Clark and others credit John Wilcox with being the first white settler in Pompey, which is true as regards the original township; but his settlement was made in what is now La Fayette, and hence will be left for consideration in the history of that town. The first settlement within the limits of the present town was made by Ebenezer Butler, originally from Connecticut, and later from Oneida county, who removed to Pompey in 1788 or 1789, and in 1791 located on lot 65 in Pompey. Tradition says he bought this lot of a soldier "for a horse, saddle and bridle." He built a log house near the site of the "stone blacksmith shop," and in the same year brought in his family of wife and four children, his father and a maiden sister. It will be borne in mind that this was only three years after Asa Danforth, the first white settler in the county, located at Onondaga Hollow. The elder Butler's name was Ebenezer also, who was a soldier in the Revolution, a quiet, retiring man of religious tendencies. He was a farmer and took an active part in organizing the first church in Pompey, of which he was one of the first trustees. He died in 1829. The son also served in the Revolutionary war, where he was taken prisoner and suffered great hardship on a prison ship. After his settlement he purchased lot 6, and in 1797 built the first frame building in that vicinity; it stood on the site of Manoah Pratt's subsequent residence. There he kept a tavern several years, the first in the town, beginning in 1792. He dealt largely in real estate and in stock which he drove to Philadelphia. He held various town offices...He removed to Manlius in 1801 or 1802, and in 1811 to Ohio, where he died in 1829 at the age of 68 years.
In 1792, Jesse Butler, brother of Ebenezer, came on from Connecticut and bought 100 acres of Ebenezer, made a clearing and built a log house a little north of the site of the M. E. church. He returned to Connecticut and in the spring of 1793 came back with George Catlin and their families on an ox sled. Catlin was brother-in-law of Ebenezer Butler, jr., and bought of him 100 acres and kept a tavern a little south of the site of the subsequent residence of Asa Wells.
Jacob Hoar settled on lot 48, removing from Onondaga in the spring of 1793. At the four corners near him was a little hamlet about 1800, where ultimately was a store, an ashery, a shoe shop, a tannery, and a turning lathe, with school house, and a number of dwellings. It was called "Log City," and for a few years was a rival of Pompey Hill.
In 1794 Messrs. John, Jerome, and Joseph Smith, from Massachusetts, settled on lot 85. Both of these families became prominent in the town....
Several pioneers at the Hill who came in later than the beginning of the century were Morton Bostwick, who located on the corner opposite the Augustus Wheaton place; Sandiman Culver, who settled on the place owned in recent years by James Van Brocklin, the place passing through the hands of Mr. Jakway, Jasper Bennett and Isaac Wicks.
Within the next few years settlers came into the town quite rapidly, and a thriving community gathered at what was then known as Butler's Hill, now Pompey Hill. Beside those already named, were Clark, mentioned among the early settlers, Trueworthy and Selah Cook, and the Holbrook, Hibbard, Hinsdale, Messenger, Western, Allen and Burr families.
The pioneers lived under adverse conditions in many respects. Very many of them came from Massachusetts and Connecticut, making journeys with primitive conveyances that were much more trying and arduous than is a trip to the Pacific coast at the present time. They were generally God-fearing men and women, who had been reared amid religious and educational influences. In their new home they at first had neither, but they were not long without them. The earliest of the settlers were compelled to travel forty miles to Whitestown to reach a grist mill. It may therefore reasonably be inferred that the building of Jackson's Mills, near Jamesville, in 1794, was to them an important and welcome event. Four years later the Pratt and Smith mills...were put in operation at Pratt's Falls. The materials for this grist mill, excepting the timbers, were brought by Mr. Pratt from Connecticut. Early marketing, and trading also, were for a few of the early years done at Whitestown or at old Fort Schuyler, or at Herkimer. Ox teams were used almost exclusively, there being only one or two horses in town, and there were no wagons at all. The first chaise was brought into the town by Judge Butler from Philadelphia, where he had taken it in exchange for cattle. By the year 1800 stores had been established at Manlius Square, one of the first being that of John Meeker, which was presided over by Azariah Smith, as described in the history of Manlius.
At about the same time Truman Lewis...a tavern keeper at the Hill, put a few goods on sale, and about the year 1803 Meeker opened one of his numerous stores at the same place.
In order to give their children such educational opportunities as were possible, a school was opened in a log house near where Daniel Kellogg lived in 1875. The first teacher was probably Lucy Jerome, who afterwards married James Geddes, the distinguished judge and engineer. The first building erected for school purposes was a frame structure built in 1796 in the forks of the road on the village green; in its rear was the first primitive graveyard. The school house was afterwards moved farther north, and school was continued in it until the erection of the academy building. Among the early teachers were Miss Hepsabah Beebe, Lyman Pitcher and James Robinson....
Asa Barnes migrated from Stockbridge, Mass., in 1793 to Pompey, where he purchased the farm on which he spent his life, and where his son, Elias Barnes, was born in 1796. Asa's brothers, Phineas and Roswell, came on at the same time. Early in 1794 they brought their families. The land on which they settled is on lot eleven, the site of Oran village. Job Bartholomew settled on the west part of the same lot in 1793, and Daniel Thomas and Captain Peck settled about the same time on the lot next southward, No. 22. Thomas Foster and James Coville, the latter the father of Joseph Coville, also settled near the site of Oran on lot 11. James Midler (or Medler, as the record gives it), a Revolutionary soldier, grandfather of Columbus C. Midler of Pompey, and of Philip P. Midler, late of Dewitt, came in with his brothers, Christopher and Philip, about the year 1800, and occupied his soldier's grant. George Clark was the first merchant in Oran and the first teacher, and settled early on the farm where Morgan Lewis lived in recent years; he was father of Bronson Clark of Pompey. Shubel Safford, father of Silas B. Safford, settled on lot No. 10, and Francis Hale in 1802 purchased of Judge Butler and settled on lot No. 12. Noah Palmer, Selah Goodrich, Charles Thomas, Deacon Hart, Capt. Punderson Avery and William Barnes also settled in the northeastern part of the town. The first hotel at Oran was built by Job Bartholomew about 1796, and kept by him till 1808. In the following year a hotel was built on the site of the late public house and was kept by William Scoville. The first school house at Oran was built about 1800, and George Clark was the first teacher. In early years this was quite a thriving business place, and in 1810 there were two stores, two hotels, two tanneries, a grist mill, a distillery, an ashery and blacksmith and wagon making shops. Dr. Daniel D. Denison settled there about 1810 and remained until his death. Among his children were the late Dr. H. D. Denison and William Denison of Syracuse and D. D. Denison of Oran.
In the eastern valley, in which is situated the hamlet of Delphi, settlement began a little later than in the more central part of the town. Samuel Sherwood was probably the first comer in the locality, and settled on Lot 84 in 1795, on the farm afterwards owned by Patrick Shields. Mr. Sherwood held the rank of major-general in the army. In 1798 or 1799 Elijah Hill, from Pittsfield, Mass., settled three miles down the valley, northward from the village. In March, 1800, Rufus Sheldon, father of a talented family, among whom was Harvey Sheldon of New York, settled one and one-half miles northwest from the village. In the same year Col. Ensign Hill, brother of Elijah, settled south of the village. In 1801 Elihu Barber located on the hill west of the valley, about a mile and a half from the creek. Like many others of the pioneers, he believed that when the forest was cleared from the lower lands they would be practically worthless. In 1802 James McClure settled a mile south of Elijah Hill's location, and in the following year, probably, Samuel Draper, from Vermont, settled in that vicinity. At about the same time with McClure, Benjamin Coats and William Peas located on lands occupied within recent years by their descendants. They were from Lebanon, N.Y., and in 1802 Ozias Burr and William Cook came on from the same place. Moses Blowers and Stutson Benson settled early on lot 84, near Delphi. Capt. Theophilas Tracy settled a half mile southeast on the farm subsequently occupied by Henry Ryder. In about 1803 or 1804 Tracy built the frame of the first grist mill on Limestone Creek, the one owned in after years by Alexander Maxwell. This mill was completed by Elnathan Griffith, while owned by Moses Savage. The two runs of stone were brought from Albany by teams that had drawn wheat thither to market, and cost $100. They were French burr stone, and were still running in the mill in 1870. Deacon Moses Savage settled early on the east side of the creek, built the first carding mill in the valley, and between 1825-30 built the grist mill owned in later years by Edgar Pratt. Dr. Joseph Ely bought in 1804 land on the hotel site, where he found a "brush house," which some settler or squatter had left. He occupied it till the fall of 1806, when he employed Elnathan Griffith to build a frame addition. Dr. Ely was from Montgomery county, N.Y., kept a tavern on the site of the later hotel, and practiced medicine. This little settlement was known in early years as "Pompey Four Corners," but the settlers wisely gave it the more euphonious title of Delphi. Samuel G. Willard and Daniel H. Hubbard built a store there in 1805, and Daniel Allen settled in 1802, two miles north of the village. Hubbard & Willard were the first merchants to keep a full assortment of goods in the place, and they subsequently sold to Esli Squires. Their store served to relieve the settlers from going to Cazenovia or Manlius to trade. Squires, in 1810, built and occupied a store on the corner where Marble afterwards traded, selling the building he had purchased of Hubbard & Willard to Richard Taylor. Taylor sold out to Herrick Allen, son of Daniel Allen just mentioned, who was the leading merchant many years. Schuyler Van Rensselaer was also an early merchant at Delphi, and in 1818 sold out to Matthew B. Slocum, father of Maj.-Gen. Henry W. Slocum. About the year 1808 William Shankland settled in this valley on the east side of the creek, his dwelling being just over the Madison county line. He was father of the late Judge William H. Shankland of Cortland. On lot 99, southwest of the village, Walter Bates was probably the first settler. This lot was drawn by Barnardus Swartwout, whose son Robert came on with verbal authorization to sell the lot, which he did. He sold, in 1806, to Jasper Galliway, and probably part to Thomas Derbyshire, one of which sales embraced land occupied in recent years by Russell and Sheldon Strickland. Elisha Litchfield was a settler in Delphi in 1812, and kept a store. Mr. Litchfield became one of the most prominent men in the county, and held various public offices, as the reader has already learned. In 1810 Ephraim Cleveland came to the place, and during one or two years kept a tavern on the later hotel site, and died there. His property passed to Mr. Litchfield. Among other early settlers in this vicinity were Reuben Benton, who was a justice of the peace; Bela Cole, Amos Benedict, who in 1806 had a blacksmith shop two miles north of Delphi; two brothers named Townsend, who were the first blacksmiths in the village; Jabez Groudevant, a cabinet maker of 1810, who followed the business about forty years; Oliver Rogers, a wagon maker in 1816; Deacon Abbott, the first tanner, who in 1807 or 1808 built the vats for the old tannery, which he sold to James Reeves. This tannery passed, in 1820, to John and Michael Spencer, two Englishmen, who carried on the business many years. It was owned later by Caleb Terry; Henry Ten Eyck, who early owned the woolen factory established in 1812, and burned in 1853.
The hamlet of Watervale was settled by Col. James Carr about the year 1809. It is situated four miles northeastward from Pompey Hill, on the west branch of Limestone Creek. Mr. Carr built the first saw mill on the stream in that vicinity, and a second was erected almost simultaneously by Willoughby Milliard, who located there in 1810. The place was first called "Carr Hollow," then "Hemlock Hollow," and later from the great quantity of slabs produced in the saw mills, took the name of "Slab Hollow." This continued until 1820, when the post-office was established, with Ansel Judd postmaster, who gave it its present euphonious name. Mr. Judd settled in the place in 1812, and built the first wool carding and cloth dressing establishment in the town. George Ostrander settled there about 1815 and built a distillery, and Benjamin F. Wheeler carried on tanning and shoemaking many years. Ira Curtis opened the first store there, and built and kept the first hotel. Other early settlers were William C. Fargo, O. Abbott, Benjamin Patten, and V. H. Taylor. Anson Sprague located on a farm south of Watervale in 1818. It was on his farm where the somewhat celebrated "Pompey stone" was discovered, which has recently been announced as a hoax perpetrated by some young men of the town. Ansel Judd and Col. John Sprague built the grist-mill at Watervale in 1830, and John Sprague and Ansel Sweet erected the first two brick dwellings in the north part of the town, near the "Clapp Settlement." Capt. John Sprague, father of Col. John, migrated from Saratoga county in 1798 and settled a little out of Watervale. William C. Fargo, father of a son of the same name, who was long the head of the American Express Company, lived at Watervale in an early time, and long had the contract for carrying the mail from Manlius to Pompey, via Watervale, Fabius and Delphi. To the northward of Watervale, between 1793 and 1800, settled David Williams, Nathan Williams, with another brother, at what became known as "Williams Corners...."
Let us now then turn to the original records and learn what the inhabitants did to govern the town in which they had settled:
"At a meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the town of Pompey, in the county of Onondaga, as lately ordained by a law of New York, passed the 5th of March, 1794.
That the first town meeting be held at the House of Ebenezer Butler, Jr., Esq., in said town. April 1st, 1794, as chosen by a plurality of voices: Moses De Witt, supervisor. Hezekiah Olcott, clerk. Ozias Burr, Allen Beach, William Haskin, George Catlin, Ebenezer Butler, Jun., assessors. Thomas Olcott, Jeremiah Gould, John Lamb, commissioners of highway. John Lamb, William Haskin, overseers of the poor. John Wilcox, Samuel Draper, Joseph H. Smith, constables.
Voted that the constables shall be collectors.
Joseph Atwell, Daniel Allen, Peter Messenger, Joseph Bartholomew, Samuel Sherman, William Rin, John Wilcox, Samuel Jerome, Trueworthy Cook, overseers of highways. Timothy Sweet, Elisha Clark, fence viewers. Elisha Clark, poundkeeper."
The usual by-laws were prepared and voted upon, among them one that there should be a bounty of three pounds for every wolf killed within the bounds of this town. It was also voted that the ensuing election should be held at three separate places, viz.: at Moses De Witt's, on the fourth Tuesday in April; at Ebenezer Butler, jr's., on the Wednesday following; and at Daniel Allen's on the Thursday following.
At an adjourned meeting held at the house of Ebenezer Butler, jr., September 20, 1794, William Haskin was chosen supervisor in place of Moses De Witt, deceased. It was voted at this meeting that the sum of twelve pounds be raised for the purchase of books and paper and other town expenses.
At the second town meeting it was voted that a bounty of five dollars be given for the scalp of every full-grown wolf killed within the limits of the town. It was also voted that "hogs be free commoners." That there was good reason for the payment of these bounties for killing wild animals is indicated by an anecdote, the truth of which is vouched for by old residents of the town (1).
The proceedings in the town meetings, down to about the year 1820, were not of special importance, and yet there occasionally appears in the record an item bearing either some historical value or interest from its quaintness. Several of the earlier town meetings were held at the house of Ebenezer Butler, jr., two of them at least at the house of Manoah Pratt, one of which was for some unexplained reason adjourned by a vote "to the barn of said Manoah Pratt." After the year 1800 they were held either in the school house or in the academy building for a number of years.
At the fourth town meeting it was "voted, that it is the wish of the town to have the townships of Fabius and Tully incorporated into a town by the name of Fabius." At this meeting also the school commissioners were voted six shillings per day for their services.
On the 29th of November, 1798, a special town meeting was held at the house of Mr. Pratt, where the disposal of public lot 67 was considered. It was finally voted "that the commissioners of said land lease the same discretionary." It was also voted at this meeting to petition the Legislature for the division of the county. The vote reads "that one tier of lots be taken off the county of Onondaga and annexed to the county of Chenango to wit: Cicero, Manlius, Pompey, Fabius, Solon, and Cincinnatus." It was then further voted "that a committee be chosen to petition the Legislature for a division of said county." Hezekiah Olcott, Levi Jerome, and Deodatus Clark were named as such committee.
Down to 1800 it had been the custom to choose the supervisor and town clerk viva voce, but in that year they were for the first time chosen by ballot. The remaining officers were chosen by the uplifted hand. In this connection a peculiar course was adopted in the meeting of April 7, 1801, where it was "voted that the Supervisor and Clerk be chosen by going round and mentioning to the town clerk. Voted that Supervisor and Clerk be put in by once going around." In that year three assessors were elected "one in the western district, one in the middle district, and one in the eastern district." Forty-three overseers of highways were chosen that year; and it was also "voted that those who have taken leases on the Public Lot designated for Gospel and School, be released setting out one-half the number of Apple trees contained in said lease." In the following year it was "voted that James Russell should have a lease of that part of the Public Lot that William Lilly had a year, for ten years from the time he took possession of the same."
The meeting of 1803 was held March 1, and it was voted among other things "that there be a Pound and that it be built near John Osbourn's." John Bowers was made poundkeeper. Down to the year 1808, as indicated in the proceedings of meetings, hogs had been allowed to run without restraint. In that year it was voted "that hogs to run at large in the town, be yoked and ringed, except within half a mile of Colonel Hopkins', and there not allowed to run." At the same meeting Nathaniel Baker and Jesse Butler were made "hog constables." This is the first and perhaps the only mention of that peculiar office found in the history of the county. It was in 1808 also that it was voted "that no man shall let Canada thistles go to seed on his and, or pathmaster on the highway, within his district, on forfeiture of $10.00." The total town expenses for the year 1802 were $123.85. For 1803 $262. For 1804 $312.
At a meeting held April 2, 1811, the following notice was read: Notice is hereby given to the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the town of Pompey, that a petition will be presented to the legislature of the state of New York at their session in the year 1812, praying a division of the said town of Pompey, and the town of Manlius, including in the town to be erected the three south tiers of lots of Manlius, and three of the north tier of lots of the town of Pompey.
This notice was dated March 11, 1811, and signed by Elisha Beebe, Jacobus De Puy, Joseph Wilcox, Elnathan Marsh, and Timothy Coleman. The people of Pompey effectually protested against this division, and gave expression to their feelings on the subject in the following resolution: Resolved, unanimously, That this meeting disapproves of the proposed division of the town, and that a committee of three be appointed to remonstrate to the next Legislature against the said division, and that Samuel S. Baldwin, Ozias Burr, and William Cook be that committee.
In the year 1812 the sum of eighty dollars was raised for support of the poor, which amount was increased to $350 in the following year. Application was made in 1813 for permission to sell the public lots, and in 1814, in addition the sum of fifteen dollars voted for the support of common schools, it was also voted, "that the proceeds from the Public Lots be devoted to the same use." A very peculiar resolution is found in the proceedings of 1814, to the effect "that no cattle shall run at large within half a mile of any Tavern." In the same year all persons having Canada thistles on their land were required by resolutions to cut them twice in each year, once in June and once in September, on penalty of five dollars.
The amount raised for the support of the poor in 1814 was $222, while in 1816 it was $300. At a meeting held April 18, 1817, we find a resolution which throws light upon the ancient manner of supporting the poor, previous to the erection of the county poorhouse. It was then resolved "to sell for keeping, at public auction to the lowest bidder, all paupers chargeable to the Town."
The first burials of the dead in this town were made on the public green in rear of the first school house. The first persons buried there were two children of George Catlin, who died of scarlatina, and the first adult buried there was Mrs. Cravatt. Col. Hezekiah Olcott, a resident of the town and an officer in the Revolution, a surveyor by profession, was taken ill of fever while surveying the State Road, and died at Pompey West Hill (now in La Fayette). His remains were brought to Pompey village and buried with military honors. In about the year 1802 or 1803 steps were taken to establish a new cemetery. The location selected was opposite the house where Dr. Stearns lived in recent years, and to that spot were removed the remains that had been buried in the old ground. A few years of reflection and experience showed conclusively that this location was unfavorable for the purpose, and it was abandoned as a burial place. What is now the east or rear part of the present beautiful cemetery, was then purchased, and has ever since been used for cemetery purposes. In about 1823 the "new part" was purchased of Peter Smith, of Peterborough. The first person buried in the new part was Daniel Knapp, who died in August, 1823, the same year in which the land was enclosed. With still further additions made in recent years, and the care bestowed upon it by the incorporated company which controls it, the cemetery is now a beautiful spot for the interment of the dead....
In the year 1800, when the population of Onondaga county was 1,036, the town of Pompey had 309, almost one-third of the whole. What is now Onondaga county then numbered only 885 inhabitants, and Pompey had about 50 more than one-third of the whole. Clark says: At this time such a vehicle as a horse wagon was not in existence in this town of county; and the visiting was done mostly in winter on ox sleds, and happy and rich indeed was he who could yoke a pair of oxen of his own, make his way through the woods with his wife and child or two on the sled, on an evening's visit to a neighbor's several miles distant--in fact such a man was considered in rather opulent circumstances; and too, it was no disparagement for the belles and beaux of that day to attend singing school or spinning bee on the ox sled....
Of early manufacturing operations in the town it may be stated that the old tannery of Deacon Abbott at Delphi ultimately passed to Caleb Perry, who carried on the business until the building and yard were destroyed by a freshet. A mile southeast of the village Clark Rogers built an edge tool factory in 1823; it was afterwards owned and operated by Holmes & Sampson, whose tools gained a wide reputation. It finally passed to John Salisbury. Henry Ten Eyck carried on a woolen factory, which was established in 1812, until it was burned in 1853. It was situated on the creek north of the village and did a large business.
In very early years wool which had been carded and spun by the firesides
were taken to Manlius to be colored and dressed. In course of time
fulling mills were built in this town, one of which was in the hollow near
Conradt Bush's place. This mill was subsequently burned in the fall
when it was stored with cloth, causing a grievous loss to many families.
The early store of Mr. Meeker on the Hill has already been alluded to. He was succeeded by Clarke & Emmons, who built and used for a store what became known as "Deacon Baker's old red house," which was ultimately demolished. At about the same time when Clarke & Emmons began business, Henry Seymour, brother of Horatio Seymour, and Orrin Stone opened a store. Clarke and Emmons soon left the place and the firm of Seymour & Stone was for many years the leading one in town.
In its industrial aspects the town of Pompey has always occupied a position peculiar to itself. Its remoteness from the large business centers, its entire lack of railroad and canal connections, and its not important water power, have had a tendency from the first to prevent the establishment of manufacturing establishments within her borders. There were in early years the numerous saw mills that were needed in disposing of the forests, and also the kindred asheries for the production of crude potash, with here and there the then important local distillery where the whisky that was then almost universally drank was made. But these latter have all disappeared with the clearing of a very large part of the land of the town, and there are now only a few saw mills left. The establishment of grist mills, too, has been substantially confined to such as were needed for the custom work of the communities. To profitably conduct a large flouring mill, railroad connection is imperatively necessary. A few grist mills have always been maintained in the town. Of the few carding and cloth-making factories of early years, which have been mentioned, when families went less to the store and the tailor than at present, all are gone; and the same is true of the tanneries. The local conditions have also militated against the growth of large mercantile interests in the town. The several villages and hamlets have had their one or two stores and kept the goods needed for the dwellers in the vicinity, but no great business has been possible at any point.
The modern history of this town is simply a record of quiet peace and prosperity. The distractions and worries of the large communities influence its people not at all. During the period of the civil war no town in the county was more prompt to respond to the repeated calls of the government for volunteers or in supplying means for the relief of soldiers' families and the payment of bounties. The town sent out a large number of volunteers many of whom served with distinction and some of whom were left among the unnumbered dead on the southern battlefields.
In the year 1870 in response to the expressed desire of some of the prominent citizens of the town, as well as of others who had formerly lived within its bounds, among whom were Horatio Seymour, William G. Fargo, E. C. Litchfield, Leonard Jerome, Dr. Lucien B. Wells, and others, preparations were made for holding a reunion of former and then present residents of the town. The project soon took definite shape and in a short time grew beyond the anticipations of its projectors. The endless details leading up to its final successful consummation need not be followed here; they were all embodied in a volume published in 1875, from which we have been able to draw liberally much of the foregoing matter relating to the early settlement of the town. Dr. R. F. Stevens was appointed corresponding secretary, the local press became interested in the proposed event, meetings were held at various points, all of which resulted in a great gathering of Pompey Hill on June 29, 1871. The principal proceedings consisted of addresses from many of the eminent men who were in attendance from various parts of the country. Among the speakers were such well known men as Hon. Daniel P. Wood, of Syracuse, who was chosen president of the day; Hon. William G. Fargo, ex-mayor of Buffalo; Hon. Charles Hayden, ex-mayor of Rochester; Hon. Daniel G. Fort, ex-mayor of Oswego; Hon. Charles B. Sedgwick, Hon. Horace Wheaton, and Hon. Le Roy Morgan of Syracuse; Hon. Horatio Seymour, Hon. B. Davis Noxon, Hon. John F. Seymour, and a host of others of lesser prominence. The various large committees who had charge of the proceedings performed their work efficiently and the results were entirely worthy of the occasion.
The following figures give the population of Pompey in the years named: In 1830, 4,812; 1835, 4,521; 1840, 4,371; 1845, 4,112; 1850, 4,006; 1855, 3,770; 1860, 3,931; 1865, 3,502; 1870, 3,314; 1875, 3,336; 1880, 3,240; 1890, 2,859; 1892, 2,771.
These figures clearly indicate a condition that exists in too many of our inland towns--a gradual decrease in population. Farms are being deserted for villages and cities. In this respect it is no more than would be expected that towns situated like Pompey, cut off from railroad communication with other localities, would suffer most. The ambition of younger generations carries them away from the ancestral acres and into the turmoil of business centers.
The following reminiscences of early days in Pompey are supplied by Rev. Samuel W. Brace, son of Elizur Brace, whose settlement in the town has been described:
In the spring of 1796 he (Elizur Brace) made a journey, mainly on foot, to the wilderness settlement of his former neighbors, and purchased of Ebenezer Butler a portion of land south of the present village and covering entirely the summit of the hill. On this he commenced the erection of a log house, after the fashion of others who had preceded him. This house he did not furnish, however, until after his removal there with his family, in the latter part of October of the same year; hence our accommodations, as I well remember, for I was then six and a half years old, were scant and uncomfortable, until our famous log house, with two rooms and a linter, as it was then called, was fit for occupancy. We located, by the kindly consent of our old neighbors, in the first school house ever built on Pompey Hill, and this of course was a log structure of but one room, and at that time for a few weeks unoccupied. On its split-out, hewed and uneven floor we spread our beds, and here also we cooked our meals, sat upon our rough benches and hoped for better things. Such a day at length arrived, for the setting in of winter, we found ourselves located in our newly and highly elevated dwelling, as it was not only like a city set upon a hill, but probably the second best in the settlement. Our neighbors were munificently mindful of us in their offerings of vegetables and other materials of an edible character. In the mean time, or before leaving our pent-up quarters in the school house, my father had made a table from cherry planks, split from a log given him by Esq. Butler. To her great sorrow my mother's fine table, the only one we attempted to bring with us, got completely shipwrecked on the way. According to the custom of olden times, a house warmin' was expected when we were fully settled in our log palace. With its two windows of twelve lights each, which my father had been careful to bring with him; beside these and other things which might be named, an excellent split and hewed basswood floor, two doors of like material, with latches and latch-strings hanging out, a chimney in the middle partly of stone and topped out with rift-sticks and plastered, were some of the leading characteristics of our new dwelling; and as to the house warming, so much desired and talked of by our friends and neighbors, that was deferred until mid-winter, when the marriage ceremony of my oldest sister was to take place.. She had, early on our arrival, become affianced to Dr. Walter Colton, the young physician of the town, and the first that settled in it to practice (2). At Onondaga Hollow was the only post-office in the county and all the region round about. To it the writer, in the days of his early youth, often went as post-boy for the neighbors, sometimes on horseback, oftener on foot. At that time there was no Syracuse, but a miserable drunken place, known as Cossitt's Corners, and approached by roads of corduroy construction, and as the Irishmen of Salt Point used to say, a plentiful variety of mudholes. In those days slavery was rife in all parts of the Empire State, nor did it cease until 1828. Pompey had its slaves; a number were held on the hill by some of the most respectable families, but treated not as slaves in the South were said to be, but with much leniency and kindness. They were quite numerous in the northwestern part of the town near what is now Jamesville; sundry families there as the De Witts and the De Puys, of Dutch extraction, held numbers of them, and with their labor entered largely into the cultivation of tobacco; hence it was that Pompey became the first town in all Central New York that was defiled with the raising of this filthy and poisonous plant. As descendants of the Puritans the early inhabitants of Pompey were strict observers of the Sabbath, keeping themselves and their children at home, except when they were favored with some kind of public religious service. If no missionary or religious minister of the gospel was among them, a prayer meeting was usually held, or a sermon read. They used to meet in barns, private houses and school houses.
Many of these interesting reminiscences apply with equal force to the other older towns of Onondaga county.
Following is a list of supervisors of Pompey from 1794 to the present time:
1794, Moses De Witt and William Haskins; 1795-6, Ebenezer Butler, jr.;
1797-1802, John Lamb; 1803-06, Ozias Burr; 1807, John Lamb; 1808-11, Ozias
Burr; 1812, Jacob R. De Witt; 1813, William Cook; 1814-17, Asa Wells; 1818,
Asahel Smith; 1819, Asa Wells; 1820, Elisha Litchfield; 1821-22, Asa Wells;
1823, John De La Mater; 1824-25, Charles Jackson; 1826, Elisha Litchfield;
1827, Warren Scranton; 1828-29, John Smith; 1830, Manoah Pratt, jr.; 1831-38,
John Smith; 1839, Horace Wheaton; 1840-41, Levi Wells; 1842, Horace Wheaton;
1843, Levi Wells; 1844, Daniel Candee; 1845-46, Levi Wells; 1847-48, Samuel
Hart; 1849-50, Manoah Pratt; 1851, Samuel Hart; 1852, Manoah Pratt; 1853-57,
Levi S. Holbrook; 1858-71, Levi Wells; 1872, Levi Wells and Julius Candee;
1873 to the present time, Marshall B. Dyer.
FOOTNOTES
1. In the town of Fabius, the next town south, an old bear lingered, apparently disputing the right of occupancy with more tenacity and boldness than some of his more timorous associates. And not unfrequently did he sally forth in the night and make forcible entry into the pig pens and carry off some of the younger branches of the swine family, much to the annoyance of the settlers. These depredations finally became so frequent that the neighbors held a consultation upon the means of ridding the community of so obnoxious a visit, and it was resolved that the next time he should commit another of his unlawful visits, it should be considered a just cause of exterminating war. Soon after this there was a heavy fall of snow, and bruin, probably considering this a serious admonition that it would be soon time for him to burrow up for winter, he sallied forth one night and entered the sty of a poor man, and took therefrom a porker, which the owner had intended to butcher in a few days to supply the necessities of his own family. This was no sooner known than the male portion of the community rallied to a man and arming themselves with guns, axes, and pitchforks, calling to their aid the dogs of the neighborhood, set out upon their track, which in the snow was visible and plain. They soon started his bearship, and posted off with all possible speed towards Pompey Hill. The chase was a hot one, and attended on the way with frequent skirmishes, and more especially so between the bear and the dogs. In most of these the bear had the best of the battle, and had it not been for fresh dogs, that constantly supplied the places of the wounded and delinquent, the pursuit would have been hopeless, for not a dog could be induced to renew the attack that had received one single salutation from this lord of the forest. The chase waxed warm, and bruin at last became so pressed and so fatigued with running in the snow that as a last resort he threw himself into the public highway and took the beaten track towards Pompey Hill. Among the citizens of Pompey Hill who were engaged in this affair were a deputy sheriff or constable. He carried in his breast pocket an enormous pocket book containing a large package of papers. This officer at the head of his posse comitatus, stood ready to arrest the old bear as he entered the village, but bruin, either doubting his jurisdiction, or disregarding the law against resisting the service of processes, rose upon his hind feet the instant said officer tapped him on the nose with his stick, and seizing him with his fore paws, brought him forthwith to the ground, then opening his huge mouth, grabbed the officer in the side and would, no doubt, have killed him on the spot, had it not happened that when the bear closed his ponderous jaws, he grasped this enormous pocketbook and held the man fast, till another man approached with a sharp axe, who, with a single stroke, settled the edge deep into the brain of the enraged bear. Thus was the ferocious beast slain, and a valuable civil officer rescued from an unpleasant if not perilous situation. This occurrence took place in 1802 or 1803, and is still a story of interest to the descendants of the participators in the scenes of that day.
2. Mr. Brace corrects the statements of Clark giving Dr. Samuel Beach and Dr. Josiah Colton credit for settling in Pompey prior to Dr. Walter Colton.
Submitted 7 August 1998