USA > New York > Franklin County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 45
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 45
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My carpenter will stay the winter. I can now give you an accurate account of the surveys and claims, made by the people who have leases from Indians .- Yankee Smith, begins I mile from the fort, runs 3 miles upon the river, and 9 miles back. Watson then begins, and has the same quantity. Sealy then begins and has a like quantity. Sealy lives upon the other side, he has been here, but I did not know at the time, of his pretentions. Watson tells me that Sealy's lease is in New England. I should not be surprised to find that he had sold it to the speculators there. The following is Mrs. Lorimier's letter to me.
EDWARDSBURGH, 16th August, 1796.
Sir .- I am informed you have arrived in Oswegatchie, with a num- ber of people, and have taken possession of one of my houses there, and that you are about to make a dam across the Black river, first taking away what remained of mine. That you may not be deceived, I now inform you, that I have a good title to half a mile on each side of that . river, from the mouth to the scource of it, which I can not think of re- linquishing without a valuable consideration; and Christian charity obliges me to think, that you would not endeavor to wrong or in any manner distress the widow and fatherless, and as it appears you wish to form a settlement there, I hereby give you my first offer to purchase my title, and would be glad to have you answer upon the subject, as soon as possible, that I may know how to govern myself.
I am your most humble serv't,
To Major Ford.
CATHARINE LORIMIER.
I was not particular in stating to you that Lorimier's verbal lease, was obtained of the Indians; after you had warned him off the premises. I have drawn upon you through Mr. Foresyth, for five hundred dollars, payable ten days after sight. I hope he will honor the bill, I have re- quested him to forward me four hundred dollars in cash, and one hundred dollars in rum. Richard joins in best respects to Mrs. Ogden and family, I am very anxious to hear from you, and when you write, pray let me know the news, and how the world is going. I believe you will begin to think it is time for me to stop, for you must be tired of reading, and I am sure I am of writing .- So God bless you, is the earnest prayer of your friend and humble servant.
Col. Samuel Ogden.
N. FORD."
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AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
On the approach of winter, Mr. Ford returned to New Jersey, and did not get back to Oswegatchie until the 9th of August, 1797. He found that the Canadian claimants had been over the spring before, held a town meeting, elected civil and military officers, and sent on Ensly their moderator to get their proceedings confirmed by the governor, and that they had opened a land office for selling and settling his tract. He wrote to his partner:
" I also found that some of those jockeys had come over and stripped a quantity of bark, I immediately sent Mr. Randolph, with a boat (properly manned), with orders to take on board as much bark as he could, and burn the residue. He accordingly set out, and did not, (un- fortunately), arrive at the place before they got off with one boat load, but was fortunate enough to arrive just as they had got the second loaded, which he detained, and after making them assist in loading his boat, he ordered both to sail for the garrison, where they arrived in good order, and well conditioned. I immediately sent the bark to a tanner in Johnstown, where I send iny hides, so that we shall have our hides tan- ned with our own bark. . They have kept themselves very quiet upon the subject. I gave out that I wanted more bark, and only wait for trespassers to come over and get it for me. If it is possible for processes to be made out, leaving the names to be filled up, and a deputation made. I am clear for having some of the ringleaders in Herkimer jail, -- this I am sure would settle the business. If this can be done, let friend Richard's name be mentioned for the deputation, and I will see that the business is properly executed, but you must write me particularly how it is to be done, and you must be particular that the opinion be given by a lawyer of New York, for depend upon it, there is a difference between New York and New Jersey laws upon these subjects."
In a letter written early in 1798, Ford stated his anxieties about the leases, and advised that influence should be used with the governor, and legislature, to prevent any mischief that might arise from the ex parte representations which he understood were being used, and added, that it would make a fatal hole in Oswegatchie township, should the claims happen to be by any means confirmed. The trouble about the lease was finally settled by purchase from Mrs. Lorimier and her son, Sept. 26, 1798, in which Mr. Ford paid £62 10s. Canada currency, for a quit claim, "during the rest residue and remainder of said term which is yet to come and unexpired, to wit: so long as wood shall grow and water run, peacably and quietly to enter into, have, hold, and occupy, possess and enjoy." The original is extremely diffuse in its style, and abounds in repetitions. Watson was arrested on a charge of having violated the statute by dealing with the Indians for their lands; * taken to the county jail at Rome; indicted in June 1799, tried and convicted in June 1800, having laid in jail a year, and was released upon his signing a release and quit claim, and surrendering his papers.
* See page 120, of this work, for the law on this subject.
.
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
It appears that Watson and Ensly were the only ones of the lessees who had ventured to sell lands to settlers; the others only awaited the result to set up their claims. In his letter to his attorney, Tho's R. Gould of Whitestown, informing him of the condition of the affairs, and forwarded by Mr. Sherman the keeper of Watson, on his way to jail, he expressed his regret at the necessity which led him to the measure, and added that every milder means had been exhausted. His efforts to se- cure the others failed. In a letter of Sept. 14, 1798, he says:
" The sheriff then went in pursuit of Ansly, but by some means or other, he got suspicious that something more than common was pre- paring, and he made his escape over the river, by which means he eluded the officer Watson I have forwarded to jail, and as he is really the prin- cipal, I hope it will be sufficient to finish the business. I am sorry that Ansly was not taken, for he is a great villain. I am not sure but I shall lay a plan for taking him yet; nothing but the difficulty of sparing hands to send down with him will prevent; but should he recross the river, and be saucy, I will do it at all events. They have carried on with a tolerable high hand since my absence, in insulting our settlers. I have given it to the charge of all the people, if any person dare threaten them or abuse them, for settling under the title derived from the state, to make me instantly acquainted with the fact, and I will immediately issue a warrant for them, and send them to jail. This, by the state law, I have a right to do, and I certainly shall do it. The remote situation of this place lias encouraged, and still does encourage, to do and act as they would not dare to act, were the jail a little handier, and there is no way to get the jail nigher to us but by cutting the road to the Mohawk. This is a thing you must take pains about, and with a little pains I am confi- dent it may be effected, and if only a winter road can be got, the value of the lands will almost double. At present it is impossible for people to get here, the expense is so great. I shall draw upon you shortly for 6 or 800 dollars, and hope you will be prepared. Friend Richard joins in best respects to Mrs. Ogden and family. Believe me to be as ever your humble servant,
N. FORD."
In a letter of Sept. 16, 1798, to Samuel Ogden, he says:
"I wrote you the 11th inst., in which I mentioned having sent Watson to jail, &c. The minds of those in his and Ansly's interests, are much agitated at the circumstance. They are at present very quiet, and Ansly durst not be seen this side the river. It has been suggested that the Indians will be excited to do private mischief. I am not uneasy for my personal safety. We are so totally outside of the protection of govern- ment, that it may become absolutely necessary to go into some vio- lence, should violence be threatened. Nothing but necessity will induce me to do a thing which will not be perfectly consistent with law, but when that necessity presents itself, I shall do that which is most effect- ual for self defence, and oppose violence with violence, and trust to common justice the event. I have been told the Indians have burnt a quantity of wild hay I had put up some distance from here; the truth of the fact I have not yet ascertained; I shall find out the persons who have done it. My line of conduct towards them I shall not pretend at present to say."
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AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES. +
During the season of 1797, a grist mill was commenced, it being the saine as that now owned by Wm. Furness, which was placed a consider- able distance below the dam, in order that vessels might there load and unload. A large number of hands were employed, and to add to his cares Isaac Ogden had hired and sent up from Montreal, four French masons and five or six laborers, at high prices, and with the promise that they should be paid in money as soon as their work was done. There was no lack of ability or inclination on the part of Mr. S. Ogden to sustain these expenses, but the means of communication by letter, and especially the remittance of money, were very precarious and un- certain. This produced the greatest difficulties, and in this and the fol- lowing years almost rendered the firm insolvent. It was in these ex- tremities that the energy and perserverence of Mr. Ford were displayed in the most striking manner, and in such a way as to indicate his quali- fications for founding a new colony, beyond the protection of the laws, and among those whose interests would have been promoted by his misfortunes, After complaining to his partner of the high prices pro- mised ($30 for masons and $15 for laborers, while he could hire the latter for $11.25), he adds:
"There is a disadvantage over and above the very high price allowed the French laborers, because nothing but money will answer, for d -- 1 the thing will they purchase. There is their expenses, which amounts to $30 or $40 exclusive of their pay. Your brother writes very anxiously, fearing he may be led into some scrape in the business. I will give you an extract of that part of his letter: 'You are to pay them at Oswe- gatchie, in silver dollars ; be careful that you do not bring me into a law suit with them for non-compliance on your part, as you see I am bound; it would not be well for a judge to be sued.' He also mentions that he had wrote you upon the subject, &c., and you will see the positive ne- cessity of putting it in my power to defray the heavy expenses which must unavoidably accrue in so extensive a building. The cash I am obliged to pay out for the supplies of last winter and this spring, will take every farthing of money I brought with me, and unless you take measures for my being immediately supplied, it will be impossible for me to go on. The store affords me a considerable assistance, but the sales fall vastly short of the supply wanted. I hope you will not let this escape your attention. The success of our operations very much de- pends upon this year's exertions. There are a number of people who wish to come over, who have not joined the mob, but they have no money to purchase, and are poor. How I shall do with them I know not. I must shape the thing by way of agreement. Another year I shall insist upon your sending an agent about your landed matters; it is positively more than I can attend to and take care of my business. I can not con- clude without taking again the liberty of pressing upon your mind the necessity of forwarding me the ways and means; without it, I shall not be able to do much this year. You will have the goodness to present my best respects to Mrs. Ogden, and all the family, and believe me to be with every sentiment of esteem, your friend and humble servant,
4
N. FORD.
386
*
HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
N. B. I took out my commission as a magistrate, but could not be sworn in by any other but a judge or clerk of the court of this county, and not any being handy, I could not spare the time to hunt them up. The invention of our friends over the river have been upon the stretch to invent lies to destroy our influence. Among the great number pro- pagated I shall only mention was that you and I were both broke, and that Mr. Randolph had surest orders to quit the ground as soon as he possibly could plausibly do it, &c."
In a letter of Aug. 23, he urged the justice of the claims of the labor- ers, many of whom were poor, and whose families would be brought to want, and represented in strong language, the discredit that would be brought upon themselves in case of failure to pay them. The following bill of goods was probably the first ever ordered in town. They were directed to be sent to Fort Stanwix, to meet boats from Oswegatchie, and to be packed in tight barrels.
" Four doz. pieces of Hummums, that will come at 1s. 10d., or 2s. pr. yd .; 3 or 4 pieces of coarse blue, and mixed colored cloths; 200 yds. check flannel, yd wide; striped cotton, blue and white ; 2 ps. of camblet, for cloaks (brown); 1 ps. swan's skin; 2 ps. coating; 1 ps. blue 2d cloth; 1 ps. yellow flannel; 1 ps. of red; 1 ps. of white; colored silk and twist; 10 or 20 ps calico, some of which to be large figured for Indians, the rest fashionable ; 1 ps. Russian sheeting; 1 cwt bar lead; 500 oil flints; vermillion for Indians; 1 small case hats; 2 doz. of cotton handker- chiefs for men; 2 doz, do. for women; & cwt indigo; 2 or 3 ps. of blue and black moreen ; 2 or 3 ps. of caliminco; do. 2 ps. durant, do.
If you should determine to send the above articles, you must do it im- mediately, and send me word. I do not know any body at Fort Stan- wix, unless you shall write to Mr. Weston, and he will have them stored.
In a letter dated September 13, 1797, to S. Ogden, he wrote:
" I am still disappointed in not hearing from you; how to account for it I am totally at a loss. How, or in what manner, I am to turn myself to meet the present demands at present, I know not, and how I am to do when the season of work closes, I am still much more at a loss to know. I have not ten dollars at command, and have now forty-five hands (besides a number of women and children), to find in provisions. These must all be fed and paid, and unless you forward me the means, it will be out of my power to go on with the business. I have squeezed along; -- knows how until this time, but this will do no longer. The money must be paid for what has been had, as well as what is to be. Laying aside every other consideration, this way of carrying on business is extravagant, for supplies must be had, and at such prices as those who have them choose to ask, but if I had it in my power to send a man out and purchase with cash, I should be able to get things a little at my prices. The supply of provisions will amount to considerable, but when I come to pay off the hands, and then tell them I have no money, what must their opinion be of us! They have nothing but their labor to de- pend upon, and have been at work and still are at work, under the strongest impression, that the moment they want their money they can have it. The contract your brother made with the Frenchmen was such that they were to be paid monthly. They were so dissatisfied at the ex- piration of the first month, that it was with difficulity I prevented their
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. AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
going to Montreal, and demanding their pay from your brother, They said, 'he is the man they bargained with and he shall fulfil the contract.' Their second month will expire the 7th of next month, and then I suppose there will be more noise than all the work is worth, for I have not in my power to pay them, and I am sure they will then leave ne, and your brother must stand in the gap. A noise at Montreal with the Frenchman, and a noise here with the people over the river, will be rather more than any one man can stand. Were I not quite confident that you had taken measures before now, I should be almost induced to run away."
In this letter he gave a minute account of the plan of the mill and fixtures, and his hopes and fears in relation the first raft which he was preparing to send to Montreal. As the business of the season was ahout being closed up, his embarrassment became extreme, and is fully set forth in the following letter, dated Oct. 7, 1797.
" I have this moment received your letter of the 13th of August, and my letter of the 13th September, (which I hope you have received) will be answering much of it. Some few days ago I received part of the money you had placed in your brother's hand, but the whole sum of $500, which I am authorized to draw upon him for, is so trifling, com- pared with our disbursements, (as you will see by my last letters, to which permit me to refer you), that I am alinost discouraged. You know when I left you, you did not furnish me with any more cash than was necessary to get me here, and pay our debts. This you very well re- member, I remonstrated against, but yon assured me I should have a sufficiency forwarded to Montreal early enough to meet my exigencies, upon which promise I set out, and have struggled through the season thus far, at the close of which I receive $500, a suin that is only $5 more than will pay the four French masons, and six laborers from Montreal. Now what am I to do with all the rest? and how am I to pay for provisions, and lay in our winter stock ? The mode you point out is to draw upon you at short sight. I have no doubt that the bills would be punctually paid, but let me ask to whom am I to sell the bills in this country ? This cannot be done to any one short of Montreal, so that the very moment Mr. Ran- dolph returns from that place, I mnst send him back to negotiate the bills: the very expense attending this will be considerable, and the loss of his service at this time will be much more than the expense; for it is more than I can possibly do to attend to keep upwards of forty hands at work, provide provisions, and tend the store, which I have been obliged to do ever since he has been gone to Montreal, which is upwards ot three weeks. Added to all my own troubles I have been perplexed with Edsal's thirteen surveyors, whom he left unprovided for, and who have given me a great deal of trouble, and Tuesday next must be fitted out for home, and provided with cash, and before I can send to Montreal, and get returns, Odle and his party, and King and Vanriper, must be fitted out and they must have money to carry them home. Their wages will be paid in Jersey, but the five carpenters and thirty laborers, I have hired from over the river, must be paid here, and so imust all our sup- plies. If you had received your money, the shortest way would have been to forward it by Mr. McDonald, and if you had not, yon ought to, have advised me to draw sooner. It is now the close of the season, when the hands want to be paid off, and now I have to do what might have been done long since. It is certainly placing me in a very cruel
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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE
situation, in a strange country, and in a country where it is the interest of so many to be our enemies, and who lay hold of every opportunity to turn every slip to our disadvantage, and I am sorry to add, there are some among this number, who have professed friendship. God knows I have a heart that despises them, and a disposition to punish them for their scurrility, as soon as I can bring it home to any one who has the smallest pretentions to calling himself a gentleman. There has been much said of us, but I cannot trace it to those whom I suspect. If I am able to do so, I will call them to a settlement that shall make them tremble. In my former letter, I informed you that I had sent a raft of boards to Montreal, and the prospects of raising money from that source, &c. The raft contained 2800 boards-this number was as much as could go down the rapids at this season. My orders were for the boat to return as soon as the boards were landed, and friend Richard to re- main and sell them to the best advantage. He has not yet returned. The boat has returned, and by it he has sent me four hundred dollars of the money in your brother's hands, the remainder he retained, and wrote he had done so because he feared the raft would not sell for enough to pay for the articles I had been under the necessity to purchase, such as rum, nails, tackles, to raise the mill, &c. Before the boat came away, he had sold one crib for $12} per 100 boards, and did not expect a higher price for the remainder, so that when he comes to pay your brother about $40, which he advanced for the Frenchmen's outfit, and $40 which we owe to R. F. & Co., and for three barrels of rum, 15 bushels of salt, two casks of nails, window glass and tin, and add to this the cash he had to pay the hands at Montreal, I am sure he will have no raft money in hand, for at the most the raft will fetch no more than $380, supposing he is able to get $123 per 100, which is very doubtful.
* My room door opens at this instant; enters my ten French- men ; what do you want? "Our month is out, and we want our moneys." Here I must stop and settle with them. * * I have done it, thank God; and had I not received the money from Montreal, as I did, they would have left me, and gone to your brother. But by doing this, I am now stripped of cash again ; and all the other people must do without. I have done this to save the noise which would otherwise be at Montreal. The noise here is bad enough, and I fear our fame will spread fast enough, without our assistance to propagate it. What I am to do now, I know not. Those from whom I have been in the constant habit of purchasing beef at 4d. York, now ask me 4}, and they keep the hide and tallow. This will bring our beef at 53d., and this arises from no other cause, than a knowledge of my being without money, and the advantage is taken. They know I must have beef, and they know I must get it from those who can credit; and I can not help myself. Had I the cash, I could get it plenty, and I believe for less than 4d. This is also the case with my flour. If I had cash, I could purchase wheat for less than a dollar, but as I have not, I am under the necessity of purchasing of Mr. -, who charges me four dollars per cwt. This is a loss of one dollar upon every hundred, which is no small matter, in the quantity I am obliged to use. This is doing business at a great loss, and if it can, ought to be, avoided. Yon certainly have no competent idea of the mag- nitude of our building, or you would never have sent me five hundred dollars, under the idea of its being sufficient for our summer's operations. The little map I sent you in my last, will furnish you with sufficient in- formation to form a judgment of what we have to do, and from your knowledge in business, of the expense also. Every possible economy is inade use of, and no object however trifling escapes my attention; and
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AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES.
could I be furnished with a capital equal to the object, I am bound to say, no work of equal magnitude would be set in motion for the same money this would be. * If you would for a moment conceive yourself in my very, very unpleasant situation, I am confident your humanity would become excited to that degree, that no time would be lost in giving relief, but you are too far from the scene, and my pen too feeble to paint. I close the subject, not doubting you will take the earliest opportunity to furnish me with the means necessary for the occasion. In my last I told you we were almost through the stone work of the mill. That is finished, and a most complete wall it is. * * * Before I close this letter, I shall give you a description of the dam and race we expected to raise on the 12th. I should now have the pleasure to tell you it was, and partly covered, had not Odle met with the misfortune to stick the adze into his ancle, which has laid him up nearly a fortnight.
There is one question you will naturally ask me, about paying the Frenchinen, which is-why did I not draw a bill and send it to your brother at Montreal, to negotiate and pay them there? This I tried, and pressed it, in every way and shape I could devise; but their jealousy, or their ignorance, or the orders of their priests, to bring the money with them (so that they could have their share), or what it was, I know not; but nothing but the moneys would unswer. I have kept the masons busy at the walls of the dam. I have found the race a more tedious job than any I ever undertook. I have drove it with the utmost industry, and have progressed in it as fast as could reasonably be expected, con- sidering the disadvantage I labored under, in sending so many of my hands with the raft."
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