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 34
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CHAPTER V.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
It is instructive to trace the rise and progress of those improve- ments and means of communication, by the aid of which, a country has arisen in the brief space of half a century, from a howling wilderness to a fertile and highly cultivated district, producing from its soil all the necessaries of life, and affording by the exchange of its surplus products every means of enjoy- ment which civilization has invented, or the most refined con- dition of social life required. The following petition from Arthur Noble and Baron Steuben to the legislature in 1791, is probably the first that was ever offered for the benefit of this section of the state.
"To the Honorable the Legislature of the State of New York. The petition of the subscribers humbly sheweth: That a line of
308
French Road.
road from the Little Falls, on the Mohawk River, to the falls on the Black River, which runs into Lake Ontario, would be attended with infinite advantages to this state, not only by opening a trade with the flourishing settlement of Ca- daroque, and that part of Canada, by which all goods and mer- chandize could be transported from New York for half the ex- pense that they are by the present route by the river St. Lawrence, but that it would, likewise, very much enhance the value of a large tract of land that this state has to dispose of, on and near the said river, and very much facilitate the settle- ment of that country. That it is humbly submitted to the legis- liture to appoint commissioners to explore, lay out and have said road made, and to appropriate a sum of money or lands for that purpose, the distance being between fifty and sixty miles; and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will pray.
ARTHUR NOBLE. STEUBEN."
The committee to whom was referred the petition of Arthur Noble and William Baron de Steuben, report: that the prayer of their petition ought to be granted, and that a bill be prepared and brought in, authorizing the commissioners of the land office to set apart a tract of land for the purpose of defraying the expense in exploring, laying out, and opening a road from the Little Falls, on the Mohawk River, to the falls on the Black River, or in such direction as to the said commissioners shall seem most conducive to the interests of the state. We have not been able to ascertain that this was done.
Jacob Brown, at a very early day, had taken active measures for continuing the road which the French settlers had opened to the High Falls, while forming their settlement at the latter place, down the west side of the Black River valley to the St. Lawrence. The first settlers had found their way into the coun- try by using the navigable channel of the Black River, from the High Falls to the present village of Carthage, or by the tedious and perilous navigation of the lake, by way of Oswego.
In anticipation of settlement, Rodolph Tillier had caused to be opened, at the expense of the French Company, a route from the High Falls, east of Black River, to near the Great Bend, from which it continued in a line nearly direct to the present village of Clayton. A branch from this diverged to the head of naviga- tion on Black River Bay, but these roads, although cleared and the stumps removed, had no bridges, and, consequently, were of no use to the early settlers. It is said, as an evidence of the incom- petence of this agent for effecting these improvements, that upon its being represented to him that bridges were indispensable to
309
The Oswegatchie Road.
the road, he replied ;- that he had reserved fifty dollars for that very purpose. This road fell entirely into disuse, and it is doubtful whether a rod of it is now traveled. The first tra- velled road in the county north of Black River, owes its origin to Judge Nathan Ford, of Ogdensburgh, whose indomitable energy enabled him to encounter the difficulties of a new settle- ment, with a success seldom equaled. He was a man eminently distinguished for his zeal and enterprise in whatever related to internal improvements, and the public welfare in general. In his correspondence with the landholders of Macomb's Purchase, he frequently urged the matter in the most forcible language, and as these letters will serve not only to convey an idea of the times, but also of the characteristics of the man, we will make from them a few extracts.
To Stephen Van Rensselaer he wrote, December 30, 1799: " You will allow me the liberty of stating my ideas upon the utility of a road being cut through from some part of their town- ships upon the St. Lawrence to the Mohawk River. If this could be made a state object, it would be productive of two good ef- fects to the proprietors :- first, it would save them a considerable sum of money; and, second, it would hold out an idea to those who intend to emigrate, of the real value of this country, a strong evidence of which would be the legislature's interesting itself.
If Mr. Brown has succeeded in getting the road to old John- stown, I take it that half of the expense is over, for I do not be- lieve it is above fifty or fifty-five miles from here to get to where that begins.
It is, in my opinion, unreasonable to expect any very heavy and important settlements to be made, unless there is a road which will shorten the distance to Albany. I have taken much pains to ascertain the probable distance to Albany, and I dare venture it as an opinion that it will not overrun 150 miles from this very spot. I am confident it will fall rather short than other- wise. This road, once cut out, will immediately be settled upon, and if it should be nothing more than a winter road at first, the advantage would be immense.
The difficulty of getting to this country with families is be- yond what is generally supposed. The present road through the Chateaugay country accommodates the few who emigrate from the upper part of Vermont, but the immense flood of people who emigrate to the westward, go there because they have no choice. This road once opened as contemplated, the emigration would soon turn this way, not only because the distance would be less than to the Genesee, but also because the lands are better and more advantageously situated. If the legislature will not take up the business, I am fully of opinion the proprietors will find their ac-
310
The Oswegatchie Road.
count in cutting out the road at their own expense. I should suppose those who own in the Big Purchase would unite partially in the thing, for that land can never settle until a road is cut. The traveling and commerce which go to Albany from Upper Canada, will far surpass the most sanguine idea. I am confident the farmer from this country will take his produce as easily to Albany as he can to Montreal, and he is sure of going to a bet- ter market. Over and above this (which is a sufficient reason for inducing them this way), is, that generally speaking, those who have settled on the opposite side of the St. Lawrence, are from the North and Mohawk rivers, and their connections are there. So they have a double advantage of seeing their friends and doing their business upon more advantageous principles. Vast numbers of the most leading farmers in that country, have assured me they would go to Albany in preference to Montreal, if it took them three days longer. I am confident the commerce that would flow into Albany through the medium of this road, would very soon reimburse the state for the expense. Those who live on our own side of the river, are compelled from necessity to trade at Montreal. This is the case with myself. My incli- nation is to trade to Albany, but it is impossible. It is highly politic to prevent if possible, the commerce of this country from falling into a regular system through Montreal; for when people once form mercantile connections, it is vastly difficult to divert and turn the current into a new channel. I see no rational mode but having the road cut, to secure to Albany so desirable an ob- ject. I have taken the liberty of stating my ideas upon this subject, which, if they should meet yours, I trust and hope you will take such steps as will secure a benefit to the state, as well as promote the interest of the proprietors and settlers.
Concerning this survey, Ford wrote, Sept. 27, 1801, to Thomas L. Ogden, as follows:
" Dear Sir .- I have most impatiently waited until the present time, to give you that information upon the subject of the road, which I know you are anxious to receive. It is but a few days since Edsal finished the survey; and Capt. Tibbet's setting out for Schenectady to-morrow, affords me the earliest opportunity I have had. From the east branch of Oswegatchie Lake, to the Ox Bow, and from there on to the High Falls, Edsal runs a line agreeable to the plan proposed by Mr. Morris, and I am sorry to add, soon after leaving the Ox Bow, he came to a most intolerable swampy and ridgy ground, growing worse and worse as he progressed, and, before he reached the High Falls, became so perfectly confident of the impracticability of a road, as well as the impossibility of settlement, that he abandoned the idea, went to Castorville, and from thence to the head of the Long Falls.
311
The Oswegatchie Road.
From the information I had been able to collect from various quarters, I was apprehensive it would be impossible to obtain our object by that route, in consequence of which, I directed Edsal, in case he should find it as he really has, to go to the head of the Long Falls, and run a line from there to the Ox Bow, and I am happy to tell you, that an excellent road may be had that way, and without adding to the distance. And a further advan- tage arises, by crossing the Black River, at the Long Falls, is, we fall into the Black River road, which saves us the expense of cutting 30 miles. This I view as a great object, particularly so, as our distance is not increased thereby. How far Mr. Morris will feel disposed to go on in the subscription he has made, I do not know, but I do not doubt he will still do what is generous, for the French lands will be as well, nay, better accommodated by the road, running as it does, than it would by going to the High Falls. I shall write him fully upon the subject, and when you see him, I wish you to converse with him about it.
I have contracted with Edsal for making the road from Louis- 'ville to the east branch of Black Lake, at 16 dollars per mile; the road to be cut and cleared one rod, cradle-knolls and sides of ridges to be leveled; small crossways and bridges over small streams to be made. I have also contracted for 8 miles of the road beyond east branch, west, at the same terms, and expect to contract for the whole soon. Where it falls into the road already cut in Madrid and Louisville, deduction is to be made, as much as the cutting those roads cost.
In running through Lisbon, and going to the north of the Big Swamp, the introduction into, and through Madrid, will be along the road already cut, and I think it no more than proper, to allow you upon your subscription, the price that road has cost you. If I am not very much mistaken, you told me it was not of much consequence to you, if it should happen to be the case. I am of opinion, it will be more advantageous to you, to have the road there, than where you first talked of. I wish I could have the road come as nigh to me, as it does to you.
From the west line of Madrid, to the East Branch (Oswegatchie River), is. 13 miles.
From East Branch to Ox Bow, 26
From Ox Bow to West Branch of Oswegatchie Lake (Indian River),.
13
From West Branch to head of Long Falls ( Carthage) 13
From Long Falls to Shaler's (Turin), (is good road) 30
From Shaler's to Albany, through the Royal Grant and Old Johnstown,
90 66
Carried forward,
185
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The Oswegatchie Road.
Brought forward,. 185 miles. Allow, that I may not be correct in the last state- ment (though I am pretty sure), 5
# 190 miles.
There will be the crosswaying and the bridging to be done; these two things will cost considerable, but running the road as I have laid it out, will cost us certainly not more than half as much as it would to go by the High Falls. Edsal says, he is confident, that the road from Ox Bow to High Falls, would not be made for a much larger sum than 2,000 dollars, and then it would be through a country which would not settle; now, we have a fine country all the way. Tuttle has paid the money, and Edsal thinks he will be able to furnish part of the draft you gave me. I shall not want it all this fall, unless the fall should be a very fine one, in which case I hope to see the greater part of the business of cutting done. I have put the petition upon the sub- ject of the county, into the hands of Turner and Tibbet, for signatures, who say they will do all in their power to promote the thing. I shall bring it to Albany with me.
I hope I shall have the pleasure of meeting you this winter at Albany, and I hope you will in the mean time do all in your power to help the thing forward. I expected to have heard from you, upon the subject of the road from Salmon River to the townships.
Pray, has the Patroon consented to our road, and subscribed, or does he still cast a languishing eye to Schroon Lake?
Be pleased to make my respects to Mrs. Ogden and your family. Believe me to be with every wish for your health and happiness, Your humble servant, Thomas L. Ogden, Esq., New York." N. FORD.
This road from Salmon River, referred to, was a part of a system of roads that originated with George Scriba, Nathan Sage, and others, of Oswego County, that was designed to ex- tend from the Salt Works to Redfield, and thence through as directly as possible to Champion and St. Lawrence County. A letter by Nathan Sage, before us, on this subject, to Judge Hubbard, of Champion, at a later period (October 24, 1810), says:
"The first object is, to open the shortest route to the Salt Springs, and a communication to the Genesee country, and those parts
* These distances are found to be, as follows: Oswegatchie River at Heu- velton, to Ox Bow, nearly as above stated. From Ox Bow to Indian River, 7 miles; from thence to Carthage, 164 miles; from thence to Shaler's old settlement, (now Constableville), 32 miles.
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The Oswegatchie Road.
adjacent to them. The people south and west are very anxious for this road, and will use all their influence. Mr. Scriba has petitions in circulation in those sections. I shall put some in circulation here, and hope you will endeavor to do all you can in your section. I look on this road as of the greatest importance to this part of the state, and make no doubt that if subscribers are obtained, and some careful influential man be employed to attend, and your members influence themselves, aid can be got by a lottery for this purpose."
In a letter to Gouverneur Morris, dated September 27, 1801, Mr. Ford recapitulates the substance of the previous one to Og- den, apologizes for the necessity of going to the Long Falls, instead of through the French lands, and adds:
" You will be pleased to say how, and in what proportion, the liberal subscription you have made shall be applied. I lament that the country through to the High Falls is so bad. Should the road be cut through, the country will not admit of settlement; consequently, the object that way must be abandoned. I have presumed you would not wholly withdraw your patronage, because there are your own lands, as well as part of the French lands, which will be materially benefited. I have contracted for about one-half the road from Louisville to the Long Falls, and I expect to close a contract for the remainder very shortly. The great object of a road to this country to us all, and that route being the most practicable one, has induced me to hazard the completion of it upon the subscriptions we have obtained. I wish there had been a sum subscribed that would have justified a wider and better road; but so it is, and we must make the best of it. My contract is to cut out trees eighteen inches and under,-sixteen and a half feet wide, cradle knolls, and side hills to be dug down, small crossways and small bridges over small runs to be made, and stumps to be cut so low as not to obstruct a wheel, and large trees to be girdled. For doing this, I give sixteen dollars per mile. Bridges and crossways are a separate thing, and must be the subject of future contracts. I hope to have much of the road finished this fall.
" From the lower line of Louisville to the East Branch, which the road crosses about 33 miles from the Forks (site of the vil- lage of Heuvelton), 33 miles; from East Branch to Ox Bow, 26; from Ox Bow to head of Long Falls, 26; from Long Falls to Shaler's, 30; from Shaler's to Albany, by the way of the Royal Grant and Johnstown, 90. I possibly may not be correct in the last distance, but I am pretty confident I am; but allow 5 miles, gives 210 miles. This is the distance upon this route to Alba- ny, by which your land is brought within 170 miles of Albany;
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The Oswegatchie Road.
which, I will venture to say, is the most practicable route that will be had to that city, from the St. Lawrence.
I am, sir, as ever, your humble servant,
N. FORD.
The Hon. G. Morris, Esq."
To Samuel Ogden, Mr. Ford wrote, October 29, 1801:
" Dear Sir .- I wrote you the 27th of last month, which I hope you have received. In that I told you I was pushing at the road, and it gives me much pleasure, that, by a little extra- ordinary exertion, I shall get the whole of it so far completed, that I intend finding my way through with a sleigh this winter. If I could have but one month longer I would have it all bridged; but the season is too far advanced and forbids my attempting it. I have spared no pains to get the road on the best ground. I was not satisfied with Edsal's first return of the road, and sent him back to explore the ground again, between the Ox Bow and the head of the Long Falls; the result of which was better ground, and four miles saved in distance. My intention is to set out in January, with as many sleighs as I can muster, and break the road through, and advertise the thing in all the northern papers, so as to get people traveling through this winter. The present opportunity only gives me time to tell you how much I am, Yours, N. FORD."
To T. L. Ogden, on the same date, he wrote:
" I wrote you the 27th of last month, which I hope you have received. In that I told you what were my prospects about the road, &c. The present opportunity affords me only time to tell you, I shall have the whole so far completed, that I expect to blunder through it this winter, with a sleigh, and I hope to induce many to follow the example. In order to get the road in as much forwardness as I have, has required much exertion; but the at- taining of the desired object is a gratification, which will atone for a little slavery."
To Samuel Ogden, Mr. Ford wrote, November 29, 1801.
" It is with pleasure I announce to you my having finished cutting the road, and all the logs are turned, excepting about eight miles, and the party goes out to-morrow morning to finish that; after which I think the road may be said to be passable for sleighs, although there is considerable digging yet to be done, as well as crossways. If I could have had three weeks longer, I could now have pronounced it one of the best roads in any new country. I have had crossways made over the worst places, and a bridge over the west branch of Black Lake (Indian River), eighty feet
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The Oswegatchie Road.
long, and I should have had the bridge over the east branch (Oswegatchie River), but I was fearful of being caught by the fall rains. That is a bridge which must be twelve rods long.
If I live and have my health next summer, I will have that a road, which shall be drove with loaded wagons, for I have no idea of putting with such a thing as they have made through Chatauguay, which scarcely deserves the name of an apology for a road. However, I do not know, but it will be good enough for the use that will be made of it, after ours becomes finished. I expect the ice will serve as a bridge over the East Branch, this winter. From the East Branch, where the road crosses, Ihave cut a road to this place, and about the 1st of January I intend to break the road through to the Long Falls (Carthage), and find my way to Albany, by this new route.
A little extraordinary exertion has made the road, and a little exertion will break it, for I am determined to have it traveled this winter, by which we shall gain one year."
The road was at first opened by a subscription among the land holders, and its continuation through Lewis County was long known as the Oswegatchie road. The sums raised by these means proved inadequate to build the road of the character which the country demanded; and narrow, sectional, and local jealousies were found to embarrass the enterprise. Of these, Mr. Ford, in a subsequent letter, says: " If I could have effected any thing with the proprietors, as to the road, it would have given a great spring to emigration; but they conducted themselves with such parsimony, that I abandoned the thing to its fate, after leaving them my proposition."
It was next attempted, with success, to obtain state patronage for this work; and on the 9th of April, 1804, a lottery was cre- ated for the purpose of raising the sum of $22,000, with ten per cent added, for expenses to construct a road from Troy to Green- wich, and " from, or near the head of the Long Falls, in the County of Oneida, to the mills of Nathan Ford, at Oswegatchie, in St. Lawrence County." The latter was to be six rods wide, and Nathan Ford, Alexander J. Turner, and Joseph Edsell, were appointed commissioners for making it. Owners of im- proved lands might require payment for damages. $12,000 of the above sum was appropriated for this road. If any person thought proper to advance money for either road, he might pay it into the treasury, to be repaid with interest out of the avails of the lottery. Vacancies in the office of commissioners were to be filled by the governor. They were to be paid $1.50 per day. The summer of 1805 was devoted to the location and opening of the road, and on the 26th of October, 1805, Judge Ford wrote:
21
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The Oswegatchie Road.
" I have just returned from laying out the State Road between Ogdensburgh and the Long Falls upon Black River, and I am happy to tell you we have made great alterations (from the old road), for the better, also as well as shortening the distance. This business took me nine days, and most of the time it was stormy, disagreeable weather. The difficulty I find in forming a plan how our lottery money can be laid out to the best advantage, makes me wish for some abler head than mine, to consult, or those with whom I am associated in the commission. To contract by the mile is very difficult, and to contract by the job, compre- hending the whole distance, is still worse. After consulting and turning the business in all the ways and shapes it is capable of, I proposed to my colleague the propriety of employing a man of reputation, who had weight of character equal to the procuring of thirty good hands to be paid by the month, and he to super- intend the business; the superintendent to be handsomely paid, and he to carry on and conduct the business under the direction of the commissioners. This plan we have adopted, and I trust I have found a man who is fully competent to the task,* and we shall make our engagements to begin on the 25th of May. I hope nothing will interfere, which will obstruct our progressing. I am sorry to say I am not wholly without my fears, although I durst not whisper such an idea. You would be astonished to see how much pains are taken to counteract this object, by those who are settling lands to the east of us; and you would be equally astonished to see the exertion there is now making to get roads in every direction to Lake Champlain. Their exertion is by no means fruitless, for they have worked through with several. This I, however, am happy to see; notwithstanding it produces to us a temporary evil, it will eventually be a thing which can not fail to produce to us solid advantages; because, through these avenues, we shall ultimately reap as great advantages as they will. All that can be said of the thing is, they are now enjoying the first fruits."
An act was passed March 26, 1803, for opening and improving certain great roads of the state, with the proceeds of a lottery, to be drawn under the supervision of Philip Ten Eyck, Thomas Storm, William Henderson, Mathias B. Tallmadge, and Jacobus Van Schoonhoven. The fund, so raised, was intended to be chiefly applied to the opening of roads in the Black River country, and was limited to $41,500. The following sections will give more fully the intentions of the act.
" And be it further enacted: That it shall be lawful for the person administering the government of this state, by and with
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