Tag: Godley

Early History, People, Places

Reminiscences of Morris – Number Two

Donna Foote

by A. S. Avery, Morris Chronicle, September 16, 1874

The description given in the Chronicle last week embraces every house on the corporation in 1824 (twenty-nine in all). It may not be inappropriate to say that thirty years before there was not a framed house in town, and there is one person now living in town, Mrs. Benj. Draper, aged 94 years, well remembers that time. A census then (1824) would show about 160 inhabitants. There are but two houses on the corporation to-day that have not been built or altered over, viz.: R. H. Van Rensselaer‘s (Godley) and Dr. Wing‘s (Buhr). It may be a satisfaction, also, to know when certain houses were built, we will, therefore, add the following as a chronology.

Avery‘s cabinet shop (gone now) was built in 1828; S. W. Murdock‘s (G. McWilliams) store, 1827; the old red schoolhouse in 1825; Bergan‘s hat shop (Naylor Co., garage section) in 1830; Matteson‘s tannery, 1831, and burned in 1847; Avery‘s house (Harrington) in 1832; F. Rotch‘s (Gregory) house , 1833-4; Stone hotel and store (Morris Inn and adjacent building), 1833; Hargrave factory, 1833, and burned down in 1850; J. P. Kenyon‘s store (Library), 1832; H. R. Washbon‘s house (Washbon & Olds), 1839; Otsego House, Yates Hotel (Sheldon Auction Gallery), 1840; Perry Block (Kinney), 1844; Masonic Hall (old Baptist Church), Methodist Church, 1845; Universalist Church, 1842; Engine house (behind Brookside) opposite Weeden‘s, 1835, and moved to its present location (Town House) in 1853; J. P. Kenyon‘s shop (Library) 1842; H. R. Washbon‘s office, N. Stevenson‘s shop (H. Lull), 1852; Episcopal rectory, 1841; Wheedon‘s shop (Sinclair), 1847; Davis‘ house (Gage Block) enlarged for a hotel, 1857; J. K. Lull‘s house (Naylor‘s stone house), 1842, and shop 1845; David Beekman‘s house (Naylor Co.) and store, 1865; Lawrence‘s store (Naylor Co., shipping room), 1858 and house 1858; Wing‘s office (Buhr) removed in 1868; School-house built in 1860, (in the north-east corner of the foundation was placed a tin box of documents); C. L. Tucker‘s house, 1868; J. P. Kenyon‘s house (Sanderson), and Dr. Still‘s house, in 1833; Garratt‘s house, 1841; J. Little‘s (P. Decker) house, 1852; Sam. Barrett‘s house in 1849; (this was the first balloon frame in town); Jaycox‘s house, Mordecai Wing (Catholic rectory) in 1838; E. J. Cooke‘s house, Bates (Sloan), 1838.

The first newspaper was printed here in 1845, W. R. Winans, editor, and publisher.

On the corner opposite Bard‘s (Lee‘s) wagon shop, S. E. Barrett built a stone blacksmith shop in 1838 which was afterwards enlarged for an iron foundry and machine shop by J. H. Bump, and finally, it was all torn down or moved away, and is now a vacant corner just as it was fifty years ago.

The sled factory (gone now) up Davis Brook was originally a dwelling house nearly opposite Bowne‘s gate, Elm Grove, and was moved there and used by Allen Holcomb as a manufactory of tobacco boxes and inkstands, It was afterwards enlarged by taking the frame of the old woolen factory and adding to it, and used as a cabinet shop, etc., etc.

When the Hargrave factory was built, the mortar was made from sand taken from the bank back of R. Starr‘s (N. Foote) house, and on the bluff was found the bones of two unknown persons, buried there many years before.

The town of Morris was created by dividing the town of Butternuts in 1849. The village of Morris was incorporated in 1870. J. E. Cooke was the first president, John A. Ward the second, A. S. Avery the third and Peleg Weedon is the present incumbent. The Episcopal Church bell was recast in 1828 and weighs about 800 pounds. The town clock was purchased by subscription in 1847. Before we had a clock, a man used to be paid by subscription (about $25 a year) to ring the bell at sunrise, 12 n. and 9 p.m. The number of houses on the corporation is 175, and the population is about 750. About 185 persons between the ages of five and twenty-one years. The Cemetery was laid out in 1862. The first person buried there was Mrs. Leonard.

We will digress a moment and give a hint by which you can tell or approximate the age of houses. For the style of architecture changes as much as does dress. When you go about the country and see an old house with ten feet posts and fifteen feet rafters, no cornice, a big chimney in the middle or at one end, and a lean-to on the back, (or side, if it stands end to the road), forming a long continuous roof, you may set it down as over sixty years old, say built between 1800 and 1825. If it is a large two-story house with nine windows in front, hall through the center, cornice light, with or without portico, it was built between 1820 and 1840. If of the same shape as just described, with heavy cornice, since 1840. If one-and-a-half or two-story, end to the road, with kitchen on the side, since 1840. If a square looking house, hip-roof or with chambers smaller than the ground floor, piazza and balcony, between 1840 and 1855. If built with steep roof, angular caps over the windows, with drops or brackets under the cornice (what is called Elizabethian architecture), it was built since 1850. If flat or hip roof and brackets all around the cornice, bow window, etc., since 1860. If Mansard roof since 1865. There may be exceptions to these rules, but four times in five they will be right.

We will now speak of the manners and customs of the people. There were no railroads or canals, no telegraph or steam engines, no photographs, no matches, no horse-rakes, mowing or thrashing machines, no horsepowers, no sewing machines or melodians, no buggy wagons, no elliptic springs, no cooking stoves, no coal used, no wall paper, no rubber goods, no cut nails, no corn brooms, no kerosene lamps, no steel pens, no envelopes, no solid head pins, no dentists, very few clocks or watches. It was a common thing for a shoemaker (cobbler) to “whip the cat,” go into a farmer’s house, put his “kit” in one corner of the room, and with one last, made perhaps, from a stick off the wood pile, make the shoes for the whole family; making the largest first, then cutting down the last to the next smaller size, etc.; the farmer furnishing the leather. Rights and left shoes were unknown. The shoe pegs were all made by hand, and I will add, that pegged shoes were once looked upon with distrust. Every-day hats were made of wool, and a fur hat, if one was able to own it, was worn Sunday and to trainings. It was a great discovery when “waterproof” hats were made. Silk or cotton plush was unknown. All cloth, wool or linen, was “spun and wove” by hand, and spinning wheels and looms were as common then as sewing machines and pianos are now.

Excerpt from Morris, New York 1773-1923 by Joyce Foote, 1970

The previous text was taken directly from the book Morris, New York 1773-1923 by Joyce Foote, 1970. I made a few minor edits, but the content remains unchanged.

Early History, People, Places

Reminiscences of Morris

Donna Foote

Excerpt from Morris, New York 1773-1923 by Joyce Foote, 1970

by A. S. Avery, the Morris Chronicle, September 9, 1874

Number 1

“When I was a boy.” How often do we hear this remark, and how it calls up in our minds the scenes and incidents of by-gone days. Each individual sees in his mind’s eye a different picture but alike real. Oh! Who can stay the ravages of time? For it is Death ticking off the moments of our lives, and change – continual change, and I might add, eternal creation and destruction is the immutable law of nature. How it strikes on the ear of the young. Past history lived over again.

We will start from the old cherry tree at the East end of Main Street, and walk over the village of Morris, and tell how it used to look, fifty years ago.

There were two cherry trees here then, which “we boys” have often climbed and more often stoned. To-day this old tree is a land-mark. From the top of this high bluff on the North, “old Sayles” and Eli Cole used to take a large sled, pile on 15 to 20 cords of wood and slide down the hill into and across the road.

Near by on the right hand is the new residence of Col. V. P. Van Rensselaer (Godley). The trees in the door-yard have just been set out and are growing finely. The residence is one of the finest west of Albany. The window glass is the largest, for but few persons had seen in that day anything but 7×9 glass in a dwelling house.

Going down the road we first come to the mill-road. The road ran down the hill through the woods on the East side of that old oak tree, and the factory store (stone house) and shed stand right in the old highway (Hargrave St.). The next building on Main Street is Joshua Weaver’s Harness Shop. The next near by, is his dwelling house owned by Peleg Weeden (Keehan). The next house was a little one-story building, end to the road, occupied by Mills, and afterwards by Edward Wing, who built the two-story part of the present house in 1830, now occupied by S. G. Weeden (Jacobsen). The next was a small two-story house built by Bentley, and owned by Allen Holcomb (Faber), in the rear of which he manufactured Windsor chairs. Across the road in front of these aforementioned houses, was a clearing full of stumps, and log heaps. The next was a long one-story-and-a-half house, with two front doors, owned by Asahel Avery (Harrington), one end of it being used for a Cabinet Shop. Across the road opposite was a one-story brick house built by Gen. Jacob Morris for his son, John C., for an office, but John, not taking a fancy to living there, it was used as a dwelling house, and at this time was occupied by Ebenezer Dewey.

The next house was owned by Col. Van Rensselaer, and rented to Elijah Hitchcock, afterwards occupied by Rev. Russell Wheeler, John Roberts, Samuel Somers, and others, finally sold to Richard Garratt, and now owned by Mrs. Matthews (Field house site). Across the road, six years before (1818) was built by Mr. McGeorge, the Episcopal Church, with a half circle fence in front. The church cost $5,500. The next house was a small one-story house owned by Eliakim Howe (Gage), a tailor by trade. The site of J. K. Lull’s house (Sheldon) was a hog-yard. The next house was owned by Cornelius Jenne (Harris), a shoemaker; this house was so recently altered over that its appearance is in remembrance of most town’s people. Across the road, on the site of the Otsego House (Sheldon), was Davis’ barn. At the foot of the steep hill in front of Squire Harrison’s (Benedict) house was a goose pond.

The present site of J. M. Lull’s house was an orchard, and near where the stone store is, stood the tavern barn. The old Red Tavern, built by Sturgis Bradley before 1800, situated about where the kitchen of the Louiville Hotel (Morris Inn) is, was a long two-story building with a double piazza on front, and a one-story bar-room on the East end. In front of it on a green, large enough to put up a circus tent, stood the sign between two posts, reading, “Z. Roberts’ Inn”. Across the road, on the East of the four corners, stood a story-and-a-half red store facing the West, built by Mr. Pratt and owned by Luther Skidmore. This store was moved and is now R. Cooley’s house (A. Pickens), and the present building (Rendo) was built by Chauncy Moore in 1832.

Crossing the shunpike running from New Berlin to Huntsville, on the West corner was the two-story residence of Squire Davis, and just beyond the house was the one-story red shop and post-office, and in the rear is the Tannery, the bark-mill and fulling mill run by water from the brook. The next building across the brook was Dr. Wing’s office, moved from the opposite side of the road. We come next to the shunpike that led into the settlement known as “Hayti”, on the corner stood a one-story house owned by Luther Skidmore (H. Lull). Further on stood the new red school house, built by Uri Jackson. And near the tenant house of H. R. Washbon was an old house occupied by Joseph Pearsall, who always dressed in the Continental costume of sledrunner coat, knee breeches, long stockings, and buckles on his shoes. On the road to South New Berlin, near the present site of Matteson’s Tannery (near H. Crumb), was an old building called the File Factory, used afterwards for boring gun barrels, and lastly as a dwelling house.

Let us retrace our steps, and start again at the four corners.

On the South-east corner was a small red store built by Dr. Hadley and Mr. Goble, occupied by Edward Williams; it is now Turney’s saloon (First National Bank). Next West of it was a two-story tavern (there were no hotels in those days) built and occupied by Jeremiah Cruttenden (Telephone Office). There was a picket fence in front of it, and farther out in the road were three poplar trees. The bar-room was one-story high on the west end. Where now is the Perry Block (Kinney) was the tavern shed. It was here that the first elephant in the country (old Bet) was exhibited. A road ran down by the side of the brook to the other street, and on this was Franchot & Van Rensselaer’s distillery. The brick house of Dr. Wing (Buhr) was commenced in 1824; the bricks were burned about three miles down the creek by Winton & Dayton. An old one-story house stood in what is now the garden, occupied by Cy Jackson. The next and last house on the main street was a two-story house on the present site of Lyman Brooks’ house (Catholic Center), owned by Dr. Bard. And where now is Murdock’s barn (H. Pickens trailer) was Eli Walter’s wagon shop, and across the road opposite, was the “old schoolhouse” (D. Foote) in Lull’s woods. It is said, these woods were underbrushed to furnish whips for the school-master. To say he wore up one breech “gad” a day would be a modest estimate. In those days it was master and servant or slave; instead of Teacher and pupil. Walter’s house stood where Murdock’s (H. Pickens house) now stands. The house where W. E. Bunn (Lennox) lives was built by Dr. Hadley and at that time was owned by Stephen Walker, and his carpenter shop was situated about in the door-yard of L. J. Davis (Shields), it was sided up with shingles. Lynn Cruttenden had a blacksmith shop where L. J. Davis’ is, and R. Cooley’s (A. Pickens) garden, near the brook was an ashery. Opposite the ashery was a one-story house occupied by Frank Harris (Burdick), a basket maker. The wagon shop on the corner was owned by John Bard (Moore). Where C. H. Turney’s house is was Lysander Curtis’ (Lamb) gun shop. On the opposite side of the road was a small one-story house occupied by Allen Jackson (Stafford); he was killed by the bursting of a 56 on the 4th of July in 1814. In those days there were no platform scales and many articles were sold at gross weight, 2,240 lbs. for a ton, and 56 was a weight with a hole drilled into it. In this was put a charge of powder, then a crease was cut in a plug which was driven in, and then primed and fired.

The next house, I. Mansfield’s (G. Mansfield), was owned by Lyman Cruttenden. The next, H. M. Perry’s (B. Jacobsen), by E. C. Williams, the second-story was a Masonic Hall. The next, Dr. Fox’s (Collier), was the residence of John Bard, and the next was Franchot’s old store, moved to the corner below, and occupied by Benj. Lull, hatter; afterwards by J. S. Bergen, and later by Obediah Seely (Merrick). Near the site of A. C. Moore’s (F. Elliott) house was a small one-story white house owned by Mrs. Lewis Franchot. The rear of the Franchot (Gutierrez) house, by the creek bridge, was built by Judge Franchot in 1810. In what is now the factory pond near the old cotton house, was the Miller’s house. The mill has been raised, but stands on the old site.

Coming back to the corners again, on the road to New Berlin, at the foot of the hill opposite James Little’s (P. Decker) residence, was a blacksmith shop (R. Stafford), and on the left hand at the top of the hill was the residence of Newell Marsh. A little further on, about opposite the road that goes down to the sled factory, was a red house which was moved about 1830 nearly opposite Stephen Walker’s (L. Foote) residence, and occupied by Norman Newell, afterwards by Rufus Sanderson, and now by Moses Luther (gone now – R. Lull’s vacant lot).

The previous text was taken directly from the book Morris, New York 1773-1923 by Joyce Foote, 1970. I made a few minor edits, but the content remains unchanged.

Early History, People, Places

Early Settlement

Donna Foote

Excerpt from Morris, New York 1773-1923 by Joyce Foote, 1970

Part 2: In this section, I will use the second part of the first chapter from my mother’s book spanning the 1800s.

The decade from 1810 to 1820 brought many new settlers to the area – some just stopping by for a short time on their way to the western part of New York State or Ohio, others to remain permanently. Among the latter were the families of Noble, Washbon, Starr, Skidmore, Somers, Foote, Beers, Tillson, Cruttenden, Hawley, Winton, Braley, Blackman, Botsford, and many other names familiar to present-day residents.

Early in the nineteenth century, small industries flourished in and around Louisville. There were asheries, grist mills, cotton and woolen mills, distilleries, stores, and later, tanneries, a hat factory, a sled factory, a wooden-ware factory, furniture, and boot and shoe factories. These operations were, of course, small by today’s standards, but they provided the necessities and a few comforts of life to the citizens of the area.

The early 1800s also saw the construction of many permanent buildings, both residential and business, in the community. It was during this period that the Manor House was constructed on the Morris family holdings a few miles below the village.

In 1808-1809, the Bowne House was built overlooking the Butternut Creek just above Elm Grove. It was a large, unusual house, consisting of forty rooms, with the central section and wings octagonal in shape. The house burned but the land is now occupied by the Dugan family.

Construction was begun in 1810 on the Franchot House, one of the first frame houses in the village. Judge Paschal Franchot resided in this house until his death in 1855 and during his tenure cleared his own farm which encompassed all the lower section of what is now the village. There have been some changes made to the house over the ensuing years but the original lines of the house are still evident. This house is now owned and occupied by the Medardo Gutierrez family.

The Van Rensselaer House (Godley’s) is typical of Colonial country house architecture. It was constructed in 1814, a large, square, stone section containing living, dining, and bed rooms and a kitchen wing at the back of the house.

Across the road from the Lull Family monument and burial ground, about three miles above the present village of Morris, is the site of the Lull house which was built by Caleb Lull about 1817. He resided there until his death in 1839. According to the Lull Family history, it was on this homestead farm that the first Baptist Church of Butternuts was built in 1818; regular church meetings were held there until a meeting house was constructed in the village of Morris some 23 years later.

This era of the early 1800s brought the establishment of the early churches of Louisville. Between 1808 and 1811, the Friends Meetinghouse was built a short distance east of the corporation line of the village of Morris. It stood for over one hundred years and its congregation was comprised of Friends from a wide area including Delaware and Schoharie Counties as well as Otsego.

The present Zion Episcopal Church was constructed during this period on a plot of ground given by Gen. Jacob Morris. The building, substantially as it is today, was finished in 1818 at a cost of $5,000. It replaced the old Harmony Church, which was situated where the Episcopal burying ground now is on the East River Road. At the time of its construction, Zion Church was an ambitious building, for the village six years later had only twenty-nine houses and a population of between one hundred sixty and one hundred seventy persons.

The above is a picture of part of Main Street of Louisville looking east. The white building in the picture was built early in the 1800s by Jeremiah Cruttenden. The actual construction date seems to be a matter of conjecture with some sources giving the date as 1803 and others as 1822. In any event, the building was for many years kept as a tavern. The trees seen in the picture were about fifteen feet from the fence, enabling teams to drive to the gate. Beyond the building and out of the right-hand side of the picture were the hotel sheds which extended along the road toward the brook, and another road followed the brook to a distillery a short distance downstream.

The second building had been a grocery store occupied by Edward Williams and shortly after the time of this picture was moved down South Broad Street to later become part of E. M. Slone‘s hardware store.

The third building was a store owned by Luther Skidmore. About 1830 to 1833, this building was moved to Grove Street and made into a house.

Davis‘ horse barn is the next building. There was a good-sized goose pond in front of the barn and extending across the road.

On the hill is Zion Episcopal Church. A Virginia rail fence led up the hill from Mr. Skidmore’s store, along the street, and around the church grounds.

The previous text was taken directly from the book Morris, New York 1773-1923 by Joyce Foote, 1970. I made a few minor edits, but the content remains unchanged.

Editor’s note: The Franchot House (pictured above) was badly damaged by fire in the early hours of Friday, February 5, 2010. It was restored shortly thereafter.