USA > New York > Franklin County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 39
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 39
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The endorsements show that no interest was demanded on this mort- gage from 1791 to 1796 inclusive, for this reason.
The author is indebted to Amos Bacon, Esq., of Ogdensburgh, with whom is the original mortgage, for a knowledge of the above fact.
The first white settler was Andrew O'Neal, from Canada, but origin- ally from Ireland, who crossed the St. Lawrence in 1799, and settled about two miles below the present village of Gallooville. The town was then being surveyed for the proprietors, by Reuben Sherwood, a Canadian. Amos Lay, Isaac Beach, and William Preston, at different times surveyed the town into farms. Tibbets's tract was principally surveyed by Daniel W. Church. O'Neil employed men from Canada to build him a house. Early in February, 1800, Alexander J. Turner, of Salem, Washington county, came into town by way of Lake Champlain, as agent for the proprietors, and located on an eminence half a mile west of the present mills, having taken up the first three river lots, joining Tibbets's tract. He continued as agent till 1805, when he was succeeded by Louis Hasbrouck, of Ogdensburgh. He died March, 1806. At his death he was a judge of the court of common pleas, and formed one of the bench at its first organization. Peter Sharp and Peter Hinion, Ger- mans, from Schoharie, came in 1800, took up farms and erected houses near the present mills. John Tibbets, of Troy, also came in and settled on his tract .* In 1801, Reuben Turner,t Wm. Shaw, Lemuel Hoskins, Wm. Lyttle, James Aikens, and Benjamin Steward, mostly from Ver- mont, moved into the town. Matthew Perkins, from Becket, Mass., Wesson Briggs and Hezekiah Pierce, also came into town, and settled in the same year. The three latter were connected by marriage with the family of Tibbets. The first birth was in the family of J. Tibbets, in September, 1800.
* Mr. Tibbets died in Detroit, September 23, 1826, at the age of 53.
1 Mr. Turner was a soldier of the revolution, and died July, 1833, aged 92.
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Many of the first settlers were from Washington county. In 1802, John,* Samuel, William, and James, sons of William Lyttle, Richard and John Flack, - Crosset, Isaac and Elihu Gray, John McCrea and sons, John Jr., Samuel and Alexander, and others; and during the years 1803, '4, '5, and '6, a very large number arrived, among whom was Robert Livingston, who held the office of county judge from 1810 to 1829, and from whom most of the above facts are derived.
The first mill in Lisbon, was built for the proprietors in 1804, by D. W. Church, millwright. It had two run of rock stones and a saw mill, under the same roof, and from its being painted red, it long bore the name of the Red Mills, by which it is still often called by the old in- habitants, although the old mill has long since given place to the present substantial stone building on the Gallop rapid. The original mill was fifty by seventy feet, and three stories high. In 1803, Dr. Joseph W. Smith, the first regular physician in the county, settled and remained two years.
In 1813, great numbers died of the epidemic which pervaded the country at that time, and Lisbon is said to have suffered more severely than any other town in the county. In 1816-7, was much suffering from want of provisions, in consequence of short crops from cold summers. It is said that more corn was raised on the Gallop island, and in a field of eleven acres on Livingston's point, in 1816, than in all the rest of St. Lawrence county. Some local cause appears to have favored these localities, and the yield was bountiful. Common corn sold for $2.50 per bushel, and seed corn for $5. Potatoes were sold for $1 per bushel.
An incident happened during the war, which excited much attention at the time, and may be deemed worthy of record. A company of some sixty dragoons had been stationed for some time in the fall of 1813, at the house of Peter Wells, four or five miles back from the river on the road to Canton. About thirteen of these had come to "the mills," and were stopping at an inn kept by one Scott. A sufficient guard of sen- tries was stationed around the house, but during the night a party of two hundred men from Canada, having landed at Tibbets's point about mid- night, surprised the sentinels and surrounded the house, where the dra- goons were supposed to be, but not until several of them had escaped. One named Smith was shot, and another one, Mercer, was wounded. The latter was brutally stabbed several times after resistance ceased,
* Captain John Lyttle died in Lisbon, June 28, 1843, at the age of 64. He was a citizen of that town nearly forty years, and held several civil and military offices. During the war of 1812-15, he held the office of captain of a rifle corps, and was in several of the battles on the western frontier. For more than twenty years he held the office of justice of the peace in the town of Lisbon.
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and he was left for dead, but subsequently recovered. Two dragoons, Scott and his son, and all of the horses that could be found, were taken to Canada. It is said that these dragoons made a very gallant resistance, and that it was found impossible to take Smith and Mercer alive. The house where this affair took place is still standing.
During the cholera panic of 1832, a board of health was formed; Dr. Wooster Carpenter appointed health officer, and the St. Lawrence, oppo- site the house of Obadiah Platt, not less than 300 yards from the shore, assigned as a quarantine ground for crafts from Canada ; but it is believed that these regulations were never enforced.
The Northern rail road passes nearly through the centre of the town, and on it is a depot fifty by one hundred feet, at which, however, but little business is done. There is a post office here, at Gallopville, and on the Ogdensburgh and Canton road, eight miles from the former place, which bear the names of Lisbon Centre, Lisbon, and Flackville. The latter received its name from John P. Flack, the first postmaster.
An act was passed April 6, 1850, authorizing Henry Van Rensselaer, Esq., of Ogdensburgh, his heirs and assigns, to erect for hydraulic pur- poses, a dam from the south shore to Gallop island, a distance of about 1,200 feet. A fall of from 6 to 8 feet would thus be obtained, and an amount of power almost incalculable, afforded. The bottom of the river is rocky, and capable engineers have estimated the work practicable, at a cost of $50,000. This being the foot of navigation for sail vessels on the lakes, would doubtless, were a dam built, and a branch to the rail road laid, give an importance to this point, as a manufacturing place, which has scarcely a parallel in the country. This channel is used but little, if any, by boats; and the navigation north of the island, would be improved by diverting more water into that channel, as would necessa- rily result in the erection of a dam.
A circulating library was incorporated in this town March 11, 1828, with Wm. Marshall, Andrew O'Neil, Albert Tyler, John Glass, Joshua G. Pike, James Douglass, and James Moncrief, trustees.
Religious Societies .- This town was also the pioneer in the religious organizations, one having been formed by the Rev. Alexander Proud- foot, of Salem, who visited his old neighbors for the purpose. The Rev. Mr. Sherriff, a Scotchman, became their first pastor in 1804. The First Associate Reformed Congregation in Lisbon was incorporated Nov. 15, 1802, with A. J. Turner, J. Tibbets, Jun., John Farewell, Wm. Shaw, Beuj. Stewart and Reuben Turner, trustees. This was reorganized Feb. 28, 1827, with Geo. C. Conant, John Thompson and Joseph Martin, trustees.
The first society of the Methodist Episcopal church of Lisbon, was incorporated April 25, 1822, with Daniel Aiken. Asa Baldwin, David Wells, Robert Briggs and Luke McCracken, trustees. It was reorganized
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April 3, 1847, with George Fulton, Joseph Langtree, David Aiken, Ste- phen Mackley and Isaac Storking, trustees.
St. Luke's church, in the town of Lisbon, was formed Oct. 12, 1837, with Obadiah Platt and Samuel Patterson, wardens ; Jesse Platt, Hugh Leach, Robert Leach, Henry Hunt, Simeon Dillingham, John Clarke, Wm. Spears and Dr. W. Carpenter, vestrymen.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church, in Lisbon, was formed June 28, 1842, with John Middleton, Wm. Glass, John Smith, John Cole, John Campbell and James Valentine, trustees.
The First Wesleyan Methodist Society, in the town of Lisbon, was formed Feb. 14, 1843, with Joseph Platt, David Aiken, Isaac Storms, . Thomas Martin and John Martin, trustees.
The First Congregational Society in Lisbon, was formed March 3, 1843, with Wm. Briggs, John Dings, James Martin, Thomas McCarter, James Norway and Wm. H. Reynolds, trustees. A church had been formed Nov. 25, 1842, under Lewis Wickes, of Lewis county, and grew out of a revival arising during a protracted meeting held by him in that year. About 60 members united at first, and the present number is 80. The Rev. Wm. F. Buffett and Stephen Williams have been hired as min- isters, but the Rev. Morgan L. Eastman, the pastor since Feb. 8, 1849, is the only one regularly installed. A church was built in 1845, costing $1000.
LOUISVILLE.
Erected from Massena, April 5, 1810, at first 10 miles square, but in 1823 divided in the formation of Norfolk, and in 1844 increased by strip taken without the knowledge of the inhabitants from that town. The first town meeting was directed to be held at the house of John Wil- son ; the poor moneys were to be equitably divided and the act to take effect Feb. 1, 1811.
Supervisors .- The early records could not be found. 1816-8, Elisha W. Barber; 1819, Christopher G. Stowe; 1820, Benjamin Raymond; 1821, Timothy W. Osborne; 1822-3, C. G. Stowe; 1824, Samuel B. An- derson ; 1825-8, Wm. Bradford; 1829, Sept. 19-Gould to fill vacancy from B's death ; 1829-33, Jube. E. Day; 1834, Allen McLeod, Jr .; 1835, J. E. Day; 1836, Allen McLeod; 1837-40, Samuel Bradford; 1841-2, John Doud; 1843, Thomas Bingham; 1844, S. Bradford; 1845, T. Bing- ham ; 1846-7, Nathaniel D. Moore; 1848, John Gibson; 1848, March 25, Levi Miller, jr., to fill vacancy; 1849, Levi Miller, jr .; 1850-2, John Gibson.
In December, 1811, at a special town meeting the legislature was pe- titioned to take some action by which the public lots might be sold or leased.
In 1819 a wolf bounty of $10, and in 1821 a fox bounty of $1.
1823, two notices for the division of the town given; one of these was to have a town six miles square from Lisbon, Madrid, Stockholm, and Potsdam, having the present village of Norfolk as its centre; the other asking for the division of the town of Louisville, as was done by the legislature subsequently.
In 1828, Samuel Stacey, Otis G. Hosman and Samuel Bradford, ap- pointed to wait upon the commissioners about to locate the court house, and represent the interests of the town.
In 1849, " resolved that the notice given for annexing a part of Louis- ville to Massena be laid under the table."
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In April, 1800, Nahum Wilson, the first settler in Louisville, arrived with his family. He was originally from Peru, N. Y., but had resided a year in Canada, and was accompanied by Aaron Allen, and two sons, but did not move in his family until the following winter. These two pioneers took up each a farm, and commenced clearing immediately. A crop of corn was raised, and in the fall they sowed wheat. Great num- bers were in town looking for land, but no one else formed a settlement during the first year. The next settler was John Wilson, who came from Vermont in the spring of 1801, and he was soon succeeded by Ly- man Bostwick, Elisha W. Barber, Esq., and several brothers, Griffin Place, and others. The earliest settlement at Louisville Landing, was made about 1806, by Shirley, from New Hampshire. About this time the settlement began to increase quite rapidly, and continued until checked by the approach of war. The first birth in town was the son of Naham Wilson ; the first death that of Philo Barber, in 1801 or '2 Elisha Barber taught the first school in 1808 or '9. In 1805, Asa Day erected a mill on Grass river, a mile below the present village of Miller- ville. "On the approach of war many went off and never returned. Re- ligious meetings were held at an early day by ministers from Canada Nahum Wilson kept the first public house.
The following incident was an important event in little settlement:
On the 6th of January, 1806, four persons (Dr. Barber and Mr. Chap- man, from Madrid, Mr. Alexander and Mr. Powell, of Louisville), were accidentally drowned, while crossing the St. Lawrence, about opposite the centre of the town. They had been over to Canada, where they were detained by the roughness of the river, occasioned by a strong east wind, which always produces a swell, from its encountering the current. Towards night, the wind having abated, they attempted to cross in a log canoe, but their boat capsized, and two of their number are supposed to have drowned immediately. The other two clung to their boat, and endeavored, by cries, to obtain assistance. These cries were heard on both shores of the river, and to a great distance below, as they floated down; but no one paid any particular attention to them, not realizing that they proceeded from persons in distress, and they all perished. Three of the bodies were found several miles below; but the fourth at a great distance below, among the islands. A large dog who was abroad had been bound to keep him quiet, and is supposed to have overturned them. This sad accident spread a gloom through the settlements, and was a cause of unavailing regret to those who had heard the cries, with- out hastening to their assistance. No blame was attached to any one, and the darkness of the night, and roughness of the river, were such, that aid could scarcely have been afforded, had the situation of the suf- ferers been appreciated. A touching incident that occurred on the morning of the day on which the accident happened, was rendered peculiarly affecting by the fatal event. As one of the number was about leaving home, a little daughter, who evinced great fondness for her father, came to him in a manner unusually affectionate, tenderly em- braced and kissed him, and exacted of him a promise, that he would
4
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certainly return before night. She seemed to have an instinctive for- boding of evil; and by the artless innocence of childlike entreaty, en- deavored to prevent it.
The early settlers of Louisville, in an especial inanner, were indebted to their Canadian neighbors for many kindnesses, which relieved them from those extremities that settlers of other towns, less favorably situ- ated, endured. The St. Lawrence can here be crossed at most seasons in safety. Mills existed at various points along the north shore ; and the inhabitants, mostly of German descent, who had been driven from the Schoharie and Mohawk settlements, for their adherence to the king's interest, in the revolutionary war, had already, in their own sufferings for want of that assistance which may be derived from neighbors, forget- ing the bitterness of former times, in their anxiety for better. Previous to the declaration of war, the most friendly relations existed; families exchanged visits with as much freedom and frequency, as if the river was but a common street; and they were constantly in the habit of borrowing and lending those articles which their limited means did not allow each one to possess. The war, for a season, made each sus- picious of the other, and entirely stopped all intercourse for a time ; but necessity ere long led them to look back with regret on the customs of former times, and secretly long for their return. During the first summer of the war, many of the Canadian men were called off to per- form military duty, and labor on the fortifications at Prescott, and their families were left to provide for themselves as they might best be able. Provisions became scarce, and want stared them in the face. Pressed with hunger, the children of one of their families, remembering the homely but wholesome fare which they had formerly observed on the south shore, one night entered a boat, and being skilful in its use, crossed over, and humbly begged at the door of a house, at which they were acquainted, for food. The family were overjoyed at the visit, and on their return, they sent back an invitation for their parents to come over on a certain night, and renew their old acquaintance. They did so, and never were people more delighted than these, when they met, exchanged salutations, and learned, by those expressions that come from the heart, that although the two governments had declared them enemies, they were still friends. The livelong night was spent in agreeable festivities; and with the approach of dawn, they returned.
News of this was confidentially spread, and these midnight visits became common; being at first strictly secret and confidential, but to- wards the close of the war, quite open, and performed by daylight. One loyalist, however, who felt the spirit of the olden time return, when called upon to sustain the interest of his king, although a very kind
1
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hearted man, and strongly attached by the ties of friendship, to his American neighbors, sternly refused all renewal of acquaintance, from a sense of duty, and discountenanced it among his neighbors. One evening an inhabitant of the south shore resolved to attempt to conquer this spirit by kindness, and boldly visited his house, as had been his former custom. Finding him absent, he followed him to a neighbor's, and warmly saluted him with a cordial grasp of the land, and friendly chiding, for so long and so obstinately withstanding the claims of neigh- borship. This appeal to the heart, outweighed the decision of the head, and the salutation was, after a moment's hesitation, returned with a cordiality that showed him sensible of the truth, that man is by nature a social being, and intended to live by the side of neighbors. Peace was thus declared along this frontier, long before the fact was established by diplomatists, or published by the proclamation of the president.
Early in the summer of 1812, the inhabitants of Louisville, for their own protection, organized a volunteer company of about forty men, who constituted the male population of the town, capable of bearing arms. They elected Benjamin Daniels, one of their number, " high sergeant," whom they agreed to obey, in all matters touching the common interest. Soon after their organization, they received orders from General Brown, at Ogdensburgh, to bring to all crafts passing the river. In pursuance of these instructions, they, on one occasion, hailed and brought in a raft, and found in the cabin a large amount of valuable groceries, &c., the greater part of which was forwarded to the collector of the district. During the summer, a regular company of militia was formed, with Benjamin Willard, captain, which drew arms from the arsenal at Rus- sell, and was kept in service from August till November. They were ordered to allow Indians to pass, but to stop all other crafts, and learn their business. At times, they had rumors of hostile visits from the north shore; but they were not executed.
The first death penalty inflicted in St. Lawrence county, under its present organization, was upon the person of Louis Gerteau, who was publicly executed in Ogdensburgh, on the 12th of July, in 1816, for the murder of three persons in Louisville, about a mile from Massena village 22d of February, 1816. The circumstances were briefly these: Michael' Scarborough, of this town, being engaged in lumbering, had gone away on business, leaving his wife and two children, one of them an infant, and a French lad about 14 or 15, named Macue, to look after his affairs in his absence. The latter was brother-in-law of the murderer, who was well acquainted with the family, and the premises, and at the time was living a neighbor. Mr. S. had incautiously displayed a large sum
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of money, which Gerteau supposed was in the house, and for obtaining this, he deliberately laid his plans.
On the night before the murder, he slept in the barn, and at dawn arose, and taking with him a sycthe, repaired to the house, which he entered, but finding an axe, he exchanged for this weapon, and cautiously entered the room, where his brother-in-law was sleeping in a bed upon the floor. He passed through this, to the bedroom where Mrs. Scar- borough and her two children were asleep, and took up the money he was after, from its place in the corner of a drawer. With this he might have made his escape unobserved; but fearing detection, laid it down, raised his weapon, and with a blow nearly severed the neck of the woman. He then turned, and dispatched the lad with two blows, and the infant child, and wounded the other, seized the money, amounting in small change to about $22, which had incited him to the crime, fast- ened the door of the house and fled, having first feasted himself upon cakes and sweetmeats. By a circuitous route, he avoided the houses in Massena village, and gained the road towards St. Regis. About sunrise, some neighbors, having occasion to visit the house, were surprised to find it fastened, and a track in the new snow from it, and observing, through the window, the corpse of one of the victims, the door was forced open, and the alarm of the murder instantly spread. The ruffian was over- taken about two miles from St. Regis, and on being taken to the scene of his slaughter, he acknowledged the crime, and related the details of the shocking barbarity. It appeared that he had not traveled more than two miles an hour, after the murder, and had endeavored to rub out the stains of blood from his hat and coat.
He was tried at the circuit court, and court of oyer and terminer, at Ogdensburgh, in July, 1816. William Van Ness, Esq., one of the justice of the supreme court, presiding; Nathan Ford being first judge, Russell Attwater and Robert Livingston, judges; Caleb Hough and Jason Fen- ton, assistant justices. The grand jury presented three separate indict- ments, on the first day of their session, and upon being arraigned he pleaded, not guilty, to each. The names of the murdered persons as named in the indictments were, Maria Scarborough, Jean Baptiste Macue, and Adaline Scarborough. The records of the court contain the following entry of his sentence. (July 3, 1816.)
" Louis Couard, otherwise called Louis Gerteau, otherwise called Jean Baptiste Gerteau, for the murder of Maria Scarborough, whereof he was convicted, was called to the bar, and the court sentenced that he be taken to the place from whence he came, and from thence to the place of execution, and that on Friday, the twelfth instant, between the hours of one and three, to be hung by the neck until he is dead, and
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may God have mercy on his soul; and further, that his body be delivered to the medical society of this county, to be delivered to some person authorized to receive it."
The sentence was duly executed, in the presence of an immense crowd, who assembled to witness the punishment of a crime which has had but few parallels in our country.
The post office of Louisville is located at a small village on Grass river, near the centre of the town, which has acquired the name of Millerville, from the founder. A small clearing had been made at this place, by Oliver Ames, previous to 1823. In March, of that year, the Rev. Levi Miller, from Turin, Lewis county, a native of Wooster, and afterwards a resident of Chester, Mass., came on as an agent for James Mc Vicker. A saw mill had been commenced in 1820, for the proprietor, but was not finished. A bridge had been built across Grass river at this place about the year 1820. In 1837, a grist mill was built by George Redington having two run of stones which has since been enlarged, and two other run added. Besides these mills, the place at present contains a tannery, clothing works, trip hammer &c., in which water power is used, a hotel, store and several mechanics. The Methodist Episcopal de- nomination had an organized church as early as 1820, but did not form a society until 1839, when the First Methodist Episcopal Society of the town of Louisville was formed, and the following trustees elected, June 3; Levi Miller, Levi Miller, Jun., Israel G. Stone, John Power and John Doud.
In June, 1841, the number of trustees of the society, was increased from five to nine, in accordance with the recommendation of the disci- pline of that denomination. A church edifice was built in 1849, the basement being for a town hall. A melancholy accident occurred at this place in the spring of 1823, in which two young men who were crossing the river in a canoe, were carried over the dam and drowned. The water being in its spring flood, their bodies were not found for several weeks. The post office of Louisville was first located on the St. Law- rence, but about 1827, it was removed to the Grass river, where it has since been kept. A post office has since been formed at Louisville landing. In 1832, a board of health was organized who appointed Dr. Ira Gibson, health officer, and designated the shore of the St. Lawrence, between Robert Crawford's and Allen McLeod's farms, as quarantine grounds. The difficulties at times attending the navigation of rafts, and the space they occupy rendered a somewhat extended location necessary. The quarantine regulations were not enforced, for the intercourse with Canada stopped of its own accord. The alarm passed off in a few weeks. About ten cases of cholera occurred in town of which one was fatal.
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