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 60
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EXPLANATIONS.
1, Mean temperature, Ist half.
2, 66
66 2d half.
3, Highest degree observed.
9, Clear days.
4, Lowest 66
10, Cloudy days.
5, Extreme range.
11, Rain gage,-monthly mean.
6, Mean direction of winds.
7, Percentage of this direction.
8, Days,-mean direction.
12, Total fall of rain and snow, in inches.
This station is situated in the valley of North Sandy Creek; the surrounding country is undulating, with no high hills, and is but little sheltered from the winds of the lake, which probably influence its temperature and other features of its climate.
The memorable tornado of September 20, 1845, which swept through the great forest of St. Lawrence, Franklin & Clinton coun- ties, originated in the town of Antwerp, but did not begin to do much execution till it entered the town of Fowler .* On the 9th of September previous, a tornado of less extent, having a parallel course, passed over Lewis county. The great tornado was at- tended by an earthquake on the north shore of lake Ontario.
* See History of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, p. 698.
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APPENDIX.
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Page 23.
LETTER OF CHARLEVOIX.
Father Charlevoix, a Jesuit, who in 1720 and 1721 visited the North American French colonies by order of the king of France, addressed the following letter to the duchess de Lesdiguieres, from Hungry Bay. It possesses interest from its conveying a knowledge of our border a century and a third ago. We have translated what relates to the journey .*
BAY OF FAMINE, 16th May, 1721.
" MADAME: Here am I, detained by a contrary wind, which may continue a long time, and keep me more than a day, in one of the worst places in the world. I therefore attempt to keep off ennui by writing to you. There are passing here constantly great armies of pigeons, which we name turtles; if one of them would take charge of my letters you might know perhaps the news, before I can get away; but the savages have no aversion to dressing these birds for food, as do the Arabs and many other people.
I embarked on the 14th, at precisely the same hour that I had arrived at the town of Catarocoui. I had but six leagus to go, to gain the Isle aux Chevreuils, where there is a fine port, which can receive large barques; but my Canadians had not visited their canoe, of which the sun had melted the pitch in many places, so that it let in water at all points, and we were compelled to lose nearly two hours for repairs, in one of the islands at the outlet of lake Ontario. We sailed thence at ten o'clock in the morning, without being able to reach Isle au Chevreuil, and were forced to spend the night very unpleasantly.
I noticed here, for the first time, the vines in the woods. There were also small lizards, that climb to the tops of the trees. I have not made this remark because they are only observed in these places, for I am told they occur as far as Mexico.
The vines have a very large stock, and bear many grapes; but the berries are very small, and not much larger than a pea, and for this reason it is not worth tilling and cultivating. When ripe, they are eaten by the bears, who seek them on the highest trees. As for the birds, they would soon perform the vintage of the whole forest.
* Histoire de la Nouvelle France, 4to, Paris, t. iii, p. 204.
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I left yesterday at an early hour, and at eleven in the morning stopped at the Galloo Islands, three leagues from Deer Island, at 432 degrees of latitude. I re-embarked a little after noon, and accomplished a voyage of a league and a half, to reach Point de la Traverse; if I had coasted along the main land to this place, from that where I passed the night, I should have had more than forty leagues to make, and should have been obliged to take this course had not the lake been calm; for when it is agitated, the waves are as great as on the open sea. It is not even possible to coast along when the wind is blowing off shore. From the point of Galloo Islands, we can see to the west the river Chouguen, otherwise called the river of the Ononta- gue, which is distant fourteen leagues. As the lake was tranquil, with no appearance of foul weather, and a gentle breeze from the east was blowing, that barely filled our sail, I resolved to steer direct for this river with the view of saving fifteen or twenty leagues of circuit. My attendants, more experienced than I, deemed the attempt hazardous, but from complaisance yielded to my advice. The beauty of the country, which was passing on my left, did not tempt me any more than the salmon and quantities of other excellent fish, which they take in six fine rivers, which are two or three leagues from one another. We steered off then large, and in four hours found ourselves in a place we repented; for the wind arose suddenly, and we heartily wished ourselves near the shore. We turned towards the nearest, from which we were still three leagues distant, and had much difficulty in reaching it. At length, at seven o'clock in the evening, we landed in the Bay of Famine, thus named from the Marquis de la Barre, the governor general cf New France, losing nearly all his army, by hunger and sickness, in going to war with the Iroquois.
It was high time that we landed, for the wind was very strong, and the waves so great, that we should not have dared to pass the Seine in Paris, opposite the Louvre, at such a time. In short, this place is very proper to destroy an army, who could only depend upon the chase, and upon fishing, for subsistence: besides which the air appears very unwholsome. But nothing is finer than the forests, which cover all the shores of the lake. The white and red oaks, tower almost to the clouds; there is also a tree of the largest class, of which the wood is hard but brittle, much resembling that of the plane tree, and of which the leaves have five angles, of the ordinary size, of a fine green above and whitish beneath. They give it the name of cotonnier* because in a little case not larger than an India chestnut there is contained a kind of cotton, but this is good for nothing.
* Covered with down; evidently the Platanus occidentalis, or button-wood.
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In walking upon the shore of the lake, I noticed that it has sensibly receded here. It is noticed that in the space of half a league in breadth, the land is much more low and sandy than beyond. I have also noticed in this lake, and they assure. me the same occurs in all the others, almost continually a kind of ebb and flow: the rocks which are near the bank are covered and exposed several times within a quarter of an hour, although the surface of the lake is very calm, and there is no wind. After some reflection, I imagine that this must come from springs that exist in the bottom of the lakes, and from the shock of currents of rivers which enter from all sides and which cause the intermittent movements.
But can you believe, madame, that at this season, and at the 43d degree of latitude, there are still no leaves on the trees, al- though we sometimes have as much heat as you have in July? This doubtless is because the earth has been covered with snow for many months, and has not yet been sufficiently warmed to open the pores of the roots, and cause the sap to rise. As for the rest, the Great and Little Famine scarcely deserve the name of rivers; these are mere brooks, especially the latter, yet they abound in fish. There are here eagles of prodigious size; my people destroyed the nest of one that made a cart load of sticks, and two young unfledged eagles which were as large as the largest turkey-hens. They ate them and found them very good. I return to Cataroqui, where, the night I spent there, I was a witness to a very curious spectacle.
About ten or eleven o'clock at night, as I was about to retire, I heard a cry which they told me was the war-cry, and soon af- ter I saw a band of Missisagues enter the fort, singing. For some years, these savages have been constantly engaged in the war which the Iroquois have carried on with the Cherokees, a numerous people who inhabit a fine country south of Lake Erie, and from that time, their young men have had uncontrollable itching for war. Three or four of these braves, equipped as if for a masquerade, with faces painted, so as to inspire horror, and followed by all the savages who dwell around the fort, after having gone through all the cabins, singing their war songs, to the sound of Chickikoe (a kind of gourd containing little peb- bles), came to do the same thing in the apartments of the fort, in honor of the commandant and the officers.
I acknowledge to you, madam, that this ceremony has in it something that inspires horror, when seen for the first time, and I had never before felt so sensibly as then, that I was among barbarians. Their songs are always dismal and gloomy, but here they were to the last degree horrid, occasioned, perhaps, only by the darkness of night, and the apparatus of their festival,
36
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for such it is with the Indians. This invitation was to the Iroquois, who, finding the war with the Cherokees becoming tedious, required deliberation, and every one returned home.
It seems, madam, that in these songs, they invoke the god of war, whom the Hurons call Areskoui, and the Iroquois Agreskoue. I do not know what name the Algonquins give him; but is it not a little remarkable that the Greek word Apns (Ares), which is Mars, and the god of war in all those countries which follow the theology of Homer, should be the root from whence several terms which relate to war in the Huron and Iroquois languages seem to be derived? Aregouen signifies to make war, and is thus conjugated: Jarego, I make war; Sarego, you make war; Arego, he makes war. Moreover, Areskoui is not only the Mars of these people, he is also the sovereign of the gods, or, as they say, the Great Spirit, the creator and master of the world, the genius who governs all things; but it is principally in military expedi- tions that they invoke him, as if the attribute that does him most honor was that of the god of armies. His name is the war-cry before combat, and in heat of engagement; in marching they often repeat it, as if for mutual encouragement and to implore his assistance.
To raise the hatchet, is to declare war. Every person has the right to do it, and nothing can be said against him, unless it be among the Hurons and Iroquois, where the matrons command and prohibit war, as pleases them; we shall see how far their authority extends in these nations. But if a matron wishes to engage any one who does not depend on her, to raise a war party to appease the manes of her husband, son, or near relation, or to procure prisoners to replace those in her cabin, of whom death or captivity has deprived her, she must make him a present of a belt of wampum, which invitation is seldom ineffectual.
Page 58. JOSEPH BONAPARTE.
The following, is the petition that procured the act of natural- ization of Count Survilliers. It is preserved in French and English, in the Assembly papers, vol. xii, pp. 37-41, Secretary's office:
"To the Honorable, the Legislature of the State of New York:
Joseph Bonaparte, Count de Survilliers, respectfully repre- sents: That he arrived in the State of New York about ten years since, and having the desire to bring his family and fortune to the said state, he made engagements with some proprietors for the purchase of 100,000 acres of land: he paid the value of said lands, but could not obtain a title for them, as the existing laws were opposed to it. He had, therefore, to be contented with a
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simple mortgage. Availing himself of a law promulgated at the same time by a neighboring state, in favor of aliens, he fixed his residence there, on lands which he was authorized to hold, leaving New York after having remained there more than twelve months. At this time, he is obliged by peculiar circumstances, either to sell his mortgage, or to become the proprietor of the land, and persisting in his desire to acquire property in the State of New York, and to spend there a part of the year, which he thinks can not fail to be beneficial to the numerous settlers already established on these lands, and increase their number, upon the consideration that a neighboring government rapidly increases its population by the encouragement given to aliens, and not be- ing of the number of those who would wish to abandon this land of hospitality, where the best rights of man prevail, but never- theless bound to his own country by duties which misfortune renders more sacred, and being unable, as many others have done, he avails himself of the law which offers him the honor- able and precious title of an American citizen; and presuming that he will find in the State of New York, the same condescen- sion and kindness he has met with in other states of the union, the subscriber prays the legislature will grant to him the right to possess and hold lands in the State of New York.
(Signed)
JOSEPH BONAPARTE, Count de Survilliers."
Page 84. THE THOUSAND ISLANDS.
Several of the early travelers describe, in romantic terms, the beauty of this group of islands; but no language is adequate to convey a just idea of the charming variety, that they presen to the traveler. The following extract is from Weld's Journal (1799), and gives a truthful description, due allowance being made for the changes which cultivation and settlement have made:
" About eight o'clock the next, and eighth morning of our voyage, we entered the last lake before you come to that of On- tario, called the Lake of a Thousand Islands, on account of the multiplicity of them which it contains. Many of these islands are scarcely larger than a bateau, and none of them, except such as are situated at the upper and lower extremities of the lake, appeared to me to contain more than fifteen English acres each. They are all covered with wood, even to the very smallest. The trees on these last are stunted in their growth, but the larger islands produce as fine timber as is to be found on the main shores of the lake. Many of these islands are situated so closely to- gether, that it would be easy to throw a pebble from one to the
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other, notwithstanding which circumstance, the passage between them is perfectly safe and commodious for bateaux, and between some of them that are even thus close to each other, is water sufficient for a frigate. The water is uncommonly clear, as it is in every part of the river, from Lake St. Francis upwards: be- tween that lake and the Utawas River downwards, it is disco- lored, as I have before observed, by passing over beds of marl. The shores of all these islands under our notice are rocky; most of them rise very boldly, and some exhibit perpendicular masses of rock towards the water, upwards of twenty feet high. The scenery presented to view in sailing between these islands is beautiful in the highest degree. Sometimes, after passing through a narrow strait, you find yourself in a basin, land-locked on every side, that appears to have no communication with the lake, ex- cept by the passage through which you entered; you are looking about, perhaps, for an outlet to enable you to proceed, thinking at last to see some little channel which will just admit your ba- teau, when on a sudden an expanded sheet of water opens upon you, whose boundary is the horizon alone; again in a few minutes you find yourself land-locked, and again a spacious pass- age as suddenly presents itself ; at other times, when in the mid- dle of one of these basins, between a cluster of islands, a dozen different channels, like so many noble rivers, meet the eye, per- haps equally unexpectedly, and on each side the islands appear regularly retiring till they sink from the sight in the distance. Every minute, during the passage of this lake, the prospect varies. The numerous Indian hunting encampments on the different islands, with the smoke of their fires rising up between the trees, added considerably to the beauty of the scenery as we passed it. The lake of a Thousand Islands is twenty five miles in length, and about six in breadth. From its upper end to Kingston, at which place we arrived early in the evening, the distance is fifteen miles.
The length of time required to ascend the River St. Law- rence, from Montreal to Kingston, is commonly found to be about seven days. If the wind should be strong and very favorable, the passage may be performed in a less time; but should it, on the contrary, be adverse, and blow very strong, the passage will be protracted somewhat longer; an adverse or favorable wind, however, seldom makes a difference of more than three days in the length of the passage upwards, as in each case it is necessa- ry to work the bateau along by means of poles for the greater part of the way. The passage downwards is performed in two or three days, according to the wind. The current is so strong, that a contrary wind seldom lengthens the passage in that direc- tion more than a day."
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The following lines, by Caleb Lyon, of Lyonsdale, are meri- torious as a production of the fancy, and will be read with in- terest:
The Thousand Isles, the Thousand Isles, Dimpled, the wave around them smiles, Kissed by a thousand red-lipped flowers, Gemmed by a thousand emerald bowers, A thousand birds their praises wake, By rocky glade and plumy brake, A thousand cedars' fragant shade Fall where the Indians' children played;
And fancy's dream my heart beguiles, While singing thee, the Thousand Isles.
No vestal virgin guards their groves, No Cupid breathes of Cyprian loves, No Satyr's form at eve is seen,
No Dryad peeps the trees between, No Venus rises from their shore, No loved Adonis, red with gore, No pale Endymion wooed to sleep,
No brave Leander breasts their deep,
No Ganymede-no Pleiades- Theirs are a New World's memories.
The flag of France first o'er them hung, The mass was said, the vespers sung, The freres of Jesus hailed the strands, As blessed Virgin Mary's lands; And red men mutely heard, surprised, Their heathen names all Christianized. Next floated a banner with cross and crown, 'Twas Freedom's eagle plucked it down, Retaining its pure and crimson dyes With the stars of their own, their native skies.
There St. Lawrence gentlest flows, There the south wind softest blows, There the lilies whitest bloom,
There the birch hath leafiest gloom, There the red deer feed in spring,
There doth glitter wood duck's wing, There leap the muscalunge at morn, There the loon's night song is borne, There is the fisherman's paradise, With trolling skiff at red sunrise.
The Thousand Isles, the Thousand Isles, Their charm from every care beguiles ; Titian alone hath grace to paint The triumph of their patron saint, Whose waves return on memory's tide, La Salle and Piquet side by side. Proud Frontenac and bold Champlain There act their wanderings o'er again ; And while the golden sunlight smiles, Pilgrims shall greet thee, Thousand Isles.
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Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, early in the century, traveled on the St. Lawrence, and his Canadian Boat Song, is familiar to all admirers of his writings. The magnificent scenery of this noble river, naturally excited the enthusiasm of a temperment formed for the perception of the beauties which are so strikingly reflected in his poetry. The boatmen were accustomed to beguile the tedium of rowing by singing; their voices being perfectly in tune together, and the whole joining in the chorus. Of the effect of this he says: "Without that charm which association gives to every little memorial of scenes or feelings that are past, the melody may perhaps be thought common and trifling; but I remember when we had entered at sunset upon one of those beautiful lakes, into which the St. Lawrence so grandly and un- expectedly opens, I have heard this simple air, with a pleasure which the finest compositions of the first masters have never given me; and now there is not a note of it, which does not recall to my memory the dip of our oars in the St. Lawrence, the flight of our boat down the rapids, and all those new and fanciful impressions to which my heart was alive during the whole of this interesting voyage."
CANADIAN BOAT SONG. Et regimen cantus hortatur .- QUINTILLIAN.
Faintly as tolls the evening chime Our voices keep tune, and our oars keep time:
Soon as the woods on shore look dim,
We'll sing at St. Ann's our parting hymn.
Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast,
The rapids are near and the day-light's past.
Why should we yet our sail unfurl ? There is not a breath the blue wave to curl!
But, when the wind blows off the shore, Oh! sweetly we'll rest on our weary oar.
Blow, breezes, blow, the stream runs fast, The rapids are near and the day-light's past!
Utawa's tide! this trembling moon,
Shall see us float over thy surges soon : Saint of this green isle! hear our prayers, Oh! grant us cool heavens and favoring airs. Blow, breezes, blow, the stream runs fast, The rapids are near and the day-light's past!
Page 94. PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ANTWERP.
The Presbyterian Church of Antwerp was formed in May, 1819, by the Rev. Isaac Clinton, at the hall of the public house kept by Captain Clewly Copeland, consisting at first of eight members. The first ordained elder was Ithamer Tuttle, and the
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first deacon William Randall. Mr. Clinton preached a third of the time for a year, when he was succeeded by the Rev. Mr. Dearborn, from Vermont. After him, the Rev. Calvin Wait was settled as a pastor, and remained until dismissed March 9, 1823; and suc- ceded by the Rev. James Sandford one third of the time for a year. In the summer of 1824, the Rev. Charles G. Finney labored a third of the time for three months, during which thirty- eight were added. Deacon William Randall, Dr. Hiram Murdock, and Archibald Whitford, were in this time installed elders. In February, 1825, the church numbered fifty-six adults in commu- nion, and in this year began the labors of the Rev. R. R. Dem- ming, for one year. In 1830, they were supplied by the Rev. J. D. P --. In January, 1832, the Rev. Abel L. Crandall began -labors as a stated supply and remained three years, in which time fifty-eight were added. In 1835, Rev. Henry Jones, one year. L.A. Wicks succeeded, and staid five years, during which the church prospered greatly. Several had previously joined the Mormons, and the church numbered 114 when he came. It increased 128; 41 had died, or were cut off, and when he left 201 remained. Rev. H. H. Waite began labors in the fall of 1841; was ordained and installed March 9, 1842, and remained till 1845, when Rev. J. Thompson preached nearly a year. In 1843, 67 were added. In 1847, the Rev. S. Williams, and in May, 1849, Rev. C. B. Pond, the present pastor began his labors. January 29, 1849, the church became Congregational. About 350 have been re- ceived, and its present number is about 100. The church edifice, built in 1851, cost $3.600 .- Rev. C. B. Pond.
Page 95.
ASSOCIATE REFORMED CHURCH, OX BOW.
The following notice of the Associate Reformed Church of Ox Bow, was received too late for insertion in its proper place: "The first church in this village was organized under the General Assembly, in the year of our Lord 1820. The mem- bership consisted chiefly of persons from the south of Scotland, who had settled here in 1818-19, and numbered about 40. Their first pastor was the Rev. Mr. Sandford, from the Eastern States, who continued with them until 1830. Mr. Sandford afterwards labored for a time in the east, and again returned to Ox Bow, where he still resides on a small farm of his own, en- joying a calm sun-set on the Bend of the Oswegatchie. For seven years subsequent to 1830, this society was ministered to succes- sively by the Rev. Messrs. McGregor, Stowell, Nicol, and others. The doctrine and qualifications of several of the unmentioned ones did not by any means meet the religious views and desires of the
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large majority of the congregation, who accordingly left the As- sembly and came under the wing of the Associated Reformed, or United Presbyterian body in 1837. The Rev. Mr. White was the first who labored among them in their new connection; he continued a little over a year. About this time, 1838, the present church edifice was built, at a cost of $2,500. Next came the late Rev. Alexander Proudfit, of Salem, N. Y .; who supplied the greater part of a year. Next came Rev. James Williamson, who remained as stated supply upwards of ten years; after him several successive probationers; and, lastly, the present incumbent, Rev. J. S. Cowper, their first settled pastor since they left the Genearl Assembly in 1837, that being previous to the division of that body into old and new schools.
Mr. C. was born in Scotland, and educated in Schenectady, Newburgh and Edinburgh, commenced his labors on the first Sabbath of January, 1852, the membership was then about 100; it is now about 160.
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