An act
passed February 28, 1789 (Chap. 44, Laws of 1789) authorized the Commissioners
of the Land Office to direct the surveyor-general to lay out in the Military
Tract hereinbefore referred to, townships of one hundred lots of six hundred
acres each, enough to satisfy the claims to bounty lands of the officers
and soldiers of the Revolutionary army from the State of New York, to which
they were entitled under the previous action of the Legislature.
The direction was at once given to the surveyor-general, and surveys were
promptly made, and in 1790 maps of twenty-five townships were filed.
The act directed that the first of the townships should begin on the western
side of the Onondaga River (as the Oswego River was then called) “at the
falls thereof.” Two of these townships cornered upon the river at
the falls, to the southern of which (township No 1) was given the name
of Lysander, and to the northern (township No. 2) was given the name of
Hannibal.1 This survey township of Hannibal included all of the present
county of Oswego lying west of the Oswego River, except the north thirty-three
lots of the township of Lysander, which, when Oswego county was formed,
were included in that county, and now form a part of the town of Granby.
When Onondaga
county was formed in 1794, the town of Lysander was erected which included
the three military townships of Hannibal, Lysander and Cicero. This
continued until February 28, 1806, when the military township of Hannibal
was separated from Lysander and made a town by the name of Hannibal in
the county of Onondaga. When Oswego county was formed, March 1, 1816,
the town of Hannibal and the north thirty-three lots of Lysander were taken
from Onondaga county and made a part of Oswego county, and the thirty-three
lots were annexed to the town of Hannibal, which thereby included all of
Oswego county lying west of the river. On the 20th of April, 1818,
an act was passed erecting the towns of Oswego and Granby and giving to
Hannibal the boundaries it has ever since retained. Its area is 27,786
acres.
It lies
in the extreme western part of the county and is bounded on the north by
Oswego and Granby, on the east by Granby, and on the south and west by
Cayuga county. The surface is gently undulating, and broken into
ridges from thirty to fifty feet above the valleys. In the eastern
and southeastern parts are several swamps, one of which covers an area
of 500 acres; some of these have been partially reclaimed to cultivation
by artificial drainage.
The soil,
a rich sandy and gravelly loam, is generally well adapted to all kinds
of agricultural pursuits. The chief productions are cheese, butter,
grain, hay, fruit, tobacco, and vegetables. Considerable attention
is also given to stock raising. In early days the dense forests made
lumbering the leading industry and gave existence to numerous saw mills.
In 1860 there were eighteen of these establishments and several other woodworking
concerns in operation, furnishing employment to many workmen. All,
however, have given place to purely agricultural pursuits. There
are now two cheese factories, one at South Hannibal and another at Hannibal
village, both owned by stock companies. A third was formerly conducted
in the northeast part of the town by E. S. Tallman. In Hannibal village
is a butter factory owned by C. E. Brinkerhoff.
In the northwest
corner of the town is a salt spring from which salt was formerly manufactured
in limited quantities, and in various other localities indications of brine
have been discovered, but none have proved of sufficient strength to render
their working profitable. The principal stream is Nine Mile Creek,
which flows through the village of Hannibal; this and several brooks afford
excellent drainage and some good mill privileges.
Reliable
data respecting the earliest roads within the present limits of Hannibal
are almost wholly inaccessible. It is known that many of the original
surveys were made between 1820 and 1840; yet it is evident that several
highways were laid out and opened long before the first named year.
On April 3, 1823, the Legislature appointed three commissioners to lay
out a road from a point on the west bank of the river below Oswego Falls,
"opposite Hubbard & Falley's mill dam, from thence to the village of
Hannibalville," and on to Wolcott, Wayne (then Seneca) county. Prior
to this, in 1817, a road had been opened from Oswego to Auburn, for which
$2,500 were appropriated, and the same year the Sodus Bay Turnpike Road
Company was incorporated. The stage routes between Oswego and Auburn
and Oswego and Rochester passed through what is now the village of Hannibal,
where horses were changed, it being a regular and popular stopping place.
The various thoroughfares of the town have kept pace in improvement with
those of other localities. Substantial bridges and systematic grading
have made them passable at all seasons of the year.
From 1798
to 1806 the town of Lysander, which included the military townships of
Lysander, Hannibal and Cicero, constituted a single supervisor district.
During this period Asa Rice, who came from Connecticut in 1797 and settled
at Union Village in the town of Oswego, served as supervisor. In
1798 he reported the number of inhabitants in this territory as fifteen,
and its taxable property was valued at $1,500.
The first
town meeting for the town of Hannibal was held at the tavern of Matthew
McNair in Oswego village on the first Tuesday in April, 1806, when the
following officers were chosen:
William Vaughan, supervisor; Edward
O'Connor, town clerk; Asa Rice, Barnet Mooney, and Reuben Sprague assessors;
Ezekiel Brown, collector; Daniel Hugunin and Peter D. Hugunin, overseers
of the poor; Peter D. Hugunin, Barnet Mooney, and Thomas Sprague, jr.,
highway commissioners; Ezekiel Brown and James Hugunin, constables; David
Hugunin and Peter D. Hugunin, fenceviewers; William Eadus, poundmaster;
Joel Burt and Asa Rice, commissioners of gospel lots; and John Masters
(district No. 1), James Hugunin (district No. 2), and Parmenus Sprague
(district No. 3), pathmasters. The usual regulations relative to
fences and stock were adopted.
The supervisors
of Hannibal have been as follows:
William Vaughan, 1806-7; Peter D.
Hugunin, 1808-10; Eleazer Perry, 1811; Asa Rice, 1812; Eleazer Perry, 1813-14;
Barnet Mooney, 1815-16; Samuel Farnham, 1817-21; Daniel Hawks, jr., 1822;
John Bullen, jr., 1823-28; Arvin Rice, 1829-30; Archibald Green, 183l;
Abram Watson, 1832; Jonathan Eastman, 1833; Asa Dudley, 1834; William Bullen,
1835; Jonathan Eastman, 1836-7; Samuel H. Patchin, 1838; Isaac H. Ketcham,
1839; Arvin Rice, 1840; James A. Brackett, 1841; Thomas Skelton, 1842-3;
Josiah Bidwell, 1844; Isaac H. Ketchum, 1845; Huet H. Bronson, 1846; Josiah
Bidwell, 1847; John L. Kip 1848; Palmer Ketchum, 1849-50; John McClaughry,
1851; Benjamin N. Hinman, 1852; Orson Titus, 1853; Giles C. Barnes, 1854;
Alfred Rice, 1855; John Forsyth, 1856; William J. Acker, 1857-58; Giles
C. Barrus, 1859-1860; Rensselaer Matteson, 1861-64; Carson Wiltsie, 1865-70;
Eli P. Barret 1871-76; Alexander H. Mitchell, 1877; Varnum P. Hill, 1878;
Ezra L. Tallman, 1879-8l; Eli P. Barrett, 1882-88; Dillon F. Acker, 1889;
William R. Wilson, 1890-95.
The town
officers for 1894-5 were:
William R. Wilson, supervisor; George
C. Cable, town clerk; Willard E. Wilber, George A. Leonard, Jasper Hopper,
and Levi Brackett, justices of the peace; Henry H. Phillips, Elihu Gifford,
and Charles Farnham assessors; William Gault, highway commissioner; Fayette
Eldredge, overseer of the poor; Wilber F. Warren, collector; Eli P. Barrett,
Ezra B. Tucker, and R. A. Powers, excise commissioners. The town
is divided into sixty-five road districts.
The first
settlement within the present limits of Hannibal was commenced on lot 95,
in the extreme south part of the town, by Thomas Sprague, who moved thither
with his family from Massachusetts in 1802. He built the first house,
a log structure, and likewise made the first clearing. The first
marriage was that of Daniel Thomas and Prudence Sprague in 1803.
Carr Sprague, whose birth occurred in 1805, was the first white child born
in town; the first death was that of another child, a daughter of the pioneer
Thomas Sprague, in 1806.
During
the years 1803 and 1804 the Sprague family seem to have been the only inhabitants
of the present town. In 1805, however, a number of settlers arrived,
prominent among them being Watson Earl, Joseph Weed, Israel Messenger,
David Wilson, Samuel Barrow, Sterling Moore, and Oren and George Cotton,
all of whom located at Hannibal Center. Being a millwright, Orren
Cotton, in company with Mr. Earl, built there, about 1806, the first grist
mill in town. He was a lineal descendant of Dr. John Cotton, the
great Puritan preacher of Boston. Samuel Barrow was one of the first
surveyors. For several years settlement was very slow. Doubtless
a few more pioneers arrived, but the date of their coming cannot be ascertained,
hence their names will be grouped together a little further on.
In 1809
Arvin Rice, a son of Asa the pioneer of Union Village, commenced a clearing
on lot 67, near Hannibal village. He set out the first orchard; brought
into town the first iron plow; and raised the first barn without the use
of liquor. He married Polly Cotton on March 18, 1812, and became
prominent in local affairs. When Granby and Oswego were set off in
1818 it was through his efforts that the name Hannibal was retained for
this town. He was justice of the peace in 1829 and served as town
clerk, supervisor, etc., several years. Dr. Alfred Rice was born
here in 1817.
About 1810
Isaac Kinney settled at what is now Kinney's Four Corners. He was
also justice of the peace in 1829 and a man of considerable prominence.
James B. Adams built a cabin at Fairdale about the same year and soon afterward
Gad Daniels erected a similar structure one mile east. During all
this time the new country was infested with ferocious animals, mainly wolves,
which created at times no little havoc among the fields and sheep-pens
of the pioneers. In 1809 the authorities offered a bounty of $10
for each wolf scalp taken, a resolution that remained in force for several
years.
About 1811
or 1812 Henry and Benjamin Wiltsie, natives of Dutchess county, settled
on lot 47, and Robert Hall, from Ireland, located on lot 39. The
Wiltsie family has long been a prominent one in the town and a number of
the name are still respected residents. Cornelius Wiltsie, a son
of Henry and the father of Frederick (who resides on lot 74), became a
settler about 1813, while Martin Wiltsie very early located where C. Perry
Campbell now lives on lot 48. Martin Wiltsie was town clerk in 1821.
Silas Crandall built the first saw mill in town in 18ll. In 1812
Benjamin F. Gifford, a surveyor and a very prominent citizen, became a
permanent settler.
During the
war of 1812-15 the little settlements were not materially augmented by
new arrivals, but as soon as that conflict ceased immigration revived and
steadily increased with each succeeding year. David B. Metcalf, a
native of Keene, New Hampshire (father of David D. Metcalf, a lawyer of
the village of Hannibal), came to North Hannibal in 1813 and bought three
to four hundred acres of land and began a clearing and the erection of
a log house. He returned to New Hampshire in 1814 and in 1815 returned
to Hannibal with his family and occupied the house he had built.
He continued to occupy a part of the land he bought until his death in
1848. He was one of the first settlers in the northern part of the
town of Hannibal. In 1815 Hale Worster, a native of Cayuga county,
came in and during the remainder of his life was one of the prominent men
of the town, serving as clerk, justice of the peace, etc. The same
year Cephas S. Kent, who was born in Vermont and who was the father of
Jason Kent, commenced a clearing on lot 57, and in March, 1816, moved his
family hither on an ox sled. Another settler of 1816 was James W.
Jones, who came from Saratoga county and located on about 200 acres of
lot 76, for which he paid $5 an acre. Powell Jones, his son, born
here in 1825, lived and died on the homestead.
Alanson
Blodgett came in 1817 from Onondaga county, where he was born, and settled
on lot 50, where he died. He was a farmer and lumberman. Another
pioneer of 1817 was Avery Green, also a farmer. In 1818 William Ames
located on the farm (on lot 57) now owned by Buell Clark; he came from
Windham county, Conn.
Sometime
prior to this a family named Hawks settled in the town. In 1815 three
of their number were married, namely, Daniel Hawks and Emily Field, William
Hawks and Eliza Dunton, and Asa Dunton and Lois Hawks. Cyrus Hawks
was born here in 1819 and Hiram F. in 1822. William Hawks was one
of the justices of the peace in 1829.
George Farnham,
a native of Onondaga county, settled in Hannibal in 1819, in which year
John Farnham was born here. The latter was appointed the first postmaster
at North Hannibal in 1867. Moses Farnham was the first carpenter
in town. About 1818 Capt. Hector Gillis, a sailor on the lakes, an
early settler of Oswego, and present at the capture of that place in 1814,
located in Hannibal on the farm now occupied by his son James. He
died in 1864. In 1820 Adrian M. Schoonmaker, a native of Long Island,
settled near Fairdale.
In 1820
the inhabitants of the town numbered 935. Substantial improvements
had been made; mercantile and manufacturing industries were active, and
agricultural interests were developing with the receding forests.
Among the settlers of the succeeding decade were Orville G. Adkins, Levi
Brackett (long a justice of the peace), Norman Green, Isaac H. Peckham
(born here in 1828), and Jonas Shutts. The latter was born in Columbia
county in 1814 and came to Hannibal with his father, John, in 1829.
John Shutts died in 1863, aged seventy-three. Nicholas Cox, and his
sons Charles and Rev. John Cox, located on lot 51 about 1829.
Between 1830 and 1840 among others
who came or were born here were Zenas Barlow (born in Oneida county in
1800), C. Perry Campbell, Benjamin S. Crofoot, D. D. Metcalf (born here
in 1837), David W. Ames (born here in 1835), James W. Burt (subsequently
mentioned), Martin H. Cox, Horatio Dunham, Erastus Glover (born in Hampshire,
Mass., in 1799), P. G. Howe, William H. Johnson, Isaac Haws (born here
in 1833), Harrison Matteson, Stephen Stark and Norman Titus. William
Wiggins, the father of William H. Wiggins, of Hannibal, settled in that
village in 1836 and died there in 1862.
From 1840 to 1850 many prominent
settlers arrived, and among them may be mentioned Amos D. Cowles, Augustus
S. and Sands D. Gardner, James W. Brackett (born here in 1846), Augustus
Lester, Alexander H. Mitchell, John W. and Theodore L Mitchell (natives
of Cayuga county), Hubert Dickinson, Lemuel P. Storms (afterward a custom
house officer), Dr. Dillon F. Acker (born here in 1845), and William L.
Williams (a native of Wales).
In 1846 the town is thus described
in "Historical Collections of the State of New York: “ Hannibal,
originally taken from Lysander as part of Onondaga county in 1806; from
Albany 168 miles. Pop. 2,275. Hannibalville, eleven miles south of Oswego
and Kinney's Corners, six miles from Oswego, are small villages."
Prominent among the arrivals after
1850 were Dr. E. H. Boyd, H. M. Barrett (attorney), Eli P. Barrett (for
several years supervisor), N. B. Brower (attorney), David Bothwell, Dr.
R. N. Cooley, David Wells, and Orrin Henderson (farmer, miller, supervisor,
and for several years president of the Oswego Falls Agricultural Society).
Among other prominent residents,
of whom accurate data are lacking, are Noah Wright, Rensselaer Madison,
John L. Kip, Samuel Farnham, John Bullen, jr., Isaac Sykes (who built the
first house without the use of liquor), Archibald Green, Jonathan Eastman,
Asa Dudley, William Bullen, Samuel H. Patchin, Isaac H. Ketchum, Thomas
Skelton, Elihu Gifford, Huet H. Bronson, Josiah Bidwell, Job Perkins (died
October 19, 1892). Palmer Ketchum, Orson Titus, Alpheus Loomis, Bernice
R. Sykes, Alvah Worster, Eliab Scott, John W. Buck, John Watson, Abram
Watson (died November 18, 1859), Truman Burroughs, Isaac E. Hull, B. N.
Hinman, R. M. Rogers, Dr. William J. Acker (father of Dr. Dillon F.), B
P. Farnham, Henry Wheeler, John F. Byrne (father of Andrew J. and Bradford
F.), Samuel Sanders, Elijah L. Ormsby, Osborn Purce, James D. Curtis (for
several years a justice of the peace), Horatio Dunham (farmer and tanner
where James Scanlon now lives), John P. Storms (a justice of the peace).
Mr. Bradt (father of A. N. Bradt), Zenas Haven, Cephas Weed, Mason Pierce,
Josiah King, E. C. Van Auken (for several years proprietor of the hotel
at Hannibal village), Andrew W. Foster, Sidney Hulett, J. W. McFadden and
Peter Schenck (two of the first surveyors), and many others.
April l0, 1860, the town was authorized
to purchase a farm for $1,000 and to erect upon it suitable buildings for
the accommodation of the indigent poor. This act was repealed March
26, 1862, and the money collected for the purpose was placed in the contingent
fund.
At least five settlers of the town
- Daniel Dunham, Silas Green (cousin of Gen. Nathaniel Green), Daniel Lewis,
Daniel Robinson, and Epaphras Loomis - were Revolutionary veterans.
Among those who participated in the War of 1812, and who were residents
of Hannibal or became citizens afterward, may be mentioned Chester Anderson,
Ziba and Levi Blodgett, Ira Brooks, Eli Collins, Asa Dudley, James Breed,
Capt. Stephen Brace, James Burt, Alanson Blodgett, James D. Curtis, Julius
Colton, Samuel Clark, John Cox, Capt. William Fullerton. Elijah Drury,
John Elliott, William Dodd, Walter and Hector Gillis, William Hodgdon,
John Gillis, John Keeney, William Hawks, Benjamin Lewis, Nathan Janes,
Israel Messenger, Roswell Lane, John K. Parks, Levi Rudd. George Maxwell,
William and James Stevenson, Arvin Rice, sr., Jesse Owen, Ira Smith, Solomon
Whipple, James Schofield, Asa Winchell, Jesse Van Horn, Samuel Sanders,
Abner Wood, and Abram Watson.
Many of the foregoing with others
are noticed more fully in Part III of this volume.
The completion of the Oswego Canal
in 1828 had considerable effect upon the growth and prosperity of this
town. The construction of the Lake Ontario Shore Railroad, (now the
R., W. & O.) through Hannibal village about 1874, was a more direct
benefit. To aid the latter the town was bonded for $60,000 of which
$6,000 remains unpaid. The railroad commissioners are Levi Brackett
and H. M. Barrett.
The population of the town in 1830
was 1,794; in 1835, 2,204; in 1840, 2,275; 1845, 2,534; 1850, 2,857; 1855,
3,028; 1860, 3,246; 1865, 3,322; 1870, 3,234; 1875, 3,248; 1880, 3,173;
1890, 2,688.
The first school in town was kept
at Hannibal Center in 1810, the teacher being Laura Kent. From that
time to the present, educational matters have received special attention,
and to-day no community in the whole county excels this in its public schools.
The earliest record of school matters in the village of Hannibal dates
back to April 13, 1813, when that district comprised sixteen lots, each
a mile square. On October 30 of that year a meeting was held at Mr.
Carter's at which Arvin Rice was made chairman and Abram Watson clerk.
It was resolved "that there be a school house built in the highway near
the dwelling house of Mr. Carter;” “that Arvin Rice, John D. Bradt, and
Samuel Sanders be trustees; that the trustees lay a tax not to exceed $100
to build a school house;" and "that William Hawks be collector."
This school house cost, complete, $60.48, and during three months of that
winter the teacher's salary amounted to $14. Laura Kent taught school
here two and one-half months in the early part of 1815 for $1.75 per week
and boarded herself. During the summer and fall of that year Polly
Dunton kept the school at the same salary. This primitive school
house was also used for religious meetings.
During the year ending February 25,
1823, the town raised a total of $329.67 for school purposes; the commissioners
of common schools were Martin Wiltsie, Sylvester M. Rose, and Waters Towsley.
The next year John Bullen, jr., Roswell Knowlton, and S. M. Rose held these
positions. The number of children taught in 1823 was 301; in 1825,
442; in 1830, 626; 1835, 673; 1840, 790. In 1840 there were fifteen
school districts and the teachers' wages aggregated $720.12. In 1843
the schools were attended by 854 children and the first superintendent
of common schools, Huet H. Bronson, was elected. He was succeeded
in 1845 by C. R. Rose, who was followed the same year by Alfred Rice.
The second
school house in Hannibal village was erected about 1820; in 1868 this was
replaced by the present brick structure, in which four teachers are employed.
The town now has fifteen school districts with a school house in each,
which were attended during the year 1892-3 by 564 scholars and taught by
nineteen teachers. The value of the school buildings and sites is
$11,450; assessed valuation of districts, $728,597; public money received
from the State, $2,337.25; received by local tax, $2,152.22. The
districts are designated as follows: No. 1, Wiltsie; 2, Stark; 3, North
Hannibal; 4, Hannibal Center; 5, Fairdale; 6, Kane's Corners; 7, Hannibal
Center; 8, Rogers; 9, Carter; 10, Dexter; 11, South Hannibal; 12, Eldredge;
13, Gifford; 14, Rhodes; 15, Dennison.
The town
of Hannibal promptly responded to the various calls for troops during the
war of the Rebellion, making a record of which her citizens may well feel
proud. More than 380 of her loyal sons went into the Union army and
navy and served with fidelity. Among those who attained promotion
or brevet rank were Capt. Isaac T. Brackett, Co. F, 110th N. Y. Vol.; Capt.
W. H. Brackett, Co. H, 81st N. Y. Vol.; Capt. E. H. Boyd, Co. F, 110th
N. Y. Vol.; Major Isaac H. Peckham, 110th N. Y. Vol.; Dr. Alfred Rice surgeon
110th N. Y. Vol.; Dr. Phineas T. Rose, assistant surgeon of volunteers;
and Rev. F. D. Seward, captain 117th U. S. Colored Troops. Joseph Demott
served in the Mexican war.
Company B, 48th Regt. N. G. S. N.
Y., with headquarters in Hannibal village, was organized and mustered into
the State service on September 4, 1864, with these commissioned officers:
William H. Wiggins, captain; William O'Connor, first lieutenant; Seth Barrus,
second lieutenant. Captain Wiggins resigned in 1865 and Mr. O'Connor was
chosen to fill the vacancy, Dr. George V. Emens being elected first lieutenant.
D. F. Acker became second lieutenant in August, 1870. In July, 1871,
the company was reorganized and the following officers were elected: Dr.
Dillon F. Acker, captain; Dr. G. V. Emens, first lieutenant; Lemuel P.
Storms, second lieutenant. At this time nearly all the members were
veterans of the Rebellion. Dr. Acker was promoted assistant surgeon
of the regiment in November, 1872, and in February, 1873, L. P. Storms
was chosen captain and Joseph Alberny became second-lieutenant. The
company was disbanded with the regiment in 1882.
Supervisors' statistics for 1894:
Assessed valuation of real estate, $765,900; equalized, $1,077,831; personal
property, $18,975; railroads, 5.21 miles, $52,600; town tax, $6,061.07
county tax $6.142.11 total tax levy, $14,491.21; dog tax, $81; ratio of
tax on $100, $1.85. The town has three election districts, in which
600 votes were polled in November, 1894.
Hannibal Village. - This village
is pleasantly situated in the northwest part of the town, is a station
on the lake shore division of the R., W. & O. Railroad, and contains
a population of about 450 persons. The first building here was a
log structure erected in 1808; it stood very nearly on the site of an old
Indian camp or wigwam, and was occupied as a tavern by Henry Jennings.
Around this clustered farm houses and lumber cabins and business interests
of various kinds, and in time it became a settlement of great activity.
About 1815 Amos Field, from Vermont, built the first frame hotel, which
he kept many years. In 1820 Towsley & Dunton established a fulling
mill and John Brill a tannery, both being the first of the kind in town.
Thomas West, John Toppen, and Trumbull Kent were early blacksmiths, while
Moses Farnham was the pioneer carpenter. Field & Dunton and Jason
Peck were proprietors of the first distilleries. In 1822 Thomas Skelton,
afterward assemblyman, erected another tannery, which was burned December
3, 1875. It was rebuilt in 1876 and was operated by Skelton &
Van Auken, Thomas Van Auken, and C. S. Chamberlain, who afterward converted
it into a part of the present grist mill of C. S. Chamberlain & Son
(James R.).
About 1829 the following quaint essay
was written and read by a lad of nine years, and is regarded as a true
sketch of the village at that time:
The village of Hannibal contains
two churches, two schools, two taverns, two stores, two asheries, two tailors,
two blacksmiths, two shoemakers, two wagon-makers, two carpenters, two
brickyards, and two pretty good dwelling houses, two ministers, two doctors,
two lawyers, and but one hatter. One church is Presbyterian, the
other is a Baptist; one has a bell, the other a clock; one school is a
select school, the other is a common school; one tavern is a temperance
tavern, the other is not; one ashery is in use, the other is at liberty;
one brickyard is in use, the other is at liberty; the tailors opposite
each other.
In those days the village was an
important stopping place on the great daily stage routes between Oswego
and Auburn and Oswego and Rochester. The two doctors mentioned above
were probably Dr Ure and Dr. Arden Allen, although a Dr. Moore is said
to have been "one of the earliest physicians in the town." Dr. Ure
built, about 1817, what has since been known as the Dunham house, which
was one of the first frame dwellings in the place. The two lawyers
were doubtless Rigss and Abrams. The first store was opened by Benjamin
Phelps in 1815. Among the early merchants was Hastings Bullen, who
kept a store in the building now occupied by M. H. Van Auken, which then
stood where B. R. Bothwell's hardware establishment now is. In 1836
he was succeeded by S. W. Brewster and George Deming, and the same year
Norman Titus opened a store on the present Brewster site; he closed out
business in 1837. S.W. Brewster soon became sole proprietor and continued
until 1869, when he took his son W. J. into partnership under the firm
name of S. W. Brewster & Son. Mr. Brewster died in September,
1882, and was succeeded by Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Brewster as W. J. Brewster
& Co. This is one of the oldest, largest, and most successful
general stores in the county. It bears a close resemblance to the
mammoth establishments of the big cities. It utilizes nearly 5,000
square feet of floor space. Connected with the concern is a large
banking and exchange business, the whole occupying a commodious brick building,
which contains also a spacious public hall.
Other merchants were Alvah Worster,
a Mr. Powell (where A. S. Guthrie's furniture store now is), Andrew Beecher,
Huet H. Bronson (at one time a partner of S. W. Brewster), William W. Brackett
(who also had a store in Hannibal Center), W. W. Gage & Smith, and
A. C. Bent. Charles C. Blackman started a hardware store about 1860;
he was followed successively by Hamilton Cox, R. M. Rogers, jr., Burt &
Bothwell, Cooper & Watson, Bothwell & Wiggins (from 1887 to 1892),
David Bothwell, and B. R. Bothwell, the present proprietor. About
1860 Alvah Worster erected the main part of what is now the Brewster block;
he failed and S. W. Brewster purchased the property. L.F. Cooper,
upon his retirement from the firm of Cooper & Watson, established his
present drug business. David E. Johnson and Patrick O’Mara were blacksmiths
and Harrison Madison was a wagonmaker here many years.
As early as 1836 Samuel Phelps kept
a tavern in a long wooden building which stood nearly on the site of Mr.
Cox's store. Among his successors were James H. Horton, Levi Stevens,
Giles C. Barrus. Norman Titus, George A Leonard, and Richard Van Auken,
under whom the building burned. The American House, now a two and
a half story building, was originally a one story structure. Its
landlords have been William Earle, James Patrick, a Mr. Clark, Peter Powell,
Norman Titus, Stowell Hutchins, John Hoff (under whom it was rebuilt),
Samuel Wiggins, J. W. Burt, and Eli C. Van Auken.
A grist mill was owned at an early
date by members of the Bullen family, who sold it to Otis Skinner.
The latter was succeeded by his son-in-law, J. Z. Smith, who was followed
by Williams & Misen, Albert Williams, and C. S. & J. R. Chamberlain,
who have converted it into a butter factory, which they have leased to
a stock company. A saw mill was formerly connected with the establishment.
In 1866 William R. Cox built a saw mill which is now owned by R. M. Rogers,
jr. The same year Andrew Beecher erected a stave and barrel factory
which has long been discontinued. Worster & Parsons formerly
owned another saw mill and W. Dada & Son a steam cheese-box factory,
both of which have gone down. R.M. Rogers built the saw mill now
owned by George A. Leonard. Job Williams also has a planing mill
in the village.
The post-office was established as
Hannibalville November 4, 1816, with Asa Dunton, postmaster. The
successive postmasters, with the dates of their appointment, have been:
William Henry, May 21, 1818; Elnathan
Bassett, October 10, 1820: Alfred Nellis. June 4, 1821; John Bullen, jr.,
July 23, 1822; under him, in 1827, the name was changed to Hannibal, which
it has ever since borne; Thomas Skelton, September 21, 1836; Alfred Rice,
June 2, 1849; Alexander McInroy, February 14, 1853; Palmer Ketchum, April
6, 1853; Edwin H. Boyd, March 11, 1859; William H. Wiggins, March 12, 1861;
Alfred B. Worster, February 7, 1865; James W. Burt, October 15, 1868; Archibald
S. Guthrie, February 13, 1882; Dr. Dillon F. Acker; and C. B. Brower, incumbent.
The first newspaper was started by
Dr. George V. Emens October 1, 1866. It was a small monthly sheet
called the Hannibal Reveille; January 1, 1872, he changed it to a semi-monthly
and in January, 1873, issued it as a weekly. July 3, 1873, it was
purchased by A. N. Bradt, who conducted it until June, 1879, when he purchased
the Hannibal News and consolidated the two papers under the title Reveille
and News. The News was started December 20, 1876, by Charles H. Parsons
and Clarence B. Brewer, and April 1, 1877, it passed into the hands of
the last named proprietor, who with his father, N. B. Brower, published
it until June, 1879. In 1880 A. N. Bradt sold the Revielle and News
to his brother, A. P. Bradt, who six months later transferred the establishment
to C. B. Brewer,2 the present editor and proprietor. It is a bright
twenty-eight-column weekly, and ably represents the business and social
interests of the village. The Union Appeal was started by the Y.
P. S. C. E. of the Presbyterian church of Hannibal and issued during the
years 1892 and 1893. It had a large circulation for a sheet of its
character.
In June, 1865, Hannibal Lodge, No.
550, F. and A. M., was instituted with sixteen members and with Albert
B. Worster as W. M. About $1,200 was spent in fitting up one of the
finest lodge rooms in the county. On July 3, 1873, this building
and others were burned, entailing a loss of several thousand dollars.
Hannibal village was incorporated
April 7, 1860, at which time it contained 416 inhabitants. The corporate
limits comprise an area of 732 acres and 110 rods, being parts of lots
58 and 67. The first officers, elected May 15, 1860, were as follows:
Trustees, Robert M. Rogers (president),
Joel Z. Smith, George A. Anderson, Nicholas B. Brower, and Martin Larzalere;
assessors, C. C. Blackman, William J. Acker, and John P. Storrs; treasurer,
E. M. Rice; clerk, Alfred B. Worster; collector, Rufus S. Byington; poundmaster,
Richard Van Auken.
The presidents have been:
R. M. Rogers,
1860; George G. Anderson, 1861; Alfred Rice, 1862; R. S. Byington, 1863;
Alexander McInroy, 1864; Martin Larzalere, 1865; Alvah Worster, 1866; C.
S. Chamberlain, 1867; George A. Leonard, 1868; John Wiltsie, 1869; Garrett
Louis, 1870-71; Cyrus Burns, 1872; Girard Clark, 1873; Henry Weed, 1874;
D. J. Van Auken 1875.
February
l0, 1876, the village voted to re-incorporate under the laws of 1870, and
since then the presidents have been elected by the voters. March
8, 1876, at a special election, Alfred Draper was chosen president and
John A. Cox, D. F. Acker, and Garrett Lonis, trustees; at the regular election
on March 21 of that year Garrett Lonis was elected president. Since
then the presidents have been:
Alfred Rice,
1877; Robert M. Rogers, 1878; Garrett Lonis, 1879; David Bothwell, 1880;
Martin Pierce, 1881; Garrett Lonis, 1882; C. S. Chamberlain, 1883, failed
to qualify, and James H. Morehouse elected; he resigned and C. S. Chamberlain
was appointed; George A. Leonard, 1884; James W. Burt, 1885-87; A. N. Bradt,
1888; Arthur Wiltsie, 1889; David Bothwell, 1890; George A.. Leonard, 1891;
James W. Burt, 1892; C. B. Brower, 1893; George A. Leonard, 1894.
The officers
for 1894-5 were:
George A. Leonard, president; Dillon
F. Acker, J. R. Chamberlain, and W. J. Brackett., trustees; John A. Cox,
treasurer; Edward Wheeler, collector; H. A. Blodgett, street commissioner;
J. B. Burt, clerk.
The village
was made a separate road district March 26, 1861.
Hannibal
Center, a little hamlet on Nine Mile Creek, near the center of the
town, had its beginning in the year 1806, when Orren Cotton and Watson
Earl erected the first grist mill there. About 1830 W. W. Brackett
opened the first store in the place, and continued in business until his
death, November 23, 1876. He also built a peppermint distillery,
and was the most prominent man the settlement ever had. A post-office
was established as early as 1865. The present postmaster is Dr. R.
N. Cooley, who succeeded Rienza R. Knowlton. A former incumbent was
Hubert Dickinson, who was also a merchant. Judson S. Kellogg commenced
the business of blacksmithing here in 1877.
North
Hannibal was formerly called Wheeler's Corners. A post-office
was established there in 1867 with John Farnham postmaster. He was
succeeded in 1872 by John A. Cox, who was followed in 1873 by M. H. Cox.
The latter held the office several years and at the same time conducted
a store which he erected in 1865. The present incumbent is George
Farnham, who succeeded Rufus Day.
South
Hannibal post-office was established prior to 1866. The present
postmaster is Edwin Wilcox; a former incumbent was I. H. Meeker.
The hamlet is locally known as Hull's Corners.
Fairdale,
in the eastern part of the town, has a post-office with William Gallagher
as postmaster, his predecessor being J. A. Barrus.
Kinney's
Four Corners, so named from the Kinney family previously mentioned,
is a post-office in the northwest corner of the town. Mrs. Alice
Eaton is postmistress. Willis Wiltsie, and before him Mrs. Eliza Shutts
formerly held the position.
Churches.
- The earliest religious services in this town were held in the little
log school house that was built in Hannibal village in 18l0. For
several years this rude structure performed a double duty, as did also
its successor. December 4, 1816, the Presbyterian church of Hannibal
was organized by Revs. David R. Dixon and Henry Smith, with eleven members,
viz.: Alexander M. and Trumbull Kent, William Grant, Cephas S. Kent, Polly
Rice, Barzaleel Worster, Laura Kent, Betsey Curtis, Phoebe Fellows, Marilla
Stevenson, and Betsey Worster. Cephas S. Kent was the first deacon
and Alexander M. Kent the first clerk. This society not only has
the distinction of being the first regular religious organization in the
town, but also has the honor, conjointly with the Masonic fraternity, who
occupied the second floor as a lodge room, of building the first house
of worship. This was in 1826, and the edifice cost $2,000.
In 1860 the present frame structure was erected at an expense of $4,000.
February 20, 1822, the society changed its form of worship to Congregational,
and adhered to that faith until July 25, 1870, when Presbyterianism was
again adopted. Among the earlier pastors were Revs. John Alexander,
William Clark, Martin Powell, William P. Ells, James T. Hough, Lemuel Dady,
Edward Reynolds, John N. Hubbard, and others. The present pastor
(1894) is Rev. Duncan McPhie. The ruling elders are Albert F. Allen,
Eliab Scott, and Isaac H. Peckham.
The Baptist
Church of Hannibal had its beginning in the Baptist Church of Sterling,
which was organized early in the year 1817. Among the members were
John and Sarah Lake, Amos and Annie Wiltsie, Mr. and Mrs. Wilmouth, Mary
Dumass, Mrs. Esther Devine and Mrs. Joshua Lake. No regular pastor
was had until the organization was changed to the Sterling and Hannibal
Baptist Church in 1825, when Rev. Mr. Carpenter was installed. Subsequently
the present name was adopted. In 1827 a frame house of worship, 36
by 40 feet in size, was erected at a cost of $2,200. About 1865 it was
extensively repaired, the expense being about $1,000. The society
has about ninety-three members and property yalued at $3,000. The
Sunday school consists of 100 officers and scholars with A. H. Lund as
superintendent. The church clerk is J. S. Stevenson. At present
the society is without a pastor, the last one being Rev. Mr. Woodbury,
who left in December, 1893.
The Methodist
Episcopal Church of Hannibal was originally a part of the Granby circuit.
A class was formed in 1835 and on February 26, 1839, tile society was duly
organized, the certificate of incorporation being filed in the county clerk's
office March 13. There were twenty-five constituent members with
Rev. John Whitcomb as pastor. From 1840 to 1842 Rev. Benjamin F.
Brown officiated as minister in charge and conducted a series of fruitful
revivals, the result being the erection in 1841 of a handsome brick edifice
at a cost of $1,150. In 1864, under the pastorate of Rev. H. Skeel,
about one-third of this structure was removed and a new church built on
tile front of the remainder, the entire cost of the two buildings and lot
being about $9,000. The pastor is Rev. Jabez Stallwood, who was installed
in April, 1893, his predecessor being Rev. B. D. Brown. The society has
about 220 members, property valued ot $11,000 (including two churches and
two parsonages), and two Sunday schools with an average attendance of 130
scholars. Connected with this charge is the M. E. Church at Hannibal
Center, which was organized as a class as early as 1830 with James A. Brackett
as leader. A church edifice was erected about 1862.
The Methodist
Episcopal Church of South Hannibal was built about 1860, and is valued
at $2,000. The society has forty-five or fifty members, with Rev.
Charles L. Peck as supply. The Sunday school has an average attendance
of forty scholars.
The Baptist
Church of South Hannibal was organized on the 7th of August, 1851, with
fourteen members. The first deacon was John Chapman. The first
clerk was J. B. Chapman. Their church edifice was built in 1851-2
and dedicated May 7, 1852.
Endnotes
1 The act of February 28, 1789 made
it the duty of the commissioners of the land office to give names to the
towns to be laid out under that act. They assigned that duty to Simeon
De Witt, for half a century (1785-1835) surveyor-general of the State,
and it is to him that we are indebted for the names of Roman, Greek and
Carthaginian notables that are attached to the military townships of Central
New York.
2 C. B. Brewer is a son of N. B.
Brewer, a lawyer in Hannibal since 1859, and was born in Forestville, N.
Y., September 16, 1856. He has served as town clerk, village clerk
five years, village president one year, and postmaster since May 22, 1893.