Certainly one of the most notable members of Eaton’s Morse family was Ellis Morse.Ellis, born in 1789 in Natick, Mass. was the eldest son of Eunice Bigelow and Joseph Morse, came with the family from Sherborn as a very young boy.He helped his father build the early mills and houses and completed the families fine Stone Mansion on Route 26, when his father died at an early age. As a young man, after his father's death in Massachusetts, Ellis brought his father's corpse home to Eaton in a ox cart.
Though a “Tee-totaller” throughout his life, he ran one of the largest distillery businesses in central New York. In its “hey day,” 350 bushels of grain were distilled every day. (Ellis had learned distilling by working at his father’s distillery as a boy.)
Ellis, in his efforts to bring prosperity to Eaton, also paid for and was in charge of building the first plank road (now Rt. 26). This road became the known as the Skaneateles Turnpike. Other endeavors included the building of the Exchange Hotel and many of the businesses in the downtown Eaton area.
His father, Joseph, had played an important role in bringing the County Court House to Morrisville and had been in charge of building the first court house, Ellis upon “it’s” razing was in charge of building the second county court house. Curiously, when the building also burned, Ellis Morse’s son, George Ellis, was in charge of building the third, which stands today and is now called Madison Hall.
Morse House
Ellis Morse, who received his education from the first teacher of the area, Dr. James Pratt, also financed a private academy in Eaton, in an effort to improve the community. One of its notable teachers was Reverend Eels, who later went on to Lane Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ellis was also a strong supported of the church and the Theological Seminary that is today's Colgate.
Few men had the impact on young Madison County that Ellis Morse did, and few had children who in some cases eclipsed their father’s fame and greatness. Among his children were Civil War hero and Judge- Colonel Henry Bagg Morse, missionary to Siam, Reverend Andrew Bigelow Morse, New York Assemblyman Gardner Morse, Alfred Morse (who was killed at the Battle of Cedar Creek), and Walter Morse, who was a member of the firm of Wood, Taber and Morse.
Ellis was a high-masonic leader who served as a Quarter Master in the 65th Regiment in 1820. He is buried with his large family in the Historic Eaton Cemetery.
Well...while thinking about the upcoming Memorial Day Holiday I was struck by the fact that this year will really be unlike so many before. Our little Museum crew was going to do a celebration for the 25th Anniversary of the Neighbors for Historic Eaton the group that started this whole history of Eaton gig. Doesn't seem possible but its been 25 years. But the Covid 19 has ended these thoughts for this year.
What started as a parade and cake in 1995 has now expanded to two museum buildings, websites and history research area, as well as a place in the historical community of New York State. There is much work to be done though, especially on getting our research work labeled, setting up cleaning for old documents and sorting etc, ...for this we will need volunteers,,,but that must wait just like the Memorial Day Celebration this year.
In a week I will start a series on the Revolutionary War and the early settlers of Eaton who served in that war and I am hoping to do a presentation on video of the cemetery and the man who we have chosen to honor this year. He has a famous name... Myles Standish, and yes he is a direct descendent of Myles Standish of the Plymouth Colony.
So while wandering around the Cemetery I came across the grave of Melville Landon, better known as Eli Perkins. He was a Civil War Veteran, a Major and helped set up defenses for Washington DC before the War. His later life made him a lecturer and comedian. So to cheer us up a bit I am going to include a piece of humor he wrote on one of Eaton's past residents...a real businesses man whose store was on Main Street across from today's gas mart.
Uncle Hank
Uncle Hank Allen was perhaps the smoothest and most accomplished liar in central New York. There were other ordinary country post-office liars in the beautiful village of Eaton, New York, where I was born but Uncle Hank could lie like a gifted metropolitan. Every night Uncle Hank’s grocery was filled with listening citizens, all paying the strictest attention whenever the good old man spoke. When Charley Campbell or John Whitney lied nobody paid much attention because they were clumsy workmen. Their lies would not hold water like Uncle Hank’s.
Why, the old man’s lies were so smooth, so artistic, that, while listening to them, you imagined you were listening to Elder Cleveland’s Bible stories. One day they were talking about potato bugs in Uncle Hank’s grocery: “Talk about potato bugs,” said Dr. Purdy, “why, up in my garden there are twenty bugs on a stalk.” “Twenty bugs on a stalk! Only twenty!” mused Charley Campbell contemptuously, “Why..they ate my first crop of potatoes two weeks ago and they are now sitting all around the lot on trees and fences waiting for me to plant them all over again.” “Why you don’t know anything about the ravenous nature of them potater bugs!” exclaimed Uncle Hank. “You may call me a liar, but I’ve had potater bugs walk right into my kitchen and yank red-hot potaters right out of the oven! ‘Waiting around for the second crop,” exclaimed Old Hank with sneer. “Waiting? Why, by gosh and blast your souls, I was up to Townsend’s store yesterday and I saw potater bugs up there looking over Townsend’s books to see who bought seed potaters for next year. I did, by gum!”
The whole grocery was still when Uncle Hank finished. You could have heard a pin drop. Finally, a long lean man from Woodman’s Pond raised himself up. The stranger, evidently a new-comer and not acquainted with Mr. Allen, pointed his long finger at Uncle Hank and exclaimed with a hiss “You are a liar!” Uncle Hank looked over his glasses at the stranger long and earnestly. Then holding out his hand, he inquired with a puzzled look: “Where did you get acquainted with me?”
The Home as it was called before it burned in 1912
and was repave by the brick structure!
The weather has been really nasty this week
and sitting inside I got to thinking on a number of informational articles I had
that I could put out for the public to enjoy.As the Madison County Historian I enjoyed delving into and writing the
history of the county, if that history included information on the Town of
Eaton I was enthralled. So I include this for those who always ask about the
Old Home and Madison County’s care of the ill or less privileged....
Thanks to the Madison County Archives Project many new and interesting
tidbits of information have surfaced. It is so strange how one piece of paper
can start a ball rolling that suddenly garners information that most people
have no idea about. One such tidbit is a paper we found on the Craig Colony for
Epileptics.
The Atlantic Monthly “Review touted the new Craig’s Colony set up by
New York State, as “A New York Colony of Mercy”. The Colony was set in Sonyea,
New York, which was named by Native Americans, translated meaning “The open
spot where the sun shines in.” The area, originally settled by Shakers and sold
to New York State to be “only used for charitable purposes,” became Craig’s
Colony for Epileptics.
The original plan was to make the colony as self-sufficient as
possible and a steadfast rule was that it was to serve the “indigent,” not
private pay patients, and that it would not handle those people that had become
“insane.” The people set to the facility were from New York’s county poor
houses and almshouses, including our Madison County epileptics. Each had to
work at some form of constructive labor to benefit the colony.
One of the first obstacles was the realization that these epileptics
were totally uneducated, as epileptics at the time were considered insane or
evil and many never attended schools, but were locked up in asylums or
almshouses. Even though their seizures lasted afew minutes and then the person returned back to
normal, these people never were treated as a normal person.
So, immediately the colony set up a school for the young children that
were brought in. The adults also had to be schooled in service jobs such as
basket weaving, brick making, straw mat weaving, upholstering, woodworking,
printing, blacksmithing; useful trades that would not only serve the “Colony,”
but also be in part saleable to raise money. The women were mostly engaged in
indoor activities and in working the gardens. The “Colony” cultivated and
worked a farm of over 2,000 acres.
In the Atlantic Review article it states that in its first year
Craig’s Colony worked at a level of 50 percent self-sufficiency. The other
funding came from the State of New York, which provided $250 a year per person
for the colony, with the county such as Madison, providing $30.
Another facet of the “Colony” was its designation as a place to study
epilepsy noted in its charter was a provision to “establish a department for
scientific research.” The system managed to gather much needed information on
the disorder, it managed to train nurses and the laboratory it set up had a
complete and unique system of keeping records, records that were put into
studies and eventually, medical journals.
The Atlantic article by Sydney Brooks states that “The Craig’s Colony
is many things in one. It is a farm, a school, a laboratory, a workshop, a
hospital and an asylum; but above everything else it is a home.”
Information on New York State’s Craig’s Colony has surfaced in our march
through older documents and the research into this institution is an
interesting backwards glance into the welfare system of New York State during
the late 1880’s and 1900’s. At
that time in history epileptic people who needed help were taken care
of by the County Supervisors who were charged with setting up “Poor Houses”
that not only acted as hospitals in the rural areas and functioned as nursing
homes for the elderly or needy, but also housed epileptic people who in that
period of time were looked on with fear.
In the year 1874 the New York State Commissioner in Lunacy in a report
cited over 436 epileptics in the state who were so bad that they had to be
housed or confined in county poor houses or in some cases in jail. The person
cited to investigate the situation was William Letchworth.
After touring Europe to see other methods of care for epileptics
Letchworth wrote numerous pamphlets on the appalling conditions in New York
State. In his efforts to reform the system Dr. Frederick Peterson, a doctor in
the Harlem Valley State Hospital for the Insane, joined him. Peterson, after
touring a facility in Germany, asked for a similar colony to be built in New
York, and both men convince the Legislature in 1892 to undertake to build such
a facility. Letchworth and the head of the state Board of Charities, Oscar
Craig set about looking for a suitable location.
The site chosen was the former Sonyea Shaker Colony established in
1836. The Shaker Colony late faded as a result of fires, floods and poor
management. The State of New York eventually offered $115,000. For the land,
making promises to the Shaker Community to use it only for charitable purposes.
And so it is on January 20, 1896, that Madison County and New York’s
other counties, received formal notification, which the first named patients
from the county’s list could be sent to the new Craig Colony.
A trip to Letchworth Park and William Letchworth's Museum
This has been a sad year so far. The old group has lost so many of its originals. I was really sad to hear of the passing of Bob Cramphin. Thinking of Bob brought back so many memories of 20 years ago when the little community worked together to put on a special event.Bob ran the grocery and gas station, and it was a
great place to shop. You didn’t have to go far if you needed something, and
believe me, the closest grocery store is in Morrisville or Hamilton, over 5
miles away in each direction.Bob was a very quiet person who served good coffee
and I, because of his formal demeanor, would call him ‘Robare’.For our Bicentennial in Eaton I wrote the poem below for his ad in our history book since the mini mart was located
on the site of the very famous Robie Drugstore in Eaton. The drugstore was a
Mecca for summer folk and the rich who in Eaton’s Victorian heyday had ice
cream there, bought ice, and bought very expensive souvenirs to take back to
New York City. After setting the whole Eaton Bicentennial thing
in motion in 4 months and killing myself to get everything in place the morning
of the event, people were disheartened because it was pouring rain at 7 am. But
I was optimistic … the weather would improve... so I went into the mini -mart to
find someone to help me get the 8 foot Birthday Cake from a Morrisville
restaurant where we had stashed it. I found Bob a “basket case”; he was
actually shaking. He said ,“I’m more nervous than you are!” He was too. Yes, Bob’s Mini Mart stood right where the old Robie
Drugstore used to stand. That drugstore was talked about by all of the locals
during the time I lived in Eaton. Eaton was quite a hot spot in its day. Of
historical interest is the fact that when they tore the drugstore building
down, Hyle Poole, who had bought the old Union School to turn it into a
residence, purchased the two large front store windows. Today, if you drive by
the historic marker on Brooklyn Street and look at the Old Union School, which
was Pauline Brown’s house, you will see the two large windows still in place. Today the mini mart is called the A=Z Mart. Condolences to the family and all the community that can remember hanging around or working at Bob's Mini Mart!
