineralogy of the State, as occurring at Boonville and other places 
 in the county. 
 
 The mineral springs of the county should also be mentioned. 
 Some of the more important are given as follows : 20 Saline Springs; 
 the Ilalleck Spring near Westmoreland village, and the Verona 
 Spring, to which should be added the Oneita Spring in Utica: 
 sulphuretted springs; in Augusta, near Paris, near Vernon, to 
 which may be added a spring in Whitestown, near Oriskany. 
 
 This paper should not close without allusion to one other fact of 
 
 great importance in the history of Oneida County industries. The 
 
 geological history has been such as to furnish the finest water 
 
 power in great abundance. First of all, the Sauquoit Creek with 
 
 its fall of 1,014 feet in a course of seventeen miles, and upon which 
 
 there have been erected in all, one hundred and forty-one mills and 
 
 factories. 21 We must also add the water-power afforded by the 
 
 Oriskany Creek, the numerous and rapid streams of Annsville, the 
 
 Mohawk in Western, and many smaller streams in all parts of the 
 
 countv. 
 
 */ 
 
 In conclusion we may add, that Oneida County affords an 
 excellent field for the study of the Paleozoic series of rocks. 23 
 While lacking the Cambrian below, and the Carboniferous above, 
 most of the formations of the Silurian and Devonian systems are 
 well represented, and we see here exhibited in perfection what the 
 ordinary world-making agencies have done and are still doing. 
 
 19 See Oridley’s History of Kirkland. 
 
 20 Bulletin No. 32, U. S. Oeological Survey. 
 
 21 See Rogers’ History of Paris. 
 
 22 An hour’s ride from Utica will place one upon almost any part of any 
 one of the important rock eras represented in the county. Many places exist 
 where a walk of three or four miles covers as many geological epochs. 
 Starting in the gulf in East Utica, going up Third street, through Sylvan 
 (xlen, and crossing two fields at its head and one has passed over the Utica 
 slate, Hudson River shales, Oneida Conglomerate and the Clinton group. 
 The facilities afforded within the county for the gathering and study of 
 organic remains, are very great, as at Trenton Falls for the Trenton, around 
 Holland Patent for the Utica, around Rome for the Hudson River, New 
 Hartford and Kirkland for the Clinton, and about Waterville and Oriskany 
 Falls for the Lower and Upper Helderberg. 
 
U-v