The History of The Cider Mill
1868
Hart Abbe and his wife, Catherine, sold the property to John L. Willcox for $9,000.
1870
Willcox passed the property to his sons, Charles and Edgar.
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1917
Widowed, Catherine Abbe deeded a bordering strip of land to Charles Willcox for the consideration of $1.00.
1923
Hobbs sold the mill to Benjamin Morey (1888-1928) and Katherine Schneider Morey (1891-1993).
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1924
An advertisement in "The Outlook", the annual publication of Split Rock High School.
Fay Road in Taunton, looking west from Bishop's Hill. Bellevue Avenue is perpendicular with several houses. At the top of this image, the Fay farm is on the left and The Mill is on the right.
1927
Katherine became the first Receiver of Taxes of the Town of Onondaga. She had to personally visit community property owners to collect their cash payments. She used a large satchel for the monies she received and carried a gun to protect herself from thieves.
Katherine Morey, son Howard Morey, Lincoln Keehfus, Carl
1939
Fay Road was previously called Grand Ave Road,
1941
1963
A new structure was built, facing east
1810
Aaron Fay built a steam operated saw and grist mill in the hamlet of Taunton, New York
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1884
A Dunning & Boschert Press Co. cider press is added.
1922
Upon his death, Charles' niece, Minnie Morrison Hobbs (1879-1954) was willed the property. The land and its surroundings became known as the "Hobbs Tract" to the present day.
The "little house" was built. According to Howard Morey's memoir, "it was 24 foot square with two bedrooms, kitchen, dining room and an upstairs with a slanted roof that was never finished off but where we three boys slept."
Benjamin found the original 1884 cider press for sale in the valley and returned it to its home and existing foundation at the Mill.
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Along with grinding feed, sawing lumber and making cider, The Moreys made dog food for the Sturdy Dog Food Company, sold corn cobs from the shelling machine to a meat packing company for smoking hams and bacons, sold sawdust for packing ice in summer, took on a dealership for selling cement, became the distributorship for Pillsbury’s flour and founded The Split Rock Red Birds baseball team. (Fun fact: this is why we use Red Bird mints at The Cider Mill).
Looking east down Fay Road. The house on the right was the Fay Homestead.The new house next to The Mill (on the left beyond the white fence) was a "kit" home- the pieces of which came by rail. It is now called "The Cider Bungalow"
1928
Benjamin Morey succumbed to pleurisy, leaving widow Katherine with their flourishing business and four small children. As a descendant of the Luchsinger family, Katherine was no stranger to hard work and carried on.
1929
Katherine is elected town clerk and conducts business from a tiny building adjacent to the mill near the road. She adds farm machinery, lawn mower and snow blower sales and service, a bakery and a fish fry to the operation.
1941
Harold Shuart and his six-horse team that was used for advertising in Syracuse and at the New York State Fair. At one time, they delivered barrels of sweet cider on this wagon to a bar in Armory Square where it was fermented to hard cider
No doubt, a day like this inspired the sophisticated irrigation system that still exists on the property
1957
Well deserving, Katherine retired from her town position. Her sons, Gwynn and Howard continued the business.
1962
The entire mill was lost in a devastating fire. The little clerk’s office is dragged to the rear of the property and attached to Katherine’s house.
1975
Howard Morey retires.
1985
Gwynn sells the mill.
1925
1990
Two kids from the valley, Dan Seeley and Teresa Cortese meet and fall in love.
1994
With a passion for cooking and entertaining, the Seeleys began catering for friends, working out of a tiny kitchen in their Seneca Turnpike home.
1995
Local real estate investors and owners of Onondaga Paper and Twine, the Talev brothers buy the bank-owned property.
Dan and Teresa move their family to a home in the Winkworth area. They continued to work their "real" jobs as the catering business grew.
1997
When their first corporate client asked for an invoice, a name had to be chosen for the catering company. "Diamond Dan" (as he was affectionately known by some of his friends) and Teresa thought "Diamond Catering" would convey a sense of quality and longevity.
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Following a lifelong passion, Dan quit his corporate job and began work as a chef at Kelley's Restaurant.
1998
The Seeleys convert their garage into a commercial kitchen. Their next-door-neighbor volunteered to wash dishes at the end of many a long day in exchange for leftovers. It was all-hands-on-deck in those days. Dan's mother watched the babies and Teresa's mother prepped vegetables, ran errands or set tables.
2002
While watching a special broadcast about the events of 9/11, The Seeleys learned of the selfless acts by the people of Newfoundland when thousands of airline passengers were diverted there. Dan casually commented that "someone should throw those people a party." Soon after, the comment became a commitment and plans began for a life changing trip. The project was dubbed "Gratitude for Gander".
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Dan left Kelley's to cater full time.
2003
Diamond Catering moves into the mill. When the Seeleys introduced themselves to Gwynn Morey, who lived a few doors down the street, his wife, Elizabeth met them with a very stern warning saying that they'd better know what they were doing. She had witnessed a series of restaurants come and go over the years and was heartbroken at the state of the building. Renovations began immediately.
2004
Teresa resigned her position as a 911 dispatcher to focus on
2005
Teresa resigned her position as a 911 dispatcher to focus on the family business. This was a huge leap of faith for the family of five to lose County benefits and a reliable paycheck for a great unknown.