History of Oneida County New York

Description

Utica: Shopping Center of the Mohawk Valley
ONEIDA COUNTY, NY
ILLUSTRATED
The early days of Oneida County, New York, and its various towns, and townships -- including Utica -- are recalled through a mixture of colorful tales and factual data in this
NEW
44 Page Book
,
reprinted primarily from two hard-to-find books: the 1841 edition of
Historical Collections of the State of New York
by John Warner Barber and Henry Howe, and
New York, a Guide to the Empire State
, a WPA project.
The comb-bound booklet
is one-sided on quality paper, with the print enlarged for easier reading. A clear vinyl sheet has been added to protect the front cover.
Besides Utica, the communities mentioned (alphabetized by first letter only) include: Annsville, Augusta, Boonville, Camden, Clinton, Deerfield, Florence, Holland Patent, Kirkland, Knox's Corners, Lee, Marcy, Marshall, New Hartford, New York Mills, Oriskany, Paris, Prospect, Remsen, Rome, South Trenton, Sangerfield, Steuben, Sherrill, Sauquoit, Trenton, Vernon, Verona, Vienna, Westmoreland, Western, Whitestown, Whitesboro, and Yorkville.
Among the many and diverse topics in the booklet are: Life of Oneida, Indian chief who lived 110 years; Graveyard Inscriptions; Place Names; Early settlers; An Incident involving Whiskey in a Courtroom; How Trickery Saved Fort Stanwix (now Rome) during the Revolution; Anecdotes about Baron Steuben; a Remarkable Story of a Dog; Growth of Utica; How three Squaws Saved a Preacher; Hamilton College, Clinton Liberal Institute, Oneida Institute of Science and Industry; The Bloody Battle near Whitestown and Oriskany; First Stars and Stripes Flag in Battle; the Milk Strike of 1933; the Notorious Loomis Gang at Nine Mile Swamp; and many other interesting bits of history and trivia. There's also a 1940 street map of Utica.
The booklet has no index, but some of the names and surnames mentioned are: Samuel Kirkland, Backus, Norton, Hathaway, Perkins Cozier, White, Cochrane, Hughes, Jedediah Sanger, Dan Bradley, Rev. Johnson, Roof, Brodock, Bethuel Dodd, Dr. Hillyer, Dr. Carnahan, James Dean, Platt, L'Hommedieu, Smith, Maynard, Col. Peter Gansevoort, Col. Marinus Willett; John B. Jervis, Isaac Paris Jr., George Eastman, Charlemagne Tower, Thomas R. Proctor, Philip Schuyler, John Bradstreet, the Weaver, Realll and Demuth families, Peter Smith, John Post, Gerrit Boon, Frank W. Woolworth (the 5 and Dime king), Moses Baggs, James Watson Williams, Horatio Seymour, Rutger Miller, Roscoe Conkling, Justus H. Rathbone (founder of the Order of the Knights of Pythias), Gen. Francis E. Spinner, Capt.Elam Lynds, Capt. William Clarke, Greenfield Poke, and Dr. Amariah Brigham.
ILLUSTRATIONS
depict Hamilton College in Kirkland, the Clinton Liberal Institute in Kirkland, the Grave of Baron Steuben, Genesee and Washington Streets in Utica (full page), Trenton Falls at Trenton, Oneida Institute in Whitestown, the House of Judge White in Whitestown, and the town of Rome.
The Howe/Barber history covers the development of this area until about 1841, while excerpts from the WPA book, give a nostalgic glympse from a 1940 vantage point, including interesting historical notes, especially as they relate to sightseeing possibilities. There's also a small map of the area from a 1948 booklet printed by the New York Telephone Company.
Wouldn't this make a unique gift?