The ark proper was the invention of a Pennsylvania farmer named Kryder living on the Juniata. In 1792, when flour and lumber were dear, he first resorted to this kind of boat in order to reach Baltimore, and thus realized an excellent profit. The ark afterwards came into very general use all along the upper as well as the lower Susquehanna. In favorable water 80 miles a day could be traversed. Mr. Kryder’s first ark carried 300 barrels of flour. Later ones were large enough to bear the weight of 500 barrels. It was by means of these boats that the vast grain product of Central and Western New York was for many years transported to southern markets.
The arks of Noble and Hayes were loaded at a cut in the river bank that may still be seen opposite their old store. Having been hauled near the bank, planks were thrown out to the arks from the shore. In seasons when the water was at its most favorable stage,—which was usually falling high water that enabled a boat to be kept in the centre of the stream,—loading was done at other points in order to start several arks at one time. All the products of the country went down the river in these arks—at least all for which a market existed at the end of the journey. They were loaded sufficiently well to draw from 20 to 24 inches of water. From three to five of them were usually coupled together in line and placed in charge of an experienced pilot who understood the course and currents of the stream. Men with long oars steered them at each end of the line under directions from the pilot.
Lumber intended for Baltimore went in rafts which were put together at places along the river where some quiet eddy could be found near a sawmill. One of the best spots of this kind near Unadilla was the eddy below the Condensery which formerly covered a large territory that has since been filled in by the action of the water, leaving scarcely a trace of the water area that formerly existed. After making their sales in Baltimore, Mr. Hayes or Mr. Noble went on to New York to purchase goods, shipping them by way of the turnpike.
Refuse grain from the Noble and Hayes distillery was fed to cattle and hogs. It was a common thing to slaughter from 200 to 300 hogs in the fall, and to feed half that number of cattle through the winter. In the time of Jefferson’s Embargo the firm met with heavy losses. Mr. Hayes used to tell how a supply of crockery that had cost $1200 just before the Embargo was raised was afterwards worth only $112.
When the Embargo was imposed however, it not only affected the stock of merchants favorably but the farmer’s produce unfavorably. Grist mills had been busy with heavy crops all through the autumn of 1807 in anticipation of high prices, due to the foreign demand; but when the ports were closed, the demand ceased and farmers often found themselves in possession of a staple article for which they could not get the cost of the labor put into it—the sowing, reaping and grinding. The loss in New England to each family because of this measure was reckoned in 1808 to be about $100. Thousands of men were ruined by it, and notices of sheriff’s sales covered tavern doors and guide posts at forked roads. Men in those days could be sent to jail for debt and thus in New York City during a period of less than a year 1300 persons were imprisoned. That city has been described as looking “like a town ravished by pestilence.” Streets were deserted and grass grew on the wharves.
Isaac Hayes in 1804 built the house in which his son so long lived—the house still occupied by descendants of his. It was for many years regarded as the finest residence on the road between Catskill and Ithaca. This may readily be believed, for in 1804 the common dwelling house was a log hut, while the three “yellow houses”, then standing in the village, one of which the Huntington house still survives, were fine modern residences.[5] Mr. Hayes’s house for that time was indeed a palatial country mansion. A remarkable feature of it was the height of the rooms, as may still be seen; they are as high as rooms in many dwellings of our day. Remarkable also was the design of the house—the elevation, the mantels, above all the circular stairway. In the existence here of that edifice in those early days lay a sign of the culture which someone has said “corrects the theory of success.”
On the island opposite this house formerly existed a race-course. It does not appear to have been in use long, however,—perhaps not for more than two seasons. A temporary foot bridge was erected across the stream, made of planks resting upon benches having legs long enough to keep the planks above water. This bridge was wide enough for two persons to pass. After the races were over it was removed. Horses and carriages reached the island by the fordway.
Mr. Hayes’s activities in this community, apart from his mercantile business, were wide and varied. He was postmaster for many years, supervisor in 1805, and for seven other years, and was elected to the Legislature in 1811 and in five other years. He had an important share in founding St. Matthew’s Church. He had come from the home of Congregationalism and did not embrace the Episcopal faith until some years after he came to Unadilla, when he joined with others in promoting the services held by “Father” Nash. He was a vestryman, warden and treasurer of the Church for many years and was senior warden at the time of his death, which occurred in 1857 at the age of eighty years and ten months.
Isaac Hayes’s wife was Sarah, daughter of Benjamin S. Mygatt, of New Milford. To the same family belonged the late Henry R. Mygatt of Oxford and his sister, Mrs. Frederick A. Sands, of Unadilla. The two families of Noble and Hayes, as already shown, were related by marriage, Mrs. Noble being Mr. Hayes’s sister. No family accounts were kept at the store; each took what it needed. Eventually the two family homes contained twenty children. One of these children survived elsewhere until 1892; when he died in Bennington, Vermont, at the age of eighty-three,—Joel M. Hayes.
Thomas Hayes of Ilminster had seven children besides Isaac. They were Abraham, Polly, Jacob, Hannah, Daniel C. and Thomas. Abraham’s daughter Anna married Dr. David Walker, who succeeded Dr. Huntington as the occupant of the “yellow house”, and whose brother Francis built the house across the street that was long the home of the late Henry S. Woodruff. Dr. Walker lived in Unadilla as late as 1835, and finally died in the West. A daughter of Jacob Hayes, Julia Ann, became the wife of Col. A. D. Williams, for many years a merchant in Unadilla, of whom more will be said hereafter.