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ROME

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 685 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ROME , a See also:

city of See also:Oneida See also:county, New See also:York, U.S.A., on the See also:Mohawk See also:river and See also:Wood See also:Creek, and the See also:Erie and the See also:Black river canals, 14 M. W.N.W. of See also:Utica. Pop. (189o) 14,991; (1900) 15,343, of whom 2527 were See also:foreign-See also:born; (191o, See also:census) 20,497. Rome is served by the New York Central '& See also:Hudson River, the Rome, See also:Watertown & See also:Ogdensburg (controlled by the New York Central), the New York, See also:Ontario & Western, and the Utica & Mohawk Valley (electric) See also:railways. It is about 450 ft. above See also:sea-level. The city is the seat of the See also:Academy of the See also:Holy Names (opened in 1865 as St See also:Peter's Academy), of the See also:State Custodial See also:Asylum for unteachable idiots, of the Central New York Institution for See also:Deaf Mutes (1875), and of the Oneida County See also:Home. The Jervis Public Library (1895), founded by See also:John See also:Bloomfield Jervis (1795–1885), a famous railway engineer, had in 1909 about 15,000 volumes. The surrounding See also:country is devoted largely to farming, especially See also:vegetable gardening, and to dairying. Among the manufactures are See also:brass and See also:copper See also:work, See also:wire for See also:electrical uses, foundry and See also:machine-See also:shop products, locomotives, knit goods, See also:tin cans and canned goods (especially vegetables). In 1905 the value of the factory products was $8,631427 (55.6% more than in 1900). The See also:portage at this See also:place between the Mohawk river and Wood Creek, which are about 1 m. apart, gave the site its See also:Indian name, De-o-wain-sta, " place where canoes are carried from one stream to another," and its earliest See also:English name, " The See also:Great (or Oneida) Carrying-Place," and gave it strategic value as a See also:key between the Mohawk Valley and See also:Lake Ontario.

About 1725 there were built, to protect the carrying-place here, Fort See also:

Bull, on Wood Creek, which was surprised and taken by See also:French and See also:Indians in See also:March 1756, and Fort See also:Williams, on the Mohawk, which, like Fort See also:Craven, also on the Mohawk, was destroyed by See also:Colonel See also:Daniel See also:Webb after the reduction of See also:Oswego by the French in See also:August 1756. See also:General John Stanwix built Fort Stanwix here at an expense of £6o,000, and the first permanent See also:settlement See also:dates from about this See also:time. In See also:October-See also:November 1768, See also:Sir See also:William See also:Johnson and representatives of See also:Virginia and See also:Pennsylvania met 3200 Indians of the Six Nations here and made a treaty with them, under which, for £10,460 in See also:money and provisions, they surrendered to the See also:crown their claims to what is now See also:Kentucky and See also:West Virginia and the western See also:part of Pennsylvania. Of this cession the part which See also:lay in Pennsylvania was secured by See also:purchase from the Indians for the proprietors See also:Richard and See also:Thomas See also:Penn (see See also:PITTSBURG). The fort was dismantled immediately afterward. After 1776, when it was partly repaired by Colonel See also:Elias See also:Dayton, it was called by the continentals Fort See also:Schuyler, in See also:honour of General See also:Philip Schuyler, and so is sometimes confused with (old) Fort Schuyler at Utica. The third See also:regiment of the New York See also:line under Colonel Peter Gansevoort occupied the fort in See also:April 1777 and completed the See also:repairs begun in 1776; on the 3rd of August in the same See also:year (one See also:month before the See also:official announcement by See also:Congress of the See also:design of the See also:flag) the first flag of the See also:United States, made according to the enactment of the 14th of See also:June and used in See also:battle, was raised here: it was made from various pieces of See also:cloth. On the 2nd of August an advance party of Colonel See also:Barry St Leger's forces coming from the west arrived before the fort, and the See also:main See also:body (altogether about 65o whites, including See also:loyalists—the Royal Greens—under Sir John Johnson, and more than 800 Indians, some led by See also:Joseph See also:Brant) arrived soon afterwards. The fort then contained about 750 men under Colonel Gansevoort, with Lieut.-Colonel See also:Marinus Willett as second in command. The danger to the fort roused General See also:Nicholas See also:Herkimer to gather a force of between 700 and l000 men (including some Oneida Indians), who during their advance on the 6th of August were ambuscaded in a See also:ravine near See also:Oriskany (q.v.), about 8 m. E. of the fort; after heavy losses to both sides, about 250 men from the fort under Willett attacked the See also:camp of the Indians who were supporting St Leger, thus relieved Herkimer through the falling back of the See also:British and Indians to See also:save their supplies, captured five ensigns of the Royal Greens, and seized large quantities of stores from the enemy's camp. The See also:siege now lost force, the Indians straggled away after the loss of their camp supplies, and on the 23rd of August, St Leger, See also:hearing exaggerated reports of the immediate approach of large reinforcements under General See also:Benedict See also:Arnold, withdrew, abandoning his camp and stores.

The successful resistance here to St Leger contributed greatly to the See also:

American success at See also:Saratoga. Fort Stanwix was the headquarters of Colonel Gozen See also:Van Schaick (1736-1789) in 1779 when he destroyed the See also:Onondaga villages. At the fort, on the 22nd of October 1784, a treaty was made by See also:Oliver See also:Wolcott, Richard See also:Butler and See also:Arthur See also:Lee, commissioners for the United States, with the chiefs of the Six Nations. In 1796 a See also:canal was built across the old portage between Wood Creek and the Mohawk river. In 1796 the township of Rome was formed, receiving its name, says See also:Schoolcraft, " from the heroic See also:defence of the See also:republic made here." The See also:village of Rome, in the centre of the township, was incorporated in 1819; and Rome was chartered as a city in 187o. See Pomroy See also:Jones, See also:Annals and Recollections of Oneida County (Rome, 1851); W. M. Willett, A Narrative of the Military Actions of See also:Col. Marinus Willett (New York, 1831); and Orderly See also:Book of Sir John Johnson during the Oriskany See also:Campaign (See also:Albany, 1882), with notes by W. L. See also:Stone and J W. de Peyster.

End of Article: ROME

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