Geographical gazetteer of Jefferson county, N.Y. 1684-1890, Part 1

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- [from old catalog] comp; Horton, William H., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers and binders
Number of Pages: 1384

USA > New York > Jefferson County > Geographical gazetteer of Jefferson county, N.Y. 1684-1890 > Part 1

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PART FIRST.

GEOGRAPHICAL

GAZETTEER

JEFFERSON COUNTY, N. Y.

1684-1890

Edited by WILLIAM H. HORTON.

COMPILED AND PUBLISHED BY

HAMILTON CHILD,

AUTHOR OF GAZETTEERS OF WAYNE, ONTARIO, SENECA, CAYUGA, TOMPKINS, ONONDAGA, MADISON, CORTLAND, CHEMUNG, SCHUYLER, STEUBEN, OR- LEANS, HERKIMER, CHENANGO, NIAGARA, ONEIDA, MONROE, GENESEE, SARATOGA, MONTGOMERY AND FULTON, ALBANY AND SCHENEC- TADY, RENSSELAER, WASHINGTON, WYOMING. LEWIS, COLUMBIA, SULLIVAN, SCHOHARIE, OTSEGO, ULSTER, CHAUTAUQUA, ST. LAWRENCE, BROOME AND TIOGA, CATTARAUGUS, ALLE- GANY, AND OTHER COUNTIES IN NEW YORK STATE; OF ERIE AND CRAWFORD COUNTIES, AND THE BRAD- FORD OIL DISTRICT IN PENNSYLVANIA; OF ALL THE COUNTIES IN VERMONT; OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY, MASS .; AND OF CHESHIRE AND GRAFTON COUNTIES, N. H.

PERMANENT OFFICE,

SYRACUSE, N. Y.

ESTABLISHED 1866.

" He that hath much to do, will do something wrong, and of that wrong must suffer the consequences ; and if it were possible that he should always act rightly, yet when such num- bers are to judge of his conduct, the bad w i censure and obstruct him by malevolence, and the good sometimes by mistake."-SAMUEL JOHNSON.

SYRACUSE, N. Y .?

THE SYRACUSE JOURNAL COMPANY, PRINTERS AND BINDERS. July, 1890.

807 8 . 02

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INTRODUCTION.

In presenting to the public the GAZETTEER AND BUSINESS DIRECTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY we desire to return our sincere thanks to all who have kindly aided in obtaining the information it contains. Especially are our thanks due the editors and managers of the county papers for the uniform kindness they have evinced in calling public attention to our efforts, and for essential aid in furnishing material for the work and granting us the use of their files ; to various members of the Jefferson County Historical Society for aid and encouragement ; to the clergy throughout the county ; to the follow- ing citizens of Watertown : Luther J. Dorwin, Esq., for his paper on the " Bench and Bar "; Daniel S. Marvin for the papers on " Prehistoric Man " and " The Ice Age "; Moses Eames for various contributions ; Hon. Beman Brockway for history of the "Press of Jefferson County"; Andrew W. Munk and Mrs. John A. Sherman for valuable contributions on cheesemak- ing ; John C. Knowlton for his sketch of the papermaking interests ; Col. Albert D. Shaw for interesting history connected with the provost-marshal's office during the civil war ; Dr. J. Mortimer Crawe for history of the Jeffer- son County Medical Society ; T. H. Camp for biographical sketches ; Fred Seymour for history of the schools of Watertown ; and Prof. R. S. Bosworth for biographical work ; to F. E. Wilson, of Rutland, for his article on the "Grange " ; to Leonard G. Peck and the late George Gilbert, of Carthage, for various historical papers connected with that village ; to Col. W. B. Camp, of Sackets Harbor, for interesting sketches connected with the War of 1812-15, concerning Madison Barracks, and for several biographical sketches ; to Col. Richard I. Dodge and the officers of his staff for courtesies at Madison Bar- racks ; to J. M. Cleveland, of Adams, for various papers ; to D. A. Dwight, of Adams, for history of several churches, and other sketches ; and to many others who have rendered valuable assistance. We have also consulted the following : Spafford's Gazetteers, published in 1813 and 1824; Hough's History of Jefferson County, 1854; L. H. Everts & Co's History of Jefferson County, 1878 ; Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1889; The Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence, by Hough, 1880 ; Geographical History of the State of New York, by Mather and Brockett, 1850 ; The Documentary History of the State of New York ; the various government

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INTRODUCTION.

charts of Lake Ontario and the River St. Lawrence ; the several published maps of the county ; the diary of James Mix for historical data of Champion ; and various pamphlets and reports of societies, institutions, corporations, and villages.

That errors have occurred in so great a number of names, dates, and state- ments is probable, and that names have been omitted which should have been inserted is quite certain. We can only say that we have exercised more than ordinary diligence and care in this difficult and complicated feature of bookmaking. Of such as feel aggrieved in consequence of errors or omissions we beg pardon, and ask the indulgence of the reader in noting such as have been observed in the subsequent reading of the proofs, and which are found corrected in the " Errata " at the close of this volume.

It was designed to give a brief account of all the churches and other societies in the county, but owing in some cases to the negligence of those who were able to give the necessary information, and in others to the ina- bility of any one to do so, we have been obliged to omit special notices of a few.

We would suggest that our patrons observe and become familiar with the ex- planations at the commencement of the Directory, on page 3, Part Second. The names it embraces, and the information connected therewith, were ob- tained by actual canvass, and are as correct and reliable as the judgment of those from whom they were solicited renders possible. Each agent is furnished with a map of the town he is expected to canvass, and he is required to pass over every road and call at every dwelling and place of business in the town in order to obtain the facts from the individuals concerned whenever possible.

The margins have been left broad to enable any one to note changes opposite the names.

The map inside the back cover will be found, in connection with the Directory, very valuable.

We take this occasion to express the hope that the information found in the book will not prove devoid of interest and value, though we are fully con- scious that the brief description of the county the scope of the work enables us to give is by no means an exhaustive one, and can only hope that it may prove an aid to future historians, who will be better able to do full justice to the subject.

While thanking our patrons and friends generally, for the cordiality with which our efforts have been seconded, we leave the work to secure that favor which earnest endeavor ever wins from a discriminating public, hoping they will bear in mind, should errors be noted, that "he who expects a perfect work to see, expects what ne'er was, is, nor yet shall be."

GAZETTEER

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

J EFFERSON COUNTY once formed a part of the original county of Albany, the line of evolution from the latter being as follows : Albany County, formed November 1, 1683; Tryon, formed from Albany, March 12, 1772 ; Montgomery, changed from Tryon, April 2, 1784 ; Herki- mer, formed from Montgomery, January 16, 1791; Oneida, formed from Herkimer, March 15, 1798 ; Jefferson,* formed from Oneida, March 28, 1805. A part of the act erecting Jefferson County is as follows :-

" Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That all that part of the county of Oneida, contained within the following bounds, to wit: Beginning at the southwest corner of the town of Ellisburgh, on the easterly shore of Lake Ontario, and running along the southerly line of said town; thence along the easterly line thereof to the southwest corner of the town of Malta [Lorraine]; thence along the southerly line of the said town of Malta, and continuing the same course to the corner of townships number two, three, seven, and eight; thence north along the east line of the town of Malta aforesaid to the northeast corner thereof; thence in a direct line to the corner of the towns of Rutland and Champion; thence along the line between the said town of Champion and the town of Harrisburg to Black River; thence in a direct line to the bounds of the county of St. Law- rence, to intersect the same at the corner of townships numbers seven and eleven, in Great Tract number three, of Macomb's Purchase; thence along the westerly bounds of the said county of St. Lawrence to the north bounds of this state; thence westerly and southerly along said bounds, including all the islands in the River St. Lawrence, in Lake Ontario, and in front thereof, and within this state to the place of beginning, shall be, and hereby is, erected into a separate county, and shall be called and known by the name of Jefferson." * * ¥

* *

"And be it further enacted, That all that part of township number nine, which is com- prised within the bounds of the said county of Jefferson, shall be annexed to and become a part of the town of Harrison [Rodman], in said county, and that all that part of the said township number nine, comprised within the bounds of the said county of Lewis, shall be an- nexed to and become a part of the town of Harrisburg, in said county."

Hough's History says: "The relative limits of Jefferson and Lewis counties have been three times changed. It will be noticed by reference that the present town of Pinckney was then divided by a line that was a continuation

# Lewis County was formed from Oneida by the same act.

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

of the west lines of towns 8 and 3, of Boylston's tract ; and that from the line between Champion and Denmark, on Black River, the division ran straight to St. Lawrence County, where the line of townships 7 and 1I, of tract III., touched the county line. On February 12, 1808, the whole of No. 9 (Pinckney) was included in Lewis County. On April 5, 1810, the line east of the river, beginning as before at the east corner of Champion, ran thence to the southwest corner of a lot in 11 west and 21 north ranges, subdivisions of No. 5; thence east between 20 and 21 northern ranges, to the southwest corner of lot in 10 west, 21 north range ; thence north between 10 and 11, to south line of lot No. 4; thence east to lots 808 and 809 ; thence along 808 and 809 to lot 857 ; thence to southeast corner of 857 and 809, to north- east corner of 851; thence west, on line of lots 851 and 850, to the south- west corner of 850; thence northeast along line of lots to St. Lawrence County. The present line between the two counties was established April 2, 1813, by which this county received considerable accessions from Lewis in the town of Wilna."

Jefferson County is situated in the northern part of the state of New York, in an angle formed by the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, the superficial area, according to the latest statistics, being 733,585 acres, equiv- alent to 1,146 square miles. It is bounded on the northwest by the St. Lawrence River, on the northeast by St. Lawrence County, on the west by Lake Ontario, on the south by Oswego County, and on the east by Lewis County. The southwest part is marshy, but at a short distance from the lake the land rises in gentle undulations, and, farther inland, by abrupt ter- races to the highest point, 1,200 feet above the lake, in the town of Worth .* A plateau, about 1,000 feet above the lake, spreads out from the summit, and extends into Oswego and Lewis counties. An ancient lake beach, 390 feet above the present level of the lake, may be traced through Ellisburgh, Adams, Watertown, and Rutland. North of Black River the surface is gen- erally flat or slightly undulating ; in the extreme northeast corner it is broken by low ridges parallel to the St. Lawrence. With the exception of a few isolated hills no part of the region is as high as the ancient lake ridge men- tioned. An isolated hill in Pamelia formerly bore a crop of red cedar ; and, as this timber is now only found upon the islands in the lake and in the St. Lawrence, it is supposed that the hill was an island at a time when at least three-fourths of the country was covered by water.

* A recent correspondent in the Watertown Times claims the highest point of land in Jefferson County to be in the town of Wilna, on the farm of James Harvey, about one mile from Carthage village. This peak (which is but a huge rock) is known as Mount McQuillan, and is one corner of the Adirondack survey. On the highest portion of the rock is a spot chipped out by the surveying party to locate the place. On one side of the rock there is a natural well, as round as a barrel and 12 feet deep, which furnishes pure and wholesome water. From this well have been taken, in cleaning it, large quantities of small stones, such as are found on the lake shores, that had the appearance of having been washed by running water for years.

LAKES AND WATER COURSES.

The main water features of the county are Ontario Lake and St. Lawrence River. The main indentations of the lake are Black River Bay, Chaumont Bay, Henderson Bay, and Guffin's Bay. Black River Bay is accounted the finest harbor on Lake Ontario, and is surpassed by none on the upper lakes for capacity, depth of water, and safety. It is completely land-locked, and, including its various ramifications, covers an area of about 60 square miles, with depth of water sufficient to float the heaviest vessels. The largest islands attached to . Jefferson County are Wells, Grindstone, and Carleton in the St. Lawrence, and Grenadier, Galloe, and Stony islands in the lake. Besides these there are innumerable smaller ones, including several in the mouth of Black River, a number in Black River and Chaumont bays, and a portion of the archipelago, known as the " Thousand Islands." Among the most prom- inent headlands and capes are Stony Point and Six Town Point, in the town of Henderson ; Pillar Point, in Brownville; Point Peninsula and Point Salu- brious, in Lyme ; and Tibbets Point, in Cape Vincent.

There are about 20 small lakes in the county, of which 10 are in Theresa and Alexandria, two in Henderson, four in Ellisburgh, two in Antwerp, and one each in Orleans and Pamelia, Champion and Rutland. The largest of these is Butterfield Lake, lying between Theresa and Alexandria, which is about four miles in length. The other more important ones are Perch Lake lying between Orleans and Pamelia, nearly three miles in length, and Pleas- ant Lake, in Champion, about two miles long.

The most important of the interior streams is Black River, which drains about one-fourth of the county, passing through a little south of the center. Between Carthage, on the east line of the county, and the lake this stream falls 480 feet, and is almost a continuous series of rapids, with several cas- cades varying from two to 15 feet in perpendicular descent. The other prin- cipal streams are Indian River, a branch of the Oswegatchie ; Chaumont River, flowing into Chaumont Bay ; Perch River, which drains Perch Lake and discharges into Black River Bay ; the two branches of Sandy Creek, in the south part of the county ; Stony Creek, in Henderson and Adams ; and Mill Creek, in Hounsfield, the last four named flowing into Lake Ontario south of Black River. These and minor streams will be described more fully in the description of towns through which they flow.

When the settlement of Jefferson County began its territory was embraced in two towns of Oneida County. All south of Black River was a part of Mexico, and all north of the river belonged to Leyden. The formation of Jefferson and Lewis counties from Oneida was made necessary by the rapid settlement of the country, and the inability of the courts to meet the de- mands of justice when their jurisdiction extended over such a vast territory. It was at first intended to erect but one new county. Local interests began to operate to secure the advantages expected from the location of the public buildings. Each section had its advocates. Nathan Sage in Redfield, Walter Martin in Martinsburg, Silas Stow and others in Lowville, Moss

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

Kent, Noadiah Hubbard, and others in Champion, Henry Coffeen in Wat- ertown, and Jacob Brown in Brownville were each intent upon the project of a county seat. In case but one county was erected Champion had the fairest prospects of success, and indeed such had been the chances, in the opinion of several prominent citizens, that they located there. To obtain an expression of public opinion on this subject three delegates, chosen at town meetings, from each town interested in the question, met at the house of Freedom Wright, in Harrisburg (Denmark), November 20, 1804. Many went with the intention of voting for one new county only, but strong local interests led to the attendance of those who so influenced the voice of the delegation that, with but one exception, they decided for two new counties, and the convention united upon recommending the names of the executive officers of the federal and state governments, then in office, from whence came the names of JEFFERSON and LEWIS from Thomas Jefferson and Morgan Lewis, both men of national celebrity. Application was accordingly made to the legislature, and on March 4, 1805, Mr. Wright, then in the Assembly, from the committee to whom was referred petitions and remonstran- ces from the inhabitants of the county of Oneida relative to a division thereof, reported " that they had examined the facts stated as to population and extent of territory, in said county, and the inconvenience of attending county concerns, and find the same to be true." A division was deemed necessary, and leave was granted to bring in a bill, which was twice read the same day, and passed through the legislature without opposition.

Section 5 of the act erecting Jefferson and Lewis counties provided for the appointment of three commissioners, " who shall not be resident within the western district of this state, or interested in either of the said counties of Jefferson or Lewis, for the purpose of designating the sites for the court- houses and gaols, of the said counties respectively, and to that end the said commissioners shall as soon as may be, previous to the first day of October next, repair to the said counties respectively, and after exploring the same, ascertain and designate a fit and proper place in each of the said counties for erecting the said buildings."

The commissioners appointed were Matthew Dorr, David Rogers, and John Van Bentheusen. The question of location was not settled without the most active efforts being made by Brownville to secure the site ; but the balance of settlement was then south of Black River, and the level lands in the north part of the county were represented to the commissioners as swampy and incapable of settlement. Jacob Brown, finding it impossible to secure this advantage to his place, next endeavored to retain it, at least, north of Black River, and offered an eligible site in the present town of Pamelia ; but in this he also failed. The influence of Henry Coffeen is said to have been especially strong with the commissioners, although he was

* Hough's History of Jefferson County.

PREHISTORIC MAN.

seconded by others of much ability. The location finally decided upon was in Watertown, on the site of the present county jail, then quite a distance from the business portion of the village. This, it is said, was to conciliate those who had been disappointed in its location. A deed of the premises was presented by Henry and Amos Coffeen.

The first meeting of the board of supervisors of Jefferson County was held in the old frame school house, which occupied the site of the present Univer- salist Church in Watertown city. The date of this meeting was October 1, 1805, and the following persons constituted the first board: Noadiah Hub- bard, of Champion ; Cliff French, of Rutland ; Corlis Hinds, of Watertown ; John W. Collins, of Brownville ; Nicholas Salisbury, of Adams ; Thomas White, of Harrison (now Rodman); Lyman Ellis, of Ellisburgh; and Asa Brown, of Malta (now Lorraine). Noadiah Hubbard was chosen president, after which they adjourned the meeting until 3 o'clock P. M., at the house of Abijah Putnam. They met according to adjournment and proceeded to elect, by ballot, Zelotes Harvey, clerk, and Benjamin Skinner, county treas- urer. The latter was required to furnish security in the sum of $5,000 for the faithful discharge of his duties, which he did, Jacob Brown becoming his bondsman. The session lasted seven days, the entire appropriations amount- ing to $723.44.

The first officers of the county, after its organization, who were appointed by the governor and council, were as follows: Henry Coffeen, county clerk ; Abel Sherman, sheriff; Benjamin Skinner (appointed by board of super- visors), county treasurer ; Nathan Williams, district attorney (1807) ; Am- brose Pease, coroner.

The following is a full list of members of the board of supervisors of Jef- ferson County for 1890, and includes 14 Republicans and 12 Democrats: Adams, W. D. Arms ; Alexandria, Fred T. Holmes; Antwerp, Dr. G. H. Wood ; Brownville, Walter Zimmerman ; Cape Vincent, D. L. Fitzgerald ; Champion, Wesley Briggs ; Clayton, W. H. Consaul ; Ellisburgh, J. M. Thompson ; Henderson, A. A. Scott ; Hounsfield, J. A. McWayne; Le Ray, F. E. Croissant ; Lorraine, C. D. Grimshaw ; Lyme, Eli B. Johnson ; Orleans, B. J. Strough ; Pamelia, E. B. Nicholas ; Philadelphia, R. Oatman ; Rodman, W. J. Wyman ; Rutland, Carl H. Frink ; Theresa, George E. Yost ; Watertown, B. W. Gifford; City : Ist Ward, R. Holden, Jr .; 2d Ward, J. Atwell, Jr .; 3d Ward, R. E. Smiley; 4th Ward, Solon Wilder; Wilna, W. H. Delmore ; Worth, Philip Brennan.

PREHISTORIC MAN.

For the following account of the occupancy of this territory, before the advent of the white settlers, the publisher is indebted to D. S. Marvin, of Watertown, who has devoted much time to the study of aboriginal traces, etc., and is probably more competent to deal with the subject than any other resident of the county :-

JEFFERSON COUNTY.

During the opening scenes of the historic era the territory of Jefferson County was unoccupied by Indians, but held by the Oneidas and Onondagas as hunting-grounds ; stealthily visited now and then by the St. Regis, Mas- sasauga, and other Canadian tribes for like objects.

Dr. Hough, in his History published in 1854, mentions and describes some 20 mostly fortified Indian village sites, situated in all parts of the county. Dr. Hough's accounts were mostly taken from Aboriginal Monuments of New York, by E. G. Squier, Smithsonian contributions. Record is also made in the 3d vol. of Documentary History of New York of others visited and described in 1802 by an early itinerant missionary. But our most exact knowledge comes from explorations since made of the remains that lie buried in the soils of the county. These show that the territory had been occupied by Indians for considerable but unknown periods of time, anterior to the discovery of America. The territory of the county was ceded in 1788 to the state, by the Oneidas, excepting some small individual grants. The document was called a treaty, but it was really a deed. One fact in this connection, bearing much significance as to Indian polity, has heretofore escaped com- ment. It is this: there are the signatures of four women attached to the instrument with those of the chiefs of the nation. This makes it evident that the Oneidas had already emerged from the stage of savageism and advanced to the middle stages of barbarism, for in the former or savage stage inheri- tance is entirely in the female line. Here we see the chiefs and females are associated to convey the title. Rights of hunting and fishing in the ceded territory were reserved by the Oneidas, and this right was maintained until the county was settled with whites by the Macomb purchase and its grantees, Le Ray de Chaumont, and others.

The descriptions of Indian remains given by the authors referred to, and others, like all accounts of early times, are no doubt in the main founded upon facts ; but the immense size of some of the skeletons, the rows of double teeth of the warriors, the remains of giants that lie buried in the soils of the county, seem more or less mythical ; no such remains are now found. Some years ago Drs. E. W. and F. G. Trowbridge, of Watertown, exhumed some 15 or more skeletons near Apling postoffice, on the old Talcott farm in Adams, one of the places described by Dr. Hough, and a typical forti- fied village site, where the lines of entrenchments made by the Indians in defending themselves against their enemies may still be clearly traced. These skeletons were the remains of men, women, and children, and instead of showing the giants of prehistoric times, they were of less robust habit and averaged smaller size than those of the Five Nations, and the generally faintly traced muscle attachments show inferior muscular development, and the whole osteology people of small stature. Their similar manner of entrench- ing for defensive purposes evinces that the other sites were constructed and occupied by the same tribe, at the same dates, and under like conditions. The considerable amounts of burned corn, both upon the sites occupied

PREHISTORIC MAN.

and in some of the graves, show them to have been to some extent an agri- cultural tribe. For the purposes of easy tillage all these villages were located upon sand-covered moraines, and other easily wrought soils. Considering the rude stone tools, with which they were constructed, many years of labor must have been expended upon these lines of defense ; much strategical skill is displayed in locating the entrenchments, the lay of the ground was well studied, and advantage taken of the situation wherever natural defen- sive objects could be utilized, such as steep slopes, hills, rocks, and shores of streams. The shapes are not regular, but the result of local conditions ; some have but one side entrenched, others have double lines, and the one on Black River Bay, located upon an open plateau, was round, and had double lines of entrenchments, with a lunette towards the water. Access to water was never left unstudied.

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Geographical gazetteer of Jefferson county, N.Y. 1684-1890, Part 1

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- [from old catalog] comp; Horton, William H., [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers and binders Number of Pages: 1384

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- [from old catalog] comp; Horton, William H., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers and binders
Number of Pages: 1384