Thanksgiving Special....Blog

Joseph More House ...Eaton

I was asked by some of you blog followers..why I put the Thanksgiving story of the Native Americans up for Thanksgiving and what it had to do with Eaton History…well a lot! The original families that settled the area were from Natick including the LeLands, Morse, Morris, Bigelows and many more..

Flag that flew over the town and commemorative
citation from the Town Sherburne and Natick Massachusetts

 for our Bicentennial, a direct descendant Joseph Morse raised the flag ! 

History is a fickle friend that changes its mind as new and different information surfaces from the long ago past. Many times this occurs when a new tidbit of information comes from and old newspaper article somebody clipped and stuck in the back of a book. Such an occurrence is common.

While going through a number of early clippings I found an article put out for the Centennial of Madison County in 1906. The information would have come from a reliable source as the Morse family still resided in Eaton and always loaned history out for research. The article lists itself as the first in a newspaper … but what paper I do not know. I include a part here.

“The silver cup referred to in the first installment of this paper and presented to Joseph Morse in 1819 by the Madison County Agricultural society, was one of the most attractive relics in the exhibits at the centennial exercises by Prof. Briggs at Eaton Union School March 21st, 1906.”

I would love to find out where this silver cup is … the museum would love to have it since Joseph Morse is considered the founding father of Eaton. The article goes on to give us a picture into Joseph.

“At his death, at this time of need in the new country, while he was yet in the prime of life and in the midst of usefulness, became a personal loss to the inhabitants, who individually mourned him as a father, brother and friend. Together they had striven through many a crisis and conquered supreme difficulties. He was of a generous nature, yet he helped men to help themselves and so strengthened the spirit of independence.

Joseph was born in (Natick)  Sherburne, Massachusetts, married Eunice Bigelow April 24, 1768. Four children were born to them before their removal from Massachusetts and four were born in Eaton among them Ellis and Eunice that I have written about earlier.

Ellis assumed the role that his father played to the community and inherited the Stone House … once considered the showplace of the area. Ellis also sold and owned the controlling stock in the Hamilton Skaneateles Turnpike that passed by his house. As a boy he worked in the Morse Distillery that produced a vast amount of revenue and booze that supported the community both in jobs and in cash. He was self-educated with some schooling at the log school located then, near the cemetery and friends with Charles Grandison Finney who also attended that school. Ellis made sure that each of his children including his daughters was educated.

The second son of Joseph Morse was Joseph Morse, Jr., who removed to Pennsylvania and was there several times returned to the legislature of that state and also became judge of his county’s courts. Calvin, the third son, was an extensive farmer and held responsible offices frequently. He was elected to the state legislature in 1842. The museum has some of his count books

Having no sons, Calvin’s daughters became conspicuous as educators. The eldest, Belinda, was the wife of Andrew Cone, manufacturer; the second daughter, Miss A. Eliza, was assistant lady principal at Vassar College during the life of Dr. John H. Raymond, the first president of Vassar … I have written about her life and her famous ”Locust Hill” cottage.

Alpheus, the fourth son Joseph Morse, lived in Eaton until his later years. He was a merchant, scientific farmer and a large manufacturer, being many years proprietor of the Alderbrook Woolen Mill, known first as the Morse & Brown factory and later wholly in Morse’s name. His interesting early businesses included make cast iron plow blades, growing asparagus that until recently grew in the wild around the cemetery and investing in silk production.

Bigelow, the fifth and youngest son of Joseph Morse, became a prominent citizen of Onondaga County. He became a wealthy farmer in the Fabius area … this because of The Skaneateles Turnpike that passed in front of it allowing him to take his cops to market.

Bigelow had terrible headaches and died young most likely from a brain tumor. His daughter Allie moved to Eaton and lived with his brother Calvin. His two sons, Frank B. and Darwin, under the name of Morse Bros, became Eaton’s long time reliable merchants.

Frank B. was the postmaster at Eaton most of his life for more than forty years. The museum is lucky enough to have info and beautiful pictures of his children.

Many of Joseph’s sons were town supervisors and Joseph was in charge of the building of the courthouse in Eaton after its move from Cazenovia. Ellis was in charge of building of the second and his son George was in charge of building the third today know as Madison Hall.

Messere posts stories online regularly to share a look at Eaton’s past. She encourages everyone to share and help entertain and educate home schoolers, older relatives and anyone with an interest in the area’s rich history. For more history stories on Eaton visit historystarproduction.com.

This Thanksgiving - Something to Think About

Thanksgiving and Wars...as we celebrate Thanksgiving we should think about the first Thanksgiving story of Pilgrims and Natives.s..but here is the rest of the story...

The date of May 26, 1637, a mere 17 years after the settlement of Plymouth, the tensions between the Puritans and the Native Americans had become strained.  The very people who they stole the corn from on their landing and who showed them how to plant corn and other crops. as well as how to fish and hunt, were being exterminated by the English and Puritans who had now flocked to the shores of New England. 

The most militant of the Native tribes the Pequot has started warring against the white settlers who were pushing them off of their land.  So Militia and English troops set up and ambush on May 26, 1637.  The surrounded the Pequot settlement and using surprise burned the native fort to the ground.  The women, children, sick and elderly hid in their teepees and thus were burned alive.

Governor Bradford is quoted as saying: “It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stink there of: but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the praise there of to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to enclose their enemies in their hands and give them such a speedy victory!’

The history Channel named this as one of the 10 days that unexpectedly changed history, for the attitude of removal or cleansing would be our policy.  We regarded all those Native Americans who would not become civilized - near white as Devils who must be killed or driven out.

The Wampanoag’s and their famous Chief Massasoit, who were friends with Bradford and the Plymouth settlement, began to complain about the white settlers freely taking the crops and invading their land. In 1622 a militia Captain killed 8 friendly natives and impaled their sachem’s head on a pole in Plymouth.  Hostilities had begun and as the colony encroached more and more on their land, New England became a battleground.  The Wampanoag’s thought they could coexist with the whites but by the 1670’s Massasoit’s grandson Metacom, known to the English as King Phillip, began what would become known as King Phillip’s War. 

Metacom noted that The Wampanoag “had bine the first in doing good to the English and the English the first in doing rong.”

Metacom claimed that phony contracts were used to take large tracts of land from Indians who had been made drunk.

When a praying Indian who helped set up the Praying Indian Village of Natick was found murdered, three of Metacom’s followers were accused, found guilty and executed.  King Philips war was on…settlements, major towns and villages were burned and sacked until finally on August 12, 1676 he was killed…thus ending the King Phillip’s War. 

*It is noted that in Plymouth for that Thanksgiving they bought his head back and paraded it around town.  They Puritans thought it a sign from God of their righteous ownership of this new land...they the chosen people!

* Today Natick has a National Day of Mourning instead of Thanksgiving.  A monument was placed marking the genocide that took place at that time!

Why do we let hate and religion ruin our lives I wonder???

Our Historic Ties to the Mayflower, Fall Festival and More!

The Fall is coming on us quickly, and while getting ready stacking wood and thinking of our next museum event, " Fall Festival History Weekend" followed by our November Pie Sale...I dug this up and thought you might enjoy reading it again!

Many of our original settlers in Eaton date back to the Mayflower and the settlers of Natick especially the Morse, Leland, Kent and Stowe families.  Eaton followed much of the tradition of Natick so I thought I would include some wonderful history on Thanksgiving and Governor Bradford who Grandma Clark was a direct relative of. 

  The first Thanksgiving was truly different from what we see portrayed today on TV and in the movies.  In actuality, the Pilgrims who had invited the Indians over to thank them for their help in cultivating corn, in fishing and in hunting, and for basically keeping them alive for the first year, were stunned when the Indians arrived for the feast in numbers far beyond what the Pilgrim’s could feed.  So, the Indians left and hunted for deer and fowl and returned with the food necessary for the feast to last three days…yes, three days.

     This occasion was unusually frivolous for the stern Pilgrims and comprised of continuous eating, the marching of Myles Standish’s little band of soldiers, bow and arrow competition etc…  The feast meanwhile was tended to by five of the eighteen women who survived the first terrible winter.  Imagine trying to fix a feast for 140-150 people over an open fire, and then stretch it to three days.

     The great Governor Bradford delivered this prayer on the first Thanksgiving and I thought I would include it for us:

     Oh give thanks unto the Lord; sing unto him; sing praises unto him, for the precious things of heaven for the dew, and for the deep that couches beneath, and for the precious fruits brought forth from the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon, and for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the everlasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth and its fullness.  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord, Praise ye the Lord.

     Of interest, I think, are a number of passages from “Of Plimouth Plantation” by Governor Bradford, which mention the colony’s success only by acts of what he referred to as “God’s divine providence”.

     Bradford mentions windfalls of corn from unexpected quarters, a mysterious voice that warned the colonials of a store-house fire, showers that came just in time to save the crops, even the turning back of a ship that would foreclose on the colony.  These quotes show the success of the colony having been squarely laid on the cornerstone of faith.

     This faith led Bradford to guide the colony through all of its terrible trials and gave him the moral capacity to do what was right for all without wish for personal gain.  From his first election in 1622 until 1639, he received nothing for dining the court during their monthly sessions.  One comment I received after the piece on the “Common Good” read “too bad things could not be like that today!”  To this I say, “Amen!”  The word “altruism” is too seldom used to describe our modern leaders.

     The key word in our pursuit of the history of the Pilgrim’s is DEMOCRACY.  Democracy, is the basis for the Pilgrim’s government, carried through both the church and the state, something we need to concentrate on today I think.

Fall Festival will be the first weekend in October and will close for the season at the end of the month.

The Morse House today and before!

Thanksgiving and some Eaton History all rolled into one!

The original founding families of Eaton were from Natick, among them is the Morse  family.  Captain Joseph Morse was part of the original group of settlers.  His group of Militia men included whites, free blacks and Praying Indians  I thought I would do a piece on that and history of early settlement of Massachusetts . 
The date of May 26, 1637, a mere 17 years after the settlement of Plymouth, the tensions between the Puritans and the Native Americans had become strained.  The very people who they stole the corn from on their landing and who showed them how to plant corn and other crops. as well as how to fish and hunt, were being exterminated by the English and Puritans who had now flocked to the shores of New England. 

The most militant of the Native tribes the Pequot has started warring against the white settlers who were pushing them off of their land.  So Militia and English troops set up and ambush on May 26, 1637.  The surrounded the Pequot settlement and using surprise burned the native fort to the ground.  The women, children, sick and elderly hid in their teepees and thus were burned alive.

Governor Bradford is quoted as saying: “It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stink there of: but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the praise there of to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to enclose their enemies in their hands and give them such a speedy victory!’

The history Channel named this as one of the 10 days that unexpectedly changed history, for the attitude of removal or cleansing would be our policy.  We regarded all those Native Americans who would not become civilized - near white as Devils who must be killed or driven out.

The Wampanoag’s and their famous Chief Massasoit, who were friends with Bradford and the Plymouth settlement, began to complain about the white settlers freely taking the crops and invading their land. In 1622 a militia Captain killed 8 friendly natives and impaled their sachem’s head on a pole in Plymouth.  Hostilities had begun and as the colony encroached more and more on their land, New England became a battleground.  The Wampanoag’s thought they could coexist with the whites but by the 1670’s Massasoit’s grandson Metacom, known to the English as King Phillip, began what would become known as King Phillip’s War. 

Metacom noted that The Wampanoag “had bine the first in doing good to the English and the English the first in doing rong.”

Metacom claimed that phony contracts were used to take large tracts of land from Indians who had been made drunk.

When a praying Indian who helped set up the Praying Indian Village of Natick was found murdered, three of Metacom’s followers were accused, found guilty and executed.  King Philips war was on…settlements, major towns and villages were burned and sacked until finally on August 12, 1676 he was killed…thus ending the King Phillip’s War. 

*It is noted that in Plymouth for that Thanksgiving they bought his head back and paraded it around town.  They Puritans thought it a sign from God of their righteous ownership of this new land...they the chosen people!

* Today Natick has a National Day of Mourning instead of Thanksgiving.  A monument was placed marking the genocide that took place at that time! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another side to the Thanksgiving story, Natick, King Phillip's War and Remembrance!

The date of May 26, 1637, a mere 17 years after the settlement of Plymouth, the tensions between the Puritans and the Native Americans had become strained.  The very people who they stole the corn from on their landing and who showed them how to plant corn and other crops. as well as how to fish and hunt, were being exterminated by the English and Puritans who had now flocked to the shores of New England. 

The most militant of the Native tribes the Pequot has started warring against the white settlers who were pushing them off of their land.  So Militia and English troops set up and ambush on May 26, 1637.  The surrounded the Pequot settlement and using surprise burned the native fort to the ground.  The women, children, sick and elderly hid in their teepees and thus were burned alive.

Governor Bradford is quoted as saying: “It was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire and the streams of blood quenching the same, and horrible was the stink there of: but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the praise there of to God, who had wrought so wonderfully for them, thus to enclose their enemies in their hands and give them such a speedy victory!’

The history Channel named this as one of the 10 days that unexpectedly changed history, for the attitude of removal or cleansing would be our policy.  We regarded all those Native Americans who would not become civilized - near white as Devils who must be killed or driven out.

The Wampanoag’s and their famous Chief Massasoit, who were friends with Bradford and the Plymouth settlement, began to complain about the white settlers freely taking the crops and invading their land. In 1622 a militia Captain killed 8 friendly natives and impaled their sachem’s head on a pole in Plymouth.  Hostilities had begun and as the colony encroached more and more on their land, New England became a battleground.  The Wampanoag’s thought they could coexist with the whites but by the 1670’s Massasoit’s grandson Metacom, known to the English as King Phillip, began what would become known as King Phillip’s War.

Metacom noted that The Wampanoag “had bine the first in doing good to the English and the English the first in doing rong.”

Metacom claimed that phony contracts were used to take large tracts of land from Indians who had been made drunk.

When a praying Indian who helped set up the Praying Indian Village of Natick was found murdered, three of Metacom’s followers were accused, found guilty and executed.  King Philips war was on…settlements, major towns and villages were burned and sacked until finally on August 12, 1676 he was killed…thus ending the King Phillip’s War.

*It is noted that in Plymouth for that Thanksgiving they bought his head back and paraded it around town.  They Puritans thought it a sign from God of their righteous ownership of this new land...they the chosen people!

* Today Natick has a National Day of Mourning instead of Thanksgiving.  A monument was placed marking the genocide that took place at that time!