A history of Lewis County, in the state of New York, from the beginning of its settlement to the present time, Part 25

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 25


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The result showed a striking unanimity at the two town meetings, the same persons being elected throughout and the adjournment of both being to the same place in the ex- treme south part of the town. Resolutions for a division had been voted in 1822-4-5-6 and 7, the latter by the north- ern party recommending Beaver river as the boundary line. In 1828, both town meetings voted against any division until the southern town officers had been paid for their ser- vices, but before another town meeting the question of division was settled by the legislature.


A suit brought by Goodell against Baker in the Lewis Circuit, Dec. 14, 1826, before Judge Williams, in a suit of trespass de bonis asportatis, for having distrained the plaintiff's horses for a tax, assuming to act as collecter under author- ity of the northern town meeting, was decided in Goodell's favor. The defendant appealed to the Supreme Court for a new trial, which was granted in February, 1828, and the case as reported,1 gives the circumstances of the adjourn- ment, and the opinions of the Court briefly as follows :


The people at town meetings may determine the place of holding town meetings from time to time, and may adjourn to a second day and another place if they judge neces- sary. There could be no injury to the rights of any as all might attend. They were exclusive judges of the occasion; and although they might have been indiscreet, their act was still legal and the officers they elected at the adjourned meeting were legally chosen and the proper town officers.


Both parties voted in their town meetings to raise money to protect the rights of the town, and in Watson the poor


1 Cowen's Reports, viii., 287.


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Watson.


fund belonging to the town was voted to be applied to this law suit.


Settlement was begun within this town by Eliphalet Ed- monds and Jonathan Bishop, who received deeds of Tiller, agent of Castorland, on the 10th of October, 1798, for 100 and 162 acres respectively, at $2 per acre. The lots were surveyed by J. C. Chambers, and the settlers began small improvements on the banks of the river but did not long remain. The former in the fall of 1799, took up land in Adams, and the next spring became a pioneer settler in that town. Isaac Puffer1 and family soon after settled in this town, and were for several years the only inhabitants. He was the first purchaser under Watson, and built a saw mill for the proprietor on his tract near Chase's lake. In 1807, Melancthon W. Welles became the first agent of Watson, and under his direction surveys were made in Watson's west triangle by Robert McDowell soon after. Unexpected difficulties prevented Mr. Welles from forming a successful settlement at that period, and a few years after he relin- quished the agency.


The first agricultural operation of any magnitude was by Puffer, who in 1811 burnt over the great windfall on the plains east of the present bridge; and planted corn. The season was favorable, and the yield among the logs was over forty bushels to the acre. Settlement advanced many years but slowly, and many of those who undertook im- provement were of the poorer class, who possessed neither resources nor tact in encountering the difficulties which the wilderness presented. In 1823, over twenty Wurtemburghers were sent on by Watson, who paid their passage and win- ter's subsistence upon condition of three years' services, but most of them left in the spring. This is believed to have been the only attempt made by this proprietor to settle Europeans upon his lands.


Many hundred tons of bog iron ore were taken from this town to the Carthage furnace. The boat used had a burthen of from fifty to fifty-five tons, and made two trips a week .- It floated down with the current, and was pushed up stream by poles.


In former times the settlers in Watson were much an-


1 Isaac Puffer was from Princetown, Massachusetts, but had resided about ten years in Otsego county. His family were Isaac, jr., (afterwards celebrated as a Methodist preacher,) Sally (Mrs. D. Tiffany), Asa, Ebenezer, Thomas, Polly (Mrs. Russel Stone), and Josiah. Some of these brothers have been successful hunters, and Ebenezer Puffer has killed 47 wolves (five of the black variety), and bears, deer, and other wild game "in proportion." Isaac Puffer, sen., died about 1836.


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noyed by wolves, and it was found difficult to keep sheep on this account. It is said upon good authority, that 52 sheep have been destroyed by a single wolf in one night .- A most remarkable event was reported as happening in this town, July 27, 1839, nine miles east of Lowville. The house of James Ranney was left in charge of a girl twelve years old, and a child a little over a year old was sleeping on a bed in an adjoining room ; hearing the child scream, the girl sprang to the door and saw a wild animal leap from an open window with the infant in its mouth. She followed about forty rods, thinking it was a large dog, till it reached a pair of bars, where, after several times trying to leap over with its burden, it made off into the woods without it .- The child was not seriously injured. The animal proved to be a huge male panther.


An affray occurred in this town Aug. 21, 1829, between Samuel Shaw and Wm. Myers, in which the former received several large wounds from a knife. Myers was sent to state prison. He had evidently intended to provoke a quar- rel, and to kill Shaw as if in self defense.


On the 13th of March, 1837, Isaac G. Puffer, a young man, was accidentally shot by an intimate companion and play- mate of childhood, who thoughtlessly presented a gun sup- posed to be not loaded, and telling him to prepare for death, discharged its contents, killing him instantly.


The only capital execution that has hitherto occurred in Lewis county, was that of Lawrence McCarthy, for the murder of his father-in-law, Asahel Alford of this town, Nov. 15, 1838. Mr. A. had been living with McCarthy some- time, and a difficulty had been known to exist between them. One day when the two were alone, the murderer approach- ed his victim while writing, and killed him with an axe, drew him with a horse by a chain fastened around his legs to an unfrequented spot in the woods, buried him slightly with stones and brush and returned. A snow soon covered the trail, but suspicions led to a successful search, and "Larry" (as he was commonly called) was indicted for murder on the 13th of December, tried on the 13th of June, before Judge Gridley, and hung in the court room at Mar- tinsburgh on the 1st of August, 1839.


In the interval between the sentence and the execution, fears were entertained that the Irish laborers upon the canal at Boonville would attempt the rescue of their coun- tryman, and threats to this effect were freely made. To provide against this, a volunteer company was formed at Martinsburgh, under Elijah L. Thompson, and armed from


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the state arsenal at Watertown. Sentinels were stationed around the jail, and arrangements were made for resisting any attempt that might be made. The "Larry Guards " and a rifle company escorted the prisoner to the gallows and guarded the Court House while the execution was pro- gressing, and an immense crowd were drawn together by a morbid curiosity to witness the preparation, although but a few were enabled to observe the final crisis.


A few weeks before this execution, the Rev. Michael Gil- bride, a Catholic priest of Carthage, applied for a private interview with the condemned, and was refused access, un- less in the presence of the jailor. In this refusal the sher- iff had followed the letter of the statute, and the advice of the district attorney. The priest at once made personal application to the governor for his interposition or author- ity, and the latter addressed a lengthy letter to the sheriff, which scarcely amounted to more than his advice to place a charitable construction upon the law. Whether this let- ter was designed for the public eye may be surmised from the fact, that it was published in the papers before it was received by the sheriff.


In July 1849, extensive damage occurred in this town from running fires in the woods, and an extremely dry season seldom occurs without a liability to this accident. In 1822, a settlement was begun in the eastern border of the town, on No. 4, Brown's Tract, by David Barber and - · Bunce. In 1826, Orrin Fenton settled, and is still with one excep- tion, the only settler living in that part of the town. The station is highly convenient to parties hunting in winter, and fishing in summer, and is chiefly supported by them.


A Union Library was formed in this town July 14, 1829, with Nathan Snow, John Fox, Daniel C. Wickham, Joseph Webb, jr., Francis B. Taylor, Hiram Crego and Lansing Benjamin, trustees. It never became successfully organized.


A ferry, regulated by the law of public convenience, formed the first, and until 1828, the only means of crossing the river with teams in summer to this town. It was owned and kept by the Puffer family. In 1821, those interested in lands east of the river, attempted to raise the means to erect a bridge, but nothing was effected. The question continued to be under consideration until Feb., 1828, when Ozem Bush, Thomas Puffer, J. C. Herrington, Lemuel Tooley and Daniel B. Baker, were designated as trustees to receive subscriptions for a free bridge, and an appeal was published, urging the importance of the proposed measure. c*


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Watson.


As a further stimulus, an act was procured, March 29, 1828, allowing Nelson J. Beach to erect a toll bridge, and to hold the same twenty years, unless a free bridge was built before Jan., 1829. These efforts were successful, and a frame bridge was built by Tho. Puffer and finished Aug. 6, 1828. In 1832, a draw was placed in the bridge at the expense of the towns of Watson and Lowville, and a few years after, the bridge was rebuilt at the expense of the two towns.


An act passed Jan. 20, 1851, authorized a loan of $1,000 by the town of Watson, to be repaid by a tax, in from two to five years, and a loan by Lowville of $975, to rebuild the Watson bridge. The piers, abutments and draw, were built by the state in a most thorough and permanent manner, and the money raised by the two towns was applied upon the wooden superstructure of the bridge.


The balloon "Excelsior " landed in the top of a hemlock tree on the land of Mr. Nye near Passenger's mill, late in the afternoon of August 3, 1859. It contained Prof. C. C. Coe and C. H. Hull, and had made the passage from Oswego in a little over two hours. It passed over Adams, Harris- burgh, Lowville and Martinsburgh at a great elevation, and it was the intention of the æronants to gain the sea board. Perceiving the immense stretch of forest which lay beyond them to the eastward, they hastened to descend, and finally landed with much peril.1 This was the first balloon ever seen in the county except those made of paper, and inflated with air rarified by heat. Of the latter the first were sent off about 1837, at our principal villages, by an itinerant juggler as the afterpiece of his performances.


RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES .- The earliest meetings here were held by the Methodists, and in 1834, this town first appeared on the conference minutes as " to be supplied." The num- bers then claimed were 77. The Plains M. E. church was incorporated May 12, 1854, with Reuben Chase, Ira A. Stone, Eben Blakeman, Ebenezer Puffer and Adam Comstock, trustees, and the present church edifice was erected the same year. The first minister whose name appears on the minutes as assigned to this charge was the Rev. Isaac Puffer, who had spent a part of his early life in this town.2


1 Mr. Coe at the agricultural fair in Rome, Sept. 29, 1859, made an ascension in the presence of 10,000 spectators, and at the height of two miles his bal- loon burst. By a happy coincidence of circumstances, the descent was made in safety, but soon after Mr. C. received a serious injury in getting his bal- loon down from a tree which has disabled him perhaps for life.


2 The Rev. Isaac Puffer was born in Westminster, Mass., June 20, 1784, and in 1789, removed to Otsego Co,, and in 1800 to Lewis Co. In 1809 he was received on trial in the N. Y. Conference and appointed to Otsego Circuit with-


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West Turin.


Richard Lyle was stationed in 1844 ; H. O. Tilden in 1845-6; A. S. Wightman in 1847-8.


The Seventh Day Baptists formed a society in this town, May 2, 1841, but have never erected a house of worship. Their first trustees were Burdick Wells, K. Green, Daniel P. Williams and Joseph B. Davis. In 1846, they claimed 73 communicants. They now consist of about 20 families, and the school in their district is held but five days in the week.


WEST TURIN.


This town was formed from Turin, March 25, 1830, in -. cluding besides its present boundaries Montague, Osceola, High Market and all of Lewis except the portion taken from Inman's triangle. While the plan of a division of Turin was in prospect, the old town was offered townships 3, 8 and 9 by the parties desiring to be set off, and a committee was sent to Albany with a map upon which was marked the course of the hills and the extent of settlement. The county was then represented by a citizen of Turin village who re- garded the wild lands then attached to the town as poor ; and reasoning upon the principle that poor lands make poor settlers, and that the poor tax of the town would be propor- tioned accordingly, refused to listen to any plan which left these lands with the old town. The parties asking for a division yielded without a struggle the point which secured to them over $350 in non-resident taxes annually, and the old town's people displayed a black flag at half mast and evinced other signs of displeasure upon receiving news of the division.


The lands rated as poor had not then seen the peep of day, for the dairying interest had not begun to be developed, and tracts which as yet, from their elevated location, had failed to succeed in grain, might have been well regarded as destined to afford a meagre profit to the farmer. These very lands are now found admirably adapted to grazing, and less liable to drouth than the lower and otherwise more favored tracts that were the earliest taken up by settlers.


in the newly formed Genesee Conference. He continued to labor in central and northern New York, until 1843, when by his own request, he was placed on the supernumerary list, and in 1848, he removed to Illinois. He preached occasionally until Dec. 1853, when a severe illness prevented further use- fulness. He died at Lighthouse Point, Ogle Co. Ill., May 25, 1854. A strik- ing peculiarity in his preaching, was the facility and correctness with which he quoted scripture, always naming the place where found. This custom gave him the appellation of " Chapter and Verse " by which he was often known among his friends. His citations sometimes exceeded a hundred in a sermon, and had generally a close relation to the argument in hand.


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West Turin.


Supervisors .- 1830, Martin Hart ; 1831, James McVickar ; 1832, Aaron Foster; 1833-4, Peter Rea; 1835-6, Anthony W. Collins ; 1837, David A. Stiles ; 1838, Seth Miller ; 1839-40, Horace Johnson ; 1841-2, Edmund Baldwin ; 1843, Owen J. Owens ; 1844, S. Miller ; 1845-6, Wm. R. Wadsworth ; 1847-8, S. Miller ; 1849-50, Jonathan C. Collins ; 1851, S. Miller ; 1852-4, V. R. Waters ; 1855, W. R. Wadsworth ; 1856, Homer Collins ; 1857, Hiram T. Felshaw ; 1858, Riley Parsons ; 1859-60, Schuyler C. Thompson.


Clerks .- 1830, Seth Miller, jr. (resigned), Wm. R. Wads- worth appointed and continued till 1844 ; 1845, Ela G. Stod- dard; 1846, Robert W. Bennett ; 1847, V. R. Waters ; 1848, Charles M. Goff; 1849, W. R. Wadsworth ; 1850, C. M. Goff ; 1851, V. R. Waters ; 1852, Luman L. Fairchild ; 1853-4, W. R. Wadsworth; 1855, C. M. Goff; 1856, John C. Stiles ; 1857-9, W. R. Wadsworth.


West Turin now includes parts of townships 2 and 4, or Flora and Pomona of Constable's Four Towns. Of these the former belongs to the Pierrepont estate, and its settlement is modern as compared with the latter, upon which Nathan- iel Shaler commenced settlement in 1796.1 In the summer of 1795 Shaler sent a man to explore these lands, and late in that year he concluded the purchase noticed in the his- tory of Turin. The Stows were his competitors for the tract, but Shaler at length secured it and at once took active measures for establishing a settlement.


A road was run from fort Stanwix, and early in 1796, John Ives,2 the pioneer settler, came on with his family and


1 Mr. Shaler was a prominent merchant of Middletown, Ct., and towards the close of the last century, was residing in New York, and concerned in the West India trade. He there became acquainted with Mr. Constable and pur- chased one half of townships 3 and 4 of Constable's four towns, and became his agent for the undivided remainder. He was accustomed to spend his sum- mers here during several years, but never removed his family. He soon after undertook the settlement of lands on the Connecticut Reserve in Ohio, where he owned the towns of Shalersville, Middletown, Bazetta and a part of Me- dina. He died at Middletown, Ct., May 1816.


A daughter of Mr. Shaler married Commodore McDonough, the hero of Plattsburgh.


His son, William Denning Shaler, resided many years in this town, and died in New York, May 18, 1842.


2 Major Ives removed a few years after to a farm 24 miles north of Turin village, where he died of a cancer, March 13, 1828, in his 66th year. His wife survived until Feb. 12, 1841. He was a native of Meriden, Ct., and re- sided at New Hartford about a year previous to his removal to this town. He was appointed sheriff in 1810, and was a highly esteemed and valuable citi- zen, systematic and successful in business, and a man of much influence in the county. His homestead is now owned by his son Selden Ives. Another son George, formerly of this town now resides in Chicago. John Ives, the oldest son, died in California.


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West Turin.


built his first rude bark shelter by the side of a large elm tree, which was felled late in the evening of their arrival. This formed their dwelling for a few days, until a regular log cabin could be built. In reaching this spot the family was compelled to cross swolen streams upon the trunks of fallen timber, and carry their goods across these treacherous bridges at great peril. The family had tarried in Leyden a few days, while Mr. Ives went forward and explored the town for a location of 400 acres which he was allowed to select from the whole tract. The final removal of the house- hold did not take place till April.


During the summer, about twenty young men were hired by Shaler to put up a saw mill, which was got in operation in the fall, and during the summer great numbers from Mid- dletown, Meriden, and towns adjacent came in and selected farms. Among these were Joshua Rockwell,1 Levi Ives,2 Nathan Coe,3 Elisha Scovill,4 Daniel Higby, Levi Hough,5 William Hubbard,6 James Miller,7 Ebenezer Allen,8 and perhaps others, the most of whom began clearings and made preparations for their families but returned back to Con- necticut in the fall. But two families spent the long dreary winter in the town, a winter which has had few equals in intensity of cold and depth of snow. Mr. Ives had occa- sion to go to Connecticut and left his family with a large supply of wood and a stock of provisions, sufficient to last till his return. He was absent six weeks, and in the mean time the snow fell five feet deep, cutting off all communica- tion with the world. At length a young man named Caleb Rockwell reached the cabin on snow shoes to see whether the family were alive and well, and a few days after he re- turned with his sister, and the tedious solitude was soon after relieved by the return of the husband, and with him several new settlers. Soon after this, the roof of the cabin was crushed in by the snow, and had not the beams of the gar-


1 Mr. Rockwell died March 2, 1825, aged 83 years.


2 Brother of John Ives and father of Levi Silliman Ives, late bishop of the Protestant Episcopal church in North Carolina, and now an ecclesiastic in the Roman Catholic church. Levi Ives became melancholy from want of pros- perity, and drowned himself in Bear creek, near Black river, June 19, 1815. 3 From Middlefield. He died Feb. 27, 1845, aged 76 years.


4 From Meriden, Ct. Mr. Scovill had several children who settled in this town and became heads of families. Hezekiah and Elisha Scovill were his sons.


5 Born at Meriden, Ct., May 2, 1773. Removed to this town in 1798, and to Martinsburgh in 1814, where he died Aug. 21, 1853.


6 Mr. Hubbard is said to have built the first framed house in town.


7 Second son of Richard Miller. He came April 29, 1796, when 18 years of


age. He is still living in this town.


8 Died March 1, 1829, aged 60 years.


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West Turin.


ret floor been strong, the whole family would have been buried in the ruin.


During the second summer, Jonathan Collins,1 Seth Mil- ler,2 Reuben Scovil,3 Aaron Parsons,4 Willard Allen,5 Eli-


1 Jonathan Collins was born at Wallingford, Ct., May 3, 1755, served in the Revolution, for which he drew a pension, and emigrated from Meriden to this town in 1797. He arrived in Marcli, and had great difficulty in crossing Sugar river then swollen by the spring flood. The goods were got across on a tree, the horses were made to swim the stream, and the sleigh was drawn over by a rope attached to the neap. He selected a valuable tract for a farm, and having considerable means, he was enabled to begin settlement to advan- tage, and to maintain through life an independence in property, which was surpassed by but few in the county. He was early selected as a magistrate and judge, and from 1809 to 1815, lie served as the first judge of the county court. In 1820 he was chosen a presidential elector. Few citizens have en- joyed to a greater degree the confidence of the public, and in the various trusts reposed in him by the town and county, he uniformly evinced strict integrity, sound judgment, and a scrupulous regard for the public welfare. His brother, Gen. Oliver Collins of Oneida co., was in service on the frontier in the war of 1812-15. His sons were :


Levi, born Feb. 24, 1778, long a merchant at Collinsville, and a member of assembly in 1813. He died March 31, 1819.


Selden, born May 22, 1780. Died at Ogdensburgh June 13, 1857.


Homer, born May 15, 1788. Member of Assembly in 1858. Resides at Collinsville.


Anthony Wayne, born February 10, 1797. Resides at Turin village.


Jonathan C., born January 30, 1804. Presidential elector in 1852, and member of assembly in 1854. Resides on the homestead. Judge Collins died April 6, 1845, aged 90 years.


2 This family was from Canaan, Ct. Seth Miller was a son of Benjamin Miller, and settled a short distance west of Constableville, where he died Feb. 20, 1855, aged 75 years. His sons were, Sylvester, a physician of Low- ville, whose death we have noticed on page 155, James, a physician, who settled in Johnstown, Timothy, first merchant of Constableville, now de- ceased, Benjamin, who removed west and died, Seth, merchant of Constable- ville, elsewhere noticed, and Edwin, who resides on the homestead. He had four daughters.


3 Died July 9, 1846, aged 77 years.


4 Died Aug. 26, 1854, aged 84 years. He was a son of Elder Stephen Par- sons, and father of Aaron Parsons, jr., sheriff in 1853, and member of assem- bly in 1855.


Eld. Stephen Parsons was thrice married and had eleven children, six of whom removed to the Black river country before he moved from Whitestown himself.


Aaron was the oldest. His sister Eleanor married Elisha Cone and died in this town August, 1853, aged 82.


Stephen died in Denmark in 1832, aged 56 years.


Ichabod still resides in Denmark at an advanced age. He was several years a judge in the county court.


Elthu, half brother of the above, died in Pompey, N. Y., in 1842. His sister Betsey married Elijah Clark of Denmark, and died in 1833, aged 53.


Comfort, eldest son by third marriage, resides at Wales Centre, N. Y.


Johnson was a physician, served in the war and was taken prisoner. He died in Florida July 30, 1820. His sister Sally married Johnson Foster of Turin. Grace, another sister, married Isaac Foster, and died in California in 1859. Ann, the youngest, married Mr. Crane of Denmark. The death of Eld. Parsons has been noticed on page 93.


5 Mr. Allen was a surveyor and farmer.


He died Sept. 18, 1850, aged 77 years.


л. С. Висте.


Jonathan Collins


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West Turin.


sha Crofoot,1 James T. Ward, Philemon Hoadley,2 William and Abner Rice, Elder Stephen Parsons, Jesse Miller, Wil- liam Daniels,3 Ebenezer and Elijah Wadsworth,4 and others. During the second season Mr. Shaler completed the first grist mill erected in the county. It stood upon Sugar river not far from the place where it issues from the hills:


Within the next three years the whole town below the hill, and an extensive tract west of Constableville was taken up by settlers. Among these pioneers were Aaron Foster, 5 Ebenezer Baldwin,6 Cephas Clark," James and Levi Miller,8 Elisha Cone,9 Dr. Horatio G. Hough, Roswell Woodruff,10 Richard Coxe,11 Wm. Coleman,12 and Josiah P. Raymond, 13




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