FROM: 1927 McIntosh book on History of Cayuga
Placed on Web with permission of D. McIntosh 1/23/2000

By: Florence Pharis McIntosh

1927 picture of Village of Cayuga from the lake in winter at:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~springport/1927cayugavil.jpg

EARLY SETTLEMENT

CHAPTER ONE

LONG before the white men came to settle in what is now Cayuga County, or even before 
the first white man stepped on American soil, bands of Indians blazed a trail across what is 
now New York State from Buffalo to Albany. This famous trail led across Cayuga Lake to 
what is now known as " Davis" or " Cowing's Point", eastward through the woods to 
where the New York Central Railroad crosses the present Genesee turnpike at Aurelius 
station and on through what is now the Genesee highway to the Hudson River. It was 
known in later years as the " Indian Trail".

The Cayuga Nation was one of the tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy" which occupied this 
part of the " Lakes Region". There were Six Nations belonging to this Confederacy: the 
Cayugas, the Senecas, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Mohawks, and the Tuscaroras. 
These tribes of Indians were accustomed to hold a meeting or council table at some site 
along the " Indian Trail", usually around some large tree. A large, old maple tree is still 
standing on what is now Cowing's Point where the Six Nations sometimes held their 
councils. Also a spring is still running on that point where once was quenched the thirst of 
thirsty Indians, and later that of the white men. Many Indian relics were found on that point 
by Mr. Cyrus Davis, who many years later farmed it.


History of Cayuga

There is an Indian Legend in connection with the Cayugas.* It seems that a great many 
years ago this tribe of Indians were led eastward through the "Lakes Region" by their 
devoted chief, named "Ha-wen-ne-yu". He was partly human and partly divine. All went 
well with the Cayugas until they came to what is now known as the

Cayuga- Montezuma Marshes where they en countered a monstrous Eagle. They gave 
battle and after much hardship they killed the horrible creature. After that the Indians were 
able to catch a great deal of game. It is written by Father Peter Raffeix, a Jesuit Missionary, 
" more than a thousand deer are killed every year in the neighborhood of Cayuga. Fishing 
for both the salmon and the eel, and for other sorts of fish is as abundant as at Onondaga. 
Four league distant from here on the brink of the river, I have seen within a small space 
eight or ten fine salt fountains. It is there that numbers of nets are spread for pidgeons, and 
that from seven to eight hundred are often caught at a single stroke of the net!"

Another Indian Legend concerns a huge mosquito which infested the Cayuga- Montezuma 
Marshes, and prevented the hunting of game.* So one day Ha-wen-ne-yu, the famous 
warrior, came upon the beast, pursued it, and chased it all around the Great Lakes and 
surrounding country, until he at last slew it in the neighborhood of Seneca River. "The 
blood flowing from his lifeless body gave birth to innumerable swarms of small 
mosquitoes which still linger about the place of his death." Thus tradition has given us a 
reason for the many little mosquitoes which are abundant to this day!

During the Revolutionary War of 1775 with

*-Cayuga Indian Reservation and Col. John Harris" by John VanSickle.

10 History of Cayuga

Great Britain the Iroquois Confederacy or the Six Nations were loyal to the British, except 
the Oneidas. In order to quell these Indian tribes, George Washington, then President of 
the "Thirteen Colonies", sent first General Sullivan with the American Troops to New York 
State. Sullivan's expedition marched up the Wyoming Valley from Pennsylvania to 
'Elmira; thence to Seneca Castle on the east bank of Seneca Lake; from there by the way of 
Canandaigua to the Genesee River. The Indians scattered before Sullivan's superior 
numbers; and their villages, fruit trees, and crops were destroyed, but it needed Lieutenant 
Colonel William Butler to put an end to the war with the Six Nations.

Butler started out September 20, 1779 to punish the Cayugas with six hundred men. 
Camping the first night at Waterloo, he crossed the Seneca River at Mudlock, three miles 
north of Cayuga Village, where he encountered an Indian village called "Tiohero", which 
he promptly destroyed. Thence he marched up the east side of Cayuga Lake to what is now 
Union Springs for the night. The next morning he destroyed another Indian village named 
Cayuga Castle, two miles south of Union Springs. Further on he destroyed two more 
villages near what is now the "Big Gully", called the "Upper Cayuga", and "East Cayuga". 
These villages were "of very large square houses surrounded by fruit trees and vegetable 
gardens". There were about fifteen of these houses to a village. The next day he marched 
on' to a village at Aurora, called "Peachtown" as there were about fifteen hundred peach 
trees growing there. Butler destroyed the village; then marched south by way of the head of 
Cayuga Lake, joining the main army at Elmira.

Early Settlement

11

Thus the backbone of the Six Nations' hostility towards the Americans was broken in New 
York State; but it needed Governor Clinton to pacify them. This he undertook to do by 
attending a Council of the Five Nations (one tribe being absent) at Fort Schuyler in 1784. 
At the Council he proclaimed a restoration of all the lands formerly held by them, and a 
general amnesty to all. The Cayugas took advantage of that and returned to their favorite 
hunting grounds at the north end of Cayuga Lake. The other tribes remained at Niagara 
Falls and in Canada. .

The Americans wanted to lease or buy lands which were owned by the Indians. The State 
constitution forbade the purchase of lands directly from- the Indians by individuals; 
reserving the right to make such purchases. In order to avoid doing this, an association of 
prominent and influential men was organized into a company called the "Lessee Company" 
in 1787-1788. This company held a meeting with the Six Nations, at which they made an 
agreement to lease "all the lands commonly known as the lands of the Six Nations of the 
State of New York, and at the time in the actual possession of said Chiefs and Sachems". 
This lease was for the period of nine hundred and ninety-nine years; except for some 
fishing and hunting privileges.

The Cayugas were represented by the Niagara factions and not by those who had returned 
to their homes; therefore the only reservation which they made was the insignificant one of 
a mile square near the outlet of Cayuga Lake and Cayuga Salt Springs, near the present 
town of Montezuma, and with one hundred acres of land to accommodate the same with 
wood. The leases were signed by twenty-three Cayugas. 

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12 History of Cayuga

A second treaty was made by Governor Clinton at Albany in 'February, 1789, with the 
Cayugas, by which all their old lands were annulled, and a piece of land which was 
composed of one hundred square miles and extended across equally on both sides of 
Cayuga Lake, on the east side from Montezuma to Aurora; and known as the " East 
Cayugas Reservation". As the Indian's lived chiefly by fishing and hunting, this 
Reservation was valuable to them, because of the marshes which were a great hunting 
ground for ducks, geese, plover, and wild fowl.

Into this "Cayugas Reservation" came John Harris, a young man of twenty-eight years of 
age, and grandson of the first settler of what is now the city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 
which bears his name. One can imagine this young man tramping through the famous 
"Indian Trail", seeking for some place to settle; and finding none that suited his imagination 
until he arrived at Cayuga Lake at what is now called Cowing I 's Point, about one-half of 
a mile from what is now Cayuga Village. Furthermore, let us imagine him to be struck by 
the beautiful waters and hills of Cayuga.

John Harris came in 1788 and settled on the Cayuga Reservation. He built his first log 
cabin just off the Indian Trail, on what is now just a little north of the present " Brick 
House", formerly owned by the late Cyrus Davis. The Harris' cabin has since been 
destroyed. Thus the village of Cayuga was born. He was the first white man to settle and 
trade among the Cayuga Indians. He was the first white settler in the township of Aurelius; 
and one of, if not, the first in Cayuga County.

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14

History of Cayuga ,

Harris started a ferry across the lake in connection with James Bennett, who came with 
Harris from Pennsylvania, but who settled on the west side of Cavuga Lake opposite what 
is now Cowing's Point. The two men did a thriving business, as there was a great demand 
to ferry people, both white men and Indians, who were traveling across the State from 
Albany to Buffalo on the old Indian Trail. This was the only ferry on the lake; and it was 
known as the "Harris' Ferry". The Hon. Elijah Miller, who saw the ferry in 1795, 
described it as: "A rough boat, propelled sometimes by oars and sometimes by sail; and 
was the only crossing place at that time".

The first John Harris, great grandfather of Colonel John Harris who came to Cayuga, 
emigrated to America on the same ship with William Penn's second voyage to 
Pennsylvania in the year 1699. He was a middleaged man when he came across from 
England, and settled for a time in Philadelphia. During his stay in that city, he became on 
intimate terms with Edward Shippen, Esq., the first Mayor of Philadelphia; an intimacy that 
grew into real friendship. About 1719 Harris left Philadelphia and commenced a settlement 
on the present site of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; his son, John, being the first white child 
born there in 1727. John, Sr., died in December, 1748, and was buried under the shade of 
his memorial tree, which is now kept up by the city.

John Harris, 2nd, was credited with being the founder of Harrisburg, being the first white 
child born in Pennsylvania west of the Conewago Hills, who attained the age of manhood. 
His son, Samuel, was born in 1733; and his son, John, 3rd, was our own Colonel John 
Harris.

Early Settlement

15

In 1789 John Harris, 3rd, married Mary Richardson, the daughter of William Richardson 
who had come from Pennsylvania and settled on the east side of Cayuga Lake near 
Levanna. Their son, John Harris, 4th, was the first white child born in Cayuga County. 
John Richardson, the brother of Mary Richardson, went into, partnership with John Harris 
and James Bennett in the ferry business. Also James Bennett married another daughter of 
William Richardson; which made the three ferry men closely related.

About this time there were three different ferries crossing Cayuga Lake; namely, the old 
one, called the "Harris Ferry," which ran from what is now Cowing's Point; a second one 
which started at Cayuga; and a third one, crossing at what is now Mudlock, called the " 
Cayuga Ferry". It was to the Cayuga Ferry that Major Abraham Hardenburgh was sent in 
1789 by the Government to survey the Cayugas Reservation into lots for the immigration 
of new settlers who were rapidly settling on the Indian land. The Indians objected to having 
Hardenburgh survey their lands, and they put up a fight. This was before the Indians had 
ratified the Treaty of 1795, relinquishing their claims to their Reservation. Major 
Hardenburgh was at a loss just what to do, when John Richardson came to his assistance. 
The two men went to Albany and put their case before Governor Clinton. Whereupon the 
Governor, relying on John Richardson's statement that two-thirds of the inhabitants would 
give their support if it was necessary to quell the Indians. gave orders to Hardenburgh to 
continue surveying the Reservation into lots for the settlers.

John Richardson was a highly educated and cultivated man; holding the offices at different

====

16 History of Cayuga

times of judge of the Court of Common Pleas; s of the final Treaty of 1795 one of the 
negotiator

with the Cayugas and Onondagas; a member of the assembly from the county of Onondaga; 
and a state senator from Aurelius. He moved to Wabash, Indiana, about 1818, where he 
died in 1832 at the age of sixty-eight years. He wrote a book on the geology and soils of 
the western states.

Before we leave the Indians, let us recall the four different treaties made with them: The 
first treaty was made at Fort Schuyler by Governor Clinton by which all the lands formerly 
taken from them were restored equally to red men as well as white men alike; the second 
treaty made with the Lessee Company to lease the lands from the Indians individually; the 
third made in 1789 by which the Cayugas were given a hundred acres of marsh and wood 
lands near the present town of Montezuma including salt springs; and fourth the treaty by 
which an area of an hundred square miles extending on both sides of Cayuga Lake and on 
the east side from Montezuma to Aurora, and known as the Cayugas Reservation were 
given to them. The fifth and last treaty made was in 1795 by which the Cayugas 
Reservation was bought for a sum $1,800 in cash payment, and $1,800 to be paid 
annually. This last treaty took place on what is now Cowing's Point on Cayuga Lake 
around a large maple tree which is still standing. John Harris and John Richardson were 
the men who were responsible for this treaty on the white man's side, Harris acting as an 
interpreter. "Red Jacket", the Chief of the San Senecas and Fish Carrier, "Red Jacket's" 
subordinate, on the red men's side. "Red Jacket' 7 was described as being exceedingly 
proud and gaudily dressed.

Early Settlement

17

He spoke in a sarcastic and abusive manner, charging ' the white men with getting all of the 
red men s lands: which from an Indian's point of view was true. General Schuyler was at 
the head of the commissioners. They parleyed for a long time; and the Indians, women and 
children as well as the men, were ferried back and forth across the lake. This treaty was 
finally closed on July 28, 1795. After that the Cayugas left this part of the country, except a 
few, who with " Red Jacket", their chief, remained. It seems that "Red Jacket" was given a 
handsome badge by President George Washington in token of the peace between the white 
and red men. Now "Red Jacket" was very proud of this badge, but he was fond of 
whiskey as well; and in order to procure it, he would trade his badge in for his pint of 
whiskey and then buy or earn his beloved badge back again. He died and was buried on the 
west side of Cayuga Lake.

John Harris established the first tavern near the ferry in Cayuga, it being the first one built 
in the village. At this time, in 1790, the land belonged to the Indians since it was part of the 
Cayugas Reservation, and he held it on sufferance. It was a kind of a road house and a 
place of general rendezvous for all types of men. On all of the old maps of the Cayugas 
Reservation all trails from every direction centered at this tavern.

The Cayugas Reservation was surveyed and cut up into lots and sold by the State to the 
settlers. After the t ' reaty of 1795, the settlers flocked rapidly in and the village of Cayuga 
from that time on grew steadily. Among those who were the early settlers were such men 
as: Joseph Annin, who came in 1796 and built the house which is at present Charles D. 
Kyle's residence and who

====

Early Settlement

19

was the first Sheriff of Cayuga County; Hugh Buckley, who came in the same year as 
Joseph Annin and settled at the head of the old bridge, which was about to be built. He 
kept the gate, a tavern, and the first jail in Cayuga County. "The jail was a log structure and 
built against the bank of the lake; the top being on a level with the embankment. The 
prisoners were let down through a trap door in the top".* The first murder trial was that of 
an Indian who was kept in this place. Its use as a jail was authorized March 25, 1800. The 
site of this jail was at the east end of the Cayuga bridge where now the New York Central 
Railroad passes the McIntosh's boat-houses-, the bridge beginning at the foot of Main 
Street on what is now the village green. There is an embankment, the bottom of which is 
the railroad where the dungeon was situated. The following year Buckley began teaching, 
and was the first teacher in the village. He died of an epidemic in 1813. His tavern was 
located in the village where Mrs. Gilland's house is, now owned by Will Chappel, on Main 
Street.

Dr. Jonathan Whitney came in 1798 and settled at Cayuga on the Lake road which was 
afterwards the Lalliette estate. He came from Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He left Cayuga 
for a term of years, first to Geneseo thence to Pompey Hill, but returned in 1852. He was a 
cultured and intellectual gentleman, being a great satirist and the author of many caricatures 
and jokes. It is believed that he built the little house on Center Street now owned by the 
McIntosh estate, which is called "Tumble-Inn". He had nine children; and his son, Edwin 
H. Whitney, held the offices of Justice of the Peace, Postmaster, Supervisor, and

*"History of Cayuga County 1789-1879".

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20 History of Cayuga

Canal collector. He was known in the village as Squire Whitney". Daniel McIntosh, a 
Scotchman, came in 1798 and built the first or second brick building in Cayuga County and 
used it as a store. It stood on the corner of Main and Center Streets. He kept this store until 
1836, when he sold it to his son, John, who continued it until about 1860. As there were 
no banks at that early time, Daniel McIntosh kept his money hidden in barrels in the store.

About this time, in 1799, John Harris moved his ferry from Cowing's Point to Cayuga, 
and ferried his passengers across the lake about where the New York Central Railroad 
station now stands, or a little north of it, which was all lake shore before the railroads were 
in existence. He moved his family from his log cabin on the old Indian Trail and settled in 
the village. Four years before Harris moved to the village, his father, Samuel Harris, and 
family moved from Pennsylvania to join their son, John, in Cayuga. In 1802 he built a 
tavern on the corner of Main and Lake Streets, later known as the "Titus House". It was 
remodeled in 1875 and burned in 1900. It was never rebuilt and the site remains vacant to 
this day. He served in the War of 1812, being with his regiment on the Niagara frontier. 
He was made Colonel during the fighting on the Canadian soil. In 1797 Harris was State 
Senator from Aurelius and appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas, also elected to 
Congress. He was a man of prominence and had great influence in organizing the township 
of Aurelius and the village of Cayuga. He was the first merchant in the village, opening his 
store in 1789 on the site of what is now John McIntosh's orchard, east of the Presbyterian 
Church. It was a brick construction and burned in about 1850.

Early Settlement

21

He sold his stock to Elisha Hills of Auburn, and removed to West Cayuga in 1814 which is 
on the opposite side of the lake. He died in 1824 at the age of sixty-four years, and was 
buried in the little cemetery which remains there, with his father, Samuel Harris, and 
family.

Sometime before this, in 1796, the early settlers had made a trail which led through the 
woods parallel with the Indian Trail, running east and west to what is now Cayuga Village 
and Auburn. It branched off from the Indian trail at where Aurelius station now stands. As 
time wore on more settlers came and made the trail wider until April 1, 1800 it was made 
into a county highway or state road, built by the Seneca Road Company. This was an 
addition to the village as the highway led through the Main Street.

At the same time that the state highway was put through, influential men: namely, John 
Harris, Thomas Morris, Wilhelmus Mynders of Seneca Falls, Charles Williamson, and 
Joseph Annin were trying to procure capital to finance a bridge across Cayuga Lake. They 
succeeded in interesting Aaron Burr and John Swartwout, both members of the Assembly 
from New York City. These men incorporated into the "Cayuga Bridge Company", in 
1796, It was built the first timeat a cost of $25,000; destroyed bv the ice during the winter 
of 1808; rebuilt in 1812-13; and finally abandoned in 1857, all at a cost of about $150,000. 
The construction of the bridge was supervised by judge Annin and Israel Smith. The above 
incorporators, together with Daniel McIntosh, were the stockholders. They charged toll and 
received a goodly return on their investment. This bridge was over a mile in length, built of 
wooden construction, wide enough for three carts to pass; charging 56 1/4

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22

History of Cayuga

cents. It was the longest bridge in the Western Hemisphere. " It is the longest bridge I have 
ever seen", writes an English officer. In those days it was considered the jumping off place 
between the East and the West; a wonderful achievement, and a great boom to the County.

In 1801 the streets in Cayuga Village were planned out and put through. ' It seems that the 
Cayuga Land Company bought up six thousand acres of land around Cayuga; it being 
thought at that time that the village would grow into a city and be the Cayuga County seat. 
They planned for parks, public squares, and streets. Daniel McIntosh described the town 
"as being a thriving, prosperous village". There were seven different taverns in the village 
at that time: the "Titus House" situated on the corner of Main and Lake Streets; Perry's 
tavern, situated on the site of what is now Will Chappell's house; a tavern in the house of 
the Presbyterian parsonage on the corner of Court and Main Streets; another tavern in the 
little house now occupied by Mrs. Newcomb; and a fifth tavern in front of where Mrs. 
Horace Wiley's house now stands, but close to the street, and since torn down; and one 
established by Uri Foot, somewhere on Main Street, who came to Cayuga from Vermont in 
1818. The remaining tavern was run by Israel Harris, which was a stage house, across the 
street from the Titus House. There were many stage -ige coaches driving through on their 
way to Buffalo or Albany. As they appeared over the brow of the hill on Main Street, the. 
drivers would blow their long horns; and the hosts of these taverns would rush out and 
welcome the travelers. Usually the tavern would lodge the dusty and fatigued travelers for 
the night; the following morning they would arise early and start out again, beginning

Early Settlement

23

with the long, slow ride across the Cayuga bridge, paying toll before they started across. 
There was continual travel on the Genesee turnpike and across Cayuga Lake bridge; all 
kinds of stage coaches carrying passengers; heavy wagons with heavy loads of all sizes 
drawn by oxen; people going through on horseback, and others hiking across the State on 
foot with bundles across their backs. The taverns and merchants and tollkeepers were kept 
busy in those days. Farmers had to draw their grain clear to Albany for market; and 
countrymen had to go to that City in order to pay their yearly taxes, because there were no 
other County seats. It usually took about two months to make the journey going and 
returning to accomplish this yearly task.

In 1799, the County Court House was erected, and the Court of Common Pleas was held 
at Cayuga.* In 1804 the Court was moved to Aurora, and in 1809 to Auburn. In March 28, 
1805 the Court House in Auburn was completed. The old building used as a Court House 
where they held court in Cayuga was situated opposite the Laneway on Court Street, and 
across the street from what is now the Mason's Lodge and meeting house, formerly owned 
by the Brown family. The Court House was planned and the edifice was started on the site 
where Edwin H. Smith's and Mrs. Kate E. Dunckel's houses are now, but it burned down 
before completion.

The lawyers who practised in Cayuga when the Courts were held in the village were: judge 
Elizah Miller, father-in-law of General Seward, who came in 1795; judge Thomas 
Munford, who came and built an old colonial house on the large lot where John McIntosh 
now resides, formerly

*"History of Cayuga County, 1789-1879".

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24 History of Cayuga

owned by Miss J. Elizabeth McIntosh, and who was the one who tore down the colonial 
house. judge Munford came from Aurora in 1795, and practised until his death. judge 
Joseph Annin came a year later and practised until he left for Genoa, where he died in 
1815. judge Munford owned a private burying lot on the northeast corner of his estate, 
where Peter C. Freese's house stood, now owned by Roe Stevenson. judge Munford kept 
his estate up well; and his presence in the village was beneficial. He was the first president 
of the National Bank of Auburn from 1817 to 1820. It was the oldest bank in New York 
State west of Utica with the exception of the bank in Watertown. Also it was about the 
sixtieth oldest bank in the United States of America. It was then called the Bank of Auburn. 
judge Munford died about 1830. His grandson graduated from Harvard College, and 
became the head doctor of the Clifton Springs Sanitarium at Clifton Springs, New York. 
He has recently died.

In about 1799, a select school was started by different women of the village. Miss Hannah 
Esterly, afterwards the wife of John McIntosh, taught there at one time. Miss LaGracia 
Shaw, daughter of Dr. Isaac Shaw and sister to Mrs. John Oliver, who now resides in 
Cayuga, taught there as well as Lavanda Barrett. Mrs. David Brown was the last teacher to 
teach in this little private school. The school began upstairs over Dr. Cumming's store, 
which has recently been torn down by James Bracken on Main Street. Then it moved to the 
house on Court Street opposite the Laneway, formerly used as the Court House. The 
school was managed probably by these different ladies of the village at different times, who 
rented the building of Squire Whitney,

Early Settlement

25

and charged a tuition for each pupil. The public school started about 1840, when parents as 
well as the general public had to pay for each child. It was therefore deemed no longer 
necessary for a select school in the village. The little school house later was moved down to 
"Pious Hollow" (the east end of Main Street) and remodeled into a modern house., Mr. 
William Axton now resides there.

The first Blacksmith shop was started by David Hulin, who located on the shore of the lake 
west of where the "Titus House" stood. He made the latch for the first frame school house 
built in 1804 on the southwest end of Center Street. The second school house was built on 
the site of the present Methodist Church; while the third one was erected in 1846, where the 
present school building now stands. The edifice which was built in 1846 burned down, 
and the present one erected.

During these early times a stalwart boy of Cooperstown, New York 'was employed to 
carry mail on horseback twice a month to Aurora; thence returning twice a month. This boy 
was Lorin Willard; and later he and his brother, Emory, came to Cayuga and settled on a 
farm about a fourth of a mile north of the village. They came from Chenango County in 
about 1801. They owned all of the land which extended from north of Main Street in the 
village to where Mrs. Mersereau's farm is now; that is, the farms at present owned by Roe' 
Stevenson and John Denman, and the lands surrounding the Beacon Milling Company. 
When they first came to Cayuga they settled for a short time in a little house east of the 
McIntosh estate on Main Street; thence moved to another small house on the site of which 
the Beacon Milling Company now

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26 History of Cayuga

Early Settlement

stands. From there they moved to the farm a fourth of a mile from Cayuga Village. There is 
a story concerning Major Titus, who enjoyed sitting on the "Titus House's" steps and 
watching the sunset in the west across the lake and marshes. But there was one obstacle 
which was an obstruction to this magnificent view. A large oak tree stood on the site of 
what is now Warrick's store, and what was at that time Willards' property. Major Titus cut 
the tree down without notifying the Willards; whereupon a large warehouse or shed was 
erected on the spot where the oak tree stood. During the year of 1807 the Willard brothers 
built a distillery, which they sold to Daniel McIntosh in about a year, who soon converted it 
into a tannery and ran it as such for a good many years. It stood on the land north of where 
the Beacon Milling Company's offices are now.

Lorin Willard was made a commissioner for the army in the War of 1812. He purchased 
supplies for the army and forwarded them to Oswego and other points. When an attack on 
Kingston, New York was in contemplation, he purchased all the boats available at that 
time, took them to Oswego, and under cover of the night, delivered them, about fifty in 
number, to Commodore Chauncey at Sackett's Harbor.

The Cayuga Academy was what -is now the William Mersereau estate, fronting Lake Street 
and extending back to Center Street. Mr. William Mersereau's widow now resides there. 
The Academy consisted of both boys and girls, and many prominent families sent their 
sons and daughters there. It is believed that David Dodge, who -came in 1808 from 
Vermont, started the Cayuga Academy about the year of 1810. It is

27

also thought that some of the staff of teachers were Mr. Foot, Mr. Thomson, and Mr. 
Charles Lalliette, who taught dancing lessons. David Dodge's son, Ossian G. Dodge, was 
a noted mimic and comic singer. David Dodge died in Montezuma in 1857. He was 
described as a very severe teacher, using his rod most unsparingly. He left Cayuga for 
Throop in 1825. The Academy was a three storied structure; but when the school was 
broken up, the brick part of the building was taken out, and left the present structure 
Samuel Van Sickle and Elizabeth Boardman Hall of Canoga were among those who 
attended.

One fine day Miss Elizabeth Boardman Hall was out on the Academy's lawn, watching 
something on the lake, when John Davis, a prospector from Pennsylvania, passed the 
School in his search to buy up new land. He saw Miss Hall there on the lawn of the 
Academy, fell in love with her at first sight, and later married her. He bought two tracts of 
land (four hundred acres) from Colonel John Harris, south of the village on the lake front; 
and erected a house across the road from the present Chase residence. This occurred about 
the year 1816-17. He was drowned off the Cayuga Lake bridge in 1819. John Davis' 
widow later married Mosely Hutchinson, a son of an Ithaca doctor, and they later came to 
Cayuga and built the Hutchinson homestead. Thus from this " Homestead" have sprung up 
four families of which Cayuga Village can be proud: namely, the Chases, the Cowles, the 
Hutchinsons, and the Ferrees. The late Cyrus H. Davis, the son of John Davis, inherited 
from his aunts of Pennsylvania the large tracts of land which later were made into a state 
park called "Valley Forge", in memory of General George Washington's hardships through 
the winter

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28
History of Cayuga

of 1777-78 with his army during the Revolutionary War.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Lalliette, of French descent, came and settled in Cayuga in 1810. As 
they both had adventurous lives, it will be interesting to relate them in full:

Mary Frances Victoria Lalliette was born June 20, 1783 in eastern Burgundy, France. She 
was born the same year that Hortence Beauharnais, Mother of Louis Napoleon, was born. 
Mary's father, Edme Collin, was connected with the body guard of Louis XVI 'I. He went 
to San Domingo to look after his own estates, and fortunately took his family with him. 
While there the French Revolution broke out in 1793. Edme Collin was killed by the 
Insurrectionary Slaves on the Island; but Mary, her mother, and brother managed to escape 
to the United States of America in 1797 Their boat was wrecked off the Cuban coast, and 
with difficulty they made their way to New Orleans. For some reason her mother sent her 
two children to New York City by the way of the Atlantic Ocean; and her brother was 
captured by the English and made a prisoner near that City. Captain Grant's family in New 
York befriended her and in that family she learned English. She never saw her mother 
again who remained in New Orleans. Mary was fifteen years old when she came to New 
York; and twenty-three years of age when she married Charle's Lalliette, who at that time 
was in Brooklyn, New York.

Charles Lalliette was born and brought up in France. In 1799, in order to escape 
conscription in the army, he fled to England, thence to America, where he bought property 
in Brooklyn, New York, and married Marv Frances Victoria Collin in 1806.

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30 History of Cayuga

Soon after their marriage, the Lalliettes took a trip through Cayuga and went as far as 
Detroit; returning in 1810 they decided to locate in Cayuga. The lake and bridge and 
surrounding hills attracted them. They chose a sightly location in the heart of the village on 
Lake Street, and purchased four acres of land for $1,000 from William Harrison. Mr. 
Lalliette being a sportsman was probably attracted by the duck shooting in this locality. In 
1812 the Lalliettes made their permanent home here. Mr. Lalliette was a dancing teacher 
and taught in the Cayuga Academy, as well as giving private lessons.

In 1837 Mr. Lalliette died; and two years later his wife sold the lakeshore-front property to 
the Auburn & Rochester Railroad. In 1868 she sold a lot to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. Among her guests whom she entertained at her home were: General Stephen Van 
Renseller, called "the Patroon", and General Lafayette when he passed through in 1824. 
Among her keep-sakes was a miniature picture of her father framed in gold and set with 
diamonds. The diamonds were stolen when she was a little girl by the Insuirectionary 
Slaves. Also her father's body-guard badge and a silver spoon with "Collin" engraved 
upon it, and a watch, all dating back to her school days at Nantes, France.

Mrs. Lalliette always depended upon the services of her servants, not knowing the ways of 
manual toil. She derived a goodly income from the yield of her fruit trees, with which her 
place was planted with the finest varieties. She was cared for in her old age by Mr. and 
Mrs. Edwin Lamb, to whom she left her property at her death. In her later years she 
became a member of the Presbyterian Church. She always had a Christian

Early Settlement

spirit and a lady-like bearing. She will long be remembered for her gentility, charming 
manner, and grace of speech. She died December 9, 1886, at the age of a hundred and four 
years; the oldest citizen in the village of Cayuga. Her property in the village extended from 
the Laneway on Lake Street to lower Bennedict hill, and west to Center Street. It included 
that whole block, which she had planted in fruit trees.

The oldest houses which are now standing in the village are in the order named: Stanley R. 
Cummings' house, or part of it, built about 1793 by John Richardson, who came with his 
father from Pennsylvania in 1789, and who went into the ferry business with John Harris 
at the "Harris Ferry", and who settled on the site where the Cummings' homestead is now; 
Charles D. Kyle's house on Court Street erected about 1799 by Joseph Annin, who settled 
here in 1795; and the little house on Center Street called "Tumble Inn", now owned by the 
McIntosh estate, built about 1800 by Dr. Jonathan Whitney, who settled in Cayuga in 
1798. The house which Stanley R. Cummings now owns has since been remodeled; with 
the large brick fireplaces taken out and vacant space enclosed. The builders of these houses 
were cultured and intellectual men: John Richardson being a highly educated and cultivated 
pioneer in this section of the country; Joseph Annin was a sheriff, a judge, and a senator; 
and Dr. Jonathan Whitney being a medical and literary type of a gentlemen. There is a bear 
story in connection with the house called "Tumble Inn" on Center Street: It seems that 
while Dr. Whitney lived there, a bear had been seen and had actually taken lodging in the 
cellar of the building. People gathered; but no one there knew

=====

32 Early Settlement

just the best way to get the beast out, since it was dark and the bear well hidden. Finally, 
"Emory Willard took his rifle and went into the cellar, got sight, not of the bear, but of the 
white of his eyes, and shot him dead"!

Other old houses which are still standing and of good use are: Mrs. Minerva A. M. 
Greenleaf's residence on the corner of Main and Center Streets, which was built in 1819 by 
Daniel McIntosh as his homestead. Mrs. Edwin Lamb's house on Lake Street was built by 
William Harrison in 1806. Mrs. Newcombs' house and the Presbyterian parsonage on 
Main Street were both taverns; these must have been built when the stage coaches were 
passing through Cayuga. The brick house in which Warren A. Baker now resides on Main 
Street was once a button factory, and was remodeled into a residence; Caleb L. Candee 
being the first one to occupy it, and which he later sold to Isaac Freer.

The Erie Canal was put through New York State in 1825; but not until 1832 was the 
Cayuga branch built. The canal boats in those early days were polled from the Cayuga 
Lock to the draw-bridge. Before the Cayuga branch of the canal was in existence, many of 
the settlers came by the water route, using the Seneca River. The Parcell's family came by 
the canal on a house boat; and lived for a year on it before settling here; also James 
Steemburg came in the same manner.

The first physicians who came in these early times were: Dr. William Franklin, who came 
in 1797 and who practiced until his death in 1804; and Dr. Jonathan Whitney, who came in 
1798 and who practiced until his death in 1851, with an exception of a few years which he 
spent away.

Early Settlement

33

There were seven other Doctors who practiced in Cayuga after Dr. Whitney, whom it will 
not be necessary to mention. Dr. DeMun kept a drug store at a very early date and was the 
first man to experiment with gypsum. He pulverized it into a mortar.

The period between 1800 and 1850 was the most prosperous years of the history of 
Cayuga Village. During the time of 1800 the villagers were planning for Cayuga to be a 
large, thriving city; holding the Cayuga County seat. That was in the minds of the Cayuga 
Land Company when they surveyed the town, putting through the streets and marking out 
parks and public squares. The new Court House was planned sometime to be erected on 
the site of where Charles D. Kyle's residence now stands, facing the street of Bennedict 
Hill and looking out over Cayuga Lake. The Cayuga Bridge was another attraction at that 
time, causing the admiration of travelers passing through the village over such an 
achievement. The Erie Canal, with the Cayuga branch, was built during this period, 
making travel easier than it formerly was over the rough, beaten trail; thus attracting more 
settlers to settle here. Then people began talking about a railroad to be built through 
Cayuga. All these new things were a great addition to the comforts of the villagers.

But the dreams of the prospectors for the village of Cayuga came to nought! For the Courts 
were moved away in 1804, and the territory of Cayuga County was changed: Seneca 
County taking the place of Cayuga County on the other side of the lake; thus changing the 
village to the edge of the County instead of in the center, as it was formerly. And the 
Cayuga bridge was abandoned in 1857, cutting the Genesee turnpike off, and changing

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34

History of Cayuga

the travelers' route three miles north on the present Clark Street highway at Mudlock. 
Thus, the taverns' business was killed, and the stage coaches came no more. There were 
no rivers on which dams could be constructed for factories; therefore Cayuga was unfitted 
for America's new prosperity-her industries. So this chapter ends with the village of 
Cayuga at the height of its glory, and never in its history to be a great city!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


LATER SETTLEMENT

CHAPTER TWO

THE reader must bear in mind that practically all of New York State until 1860 was 
covered

with timber, where now grain, hay, and orchards are planted. All the cities and towns and 
villages were surrounded by deep woods with here and there a clearing made by some 
pioneer farmer. Stage coaches continued to run between Aurora and Cayuga, traveling for 
at least twothirds of the way through the woods. This route was the last one to be given up 
by the stage coaches. As late as 1845 there were deers and farther inland, bears roaming the 
country. They as well as the Indians had to vanish before the march of the white man's 
civilization.

Into this heavily timbered country came the Auburn & Rochester Railroad Company. An 
Act was passed by the Legislature, April 18, 1838, at Albany by which the Company had 
the power to buy up the lands needed for the railroad. In 1841 the Company bought up the 
lands through the Township of Aurelius at what was at that period a goodly sum of 
$12,503; the assessed value of the land alone being $3,762. It was not until 1842, 
however, that the railroad passed through Cayuga village.

The building of the Auburn & Rochester Railroad made vast changes on the shore front of 
the village.. What was formerly the shore line of the village end of Cayuga Lake became 
the railroad

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36

History of Cayuga

bed. In order to do this the engineers of the Company built timber-piers upon which they 
dumped stones, gravel, etc. The Cayuga Station consisted of a restaurant and hotel; and 
was located just south of where the present New York Central Station stands. - The hotel 
and restaurant was managed first by Captain Lyon, who sold out to L. A. Pelton; who in 
turn sold it to the Cayuga Lake Shore Railroad Company; by whom the property was 
transferred to the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company about 1878.

When the Auburn & Rochester Railroad came through Cayuga County, it not only changed 
the lake shore front but it furnished the means by which the heavily wooded country could 
be cleared off and profitably used. There were large sheds where Shannon's Ice House 
formerly stood which were used by the railroad for cutting up huge logs for fuel for the 
trains. Another shed stood on the embankment opposite the present house now occupied by 
Dr. John H. Witbeck. The logs were hauled in from the country by farmers and thrown 
over the bank to the railroad; which would cut them up by means of a "Horse Saw"; and 
shoved up to the station on "Rubber Cars" (hand cars) to the ' trains. The logs were cut up 
into chunks of wood by horses treading upon a tread-mill, which would run the saw. In 
that way quantities of logs were cut up in a very short time. Thus, the railroad cleared off 
the surrounding country of wood-lands; and the farmers converted the land into fields on 
which crops were raised.

A grain mill stood on the embankment on Lake Street opposite where Romeyn Candee's 
house now stands. Farmers would haul their grain there, where it was ground up and taken 
out at the bottom of the embankment, a finished grade

======

38
History of Cayuga

of flour, and shipped by rail to the bigger cities.
It was called the "White Storehouse", and was
used as late as 1860, when it burned.
Before the Auburn & Rochester Railroad came,
the coal industry was flourishing. A large amount
of coal was brought to Cayuga by canal and
unloaded. just at this time, in 1835, hames for
horse-collars were made by the Convicts of Auburn
Prison and hauled to Cayuga, where the loads were
unloaded from the wagons and reloaded upon canal boats, and shipped to New York City. 
Docks were built along the water front, about where the
Lehigh Valley and New York Central stations
are now, to accommodate the canal's freight. These
docks were destroyed when the railroad bought
up the lake shore. The coal and hames freight
was transferred to new docks which were located
near the Malt House, now the Beacon Milling Company.

In 1841, at the time of the building of the
Auburn & Rochester Railroad, Caleb Luther
Candee came by stage coach and settled in
Cayuga. He started a blacksmith shop at the
foot of Main Street near the bridge. He ran this
shop until about 1855, when he invented a process
of welding iron rails for the railroad. He moved
his shop to where Dr. Witbeck's boathouse is
now, and had other shops in other towns, as his
work was considered important at that time to the railroad.  He failed to have it patented, 
however, and others discovered his process and used it to their advantage.

About 1842 David Brown came, possibly by stage coach, and settled in the village on the
site of where the masonic Lodge has their room on Court Street. During his latter days he 
was

Later Settlement

39

known by the villagers to have a cobbler shop in the Lane-way, but he formerly operated a 
farm near Cayuga. Mrs. David Brown taught school in the little select school across the 
street, formerly the Court House. She was the last teacher who taught there.

William H. Seward, Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln, left Auburn for 
Washington, D.C. He took Sevellon A. Brown, then a school teacher in Auburn, with 
him, in 1864. Under Secretary Seward he became an employee of the State department, 
and later was admitted to the Bar of the District of Columbia; and in 1871 was promoted to 
the post of Chief Clerk of the State department, which he held until his death.

In 1881 Sevellon A. Brown built the present house on Court Street for his father and 
mother. He brought his own family-his wife, five children, and a colored maid-to Cayuga 
for the summer months, where they added greatly to the social life of the village.

In 1850 the first steamboat took passengers to Ithaca on Cayuga Lake. There were seven 
large passenger boats at different periods, namely; the "Kate Morgan", the "Aurora", the 
"Sheldrake' , the "T. D. Wilcox" (renamed the "Ithaca"), the "I. No", and the "Frontenac". 
The "Kate Morgan" was the first passenger boat on the lake; and it as well as the "Ithaca" 
and "Frontenac" were "side-wheelers"; that is, boats which were propelled by large mill-
like wheels on. each side of the craft. The "Iroquois" and the " Mohawk" were passenger 
boats which did business on the lake in quite recent years; but the old "Frontenac" was the 
last one on the lake. It caught fire on its way to Cayuga from Ithaca,

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40 	History of Cayuga

and burned up entirely, about one hundred feet from the east shore, one mile south of 
Farley's Point. There was a high wind that day, and fourteen passengers were drowned 
trying to make the shore. This tragedy happened in 1907.

During the early years until 1895 the steamboat traffic was heavy. People went by the water 
route for the pleasure of steamboating on the lake, rather than travel by rail. Others went on 
parties and picnics up the lake. Captain Lyon ran some of these boats in the earlier days; 
and Captain Brown owned and ran the "Mohawk" and the " Iroquois".

There have been as many as eighteen physicians who at one time or another have practiced 
in Cayuga village during its history; but there have been few who have entered into the life 
of the community and settled permanently. Among the few were Dr. Isaac Shaw, who 
came from Machias, Cattaraugus County in 1844, and practiced until his death in 1855; and 
Dr. Andrew S. Cummings, who came from Naples, Ontario County in 1843, and 
continued his practice until his death in 1908. Dr. J. M. Dickson came from Ohio in 1878, 
and practiced the greater part of his life in this village. He moved to Bridgeport, Seneca 
County, where he died. Dr. John H. Witbeck came from Fleming, Cayuga County in 
1888, and is still practicing here.

There were two stores on Main Street in front of where the late John E. McIntosh's 
homestead now stands: a brick store stood on the corner of Main and Center Streets, and 
was conducted by John McIntosh until about 1860; and a wooden store a little east of the 
brick one, run by Daniel McIntosh, a brother of John McIntosh, which was

Later Settlement

41

torn down about 1880. Daniel McIntosh's house, one of the old homesteads of that family 
and built in 1815, stood next to the wooden store, just east of it. The house was moved 
down the hill on Depot Street in 1891, and in it Mr. James Durling conducts a barber shop. 
Jothan Shank lived in one of the houses attached to the store, possibly the old wooden 
store, which he ran and kept as a general country store. He was Postmaster between 1857 
and 1859; after which he moved away. His store was also the post office.

Continuing up Main Street, next to Daniel McIntosh's homestead, stood Dr. Andrew S. 
Cummings' h ouse, in which he held the post office from 1855 to 1861. When he first 
came to Cayuga he lived in the late Cyrus Davis house, called the "Brick House", a half-
mile outside of the village on Lake Street, and kept house for Mr. Davis. In this house was 
a huge brick oven, which they used at that time, using logs as fuel. During that period, 
those who still kept brick ovens and huge fireplaces were accustomed to bank their fires 
before retiring for the night. And if it happened to go out during the night: woe be to her or 
him; for to start the fire again, one must take a kettle, go to a neighbor, and borrow hot 
ashes!

Frank E. L. P. Cummings, Dr. Cummings' son, became Postmaster like his father, and 
held it for quite some time. He bought out a store, and commenced in 1873 a drug and dry 
goods store near the corner of Court and Main Streets. He discontinued the drug business, 
but kept his dry goods until his death in 1908; when his widow continued the dry goods 
and groceries until 1926. The old Cummings' block on Main Street is about to be torn 
down, as it is of wooden con


====

42 	History of Cayuga

struction, which has stood many years. Frank Cummings' son, Stanley R. Cummings, 
was President of the village from 1920 to 1923. He served as Trustee of the Presbyterian 
Church from 1914 to 1926; and at present is serving as Town Clerk.

It is believed that Uri Foot built the Castner homestead on Main Street about 1825; and 
Jacob Castner bought it of him, and had a tailor shop in the basement of his house. Robert 
Castner, his son, built the grocery store, now the Economy Store, in 1868, and moved his 
stock from the basement of his home and carried on his business until 1895, when he sold 
out to Henry Curtis, who continued the same grocery business until his death in 1911. 
James Patrick followed Curtis for a number of years; and in 1922 The Economy Store was 
started by an Auburn firm. It is managed by Harold C. Quigley at the present time.

The first public school house stood on the corner of Center and Wheat Streets, and was 
organized as the "Cayuga Union School" in 1844. It move d a year later to the site of the 
present Methodist Church; from there to a newly built schoolhouse, where the present one 
stands in Center Street, constructed in 1846. The lot was bought for $100, and the building 
erected at the cost of $1,065. Edwin H. Whitney and John McIntosh were appointed 
Trustees. The two following Trustees were James Annin and Dr. Isaac Shaw.  It burned to 
the ground in 1900, and the present building erected.

The Malt House, now the Beacon Milling Company, was built in 1866 by The Kyle, 
Howell & Co.; consisting of George A. Kyle, Thaddeus Howell, and Mrs. Albert 
Beardsley. The brick construction was added on to the warehouse two

Later Settlement

43

years later. They handled 100,000 bushels of grain a year. The marl works was operated 
by H. Monroe & Company of Syracuse. The mar] was dug in Seneca County and shipped 
by boat to Cayuga and New York City. In 1882 Augustus Dunckel, a native of New York, 
with others, purchased the malt-mill of Kyle, Howell & Co. It functioned under the name 
of Neidlinger & Son. Augustus Dunckel continued the business until his death in 1896.

Mr. George Kyle also carried on an extensive coal, lumber, and grain business. At that 
time, George Kyle was considered one of the leading business men in the village. He was 
rated as a gentleman by his fellow citizens. He sold his warehouse to the firm of Neidlinger 
& Son.

The two oldest streets in the village are Court and Main Streets. The houses now occupied 
by Stanley R. Cummings and Charles D. Kyle were built as early as 1793 and 1799. The 
old style house to the right of the Laneway, now used as the Masonic Lodge and for 
political elections, was built about 1881 by Sevellon A. Brown for his father, who came to 
Cayuga about 1843, and resided upon the same location. Other old houses on Court Street 
are the house now occupied by Mr. Wilkie, built about 1850 by Mr' Morse, who set out 
the chestnut trees which border the street; Miss Frances E. Olds' house, built by her father 
in about the same year as Wilkie's; the house which stands on the right hand corner of 
Bennedict Hill, at present occupied by Mrs. Clarence D. Shank, built about 1830; and Miss 
Anna Van Sickle's residence, built by her father, John R. Van Sickle, in 1870.

"Pious Hollow", the east end of Main Street, was among orchards as late as 1860; Michael 
Martin's

====


Later Settlement

45

house, Mrs. Newcomb's, and William Orman's were all erected before 1855. The house 
now occupied by Mr. Joseph Hamilton was built about 1840 by John Willey, a cobbler. 
The cobbler shop was located on the present property belonging to Ruth Dundon.

Center Street ran likewise through orchards, mostly owned by Mrs. Lalliette, until as 
recently as 1878. "Tumble-Inn", built by Dr. Jonathan Whitney in 1800; the district School 
erected in 1846; and the Davis Hall made up the street before that date. The Methodist 
Church erected in 1868 and the Episcopal Church in 1871, closely followed by other 
residences changed the street to its present appearance. The lower Bennedict Hill was 
formerly a deep gully.

Lake Street in its first history consisted of the Lalliette's estate, which extended from the 
Laneway to lower Bennedict Hill, and the Cayuga Academy.

Lake Street consisted of the following buildings: the Cayuga Academy, now the Mersereau 
estate; the Lyon estate, which extended from the Academy to Wheat Street; the Cemetery 
and the "Hutchinson Homestead". The "White Storehouse", a huge pile of logs with a saw-
mill, and some horse stables, composed the buildings strung along the lake side of the 
street. The present Candee's house was built in 1865; Dr. Witbeck's about 1892 by George 
Clark; and the Wayne's residence by John MacGraph in 1887. The old Hutchinson 
homestead was formerly located on the lake side of the street, opposite the present 
homestead, and was built in 1816 by John Davis, a prospector from Pennsylvania.

I Main Street from the earliest days was the busiest and principal street in the village. There

===

46

History of Cayuga

were seven taverns on it; many large residences which have been mentioned; the Titus 
House, managed in its latter years by James Olds in 1852 and James Baily from 1875 to 
1900, when it was destroyed by fire. Dr. Isaac Shaw's residence was on the site of the late 
Jack Mansfield's house on Court Street, just north of Main Street; but it burned. John 
Oliver, who married Dr. Shaw's daughter, Mary, built the present house in 1879 on the 
northeast corner of Main and Court Streets. Augustus Dunckel built the present house 
where his widow and daughter now reside. about 1885; and John C. Freese built his 
residence a year later, now occupied by his granddaughter, Mrs. Edwin H. Smith. The 
house now owned by Will Chappell was also erected that year. The front part of the large 
house where the late John E. McIntosh resided, was built in 1857 by his father, John; and 
was remodelled and enlarged in 1899. Where the flower gardens are now was the site of 
the family's barn; and not until 1907 was the old Cummings' house torn down, the land 
graded, and added to the present McIntosh estate.

About 1856 John R. VanSickle opened a general country store where Walter Warrick at 
present is conducting a similar one. John Mansfield bought the building of Mrs. John 
Curry and owned it for many years. Mr. Warrick bought it of him.

The grocery store of Lamb & Odell started in 1890 and closed in 1919.

Besides conducting a store in the village, John R. VanSickle bought up grain throughout 
this part of the country and shipped it by canal to New York City. He was a successful 
grain buyer.

As early as 1856 the Masonic Lodge in Cayuga received its charter. The Lodge Rooms 
were on

Later Settlement

47

the third floor of the Barrett Store which was next to Cummings' store on Main Street. 
John Morse was the first Master; Mr. Townsend was Senior Warden and John Barrett, 
Junior Warden. It moved to the Mansfield Block in 1910; from there to their present 
location in the Brown's house on Court Street, which they purchased in 1919. At the 
present time the Lodge has a membership of one hundred and twelve.

On Saint Patrick's Day, in the winter of 1869, occurred a great snow storm, which 
wrecked buildings from the weight of the snow. The huge Railroad woodshed, located 
where Shannon' s Ice plant formerly stood, south of the present Beacon Milling Company, 
caved in; and it never was rebuilt, because a year later the Railroad started in using coal. A 
similar storm came on January 29, 1925, when buildings were wrecked; railroad traffic 
held up for two days; and farmers sick in the country died for lack of medical aid.

In 1870 the New York Central Railroad Company began burning coal instead of wood. 
The company gave the remaining piles of wood to the villegers if they would haul it away. 
The first load of coal was brought by ferry from Ithaca by John Nostrand, a liveryman in 
Cayuga. Before that time coal was brought in small quantities by canal for household 
purposes.

A year later, in 1871, the Cayuga Lake Shore Railroad Company started building; and in 
1876 the road was doing business. It ran between Cayuga and Ithaca; and was consolidated 
into the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company.

James M. Stevenson came to Cayuga from a farm at Free Bridge three miles north of the 
village and purchased the farm of Samuel Willard.

====

48 	History of Cayuga

A year later, in 1871, his brother, George T. Stevenson, bought the adjoining land on the 
east side of Court Street and erected a mansion with beautiful lawns, noted for its species 
of rare trees. He kept his Cayuga estate for his summer residence, driving his span of 
horses each spring and returning to his winter home in Rochester in the autumn. He was a 
very sociable gentleman, and gave beautiful parties to which the Cayuga people were 
invited. He lost his wealth and left Cayuga in 1894, selling his farm to James Stevenson, 
and the house and grounds reverting to the Beardsley estate of Auburn.

James Roe Stevenson purchased his grandfather's, James Stevenson, farm; and has run it 
scientifically, specializing in alfalfa and apples. It is called " The Cayuga Fruit Farm". He 
has three children: Halsey Bidwell, Hope, and Arthur Fairchild Stevenson.

Dr. John H. Witbeck came to Cayuga in 1888, commencing his practice in the home of 
Mrs. Ann Gilland, now owned by Will Chappell on Main Street. Three years later he 
bought his present home on Lake Street of George Clark. He married twice: his first wife 
was Harriet Garrettson of Madison County, who died soon afterwards; and his second 
marriage was to Veronica McCarty of Auburn in 1904. They have one daughter, Dorothy 
Marie Witbeck.

During Dr. Witbeck's long practice in the village there have been four great epidemics: the 
first one occurred in 1888 and was a small-pox scare; the second in 1889, the first year of 
the grippe epidemic; the third in 1915 of the infantile paralysis plague, which ravaged the 
people of the Eastern part of the United States, but through

Later Settlement

49

the Doctor's vigilance, it was' kept out of the village; and fourth, an epidemic of influenza 
which swept throughout the whole world after The Great War, killing thousands in 1917-
1918. In the larger cities coffins were piled high in cemeteries, waiting for burial.

The Mansfield House was built in 1884 by William Mansfield, who ran it partly as a saloon 
and partly as a hotel. The Bar and Lunch Room of James Heiffer's was built in 1898. 
Many a political argument took place here, resulting occasionally in fist fights.

The Mansfield's block was erected in 1910; and is used as a grocery and meat market; the 
second floor is occasionally used as the Village Hall.

The first ice plant was run by William Hutchinson in about 1855, who sold out three years 
later to the Cayuga Lake Ice Line, a company composed of men of New York City. After 
five years of successful business, their ice plant burned, after which they retired from the 
concern.

Another ice plant was started in 1894 by John H. Stoneburg, who did an extensive 
business with the New York Central Railroad Company until quite recently.

The third plant was operated by E. L. Thornton of Auburn Just south of the New York 
Central station. After a few years E. L. Thornton sold out to Wade Shannon, who also later 
bought the Stoneburg Plant.

In 1898 the side-wheel steamboat, Ithaca, burned to the water's edge while she was tied up 
at the dock for the night near the New York Central station. Her Captain, Van Order, lost 
many personal things as did the rest of the crew.


====

50	History of Cayuga


The burning craft was shoved away from the pier in order to prevent it from catching on 
fire, but the boat drifted back and sank, showing her funnel and hull for many years, and 
causing an untidy appearance along the lake front. The Ithaca was built in 1870 by T. D. 
Wilcox of Ithaca, and bore his name until Mrs. Hunt, also of Ithaca, changed it to its 
present name.

The short period 1899 to 1900 was a year of big fires in the village: The first fire occurred 
on the night of September 6, 1899 in the kitchen of the old depot restaurant and spread 
rapidly throughout the building. Then the flames spread across the railroad tracks to the 
famous old hotel erected in about 1859, which had been used by the patrons of the original 
steamship lines. The depot, restaurant, and hotel were completely destroyed. That ended 
the contract of the New York Central Railroad Company with Roswell G. Bennedict by 
which all passenger trains must stop for ten minutes to allow passengers time for 
refreshments. The restaurant was noted throughout the county for its waste of time to 
travellers.

The second fire happened early in the morning of June 26, 1900 and destroyed three 
buildings: The Village Hall, owned by Miss J. Elizabeth McIntosh; the house of James 
Muldoon, the village blacksmith; and the Cayuga Union School building, on Center Street. 
The fire started in the west end of the Hall, and as there was a brisk south wind at that time 
it soon destroyed the three buildings.

The last great village fire was during the fall of 1900 which burned to the ground the old 
Titus House, situated on the corner of Main and Lake Streets. It was an old landmark in 
Cayuga County.


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52 	History of Cayuga

Mrs. James Balley was the proprietress of the hotel at that time. All of these big fires were 
believed to be of incendiary origin, but the culprit remained unknown.

It was during the year of the village fires that the first automobile came to Cayuga. On May 
20, 1900, Alvin J. Belden of Syracuse came to visit John E. McIntosh. The make of the 
car was a " Whi te- steamer"; and when it was about to ascend a hill, the driver started 
pumping, in order to get up sufficient pressure to reach the top. John E. McIntosh made 
fun of it; but Alvin J. Belden boasted: " In twenty-five years the country will be flooded 
with automobiles"! His boast has come true; for in 1926 there is one car to every four 
persons in the United States. About two years later Warren A. Baker owned the first 
automobile in the town; followed soon afterwards by Dr. John H. Witbeck.  

About 1905 on a Sunday morning the old Erie Canal drawbridge was raised for "The 
Agnes", Captain Hamilton's boat, on its way to New York City with grain. At the same 
time a New York Central passenger train was going east, and the engineer, failing to see 
the signal for warning, ran the engine into the canal. No one was killed, but the passengers 
were badly shaken up, and the engineer and fireman only escaped death by being thrown 
out of the caboose and swimming ashore-the fireman to the left and the engineer to the right 
of the engine. There have been four such accidents during the history of the drawbridge, all 
but one happening on Sunday.

It was through the efforts of Governor Theodore Roosevelt that the present barge canal was 
started in 1886; in 1900 the investigation was made

Later Settlement

53

for its appropriation; and in 1903 passed by the people of New York State and signed by 
Governor Benjamin B. Odell, Jr. It was not, however, until 1914, under Governor Charles 
Whitman's term of office, that the building of the Barge Canal was begun near Albany; and 
the Cayuga branch of it was completed in 1917. The new Canal demanded a larger and 
higher bridge, and the present bridge was erected. The little Erie Canal drawbridge was 
abandoned, and a trestle-like bridge put in its place. In order to raise the present Barge 
Canal bridge to its height, the Railroad tracks were raised considerably higher, the grade 
commencing at the Cayuga station. The job for the Railroad Company was done by the 
Welch Construction Company of Davenport, Ohio, and was completed in two years.

On July 1, 1920 the Beacon Milling Company, Inc., started up in Cayuga. It located in the 
building formerly owned by the American Malting Company. It started with a capital of 
$200,000; thirty-five men in employment; and a tonnage of eighteen hundred tons a month. 
Their present capital is $300,000; fifty-three men are employed; and it has a tonnage of 
forty-six hundred a month. It makes a general line of stock feed for poultry, dairy, and 
horses.

Electric lights were installed in the village in 1921; the Beacon Milling Company making it 
possible for an extension line of the Empire, Gas and Electric Co. to reach Cayuga. 
Eighteen years ago, the Gas Company came through. The village is still without a water 
and sewerage system.

The population in 1800 was about 200 inhabitants; in 1905 it was 400; and in 1927 it was 
370.

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page 54 	History of Cayuga

In the summer time the number Is considerably increased, for there are many outside 
people who own cottages along the lake shore.

The village was incorporated in 1857, and reincorporated under the general law February 
16, 1874. The officers of the first election were: F. H. Lyon, William G. Wayne, John 
McIntosh, Henry Willard illard, and William Mersereau. In 1878 those who held office 
were: John M. Freese, President; Frederick X. Youngs, Clerk; A. A. Quigley, Treasurer; 
and James A. Bailey, Jonathan Warrick, and William Mersereau, Treasurer and Assessors. 
The present (1926) officers are: Fred T. Wiley, President; E. R. Wilkie, George Tavener, 
Trustees; W. J. Warrick, Treasurer; and Stanley R. Cummings, Clerk. Romeyn R. Candee 
held the office of Justice of the Peace for many years; that office is at present vacant.

In summing up the history of Cayuga Village it is apparent that if Cayuga has never reached 
that height which her pioneers had planned, and has never grown to be a city, yet Cayuga 
has not gone backwards. The little town has lost many prominent men, and the citizens 
have changed from business and professional occupations to that of labor; yet the village 
has a prosperous appearance. The homes of the villagers are well cared for, giving a 
tranquility to the place. The roads are kept in good condition; electric lights hang over the 
streets in place of the lamp-posts; beautiful trees shade the pedestrians as they go quietly 
about their business-all in an equilibrium which has always been characteristic of Cayuga.

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THE CHURCHES

CHAPTER THREE

LONG before New York State was settled by the English, a Jesuit Mission was established 
at Cayuga in November, 1668 by Father de Carheil. The Jesuit Missionaries were French 
Priests, who had entered America on Canadian soil with the French Explorers. Most likely 
Father de Carheil explored the wilderness in what is now New York State, and worked 
among the Cayuga Indians. He writes of the Cayugas as follows: " I find the people more 
tractable and less fierce than the Onondagas or the Oneidas".*  And the territory 
surrounding Cayuga as: "Lake Tiohero adjacent to the village is fourteen leagues long by 
one or two wide, it abounds with swan and geese through the winter, and in the spring 
nothing is seen but continual Clouds of all sorts of game"! These Jesuit Missionaries were 
men of high courage and utter sacrifice of self, which has rarely been equalled. But their 
work was in vain for, whereas they undoubtedly converted individual souls, they were 
unable to convert the whole Indian race to Christianity.

As soon as Father de Carheil arrived in what is now the village of Cayuga, he and Father 
Garnier, a Jesuit Missionary, began the building of a chapel, which was completed on 
November 9, 1668, and dedicated to Saint Joseph. Father de Carheil worked among the 
Cayugas until 1671,

Cayuga Indian Reservation and Col. John Harris" by John VanSickle.

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