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G
HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF THE
VILLAGE OF CLAYTON, N. Y.
AND A. COMPLETE
HISTORY,
ST. MARY'S PARISH
1800
Class FIZO
Book
CoOG2
PUBLISHED BY JOSEPH H. BRABANT CLAYTON, N. Y.
HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF THE
VILLAGE OF CLAYTON, N. Y.
AND A COMPLETE
HISTORY
-OF
St. Mary's Parish
-BY-
REV. P. S. GARAND
SEPTEMBER, 1902.
G. II. BATES PRINTER, CLAYTON, N. Y.
Fiz9
NIHIL OBSTAT + HENRY
BISHOP OF OGDENSBURG, N. Y.
11
.
-
.
RIGHT REV. HENRY GABRIELS, D. D., Present Bishop of Ogdensburg, N. Y.
PREFACE
The object of this short history of the village of Clay- ton and of St. Mary's parish is to revive memories of the past, to preserve valuable facts that were soon to fall into oblivion and to resurrect as it were, hundreds of names and facts all but forgotten by the old people and utterly unknown to the present generation. In presenting this humble volume to the public, I do not pretend to have written a complete history of the village of Clayton, but a simple sketch of its primitive condit- ion, its modest beginnings and its gradual development As far as the history of St. Mary's parish is concerned the author has written it as completely and accurately as he could with the material at his command, giving the names and characteristics of all the priests who have ministered to the spiritual wants of the Catholics of Clayton, what they did for the parish, and the names of those whom they baptized, married and buried as far back as the parish records will carry us, which is to the year of 1854. The parishoners themselves have not been forgotten, and whatever was found to their credit in the parish books or could be gleaned from the testi- mony of reliable persons, has been faithfully put down in this unpretentious work.
In preparing this historical sketch, the writer has studied all the histories of Jefferson county and has
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consulted many of the old people who had any remem- brance of the humble beginnings of Clayton and the gradual formation of St. Mary's parish. This history, therefore, makes no pretention to completeness and extensiveness, but it does claim to be accurate and at- thentic, as it is based upon the best historical documents available and information supplied by the most trust- worthy living witnesses.
Imperfect as this booklet may appear to many, it is with pleasure, that the author dedicates it to his dearly beloved people, as a token of gratitude and esteem for all they have done for God's church and his own humble self.
THE AUTHOR.
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INDEX.
PART FIRST
Preface. .
3-4
Chapter I. The Primitive State of Clayton .- It receives its First Name, We-ter-ingh-ra- Gu-en-te-re- . II
Chapter II.
Clayton Receives its Second Name .- It is Visited By White People for the first time . 16
Chapter III.
The First White Persons of Clayton, N. Y.,-Captain Bartlett and the French Trapper .- The Squatters and Smugglers of the Early History of Clayton .. 20
Chapter IV.
First Lumber Business Legally Started in the Vicini- ty of French Creek .- A Small Conflict of the War of 1812 .- This Village is Laid Out into Building Lots and Receives its Third Name, Cornelia .- First Settlers at French Creek after the War of 1812 .- Washington Island Becomes Inhabited .
Chapter V. 23
Rapid Growth of Cornelia .- Its Successive Industries. -Our Village Receives its Fourth and Last Name, Clayton, in 1831 .- The Town of Clayton is Formed .-
5
The first Town Meeting and the first Town Election .- Clayton Village is Incorporated in 1872 and Holds its first Village Elections .. . 26
Chapter VI.
The first church built in Clayton .- The district schools .- The Patriot War of 1837 .- The fire of June 6, 1856 .- The civil war of 1861. 32
PART SECOND.
List of Priests who attended St. Mary's Parish. . 35-36
Chapter I.
The origin of St. Mary's parish .- Fathers Caissy, Gilbride and Daly. 37-38
Chapter II.
The first church is built .- Rev. Fr. Francis Guth .- The seminary at Lafargeville .. . 46
Chapter III.
The church is completed .- Dedication of the new church by Bishop John McClaskey .- Rev. Jolin O' Dowd ..
Chapter IV. 47
Father M. Guth takes charge of Clayton .- Father Maurice Sheelian of Watertown .- A third, building lot is given by Vincent LeRay .- The rectory, baru and Catholic school house are built .- St. John's church at Lafargeville is erected in 1849 .- The first Catholic cemetery is bought .- The famous bell .- Part of the . present cemetery is purchased .- The first baptismal and marriage records 61
6
Chapter V.
Rev. Fr. Michael Clarke .- The church is repaired and the cemetery enlarged .- Stations of the cross are placed in the church . 67
Chapter VI.
Rev. Fathers Van Campenhant and Luke Harney 72
Chapter VII.
Father James J. Sherry's first term .- The church and rectory are repaired .- A well is dug and a wooden fence is built around the cemetery ... 78
Chapter VIII.
Father Paul de Sannhac .- St. Mary's parish is incor- porated .- The deeds for the church .- House and school lots are secured from Vincent LeRay and recorded in the county clerk's office .- A fourth building lot is pur- chased and the rectory enlarged .- A bell fund is start- ed . 90
Chapter IX.
Rev. Father Peret and Arents .- Apple trees are plant- ed around the rectory and church ... 99
Chapter X.
Rev. Father John Craven . IOI
Chapter XI.
Rev. Fathers W111. Rossiter and M. J. Brown . . IO6
Chapter XII.
Father J. J. Sherry's second term .- The old church moved to where it now stands .- A building and a win- .
7
dow fund are started .- Fathers Thos. Plunkett, O'Neil and Caraher .- Horse sheds are built .. . I18
Chapter XIII.
Rev. Father James Smith and Charles L. McMorrow.
Chapter XIV. 119
Rev. E. G. Brice .- The rectory is repaired .- A kitcli- en, a barn and new horse sheds are built .- St. Mary's new church is constructed amidst numberless difficult- ies .- Ceremony of the laying of the corner stone, of the dedication and of the blessing of the new bell . 120 154
Chapter XV.
Rev. P. S. Garand, J. E. Derome and H. Mayer .- The indebtedness on the church is paid in full .- The rectory and church are repaired .- The church grounds are improved .- A cement walk is built .- New stations of the cross, stained glass windows, statues, vestments and a pipe organ are presented to the church . 155-189
Chapter XV.
Consecration of St. Mary's church .- List of Bishops and Priests present . 189-202
Chapter XVII.
Rt. Rev. Bishop Theophilus Mayer, Rev. Richard Fitzgerald and Rev. Sister St. Gabriels .- Close of this History . 205-216
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PART FIRST.
Historical Sketch of the village of Clayton, N. Y.
CHAPTER I.
The Primitive State of Clayton .- It receives its first namne, We-ter-ingh-ra Gu-en-te-re.
To forin an accurate idea of the primitive state, the humble beginnings and gradual formation and develop- inent of the town of Clayton, let the reader picture to his imagination an immense wilderness that extends from the river St. Lawrence as far back as his fancy will carry himn. Nature is here in its rudest and mnost savage state. There is not a clearing nor a plain, nor a human habitation. In all directions we see but vast fields of high timber, thick brush and wooded marsh. Scarcely do we discern here and there trails beaten down by wild animals. For centuries, this is the un- disturbed haunt of the birds of the forest and of wild animals of every discription. This boundless forest is inhabited not only by the panther, the bear, the deer and other ferocious beasts known to us, but also by a family of mammoth animals now extinct, but whose skeletons, unearthed here and there in the county, point to their existence, in this region at some period long past.
Then came the indians not yet developed into the barbarous state but still adhering to savagery in its
9
crudest forni. They visit these shores first on fishing and hunting expeditions, but finding this spot of God's earth most suited to their habits and pursuits, game and fislı being here in great abundance, they in time settled here permanently. Who they were, whence they came, how many they numbered, how long they lived in peace undisturbed, is a secret of unrecorded history. All we know is, that in time, whether for convenience sake or through necessity to protect themselves against intrud- ers, they built a fort on the very shores of our French Creek. Whether in the meantime, long or shortly after- wards I know not, the Algonquins or Adirondacks settled northeast of the Thousand Islands and the Iro- quois or Five Nations took possession of that immense tract of land that extends from Lake Ontario to Split Rock on Lake Champlain, and the St. Lawrence River formed the boarder line between the two nations. These five Iroquois tribes called the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cavugas and Senecas divid- ed this territory among themselves and this northern part of New York State, including Jefferson County, was allotted to the Oneidas. These soon felt hostile towards the indians located on French Creek, took possession of their fort and drove thein away. This is the first in- dian invasion in this part of the world recorded in hist- ory, and it gave our village its first name, We-ter-ingh-ra Gu-en-te re, which means fallen fort.
Algonquins and Iroquois, according to tradition lived long in peace together; but a joint and unhappy hunting
IO
expedition of the young Iroquois and Algonquins, in which they quarrelled and massacred one another, brought about a war like animosity between the two tribes that never after completely died out. Thus it was, that when Samuel de Champlain explored this end of the St. Lawrence river, he found the Iroquois and Algonquins, engaged in a war of extermination. Cham- plain took sides with the Algonquins, formed an al- liance with them against the Iroquois, and by this 1111- wise course made the latter the deadly enemies of the French for ever after.
The Oneidas remained the sole possessors of our town and County until the year 1788, when they ceded this territory and all lands north of Oneida Lake and Wood Creek to New York State, reserving the right of fishing and hunting and a few individual grants, among thein a tract of land ten miles square to Peter Penet, a Frenchinan from Nantes, France. This treaty is known in history as the Onondaga Treaty and was signed at Fort Schuyler on the twelfth of September, 1788, by four squaws, the chiefs of the Oneida nation and the officials of New York State.
Here we have a proof that the Iroquois had already emerged from the state of savagery to the milder stage of barbarism, in the fact that both men and women associated to convey a land title. In the savage stage, inheritance is solely in the female line and women alone can sign away real estate.
II
CHAPTER II. Clayton receives its second name .- It is visited by white people for the first time.
From the signing of the Onondaga Treaty, a new name was given to our town and a new epoch opened for it. Pierre Penet, who witnessed the signing of the Onondaga Treaty, chose the land reserved for him by the Oneidas for services rendered to their tribe, in the territory now known as the towns of Clayton and Orleans. One corner of his ten miles square started near the creek where Andrew Simard's dwelling house is now located. The fact that this tract of land, situated on the creek, was owned by a Frenchman, gave our town its second name, "French Creek". This was its sole name up to 1823 and it has clung to our village for over a century, it being still used from time to time by the old inhabitants of the surrounding towns.
Three years after the Onondaga Treaty, June 22, 1791, a certain Alexander McComb of New York, Act- ing as a land agent of a company, bought from the State of New York the greater part of Franklin, the whole of St. Lawrence, excepting the ten towns of Massena, the whole of Jefferson, excepting Penet's ten miles square and Tibbet's Point (600 acres), the whole of Lewis and a part of Oswego Counties at eight pence,
I2
which is equivalent to sixteen cents per acre. This tract of land is known as McComb's purchase and like that of Penet's Square was divided and subdivided, was bought and sold again and again, was passed from one purchaser's hands into another's, and thus a long chain of titles too tedious to mention in this short history is recorded in the state books and extends down to the actual settlers. Nevertheless, I may state that the great- er part of Penet's Square, after diverse trusts and con- veyances, came into the hands of John Lafarge of Havre, France, who in time sold out to the actual settlers or their fathers.
All through these transactions, French Creek re- mained uninhabited and as Dr. Hough, the first his- torian of Jefferson County says: "In 1799 there was but a single log hut in this town, probably that of some lumber thieves, who plundered the frontier without re- straint or limit during many years before anyone ap- peared to show title." Nevertheless, we can reason- ably suppose that the French catholics who did so much towards exploring and settling this portion of the world, a veritable earthly paradise, have time and again set foot on our soil.
It was a French Catholic, Jacques Cartier, who dis- covered and christened our beautiful river in 1535, after the name of a canonized saint of the catholic church St. Laurent, ( St. Lawrence). It was a French catholic, the noted Samuel de Champlain, who was the first white man to set foot on and traverse a part of our county in
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1615, when, accompanied by the Hurons and Algon- quins, he made an invasion into the territory of the Iroquois at Onondaga near Syracuse. It was the catli- olic french explorers who named our islands, "Mille Isles," not because they counted them and found a thous- and, but because they appeared to them as though there might be that number. It was the french catholics who started the first settlement in this county on Carleton Island, in the beginning of the eighteenth century; for a jesuit priest, Father Charlevoix, wrote in 1721 that Carleton Island, which they then called "Ile aux Chie- vreaux," was then settled by them. Many French Gen- erals went through this territory, the most prominent being DeCourcelle, Francois de Salignac de Fenelon, half brother of the Archbishop of Cambrai, Count de Fron- tenac, De la Barre, Marquis de Nonville, M. de Villers, Montcalmn, Chevallier de Levis et Ponchot. The first road that traversed our town and village was likewise built by French enterprise in 1808 under the supervision of Rodolp Tillier. Our village was first laid out in plots by a French catholic, James Le Ray de Chaumont, soon after the war of 1812, and from him received its third name, Cornelia. Cape Vincent, Rosiere, Chaumont, Le Raysville, Theresa, Alexandria Bay, Lafargeville were all named after French catholics.
In all probability the first white lumbermen whom all histories of Jefferson County call lumber thieves were also Frenchmen, either from Canada or from the French settlement at High Falls. In all their expeditions and
14
settlements, the French were accompanied by catholic missionaries, for the main object of the French explorers was not so much to discover new lands and take posses- sion of new countries in the name of the king, as it was to propagate the catholic faith and secure the conversion of the poor indians; and let it be said to their credit, they did all in their power to help the zealous mission- aries to bring about the evangelization of the indian race. Bearing these facts in mind, it is not unlikely that not only the shores of the St. Lawrence, but even that of our bay and creek, were frequently visited by the French missionaries. Carleton Island is only a short distance from Clayton and we can reasonably suppose that the missionaries attached to that settlement, and who burned with zeal for the conversion of the abori- gines, employed their time visiting the surrounding in- dian tribes. Thus it was, that perhaps long before the white people thought of settling in our town and village the French missionaries had already preached the word of God on this soil. If our shores could echo the past we might hear the instructive catechism lessons and the edifying sermons preached to the children of the forest.
The salutary waters of baptism may have regenerated many tattooed foreheads long before any lay christian ap- peared in this neighborhood. Our virginal forests may have re-echoed the beautiful catholic hymns long before any white layman set foot on this wooded land.
This we may call the speculative but probable history af our village; but we know for certain, that as early as
15
1793, another French settlement was started near High Falls, now Lyon Falls, and ever since, French catholics have either frequently visited or inhabited our town and village, occupied either in building the French Company Road from the St. Lawrence river to High Falls, or cutting timber, clearing the land, trading, trapping, fishing or hunting. We therefore owe a debt of gratitude to the French catholics for discovering, ex- ploring and settling this part and other parts of the country, and catholics should feel perfectly at home in all this territory.
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CHAPTER III.
The First White Inhabitants of Clayton, N. Y .- Captain Bartlett and the French Trapper .- The Squatters and Smugglers of the Early History of Clayton.
The first human inhabitants of Clayton, were nin- doubtedly indians, and the first white people were lui- bermen. All the historians of Jefferson County whom I have read, call these woodcutters lumber thieves. With all due respect for their opinion, I cannot agree with them on this point. When all circumstances are considered, I think that the harsh name of lumber thieves could be replaced by the more gratifying ap- pellation of forerunners of colonization, without deviat- ing from the grounds of historical accuracy. Thieves are those who take the property of others by stealth. Such was not the conduct of these lumbermen. There work was done in the open daylight and neither by stealth nor by force. They probably came here from the surrounding French and Canadian settlements and found a great quantity of timber, but no proprietor, no known title, no accredited agent and they therefore looked upon this wooded land as free. The distance to the seat of state government was immense. There was no road, nor even beaten track to Albany, New York.
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The government did not own this timber land and was unconcerned about protecting it. The owners them- selves i1111st have cared very little for their property, when they did not look' after it, nor appoint agents to manage it in their name. Had there been land agents in the neighborhood, the lumbermen would undoubtedly have contracted with them as they do in all parts of the country. Therefore, although I have to admit that the action of these lumberinen was a material theft, yet if we consider their intention and the circumstances sur- rounding them, we cannot stigmatize thein with the harsh appellation of formal "lumber thieves." U11- controlable circumstances and stern necessity made the111 material thieves and nothing more.
The next white people whom tradition and history mention as among the first inhabitants of our town, are Captain Bartlett and a Frenchman whose name tradition lias not handed down to us. The foriner settled on Bartlett Point, now Prospect Park, in 1801, and the latter about the same date, or a year after, on the banks of French Creek, probably on the farin now occupied by John Barrett. Captain Bartlett's occupation was to riin a ferry between Bartlett Point and Gananoque, while the Frenchinan spent his time trapping, fishing and hunt- ing. These two solitary inhabitants did not remain long in this vicinity. About a year after he came to French Creek, the Frenchinan was found dead and was buried by Captain Bartlett, who, shortly after burned his own log house and went to live in more congenial quarters.
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The third class of white people who inhabited our village and its surroundings, were squatters. Of these, tradition has handed down only two names: Simon and Jared White ( probably Leblanc). Squatters began to come here about 1806, and as the land had no known proprietor and no resident agent, they considered it free, occupied it, cut down the good timber, cleared it and began to till the soil. None of these pioneers had a lawful title to the land, and many of them had but a temporary interest in their new farms, deriving from them as much profit as they could, but without any desire of dwelling on them permanently. Yet, when the real owners of the land or their agents came, several squat- ters remained, whilst others left, being unable or 1111- willing to satisfy the demands of the proprietary.
The fourth-class of white inhabitants in this village were smugglers and countrabandists who came here dur- ing the embargo and non-intercourse period of 1807 and 1808. At that time, French Creek became a noted ren- dezvous for smugglers, who imported liquors and goods of all kinds, and exported potash in great quantity. The French road between High Falls and French Creek was built in 1808 and this new route facilitated the ille- gal importations and exportations of contraband goods in and out of Canada. As smugglers could cross the river in boats in the summer and on ice in the winter, the authorities found it impossible for a long time to completely guard this frontier against contrabandism, so they contented themselves with watching the roads in
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the interior and intercepted such contraband goods as they could discover.
This abnormal and unsettled condition of things con- tinted in our town until after the close of the war of 1812, when actual and permanent settlement was begun in earnest and with success.
20
CHAPTER IV.
First Lumber Business Legally Started in the Vicinity of French Creek .- A Small Conflict of the War of 1812 .- This Village is laid out into Building Lots and Receives its Third Namne, Cornelia .- First Set- tlers at French Creek after the War of 1812 .- Wash- ington Island Becomes Inhabited.
.
Shortly before the war of 1812, James Donation Le Ray de Chaumont, then owner of this portion of the town of Clayton, granted to Captain Noadiah Hubbard and Richard Cummings the right to cut lumber in this vicinity. A vast business was done by them in the year 1812, but in this year the war broke out and Captain Hubbard was called back to Champion to take com- mand of his company and militia.
French Creek witnessed only a small conflict in the war of 1812. The advance of General Wilkinson's army under the command of Gen. Brown, arrived at French Creek on the afternoon of November 1, 1813, where and when it was attacked by a British force of two sloops, two schooners and a strong infantry force in boats. Captain McPherson with a battery of 18 pound- ers took position on Bartlett's Point, and returned the fire of the enemy, who were repulsed, but who renewed
21
the attack the following morning, when again they were defeated and forced to abandon their purpose. Two Americans were killed and four wounded, while the loss of the British must have been much heavier.
One year after this war, in 1813, there was no evi- dence of a village at French Creek other than the aban- donned shanties of Captain Noadialı Hubbard and Rich- ard Cummings, who had been engaged in the lumber business the year before. Nevertheless the sagacious foresight of James D. LeRay saw in this locality a grand field for future enterprise and an ideal site for a pros- perous village. Therefore, shortly after the war, he had the land on which our village stands, laid out into plots, but because he was engaged in like enterprises in other more fully settled localities he did not offer his lots for sale till 1822, when he was compelled to sell them, in order to safeguard his interests.
About that time, Colonel Camp conceived the idea of laying out a village plot on Washington Island. Conse- quently, in 1824, he began the construction of a bridge between that point and the main land. As this new place would have been detrimental to LeRay's interests, the latter decided to place his village lots on the market and gave our village its third name, Cornelia, in honor of Madame Cornelia Juhel of France. This explains why William H. Angel, who was the first one to settle here after the war of 1812, and who began lumbering on an extensive scale and opened the first store in 1819, was compelled to locate a short distance above the vill-
22
age site, as James LeRay would not sell him any lot in our present village.
William Angel was followed to French Creek by Martin Herrick and Stephen Wethebee, who settled here in 1820. The following year, in 1821, Martin Herrick built the first log house, and the first framne house was erected in 1824 by Colonel James Smith, a collector of customs.
Cornelia soon had three stores, a tavern kept by Hiram Davis, a post office in 1823, and several other houses for dwelling purposes. The population increased so fast, that in 1825 the inhabitants were already able to build their first schoolhouse.
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