William F. Gere

William F. Gere Family

This map shows the approximately 95 acres of land that William F. Gere purchased on lot 18 in 1839

Connection to Mattydale

In 1839 William F. Gere purchased his major parcel of land in what would become Mattydale. Although he lived in the First Ward of the city of Syracuse and was involved in the Salt industry he maintained the Salina farm until his death in 1876. Although the actual deed has not been found in the records, a reference to it was found in a later Skiff deed. The Skiff brothers bought the Gere farm in March 1900.

Family History

Where did they originally come from

William F. Gere came to the Salina area in 1827. He traveled from Connecticut on horseback with Benjamin G. Avery. Ironically, it was from this Benjamin G. Avery that William F. Gere bought his 95 acre parcel of land in Lot 18 in 1839.

Where did they initially settle

Originally William F. Gere probably settled in the Village of Salina and became involved in the salt business. In 1866 William F. Gere was elected as a Trustee of the Salt Company of Onondaga [1866-02-20]. Gere had a residence in the First Ward of the city and it is possible that he never actually resided on his property on Lot 18 in the town of Salina.

Property History

All of Lot 18, minus the Surveyor's 50 acres, was purchased by Clary & Clapp in 1835. In 1836 they sold 188 acres of this parcel, just about everything in the southwest quadrant of the intersection of the old Salt Road and the Richmond Road (E. Molloy Road), to Benjamin G. Avery and Denison Avery, Jr. In 1839 the Averys sold the top 94.64 acres of their Lot 18 holdings to William F. Gere. In March 1900 the Gere land was sold to the Skiff brothers. The Skiffs later split up their land and Charles picked up the old Gere farm in the process. In the 1920s the Charles Skiff sold the Gere property to developers and it became the Garden City Tract and Richfield Farms.

NOTES:

[1866-02-20] - The Syracuse Journal, Syracuse, NY, Tuesday, February 20, 1866.