Christopher Peterson Residence on Owasco Lake in 1901

The Peterson Family of Owasco Lake, Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Cornelius Peterson and his wife, Hannah (Annatie) Parsell, removed with their family from Hillsborough, Somerset Co., New Jersey to the western shore of Owasco Lake in 1796. They settled in what is now the Town of Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York. Their recently married son, Cornelius Peterson, Jr., and wife Maria Post, accompanied the elder Petersons to Owasco Lake, as did her parents and some siblings, the Christopher Post family. The Petersons settled primarily to the north of present-day Stone School Road on Lot 83.

"CORNELIUS PETERSON, JR. emigrated to this county at the same time his parents did and settled on a portion of the land that his father purchased. On May 5, 1796, a few weeks before he came to Fleming, he married Maria Post, daughter of Christopher and Margaret Post who also joined the Petersons on their journey to the 'Lake Country.' Cornelius eventually built a commodius dwelling for his family (Ross Farm) and other descendants--Schuyler (Misses Peterson home), George R. (home was located at site of Polish Home), and Dodge home also lived on the Lake Shore."

-- Sheila Saft Tucker, The Township of Fleming Cayuga County, New York 1823-1973 (Auburn, Cayuga Co., NY, Sheila Saft Tucker, 1973), p. 85

History of the Peterson/Ross House

Christopher Peterson house north of Stone School Road on present-day State Route 38 (West Lake Road) in the Town of Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York in 1901 - photo found with old papers in California and sent to the author

The preceding quotation attributes construction of the house on the present-day Ross Farm at Peterson Point, on State Route 38 (West Lake Road) north of Stone School Road, to Cornelius Peterson, Jr. The above photograph of the Peterson/Ross house from 1901 shows that it was originally constructed in the Italianate style, which came into vogue in the United States by 1840. Cornelius died on 12 April 1847; thus, he probably constructed the home late in his lifetime, following the death of his wife, Maria, in 1836.

Cornelius Peterson, Jr. and Maria Post had only one son, Christopher, who married Elsie Schenck Voorhees in 1823 but died in 1833. Thus, it is unlikely that this Christopher Peterson ever lived in the Peterson/Ross house. Similarly, his sister Maria had died in 1830. An 1853 map of Fleming shows "I. M. & A. Peterson" (see Lot 83) occupying this house. The most likely Petersons to be living together and represented by these initials are Ida Brokaw Peterson, Margaret B. Peterson, and Anna Peterson, all daughters of Cornelius and Maria and their only living offspring in 1853. George Rapleyea Peterson, son of Christopher and Elsie Peterson and nephew of Ida, Margaret, and Anna, lived with them in the Peterson/Ross house by 1855 and worked the farm. After George married Mary Lucena Post in 1858, it appears that his aunts moved to a house on the corner of Stone School Road while George and Mary Lucena lived in the Peterson/Ross house as shown on an 1859 Map of Fleming.

The son of Christopher and Elsie, Cornelius A. Peterson, husband of Helen Post, next occupied the Peterson/Ross house from before 1875 until his death in 1882, as shown on an 1875 map of Fleming (C. Peterson on Lot 83). By then, George Rapleyea Peterson had moved a short distance northward to a Peterson house (G. R. Peterson on Lot 83) that stood on land later occupied by the Polish Home Camp (now gone). A photo of the latter Peterson house, which eventually was destroyed by fire,  appears on page 86 of The Township of Fleming Cayuga County, New York by Sheila Saft Tucker (1973).

Cornelius A. Peterson and Helen Post had a son, Christopher, husband of Alberta Adams, who presumably next occupied the Peterson/Ross house as shown on a 1904 map of Fleming, remaining there until after 1915. By 1920, Christopher had retired from farming and removed to Auburn, Cayuga Co., New York. Determining the subsequent ownership and occupancy of Peterson/Ross house up until World War II would require further research. Charles E. Ross, son of Charles P. and Bertha E. Ross (who lived on the Fleming-Scipio Townline Road) owned the house by the early 1950s, if not sooner. After Charlie died in 1986, his wife, Mae Elizabeth "Betty" or "Bess" Coons Ross resided in the home for many years before her death in 2006. The home is believed to remain in the Ross family.

Present-day Appearance of the Peterson/Ross House

Peterson/Ross house contemporary view from Google Earth

The cupola formerly present on the upper portion of the tall Italianate tower on the front of the Peterson/Ross house in 1901 has been removed. The tower now is capped with small, gabled roof above the second-story tower windows, which also have been replaced. A two-story bay visible on the south (left) side of the house in 1901 is no longer present. Finally, what appears to have been a relatively flat roof in 1901 has been replaced with a hipped roof. Let's hope this house is good for its second (approximately) 180 years!