The Chronicles of Cooperstown/Chapter III

&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;&mdash;

The village at the commencement of the year 1792, stood principally on Second street, with a house or two on Water street, one or two more on Front street, and a few on West street. The shops and taverns were collected in the vicinity of the four principal corners, where were also the Court House and Jail. It is evident to the geologist that water has once flowed over the site of the place, and originally many deep holes or hollows existed, which had the appearance of having been formed by powerful eddies or currents. Most of these holes have disappeared, by leveling and filling up, but a few are still to be seen, especially in the grounds of the Hall, where they have been preserved as helping the ornamental walks, &c., &c.

Some of these inequalities, of course, existed in the streets, and many persons still remember the place when there were considerable ascents and descents in them. Opposite to the present bank there was, as recently as the commencement of this century, a little rise in the road, and in West street, at the point near that where the present inclination commences, was a short, sharp pitch, down which vehicles had to descend with great care. Judge Cooper’s barns, stables, &c., down to the year 1798 certainly, if not to a later day, were in the rear of the stone store that now belongs to Mr. J. R. Worthington, and they stood many feet below the level of the streets. Nor did the stumps disappear altogether from even Second street, which is the principal avenue of tile village, until the close of the century. The road to Fly Creek diverged from the Hartwick road, near Howard’s farm, and the narrow part of Second street continued enclosed as part of the farm of Mr. Guild, until about the year 1795.

Mr. James Averell was an early settler on the patent, having occupied the farm since known as the Howard farm, in 1787, but he exchanged with Mr. Howard this farm against the Tannery, and removed into the village, or rather into what is now the village, in the year 1792. Here, by his enterprise and industry, he raised the works in question into some of the most important of the sort that then existed in the newer part of the State. Mr. Averell soon became conspicuous for his habits of business, and subsequently was much connected with the increase of Cooperstown and its vicinity, in wealth and industry.

Between the years 1792 and 1797, Messrs. Wade, Stevens, Renssalaer Williams, Richard Williams. Norman Landon, Peter Ten Broeck and Le Quoy arrived and established themselves as merchants; Mr. SR. R. Smith relinquishing business, and going to Philadelphia, where he was soon a partner in an extensive wholesale house. 26

Mr. Wade was an Irishman by birth, and had served as a captain in the British army. He remained but a year or two, when he returned to New York. The present Major Wade of the United States army is his son. Mr. Stevens returned to Philadelphia also. in a few years; but the Messrs. Williams continued their connection with the place, down to the periods of their deaths; their collateral descendants and heirs still existing in Cooperstown. The Messrs. Ten I3roeck returned to New Jersey, at the end of a few years. Mr Landon (lied, and is interred in the old burying ground.

Mr. Le Quoy excited a good deal of interest during his stay in the place. as he was a man altogether superior to his occupation. which was little more than that of a country grocer; an interest that was much increased by the following circumstance.

Among the early settlers in Otsego county, was Mr. Lewis de Villers, a French gentleman of respectable extraction and good manners. Mr. de Villers was in Cooperstown about the year 1793, at a moment when a countryman, a Mr. Renouard, who afterwards established himself in the county, had recently reached the place. Mr. Renouard was a seaman and had the habit of using tobacco. Enquiring of Mr. de Villers where some of his favorite article might be purchased, Mr. de Villers directed him to the shop of Mr. Le Quoy, telling him he would help a countryman by making his purchase of that person. In a few minutes Mr. Renouard returned from the shop, much agitated and very pale. Mr. de Villers inquired if he were unwell. "In the name of God, Mr. de Villers who is the man who sold me this tobacco?" demanded Mr. Renouard. "Mr. Le Quoy, a countryman of ours" "Yes, Mr. Le Quoy de Mersereau." "I know nothing about the de Mersereau, he calls himself Mr. Le Quoy. Do you know anything of him?" "When I went to Martinique to be port captain of St. Pierre," answered Mr. Renouard, "this man was the civil governor of the island, and refused to confirm my appointment."

Subsequent inquiry confirmed this story, Mr. Le Quoy explaining that the influence of a lady had stood in the way of Mr. Renonard’s preferment. 27

The history of Mr. Le Quoy has since been ascertained to be as follows: When governor of Martinique he had it in his power to do a friendly office to Mr. John Murray of New York, by liberating one of his ships, Mr Murray being at the head of the old and highly respectable commercial house of John Murray & Sons, then one of the principal firms of the country. This act brought about an exchange of civilities between Mr. Murray and Mr. Le Quoy, which continued for a few years. When the French revolution drove Mr. Le Quoy from the island, he repaired to New York, and sought his friend Mr. Murray, to whom he stated that he had a small sum of money, which. he wished to invest in a country store, until his fortunes might revive. Between Judge Cooper and Mr. Murray there existed an intimacy, and the latter referred Mr Le Quoy to the former. Under the advice of Judge Cooper, Mr. Le Quoy established himself in Cooperstown, where he remained more than a year. At the end of that time he made his peace with the new French government, and quitting his retreat, he was employed for some months in superintending the accounts of the different French consulates in this country. It is said that he soon after returned to Martinique in his old capacity, and died the first season of yellow fever. When Mr. Fenimore Cooper was in France, the Comte d’Hauterive, who had been French consul general in America, at the period of Mr. Le Quoy’s residence, spoke of the latter gentleman, and in part, corroborated this history of him. The following letter appears to have been written soon after he left Cooperstown, and at the moment he commenced his consular duties:


 * PHILADELPHIA, 10th Oct., 1794.


 * DEAR SIR — I have experienced too much of your friendship to believe you will not hear of my fate with some degree of concern. I am to go to Charleston in S. C., about some business which will keep me most all the winter. I hope for a more permanent employment than what I have at present; if not, I know where to find peace, good business, good friends. I shall always consider you among the number. I wish you and all your family health and happiness, and I remain, dear sir, your most humble servant F. Z. LE QUOY.


 * Mons. W. COOPER, in Cooperstown, Otsego county.

Later letters show that Mr. La Quoy did not quit this country until 1796.

January 27th, 1795, Mr. James Barher, tailor, died of the small pox. This was the first adult who died a natural death in the village. He lived in the large old building which stands north of the dwelling of Mr. Lawrence McNamee, and which was erected the year before. But, Mr. Jabez Wight, cabinet maker, was drowned while bathing. near the outlet, August 14th, 1794. This was the second death, in the place. The same year a child of Mr. Averell’s was drowned, but not in the lake. All these persons were interred in Christ church burying ground, where their head-stones are still to be seen. 28

During the first ten years of the existence of the village, the people depended entirely on chance for the little religious instruction they received. The emigrants to the place, more particularly those who had any property, were singularly divided as to religious faith, the Presbyterians, though the most numerous sect, being the poorest. Missionaries occasionally penetrated to this spot, and now and then a traveling Baptist, or a Methodist, preached, in a tavern, a school house, or a barn. The first regular clergyman, who had any engagement to officiate in Cooperstown, was the Rev. Mr. Mosely, who was employed for six months. This was in the year 1795. He was a Presbyterian, and went away at the expiration of his engagement.

In the way of schools, the village did a little better. It has been said that Joshua Dewey kept the first school. He was soon succeeded by Oliver Cory, who conducted the common school of the place, with commendable assiduity and great credit to himself, for many years. Nearly all the permanent inhabitants of the village, who are between the ages of forty and fifty-five, received their elementary instruction from this respectable teacher. Mr. Cory did not neglect religious instruction altogether, but every Saturday was devoted to this object. His care in this respect, as well as his lessons on deportment, were attended with the most beneficial results, and it is to be regretted that they have not been imitated in our own time. He kept his school originally in the Court House, and then in the first regular school house ever built in the place. This school house was a small wooden building that stood on the lot that is now occupied by the dwelling of Mr. Elihu Phinney. Subsequently Mr. Cory held his school in the Academy. Notwithstanding the apparent neglect on the subject of religion, which, in all probability, is to be referred more to the division in sentiment mentioned, than to any other cause, the people of Cooperstown showed great public spirit on the subject of establishing an Academy, a plan for which was started as early as 1795. We subjoin the following copy of a subscription paper for that purpose, in proof of what we say, and which is still in existence, viz:

"We the subscribers do severally undertake to contribute the sums opposite to our respective names, towards an academy in Cooperstown, for the county of Otsego. April 5th, 1795.

William Cooper,  -   -  $725.00    James Averell,  -   -   -  $50.90 William Abbot, -   -   -  40.00    Francis Henry,    -   -   -  5.00 Huntington & Ingals, -    25.00    Jabez Hubbell,  -   -   -    5.00 Elisha Fullam, -   -   -   7.50    Norman Landon,    -   -   - 45.00 Jotias Perry, -  -   -     2.50    Timothy Sabin,  -   -   -    3.75 Lemuel Jewel,  -   -   -   2.50    Barnet Whipple,   -   -   -  5.00 Thomas Fuller,   -   -    40.00    Bill Jarvis,    -   -   -    2.50 Samuel Tubbs,  -   -   -  12.50    Moses Kent,   -   -   -   - 25.00 Uriab Luce,  -   -   -    10.00    Peter Lambert,  -   -   -    7.50 Joseph Holt,   -   -   -  10.00    Nathaniel Gott,   -   -   - 12.50 John Miller, -   -   -     7.50    William Ellison,    -   -   12.50 James White,   -   -   -  15.00    Stephen Ingals,   -   -   -  5.00 James Gardner,   -   -    10.00    Abner Dunham,   -   -   -    6.25 Nathan Davison, -  -   -   5.00    E. Phinney,   -   -   -   - 40.00 Joseph Griffin,  -   -    42.50    Lewis De Villers,   -   -   15.00 John Howard,   -   -   -  30.00    Robert Riddle,    -   -   -  7.50 William Cook, -  -   -    25.00    Aaron Noble,    -   -   -    7.50 Benjamin Griffin,  -   -  25.00    Matthew Bennet,   -   -   -  7.50 Jacob Morris, -  -   -    62.50    Isaac Stacy,    -   -   -   10.00 Benjamin Gilbert,  -   -  30.00    Joseph N. Jones,  -   -   -  5.00 Griffin Crafts,  -   -    30.00    Levi Wentworth,     -   -    6.25 --            Total   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   -   $1,441.25

29

The odd cents are from the subscriptions having been in the old currency. This document shows several interesting facts. There are forty-two names, which makes an average subscription of more than 33 to each name; and it may be doubted if any thing like such an average could now be obtained for any public object whatever. Of these forty-two names, twenty-three were then residents of the village, and considering the public spirit that prevailed, it is fair to suppose that this comprised at least two-thirds of the heads of families that were then to be found in the place. It will probably be safe to say, that Cooperstown contained in 1795, about thirty-five families, and quite as many houses. As the heads of families were generally young, an average of five persons to each family would be sufficiently high; this would give a whole number of one hundred and seventy-five souls. If to these we add twenty-five for single persons, we get a total of two hundred for the population, which could not be far from the truth.

The Academy was raised September 18th, 1795. It was one of those tasteless buildings that afflict all new countries, and contained two school rooms below, a passage and the stairs; while the upper story was in a single room. Nothing superior to a common English education was ever taught in this house, all attempts at classical instruction failing. This must be ascribed to the general want of means in the population, at the time; the few who gave their children classical educations, usually sending them abroad for that purpose.

The Academy, containing at that time the largest room in the place, was as much used for other purposes as for those of education. Religious meetings were generally held there, as well as other large assemblages of the people. ‘[he school exhibitions of Mr. Cory, in which Brutus and Cassius figured in hats of the cuts of 1776, blue coats faced with red, of no cut at all, and matross swords, are still the subject of mirth with those who remember the prodigies. The court on great occasions was sometimes held in this building, and even balls were occasionally given in it; in short, it was a jack of all work, rather than of the particular work for which it was intended. 30

Notwithstanding the failure as respects a classical school, the year was memorable for the establishment of another species of instruction, that probably was more useful to this particular community, at that early day. On the 28th of February, 1795, Mr. Elihu Phinney, a native of Connecticut, arrived in Cooperstown. bringing with him the materials for printing a newspaper; and on the 3d day of April of the same year, the first number of the Otsego Herald, or Western Advertiser, a weekly paper. made its appearance. This was the second journal published in the State, west of Albany. We see by its title that, in 1795, it was considered a western print, whereas at the present day, Cooperstown is probably a hundred leagues east of the central point around which journals are now to be found.

By means of this print we are enabled to make the following curious statistical statement, by which the reader will obtain an insight into the actual condition of the western part of this State at that time. In 1794, Judge Cooper was elected Representative in Congress, from a district composed of the counties of Montgomery, Herkimer, Tioga, Ontario, Onondaga and Otsego, as they then existed, His opponent was Mr. Winn of Montgomery, and the following is the result of the canvass:

COOPER. WINN. Montgomery,.............. 304   970 Herkimer,................ 746   144 Tioga,................... 89    88 Ontario,................. 30     2 Onondaga,................ 95     6 Otsego,.................. 1271   216 .                                     Total,........... 2535  1426

Here we see that the county of Ontario, at that time comprising so much of the State, gave but 32 votes, while Otsego gave 1487. The fact shows the great rapidity with which the latter county had been settled.

A brewery was established in 1794, by two Englishmen, of the names of Mulcock and Morgan, but it was in advance of the country, and after a short experiment it failed.

July 9th, 1795, a man named Porteus was flogged at the whipping post, for stealing some pieces of ribbon. This was the first of two instances of the same punishment on the same spot. The whipping post and stocks stood nearly opposite the jail door, in West street, but on the west side of the street. Porteus was banished, as well as flogged, the former punishment being used in Cooperstown. It is to be regretted that it has fallen into disuse. 31

By an article in the Otsego Herald of October 30th, it would seem that the year 1795 added much to the size of the place, no less than thirty buildings having been constructed that season. Many of these, however, were shops, offices and stores. Among others were the Brewery and Academy, already mentioned. The former stood near the present bridge, and is described as having been 83 feet in length, 25 feet wide, and 19 feet posts. The Academy was 65-1/2 feet long, 32 wide, and 25 feet posts. The summit of the belfry was 70 feet from the ground.

On the evening of the 20th November, 1795, a building attached to the pottery of Mr. Joshua Starr, a respectable inhabitant of the village, was destroyed by fire. This is believed to be the first accident of the sort that ever occurred in Cooperstown.

The mills that still exist on the Susquehanna, were erected by Mr. William Ellison, as early as 1792.

It appears that the Rev. Elisha Mosely preached the first thanksgiving sermon in Cooperstown, on the 26th November, 1795, in the Court House. By the latter circumstance it would seem that the Academy, which indeed was only raised on the 18th September, had not been completed. It is also stated in the Otsego Herald, that in this year the village paid in excise, and through the inns and stores, &c., and by the duty on carriages, thirty-six pounds. The first carriage that was ever used in the place, was a phaeton of Judge Cooper’s. This was in 1792. In 1795, he set up a chariot, which by the aid of four horses, was enabled to perform a journey from Cooperstown to Cherry Valley, between breakfast and supper.

The first road to communicate with the lower country, was that mentioned already as running along the eastern margin of the lake. Its course did not differ essentially from that of the present turnpike. A rude road existed previously to the revolution, from Cherry Valley, as far as the Ingals farm in Middlefield, and this road was brought round the end of the Vision and into the village, about the year 1791. It followed the present margin of the forest, on the side of the mountain, until it reached the spot where Woodside now stands, when it traversed the present grounds of Lakelands, diagonally, to the outlet. This end of the road was three times altered; first, by bringing it down to the river a little below the mills; secondly, by leading it more diagonally across the fields, and lastly, to its present route.

A State road was laid out between Albany and Cooperstown, in 1794. This road crossed the mountain, and descended the Vision by the line that is still used as a foot-path. A bridge was then first constructed, where the present bridge now stands. 32

In 1802, the second company of the Great Western turnpike brought the present turnpike road through the village. The labors of this company sensibly improved the surface of Second street, and may be set down as the commencement of the present handsome appearance of the principal streets. The lake turnpike was constructed in 1825. The State road was continued west by the people, in 1796, nearly on the line of the present turnpike, some aid being obtained from the State. The Hartwick and Pier’s roads have been but little altered since 1786, though both have been straightened near the village.

In 1795, the township of Otsego, then much larger than at present, however, contained 2160 males above the age of 16, a prodigious increase for ten years. It had 491 electors under the laws of that period, viz: 368 £100 freeholders; 55 £20 freeholders; and 60 persons renting tenements at £2. It is said that in 1738, all the electors in the State west of Albany, the latter included, excepting, however, the manor of Rensselaer, were but 636. In 1795, the number in the same counties was 36,026. It probably now exceeds 200,000.

It is mentioned that lake Otsego was free from ice on the 1st of January, 1796. It did not close the present year (1838) until the 23d January. March, 1796, was memorable for the flocks of pigeons that flew through this valley; elderly persons declaring that they saw more on a single morning than they had previously seen in all their lives.

At the close of the year 1796, Judge Cooper made his contracts for the construction of the Hall. This, it is believed, was the first building in the county, and, with the exception of the German settlements, almost the first private building in the State. west of Schenectady, that was not built of wood. By an instrument that is still in existence, William Sprague and Barnet Whipple contracted to do the carpenter’s and joiner’s work of this house, all the materials being found on the spot, for the sum of $1,350. The work was begun in the year 1796, but it got no higher than the foundation in 1797. In 1798, the walls were raised and the house was effectually enclosed. In June, 1799, the building was completed, and the family of the proprietor removed into it. It was, however, inhabited by some of the workmen in 1798. 33

The grounds of the old building, which was called the Manor House, and those of the Hall, were not identical. The former ex- tended back no farther than to the site of the present building, whereas the latter, as is known, reached to Third street. At this time and for some years later, many pines were still standing in the fields south of Third street, and most of the spots that had been cleared were covered with a young second growth. Otsego Hall was, for many years, the largest private residence in the newer parts of the State, and it is still much the most considerable structure in Cooperstown, a village that is so singularly well built. Some idea of the strength with which it was constructed may be gained from the fact, that in 1834, when the present owner commenced his repairs and improvements. the floor above the great hall, which is near twenty-five feet by fifty in surface, was raised three feet, one corner at a time, without injury even to the ceiling below. The joists were of oak, the planks of the best quality, and the fastenings of wrought iron spikes. The house was struck by lightning in 1802, on which occasion the first lightning rod in Cooperstown was erected.

The Free Masons opened a lodge in the village on the first Tuesday in March, 1796, and on the 27th December, they held a great religious festival in the Academy. They dined in the same place, and in the evening they had a ball.

The first library was opened in this village, March 11th, 1796, Capt. Timothy Barnes, librarian.

The year 1794 was memorable in the history of Cooperstown, for what is still called the Indian alarm. This alarm was false, having proceeded from the combined circumstances that a report prevailed of a considerable body of Indians having been seen lurking in the woods at no great distance, and that a party who had brought in some counterfeiters discharged their pistols at midnight. Scouts had been previously sent to ascertain the fact about the Indians, and this discharge of pistols was supposed to proceed from these scouts, in the wish to alarm the village. Many ludicrous accounts are given of the effect of the fright, one man in particular, secreting himself in a log abutment of the bridge that had then been recently constructed at the spot where the present bridge now stands. We learn in the fact, the infant condition of the country, as it was then possible to create an alarm on account of the Indians.

Up to this period the lake was full of fish, and hauls of hundreds of the delicious bass were made at a time, during the proper season. The trout also abounded, as did deer. The fisherman of the day was known as Admiral Hearsey, pronounced Hassy, a man who was unhappy unless in a boat or before a lime kiln. He was, perhaps, more thoroughly aquatic than his successor, the Commodore, who has now commanded the lake more than thirty years, but on the whole, less skillful. At that time pickerel, now so abundant, were seldom caught at all. 34

In 1794, there was a large flat boat on the lake, called the ship Jay, on board of which Admiral Hassy first hoisted his flag. His sails were boards, and his speed more than doubtful.

The old road along the east bank of the lake was abandoned about this time; those who went to Springfield going by the way of Pier’s; and those who went to Albany, or to the Mohawk, by the way of Cherry Valley.

A journey taken by Judge Cooper in 1795, of which the memorials still exist, will give an idea of the means of communication that were then in the country. He left Cooperstown soon after breakfast, with his wife and two children, in the old-fashioned chariot already mentioned, and drawn by four horses. At Middlefield Center the party stopped, bated and dined. It reached Cherry Valley a little before sunset, where it passed the night. Left Cherry Valley next morning after an early breakfast, and stopped to dine with Mr. Christopher Yates; thence to the house of Hendrik Frey, at Canajoharie, to supper and to sleep. Quitting Mr. Frey’s after a late breakfast, or at ten o'clock, it reached an inn for the night, about ten miles from Schenectady. The next morning, making an early start, it reached Gilbert’s in Schenectady, to a late breakfast, and succeeded in getting to Albany about sunset.

At this period lime-ki1ns and brick-kilns existed at the outlet, owing to which circumstance, and to the diggings of the different roads, the western bank has been much defaced, it having resembled the eastern a good deal, in its native state; though a small flat always existed a little below.

In 1797, the Rev. Thomas Ellison of Albany, and the Patroon, both regents of the university, visited the Cherry Valley academy, and then extended their journey to Cooperstown, where the former preached in the Court House. This was the first time service, according to the rites of the Protestant Episcopal church, was ever performed in the place. 35