History of the Alderbrook (Eatonbrook) Mills....

The heat continues....Humorously I ran into one of the cashiers in the local grocery store who saw how hot and tired I was and commented that I was just as miserable when it was freezing cold...TRUE!  I did get to sit near the Alderbrook again and so this weeks blog came to mind...How many know the history of the West Eaton Mill area? Then this history blog is for you!

(Eatonbrook) -Alderbrook Mill History

 This mill is one of the old landmarks which our citizens will regret to see pass away.  Some 35 years ago, an old saw mill stood upon the site, which was purchased by Alpheus Morse and John Brown.  They also obtained land of Simeon Chubbuck , …land upon which to erect and build bogs and to flow water into the pond.  In 1849, they built and put into operation the well-known Alderbrook Woolen Mills.  

It was a wooden structure four stories high.  They built a fine boarding house, a cottage or two and the Long Block, a long building.  The factory was in the shadow of the northern mill, a very pretty location.  The Mill employed some 75 employees and manufactured some of the best quality cashmere and doeskin.  

In 1856, the firm failed, after which Alpheus Morse effected an arrangement and continued the business.  During the war, he made the army and navy blues, his goods being in such demand in the early years of the war that much of the time the works were run night and day.  Mr. Morse ran the mill with the cooperation of different individuals with varied success until 1874 or ‘75, during which time he built three cottages on the terrace overlooking the sheet of water.  

In 1876, the premises were purchased at a mortgage sale by Messrs. Lakey & Co., who sold to D.E. Darrow and Philo Walden in 1879.  Darrow and Walden soon after removed two stories of the upright part of the mill, putting in a new roof and otherwise repaired it.  The Long Block had become a ruin nearly ready to fall when they removed it. 

 

In 1883, they leased the mill to John Klock from St. Johnsville, N.Y., for paperboard manufacture.  Later, James Healey from the same place became associated with him.  Last year, Klock and Healey sold their interest to Messrs. Howe and Son.  

The cottages on the terrace have all been sold to different individuals, and now all of the buildings belonging to the mill property, all that is left, are the wool house and the boarding house.  

Fifty years ago, before there was ever sound of factory bell, hum of wheels or clash of looms in Alderbrook dell, it was the delightful home of Emily Chubbuck, the gifted “Fanny Forester.”  Here with her father and mother, her brothers and sisters, she lived her free joyous childhood – amid the wild picturesque beauty of nature, inhaled the breath of poetry…and wrote some of her most charming stories.  

The stories of busy enterprises silenced the Muse and for more than a third of a century held away.  The actors in the drama and their works are low in the dust; and should the pristine romantic beauty and poetic atmosphere of Alderbrook return to it, then this third of a century is simply bridged over by the force that evolves destiny; a period, a scene, fallen into oblivion…dead and buried.

**And so it is today...back to the wild pristine slumber of the ages…

Famous Woman Writers...Write and Share...It can make a difference!

I was thinking about this year in history and I ran across this old blog I wrote in 2014 about women writers and the impact they made on our history. With all that is happening now and knowing history always repeats itself...I thought I would post this and ask those who can to write about things today...to write..you can change things for the better and might become famous as well.

Certainly the woman who made the most historic rendition of our Eaton and Madison County History is Luna Chase Hammond Whitney whose mother was the first female physician in Madison County. Luna wrote a book on her mother that is still available today on Amazon.

Luna Chase Hammond refers to the 1859 biography " Trials and Triumphs of an Orphan Girl: Or, the Biography of Mrs. Deiadamia Chase, Physician and Phrenologist" written by her Daughter Luna M. Hammond (sometimes listed as Luna M. Hammond Whitney). 

Another history writer was Fanny Forester whose articles on the area were published as Alderbook Tales.  This book is available as a reprint at Walmart on line!

Most interesting to me is when a visitor to the old stone museum who  actually knew who Fanny Forester was....Emily Chubbuck Judson.  Of course the woman was a writer and journalist... but still…Emily dates back to 1817.

Born in Eaton Emily became a writer of children’s stories under the pen name Fanny Forrester.   She started writing articles for the newspapers and put them together as a book of famous short tales about the Eatonbrook .  The Eatonbrook is a little stream still runs today through Eaton and behind the Old Town Museum today.  Then it was call the Alderbrook and her stories of  “Alderbrook Tales” put together as book sold very well.  Emily of course became famous in the mid-1840s when she married Adoniram Judson the American Missionary to Burma.  Her life and her writings about Judson’s earlier wife made quite an impact on the Baptist world in her time.

Certainly the most famous woman writer of her time and a woman credited with moving America toward abolition was Harriet Beecher Stowe.  The Old Town Museum contains information on her family and her husband’s family as they are directly related to the Stowes and Morse-Bigelows who settled Eaton.

Harriet’s book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin, like Chubbuck’s “Alderbrook Tales”, was also a serial book first carried in the periodical "National Era".  Later as an actual book it was translated into different languages and became a best seller in many countries.  In the United States the only book that sold more copies in its day was the Bible.  In its first year it sold 300,000 copies here in the USA and 200,000 copies in England.  It effected a change that some feel led to the Civil War.  It certainly stirred the sentiment of a great swath of the country toward abolition.

Another woman later did the same thing with her only actual full-length novel, a book in part based on an actual experience that happened in her early life called “To Kill A Mocking Bird”.

With the release of this book… Harper Lee became an overnight sensation.  The 1960 book won her the Pulitzer Prize and was rated in England by librarians as “a book every adult should read”.  The story in a way contributed to social change since it addressed race relations, equality and life in the “Deep South”... among other things.  A book used in classrooms and made into a movie…it has never been out of print.

So women…get out your pens…start writing…there are a whole lot of social issues that need to be addressed today.  Remember it only takes one book to make a difference.  Wish I could make a difference with my blog…but if I got someone else to write the big book…. I will have.  SO WRITE!

More Eaton's Woman's History!

This week I have been reviewing the book I did for the Eaton Village Cemetery as a “fund Raiser” I had the opportunity to think about a great number of women who survived the arduous journeys from other Northeastern areas to Eaton in the times of settlement.  Women, who bore children, took care of the family and worked side by side with their husbands clearing land and starting a new life.

Certainly among the most famous is Eunice Bigelow Morse of the famous Stowe-Bigelow -Morse families of Natick, Massachusetts.  Eunice came with her husband Joseph, and young children to a place that would become not only home to her but to generations of her family.

A relative Harriet Beecher Stowe in a book titled “Old Town Folks”, forever immortalized Eunice’s family.  Many believed the story was written by Harriet's husband Calvin Ellis Stowe for his family… the Stowe’s… However, when Harriet married Callvin she married into the same family as her grandmother. * It is interesting to note that the Eaton Museum has the first edition of Hearth & Home with the first installment of that book inside…a newspaper kept untouched by Eunice Morse.  

The museum also has Eunice’s rocker and the cradle she used for what became the famous Morse brood.  The Natick crowd (Old Town Folks) also included other Morses…crab (Hezekiah Morse”, Grandpa Stowe of Eaton’s Stow Tavern…. and many more.

From Luna Hammond’s History in part:    

 Joseph (Eunice)  removed to Eaton in 1796 from Natick… Joseph Morse was the founder of Eaton village, and his sons have been identified with nearly all of its business interests. These sons were named as follows: Ellis,  whose biographical sketch appears in the chapter relating to Eaton, Joseph, who moved to Pennsylvania served in the Legislature of that State, and also became judge of the County Courts; Calvin, who was an elected member of the Legislature from Madison County in 1842, and has held municipal offices in town and county; Alpheus, who has been a merchant and scientific farmer, and for many years past, manufacturer, being proprietor of the Alderbrook Woolen Mill; and Bigelow, who was a respected citizen of Fabius, Onondaga County. Eunice, the eldest daughter of Joseph More, married Dr. James Pratt the pioneer physician of Eaton.   After her husband's death, she with her family removed and began pioneer life again in Palmyra, Mo.  She was a woman of indomitable will and great energy of character.

     The descendants of Joseph (and Eunice) Morse have, many of them, distinguished themselves in various positions. Gen. Henry B. Morse entered the late war as Captain of the 114th Reg. N. Y. V., was promoted to the office of Colonel, and subsequently, for meritorious services, was breveted Brigadier-General in the army of the southwest. He is grandson of Joseph Morse; as also is the Rev. Andrew Morse, who as a young man was a missionary to Siam and then become the Chaplain of the U S Treasury and friends with Abraham Lincoln,. Gardner Morse, who was member of the Legislature in 1866, Walter, a member of the manufacturing firm of Wood, Tabor & Morse, George E., a prominent citizen interested in the schools and who founded the Eaton Village Cemetery Association, and Alfred, who bravely gave his life for the Union cause at the battle of Winchester,Va. ; all these being sons of Ellis Morse. Darwin and Frank B. Morse, merchants at Eaton village, Allie Morse Burchard whose husband formed the Chenango Breeder’s Association, Children of Bigelow, are grandsons of Joseph Morse. Two grand-daughters, Belinda and Eliza, daughters of Calvin, have been conspicuous as teachers, the latter being now assistant Principal of Vassar Female College.

     Hezekiah Morse, the third of the pioneer brothers, came to Eaton in 1806. His children are scattered and many of them dead.   One of his sons. Alpha was for many years a prominent manufacturer of Eaton.  Another son, Elijah, who is now dead, was a wealthy farmer of Eaton. A grand-daughter is wife of  Rev. John Raymond, President of Vassar Female College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Albert H. Morse, a prominent citizen of Eaton is also a grandson, being son of Elijah. H. B. Morse, youngest son of Hezekiah, is a scientific and successful farmer of Norwich, N. Y. (and this is just and excerpt) 

What a family… and that isn’t all of them and their accomplishments.  The very road today’s Eaton Village Cemetery is located on (Landon Road) was once the Great Skaneateles Turnpike a road that it is claimed would not have been built except for Joseph and Ellis who controlled 51 percent of the stock investment… an investment they made of $30,000 in 1810… think about it.

*Interestingly Luna Hammond the historian and her famous mother Deidamia Button Chase (the first female physician of Madison County) and her famous brood are also buried in the cemetery. Almost all of the Morse family is buried in the Eaton Cemetery including the Morse – Motts. Did you know that Luna's brother Julius was the historian for the US Treasury in Washington DC.

All the history Eaton has cannot be covered at the Eaton Museum... but we can try!! So please help us put on a meaningful 250th year of history! Donate! 

Or mail a donation to Friends of the Old Town of Eaton Museum c/o 5823 Brooklyn Street, Eaton, NY 13334 ...we are a 501 3c

Happy 4th....Read some History from the Fourth in Eaton in 1884

                                             First block of Eaton Main Street Stores

It is interesting to note that Eaton actually had a newspaper for a while; we are lucky to have a copy of one in the museum archives. Old newspapers are a great way to visit the past and give us much information on the people and businesses that once thrived in our rural communities.  I ran across an article taken from the Eaton Herald and was republish in the Madison County Leader under history.

 

The Eaton Herald brought to Eatonians the news of country, state, and village, and announced through its four-column, eight-page sheet much news.  Some of this was so interesting I thought I would include some of the information here. 

 

The publisher of this 1884 sheet was G. B. Greenfield whose office was the first door east of the Exchange Hotel.  The price per inch was twice that of the Leader’s, and got business for advertisers because the Leader’s advertisers were allowed to change their copy only four times a year. Unfortunately the editor took ill, ending its run.

 

 

From the EATON HERALD

 

“Barnum’s Greatest Show on Earth is second only to the large and handsome display of fine stoves and ranges, for sale at G. E. Clark’s in the Blakeman Block, Eaton, N.Y.

 

“Paper, Sir - The Eaton Herald-just off the press-Wood, Taber and Morse will run on three-fourths time!”

 

 On the Fourth of July…The great day passed off very quietly at Log City save for the booming of the cannon, which jarred out nearly all of N. Bence’s windowpanes.

 

H. C. Holmes conducted his “Temple of Variety” under the slogan “Death to Large Profits”, and the Morse Brothers stepped out in bigger and bolder letters, “NOW IS THE TIME” and proceeded to tell of dry goods, shoes, boots, and celebrated corsets-all of which were advertised as being selected with great care as to quality, and which are for sale at the lowest living prices.

 

 L. L. Hamilton of West Eaton proclaimed in four inches, single column, that “For the Presidential year, we propose to sell more goods than ever before,” while downstream at Eaton A.D. Morton made the “Largest Stock of Furniture at the Lowest Prices in Madison County.”

 

B. Leavenworth offered bargains in clothing all the year around in men’s, youth’s and children’s clothing, and Jacob Dickson’s custom tailoring was warranted and guaranteed, especially the “Light Pants and White Vests,”  a specialty at this time of year.

 

Wooden Water Pipe was manufactured by Gardner Morse who also dealt in lumber and mill work.  On the corner of Main and Church St., Medbury’s Furniture and Undertaking House sold everything from Chamber Suites to cheap beds for hop picking.  And at that very date T. R. Jones was opening a meat market in the basement of the Blakeman Block.

 

 Under a section called local intelligence we find out that that season was very dry… and  “S. A. Curtis was the champion at the glass ball shoot Thursday.”

 

 “The editor of this paper is responsible for the assertion that Eaton has the best cornet band of any place in Madison County.” “J. Morey’s little boy fell from the milk wagon while going to the cheese factory yesterday, the wagon passed over his body.  The extent of his injuries we have not learned.” “Ed Wilcox, mail agent on the Central was quite seriously hurt at the collision between his train and a freight at Albany on Wednesday of this week.  He is able to be around, however, and will doubtless soon recover.” “The Stage Line was being operated between West Eaton and the O. & W. Station by E. Isebell three times daily.”

 

 

In Georgetown the Herald reports… “Fred Hill was hit by lightning for the second time in his life and still lives to tell the story. D. Whitmore was also getting his billiard parlor in running order to make way for wizards of the cue. “

 

It was a much more simple time when Eaton’s name had gone from “Log City” to its more sophisticated proper name of Eaton Village. The summer brought an influx of people from NYC while Wood, Taber & Morse put on much labor to run its machine shop night and day because of demand.  Eaton was also the site of the Madison County Home and vast agricultural fields that attracted large groups of pickers in the summer…a “Bustling Town”’

History of Early Settlement and a Hope for the Future!

Jim Monahan and his reenactors!

The history of settlement in many of our early communities formed around lush rich soil, water bodies or old transportation routes, in some cases around something as simple as mineral deposits like “salt”.

In early times a salt source or spring was sought and early settlers flocked to it to boil off water to gain a cup of the needed mineral.  Salt in colonial times was as valuable as gold as a source of money or for trade. Salt as a trade-ware is traced as early as 6050 BC.  Salt is a need mineral for man or animal…needed to dry meat and preserve fish, it was also needed to make many other components of life.  From the history of salt in America we find from “SALT WORKS”  – History of Salt….. 

“Salt motivated the American pioneers. The American Revolution had heroes who were salt makers and part of the British strategy was to deny the American rebels access to salt. Salt was on the mind of William Clark in the groundbreaking Lewis and Clark expedition to the Pacific Northwest. The first patent issued by the British crown to an American settler gave Samuel Winslow of the Massachusetts Bay Colony the exclusive right for ten years to make salt by his particular method. The Land Act of 1795 included a provision for salt reservations (to prevent monopolies), as did an earlier treaty between the Iroquois' Onondaga tribe and the state of New York. New York has always been important in salt production.”

Yes the settlement of Central New York...our area…counted on local commerce products like fur and salt... something that in part created the need for Fort Stanwix to guard the area known as the “Oneida Carry”. 

History is in some ways is a road sign to the future. It seems that as a historian you are continually seeing the current happenings in a context of what has transpired in the past and then predicting what will happen in the future.  In every small town in rural America we can see that past disappearing before our eyes.  Sitting here at night writing I wonder if perhaps there might be a rebirth of the rural small communities as more and more people do business from home and seek out peaceful setting to escape to. 

Here in Eaton we have the reservoirs and small lakes that in the past filled with only summer people…but more and more of these “camps” are becoming year round homes.  As the suburbs inch closer and our electric & Internet improve… I wonder if some of these areas like Eaton might again revitalize again.  It’s a wonderful thought isn’t it.!

Video of past Memorial Day Mondays at the Potters Field honoring our Veterans please view and enjoy!.

Wee Willy Winkie of Eaton!

The Old Town of Eaton will be open on Sunday from 1 pm until 3 pm and I about the original Fourth of July in our area.  This celebration would have come much later to the official outpost for the area Fort Stanwix.... sometime around the 20th or so. So stop in and learn some history!

Some humor for you!

With our electric cost rising we know all of the energy saving tips..Energy Star appliances (if you can afford them), use cold water to wash clothes with, turn off computers and TV's that have heater thingys to keep them ready to spring alive....turn off lights when not in use....ahhh but I never seemed to be able to remember to do that...!

I have done them all.  I am poor and need to save energy as my electric bill is high.  Down here in the country I have electric water pump, electric stove, electric water heater and in the winter electric fans and a space heater in the bathroom.  Last year I froze and got an unbelievable bill or two! So I am saving for next year!

I have closed the house down to two rooms, cooked on a wood stove if possible in winter, and have little multiple outlets with interrupters on them attached to computers, TVs etc.  I flip the switch after I use it and ..bam no electric use...I disconnect chargers for everything the same way.....bam!

But the most energy I have saved on my electric bill came from my newest dilemma...no lightbulbs.  Yes I use the squiggly kind to save energy but they have died.  So now I use my new energy saving method...BULB SNATCHING!!!

I know this sounds funny but if I carry the same bulb from room to room with me..one - the light is off in the room I left..and  two - I only use light where I am...I cut my bill way down...way down!

So if you really need to save money...BULB SNATCH...you will see your bill go down !! REALLY! It works for me.

But if you come to my house at night ..wait for me to keep moving the bulb ...especially if I am in the front of the house and you are at the backdoor.  It takes time for me to get there......or you can bring your own bulb!

The Historic Eaton Church is 193 Years Old Today!

June 6th is an important date in Eaton as it is the Anniversary of the founding of the Eaton Church founded on June 6th, 1833 and is the sight I see each morning while writing this blog. At that time it was the Congregational Church, its founding members included two of the original incorporators of the Baptist Theological Seminary that became Madison University and today's Colgate University.

In 1848 the church hosted the Congregational Society’s yearly northeast meeting at which time the Congregational Society officially adopted an anti-slavery stand.  Some information on this is in the Cornell College Library.

The church had many noteworthy pastors including its first installed minister the Reverend E D Willis.  I became interested in Willis because he lived in my house, a house that Allen Nelson Wood and his wife would buy on their return to Eaton.

The church’s members at that time included Allen Nelson Wood founder of the Wood, Taber & Morse Steam Engine Works and both his partners Loyal Clark Taber and Walter Morse.

Other famous Eatonites who attended services were Melville Delancey Landon and his family. Landon became a well known as both a writer and as a lecturer. Many rich and famous people attended the church during the Victorian era during what time Grover Cleveland’s brother; the Reverend William Cleveland was its pastor. E D Willis the first installed Minister was a friend of Gerrit Smith and married the Tiffany Family members.

The church still today houses a historic Meneely Clock and Bell that were paid for in 1848 by Ellis Morse son of Joseph Morse founder of Eaton. and the churches windows which bear the names of some of Eaton’s greats... still grace its interior; an interior that sported  hand turned pillars turned by Allen Wood himself.

During the Civil War the Eaton Churches banded together and held services attended by each other patrons during the week to pray for the wars end.  Prayers were also read during the Wars that followed.

Eventually, the Congregational Church became part of the Federated Churches of Eaton and then later became a Community Bible Church under the Pastor Thomas Clark who improved not only the building, and but helped institute a fabulous AWANA program. During the time he was pastor the congregation also built a large activities building  that is used today for youths to play basketball and games and to host special functions.

The Church located on Brooklyn Street is the focal point of a new display at the Eaton Museum.