Editing Ava, New York (section)

==History==
Ava was formed from [[Boonville, New York|Boonville]] on May 12, 1846. It was the second to last town to be created in the county, followed only by [[Forestport, New York|Forestport]] in 1869.<ref name="Wager">Our County and Its People:A Descriptive Work on Oneida County, New York, Daniel Elbridge Wager, The Boston History Company, 1896</ref>

===Early settlers=== 
Ava was settled in 1798 by Ebenezer Harger, who two years prior moved to [[Whitestown, New York|Whitestown]] from [[Connecticut]]. The next settlers were Zephaniah and Abner Wood. Isaac Knight arrived from Rhode Island in 1798 or 1799. Around 1800, Philo Harger, Benjamin Jones, Lemuel Wood, Justus Beardsley and Salmon Bates (who opened the town's first tavern in his house) arrived. Daniel Buck, an [[American Revolutionary War]] veteran arrived from [[Massachusetts]] in 1800. Other early settlers were Rickerson Kenyon, Joseph Hunt, Remember Kent, who built an early [[saw-mill]], and Bates, Barnard, Fanning, Adams, Beck, Tiffany.

The first child born in Ava was Chauncey Harger in March 1801. The first saw-mill was built in 1801 by Philo Harger and Benjamin Jones.<ref name="Durant">History of Oneida County New York, Samuel W. Durant, Philadelphia, Everts & Gariss, 1878</ref>

===Land===
The town is made up of land of:<ref name="Wager"/>

*Adgate patent, a 45,000 acre patent issued to [[Matthew Adgate]]. Adgate was a member of the NY assembly and the US constitutional convention.
*the Oothoudt Patent, a 16,052 acre patent issued to [[Henry Oothoudt]] in 1786 (about one have of Ava lies within this patent). Oothoudt was a delegate to the [[New York Provincial Congress]] in 1775 and 1776, [[Albany County, New York|Albany County]] assemblyman in the 3rd New York State Legislature, 1779–1780, one of three commissioners of forfeitures under the New York Act of Attainder which seized the property of loyalists, and delegate to the US constitutional convention.
*the Gore Patent, a 15,360 acre patent issued to [[Thomas Machin]] in 1787 (one of the several Machin Patents). Machin was an engineer and surveyor and used his skills in support of the [[American Revolutionary War]].
*the Scriba Patent, land first acquired by John and Nicholas Roosevelt in 1791 from the New York State Land Commission. This patent was for 530,000 acres situated in present Oswego and Oneida counties. Approximately 499,000 acres of the Roosevelt Tract became Scriba's Patent in 1793 as partial payment of debts owed to the Scriba Bank by the Roosevelts.
*the Franklin and Robinson Tract (also called the Quaker Tract), a 75,000 acre parcel purchased from George Scriba in 1795.
*the Muller Tract, a 1615-acre previously part of the Franklin and Robinson Tract that whose mortgage was foreclosed upon by Rembrandt Muller.

===Civic formation===

Ava was created by the legislature on May 12, 1846. The first town meeting was held on May 26, 1846. The following positions were filled: [[Town supervisor|Town Supervisor]], [[Town Clerk]], [[Justice of the peace|Justices of the Peace]] (4), [[Tax assessment|Assessor]]s (3), Commissioner of Highways (3), [[Overseer of the poor|Overseers of the Poor]] (2), [[Tax collector|Collector]], [[Constable]]s (4), [[School Superintendent|Superintendent of Schools]] (1), Sealer of Weights and Measures.<ref name="Wager"/><ref name="Durant"/>

===Name===

Ava was named after the [[Kingdom of Ava]].<ref name="Wager"/>

===Commerce===
An early road connecting [[Fort Stanwix]] to [[Carthage, New York|Carthage]] passed through the town. It was known as the old "French Road" from the time that Carthage was a [[French people|French]] settlement on the [[Black River (New York)|Black River]].<ref name="Wager"/>

A [[plank road]] was constructed through Ava connecting [[Rome, New York|Rome]] and [[Turin, New York|Turin]] by the Rome and Turin Plank-Road Company in 1848. It was abandoned in 1855.<ref name="Wager"/>

The area was primarily agricultural before becoming more dependent on dairying in the second half of the 19th century, when six cheese factories were located in Ava.<ref name="Wager"/>

The [[Ava Town Hall]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1992.<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref>