In the 1870s, fencing was used at Little Falls to keep animals off one’s lawn and out of one’s gardens.

During this time period, the Zoller Mansion was being built, Michael Reddy was expanding his iron foundry on Mohawk Street by employing the stone mason skills of Joseph and Horace Boyer, and wrought iron fencing was gaining popularity at Little Falls as it epitomized the Victorian Era as a sign of wealth and status.

Jacob Zoller most likely employed the services of the Reddy Foundry to construct the wrought iron fencing that had once graced the perimeter of the Zoller Mansion as an elaborate barrier to wandering animals.

As time passed, the allure of wrought iron fencing diminished, and during World War II, the United States government asked for its removal to help with the war efforts as part of nationwide scrap metal drives. The collected metals were recycled into munitions and warships, a testament to the resourcefulness of the American people. The drawback of today’s time is that it is challenging to locate historical items made from metals that predated WWII.

We are very fortunate to have works of the Reddy Foundry as part of our city’s local history present today, such as the ornamental wrought iron fencing that adorns the Chapman-Moser Funeral Home, the Loomis-Burrell-Fisher House, the Benton House-W.C.A., and the Bramer-Smith House-Little Falls Public Library.

The original wrought iron gate to the Zoller Mansion can be viewed at the Little Falls Historical Society Museum, where it is displayed in the Zaida Zoller—Women’s Suffrage Exhibit.

HISTORY OF THE ZOLLER FAMILY
ZOLLINGER BROTHERS

The Zollinger Brothers, Hans Jacob, Hans Andreas, Hans Casperli, and Hans Heinrich, immigrated as young children to America from Zurich, Switzerland, arriving in Carolina in 1739. Soon after their arrival, the brothers Americanized their names to Jacob, Andrew, Casper, and Henry. By the 1760s, the brothers had also shortened Zollinger to “Zoller” as they pledged their loyalty to their new country by taking an Oath of Allegiance to the Colony of New York. The Zoller brothers then marched through the Mohawk Valley as soldiers of the Continental Army. They were under the command of Lieutenant Nicholas Herkimer in Captain Jacob Klock’s Company when they were called to duty in 1763 during the French and Indian War for the last Indian alarm at German Flatts, which lasted from July 24th through July 28th.

The Zoller brothers established themselves in Dutchtown, New York, near Fort Willett. (The Town of Minden was known as Dutchtown by the immigrant German Palatines when they settled in the early 1720s.) Jacob joined the Revolutionary War with his brother Andrew, both privates in the 1st Regiment of the Tryon County Militia. On August 4, 1777, Captain Samuel Campbell led the regiment under the command of General Nicholas Herkimer on their march from Fort Dayton (Herkimer) to Fort Schuyler (Fort Stanwix) as a relief force for Colonel Peter Gansevoort, the namesake of one of our city’s streets, Ganesvoort Street. (The Ganesvoort Estate also donated Western-Burke Park to the city in the 1830s.) During the march, they were met with an ambush by the British Loyalists and their allies at Oriskany, which was located a day’s march away from Ft. Schuyler. During the battle, Jacob was shot in the shoulder. Jacob and Andrew were both taken as prisoners by the British Army, with Jacob dying later that day from his wound.

Andrew was taken to Canada and released from captivity when the war ended. He arrived back in New York in poor health, and his death came shortly after. Jacob and Andrew were buried at the Zoller Farm in Fairfield, New York. In 1884, Jacob and Andrew Zoller were commemorated for their bravery during the Battle of Oriskany, and their names were etched on the Oriskany Battlefield Monument that stands in Oriskany, New York.

JACOB I. ZOLLER

Jacob Zoller left his wife and four children behind in Dutchtown when he went left for Fort Schuyler with his youngest son, Jacob I. Zoller, at five months old. Jacob I. Zoller spent his youth in Dutchtown. When he married, he settled his family at Fordsbush, known today as a hamlet within the Township of Minden. Jacob I. became a very prosperous farmer and served in the War of 1812 at Sackets Harbor.

JOHN I. ZOLLER

Jacob I. Zoller’s oldest child, John I. Zoller, grew up on the family farm at Fordsbush and entered the mercantile business. In 1843 and 1844, Hon. John I. Zoller represented Montgomery County in the New York State Legislature.

JACOB ZOLLER

Hon. John I. Zoller married Eliza Sanders, and their son Jacob Zoller was born on April 15, 1833, at Fordsbush, New York. Jacob is the third generation of the Americanized Zollinger’s.

JACOB’ S EDUCATION

Jacob spent his youth on the family farm and completed his early schooling at Fordsbush. He continued his education at the age of fourteen at the Clinton Liberal Institute in Clinton, New York. The institute was moved to Fort Plain, NY, in 1878 and burned to the ground in 1900.

PORK, EGGS, & PRODUCE

Jacob’s Uncle Abram owned and operated a drugstore selling books in Little Falls, on the corner of Main and Second Streets, at 544 East Main Street, which is the present-day location of Ruggerio’s Trattoria. In 1856, Jacob came to work for his uncle as a clerk at the age of twenty-three and remained in his uncle’s employ until 1859. He then entered the employment of John and Daniel Crouse at Canastota, New York. The Crouse brothers were in the pork packing business, and Jacob was there to learn the industry firsthand.

Jacob stayed with the Crouse brothers until the early 1860s when he returned to Minden to start his own pork packing business. In his new venture, he also became a dealer in butter, cheese, and eggs. In warm weather, he would push a hand cart along the streets of Little Falls and pull a hand sled during the winter, selling his goods amongst the local villagers.

Jacob was credited for pioneering limed eggs in this part of the country. Food-grade lime, such as pickling lime, a calcium hydroxide, was used to make a limed-water solution, a brine. The unwashed eggs were submerged in the brine, which sealed the shell’s pores so that no moisture could escape from within the egg. This method of preserving eggs resulted in unspoiled eggs that could be preserved for up to a year and a half in the brine. When the eggs were used, they were just as fresh as the day they were laid.

By the mid-1860s, Jacob had ventured into the produce business as well. By 1867, Jacob’s wholesale provisions and pork packing business had grown substantially, which left him needing to secure a space to expand his business. He secured a place for his business in the Kellar Block at 622 East Main Street, being the present-day location of the former East End Steak House.

From 1869 through 1872, Jacob held the office of Supervisor for the Town of Minden as a Republican. He had been elected to this office by running unopposed and being endorsed unanimously by both parties for 1870, 1871, and 1872, serving four consecutive terms.

According to the Cooney Archives: THIS DAY IN HISTORY …” At 2 am on the morning of June 9, 1875, the Zoller household was awoken by the screams of Mrs. Zoller, as she screamed for help and something about a pistol. A burglar had broken into the Zoller home and made his way to Jacob’s bedroom. Just as the burglar exited Jacob’s bedroom carrying Jacob’s vest and coat, Jacob awoke, jumped up at once, and chased after the burglar. The burglar stopped in the hall and fired a shot at Jacob, luckily missing him. Jacob then pursued the burglar as the burglar ran down the stairs and into the basement. When midway down the stairs, the burglar stopped and fired his pistol a second time at Jacob and missed him once again. Zoller continued to pursue the burglar when suddenly, the burglar slipped out the basement door and disappeared into the darkness of the early morning, making way with $8 left in the pockets of Jacob’s vest and coat.” The sum of $8. in 1875 is worth $250. today.

In 1879, Burke & Healey offered Jacob the position of bank president when the First National Bank first became organized as a banking institution within the Cronkhite Opera House on the corner of Ann and Main Street, which he graciously declined. The Cronkhite Opera House was in the present-day location of the former Berkshire Bank at 1 West Main Street.

From the Cooney Archives: THIS DAY IN HISTORY …” On January 19, 1883, at Jacob Zoller’s packing house on East Main Street, carload after carload of fresh porkers arrived to be cut up, salted, and smoked. It’s not an area where one wants to be on a hot summer’s day.”

In 1883, Jacob formed the Little Falls Warehousing Company on East Mill Street and built a three-story stone building just east of the NY Central Railroad Depot on East Mill Street. He chose this location for its proximity to the railroad station and the ease of shipping his products statewide and into Canada. The building was fully equipped with modern equipment for cold storage, meat packing, and wholesale provisions. He was also partnered with Addison Eaton in a meat market at 42 South Second Street, selling pork and beef.

According to the Cooney Archives: THIS DAY IN HISTORY …” On April 3, 1883, the Board of Health should compel the removal of all slaughterhouses outside the corporate limits, at least during the summer months. No one wants to be near the numerous establishments on Mill Street and vicinity that are close to our mills and many dwellings. Windows had to be closed on account of the nauseating odors emanating from them.”

In 1896, Jacob was approached by a Boston bank with a banknote drawn on the Freeman, Ives, & Co., the largest cheese dealers at Little Falls at the time, for $5,000, which Zoller had supposedly endorsed. Merrick Freeman was acting manager for the Freeman, Ives, & Company and the Little Falls Cold Storage Company, with both companies operating out of the same cold storage building on East Mill Street, just east of Zoller’s cold storage building, in the present-day location of Feldmeier’s oldest plant building. Freeman had left Little Falls abruptly as an investigation was being held within the two companies. It was reported that the company’s total debt was close to $100,000. and all debts were paid in full by James H. Ives. The sum of $100,000. in 1896 is worth $3,800,000. today.

In 1897, Zoller paid $10,000 for the stock and buildings of the Little Falls Cold Storage Company, which Freemen formerly managed on East Mill Street. He expanded these buildings to include a slaughterhouse, produce refrigerators, hog pens, and a cattle shed.

By 1909, Zoller had built two brick blocks (buildings), 617 East Main St. (known as the old Zoller Block) and 573-577 East Main St. (known as the new Zoller Block) on the south side of East Main St, which were leased as offices and shops. One Large building, usually built of brick or stone during this time period, was called a “Block.” In contrast to today, during the early 1900s, in the area along the south side of East Main Street, between Second and William Streets, there were thirty-two storefronts, whereas the same area today holds four businesses: the M&T Bank, Price Chopper, CVS, and the Great Wall Buffet.

On May 17, 1900, Zoller became a merchant in the feed and flour business when he purchased Water Lot #8, next to the Mohawk River on Mill Street, for $14,000. This purchase acquired the flouring mills of the Valley Mills Company and James Van Allen as a partner.

ZOLLER MANSION

On December 12, 1872, Zoller purchased Village Lots #11 and #12 on the south side of Garden Street for $4,500. Jacob hired the architectural firm of Ogden and Wright of Albany, NY, to design a home for his family at 42 Garden Street (known today as 533 Garden Street). William and George B. Dale were commissioned as the stone masons and Charles D. West as the lead carpenter, and all together, as a team, they constructed the Second Empire-style home from stone and brick according to the specifics of the architectural firm’s renderings. The Zoller Mansion was completed in 1879.

The Methodists also awarded the firm of Ogden and Wright a contract on 21 April 1875 to build a new brick church at Albany Street at a cost of $20,000, replacing the wooden Methodist Church on Third Street.

The family also owned a country estate, a large limestone farmhouse named by the family as Pelham Manor in Warren, New York.

JACOB’S MARRIAGE

Jacob, thirty-three years old, married Mary Jane Dygert, twenty-three years old, from the Town of St. Johnsville on June 27, 1867. Mary Jane descended from Gilbert Van Alstine, an aristocratic gentleman farmer from Palatine Bridge, New York.

Mary Jane and Jacob had their first child in 1873, with Mary being twenty-nine years of age and Jacob being thirty- nine years of age. They went on to have five more children in the early years of their marriage, namely, John I, Maude Jane, Henry, Thomas Jacob, and twins Zadia and Abram. They hired a girl in 1883 as a nanny, Catherine “Katie” Green, who came to them at the age of sixteen and stayed in their employ for the next sixty-five years.

THE ZOLLER CHILDREN
JOHN I ZOLLER

John I. Zoller extended his education at the Clinton Liberal Institute in Fort Plain, N.Y. He graduated from Massachusetts’s William College in 1895. He worked beside his father in the meatpacking—cold storage business at Little Falls Warehousing Company, eventually holding the position of president.

He was a former secretary and director of the C. J. Lundstrom Manufacturing Company and vice president and director of the Valley Mills Company from 1907 to 1922. John I. also served as director of the Herkimer County National Bank.

John I. Zoller married Imogene Lewis, who was a descendant of Governor William Bradford of the Plymouth Colony, on the 31st of July, 1907. They had four : John Jacob, Sarah Imogene, Louis William, and Murray Dygert. (B. 5 May 1973 | D.16 February 1964)

MAUDE JANE

Maude Jane Zoller supported the Little Falls Hospital throughout her adult life, serving as past hospital board president. She also initiated the formation of the endowment fund to benefit the hospital and helped organize the staff of doctors at the hospital. (B. 13 February 1876 | D. 5 November 1962)

HENRY

Henry is only mentioned once—on the 1880 Federal Census as a three-year-old son. He died at a very young age from polio. (B. 1877 | D.?).

THOMAS J.

Thomas J. Zoller furthered his education at Phillips Andover Academy in Massachusetts, graduating with the class of 1898. He worked alongside his father in the meatpacking- cold storage business of the Little Falls Warehouse Company, eventually taking the positions of secretary and treasurer. He organized and was the director of the Standard Bookcase Company and Hall Incubating Company. He also served as director for three banks: the First National Bank of Utica, the First National Bank of St Johnsville, and the Herkimer County Bank of Little Falls.

According to “This Day In History…On September 3, 1909, a reliability tour was held to Cooperstown, in which twenty cars participated. Little Falls drivers were Harold Hichman, Homer P. Snyder, Charles Ross, Prank Stacey, Benjamin P. Casler, Harry L. Becker, Frank H. Shall, R. D. Cooper, Irving Snell, Edwin A. Van Allen, Robert Livingston, Abraham Zoller, J. J. Gilbert, Thomas Zoller, and several out-of-town residents. Mrs. O. J. Dempster was the only woman driver and won second prize. C. J. Lundstrom and W. F. Rathbun also won prizes.” (B. 1 May 1878 | D. 25 November 1952)

ZAIDA

Zaida Zoller was the last surviving child of Jacob and Mary Jane.

According to “This Day In History…On April 18, 1894, date of a letter to Zaida Zoller of Little Falls from Susan B. Anthony asking that on November 6th, the adjective “male” be stricken from the suffrage clause of the U. S. Constitution.”

Zaida graduated from Burnham School in Massachusetts and Miss Hewitt’s School in N.Y.C., graduating with the class of 1902.

In 1912, a traveling circus stopped at Little Falls, causing Zaida to become deeply distressed because of the circus’s lack of care for the overworked horses. The police were called, the circus was cited for animal cruelty, and the horses were taken away. She decided then to promote animal welfare and began to organize a committee to advocate for the treatment of animals. The Herkimer County Human Society was incorporated on February 13, 1913

Zaida was active in women’s rights, holding suffrage meetings at her home, led by Susan B. Anthony and Dr. Anna Howard Shaw. After the 19th Amendment was passed on August 26, 1920, she became the president of the Little Falls Charter of the League of Women Voters.

According to This Day In History…On January 12, 1920, Little Falls resident Miss Zaida Zoller was a major local organizer for women’s suffrage political activity prior to the ratification of the 19th Amendment granting women’s suffrage in 1920. Miss Zoller is buried in Fair View Cemetery.”

According to “This Day In History…On May 26, 1956, a memorable event for the V.F.W. was the mortgage burning party held. In just ten years, these active members had their home paid for. Each year, the Post honors a distinguished citizen of the city for activities that benefit the community. The names of those Anniversary Awards winners are as follows: John B. McGuire, Chr. Hansen’s Laboratory, A. C. Benjamin, Leon M. Dussault, Elmer E. Munk, Mrs. David H. Burrell, Jr., Edward Cooney, Jr., Richard Rasch, Francis Skinner, Donal Hurley, Mrs. Wayne Roa, Miss Zaida Zoller, and John Finnegan.” (B. 12 July 1882 | D. 22 January 1990)

JUSTICE ABRAM

Justice Abram Zoller extended his schooling in Massachusetts, first at William’s College, where he ranked fifth in his class. He then continued at Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1907. After passing the Bar in 1907, Abram opened a law office in Little Falls and also one in Syracuse, N.Y.

Abram served as Mayor of the City of Little Falls from 1916-1919 as a Republican. Mayor Abram Zoller laid the cornerstone for the building of City Hall in 1916. Under his administration in 1917, the Little Falls Fire Department received its first fire truck, a Mac Truck, which in itself was a department all of its own.

According to the Cooney Archives: THIS DAY IN HISTORY …” On July 30, 1916, in a letter to Little Falls Mayor Abram Zoller, Chief of Police James Long listed 23 individuals (including two women) who had entered three Main Street saloons on this Sunday date. The information included time entering and leaving the saloon and the individual’s addresses.”

According to the Cooney Archives: THIS DAY N HISTORY…” On April 3, 1917, a great campaign was initiated by Mayor Abram Zoller to have a branch of the American Red Cross in Little Falls. Led by many clubs and organizations, nearly 4,000 local citizens joined. The chapter was housed in the 1833 old stone bank building on South Ann Street, home of the Little Falls Historical Society Museum, after the bank’s move to new quarters in the Burrell building on Main Street.”

According to the Cooney Archives: THIS DAY IN HISTORY…” On May 31, 1918, the new city hall, begun in 1916, was formally opened to the public on Decoration Day with 4,000 people visiting the institution. A feature is the stained glass window, the gift of Mayor Zoller, reproducing Profile Rock. David H. Burrell contributed $60,000 toward construction costs.”

According to the Cooney Archives: THIS DAY IN HISTORY …” On July 3, 1918, Mayor Zoller and the Common Council met for the first time at the new City Hall for an official session.”

According to the Cooney Archives: THIS DAY IN HISTORY …” On June 29, 1919, in a solemn ceremony, Mayor Zoller paid tribute to twenty-three local men who died during service in World War I. Eleven had died from battle wounds and twelve from the flu pandemic.”

Judge Zoller served as the Herkimer County Judge and Surrogate from 1930-1933. He was then elected to two fourteen-year terms as Supreme Court Justice for Herkimer County, starting in 1934. During his first term, Justice Zoller ruled that “women’s hats were detracting,” making it mandatory to remove them from women jurors in the jury box. He retired in 1952, ten years shy of completing his second term. He served as an official referee for the Fifth Judicial District until 1958.

Justice Abram Zoller married Muriel Cornelia Schmidt, a harpist from Ilion, on the 30th of November 1933. (B. 22 July 1882 | D. 31 May, 1961)

A FAMILY IN FAITH

Jacob was a profoundly religious man within the Universalist faith, supporting St. Paul’s Universalist Church at Little Falls and the Universalist Church at Fordsbush. His family, in turn, became deeply involved in the Universalist faith and gave many hours of their time to St. Paul’s Universalist Church, such as teaching Sunday school, deaconship, serving on the church board of trustees, and leading special classes.

JACOB’S LAST YEARS

From 1866 through 1907, Jacob invested his wealth into real estate. His childhood dream was to own a farm, and upon his death on the 27th of January 1907, he had ownership of nine farms. Zoller had three farms in the Town of Minden, three in the Town of Danube, two in the Town of Manheim, and one in the Town of Little Falls. The combined acreage of the nine farms was 3,500 acres. He also owned several cheese factories and had financial control of fifty more, manufacturing cheese under the Zoller name, with the “Zoller Cheese ” winning a Medal of Excellence at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, Illinois. Jacob’s company was also awarded a World’s Fair diploma issued at that time in the name of David E. Bacon, a cheesemaker at the Zoller cheese factory in Minden.

Jacob died due to compliactions from diabetes on the 27th of January in 1907. After his death, his three sons incorporated the inherited business into the Jacob Zoller Company, which had a capital of $100,000. In 1908.

Mary Jane Dygert Zoller’s death was on the 9th of December 1930.

FAIRVIEW CEMETERY

On October 23, 1897, Jacob engaged the services of engineer “Keoiteritz” to lay out a new village cemetery on his farm, which was located on the outskirts of the city on the old plank road to Eatonville. In 1898, Jacob founded the Fairview Cemetery Association, with the cemetery’s first burial taking place that same year. Jacob provided a large portion of the finances for the construction of the Fairview Cemetery, which contained fifty landscaped acres, with roads and walkways throughout that had been laid with regard to the scenery. The cemetery grounds also contained an elevated ornamental receiving vault that was large enough to accommodate a funeral in inclement weather.

A special section within the cemetery holds the graves of Civil War soldiers, including the grave of the Little Falls “Unknown Soldier,” who died in Little Falls in 1862 when he fell from a passing railway car.

Jacob and Mary Jane Dygert Zoller, along with their children, have all been interred at the Fairview Cemetery.

*From The Cooney Archive’s: This Day In History by Louis W. Baum JR, Digitizing of historical photos by Gail & Mike Potter, Article written by Darlene Smith

The Little Falls Historical Society Museum is open for FREE TOURS for the summer season on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 1-4pm. The museum is also open on occasional Saturdays from 9am- 12pm. For an appointment for after hours, please contact either Louis Baum @ 315-823-3527, Mary Ann Terzi @ 315-823-1502, or Jeffery Gressler @ 315-823-2799 to schedule an appointment.