Mr. Darrow's decease is a fitting occasion to recall his early history, identified as it is with the settlement of the town in which he had so long lived. He must have removed to Rome from his native town of Plymouth, Conn., as early as 1804. He was accustomed in his last days to relate how he cut his foot in assisting to put up one of the first framed houses in the village. He was a workman upon the First Church edifice (Presbyterian) erected here in 1807, and afterwards, in company with Messrs. Soper & Brainerd, built the First Methodist, the Episcopal and the Second Presbyterian Churches. The same firm put upon the stocks the first boat (Oneida Chief) that plied upon the Erie Canal between Rome and Utica. He was also engaged in the construction of several locks on the same work, beside having a considerable contract for excavation.
He was afterward Superintendent of the section of the Canal lying between Herkimer and Syracuse. It is remembered by some of our citizens at what an advantage he appeared on horseback, as he rode over his section in the incessant discharge of his duties. His personal courage, as well as fine horsemanship, had a notable illustration in that connection, when a constable who had arrested upon the line of the Canal a desperate Indian criminal was afraid to undertake his conveyance to the County Jail, and Superintendent Darrow took the offender before him upon his horse, and brought him safely to his destination. His integrity was as characteristic as his energy, and gave him an honored place among the early business men of Rome.
He became a member of the Second Presbyterian Church between the years 1831 and 1832, under the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Helfienstein. In his later years his hearing had become very defective, rendering communication with his friends exceedingly difficult. Nevertheless he maintained a cheerful and equable temperament and was enjoying a hale old age when a cancerous affection ended his days, and gathered him like a shock of corn fully ripe, to the heavenly garner. He had raised a family of eight children, seven of whom still survive. (RCOct27/1865)
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Rome Citizen Death Notices in 1865
Thanks to Barbara Andresen for sending this in!
Source - RootsWeb.com
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From ROMAN CITIZEN newspaper, Rome, Oneida County, New York, Friday, October 27, 1865
(RCOct27/1865)
DARROW - Died in Rome, New York, at the residence of his son-in-law C. H. Norton, PLINY DARROW, in his 82d year.
Mr. Darrow's decease is a fitting occasion to recall his early history, identified as it is with the settlement of the town in which he had so long lived. He must have removed to Rome from his native town of Plymouth, Conn., as early as 1804. He was accustomed in his last days to relate how he cut his foot in assisting to put up one of the first framed houses in the village. He was a workman upon the First Church edifice (Presbyterian) erected here in 1807, and afterwards, in company with Messrs. Soper & Brainerd, built the First Methodist, the Episcopal and the Second Presbyterian Churches. The same firm put upon the stocks the first boat (Oneida Chief) that plied upon the Erie Canal between Rome and Utica. He was also engaged in the construction of several locks on the same work, beside having a considerable contract for excavation. He was afterward Superintendent of the section of the Canal lying between Herkimer and Syracuse. It is remembered by some of our citizens at what an advantage he appeared on horseback, as he rode over his section in the incessant discharge of his duties. His personal courage, as well as fine horsemanship, had a notable illustration in that connection, when a constable who had arrested upon the line of the Canal a desperate Indian criminal was afraid to undertake his conveyance to the County Jail, and Superintendent Darrow took the offender before him upon his horse, and brought him safely to his destination.
His integrity was as characteristic as his energy, and gave him an honored place among the early business men of Rome. He became a member of the Second Presbyterian Church between the years 1831 and 1832, under the ministry of the Rev. Mr. Helfienstein.
In his later years his hearing had become very defective, rendering communication with his friends exceedingly difficult. Nevertheless he maintained a cheerful and equable temperament and was enjoying a hale old age when a cancerous affection ended his days, and gathered him like a shock of corn fully ripe, to the heavenly garner. He had raised a family of eight children, seven of whom still survive. (RCOct27/1865)
Rome Citizen Death Notices in 1865
Thanks to Barbara Andresen for sending this in!
Source - USgenNet.org
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Our County and Its People
A Descriptive work on Oneida County, New York
edited by Daniel E. Wager
The Boston History Company, Publishers 1896
In the Jervis Public Library, Rome, New York
Chapter 43, page 522 to 523 sites
The Town of Rome
The village of Rome was incorporated in 1819, and the first election held on the first Tuesday in June of that year. The following officers were elected: Trustees, George Huntington, Charles Wylie, Joshua Hathaway, Pliny Darrow, Belah C. Hyde; assessors, William Wright, Samuel Beardsley, Arden Seymour; clerk, Benjamin P. Johnson; treasurer, Arba Blair; collector, Archibald T. Funk. The usual village ordinances were adopted, and the machinery of the civil government ran along without serious interruption through the later years.