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 48
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He will long be gratefully remembered by the citizens of Jef- ferson county, for his public spirited improvements, his dignified and courteous manner, and the sympathy he never failed to ex- press in whatever concerned the public welfare.
HART MASSEY, the third son of Deacon Jonathan Massey, and one of a family of eight sons and three daughters, was born in Salem, N. H., December 5, 1771. In 1792, he removed with his father's family to Windsor, Vt., and in 1795 married and settled in a new town called Saltash, now Lyme, an elevated and sterile forest, from whence, in 1800, he emigrated to Watertown, where he purchased ninety acres of land fronting on Washington street, and to which he soon added another one hundred acres adjoin- ing, and on the ground of the present railroad depot. His first dwelling stood on the site of the Arcade, and at an early day he sold, in lots, the part of his land fronting on Washington street. The first religious meetings in the village were held at his house, on the Sabbath next after the arrival of his family, in March, 1801. On the 13th of July, 1808, he was appointed colonel and inspector, having previously held the office of quarter mas- ter in Colonel Abijah Putnam's regiment, and adjutant to Colo- nel Gurshon Tuttle. He held the office of collector of the port and district of Sackets Harbor, during the embargo and non- intercourse period, and the war, when the whole frontier of the country was to be watched, and in the exercise of this trust was subjected to peculiar trials and difficulties, from the opposition of those, who, from the violence of party spirit, deemed it merito- rious to evade the laws, and embarrass the operations of govern- ment, in the prosecution of measures to which they were op- posed .*
At the close of his services as collector, he retired to private life, but always evinced a lively interest in whatever tended to the improvement of the town and county, and was particularly active and useful in founding and supporting the county Agri- cultural Society, of which he was for several years the president. In educational and religious matters, he was also an efficient actor. On several occasions he was appointed to minor county offices, and in 1820, was made a county judge. In these various capacities, he won the respect and esteem of the public, and proved himself the possessor of a sound, discriminating and
*The official papers of Judge Massey have been bound, and placed in the State Library, at Albany.
448
Hezekiah B. Pierrepont.
vigorous mind. His death occurred near the close of March, 1853. He was temperate and regular in his habits, and in the observance of religous duties, and till the day of his death main- tained a patriarchal supervision of his family of nine children.
JOHN PADDOCK, an elder brother of Loveland Paddock, Esq., the well known banker of Watertown, settled in that place in 8105, as a merchant, in company with William Smith, still living. Theirs, was the pioneer mercantile enterprise in the village, and much the most extensive that had then been undertaken in the county. In 1810, he removed to Brownville, and engaged largely in trade, with several partners, and during two years of the war was sheriff. Upon the establishment of a bank, he labored strenously in favor of its location at Brownville, but failing in this, concurred in the selection of Adams as its seat. He died in December, 1816, at Brownville.
HEZEKIAH BEERS PIERREPONT, who was largely concerned in the early land sales of Macomb's Purchase, and an extensive proprietor in this county, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, November 3, 1768, and was a descendant of the Rev. James Pierrepont, the first settled minister in that colony. The town plat, apportioned to his ancestor at the first settlement of the place, has been retained and occupied by the family ever since. Being of Norman descent, his name is French.
The subject of this notice commenced his studies with a view to a profession, but, being of an active and business turn of mind, he left Yale College before graduating, and entered the office of his uncle, Isaac Beers, Esq., and in 1790 went to New York, where, after spending a few months in the custom house, he associated himself with Messrs. Watson & Greenleaf, and as their agent removed to Philadelphia, where success attended his business. In 1793, he entered into partnership with William Leffinwell, and engaged in European trade, in the pursuit of which he went to France. The restrictions upon trade and the liability to seizure, consequent upon the war between France and England, led to his abandonment of trade with France, and to his embarking in that with India and China, which countries he visited in his own ship, named The Confederacy. On his return from India, his ship was boarded by a French privateer, taken possession of, and carried to France, where she was con- demned and sold, contrary to our treaty stipulations and the laws of nations. Our government, in its treaty with France, assumed this claim and many similar ones, known as Claims for French spoliations, prior to 1800, for which satisfaction has never yet been given, though congress has been appealed to, during fifty years, and has admitted their justice, by twenty-one reports in their favor. While in Paris, Mr. Pierrepont was a witness of the
Engraved br J C.Buttre.
Painted by HInman.
HE Z . B . PIERREPONT.
OF BROOKLYN, L.I.
Bugraved for the History of Jefferson County by Franklin B House
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451
Augustus Sacket.
violent excesses of the French Revolution. He subsequently spent two years in England, and traveled on the continent. After an absence of seven years, he returned to New York, and married Anna Maria, daughter of William Constable. He the same year retired from commerce, and purchased his estate on Brooklyn Heights, at a time when Brooklyn was a small village, and con- tained but twenty-six freeholders. Here he established a factory of gin, which was attended with great success, and the article he manufactured attained a high reputation. But upon the death of Mr. Constable he became so much engaged as his executor, in the management of the extensive tracts of land of his estate, in this and the neighboring counties, that he abandoned his fac- tory and gave his entire attention to the settlement and improve- ment of these lands and of others, belonging to himself, in the towns of Pierrepont, Stockholm and Louisville, in St. Lawrence County.
He afterwards made large additions to his lands by purchases from the Constable estate and others, and became the owner of about half a million of acres. He annually, from the year 1803, till the time of his death, made a tour of these lands in the summer, and laid out and made many roads, turnpikes, and ex- tensive settlements. Some incidents connected with his visits to this county, are related in thediary of James Constable, extracts from which we have inserted in our account of Ellisburgh, which town has since been inherited by his son William C., who had charge of his lands in the counties of Oswego and Jefferson, while his son Henry E. took charge of those in Lewis, St. Lawrence, and Franklin. Mr. Pierrepont was distinguished for great energy and decision of character, and for his comprehensive and sound judgment. He anticipated at an early day the destined growth of our country, and the consequent appreciation of real estate, and perseveringly adhered to his judgment, through the periods of war, and the various fluctuations we experienced during the first third of this century, and lived to see his hopeful views fully realized.
AUGUSTUS SACKET, the pioneer of Sackets Harbor, was born in the city of New York, November 10, 1769, where he received his education, and acquired the profession of law. In 1801, having purchased a tract in Houndsfield, he came on and began the first settlement at that place, and commenced its improvement with much energy. Upon the formation of a collection district, he was appointed the first collector, and at the organization of the county court was made first judge. In 1809, having sold his property in this county, he removed to Jamaica, L. I., from whence, in 1812, he went to Meadville, Pa., having there pur- chased 300,000 acres of land. He soon returned to New York city,
452
George White.
and in 1820 he went to Rutherford County, N. C., having be- come interested in a large tract of land in that state. By a subsequent transaction he became interested in the islands of the St. Lawrence, and returned to Sackets Harbor, and in 1827 re- moved to Newburgh. In these varied changes and transactions in land speculations, he was ultimately very unfortunate. He died at Albany, April 29, 1827, of a sudden sickness, while on his way to this county.
MICAH STERLING, was born in Lyme, Ct., November 5, 1784, entered Yale College in 1800, and graduated in 1804. He was a classmate of John C. Calhoun, and the friendship there formed lasted through life. After attending a course of law lec- tures in Litchfield, Ct., he studied law with Judge Williams, of Utica, and after residing a year in Adams, removed about 1809 to Watertown, where he resided till his death. In 1821, he was elected to congress, and in 1836 to the state senate. He died April 11, 1844, of scarlet fever, the same day with Egbert Ten Eyck. The directors of the Jefferson County Bank, of whom he had been one, and the members of the bar, passed resolutions expressing their respect for his memory. His character is thus summed up by the writer of an obituary notice:
" Of the public character of Mr. Sterling, the journals of con- gress and the senate, bear faithful testimony. Possessing talents of a high order, a mind well disciplined by education and reflec- tion, eminently industrious and persevering, energetic, patriotic, and liberal, his career, as a public man, was no less brilliant and honorable, than useful to the public, which it was his greatest glory to serve. But few men have passed through more trying political scenes; and but few, like him, could better command the respect of his opponents. In the private relations of life, the character of Mr. Sterling was most exemplary. Habitually dignified in his manners, he insensibly won the respect of all with whom he associated."
EGBERT TEN EYCK was born April 18, 1779, at Schodack, Rensselaer Co., N. Y .; was educated at Williams College, and studied law at Albany. At an early day, he settled in Cham- pion, and soon after at Watertown. In 1822, he was member of the Constitutional Convention, and in 1823 was elected to congress. He was five years first judge of the county court, and for a long time secretary of the agricultural society, of which he was an active and useful member. He died, April 11, 1844, at Watertown.
GEORGE WHITE, was born in Hatfield, Mass., Oct 10, 1775, and was a son of Simeon White. At 18, he removed to Tren- ton, where he married, and in 1800 to Rutland, where he resided till his death, March 9, 1853. On the 25th of March, 1814, he
453
Benjamin Wright.
was appointed a major of the 76th regiment of Infantry, and in 1823-5, was member of assembly. For several years, he was the agent of Rutland.
BENJAMIN WRIGHT .- Although the subject of this notice never resided in the county, yet his intimate connection with its sur- veys and agencies, entitle him to a place in the history of the county.
They were fortunate, who were approaching manhood when the federal government was organized. It was a time to inspire youthful genius, and cherish a bold and manly enterprise. New and fertile regions were to be explored; laws were to be made; and a mighty influence was to be exercised by those who should lead in these great works of civilization. Enlightened Europe shed its lustre over the new world, and indicated the true paths to national greatness and individual prosperity. The United States opened the fairest field that ever invited the cultivation of virtuous men. And among those who seized the occasion and have reared to themselves lasting monuments by their public services, a conspicuous place will be reserved for the name of Benjamin Wright, the chief engineer of the Erie Canal, and one of the originators of the first official act in relation to this splendid work.
He was born in the town of Wethersfield, Conn., October 10th, 1770.
From his early childhood, young Wright manifested an unusual degree of interest in the studies which relate to surveying and mensuration, stimulated, no doubt, by the example of Washing- ton, who had laid the foundation of his fortune and his fame, by his early enterprise and industry as a surveyor of new lands. At the age of sixteen, he found the means of gratifying his peculiar taste and extending his knowledge of his favorite studies. He was sent to live with an uncle at Plymouth, in Litchfield County, where he had access to the best books and instruments which could then be obtained by country surveyors. Along with his growing knowledge of the surveyor's art, he imbibed the spirit of western emigration, which was then beginning to carry the hardy sons of New England into the fertile valley of the Mohawk, and the productive regions of the Genesee. Great inducements were held out to young men, qualified to survey lands and make up the contents of title deeds. His spirit was imparted to his father's family, prompting them to leave their home in Wethersfield, and plant themselves near Fort Stanwix, now called Rome, in Oneida County. The part of the town where they established themselves, still retains the name of Wright's settlement.
Fort Stanwix was then the western border of civilization, the very frontier settlement of New York. It was a small clearing,
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454
Benjamin Wright.
in the midst of a dense and wide-spread forest, far remote from any other white inhabitants. The only roads were the remains of a military road, opened during the revolutionary war, the paths of the hunter, the surveyor, or the natives of the forest. In 1789, the subject of our sketch, then in his nineteenth year, having packed up all the books, maps and instruments he had been able to purchase, set off, to join his father, who had a little preceded him. For a short time, Mr. Wright assisted his father and brothers in clearing a field and rearing a log cabin; but his knowledge of the surveyor's art soon became known to the set- tlers, and he began to find employment in his favorite work. The original proprietors of the soil, in his immediate neighbor- hood, had caused the lands to be laid out in lots of five hundred acres. But these dimensions exceeded the ability of the newly arriving settlers; they rarely purchased more than a half or a fourth of one of these lots; so that the surveyor was to be em- ployed as often as a new-comer made his appearance in the set- tlement.
By means of these surveys, and access to such maps and descriptions as he could obtain, he became possessed of valuable knowledge relating to the general features and comparative value as to soil, timber and water power, of extensive tracts of coun- try around Fort Stanwix. He now gave up all his time to his studies, except when in the field; he procured from abroad the best books, maps, and instruments; and by patient toil over the slate and the drawing boards, he embodied his daily observa- tions in accurate topographical maps and descriptions. All parties acquiesced in the correctness of his surveys. His de- scriptions and estimates became authorities in all questions of boundaries; and he found abundant occupation. From the year 1792 to 1796, he had laid out, into farms, five hundred thousand acres, in the county of Oneida.
From this period to 1801, he was employed in surveying the central and northern counties of this state-that part known as Macomb's Purchase-and considerable portions of Franklin and Jefferson counties. This was a period of great fatigue and hardship. For weeks in succession, his parties pitched their tents in the trackless forests, far from the habitations of white men,- the form of the savage the only one encountered by day, and the fierce wolf and panther hovering around them by night, kept at bay only by their circling camp fires. With steady and indomitable industry he pursued his way, deterred by no difficul- ties, when in the performance of his engagements. These severe labors might seem unfriendly to scientific pursuits; but in truth they were not so. He was acquiring that extensive topographi- cal knowledge and habit of observation, which he was enabled,
455
Benjamin Wright.
in his subsequent life, to turn to such great benefit to his adopted state.
In the year 1798, he paid a visit to the home of his youth, and married the daughter of the Rev. Simon Waterman, pastor of the church at Plymouth, Litchfield County. Returning to Fort Stanwix, Mr. Wright took up his residence in the imme- diate vicinity of the fort, in what is now the village of Rome. Here he became the agent for the sale of the lands of many of the large proprietors, for whom he had made such extensive surveys; and the heirs of these great estates bear a uniform testimony to the ability and fidelity with which he fulfilled his trust. These agencies did not, however, prevent him taking an active part in the affairs of the county in which he lived.
The wilderness which he had entered in 1789 had now be- come a rural district of considerable agricultural wealth. The surplus products of the soil sought a market at a distance of more than one hundred miles over roads which scarcely deserved the name. Hence the necessity of greater facilities of transport, and the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company was organ- ized for the purpose of connecting the waters of Wood Creek with the Mohawk River, by means of a short canal, and also to construct such locks and channels around the rapids of the Mo- hawk in Herkimer County as would make practicable the de- scent and ascent of the river by loaded bateaux. In the year 1803, the entire survey of the Mohawk was made by Mr. Wright, and a portion of two years was spent in the service of the com- pany, making plans and estimates, which their poverty never permitted them to execute beyond the previous improvements at Little Falls on the Mohawk, and those at Rome and in the channel of Wood Creek, made about the year 1795. The waters of the latter, flowing past Rome on the westerly side, pursue their way to Oneida Lake, and thence, through Lake Ontario, into the St. Lawrence; while those of the Mohawk, pass- ing on the east side, are emptied into the Hudson River, and thence into the Atlantic below New York. This very peculiar feature of the country at Rome, with not more than about a doz- en feet elevation between the two streams indicated the improve- ments undertaken by the before-mentioned company. These works, although of great benefit, did not meet the rapidly increas- ing exigencies of the country. The survey made by Mr. Wright of the Mohawk River and Wood Creek, for the Western Inland Navigation Company, would lead his thoughts most naturally to the importance of a more extended communication by a naviga- ble canal between the great lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. In 1807 we find him a member of assembly from Oneida County, him- self and colleague, General McNeil, lodging at the same house
456
Benjamin Wright.
with Judge Forman, a member from Onondaga County. Mr. Wright was then a subscriber to Rees' Encyclopedia, a very large and extensive work, then furnished to subscribers through Messrs. Webster & Skinner of Albany. One evening during the session, Mr. Wright brought in with him the volume just then issued, which contained the article, Canals. Opening to this, a discussion ensued, resulting in the agreement that Judge Forman should, on the fol- lowing morning, February 4, 1808, present a resolution which Mr. Wright should second, appropriating one thousand dollars to the survey of a canal between Lake Erie and the Hudson River. This resolution passed the assembly. In the senate the appropriation was reduced to the sum of six hundred dollars and then passed. (See journal of the assembly session, 1807-8.) Thus originated the first official act in relation to the great and noble scheme of internal improvement since carried into such successful operation in the state of New York-a movement which like an electric shock communicated its mighty influence to the surrounding states, and, in a brief space, our country leaped as it were from youth to conscious manhood!
Every one, without exceptions, who was personally acquainted with the subject of this sketch, will bear unhesitating testimony to his exceeding modesty and shrinking from aught like public honors or notoriety. Scarcely a word ever escaped him which could be construed into a wish to assert his own claims to merit in the originating of this great work, or even in the promotion of it in any manner. A candid, discriminating public will at once rightly estimate the weight to be given to Mr. Wright's previous position and occupation, having already surveyed one- third of the route. Under these circumstances, we feel author- ized in awarding to Judge Wright an equal merit with Judge Forman in this measure. That the idea of a canal had been for several years expressed by others is well known. The claim here supported for Mr. Wright is limited to the originating of the first legislative steps towards the accomplishment of this splendid work, which may be said to have created the Great West, by opening her broad prairies and fertile valleys to the great markets, and inviting the industrious emigrant to reap the golden harvest which a bountiful nature bestowed, with but little labor.
The report of Judge Geddes, who made the first survey, led, in 1810, to the appointment of a board of canal commissioners, and to an appropriation for additional surveys. The canal com- missioners after examining the route from Lake Erie, reported in favor of a canal through the whole distance, unbroken by locks, on an inclined plane of six inches to the mile. This report was referred to Mr. Wright and Mr. Geddes, who reported against
457
Benjamin Wright.
it. The war with Great Britain intervened, and prevented any progress in, while it furnished irresistible evidence of the neces- sity of such a work of internal navigation. But in 1816, a canal board was efficiently organized, and Mr. Geddes and Mr. Wright were charged with constructing the canal-the former with the western, and the latter with the eastern section-and from that time forth the work proceeded under their direction to its completion, in the year 1825. It may be mentioned, that Mr. Wright had, during the war, been appointed one of the judges for the county where he resided, but from his office, as well as from all his other employments, he withdrew on receiv- ing the appointment of canal engineer.
Although the services rendered by Mr. Wright in the con- struction of the Erie Canal, constitute his principal claim to be remembered by posterity, he was also consulting or chief engi- neer of a number of other internal improvements, of the highest importance to the material interests of the United States; such as the Farmington Canal, in Connecticut; the Blackstone Canal, in Rhode Island; the Chesapeake and Ohio Canals, the James River and Kanawha Canal, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, the Delaware and Hudson Canal, the Harlem Rail Road, the Welland Canal, in Canada; the New York and Erie Rail Road, the Tioga Rail Road, the Chicago and Illinois River Canal.
In 1835 he visited Cuba, to consult as to a rail road from Havana to the interior of the Island, and his approval of the projected road decided its construction. Mr. Wright died in the city of New York, which had been his residence during several years, on the 24th of August, 1842, in the 72d year of his age. It may be added, that in all the various enterprises in which he was connected, Mr. Wright sustained the same reputation of zeal, industry, and probity, avoiding the reality, and ever escap- ing the suspicion of ever using the opportunities afforded him by his station, for any undue advantage of his own fortune.
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The War of 1812-15.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 1812-1815.
"Coming events cast their shadows before them," and the trou- bles that preceded the declaration of war, in some degree prepared the public mind for that event. On the 22d of December, 1807, congress laid an indefinite embargo, which applied to the inland lakes, equally with the sea board, and rendered measures neces- sary for enforcing an observance of the non-intercourse. In the summer of 1808, Lieutenant Melancthon T. Woolsey was sent to Oswego, to superintend the building of a brig, which was launch- ed early in 1809, and named the Oneida. She was built by Christian Bergh and Henry Eckford, and was pierced for sixteen guns. A company of infantry, under Captain Bennet, and of twenty-three artillery men, under Lieutenant Cross, were station- ed at Sackets Harbor in 1808, and early in March, 1809, two detachments of militia (forty-five men), from Colonel Paul Stickney's regiment, were drawn out, twenty of whom were sta- tioned on the St. Lawrence, opposite Kingston, and the remain- der on the Oswegatchie road, where several routes united. The embargo had the effect of lowering the price of grain, by inter- rupting the commerce by which it was exported, while from the same cause it enormously increased the price of potash, which all new woody countries produce, and which the embargo prevented from reaching England, except indirectly by way of Canada. This afforded a temptation too strong for the honesty of great numbers, who, notwithstanding the vigilance of the revenue offi- cers, were very successful. This article rose to $300 and $320 per ton in Montreal, from whence it could be exported without obstruction to England; and as there then existed in Canada no law against its importation into the country, the only difficulty to meet, was an evasion or open defiance of our own laws. Pot- ash was brought from the interior counties, and even from New York to this frontier, and temporary roads were beaten through the forest in the winter time, by those engaged in this illegal traffic. Among these was the " embargo road," from the Black River, near Brownville, to near French Creek, which for a sea- son became a great thoroughfare for smugglers. Previous to the calling out of the militia detachments above mentioned, Mr. Hart Massey had seized fifty-four barrels of pot and pearl ashes, and twenty barrels of pork near Cape Vincent, which property was openly rescued and carried off by a force of fifty or sixty
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