A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time, Part 56

Author: Hough, Franklin Benjamin, 1822-1885
Publication date: 1853
Publisher: Albany, N.Y. : Little & Co.
Number of Pages: 750

USA > New York > Franklin County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 56
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 56

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).

There is a Presbyterian society of thirty to forty members in this town, which is a branch of the Malone church.

An alleged murder occurred in Bellmont, Nov. 3, 1851. Mr. Justin Bell, of Brasher, St. Lawrence county, had erected a shanty near Owls- head pond, about 8} miles from Malone village, and one or two into the woods, for a residence while hunting and fishing. He had been there on this occasion several days, and on the morning of the day on which the fatal occurrence happened, Mr. B. H. Man, of Westville, a surveyor, who had been up beyond, to examine a piece of land, with others, left Bell and James Sherwin, at the shanty. The latter had arrived about 11 o'clock, partly intoxicated, and with a jug of liquor. He is said to have threatened to take possession of the shanty and the furs, and his

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HISTORY OF ST. LAWRENCE

swaggering wanner made Bell uneasy at being left alone in his com- pany, and he enquired of those who were leaving them, whether he would be safe in his company. Early on Monday morning, Sherwin came into the settlement with the statement, that he had accidentally shot Bell, while attempting to discharge his gun. Numbers immediately repaired to the premises, and a coroner's inquest was held. Discrepancies in the account given of the manner in which the alleged accident oc- curred, and the fact of some of the furs, the lamp, &c., being found at a considerable distance from the shanty, led to suspicion of crime, and Sherwin was arrested and committed for murder. The Franklin county jail being thought unsafe, should any attempt be made to rescue the prisoner, he was confined for some time in the jail of St. Lawrence county, and at the July term of the court of oyer and terminer, held at Malone, in 1852, he was tried.

Augustus C. Hand, one of the justices of the supreme court presided, assisted by John Hutton, county judge, and Milton Heath, and Elisha Hollister, justices of sessions. After a full and impartial trial, the jury, from the circumstances proved, after a deliberation of several hours, brought in a verdict of guilty. The prisoner received the verdict with apparent indifference. He was sentenced to be hung, Sept. 10, but this was commuted to imprisonment for life.

BOMBAY,

Was organized from Fort Covington, March 30, 1833, by an act which took effect on the first of May following. The first town meeting was di- rected to be held at the school house near Bombay Corners. This town embraces the present Indian reservation of the St. Regis tribe, and township No. 1, or Macomb, of Great tract number 1, of Macomb's pur- chase. The name of Bombay was derived from the commercial capi- tal in the East Indies, and given by Michael Hogan, [the founder of Ho- gansburgh, from its being the former home of his wife. Mr. Hogan died at Washington, D. C., on the 26th of March, 1833, at the age of 68. He had for several years held the office of consul general of the United States, at Valparaiso, in Chili, and was formerly a merchant in the city of New York. He was distinguished throughout various reverses of for- tune, by his enterprise, intelligence and probity, as well as by his hospi- table and liberal disposition, and the urbanity of his manners.

Supervisors :- 1833-34, Wilson Randall; 1835-37, Amherst K. Wil- liams; 1838-39, John S. Eldridge; 1840-1, Elias Bowker; 1842-43; Elvin K. Smith: 1844, Amasa Townsend; 1845, Elias Bowker; 1846-47; A. Townsend; 1848, Charles Russell; 1849-50, Jacob G. Reynolds; 1851, C. Russell; 1852; J. G. Reynolds.

The first improvements in the town, except at St. Regis village, were, it is said, begun by Gordon, the founder of St. Regis, who about 1762 caused mills to be erected at what is now Hogansburgh, but which then , bore the name of St. Regis mills. From this place he is said to have sent rafts to Montreal. The tradition of this affair is obscure and un

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certain. A mill was burned about 1804, said to have been old. In De- cember, 1808, there were no mills there. Wiltiam Gray, the Indian in- terpreter, was living on the west bank during the early part of the war and for many years previous, and the place then bore the name of Gray's mills. From information derived from Joseph Lefonduze, a Frenchman, who has resided for many years at Hogansburgh, it is learned that Frenchmen, named Beron and Bouget, owned the first mills erected since 1808, who were succeeded by one Soufaçon and Jean Baptiste Parissien,* who left in 1816.

The first grist mill was erected for Michael Hogan, about 1818, on the east side of St. Regis river. He had previously purchased township number one, and mills were erected near the centre of the town, by Daniel W. Church, for him in 1811. The first settler in township num- ber one is said to have been Joseph Hadley, a hunter, about 1803. Samuel Sanborn, with a large family, settled about the year 1805. The settlements in town were very few and feeble, previous to 1822, when immigration commenced, and proceeded so rapidly, that the greater part of the town, not reserved by the Indians, was taken up within two or three years. Much of the valuable timber had been stolen by partie s from Canada, and by squatters, before it passed into the hands of actual settlers. The title of township number one, passed from Mr. Hogan to Robert Oliver, of Baltimore, and the estate has been subsequently di_ vided among his heirs, by commissioners chosen for the purpose.

The village of Hogansburgh is accessible by steamers, and an Ameri- can boat that plies between Cornwall and Montreal, has touched here during the past season, but notwithstanding this advantage, joined with a good water power, the place does not appear to thrive. Among other causes, the difficulty of obtaining titles on the reservation, and the impos- sibility, from this cause, of bringing under improvement lands which are susceptible of a high cultivation, are the principal. The first road across the Indian lands, was from French mills to St. Regis, and in the treaty of 1818, the right of way for one to the present village was ceded, and soon after a road was opened nearly east and west through the reserva- tion. April 12, 1827, $1,000 was applied, and $1,000 subscribed, for im- proving this road, under the direction of James B. Spencer and Wm Hogan. A law was passed May 26, 1841, appointing Gurdon S. Mills and James Hall Jr., to repair, straighten and improve this road, and the sum of $4,000 was applied for this purpose.

Religious Societies .- The Methodists organized a society in town March

* Owner at an early day of mills on Salmon river. Died at Isle au Perot, about 1833 aged 77.

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26, 1832, with Joseph Elliot, James M. Roberts, Simon Alverson, John O'Riley and Wilson Randall, trustees. This society has a church at Bombay Corners.

The church of St. Patrick (in the Catholic Register named St. Mary's church), was incorporated Oct. 20, 1834, with the Rt. Rev. John Dubois, bishop, N. Y .; John Keesan and John Hammill, of Brasher, James Mur- phy, Davis O'Nail, of Bombay, Patrick Feely and Lanty Adams, of Hogansburgh, trustees. They have a stone church at Hogansburgh. Before its erection, there was no other Catholic church in the county, except at St. Regis.

An Episcopal church was commenced in 1837, a little east of the vil- lage, but was never finished.

BRANDON,

Was erected Jan. 28, 1828, and made to include all that part of Ban- gor south of No. 5, in Great tract No. 1 of Macomb's purchase. The first town meeting was directed to be held at the house of Elijah Pren- tiss. The poor moneys raised in Bangor in 1827, were to be divided according to the last assessment. At the first town meeting, the follow- ing officers were elected :

Henry Stephens, supervisor ; Jonathan H. Farr, clerk; Shubert Hast- ings, Elijah Prentiss, assessors ; Jonathan Hastings, collector ; Josiah Hastings, Isaac Joy, poor masters ; George Austin, Clark Adams, Rufus Whitney. com'rs of highways; Jonathan Hastings, Royal Whitman, con- stable ; Andrew Stevens, Joseph Thomas, Thomas Wells, com'rs of com- mon schools ; James Wells, Ezekiel Hildreth, Calvin Farr, fence viewers ; Peter H. Higgings, Ira Ewings, Thomas Wells, Joseph Thomas, Peter Willson, overseers of highways.

At the first meeting, $250 voted for the highways. At a special town meeting, held December 10, 1830, a vote was taken and carried, that the poor money should be applied to pay the resident taxes in the year 1830. A vote was also taken that the overseers of the poor should collect the poor money without delay, and pay it over to the collector of the said town of Brandon, and that the remainder of the poor money, after paying the resident taxes, is to apply towards paying the overseers of the poor for their services in the year 1830. This action was taken after the adoption of the poor house system, when the poor being otherwise provided for, the towns were allowed to specify the object for which the poor fund that had previously accumulated could be applied.

1850. Resolved unanimously, that the supervisor be instructed to op- pose the removal of the court house from the present site. The board of supervisors was requested to cause the present buildings to be re- paired. The town has usually voted for the support of schools all the money which the law allows, and $250 annually for public highways.

Supervisors .- 1828-31, Henry Stevens, Jr .; 1832-3, Jonathan H. Farr; 1834, H. Stevens, Jr. ; 1835-6, J. H. Farr; 1837, Jason Baker ; 1838, James H. Holland; 1839-40, H. Stevens, Jr .; 1841, J. H. Holland; 1842, Shu- bert Hastings; 1843-4, Henry Stevens; 1845-6, Alexander Sergeant; 1847-8, J. H. Holland; 1849-50, J. Baker; 1851-2, J. H. Farr.

This town derives its name from Brandon, Vt., from whence most of the first settlers emigrated., The settlement is at present mostly limited

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to the north third of No. 8. A few scattered settlers reside on the Port Kent road, in township No. 11. The town began to settle in 1820, and the following names, from the land book of Mr. Noah Moody, the agent, were those of first settlers: Josiah Hastings, Aaron Conger, Wilson Spooner, Luther Taylor and John Thomas.

In 1821, Andrew and Henry Stevens, Levi Conger, G. W. Taylor, Clark Adams, Daniel K. Davis, Jonathan H. Farr and Orrin Wellington ; in 1832, ten, and in 1823, eight families, moved into town. The first saw mill was built by Ira Ewens, in 1825-6.

The following note is taken from the field notes of B. Wright, made on the survey of 1799:

" The Indian line of navigation from lake Champlain to Hudson's river, Rackett river, Black river and lake Ontario, lies through this town (No. 23, tract No. 1), by a path from Saranac lake to a small lake on a branch of the river Racket, and is much used by the various tribes of them."

It is marked on the original maps, as the Indian Pass.

BURKE

Was erected from Chateaugay, April 26, 1844, and comprises most of the western half of township No. 7 of the Old Military tract. It was proposed to name the town Birney, from the candidate of the liberty party for the presidency in that election; but this was changed in the legislature. The supervisors of this town have been, 1844-7, Loren Burk; 1848-9, Reuben Pike; 1850-51, Winthrop Newton; 1852, Elisha Marks. In 1850, the supervisor was instructed to use his influence against the removal of the county buildings, or the building of new ones.

In 1851, $500 was raised by authority of the legislature, for a town house, and one has been erected of wood, near the centre of the town, a mile northwest of the depot.

The town was settled at about the same time as Chateaugay, of which it formed a part. Jehiel Barnum, Noah Lee and others, enumerated in our account of Chateaugay, were among the earlier settlers. There is at present no village in town. A post office, town house, Presbyterian and Baptist churches (all built in 1852), exist near the centre of the town, near a neighborhood known as Burke Corners, which may form the neucleus of a village. Near the point where Trout river is crossed by the rail road, is a starch factory and several minor establishments, which the facilities of transportation which they enjoy, may be the means of making a place of business. A depot building has been lately erected here. It is only a flag station.

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CHATEAUGAY,

Was formed from Champlain, embracing townships 5, 6, 7, 8, of the Old Military tract. On the erection of St. Lawrence county, Great tract No. 1, of Macomb's purchase, and the St. Regis reservation ; and in form- ing Franklin county, Military townships 9 and 10 were annexed, and 5 and 6 taken off. Tract No. 1 was taken off in 1805, in forming Harrison, and by the two acts erecting and extending Bellmont, and in the erec- tion of Burke, it has been reduced to its present limits.

At the first town meeting in 1799, Lewis Ransom was elected super- visor and clerk; Ralph Shepard, Jesse Ketchum, and Benj. Roberts, as- sessors ; Amasa Farman, collector ; Gilbert Raymond, L. Ransom, poor masters ; Azeur Hawks, Geo. Platt, Nathan Beeman, commissioners high- ways ; Thomas Smith, Amasa Farman, constables ; Amasa Farman, Peleg Douglas, Ezekiel Hodges, Benj. Roberts, Jesse Ketchum, path masters. The town in 1800 gave 86 votes for senator.

Supervisors .- 1799-1802, Lewis Ransom; 1803-5, William Bailey; 1806-8, Gates Hoit; 1809-10, William Bailey; 1811, James Ormesbee; 1812, Lebens Fairman ; 1813-21, G. Hoit; 1822-3, George W. Douglas; 1824-5, Gideon Collins; 1826, Ira Smith; 1827-8, G. Collins; 1829-31, Jacob Smith; 1832, John D. Miles; 1833-6, John Mitchel; 1837-8, Ezra Stiles; 1839, G. Collins; 1840-41, J. Mitchel; 1842, Henry B. Smith; 1843, Daniel N. Huntington ; 1844, G. Collins; 1845-9, H. B. Smith; 1850, Jonathan Hoit; 1851, H. B. Smith; 1852, Thomas Bennet.

Bounties for noxious animals have been voted as follows: For pan- thers, $10 in 1815; $30 in 1818, '19,'20, '21. For wolves, $10 in 1807, '08,* '15; $15 in 1817, '18; $20 in 1819, '20, '26. For bears, $10 in 1818, '19, '20, '21. For foxes, $2 in 1817; $4 in 1818, '19; $5 in 1820, '21. For squirrels, $0.25 in 1817; $1 for every 12 in 1820, to residents of the town only. For wolvarines, $15 in 1819. For black birds, $0.25 in 1817. For crows, $0.50 in 1817, '18; $1 in 1820, '21.

Feb. 12, 1821, at a special meeting " held upon application of twelve freeholders, to see if the inhabitants will agree to. drop these bounties," it was decided by ballot that no proceeding should be had in the matter. At a subsequent special meeting they were discontinued.

Notes from the Records .- 1804, " If any man leave syrup so that it kill or injure cattle, he shall pay damage;" this vote again passed in 1806, '08. 1805, if any person having any thistle or tory weed growing in any of their improved lands, or in the highway passing these lands, and by them occupied, shall by the 1st of July cut or destroy the same to prevent their going to seed, on a penalty of $5 for each neglect. 1810, $80 for a pound; $150 of the poor money to purchase a merino ram to belong to the town. At an extra meeting 1809, resolved to raise $3,500 by tax in three years, for a court house and jail, after a law is passed authorizing it. 1820, $25 voted to purchase a compass and chain for the use of the town.

Townships 6 and 7 were surveyed in the summer of 1795 by Cochran & Ransom, assisted by Samuel and Nathan Beeman (father and son),

* Expressly stipulated that bounties should not be paid for the unborn young.

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Benj. Roberts, and others, and the latter thus becoming acquainted with the quality of the land, resolved to purchase and settle here. The first improvement was begun by Benjamin Roberts, from Ferrisburgh, Vt., and Nathan Beeman,* from Plattsburgh, early in 1796. At this time the frontier settlement was in Beekmantown, six miles west of Plattsburgh.

Having decided upon emigrating far beyond the limits of civilized life, Mr. Roberts left his home in February, 1796, with his family and goods, and arrived safely at Plattsburgh, where he left his family, and at- tempted to proceed with a portion of his goods to his destination. With the assistance of some of the land proprietors, and others, who felt an interest in the proposed settlement, they proceeded with a number of teams as far as was practicable (about eighteen miles), where they were compelled from the depth of the snows to abandon the undertaking, and leaving their loading concealed in the woods with hemlock boughs, they returned to Plattsburgh. In March, Mr. Roberts, with Levi Trumbull, a young man whom he had hired, set out with an intention of making sugar, and there being a firm crust on the snow, they started with a hand sled for the place where their loading had been deposited, and taking a five-pail iron kettle, and an old fashioned Dutch iron pot, holding about ten gallons, some provisions, an axe, and tapping gouge, they proceeded with these, drawing them on the sled by hand to Chateaugay, a distance of about twenty-two miles, along a narrow path that had been partly cut through the fall before, in anticipation of a road. Mr. Roberts had also provided a hut the fall previous, which was not covered. They soon fitted up a quantity of bass wood troughs, and commenced making sugar. While occupying this camp, they were on one occasion visited by an Indian, who sold them a moose, the flesh of which they cnt up and smoked over their fire, as they were making sugar. At the close of the sugar season they left their sugar, smoked meat, and kettles, in their camp, and returned to Plattsburgh.

In the early part of April, Mr. R. again started with his family, con- sisting of a wife and four children, and several hired men. These were Levi Trumbull, Joshua Chamberlin, Kinkade Chamberlin, Ethan A. Roberts, Jared Munson. Their outfit consisted of a yoke of oxen, and a pair of steers, for leaders, attached to a sled containing a few articles of indispensable use, but they had not proceeded more than a mile be- yond the house of a Mr. Delong, the last settler in Beekmantown, when one of the oxen gave ont from fatigue. He was here unyoked and left to provide for himself, as the spring was just opening and vegetation had advanced enough to afford a scanty supply of food; and Roberts pro- posed to his wife to return with her young children to the settlement, until another opportunity offered; but with heroic resolution she in-

* In his youth Mr. B. resided at Ticonderoga, and acted as the guide to Allen and Arnold, in the surp: isal of that fortress, in March, 1775. Being but a lad, he like other children, was al- lowed the range of the premises, and was familiar with every nook and avenue. Under his guidance Ethan Allen was conducted to the chamber of the British commander, who was surprised and captured without resistance. In relating this occurrence, Mr. Beeman said, that Capt. Delaplace, after some conversation with Mr. Allen, happening to see him in company with the provincials, enquired : "What! are you here Nathan ?" This que-lion aroused a sense of conscious guilt and shame, for having betrayed the confidence reposed in him, in re- warding kindness with treachery. Mr. Beeman died in Chateaugay in 1850.

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sisted upon sharing the hardships of the undertaking, and resolved to proceed. The husband, having placed in a rude bark saddle, such bur- den upon the odd ox as he was able conveniently to,carry, and suspended from the yoke of the steers a pack containing a few articles of first ne- cessity, he took upon his own back one of his boys, and led the way, driving his cattle before him, and followed by his wife, bearing an infant in herarms. His men and two older boys, then mere lads, bearing eachı such burdens as their strength permitted, brought up the rear. What could not be taken was left, covered up on the sled. A part of their loading was a barrel of rum, which was left, excepting a copper teakettle full, which they took along; and this being exhausted to within a quart, the remainder was preserved for Mrs. Roberts. Wherever night over- took them, they encamped in such a place as they might happen to be. They were from Monday till Saturday, in performing the journey of about forty miles, and reached their sugar camp about noon on Satur- day, finding all safe. During this toilsome march, Mrs. Roberts was often compelled to pause and rest, and as they ascended the last hill, she enquired dispairingly how much further it was to the end of their journey.

The remainder of the first day and the next was spent in covering their hut with barks, and they completed this labor just in time to save themselves from a drenching rain. A set of table furniture was made of wood, upon which to eat, consisting of trenches and forks. To supply the family with provisions, the odd ox was sent once a week to Platts- burgh, with Chamberlain as driver, and with the regularity of the mails, this animal performed his weekly trips, bearing on his back a supply of flour and pork, upon which they relied for support during the first sea- son. The party commenced a clearing on the south bank of Marble river, about half a mile north of the present village of Chateaugay, and during the summer of 1796, about forty acres were cut and partly cleared. A small patch of potatoes and turnips was got in, the seed of the former, being brought on the backs of Wm. Roberts and Nathan Beeman, from Cumberland Head. To economize weight, the seed ends and eyes of the potatoes, were only brought. Beenian from Plattsburgh, had been on several times during the summer, and having made arrangements for moving, brought on his family in the fall. Mrs. Roberts had been in the settlement three months, without seeing the face of any one of her sex, until the arival of Mrs. B. Within the first three years, John Allen, Samuel Haight, Lewis Ransom, Jacob Smith, Azur Hawks, Noah Lee, Gilbert Reynolds, Jesse Ketchum, Silas Pomeroy, David McMullen, Claudius Britton, Samuel Turner, Stephen Vaughan, Peleg Douglas, David Mallory, Thomas Smith, Gate Hoit, Ezekiel Hodges, Samuel Stoten, Israel Thayer, Avery Stiles, and Moses Corban, and perhaps a few others, mostly men of families, and from Vermont, came into the town, selected and purchased lands, commenced small improvements, and made arrangements for making a permanent settlement. David Mallory, during the second year of the settlement, commenced the erection of the first grist mill, on Marble river, about a mile and a half north west of the present village of Chateaugay. A mortar was rigged up during the first season, by excavating a hole in the top of a stump, the pestle being suspended from a bough, in such a manner, that the force of the grinder was required only in bringing down the pestle. The principal milling, however, was done in Plattsburgh, and the trip re- quired generally a week. The first crop raised, was some seventy bushels of potatoes, and a quantity of turnips. The mill was built for

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Nathaniel Platt, of Plattsburgh, who was somewhat interested in the titles of the town. The millwright was Elisha Howard, of Vermont. It was got in operation in the year it was begun. A saw mill was built by the same parties near the grist mill, and the same year. The first birth in town, is said to have been that of Alanson Roberts in 1796. The first school was taught about 1799. The settlement grew quite rapidly for several years, principally on the Fort Covington and the Malone roads, the former of which was opened as a. winter road about the year 1798. These became the thoroughfares of emigrants from Vermont, on their way to. St. Lawrence and at the time of the war a thriving settlement existed, numbers here as elsewhere, returned to New England, on the approach of war, and of this number, some never returned. The first road was worked by subscription and voluntary labor, so as to be passa- ble in 1800. A turnpike company was incorporated April 8, 1805, to build a road from Plattsburgh to the Macomb purchase, and March 14, 1806, the limitation was extended 3 years; and should 10 miles be built, the company might for 7 years collect double tolls. This company, it is believed, did not organize. A law of April 9, 1811,directed the managers of the lottery for the purchase of the Botanic garden to raise $5,000 to improve the road to the county line. On the 8th of June, 1812, a law directed $5,000 to be paid out of the state treasury for the purpose. The preamble of this law, states that "the said county of Franklin forms a part of the northern frontier of this state, and the settlements therein are situated on the borders of a foreign territory, and at a great distance from the other settlement." The two counties were to tax themselves $150 annually, to repay the $5,000, until it should be repaid by the lottery. A sum not exceeding $750, annually, might be raised by tax, during two years, for the finishing of the road. During the military ope- rations of the war, and especially in 1813, when General Wade Hampton was passing with his army through, to form a junction with Wilkinson on the St. Lawrence, necessity compelling him to improve it, in order to maintain a communication with the lake. In one of his letters, he states, that he had made it a perfect turnpike, In 1815-16, a party of United States troops, under Captain William F. Haile, built twenty miles of road towards Franklin Co., but it was continued no further by the gene- ral government. In 1830, a law directed a tax of $2,000 in Malone and Chateaugay, to be expended by commissioners, on the road from Platts- burgh to Malone. The Chateangay Turnpike Company was incorpora- ted April 21, 1828, to build a road from Malone Court House, by way of Chateaugay lake to Mooers, but was never organized.

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A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time, Part 56

Author: Hough, Franklin Benjamin, 1822-1885 Publication date: 1853 Publisher: Albany, N.Y. : Little & Co. Number of Pages: 750

Author: Hough, Franklin Benjamin, 1822-1885
Publication date: 1853
Publisher: Albany, N.Y. : Little & Co.
Number of Pages: 750