Wordless Wednesday: Elizabeth Cady Stanton

 

Titus House

The Titus House

Where did people stay when they traveled in the early United States? People were traveling by land in stagecoaches and wagons as well as on foot and horseback. Some people were migrating and others were moving about on business. Many could not reach their destination in a day. Some would camp out along the route, but this was very uncomfortable, especially in wet or cold weather. Thus, inns sprung up along the trails and routes that crisscrossed through the wilderness to settlements, towns and cities. Many were spaced the distance apart of a days travel. Others were placed near where travelers would stop such as the edges of cities, near ferries or even just before a toll bridge.

One such inn was known as the Titus House. It was on the Genesee Trail going across New York State. Originally situated fairly near the ferry on that road, it was an ideal place to wait. The ferry took travelers across Cayuga Lake at the north-end, just short of the swampy area that leads into the Montezuma Marshes. Later the long bridge was built near this ferry as a replacement. It was at one time the longest bridge in New York State. How near to the bridge was the Inn? A traveler looking out the front windows of the could gaze out over Cayuga Lake and slightly to the north, the bridge. It would take less than one minute to reach the east-end of the bridge from the front door of the Inn.

It had various owners over the years, however the most well known was David Sands Titus. Born in Dutchess County of the Quaker family of Gilbert and Jane (Hoag) Titus, he migrated westward in 1829. His somewhat unusual name comes from a son of a Presbyterian minister. The original David Sands joined the Quakers at Nine Partners meeting in Dutchess County and was instrumental in the founding of Cornwall monthly meeting in Westchester County. Many Quaker boys were given the compound name of “David Sands” in his honor. It was not unusual for a Quaker to settle in Cayuga County. A meeting, their name for a church, was just south of Cayuga in the village of Union Springs. In fact, they later moved the Oakwood Seminary (a Quaker boarding school) from Dutchess County to Union Springs.

David Sands was a farmer originally, but had also been a butcher while living in Beekman in Dutchess County. Here he opened the inn, but was often absent from there.He also had another job collecting tolls on the Erie Canal at nearby Montezuma. While gone from the tavern, his wife, the former, Julia Coapman, and son, Hiram would run it. He also held office in a training regiment for the district for about three years.

A story that has been told about the determination of Julia is the following: David Sands was going to Albany on business and wife, Julia, wanted to go with him. Now, David Sands Titus was a strong-willed man and didn’t hesitate to tell her “no.” He left without her, went to Weedsport and caught a Canal boat to Albany. Checking into the hotel at Albany, he opened his hotel room door to find sitting there, waiting for him, none other than Julia who had arrived earlier by train!

Hiram who helped in his father’s tavern, became a farmer as an adult. He owned a great deal of acreage in the town of Aurelius. He raised prize-winning cattle and horses, His home, a house on the Genesee Road with massive columns across the front, still stands today,

An older brother, Daniel Titus, was postmaster in Aurelius, from 1835-1841. Primarily a farmer, he owned land in Aurelius. He was killed in a rather grizzly railroad accident when tried to race his horse and buggy across the tracks late at night as a train approached. The train was much closer than he apparently realized. The Cayuga Chief newspaper printed the story of his demise in detail and blamed alcohol for it. They later retracted some of the blame which leads me to believe that a weary Daniel was trying to reach home and urged his horse on thinking he had more time than he did. Daniel was 53 when he died, leaving his wife Maria (Lockwood) Titus to care for their 9 children ranging in age from Samuel, 24, down to Marion, three. Samuel was my great-great grandfather.

Hiram Titus' Home

Wordless Wednesday: Hobart & William Smith Colleges

 

Jefferson County Genealogy Society's Next Meeting

 

Who Is Copper John?

Many people who live in, work in, or frequently visit Auburn don’t know Copper John. Yet there he stands looking over the city, Where is he? He is high above the city at the entrance to the prison, When going down State Street, pause near the entrance and look up and you will see him, a Revolutionary Soldier standing guard.

In fact, that is one of the things about Copper John. Anybody in Auburn can see his face except for one large group— prisoners within the walls of Auburn Correctional Facility. They cannot see his face, as he is gazing towards the outside and there is only a small open space between the administrative building and the outside wall.

He has stood guard at the top of the administrative building since 1821, although the original statue was wooden. It was in 1848 that a new soldier exactly like the original was created in the prison’s metal shop out of copper. This is where his nickname comes from and what he has been called ever since. Copper John is about 8’ 8 1/2” tall and with his rifle stands over 11’ in the air.

Copper John was refurbished in 2004. The corrections department decided to smooth out his physique. Let’s just leave it at he is now less endowed and more of a “Ken doll.”

The prison itself was built in 1817. This would be New York State’s second prison after Newgate in New York City. Massive blue and gray limestone walls face State Street, Wall Street, and Washington Street. The fourth side goes along the Owasco River and a little tiny street called Tehan Avenue.
The building of the prison brought about rock quarries and a water system in and around the growing city of Auburn.

The prison itself is a maximum-security prison and the original of “The Auburn System” of running prisons. Based on hard labor and silence at all times. Eventually, overcrowding in prisons made the silence unenforceable and things deteriorated into lax and corrupt routines by the guards. This system ended implementation in 1900. The stereotypical uniform of black and white stripes was developed under this system. Products produced in the shops were sold on the outside to help support the prison. Workshops of various kinds existed over the years. Perhaps the most well-known is one that continues to this day— producing license plates. At one time women were housed there as well in a separate building on the prison grounds.

Executions were done at Auburn prison. Do you know who “Old Sparky” is? That would be the nickname for the original electric chair. The first execution by electric chair was done in Auburn prison. A local bar has a chair that is said to be the original one.

It has been rumored that there was a choice between getting the prison and the Erie Canal in Auburn. Auburn chose to get the prison over having the Erie Canal come through the city. The path of the canal, however, does not support this story. It runs several miles north of Auburn through Weedsport and Port Byron. It would have had to have been diverted south to go through Auburn and would have added many miles of digging to do so.

Another rumor is that it was a choice between the prison and the state capital. Although possible, the state capital had long since been established at Albany by the time the first prisons were built in New York State. Would the state have gone to the trouble of moving the capital? I find that doubtful.

Wordless Wednesday: Mount Green Cemetery Romulus