New Hartford is a
town in
Oneida County, New York, United States. As of the
2010 census, the town population was 22,166. The name of New Hartford was provided by a settler family from
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
.
The Town of New Hartford contains a
village named
New Hartford. New Hartford is the largest suburb of
Utica, which is located directly north of the town and village.
History
New Hartford was settled in March 1788 when
Jedediah Sanger, who was bankrupted in 1784 by a fire at his farm in
Jaffrey, New Hampshire moved to the area.
[History of Oneida County New York, Samuel W. Durant, Philadelphia, Everts & Gariss, 1878]
Sanger Land Purchase
Common history
According to the earliest recorded history (''Annals and Recollections of Oneida County, Jones, 1851''), Sanger bought of land at a price of fifty cents an acre. This land, thought to be separated into two equal parts by the
Sauquoit Creek
Sauquoit Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 31, 2015 river in New York, United States. It lies within the southern part of Oneida County. The creek flow ...
, was part of the
Town of Whitestown at the time. Within a year, Sanger sold the area east of the creek to Joseph Higbee, the areas' second resident, for one dollar per acre. A subsequent survey found this area was .
[Annals and recollections of Oneida County, Jones Pomroy, Rome, NY 1851]
Possible inaccuracy
This narrative of a 1000-acre purchase by Sanger for $500 and the ensuing resale to Higbee of half the land for $500 (a 100% profit) is repeated in ''The History of Oneida County, New York by Samuel W. Durant, 1878'' which used the ''Jones' Annals'' of 1851 as a primary reference. The story was expressed in an address at the 1888 New Hartford
Centennial by Henry Hurlburt, again citing ''Jones' Annals'' as his source.
[Transactions of the Oneida Historical Society at Utica, New Hartford Centennial, 1889] It is again repeated in ''Our County and Its People: A Descriptive Work on Oneida County, New York, Wager, 1896''.
However, a footnote in ''Transactions of the Oneida Historical Society at Utica, New Hartford Centennial, 1889'', which documented the 1888 centennial, questions the validity of the story through research of property deed records. The footnote cites one deed for the sale of four 492 acre lots from John G. Leake to Sanger in November 1790 for approximately $1.16 per acre (US dollars were not the currency in use at the time), and another deed shows the sale of one of the four lots to Higbee in December 1791 for approximately $1.06 per acre. Also listed is a deed conveying to Sanger from George Washington and George Clinton for $1.27 per acre in 1790.
From the recorded deeds, the land Sanger sold to Hibgee was sold for slightly less than the price originally paid by Sanger.
In spite of the research done in 1889, the original story is popularly told. This version can be found at the Town of New Hartford website and is attributed to the New Hartford Historical Society:
"Sanger traveled to Philadelphia and purchased of land at $.50 per acre on credit from George Washington and George Clinton. The following year he shrewdly sold a little over half the land on the east side of the Sauquoit Creek to Joseph Higbee (Higby) at $1.00 per acre."
Other land
Present-day New Hartford covers over in area, considerably more than that contained in Sanger's original purchases. Sanger's purchase had been part of the Coxe
Patent, land purchased directly from the
colonial government of New York.
Other portions of New Hartford is made up of land from the following Patents:
[History of the Lumber Industry of America, Volume 2 By James Elliott Defebaugh, 1907, The American Lumberman]
*Bayard Patent, deeded on June 12, 1771, to William Bayard, Alexander Ellis, and fifty-three others
*Sadaqueda (Sauquoit) Patent, deeded on June 25, 1736, to Fredrick Morris, Lendert Gasenvoort and others
*Cosby's Manor, deeded on January 2, 1734, to Joseph Worrell and 10 others
*Coxe Patent, deeded on May 30, 1770, to William Coxe, Daniel Coxe, Rebecca Coxe, John Tabor Kempe and his wife Grace (Coxe). Daniel, William, and Rebecca were the children of
Daniel Coxe, Jr.
Colonel Daniel Coxe IV (1673–1739), son of Dr. Daniel Coxe, went to his father's North American lands. He lived in the American colonies from 1702 to 1716 and from 1725 until his death in 1739. After returning to England in 1716, he published ...
and grandchildren of
Daniel Coxe
Daniel Coxe III ( – January 19, 1730) was an English physician and governor of West Jersey from 1687 to 1688 and 1689 to 1692.
Biography
The Coxe family traced their lineage to a Daniel Coxe who lived in Somersetshire, England, in the 13th c ...
Kempe was
Attorney General of New York
The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government o ...
at the time and remained loyal to England during the Revolution. As a
loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
, his property was confiscated after the war and the Coxe patent was divided with General
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
, General
DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the seventh governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely res ...
, and Colonel
Marinus Willett
Colonel Marinus Willett (July 31, 1740 – August 22, 1830) was an American military officer, politician and merchant who served as the mayor of New York City from 1807 to 1808. Willett is best known for his actions during the American Revolut ...
owning large parts of the patent.
[Our County and Its People:A Descriptive Work on Oneida County, New York, Daniel Elbridge Wager, The Boston History Company, 1896]
Early settlers
In 1789, Sanger relocated his family to the settlement and erected a sawmill. A gristmill was added in 1790. Both mills utilized the water of the Sauquoit for power.
Another early settler was General Oliver Collins (1762-1838),
Connecticut native,
Revolutionary War veteran and father of future
Congressman
A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...
Ela Collins. Collins settled a farm in the area then known as Middle Settlement in 1789 and resided there until his death. Shortly after arriving, he was
commissioned Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in the local
militia and rose to the rank of
Brigadier-general
Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...
at the time of the
War of 1812. Eli Butler arrived from
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...
, also in 1789.
John French (1766-1839) arrived from
New Hampshire in 1792 and settled another farm, as did Colonel Nathan Seward (1758-1815) of Connecticut,
also a Revolutionary War veteran.
Other settlers included Nathan Seward, Ashbel Beach, Amos Ives, Solomon Blodget, Salmon Butler, Joel Blair, Agift Hill, Stephen Bushnell, Joseph Jennings.
Captain David Risley, Revolutionary War veteran and brother Allen Risley, and Truman and Webster Kellogg settled in the area that is now the hamlet of
Washington Mills.
There were two families named Olmstead, and a Seymour, Hurlburt, Kilborn, and Montague. More settlers from Connecticut were Henry Blackstone, Zenas Gibbs, Ashbel Tylor, and Nehemiah Ensworth (from
Canterbury), all arriving in 1791. The first child born to the settlers was Uriel H. Kellogg.
Civic formation
Thirty-nine years after Sanger arrived, the Town of New Hartford was created on April 12, 1827, formed from the Town of Whitestown. Whitestown originally contained all of New York state west of
Herkimer, and was subsequently split into many counties and towns with New Hartford being the last. The legislative act was entitled "An Act to Divide the Town of Whitestown, in the County of Oneida." The early settlers had adopted the name New Hartford for the settlement, and the name was retained for the town.
The first town meeting was held on April 24, 1827, and the following positions were filled:
Town supervisor,
Town Clerk,
Assessor
An assessor may be:
* ''Assessor'' (fish), a genus of fishes
* Assessor (law), the assistant to a judge or magistrate
* Assessor (Oxford), a senior officer of the University of Oxford
* Assessor (property), an expert who calculates the value of pr ...
s (3), Commissioner of Highways (3),
Overseers of the Poor (2),
Collector, Commissioners of Common Schools (3), Inspectors of Schools (3).
Seven years later, the town was enlarged, with a piece of the
Town of Kirkland by legislative act on April 26, 1834.
The legislature passed an act on November 22, 1855, transferring a small part of New Hartford,
Westmoreland, and Whitestown to Kirkland, enabling the hamlet of
Clark Mills to be contained entirely within Kirkland instead of being partly within four different towns.
Village of New Hartford
The
Village of New Hartford was incorporated in 1870, from approximately of the town by a vote of 32 to 9. On December 21, 1871, the area of the village east of the Sauquoit Creek was reverted to the town.
Early manufacturing and commerce
Many manufacturing ventures started in New Hartford after its settlement and throughout the 19th century.
*
Carpets
A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester have ...
: Ingrain carpets were made on the first ingrain loom in the state by an Englishman named Butterfield.
Ingrain carpets are a reversible, flat weave carpet popular from the 18th century to the early 20th century. This form of carpeting has no pile and the pattern is shown in opposing colors on both faces, making it possible to turn the carpet over when one side was worn or soiled.
*
Nails: The first cut nails made in the state were produced by Jonathan Richardson, who purchased wine and liquor casks and made cut nails from the iron hoops of the casks.
*
Tanneries were established by Thomas and Ezekiel Williams, and another by Stephen Childs.
*
Paper and
Textiles
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
: Factories were established for the production of paper,
batting,
cotton cloth, and
knitted fabric.
The earliest manufacturing operations were concentrated along the Sauquoit Creek and utilized
water as the primary power source. The power of the creek was the reason that New Hartford had such extensive manufacturing operations for a town of its size. Business in New Hartford exceeded that of
Utica due to the water power of the creek.
Most factories later transitioned to
steam power
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...
.
Another boon to the economy of New Hartford was the
Seneca Turnpike
The Seneca Road Company was formed to improve the main road running west from Utica, New York, the Genesee Road, from Utica to Canandaigua and operate it as a toll road or turnpike. The road was originally laid out in 1794 from Baggs Square in down ...
, a
toll road connecting Utica to the western part of the state. The
Seneca Road Company was formed in 1800 to improve the main road running west from Utica, NY and operate it as a toll road or turnpike. The original road ran north of New Hartford, but Jedediah Sanger purchased stock in the company and through his influence, the turnpike was routed through New Hartford.
The turnpike traffic made New Hartford prosper, outstripping other towns in the area and rivaling neighboring Utica until the
Erie Canal was constructed through Utica, removing most cross-state traffic from New Hartford. Utica then grew into a large city and New Hartford continues to this day to be a suburb.
Education
New Hartford is served by the
New Hartford Central School District
New Hartford is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 22,166. The name of New Hartford was provided by a settler family from Hartford, Connecticut.
The Town of New Hartford contains a v ...
. In 2016, the border between the
Utica City School District
The Utica City School District is a public school district coterminous with the city of Utica, New York, United States. It is a highly diverse urban district, having 69% racial minority students and 17% students who are English language learner ...
and New Hartford Central School District was identified by the non-profit EdBuild as the 12th most segregating school district borders in the United States.
Elementary schools
* Bradley Elementary School
* E.R. Hughes Elementary School
* Robert E. Myles Elementary School
Middle schools
* Ralph W. Perry Junior High School
High schools
*
New Hartford Senior High School
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
Geography
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and (0.39%) is water.
The eastern town line is formed by the boundaries of the towns of
Litchfield and
Frankfort in
Herkimer County.
New Hartford has become the retail mecca of
Oneida County, offering multiple strip malls and an enclosed mall within the town and village limits. The retail includes; The Orchard, Consumer Square, New Hartford Shopping Center, Sangertown Square Mall, with additional free standing shops.
Historic Places
The following is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places:
*
St. Stephen's Church
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 21,172 people, 8,601 households, and 5,625 families residing in the town. The
population density was 834.1 people per square mile (322.1/km
2. There were 9,084 housing units at an average density of 357.9 per square mile 138.2/km
2. The racial makeup of the town was 96.03%
White, 0.80%
Black or
African American, 0.10%
Native American, 2.34%
Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander, 0.21% from
other races, and 0.51% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 0.73% of the population.
There were 8,601 households, out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were
married couples
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.6% were non-families. 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.94.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 23.6% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 23.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $45,991, and the median income for a family was $60,843. Males had a median income of $40,046 versus $28,532 for females. The
per capita income for the town was $26,528. About 3.4% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 4.4% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.
42% of New Hartford residents ages 25 and older have a bachelor's or advanced college degree.
Communities and locations in New Hartford
*Chadwicks – A
hamlet near the southern town line.
*
New Hartford – A village in the eastern part of the town.
*
Washington Mills – A hamlet south of New Hartford village on
NY 8.
*
New York Mills – A village north of New Hartford village approximately one-third within the town and the remainder within the town of
Whitestown.
Notable people
*
William Williams (printer and publisher) Printer and publisher, printer, elder of Presbyterian Church
*
William John Murphy
William John Murphy (August 23, 1839 – April 17, 1923) was an American businessman, contractor, land developer and founder of the Arizona Improvement Company. He is also remembered as the "Founder of Glendale, Arizona" and an important contrib ...
, born in 1839. Murphy is the founder of the city of
Glendale, Arizona
Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located approximately northwest of Downtown Phoenix. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 248,325.
History
In the la ...
.
*
Andy Van Slyke, born December 21, 1960, in
Utica, New York) raised in New Hartford, is a retired
Major League Baseball outfielder and former
first base
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
coach for the
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
. He is currently the
first base
A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
coach for the
Seattle Mariners.
*
Waleed Abdalati, raised in New Hartford, Class of 1982, served as NASA Chief Scientist and is Currently Director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado in Boulder.
*
Joe Bonamassa, (born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer.
*
Chuck Garvey and
Al Schnier are guitarists in the jam band
moe.
Moe (stylized as moe.) is an American jam rock band, formed at the University at Buffalo in 1989. The band members are Rob Derhak ( bass, vocals), Al Schnier (guitar, vocals, keyboard), Chuck Garvey (guitar, vocals), Vinnie Amico (drums), and J ...
*
Henry Palmer, born in 1827. Palmer was a surgeon in the
Union Army during the
American Civil War.
*
Frederick S. Martin
Frederick Stanley Martin (April 25, 1794 – June 28, 1865) was a U.S. Representative from New York.
Biography
Born in West Haven, Vermont, Martin went to New Hartford, New York, in 1804 and attended the local schools. He moved to Whitehall, Ne ...
, former US Congressman.
*
James Wilson Seaton
James Wilson Seaton (May 28, 1824February 11, 1904) was an American lawyer, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He served in the Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly, representing Grant County.
Biography
Born in New Hartford, New Yor ...
, Wisconsin lawyer and legislator.
*
Claudia Tenney
Claudia L. Tenney (born February 4, 1961) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 22nd congressional district since 2021, having previously represented the district from 2017 to 2019. Her district ...
, lawyer, publisher, commentator and politician.
*
Mike Zalewski
Michael Zalewski (born August 18, 1992) is an American professional ice hockey player. He is currently under contract with EC KAC of the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL). Zalewski has previously played with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hocke ...
, professional hockey player in the NHL.
*
Joel de la Fuente, actor.
*
Steven Zalewski
Steven Zalewski (born August 20, 1986) is an American former professional ice hockey center. He most recently played with the Straubing Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL). Zalewski was drafted 153rd overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by ...
, professional hockey player in the NHL.
*
Derek Bard, professional golfer, currently on the
PGA Tour Latinoamérica.
*
Roswell B. Mason, Mayor of
Chicago during the
Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
*
Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist who is the technical lead of the
COVID-19 response and the head of the emerging diseases and
zoonosis unit at the
World Health Organization (WHO).
References
External links
Town of New Hartford, NYNew Hartford CSD - District Home
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Hartford (Town), New York
Utica–Rome metropolitan area
1827 establishments in New York (state)
Populated places established in 1827
Towns in Oneida County, New York