USA > New York > Franklin County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 42
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 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84
This town was settled principally under the agency of Col. David Ford, who in the summer of 1804, visited the town to make preliminary arrangements for improvements. The town was surveyed in 1799, by Jacob Brown, afterwards Gen. Brown, and a village plat laid out at the present village of Morristown, named Morrisville, and another at the Nar- rows, named Marysburgh, both of which names are discarded. Col. Ford first made an actual settlement about 1808. Mr. Arnold Smith and Thomas Hill, settled at about the same time, on the site of the pre- sent village.
The first house in the village was erected by Mr. Ford, and Arnold Smith kept the first public house. A wharf was built in 1817, by John Canfield, Sen., who also erected the first store house at this port. The first school in town was kept it is said, by George Couper.
23
1
360
HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
To promote the settlement of the village, the agent, about the year 1817, offered to mechanics a village lot, and a park lot of some five acres, as a free gift, on condition that they should carry on their trade during five years, and within a limited time erect a house of specified dimen- sions. Several lots were thus taken up, but, except in one or two in- stances, the conditions were not complied with in such a manner as to acquire a title. It was the intention of the proprietor to have conveyed a glebe of two hundred acres for the benefit of the Episcopal church, but his death occurred before the legal conveyance was made, and his executors never carried his intention into effect. Mr. Morris, with the above exceptions, a part of which existed in intentions only, never gave any property for the use of the town of Morristown.
The first settler on Black lake was John K. Thurber. Henry Ellen- wood located near this place in 1810, and Henry Harrison, Ephraim Story, Benjamin Tubbs and Benjamin Goodwin about the same time, in the vicinity of Black lake. The first tavern erected at the present vil- lage of Edwardsville, or the Narrows, was by Arnold Smith. A ferry was first established here by Mr. Ellenwood. A post office was erected March 22, 1837, Jonathan S. Edwards being the first post master; and the office, from him, was named Edwardsville, although the place has scarcely acquired that name among the inhabitants. A union church was erected here in 1847, and dedicated on the 3d of November of that year, by a sermon preached by clergymen of each of the two principal denominations, who erected the house, the Rev. Mr. Wait, a Presbyte- rian, and Rev. Mr. Carey, a Methodist.
A ferry across Black lake has existed for many years, at this place, but never under a regular license, until 1851. It was then leased in accord- ance with law, at the rate of $45 per annum, the income being equally divided between Macomb and Morristown, for the benefit of schools. This point is very favorably situated for the location of a bridge, as the lake is narrow, and near the middle divided by an island. The project has been brought forward several times, but more especially in 1836, about the time when high anticipations were entertained from the min- eral wealth of the country south of the lake; but has not hitherto been carried into effect. The present ferry is admirably arranged, and affords a means for crossing adequate to the wants of the country.
This town scarcely began to be settled before 1817, during which year, and the two following, great numbers of settlers came in and took up lands. The sales continued until the year 1820, when they were suspended during the settlement of the estate of Gouverneur Morris, one of the principal proprietors of the town. In 1823, the lands were
361
AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
mostly again opened for sale, portions having been purchased by Augus- tus Chapman and others, and since that period the town has progressed steadily in wealth and improvement. Being underlaid by the Potsdam sandstone, it is generally fertile and productive, and but little if any land occurs in town which is not susceptible of profitable tillage. Along the shore of Black lake, in common with parts of Hammond, De Peyster and Macomb, considerable attention has, within a few years, been paid to the cultivation of hops. The town wants an adequate supply of water power, as the only stream which has any pretensions to hydraulic privileges, is Chippewa creek, which flows across the town, and affords at one or two places a limited supply of water during a part of the year. To remedy this inconvenience, a wind mill was erected in 1828, on a commanding elevation at the village, and for one or two years did good business; but the projector having been accidentally drowned, no one was found able or competent to undertake its continuance, and it was abandoned. This is believed to be the first and only wind mill for grinding grain, erected in the county; although at several points along the Canada shore, they have been erected and used. The ruins of the oldest of these, is on the bank of the St. Lawrence, between Prescott and Maitland, and was old and dismantled at the time when Ogdens- burgh first began to be settled, in 1796. Steam has very generally super- ceded wind, as the motive power, and from its cheapness and efficiency, is justly preferred. There are, it is believed, two or three steam grist mills in town. The central and eastern part of Morristown was settled by English emigrants, in 1817-18, and a portion still bears the name of English settlement. They were Robert Long, George Bell, James McDugal, Robert Johnson, Edward Lovett, William Arnold, William Holliday (Irish), - Carter, William Willson, George Couper, Wm. Osburne and Thomas Baldrum, in 1817, and John Pringle, Tho- mas Young, John Taylor, Joseph Taylor, John Willson, Joseph Couper, and a few others in the year following. These were principally from Roxburghshire, Northumberland, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and met casually without having previously been acquainted.
Religious Societies .- The Presbyterian church in this town, was formed by the Rev. Mr. Smart, of Brockville, assisted by the Rev. Isaac Clinton, of Lowville, in June, 1821, at first of eight members. A church was erected in 1837, at a cost of $1,950, and dedicated Feb. 14, 1838, by the Rev. J. Savage. The Rev. Messrs. James Rogers, James Taylor, John McGregor, Solomon Williams, Henry E. Eastman, Henry W. Wait, Samuel Youngs, and Robt. T. Conant have been successively employed. The first religious Union society was formed Feb. 11, 1833, with Joel Carter, John Child, Abel Beardsley, Zenas Young and James Burnham, trustees.
The Presbyterian society was formed March 25, 1833, with Stephen
1
362
HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
Canfield, David Palmer, Erastus Northam and Wm. N. Brown, trustees. The Baptist church was organized January 23, 1828, at the Narrows and first consisted of ten members. The first settled pastor was Elder Clement Havens, although several had been employed previously for a short time. Whole number since first formed, 155; present number, 51. Present pastor, Fld. Ayers.
Christ's church, of Morristown, was formed about 1830, and now numbers about 40 members. The society was incorporated July 6, 1846, with George Couper and Cuthbert Ramsey, wardens, and Augus- tus Chapman, Chilion Ford, Robert Ashton, Moses Birdsall, James W. Munsell, Thomas Boldram, John Brewer and Henry Hooker, vestrymen. The Rev. Messrs, Aaron Humphreys, David Griffith, J. A. Brayton, George A. Slack, E. J. W. Roberts and John Scovil have been employed in the ministry of this church. The church edifice was built in 1833, at a cost of between two and three thousand dollars.
The first Evangelical Lutheran congregation was formed March 18, 1847, with Joseph Weaver, John Dillenbeck and John Mitchell, trustees.
A Methodist society was formed Nov. 16, 1847, with Wm. C. Griffin, Samuel N. Wright, J. C. Stodard, John Jewett, Lemuel Lewis, Cornelius Walrath and P. W. Hindmarsh, trustees. They erected a church that was dedicated Nov. 16, 1848, burned in Nov., 1850, and rebuilt in 1851, at a cost of $1,600.
A Congregational church was formed on Chippewa street, in May, 1852, of 25 members, under the ministry of the Rev. Samuel Young. A church edifice had been erected here in 1849, at a cost of $550.
NORFOLK.
An attempt was made, in 1817, to divide the towns, making one six miles square, with the present village the centre, and failed. On the 9th of April, 1823, Louisville was divided, embracing mile squares 36 to 95, and all of 34 and 35 south of Grass river. April 15, 1834, mile squares 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and the north halves of 14 and 19 of Stockholm were added, and April 3, 1844, lots 36 to 44, and parts of 34, 35, 45 were annexed to Lonisville. A swamp between Raquette and Grass rivers, rendered a division of Louisville necessary.
The first town meeting was held at the house of Elisha Adams. In 1828, a committee of five to wait upon the court house commissioners. In 1848, voted against dividing St. Lawrence into three counties. In 1851, voted strongly against enlarging court house. In 1852, $650 voted for a town house. This has been built of brick, 60 by 40, with a piazza 8 feet wide in front. It is decidedly the finest town hall in the county, and has cost about $1,000. -
Supervisors .- 1823, Christopher G. Stowe; 1824-9, Phineas Attwater; 1830-1, Wm. Blake; 1832-3, P. Attwater; 1834-6, Wm. Blake; 1837, Norman Sackrider; 1838, William Blake; 1839, N. Sackrider; 1840-1, Hiram Attwater; 1842-5, Ira Hale; 1846-7, Giles I. Hall; 1848-9, Calvin Elms; 1850-1, Nathaniel F. Beals; 1852, Christian Sackrider.
The first industrial operations in Norfolk, in common with many of the towns of St. Lawrence county, lying on the Great river or its tribu- taries, was commenced by timber thieves, previous to 1809. In that year Erastus Hall, from Tyrringham, Mass., came into town to explore,
363
AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
with a view of settlement. He arrived at Potsdam May 9, 1809, at the inn of Ruell Taylor, and meeting with Judge Raymond, was induced to go and look at lands, in which the latter had the agency, in what was then the town of Louisville. Ira Brewer, from the same place with Mr. Hall, accompanied him on his journey, and they proceeded through a bush road which had been cut as far as the present village of Raymond- ville, for the purpose of conveying potash to a point from whence it could be shipped in canoes for Canada. Arriving at their destination, but on the opposite side of the river from that which they wished to gain, they made a rude raft of logs, on which they placed their coats, guns, axes and fire works, and endeavored to paddle over, but soon found themselves at the mercy of the current, without the ability to guide their frail raft with the poles they had provided. Passing under a tree they threw on shore their freight, and with much difficulty rescued them- selves by seizing and clinging to the branches. One lost his hat, but soon recovered it by swimming, and the two found shelter in a shanty erected by lumbermen in procuring timber. A great number of beauti- ful masts had been taken in the woods near Raquette river in this town. In returning they attempted to cross the river in an old bark canoe, but this instantly filled with water, and they were obliged to hasten back. On the first night they were unable to get to their destination, and slept under a log. Several days after, they returned, and had farms surveyed out by Sewall Raymond, of Potsdam. The first contract for land in town was given to Mr. Hall in June, 1809. The first framed building erected was a small ware house on the east side of the river at Raymond- ville.
By night the explorers built a ring of fires, as the only means of being free from the clouds of mosquitos and black flies, of which the latter in particular were very annoying. In fifteen minutes the faces of those ex- posed would be covered with blood, and on their return to the settle- ments their friends did not know them, they had become so disfigured During this summer the Raquette river was leveled and found boatable as far as the Morris tract, near the present village of Norfolk. Mr. Hall employed some persons at the Union in Potsdam, to erect him a house, and in the fall returned to New England for his family. Mr. Eben Jud- son, from Williston, Vt., and Martin Barney, came on the same year and made small beginnings. In March, 1810, Mr. Judson came on with his family, and his wife was the first white woman who settled in town. They started on the 7th of March, 1810, on the first snow that had fallen that winter, having been delayed several weeks waiting for snow, and ar- rived on the third day from Lake Champlain at the Union, in Potsdam, from which they proceeded to their destination. The company con-
364
HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
sisted of Mr. and Mrs. Judson and three children, a brother and a brother- in-law, and two brothers, Ashbell and John Hall, young men who re- mained several months and returned. They had two horse teams, an ox team, and a cow. The brother and brother-in-law of Mr. Judson im- mediately returned, leaving the family established in their house, which was a shanty 10 by 14 feet, built between two hemlock trees. They also had a shed for their cattle, which was an open bower covered by boughs .* Mr. Hall and wife arrived four days after.
In September, 1810, Timothy W. Osborne, from Georgia, Vt., came on with a company of eight or ten men, as an agent for Major Bohan Shepard, of St. Albans, Vt., and erected a saw mill on Trout brook. The second mills were built by Jonathan Culver at a point then called Hutchen's falls, in 1812, and were at the lowest place on Raquette river ever occupied by mills. It is about three miles below Raymondville. They were afterwards burned. Judge Attwater erected the third mills in town, on the Morris tract, in the lower part of the present village of Norfolk, in the summer of 1816. The first Durham boat ever run on the Raquette river, was in this year, and was laden with mill irons, goods, and provisions, from Schenectady, sent by Judge Attwater to begin the settlement at his mills. It was drawn around Culver's dam, and after- wards for one or two seasons performed regular trips every week from Culver's to Norfolk, in connection with a line below the dam, which run to ports on the St. Lawrence. The latter was required to be regularly furnished with clearance papers from the collector of customs. .
Christopher G. Stowe, Martin Barney, Milo Brewer, and several others, came in and commenced improvements in 1810, but the families of Hall and Judson were the only ones that spent the winter in town. In 1811 the settlement was increased by several families. The first death was that of Mr. Judson, June 29, 1813. Dr. Lemuel Winslow, from Willis- ton, Vt., was the first physician ; he located in 1811. The first road to- wards Massena, was made in November, 1810, by Hall and Brewer. Great expectations were early based upon the supposed value of the navigation of the river, and Judge Raymond, with characteristic enthu- siasm, supposed that his location would grow to great importance. A village plat east of the river, was surveyed, and named Racketon, of which Spafford, in his Gazetter of 1813, says:
"The village of Racketon is a new and flourishing settlement, forming in the southeast part of the town, at the head of bateaux navigation on
* Judge Raymond happening to pass soon after, and being belated, accosted the family with the facetious remark " that they must be keeping tavern, since they had erected sheds," and accepted the humble accommodations of his settlers, with a good nature and familiarity which did credit tò his character.
365
AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
the Raquette river, 20 miles from its confluence with the St. Lawrence. At this place, immediately above the landing, is a fall of the waters of Raquette river of about 15 feet, and excellent accommodations for hy- draulic works. Racketon is about 25 miles east of Ogdensburgh; and uniting its advantages for good navigation to the St. Lawrence with those of its central position, in a rich and fertile country, must become a rich and populous place."
About 1814 a bridge was built, and in 1816 Raymond moved his family to the place and remained several years. From him the inhabitants named the place Raymondville, and a post office of this name has been established. It is however still called the Lower village by many, to distinguish it from the Upper village, or Norfolk village proper. The place possesses a fine water power, and communicates with the rail road at North Potsdam, by a plank road.
The first settlement at Norfolk village was made in 1816, by Judge Russell Attwater, from Russell, who in June, the year previously, pur- chased one half of the Morris tract, and the west half of 88 of Louis- ville. This tract had been assigned to James D. Le Ray in a partition of lands, and sold by him to G. Morris. A clearing of ten acres had been made for Le Ray in the summer of 1811, in the lower part of what is now the village of Norfolk, on which in 1812 a crop of wheat was raised. A large stone grist mill, with two run of stones was built the first year, by Mr. Attwater, on the site of the stone mill of Mr. Sackrider. A chapel was fitted up with seats and a desk in the third story of a mill, and this was the first accommodation for public worship in town.
A company styling itself the Phoenix Iron Company, under the firm of E. Keyes & Co., was formed Oct. 7, 1825, and the year follow- ing, built in the village on the north bank, a furnace for making iron from bog ores, which existed abundantly in the swamps of this and neighboring towns. It passed through several hands and run about two hundred days in a year, till 1844, when it was burned by an incendiary. It produced about twelve tons daily, and was lined with sandstone, from Potsdam and Hopkinton. In 1846 a forge was built by Wm. Blake a little above the furnace, and run two or three years, until it was burned.
The village of Norfolk, possesses manufacturing facilities which are destined to render it a place of much importance. The Raquette river here has a descent of about 70 feet within a mile, passing over three dams already erected, and affording opportunity, for at least four more, at each of which the whole volume of the river could be used. Below the upper dam, the channel is divided by an island of about two acres in extent, which affords facilities for the erection of dams at its head and at its foot, and the water could be diverted to either side or used upon both sides of the island and the main shore. At the foot of the island the river turns to the left, and the bank on the inside of the bend is low
366
HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
and flat, and but little elevated above high water mark, while that on the outside of the bend is an elevated plain of easy ascent, and abruptly terminating upon the river. This elevated bank continues with a slight interruption to below the village. The left bank of the river is low, and on this the main part of the village is at present built. Throughout the whole extent, the bed of the river is formed of limestone, affording at the same time a secure foundation for building, and the materials for the erection of walls. Lime made from this stone is of good quality.
It is by plank road three miles distant from the Potsdam station, and the same distance to Knapp's station. At the time of writing, there ex- ists a stone grist mill, with three run of stones, three saw mills, one planing machine eight shingle factories, a tannery, a woolen factory, a trip hammer, a furnace, and several other manufactories using water power. At none of the dams now erected is the entire water privilege occupied.
The town of Norfolk and especially the village of Raymondville, pos- sesses great natural advantages for the manufacture of brick, which are of superior quality. Their durability and hardness is probably due to the clay of which they are made, and of which an account will be given in the chapter on the geology of the county.
Norfolk Union Library was incorporated May 25, 1834. Philander Kellogg, Wm. Grandy, Hiram G. Francis, Denis Kingsbury, Daniel Small, John W. Williams, and Nathaniel Brewer, trustees.
Religious Societies .- Meetings were held in the lower part of the town almost immediately after it was settled.
Neither Mr. Hall, nor Mr. Jordan were members of church, but be- lieving that the observance of the sabbath conduced to morality, they soon after their arrival agreed to hold religious meetings alternately at the house of each, at which a sermon should be read, and that their families should not remain and visit after the meeting was dismissed. Occasionally others of the settlers would come in on the sabbath, and these weekly unions were kept up for some time, when one Montague, who came on with others, to build a mill on Trout Brook, having heard of these meetings, attended, and was the first worshiper who could sing and pray ; and thenceforth they lacked none of the elements requisite in the protestant worship. In 1811, Seth Burt, a missionary from Massa- chusetts, came and left books. The Rev. James Johnson, from Potsdam, and the Rev. Mr. Winchester, from Madrid, occasionally visited the town, and held meetings in the vicinity of the present village of Ray- mondville. After Mr. Attwater's arrival in 1816, as soon as circumstances would admit, the upper story of his grist mill was fitted up for the pur- pose of divine worship, according to the rites and doctrines of the Episcopal church. Here he officiated for several years as a lay reader, and succeeded in making a few individuals acquainted with the doc- trines of the church, among these was one who is now an able and honored bishop of the church, the Rt. Rev. L. Siliman Ives, D. D., of North Carolina. The parish of Grace church, in Norfolk was first organized in the year 1825, by the Rev. Seth M. Beardsley, then acting as missionary in the country, who also made an unsuccessful attempt to build a church. He was succeeded by the Rev. Hiram Adams, in 1828, and by the Rev. Henry Attwater in 1829. From July 1836, to March 1842, the public services of the church were discontinued, with the ex- ception of occasional lay reading, and owing to the want of a clergy- man, and the removal of several families, the organization of the parish was lost. A reorganization took place March 29, 1842, when the Rev John A. Childs, began to officiate as missionary. During the two years
367
AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
in which he ministered in this place, another effort was made to build a church but failed. In 1845, the Rev. John H. Hanson, the present mis- sionary, was engaged by the parish. On July 30th, the corner stone of a church was laid by the Rt. Rev. Wm. H. Delancy, D. D., Bishop of Western New York, in a lot of ground purchased by the vestry, and sit- uated in the centre of the village. The church thus begun, was fully enclosed in 1849, but is not yet completed within. It has cost about $2000 and will require about half as much more to complete it after the original design. It is after the Elizabethean style of church architecture, is 70 feet in length, including the porch, fifty feet across the transept and twenty-two across the nave. The ridge is thirty-four feet high. The walls are of stone and very massive, and the whole wants but the moss and the ivy to give it an appearance of venerable antiquity, consonant with the purposes for which it was erected. This is the only gothic edifice in St. Lawrence or Franklin counties.
The Presbyterian church so called, being Congregational in form, was organized July 1, 1817, by Rev. Royal Phelps, of the Cayuga Presbytery, then acting as a missionary, assisted Rev. John Ransom, of Hopkinton, at first of 17 members. The meetings were first held in the loft of a mill, and afterwards in the chamber of the tavern of J. Langworthy, and in the school house. The stated supplies have been numerous. The Rev. Adolphus Taylor, after preaching several years, died here. Loring Brewster was installed 1st pastor, April 28, 1828, and G. B. Rowley the present pastor, from whom these facts are received, Nov. 10, 1847. The society was incorporated Feb. 20, 1828, G. C. Stowe, Martin Beach, E. S. Tambling, Wm. Blake, Philemon Kellogg, and John C. Putnam, trustees. Reorganized Dec. 12, 1840. A meeting house was built in 1840, at a cost of $4000, and the church numbers now 153. The church of Raymondville, was a colony from this, and their brick meeting house was finished and dedicated in 1844, at a cost of $3000, and soon after, a bell of 300lbs, was placed in it. Rev. Moses Ordway was the first resi- dent minister. The Methodists organized a society, April 19, 1831, with Royal Sheldon, Lucius Chandler, Justice Webber, Hiram Johnson, and Ebenezer Houghton, trustees. They reorganized, Feb. 10, 1840, and in that year built their present chapel in Norfolk village.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.