Clinton, Oneida County, New York

thumb|right|Gazebo in the Clinton Village green

Clinton (or Ka-dah-wis-dag, "white field" in Seneca language) is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 1,942 at the 2010 census, declining to 1,684 in the 2020 census, 13% decline). It was named for George Clinton, the first Governor of New York.

Hamilton College and the former Kirkland College are in proximity to the village.

In describing the attractions of Hamilton College in 1833, it was stated to be "situated in one of the most healthful, delightful, and fertile parts of our country; surrounded by a numerous, increasing, virtuous, and enterprising population." In 1903, another school catalogue, besides "the unrivalled beauty of the surrounding scenery" and "the remarkable healthfulness of the vicinity," commented on "the high moral fiber of the community and its superior educational advantages", all of which made Clinton "a most highly favored place for mental and moral culture."

History

thumb|1885 [[lithograph of Clinton with sights identified drawn by L.R. Burleigh]]

Part of Coxe's Patent, 6th division, Clinton began in March 1787 when Revolutionary War veterans from Plymouth, Connecticut, settled in Clinton. Pioneer Moses Foote brought seven other families with him to the area. The new inhabitants found good soil, plentiful forests, and friendly in southern Kirkland along with Oneida people, who passed through on trail.

Named after New York's first governor, George Clinton, fourth Vice President of the United States and an uncle of Erie Canal builder and New York governor DeWitt Clinton, the village had a gristmill on the Oriskany Creek on College Street the first year and slowly developed as a farming and mercantile center.

In 1793, Presbyterian minister Rev. Samuel Kirkland founded Hamilton-Oneida Academy as a seminary to serve as part of his missionary work with the Oneida tribe. The seminary admitted both white and Oneida boys, although no Oneida boys lasted more than one year.

Kirkland named it in honor of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, who was a member of the first Board of Trustees of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy. The Academy became Hamilton College in 1812, making it the third oldest college in New York, after Columbia and Union, after it expanded to a four-year college curriculum.

Originally in the Town of Whitestown and then the Town of Paris, Clinton became part of the newly formed Town of Kirkland in 1827, and became an incorporated village in April 1843 with its own board of trustees, officials, employees, and status as a taxing jurisdiction.

According to Gordon's 1836 Gazetteer, Clinton had 50 dwellings, six stores, four taverns, two clothing works, a worsted factory, a grist mill, three churches (Universalist, Baptist, and Congregational), two academies, and two seminaries.

Elihu Root, Secretary of State under President McKinley and Secretary of War under presidents McKinley and Roosevelt, was born in a building on the Hamilton College campus, and is probably Clinton's most famous son.

Although never a factory town, Clinton did have the Clinton Knitting Company on the site of the Clinton House Apartments on Kirkland Avenue in the first half of the 20th century, as well as the Clinton Canning Company to process local vegetables in the late summer and fall.

The pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb began as the Clinton Pharmaceutical Company in 1887 on the second floor of 3-5 West Park Row and moved to Syracuse after three years. Both founders, William Bristol and John Myers, graduated from Hamilton College.

Attractions

thumb|right|[[Kirkland Town Library in Clinton]]

thumb|Clinton Cider Mill, a local institution

thumb|right|Tony's, a restaurant in Clinton

The village centers around the Village Green, a park where many community events take place. Annual events on and around the Village Green include a summer farmers market, the Shopper's Stroll during the weekend after Thanksgiving, and the Clinton Art and Music festival in August. The Kirkland Art Center also hosts many activities throughout the year, including the KAC Road Race. The historic Clinton Cider Mill, a local favorite on Elm Street, has been producing cider since the early 1900s and is open seasonally from Labor Day through Thanksgiving.

The Clinton Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There is also an active Clinton Historical Society.

Education

The Clinton Central School District covers Clinton and most of the surrounding Town of Kirkland. Its campus is near the center of Clinton.

Hamilton College is near the village, in the Town of Kirkland.

History of education

In the 19th century, Clinton was known as a "village of schools" and was sometimes called "Schooltown" and described as "an Academic village." The prosperity and reputation of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy had drawn public attention to Clinton as a place of education. and some primary. The largest building in town was a school (the Clinton Liberal Institute). A survey lists 37 schools, not counting Hamilton College, that operated in Clinton between 1790 (?) and 1915. Some of these were small, one-room schools, often short-lived, and not much information survives on them.

thumb|left|Hamilton-Oneida Academy

From 1793 to 1812 the Hamilton–Oneida Academy, forerunner of Hamilton College (1812), operated in what would later become Clinton.

Its three-story building, torn down in 1830 or 1832, became the original building of the college.

Between the closing of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1812 and the opening of the Clinton Grammar School a "classical" (college preparatory) school operated at what is today (2023) the oldest house in Clinton, at 29 West Park Row.

thumb|Original building of the Clinton Grammar School; a second building was added later

In 1813 the Clinton Grammar School was founded; it was chartered in 1815. Under four different names, including Rural High School and Clinton Military Academy, it survived until 1892 and was primarily in two buildings at 86–88 College St., though in 1891 it consolidated with Kirkland Hall (see below) and met there. It was torn down in 1900. It closed upon the death of Miss Nancy Royce, an invalid who was the main instructor. "Two or three Indian girls, of the Stockbridge tribe, were at one time members of this school."

thumb|300px|Drawing of the main (male) building of the Clinton Liberal Institute, published in Historical Collections of the State of New York in 1842. At that date Clinton had not yet been incorporated, so it is described as being in the [[Kirkland, New York|town of Kirkland.]]

The Clinton Liberal Institute was a coeducational preparatory school founded by the Universalist Church, operating at the corner of Utica and Mulberry Streets from 1831 to 1878, and then in Fort Plain until destroyed by fire in 1900. An advertisement in 1841 reveals that it had a female department, and among the subjects taught were Greek, Hebrew, French, Astronomy, and Moral Philosophy. The Female Department was located at 12 Utica Street until 1851, then moved to 13 Chestnut Street, across from William Street. In this latter location it was also known as the White Seminary. After the Institute moved to Fort Plain, this building housed Kirkland Hall, a school for boys.

In 1833, Rev. Hiram H. Kellogg, a Presbyterian minister, abolitionist, Hamilton College graduate, and good friend of Gerrit Smith, opened in Clinton a Young Ladies' Domestic Seminary, also called the Clinton Female Seminary and the Clinton Seminary, a counterpart to some extent to the all-male Oneida Institute. Like the Institute, it admitted students of all skin colors: three Negro girls. The first was Mary E. Bibb, who became a teacher. A native American, Electa Quinney, also studied there, as did Elizabeth Smith Miller, daughter of Gerrit Smith (1835–1836). The students spent "a portion of each day" on "domestic avocations...to prepare them to run a household." This was interrupted in 1841; he became President of Knox College. Over 500 young ladies were educated in the eight years preceding his departure for Knox. The school, an inspiration for the seminary at Monticello, Illinois, the Mount Holyoke Seminary, and the Female Departments of Knox, Oberlin, and Elmira College,

In 1841, the Free Will Baptists purchased the building previously occupied by Kellogg's Seminary, and established the Clinton Seminary. The Clinton Seminary began publication of a paper called the Clinton Seminary Advocate. When the school enrollment outgrew the building's capacity it removed to the vacant Oneida Institute buildings and became the Whitestown Seminary. The Clinton Liberal Institute, along with other military subjects, offered fencing. In 1846, the Clinton Grammar School, Clinton Liberal Institute, and Hamilton Academy received state appropriations of $302.20, $369.35, and $271.67 respectively. In 1847, the Clinton Grammar School, Clinton Liberal Institute, and Clinton Academy received state appropriations ($262.89, $360.05, $45.73 respectively). The Clinton Grammar School received a state appropriation of $25 in 1849, and $105.36 in 1869. In 1873 the Clinton Grammar School and the Clinton Liberal Institute each received $149.23.

In 1849, an advertisement reveals that Miss Catherine Hopkins, for some years Principal of the Female Department of the Hamilton Academy, was running a Young Ladies' Seminary, where Latin, Greek, French, German, and Italian could be studied.

thumb|left|Houghton Seminary

In 1854, a Home Cottage Seminary was founded, at 23 Chestnut St., "at the west end of Chestnut Street," on the corner of Franklin Avenue, by Louisa M. Barker, previously Principal of the Female Department of the Clinton Liberal Institute. It had both an Academic and a Collegiate (college preparatory) Program. Grover Cleveland's sister and niece attended. Starting about 1882, alumnae published the Houghton Record, 4 numbers per year in 1902. Houghton closed in 1903; Its books were given to the Kirkland Town Library. The building was torn down in 1912. In 1878 it had an enrollment of 14 boarders; It occupied the same campus as the Clinton Central Middle School, and was said to have the most attractive campus of all of Clinton's schools. It had a large gymnasium and a bowling alley, and was described by "all who saw it as one of the largest and finest buildings in the county". It operated from 1858 to 1865, when the building burned, after which it moved into the building of the Clinton Grammar School. In 1873 enrollment was about 70. It was operated by Rev. Benjamin W. Dwight, who previously operated it in Brooklyn, N.Y. It closed in 1882.

From 1861 to 1896 a Cottage School for girls, later renamed the Cottage Seminary, operated on the west side of current Chenango Avenue, at College Street. It was a combination boarding and day school. In 1898 it was converted into the Clinton Preparatory School, for boys, which operated until 1908. In 1887, there were in Clinton three seminaries for young ladies, two high schools for young men, and one select and two common schools for children. In 1889, it was described as "a village of Grammar schools and ladies' seminaries." ended the need for private secondary schools, although the Clinton Preparatory School, described as "military," It used the 2nd floor of the Kirkland Town Library as its gymnasium. From 1920 to 1923 the 7th Day Adventist Church operated a boarding school for grades 7–10, called the Eastern New York Academy, on Brimfield Street.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land.

The village is east of the Oriskany Creek.

The village is the location of one of the several "knob and kettle structure" kames located along the Oriskany valley, named The Knob.

In 1836 its then owner, William T. Richmond, donated it to the Clinton Liberal Institute.

Richmond's intent was that, with the accompaniment of worth of equipment donated by a R. W. Haskins of Buffalo, the Institute could build an observatory on the hill, but this plan never came to fruition.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,952 people, 922 households, and 488 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 965 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.05% White, 0.61% African American, 0.72% Asian, 0.26% from other races, and 0.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.33% of the population.

There were 922 households, out of which 25.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.0% were non-families. 41.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the village, the population was spread out, with 22.7% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.8 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $41,958, and the median income for a family was $66,685. Males had a median income of $45,750 versus $31,369 for females. The per capita income for the village was $26,165. About 3.1% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 12.2% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Indium Corporation (1934), materials refiner, smelter, manufacturer, and supplier

Notable people

Natalie Babbitt, award-winning children's author, wife of Kirkland College President Samuel Fisher Babbitt
Clara Barton, founder of American Red Cross, studied at the Clinton Liberal Institute
Frederick Bee, builder of telegraph over Sierra Nevada mountains and Consul of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco
Susan Bennett, voice-over artist best known for being the female American voice of Apple's "Siri"
William McLaren Bristol, co-founder of Bristol-Meyers Squibb
Jack Britton, former World Welterweight Champion in boxing known as the "Boxing Marvel"
Terry Brooks, fantasy author, graduated from Hamilton College
Grover Cleveland, US President, childhood resident in 1851–52 at 26 Utica Street when his father was a Presbyterian minister working in Clinton for a missionary society. Cleveland's biographers say he attended the Clinton Liberal Institute, but this is not correct; he attended the Clinton Grammar School. Cleveland attended Clinton's centennial in 1887, the only seated U.S. president to visit Clinton.
Alex Haley, writer
George Hastings, US Congressman, 1853-1857
Mark Hopkins, President of Williams College, studied, as a "private pupil", at the Clinton Grammar School He had relatives in the village.
Myrtilla Miner, educator of Blacks, studied at the Young Ladies' Domestic Seminary
De Wayne Stebbins, Wisconsin State Senator from 1895 to 1903, was born in Clinton
Antoinette Sterling, studied music at the White Seminary under Annie Sykes, who had studied at Kellogg's school for young ladies

References

Sources

External links

Village of Clinton. NY
Clinton Historical Society
Clinton Central School District