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ONONDAGA COUNTY.
The Franklin Institute‘a literary association, was incorp. under the general law, Dec. 1849. It
has-a fine library and reading room in Wieting Blogk, S. Salina St., and it supports an annual
course of lectures during the winter. The number of volumes in the library is about 3,000.
Syracuse Post Office'is situated near the center of the old village of Syracuse, s. of the Erie
Canal. Salina Post Office is situated in the old village of Salina, near the Oswego Canal.
The Library of ihe Court of Appeals was formed by act of Legislature, April 9,1849. It occu¬
pies rooms in the courthouse, and contains 4,500 volumes.
The Office of ihe Superintendent of the Salt Springs, on N. Salina St., is a fine building of cut
stone.
The State Armory is a fine building, in Regimental Park, near Onondaga Creek. It was built
in 1858, from a design by H. N. White.
The city also contains a Commercial College, 2 private seminaries, a classical school, a boarding
school for boys, a large number of Masonic, Odd Fellows, and Sons of Malta lodges, a City Tract
Society, a Bible Society, a Fugitive Aid Society, a Musical Institute, a German Turnverein, 11
banks of issue, 2 savings banks, 28 churches,1 and a large number of beautiful and costly private
residences. Its hotels and public halls rank among the best in the State.
The first settlement in the city and co. was made by Ephraim Webster, an Indian trader, who
located near the mouth of Onondaga Creek in 1786. In 1788 or 1789 John Danforth, who came
into the co. soon after his brother Asa, located at “ Salt Point” and commenced the manufacture
of salt.2 The settlement at this place increased with great rapidity, in consequence of the pros¬
pective value of the salt springs. It took the name of “ Salina,” and speedily became the most
important place in the co.,—a superiority which it maintained for many years. The first settlers
within the limits of the old village of Syracuse, after Webster, the Indian trader, were Hop¬
kins, in 1797, and Butler, in 1799. Calvin Jackson settled in 1800, and several others before
1805.3 The ground being low and marshy, the settlement did not progress rapidly for many years.
The first great impulse to its growth was given by the location of the canal in 1817 and its com¬
pletion in 1825. In 1829, when the courthouse was removed from Onondaga Hill, Salina and
Syracuse were nearly equal in population, and the courthouse was placed about midway between
the two villages. Since that time, however, the growth of Syracuse has been rapid and nearly
uniform. In 1847 it completely absorbed its old rival, Salina, the two villages and Lodi at that
time being incorp. and forming the city of Syracuse. The business prosperity of the place has
been based principally upon the salt interests and its commercial advantages. The most notable
incidents of the later history of the city are the great gunpowder explosion of Aug. 20,1841 ;4 and
the rescue of the slave Jerry from the custody of the U. S. Marshal, Oct. 1, 1851.5
TIIIiljY—was formed from Fabius, April 4, 1803. A part of Otisco was taken off in 1806,
and Spafford in 1811. It is the center town upon the s. line of the co. Its surface is an upland,
level in the center, but hilly on the e. and w. borders.. In the s. part of the central valley are
several small lakes, known as the Tully Lakes. Two of these lakes lie but a few rods apart. The
smaller, just 800 ft. above the canal at Syracuse, gives rise to Onondaga Creek, flowing n. ; and the
larger, 4 ft. lower, gives rise to Tioughnioga River, flowing s. In the immediate vicinity of these
lakes is considerable swamp land. The soil is a sandy and clayey loam. Tully, (p. v.,) in the
s. e. part of the town, contains 2 churches and 216 inhabitants; and'Vesper, (p.v.,) on the line
of Otisco, 2 churches and 25 houses. Tully Valley is a p. o. The first settler was David
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years previous entertained travelers. Elisha Alvord kept the
first.store, in 1795. In 1793 Mr. Van Vleck brought from Albany
a large coffee mill, wrhich was used for grinding corn.
3 Among the other early settlers were Wm. Lee, Aaron Cole,
Amos Stanton, Henry Bogardus, and Jonathan Fay. The first
child born was Albion Jackson, Dec. 28, 1800. A tract of 250
acres, lying near the center of the city, and including a mill
privilege upon Onondaga Creek, was sold by the State to
Abraham Walton and became known as the “ Walton Tract.”
It afterward passed into the hands of the “ Syracuse Company.”
Mr. Bogardus erected a log house for an inn, on the site of the
present Voorhees Block, in 1805; and Mr. Walton erected his
“ Old Red Mill” the same year. The first steamboat ever used
upon the canal was built a mi. s. of Oran, and launched at
“ Buellville,” in Pompey, in 1823, by Wm. Avery.
4 Twenty-seven kegs of powder, secretly stored in a carpenter
shop, exploded, and 25 men—principally firemen—were killed,
,and more than 60 others were wounded.
6 Jerry ■was arrested as a fugitive slave and confined in the
police office; but in the evening a large number of citizens as¬
sembled and forcibly took him from the custody of the officers.
Several men were arrested and tried for participating in th®
rescue, hut no convictions were ever procured. |
1
4 E. O., 3 Prot. E., 3 M. E., 3 Presb., 2 Cong., 2 Bap., 2 Ger.
Evan. Asso., 2 Jewish Synagogues, Ref. Prot. D., Unit., Ger.
Luth., Ger. Prot., Af. Meth., Wes. Meth., and Swedenborgian.
2
In Aug. 1790, Col. Jeremiah Gould and family, consisting
of a wife, three sons, and a daughter, came to “Salt Paint,” and
found there Deacon and Nathaniel Loomis, Hezekiah Olcott,
John Danforth, Asa Danforth, jr., and Thomas Gaston. In 1791
two families named Woodworth and Sturges came in, and
March 2, 1792, Isaac Van Vleck and family. Among the other
early settlers were Thomas Osmon,"Simon Phares, Patrick Riley,
Wm. Gilchrist, James Peat, Aaron Bellows, Elisha Alvord,
Richard Sawyer, and Dioclesian Alvord. The first child born
was Abraham Van Vleck, in 1792; the first marriage was that
of Thomas Osmon and Katharine Van Derwricher, in 1795;
3
and the first death, that of an infant child of Thompson, in
4
1794. Dr. Burnet, the first physician, died the same year. The
provisions for the first settlers were brought from Tioga, by
way of Cayuga Lake, and from Herkimer, by way of Oneida
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Lake. In 1793, 30 of the 33 inhabitants of the village were
sick,—the 3 well ones, with the help of the Indians, taking care
of the sick for 2 months. In 1794, out of a population of 63
persons 23 died. The first regular innkeeper was Wm. Gil¬
christ, about 1795; though Isaac Van Vleck had for several
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