A history of Lewis County, in the state of New York, from the beginning of its settlement to the present time, Part 20

Author: Hough, Franklin Benjamin, 1822-1885. dn
Publication date: 1860
Publisher: Albany : Munsell & Rowland
Number of Pages: 422


USA > New York > Lewis County > A history of Lewis County, in the state of New York, from the beginning of its settlement to the present time > Part 20


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35


2 Oneida Deeds, viii, 506.


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or parts of lots 2, 4, 15, 17 and 41, in the west subdivision of the same township, were conveyed to supply the de- ficiency, May 26, 1806. The tract was surveyed the first summer of the purchase, by - Montgomery into sixty lots. Township 4, was surveyed into 111 lots by Benjamin Wright in 1805, and belonged to the Pierrepont family, until sold for settlement. Mr. Martin immediately came on with a company of men, to make a clearing and erect a saw mill. He was accompanied by Elijah Baldwin1 of Salem and wife, who came on to cook for the laborers, and was during the first season the only woman in town. As soon as surveyed, the land was opened for sale in farms at $5 per acre, and with such rapidity was it taken up, that in less than a month, almost the whole of it was under contract to persons intending to settle. The purchasers contracted to clear four acres and erect a house within two years, Numerous small clearings were begun in various parts of the tract, especially along the intended roads, and rude log cabins were put up to be ready for the families that were to arrive thenext spring. The first clearing was made by Martin, west of the present mill, and before winter he had built a log house and a sawmill. His millwright was David Waters, from Johnstown, who with his brother John became pioneer settlers.2


Mr. Martin arrived with his family March 4, 1802, and during this season, many families came on for permanent settlement. Among those who arrived the first and second years, were Mrs. Richard Arthur and sons,3 Ehud Stephens, Levi Adams,4 John and Orrin Moore,5 Chillus Doty,6 Silas


1 Mr. Baldwin died at Houseville, Feb. 6, 1857, aged 84 years.


2 David Waters died in town, March 25, 1843, aged 67. John Waters died, Feb. 20, 1843.


3 Richard Arthur had died in Westfield in 1790, aged 40, leaving eleven children, most of whom became heads of large families in this town. The sons were named Bradford, Levi, Richard, Russell, Joseph and Elisha. Four of the sisters married early settlers, and the whole family took up large farms on the State road north of Martinsburgh village, the most of which are still owned by their families. Mrs. Arthur died in 1815. Bradford came in 1803, and held for several years the offices of supervisor, coroner, &c. He died, September 9, 1855.


4 From Westfield, settled in this town March, 1802, elected to the state sen- ate in 1819, and served one term, and in 1820 was chosen one of the council of appointment. He was often elected to town offices, and in 1815-18 was sheriff. He died June 18, 1831, aged 68. He resided on the east road near the line of Lowville.


5 Orrin Moore died in 1827. The death of John Moore is noticed on page 182.


6 Mr. Doty married a sister of Gen. Martin, was many years an innkeeper, and died in town, October 16, 1824. He was sheriff in 1805-8, and 1811-14; in assembly in 1814-16-17, and a surrogate in 1815-23. He was appointed assessor under the law imposing a direct tax by congress, and was several


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Conkey,1 Wm. Miller,2 John Atwater,3 Joseph Sheldon,4 Jotham Strickland, Elisha and Daniel Tiffany,5 Nathan Che- ney,6 Justus Sacket,7 Eli Kellogg, Stephen Root,8 Roswell Miner, Daniel Ashley,9 Ephraim Luce, Stephen Searl, Dr. Danforth Shumway, Enoch and Theron Thompson,1ยบ John McCollister,11 and others on Martin's triangle. The first set- tler near West Martinsburgh was Asahel Hough, who removed from Leyden in the spring of 1802. His neigh- bors along the west road within the next three years, were Lobdell Wood, Arba Jones, James Coates, Samuel Gowdy,12 David and Chester Shumway,13 Clark McCarty, Asa Bray- ton, Wm. Jonas and Watson Henry, Nathaniel Babcock and Truman Stevens. The first settler on township 4 was Na- thaniel Alexander, in July, 1805.14


In the south part of the town, included in Shaler's tract, and annexed in 1819, the first settlers were Reuben Pitcher15


years a county judge. Mrs. Sarah Doty was born April 19, 1767, died Sep- tember 11, 1843, aged 77. James D. Doty their son, removed west at an early period, settled in Wisconsin, and was appointed governor of that terri- tory in March, 1841. Baron S. Doty, another son, settled in Ogdensburgh, and represented St. Lawrence county in Assembly in 1826, '27. He now re- sides at Portage city, Wisconsin.


1 Married a sister of Gen. Martin, and died in this town April 16, 1813, aged 54. His wife Zuriah, was born May 19, 1763, and died October 16, 1849, aged 86. 2 Father of Dr. David, and Wm. Miller of Martinsburgh.


3 Mr. A. returned to Westfield a few years after. He was the first distiller in the county, and kept an inn half a mile south of the village, which in 1808 he sold to Enoch Lee. The latter died June 17, 1834, aged 77. His sons Winthrop, Charles, Enoch, Shepherd and Williams became heads of families in this town, but several have since removed.


4 Died in Antwerp, May 16, 1844, aged 70. He was the father of the late Ira Sheldon of this town.


5 The Tiffanies were from Montgomery, Mass., and come in 1803. They joined the first Methodist Episcopal Glass formed in this circuit.


6 Removed to Ontario county, and died at Richmond, N. Y., about 1826.


7 Died February 28, 1831, aged 52 years. He was from Westfield.


8 From Westfield. Died August 28, 1857.


9 Died June 18, 1816, aged 67 years. He was the father of Stephen, Daniel, Otis, Cyrus, and the Rev. Riley B. Ashley, all formerly of this town.


10 E. T. died March 3, 1845, aged 61. He held many years the office of loan commissioner, and kept an inn at the brick tavern in Martinsburgh.


11 About 1818, McCollister, in fulfillment of a fortune teller's prediction sold, went to Buffalo, kept tavern a while, and then removed to the far west to be- come the wealthy owner of a township which the hag had promised him. While ascending the Illinois river with two or three other families the party sickened, numbers died, including McCollister, and the survivors were scarcely able to bury the dead on the bank of the river. With great suffering the party at length reached its destination, penniless and wretched.


12 Died April 19, 1840, aged 80 years.


13 From Belchertown, Mass. David died December 5, 1849, aged 74 years.


14 From Chester, Mass. He died February 14, 1829. He had sons, Nathan- iel and Gaius.


15 A descendant from Andrew Pitcher, who emigrated from England and set- tled in Dorchester, Mass., in 1630. Reuben Pitcher died February 15, 1844, aged 81. His sons David, Daniel, Reuben, Moses, Philander and Almond, be-


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and Eli Rogers,1 from Westfield, who settled in 1802. Like many other families who came on in the spring of that year, they were delayed until late in February, by the want of snow. The company in which they came had twelve or fourteen ox teams, and were fourteen days upon the road from Westfield. At Albany the Hudson was broken up, and they were obliged to go up to Half Moon point, now Waterford, to cross, where the ice, although a foot under water was considered safe.


The first blacksmith who settled in town was John Peebles, who removed from Salem in 1804. He was the ancestor of all of the name now living in town. The first birth in town was that of Jane,2 daughter of Ehud Stephens. Mr. Martin brought on the remainder of a store of goods which he had owned in Salem, to accommodate his settlers until a regu- lar merchant could be established. A grist mill was got in operation in 1802 or 1803, but as Lowville and Turin had been some years settled, the people of this town were re- lieved from much of the hardship arising from long journeys to mill. The water power wherever considered available, was reserved by Martin in his sale of lands.


In James Constable's diary, under date of September 13, 1803, we find the following notice of this town :


"Travelled on to Mr. Martin's. We had a rain some part of the day, which we were glad of, as it was much wanted in the country. Mr. Martin was not at home, and we went to look at his mills and other improvements. He has a good country grist mill well finished, and a common saw mill, but the creek is dry as is the case throughout the country. There is also a potash work at which they were busy. His house is of logs, the same as first erected, as he has not had time for a frame building. His father lives in a similar one very near. There are several neighbors about him on his land. The cultivation is not very forward, but considering the time he has been here, for he only made the purchase in June, 1801, the improvements do him very great credit. Mrs. Martin being uncertain when he might return home, and it growing late, we took our leave, dined at Capt. Clapp's and returned to Shaler's in the evening."


came heads of families, and excepting the last, settled mostly on adjacent farms along the west road, in the southern part of the town. Of his three daughters, Martha married Dr. Horatio G. Hough and is still living; Roxana married Stephen Ashley, and Dema married Paul B. Yale. Moses Pitcher was drowned in Black river bay, December 3, 1846, and Philander in the Black river, near Independence creek, September 15, 1847.


1 Mr. Rogers died April 12, 1849, aged 80. He had a large family, most of whom settled in town, but of whom none now remain, having died or removed.


2 Born February 20, 1802. The second birth was that of Charles Baldwin, and the third that of Charles L. Martin.


W


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The first framed house in town was built by Amos Barnes, in 1805, a mile and a quarter south of the village. It is now owned by Charles S. Lee.


The first regular merchants were Philo Rockwell and Danforth Shumway, about 1806. The former, in 1816, went to Aurora, N. Y., but soon returned and renewed trade with Dr. John Safford.1 Mr. Rockwell continued a merchant in this town until 1829, when he removed to Utica, and in 1832 became the first victim of the cholera at that place.2


The first inn was kept by Chillus Doty, a brother-in-law of Martin, in a log house a few rods west of the brick tavern, where the first county courts were held, and the first town business transacted. Business centered in the north part of the village in early years, and upon its transfer to a more southern locality, this portion long wore an aspect of decay until several of its buildings rotted down or were removed.


The western sub-division of township number 5 was set- tled under Benjamin Wright of Rome, and much of town- ship 4 by I. W. Bostwick of Lowville, agents of H. B. Pierrepont of Brooklyn, the proprietor. James Constable, one of the executors of his brother's estate, remarks in his journal of Sept. 10, 1804, of the settlement of this portion :


" Passed on from Lowville through the northeast quarter of number four, which is very good, to Capt. McCarty's, on our part of number five, distance three miles. He was from home but we found another of the settlers, Ehud Stephens, who with five or six other men whom we saw, have completed a street of nearly a mile long, of very fine farms in less than two years, and it is quite an animating sight to see them. McCarty, Stephens, and two or three others have paid in full and got their deeds. The rest have paid generally as the money became due, they are all valuable men. The country we are now in, exceeds any part we have seen in the whole journey, and it has the ad- vantage of being well watered. Proceeded on a couple of miles to Squire Martin's, the whole well cleared and cultivated. He is engaged in building a stone house, nearly fifty feet square, after the model of Sir William Johnson's. The walls are up,


1 Dr. Safford came from Salem about 1807, married a daughter of Gen. Martin and continued many years in practice. He removed to Watertown about 1826 and died at that place.


2 Mr. Rockwellwas from Hadley, N. Y., and married Abigal, daughter of Gen. W. Martin. At Utica he engaged in the hardware trade, in the firm of Rockwell & Sanger, and upon the approach of the cholera he was appointed upon a sanitary committee, and doubtless exposed himself to noxious exha- lations in the discharge of this patriotic duty. He had made arrangements to leave for this town upon the first appearance of the cholera, but was stricken and died Aug. 13, 1832.


3


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the roof nearly finished and he expects to complete at least a part of it for the ensuing winter."


The original model of Martin's house, in good preserva- tion and but little changed from the plan designed by its projector, is still standing in the town of Amsterdam, three miles west of the village, and adjacent to the N. Y. Central railroad. It has borne for more than a century, the name of fort Johnson, and in the old French war was fortified against a sudden surprise by the enemy. Mr. Martin had spent a night at this house some years before, and was so well pleased with its arrangement that he sent his builder, David Waters, down to take its plan and dimensions. The struct- ure in Martinsburgh was begun in 1803 and finished in 1805, and is said to have been throughout, in size, style and finish, as far as possible, a faithful copy of Sir William's dwelling. To this day, there is scarcely a residence in the county that has exceeded this in cost, and certainly there is none that excels it in conspicuous site or substantial construction. Early in 1804 Martin was negotiating for the purchase of township four, but failed to conclude a bargain.


The first school-house in town, was built about 1804, on the brow of the hill south of the village, and on the west side of the state road. Erastus Barns was the first teacher. No legal action was taken until the annual town meeting in 1814, when the recent act of the legislature was approved, and double the sum received from the state was raised by tax. The first commissioners were Chester Shumway, Horatio G. Hough,1 and Orrin Moore, and the first inspectors, Barna-


Monastico G Hough


1 Dr. Horatio Gates Hough, son of Thomas Hough, and . the fifth in descent from an English emigrant, was born in Meriden, Ct., January 5, 1778, and at the age of three years, removed with his parents to Southwick, Mass. When sixteen years old he entered the office of Dr. Coit of that place, and in four years was admitted to practice medicine. His classical studies were pursued with the Rev. Isaac Clinton, pastor of the church of which his father was an active member, and a warm personal friendship continued between preceptor and pupil through life.


In 1798, the newly licensed physician received as his only patrimony a horse, saddle, bridle, and a few dollars worth of medicine, made a tour into Maine with the view of settlement, but not finding an attractive location returned and joined the current of emigration then setting towards the Black river country. He came to Constableville and settled as the first physician in the county, taking up a small farm, afterwards owned by Willard Allen, and laboring in the intervals of his professional employment. In the fall of 1803 he married Martha, daughter of Reuben Pitcher, and early in 1805 removed to Martinsburgh and settled on a farm, a mile and a quarter south


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bas Yale,1 John McCollister, Asahel Hough, Levi Adams, Noah N. Harger and Ephraim Luce. The town was soon after divided into five districts, and for many years the sum voted for school purposes was $124.10 annually. The usual amount was afterwards equal to the sum received from the state.


The first settlers of this town, coming chiefly from Salem, N. Y., and Westfield, Mass, or places adjacent, divided off into two parties, between which a certain degree of rivalry, and to some extent of jealousy, existed several years, and its existence was evinced in a wish to control business affairs and town offices. Gen. Martin might have been regarded as the leader of one of these, and Judge Bancroft,1 an early


of the village, where he resided till his death, which occurred from an organic disease of the heart, Sept. 3, 1830.


He was an original member, and at his death, president of the county me- dical society, and on many occasions he read at its meetings essays upon professional and scientific subjects, which evinced a strong attachment to philosophical studies, and much proficiency in them. In an obituary notice, written by his friend Dr. Sylvester Miller, the hardships of the pioneer phy- sician are thus graphically described :


" How often has he been seen traveling on foot with his saddle bags on his shoulders, making his way through the woods by the aid of marked trees, to some distant log house, the abode of sickness and distress ! There has he been seen almost exhausted by fatigue, and suffering from want of sleep and food, reaching forth his hand to restore the sick, and by his cheerful voice pouring consolation into the minds of the afflicted family. He was an obliging neighbor, a kind husband and an affectionate father. In his death literature has lost a friend, and the world a valuable citizen."-Black River Gazette, Sept. 15, 1830.


Dr. H. G. Hough left two sons and three daughters. The older son, Horatio Hough, resides upon the homestead in this town. The younger son is the author of this volume.


1 Barnabas Yale, son of Amasa Yale, was born in Rupert, Vt., April 9, 1784, and removed when a child to Salem, N. Y., where his father died, leaving him and two younger children to the care of a poor but industrious mother. He attended the Salem academy two years, and then entered the law office of Mr. Blanchard, where he remained two and a half years. After removing with the family to Schenectady, Amsterdam, Johnstown, Minden and Little Falls, he was, in February, 1807, admitted to practice, and settled in Martins- burgh. He continued a member of the Lewis county bar about twenty-five years, when he settled on a farm, and in 1836 removed to St. Lawrence co. He died October 11, 1854, at the residence of his son Lloyd C., in Norfolk, N. Y. While living in Martinsburgh, he held many years the office of justice of the peace, and in 1820, was appointed surrogate. He was an active mem- ber of the Presbyterian church, and took a leading part in the various reform movements of his day. In 1825, he offered his name as an independent can- didate for the office of county clerk, and came within 24 votes of election. His brother Paul Baxter Yale, resides near Houseville.


2 Edward Bancroft removed from Westfield 1816, engaged as a merchant, built a grist mill and distillery, was concerned in the manufacture of potash on a somewhat extensive scale, and held the offices of county clerk and first judge. Having proved unsuccessful in business, removed in 1832 to Detroit, and after another crisis in his affairs, he removed to St. Clair county, Mich., where he died April, 1842.


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merchant, of the other. It was not observable after the removal of the latter in 1832.


In the month of April, 1807, an unusual fall of snow followed by warm sunny weather, occasioned a flood in all the streams of this region, more destructive than ever before or since, witnessed. The mill of Gen. Martin, which stood a few yards above the present one, was undermined and launched into the stream, when it floated down and finally lodged and partly went to pieces at the state road bridge. Mr. Faxton Dean, father of Samuel Dean1 the miller, lodged in a small room in the upper part of the mill, and although advised of possible danger from the flood, remained there on the night that the mill was swept away. His cries were heard by the people on the bank, who followed with lanterns the floating building and its inmate, but were entirely unable to render the slightest aid. His body was found among flood-wood some weeks after, and was the first one buried in the old grave yard a mile south of the village. Martin's mill was rebuilt soon after, and in 1822, the present grist mill, a little below the old one was erected. In Jan., 1826, E. Bancroft completed a rival mill, supplied by springs and a small tributary of Martin's creek, a little southwest of the other mill. After being used about ten years, the latter was changed to a manufac- tory of cotton batting, wicking and wadding. It has since fallen into ruin. In 1833, a building was erected west of village as a woolen factory, but the intention was never fully realized. A starch factory was fitted up in 1847, in a building erected for a tannery, but after the first season it was never used. In the spring of 1844, a company was formed under the style of the Lewis Co. Manufacturing Co., with a proposed capital of $25,000, but the plan was abondoned before it had matured.


A paper mill was built by Gen. Martin in 1807, on the creek, about a mile south east of the village, upon the east road, and got in operation by John Clark & Co., in the fall of that year. Daniel Gould was afterwards in company with Clark. The mill never had any machinery beyond an engine for grinding the pulp, and although kept more or less employed, till about 1832, it never proved a source of much profit to those concerned. In the earlier years writ- ing paper was made, but at a later day only wrapping and wall papers.


A poetical advertisement, a parody of one of Dibdin's


1 Mr. Dean was from Westfield. He removed to Ohio, and died at Brock- port, April 8, 1840, aged 85.


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songs, which appeared in the Black River Gazette, Nov. 9, 1807, is here inserted, for the double purpose of represent- ing the character of the type used in that newspaper, and the poetical talents of J. Clark & Co.


Sweet Ladies, pray be not offended, Nor mind the jeft of fneering wags ; No harm believe us, is intended, When humbly we requeft your Rags.


The fcraps, which you reject, unfit To clothe the tenant of a hovel,


May fhine in fentiment and wit, And help to make a charming novel.


The cap exalted thoughts will raife, The ruffle in defcription flourifh ;


Whilft on the glowing work we gaze The thought will love excite and nourifh.


Each beau in ftudy will engage, His fancy doubtlefs will be warmer,


When writing on the milk-white page, Which once, perhaps, adorn'd his charmer.


Though foreigners, may fneer and vapor, We no longer forc'd their books to buy,


Our gentle Belles will furnifh paper, Our fighing Beau will wit fupply.


Forty-five years afterwards, the principal of this firm was a homeless wanderer, seeking to be employed at a fee of a few shillings, to indicate veins of water and points for dig- ging wells, by the pretended traction of a hazel rod.


Capt. John Moore was accidentally shot by Russell Ar- thur, early on the morning of June 3, 1811. It was on the day of a military muster, and some of his men had come as was the custom, to salute him, by firing guns; when, just as he was crossing the threshold, a ball passed through his neck, which proved speedily fatal. This painful inci- dent cast a gloom over the neighborhood, and was scarcely less afflictive to the unhappy author of the accident and his friends, than to the family of the deceased. Mr. Moore resided on the State road, about midway between the vil- lages of Lowville and Martinsburgh. Otis Ashley, jr., a lad, was killed at a military training, in the village of Mar- tinsburgh, July 4, 1831, by a ball from a rifle, reflected from a stone, at which the weapon was fired, without the owner's knowing that it was charged with any thing but powder.


The scheme of S. Whittlesey and wife of Watertown, to rob the government of $30,000, due the drafted militia of this and adjoining counties, the year after the war, is among


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the most remarkable incidents of crime upon record. Hav- ing concealed the money at home, he traveled carelessly on horseback as far as Trenton, where he announced that he had been robbed, and offered, with well dissembled anxiety, an immense reward for the thief. The sequel, ending in the extortion of the secret, under threats of a terrible death, the suicide of the wife and the disgrace of her husband, are familiar to many of our readers.1 On his way to Trenton, W. spent a night at the inn of Chillus Doty in this town, where he was cautioned to be more watchful over his trea- sure. A few days after the discovery of the money, he was seen to leave Watertown on horseback late in the afternoon, and to return the next morning, with his beast jaded and weary, as if he had traveled a long journey without resting. The late Dr. Trowbridge (who related to us the incident, and who, at that time, was almost the only one of. W.'s late friends who would harbor him under their roofs,) insisted upon his telling the errand, when he had length reluctantly admitted, that he had on his former journey, concealed about the premises of Mr. Doty a quantity of marked bills with the intention of finding them under a search warrant, and thus implicating an innocent man. The plot having been defeated he had gone to recover the money, creeping, at the death of night upon the premises on an errand of guilt, which practiced villainy would have shunned by day- light. Several marked bills were found on the premises of Joseph Sheldon, who kept an inn on the site of the resi- dence of Warren Salmon in Martinsburgh, and were returned to their owners in Watertown. The honorable character of these persons would have ensured them against public suspicion, had the money been found concealed upon their premises.




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