ORISKANY MONUMENT, ONEIDA COUNTY, NEW YORK Copyright (c) 2002 by Laura Perkins. ************************************************************************ USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submittor has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. ************************************************************************ Dedication of the Oriskany Monument with a list of names. Source: Transactions of The Oneida Historical Society, at Utica, N. Y. 1881 – 1884, Printed by Ellis H. Roberts & Co., 1885. DEDICATION OF THE ORISKANY MONUMENT August 6, 1884 The monument erected by the Oneida County Historical Society to mark the spot where one hundred and seven years before the battle of Oriskany was fought and General Herkimer fell, was dedicated August 6, 1884. The exercises were appropriate and successful in every way. The day was fine, and the attendance good. The little village of Oriskany and people living in the neighborhood joined in the spirit of the day and welcomed the visitors by numerous and profuse decorations of bunting and evergreen. When the exercises began there were about six thousand persons present. They came not only from Utica and Rome and intermediate points, but from points east of Utica and in the northern part of the country. They came in the cars, in canal steamboats, carryalls, hacks, carriages and wagons. They came on foot, on wheels and on horseback by hundreds and thousands. The exercises were held on the north or shady side of the monument. Two large American flags were draped above the roster tablet, and bouquets ornamented the tables on the platform. *(partially extracted) -From the Presentation Address, by John F. Seymour, Chairman of the Committee, as he describes the monument. You have before you the results of our efforts, in a monument, the top of which is 190 feet above the level of the water in the Erie Canal in the valley below you. The pedestal and shaft of this monument are 85 feet high, built upon a foundation which is 105 feet above the level of the canal, built by Mr. William Jones, of Utica, a master mason. Large as the pedestal and shaft appear, they contain less stone than the foundation beneath them. This foundation has a base of 24 feet and 4 inches square, with a top 20 feet and 2 inches square, and is laid in Portland and Howe's Cave cement 13 feet deep in the ground. The stone used for the foundation, for the shaft and the the backing of the granite pedestal is the limestone of the valley of the Mohawk and of the Onondaga county, the gift of the people of this State to your Society for the purposes of this monument. It is all laid in the best of Portland and Howe's Cave cement and with Schoharie sand. The pedestal is of granite, from the Mt. Waldo Granite works of Maine. It is 19 feet high, 20 feet square at its base and 8 feet 3 inches at its top. Upon this pedestal rests an obelisk 66 feet high. All of the masonry above the foundation is the work of Alexander Pirnie, of Remsen. On each side of the die of the pedestal is a bronze tablet six feet wide and four and a half feet high. Two of the bronzes, in bas relief, tell their own story, of the wounded general directing the battle, and the mortal conflict between the Indian and the white man. Of the two remaining tablets, one is a dedication written by Professor Edward North, of Hamilton College, and the other is a roster containing the names of all those engaged in the battle on our side, as far as we can ascertain them---only 250 out of 800---thus telling the deadly character of the conflict. These tablets are the work of the National Fine Arts Foundry, of the city of New York, carried on by Judge Maurice J. Power, who united with the Mt. Waldo Granite Works in the design and contract for the monument, dated July 4, 1882. We bought of Mr. William Ringrose five acres, (lacking thirteen rods,) of this battlefield, including the site of this monument, and have paid for the same. The cost of the land, and material, and labor, and fence, will not be less than $12,000. There were many speeches given that day, about the stories of the battle and the men who fought so gallantly. The exercises concluded with the singing of "The Star Spangled Banner" by William Spruce, whose ringing voice was heard by all. The crowd slowly dispersed. DEDICATORY INSCRIPTION ON BRONZE TABLET HERE WAS FOUGHT THE BATTLE OF ORISKANY, ON THE 6TH DAY OF AUGUST, 1777 HERE BRITISH INVASION WAS CHECKED AND THWARTED. HERE GENERAL NICHOLAS HERKIMER, INTREPID LEADER OF THE AMERICAN FORCES, THOUGH MORTALLY WOUNDED KEPT COMMAND OF THE FIGHT TILL THE ENEMY HAD FLED. THE LIFE-BLOOD OF MORE THAN TWO HUBDRED PATRIOT HEROES MADE THIS BATTLE GROUND SACRED FOREVER. THIS MONUMENT WAS BUILT A. D. 1883, IN THE YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE 107, BY GRATEFUL DWELLERS IN THE MOHAWK VALLEY, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE ONEIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY AIDED BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT AND THE STATE OF NEW YORK. APPENDIX. THE ORISKANY ROSTER, AS INSCRIBED ON THE BRONZE TABLET Brigadier General. Nicolaus Herchheimer. Colonels. Peter Bellinger, Ebenezer Cox, Jacob G. Klock, Frederick Visscher. Lieut. Colonels. Friedrich Bellinger, Samuel Campbell, Peter Wagner, Heinrich Walrath. Brigade Major. Johann Frey. Majors. John Blevin, John Eisenlord, Enos Klappsattel, John Newkirk, Wilhelm Sieber. Harmanus Van Slyck. Surgeons. Dr. Wilhelm Petry, Dr. Moses Younglove. Captains. Jacob Baumann, George H. Bell, Johann Brodbeck, Adam Copeman, John James Davis, Wilhelm Deichert, Johann Demuth, Heinrich Diefendorf, Andreas Dillenbach, Christoph P. Fox, Christoph W Fox, Jacob Gardinier, Christian Haus, Friedrich Helmer, Georg Herchheimer, Samuel Pettingall, Nicolaus Rector, Jacob Sieber, John Visscher, Robert Yates. Lieutenants Joseph Bailey, Robert Campbell, Samuel Clyde, Samuel Gardinier, Samuel Gray, Peter Groot, Jost Haus, Georg Helmer. Peter Loucks, Daniel McMaster, Dietrich M. Petrie. Han Jost Petrie, Wilhelm Petrie, Richard Putman, Abram D. Quackenbush, Johann Jost Scholl, Jeremiah Swart, Heinrich Timmermann, Martin C. Van Alstyne, Jacob Voltz, Peter Wagner, Jr. Privates. Jacob Alter, Abram Arndt, Melchert Bander, Jacob Baumann, Adam Bellinger, Johann Bellinger, Wilhelm P. Bellinger, George Henry Bell, Joseph Bell, Nicholas Bell, Peter Berge, Samuel Billington, Johann Boyer, Major Blauwaldt, Naome Brooks, Jacob Clemens, Samuel Cone, Peter Covenhoven, Isaak Covenhoven, John Cook, William Cox, Jacob Collier, Andrew Cunningham, Benjamin Davis, Martinus Davis, Thomas Davy, Johann Dachstadter, Heindrich Decker, Emanuel DeGraaf, Georg Deichert, Johann Deichert, Peter S. Deichert, Johann Diefendorf Peter Dorn, Garret Dunckel, Nicolaus Dunckel, Peter Dunckel, Peter Ehle, William Ehle, Jacob Empie, Johann Eyster, Jacob Fehling, Heinrich Fehling, Heinrich N Fehling, Conrad Voltz, Peter Voltz, Adam Fonda, Karl Fox, Christoph Fox, Friedrich Fox, Peter Fox, Wilhelm Fox, Valentin Froelich, Samuel Gardinier, Georg Goertner, --------_Graves, Nicholaus Gray, Silas Gray, Lorenz Gross, Conrad Hahn, William Hall, Marcus Hand, Heinrich Harter, Johann A. Harter, Johann Adam Helmer, -------- Hiller, Christian Hufnagel, Abel Hunt, John Huyck, Judah Jones, Andreas Keller, Jacob Keller, Solomon Keller, Adam Kessler, Jacob Kessler, Johann Kessler, Conrad Kilts, Peter Kilts, Jacob Klapsattel, John J. Klock, Richard Kopernell, Georg Kraus, Robert Kraus, Francis Lighthall, George Lighthall, George Lindner, Heinrich Lohnus, Solomon Longshore, Conrad Mauer, ------- Mauer, ------ Mauer, Jacob Merkel, Wilhelm Merkel, Jacob Meyer, Jost Meyer, Adam Muller, Heinrich Muller, Jelles Muller, Johann P. Muller, David Murray, Christian Nellis, Johann D. Nellis, Phillip Nellis, Peter Nestel, Garret Newkirk, Friedrich Eyer, Isaak Paris, (Member Prov. Con- gress,) Peter Paris, Johann Petrie, Johann Marx Petrie, Joseph Petrie, Cornelius Philips, Nicolaus Pickard, Adam Price, Martinus Putman, Jacob Radner, Georg Raspnor, Friedrich Rasbach, Marx Rasbach, Jacob Ritter, Willard Rose, Johann Roth, Johannes Ruf, Jacob Sammons, Samson Sammons, Henry Saunders, Wilhelm Schaefer, Johann Schell, Christian Schell, Christian Scherer, Pedagogus Scherer, --------_Schimmel, Heinrich Scholl, Georg Schultz, Johann Schultz, Thomas Schumacher, Heinrich Seitz, Peter Seitz, Adolph Sieber, Adolph Sieber, Jr., Rudolph Siebert, Johann G. Silberbach, George Smith, Friedrich Schnell, Georg Schnell, Jacob Schnell, Jacob Schnell, Johann Schnell, Johann Schnell, Jr., Joseph Schnell, Peter Schnell, Sophronious Schnell, Peter Sommers, Thomas Spencer, (Indian,) Heinrich Staring, Frederick Stevens, Philip G. Stowitz, Henry Thompson, Adam Thumb, John Van Antwerp, George Van Deusen, Cornelius Van Horn, Henry Van Horn, Nicholaus Van Slyke, Hendrick Veeder, Harmon Visscher, Georg Wagner, Jacob Wagner, Johann Wagner, Johann Wagner, Garret Walrath, Jacob Walrath, (Georg Walter, Jacob Weber, Peter J. Weber, Peter Westermann, Michael Wiedrich, Abram Wohlhoefer, Johann Wohlhoefer, Peter Wohlhoefer, Richard Wohlhoefer, Lorenz Wrenkle, Robert Yates, Nicholaus Yerdon, Jacob Yonker, Heinrich Zimmermann, Jacob Zimmermann, Conrad Zimmermann, Capt. Han Yerry Tewahangaraghkan, Indian officer, Lt. Colonel Louis Atyataronghta, Indian officer.