USA > New York > Franklin County > A history of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, New York : from the earliest period to the present time > Part 58
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 58
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The first saw mill in Duane was erected by the proprietor in 1823, on the west branch of Salmon river. In 1828, a grist inill was built on the same. The only religious society in Duane is the Methodist.
There was formerly a small Presbyterian society, but this has been broken up by death and removal of its members. The Episcopal ser- vice was performed statedly in town, by the Rev. Mr. Hart, from Malone, during several months in 1828. A building for religious meetings and public purposes, was erected by Mr. Duane in 1828. The greater part of township No. 12 was surveyed by John Frost, in 1821-2.
James Duane has been the supervisor of this town, except 1848, when Ezekiel Ladd was elected. The latter had been chosen in 1840, but at the election which followed the division of the town soon after, he was superseded.
FORT COVINGTON,
Was erected from Constable Feb. 28, 1817, and in the formation of Bombay, reduced to its present limits. Its name is derived from Brig. Gen. Leonard Covington, who was born in Maryland, Oct. 26, 1768, of respectable ancestry, and at an early age evinced a strong inclination to the profession of arms. He served under Wayne in the Indian wars at
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the west, and in 1809, was commissioned lieutenant colonel in the regi- ment of dragoons, was stationed in Louisiana, and became a resident of Natchez. In 1813, he joined the northern army, and in July was made brigadier general. At Chrysler's field he was wounded by a musket ball through his bowels, while at the head of his troops, of which he died on board a boat, on the way to French Mills, where he was buried with military honors. Several years after, his remains, with those of Col. Johnson and Lieut. Eaton, were taken to Sackett's Harbor.
It was at first proposed to name the town Covington, but this was an- ticipated by a new town in Genesee county. The first town officers were: Sebius Fairman, supervisor ; Amos Welch, clerk; Isaac Fairchild, David Danforth, assessors ; Isaac Fairchild, collector ; Daniel W. Church, Wareham Hastings, Luther Danforth, commissioners of highways ; Ambrose Cushman, Luther Danforth, overseers of the poor ; Sebius Fairman, Seth Blanchard, Isaac Fairchild, commissioners of common schools; Jonathan Wallace, John M. Rodgers, Ezekiel Payne, inspectors of schools ; Isaac Fairchild, Wm. Whelpley, constables ; Seth Blanchard, Luther Danforth, David McMillin, fence viewers ; Ardus M. Hitchcock, David McMillin, B. D. Hitchcock, pound masters.
Supervisors .- 1817-18, Sebius Fairman ; 1819, Isaac Fairchild; 1820-2, S. Fairman; 1823, George B. R. Gove; 1824-5, Wm. Hogan; 1826-7, G. B. R. Gove; 1828-30, W. Hogan; 1830, James B. Spencer, to fill vacancy; 1831, no record; 1832, Wilson Randall; 1833, G. B. R. Gove ; 1834, Uriah D. Meeker; 1835, Henry Longly ; 1836-7, Tilness Briggs; 1838, James Campbell; 1839, G. B. R. Gove; 1840, Jonathan Wallace ; 1811-2, Sidney Briggs; 1843, J. Campbell; 1844-5, S. Briggs; 1846-7, Warren L. Manning; 1848, Schuyler Button; 1849, W. L. Manning; 1850, Stephen V. R. Tuthill; 1851, J. Wallace; 1852, Preserved Ware.
Bounties have been offered for the destruction of noxious animals as follows: For wolves, $5 in 1829; $10 in 1817-18-19; $20 in 1821. For panthers, $10 in 1817-18-19; $20 in 1821. For foxes, $1 in 1820-1. For crows, 25 cents in 1817-18. For striped squirrels and black birds, 3 cents in 1817; for black birds, 6 cents in 1818. In 1817, voted $250, on condition that Constable will raise as much, to build a poor house. This was not done. In 1819, a town house was built by subscription, and finished in 1820. For one year it was used as an academy, and since as a district school house.
Much relating to French titles, &c., is excluded for want of space, In 1793, the chiefs of St. Regis leased to Wm. Gray, a tract on Salmon river for $200 annual rent, after the first four years. An inducement with the chiefs was, the promise of the erection of mills. Feb. 6, 1796, Gray and one Thomas Araquente, another chief, entered into terms of assignment, by which the latter gained the saw mill, then of no great value, but no regular papers were signed till Dec. 15, 1798, when the chiefs in full council, confirmed the conveyance. James Robertson, of Montreal, Dec. 29, 1798, bought this lease for $2,400 to T. A., and the annuity of $200 to the St. Regis tribe, without a warranty on the part of Araquente, of the lands on both sides of Salmon river, from its source to a line to be drawn at a distance of half a mile from the mill. The mill and one mile square was, however, conveyed by warranty. Mr. Robert- son and his brother Alexander, who had a joint and equal interest with him, continued to occupy until the death of J. R., when Neil and Patrick Robertson became entitled to equal moieties of his share. In 1804, (Sept. 11,) after spending $2,209 in the erection of a grist mill, it was
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swept off in a flood. $4,762 was soon after spent in rebuilding the mill, but before it was completed Alexander Robertson died, leaving Francis Desriviere, Esq., tutor and guardian of his minor children, by whom and the above Neil and Patrick Robertson, the mill was furnished and leased to Robert Buchanan, the person who built them. P. R. died in 1808 or '9, and N. R. in 1812, and a lengthy memorial in the archives of state, dated Jan. 30, 1818, from which the above facts are drawn, as- serts that since the above deaths Mr. Buchanan, with others who had obtained leases within the mile square, had disclaimed the title of the Robertsons and refused to pay rent. This title was long a subject of litigation, and was not finally settled until after the treaty of 1818 and the award of the commissioners.
With the exception of a few French families who lived and worked around the saw mill, there was no settlement for agricultural purposes until about 1800. About this year or soon after, Samuel Fletcher, Aaron . McLean, and Ambrose Cushman, located in No. 2, and John Hunsden, David Lynch, Robert,* Walter and Duncan Buchanan, (natives of Ster- lingshire, Scotland,) settled near the mills. At the raising of the grist mill in 1804, help was invited from great distances in Canada, and thé state, and when the frame was up it is said that the question arose which was the " smartest," to decide which the Glengarians and Yankees re- solved to fight it out in a good natured way, and the result was that the former got severely whipped, and were obliged to own up beaten. The lands in the present village of Fort Covington (formerly French mills), on the east side of the river, within the mile square, were leased in such parcels and at such rates as he might be able to bargain for, by William Hawkins, who had acquired an irregular title, which was disclaimed by the state, and those who had paid for these lands were obliged to re- purchase. In 1803, Jolin Hunsden, an Irishman, having become a clerk to the Indians, induced them to cause a part of their tract near the mile square, to be surveyed out into farms, which were conveyed by durable leases, cleared up and improved. The terms were three years without rent, and $10 for every 100 acres annually afterwards. Upon the treaties of 1816 and'18, these settlers petitioned for their rights, and the surveyor general (Simeon De Witt), and two men appointed by the governor, (James S. Kip, of Utica, and Dr. Isaac Sargent, of Cambridge,) were directed to appraise the lands with and without the improvements. In their unpublished report which is before us, it is stated that the leases had been executed by virtue of powers supposed to be granted in the law of 1802, (see p. 154,) and the history of the titles is detailed at length. They reserved for a fort in case of war, 50 acres on the east side of Salmon river, and 142 on the west side. They very strongly re- commended an appropriation for roads in this section. To those who had made improvements on Indian leases, a preemption was allowed, or if they declined purchasing the land they still might have a lien upon the improvements from those who bought the soil. Special provision was made for certain lots, and Hunsden was allowed $1,200 for services rendered. The legal heirs of the first Robertsons were entitled to the preemption of a certain lot on condition of $120 being withheld for R. Buchanan. The appraisement and award of the commissioners will be found in the secretary's office at Albany. (Field book, vol. 35, p. 252.)
Most of the settlers availed themselves of the preemption and pur- chased at the land office in Albany their farms. Those who chose to hold their improvements did so, notwithstanding the soil was sold to
Robert Buchanan died in town, October 31, 1829, aged 60.
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others, until paid for. A portion of the lands were reappraised and have since been sold. The mile square was subsequently surveyed by the surveyor general into house lots and out lots, and sold by the state, except- ing the two military reserves, which are rented for an indefinite period, and liable to revert whenever wanted for this purpose. Two or three proposals to fortify at this point have been made, and engineers have been on to examine the sites, but nothing has been done in this line and nothing is at present contemplated.
Upon surveying the tract granted in the treaty of 1818, there was found an excess of 307 acres, and a provision was inserted in the act of April 13, 1819, by which the governor was instructed to procure a release of the same and to stipulate an addition to their annuity at the same rates as for the purchase last made, or to pay them at once the present worth of the same.
On the declaration of war a block house was built in the village of French Mills, but never entirely finished, and during the first summer a drafted company of militia under Capt. Rufus Tilden, of Moria, posted as a protection to the frontier, and a guard to the provisions stored here for distribution among the St. Regis Indians. Moses Eggleston of Chateau- gay, was lieutenant, and Aden Wood, ensign, and it consisted of about 40 men. During the summer two Troy volunteer companies under Capt. Higby and Lyon, and a drafted company of militia from Columbia county, under Capt. Miller, the whole under Major Young of Troy, were stationed here.
Shortly after the affair at St. Regis, the Troy and Columbia companies at French Mills, were withdrawn (Nov. 1812), and the Franklin county company again left alone. A British detachment of regulars, militia and Indians, made a descent from St. Regis through the woods, upon the post ' at French Mills. Capt. Tilden surrendered without resistence; the arms were broken and left, the ammunition thrown into the river, and men marched prisoners to St. Regis, and thence to Montreal. In Dec., they were exchanged for the same company which they had captured in Oct. Immediately after this two Columbia county companies under Major Tanner, Capt's Winslow and Gardner, were detached from Colonel Vos- burg's regiment stationed at Chateaugay, which staid till March follow- ing. They were then withdrawn, and their place supplied by a volun- teer company from Franklin county, raised and commanded by Captain David Irving, of Constable, who continued to hold the post until the ar- rival of Gen. Wilkinson, in November, 1813.' Capt. Irving's company subsequently participated in the movements of Gen. Hampton, below Chateaugay. A further account of these operations will be given.
On the 13th of November, 1813, General Wilkinson, with his army, ascended the river in a flotilla of boats, and took up his quarters in the village, where he remained till February. The details of this event will be given in connection with our account of the war. While the Ameri- can army were in winter quarters at French Mills, a citizen of New York was apprehended, suspected of having put up at the camp the following placard, addressed
"To the American Army at Salmon River:"
"NOTICE .- All American soldiers who are willing to quit the unnatural war in which they are at present engaged, will receive at the British out- posts, the arrears due them by the American government, to the extent of five months pay. No man shall be required to serve against his own country." After numerous inquiries the author has been unable to as- certain from those who were in the service at the time, any particulars in relation to the above occurrence. The army had scarcely left the village
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than they were followed by the enemy, who remained a week, scouring the country to gather up whatever of public property they might be able to find, and pilfering such private property as the soldiers could conceal from their officers.
In not a single excursion it is said, did the enemy return with his full number, as great numbers deserted the ranks and left singly and in small parties, whenever opportunity offered. These mostly hastened into the interior of the country, going chiefly to Plattsburgh, Utica, &c. The frightful mortality of the troops here will be detailed in our future pages.
Soon after the war, an act was passed by congress, allowing magis- trates to take affidavits of certificates of damages to private property during that period, which were to be audited and paid at Washington. A series of frauds was attempted, and to some degree successfully carried on, principally at French Mills, although instances occurred in St. Law- rence county, in which exhorbitant, fictitious and altered accounts were presented. In other instances, fair and honest accounts, were first certi- fied by magistrates, and subsequently forged copies with the items changed, and greatly magnified, were sent to the department for audit and payment. The suspicions of a citizen of French Mills being excited, information was conveyed to government, and an agent was sent to de- tect and bring to punishment the offenders. This person acquired tlie confidence of the delinquents, and having become acquainted with the ne- cessary details of their operations, promptly reported them to the civil authorities, who caused several of the party to be arrested. By a singular omission in the law there was no provision made for punishing these frauds, and several escaped from this cause. It is supposed that they were aware of this fact before engaging in them. The ring leader was sent to state's prison, and the others fled. Great numbers having just and honest claims, were cut off from their rights by these frauds.
The first and hitherto the only legal execution that has occurred in Franklin county, was that of Stephen Videto, in public at Malone, on the 26th of August, 1825, for the murder of Fanny Mosely, in this town, on the 2d of February previous. The circumstances were briefly as follows: The murderer was a young man a member of his father's family, who had formerly resided in Canada, and had there been slightly acquainted with his victim. He had lived in Fort Covington several years, on a small farm, and was previously remarkable for nothing but an excessively pe- nurious disposition, which he possessed in common with his family. The victim was a person of superior enterprise, and having acquired a small sum of money by her industry, had been married in Canada to a reckless villain, who had abandoned her at Fort Covington, taking with him every thing valuable which she possessed. Being thus thrown deso- late upon the charities of the world, she became a member of the Videto family, with whom she had been somewhat acquainted. For some time previous to the murder, some degree of criminal intimacy had been sus- pected, but the mortal dread of encountering the expense of a family, should they marry, and no alternative existing, is supposed to have led to the resolution of destroying her. To furnish a pretext for providing thie means, and for carrying into execution this plan, he feigned to be in fear of his own life from the Indians, with some of whom he had quarrelled, and reported that he repeatedly saw them lurking around the premises, armed. He also became disturbed by the rats, and to destroy these pur- chased arsenic several days before the murder. He also borrowed a pistol and two muskets, for self defence, and one or two days before gave the alarm that Indians were lying in wait around the house, whom he affected to pursue. On the fatal night, notwithstanding his fears, he allowed a
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fellow lodger and a brother to go abroad, and neglected to fasten the doors and windows. He remained in the same room with the deceased, and was keeping watch in the night with his fire arms loaded, in readiness to repel any attack, while the woman was sleeping on her bed. Two dis- charges were heard in quick succession, accompanied by a crash of the window, and he rushed out of the house giving an alarm, and after run- ning to some distance, returned with the statement that the Indians had broken in the window, shot the woman and fled. She was not instantly killed, and he produced some wine or other cordial for her to take. Upon subsequent examination it was noticed that there were no tracks in the snow to any distance; that the window had been broken outwards; that the position of the body had been such that it could not have been shot in the place it was, from without; that the scorched appearance of the clothing was such that the discharge must have been very near; and that the wine contained arsenic, a fact sworn to with the greatest directness by a medical witness. Unfortunately for his scheme he admitted that there had been no annoyance from rats; no one but himself had seen or been troubled about the Indians, and his own plans had not indicated in his own mind a belief of danger from that source. Moreover, he ap- peared indifferent about pursuit, and his manner and the facts were con- sidered as warranting an arrest. He was tried at Malone, in July, 1825, before Judge Reuben H. Walworth, and the foregoing facts being ad- duced, he was judged guilty by the jury, after a consultation of fifteeen minutes, and he was sentenced to be hung. Videto was hung in a field half a mile east of Malone, August 26, 1825. He continued till the last moment to assert his innocence, and on the gallows caused to be read a paper containing the following statement: "With regard to the crime for which I this day suffer, I have only to remark that I am perfectly inno- cent. By whose hand the unfortunate Fanny Mosely was deprived of life, I do not know; but I say it was not by mine, neither was I accessory to it; neither was I aware of the approach of that unhappy event; but at the time, was fearful of designs upon my own life." He declared bis in- tention of holding the paper in his right hand when he died, if innocent. When the drop fell the paper was in his left hand, but the knot being im- properly fixed, he was not strangled immediately, and after hanging some moments, he seized the paper in his right hand, and waved it to the crowd. This had its natural effect upon many of the spectators, but ad- ditional testimony which did not appear in the trial, renders the fact of his guilt certain in the minds of most of the citizens. The act of changing the paper can only be explained by supposing that consciousness re- mained after the drop fell, which he improved by consummating a resolu- tion which had doubtless been for a long time uppermost in his mind. Many years afterwards, a vague report came back from the death bed of the criminal's mother, that she had confessed being privy to, or had assisted in the murder, but this report was so indefinite that it did not serve to change the belief of those who knew most of the cir- cumstances, as to the guilt of the son. Indeed, it has much probability.
During the summer of 1832, some 8 or 10 died of cholera, and in 1847, the ship fever took off about 20. The commissioners of the land office, were, by an act passed April 1, 1841, directed to issue letters patent to Mary Gray, alias Lupin, and to her heirs and assigns, for a certain piece of land designated and known as the north middle subdivision of farm lot number six, of the St. Regis reservation, in the town of Fort Coving- ton. This was in consideration of rights, supposed to be possessed by long residence in the place which she was said to have made her home from 1792, or about that period. She died a few years since.
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This town, in July, 1849, suffered severely from running fires, which on the 20th, menaced the village, and nothing but a change of wind saved it from a general conflagration. The work of destruction in the adjoining towns of Bombay and Westville, was extensive and alarming, and in the former of these towns, not less than twenty dwellings and as many barns were said to have been burned. Such was the general feeling of inse- curity, that applications for insurance multiplied beyond precedent, which led several insurance companies, including both of those located in St. Lawrence county, to insert a condition in their policies that they would not be responsible for damages done by running fires. This provision was subsequently abolished.
The village of Fort Covington is handsomely laid out east of Salmon river, half a mile from the boundary, and steamers from the St. Law- rence come up to within a short distance. The boundary of Jay's treaty of 1795, was designed to run upon the parallel of 45º north latitude. A glade through the forest was cut and cleared, and monuments erected. In 1818, upon the line being run after the treaty of Ghent, the true line was found to be north of the foriner, at Fort Covington, about 600 feet. By the Webster treaty of August 9, 1842, the former line was agreed upon, and permanent iron monuments erected by the side of each road or navigable stream at the place of crossing, and in the forest at intervals of a mile. These are of cedar cased with cast iron, about four feet high, square at the base, and gradually tapering upwards. On the four sides are cast the following inscriptions :
"ALBERT SMITH, U. S. COMMISSIONER." "TREATY OF WASHINGTON." "LT. COL. J. B. B. E'STCOURT, H. B. M. COMMISSIONER." "BOUNDARY, AUGUST 9THI, 1842."
The commissioners appointed to survey the boundary of 1818, were Gov. Van Ness and Gen. Peter B. Porter, who commenced at St. Regis.
A Library society was incorporated at French mills under a general act in February, 1815, under the title of the French Mills Miscellaneous Library, with James Campbell, David Jones, Ezekiel Payne, Win. W. Herrick, Wareham Hastings, Luther Danforth, Joseph Spencer, trustees. The seal was to be the eagle, with the words E Pluribus unum, in- scribed.
Religious Societies .- The First Presbyterian church arose from an Associate Reformed Scotch church, which belonged to the Synod of New York, and was organized mainly through the efforts of a Scotch- man, who was usually known as Father Brunton. About 1821, Mr. B. left, and the organization in a measure went down, but two or three years after, the society was visited by the Rev. Alexander Proudfit, of Salem, N. Y., by whom it was revived, and under his influence, the Rev. Mr. Weller was engaged one year. The Rev. Jolin A. Savage was employed during five years, as a stated supply, but was not installed. While Mr. Savage was here, the church left the Associate Presbytery of Washington Co., (Dec., 1828,) and joined the Champlain Presbytery, which is of the Constitutional Presbyterian, or New School order. After Mr. Brunton had left, a small Congregational society of about 15 inembers, mostly females, had been organized by Samuel Crosby, which were united by Mr. Savage, with the other church.
The Rev's Mr. Nickol, Jas. George, L. Tuller, Jas. E. Quaw, E. E. . Wells, - Williams, Joseph A. Rosseel, David C. Lyon, and Charles Gillette, have been successively employed at different times, but the latter is the only one who has been installed. The church edifice was
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built in 1828, at a cost of $4,000, and in 1845, a bell, weighing about 750lbs, was procured by the society. The pews are private property, and regularly deeded like a farm. Whole number since present organ- ization 501. Present number on record, about 308. Present number residing near and belonging to church, 208.
A Baptist society was organized in 1824, at first by 9 members. The Rev. Nathaniel Culver, was its first minister. He has been succeeded by Hiram Sanford, - Dodge, Win. H. Rice, J. B. Drummond, L. H. Humphrey and J. M. Webb, the present clergyman. A church was built west of Big Salmon river, in 1829, as a cost of $1,000, which in 1851-2 was repaired and thoroughly finished at an additional expense of $1,700.
Fort Covington Wesleyan chapel was incorporated April 4, 1836, Humphrey Russell, Luther Danforth, Warren S. Manning, trustees.
St. Mary's church, (Catholic), was incorporated, March 8, 1840, Wm. Lahy, Patrick Holden and Michael Collins, trustees.
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