Prelude: EARLY HISTORICAL EVENTS OF ONONDAGA COUNTY PRIOR TO SYRACUSE

EARLY HISTORICAL EVENTS OF ONONDAGA COUNTY PRIOR TO SYRACUSE

A. REVOLUTIONARY WAR

B. POST REVOLUTIONARY WAR

C. THE PLAGUE OF 1793

D. ONONDAGA COUNTY IS FORMED

E. FIRST COUNTY COURTHOUSE

F. FIRST SCHOOLHOUSE

G. WAR OF 1812-

1. THE ARSENAL

2. ARSENAL AS IT REMAINS TODAY

3. GRAVES OF TWO VETERANS OF THE WAR OF 1812

The area that we know as downtown Syracuse was not the first location to be inhabited or settled by white Europeans in Onondaga County. Two settlements developed along Seneca Turnpike (NYS Rt 173), south of present-day Syracuse. One was in the valley and was known as Onondaga Hollow and the other was further west on Onondaga Hill. Prior to that, in July 1656, a few dozen men, Jesuit priests, laborers and soldiers, arrived at the northeastern shore of Onondaga Lake to establish a mission. They named their outpost “Sainte Marie”. The cultures between the Europeans and the natives differed so much that the mission was abandoned less than two later in 1658. A. The Revolutionary War 1. The Sullivan & Clinton Expedition In 1779, an expedition led by General John Sullivan and General James Clinton swept through Indian villages in Central New York in an attempt to end Indian raids.

This roadside marker in The Onondaga Valley commemorates that event.

2. The Turtle Tree Incident

The only local incident against the British that occurred in The Revolutionary War was near North Manlius Rd, on Chittenango Creek in 1780. It was known as The Turtle Tree Incident. After initially seizing a British makeshift fort, the Americans were taken by surprise by the British and their Iroquois allies. Three American soldiers were executed by the British and their deaths were commemorated by the Indians making a tree into a turtle totem pole. The remaining soldiers were sent to Canada as prisoners of war.

The Turtle Tree Incident took place on Chittenango Creek - the star marks the

approximate spot. No trace of a totem pole or of a fort - 2019.

The roadside marker on the Kirkville-Bridgeport Rd., north of Adams Rd, on the left.

There is a dispute among local historians as to whether or not this is the correct location

and to what actually happened.

B. Post-Revolutionary War

Except for a few small skirmishes, the Revolutionary had little effect on Onondaga County. However, many of the county’s earliest settlers were veterans of that war. They included Ephraim Webster, Asa Danforth and Comfort Tyler among others. In 1787, New York State set aside 1,500,000 acres in a large area of central New York as a bounty to veterans of the Revolutionary War and Moses Dewitt was hired to survey the land It became known as The Military Tract. However, only a small minority of veterans actually took advantage of the bounty; many of them sold their claims to land speculators.

Ephraim Webster was only 22 years old, and the nation only 10 years old, when he ventured west into the wilderness of western New York area was heavily populated with natives. Webster first came to the land of The Onondagas in 1786 with his partner Benjamin Neukirk to trade for furs with the natives. Nuekirk died shortly after their arrival, but Ephraim became the first white settlers to put down roots in this area and established a more permanent camp on the shore of Onondaga Creek near the lake. The creek had changed its flow several times over the last 200 years and it is not certain exactly where he disembarked, but it is believed to be where an office building known as Webster’s Landing is now. Eventually, Ephraim’s fear of catching swamp fever compelled him to move the settlement to Onondaga Hollow in 1788.

Also in 1788, he convinced Asa and Hannah Danforth, another Revolutionary War veteran and his wife, to move to the area from their home in Montgomery County. They moved to Onondaga with their four children later that year. Ephraim also convinced another one of his friends, Comfort Tyler, to join him and settle in Onondaga Hollow.

Ephraim’s greatest claim to fame came later as a translator and agent for the Onondaga Indians with their land treaties; he was highly trusted by them. After doing it for many years, very successfully, the Onondagas rewarded him for his good deeds by convincing The State of New York to give him a square mile of land in the Hollow. Today, what is left of it is known as Webster’s Pond.

This oil painting from 1788 shows Ephraim Webster sitting on a tree stump, at left,

watching Comfort Tyler splitting wood and Asa Danforth carrying buckets of brine to be
boiled down to salt [c1900 painting by George Kasson]

The graves of Ephraim Webster and Asa Danforth, are both in Onondaga Cemetery.

C. The Plague of 1793

In 1793 in The Village of Salina, 30 out of the 33 inhabitants of the village came down with an illness. The remaining three, with the help of The Onondaga Indians, took care of the ill for a period of two months. The following year another 23 out of 63 other inhabitants died of the same illness.

This plaque across Erie Blvd East from The Weighlock

Building commemorates The Plague of 1793.

D. Onondaga County is Formed

On March 5, 1794, Onondaga County became the 21st county in New York. Its original

size was 1.75 million square acres of land comprising largely military tracts, not

including The Onondaga Indian Reservation or The Salt Reservation. In 1814, parts of

Onondaga and Oneida counties were taken to form Oswego County.

E. The First County Courthouse

Now that Onondaga County was officially a county it required a courthouse. There have

been four Courthouses to date; each one has also been the seat of the county government.

The Board of Supervisors empowered the first courthouse to be erected on Onondaga Hill

in the Town of Onondaga in 1802. This location was chosen because its high ground was

considered superior to the unhealthy swamps lands and the low grounds of the tiny

settlement known as Borgardus Corners. This courthouse continued until 1829.

This is a drawing of The 1st County Courthouse and

Jail, which was located on Onondaga Hill.

The building had a two-fold purpose; the first floor housed jails cells and an apartment for

the jailer and the second floor served as the courthouse. Debtors and criminals both were

jailed here.

This is the location as it exists today, on the corner of West Seneca Turnpike

(NYS Rt 173) and Velasko Rd.

It is now a parking lot for The Church of St Peter and St Michael.

This is a road marker on Velasko Rd signifying the site.

Comfort Tyler’s Tavern at the intersection of Seneca Turnpike and South Salina St. in

1803.

F. The First Schoolhouse

At first, settlers in the area educated their children at home, later in small log cabins. The first official schoolhouse in Onondaga County was built in 1805 in the Town of Salina.

G. The War of 1812

The Onondaga Community, as it became settled, became known as Onondaga Hollow.

A courthouse was established in 1802 to administer justice and provide lock-up close to

the top of Onondaga Hill. During the war years of The War of 1812, Onondaga was

relatively untouched by battle but The Hollow was a way to stop soldiers traveling from

one battlefront to another. However, The Hollow did provide an important purpose in

aiding the war effort; the Arsenal.

1. Arsenal

Pamela Priest, of The OHA, has provided us with the history of The Arsenal:

“In the early days, Onondaga was one of the most important military posts in New York

State. In 1808, an act was passed authorizing the Governor of the State to deposit five

hundred stands of arms at Onondaga, for the defense of the frontier, and such

quantities of ammunition and military stores, as in his opinion would be necessary in

case of an invasion. The Governor was also authorized and empowered to provide, at

the expense of the State, a suitable place for the keeping of said arms and military stores, in good order and fit for immediate service, and to appoint keepers of said

places of deposit.

"In 1809 Cornelius Longstreet deeded the land for the arsenal to the State of New York.

Cornelius Longstreet was the father of Cornelius T. Longstreet, builder of Yates Castle.

"The building was erected in 1810 on a hill half a mile east of Onondaga Valley. It was

an Onondaga limestone structure two and one-half stories high, and soon after its

completion was filled with stores and ammunition sent there by the secretary of war. It

was built by New York State and used by the United States. Limestone for the

construction was obtained from the quarries on what was part of the House farm. On its

roof were two huge wooden cannons which indicated the purpose of the building.

"During the war of 1812, Nicholas Mickles was commissioned by the government to cast

shots and shells for the army and navy. These munitions of war were stored at the

arsenal and later sent to Sackets Harbor and Oswego to be put into use. Jasper

Hopper was a United States Commissary agent for procuring and distributing rations at

the arsenal to the army on its marches to and from the frontier during the War of 1812

Captain Beebe owned and kept a tavern near the courthouse and in the war kept the

arsenal at the valley.

This is George K. Knapp’s painting of citizens of Onondaga Hollow and some native

Onondagas watching British prisoners being escorted through the valley from The Battle

of Lundy’s Lane in 1814. The Arsenal is on the hill to the right.

"It was abandoned in 1815 after The War of 1812 ended, being that it was no longer

needed. The last time the arsenal was used was by the State during the Civil War when

Brig. Gen. John A. Green of the National guard stored a quantity of State arms there.”

Shown here are probably the last photographs of the arsenal in its complete form.

The Arsenal in the late 1870s.

And again, in the 1880s.

As the years went the deterioration continued, as can be seen with each succeeding

photo.

From Pioneer Times in the Onondaga Country, by C. E. Smith-1904

From Syracuse Herald American, 6 November 1988, pg. BB 8 The northeast corner is still

standing, with a few beams embedded in the Onondaga limestone blocks.

2. Arsenal as It Remains Today

Frosts of winter, driving rains of spring and fall and suns of summer annually take their toll on

the arsenal. Each year the ruins grow smaller.

3. Graves of Two Veterans of The War of 1812

“With the old arsenal in ruins, the only relic of the War of 1812 remaining in Ono

ndaga County

are two graves and a monument at the top of West Seneca Turnpike Hill. One grave is that of

Capt. Benjamin Branch of the U.S. Light Artillery, who died Oct. 14, 1813, in Onondaga Hollow

as his company was marching through that village. Capt. Branch's company was encamped on what is known as Academy Green when he was stricken with a fatal illness. He was from

Virginia. The other grave is for Capt. Henry Crouch who died in the spring of 1814.”