John Tunnicliff - Return To America

Return To America

Mr. Tunnicliff was possessed of a large property, and occupied a high social position. At Liverpool he purchased a vessel fully manned, and with a considerable number of passengers on board (several families of which we shall have occasion to notice in this work), he sailed again for Philadelphia, where he arrived in the summer of 1758. An estate, previously purchased, on the banks of the Schuylkill, was now occupied by the family, where they remained until the year 1764, when they removed to Dutchess County, in the colony of New York. Although peace had been restored the year previous, Mrs. Tunnicliff refused to accompany her husband to his lands in Schuyler's patent. Accordingly, an estate was leased for five years at Skenesborough, New York, near Lake Champlain, where the family were located with the two sons, Joseph and William.

Mr. Tunnicliff returned to his former country estate, and found the ruins of his home that had been burned by the Indians. He at once caused new buildings to be erected, also a saw-mill on the stream nearby, that was kept incessantly at work to answer the requirements of the now growing settlement. His eldest daughter remained with her father at The Oaks as the estate was called, from the circumstance that a large portion of the lands in the purchase were thickly covered with gigantic oak trees. This name was subsequently given to the stream (Oaks Creek) that forms the outlet of Canadarago Lake, which it still retains. The "orchard" on this estate was the first in Otsego County. At this early day there were few or no roads in this section of the country, and traveling was done mostly on horseback or on foot.

In the year 1774, John Tunnicliff purchased 600 acres (2.4 km²) of land in the northern portion of Schuyler's patent, commencing near the mouth of Fish Creek, and running northerly to the present line of Herkimer County, New York. Before his death in 1800, Mr. Tunnicliff built an Episcopalian church near his residence, but it was destroyed by fire in 1840.