USA > New York > Franklin County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 28
USA > New York > St Lawrence County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 28
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The fact of exposing for sale any green deerskin or fresh venison, or having the same in his possession, during the above months, was to be deemed a violation of this law, unless the person having the same in his possesion, should be able to prove that the animals to which they be- longed, were killed by some other person. Complaint is to be made to a justice of the peace, who may issue a warrant for search for fresh veni- son, or deerskins,
No person was allowed to kill any wild buck, doe or fawn, in the town of Duane, during three years from January 1, 1850.
No person allowed to kill the above animals in Franklin, Dickinson, Brandon or Harrietstown, except in September, October and November.
Hunting any wild buck, doe or fawn, at any time with dogs or hounds, forbidden.
The taking of fish of any description, at any time with a seine or net in any lake or pond in the county of Franklin, in the south of townships Nos. 5 and 7, of Macomb's purchase, great lot number 1, and of town ship number 7, of the old military tract, or in any streams coming into or connecting said ponds or lakes, was forbidden under a penalty of $5. The same penalty for setting any trap, or spear for deer at any time.
233
AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
The above penalties were to be prosecuted and recovered by the over- seers of the poor of the town where the offence may be committed, and an action to be valid must be commenced within three months from the commission of the offence. This act took effect January 1, 1850.
The board passed an act, November 20, 1849, providing for a bounty of $15 to be paid for the destruction of wolves, and half that sum for wolf whelps, and $5 for every panther.
One half of all bounties for the destruction of noxious animals, is to be charged to the treasurer of the state. The usual precautions were to be observed by persons granting these certificates, that certificates be granted to none but those entitled to receive them, according to the true intent and meaning of the act.
1850. The following accounts were audited by the several town boards :
Bangor,
$471.65
Duane,
$364.99
Bellmont,
446-80
Fort Covington
741.13
Bombay,
637.91
Franklin
299 40
Brandon,
219.09
Harrietstown,
344.51
Burke,
631.64
Malone,
1,172-15
Chateaugay,
668.02
Moira,
580 89
Constable,
409.24
Westville,
476.13
Dickinson,
584.89
County charges, $9,505.13
The member of assembly from this county, requested by the board to use his influence to procure the repeal of the act providing for the registration of births, deaths and marriages, and of the present militia system.
$500 appropriated for the erection of a new clerk's office, and William Andrus and Joseph R. Flanders, appointed a committee for superintend- ing the building of the same.
1851. The following accounts were audited by the several town boards:
Bangor
$341.26
Duane,
$275.73
Bellmont,
416.52
Fort Covington,
447.16
Bombay,
455.63
Franklin,
589.63
Brandon,
329.06
Harrietstown,
428.55
Burke,
489.69
Malone,
613.22
Chateaugay,
450.31
Moira,
435.53
Constable,
448.37
Westville,
449.21
Dickinson,
475.32
County charges, $7,713.55
Included in the above, was $1,949.23 for school fund, $1,500 for the poor, $1,700 for contingencies, $100 for the deaf, dumb and blind, and $600 for a clerk's office.
, Resolved, That the board will not make any assessment under the military act, during this session,
$1,500 raised for the poor,
234
HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
$600 raised for the clerk's office, erected the previous year.
Hugh Martin, of Franklin, Guy Meigs, of Malone, and Buel II. Man, of Westville, appointed plank road inspectors.
The treasurer authorized and required, on or after the first day of Oc- tober next, to loan on the credit of the county, from the state, $5000, for a period not exceeding ten years, payable in installments as the board of supervisors may direct, the interest not to exceed six per cent, payable annually, for the repair aud lowering of the court house, and for the con- struction of a new jail and jailor's house, between the court house and clerk's office, and to be expended under the direction of a committee of three, to be chosen for the purpose.
The wolf bounty reduced to $10. All other bounties repealed. The salary of the county judge fixed at $700.
James Duane, of Duane, William Andrews, of Malone, and H. B. Smith, of Chateaugay, appointed a committee to superintend the erection of the jail, and repair of the court house, as contemplated in a previous resolution. Mr. Smith having asked to be excused from serving on the building committee, Guy Meigs, of Malone, was appointed in his place.
In pursuance of this resolution, a very neat and substantial sheriff's house and jail, has been erected between the new clerk's office, and the court house, from a design by Mr. F. Pelletier, the draftsman, in the em- ployment of the northern railroad company. The material is sandstone, from the quarries in Malone, of which we shall have occasion to speak at a future time.
The court house which originally stood on a commanding eminence, has been lowered to the level of the other buildings.
The return for 1852, were received too late for insertion. Our object in laying before the reader the foregoing statistics, was to show that in numerous instances, the town expenses have been disproportionate to the population and wealth of the respective towns. At this session, the spearing of fish in any of the waters, &c., of Nos. 4,5, 6, 7, and in No. 7 mile tract, or fishing witli seines, nets or night lines in the same, was for- bidden under a penalty of $15. This act was to take effect Jan. 1, 1853. The killing of deer in Duane, forbidden. The sum of $100 voted for clothing 5 pupils in the Deaf and Dumb Institute, N. Y., and $156 for supporting 2 insane persons, in the state asylum. $500 raised in Burke, for a town house. Salary of the district attorney $400, payable quarterly . A strong remonstrance against the militia law, passed. $2,649-44, raised for schools. $1000 for lowering and repairing court house.
The amount of county charges audited, $11,000. Expenses of session, $683.88.
235
AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
CHAPTER IV.
-
HISTORY OF THE LAND TITLES.
HE title of lands, by an established law recognized by all civilized nations, is naturally vested in the primitive occu- pants, and can not be taken from them justly, without their consent.
" The law of occupancy, or the taking possession of those things which belong to nobody," says Blackstone * " is the true ground and foundation of all property, or of holding those things in severality, which by the law of nature, unqualified by that of society, were common to all mankind .. But when once it was agreed, that everything capable of ownership, should have an owner, natural reason suggested that he who should first declare his intention of appropriating any thing to his own use, and in consequence of such intention, actually took it into possess- ion, should thereby gain the absolute property of it."
The manner in which the primitive title to soil was extinguished, has been detailed in our second chapter. Soon after the revolution, there began to be evinced a strong tendency for the extension of the settle- ments, to which the newly acquired freedom gave an impulse before unknown. As a natural consequence, this led to a series of specula- tions, on a scale proportionate to the) progressive movement; and it will be noticed that many of those who engaged in these operations, had been associated in the camp, and had thus acquired by frequent contact, that familiarity with each others character, and that degree of mutual confidence, which led to the exercise of trust, and reliance upon honor, in many of the negotiations, which they carried on, to an extent, un-, known at the present day.
But little was known of the country at the time of purchase, beyond that which lay on the border of the St. Lawrence river. Previous to the revolutionary war, an extensive portion of the state, on the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, and to a great distance on each side of these, had been granted in patents by the English crown, and surveyed. The most northern of these was "Totten's and Crossfield's purchase," which forms the southern boundary of our two counties.
This was purchased at the request and expense of Joseph Totten, and
* Commentaries on the laws of England. Book 2, chap. 16.
236
HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
Stephen Crossfield and others, from the Mohawk and Canajoharie tribes of Indians, at Johnson's Hall, in Tryon county, in the month of July, 1773. It was described as lying on the west side of Hudson river, and contained by estimation about 800,000 acres of land .*
This is believed to have been subsequently confirmed by a Royal grant.
The surveyors employed in running out the tract, found it a ragged and inhospitable wilderness, and the further north they went the worse they found it, from which it was inferred that the whole northern country was of the same character.t
In a map of Canada and the north part of Louisiana, in Jeffery's French Dominions in America, the country north of this' tract, is de- scribed as the "deer hunting grounds of the Iroquois. Map No. 74, in Delisle's Atlas of 1785, (state library;) names it and the north of Vermont " Irocoisia," or the land of the Iroquois, and in an old map, republished in the 4th volume of the Documentary History of the state, it is called, Coughsagrage, or the beaver hunting country of the Six Nations. Across our two counties is written the following sentence :
" Through this tract of Land, runs a Chain of Mountains, which from Lake Champlain on one side, and the River St. Lawrence on the other side, shew their tops always white with snow, but altho this one unfa- vorable circumstance, has hitherto secured it from the claws of the Harpy Land Jobbers, yet no doubt it is as fertile as the Land on the East side of the Lake, and will in future furnish a comfortable retreat for many Industrious Families.
A desire to promote the settlement of the state, led the legislature to take early measures for bringing into market the unpatented lands. .
An act was passed, May 5, 1786, entitled " an act for the speedy sale of the unappropriated lands of the state," creating land commissioners, and empowering them to dispose of such unsold lands as they might see proper, within the limits of the state. The outlines of the tracts were first to be run into townships of 64,000 acres, as nearly square as circum- stances would permit. Each township was to be subdivided into mile square lots, to be numbered in arithmetical progression, from first to last, and on every fourth township was to be written, " to be sold by single lots." The maps so numbered and lotted, were to be filed in the secretary's office, and the original thereof in the surveyor general's office;
"And the said secretary and surveyor general respectively, shall cause maps so to be filed, to be put up in some conspicuous part of their re- spective offices, and shall permit any person whatever, freely to inspect such maps, between the hours of nine and twelve in the morning, and three and six in the afternoon in every day, Sundays only excepted, on
* See MSS., Council Minutes, vol. 31, p 31.
t On the authority of Henry E. Pierrepont, Esq., ef Brooklyn.
237
AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
paying for inspecting in morning six-pence, and the like in the after- noon.
Advertisement for the sale of these lands at public vendue, was to be duly given. The surveyor general was to put up as nearly as might be, one quarter part of the unappropriated and unreserved lands in every township, in lots contiguous to each other, and sell them to the highest bidder; reserving five acres out of every hundred for roads, but not sell- ing any land for a less price than one shilling an acre.
The first, and every fourth township, was to be sold in single lots. One fourth of the purchase money was to be paid down, and the re- mainder was due within sixty days.
In every township the surveyor general was directed to mark one lot " gospel and schools," and another "for promoting literature," which lots were to be as nearly central as may be. The former was reserved for the support of the gospel and schools in the town, but the latter was re- served for promoting literature within the state.
The land commissioners were directed to designate each township which they might lay out, by such name as they might deem proper, and such name was to be respectively mentioned in the letters patent, for granting a township or part of a township.
It was made a condition that there should be an actual settlement made for every six hundred and forty acres, which may be granted to any person or persons, within seven years from the first day of January next, after the date of the patent by which such lands shall be granted; in failure of which the lands would revert to the people of the state.
Accordingly, in pursuance of powers vested in them, the board above created, on the 25th of May, 1787, passed the following resolution :
" Resolved, That the surveyor general be, and he is hereby required and directed, to lay down, on a map, two ranges of townships for sale, each township to contain as nearly as may be 64,000 acres, and as nearly in a square as local circumstances will permit, and to 'subdivide each town- ship into lots, as nearly square as may be, and each lot to contain 640 acres, as nearly as may be.
That each range contain five townships adjoining each other, and one of the said ranges to be bounded on the River St. Lawrence, and the said ten townships to be laid out within the following limits and bounds, to wit:
Between a line to be run S. 28°. E., from a point or place on the south- 'ern bank of the River St. Lawrence, bearing S. 28º E. from the N. W. end of the Isle au Long Saut, and a line parallel with the said first line, and also to run from the south bank of the said river, and the said paral- lel lines to be distant fifty miles from each other, and that the said sur- veyor general advertise the said townships, and proceed to the sale there- of, agreeable to law, and that two of the said townships be sold in single lots."
(Land Office Minutes, vol. i, p. 256.)
238
HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
The value of this tract was then but little known, and of the position and courses of lakes and streams, there was scarcely more knowledge than we now possess of Central Africa. The shores of the river were well known, and served as a guide in the laying out of the ten towns. 1
Accordingly, in pursuance of the statute, the following advertisement appeared in the papers. We copy from the Albany Gazette of June 7, 1787:
By virtue of an act of the Legislature entitled ' An act for the speedy sale of the unappropriated lands within this state, and for other pur- poses therein mentioned,' passed the 5th of May, 1786, and pursuant to a resolution of the Honorable the Commissioners of the Land Office :-
TEN TOWNSHIPS OF UNAPPROPRIATED LANDS,
On the southeast side of the RIVER ST. LAWRENCE, will be sold at Pub- lic Vendue, at the Coffee House in the City of NEW YORK. The sale to commence on TUESDAY, the 10th of JULY next, at XI o'clock, in the fore- noon. Maps are filed for inspection in the offices of the Secretary of the State, and Surveyor General.
The fourth and eighth Townships, will be sold by single Lots, the rest by Quarters of Townships.
Such securities as are made receivable by law on the sales of forfeited lands, will be received in payment. The one Quarter of the Purchase Money on the day of sale, and the remainder within sixty days after.
June, 1787.
SIMEON DEWITT, Surveyor General.
The names of the ten townships were established by a formal reso- lution of the commissioners of the land office, Sept. 10, 1787,* and with their corresponding numbers were as follows:
1. LOUISVILLE. 6. CANTON.
2. STOCKHOLM.
7. DEKALB.
3. POTSDAM.
8. OSWEGATCHIE.
4. MADRID.
9. HAGUE.
5. LISBON.
10. CAMBRAY.
They have been known by these names exclusively, and not by their numbers. All but the last two, are still retained. No. 9 was changed to Morristown, and No. 10 to Gouverneur. Three new towns have since been formed of these, viz: Macomb, from Gouverneur and Morristown; Depeyster, from Dekalb and Oswegatchie; and Norfolk, from Stockholm and Louisville.
A part of Hague has also been attached to Hammond, and of Dekalb to Hermon.
In accordance with the law, and previous advertisement, an auction sale took place at the Merchant's Coffee-house, in the city of New York, at the time advertised, at which the ten towns were offered for sale, in
* Land Office Minutes, vol, i, p. 264 Secretary's office.
239
AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
. quarters, except Oswegatchie and Madrid, which were sold in mile squares.
The obvious intention of the law in causing these lands to be offered in small parcels, was to afford an opportunity for those of limited means to compete at the sales; but this intention was defeated by a previous agreement, it is said, among the purchasers, in which they delegated one of their number to bid, and agreed to not compete in the sale.
The principal purchaser was Alexander Macomb, who subsequently acted a distinguished part in the northern land purchases.
Mr. Macomb had, for many years, resided in Detroit, and is said to have been a fur trader.
In the course of his business, he had often passed up and down the St. Lawrence, and thus became acquainted with the general aspect and probable value of the lands, and better qualified to engage in these pur- chases, than most of his associates.
To cover the private agreement, certain persons were employed to bid for Macomb, and the lots so sold were subsequently conveyed to him be- fore patenting. In this manner, lots Nos. 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20 and 21, in Madrid, were bid off by Michael Connoly; lots Nos. 47, 56 and 57, in the same town, by John Meyers; lots Nos. 48 and 49, in the same town, by Daniel McCormick; lots Nos. 18 and 19, in Oswegatchie, by John Meyers; and lot No. 23, in the same, by Thomas McFarren, and after- ward made over to Macomb .*
The ten townships were sold as follows, to the original patentees, lots Nos. 55, 56 were not included in the first patents, but were sold long after.
Reference is made to the volume and page of patents, in the office of the secretary of state, where they are recorded. The quarters were numbered as follows: No. 1, the northeast ; No. 2, the southeast; No. 3, the southwest; and No. 4, the northwest quarters. The gospel and school lot (No. 55), usually came out of No. 3, and the literature lot (No. 56), out of No. 2. As these towns were designated to be each ten miles square, the full quarters (1 and 4) would contain 16,000 acres, and the smaller quarters (2 and 3) 15,360 acres.
It may be proper here to notice, that the reserve for roads has seldom or never been regarded by subsequent purchasers, or made a condition in their deeds. The reserves of gold and silver mines, have, of course, proved superfluous.
1. Louisville, patented in quarters, to Alexander Macomb, on the 17th of December, 1787 (b. 20, p. 64).
* Land Office Minutes, vol. ii, p. 4.
240
HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
The literature lot was patented to Erastus Hall, January 18, 1833 (b. 32, p. 10).
A tier of lots numbered from 1 to 12, along the St. Lawrence, sold June 4, 1788, to John Taylor (b. 20, p. 311, 322).
These contained 500 acres each.
2. Stockholm was patented in quarters, to Alexander Macomb, Dec. 17, 1787 (b. 20, p. 68 to 70).
The literature lot was sold to Henry Foster, September 25, 1834 (b, 32, p. 265).
3. Potsdam was patented in quarters, to Alexander Macomb, Dec. 17. 1787 (b. 50, p. 72, 75).
4. Madrid was sold in lots of 640 acres, or one mile square each, as follows:
1 to 6, to Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, June 4, 1788 (b. 20, p. 332).
7 to 49, to Alexander Macomb, but on different dates, viz :
7 to 10. Dec. 17, 1787 (b. 20, p. 96-99).
11. April 19, 1788 ( 267). 12. Dec. 17, 1787 ( 100).
13-14. April 19, 1788 ( 268-9). 15. Dec. 17, 1787 (
101). 16. April 19, 1788 (
270).
17-18. 66
19. Dec. 17, 1787
271-2). 101).
20-21. April 19, 1788 ( 273-4).
22 to 30. Dec. 17, 1797 ( 104-112).
31 to 46. Dec. 20, 1787 ( 66 112-127).
47 to 49. April 19, 1787 ( 275-277).
51. Literature lot sold to Thomas Peacock, March 24, 1837 (b. 33, p. 226).
52 to 95, to Alexander Macomb, but at different times, as follows:
52 to 55. Dec. 20, 1787 (b. 20, p. 128-131).
56-57. April 19, 1788 ( 66 278-9).
58 to 86. Dec. 20, 1787 (
132-160).
87 to 95. Dec. 22, 1787
161-169).
The river lots of 500 acres each, numbered from 12 to 17, sold to John Taylor, June 4, 1788 (b. 20, p. 322).
6. Canton, was patented in quarters to Alexander Macomb, Dec. 16, 1787, (b. 20, p. 80, 83). The literature lot was conveyed to the trustees, of Lowville Academy, Nov. 20, 1818 (b. 26, p. 678).
7. Dekalb, was patented in quarters to Macomb, Dec. 17, 1787, (b. 20 p. 84, 87). The gospel and school lot was subdivided and sold in small lots to individuals between 1829 and 1836.
The literature lot, was subdivided and sold in small parcels to in- dividuals, between 1829 and 1834.
241
AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
8. Oswegatchie, was patented in mile squares, as follows:
1 to 9, to Alexander Macomb, Dec. 22, 1787, (b. 20, p. 170, 175). 10, to Henry Remsen, Jun. Oct. 15, 1787, (b. 20, p. 55).
11 to 12, (the latter of 1160 acres) to John Taylor, June 4, 1788 (b. 20, p. 328).
13, to Henry Remsen, Jun., Oct. 15, 1787 (b. 20, p. 56). 500 acres at the mouth of Oswegatchie river, to John Taylor, April 22, 1789, (b. 21, p. 178).
14 to 15, (1700 acres) to John Taylor, June 4, 1788 )b. 20, p. 329).
16 to 17, to Henry Remsen, Jun., Oct. 15, 1787 (b. 20, p. 54, 58).
18 to 53, to Alexander Macomb, Dec. 22, 1787 (b. 20, p. 180, 201).
54,
Dec. 24, 1787 (b. 20, p. 210).
57 to 100, 66 66 Dec. 24, 1787 (b. 20, p. 211, 244). 500 acres to John Taylor, April 22, 1789 (b. 21, p. 178).
9. Hague, was patented in quarters to Macomb, Dec. 17, 1787, (b. 20, p. 88, 91).
The greater part of the gospel and school lots of this town came in Black Lake.
10. Cambray, was patented in quarters to Alexander Macomb, Dec. 17, 1787 (b. 20, p. 92).
On the 4th of July, 1788, Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, conveyed to Ma- comb, for £275, lots No. 1 to 6, in Madrid, and 10 and 11, in Lisbon. (Sec's office. Deeds, b. 2, 4, p. 305.)
On the same date Taylor sold his lands to Macomb, containing 10,830 acres, for £580. These were lots No. 1 to 11 in Louisville, containing 5,500 acres; No. 12, in Madrid and Louisville, of 500 acres; No. 13 to 17, in Madrid, containing 2,500 acres; and No. 11 to 15, in Oswegatchie, containing 2,330 acres. (b. 24, p. 307.)
On the 5th of April, 1788, Henry Remsen, conveyed to Macomb, for £120, the four lots he had bid off in Oswegatchie.
Macomb thus became the nominal owner of nearly the whole of the ten towns.
On the 16th of April, 1791, he appointed Gouverneur Morris, then in France, his attorney, to sell any portions of the ten towns which he might deem proper, excepting a tract in Lisbon previously sold .*
So far as our information extends, no sales were made by virtue of this power.
By an instrument executed May 3, 1792, Macomb conveyed to Samuel Ogden, in trust for himself, Gen. Henry Knox, Robert Morris, and Gouverneur Morris, four of his associates, for the consideration of £3,200,
* See Deeds, b. 23, p. 146. Secretary's office.
242
HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
the four townships of Hague, Cambray, Oswegatchie, and Dekalb, with the stipulation that Ogden should convey to H. Knox, 44,114 acres; to R. Morris, 60,641 acres, and to Gouverneur Morris, 60,641 acres of this tract .*
In 1792, Macomb became involved by transaction with Wm. Duer, Isaac Whippo, and others of New York,t by which he was compelled to assign his interest in a tract of land of 1920,000 acres, for the benefit of his creditors, to William Edgar and Daniel McCormick.
On the same date with the foregoing, be sold to Wm. Constable, for £1,500, the towns of Madrid, Potsdam, and the west half of Stockholm, and Louisville, and to William Edgar, for £12,000, the towns of Lisbon, and Canton, excepting a tract in the former, previously sold to John Tibbets. The towns of Potsdam and Canton, appear to have been at first included in this conveyance, which Edgar in an instrument dated Oct. 24, 1793, į acknowledged to have been a deed of trust, and obligated himself to reconvey the same to Macomb when required.
The failure of Macomb, was in some way connected with a bank which it was attempted to get established, as a rival of the Bank of New York, in 1792. He was very much blamed for the course he took in the matter, and on his failure, was lodged in the debtor's prison. It is said that even in this retreat he was assailed by a rabble, and owed his preservation only to the strength of the building.
At the time this embarrassment occurred, Macomb was largely indebted to Alexander Ellice, and others of London. To satisfy this debt, he had conveyed on the 6th of June, 1792, the towns of Lisbon, Canton, Madrid and Potsdam, with the west half of Lousville and Stockholm, but Ellice disclaimed this transfer, and quit claimed his title to the conveyance.
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