The History of Cayuga County 1789-1879 page 347
TOWN OF AURELIUS/ GEOLOGICAL FORMATION

1823; a part of Throop, April 8th, 1859; and the 7th ward of Auburn, in 1869.

The surface is rolling and inclines to the north and west. The principal streams are Owasco Outlet, which crosses the north-east corner, and Cayuga Brook, which flows north through the eastern part. A few smaller streams rise in the town, but none of them afford any water privilege within the limits of the town, though there are some valuable mill sites on the Outlet in the west edge of Auburn. There is not a saw or grist-mill in the town. There was formerly a saw-mill in the north-west corner of the town, on the farm owned by Lewis Baker, and another near the center of the town, on the site of the plaster-mill of Peter Shank, which was kept in operation as long as there was sufficient timber to pay for running it.

It is underlaid by the gypsum of the Onondaga salt group, which crops out in various localities on the shore of the lake, notably on the farm of Daniel Yawger in the south part, on the farm of John Larue in the north part, and at the bridge, in each of which localities it has been quarried, first, at the latter place, about seventy years ago. It is generally, however, too deeply covered with drift, and has associated with it too much of the shale of this group to be profitably worked in competition with the quarries to the south, in Springport, where it has less superincumbent matter and is freer from shaly impurities. It is not improbable that the first plaster dug and used in Cayuga County was obtained at Cayuga Bridge. A ledge of limestone extends diagonally across the town in a north-east and south-west direction. It is a continuation of the same ledge which is quarried so extensively in Auburn, both for burning and for building purposes. Upon the road a little west of Aurelius and upon either side to the north and south it crops out upon the surface and covers a large area. It also forms the bed of Cayuga Brook a little west of Auburn. It is used for building purposes, usually for rough work, and was formerly burned.

Numerous springs issue from these limestone and gypsum formations, some of them possessing mineral properties which constitute them valuable medicaments. Near Aurelius station, on the farm of Mrs. Dr. Hannah Lilly, is a sulphur spring, which was discovered and a bath house built some forty years ago. On the farms of Henry Willard in Cayuga, Jno. M. Mersereau, about two miles north of that village, on the adjoining farm of Daniel Anthony, and on that of Lucius and Wm. Baldwin in the same locality, are springs which qualitative analyses of the first and last show to possess similar constituents. The following is the result of a complete analysis of the water from the Willard spring, made by Dr. S. A. Lattimore, Prof. of Chemistry in Rochester University. showing the contents of a U. S. gallon:

Sulphate of magnesia----------37.15 grains.
Sulphate of lime---------------94.16 "
Carbonate of lime-------------18.20 "
Chloride of sodium------------ 2.12 "
Oxide of iron------------------ .04 "
Alumina----------------------- trace
Silica--------------------------  "    

Total number of grains--------151.67

The soil is for the most part a heavy clay and gravelly loam, being admirably adapted to grain culture, to which it is mainly devoted. It is strictly an agricultural town and is one of the best in the County. Says spafford, in his Gazetteer of 1824, "the inhabitants are principally employed in agriculture, and many of them enjoy a great degree of opulence. It is hardly possible to conceive a more enviable situation than theirs, thus blessed in a most delightful country."

The Auburn branch of the N. Y. C. R. R. crosses the town in a tortuous course from east to west, and crosses the lake at Cayuga. The Cayuga and Seneca Lake Canal extends through the west part north of Cayuga, along the lake and river, and connects with the Erie Canal at Montezuma.

The population of the town in 1875 was 1,978 of whom 1,610 were native, 368 foreign, 1,972 white, and 6 colored. The area is 18,870 acres, 16,614 of which are improved, 1,314 woodland, and 942, otherwise improved.

The first settlers in Aurelius were squatters on the Reservation of the Cayuga Indians, which included one hundred square miles and extended on both sides of the lake from Aurora to Montezuma. This reservation was made in 1789, in which year the Cayugas relinquished their claims to all other lands in this State by a treaty held at Albany; the consideration being $500 down, $1,500 to be paid the following June, and a perpetual annuity of $500. In 1794 the Cayugas

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