USA > New York > Franklin County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 47
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 47
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On the 17th of Nov., 1804, he wrote: " This season has passed away without hearing a word from you. Why you are thus silent I do not know. I told you in my last I was jogging away at the court house, and now I have the pleasure to tell you I have completed it, so as to be very comfortable and convenient. We have also finished one of the jails. Th November term was held in the house, and the people of the county expressed much satisfaction in finding themselves in the possession of so much accommodation. It has been a pretty tough job to get along with it, for it has interfered very much with our business, but I hope the ef- fect will be to put an end to any court house dispute in the county. I have had the certificates regularly filed in the proper office, and it now becomes the court house and jail of the county. I told you also in my former letter, I was about setting up a distillery, and upon examining I found it would be more trouble to convert one of the block houses into a distillery than it would be to build a new one. The court house de- layed me so late in the fall that I only got at distilling a few days since. I hope we shall find it to answer. Our tannery we shall find to answer. The man whom I have employed I find to be very industrious, and a good workman. As to settlement, that progresses, but not with the same ra- pidity which some other part of the county does. I have made a num- ber of sales this fall, and to some who are respectable people; and one
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sale I have made (which is not fully completed, and which if it takes place, which I do not doubt at present), of importance, for it is to a man who will pay half the money next spring, aud the residue in one or two years. He has been over the land and likes it well, and also the country gen- erally. He will purchase between 2 and 3,000 acres, and is to give $5 per acre. Should this sale take place, there are a number of men of handsome property in Ulster county (from whence this man comes), who will also purchase and remove here. Although our sales are not rapid, we shall ultimately do better than those who are pressing off their lands at the price they are, and upon so long a credit, for the rise of lands is much more advantageous to us than their interest will be to them. In either case no money is received. Nothing has been done or is doing about the road, and unless there is a different conduct among the pro- prietors there will not be by me."
The subject of the road to the Mohawk, was never lost sight of until accomplished, which was done by a law of April 9, 1804, in which a lottery was created, for the purpose of raising $22,000, with 10 per cent in addition for expenses, to construct a road from Troy to Greenwich, Washington county, and from or near the head of the Long falls on Black river, (Carthage), in the county of Oneida, to the mills of Nathan Ford, at Oswegatchie, in St. Lawrence county. The latter was to be six rods wide, and Nathan Ford, Alexander J. Turner, and Joseph Edsall, were appointed commissioners for making it. Owners of improved lands might require payment for damages. $12,000 of the above sum was ap- propriated for this road. If any person thought proper to advance money for either road, he might pay it into the treasury, to be repaid with in- terest out of the avails of the lottery. Vacancies in the office of com - missioners were to be filled by the governor. They were to be paid $1.50 per day. The summer of 1805 was devoted to the location and opening of the road, and on the 26th of October, 1805, Judge Ford wrote :
"I have just returned from laying out the state road between Og- densburgh and the Long falls upon Black river, and I am happy to tell you we have great alterations (from the old road), for the better, as well also as shortening distance. This business took me nine days, and most of the time it was stormy, disagreeable weather. The difficulty I find in forming a plan how our lottery money can be laid out to the best advantage, makes me wish for some abler head than mine, to consult, or those with whom I am associated in the commission. To contract by the mile is very difficult, and to contract by the job, comprehending the whole distance, is still worse. After consulting and turning the business in all the ways and shapes it is capable of, I proposed to iny colleague the propriety of employing a man of reputation, who had weight of character equal to the procuring of thirty good hands to be paid by the month, and he to superintend the business. The superintendent to be handsomely paid, and he to carry on and conduct the business under the direction of the commissioners. This plan we have adopted, and I
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trust I have found a man who is fully adequate to the task, * and we shall make our engagements to begin on the 25th of May. I hope no- thing will interfere which will obstruct our progressing. I am sorry to say I am not wholly without my fears, although I durst not whisper such an idea. You would be astonished to see how much pains are taken to counteract this object, by those who are settling lands to the east of us; and you would be equally astonished to see the exertion there is now making to get roads in every direction to lake Champlain. Their exer- tion is by no means fruitless, for they have worked through with several. This I however am happy to see; notwithstanding it produces to us a temporary evil, will eventually be a thing which can not fail to pro- duce to us solid advantages; because through these avenues, we shall ultimately reap as great advantages as they will. All that can be said of the thing is, they are enjoying the first fruits. There is not now scarcely a town in the rear of us (in Macomb's great purchase), but what is open for sale, and have agents now on, that trumpet those lands to be the finest in the world; and these agents being yankees, who have connex- ions in the eastern states, have turned the most of emigration that way. Those lands are infinitely better, generally speaking, than we ever had an idea of, and the very low price they are held at, induce vast numbers to stop at them, notwithstanding their original intentions were otherwise. But it is a fact, that nine-tenths of the first emigrants enquire for cheap lands, and the reason for their so doing, is because they expect to sell their improvements, and jog further. Those agents cry down the front lands as a poor, sunken and fever and ague country, and that lands have got to their value, and a thousand other stories, equally false and ridicu- Jous. These together (or some one of them), have the effect to divert the unware traveler. By the dexterity of those fellows in the east, and the Black river jockeys to the west (whose brains are equally inventive), they really have the effect to make our settlement interior. Were I to attempt to give you any adequate idea of the means mnade use of, to divert and keep back settlements upon the river towns, by these people, I should exhaust all my ingenuity, and then fall vastly short of the object. Suffice it to say, that no stone is left unturned ; but however much it may avail them for the present, its duration must be short. The patroon hav- ing stopped the sales in Lisbon and Canton, has been of great injury to us, because it has enabled the people I have just described, to assert that the sales of the river lands are stopped, and this has prevented many from coming ou to view lands in our town. Finding that every species of foul play is practised against us, I have thought it good policy to send a man (who is very well qualified), to that part of Vermont from whence the greatest emigration to this country comes, to make a true statement of the country, and lessen the force of misrepresentation, by exposing the fraud practised upon the credulity of those who seek a better country. I have also authorized him, after finding out proper influential characters, to privately assure them, if they come on and purchase, and use their influence to induce others to follow them, I will make it a consideration, which shall be to them an object. I have also employed another, who lives beyond the mountains, near the borders of New Hampshire, in the same business, and my determination is to show those fellows who have taken so much pains to prevent our town from settling, that it can be done. My time heretofore has been so much occupied with our business,
* David Seymour, of Springfield, Vt., the father of George N. Seymour, Esq., of Ogdens- burgh
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and my winters so wholly taken up in carrying out measures with the legislature, that I have not had it in my power to traverse the eastern states, and meet those agents there, and have an opportunity to do away their misrepresentations. There are a number of people, who have been on their way to me (as has come to my knowledge), who have been turned aside by these fellows. Their wish was to settle upon the lands near the court house. When they have mentioned this, they have been confi- dentially told there is no court house in the county established by author- ity, and that there is no likelihood of the thing being substantially fixed here; but that their lands are in the centre of the county, and that there is no doubt but it will be there. They have caught many by this strata- gen. I should not be surprised if there should be an attempt to make a hub-bub about the court house; but I hope I have guarded that at all points, so as to baffle their designs. Envy and jealousy are very con- spicuous concerning the court house, and you would be surprised to see how much pains have been taken to turn all the eastern roads from our town. This I have looked at, without its being known that I have ob- served it, and when they had got the whole fixed very much to their minds, and as they supposed, so as to keep the whole emigration interior. When the board of supervisors set, I proposed to them to appropriate a sum of money for the purpose of opening a road from the east branch bridge to the northeast line of Canton, for the purpose of accommodat- ing that part of the county with a road which would fetch them to the court house six miles nearer than any other way; and as that interior country was rapidly settling, I thought it the duty of the board to facili- tate their communication with the court house as much as possible. This idea the board fell in with, and we have appropriated between three and four hundred dollars to that object, and in drawing the reso- lution, I have taken care to word it in such a way as will run the road, not only so as to make the above accommodation, but also so as to strike their main road, at a point which will exactly embrace all their other roads, by which we shall open an avenue through that part of our pur- chase in Dewitt (now a part of Russell), and give a full chance for those who wish to settle at Ogdensburgh. This stroke has disturbed much of their plans, and I suppose the board will have to suffer a little slander for appropriating public money for the public accommodation against their local interest. We shall have the commissioners out this fall, and have the road laid and recorded, and if possible, have it opened. After we get it recorded, it will be out of their power (under present circum- stances), to get it altered, and this is what they fear. Much pains were taken last year, to have a sufficient number of towns set off, for the pur- pose of overbalancing the board of supervisors. This they failed in. I foresee that much jarring interest and local consideration will compel us to meet that dissension which all new counties have experienced before us. It is a fatality incident to human nature, and we must not expect to be exempt from it.
I am happy to tell you, we have got the east branch bridge finished, and I think it is not such a one as will get away as soon as the other did .* In my former letter I told you I had been obliged to rebuild the lower side of our dam. The frost had so injured it that it would not do to risk it another winter. This has been a heavy job. This, together with the bridge, repairing the two houses in town, and our ordinary business, has found vent for all the money I have been able to muster. The want of capital obliges us to carry on business to a great disadvantage. If we
* The bridge at this place had been swept off' in a freshet.
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had capital sufficient to open business upon such a scale as the situation of this place is capable of, we could without doubt make the business support itself; but under the present circumstances it moves feebly in comparison to the dead capital. I hope we shall not always stand at the same point. You doubtless recollect the letter you wrote me last fall upon the subject of a clergyman being sent here under the direction of the bishop. That letter I answered fully, in which I stated the feelings and wishes of the settlers. I also mentioned to them the measures pur- suing by them to obtain a clergyman of their own persuasion. I also stated my opinion as to the policy of attempting to urge, or in any way to direct their wishes in this matter. To that letter I would beg leave to refer you. Finding them determined to get one of the Presbyterian order, and their minds being fully bent upon that object, I concluded it was proper for me not to oppose, but fall in with their views, and take such a lead in the business as to prevent their getting some poor charac- ter who would probably be a harm rather than advantage to the settle- inent. Under this impression I have united with them in giving a call to a Mr. Younglove, a gentleman of education and abilities, and who has been the first tutor of the college at Schenectada for three years .* His recommendations are highly honorable. He has spent six weeks with us, but has now returned to his friends in Washington county, and ex- pects to be back in February. I have suggested to him the idea of taking the charge of an academy here. An institution I make no scruple will answer well, for there is no such thing in Canada short of Montreal. If I can succeed in effecting this object, which at present I make no doubt of, it will be the means of adding much reputation to this place, and particularly so, by having it under the guidance of a man who has already established a reputation as a teacher. Our court room will afford good accommodations for the present. Upon his return I shall form a plan for carrying this desirable object into effect, and advertise the thing in our papers, and also the eastern and Montreal papers. By this means full publicity will be given to the institution, and I think it can not fail to attach much reputation to the village of Ogdensburgh, and when we get a little more forward, and find the thing to succeed, we will build an academy. David and his family left this yesterday for their new habita- tion in Morristown, where I hope they will be comfortable the ensuing winter. He writes you by the present conveyance. I have written you a number of letters this summer, but I am sorry to tell you I have re- ceived none from you except the one by T. L. O. I can not conclude without telling you I fear the Indians will jockey about the lead inine, but if they should, we would have the gratification to know the specula- tion is a good one; the lands are settling rapidly. I am, however, not without hope we shall finally attain our object. Believe me with much affection, your friend,
Col. Sam'l Ogden.
N. FORD ..
To counteract the influence of traveling agents, Mr. Ford, in the winter of 1805, '6, also sent men to travel through the districts in which the emigrating epidemic prevailed, and published in two of the papers in Vermont, giving a little history of the county. Dr. J. W. Smith was one
* The Rev. John Younglove, A. M., S. T. D., graduated at Union College in 1801. In the following year he was appointed tutor, and was one of the two first who held that office in that college. He had held that place until 1505, when he received the call as above stated. It does not appear that he settled there, although he spent some time here.
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of the persons employed to influence emigrants. Of the articles he said :
"I shall prepare another and forward in February. The doctor (to whom I shew them), says they're calculated to be useful in Vermont, and is surprised that something has not been done long since. I have ever been of opinion it was as easy to write the county into notice as it was the Genesee, and have frequently requested your sons David and Lud- low to do it, but it seems they did not, and I am conscious mny pen is too feeble. But I presume I have done the thing in such a way as will do no harm if it does no good. All I can say is that a plain simple story sometimes takes effect, provided it be so told that no suspicion is attach- ed to it, and I have tried to guard my expressions so as to prevent that. There has not been any opportunity for me to hear from Vermont yet. This I however expect daily. I very much suspect some attempt will be made at the legislature for dividing the avails of the lottery, for the purpose of expending a part of it upon the Champlain road. I have written to my friends in the legislature, guarding them against it. I mentioned to you that the board of supervisors have granted a sum of money for making a road from the east branch bridge to intersect that and other roads which had been laid out by those interior people, for the purpose of turning the emigration from the front towns, and that I expected it would make a noise. They kept themselves tolerably peace- able, hoping and expecting nothing would be done until after the next town meeting, when they would change the commissioners of Canton and Lisbon. In this they have been anticipated, for we have contracted for the making the road and building the bridge over the natural canal, and making the crossway through the swamp, and the hands are now at work at it. Before town meeting we hope to have the heaviest of it completed. They have no hope now to prevent the thing, but gratify themselves by railing against the supervisors for granting the money. This I disregard. Business as usual will take me to Albany in the latter part of February. How long I shall be detained there is very uncertain. I shall from thence pay you a visit."
Having quoted freely from the correspondence down to the time when it ceased to relate to the settlements, we will resume the history of Og- densburgh. The village was surveyed the second or third year of the settlement, and the streets named at first as now, with trifling exceptions. The first house erected and finished was the present American hotel. The place was named from Samuel Ogden, who was a son of David Ogden, and had several brothers. On the occurrence of the revolution- ary war, the father and all of the sons except Abram, (the father of David A. Ogden, an owner of Madrid,) and Samuel, adhered to the royal cause. These two were disinherited by their father for their political faith. Samuel Ogden was for many years engaged in the iron business in New Jersey. He bore the title of colonel, although he is believed to have held no office and took no part in the revolutionary war. He married a sister of Gouverneur Morris, and the acquaintance which resulted from this relation, led him to become concerned extensively in the land purchases of the western part of the state, and in the township of Oswegatchie and
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elsewhere. He lived for a time at Trenton, N. J., and owned an estate which afterwards was purchased by General Moreau. He subsequently resided in Newark, N. J., where he died about 1818. David B. Ogden, whom we have had occasion to mention as concerned in the titles was a son of S. Ogden.
In 1802, was held the first celebration of our national anniversary in Ogdensburgh, if not in the county. It was held at the old barracks, and Mr. John King, in the employment of Ogden & Ford, delivered the ora- tion. In 1804, a pleasant celebration was held, at which a party of both sexes from Canada united with the villagers in the festivities of the occa- sion. A dinner was prepared by Judge Ford, as was his custom for several years, and in the evening fireworks were first displayed. They were prepared on the premises, and said to have been very fine. Many of the Canadians previous to the war, were accustomed to cross to our side, and join in celebrating our national anniversary, and even the war itself, although it temporarily checked the intercourse along the lines by inspiring mutual fear and suspicion, did not long separate those people who had many interests in common. In 1813, along the lower part of St. Lawrence county, old neighbors began to exchange visits by night, and continued to do so more or less privately till the peace.
There were living in the village of Ogdensburgh in 1804, but four families, viz: - Slosson, on the corner diagonally opposite the St. Lawrence hotel; Dr. Davis, on the ground now covered by E. B. Allen's residence; George Davis, who kept an inn at the American hotel; and a Mr. Chapin, in State street near the Ripley house. There was a store kept by Judge Ford at the old barracks, and occasionally the settlers had the opportunity of shopping on board of Durham boats from Utica, in which goods were displayed for sale.
In the summer of 1803, Mr. Washington Irving, then a young man, came into the county with some of the proprietors, and remained a short time. His name occurs on several old deeds as a witness. In 1804, Mr. Louis Hasbrouck, the first county clerk, who had been on for two years previously, removed with his family, and settled in the village.
In November, 1804, Francis Bromigem, David Griffin, Richard M. Lawrence, John M. Lawrence, John Lyons, Wm. B. Wright, Seth War- ren, Archibald McClaren, and Stephen Slawson, were returned as grand jurors, and Daniel McNeill, Wm. Sharp, and John Stewart, as petit jurors in Oswegatchie.
In 1808, the unsold portions of the village plat was purchased by David Parish, who first visited the town in the fall of that year, and measures were immediately taken to create at this point a commercial interest that
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should contest with every other port on the river and lake for superiority. In this year a bridge was built by a Mr. Aldrich at a cost of $1,500, which was warranted to last five years, and which stood fifteen. In 1829 and in 1847 Legislative provision was made for rebuilding the bridge. In the fall of 1808, the firm of J Rosseel & Co., sustained by the capital of Mr. Parish, commenced mercantile operations and brought on $40,000 worth of goods, which were opened in a temporary store until a permanent building could be erected.
On November 10th, 1808, the building of two schooners was com- menced by Mr. Jonathan Brown, of New York, who with Selick Howe was sent on from New York for that purpose by Mr. Parish. Two ves- sels, the Collector and the Experiment were built during that winter and the following summer. The first one launched was the schooner Experi- ment, which occurred on the 4th of July, 1809, and this formed a part of the exercises of the day. A very handsome celebration was got up for this occasion ; an oration delivered by a Mr. Ogden, a lawyer from New Jersey, at the court house, and a dinner was prepared in a beautiful walnut grove, on the present site of the marble row. Great numbers of Canadians participated in the proceedings with spirit. The yard in which the Experiment was built, was on the site of Amos Bacon's store. She was subsequently commanded by Capt. Holmes, and had a burthen of 50 tons. The second vessel was the schooner Collector, launched in the latter part of the summer of 1809, and made several trips up the lake that season under Capt. Obed Mayo, and the next year she was run by Capt. Samuel Dixon. Her first arrival was Nov. 15, 1809, with salt and dry goods from Oswego. She was owned by Rosseel & Co. On the following summer (1810), the third schooner, the Genesee Packet, was launched and rigged. She was owned and commanded by Capt. Mayo. On the 5th of July, 1810, Mr. Rosseel wrote to his patron as follows: " We have renounced the project of building boats, since with them we could not enter into competition with the Kingstonians, in the line of transporting produce down the St. Lawrence, a rivalship which we are solicitous to maintain, though we work for glory; we therefore have re- solved to combine building arks." Early in the season of 1809, Mr. Rosseel proceeded to Montreal, to procure from thence laborers, where he engaged about 40 Canadians to work by the month, and bought two bateaux to take them up to Ogdensburgh, with blankets, peas for soup, &c., each receiving a month's wages in advance for their families' sup- port. These bateaux were afterwards used in bringing sand from Nettle- ton's point, above Prescott, for the mortar used in building, the cement of which is remarkably hard. The stone building at the wharf was com-
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