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 24
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4 Died May 13, 1820, aged 63 years. 5 Died June 11, 1833.
6 George Hoskins died August 22, 1848, aged 66 years. He settled about 1801. Thomas died west.
7 Died January 6, 1852.
8 Eleazer House was born at Glastonbury, Conn., September 20, 1759 ; mar- ried December 25, 1782, to Miss Moseley, and held the first appointment of coroner north of Utica. He died January 30,. 1833, and his wife survived only till March. His sons Jared, Joseph and Leonard are well known and prominent citizens of the county. Jared settled at Lowville, where he was many years an inn-keeper. He still resides at that place. Anson House, a lawyer, resides in Rochester.
9 Ezra Clapp was born May 28, 1760, at Westfield. Married February 22, 1781, to Grace Mather. Settled on the farm now owned by Wm. Thompson, where he kept an inn 30 years. He died in Westfield, Mass, June 17, 1838. Horace Clapp, Esq., of this town, is a son of Ezra Clapp.
10 From Suffield, Conn. He died April 22, 1847, aged 69 years.
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Mrs. C. endeavored to frighten away the beast. Upon the date mentioned, Mr. Clapp found a large black wolf in a trap, half a mile west of the house, and with his neighbor's help, beat him with clubs until he was thought to be dead. He then took the wolf before him on horseback, and brought him to his barn, but as he evinced signs of life on the way, it was thought safe to secure him by a chain around the neck, the trap remaining upon his leg. Half an hour after the wolf was as active as ever, and the settlers upon learn- ing the circumstance, assembled from far and near to in- dulge in savage sport with the chained enemy of their flocks. Many large dogs were provoked to attack him separately, but one snap from his powerful jaws sent them howling from the barn, nor could they be induced to approach a second time. Having wearied themselves with this bru- tal amusement, his captors at length ended his life by a rifle shot.
About 1812, several teamsters stopping at House's tavern, noticed wolf tracks about, and the party followed until they found the animal concealed under a log. He was killed by one of them with a hemlock knot, within a quarter of a mile of Houseville.
Deer were accustomed to cross over from the hills on the west to the forests east of the river, at the point known as Proven's Hill, at the gate-house of the Turin plank road, and also at a point half a mile south of Turin village. They would begin to appear late in the evening, and in the course of the night, hundreds would cross. On one occasion Mr. Clapp built a yard enclosed with a high tree fence on three sides, the fourth being a steep descent, and in one night forty deer were caught in this enclosure. As late as 1830, numbers of deer were shot at Proven's Hill. The last wolf hunt in this town, occurred in the swamp adjacent this place in the summer of 1836, when three or four of these animals were traced thither, but although many persons surrounded the woods, they mostly escaped.
An anecdote is told of a citizen of this town, who took a number of cattle to sell at Ogdensburgh soon after the war. Upon learning that the Canadians would pay a higher price, he crossed over to make a bargain. He asked a shilling per pound for beef, but could only get an offer for ten pence, and after wrangling a long time, he at length accepted. Upon being paid he was pleasantly surprised at receiving a much greater sum than was expected, for while he had been talking in New York currency, his purchaser was dealing in sterling money.
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The first mill in Turin, was a stump mortar, made by Christopher Clobridge 1 in 1797, in the eastern border of the town, on the farm now owned by Nathan W. Douglass. To this the first settlers were accustomed to resort, when Shaler's mill at Constableville was not running. The first grist mill in the present town of Turin was built by Giles Foster, at the present site of Cadwell Dewey's mill, on the east road. It was once burnt. A somewhat extensive wool- en cloth manufactory was established by Cadwell Dewey, a short distance below, which has been in active operation nearly a quarter of a century.
There are two villages and post offices in Turin. Turin Village, formerly known as Turin Four Corners, is a place of about 500 inhabitants, three churches, and limited facili- ties for manufactures.2 It has six stores of various kinds, and is a place of considerable business for the country around.
The Turin Brass Band at this place was formed June 1, 1859, and numbers thirteen men.
Houseville. has a church, an inn, a store, and about 100 inhabitants.
Schools were first established about 1801. The first meas- ure taken for the visitation of schools was in 1807, when in the entire absence of law upon the subject, the town ap- pointed the Rev. James Murdock, Elder Stephen Parsons, Deacon Timothy Hill, David Kendall, Ebenezer Baldwin and Richard Cone a committee to inspect schools.
Late in 1813 a special town meeting was called to organ- ize schools under the law. The town was divided into eight districts. Oliver Bush, Levi Collins and Seth Miller, sen., were chosen school commissioners, and on the 1st of Decem- ber the justices appointed Judah Barnes, Wm. Constable, Deuel Goff, Willard Allen, John Hooker and Dr. Walter Dewey first school inspectors.
The Turin Social Library was formed under the act of June 14, 1814, although a subscription had been started April 20 previous. In 1839 its prosperity ceased with the formation of school libraries, and in the fall of 1849 it was dissolved, and its books, about 600 in number, were divided among the proprietors. The first trustees were Levi Hart,
1 Mr. C. was a Hessian, and had been in the British service in the revolu- tion. He died May 8, 1844, aged 98. His son Adam, also a pioneer, died Nov. 2, 1849.
2 The first steam engine set up in the county was at the tannery of Ethan Perry in this village.
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Ebenezer Baldwin, Dr. Walter Dewey, Henry Graves,1 Deuel Goff, John P. Kentner2 and Martin Hart. During most of its existence it was kept with scrupulous care by Amos Higby, jr.3
Probably the earliest literary association in the county was formed in this town July 28, 1809, as a debating club. Their preamble read as follows : "For the promotion of literature, benefit of society, and advancement of useful knowledge in Turin, we the undersigned do form ourselves into a society with the title of The Columbian Society, and knowing that no society can flourish without well regulated laws and strict rules, we do all and each of us bind ourselves in penalty, declared in the following laws, to obey them in every particular, and further to promote the institution as lies in our power." The constitution was signed by Martin Hart, John Hooker, Levi Collins, Homer Collins, Urial Hooker, Chester Hoadley, Walter Dewey and Cordial Storrs.
We are not informed of the subsequent history of this " Institution," nor were the debates reported in any journal that we have seen. The first question discussed probably settled for all time the doubt as to " Which has been the most beneficial to society ? the discovery and use of metals, or the labor and use of animals."
On the 30th of April, 1839, the Turin academy was incor- porated but it was never organized. The trustees named in the act were Emory B. Holden, Geo. J. Fowler, Nathaniel Hart, Selden Ives, Leonard H. Humason, Orrin Woolworth, Charles G. Riggs, Cadwell Dewey, Albert A. White, Ozias Wilcox and Enoch Lee.
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. The first meetings were held by missionaries about 1800. A Congregational church was formed by the Rev. John Taylor of Deerfield, Mass., Sept. 19, 1802, while on a missionary tour. The first male mem- bers were Amos and Judah Barnes, Joshua Rockwell, John and Levi Ives, Timothy Underwood, Eliphalet Hubbard, Timothy Johnson, Heman Merwin, Seth Miller, David Pitcher, Timothy Hill, Reuben Pain, Samuel Smith, Jedu- than Higby, jr., Philemon Hoadley, George Palmer and Robert Lewis. About 40 females also united. The church
1 Mr. Graves was the first merchant in Turin village.
2 Mr. Kentner was one of the pioneers. He died November 11, 1836, aged 86 years.
3 Mr. Higby was many years town clerk, and resigned when he could no longer hold by unanimous election, as he had previously done. He was a man of exemplary life, eccentric in some respects, but still deserving and enjoying the fullest confidence of the public. He was of the Unitarian faith, and published two editions of a small book explaining his peculiar views of scripture. He died February 17, 1857, aged 63 years.
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approved, March 8, 1808, of the articles adopted by the Black river association, and June 25, 1824, it joined the St. Lawrence Presbytery. It again became Congregational March 7, 1831. It joined the Watertown Presbytery, Oct. 5, 1852, and has since remained Presbyterian. The Revs. James Murdock, Reuel Kimball and John Iveson were em- ployed between 1806 and 1830. In July 1841, the Rev. Na- thaniel Hurd was installed as first pastor. The Rev. James Morton was employed in 1849, and the Rev. Wm. H. Adams in 1854, for one year. The Rev. Charles B. Pond the pre- sent minister, was employed in 1857. This church owned an interest in the union church, but in 1842, built a church on the north border of the village which cost $1500, and was dedicated Nov. 24 of that year. In 1859 it was extend- ed 20 feet in the rear at a cost of $600.
Major John Ives, by will, dated Nov. 16, 1827, gave $300 to this church, of which two-thirds were to lie until it amounted to $1000. It has now reached that sum, and $70 are received annually from this fund towards defraying the pastor's salary.
The Methodists held meetings at an early day, and Tu- rin circuit was formed in 1812, but given up three years after having been attended by Reuben Farley and Chandley Lambert. The 1st M. E. church of Turin was organized Oct. 5, 1818, with Jonathan Bush, Winthrop Weller, Orange Hill, Francis Crane, Stephen Hart and Charles Weller first trustees. They built a church in 1819 on the east road 3 miles N. of Turin village, which continued many years in use. In 1841 the plan of a new church at Houseville was discussed, and in 1842 it was erected by Elisha Wood, build- er. The 2nd society of the M. E. church, of Turin, was formed May 20, 1833, from the former, having Ozias Wilcox, Sylvester Hart, Heman Stickney, Deuel Goff, Leonard H. Humason, and Sylvester Foster trustees. A stone church, 45 by 65 feet, was built in Turin village in 1834, at a cost of $3,500. It was extended 20 feet in the rear and rear- ranged in 1859, and rededicated Oct. 20 of that year.
The Black river circuit, originally embracing the whole country north of the Mohawk, was gradually reduced down to the Turin church, by the formation of other circuits. It was changed July 13, 1844, to the Turin circuit. The preachers assigned have been : 1833, C. Northrup, F. H. Stanton ; 1834-5, Elijah Smith ; 1836, R. Houghton, J. Downing ; 1837, R. Houghton, C. H. Austin, W. Cummings; 1838, Isaac Puffer, E. Whipple ; 1839, Darius Mason ; 1840- 1, John Roper, John Thomas ; 1842, M. H. Gaylord, S. F.
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Fenton ; 1843, S. F. Fenton, Reuben Reynolds ; 1844-5, Jesse Penfield ; 1846-7, Geo. C. Woodruff; 1848, R. M. Barber ; 1849, A. S. Wightman ; 1850-1, Royal Houghton ; 1852, D. M. Rogers; 1853-4, E. Smith; 1855, T. D. Sleeper ; 1856-7, Isaac Hall ; 1858-9, Cyrus Philips.
The Baptists formed a church at an early period, the major part of whose members became Free Communion, June 3, 1812, and kept up an organization about 30 years. Jeduthan and Zaccheus Higby, Abner Mitchel, Elijah Wadsworth, Tho. Hoskins, Ebenezer Baldwin, Lydia and Sarah Scovil, and Elizabeth Lane, formed its first members. A Baptist ch. was formed April 12, 1812, by the minor part of the former church, under Stephen Parsons. It agreed to unite with a Leyden ch., Dec. 20, 1816. The associated Baptist church was dissolved Jan. 17, 1818, having got reduced to 8 members. The Revs. Calvin Phileo, Simeon Hersey, Riley B. Ashley, Calvin Horr and others have been employed.
The Turin and West Turin Bap. soc. (old school) was formed March 22, 1842, with Newton Clark, Benham Webb ; Jason and Edwin Payne and Horace C. Ragan, trustees ; and the next year built a church in Turin village. This sect was formed here in the fall of 1843, under the Rev. Martin Salmon.1
The Welsh Cong. ch. at Turin was formed Nov. 5, 1843, by Rev. S. A. Williams of Deerfield, N. Y. It has increased from 9 to 37 members. D. E. Prichard, pastor, Robert Williams and John O. Jones, deacons. They built a church in 1847, on the hill west of the village, and they have a branch that worships in the Baptist church in the village. The legal society has formed May 1, 1848, with John L. Roberts, David W. Roberts, Robert Williams, Wm. Roberts, jr., and D. E. Prichard trustees. A Calvinistic M. E. ch. was formed July 23, 1848, and have a small church. In both of these Welsh churches, worship is held in the Welsh language.
As early as 1807, a religious soc. was formed to build a union church in Turin, but it failed. Its trustees were : Eleazer House, Oliver Bush, Richard Coxe, Timothy Hill, Judah Barnes and Seth Miller. A subscription was opened Nov. 23, 1823, for a union church and town house. It was
1 The Rev. Martin Salmon was born in Pauling, Dutchess county. Came when a child to this town, and was many years a preacher in the Baptist churches of this region. He died September 13, 1847, aged 53 years. The O. S. Baptists in this town have sometimes been called from him " Salmon- ites."
B*
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incorporated under the general statute, Sept. 27, 1826, as the Turin Union society, with Levi Hart, Heman Stickney, Amos Higby, jr., Royal D. Dewey and Leonard House, trustees, and a house was built at a cost of $2,350. It was used alternately many years by the two Baptist and the Presbyterian churches, and as a town house. In 1846, it was changed to a school house. A bell was purchased in 1847, at a cost of $300, and first placed upon the union church, but it has been removed to a tower erected on a small lot opposite, belonging to the town. The latter premises afford a convenient place for keeping the town hearse.
WATSON.
This town was formed from Leyden, March 30, 1821, em- bracing all of Lewis county east of Black river. The first town meeting was held at the house of John Beach,1 at which Caleb Lyon was chosen supervisor; John Beach, clerk; Ozem Bush, Phineas Cole, and Joseph O. Mott, assessors; C. Lyon, Thomas Puffer, and O. Bush, commissioners of highways; Samuel Smith and P. Cole, overseers of the poor; J. O. Mott and Daniel B. Baker, constables; S. Smith, collector; C. Lyon, J. Beach, and P. Cole, commissioners of common schools; C. Lyon, John Bush, and P. Cole, inspectors of schools; and O. Bush, T. Puffer and David Chase, fence viewers.
In this list we find the names of persons who lived in parts of the town remote from each other, and the same name several times repeated. The latter was occasioned by the small number of persons who possessed freeholds suffi- cient to allow them to hold office. This inconvenience led
1 John Beach from Litchfield, Ct., settled in this town in 1814, and was the father of Nelson J. Beach, Esq. He died May 15, 1845, aged 75 years.
Nelson J. Beach came to this town when a lad with his father's family, and was many years a land surveyor in this region. In 1846 he represented the county in assembly, and in 1847 in the senate, but the constitution of 1846 coming into operation, his term in the senate was cut short to one year. In 1847 he was elected a canal commissioner, being one of the first three elected to that office, and in the classification of terms he drew that of two years. On the 11th of January, 1850, he was appointed a canal appraiser, and held about three years. He was subsequently employed in the engineering de- partment of the Hudson River rail road, and at a later period was appointed to the trust of closing up the business of the Rome rail road, projected through this county. After several years residence at Rome, he has now returned to his seat on the banks of the Black river in this town. Mr. Beach is a man of acknowledged ability, zealous and energetic in whatever he un= dertakes, and well informed upon all subjects relating to public affairs. In regard to the question of the Black river improvement, in which his influ- ence and official position have given his views importance, he has been the steady advocate of the construction of piers for narrowing and deepening the channel, and opposed to the plan of dams and locks.
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to an act passed Feb. 6, 1824, authorizing white males, of legal age in this town to hold office, if they had contracts for land worth $150. There were, when the town was organ- ized, 44 families, and 481 acres of improved land: 115 head of cattle, 18 horses and 107 sheep within its borders.1
Supervisors .- 1821-22, Caleb Lyon; 1823, Joseph O. Mott; 1824-27, Ozem Bush ;2 1828, Simon Goodell (May, 1828, O. Bush); 1829, O. Bush; 1830, Stephen P. Hamilton ; 1831-34, Nelson J. Beach; 1835-36, Nathan Lewis ; 1837-38, N. J. Beach; 1839-44, Ralph Beach; 1845, N. J. Beach; 1846, Jonathan Perry; 1848-51, R. Beach; 1852, Peter Kirley ; 1853, Jehiel R. Wetmore; 1854, Daniel S. Andrews; 1855, Charles Chase ; 1856-58, Chester Ray ; 1859-60, P. Kirley.
Clerks .- 1821-22, John Beach ; 1823-4, Otis Munn ; 1825-26, J. Beach ; 1827, Archibald Benjamin ; 1828, Joshua Harris (May, 1828, A. Benjamin) ; 1829-32, A. Benjamin, 1833, Charles Loomis ; 1834-38, Anson Ormsby ; 1839-43, Peter Munn ; 1844, Thomas Kirley ; 1845, John W. Merrile ; 1846, P. Munn ; 1847, T. Kirley; 1848, Squire H. Snell ; (May, 1848, Peter Kirley) ; 1849-51, P. Kirley ; 1852-55, Isaac C. Brown ; 1856, Albert M. Gillet; 1857-58, James Garmon ; 1859, Isaac H. Brown.
In no town in the county have so large bounties been paid for the destruction of wild animals as this. The records show a vote of $5 in 1827, 28, 32 ; $10 in 1825, 6, 8,9, 30, 1, 6, 7, 8, 41, 2, 52 to 59, and $15 in 1835 for wolves ; of $5 in 1828 to 36, 1842-6, and $10 in 1839, 40, 1, 57, 8, for panthers ; of $2 in 1833 to 8, and 5 in 1841, 2, for bears; of 50 cents in 1833, 5, 6, for foxes, and of 50 cents in 1833, 5, for crows killed between May 15 and June 15. Whether the relief thus obtained from the ravages of these animals, or the knowledge that a large portion of the bounty was raised by tax upon wild lands, was a governing motive in these votes of town meeting we may not perhaps be allowed to decide.
Watson was named from James T. Watson, the proprietor of a tract of 61,433 acres lying in this town and in Herki- mer co. James Watson, the first owner under Constable, was a native of Litchfield, Ct., and a wealthy merchant in N. Y. during and subsequent to the Revolution. He held a
1 The census of 1825 gave 121 families, 357 males, 338 females ; 89 liable to military duty, 128 electors, 4 aliens and 4 colored. There were 1437 acres improved, 529 neat cattle, 55 horses, 460 sheep, and 307 swine.
2 Contested by S. Goodell in 1826-7, as hereinafter stated. Mr. Bush was a pioneer settler of the county, and died in this town March 20, 1845, aged 70 years.
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captain's commission in the war, served the State in several important offices, and died in 1808 or 9. His only son James Talcott Watson, made the first attempt to settle these lands, and for many years was accustomed to spend his summers in the county. He was a man of fine education and affable manners, and in early life was a partner in the house of Thomas L. Smith & Co., East India merchants, in which capacity he made a voyage to China. The death of a Miss Livingston, with whom he was engaged to be married, in- duced a mental aberration which continued through life, being more aggravated in certain seasons of the year, while at others it was scarcely perceptible. In after life the image of the loved and the lost often came back to his memory, like the sunbeam from a broken mirror, and in his waking reveries he was heard to speak of her as present in the spirit, and a confidant of his inmost thoughts.
In his business transactions, Mr. Watson often evinced a caprice which was sometimes amusing, and always inno- cent. This was, by most persons, humored, as tending to prevent any unpleasant result, which opposition might at such times have upon him. In the summer of 1838 he un- dertook to cultivate an immense garden, chiefly of culinary vegetables, upon his farm in Watson, beginning at a season, when, under the most favorable conditions, nothing could come to maturity, and insisting that he would be satisfied if the seeds only sprouted, as this would prove the capacity of his land.
In his social intercourse Mr. Watson often evinced, in a high degree, many noble and manly qualities. With a lively fancy and ready command of language, he had the power of rendering himself eminently agreeable, while many of those who settled upon his tract, will bear witness that he pos- sessed a kind and generous heart. But there were moments when the darkest melancholy settled upon him, utterly beyond relief from human sympathy, and in one of these he ended his own life. He committed suicide with a razor, in New York, Jan. 29, 1839, at the age of 50 years. His estate was divided among 39 first cousins on his father's side and 5 on his mother's, and some of these shares were still farther subdivided among numerous families. The sixty thousand acres, when divided, gave to a cousin's share over 1,600 acres, but some parcels amounted to but 33 acres. Much of these lands have since been sold for taxes.
The Watson tract formed two triangular areas, connected by a narrow strip, of which the outline was surveyed by Wm. Cockburn in 1794. The west triangle was surveyed
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out by Broughton White of Remsen, in 1808, and the east one by N. J. Beach in 1842.
A large part of the west, and all of the east tract, is still a forest, and much of it towards and beyond the county line, is chiefly valuable for its timber. There is a tradition that Low offered Watson $16,000 to exchange lands, before either knew any thing of the soil, or the relative value of their purchases, which time has shown to belong to the two extremes of agricultural capacity.
At the date of organization there were no roads in Wat- son, connecting the upper settlements near Lyonsdale, with those opposite Lowville, and for many years the only way of passing from one part to the other was by the roads on the west side of the river, from fifteen to twenty miles around, or upon the river itself. It was therefore a desira- ble object to secure the location of town meetings, which could not possibly be located so as to accommodate more than a part of the voters. In 1824 the town meeting, held at the house of Daniel Wheaton, at Lyonsdale, was ad- journed over to the same place.
The northern section was numerically the strongest, and the next year privately rallying their full force, some from the extreme parts of what is now Diana, attended at the appointed house, which was, at the time, uninhabited, and . the barn empty. They opened at 92, an hour earlier than usually opening town meetings, three justices and the town clerk presiding, and on the pretense of the want of accommodation and inclemency of the weather, ad- journed over to the next day at the house of Thomas Puffer, in what is now Watson, and 20 miles from Lyonsdale.
The southerners, upon assembling, found the town meet- ing stolen, but upon weighing all the circumstances, con- cluded to go on as if no accident had happened, and called upon a justice present to organize the meeting The latter refused to do so, and the electors proceeded in their own way, elected a full set of town officers and adjourned for one year to the same part of the town. The northern party met the next day, pursuant to adjournment, also elected a full set of town officers, and probably adjourned over to the same neighborhood.
During four years two town meetings were thus annually held, and a double set of town officers elected. Both supervisors appeared at the county board, and the one from the northern part alone was admitted, and the collector from this part alone received his warrant from the board. The town officers in the southern part received no pay for .
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their services, and their authority in local affairs was limited to their own section, and by sufferance rather than law.
In March, 1828, the upper party quietly mustered their whole force on the night before town meeting day, agreed upon their ticket, and leaving at home a few old men, bare- ly enough to conduct their own meeting, they set out before dawn with a dozen sleigh-loads of voters to assist their rivals in electing town officers. The expedition was con- ducted with the most profound secresy, and the enemy were taken by surprise. To have contested the passage at the ferry might have been easy, had not the ice furnished a bridge for crossing, or to have privately dispatched a small party to capture the town meeting left behind in charge of the veterans would have been feasible had not the distance prevented.
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