Chenango County Historical Society Visits South Otselic, NY - 1941

County Historical Society Meets

Chenango Unit Holds October Session at South Otselic

Bainbridge News & Republican, November 13, 1941

 

The Chenango County Historical Society held its October meeting at the Central High School at South Otselic at 7:30 P.M. on Oct. 22, 1941.  There were about 70 members present.  President Raymond L. Williams presided.  The program was opened by several selections played by the South Otselic High School Band which were very much enjoyed by the members.

 

Ward Truesdell introduced Frank Cox as one of the oldest inhabitants of South Otselic.  Mr. Cox was formerly postmaster and operated a cash store in the village.  Mr. Cox gave some of the history of South Otselic and the story of some of the older buildings and families.  The territory around South Otselic was ceded by the Oneida Indians to the state in a treaty with George Clinton at Fort Schuyler on Sept. 22, 1788.  The name Otselic came from the Indian name for Plum Creek as there were many wild plum trees along the river bank where the Indians camped.  There are not many souvenirs of the Indians.  They used the river bank as a fishing ground, but did not make any permanent settlement there.  Otselic was separated from German in 1817 and consisted of two or three log huts at the southwest corner of the township and was given various names:  Sugar Hollow, Bowen Settlement and the Burg.  The northwest corner called the Flats was given the Township name Otselic.  Mr Cox stated that he had seen the name spelled 45 different ways.  The approximate date of the first building was 1830.  A plank road was built in 1840 to connect with Norwich, 20 miles distant from the town.  The toll gate was about a mile form the town but the upkeep was too great and it was given back to the towns in 1860.  Mr Cox moved to South Otselic in 1879 and has kept a diary since he was 12 and recalled many interesting incidents in the life of the township.  He had known the first school teacher and gave a resume of the different school buildings.  The present school is the fifth schoolhouse to be built.

 

Mrs. Ward Truesdell traced the rise and growth of the Fishline industry, which was founded by her great-grandfather, John Gladding.  John Gladding was born in Bristol, R.I. in 1784.  He was bound out for seven years as an apprentice to Major Howland, a rope maker, who had a rope walk at Bristol Commons.  He was to receive $100, be taught the ropemaker's trade, clothed and fed.  He finished six years of his apprenticeship but his employer practically starved him so he decided to form his own business.

 

Several families from Bristol had moved to Pharsalia so he decided to build a rope walk there.  He started for Pharsalia in two horse wagons which took two weeks to make the trip of 300 miles averaging around 14.6 miles a day.  He settled in the northwest corner and built a rope walk, 200 feet long with a dirt floor. 

 

His son, James C. Gladding, built a new rope walk and added a cordage room in 1850.  He raised flax for use in the rope walk.  The Gladding Line Company made pulley cords, bed cords, fishing lines and halters,  Cotton and linen were supplied for the lines from Connecticut.  They were sent by water to New York and up the Hudson to Albany and from Albany by canal to the nearest point.

 

Mrs. Truesdell explained how the lines were twisted by hand when the industry first started.  The whole family worked in the rope walk.  There were 10 girls employed outside of the ones in the family.  There were nine in the family and each child worked as soon as he was old enough.  The education they received came from the school of experience.  Her mother was the oldest child.  The help had board and room at the farm.  They raised the food that they ate on the farm and she can remember her mother preparing meals for 22 at a time.  Everyone worked hard and the hours were from 5 A.M. to 5 P.M.  After the lines were reeled they were sold to the little country stores.  Every small store kept fish lines and hooks and there were plenty of fish to catch.  "This was before the city man could get in his car and catch every fish in the stream back of your house before you were up."  There was not much money in those days so the fishlines were very often bartered for goods.  Her grandfather kept a store room and shelves line with goods which he had gotten in trade for the fish lines.  When he came back with his peddling wagon it would often be as full as when he left.

 

In 1878, James Gladding retired and moved to Norwich and his son, B.F. Gladding, assumed management of the business.  He went east and purchased one braider which was turned by hand.  They soon had 10 braiders which seemed like a very big business in those days but small, compared with the 1300 used in the present factory.  As the business expanded horse power and water power were used in the manufacture of the fish lines and power machinery finally was installed to replace the older types of manufacture.

 

The business management has always been kept in the family.  The company began to export to foreign countries in 1902, and by 1929, the company had grown to be known throughout the United States and Canada as the largest makers of the finest fish lines in the world   The goods were sold on the basis of good quality and the use of the best of materials.  The Gladding company has never spent a dollar on advertising.  They have never had any labor troubles and have always tried to deal fairly with both their workmen and their customers. 

 

A short business meeting was held after the speeches and the secretary's and treasurer's reports read and accepted.  President Williams announced that Miss Alice Taylor, of Norwich, would be a member of the committee on cemeteries and Mrs. John Meola as chairman.