At the turn of the 20th century, off Gridley-Paige Road just beyond the intersection with Shanley
Road, was a showplace, a farm of about 500 acres where pure Holstein-Friesian
cattle were bred. The farm, which started out as a modest 70-some acres, had
been owned by generations of Gridleys, from Nodadiah, one of first settlers,
whose son Asahel Gridley built the brick main house, to Josephine Gridley,
widow of Joseph Gridley. It was Josephine McAdam Gridley who, in 1900, sold the
property to her brother, Quentin McAdam.
Although he grew up in Deansboro in
the Town of Marshall, McAdam lived in Utica and was treasurer and general
manager of the largest cotton milling concern in the world, Quentin McAdam & Co., which eventually became the Utica
Knitting Company.
Quentin McAdam was an ambitious person - he joined the
knitting mill at age 16 and was running it little more than 10 years later - and
he started right out to make the Gridley property, which was at that time called
the Brothertown Stock Company, the outstanding farmstead it was to become. New
barns were built, more land was purchased, and repairs and modernization were
made on the old buildings. The farm had its own fire department, compete with
helmets, in the first part of the long barn (now converted into a home owned
by, I believe, Dave and Tanya Brown).
Once the outbuildings were complete, McAdam, with the help
of E.B. Van (or Von) Heyne as business manager, purchased 20 purebred
Holstein-Freisians. Among them were four daughters of what was then the
greatest sire of the breed; and included the famous Sadie Vale Concordia, who broke
the world's record of 7 and 30 day milk and butter production. Many more
successful cows came in succession, giving Brothertown Farms world-wide fame.
Everything was done on an up-to-date scale, including an automatic watering
system for the stock. Nothing was more important than the cattle breeding
business. Wonderful care was given to those animals. It is reported that a
nine-week old bull, with impeccable parentage, sold for $4,000, a price
unheard-of at that time. The farm was one of the best of many outstanding farms
at that time, with the land being cultivated as skillfully as the livestock was
treated. Eventually, there were 100 head of cattle, young and old. The calf
barn was "ablaze with electric light at night...looking like the busy
marts of trade."
Over the years the acreage increased, as more and more
neighboring farms were purchased. Besides the manor house were about six homes
for the workers on the farm, creating a unique community. Once the stock farm
was dissolved, the houses became private homes on a dead-end road - McAdam
Road. Joanne Bolan, who lived up there, remembers it as a social kind of place
where you knew and valued your neighbors.
Early in his ownership of the
estate, Mr. McAdam set about to beautify the acreage. Surrounding the manor were
acres of tilled, fertile farmland, as well as woodland and parks. At one time
there were bridges over a trout brook, and deer enclosures; and today one can
see the remnants of what was formerly an orchard of over a thousand apple
trees. There were also 21 pools and waterfalls of different sizes, some of
which still can be admired. Ed Bennett, who grew up on Gridley Paige Road,
told me that he goes over there often in
an attempt to keep the property in shape.
Florist Adelaide Foote of Deansboro
had the supervision of the flowers and shrubs around the homestead. A large
variety of plants were stocked, and almost every wildflower which can flourish
in this climate were planted. Also, Miss Foote experimented with several
varieties of orchids.
Although Mr. and Mrs. Quentin
McAdam lived on South Street, Utica, during the heydays of the
Brothertown/McAdam stock farm, the McAdams spent weekends and most of the
summer months at the homestead, overseeing the farm. The farm was a beautiful
and successful estate during their tenure there.
Quentin McAdam died in December,
1918, and his sister Josephine Gridley, who lived in the Gridley
Homestead, passed away 18 hours after
her brother's death. His nephew, Oscar Gridley, son of his sister Josephine,
who was groomed to succeed his uncle, did so. By 1923 he split his time between
his home in Utica and the Gridley Homestead; however, his heart was not in the
running of the farm: he did not have his uncle's passion for the animals and the
land; he spent less and less time there. Eventually, the stock was sold and the
farm dissolved. For a while, Mr. & Mrs. John Losee of Richfield Springs
(Mrs. Losee was Oscar Gridley's sister) lived there; now most of the land is possessed
by the Zwiefels, and the homes are privately owned.
It was a beautiful place, and still
is. The sad thing, in Mr. Bennett's opinion, is that no one knows it is there
and few remember it's former glory. The pools and the waterfalls, not to
mention the existing vegetation, are worth the trip to Gridley Paige Road to
enjoy the view, and to revel in it all.
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