History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 118: Fonda — Fultonville, continued ...
Home of the Infamous Butlers, 1743
Near Fonda is the Butler house (frame, 1743), the home of the infamous Tory, Col. John Butler, and his son, Walter Butler, of Revolutionary history.
Col. John Butler perpetrated the Wyoming, Pennsylvania, massacre, while his son, the bloodthirsty paranoiac, Walter Butler, commanded the Tory and Indian force at Cherry Valley, New York, 1778, massacre.
These and similar villainies were blots on England's Revolutionary war history.
The Butler house is on Switzer Hill (700 feet sea elevation), about one mile north of Fonda on a road to Johnstown.
Fonda, Military (1861-5, 1917-8)
Fonda was an important Civil war camp and training ground.
The One Hundred and Fifteenth New York Volunteers was raised in Montgomery, Fulton, Hamilton and Saratoga counties; 421 men were enlisted from Montgomery County, 162 from Fulton County, and the regiment was formed on the camp northwest of Fonda and here mustered into service August 29, 1862.
Col. Simeon Sammons (of Fonda and son of a Revolutionary veteran) was its commanding officer.
The One Hundred and Fifty-third New York Volunteers was a Montgomery-Fulton regiment, recruited mainly from Montgomery and Fulton counties, which furnished 598 men.
It was formed and mustered into service at Fonda October 18, 1863.
Col. Edwin P. Davis was its commanding officer, 1863-1865.
Fonda was the scene of other Civil war military activities and organizations.
As the county seat it received the draft men during the World war (1917-1918), who were sent forward from here to training camps.
The Civil war camp grounds near Fonda should be appropriately marked.
The Teaburg
At Fonda, on the Cayadutta road to Johnstown, is the conical hill called the Teaburg (Dutch for "tea hill"), because here, during the Revolution, the women of old Caughnawaga are said to have gathered for summer afternoon tea parties, particularly as its summit gave a view of approaching hostile Indian war parties.
It has the shape of a miniature mountain and rises 100 feet above the Mohawk.
The Mohawk Indians called this hill "Ta-he-ka-nun-da", meaning "hill of berries".
They are said to have run their boys up its steep incline to test their metal [i.e., mettle] as warriors.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 118: Fonda — Fultonville, concluded ...
Fonda, Gateway to the Adirondacks Over Sacandaga Trail
Fonda is a gateway to the Adirondacks, running north over the Sacandaga trail through Johnstown and Gloversville to Northville, on the Sacandaga.
Branches run from Johnstown to the Garoga and Canada lakes group, the most southerly in the Adirondacks.
Settlement of John Evart Van Epps at Fultonville, 1750
In 1750 John Evart Van Epps settled at present Fultonville, which then became known as Van Epps Swamp, from the marshy land hereabout.
Van Epps bought 900 acres of Johannes Visger and this particular part of the Visger patent comprised all of what is now Fultonville.
The Van Eppses were patriot soldiers and their house was burned twice during the Revolution.
The sixth generation of the Van Epps family (in 1924) now occupies this Van Epps homestead which has been in the family 175 years.
South Shore Revolutionary Raids, 1780, 1781
The south shore Mohawk turnpike was raided along its course from Fort Hunter to above Sprakers (fifteen miles) in Sir John Johnson's Tory-Indian-British raid of October 18-19, 1780.
The main body went west on the south shore and another detachment followed the present Old Mohawk turnpike westward, the two bodies joining at Keator's Rift, above Sprakers.
The whole valley in this distance was ravaged and burned.
On October 19, 1780, General Van Rensselaer's American army of 1,500 militia came up the south shore in pursuit of Johnson.
October 24, 1781, the Tory-Indian raid under Major Ross and the Tory captain, Walter Butler, reached the Mohawk at the Noses and ravaged the south shore road to below present Amsterdam (eighteen miles), the next day being defeated on the battlefield of Johnstown.
As the enemy came down the south side John Van Epps mounted a horse and galloped east over the highway to Amsterdam.
He warned all the settlers, who escaped to the woods, and there were no fatalities east of present Fultonville.
John Starin settled here in 1783, and built a tavern and later opened a store about 1810.
A bridge was built across the Mohawk in 1814.
When the Erie Canal was completed, in 1825, Fultonville, Canajoharie, Fort Plain and Little Falls were the largest "canal towns" between Schenectady and Utica (eighty miles).
The village was incorporated in 1848.
During the life of John H. Starin (grandson of John) "Prospect Place" or "Starin Place" was one of the "show places" of the valley.
Starin Place was a model farm with stock barns and race course, as well as conservatories, menagerie, deer park, ponds, etc.
Hon. John H. Starin became connected with the towing business in New York harbor.
During the Civil war he there superintended all the harbor towage of the U. S. government.
Cobblestone Hall here is a cobblestone house built by Simms, the historian.
Mop wringers and silk goods and machinery are (1924) the manufactures of Fultonville.
A direct road to the Schoharie Valley runs southward from Fultonville through Glen and Sloansville to Central Bridge.
Fultonville has a handsome Masonic Temple, dedicated in 1923, and a new high school.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 118: Fonda — Fultonville, concluded ...
Fonda, Gateway to the Adirondacks Over Sacandaga Trail
Fonda is a gateway to the Adirondacks, running north over the Sacandaga trail through Johnstown and Gloversville to Northville, on the Sacandaga.
Branches run from Johnstown to the Garoga and Canada lakes group, the most southerly in the Adirondacks.
Settlement of John Evart Van Epps at Fultonville, 1750
In 1750 John Evart Van Epps settled at present Fultonville, which then became known as Van Epps Swamp, from the marshy land hereabout.
Van Epps bought 900 acres of Johannes Visger and this particular part of the Visger patent comprised all of what is now Fultonville.
The Van Eppses were patriot soldiers and their house was burned twice during the Revolution.
The sixth generation of the Van Epps family (in 1924) now occupies this Van Epps homestead which has been in the family 175 years.
South Shore Revolutionary Raids, 1780, 1781
The south shore Mohawk turnpike was raided along its course from Fort Hunter to above Sprakers (fifteen miles) in Sir John Johnson's Tory-Indian-British raid of October 18-19, 1780.
The main body went west on the south shore and another detachment followed the present Old Mohawk turnpike westward, the two bodies joining at Keator's Rift, above Sprakers.
The whole valley in this distance was ravaged and burned.
On October 19, 1780, General Van Rensselaer's American army of 1,500 militia came up the south shore in pursuit of Johnson.
October 24, 1781, the Tory-Indian raid under Major Ross and the Tory captain, Walter Butler, reached the Mohawk at the Noses and ravaged the south shore road to below present Amsterdam (eighteen miles), the next day being defeated on the battlefield of Johnstown.
As the enemy came down the south side John Van Epps mounted a horse and galloped east over the highway to Amsterdam.
He warned all the settlers, who escaped to the woods, and there were no fatalities east of present Fultonville.
John Starin settled here in 1783, and built a tavern and later opened a store about 1810.
A bridge was built across the Mohawk in 1814.
When the Erie Canal was completed, in 1825, Fultonville, Canajoharie, Fort Plain and Little Falls were the largest "canal towns" between Schenectady and Utica (eighty miles).
The village was incorporated in 1848.
During the life of John H. Starin (grandson of John) "Prospect Place" or "Starin Place" was one of the "show places" of the valley.
Starin Place was a model farm with stock barns and race course, as well as conservatories, menagerie, deer park, ponds, etc.
Hon. John H. Starin became connected with the towing business in New York harbor.
During the Civil war he there superintended all the harbor towage of the U. S. government.
Cobblestone Hall here is a cobblestone house built by Simms, the historian.
Mop wringers and silk goods and machinery are (1924) the manufactures of Fultonville.
A direct road to the Schoharie Valley runs southward from Fultonville through Glen and Sloansville to Central Bridge.
Fultonville has a handsome Masonic Temple, dedicated in 1923, and a new high school.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925.
History of the county seat of Tryon, Montgomery and Fulton Counties, from the close of the Revolution to the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century — From a frontier fur-trading village to a twentieth century city of culture and civilization — Golden era of the years from 1784 to 1836 — Removal of county seat of Montgomery County to Fonda, 1836 — Formation of Fulton County, of which Johnstown is made the county seat, 1838 — Johnstown incorporated as a village in 1808 — First Mohawk Valley county fair at Johnstown in 1816 — hard times following the building of the Erie Canal in 1825 — The glove industry — Governor Throop, General Dodge, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the pioneer suffragist, natives of Johnstown — Old times and old buildings — 1870, Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad opened, inaugurating an era of prosperity — 1905, Johnstown made a city — Johnstown of today.
By John T. Morrison, Johnstown
Following the close of the Revolution in 1783, and the restoration of peace, Johnstown increased rapidly in population, in commercial and political importance, and had evoluted into a large and flourishing village before Utica, Syracuse, Rochester or Buffalo, had an existence.
It was also at this time the great center of the fur trade, the local dealers always finding a ready purchaser in John Jacob Astor, then the most extensive furrier in the world, and who often made trips to Johnstown in connection with his extensive business operations.
While New Englanders or Yankees constituted much of the population which came into Johnstown after the Revolution a considerable portion of these incomers were "Mohawk Dutch" (Holland Dutch and German), who moved northward from the river onto the fertile farmlands around the county seat.
This Mohawk Dutch racial element forms a very considerable portion of the population of Johnstown and Gloversville, which is largely American rather than foreign in its character.
In 1803 the Legislature passed an act authorizing the construction of a road running westerly from Johnstown through Garoga, Lassellsville, Brockett's Bridge (now Dolgeville), swinging northerly and westerly, running through Russia to Boonville, now frequently referred to as "the old State road," and sometimes as "the Black River road."
The opening of this road created a new avenue of trade and increased the commercial importance of Johnstown. Traders flocked in from all directions, the taverns were crowded to capacity, and life in the old village was characterized by the greatest activity and prosperity.
These were the golden days of stage coach travel.
Taverns and inns were scattered practically everywhere, along the principal lines of travel.
Some of the more noted hostelries in the early days, and until the stage coach disappeared in this section, included the Rawlins House, heretofore referred to; the Fon Claire Tavern, built in 1781, by Jean Baptiste Vaumann de Fon Claire, a former captain in the Martinique Regiment of Louis XV of France, and which occupied the present site of the Burdick residence on South William Street.
It was here that "Nick" Stoner, the famous revolutionary soldier, hunter and trapper, fatally assaulted the Indian who boasted of killing and scalping Henry Stoner, father of "Nick."
In 1798 Fon Claire erected Union Hall on East Main Street and removed thither.
The former tavern survived until 1867 when it was destroyed by fire.
It was latterly known as the Potter House.
"Jimmy Burke's Inn", (1793), was located at the southeast corner of William and Montgomery streets.
This building was recently acquired by the Johnstown Chapter D. A. R. for a Chapter House.
In 1796, Henry Yanney opened the famous "Black Horse Tavern," and conducted the same for a period of thirty years.
This building is situated on the westerly side of the "Old Caughnawaga Road," now called the extension of South Melcher Street, and is still in the hands of the descendants of Henry Yanney and used as a homestead.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925.
History of the county seat of Tryon, Montgomery and Fulton Counties, from the close of the Revolution to the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century — From a frontier fur-trading village to a twentieth century city of culture and civilization — Golden era of the years from 1784 to 1836 — Removal of county seat of Montgomery County to Fonda, 1836 — Formation of Fulton County, of which Johnstown is made the county seat, 1838 — Johnstown incorporated as a village in 1808 — First Mohawk Valley county fair at Johnstown in 1816 — hard times following the building of the Erie Canal in 1825 — The glove industry — Governor Throop, General Dodge, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the pioneer suffragist, natives of Johnstown — Old times and old buildings — 1870, Fonda, Johnstown and Gloversville Railroad opened, inaugurating an era of prosperity — 1905, Johnstown made a city — Johnstown of today.
By John T. Morrison, Johnstown
Following the close of the Revolution in 1783, and the restoration of peace, Johnstown increased rapidly in population, in commercial and political importance, and had evoluted into a large and flourishing village before Utica, Syracuse, Rochester or Buffalo, had an existence.
It was also at this time the great center of the fur trade, the local dealers always finding a ready purchaser in John Jacob Astor, then the most extensive furrier in the world, and who often made trips to Johnstown in connection with his extensive business operations.
While New Englanders or Yankees constituted much of the population which came into Johnstown after the Revolution a considerable portion of these incomers were "Mohawk Dutch" (Holland Dutch and German), who moved northward from the river onto the fertile farmlands around the county seat.
This Mohawk Dutch racial element forms a very considerable portion of the population of Johnstown and Gloversville, which is largely American rather than foreign in its character.
In 1803 the Legislature passed an act authorizing the construction of a road running westerly from Johnstown through Garoga, Lassellsville, Brockett's Bridge (now Dolgeville), swinging northerly and westerly, running through Russia to Boonville, now frequently referred to as "the old State road," and sometimes as "the Black River road."
The opening of this road created a new avenue of trade and increased the commercial importance of Johnstown. Traders flocked in from all directions, the taverns were crowded to capacity, and life in the old village was characterized by the greatest activity and prosperity.
These were the golden days of stage coach travel.
Taverns and inns were scattered practically everywhere, along the principal lines of travel.
Some of the more noted hostelries in the early days, and until the stage coach disappeared in this section, included the Rawlins House, heretofore referred to; the Fon Claire Tavern, built in 1781, by Jean Baptiste Vaumann de Fon Claire, a former captain in the Martinique Regiment of Louis XV of France, and which occupied the present site of the Burdick residence on South William Street.
It was here that "Nick" Stoner, the famous revolutionary soldier, hunter and trapper, fatally assaulted the Indian who boasted of killing and scalping Henry Stoner, father of "Nick."
In 1798 Fon Claire erected Union Hall on East Main Street and removed thither.
The former tavern survived until 1867 when it was destroyed by fire.
It was latterly known as the Potter House.
"Jimmy Burke's Inn", (1793), was located at the southeast corner of William and Montgomery streets.
This building was recently acquired by the Johnstown Chapter D. A. R. for a Chapter House.
In 1796, Henry Yanney opened the famous "Black Horse Tavern," and conducted the same for a period of thirty years.
This building is situated on the westerly side of the "Old Caughnawaga Road," now called the extension of South Melcher Street, and is still in the hands of the descendants of Henry Yanney and used as a homestead.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
The first hostelry north of the court house, on the site of the Sir William Johnson Hotel, which was recently torn down, was a two-story white building with a long dance hall on the south side over the horse sheds, which faced the north walls of the court house and the county building.
In 1812 it was conducted by Jacob Yost, son of Peter Yost, the Revolutionary soldier.
It was subsequently known as the Johnson House, owned and conducted by Heathcott Johnson and later by his son, Rodney Hall Johnson, "Pickens" and "Archibald McClellan's" on William Street; "Young's Tavern", subsequently known as the "Mathews House", on the present site of the post office, "Throops Tavern" in the center of the village; "The Red Tavern", on the site of the present Kennedy building; "The Coffee House" just opposite, all played an important part in the social life and commercial activities of the village in the early days of the Nineteenth century.
Other taverns, and of a little later period, included the "McIntyre House", at the southeast corner of Main and Perry streets, latterly known as the "Harden House"; "The Yellow Tavern", at the southeast corner of Main and Market streets; "Rosa's Hotel", now Buchanan's undertaking parlor; and the "Cayadutta Hotel", which occupied the site of the present Ulinger building, destroyed by the great fire of 1874.
On April 1st, 1808, Johnstown was incorporated as a village, and at a meeting of the inhabitants and freeholders held at the court house, December 6th of that year, the following named persons were elected as trustees of the newly incorporated village, viz: Daniel Cady, Daniel Paris, Caleb Johnson, Caleb J. Grinnel, Daniel Holden. Joseph Cuyler was unanimously elected village clerk.
The first volunteer fireman in Johnstown was Daniel Cady, the eminent jurist, the great circuit rider judge, father of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
The largest real property owners included in the first assessment roll were Vaumann de Fon Claire, and Mathias B. Hildreth, the former the tavern-keeper heretofore referred to, the latter an eminent lawyer, twice Attorney-General of the State, first in 1808, and again in 1811.
Each were assessed for $3,000.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
The first hostelry north of the court house, on the site of the Sir William Johnson Hotel, which was recently torn down, was a two-story white building with a long dance hall on the south side over the horse sheds, which faced the north walls of the court house and the county building.
In 1812 it was conducted by Jacob Yost, son of Peter Yost, the Revolutionary soldier.
It was subsequently known as the Johnson House, owned and conducted by Heathcott Johnson and later by his son, Rodney Hall Johnson, "Pickens" and "Archibald McClellan's" on William Street; "Young's Tavern", subsequently known as the "Mathews House", on the present site of the post office, "Throops Tavern" in the center of the village; "The Red Tavern", on the site of the present Kennedy building; "The Coffee House" just opposite, all played an important part in the social life and commercial activities of the village in the early days of the Nineteenth century.
Other taverns, and of a little later period, included the "McIntyre House", at the southeast corner of Main and Perry streets, latterly known as the "Harden House"; "The Yellow Tavern", at the southeast corner of Main and Market streets; "Rosa's Hotel", now Buchanan's undertaking parlor; and the "Cayadutta Hotel", which occupied the site of the present Ulinger building, destroyed by the great fire of 1874.
On April 1st, 1808, Johnstown was incorporated as a village, and at a meeting of the inhabitants and freeholders held at the court house, December 6th of that year, the following named persons were elected as trustees of the newly incorporated village, viz: Daniel Cady, Daniel Paris, Caleb Johnson, Caleb J. Grinnel, Daniel Holden. Joseph Cuyler was unanimously elected village clerk.
The first volunteer fireman in Johnstown was Daniel Cady, the eminent jurist, the great circuit rider judge, father of Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
The largest real property owners included in the first assessment roll were Vaumann de Fon Claire, and Mathias B. Hildreth, the former the tavern-keeper heretofore referred to, the latter an eminent lawyer, twice Attorney-General of the State, first in 1808, and again in 1811.
Each were assessed for $3,000.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
It is interesting to know that the first county and agricultural fair in Tryon County, perhaps the first agricultural fair in the territory now embraced within the United States, was held on William street, on Oct. 12, 1819, by a society organized in that year.
Stalls for the exhibition of cattle, horses and livestock, were erected and occupied space on the Rawlins' property just northerly of the tavern.
The court house building was used for exhibits of fruits, vegetables, agricultural implements and the products of art and industry.
Horse racing, and other contests of speed and skill, were held right out in the public street.
Indeed, horse racing on William Street was popular in the old village as late as 1830.
In this connection it is also interesting to know that no less a person than Joseph Bonaparte, successively king of Naples and Spain, eldest and favorite brother of the great Napoleon, was a frequent participant in these horse races.
After the battle of Waterloo, and the fall of the emperor, and his exile at St. Helena, Joseph, saddened in heart and spirit, came to this country, and for a period of time resided in a secluded mansion on the edge of the great northern wilderness, the site of which is now in Lewis County.
The location can easily be determined by finding Lake Bonaparte on the map, named after the ex-king of Naples and Spain.
During this period Bonaparte was a frequent visitor to Johnstown, always at fair time, and always bringing with him several thoroughbreds which he entered in the races held on William Street.
The period from the close of the Revolution, until the separation of Fulton from Montgomery County, was one of great intellectual prominence as regards the flourishing county seat of Johnstown.
Mention is made elsewhere of the distinguished members of the legal profession who were then citizens of the town or who were attracted here by legal business.
At this period, Johnstown had three residents, who were then important figures or who were destined to later assume a high position in state or national affairs.
General Richard Dodge was a prominent citizen of Johnstown in the early 1800s.
He was a veteran of the Revolution and a brigadier-general of the War of 1812, commanding the fourth brigade, consisting of the 10th, 11th and 13th regiments of Mohawk Valley militia.
He was a brother-in-law of Washington Irving, who was a visitor to the Dodge home in Johnstown on many occasions.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
It is interesting to know that the first county and agricultural fair in Tryon County, perhaps the first agricultural fair in the territory now embraced within the United States, was held on William street, on Oct. 12, 1819, by a society organized in that year.
Stalls for the exhibition of cattle, horses and livestock, were erected and occupied space on the Rawlins' property just northerly of the tavern.
The court house building was used for exhibits of fruits, vegetables, agricultural implements and the products of art and industry.
Horse racing, and other contests of speed and skill, were held right out in the public street.
Indeed, horse racing on William Street was popular in the old village as late as 1830.
In this connection it is also interesting to know that no less a person than Joseph Bonaparte, successively king of Naples and Spain, eldest and favorite brother of the great Napoleon, was a frequent participant in these horse races.
After the battle of Waterloo, and the fall of the emperor, and his exile at St. Helena, Joseph, saddened in heart and spirit, came to this country, and for a period of time resided in a secluded mansion on the edge of the great northern wilderness, the site of which is now in Lewis County.
The location can easily be determined by finding Lake Bonaparte on the map, named after the ex-king of Naples and Spain.
During this period Bonaparte was a frequent visitor to Johnstown, always at fair time, and always bringing with him several thoroughbreds which he entered in the races held on William Street.
The period from the close of the Revolution, until the separation of Fulton from Montgomery County, was one of great intellectual prominence as regards the flourishing county seat of Johnstown.
Mention is made elsewhere of the distinguished members of the legal profession who were then citizens of the town or who were attracted here by legal business.
At this period, Johnstown had three residents, who were then important figures or who were destined to later assume a high position in state or national affairs.
General Richard Dodge was a prominent citizen of Johnstown in the early 1800s.
He was a veteran of the Revolution and a brigadier-general of the War of 1812, commanding the fourth brigade, consisting of the 10th, 11th and 13th regiments of Mohawk Valley militia.
He was a brother-in-law of Washington Irving, who was a visitor to the Dodge home in Johnstown on many occasions.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
Johnstown was the birthplace of Enos T. Throop (1784-1875), governor of New York State from 1830 to 1832.
He was a most progressive, constructive executive and was instrumental in abolishing imprisonment for debt and in making the death penalty a punishment for murder only.
New York was the first state to do this.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the World's pioneer suffragist.
She was a daughter of Judge Daniel Cady, one of Johnstown's most distinguished jurists.
Mrs. Stanton was born in Johnstown in 1815 and died in New York City in 1902.
At the age of eighty, she wrote a biography, entitled "Eighty Years and More", which gives a delightful picture of Johnstown in the early years of the Nineteenth Century and which also details her uphill fight for women's suffrage and other reforms pertaining to women.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of America's most remarkable women.
She was a resident of Johnstown until her twenty-fifth year when she married Henry B. Stanton, an abolitionist, and removed to Boston, later going to Seneca Falls, N. Y. and then to New York City.
In her twenty-five years in Johnstown, Elizabeth Cady evolved all her later theories concerning woman's place in the scheme of government and women's rights.
These facts are clearly brought out in her biography, which is one of America's most interesting human documents.
Johnstown may therefore be said to be the birthplace of women's suffrage.
The Mohawk Valley has had a most important place in this and other progressive movements.
Mrs. Stanton's chief co-worker, Susan B. Anthony, was the lady principal of Canajoharie Academy, from 1848 to 1850, during which years she became an ardent supporter of the abolition cause and women's rights.
Miss Anthony left Canajoharie in 1850 and joined Mrs. Stanton at the latter's home in Seneca Falls, where they began their combined battle for suffrage for women which attained full success within a few years following the death of these two remarkable American women.
The Cady home in Johnstown was on the site of the present People's Bank.
The noted American artist, Mr. E. L. Henry has painted a picture of this corner, entitled "Johnstown in 1862."
This interesting work shows the Cady home and the adjacent Cayadutta Hotel, with the stage just starting out for Fonda.
The picture was painted for Mrs. Rose M. Knox.
Mrs. Knox also commissioned Mr. Henry to paint a picture of an Indian council at Johnson Hall and this is also one of the cherished art treasures of the Knox home.
Both paintings were exhibited at the time of the (1922) sesquicentennial of the founding of Tryon County and were used for illustrative purposes at that time.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
Johnstown was the birthplace of Enos T. Throop (1784-1875), governor of New York State from 1830 to 1832.
He was a most progressive, constructive executive and was instrumental in abolishing imprisonment for debt and in making the death penalty a punishment for murder only.
New York was the first state to do this.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the World's pioneer suffragist.
She was a daughter of Judge Daniel Cady, one of Johnstown's most distinguished jurists.
Mrs. Stanton was born in Johnstown in 1815 and died in New York City in 1902.
At the age of eighty, she wrote a biography, entitled "Eighty Years and More", which gives a delightful picture of Johnstown in the early years of the Nineteenth Century and which also details her uphill fight for women's suffrage and other reforms pertaining to women.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of America's most remarkable women.
She was a resident of Johnstown until her twenty-fifth year when she married Henry B. Stanton, an abolitionist, and removed to Boston, later going to Seneca Falls, N. Y. and then to New York City.
In her twenty-five years in Johnstown, Elizabeth Cady evolved all her later theories concerning woman's place in the scheme of government and women's rights.
These facts are clearly brought out in her biography, which is one of America's most interesting human documents.
Johnstown may therefore be said to be the birthplace of women's suffrage.
The Mohawk Valley has had a most important place in this and other progressive movements.
Mrs. Stanton's chief co-worker, Susan B. Anthony, was the lady principal of Canajoharie Academy, from 1848 to 1850, during which years she became an ardent supporter of the abolition cause and women's rights.
Miss Anthony left Canajoharie in 1850 and joined Mrs. Stanton at the latter's home in Seneca Falls, where they began their combined battle for suffrage for women which attained full success within a few years following the death of these two remarkable American women.
The Cady home in Johnstown was on the site of the present People's Bank.
The noted American artist, Mr. E. L. Henry has painted a picture of this corner, entitled "Johnstown in 1862."
This interesting work shows the Cady home and the adjacent Cayadutta Hotel, with the stage just starting out for Fonda.
The picture was painted for Mrs. Rose M. Knox.
Mrs. Knox also commissioned Mr. Henry to paint a picture of an Indian council at Johnson Hall and this is also one of the cherished art treasures of the Knox home.
Both paintings were exhibited at the time of the (1922) sesquicentennial of the founding of Tryon County and were used for illustrative purposes at that time.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
Johnstown continued to grow and prosper until 1825 when the opening of the Erie Canal diverted trade and stagecoach travel from the old highways, and Johnstown suffered a decline, which continued until 1845.
Real estate became almost valueless.
Laborers were paid seventy-five cents from sun to sun, mechanics received one dollar.
The price for sawing and splitting a cord of wood was five shillings.
Wheat flour was rarely used; butter and fresh meat were luxuries even with the most affluent.
The ordinary food articles were potatoes with rye and Indian bread and pork.
In winter buckwheat cakes, with pork fat or molasses, formed the universal dish.
Children went barefoot until frost, and until they reached full youth.
It would indeed be difficult to adequately describe the privations, the suffering, and the hardships endured by the people of Johnstown during this twenty-year period of decadence and decline.
To cap the climax, so to speak, in the midst of this period of general suffering, Johnstown ceased to be the county seat.
One John B. Borst, representing a group of land speculators, laid out the village of Fonda, and succeeded in securing the passage by the Legislature of an act removing the county seat to the new village.
Nothing ever caused more excitement, or thrilled and angered the people of old Johnstown, more than this event.
The movement to change the county seat was resisted in every possible manner; a county and congressional ticket were elected on this issue; but to no avail.
The people were forced to witness the removal of the ancient records of Tryon and Montgomery counties to Fonda.
Finally, however, in 1838, in deference to public opinion, the Legislature passed an act creating Fulton County (named in honor of the inventor of the steamboat, a relative by marriage of Judge Cady), and naming Johnstown as the county seat.
The old records of Tryon and Montgomery counties were transcribed and placed in the clerk's office in the new county, and the old court house building reopened for trials, litigation and judicial proceedings.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
Johnstown continued to grow and prosper until 1825 when the opening of the Erie Canal diverted trade and stagecoach travel from the old highways, and Johnstown suffered a decline, which continued until 1845.
Real estate became almost valueless.
Laborers were paid seventy-five cents from sun to sun, mechanics received one dollar.
The price for sawing and splitting a cord of wood was five shillings.
Wheat flour was rarely used; butter and fresh meat were luxuries even with the most affluent.
The ordinary food articles were potatoes with rye and Indian bread and pork.
In winter buckwheat cakes, with pork fat or molasses, formed the universal dish.
Children went barefoot until frost, and until they reached full youth.
It would indeed be difficult to adequately describe the privations, the suffering, and the hardships endured by the people of Johnstown during this twenty-year period of decadence and decline.
To cap the climax, so to speak, in the midst of this period of general suffering, Johnstown ceased to be the county seat.
One John B. Borst, representing a group of land speculators, laid out the village of Fonda, and succeeded in securing the passage by the Legislature of an act removing the county seat to the new village.
Nothing ever caused more excitement, or thrilled and angered the people of old Johnstown, more than this event.
The movement to change the county seat was resisted in every possible manner; a county and congressional ticket were elected on this issue; but to no avail.
The people were forced to witness the removal of the ancient records of Tryon and Montgomery counties to Fonda.
Finally, however, in 1838, in deference to public opinion, the Legislature passed an act creating Fulton County (named in honor of the inventor of the steamboat, a relative by marriage of Judge Cady), and naming Johnstown as the county seat.
The old records of Tryon and Montgomery counties were transcribed and placed in the clerk's office in the new county, and the old court house building reopened for trials, litigation and judicial proceedings.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
During this period the only industry which afforded any relief to the distressed inhabitants was the infant glove and leather business.
The same year that Johnstown was incorporated as a village, 1808, Talmage Edwards, a native of England, moved hither from Massachusetts, and established a shop and mill for the tanning of deerskins and the manufacture of gloves and mittens at the northeast corner of William and Montgomery streets.
This was the first glove manufacturing establishment in the United States.
Later, Edwards became associated in the glove and leather business with James Burr and William C. Mills at Kingsborough.
At first the Indian process of tanning was used exclusively.
Jackets and breeches, as well as gloves and mittens, were manufactured. In the early days, leather (buckskin) was cheaper than heavy cloth suitable for clothing, and, moreover, more suitable and durable in connection with the rough and laborious work of the farmers and woodchoppers.
It was the custom of the pioneer manufacturers to make a stock of jackets, breeches, gloves and mittens, pack the same upon the back of a horse, lead the animal up the Mohawk, and over into the "Chenango country," and exchange the local products for wheat, peltry, and other articles for domestic use or of commercial value.
Besides those mentioned, the early glove and mitten manufacturers included John Ward, Philander Heacock, Elisha Judson, Josiah, Daniel and Abner Leonard, Willard Rose, A. S. Van Voast, U. M. Place, Jonathan Ricketts and John McNab.
The early process and method of making gloves differed greatly from the process and methods of modern times.
Cutting dies and sewing machines had not come into use, and the work was all performed by hand.
The patterns were made of shingles or pasteboard, and were laid upon the leather, and were traced with sharp-pointed pieces of lead called "plummets."
The women did the stitching, all by hand, usually placing the mate of the glove or mitten on which they were working under them, serving the purpose of the modern "laying off."
The manufacture of fine, or "kid gloves," to use the popular expression, was introduced in 1844 by two brothers, Lucien and Theophilous Bertrand, who came from France in that year.
The Bertrands established a manufacturing plant on the second floor of the Rood building at the southwest corner of Main and Market streets, the site of the present Fairchild building.
This was the first fine glove factory in the United States.
From these small beginnings have evoluted the great glove and leather industries of today, which furnish employment and livelihood for thousands under a clean and wholesome environment, and under influences with conduce to thrift, enterprise, an unusually strong public and community spirit, and a high standard of citizenship.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
During this period the only industry which afforded any relief to the distressed inhabitants was the infant glove and leather business.
The same year that Johnstown was incorporated as a village, 1808, Talmage Edwards, a native of England, moved hither from Massachusetts, and established a shop and mill for the tanning of deerskins and the manufacture of gloves and mittens at the northeast corner of William and Montgomery streets.
This was the first glove manufacturing establishment in the United States.
Later, Edwards became associated in the glove and leather business with James Burr and William C. Mills at Kingsborough.
At first the Indian process of tanning was used exclusively.
Jackets and breeches, as well as gloves and mittens, were manufactured. In the early days, leather (buckskin) was cheaper than heavy cloth suitable for clothing, and, moreover, more suitable and durable in connection with the rough and laborious work of the farmers and woodchoppers.
It was the custom of the pioneer manufacturers to make a stock of jackets, breeches, gloves and mittens, pack the same upon the back of a horse, lead the animal up the Mohawk, and over into the "Chenango country," and exchange the local products for wheat, peltry, and other articles for domestic use or of commercial value.
Besides those mentioned, the early glove and mitten manufacturers included John Ward, Philander Heacock, Elisha Judson, Josiah, Daniel and Abner Leonard, Willard Rose, A. S. Van Voast, U. M. Place, Jonathan Ricketts and John McNab.
The early process and method of making gloves differed greatly from the process and methods of modern times.
Cutting dies and sewing machines had not come into use, and the work was all performed by hand.
The patterns were made of shingles or pasteboard, and were laid upon the leather, and were traced with sharp-pointed pieces of lead called "plummets."
The women did the stitching, all by hand, usually placing the mate of the glove or mitten on which they were working under them, serving the purpose of the modern "laying off."
The manufacture of fine, or "kid gloves," to use the popular expression, was introduced in 1844 by two brothers, Lucien and Theophilous Bertrand, who came from France in that year.
The Bertrands established a manufacturing plant on the second floor of the Rood building at the southwest corner of Main and Market streets, the site of the present Fairchild building.
This was the first fine glove factory in the United States.
From these small beginnings have evoluted the great glove and leather industries of today, which furnish employment and livelihood for thousands under a clean and wholesome environment, and under influences with conduce to thrift, enterprise, an unusually strong public and community spirit, and a high standard of citizenship.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
The Civil War record of Johnstown is, indeed, one of the most brilliant chapters in its history, and a record of which every citizen is justified in feeling a deep sense of pride.
Volunteers and citizens of Johnstown constituted a part of no less than eighteen regiments, and from the firing upon of Fort Sumter until secession was buried at Appomattox, no soldiers displayed greater zeal and patriotism, fought with greater heroism, made greater sacrifices, than the citizens of Johnstown.
Many of these regiments participated in the most important and sanguinary battles of the war, and in them many of Johnstown's citizens made the supreme sacrifice in order that the union might be perpetuated, and found eternal resting places under southern skies, below the Mason and Dixon line.
The following is a partial list of the regiments in which citizens of Johnstown played a leading role: 77 Reg.; 93 Reg.; 115 Reg. (the Old Iron Hearted); 153 Reg.; 3rd Cavalry; 13th Reg., Heavy Artillery.
As the glove and leather business increased in importance, and Johnstown and the surrounding territory increased in population, the need and necessity of better transportation facilities and communication with the outer world became more and more felt.
Indeed, the need of railroad communication was agitated as early as 1836, and in that year on May 13th, at a meeting held in the court house, an organization was perfected known as the Johnstown and Utica and Syracuse Railway Company with a capital stock of $75,000.
A survey and thorough investigation revealed, however, that the scheme was impracticable and the enterprise was abandoned.
Some time later, a canal from Johnstown to Fonda was contemplated, but this, too, was abandoned as impracticable.
A movement was then started to organize a company to build a railroad from Fonda through Johnstown and Gloversville to Garoga, terminating at a point near Canada Lake.
At that time the New York Central burned great quantities of wood in its locomotives, and the projectors of this enterprise were filled with the hopeful expectation that, by reaching the timber district and transporting to market lumber and firewood in sufficient quantities, the road could be operated at a substantial profit.
It soon became apparent, however, that coal was about to supersede wood as fuel for engines and locomotives, and, for this reason, this enterprise was also abandoned.
Finally, on the 16th day of June, 1867, the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad Co. was organized with a capital stock of $300,000, and articles of incorporation filed in the office of the Secretary of State on the following day.
The first officers of the company were as follows: President, Willard J. Heacock; Vice President, David A. Wells; Treasurer, John McLaren, Jr.; Secretary, Timothy W. Miller; Directors, W. J. Heacock, John McLaren, John E. Wells, Byron G. Shults, D. B. Judson, John McNab, D. A. Wells, Alanson Judson, Lewis Veghte, George F. Mills, U. M. Place, John Peck and Timothy W. Miller.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
The Civil War record of Johnstown is, indeed, one of the most brilliant chapters in its history, and a record of which every citizen is justified in feeling a deep sense of pride.
Volunteers and citizens of Johnstown constituted a part of no less than eighteen regiments, and from the firing upon of Fort Sumter until secession was buried at Appomattox, no soldiers displayed greater zeal and patriotism, fought with greater heroism, made greater sacrifices, than the citizens of Johnstown.
Many of these regiments participated in the most important and sanguinary battles of the war, and in them many of Johnstown's citizens made the supreme sacrifice in order that the union might be perpetuated, and found eternal resting places under southern skies, below the Mason and Dixon line.
The following is a partial list of the regiments in which citizens of Johnstown played a leading role: 77 Reg.; 93 Reg.; 115 Reg. (the Old Iron Hearted); 153 Reg.; 3rd Cavalry; 13th Reg., Heavy Artillery.
As the glove and leather business increased in importance, and Johnstown and the surrounding territory increased in population, the need and necessity of better transportation facilities and communication with the outer world became more and more felt.
Indeed, the need of railroad communication was agitated as early as 1836, and in that year on May 13th, at a meeting held in the court house, an organization was perfected known as the Johnstown and Utica and Syracuse Railway Company with a capital stock of $75,000.
A survey and thorough investigation revealed, however, that the scheme was impracticable and the enterprise was abandoned.
Some time later, a canal from Johnstown to Fonda was contemplated, but this, too, was abandoned as impracticable.
A movement was then started to organize a company to build a railroad from Fonda through Johnstown and Gloversville to Garoga, terminating at a point near Canada Lake.
At that time the New York Central burned great quantities of wood in its locomotives, and the projectors of this enterprise were filled with the hopeful expectation that, by reaching the timber district and transporting to market lumber and firewood in sufficient quantities, the road could be operated at a substantial profit.
It soon became apparent, however, that coal was about to supersede wood as fuel for engines and locomotives, and, for this reason, this enterprise was also abandoned.
Finally, on the 16th day of June, 1867, the Fonda, Johnstown & Gloversville Railroad Co. was organized with a capital stock of $300,000, and articles of incorporation filed in the office of the Secretary of State on the following day.
The first officers of the company were as follows: President, Willard J. Heacock; Vice President, David A. Wells; Treasurer, John McLaren, Jr.; Secretary, Timothy W. Miller; Directors, W. J. Heacock, John McLaren, John E. Wells, Byron G. Shults, D. B. Judson, John McNab, D. A. Wells, Alanson Judson, Lewis Veghte, George F. Mills, U. M. Place, John Peck and Timothy W. Miller.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
On September 30th, 1867, a contract was entered into with Adam Swartz for the construction of the road and the work immediately thereafter commenced, but Swartz found the undertaking too great, more than he bargained for, so to speak, and he threw up the job.
Several other contractors undertook to carry out the undertaking Swartz had assumed, but they, too, failed in their agreements.
Finally, under the direction of Lawton Caton, a very capable civil engineer of Syracuse, and who subsequently and for many years served with great efficiency as superintendent, the road was completed, and the first train, consisting of locomotive, two passenger cars, one baggage car, two box cars, and four platform cars, was run over the road on November 29th, 1870.
This date marks the opening of a new era, the birth and beginning of the new and modern Johnstown.
As Johnstown increased in population and commercial importance, the need of a more potent municipal government became manifest, and on May 9th, 1895, the Legislature, in deference to an almost unanimous appeal of the citizens, passed a law incorporating the city.
The first city officials were as follows: Mayor, Jacob P. Miller; Alderman-at-Large, James F. Mason; Aldermen, Eli Miller, John P. O'Neil, Frank Randall, George A. Stewart, John F. Cahill, S. E. Trumbull, George C. Potter, James Stewart; City Clerk, John T. Morrison.
Since the incorporation of the city, and the greater potency of the city government, Johnstown has made rapid strides in progress and the matter of improvements.
Many new streets have been laid out, many miles of streets have been improved, new industries have been attracted to the city, a new and additional water supply added to the old system, school and educational facilities have been improved and increased, and all in all the present conditions bespeak loudly substantial progress and prosperity for the future of Johnstown.
It is, indeed, quite impossible to go into any great details regarding Johnstown, within the limitations of this chapter.
I have referred to many things any one of which, to do it justice, would fill a volume.
And this is particularly true in relation to Johnstown's school system.
Starting with Sir William Johnson's free school, which was succeeded by the Academy on South Market Street, and the latter by the present highly-organized and efficient modern free school system, to go into full details would fill several volumes.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the pioneer, and for many years the national leader of the Woman's suffrage movement, a native of Johnstown, in her recent and revised auto biography, draws a vivid word-picture of school days at the old Academy, during her girlhood period, in the '30s, of the scholarly atmosphere that prevailed throughout the village, and I might add, which survives to this day.
The citizens of Johnstown have always taken a deep and extraordinary interest in matters pertaining to their schools and education, and the result is reflected not only in the number of persons who received their preliminary education in Johnstown, and who subsequently won high and merited distinction in different walks of life outside, but also in the clean and wholesome conditions and the high standards which prevail generally throughout the city at the present time.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 119: The City of Johnstown, 1784-1925, continued ...
On September 30th, 1867, a contract was entered into with Adam Swartz for the construction of the road and the work immediately thereafter commenced, but Swartz found the undertaking too great, more than he bargained for, so to speak, and he threw up the job.
Several other contractors undertook to carry out the undertaking Swartz had assumed, but they, too, failed in their agreements.
Finally, under the direction of Lawton Caton, a very capable civil engineer of Syracuse, and who subsequently and for many years served with great efficiency as superintendent, the road was completed, and the first train, consisting of locomotive, two passenger cars, one baggage car, two box cars, and four platform cars, was run over the road on November 29th, 1870.
This date marks the opening of a new era, the birth and beginning of the new and modern Johnstown.
As Johnstown increased in population and commercial importance, the need of a more potent municipal government became manifest, and on May 9th, 1895, the Legislature, in deference to an almost unanimous appeal of the citizens, passed a law incorporating the city.
The first city officials were as follows: Mayor, Jacob P. Miller; Alderman-at-Large, James F. Mason; Aldermen, Eli Miller, John P. O'Neil, Frank Randall, George A. Stewart, John F. Cahill, S. E. Trumbull, George C. Potter, James Stewart; City Clerk, John T. Morrison.
Since the incorporation of the city, and the greater potency of the city government, Johnstown has made rapid strides in progress and the matter of improvements.
Many new streets have been laid out, many miles of streets have been improved, new industries have been attracted to the city, a new and additional water supply added to the old system, school and educational facilities have been improved and increased, and all in all the present conditions bespeak loudly substantial progress and prosperity for the future of Johnstown.
It is, indeed, quite impossible to go into any great details regarding Johnstown, within the limitations of this chapter.
I have referred to many things any one of which, to do it justice, would fill a volume.
And this is particularly true in relation to Johnstown's school system.
Starting with Sir William Johnson's free school, which was succeeded by the Academy on South Market Street, and the latter by the present highly-organized and efficient modern free school system, to go into full details would fill several volumes.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the pioneer, and for many years the national leader of the Woman's suffrage movement, a native of Johnstown, in her recent and revised auto biography, draws a vivid word-picture of school days at the old Academy, during her girlhood period, in the '30s, of the scholarly atmosphere that prevailed throughout the village, and I might add, which survives to this day.
The citizens of Johnstown have always taken a deep and extraordinary interest in matters pertaining to their schools and education, and the result is reflected not only in the number of persons who received their preliminary education in Johnstown, and who subsequently won high and merited distinction in different walks of life outside, but also in the clean and wholesome conditions and the high standards which prevail generally throughout the city at the present time.
TO BE CONTINUED ...