Oneidas

A tribe of Indians forming one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, who resided in the county and near the lake which bears their name. They were continually at war with the early French settlers in Canada, and took sides with the colonists against the British in the war of the Revolution. For this they suffered severely. Their castle, church, and villages were destroyed by the Tories in 1780, and they were compelled to flee to the white settlements for protection. In 1788 they ceded most of their lands to the State and moved to Canada; subsequently some of the tribe settled in Wisconsin, where they are still comfortably located on a reservation; and a remnant still resides near Rome, Oneida Co., N. Y. They are well advanced in the arts of civilization, and, contrary to the usual fate of Indian tribes, have increased in numbers.