OAKDENE 1683-1999
Introduction by Bill Gateley, December, 1999:
It is not clear when the name Oakdene came into common usage. The property was simply The Lake during the early years when it was used by Edward and Doris Ogden and their five daughters. There was some research done into English origins, and the new name came into more general use in the late 1970s and '80s. Kith Gateley leaned toward the two-name spelling Oak Dene but Doris preferred the single combined word, and that has prevailed.
During Kith's and my sojourn at Oakdene from 1977 to 1982 we collected a lot of information about the property, and this Web page and its links represent an attempt to both organize the data and make it accessible to the rest of the family. We hope that you will enjoy it. There are undoubtedly numerous errors of transcription as well as fact, and your comments, corrections and additions will be appreciated.
The chronology shown below is a quick guide to Oakdene's history, and links from there will provide additional information. See The Neighborhood for interesting but non-Oakdene items.
1683-1999
| Year | What Happened |
| 1683 | Colonial Legislature created 10 counties in the Province of New York; Albany County included almost all of central and northern New York. |
| 1772 | Tryon County created: all land west of present Schoharie County (35 miles west of Albany). |
| 1784 | Tryon changed to Montgomery; German Flats district created: everything west of present Montgomery County. |
| 1786 | Massachusetts got the land west of the Preemption line (the N-S line from milestone 82 on Pennsylvania border north through Seneca Lake. and middle of Sodus Bay) |
| 1788 | German Flats district divided: Whiteston: everything
west of N-S line through Utica.
An association represented by Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham bought preemption rights from Massachusetts for all 6,000,000 acres. Phelps met with the Seneca Indians and bought about 2,600,000 acres of land for $5,000 plus $500/year--known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase Phelps divided the land into six-mile square townships and ran a new preemption line which ended up three miles west of Sodus Bay. |
| 1789 | Ontario County formed: all of Montgomery County west of the Pre-emption Line |
| 1790 | Phelps sold some land to Robert Morris who ran another new preemption line. |
| 1791 | Herkimer County formed from Montgomery Co. |
| 1792 | Whitestown District divided into Westmoreland, Steuben,
Paris, Mexico. Peru and Whitestown.
Morris sold some land to Sir Wm. Pultney, who employed Capt. Charles Williamson. |
| ? | New York conveyed to Pultney some land east of the new preemption line. This land was known as Williamson's Patent and also as The Gore. [Oakdene consists of Lots 269 & 270 of this land.] |
| 1794 | From Herkimer Co. was formed Onandaga Co. (= Military Tract): it included all of present Onandaga, Cortland, Cayuga, Seneca and parts of Thompkins, Schuyler, Oswego and Wayne Counties. The Preemption Line (see was the western boundary of the Military Tract. |
| 1799 | From Onandaga Co. was formed Cayuga Co. (= from eastern side of present Cayuga to eastern side of Ontario). |
| 1804 | Seneca Co. formed from Cayuga. |
| 1807-1810 | Lots of 50, 100 or more acres in the Gore, which was embraced by the Old Town of Wolcott -- including the present-day Towns of Wolcott, Huron, Rose and Butler, were sold to settlers. |
| 1823 | Wayne County was established. |
| 1852 | The initial boundaries of Oakdene were defined by the Canfield Survey (described in the following deed) and the land (108.66 acres) was conveyed in a deed from Joseph Fellows to Horatio N. Wood. [We do not know when Fellows obtained the land.] |
| 1860 | Conveyed by Horatio and Angeline, his wife, to Barabas Quivey; $2000. |
| 1861 | Conveyed by B. Quivey and Margaret, his wife, to Noah Wood; $3600. [Note: Barabas Quivey died 2/20/1881 in Huron.] |
| 1876 | Conveyed by Noah Wood and Addie, B., his wife, to Orange Borden; $6519.60. |
| 1878 | Conveyed by Orange Borden and Olive E., his wife, to Maria Wood ; $6519.60. |
| 1903 | Heirs of Maria Wood to George S. Horton; $2000. [George Horton was born in Wolcott in 1857; he was a lawyer and a member of the State Assembly.] |
| 1911 | George S. Horton gave Power of Attorney to Della W. Horton (wife) & Clymer Austin (son-in-law). |
| 1912 | George S. Horton revokes the 1911 Powers of Attorney but gives it back to Della. |
| 1914-1917 | 1914: George S. Horton dies; his
will is probated; 1/2 of all his property is left to Della, his wife.
1915: George S. Horton to Della Horton--1/2; George S. Horton to Cecile Austin (daughter)--3/8 1917: George S. Horton to Dorothea Austin--1/8 |
| 1919 | The land east of Oakdene, west of Brown Road and north of Delling Road (Lot 268 in Williamson's Patent) deeded from Richards to Richards; it was 91.83 acres. This is now part of the Herbrandt property.+ |
| 1931 | Clymer and Cecile Horton to Howard C.
Spencer--7/8
Legal action: Howard Spencer against Dorothea Austin |
| 1932 | Dorothea Austin to Howard Spencer
The Old Cottage was built. |
| 1956 | Howard C. Spencer and Gladys S. Spencer, his wife, to Edward M. Ogden and Doris A. Ogden, his wife. |
| 1958 |
The Harnish and Lookup survey which provided the current mapping of the property was made. |
| 1959 | November 28: Edward Ogden dies at his home in Rochester. |
| 1977 | Kith and Bill Gateley sell their Colorado Springs home and move to a site--later named Elsewhere at the SE corner of Oakdene. |
| 1981 | Bill prepared a memo concerning the boundaries of Oakdene and another concerning its subdivision. |
| 1982 | Elsewhere (15 acres) is deeded to Katherine by Doris
Ogden in April, 1982, and the SW 15-acre parcel is deeded to Virginia.
Kith & Bill go broke and move back to Colorado Springs to recoup their fortune; Toby remains at Elsewhere. |
| 1983 | August: Doris Ogden deeds to her five daughters all of Oakdene except the two parcels previously deeded to Katherine and Virginia. |
| 1985 | Katherine, Polly, Virginia and Helen deed the 15-acre tract north of Virginia's to Elizabeth |
| 1995 | The Lake won! The distance between the Cottage and the bluff had reduced to a foot or two. The cottage was razed. |
| 1996 | Plans were devised for a New Cottage to be located a few
hundred feet SW of the old one.
Construction of the New Cottage began. |
| 1997 |
October 4: Christopher Gateley and Susan Peterson were married in the New Cottage, which is now enclosed November 17: Doris Ogden dies at her home in Colorado Springs. |
| 1999 | Elsewhere is deeded to Christopher and Susan Gateley
by Katherine.
The New Cottage is well on its way to completion. |
| 2001 | The New Cottage is essentially complete!!! |
