Utica: Shopping Center of the
Mohawk Valley
ONEIDA COUNTY, NY
ILLUSTRATED BOOKLET
The early days of Oneida County, New York,
and its various towns, and townships -- including Utica -- are recalled
through a mixture of colorful tales and factual data in this NEW 44 Page Booklet,
reprinted primarily from two hard-to-find books: the 1841 edition of Historical
Collections of the State of New York by John Warner Barber and Henry
Howe, and New York, a Guide to the Empire State, a WPA project.
The spiral-bound booklet is one-sided on 60#
paper, with the print enlarged for easier reading. A clear vinyl sheet has
been added to protect the front cover.
Besides Utica, the communities mentioned
(alphabetized by first letter only) include: Annsville, Augusta, Boonville,
Camden, Clinton, Deerfield, Florence, Holland Patent, Kirkland, Knox's
Corners, Lee, Marcy, Marshall, New Hartford, New York Mills, Oriskany,
Paris, Prospect, Remsen, Rome, South Trenton, Sangerfield, Steuben, Sherrill,
Sauquoit, Trenton, Vernon, Verona, Vienna, Westmoreland, Western, Whitestown,
Whitesboro, and Yorkville.
Among the many and diverse topics in the booklet
are: Life of Oneida, Indian chief who lived 110 years; Graveyard Inscriptions;
Place Names; Early settlers; An Incident involving Whiskey in a Courtroom;
How Trickery Saved Fort Stanwix (now Rome) during the Revolution; Anecdotes
about Baron Steuben; a Remarkable Story of a Dog; Growth of Utica; How
three Squaws Saved a Preacher; Hamilton College, Clinton Liberal Institute,
Oneida Institute of Science and Industry; The Bloody Battle near Whitestown
and Oriskany; First Stars and Stripes Flag in Battle; the Milk Strike of
1933; the Notorious Loomis Gang at Nine Mile Swamp; and many other interesting
bits of history and trivia. There's also a 1940 street map of Utica.
The booklet has no index, but some of the
names and surnames mentioned are: Samuel Kirkland, Backus, Norton, Hathaway,
Perkins Cozier, White, Cochrane, Hughes, Jedediah Sanger, Dan Bradley,
Rev. Johnson, Roof, Brodock, Bethuel Dodd, Dr. Hillyer, Dr. Carnahan, James
Dean, Platt, L'Hommedieu, Smith, Maynard, Col. Peter Gansevoort, Col. Marinus
Willett; John B. Jervis, Isaac Paris Jr., George Eastman, Charlemagne
Tower, Thomas R. Proctor, Philip Schuyler, John Bradstreet, the Weaver,
Realll and Demuth families, Peter Smith, John Post, Gerrit Boon, Frank
W. Woolworth (the 5 and Dime king), Moses Baggs, James Watson Williams,
Horatio Seymour, Rutger Miller, Roscoe Conkling, Justus H. Rathbone (founder
of the Order of the Knights of Pythias), Gen. Francis E. Spinner, Capt.Elam
Lynds, Capt. William Clarke, Greenfield Poke, and Dr. Amariah Brigham.
ILLUSTRATIONS depict
Hamilton College in Kirkland, the Clinton Liberal Institute in Kirkland,
the Grave of Baron Steuben, Genesee and Washington Streets in Utica (full
page), Trenton Falls at Trenton, Oneida Institute in Whitestown, the House
of Judge White in Whitestown, and the town of Rome.
The Howe/Barber history covers the development
of this area until about 1841, while excerpts from the WPA book, give
a nostalgic glympse from a 1940 vantage point, including interesting historical
notes, especially as they relate to sightseeing possibilities. There's
also a small map of the area from a 1948 booklet printed by the New York
Telephone Company.
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