Onondaga Nation Farm: Land History
Overview of land ownership between 1790 and 2021
The Onondaga people wish to bring about a healing between themselves and all others who live in this region that has been the homeland of the Onondaga Nation since the dawn of time. The Nation and its people have a unique spiritual, cultural, and historic relationship with the land, which is em- bodied in Gayanashagowa, the Great Law of Peace. This re- lationship goes far beyond federal and state legal concerns of ownership, possession, or other legal rights. The people are one with the land and consider themselves stewards of it. It is the duty of the Nation’s leaders to work for a healing of this land, to protect it, and to pass it on to future generations. The Onondaga Nation brings this action on behalf of its people in the hope that it may hasten the process of reconciliation and bring lasting justice, peace, and respect among all who inhabit this area. -Onondaga Claim under United States Law to reclaim illegally purchased lands
Treaty of Fort Stanwix 1768 and 1784
The treaty recognized each of the six nations as sovereign nations, and promised to protect the Six Nations and the reserve's land, a promise that was not kept. The Onondaga nation was impacted negatively by this, with centuries of illegal land grabs by New York State.
Onondaga Nation Farm Map
- This map shows the following:
- 2021 Farm Boundaries
- 2021 Reservation Boundaries
- 1790 Reservation Boundary
- Aboriginal Territory
Introduction
The land that the Onondaga Nation Farm is currently on has a rich and complex history from the people who have lived and currently live there, to the soil history and the current and past agricultural practices of the land.
Project Goal: formally record the land history and build a foundation database for others to build on
Purpose: try and tell the story of the changing landscape, ownership, and people over time from the 1790s to present day.
Project Actions:
- We spoke and collaborated with Angela Ferguson, the director of the Onondaga Nation Farm. We maintained direct contact with Angela throughout this project.
- Created multiple maps to show land changes over time
- Researched genealogy + deeds + soil history
- Found land treaties from Fort Stanwix in 1768 +1784
Methods
Researched genealogy + land deeds + soils + treaties
Note: We couldn't find all deeds + family histories yet, but this is an opportunity for future research!
- Used Ancestry Library Edition database
- Land deeds from Onondaga County Clerk’s Office and online database
- Maps were acquired from Cornell University’s digital library catalog
- For soil analysis, soil surveys from Onondaga County were acquired from the National Resource Conservation Service Web Soil Survey Website
Brief History of Land Ownership
- Onondaga Nation Farm currently consists of Farm Lots 191, 192, and 200 of Onondaga County, New York.
- Land lots 191, 192, and 200 were occupied by various families over the past two centuries. Some of the different families that we know of were the Loaders, Moxeys, Amidons, Bakemans, Russells, and Andersons.
Deed's + Genealogy
The earliest land deed we currently have is of someone in the Anderson family receiving parts of Lot 200 from Hannah and Jacob Amidon and from Rhoda Russell. Hannah and Jacob Amidon were born in Connecticut and moved to Onondaga County in the beginning of 1804, and therefore must have acquired the land at that point. It is likely that the names of the other Amidons given on the deed transfers are descendants of Hannah and Jacob Amidon, since some of the names line up with their children.
Rhoda Russell is also named on one of the first deeds found for the transfer of Lot 200 to Anderson. Rhoda Russell was born in Massachusetts in 1781 and moved to Staatsburgh, New York sometime between the ages of 9 to 11. She married John Amerman, who was born in Rhinebeck, New York in 1778, around 1800 and they both appear to have lived mostly in Dutchess County until their deaths.
Lewis Amidon received Lots 191 and 192 from Orlow and Ruamah Amidon in 1863. He was born in 1804, in Willington, Tolland, Connecticut, when his father, Jacob Amidon, was 40 and his mother, Hannah Poole, was 33. He married Emily Amidon about 1826, in Onondaga, New York. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 2 daughters. He lived in Onondaga for about 25 years. He died on 2 May 1876, in Onondaga at the age of 72, and was buried in South Onondaga.
Oliver Bakeman was born in 1832, in Onondaga, New York when his father, Benjamin Bakeman, was 38 and his mother, Rachel Day, was 32. He had at least 4 sons and 6 daughters with his wife Sarah Ann Degroat. In 1871, he received Lot 191 from an H.M. Fulmer. He died on the 31st of January in 1909, in Onondaga at the age of 77. Oliver was buried in South Onondaga.
Arthur James Loader was born in Cato-Meridian just outside of Syracuse on January 18th, 1936. His family moved to Syracuse when he was 5 five years old, and in 1943 Lots 191, 192, and 200 were deeded to his parents, Francis and Daisy Loader. Once his parents had passed, the land was passed down to Arthur, who eventually granted the land to the Onondaga Nation on October 9th, 1999. He passed away on January 1st, 2018 at 81 years old and is survived by his sister, Edith Loader Isgar; nieces, Diana Isgar Castro, Pamel Isagr, Kimberly Isgar Merkel, and Deborah Isgar Uva; great nieces and nephews; cousins and special friends.
Arthur’s mother, Daisy V. Loader, was a life-long South Onondaga native and part of the Navarino United Methodist Church there. She owned and helped operate the farm existing on the land of interest with her husband, Francis G. Loader, until her death on May 24th, 1986 at 74 years old. She was married to Arthur’s father, Francis G. Loader, who was originally born in Somersetshire, England. He immigrated to Canada before finally immigrating to the US in 1940. He was naturalized as a US citizen on March 8th, 1940, and lived at 3873 Bailer Road until his death in 1978. The couple raised two children, Arthur and Edith Isgar Loader. Edith went on to give birth to seven children and have seven grandchildren. Arthur, as previously mentioned, passed away on January 1st, 2018.
Deed's + Genealogy
1804-->?
The earliest land deed we currently have is of someone in the Anderson family receiving parts of Lot 200 from Hannah and Jacob Amidon and from Rhoda Russell. They moved to Onondaga County in 1804.
Rhoda Russell is also named on one of the first deeds found for the transfer of Lot 200 to Anderson.
1863
Lewis Amidon received Lots 191 and 192 from Orlow and Ruamah Amidon in 1863. He died on 2 May 1876, in Onondaga at the age of 72, and was buried in South Onondaga.
1871
Oliver Bakeman received Lot 191 from an H.M. Fulmer. He died on the 31st of January in 1909, in Onondaga at the age of 77. Oliver was buried in South Onondaga.
1943
Arthur James Loader. In 1943 Lots 191, 192, and 200 were deeded to his parents, Francis and Daisy Loader. Once his parents had passed, he eventually granted the land to the Onondaga Nation on October 9th, 1999. He passed away on January 1st, 2018 at 81 years old
Daisy V. Loader + husband Francis G. Loader. Lived here until her death on May 24th, 1986 at 74 years old.
Aerial Maps Over Time
Comparisons side by side
1852 Aerial on left and 1874 Aerial at right. Between these time periods, we know the Amidons + Russels were on Lot 200 and the Bakemans were on Lot 191.
1938 Aerial on left and 1951 Aerial at right. Between these time periods, the Loaders were occupying Lots 191,192 +200
1966 Aerial. In 1966, the Loaders were still occupying lots 191,192,200.
Soils History
- Soil quality is slightly higher on the two plots of land that the Onondaga Farm is on than in the rest of Onondoga County.
- The highest quality soil type on the farm is CfB, which makes up around 10% of the soil on the farm.
Method:
We used recent soil quality reports and a historical report from 1977
Results:
The soil quality was slightly higher on the farms two plots of land than the rest of Onondaga County.
most common types of soils on the farm are Honeoye + the crops currently being grown on the farm are in these types of soils.
land use from 2015 to 2019 was mostly grassland, pasture, and alfalfa growth, with minor amounts of cropland, developed non-cropland, and forest.
While the exact land uses of the Onondaga Farm are not known historically, the 1977 report that was county wide can give some insight into the most common crops grown during this time.
Honeoye soil had crop yields tincluded cabbage, cauliflower, squash, tomatoes, and sweet corn.
It was common to grow corn, oats, wheat, barley, and mixtures of alfalfa and other grasses for hay in Honeoye soils.
Overall, the types of soils identified on the Onondaga farm are all useful for growth of many different types of crops.
Limitations of our research
We were able to find some deeds and aerial maps over the last 230 years. We are aware that there are deeds, genealogies and aerial maps that are still missing, and hope future student research can uncover these. We suspect that records on land ownerships, like deeds , have been lost over time.
We found out that deed transfer documentation can be limited both in the documents available and the information contained within them. A limitation with the deed documents is that the lots of land (191, 192, and 200) were not sold as whole lots, but rather portions of land within each lot were transferred between individuals. This impacts our ability to more solidly determine exactly when and to whom land was given.
