Sylvanus Bishop was one of six brothers who settled in Pompey in 1793-94. Sylvanus had served in the Revolutionary war, came from Columbia county in 1793, and bought land in the vicinity of Pompey Hill, which he began to clear. In the next year he brought his wife and eldest child, making the journey on horseback, and carrying the baby, six months old, in their arms. About twenty years later he removed to Oswego, where he lived to be ninety-five years old, and died in June, 1860. His son, Artemus, was born in Pompey, December 30, 1795. He received a liberal education in the Pompey Academy and graduated from Union College in 1815. He afterwards studied theology and became a missionary to the Sandwich Islands.
Elizur Brace, of Litchfield county, Conn., moved into Pompey in 1796, making his journey mainly on foot, and purchased of Ebenezer Butler the land south of the village of Pompey, covering the summit of the hill. There he built a log house and reared his family, among his children being Rev. Samuel W. Brace, from whose reminiscences some extracts are made a little further on.
Lebbeus Ball, jr., came to Pompey from Saratoga county in 1799. He was a son of Maj. Lebbeus Ball, and was born in Granville, Conn., in 1775. His father served seven years in the Revolutionary army, and rose to the rank of major. The son settled on lot 29, Pompey, was a carpenter and joiner, and made himself of great usefulness in building the early homes of the settlers during his short life. He died in 1802, leaving five children, Stephen C., Alvin M. and Calvin S. (twins), Betsey and Charlotte. Stephen C. Ball was a tailor, served in the war of 1812, and died in Homer, N.Y. Alvin M. settled on the farm afterwards occupied by his son Frederick, two miles northeast of Pompey Hill, where he reared a family of ten children. Calvin S. was a silversmith and lived in the town about seventy years. He held the office of town clerk about twenty-five years, and several other town offices. He removed to Yates county in 1869. He was father of Calvin S. Ball, jr., of Syracuse.
Victory Birdseye, son of Ebenezer, was born at Cornwall, Conn., December 25, 1782. He was one of the early and most eminent lawyers of the town of Pompey...He was appointed postmaster at Pompey, April 25, 1817, and held the office about twenty-one years.
Elihu Barber, a native of Hebron, Conn., where he was born in 1768, married Hannah Gott in 1791, and early in 1801 sold out his little property for $700, and started for Pompey with an ox sled bearing all their worldly goods. They moved into a log house on lot 84 owned by Major Sherwood, where they lived three weeks. During this time he purchased 100 acres in the northwest corner of lot 69, for which he paid his hard-earned $700. There he built a large house and barn and became one of the leading farmers of the town. He was particularly successful in the dairying business, through which he became locally known as "Butter Barber." During the war of 1812, it is said, it was his custom to carry on certain days of each week three pails of butter on horseback to Manlius to market. He was active in the organization and building of the First Baptist church at Pompey. He was father of four children, who were prominent in the life of the town.
Elias Conklin came from Long island and settled in Pompey in 1797. From Pompey Hill he cut his way through the forest to a point which is now in the town of La Fayette, and there built the first saw and grist mills, which were long known as the Conklin mills...
Samuel Clement, a native of Worcester county, Mass., visited the town of Pompey in the fall in 1793 in company with Timothy Sweet, and concluded to make it his future home. In March, 1794, he shouldered his axe, and with the aid of marked trees, came into the town and built a log cabin. He was instrumental in the organization of the town in April of that year. In the fall he married Ruth Hibbard, daughter of David Hibbard, and they had eleven children. He taught what is believed to have been the first school in the county, in 1794-95, on lot 28, about a mile from his residence. Among his scholars was one of Maj. Asa Danforth's nephews, and his own daughter. He died in Pompey May 29, 1856.
Of the Clarke family there were seven brothers, six of whom were professional men, and one a farmer. Among them were Dr. Deodatus Clarke, born July 27, 1762, died January 10, 1847. In 1795 he settled on lot 66, and owned the whole of lot 52. He removed to Oswego in 1807, where he died. Henry Clarke, farmer, settled in Pompey about 1795, but removed to Manlius, prior to 1805, where he died in 1810. Thaddeus Clarke, born February 12, 1770, settled on lot 81, in 1820, moved thence to Fabius about 1830, and died in Pennsylvania in 1854. Erastus Clarke, born May 11, 1768; owned the whole of lots 81 and 54, and about 200 acres on lot 37, Pompey. He was an attorney, and took the petition for the incorporation of the academy to Albany, and procured the passage of the law incorporating the institution. Dr. Hezekiah Clarke, eldest of the five brothers, (was) born December 19, 1758....
Paul Clapp, father of John, Chester, and Carlton, was a native of Chesterfield, Mass., and migrated to Pompey in 1798, when his son Carlton was two years old. He served in the Revolutionary war, and suffered great hardships as a prisoner in Canada. In Pompey he took up a large tract of land, to which he afterward made extensive additions, and followed farming until his death in 1845. John, Chester, and Carlton Clapp all settled on his land in this town.
Hezekiah Dodge came into Pompey with his brother Ezra in 1795, and both settled on a tract of land on lot 50. Hezekiah owned that portion which became known as the John Wells farm, and became a leading agriculturist. In 1842 he removed to Lysander, where he lived with his son, Oren, until his death in 1844. He was father of six children, Nehemiah, Oren, Charles, Julia, Joanna, and William. Ezra Dodge settled on the place long known as the Dodge farm, and was the father of six children, David F., Ira, Clarissa, Hezekiah, Seabred, and Ezra, jr. He died upon the land reclaimed by him from its wilderness condition. His son David F. taught school in early life eighteen winters, and in 1835 became converted to the Catholic faith and was instrumental in establishing a Catholic church at Pompey Hill. The son, Hezekiah, became a physician, removed to the State of Georgia, and from there to Illinois. Seabred Dodge was a graduate of Hamilton College, studied engineering, and removed to Ohio in 1826 where he was conspicuous in the construction of the Ohio canals. He died in 1849.
Deacon Daniel Dunham, from Windham, Conn., migrated westward in 1795 and established a clothier's trade at the old mills in Manlius. He also bought 10 acres three miles southeast of Pompey Hill. His son, Capt. Samuel Dunham, when seventeen years old, was sent by his father to clear this lot of land. After working two years he built a log house, to which his two sisters came, and lived with him five years longer. He married and left a large family, among whom was Samuel Mosley Dunham, born on the farm September 17, 1805. He married at twenty-five years of age, and during the next five years lived on the farm where "Grace Greenwood" was born, from which he then removed to the town of Clay.
James L. Fenner, a millwright, and a native of Rhode Island, settled temporarily in the spring of 1801 near Manlius village. A little later he located on the farm next west of the Col. James Carr place, and was one of the pioneers in founding the little village of "Slab Hollow." There he erected the first grist mill. In making his journey from Manlius to this point, he had to cut out his own road. In March, 1818, he removed to the town of Lysander, where he died in 1851. He was father of nine children, six of whom were born in Pompey. Among them was Frederick W. Fenner, who went back to Pompey after living four years in Lysander. He was father of James R. Fenner, of Delphi.
Thomas Rice, son of Samuel Rice, removed from Ashby, Mass., to Pompey, with his wife and two children, in 1818, and settled on a farm about half a mile east of Oran. Several years later he removed into the village of Oran, and died March 25, 1843. One of his children was the late Thomas Rice, who was long prominent in the Syracuse grocery trade. Another son is Edward F. Rice, long prominent in the Syracuse dry goods trade, and still living in the city. The Rice family were intimately connected by marriage with the Flint family, at the head of which was Thomas Flint, who emigrated from England in 1645, where their ancestry as shown by the records, had lived 800 years. Of this family, Samuel Flint, born at Concord, March 16, 1780, settled in Pompey in 1819, and successfully followed farming. He died March 18, 1855.
Among other settlers in Pompey of 1796, was Joseph Wakeman Gold, who was a respected citizen until his death, at about the age of forty. Another settler of that year was David Green, a native of New Milford, Conn. He took up 300 acres of land around the "Corners," which took his name.
Daniel Gilbert settled on lot 66, Pompey, in 1799, on the farm owned in recent years by Albert H. Butterfield. He became a successful lawyer...
Allen Willard Hayden, descended form William Hayden, an English baronet, who settled in Dorchester, Mass., in 1630, was born in Litchfield county, Conn., in 1783 and with his father, Allen Hayden, and his three brothers, Zora, Harvey and Allen, jr., settled in Pompey in September, 1800, on what has been known as the Todd farm, about a mile east of Pompey Academy. Four years later, Allen Willard Hayden married Abigail Castle, and with his father bought lot No. 94, two and a half miles south of Pompey village, and there lived about fifty years and reared a family of eleven children, seven of whom were boys, and all of whom lived to maturity. The father died in June, 1858, and the mother in June, 1864. Among their sons was Samuel P. Hayden, a successful farmer and also a carpenter, which business he followed about thirty years. He lived until 1855 on a farm adjoining his father's, which he then sold and bought the Wheaton and the Jesse Butler farms adjoining, and also the stone store in Pompey Hill village, built by Beach Beard, where he conducted mercantile business successfully sixteen years. He was prominently connected with the academy and with church interests, held various town offices, and was postmaster six years from 1860. His children were Sabra A., Ellen L., Elizabeth M., Daniel E. (now a manufacturer in Syracuse), Elma D. and George. He removed to Syracuse in 1869 and died in 1874. Willard Hayden, the sixth child or Allen Willard, born in 1813, was long a successful farmer on the homestead, and removed in 1870 to Iowa. Charles J. Hayden, seventh child of Allen Willard, born in 1816, removed early to Rochester, where he amassed a fortune in the furniture business, held the office of mayor in the city, and other prominent positions. Carmi Hayden, son of Allen Willard, born in 1818, married Ellen Butler, daughter of Merritt Butler, a pioneer of the town, was the oldest resident of Pompey at the time of the reunion in 1867. He combined farming with working at his business of carpenter, and held the office of postmaster of Pompey village. Sely C. Hayden is the fourteenth child of Allen Willard, born in 1830, resides in Syracuse, and retired a few years ago from the furniture trade, in which he was long successful.
Another branch of the Hayden family is represented in Pompey by the settlement of Pelatiah Hayden, two miles south of the village of Pompey, in February, 1816, where he remained until his death.
David Hinsdell, a native of Salisbury, Conn., born June 30, 1754, lived in Galway, Saratoga county, N.Y., from 1787 to 1795, when he removed to Pompey, and settled on his purchase of one-fourth of lot 6. In September of the year last named, he sent his oldest son, Moses, then eighteen, to Pompey to build a house which the family could occupy the coming winter. The house was completed and the family came on in February, 1796. David Hinsdell was the father of twelve children, and died in 1822. The names of six of these children are found in the list of scholars who attended Levi Jerome's school in the winter of 1799-1800, taught by Levi Jerome. The Hinsdell homestead passed into possession of Chauncey Hinsdell. Excepting Chauncey and Moses, all the sons removed from the town. Moses bought fifteen acres on lot 17, in 1801, of Mr. Sweet, for which he gave his note, and in the course of time added 500 acres to his purchase. He was the father of ten children, among whom were some of the prominent citizens of the county.
David Hibbard, a Revolutionary soldier, settled on lot 6, in 1794, and combined farming with his trade of carpentry. He had five sons, among whom was Isaac V. V. Hibbard, who was member of assembly in 1853, and whose son, Samuel M., occupied the homestead in recent years.
About the year 1802 Col. Hezekiah Hopkins, who had lived two years in Clinton, Oneida county, removed to Pompey Hill, where he kept a hotel nearly twenty-five years, to the satisfaction of the community. He sold the property to his son Harry, and purchased a small farm near the village, where he died at about seventy-eight years of age.
Soon after purchasing the hotel, Harry Hopkins built an addition and conducted the house about three years, when he leased it to Capt. Pitt Dyer. Harry Hopkins held the offices of deputy sheriff and commissioner of highways. He removed to Cleveland, O., in 1837.
Col. Ensign Hill was a pioneer in Pompey in the vicinity of Delphi, a native of Berkshire county, Mass., when he migrated in the fall of 1801. He had purchased fifty acres in the previous year, on which he built a log house about a hundred rods south of Delphi village. He obtained his military title by service in the early militia. He died December 4, 1832. His son, Ensign W., born in 1802, was a farmer and merchant, always lived in Pompey, and died in September, 1870. His second son, Orange, born in 1806, followed farming at Delphi. Charles R. K. Hill, born in 1810, occupied the fine dwelling on the homestead. The other two sons were William Hull Hill and James L. Hill.
Josiah Holbrook, born in 1757 in Adams, Mass., made the journey towards Pompey in 1792 with a sled, a yoke of oxen, and a single horse. Tarrying at Springfield, Otsego county, till March, 1793, they finished their pilgrimage and settled on lot 53, east of Pompey Center. The family then consisted of Josiah Holbrook, his wife, father and mother and six children. Four other children were born after their settlement in Pompey. One of the sons, Adolphus, is said to have been the third white child born in the town. Mr. Holbrook became a prominent citizen, was one of the first subscribers to the academy fund, and interested in church and school work. He died in November, 1831. Among his children were Silas W. Holbrook, Levi S. Holbrook, Josiah E. Holbrook, Daniel H. Holbrook and Chapin M. Holbrook. Levi S. represented Pompey in the Board of Supervisors from 1853 to 1858 inclusive, and in the latter year was a member of the State Legislature.
James Hinman and his wife, Esther, settled in Pompey in 1796 or 1797. They were two of the nine persons who organized the First Baptist church in town, which at a later period was removed to Manlius village. They were the parents of twelve children, and having met with reverses, removed to the town of Lysander, but twenty years later they returned to Pompey, where Mr. Hinman died at the age of eighty-six years.
Daniel Knapp, from Orange county, N.Y., settled in Pompey about the year 1800, on a farm a mile north from the academy. He died August 6, 1823, and his body was the first buried in Pompey Hill Cemetery as it is now located. He was father of Henry Knapp.
Noah Palmer, sr., born in Brantford, Con., in 1764, removed to Cazenovia in 1790, and in 1797 settled near Oran on the place owned in later years by his grandson, Daniel D. Palmer. He died there in 1835, and during thirty-six years following the farm was owned by his son, Noah. The pioneer was a nailmaker by trade, and tradition credits him with making the first nails used in town.
Leman Harmon Pitcher, born in Rutland, Vt., November 26, 1781, came with his family to Pompey in 1796, and settled on the farm occupied in recent years by Addison H. Clapp. He was a persistent student while recovering from a wound which nearly severed his right foot in November, 1798, and in 1800 taught his first school in a house near the Corners, about a mile northwesterly from the Hill towards Jamesville. In 1801 and later he taught on the Hill several years. Between 1801 and 1808 he was constable, and deputy sheriff. In the spring of 1808 he married Hannah Baker, and removed to Camillus, N.Y. Among his sons was Leman B. Pitcher, with whom the pioneer was living at the time of his death, in April, 1867.
Manoah Pratt, sr., born in 1754, in Glastonbury, Conn., settled in Pompey in 1796. With Abraham Smith he purchased 500 acres on lots 39 and 40, which embraced the site of the celebrated Pratt's Falls. These two pioneers began energetic work in the wilderness, and on the creek running through Mr. Pratt's land he built a saw mill and grist mill in 1796, which were among the first in the town. The mills were built upon a rock overlooking the falls. Mr. Pratt had married Elizabeth Loveland, in Connecticut, where all his children were born except the youngest. Among them were Manoah Pratt, jr. Having prepared his pioneer home, Mr. Pratt brought on his family in February, 1797, and with them his father-in-law, Solomon Loveland, who was a miller and attended the mill some twenty years. Mr. Pratt died at the age of ninety-seven years, and during his life was foremost in promoting the academy, the schools, churches, and all public improvements that were for the good of the town. He was father of seven children. Manoah, jr., was born in 1798, attended the academy, and studied law in the office of Daniel Wood, Samuel Baldwin, and Victory Birdseye. Betsey Pratt, daughter of Manoah, sr., married Henry Cook, a son of Trueworthy Cook, the Pompey pioneer. Daniel Pratt, the son, was a Pompey farmer until his death.
John Smith, born in Hampshire county, Mass., July 20, 1787, died in Pompey September 15, 1872. He came to Pompey with his father in 1804, moving into a log house about a mile northwest of Pompey Hill, where Baxter Knapp resided in recent years. Mr. Smith passed his long life in Pompey, was justice of the peace fifteen years, associate judge of the Common Pleas, member of Board of Supervisors, etc. His father's name was Elisha Smith, sr., who was a Revolutionary soldier. John Smith was father of eleven children.
Thomas D. Safford settled in Pompey at the age of eighteen, and in 1807 purchased a farm of eighty acres. He was drafted and served in the war of 1812, and was father of twelve children.
Joseph Shattuck came to Pompey at an early day with nine grown sons and settled on the lot drawn by Conradt Bush, a Revolutionary veteran. He and his sons cleared sixty acres, and built a double log house, but was ejected by Mr. Bush when he came to settle on his grant. After his ejection Mr. Shattuck, with six of his sons, removed to Genesee county, leaving three of his sons, Stephen, Chester, and Ansel, in Pompey. Ansel, Thomas Elbridge, and two other persons settled on the lot on which Col. Henry Tiffany had located, each buying a fourth of the section.
In 1690, it is said, there were seventeen families named Sweet living in this country, from one of whom the Sweet families of Pompey claim to be descended. Timothy Sweet, born in Rhode Island, October 24, 1753, was a Revolutionary soldier, was taken prisoner, and escaped. Going to Salisbury, Conn., he there married Eunice Woodworth, in September, 1780, migrated to Saratoga, and in 1794 settled in Pompey on the old Sweet homestead, reaching there on January 28. There, eight days later, Kneeland Sweet was born. Timothy Sweet became a leading citizen and farmer in the town, and was chiefly instrumental in introducing thoroughbred short-horn cows. He originally took up the 600 acre lot, No. 18, and also had lot 86 in Fabius and 10 in Camillus. These lands ultimately passed to his descendants, and later he purchased the greater part of lot 17. At the age of sixty-five years, after having been conspicuous in all the affairs of the town, he retired from active life, and died March 7, 1837. His children were Adolphus, Aurel (who married John Sprague), Charles, James, Anson, Anna (who married Nathan Williams), Pamelia (who married J. C. Fink), Kneeland, and Horace. Adolphus Sweet, son of Timothy, was a farmer next adjoining the homestead, where he died in 1839. Charles Sweet, son of Timothy, was a carpenter and bridge-builder, but removed from the town in 1811. James Sweet was a cabinet-maker, and served in the navy in the war of 1812. Returning, he settled on the farm on lot 10, Camillus, where he died November 25, 1826. Anson Sweet, son of Timothy, resided on the farm afterwards owned by Ezra Casler on lot 18, until 1834, when he removed to Fayetteville, later to the Sweet homestead, and finally to Manlius. He was a prominent citizen and was one of the first to practice under-draining, which he did on lot 17 as early as 1818. Kneeland Sweet, son of Timothy, was born in Pompey, February 5, 1794, and lived to be one of the oldest residents of the town. In 1819 he married Julia Ann Kennedy, and in 1820 came into possession of the homestead. About 1833 he removed to Manlius, and later to Michigan. Horace Sweet, son of Timothy, born in Pompey April 1, 1796, married in 1817 Candace Avery, and during two years managed the home farm. In 1819 his father gave him a small farm, where Hiram Clement afterwards resided. In 1823 he removed to a farm two and a half miles north of the Hill, where he became one of the most successful agriculturists on the town. He was the first to introduce nearly all kinds of farmers' machinery as soon as its usefulness became apparent to him, and was conspicuous in all good works. Among his children were Anson A., Homer D. L., Prof. John E., and William A. Sweet of Syracuse...
Elijah Wells, born in Hartford county, Conn., February 27, 1775, married in January, 1800, and came into Pompey in the fall of 1799, where he purchased 100 acres of Horace Lamb on lot 51. Returning east to spend the winter, he came back and worked on his land through the season of 1800, again returned east and in February, 1801, started with his family for his wilderness home. They brought with them an infant child about three months old, who became the well known Deacon Asa H. Wells of this town. Mr. Wells was prominent in church work and other public affairs. He died in the fall of 1830. Of his sons, Asa H. and John S. remained citizens of the town.
Edward Wicks, son of Capt. Edward Wicks, a tailor, with his brother, Capt. John Wicks, father of the late E. B. Wicks, of Syracuse, ran away from the master to whom he was bound as a tailor, and took charge of a vessel voyaging to the West Indies until the Revolution. He then worked at his trade in Providence, R. I., going from house to house. In 1815 his father settled in Pompey, where he died in 1834.
Daniel Wright, born in Hebron, Conn., September 9, 1794, came to Pompey with his parents in February, 1799, who settled on lot 16. His father died in 1805 and his mother in the next year. In 1821 he bought a farm for which he paid, but lost it through defective title. He spent a long life in the town and was respected by his fellow citizens.
Augustus Wheaton, son of Joseph, purchased land in Pompey in 1807 and settled thereon with his family in 1810. Three sisters, Lydia, Sylvia and Loraine, had preceded him. He purchased a farm of 410 acres on which he lived to about 1823, when he sold out and removed to Syracuse. Five years later he returned to Pompey, where he lived to about 1833, when he went back to the place of his birth and died about the year 1852. He was a prominent and public spirited citizen. His eldest son, Orlin J., was long an active citizen of the town, engaged in agricultural pursuits and droving. Another son was Horace Wheaton who was for some years a merchant at Pompey Hill until about 1846, when he removed to Syracuse, where he was well-known among the older citizens of the city. Charles A. Wheaton, another son of Augustus, also removed to Syracuse, where he was a successful dry goods merchant, and later was in the hardware trade. He ultimately removed to Minnesota.
William C. Fargo was born in New London, Con., March 20, 1791, and in early life was thrown upon his own resources through the death of his father. He early learned the distiller's trade, and in 1807 began work in Chenango county, whence he journeyed in November of that year to Jamesville, this county, and was employed by Benjamin Sandford. The month of May, 1812, found him in Buffalo, where he was drafted into the army, and he saw active and arduous service until the close of the conflict. His term expired in May, 1817, and he immediately started for Pompey, where he arrived in June. He married in August, 1817, Tacy Strong, and they lived most of the time in and near Watervale until the spring of 1848. From there he removed to Cicero and thence to Manlius, where he lived fifteen years, after which he resided in Syracuse. Among their twelve children was William G. Fargo, a man who has a national reputation in connection with the American express business of the country. Several of the other sons of William C. Fargo were associated with him in the business.
Nicholas Van Brocklin, although not a Pompey pioneer, lived in the town more than fifty years, having settled there in 1821. During his life he followed the occupation of a farmer, but took a lively interest in public affairs...He died on March 1, 1872. His children were Gilbert, Jane, Ann, Eliza B., John S., James W., Margaret, Martha, and William White. James W. Van Brocklin learned the carpenter's trade and built many of the dwellings in Pompey. William W. Van Brocklin worked his way through college, graduating from Hamilton in the class of 1850. After teaching school several years he studied law in Syracuse, and was admitted in 1853. He was long the only resident lawyer in Pompey, and has occupied positions of honor.
David Williams settled in Pompey in 1801, where he lived to the advanced age of ninety-three years. His farm was situated about a mile and a half north of Watervale. Two of his brothers, Nathan and Daniel Williams, settled early in the town, and remained respected citizens until their deaths.
Asa Wells, a native of Colchester, Conn., settled in Pompey in the spring of 1803, built a log house at Pompey Hill, and in 1807 removed to the farm east of an adjoining the Daniel Wood farm. Mr. Wells was a practical surveyor and with his assistants, laid out the road running from the academy to Manlius. He also assisted Judge Geddes in the survey for the Oswego Canal. He was prominent in the militia, in which he was captain at the time Sackett's Harbor was threatened by the British, and led his company to that point. He held various town offices and was a member of the Assembly. He died in February, 1859. One of his sons was Levi Wells, a prominent citizen of Pompey, who was thirty-two years a justice of the peace, was eighteen years in the Board of Supervisors, and a practical surveyor. Another son was Dr. Lucien B. Wells, of Utica, N.Y.
A family, some of the members of which obtained a national reputation, was that of Maj. Moses Seymour, a native of Connecticut, an officer in the Revolutionary army, and a member of the Legislature of that State. He died in 1827 at the age of eighty-four. Among his children was Henry Seymour, who settled at Pompey Hill at an early day, and began mercantile business. His attributes of integrity, sound judgment, and executive ability became so well known that from 1816 to 1819, and again in 1822 he was elected State senator from the western district. In 1818 he was placed on the council of Appointment, and in March, 1819, as chosen one of the canal commissioners. In about the year 1819 he removed with his family to Utica. Another son of Maj. Moses Seymour was the eminent Democratic statesman, Horatio Seymour, who was born at Pompey Hill in 1811. He studied law in Utica, but was soon diverted from its practice to enter the political field. He was elected member of the Assembly in 1842, and again in 1844 and 1845, mayor of Utica in 1842, was speaker of the Assembly in 1845, and governor of the State in 1852-53, and again in 1862-63. For this latter office he was defeated in 1864 by Reuben E. Fenton. In 1868 he received the nomination of the Democratic party for president of the United States, but was defeated by General Grant. Governor Seymour's home was, during the greater part of his life, at Deerfield, near Utica.
Samuel Baker as born on Long Island October 2, 1793, and died in Pompey, August 8, 1874. He was brought to Pompey by his father, Nathaniel Baker, in 1806. The latter was a successful farmer, and the homestead remained in possession of members of the family until recent years. Samuel Baker obtained his education at Clinton Academy, which afterwards became Hamilton College, and studied law two years with S. S. Baldwin. The profession lost attraction for him and he took employment in a store at Pompey Hill. He ultimately became proprietor of the establishment and carried on business until 1841, when he retired. He was a prominent man in the community, was a trustee of the academy, a deacon in the Congregational church and a leader in all good works. He was father of six children, of whom Henry H. Baker came into possession of the homestead.
Tabor D. Williams was a later settler in the town, where he located in 1831, and followed his trade of shoemaking several years thereafter. His eldest son, George H. Williams, studied law with Daniel Gott and was admitted in 1844. In the same year he removed to Iowa, where he was chosen chief justice of the Supreme court. Later he held the same office from the Territory of Oregon. In 1864 he was elected United States senator from that State, and finally was appointed attorney-general of the United States.
Luther Marsh settled in Pompey prior to 1812, and was a native of New Hampshire. He was many years a respected citizen of the town. Among his children is Luther R. Marsh, a well known lawyer of New York city.
Reuben Billings located in Pompey in 1812, coming on from Massachusetts with his wife and making the journey with an ox team. In the winter of 1812-13 he taught school in District No. 8. In 1833 he settled on a part of lot 96, where he passed his life. Both he and his wife were present at the reunion in 1871.
Peter Benson arrived in Pompey when he was thirteen years old, having traveled there to assist his older brother in building a barn for Samuel Sherwood, on lot 84. The money he received for the building paid for 100 acres of land on the same lot, abut a mile northwest from Delphi. Mr. Benson's father came to the town a few years later; his name was Stutson Benson and he followed farming in the town until his death in 1820.
Addy Anderson settled in Pompey about 1803, on fifty acres of land about half a mile west of Pompey Hill village on the State road. He died soon afterward, leaving his wife and eight children, five of whom were sons. Of these John, the eldest, married Lydia Safford, and assumed the burden of caring for the family. He was father of nine children, became one of the best and most successful farmers of the town, and prominent in the Methodist church. He died at the age of fifty-six. Ira, son of John, subsequently took the homestead. Josiah, another son of John, ultimately purchased the Le Roy Morgan place, two miles northwest of Pompey Hill.
Jeremiah Gould, who was born in Salina in 1792, removed two years later to Pompey, where he bought a military lot and remained until his death, about 1820. He was a prominent citizen, was justice of the peace and rose to the rank of colonel in the militia.
Moses Blowers, who died November 9, 1863, at the age of eighty-nine years, settled in Pompey in 1792 and lived on the same farm nearly seventy-five years.
Lyman Morgan, from New Milford, Conn., whence a number of Pompey pioneers came, settled in the town in 1808 and lived there about fifty-six years, a respected citizen.
Ira Jerome...located in the town with his father, John Jerome, coming from Stockbridge, Mass., in 1812. He lived seventy years on one farm and died October 27, 1864.
Roswell Candee, who died in Pompey, September 18, 1864, at the age of eighty-three years, removed early from Connecticut and lived in the town about fifty years. He was father of U. S. Assessor William Candee, and of Samuel Candee, of Pompey.
Richard Losey, father of Archibald, died February 24, 1861, at the age of ninety-two years.
Submitted 7 August 1998