USA > New York > Jefferson County > A history of Jefferson County in the state of New York, from the earliest period to the present time > Part 31
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1833, Orville Hungerford, Marianus W. Gilbert, John Clarke, Philo C. Walton, Henry H. Coffeen.
1834, Orville Hungerford, Henry H. Coffeen, Marianus W. Gilbert, Nathaniel Wiley, Luther G. Hoyt.
1835, Orville Hungerford, Henry H. Coffeen, Marianus W. Gilbert, Nathaniel Wiley, David D. Otis.
1836, Jason Fairbanks, Hiram Holcomb, Frederick W. White, Robert Lansing, Marianus W. Gilbert.
1837, Dyer Huntington, Marianus W. Gilbert, Daniel Lee, Reuben Goodale, Lewis R. Sandiforth.
1838, Dyer Huntington, Reuben Goodale, Daniel Lee, Mari- anus W. Gilbert, John C. Lasher.
1839, David D. Otis, Freeman Murray, Marianus W. Gilbert, Otis Colwell, William H. Robinson.
1840, George C. Sherman, Orville Hungerford, Otis Colwell, William H. Robinson, Freeman Murray.
* Appointed December 1, 1820, in place of Ten Eyck, resigned.
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1841, William Wood, George Burt, Orville Hungerford, Stephen Boon, Jr., William Ragan.
1842, William H. Robinson, Loveland Paddock, Calvin Wright, Kilborn Hannahs, Peter S. Howk.
1843, William H. Robinson, Daniel Lee, John D. Crowner, Loveland Paddock, Nathaniel Wiley.
1844, Benjamin Cory, Daniel Lee, Dyer Huntington, David D. Otis, Winslow Partridge.
1845,Dyer Huntington, G. C. Torry, George Burr, C. Colwell, Orville V. Brainard.
1846, Orville V. Brainard. C. Colwell, Horace W. Woodruff, F. W. Hubbard, John F. Hutchinson.
1847, Stephen Boon, John Sigourney, Gilbert Woodruff, H. W. Woodruff, I. Munson.
1848, Peter S. Howk, John C. Lasher, Nehemiah Van Ness, H. W. Woodruff, Stephen Boon.
1849, David D. Otis, Nathaniel Farnham, Calvin Auborn, J. H. Napier, Peter Haas.
1850, David D. Otis, C. Colwell, Pierson Mundy, N. Farnham, Marcus Hungerford.
1851, Joshua Moore, Jr., Peter Horr, K. Hannahs, John H. Napier, Isaac H. Fisk.
1852, Kilborn Hannahs, C. H. Wright, O. V. Brainard, I. Munson, J. M. Clark.
1853, Joseph Mullin, president; William A. Loomis, Benja- min Cory, Abner Baker, Charles Clarke, Philo L. Scovil, trustees.
The trustees, at their first meeting, divided the village into five wards, to each of which a fire warden was to be assigned, and each was to be supplied with four ladders. A series of regulations providing against fires and making provisions for the several objects named in the charter was also adopted. A fire company was organized May 28th, 1817, and at a meeting of freeholders called for the purpose on the 10th of June, the sum of $200 was voted for the purchase of a fire engine. February 6th, 1818, $500 voted to assist in building a bridge near Newel's brewery. May 4th, 1818, a committee of three appointed to confer with the supervisors concerning the purchase of a bell for the court house. On the 22d of May, 1821, a plan of supplying the village with water was discussed, and on sub- sequent occasions action was taken towards the erection of reser- voirs near the factory, but this measure finally failed. On the 27th of October, 1823, a plan for a cemetery, previously pur- chased of H. Massey, was accepted, and on the 6th of December, 1825, the lots, one rod square each, were balloted for, each tax- able resident being entitled to one share. To non residents, lots might be sold, the proceeds to be applied to the building of a
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tomb. Four lots were to be drawn, one for each of the clergy of the village. A hook and ladder 'company was voted to be formed, in May, 1826. June 14th, 1828, $150 voted for im- proving the public square, and $50 for boring for water in the public well. On the 31st of December following, $50 were appropriated to aid in digging for water on Factory Square. At the annual meeting in 1829 the proceeds of licenses in the 1st ward were applied towards procuring water for the village. On the 21st of May, $200 were voted for boring for water. In pursuance of this object, an Artesian well was commenced on the public square, and had been sunk many feet, when the work was stopped by the maliciously dropping of a drill into the hole with the steel point upwards.
At a meeting held November 24th, 1831, the inhabitants ad- vised the trustees to purchase a new fire engine, and the sum of $50 was directed to be drawn out of the village treasury, and presented to Messrs. Barrett & Parker, for their prompt and ef- ficient exertions with their new engine at the late fire in the village. A fire company to be attached to the engine, belong- ing to the Jefferson Cotton Mills, was formed August 6th, 1832. Dyer Huntington was at the same time appointed chief engineer, and Adriel Ely assistant engineer of the fire department.
On the 19th of June, 1832, a special meeting of trustees was held to adopt measures to prevent the spread of the Asiatic cholera, which was at that time spreading terror throughout the country. Sobriety, regularity, temperance, and cleanliness were recommended as the most efficient preventives of the dis- ease. One trustee, one fire warden, one physician, and three citizens, were appointed in each ward to take efficient measures for enforcing sanitary regulations. A special meeting of citizens convened at Parson's Hotel, on the next day, and after the read- ing of several papers from Albany, Ogdensburgh, and Prescott, a " committee of health," consisting of twelve persons, was appointed, and Drs. Trowbridge, Crawe, Wright, Green, Good- ale, Sykes, Bagg, and Safford, were named as a committee to consult with the health committee. The state and national legis- latures were petitioned for a law preventing the landing of foreigners, and for powers similar to those given to cities. The surrounding towns and villages were invited to cooperate in the adoption of sanitary measures. Three days after the passage of the act of June 22d, for the preservation of the public health, the following persons, viz: Marianus W. Gilbert, Levi Beebee, John Sigourney, Orville Hungerford, William Smith, Norris M. Woodruff, and Peleg Burchard, were appointed a board of health, and Dr. I. B. Crawe, was elected health officer.
On the 3d of May, 1833, a board of health was again ap-
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pointed, consisting of William Smith, Levi Beebee, P. Bur- chard, N. M. Woodruff, and John Sigourney; Dr. I. B. Crawe, health officer.
On intelligence being received from Montreal of the reap- pearance of the cholera, a special meeting of trustees was called, August 1st, 1834, and a new board of health appointed.
In compliance with an act of 1832, revived by the legislature, April 16th, 1849, and in pursuance of the proclamation of the governor, the trustees of Watertown, June 19th, 1849, organized a board of health, to adopt sanitary regulations as preventives of the Asiatic cholera, then ravaging some sections of the Union.
A census of Watertown, taken in April 1827, gave 1098 males, and 941 females, a gain of 500 in two years. There were 321 buildings, of which 224 were dwellings; 3 stone churches (Methodist, Universalist, and Presbyterian); court house, and jail; clerk's office; arsenal; 1 cotton factory with 1300 spindles, another (Beebee's) then building; 1 woolen factory; 3 paper mills; 3 large tanneries; 3 flouring mills; 1 furnace; I nail factory; 2 machine shops; 2 fulling mills; 3 carding machines; 2 distilleries; ] ashery; 2 pail factories; 1 sash factory; 2 chair factories; 1 hat factory; 4 wagon shops; 2 paint shops; 4 cabi- net and joiner shops; 8 blacksmiths; 4 tailor shops; 7 shoe shops; 3 saddle and harness shops; 8 taverns; 15 dry good stores; 2 hardware stores; 2 hat stores; 2 book stores; 2 leather stores; 1 paint store; 2 druggists; 2 jewelers; 2 weekly papers; 7 public schools; 6 physicians, and 10 lawyers.
In 1829, an association was formed for boring for water on Factory Square, and a hole two and a half inches in diameter was drilled to the depth of 127 feet, when water was obtained that rose to the surface, and having been tubed, has since dis- charged (except in very dry seasons, when it requires pumping) a copious volume of water, slightly charged with sulphur and iron. The cost of the work was about $800. On Sewall's Island, a similar well was bored, which at eighty feet discharged water and inflammable gas; but upon being sunk further, these were both lost.
An act was passed April 10, 1826, incorporating the Water- town Water Company, but nothing was effected.
An act was again passed April 11, 1845, by which L. Pad- dock, Timothy Dewey, F. W. Hubbard, N. M. Woodruff, and O. Hungerford, and their associates, were incorporated as the Water- town Water Works Company, but these did not attempt the erection of water works.
On the 22d of March, 1853, Loveland Paddock, George C. Sherman, Isaac H. Fisk, William H. Angel, and Howell Cooper, were incorporated as the Water Commissioners of the Village
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of Watertown; who were to be divided into classes, so that one should be annually elected, commencing on the first Monday of June, 1856. Before entering upon their duties, they were to give a joint bond of $60,000, and were empowered to borrow, on the credit of the village, a sum not exceeding $50,000 for a term of not less than twenty, nor more than thirty years, paya- ble in five installments, with seven per cent interest, for the purpose of erecting water works in the village. The above commissioners, soon after their appointment, contracted with J. C. Wells for a pump house and reservoir; the latter to be 150, by 250 feet, at the water line, and 12 feet deep; to be lined with clay, covered with gravel, and divided by two walls six feet apart; the vacancy being filled with layers of gravel and sand, through which the water is filtered in passing from the receiving to the distributing side of the reservoir. The pump house, lo- cated on Black River, near the cotton factory, in the upper part of the village, was to be 28 by 40 feet, and 17 feet high, entirely fire proof. The machinery was contracted for by Hoard & Bradford; and the pipes, from the pumps to the reservoir, and the main distributing pipes, were furnished and laid by J. Ball & Co., of New York. . They are of sheet iron, lined and coated with cement, and warranted to last five years. For the reservoir, the commissioners purchased of John C. Sterling a lot of six acres, about a mile south-east of the village, on the brow of a limestone ridge, 180 feet above the public square. The site is beautiful and commanding, and when the improve- ments contemplated here are completed, the place will become one of great resort from the village. A lot, of twenty acres, has, with characteristic liberality, been presented to the village by Mr. Sterling, adjoining the reservoir, and designed for a public park. It was coupled with no condition, except that it should, within a given time, be enclosed and laid out as a public ground. This, the village authorities have engaged to do; and should the future growth of the place be such as present prospects warrant, the premises will, ere long, become an attract- ive appendage to what must soon become the City of Watertown.
The extraordinary prices to which cotton fabrics had arisen, led to the formation of the Black River Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing Company, which was formed December 28, 1813, with a capital of $100,000, in 1000 shares. The following persons signed the original articles; the first four being trustees. Hart Massey was named a trustees, but was not a subscriber to the articles:
William Smith, Jabez Foster, Marinus W. Gilbert, John Paddock, Egbert Ten Eyck, Amos Benedict, William Tanner, Jason Fairbanks, Perley Keyes.
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This company purchased, for $250, the right of way for a road from the public square to the present site of Factory Village; and of Ezekiel Jewett, for $10,000, a tract of 400 acres, with the adjacent water power; and here, during the summer of 1814, they erected a dam, and a stone building (still standing) for a cotton factory, which was stocked with machinery, mostly made in Hudson, and commenced spinning in November. There was, at this time, in the country, considerable prejudice against the use of machinery, in place of hard labor; and Spafford, in the Ga- zetteer of New York, speaking of these, says: "The automaton habits, and the immoral tendencies of these establishments, will be better understood fifty years hence." This period has not quite elapsed, but the revolution which mechanical improvements have since wrought in the cheapness, elegance, and comfort which their products diffuse among the humbler classes, is a triumphant vindication of the useful arts. The cost of this factory amounted to $72,000. The principal care of erecting, and setting it in operation, was entrusted to Mr. Smith; and in three years the company stopped work. It was afterwards hired, and run three years longer, and subsequently sold for $7,000; and has since passed through several hands.
Perhaps no private enterprise ever gave a stronger impulse to the growth of Watertown, than the erection of the Jefferson Cotton Mills, and no single calamity was felt more severely than their loss. They were erected by Levi Beebee, from Coopers- town, a native of Canaan, Connecticut, who came into the county in March, 1827, to select a location for a factory, and had some idea of locating at Brownville, having at that place received proposals for the sale of the hydraulic privileges on the south side of the river. While this subject was pending, he became acquainted with the rare natural facilities for manu- facturing purposes which Cowen's Island,* in the village of Watertown afforded, and the limitation of his offers at Brown- ville having expired, he effected, through the agency of William Smith, Esq., of Watertown, the purchase of the small proper- ties which comprised most of the island, and from Mr. Le Ray, 120 acres on the north bank of the river opposite, for the nomi- nal sum of $1500. Early in the spring he commenced the erection of a large and substantial stone building, which was completed and the water wheels and shafting inserted under the superintendence of Mr. Smith, before December of the same
* Since called Beebee's Island. It formed a part of Jonathan Cowen's pur- chase, and is said to have been offered by him to Jonathan Baker at an early period for $10. The latter offered $5, but, being unable to agree, the bargain failed. They little dreamed that the little island would, within so short a period, be worth more than their united fortunes. [ Link in the Chain, by Solon Massey. ]
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year. The building was 250 by 65 feet, three stories high, besides a high basement with a projection before and behind, and connected with this were several offices and store rooms, and in the vicinity two large and massive stone buildings for boarding houses. Under the main building, two wheel pits, each 24 by 32 feet and 24 feet deep were blasted in the rock, and a canal 10 feet wide, 6 deep, and 250 long, was made, which furnished water from the smaller or south branch of the river. It was intended for 10,000 spindles, of which 3000 were got in operation. A legal company was formed April 14th, 1829, under the style of the "Jefferson Cotton Mills," having for its nominal trustees, Levi Beebee, W. T. Beebee, L. S. Beebee, E. Faunda, and Horace Hunt, it being generally understood that the first named was the real efficient party in the business. To secure the exemptions from taxation which the statutes afford in certain cases, Mr. Beebee obtained, April 7th, 1830, an act of incorporation, in which himself and sons Levi S. and Washington T. were con- stituted a company, with a capital of $250,000, in shares of $50, and under the management of three trustees. On Sunday, July 7th, 1833, the premises were discovered on fire, and such progress had been made before discovered, that no effort was at- tempted further than to protect surrounding buildings. Circum- stances render the conclusion inevitable, that the fire was set by an incendiary-that several gallons of varnish were used to assist in his designs, and that it was done in revenge for a real or supposed injury from the owner. The loss was estimated at $200,000, of which $25,000 were insured. Mr. Beebee sub- sequently removed to Maumee in Ohio, and with the remains of his property purchased a large tract in that town, and com- menced building a hotel on a magnificent scale, but the walls being too slight, fell before finished, and thus completed his ruin. He died at Cleveland, September 19th, 1838, of a lingering ill- ness, terminating in dropsy on the brain, at the age of 60. Few men among us have evinced more sagacity, industry, and perse- verance, than Mr. Beebee. In early life he had been a school teacher in Herkimer County, and afterwards engaged as a mer- chant in Hartwick, Otsego County. In 1812, he became agent for the Hope Factory, and continued in that capacity till 1827, when he removed to Watertown. As agent, his business led him on frequent journeys to the south and west, and for several seasons he resided in New Orleans.
The crumbling walls of the factory still recall sad recollec- tions of cheerful prospects blighted, and form a picture of desola- tion inconsistent with the busy and progressive spirit, every where apparent around them. The site of this factory is one of the most eligible in the state for hydraulic purposes.
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The Watertown Cotton Mills Company, with $100,000 capi- tal, was formed January 10th, 1834, with Isaac H. Bronson, Jason Fairbanks, Samuel F. Bates, John Sigourney, and Joseph Kimball, trustees.
This association is believed to have continued several years, and is now replaced by the Watertown Cotton Company, capi- tal $12,000, formed January 7th, 1846, with E. T. Throop Martin, Daniel Lee, S. Newton Dexter, Hiram Holcomb, and John Collins, trustees. Their mill at Factory Village in Water- town, contains fifty looms, with a proportionate amount of machinery, and the premises occupied are the same that were erected for a cotton factory in 1814.
On the 10th of February, 1835, an association with a capital of $50,000 was formed by Henry D. Sewall, George Goulding, John C. Lashar, Simeon Boynton, and John Goulding, styled the Hamilton Woolen Mills. On the 10th of March of the same year, new articles were drawn up by the same parties, under the name of the Hamilton Manufacturing Company, and with a capital of $100,000. During the same year, a dam and factory were built, under the agency of Mr. Sewall, a short distance above the village, which went into operation in the spring of 1836. The factory was designed for five sets of cards, with the necessary machinery. In May, 1842, it was bought by the Black River Woolen Company, which had been formed November 7th, 1836, with a capital of $50,000, the parties being Isaac H. Bronson, S. N. Dexter, O. Hungerford, John Williams, Hiram Holcomb, and Daniel Lee. These erected a factory at Factory Village, which, after it had been in successful operation several years, was burned December 22d, 1841, with a loss of from $33,000 to $36,000, of which about one-third was insured. By this fire thirty hands were thrown out of em- ployment, and two or three narrowly escaped from the flames.
This factory is now run upon contract, by Loomis & Co., the company furnishing the mill and wool, and the contractors, the labor, dye stuffs, oil, &c., used in the manufacture. It gives employment to seventy hands.
Mr. Sewall, the founder of this factory, had in early life been engaged in trade in Boston, and subsequently, in company with Arthur Tappan, in Montreal. On the occurrence of the war, he received summary notice to leave the province, within sixty days, and he returned to Boston. He died at Watertown, June 8th, 1846, aged 59.
The Watertown Woolen Company was formed with $100,000 capital, February 4th, 1834, with I. H. Bronson, John A. Rodgers, John Williams, S. Newton Dexter, and Hiram Hol- comb, trustees. A company styled the Watertown Woolen
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Manufacturing Company, was formed December 24th, 1835, with J. Williams, I. H. Bronson, H. Holcomb, D. Lee, and Silas Clark, trustees, and a capital of $25,000. We have not been able to learn what was effected by these, neither of which now exist.
The Williams Woolen Company was formed November 7th, 1836, with a capital of $10,000, and was for some time en- gaged in manufacturing negro cloths, and other coarse goods. I. H. Bronson, S. N. Dexter, J. Williams, H. Holcomb, and Charles Weber, were the parties concerned at the time of organ- ization. The premises have been since changed to a tannery for sheep skins. The latter business has for several years been conducted by two or three establishments at Factory Village, to a considerable extent.
The first tannery on an extensive scale, was erected here by Jason Fairbanks, in 1823, which, having been burnt, was re- built in 1833.
In 1808, a paper mill was built above Cowen's Mill by Gur- don Caswell from Oneida County, and in 1816 sold to Holbrook and Fessenden, of Brattleboro. Other paper mills were built above, and in 1824, the firm of Knowlton & Rice commenced this business, which they have since continued. In 1832 they introduced the first machinery for making paper in the county, and have made from $30,000 to $35,000 worth of paper annu- ally. Their works have been repeatedly burned.
The manufacture of iron into castings and machinery has for many years been carried on to a considerable extent in Water- town, the first machine shop being built by N. Wiley about 1820, and the first foundry by R. Bingham.
In 1823, G. Goulding, and in 1825, William Smith com- menced the manufacture, and have since carried it on. The former of these has been engaged on Norton's Island in making mill gearings, factory machinery, and to a less extent steam engines, and is now under the firm of Goulding, Bagley & Sewall, to a considerable extent employed in building machinery and tools for working iron. Mr. Smith has been heavily en- gaged in making mill gearings and castings, stoves, hollow ware, and agricultural implements. His foundry is on Beebee's Island. In 1841, the firm of Cooper & Woodruff built, in Pamelia, opposite the site of Beebee's factory, a foundry and machine shop, and had, after being employed upon factory machinery, mill irons, steam engines, &c., become largely en- gaged in the building of rail road cars. These premises were burned July 22d, 1853, occasioning a serious loss, not only to the enterprising proprietor, but to the public at large. The machine shop was 130 by 30 feet, two stories high on the ground, and
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three on the river. The furnace 40 by 80, the pattern and store room 40 by 50, and two stories high. They were situated di- rectly opposite the cascade on the river. The firm of Hoard & Bradford have had, for two or three years, near the premises of the latter, a machine shop, principally for the manufacture of portable steam engines, for which their works have beeome quite celebrated.
Our space will not admit of the details of the different branches of industry at this place. Black River, within the distance of a mile, passes over four dams, at each of which are numerous establishments, 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 privileges. The four dams were built in 1803, 1805, 1814, and 1835, and none of them have been impaired by the spring floods.
The river is crossed by three bridges, of which the lower one was first erected. Soon after the beginning at Factory Village, one was erected there; and one over the cascade, near the ruins of Beebee's Factory, in the summer of 1836. This consisted of a single arch of timbers, and was built by Hiram Merrill, for the two towns it connects, at a cost of $764. In the fall of 1853, the present elegant bridge was erected, the old one having decayed so as to render its use unsafe.
The business of the place early centered around the Public Square, especially at its west end, and on Court and Washington streets; and in 1815, John Paddock erected a three story block, forming a part of the buildings shown in the annexed cut, which was the first edifice of its size and class in town. The corner of Washington and Arsenal streets be- came, at an early day, the site of a two story wooden tavern, and was occupied until American Hotel and Paddock's Block, burnt May 13, 1849. 1827, when an associ- ation of citizens de- siring to have a hotel in the place that should compare with those of the first class in cities, was formed under the name of
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the Watertown Hotel Company, having a capital of $20,000. In the same year they erected the American Hotel, represented in the engraving, and this establishment continued to be owned by the company until burned in 1849, when the site was sold for $10,000, and the present building of the same name was erected on its site by individual enterprise.
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