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 42
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386
Union Literary Society, Belleville.
ward Boomer, Sidney Houghton, Benjamin Barney, Samuel Boyden, Ebenezer Webster, Israel Kellogg, Jr., Jesse Hubbard, Hiram Taylor, Henry Green, Rufus Hatch, Charles B. Pond, Calvin Clark, John Barney, 1st, Samuel Pierce, and Godfrey W. Barney, were constituted, with such as might associate with them, a body corporate, to have perpetual succession, and limited in their powers to the support of an academic school; the yearly income of their estate might not exceed $5,000. The number of their trustees from 24 to 30, to be elected annually, or until others are chosen. Elections to be held on the first Wednesday of November, and the payment of five dollars entitled to one vote.
Some disappointment was felt, from there not being inserted a provision for dividends from avails of the land, rents of rooms, and otherwise, as was anticipated; but though there was no chance of profits, they still felt a lively interest for the welfare of the school, and put forth their best energies to sustain it, for the benefit of the place, and of the pupils who attended.
While preparations for building were pending, a school was commenced by Mr. H. H. Haff, under the direction of Mr. Bradley, which was taught for a time in a private house at Mather's Mills, one mile above Belleville, and afterwards in the Baptist church. The location of the institution having been settled with some difficulty, from the struggle of rival interests, the erection was commenced in 1829, and on the first of January, 1830, the pre- sent academic building was dedicated. On the 5th of the same month, it was received under the visitation of the Regents, upon the application of the trustees, and Benjamin Durfee, Nahum Houghton, James McCumber, Henry Shaver, Jesse Brewster, Matthew Green, Thomas Clark, Amos Pratt, Daniel Wait, Cul- ver Clark, Jotham Littlefield, Wadsworth Mayhew, and Charles Avery, who had contributed to its erection.
Charles Avery, now a professor in Hamilton College, was ap- pointed principal, and for a time the academy flourished to a degree that justified the highest expectation of its friends, and attracted great numbers of students from distant parts of the county. Mr. Isaac Slater served as assistant the first year, and William D. Waterman the second, at the end of which Mr. Avery was succeeded by Mr. La Rue Thompson, who staid two years, and was followed by George W. Eaton, who remained a year. Joseph Mullin and H. H. Barney were next employed; the first, for one, the other for two years, when the school was for some time closed. In 1837, Mr. T. C. Hill was employed a year, when the building was closed by the mortgagee. Efforts were then made throughout the town to free the institution from debt, and in this the Rev. J. Burchard took an especial interest, and these efforts were attended with success.
Academic Building of the Union Literary Society and Presbyterian Church, Belleville (Ellisburgh), Jeffer- son County, New York.
388
Orleans Academy.
The Rev. G. J. King was next employed as principal, and at the end of a year, he associated with Richard Ellis as joint prin- cipal, and in a few months was succeeded by the latter. He filled that station about three years. Orsemus Cole, R. Ellis, Calvin Littlefield, Geo. Ramsay, John P. Houghton, and J. Dunbar Houghton, have since been employed; the latter having been for the last two years the principal. This institution is in a highly flourishing condition, and enjoys to a great degree the merited confidence of the public.
Early in 1831, a petition was made for a tax upon the county, in aid of the institution, which procured a favorable report,* and a bill for that purpose, but which failed to become a law.
The library of the Savortian Society, connected with this academy, was formed under the general act, April 12, 1833, with Edward Kellogg, Thomas J. Field, C. M. Elbridge, Roswell Barber, O. S. Harmon, Wm. T. Searles, L. H. Brown, and Allen Nims, trustees, which was continued till 1848. There is belonging to the academy, a small library, and a fine collection of apparatus, for illustrating the physical sciences. The building was designed to embrace a steward's department, which is not now maintained, and contains, besides recitation and school rooms, about a dozen apartments for students.
The money received from the literature fund, and tuition, and the number of students for each year, are shown in the following table, derived from the official reports of the trustees to the Regents of the University:
Years.
Literature Money.
Tuition.
No. of stud'ts.
Years.
Literature Money.
Tuition.
No. of stud'ts.
1829. ...
$189.00
$1,370 . 00
1843.
$255.02
$570.00
53f
1830 ....
132. 24
769.96
30+
1844.
136.44
350.00
110
1831 . ...
166.46
920.00
521
1845.
161.78
266.00
86
1832 .. . .
101·10
393. 63
35+
1846
151. 45
326.00
95
1833 . . . .
45.69
450.00
26+
1847.
229. 31
530. 00
118
1834 ....
83.85
500.00
50+
1848
249. 95
675.00
138
1835 ....
70. 80
460.00
53+
1849
205.89
447. 00
97
1836 ....
70.00
400.00
301
1850. ..
169.72
180.00
89
1837 ... .
42. 40
425.00
30↑
1851 . ..
196.40
253.00
120
1841 ....
297. 82
1,000.00
82+
1852 ...
164.28
703.00
188
1842 ....
307.50
750. 00
60+
Total.
3,427 .10
11,738.59
The Orleans Academy, first began to be discussed, in August 1850, on the 12th of which month a meeting was convened at the Baptist Church, in La Fargeville, several plans were proposed, and a room was temporarily fitted up for a school, Mr. Burton
* Assembly Documents, 1831, vol. 3, No. 263.
t Numbers of students attending at date of report.
389
Brownville Female Seminary.
B. Townsend, being the first teacher. In the summer of 1851, a wooden building, 40 by 70, and two stories high, was commenced and partly finished, when, on the 16th of July 1851, it was blown down in a gale, but rebuilt the same season. It stands on a lot of one acre adjoining the Congregational Church. Its cost has been about $2,500, and the subscription is in shares of $10 each.
An application to the Regents was made, January 27, 1852, and on the 5th of February, a charter was granted, allowing the school to share in the literature fund, upon freeing itself from debt, and acquiring an estate of not less than $2,500. The trus- tees first named were Lewis T. Ford, Loren Bushnell, John N. Rottiers, Elisha Sawyer, John Tallman, Hiram Dewey, Brainard Everett, John Foot, Hiram Mitchell, Eldridge G. Merrick, Lu- ther Lamson, Edgar W. Beedle, Daniel Richardson, David J. Dewey, Hiram P. Dillenback, John Hill, Henry Erwin, Russel B. Biddlecom, Nathan Elmer, Ashley Tanner, James Green, Rufus Smith, Parley Brown, and David Joy. The trustees have not hitherto reported, or become entitled to a share of the litera- ture fund. The subscriptions due the coming year, with another effort that will be made, are hoped to free it from debt. It has the nucleus of a library and apparatus, and the schools taught here have averaged about 40 pupils. It is at present under the charge of the Rev. E. Sawyer.
The Brownville Female Seminary was formed in pursuance of articles dated October 15, 1849, by which subscriptions, in shares of $50, were to be taken for the purpose of raising a capi- tal of $3,000, for the above object. This has since been doubled. There were, at first, about twenty-four holders of stock, but these have since been reduced to half that number. The principal share holders at present (July, 1853) are William Lord, 12; G. Lord, 10; J. Bradley, 10; the Kirby family, 10; J. E. Brown, 4; and a few others.
On the 28th November, 1849, it was chartered by the Regents, but it has never reported, nor shared in the literature fund of the state. The first preceptress was Miss Mary F. Bloomfield, who was succeeded by Miss H. M. Foster, and it is now under the charge of Rev. George B. Eastman. The seminary was opened May 1, 1850. It embraces both a boarding and day school.
390
Societies and Associations.
CHAPTER X.
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS.
Religions .- Many of the older churches in the county were formed by missionaries, sent out by the New England societies. Among the more early of these was the Rev. James W. Wood- ward, who, in 1802, spent four months in these settlements. In his report, he acknowledged $1, collected in Adams, fifty cents in Watertown, $3.472 in Rutland, $1.50 in Champion, and twenty-five cents in Brownville. Nathaniel Dutton, John Taylor, and R. Phelps, from the Hampshire society, and Ira Hart and Lathrop Thompson, from Connecticut; E. Lazelle, David R. Dixon, Oliver Leavitt, David Spear, Oliver Alger, Bennet Taylor, and others, were among the early missionaries of the county.
Watertown Presbytery .- The Synod of Albany, at Utica, October 3, 1816, formed the Presbytery of St. Lawrence; from that of Oneida, the Rev. Messrs. James Murdock, Isaac Clinton, Samuel F. Snowden, Jeduthan Higby, and David Banks, with the congregations at Martinsburgh and Ogdensburgh, comprised the new body, which embraced Lewis, Jefferson, and the most of St Lawrence counties. The first meeting was held at Martins- burgh, October 31, 1816. In January, 1822, the Ogdensburgh Presbytery was set off, including the county of St. Lawrence, and the first meeting being directed to be held at DeKalb. At the February session, 1822, at Champion, the following resolution was passed:
" That it be recommended to each member of the Presbytery, to use his influence in the society where he belongs, that certain fields be set apart and sown or planted with some valuable crop, and cultivated in the best manner, and that the avails of said field, together with the free-will offerings or donations from mechanics or merchants, be appropriated to the missionary, Bible and educational funds, equally, or to one of them only, as the donor shall desire, and that the said avails be transmitted to the deposit at Watertown, or any other place which may hereafter be appointed."
In September, 1824, the subject of establishing a Domestic Missionary Society, and a Sabbath School Union, came up for action, but both these were postponed. The Presbytery subse- quently resolved itself into a Benevolent Association, and recom- mended the formation of auxiliaries in the several churches. In 1830, the name was changed to the Watertown Presbytery.
391
Religious Associations.
The Presbyterian church in Kingston for many years belonged to this presbytery. At the February meeting of 1834, it with- drew.
A compendium drawn up by order of the Presbytery in 1828, gives the following facts in relation to religious revivals in that church, with the numbers added. 1815, Lowville, Ist and 2d church united, 25 added; 1817, Rutland, 30; 1818, Sackets Harbor, 15; 1819, Adams, 65; 1820, Sackets Harbor, 70; 1821, Watertown, 93; 1822, Rutland, 20, Adams, 62, Brownville, 20; 1823, Sackets Harbor, 25, mostly from the army, and families of officers; 1824, Lowville, Ist 95, 2d 16, Martinsburgh, 23, Leyden, 1st, 42, Ellisburgh, 20, Denmark, Ist and 2d united, 30, Cape Vincent, 30, Antwerp, 35, Le Ray, 30, Orleans, 15; 1826, Adams, 25; 1827, Watertown, 29, Smithville, 25; total added to Presbyterian churches, 840. The above years were noted for religious excitements, and great numbers united with other churches. The authority above quoted attributes much of this to the meeting of the Albany Synod at Brownville in 1820. In the revivals of 1824, the Rev. Jedediah Burchard, was particu- larly active at Ellisburgh and Cape Vincent, and Charles G. Fin- ney, at Antwerp, Le Ray, Brownville, &c. Both have since acquired a very unusual degree of celebrity as Evangelists.
In the summer of 1831, there occurred another series of re- ligious revivals throughout the country, and "protracted meet- ings" were held in nearly every village. Great numbers professed conversion, and all the evangelical churches received accessions. These proceedings were strongly discountenanced by a portion of the citizens, and led to a convention at the court house, July 2, 1831, at which addresses deprecating these excitements were made, and resolutions were published expressing their senti- ments on this subject. In these, a conscientious approval of pure religion was avowed, but the popular excitements of the day were denounced as whirlwinds of moral desolation.
The Black River Association (Congregational) was formed on the first Tuesday of September, 1807, at Lowville, by dele- gates from churches at East and West Leyden, Turin, Lowville, Denmark, Champion, Rutland, Watertown, Rodman, Adams and Lorraine. About 1851, the name was changed to Consociation. After diligent enquiries, we have failed to obtain further statis- tics of this body.
Methodist Episcopal Societies .- The Black River Conference at present embraces about a dozen counties, of which Jefferson is one, and this territory has successively formed a part of the New York, Genesee, and Oneida conferences. As it now exists it was formed in 1836. This conference was incorporated April 17, 1841. George Gary, John Dempster, Nathaniel Salisbury, Gardner Baker, William S. Bowdish, Isaac Stone, and Lewis
392
Religious Associations.
Whitcomb being named the first trustees. It may hold real estate not exceeding $20,000, and possess a clear yearly income not exceeding $10,000, from real and personal property.
Districts .- The county has been a part of Albany, Cayuga, Oneida, and Black River districts, and at present is comprised in the Adams, Watertown, and Ogdensburgh districts, which were formed as follows: Black River, 1820; Gouverneur, 1839; Watertown, 1840 (embracing the county); Adams, 1844; Og- densburgh, 1852. The presiding elders of these have been: Black River District. 1820, R. M. Everts; 1824, Daniel Barns; 1826, Goodwin Stoddard; 1827, Nathaniel Salisbury; 1832, Josiah Keyes; 1833, J. Dempster; 1836, G. Baker. Gouvern- eur District, 1839, W. S. Bowdish. Watertown District, 1840, N. Salisbury; 1842, Lewis Whitcomb; 1844, N. Salisbury; 1845, L. Whitcomb; 1849, G. Baker. Adams District, 1844, Lewis Whitcomb; 1845, N. Salisbury; 1847, J. Stone; 1848, George C. Woodruff; 1850, George Gary; 1853, J. Phelps. Ogdensburgh District, 1852, H. Shepard.
Until 1815, the entire county, with extensive territory besides, formed but one circuit, and was supplied by one or two preach- ers, who, in the performance of their duties, were required to make long and tedious journeys through the scattered settlements. There was formed in 1804 the Black River Circuit. The preachers appointed were: 1804, Griffin Sweet, Asa Cummings; 1805, G. Sweet, Seymour Ensign; 1806, Matthew Van Duzen, William Vredenburgh, 1807; Datus Ensign, 1808; Mathew Van Duzen, Luther Bishop; 1809, L. Bishop; William Jewett; 1810, Joseph Willis, Chandley Lambert; 1811, William Snow, Truman Gillet; 1812, Joseph Kinkead; 1813, Isaac Puffer, Goodwin Stod- dard; 1814, C. Lambert; 1815, Ira Fairbanks, Jason Hazen. In 1815 Sandy Creek Circuit, embracing a part of the county, was formed, and James Bowen appointed. Circuits have since been established, as follows. Those marked (+) have been super- ceded.
1818, Watertown.t
1821, Indian River.t 1840, Philadelphia.
1826, Le Ray and Watertown.t
1827, Cape Vincent.
1829, Le Ray and Carthage.t
1829, Brownville and S. Harbor.t
1829, Adams.
1832, Theresa.
1833, Antwerp.
1834, Pulaski and Mannsville.t
1836, Carthage.
1836, Mannsville. 1836, Rodman.
1839, Natural Bridge.
1839, Evans' Mills.
1840, Dexter and Pillar Point .;
1842, Pillar Point.
1842, Bellville.
1842, Henderson.
1842, Ellisburgh.
1846, Three Mile Bay.
1847, Smithville.
1848, Pamelia Corners.
1848, Depauville.
1849, Watertown, Arsenal street.
1849, Watertown, State street.
1850, Champion.
1851, La Fargeville.
393
Religious Societies.
The date of formation of Alexandria, Black River, Brown- ville, Clayton, and Sackets Harbor circuits, were not procured.
The Black River Baptist Association was formed in 1808 of the following churches and number of members, the elders of each being given in Italics.
Adams 45, Timothy Heath; Brownville 47, Timothy Pool; Champion 25; Denmark 29, Peleg Card; Henderson 42, Emory Osgood; Lorraine 32, Amos Lampson; Rutland 2, churches of 52 and 34 members; Turin 65, Stephen Parsons. In 1802, Baptist missionaries had begun to labor in this section, among whom Peter P. Root and Stephen Parsons were prominent. In 1810, the missionary limits of this body were defined, as north of Black River to include Le Ray, and the new settlements in St. Lawrence and Oswegatchie, and south to include Mexico on the Salmon River, and the new settlements contiguous thereto. Solomon Johnson, Emory Osgood, and Martin E. Cook, were to spend the ensuing year, 5 weeks each, and Amos Lamson 6 weeks. In 1816, an association of 84 ladies in Henderson, styled The United Female Society in Henderson, formed for the purpose of promoting foreign missions, memorialized the association and forwarded $88-74 to aid in this purpose. This example was followed by others, and in 1817 reports were re- ceived from the Henderson and Ellisburgh Missionary Society, the Female Mission Society in Lorraine, the Female Mite Society in Rutland, the Female Society in Brownville, the Baptist Female Society in Rodman, and the Female Mite Society in Ellisburgh, who, with the churches, contributed $243.79 for missions. In the same year the Black River Baptist Missionary Society was formed. In. 1818, several auxiliaries to this were organized, which had but a short duration. In 1818-9, Elder Solomon Johnson was employed several months in missionary labors in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties. The missionary society, up to 1844, had received $7,837, of which more than $2000 had been applied to foreign missions, and the balance spent in this and neighboring counties. The Jefferson Union Association existed 4 years, and in 1838 went down. From 1815 to 1819, 516 had been added to the churches, and in 1821, 373 more. In 1825, four or five hundred, and in 1831-4, more than 1,500. It was during this period that Elder Jacob Knapp first began preaching as an evangelist, and in this county commenced that series of protracted meetings with the Baptist churches, that has since rendered his name cele- brated. The excitements raised by his labors were here generally transient, and followed by a reaction. By the report of 1853, there were 26 churches in Jefferson, 7 in Lewis, and 1 in Oneida, belonging to this association. The year previous 37
395
Religious Associations.
had been baptized, 11 received by letter, 6 restored, 115 dis- missed, 34 excluded, 42 died. Present number, 2,927. Churches in this county exist at Adams (Davis' Corners), Adams Centre, Adams Village, 2 in Alexandria, Antwerp, Steele's Corners, Belleville, Carthage, Clayton, Depauville, Great Bend, Hender- son, La Fargeville, Lorraine, Le Ray, Lyme, Mannsville, Perch River, Philadelphia, Rodman, Smithville, Tylerville, Woodville, Watertown, and North Wilna.
On the 28th of January, 1820, Martin E. Cook, Sardis Little, Emery Osgood and others were incorporated as the Black River Baptist Missionary Society. The first meeting was to be held at the brick school house, near Elisha Morgan's, in Rutland.
The Free Communion Baptist Black River Yearly Meeting, was organized and adopted a constitution in September, 1830, although meetings had been held previously. The limits of this body were defined as bounded west by the Genesee River, south by the Mohawk, and east by the East Canada Creek, embracing the country north of Utica within these limits. In 1831, this body reported churches in Alexandria, Lyme, and Orleans, where societies had mostly been formed by settlers from Russia, New York, where the sect was by far the most numerous. Subsequent minutes report societies at Houndsfield, Clayton, and Philadel- phia. This body has since been merged in the Freewill Baptist Church.
The Black River Branch Association of Universalists, was formed in pursuance of a resolution of the Western Association of June, 1823, and in accordance with a request made at a con- vention of members from the societies of Watertown, Rutland, Brownville, Henderson, Ellisburgh, and Richland, assembled at Watertown, January 8, 1823. It at first included St. Lawrence Co., but by a resolution of 1829, its limits were defined as embracing Lewis, Jefferson, and Oswego counties. On the formation of the New York State Convention of Universalists, in 1825, the name of this was changed to the Black River Association, whose annual meetings are held on the third Wednesday, and Thursday of June. It at present has societies in Brownville, Carthage, Champion, Dexter, Ellisburgh, Henderson, Lyme, Pamelia, Rutland, and Watertown. Sunday Schools were first established by this sect at Watertown, in 1830, and now exist at Dexter, Ellisburgh, Henderson, and Watertown.
The Le Ray Monthly Meeting of Friends, was formed in 1816, and consists of the Le Ray (formerly Pleasant Creek) and Indian River (Philadelphia); Preparative Meetings with Lowville, and Lee, it forms the Le Ray Quarterly Meeting, which belongs to the New York Yearly Meeting. In 1828, the doctrines of Elias Hicks, divided the Friends here as elsewhere, but the latter have
395
Religious Associations.
for some time discontinued meetings. The property of the society belonged to the Orthodox branch, although the Hicksites used the meeting houses for their worship. That at Le Ray (between Le Raysville and Evans' Mills) was built in 1816, and that at Friends Settlement in 1828. The Le Ray Preparative numbers 25 families and parts of families, and that of Indian River less.
Lutherans .- We are indebted to the Rev. F. Shipherd for the following notice of this sect. " In the year 1838 the Synod of the Frankean Evangelic Lutheran Church sent the Rev. Henry L. Dox as their missionnry, to select any portion of Jefferson County as his field of labor, which he mighn think most likely to yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness in return for his labors. Acting under this commission, he located at Perch River and Stone Mills. He was 'but a youth and ruddy,' but God wrought most astonishing changes through his ministry. Churches were soon organized at Perch River and at Stone Mills; but no record is found which furnishes the particulars respecting their formation. On the 23d of May, 1840, these two churches were blended into one, by mutual agreement, and sixty members were enrolled as constituting the church at Stone Mills. On the 13th of November, 1852, a church was organized at Perch River, consisting of 32 members, leaving 66 remaining at Stone Mills. Mr. Dox also preached with great success at Shantyville (now Orleans Four Corners), and organized a church, consisting of thirty-three members. The present number is eighty-eight. A church edifice, of stone, was erected at Stone Mills, about the year 1835, at an expense of some $1,500. A very neat and commodious house for worship was built at Perch River, like that at Stone Mills, on the union principle, and dedicated to the worship of God. February 19, 1852, Mr. Charles B. Avery contracted to build it for $1,340, but is said to have expended some $1,700 upon it. On the following sabbath a beautiful church edifice, very much like that at Perch River, was conse- crated to God's service at Orleans Four Corners. This building is owned wholly by the Lutheran congregation, and was erected at the cost of $1,250. The lot on which it stands, was valued at $50; that at Perch River, at $85. Mr. Dox seems to have resigned his charge to the Rev. George W. Hemperly, in the winter or spring of 1841, who retained this charge, with two short intervals, for more than ten years. Fayette Shipherd, the present pastor, commenced his labors in May, 1852. Unpretend- ing as are these Lutheran churches, they are deemed important auxiliaries in the reform and salvation of the multitudes with whom they are surrounded."
The Bible Society of Jefferson County was formed January 29, 1817, at the Academy in Watertown. The first officers
396
Benevolent Associations.
elected were Ethel Bronson, president, Rev. Samuel F. Snowden, vice president, Rev. Nathaniel Dutton, second vice president, Rev. Daniel Banks, corresponding secretary, Timothy Burr, recording secretary, Egbert Ten Eyck, treasurer, Micah Ster- ling, auditor, and fifteen directors. An address was issued to the public, and measures taken for supplying destitute families. A systematic visitation of families was instituted, and at the Janu- ary meeting, 1824, it was reported that up to that time 681 Bibles, and 457Testaments had been distributed. The sum received had been $515.78, and $348.67, had been paid. Ten town as- sociations had been formed; viz. in Adams, Champion, Sackets Harbor, Rodman, Brownville, Orleans, Antwerp, Le Ray, Water- town, and Ellisburgh. Previous to September 20th, 1832, the following additional auxiliaries had been formed: Chaumont, Cape Vincent, Rutland, Houndsfield, Perch River, Philadelphia, Evans' Mills, Alexandria, Smithville, North Adams. In 1834, an effort was made to raise $300, to purchase Bibles for foreign distribution, besides supplying the county. The meetings of the society have been maintained annually, and by a provision in the constitution, a director is appointed in each town in the county. It is believed that the town societies are mostly given up.
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