Historic Sketch of the Settlement of the Town of New Berlin
by John Hyde
New Berlin Gazette, New Berlin, NY, August 12, 1876
The type setter in my last communication substituted Persia for Russia as the place of Mr. Burlingame's death. It was the cold of a Russian winter and not the mild breezes of Persia that was at fault in Mr. Burlingham's demise.
It is not saying too much to say that Levi Blakeslee, Charles Knap, Joseph Moss and Jeremy Goodrich were the chief architects and builders of New Berlin's successful businesses. Levi Blakeslee left his native state, the land of steady habits and puritan principles and came up to York State to teach the Dutch the English language. He commenced his school master's calling in a Dutch settlement about 20 miles on the west side of Albany at a place where Cheeseman kept a store and tavern, Cheeseman discovered in young Blakeslee qualities more fitting for other pursuits than the one he had chosen and furnished him with goods to commence the merchant's trade in some new settlement. It was near the end of the last century, Mr. Blakeslee purchased a building lot of Silas Burlingame, on the corner where now [in 1876] stands the store of E.R. Fuller. He built a small one-story dwelling house and store under one roof. The place was known by the people of former times as Blakeslee's Corners. He became a successful merchant and was energetic in the management of his business affairs. In the meantime, the settlers had made large improvements; their farms were productive. Surplus crops of wheat were raised, and the distant market and impassable roads required a remedy. To provide for the contingency, Mr. Blakeslee entered into a plan of conveying grain to market by water. He built a large kind of boat called an ark and took a cargo of wheat down the Unadilla and Susquehanna rivers to Baltimore. But it was found that transportation of grain to market by water was too hazardous and expensive, and the experiment was not renewed, and the farmers were left to draw their wheat by horse over the hills, a distance of 96 miles to the Albany market.
Other branches of industry engaged Mr. Blakeslee. He built a paper mill on the site where the mill of Daniel Harrington, Esq. now [in 1876] stands. In those days paper was made by hand with the help of very little machinery. The paper was pressed by a screw press turned with a lever and dried in the sun or air in an open room on tenter bars. The process from the pulp made from rags to paper ready for use was slow the work requiring the labor of many persons. Now with the new invented machinery used for making paper, the pulp starts from the tub on its journey to be transformed into paper, traveling on its way over different sets of rollers and at one place over heated air, and when it arrives at the end it is fit for immediate use. The time required to turn the pulp into finished paper is work of but a few moments. Such has been the inventive genius in paper making since the art was that practiced by Mr. Blakeslee. Mr. B. gave much aid to public improvement in the village. He was one of the principal persons to procure our first village charter and he aided in obtaining the 16th township to be set off from the town of Norwich and named New Berlin in honor of Silas Burlingame, one of the first settlers. The act was passed April 3d, 1807. He owned the land where the Episcopal Chrrch stands and the old burying ground, all of which he donated to the society for the purpose to which it has been applied, besides giving money to help build the first church thereon erected. He had a large family of children and after they had grown up, he moved into one of the western States and the old homestead passed into the possession of strangers. One only of his children remained in New Berlin, Mrs. Burch, widow of D. Burch deceased, who lives in the house built by her husband, a skillful physician and a worthy member of society. He and his family belonged to the Episcopal Church and gave much assistance to the choir department.
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