How Utica, NY got its name: This week in Mohawk Valley history
1798, 225 years ago
What's in a name?
Erastus Clark, a graduate of Dartmouth College and now an attorney in the village of Old Fort Schuyler, sits arms folded and eyes shut at a large table in the public room in Bagg's Tavern, at John and Main streets. He is hard at work thinking, as are 12 other gentlemen seated at the table.
Last week, the hamlet of Old Fort Schuyler was incorporated as a village by the state Legislature in Albany and some villagers think it is the ideal time to give the new village a new name. The old name, they say, is too long and awkward to pronounce. Others disagree and want the village to retain its name. Thirteen prominent gentlemen are chosen by villagers to settle the matter.
And so now they sit in Bagg's Tavern, thinking and debating. (The debate later was described as long and heated.) Any record of the meeting has been lost, but tradition says it went something like this: Each man is asked to write on a slip of paper his choice for the village's name and then place the slip in a hat on the table. The first slip picked out of the hat will be the village's new name. Among the names written are Washington, Washingtonville, Jefferson, Kent (a county in England) and Skenandoah (the great Oneida chief who sided with the Americans during the Revolutionary War).
Clark, a student of the classics, had just finished reading about a city in ancient North Africa called "Utica" and its involvement in the battles between Rome and Carthage more than 2,000 years ago. (The city no longer exists, but was about 20 miles northeast of today's Tunis in Tunisia.) Clark writes "Utica" on his slip of paper and it is the first one picked. (Clark was born on May 11, 1763 in Lebanon, Connecticut. His maternal grandmother was the sister of the great American theologian, Jonathan Edwards. Clark moved his law offices to Clinton in Central New York in 1791 and to Old Fort Schuyler in 1797. He was listed as a trustee of Hamilton College in its original charter. He died on Nov. 7, 1825 at age 62.)
1923, 100 years ago
New street proposed
Private developers want to buy from Utica the abandoned Erie Canal property which goes through the center of the city. Most Uticans, however, do not want the city to sell, but build instead a wide street along the canal bed. Former Mayor James Smith agrees and says, "We need another east-west thoroughfare to attract travelers to our downtown area." (The city eventually did fill in the canal and build a wide street and named it Oriskany Street.)
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1948, 75 years ago
Golf course opens
Valley View, Utica's municipal golf course, opens for the season. Daily fees have been raised from 50 cents to 75 cents and from 75 cents to one dollar on weekends. Lockers are three dollars a year.
1973, 50 years ago
They're winners
Utica's Cosmopolitan Community Center basketball team wins the Inter-City Center Tournament in Rochester for boys 12 to 14. The Ernest Jones-coached team includes Edward Blackshear, Al Brown, Carl Holt, Norman Williams, Willie Coleman, Bill Harvey, Jamie Brown and Willie Dexter.
At Westmoreland Central School, the junior class and Drama Club present the rock musical, "Your Own Thing." Performers include Lynn Parker, Jim Mahanna, Tim Matt and Bill Scraton.
1998, 25 years ago
Village budgets
The New Hartford village board passes a $1,442,000 budget, an increase of $118,000 over last year. The tax rate will decrease 98 cents — $46,11 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. In Clinton, meanwhile, the village board passes a $1,007,321 budget. The tax rate will not change — $6.21 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Marolyn Wilson is named "woman of distinction" by the Foothills Girl Scout Council. Wilson, vice president of Holland Farms Bakery and Deli, is active in scouting. The council says, "She is held in high esteem by her peers and sets a powerful and positive example for girls to follow."
In high school baseball, West Canada Valley defeats Little Falls, 2 to 1, behind the pitching of Brian VanVechten and Seth Crossett and the hitting of Kade Pogonowski and Dale Dygert. Meanwhile, Eddie Firpo strikes out 12 as Rome Free Academy beats Auburn, 5 to 2. Camden defeats Liverpool, 5 to 3 behind the pitching of Doug Johnson (who also gets three hits) and the hitting of Jeb Moore, Jed Musch and Anthony Gonzalez.
Cynthia Shepherd, of Ilion, is named executive director of the Abraham House in Utica.
2013, 10 years ago
College council
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo names John S. Bay to the SUNYIT College Council in Marcy. He is vice president and chief scientist for Assured Information Security in Rome. Cuomo also appoints Christopher Giruzzi, a partner in the Giruzzi Law offices in Utica; and Nicole M. Hinman, an assistant attorney for Oneida County. Darlene Burns, meanwhile, is reappointed to the council. She is former president and chief executive officer of the Rome Memorial Hospital.
In high school baseball, New York Mills defeats Oneida, 2 to 1, behind the pitching of Griffin Baur and the play of Shawn Kula, J.T. Ross and Zach Vennaro. Oneida is led by the hitting of Mitch Cavanaugh and Drew Mallinder.
Trivia quiz
I'll name the secreraries of state, you name the U.S. presidents they served. (1) William H. Seward. (2) Madeleine K. Albright. (3) Alexander Haig Jr. (4) John Foster Dulles. (5) Cordell Hull. (Answers will appear here next week.)
Answer to last week's question: Of the 50 president's wives in U.S. history, six are living today — Rosalyn Smith Carter, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Laura Welsh Bush, Michelle Robinson Obama, Melania Knass Trump and Jill Jacobs Biden.
This Week in History is researched and written by Frank Tomaino. E-mail him at ftomaino221@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: How Utica, NY got its name: Mohawk Valley history column
