USA > New York > A gazetteer of the state of New York: comprising its topography, geology, mineral resources, civil divisions, canals, railroads and public institutions; together with general statistics; the whole alphabetically arranged. Also statistical tables of distances with a new township map of the state > Part 3
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20
MINERAL RESOURCES.
Besides those mentioned, there are two or three other veins, of inferior importance however. An aggregate of all the workable veins of the Au Sable district, furnishes a width of 136 feet ; they all occur within eight miles of Clintonville. Some idea may be formed of the en- terprise and success with which mining operations are carried on in this district, when we state that 6,000 tons of malleable iron are annu- ally manufactured in the valley of the Au Sable.
Ores of the Adirondack District.
The veins of iron in this region are produced as the mountains, upon a grand scale ; there are several enormous veins. The Sandford mine is full 500 feet wide, and has been traced 1,600 feet in length, that is, of exposed ore. It is the purest ore of any yet discovered, with the exception of the Arnold ore, and produces an iron equal in quality to any of the Clintonville district. Another vein occurs on the site of the village of Adirondack : it is coarser grained than the Sandford ore, and produces an iron only second to the Russia. This vein is 700 feet wide, and has been traced three quarters of a mile in length. An- other vein, about eighty rods east from the last mentioned, having a width of 150 feet, has been traced in the direction of its length over a mile. Several other veins have been discovered in this vicinity, which would be considered of great importance in other localities ; but occur- ring by the side, as they do, of the enormous, inexhaustible deposites which have just been noticed, these have not received the attention which they would demand in other places. These veins have not been worked to any considerable extent, owing to adverse circumstances, which the proprietors have had to encounter. But when the increasing demand shall require an increase of the supply in market, the beds of this region will furnish a resource, which will be inexhaustible for ages. There are ten or twelve separate veins of iron ore in Moriah. The Sandford mine, situated six miles west from Port Henry, is an im- portant mine, and has been worked quite extensively. The Cheever, Hall, and Everest mines, are each of considerable extent, besides some others which are of minor importance ; these are better for cast- ing than for bar iron. The veins of Moriah, as a whole, are wider, and are capable of furnishing more ore than those of Clintonville. The amount of iron manufactured is considerable, though it is not def- initely known. The Penfield vein occurs at Crownpoint ; it is about forty feet wide, and produces an excellent quality of iron. Some veins of minor importance occur in Schroon. The magnetic oxide is found in Warren county, though not of any great extent. In Frank- lin county there are extensive deposites of this ore. A vein in the vi- cinity of Malone, has been worked to a considerable extent, and fur- nishes a very excellent iron. In the vicinity of Duane there are seve- ral veins, which have been also worked, though for a few years past the business has not been prosecuted. It is probable that when the southern part of this county comes to be settled, it will prove to be rich in iron ore. The south-eastern part of St. Lawrence county, fur- nishes some very extensive beds of the magnetic oxide, but they occur in the unsettled portions of the county, and their value and extent is not well determined. Several important deposites of the magnetic ox- ide occur in Putnam county. One known as the Philips vein varies from three to thirty feet in width, and has been traced for the distance
21
MINERAL RESOURCES.
of eight miles. There is also the Denny mine, about three-fourths of a mile south-west from the preceding, which furnishes annually, accord- ing to Mather, 600 tons of ore. Several other veins have been worked to a greater or less extent in this county. Orange county possesses an abundant supply of magnetic oxide, especially in the towns of Mon- roe, Warwick and Cornwall. A notice of all the separate veins would require too much space : suffice it to say that there are sixteen mines, all of them important, and some of them remarkably extensive.
The Specular Oxide of Iron, is the most predominant ore of iron in St. Lawrence county. There are several veins, the most valuable of which are the Kearney and Parrish ore beds. They each furnish a large amount of ore for the works at Rossie. It is principally used for cast- ings, which have obtained a high repute in market.
ORES OF LEAD, ZINC AND COPPER.
No deposites of these ores have as yet been discovered in this state, which have proved of any great value, or that have become profitable to the proprietors, with the exception of the mines of Rossie ; though in almost every county in the state, veins of these minerals have been discovered, but only in quantities sufficient to raise expectation, and lead to a useless expense ; and it is doubtful whether the proprietors of the Rossie lead mine have experienced much profit from their mining operations, although the vein averaged a foot in width, and the quantity raised has been large. In consequence of the enormous cost of the lease for only a limited period, the original capital invested has been expended. Sulphuret of zinc has not been found in quantities suffi- cient to be of any importance. The same may be said in relation to the sulphuret of copper, though from indications in Canton, St. Law- rence county, where several hundred weight has been obtained in de- tached masses in the rock, we are led to believe that this ore may yet be found in sufficient quantities to render it of some importance among the useful minerals of the state.
USEFUL MINERALS OF THE TRANSITION ROCKS. SALT.
In the transition rocks, Salt ranks highest in importance. Springs having in solution chloride of sodium, or common salt, exist in abun- dance in the western part of the state. In Wayne and Cayuga coun- ties the manufacture of salt has been carried on to some considerable extent ; but the most celebrated salt works are those of Onondaga. Salt was made in Salina at a very early period, in a small way, the amount manufactured having increased with the demand, until it is stated that there are employed in the town of Salina not less than 6,000 kettles, of a capacity of nearly half a million of gallons. In 1797, there were manufactured 7,540 bushels; in the year 1839, 2,864,718 bushels, yielding to the state a clear revenue of $134,348.54. The greater part of the state of New-York, Vermont, Canada, and a por- tion of the western states, receive their supply from this great man- ufactory. The salt manufactured here is as good and pure, generally, as that obtained from any other source ; and it appears from recent discoveries that the manufacture and profits may be indefinitely in- creased, and that there is a probability that the salt revenue will become still more important. The base of the Ontario group is the lowest po-
22
MINERAL RESOURCES.
sition in which brine springs have been obtained. The red shale which forms the base of the Onondaga salt rock, is the lowest mass in which, along the Erie canal, salt springs have been found. Some of the most important salt wells are entirely disconnected with the rocks beneath and adjacent to them, the reservoir being formed of the thick gravelly alluvion. Examples of those wells exist at Salina.
In addition to salt, the Ontario group furnishes all the plaster beds which occur in the state. They appear to be co-extensive with this formation, and there is ground for belief that this important material may be obtained to any extent which may be desired. The water lime is also a part of the same group, in fact forming a large proportion of the formation. The water lime may in fact be considered as extend- ing from the Hudson to Lake Erie.
In the lower part of the Ontario group there occurs that remarkable layer of argillaceous oxide of iron. The thickness of this layer varies from one to three feet. It is supposed that there are two distinct strata running parallel with each other, and about twenty-five feet apart ; if so, they are not equally persistent as they would appear at the falls of the Genesee. This iron is used for castings, and contains sufficient lime and argillaceous matter to form a flux without addition. It yields thirty per cent. of iron. It may also be employed for the manufacture of Spanish brown. It is a valuable deposite to the part of the state in which it occurs, and can be wrought to an indefinite extent.
USEFUL PRODUCTS OF THE TAGHKANIC SYSTEM.
They consist first of a durable sandstone, but rarely to be obtained except in angular blocks and sharp cornered pieces, a state which is evidently determined by crystalization. The white sand produced by disintegration of this rock, is employed for making glass, polishing marble, &c. It is in this system that the beautiful white, gray and clouded marbles occur. These are more durable, and less liable to de- composition than the unstratified limestone in connection with granite. It is scarcely necessary to add that the best of lime is made from this rock. There are in Westchester about 210,000 cubic feet of marble annually quarried, which vary in price from one to four dollars per cu- bic foot. But an equally important mineral with the limestone appears to belong to this system, viz. the hemutitic iron ore, or limonite. It occurs, it is true, in a diluvion, or rather in the debris of various rocks; still, from observations which we have made, it appears that the ori- ginal or parent bed is a talcose limestone belonging to this system. The mode of its occurrence establishes the general fact, that the form- ation in which it is usually obtained, is not the original place of de- posit or occurrence. Observation proves that the present deposite of this ore is along the borders of the Taghkanic system, and the lower primary, or else in the midst of this system, and hence the great prob- ability that it is furnished by disintegration and decomposition of the magnesian rocks of this system. It is quite possible to confound the limestone of this system with the unstratified beds in the gneiss system, or those even associated with granite.
VALUABLE MINERALS OF THE CHAMPLAIN GROUP.
The base of this group being a siliceous sandstone, it forms of itself a durable rock for building. At Potsdam the mass is remarkable for the evenness and beauty in its stratification ; it therefore furnishes a
23
MINERAL RESOURCES.
material better adapted for the construction of edifices than any other rock in the state ; it is usually of a light yellowish brown or red, and may be wrought into any form, or obtained of most any size. The same rock furnishes a material for glass making, either in the form of sand or rock, which by burning may be converted into sand ; for this pur- pose it is used at Redford, Clinton county. It forms, too, good hearth furnaces. The sharp, gritty varieties will make good sand paper, and a material for polishing hard bodies. The middle of this group fur- nishes the black marble so much esteemed for mantel pieces ; it is wrought at Glen's Falls. The stratum lies between the birdseye and Trenton. The rock denominated calciferous sand rock embraces from 6 to 12 feet of a drab-colored limestone, which has been employed as a water lime. In the upper part of this group, we have the roofing slates ; it is the only mass which furnishes slate sufficiently strong to be employed in this way, and it is only on the eastern section of the state, adjacent to the primary, that we find the slate sufficiently indu- rated to stand the weather. All the slate in market is furnished by the Hoosic quarries. The Birdseye, and some portions of the calciferous and Trenton limestones furnish a good lime for architecture, husbandry and glass making. The Bald mountain lime is made from a grayish limestone in the upper part of this group, but it is developed only along the eastern border of the state. The fossils of the Champlain group are Lingula, Atrypas, Leptæna, Orthis, Isotelus, Calymene, Orthoce- ra, Bellerophon, Pterinea, &c.
MINERALS OF THE ERIE GROUP.
The shales of this group are subject to decomposition, or disintegra- tion ; in the arts, therefore, or in building, they cannot be employed. The upper part of this group-the Chemung rocks-furnish excellent flag stones, which are readily wrought and cut out of the quarries, of any desirable size. Some of the layers are suitable for grindstones and whetstones of a good quality. Neither the upper nor lower portion contains imbedded minerals. They lie between the Helderberg se- ries and the old red system, in which it terminates.
OLD RED SANDSTONE.
This rock, in some parts of the earth, furnishes copper ; in this state, it is extensively quarried as a flagging stone.
It will be perceived from the foregoing account of the useful mine- ral productions of New-York, that they are by no means sparingly dif- fused. All the great formations which have been noticed as groups or series of rocks, furnish some of the most indispensable materials for the use of man in a state of civilization. In the primary unstratified rocks, what an abundance of iron ores of the first quality, in beds and veins, varying from 2 to 600 feet in width. In the gneiss system, the ore is mostly in veins of moderate width, yet sufficiently thick to be wrought to advantage. The north and the south is supplied with the ore of those rocks. In the county of St. Lawrence, again, the specu- lar ore occurs in a great abundance ; this furnishes the supply for this portion of the state. The counties bordering upon Connecticut and Massachusetts, are supplied with ore, as has been suggested, from the Taghkanic system, in that variety which is called the hematitic ore ; and it is one of an excellent quality, and is extensively employed for
24
MINERAL RESOURCES.
some of the most important purposes. Again, the counties on the south shore of Lake Ontario, are provided with the argillaceous iron ore, an ore, though not adapted for the manufacture of bar iron, yet it is easily converted into cast iron, and therefore becomes a very useful product to all the counties from Oneida to Niagara. The bog ores which have not been particularly noticed, also occur at numerous pla- ces in the state, and are wrought to good advantage. Salt and plaster are confined to the more central portions of the state ; we do not at- tempt to estimate their importance and value. Most of the great groups furnish many varieties of marble ; but the Taghkanic system, and Champlain group of the Transition, furnish by far a greater pro- portion of this article than others at the present time. Still the Helder- berg limestone is susceptible of a fine polish, and may be employed for furnishing marbles of a good quality.
Of the quarries of marble in New-York, there are few, if any, so valuable as those at Glen's Falls. They are situated on both sides of the river, which at this place presents several precipices of from 60 to 70 feet. The beds are disposed nearly horizontally in those precipices, by which arrangement it is comparatively easy to reach the most valu- able layers of the marble. At these quarries there are several varie- ties ; that which is the most esteemed, is the jet black, without white spots. The varieties which are mottled, and in which those spots oc- cur, are, notwithstanding, beautiful and ornamental for mantel pieces. The quarries are owned and wrought principally by two companies, who have shown much enterprize in the prosecution of this business. In 1838 the Glen's Falls company prepared and sent to market 352,500 pounds of marble. This company run 16 gang of saws, and are able to supply to order almost any amount of stone. In addition to the marble business, lime making is carried on extensively, which, from its excellent qualities, meets with a ready sale. In the marble quar- ries, in the water power, and in the manufacture of lime, the enterpri- zing people of this place have great and important facilities for busi- ness, which they have turned to good account, and which is shown by the bustle in the streets and along the canal, and the beautiful and sub- stantial dwellings which have been erected within a few years. Few country villages show more prosperity than Glen's Falls. The Geolo- gical position of the limestone forming the black marble, is immedi- ately below the Trenton rock : it is a mass which is quite persistent in the Champlain group, though not always present. It is the same as that at Isle La Mott, which is also celebrated as a black marble, and the same as that called at Watertown the seven foot tier.
In addition to the preceding list of useful materials, each of which is restricted to certain regions, we find others more generally dissemi- nated, as peat and marl, each of which are abundant in all sections of the state. To agriculture they are especially to be considered as im- portant gifts, by which the soil that has long been cultivated, may be renewed and made to yield anew its early products. The localities are too numerous to be mentioned in this place, but reference may be made to the annual reports of the State Geologists for information relating to them.
All the groups abound in stones and flags for building, and the vari- ous purposes which the wants of civilized life have created. The flags of the old red sandstone, of the Chemung rocks, of the Ontario and
25
MINERAL RESOURCES.
Champlain groups, abound in those which can be adapted to all the purposes of life. A judicious examination before selection is often re- quired, in order to select those which will remain unchanged by the action of the weather, in a changeable climate like ours. Observation of the same character may be made as it regards lime. All the groups except the last, abound in this material. It is not intended, however, to go into a computation of the value to the inhabitants of this state, of all these products ; it is sufficient to say that the value of the pro- ducts beneath the surface, are probably equal to those which can be produced by culture upon it. To a state like New-York, whose public works extend from North to South, and from East to West, these con- siderations are really important ; her products and her means of trans- portation will ever preserve to her the title of Empire State if only her means are put in requisition.
TABULAR VIEW OF THE ROCKS OF NEW-YORK, Arranged in Systems and Groups.
I. Post Tertiary,
Alluvial, Diluvial,
Clays and Sands of the Post Tertiary.
II. Old red System .- Old red Sandstone.
Erie Group. Chemung Sandstones and Flags, Ludlowville Shales.
Helderberg Limestone, Schoharie Grit.
Helderberg Series.
Brown argillaceous Sandstone,
Encrinal Limestone,
Oriskany Sandstone,
Green Shaly Limestone,
Pentamerus Limestone.
Onondaga Salt and Gypseous rocks, Limestone and Green Shales,
III. N. Y. Trans- ition System.
Ontario Group.
Argillaceous Iron ore, Soft red, green and variegated Sandstone, or Medina Sandstone.
Gray Sandstone and bed of Conglomerate, Lorraine Shales and Roofing Slates, Utica Slate,
Champlain Group.
Trenton Lmestone, Birdseye, Chazy Limestone, Calciferous Sandrock, Potsdam Sandstone.
IV. Taghkanic System. Light green Slates, sometimes dark and plumbaginous, Gray and clouded Limestone, Brown Sandstone.
Gneiss, Hornblende and Mica Slate,
V. Gneiss System. Talcose Slate and Steatite.
VI. Superincumbent Rock. 3 Porphyry.
Greenstone, Trap,
VII. Unstratified Rocks.
Granite, Hypersthene Rock, Primary Limestone, Serpentine, Rensselaerite, Magnetic iron ore.
26
CIVIL DIVISIONS.
CIVIL DIVISIONS OF THE STATE.
The State is divided into 59 counties, which are subdivided into 835 towns, 145 incorporated villages, and 9 cities containing 64 wards. These are the municipal divisions, and they are civil corporations, with powers more or less extensive according to their charters, as granted and modified from time to time by the Legislature.
There are other divisions more properly termed political. These are the 8 Senate Districts ; the counties, considered in relation to their rep- resentation in the 2nd branch of the Legislature ; and the Congression- al Districts.
The Senate Districts are arranged, every ten years, by the Legisla- ture, acting under a provision for that purpose in the State Constitution, on the basis of a census taken under the same authority ; and at the same time and under the same authority, the Members of Assembly are apportioned among the counties. The necessity of these decennial readjustents, arises from the Constitutional limitation of the whole number of the State Senate to 32 members, and of the Assembly, to 128 members.
The counties respectively comprised in the several Senate Districts are as follow, in the numerical order of the Districts.
1st S. D .- New-York, Kings and Richmond.
2nd S. D .- Queens, Suffolk, Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rock- land, Orange, Sullivan and Ulster.
3rd S. D .- Columbia, Rensselaer, Greene, Albany, Schenectady, Schoharie and Delaware.
4th S. D .- Saratoga, Washington, Warren, Essex, Clinton, Frank lin, St. Lawrence, Herkimer, Montgomery, Fulton and Hamilton.
5th S. D .- Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, Oneida, Madison and Otsego. 6th S. D .- Chenango, Broome, Tioga, Tompkins, Chemung, Steu- ben, Livingston, Allegany and Cattaraugus.
7th S. D .- Onondaga, Cortland, Cayuga, Seneca, Wayne, Ontario and Yates.
8th S. D .- Monroe, Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming, Niagara, Erie and Chautauque.
These Senate Districts, each represented by four Senators, one of whom is elected every year, are intended by the Constitution to be as nearly equal in the number of souls as may be, without dividing coun- ties, in order that the people may be represented as equally as possible in the State Senate ; and for the same reason the apportionment of Members of Assemby among the counties, is made on a uniform ratio of the number of souls to each Member. The number of Members of Assembly to which each county is entitled under the existing appor- tionment, is as follows :
Albany, 3 Delaware, 2 Lewis,
1
Allegany, 2 Dutchess, 3 Livingston,
2
Broome, .. 1 Erie, 3
Madison, . 3 Cattaraugus, 2 Essex, 1
Monroe, .. 3 Cayuga, ... 3 Franklin,. 1 Montgomery, 2 Chautauque, 3 Fulton and Hamilton,. 1
New-York, 13
Chemung, 1
Genesee,
2
Niagara, 2
Chenango, 3 Greene, 2 Oneida, 4 Clinton, . 1 Herkimer, 2 Onondaga, 4 Columbia, 3 Jefferson,. 3 Ontario,. 3 Cortland, 2 Kings, 2 Orange, 3
27
POPULATION.
Orleans, 1 Saratoga,.
2
Uls'er.
2
Oswego, 2 Schenectady,
1 Warren, .
1
Otsego,.
3 Schoharie,.
2
Washington, . 2
Putnam,
1 Seneca,
1
Wayne,. 2
Queens,
1 Steuben, 3
Westchester,
2
Rensselaer 3
Suffolk,
2
Wyoming,
2
Richmond,
1 Sullivan,
1
Yates,
1
Rockland,
1
Tioga, . .
1
-
St. Lawrence, . 2 Tompkins,
2 Total, 128
The Senate Districts, moreover, respectively constitute the regular bounds of the several jurisdictions of the Circuit Judges, as do the counties the jurisdictions of the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the Peace.
The Congressional Districts, by which the representatives of the State in the Congress of the United States are elected every two years, are arranged every ten years, according to the apportionments of the national representatives among the states, made by Congress on the ba- sis of the national census. The arrangements of these districts have thus far been made by the State Legislature, under a clause of the U. S. Constitution, which, while it permits this to be so done, contains also an' express provision giving this power to Congress, whenever that body shall see fit to exercise it. [See Congressional Districts in the Alphabetical arrangement.]
POPULATION.
The increase of the population of this state, especially of the west- ern portion, has been so rapid as to attract the attention of intelligent men throughout Christendom. Sixty years ago, the whole section of the state from Utica to Buffalo was all a wilderness, occupied only by tribes of roving Indians. It now embraces twenty-eight counties and more than a million of inhabitants, enjoying all the comforts and many of the elegancies of civilized life, distinguished for general intelli- gence and enterprize, and rapidly advancing in numbers, wealth, and all the elements of social prosperity and power.
On comparing the results of the several enumerations which have been made during the fifty years from 1790 to 1840 inclusive, it is found that the population of this state has nearly doubled in every six- teen years, while that of the whole Union has doubled only in periods of about twenty-four years. The ratio of increase in both cases, how- ever, is gradually diminishing, as the successive masses from which the ratio is drawn become larger, while, at the same time, the positive increase for any given period may not decline.
By the U. S. census of 1840, it will be seen, moreover, that the white population of New-York exceeds one-sixth of the total white population, and is about one-seventh of the aggregate mixed population, of the whole Union. Or, in other words, making the comparison with the other states in groups as usually arranged, New-York may be sta- ted, in round numbers, as about equal in population, to the six New- England states-or to the other four middle states-or to the four south- ern Atlantic states-or to the six south-western states-and is exceeded only by the five western states.
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