USA > New York > Jefferson County > Watertown > Watertown [New York] North Watertown and Juhelville business and residence directory for 1855 > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8
.702 W 3277
N
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01178 2668
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/watertownnewyork00unse
WATERTOWN,
N.4."
NORTH WATERTOWN
AND JUHELVILLE
BUSINESS AND RESIDENCE
ERIET
RX 9
FOR
1855
CONTAINING A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF WATERTOWN;
COMPENDIUM OF USEFUL INFORMATION ;
MAP OF THE THREE VILLAGES,
AND
CALENDAR FOR 1855.
WATERTOWN : PUBLISHED BY J. D. HUNTINGTON. PRINTED BY HALL & SMITH.
1855.
MAR 23 '73
1
351915
95
WATERTOWN [N. Y. , North Watertown and Juhelville business and residence directory for 1855 ... Watertown, J. D. Huntington, 1855. 170р. map. 19cm.
1753277
OINSSF
DKUNDE
-
LERAY.
J' VISON.
V. SHERMAN
JUHELVILLE.
MAIN
W.&RRR.
CAUL INNG.
WATER
2
LEVANTE
VA
STWALLS
&W. R.R.
MOULTO
ILWELHILL
HUNTINGTON.
HUACHANEL
ME
HAR
AN
H
FOSTER
PUBLI
PLACEI
WASH'N
00 C
MASSEY
MASSEY AV
PARK
.
WINTHROP.
wit
M
IZ
FRANKLIN.
WATERTOWN, BY J.D.HUNTINGTON.
COTHAN.
wnot
WALL
FACTORY
BUTIANO.
STOVE
STONE.
N
STATC.
CLINTON
--
W. & R. R.R
HOLCOMK.
ON.
NORTH WATERTOWN.
E.FACTORY.
GROVE
IRBANKS FACTORY
ISLAND
NOV
MAD. 52
SON
LTE SQUARE
-1- 221
PREFACE.
The rapid growth of our village during the lapse of four years, (since the issue of the last Directory in 1850,) renders it expedient that a Directory should be published, and that with great care. In order to accomplish this, the Publisher was compelled to introduce the use of num- bers, which he is happy to say, has been almost universal- ly adopted, rendering it an easy task to define the resi- dence of each and every citizen.
In some instances numbers have not been put upon houses, the occupants or owners not having ordered them, but in all streets where numbers are used, each house has its number located, to be given in the Directory, and which can be obtained at any time at the office of the Publisher.
The Directory will contain a Map of Watertown, North Watertown and Juhelville, giving the names and location of many new streets recently laid out, which will be found of great utility in connexion with the Residence Directory.
The inhabitants of Watertown, North Watertown, and Jubelville have become so intermixed in business and resi- dence relations, that it became necessary to arrange the Directories for the three villages in one volume.
This being the first full register of Watertown, its com- pilation has been attended with great labor and much in- convenience, inasmuch as the numbering of the village had never been previously undertaken, and has therefore fallen entirely to the care of the Publisher.
A few errors may probably have occurred, owing to the difficulties attending the undertaking, which will, it is hoped, be overlooked by a liberal public, before whom it is respectfully placed by its greatly obliged and humble servant, THE PUBLISHER.
CONTENTS.
Architect,
50
Art Literary Association,
51
Associations and Societies,
41.
Attorneys,
49
Auctioneer,
50
Bakery,
52
Banks,
52
Barbers,
53
Barley Mill,
51
Book Stores,
55
Boot and Shoe Dealers,
57
Business Directory,
49
Butchers,
58
Cabinet Makers,
58
Calander for 1855, on inside of Cover.
Carriage Makers,
60
Chandler, .
61
Churches of Watertown,
38
Clothing Merchants,
61
County Officers,
29
Courts, ..
30
Crockery Store,
64
Daguerreotypists,
65
Dentists, .
66
Dress Maker,
67
Druggists,
67
Dry Goods Dealers,
69
VI
Fire Department,
44
Flouring Mills of Watertown,
34
Founders and Machinists,
74
Grocers, .
75
Gun Smith, .
77
Hardware Merchants,
78
Harness Maker,
87
Hatter, ..
SS
Historical Sketch of Watertown,
.9
Hotels, ..
82
Independent Orders,
42
Independent Military Companies,
44
Insurance Agents,
88
Jewelers, .
92
Last Makers,
94
Leather Dealers,
94
Lime Dealers,
.95
Livery & Tattersall Stables,
Map of Watertown fronting Title Page.
Manufactories & Manfacturers of Watertown,.
Merchant Millers,
97
·35
Milliners,
97
Nursery,
99
Omissions & Corrections,
168
Omitted Advertisements,
167
Painters,
99
Physician3,
100
Plough Manufacturers,
102
Post Offices in Jefferson County,
32
Preface,
3
Printers,
103
Pump Manufacturers,
102
-
95.
VII
Rail Road Companies, 45 Rates of Postage, . 33 Residence Directory for Watertown, 109 Residence Directory for North Watertown, 159 Residence Directory for Juhelville, 165
Saloons,
106
Schools of Watertown,
39
Stage Lines, .
47
State of New York Officers,
31
State & County Officers Elected Nov. 7, 1854.
168
Statistical Compendium,
27
Telegraph Line, · 108
Tobacconist,
10S.
United States Officers,
.31
Village Government,
27
Writing Academy,
108
908
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF WATERTOWN .*
JEFFERSON COUNTY, which was set off from Oneida on the 28th of March, 1805, is embraced in that tract of land which was purchased of the Oneida Indians and a part of the Six Nations, at the Fort Stanwix treaty, concluded in 1787, between those tribes and commissioners on the part of the state of New York. By this treaty, all the lands lying between the Oneida lake and the river St. Lawrence came into the posses- sion of the State; with the exception of a tract ten miles square, being a reservation made by the Indians, for a Frenchman, by the name of Peter Penet. The tract taking its name from this individual, was called " Penet Square." Upon this lot of land, the lines of which were to run on the four cardinal points, and one corner to touch the river St. Lawrence, the state engaged to issue a patent to Penet, as soon as he should become a citizen Having made application for a certificate of naturalization, he received it the day npon which he started for Europe, where he had been suddenly called. Previous to his departure, however, he gave to a Judge Duncan a deed in trust of the whole tract, with the power of attorney to receive the patent. Under this power, Judge Duncan did afterwards obtain the patent, and make sale of the land. But subequently, certain circumstances having raised various questions of title, which produced an unsettled state of opinion among the purchasers, they suffered the land to be sold by the comptroller for taxes. This settled all difficulties, by securing new and valid titles from the State.
*The Publisher is indebted to the History of Jefferson County, and two former Directories, for a portion of this sketch.
10
The largest portion of the land north of Black River, was purchased of the State, and sold. to settlers by a Mr. Leray ; who, from a mistaken notion of indulgence, forbore to enforce collections of the purchasers, as their payments became due, until the principal, with the accumulated interest, exceeded the value of the lands. This occasioned the removal of a large number of the first settlers, and the re-sale of their possessions to others. This has never been the case in any part of Water- town.
Of the territory which was ceded to the State at the Fort Stanwix treaty, Alexander McComb, in 1796, purchased, at the rate of eight cents per acre, 3,600,000 acres ; embracing, among others, the towns of Ellisburg, Rodman, Watertown, Hounsfield, Stows, Champion, Rutland and Henderson. These townships were pur- chased of McComb,-Ellisburg by William Constable, Rodman by Richard Harrison and Josiah Ogden Hoff- man, Watertown by Nicholas Lowe, Hounsfield by Ezra Hounstield, Stows, Champion and Rutland by Isaac Bronson, and Henderson by William Henderson.
Such was the proprietorship of this territory when settlements commenced in Watertown, in March, 1800, at which time Henry Coffeen and Zachariah Butterfield, having the fall previous visited the town and purchased farms, removed with their families from Schuyler, Oneida County, and began improvements on the site of Water- town Village. Coffeen was the first to arrive, having penetrated from Lowville through the woods, with his family and household goods drawn on an ox sled.
He erected his hut on what is now the north-west corner of the Public Square, near the American ; and Butterfield settled on the ground now occupied by the Merchant's Exchange, corner of the Public Square and Washington Street.
Coffeen was a man of strong mind, possessed an en- terprising spirit, and was not altogether free from ambi-
11
tion. He, as indeed was the case with most of those who, with him, here first broke the solitude of the forest, was actuated in his enterprise by the motives which often induce immigration into new countries. He felt a consciousness of the possession of native energies and resources, equal if not superior, to those whom fortune, by hereditary wealth or some other factious circumstance, had placed above him; and was convinced that the most practicable way of placing himself in that rank . which his talents and powers qualified him to occupy, was to plant with his own hands the seeds of a new colony, incorporating his interests with its earliest infan- cy, in the assurance that by its growth his own pros- perity would be secured, and ultimately his enterprise acknowledged and appreciated.
Persons of less sagacity and forecast than the first settlers of Watertown, would hardly have selected its present site for planting a village, or even for any indi- vidual settlement. The ground was extremely uneven, rocky, and broken ; the soil wet, and apparently unpro- ductive. A deep ravine crossed the Public Square from the foot of Franklin Street in a north-easterly direction, which was nearly, if not altogether, impassable, except on foot. Even at the present time it is apparent, after immense expense and labor in grading, that the whole surface of the land here, then presented a much more rugged and forbidding aspect, than did the lands on the banks of the river either farther above or below. But this was more than counterbalanced in the discerning minds of Coffeen and his companions, by the immense hydraulic power appropriable from the numerous falls and rapids of Black River at this point. In this, as well as the richness and fertility of the adjacent country, the abundance of good building timber, and the great facilities for the prosecution of extensive business opera- tions, they wisely believed that they discovered the ele- ments of future prosperity and greatness.
12
In 1801, one year after Coffeen and Butterfield had located themselves here, they were joined by two immi- grants from the town of Windsor, Vermont-Hart and Isiah Massey. Mr. Hart Massey built his log house near the place now occupied by the Black River Bank. Watertown being on one of the routes of communica . tion between lake Ontario and the central part of the state; and having become a common centre for the meeting of those negotiating the sale and purchase of - land, public accomodations became necessary, and Isiah Massey, in 1802, opened the first tavern, on the ground where now stands the store of D. D. Otis.
The high reputation of Black River country began now to be sounded abroad, and the number of settlers in Watertown was steadily and rapidly augmenting .- 'The years 1801,-2,-3, witnessed the arrival on the ground of Aaron Bacon, Jonathan Cowan, two broth- ers by the name of Thornton, Jesse Doolittle-a black- smith, M. Canfield -- a shoemaker, and Aaron Keyes -- a cooper. In two or three of the succeeding years, among others, D. Huntington, Wm. Smith, John Pad- dock, Chauncey Calhoun, Philo Johnson, and John Hathaway, united themselves with the little settlement.
'The enterprising mechanics and agriculturists in Watertown did not long allow their hydraulic privileges to remain unimproved. In 1803 Jonathan Cowan built the first grist mill.
'This was an invaluable acquisition to the place, as it relieved the inhabitants from the necessity of traveling to a great distance for the flouring of all their grain. It was, as a matter of course, destined to supercede the rude engine, heretofore employed in the work of grind- ing, or rather pounding. the Indian corn of the settlers. A notice of this may not be uninteresting ; for, although a piece of machinery much more simple and primitive in its construction and operation than the complicated productions of more modern ingenuity, it equally illus-
13
trates the invention of the American, and his power of adapting himself to the circumstances of his situa- tion.
This instrument consisted of a large maple stump, (which was located directly in front of what is now known as Washington Place,) so hollowed by the axe and fire, as to contain a considerable quantity of corn. Above this, vibrated a long piece of timber-its centre resting upon a crotch, in the form of a well-sweep -. allowing one end to play immediately over the corn. To this was attached a heavy weight, which, by being raised, and allowed to fall with full force upon the con- tents of the stump, soon reduced them to a preparation for the "samp-kettle." If this very primitive grist-mill found a superior in its successor, it possessed over it at least two advantages. First, those who availed them- selves of its assistance, were not laid under the contri- bution of toll ; for it was a piece of property in which all were considered stock-bolders, with equal shares .-- Second, its location and construction rendered it admis- sible for the industrious and enterprising wives of the settlers, who had not then been blessed with an initia- tion into the mysteries of modern refinement, to superin- tend its operation. This they generally did, while those for whose special benefit the work was going on, were making the forest vocal with the repeated blows of their sturdy axes.
'The business of the little community increased as their number augmented, and soon demanded some medium of disposing of the products of their industry ; accordingly in 1805 a store was opened by J. Paddock and Wm. Smith, their goods being brought from Utica in wagons. An idea may be had of the hardships of that period, compared with modern facilities, from the fact that in March, 1807, seventeen sleighs, laden with goods for Smith & Paddock, were twenty-three days in getting from Oneida County to Watertown, by way of
B
-
14
Redfield. The snows were in some places seven feet deep and the valleys almost impassable, from wild tor- rents resulting from the melting of snows. The winter had been remarkable for its severity, and the destructive spring floods.
In 1803 the first bridge across Black River at Water- town, was built at the foot of Court Street, by Henry Coffeen and Andrew Edmunds, over which the State road afterwards passed, and in 1805, the dam was built below the bridge, at which, the same year, a saw mill was built on the north side, and in 1806 a grist mill by Seth Bailey and Gursham Tuttle. A saw mill was built on the Watertown side by R. and 'T. Potter, a little below, and a saw and grist mill soon after by H. H. Coffeen, since which time many mills have been erected along the river. The year 1807 brought with it the accession of a paper mill built by Gurdon Caswell, and a brewery by Gursham Tuttle.
At this period, and for a considerable time after, the manufacture of potash was an object of much attention with those who had land in their possession. The high price which this article then commanded, and the fine adaptation of the timber and the soil, to the production and the preservation of ashes, rendered it one of the most lucrative branches of business to which the settlers . could devote themselves. As every barrel of potash yielded the manufacturer twenty-five dollars, the purcha- sers of lots, by their characteristic enterprise and pru- dence, were enabled to realize a sum fully equal to the first cost of their lands, from this article alone.
The principal commercial operations in the year 1806 -'7, and'S, consisted in the exchange of goods for potash, which took place between the agricultural por- tion of the community and the merchants before men- tioned. "The amount of exchanges thus effected during this period was not juconsiderable, when we consider the limited number of persons engaged in the transac-
15
tion. In 1806 it was not less than $3,500; in 1807, about $6,000 ; and in 1SOS it exceeded $9,000.
The first Cotton Factory which reared its form in this village, is still standing, and known as the " Old Cotton Factory,"-now under the proprietorship of the Watertown Cotton Company.
It was erected by a company, and went into opera- tion in 1814. The machinery was manufactured by James Wild, of Hudson, much of which is still in use ; and although cotton machinery has been much im- proved by twenty-five years experience, few cotton-fac- tories do more or better work. This establishment was succeeded in 1827 by a similar one, erected by Levi Beebee, upon the Island which bears his name. It was, however, on a much more extensive plan ; being a building 250 feet in length, 65 in breadth, and four stories high ; built of limestone, of the most substantial character. This building was designed to receive 10,- 000 spindles ; and half that number, with 128 power looms, had been put into it, when it was destroyed by fire in 1833. It was erected, and thus far completed, at an expense of $120,000, employed a great number of hands, directly and indirectly, and its destruction gave a shock to the village of Watertown, from which it did not soon recover. The ruins still stand, frowning upon a majestic and beautiful cascade; whose waters leap past them, as if in terror, lest the columns of ragged stone should precipitate themselves upon their bosom ; or, as if in haste to escape from the gloom and sadness of their presence. They also remain a monument of the en- terprise and public spirit of their proprietor, who died at Cleveland, Ohio, Sept. 19, 183S.
In the early settlement of the county, strenuous efforts were made to fix the county seat at Brownville. General Jacob Brown was appointed one of the com- missioners by the state, to lay out and open two roads ; one from Utica, through Boonville, to some point on
16
Black River ; and one from Rome, through Redfield, to the same point. Brownville was fixed upon as this point. Every exertion was then put forth by those in- terested, and every argument pressed, which the circum- stances of the case, policy, and ingenuity could supply, to effect the location of the county seat at that place .-- The commissioners who were to designate the site of the court house, decided, however, upon placing it at Watertown. But by way of compromise they selected its present site, then quite remote from the village.
The first court-house was built in 1807, by William Rice and Joel Mix; its erection was superintended by William Smith. It being thus placed at a distance from the centre of the village, had a tendency to draw attention, and induce settlement in that direction .-- Another circumstance had a considerable influence in fixing the location of mills and manufactories remote from the common centre ; Mr. Jonathan Cowan was the owner of all the hydraulic privileges here, at the point where his mills were situated. From a mistaken belief as to the best method of stimulating industry and en- terprise, he refused, on all occasions, to sell, without lim- iting the purchaser to one kind of business. The spir- ited settlers would not brook this fetter upon their enter- prise, and determined not to submit to the restriction, so long as the waters of Black River were free. This policy caused the erection of the dams above and below that of Cowan's. Although, for a time, this appeared to check the growth of the village, it ultimately operated to its advantage, by enlarging its sphere of action, and more fully developing its resources.
The manufacture of iron into castings and machine- ry, has for many years been carried on to a considera- ble extent in Watertown, the first machine shop being built by N. Wiley, in 1820, and the first foundry by R. Bingham.
The first tannery, on an extensive scale, was erected
1
17
here by Jason Fairbanks, in 1823, which having been burnt, was rebuilt in 1833.
Black River, within the distance of a mile, passes over four dams, at each of which are numerous estab- lishments, but at none of them is the full amount of water power used. The facility with which dams can be constructed, and the security that can be given to buildings erected upon them, from the bed of the river being solid rock, gives additional value to these privile- ges. The four dams were built in 1803, '5, '14 and '35, and none of them have been materially injured by the spring floods.
It is generally the case, that in planting new settle- ments, a very early attention to the cultivation of the intellect and moral powers of the community, is prevent- ed, by the arduousness of the duties and the engross- ment of mind incident upon their condition, as well as their remoteness from institutions of learning and the great centres of literary and moral influence. In Wa- tertown, however, as early as the year 1811, efforts were made for the establishment of an academy. A piece of ground was given for this purpose by Mr. P. Keyes, near where the First Presbyterian Church now stands. A building was commenced the same year, and comple- ted in the following-1812-simultaneous with the com- mencement of the last hostilities between Great Britain and the United States. The declaration of war occa- sioned the stationing of a garrison of soldiers in Water- town, who, finding the Academy building conveniently situated for Barracks, took possession of it, and occupied it for that purpose.
The project of the Academy was in consequence abandoned. After the evacuation of the building by the troops, which took place in 1814, it was taken down, and the materials of which it was composed transfered to what is now known as Clinton street, and erected into a school house. This for some time was employed
b
18
for the purpose designed. The land thus left vacant, according to a condition in the deed given by Mr. Keyes, could be sold by appraisal. A part of it was thus sold and a part went into the possession of the First Presby- terian Church.
With this failure, however, the efforts for the accom- plishment of the truly noble design, did not cease. An- other commodious academy building was erected a few years after, upon the street which has taken its name from this circumstance. This academy was opened under favorable auspices, and for a considerable time prospered flourishingly. But although the noble stone edifice still stands in its beautiful and sequestered loca- tion, as an abode of learning it is now superceded by the Black River Literary and Religious Institute, -- cor- ner of State and Mechanic streets, -- a school most de- servedly popular, an ornament to the place, and an honor to its conductors and patrons.
The religious opportunities of the inhabitants of Wa- tertown, for the first few years, were necessarily limited. For the purpose of public worship, they were accus- tomed often to assemble at the dwelling of some one of the little community, to hear read a sermon, from the pen of some excellent New England divine : and whence, no doubt, many a petition went up to Him who "re- gards not the condition of men," as fervent and accepta- ble, as if uttered in the stately temple embellished with cornice and damask. They were occasionally visited by an itinerant minister of the Methodist connection, but seldom by any others. The place was regarded as proper missionary ground, and the work of proclaiming to the inhabitants the " Word of Life," as demanding the exercise of as much benevolence and self-denial, as is now required in him who would carry the Bible into the savage regions west of the Rocky mountains. This is well illustrated by the remark of a benevolent-hearted herald of the cross, while on his way to the settlement
-------
. ..
19
here; being asked whither he was bound and what was the object of his mission, he replied, " I am going to preach to the heathen." In 1803 a church was orga- nized by the Rev. Ebenezer Lazel -- Presbyterian in its confession of faith, and Congregational in its form of government. The first Presbyterian clergymen located here, were, successively, the Rev. Messrs. Leavenworth, Porter, Cook, and, immediately after the war, Mr. Banks. As the population of the place increased, bringing to- gether, of necessity, persons of various religious senti- ments, churches of the different persuasions were orga- nized, from time to time, until the village now embra- ces two churches of the Presbyterian denomination ; two of the Methodist, Episcopal ; one of the Wesleyan Methodist; one of the Baptist; one of the Episcopal ; one of the Universalist, and one of the Roman Catho- lic, all occupying attractive and commodious houses of worship ..
In the early years of the village it was remarkable for nothing, perhaps, more than the union and harmony of its inhabitants. Common dangers, privations, and la- bors, begat a community of interests and feeling, and actuated to a mutual reciprocation of assistance and ben- efits. The prosperity and joys, as well as the griefs and misfortunes, of one, were shared by all. Death never invaded their number, without throwing a gloom over the whole community, and touching every heart with affliction. The melancholy circumstances attending the first instance of mortality, afforded great occasion for the exercise of these sympathetic feelings.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.