USA > New York > Oneida County > Steuben > A narrative history of Remsen, New York, including parts of the adjoining townships of Steuben and Trenton, 1789-1898 > Part 7
USA > New York > Oneida County > Remsen > A narrative history of Remsen, New York, including parts of the adjoining townships of Steuben and Trenton, 1789-1898 > Part 7
USA > New York > Oneida County > Trenton > A narrative history of Remsen, New York, including parts of the adjoining townships of Steuben and Trenton, 1789-1898 > Part 7
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
Concerning the subject of canals, Spafford says of Remsen in his "Gazetteer of New York," (1820): "And it appears to me, that a canal will by-and-by be formed from Black river above the High Falls in Turin, locked down to the Mohawk river along the valley of West Canada Creek." In 1825, this route was noted, with others, in the Governor's message. On March 28, 1828, the Black River Canal Company was formed, which made a survey from Rome to the High Falls, but did nothing more. The former act having expired, another was passed April 17, 1832,
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incorporating the Black River Company, for the purpose of connecting the Erie Canal, at Rome or Herkimer, by railroads or canals with Ogdensburg, Cape Vincent, or Sacket Harbor. Rome was finally selected as the point of junction, the Black River Canal built, and Remsen left without water com- munication with the outside world.
In December, 1852, the plan for a railroad from some point on the New York Central line, through the Black river country to the St. Lawrence began to be discussed, and notice of a meeting to be held at Lowville, January 8, 1853, signed by thirty-four prominent citizens of Lewis county, appeared in the Northern Journal of Lowville, the week previous to that date. This meeting was held accordingly, and a committee of five persons from each county interested in the project was appointed to collect statistics and facts to be reported to future meetings; of which one was appointed to be held at Theresa, on the 20th, and another at Boonville, on the 26th of the same month.
The meeting at Boonville was attended by those representing the claims of Herkimer, Utica and Rome for the southern terminus; but the weight of interests represented was in favor of the first of these. A company was soon formed, under the name of the Black River Railroad Company, with a capital of $1,200,000, for the purpose of building a railroad from Clayton, on the St. Lawrence, by the way of Carthage and the west side of Black river and the west side of the valley of West Canada creek to Herki- mer, a distance of one hundred and twenty miles. Three directors were named for each county inter- ested, those from Oneida county being Jonah Howe and Mather Beecher, both prominent business men
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of Remsen, and Philip Schuyler, of Boonville. This effort on the part of Herkimer immediately excited a spirit of rivalry at Utica and Rome, and three days after the Boonville meeting, January 29, 1853, the Black River and Utica Railroad Company was or- ganized at Utica, with a capital of $1,000,000, for the purpose of building a railroad from that city to Clay- ton, a distance of about one hundred miles.
The Herkimer company, of which Mr. Beecher and Mr. Howe were directors, finally disbanded, and a survey for the Black River and Utica Railroad was made by Daniel C. Jenne, of Utica. To advance the enterprise, $250,000. was raised in Utica, and $100,000 between Utica and Boonville. The road was char- tered January 31, 1853, and the contract for grading let August 10th, to be completed in 1854. The cere- mony for breaking ground for this railroad took place at Utica, August 27, at which addresses were delivered by Governor Seymour, Ex-Governor Hunt, and other distinguished gentlemen, and the occasion was cele- brated by a military parade and general festivities. The road was opened from Utica to Boonville, a dis- tance of about thirty-five miles, December 15, 1855.
The company defaulted in 1858, and the road was sold under foreclosure March 31, 1860, after which it was reorganized as the Utica and Black River Rail- road Company. Subsequently the line was extended to Carthage, where connections were made with branches leading to Lake Ontario and the St. Law- rence river, which were afterward operated by this road under lease; and on April 4, 1886, with all its branches the road was leased in perpetuity to the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad Com- pany, and this lease transferred to the New York Central Railroad Company, May 1, 1891.
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The Mohawk and Malone Railroad, which forms a junction with the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad at Remsen, was completed throughout with its branches, in November, 1892, and leased to the New York Central Railroad Company May 1, 1893.
The first telegraph line through Remsen was con- structed along the line of the Utica and Black River railroad from Utica to Boonville, in the latter part of 1864, with no offices opened between these points until some years later.
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CHAPTER VI
INNS AND TAVERNS
The early inns were located at short distances apart, and thus fortunately the traveler could find enter- tainment at almost any point where night overtook him. Most of the settlers opened their log houses to those who were in need of hospitality, and he who did not observe the custom of leaving the latch-string out to the wayfarer was the exception. The tavern succeeded the inn, and differed from it in that the bar in the latter was a main equipment. It is worthy of note that, while the general public were not restrained by law from gratifying their thirst proclivities at will, an act was passed by the legislature in April, 1817, forbidding stage companies to employ drivers who were addicted to the use of alcoholic beverages.
Prior to the construction of the turnpike, in 1812, the "State Road" was the principal thoroughfare through the township. Traffic from Johnstown and a part of the Mohawk country to settlements as far north as the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario passed over this route, also numerous families of emigrants from Vermont and other Eastern States who had selected locations for future homes in the more north- ern wilderness.
It is recorded in former histories that the first pub- lic-house in Remsen was conducted by Ebenezer King, who we find was here at least as early as 1796, located on the State road three miles or more north- east of the present village; but Broughton W. Green
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is authority for the statement that the first hotel keeper was Capt. John Kent. James Sheldon, who was here before 1800, subsequently built a stone house on his farm on the State road, where was afforded accommodations for travelers-the place afterwards owned by the late William L. Williams. The other hostelries on this road within the township were as follows: One just north of Prospect village, conducted by Matthew Hoyt; one kept by Hugh Hughes near Fairchild; another at the junction of the State road with the turnpike, about four miles north of Remsen, known in former days as the Black River House, and the Higby Tavern, one mile farther north.
As the number of miles that might constitute a day's journey over the rough roads with the crude vehicles of the time was extremely problematical, it therefore was fortunate for the traveler that houses of entertainment were distributed at short intervals. Though it was not as a matter of public convenience alone that these inns and taverns were maintained, but as a business that brought ready cash to the proprietor; for notwithstanding the fact that in almost every instance he was a farmer as well as an inn- keeper, there was little then that the farms would produce that could be converted into ready money. So it was that much of the cash in circulation here was left by travelers who were passing through.
Nor should it be inferred that the traffic was entirely toward the north, for large quantities of potash from the northern country was hauled to Albany; also sleigh-loads of ciscos and other fish that had been taken through the ice of the St. Lawrence, and loads of frozen deer-carcasses were hauled south over this road, and likewise over the turnpike at a later period. These were peddled in the settlements through which
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they passed, while much of the venison was carried to Albany and New England markets. It was no uncommon spectacle to see these conveyances from six to a dozen or more together, the large sleighs piled high with deer-carcasses, often the top of the foremost load surmounted by the stuffed skin of a panther poised in characteristic and life-like posture, to attract the wondering gaze of the inhabitants along the way. ' Next to the minister, the tavern-keeper was the most noteworthy man in the community. And in the early days the most popular of these was Jacob Lewis, familiarly known as "Uncle Jake," who per- formed the duties of host here for almost thirty years. He was of Mohawk Dutch extraction, born in the Mohawk valley, and originally a blacksmith, a voca- tion he followed for a number of years.
"Uncle Jake" we remember as of medium height, very corpulent, with laughing grey eyes, round jovial, face, and a double chin fringed underneath with snow- white whiskers, rather closely trimmed. His fund of ready wit and anecdote rendered him a most genial host, and a superior talent for spinning yarns added much to his popularity. Had he chosen the vocation of sailor in his youth, he probably would not have been outdone in the story telling art by any old salt on land or afloat. However, though lacking the savor of the sea, his yarns were always listened to with eager- ness. He delighted to tell of feats he had performed as a boy, of his later hair-breadth escapes, and of the wonderful things he had seen. He would tell his listeners of snow-storms in the Mohawk country that piled the forest with snow so deep that the tops of the tall pine trees were just visible; of cold snaps, when it would freeze so suddenly as to catch the heads of frogs that would be peeping out of the warm ponds-he had
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many times been over the ice and kicked their heads off. He would tell of being carried over an eight- rail fence on the horns of a vicious bull, and saving himself by catching on to the limbs of an apple-tree as he passed under it; how in the harvest field, he had bound grain so fast that he would hurl a bundle into the air, and bind another before the first came to the ground. We mention these as samples of the inexhaust- ible supply he had on hand to suit every occasion.
Frequently he had some amusing story concerning his Welsh neighbors to tell, especially of their efforts to express themselves in English. In the Welsh lan- guage the noun usually precedes the adjective, and a Welshman having only a slight knowledge of English will often use this mode of construction in forming his English sentences. The following is rather an extreme example related by Uncle Jake as an incident of an early first of April morning: He had stepped out upon the porch of the hotel, when a Welsh neighbor who was passing on the opposite side of the street · hailed him thus, "Jake Lewis! Jake Lewis!" and then, before he could respond, continued, "Fool April; white crow on barn-guess not?"
Everything that Mr. Lewis possessed, according to his assertion, was better than anything to which his neighbors could lay claim-his steers could draw more, his horses endure more, his cows gave more and richer milk, his house was the warmest, his barns the largest, and his chimney had a better draft than that of any other chimney in town. In proof of the latter assertion he was wont solemnly to relate the following incident: A stranger with a medium sized dog at his heels came into his bar-room one morning, and as Mr. Lewis and he were engaged in conversa- tion, their attention was suddenly attracted by the
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strange antics of the dog, which in spite of most active protests seemed to be drawn irresistibly toward the open fire-place, and the nearer he approached the fire the more violent became his efforts to hold back therefrom; and thus, with his paws braced before him, ·with panting breath and starting eyes, he was sliding surely and more and more swiftly toward the open fire-place, and, before Uncle Jake and his companion could realize the situation, with a pitiful yelp he dis- appeared up the chimney.
He related how the stage from Utica to Sacket Harbor came in several hours late one intensely cold night in mid-winter, and owing to the extreme cold and the bad condition of the roads, it was decided to proceed no farther, but to remain in Remsen until morning. The stage-driver came into the bar-room, hanging upon the chimney the long tin horn with which he had heralded by loud blasts his approach to the several stopping-places between Utica and Remsen. He then, after divesting himself of his heavy wraps, proceded to the dining-room. Presently, the occu- pants of the bar-room were startled by a loud blast from the horn hanging above the fire-place, which, before they had recovered from their astonishment, was succeeded by several more loud "toots." Natur- ally the frequenters of the place were struck with consternation, and some of the more superstitious hastily made for the door. And at this point Uncle Jake would explain how he calmed their fears and allayed the excitement by assuring them that there was nothing supernatural about the matter at all, for the blasts that had alarmed them were simply the "toots" that had been frozen in the horn, and were now released by the genial warmth from his ca- pacious fire-place.
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But Uncle Jake's yarns were never spun with in- tent to be taken seriously, and often were brought into requisition merely to enliven the guest whom fullness or homesickness may have settled upon. To cap the yarn of a braggart, or to incite a ridiculous argument for the amusement of his other guests, was to him a keen pleasure. And while his stories may now seem trivial, they illustrate the entertaining, genial, happy disposition of the man, who was a type of landlord never to be met with in these days.
The first inn-keeper within the limits of the present village was Peter Becker. Whence he came we have been unable to learn. He settled upon the place now owned by John Humphreys, just over the line in Tren- ton township, possibly before or shortly after Gerrit Boon came to Trenton, which was in 1793; at least he was here when Shubael Cross and family, in 1794, followed a line of marked trees through the present village of Remsen on their way to settle at Crosstown, now Bardwell. When he sold his farm to William - Platt, in November, 1796, he had cleared about ten acres on the flat, and his log inn, which stood near the site of the Humphreys house, had been built some time. It is possible that he came here in the interest of Boon, and may have built or conducted for the Holland Land Company the first saw-mill, which was built previous to 1795.
In this latter year James Smith settled on the Mitchell place, at the north end of the present village limits, and, in 1797, conducted an inn in a house which Judge Jones tells us "was built partly of logs and partly of boards." About 1800, Oliver Smith built a tavern near the center of the village, where later stood the residence of Colonel Beecher.
In 1804, William Platt built the gambrel-roofed
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house, now the Humphreys place, which for many years he conducted as a tavern. Then, some years later, Robert G. Potter kept an inn or tavern on the south corner of the Steuben road, and, after his death, in 1816, it was conducted by his widow. Joseph 'Halstead kept a tavern about this time in a building that stood south of the corner house just mentioned, and which was burned previous to 1820. Mr. Hal- stead married for his second wife the widow Potter, and assumed management of the hotel. He later removed to the Jonathan Jones farm, afterward owned by William Meth Jones, two miles south of Remsen on the turnpike, where he kept a public house for several years. He was succeeded on this place, be- tween 1830 and 1835, by Owen M. Griffiths.
Dr. Earl Bill removed to Remsen from Steuben in "x1814, and built the present Gainsway Hotel, which he conducted for many years. He was succeeded by others, and finally Jacob Lewis became the proprietor in the early '40s, and continued as such until 1867. He was followed successively by George Dawson, Friend Bristol and Frank Gainsway.
Previous to 1820, Tyler Mitchell built a hotel on the south corner of Main street and that leading to the depot. This was known as the "Upper Tavern," and came under the control of various landlords. Wil- liam Hicks ran it as a temperance house in the early '50s. "He had previously conducted the Black River House, north of Remsen, and succeeding him at the upper tavern was John Smith, and later William Lewis, son of Jacob Lewis, but during his occupancy the house was burned, in the winter of 1857-58.
Oliver Higby, another early resident of the town- ship, was proprietor of a hotel located on the turnpike, five miles north of the village. Being centrally lo-
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cated as to population, town-meetings were often held there before the erection of the township of Forest- port. And in former days the fashionable sleigh- ride of young society people was a drive to "Higby's," with the inevitable oyster-supper and often attendant dancing; thither, also, the lads and lassies of the mar- ried class frequently found their way. After the death of Mr. Higby, his widow and sons conducted the house until about 1865.
Lemuel Hough was an early inn-keeper on the turnpike, about two miles north of Remsen, on what was then termed "Hough's Hill." And about the years 1836 or 1837, Theodore Burchard kept a house for the accommodation of travelers at or near the place formerly kept by Mr. Hough. We have previously mentioned the log inn kept by Juder Crosby, on the Pen-y-caerau road, near where the church of that name now stands. This inn was built during the early settlement of that section.
A man named Messenger also was an early hotel- keeper. He was a champion in the use of the scythe, an accomplishment to be proud of in those days before the invention of mowing machines.
CHAPTER VII
INDUSTRIES
Every pioneer household was a workshop, and long after the pioneer period was past the manufacture of linen and woolen cloth was continued in the family. In nearly every farmhouse the preparation for the sup- ply of winter clothing began wit i summer, or as early in the season as the wool from the sheep's back could be picked over, oiled and carded. The spinning of the wool for bed blankets, hosiery, underwear and winter clothing generally was no light task. All day long throughout " the summer, the sound of the wheel was as incessant as the hum of the bees and the murmur of the waterfall.
In large families extra help was usually called in dur- ing the spinning season, and there would be much rivalry among spinners, lending added zest to the work. The number of knots a young woman managed to run off in a single day, in an industrial sense established her stand- ing in the community. Forty threads on the reel made a knot, ten knots a skein, two skeins a run, and two runs a day's work. The price paid for spinning was six shillings a week, including board.
Following the spinning came the dyeing process, then the weaving, and finally the cloth was sent to the fulling- mill to be made into fulled cloth, when it was ready for men's clothing. The coats and jackets were cut by a tailor, who did little else regarding the work, for a tail- oress was then employed, who with her goose occupied a prominent position during her sojourn with the family ; day after day she stitched away, until finally the finish-
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ing touches were put on the garments, when she and the goose, in a "jumper" or a wood-sleigh, were conveyed to the home of some family who was awaiting her services.
It was in mid-winter that preparations for summer clothing began. A cold day, with wind from the north, would be selected for breaking the flax-a crushing pro- .cess to loosen the sheath from the fibre; then the swing- ling came, to free the flax from the sheath and coarser fibre -- all of which labor usually fell to the father of the family, for the young hopeful was seldom wont to take kindly to the pastime. The flax was spun, and finally woven into cloth for table use, bed-linen, towels, and for summer wear generally.
The hides of cattle slaughtered on the farms were tanned on shares, and an itinerant shoemaker came in to make and mend the boots and shoes of the family. His occupation was known as "whipping the cat."
As the woods were cleared another industry of much importance sprang up, the manufacture of potash or pearlash. The first ashery in Remsen village was es- tablished by Broughton White and his brother-in-law, Lemuel Hough, in 1803, on the Steuben road, or Steuben street as it is now known, not far from its intersection with the turnpike. As the logs and trees throughout the vicinity were burned, the ashes were collected, brought to town by the wagon-load, and disposed of to the ashery. The lye was extracted from the ashes, evaporated by boiling to the proper consistency for pot- ash, when it was packed in barrels and sent to New York, where it was made into saleratus and kindred compounds *Potash, or pearl ash, was a cash commod-
*"The chief article of exportation is Pearl-ash. It sells in New York from 50 to 60£ a ton. They recover from 60 or 70 to 100 bushels of ashes per acre, and it takes 700 bushels to make a ton of pot-ash."-Journal of John Lincklaen, 1792.
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ity and always found a ready market, so it was not long before this industry was carried on quite extensively here. After Heman Ferry succeeded White & Hough, and had acquired the store established by Broughton White, the ashery on Steuben street was removed to the east bank of the creek, on the south side of the road leading to Prospect on past the stone church. Griffith W. Roberts, another early merchant, built an ashery east of the Platt mill-pond, where the horse-shed of the old Baptist church now stands; and another, owned by Andrew Billings, occupied the present site of the Rem- sen National Bank.
All of these were in operation at the same time, and for many years produced about the only commodity in these parts that could readily be converted into cash. Subsequently, Samuel Roby, who located at Ninety Six sometime between 1816 and 1820, purchased there a large tract of heavily timbered land for the sole purpose of converting the timber into potash, employing up- wards of twenty men in felling and burning trees for this purpose. Throughout this whole region many mil- . lion feet of choice timber, which would represent to-day several fortunes of no mean magnitude, were thus cut down and utilized. There was little market for lumber at home, and, had one been found elsewhere, there were no means of transportation; furthermore, the land had to be cleared to obtain sustenance for the rapidly in- creasing population, so this only practical method of converting their timber into cash was resorted to. The boiling of potash was an occupation requiring experience and skill, and was as distinctively a trade as that of tanner, miller, or maltster.
Ephraim Hollister, one of Remsen's pioneers, manu- factured brick on the Mitchell (Bryn-y-gloch) farm at
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a very early day, according to the historical address on the township delivered by Didymus Thomas.
The production of quick-lime was an early and impor- tant industry in the northern part of Trenton township, where in the valley of the Cincinnati were prodigious outcrops of limestone. Circular kilns, twenty feet in . depth and twelve or fifteen feet in diameter, were con- structed of the limestone, usually on a hill-side or slight elevation, with an opening for draft and for stoking the fire-pit at the bottom. The larger stones to be re- duced to lime were laid up loosely within the kiln, form- ing an arch above the fire-pit, and upon this arch frag- ments of limestone were dumped until the kiln was filled. Under these arches a fire was maintained day and night until the gases had been eliminated and the stones re- duced to a calcareous state, when nearly as many days were required for cooling before the lime could be han- dled. During the process of burning, the lime-kiln was a favorite evening gathering place for the farmer boys of the locality; and here many a wrestling bout was pulled off, and tests of strength, skill and endurance displayed in throwing the sledge and kindred sports.
The first of these kilns constructed here was located somewhat over a mile south of Remsen village, on the north side of a private road that leads from the turn- pike to the place owned by Horace Powell, and the farm north of the Powell place. It was built about midway between the highway and the farmhouse, and the owner and lime burner was a man named Sprague, a revolu- tionary veteran, whose log dwelling stood near the kiln.
Later there were two kilns on the road leading to Prospect, north of the private road we have just men- tioned. One of these was built by John MacDonald, and the other by Thomas Thomas. Still later one was built by Thomas about fifty rods south of the
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