USA > New York > Lewis County > Gazetteer and business directory of Lewis county, N.Y., for 1872-73 > Part 17
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* Their boat was about twenty-five feet long and seven wide. It was designed to carry all their effects. but was found to be too heavily loaded to be managed readily, and while being towed into the stream by the French corni-t in that localifv, it came in contact with a current which drew it toward the fa 's. The line was cast off, and by hard rowing shallow water near the west shore Was reached. when B. Rogers and J. Woolworth swam ashore with a line, and towed the boat below the eddy, when they re-crossed the river and removed a part of the load. They again set out upon their journey down the river, and up Lowville Creek. entil a fallen tree obstructed their further progress, and their troubles were only farther augmented by Clarissa Stephens being swept from the beat by the overhanging bruch of a tree, but she was roon rescued." The tree which terminated their journey by water served a- a landing place, but they were yet half a mile from their destination. The party set ont withsuch of their effects as they could conveniently carry upon their back- and were needed for immediate nse. following a line of marked trees, and being pr geded by B. Kopers and J. Woolworth with theit guns. Darkness overcame them More their resting place for the night was reached. Init by the aid of a cheerful fir ;, which those who prece .ed them had kindled, and the blowing of a horn, they reached for deshalbon, and after partaking of a hearty sup- per. retired for the night. some motor a rude -heffer hastily constructed, others upon a couch of hemlock bouch4. Two or three trips were required to bring up the rest of the goods, and the boat did excedent ervice in carrying other settlers.
+ Low derded to Silas Stow. April 20. 179%, a tract of 4,168 acres in the central part of the town, excepting a -qu ire of los seres in the north-west corner, from which circum- stance this name is derived.
+ Named from Col. John SpaBord. a native of Connecticut, and a Revolutionary hero, and the father of Horatio Gives Spatford, the author of Spadford's Gazetteer of New York, 1>18.
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ham, Pardon Lanpher and Francis Murphy came in 1800. Lanpher moved from Whitestown, having removed there from Westfield, R. I., the previous year. Joseph Newton, Benjamin Rice, Jesse Benjamin, Elijah Parks, Z. Plank, E. Newton, David Rice, David Wilbur, (from Worthington, Mass.,) Jabez Puffer, Samuel and John Bailey, Joseph Purrinton, Nathan Rowlee, Hezekiah Wheeler, Levi Bickford, Joseph Malby, Eliphaz Searle, Calvin Merrill, A. D. Williams, Benjamin Davenport, Daniel Porter, A. Sigourney, Mather Bosworth, (from Westmoreland.) Loomis J. Danks, Edward Shepherd, Zuriel Waterman, Amasa Hitchcock, Ozen Bush, Simeon Babcock, Thadeus Snuth, Elijah Baldwin, Jonathan Hutchin- son, Erastus Hoskins. Robert Barnett, Jesse Hitchcock, (from Lanesboro, Mass.,) John Delap, Nathaniel Prentice and Lewis Gosard came in 1801. The town embraced some lands whose fertility made them superior, and which were readily taken up bv settlers. Daniel Kelley was the first settler who received a deed. It was dated April 12, 1798, and conveyed to him lot 37, (250 acres) for 8650. Kelley was a native of Norwich, Conn., but subsequently resided at Middletown, whence he removed to Lowville in 1798. He was appointed first County Judge. He built a saw mill upon the site of Lowville, the first year of his residence here; also his first log hut, which stood against a huge bowlder. He removed to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1814. The next year a grist mill was built, and the settlers from all the neighboring country were summoned to raise it. It was got in operation Sept. 22. 1799. The stones were dressed from a gneiss bowlder by James Parker. Jonathan Rogers erected an inn and Fortunatus Eager a store on the site of Lowville, and these with Kelley's mills determined the loca- tion of that village. Eager came from Lunenburg, Vt., in 1999 or 1800, and by aiding the settlers to pay for their lands, was largely instrumental in the early growth of the village. He removed to the vicinity of Brockville, Canada, in 1809, and there died. The village was mainly built upon Roger's farm, and his house was the first framed buikling therein; Fager's store was the second one. Harriet, daughter of Ehud Stephens, was born Feb. 24, 1:99, and was the first child born in the town ; the first male child was Samuel, son of Jonathan Rogers, who was born June 21, 1800. Harriet Stephens became the wife of Dr. Jas. M. Sturdevant. A child of a family named Cooley is believed to have been the first death in the town; but Aaron Hovey, a young unmarried man from Johns- town, who settled upon the east road, was the first adult. He was killed by the fall of a tree which he felled, and in conse- quence of his placing a round stone in the notch for the purpose
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of rolling the trunk from the stump. Jesse and Roswell Wilcox, from Killingworth, Conn., Charles and Billa Davenport, from Spencertown, N. Y., Dr. Wm. Darrow, Daniel Porter, Joel aud W. Bates, Isaac Perry, a native of R. I., Jacob Apley, Fortunatus and Mayhew Bassett, James Bailey and Absalom Williams were among the first settlers at Stows Square, which, from its loca- tion upon the State road, acquired some distinction as a village at an early day; but its growth decreased as that of Lowville increased. Roswell Waterman, Nathaniel Bement, Malachi Putnam and Sacket and Alvin Dodge settled in the south-west part of the town in 1805 or '6.
Morris S. Miller, who subsequently removed to Utica and held the office of First Judge of Oneida county from 1810 until his death, Nov. 16, 1824, succeeded Mr. Stow in the agency about 1802, and he in turn was succeeded by Isaac W. Bostwick, in 1806. The latter was a native of Watertown, Conn., and removed to Whitestown, N. Y., in 1797. He there entered the law office of Platt & Breese, and was admitted to the bar in 1801. He removed to Turin in 1804, and to Low- ville in 1806. IIe retained the agency until 1854, filling in the meantime the office of surrogate for ten years from the erection of the County, when he was succeeded by Russell Parish, who lived but a few months after .* The agency then passed into the hands of Nathaniel B. Sylvester, of Lowville.t
* Mr. Bostwick took an active interest in the Lowril'e Academy, of which, for many years, he was trustee, and during the last years of his life was president of the Board of Trustees. At his death be left a munide nt contribution to its library. His widow, at her death, bequeathed to the Trustees, to be heid in trust for the Academy, $40,000, and to the Academy the oid Bostwick Homestead. But her bequest, so far as it per- tains to the $40.000, violated a law which incapacitates a person, or society for holding a double trust. and the heirs took advantage of this technicality to defeat her object.
t Among other prominent and early settlers of this town were, James H. and Stephen Leonard, from West Springfield, Mas« .. who came in company in 1804 on a tour of ex- ploration, with the design of sertli gat Choumont. The former settled at Lowville in 18 14, and begin businers there in September of that year. He was joined by Stephen in Jannary, 1st5. They were largely engaged in business as distillers, millers and manufacturers of potash. Samuel A. Talcott, a gentleman of brilliant talents, con :- meuced the practice of law at Lowvile in 18 2. but after three or four years residence removed to Utica, where. Feb. 12. 1 21. le was appointed attorney general, which office he filled eight years. He was a native of Hartford, Conn. Eln Collins, a native of Meri- den. Conn .. received his education at C'inton Academy, studied law with Gold & Sill, of Whitesboro, and commenced its practice et laville in 1807. His legal career was characterized by ability and sincerity. March 15, 1815. he was appointed district attor- ney for the district embracing the counties of Lewis. Jefferson and St. Lawrence ; and upon the erection of these as separate counties, he filled the game office for this conn- ty until his resignation in 1510. He commanded a militia regiment near Sacketts Har- bor. in 1814, que in that year he represented Lewis County in the State legislature. He was a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1821 ; and a Representative in Congress from 1923 to 1-25. Hle dird at Lowville. Nov. 23, 1848. Russell Parish, who succeeded Bostwick to the agency for the rile of lands in this town, was a native of Branford. Conn .. and a graduate of Yale College In 1:13, in which year he became prin- cipal of Lowville Academy. It: 1814 he corameveed the study of law with I. W. Bost- wick, and practiced his profoms on is Los ville until his death, Feb. 21. 1855. He was an-tere, but learned. m-land shle. Be represented the County in the Convention for revising the Constitution in 1996. Check - Dayan was born at Amsterdam, N. Y .. July 16, 1792. His father. an Andtrian emigrant, died in 1793, leaving him and his mother in indigent circumstances At the age of fouri-en he found employment in Elliott's Mills. at Amsterdam, and in Augist, 1009, bo removed to Lowville, where, after spending
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In Spafford's Gazetteer of New York, published in 1813, we find the following complimentary allusion to this town :-
"[It] was first settled in 1797, and its early inhabitants possessed a spirit of enterprize and of industry, happily adapted for opening the way into the forest, and which have given a very honorable character to the manner and habits of the people. The main road from Utica to Kingston Ferry and to the St. Lawrence country, lies through this Town. In 1801, there were 104 electors; in 1810, 213 senatorial electors, and 1,643 inhabitants. The upland, in general, is of a superior quality, and the intervales along Black river are extensive and very rich."
There are seven churches in the town, two belonging to the Baptists, and one each to the Presbyterians, Methodists, Pro- testant Episcopalians, Free Will Baptists and Catholics. An early interest was manifested in religious matters. As early as Nov. 29, 1799, Rev. Mr. Cinney preached in the town. He was followed at intervals by Revs. Hassenclever, Joseph Willis, Lorenzo Dow and John Taylor. Dow passed through to Canada in September, 1802, and preached at the house of Noah Durrin, near the landing. Taylor passed through while on a missionary tour to the Black River country, the same month
some time in chopping, and working in an oil mill, he commenced his studies at the Academy. Being entirely deficient in the rudiments of an education he was placed in a class of small children. but by a-sidnou- study he progressed rapidly, and at the ex- piration of a few months he engaged a school at Rutland where he taught four winters, receiving as compensation twenty bushels of wheat per month, which he sold at $2 per bushel. He commenced his legal studies with Mr. Bostwick, in 1816, and in 1819, he Was admitted to practice. From 18:0 to 1833 he was the agent of Le Ray and the Brown family for the sale of lands east of Black River. He was elected to the State senate in 1sti. to fill the vacancy (for two years) occasioned by the resignation of Geo. Brayton. Oct. 7. 1:2>, at the extra session convened in the fall of that year to adopt the revised statutes, he was elected president pro tem. of the Senate ; and as the gubernatorial chair was theu filled by the Lient. Gov ruor, the duties of the latter office devolved upon him, and he discharged them until Jan. 1, 1523. He was a Representative in Con- gress from 1531-3: a Member of Assembly. in the interest of the party favoring the construction of the Black River Canal, fiom 1835-6; and on the 14th of March, 1840, he was appointed district attorney of Lewis County, which office he filled five years. Mr. Dayan brought to the discharge of his public trusts exemplary honesty and ability and thit indomitable energy which has mainly been the lever by which he raised himself from poverty and obscurity to opulence and respect. He still resides at Lowville, at the age of over eighty years, and retains much of his former vigor. Ziba Knox, a native of Vermont, came to Lowville, N. Y., about 1817 acquired here his legal knowledge, and was several years a law partner with Chas. Dayan. Vivaldi R. Martin, a native of Saratoga county, settled at Martinsburgh, and subsequently at Lowville, in boin of which places he engaged in the practice of law. He possessed a thorough edu- cation and a high order of talents. He died Ang. 8, 1-50, aged 31 years. Dr. David Perry. a native of Princeton, Mass., who studied medicine with Dr. Westel Willough- by, of Newport, N. Y., moved to Denmark in August, 1800, and to Lowville, in April, 1800, and continued the practice of medicine at the Intter place until disabled by a para- lytic stroke, in November, 1858. He displayed a good deal of proficiency in his profes- stobal practice, and during his residence at Lowville he acquired considerable noto- riety as a pomolozist. Andrew W. Doig, a native of Washington county, removed to Lowville in is09, and spent many years in teaching and surveying. lie was county clerk iu 1525 for oue term ; assemblyman in 18 22; and surrogate from 1835 to 1810. Ile was a Representative in Congress from 1850 to 1843. Ho went to California in 1649, but subsequently returned to Lowville, Joseph A. Northrup, a native of Vermont, settird at an ear'y day and followed the business of tanning and harness making, in which pur- suits he is believed to have been the pioneer of this town,
Tur name- of many who settled at a liter day, and the children of the first settlers, Whose lives are prominently identified with the history of the town, might be el:u- merated did the scope of the work pernot. We take pleasure in acknowledging our indebtedness to Dr. Hongh's History of Lewis County, for valuable data relative to the early history of this town.
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and year, and in his journal of that mission he says :- "This town is in a broken state-about half are congregationalists- the remainder are methodists and baptists, [who, he says in another place, are worse than "nothingarians and fatalists."] There is one baptist chh., no congregational chh. About 10 professors congregationalist, but none are willing to undertake to perform on the Sabbath, and the people in general attend on the baptists." The Free Will Baptists held meetings as early as 1798, and when no regular minister was available Judge Kelley, who was of that persuasion, was accustomed to exhort them. Judge Stow, who was an Episcopalian, also, it is said, read the service to his neighbors on the Sabbath. A Con- gregational Church was organized Dec. 3, 1803, by Rev. Ira Hart, at Stows Square.
Lowville Presbyterian Church, at Lowville village, was organ- ized with twelve members, July 11, 1822.% The first church edifice was erected in 1828, and was destroyed by fire in 1829; the present one will seat 500 persons, and was erected in 1831, at a cost of $4,000. The first pastor was Rev. David Kimball ; the present one is Rev. G. L. Roof. The present number of members is 170, and the value of Church property, $20,000.+
State Street Baptist Church was organized in 1824, and erected an edifice in 1825. The same one is still in use. It has been twice repaired, and will seat 300 persons. Rev. John Blodget was the first pastor; Rev. David R. Watson is the present one. The Society numbers 114 members. The Church property is valued at $10,000.1
Trinity Church, at Lowville village, was organized with twenty-three members, by Revs. Chas. G. Acly and F. Rogers, Sept. 24, 1838. Their first church edifice was erected in 1846; and the present one, which will seat 350 persons, in 1864, at a cost of $12.000. Rev. Edward 1. Renouf was the first pastor ; Rev. Wm. N. Irish, our mformant, is the present one. There are 71 members. The Church property is valued at $20,000.
The Free Will Baptist Church was organized with fifteen members, by Rev. M. H. Abley. its first pastor, and others, in 1860. The church edifice was erected in 1862, at a cost of 84.500. It will seat 300 persons. The Society has a member- ship of 115. The pulpit is filled by Rev. G. C. Waterman, to whom we are indebted for this information. The Church property is valued at $2,000.
* The twelve original members were, Garret and Rovera Bostwick, Timothy P. and Floretta Shephard, La the In Buche, Mana Collins, Mary Niet, Mary Rodgers, Mary Spaf- ford, Abigail Welles, Hannah Warum and Seymour Gookins.
+ Intoringtion furnished by Hev. G. L. Roof,
+ Information furnished by Rev. David R. Watson, pastor, and A. S. Stoddard, church clerk.
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LOWVILLE-MARTINSBURGH.
St. Peter's Church (Roman Catholic) was organized Oct. 3, 1869, and the house of worship erected by the members of this Society, opened for divine service at that time, was the first Catholic church in Lowville. It was erected at a cost of $5,000, and will seat 500 people. Rev. Joseph Fitzgerald was the first pastor ; Rev. Wm. B. Nyhan is the present one.
Lowville was first made a Catholic parish, in the Diocese of Albany, in December, 1866, and the first pastor was Rev. J. H. Herbst. The parish included the towns of Lowville, Watson, Martinsburgh, Harrisburgh, Pinckney and Denmark in Lewis County, and Worth in Jefferson county. There were three churches, one each in Martinsburgh, Harrisburgh and Pinck- ney. Mr. Herbst was removed to Albany and Rev. Joseph Fitzgerald succeeded him at Lowville, Dec. S, 1867. In June, 1809, Rev. James O'Driscoll was appointed to the charge of the churches in Pinckney and Harrisburgh, with his residence at Copenhagen, and his parish embraced the town of Worth, Jefferson county, and Harrisburgh, Pinckney, Montague and Denmark in this County. Previous to the erection of the church in Lowville, meetings were held by the Catholics in the court house. Rev. Win. B. Nyhan was appointed to the charge of Lowville, Maple Ridge and Watson. In May, 1872, this County was placed in the Diocese of Ogdensburg, which is under the jurisdiction of Rt. Rev. Edward P. Wadhams.
MARTINSBURG II* was formed from Turin, Feb. 22, 1803,f and a part of Turin was annexed in 1823. It lies upon the west bank of Black River, near the center of the County, and contains 44.398 acres. It has an easterly inclination, its west border being nearly 1,000 feet above the river valley. It has a rolling surface with a wide level intervale bordering upon the river. The principal streams are Martins and Whetstone creeks, both of which are tributary to Black River. The former flows east through the center of the town, and the latter through the south part. Upon the former stream, near the center of the town, is a remarkable chasm, known as " Chim- ney Point Gulf," which is worn through the shale and Utica slate, for a distance of two miles, to a depth of 200 to 250 feet. Above the Chimney it is tortuous, with precipitous sides, and in many places so narrow that the stream occupies the entire space between the ledges. Whetstone Gulf. upon Whetstone
* The town embraces Townships Nos, 4 and 5. or Cornelia and Porcia, of the Boyle- ton Tract, and a part of No. 2, or Lucid'in, of Constable' Four Towns. It originally embraced the two former. It was named from Gen. Walter Martin, under whom settle- ment was made.
t The early records of this town are lost.
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Creek, is a similar ravine. A further description of the former appears in Barber's Historical Collections. We quote :
"This chasm is about two hundred feet in depth, and of a bowl-like shape. On the north and west sides the rocks are nearly perpendicular, but on the south sloping and covered with lofty trees. It derives its name, that of Chimney Point, from the resemblance which & prominence in the slate rock bears to the termination of a conical pointed chimney, while the horizontal strata increase the likeness by their similarity to tiles. * *
* the beautiful cascade of nearly one hundred feet fall is one of the forks of the creek. The two unite a few rods to the east of Chim- ney Point. The visitor usually approaches this spot from the south. The surface of the ground in the vicinity is nearly level, and as he comes upon its brink suddenly, its wildness strikes him with awe. Opposite and on the left are dark, massy, perpendicular rocks; before him are lofty pines and hemlocks, and far, far below, as it were in the very bowels of the earth, through the openings in the foliage, indistinct glimpses are caught of the foaming rivulet, while the roar of the water- fall and the grandeur of the surrounding landscape add an interest to the scene rarely experienced." *
The soil is a deep, fertile loam, except along the river, where it is sandy. Near the head of Whetstone Gulf is a sulphur spring, and a little north of the village of Martinsburgh, near the brow of the hill, was discovered, in the fall of 1828, a thin vein of galena disseminated in calcareous spar, which created hopes not justified by further explorations. In the spring of 1838 a fragment of galena was disclosed by the plow about a mile north-west of the same village. This proved upon examination to have been broken from a vein of that ore which was from four to ten inches wide, which formed a mural elevation of several inches above the surrounding rock and extended in a course about N. 80º W. a distance of over twenty rods. Several of these veins running nearly parallel 'were discovered.t
The Utica & Black River R. R. extends through the east border, along the valley of Black River.
The population of the town in 1870, was 2,282, of whom 1.987 were native and 225, foreign ; 2,268, white and 14, colored. The people are extensively engaged in dairying.
* The same author describes the following incident which occured here: "About 30 rode below, on the forth side. ]is a rock failed Peebles Slide, which derives its name from the following circumstance. In the spring of 1834, as Mr. Chiflus L. D. Peebles, of Martinshar h, was drawing logy near the precipice, which here generally forms the boni:dary of the [stream.] his foot slipped and he fell. For the fret twenty or thirty feet he slid, then descended from the precipice perpendicularly for nearly one hundred fret, when. striking come loose rock and sand, he rolled the remainder of the distance to the bottom of the raving. Ho wo, enabled to walk to a neighboring house, and & though badly bruised he enon recovered."
+ Thomas L. Conklin bought the right of mining for $700, and a company, first of twelve and subsequently of one hundred shares was formed. Several tons of the ore were smelted, but owing to the gradiany increased cost of mining and the diminished supply of the ore, a heavy lor, wie suatainel and the work finally abandoned. In 1853 the mineral right was purchased by parties in New York, and the organization of a com- pany, with a capital of $200,000 in shares of $3 each, was effected Feb. 4, 1854.
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MARTINSBURGH.
During the year ending Sept. 30, 1871, the town contained 24 school districts and employed the same number of teachers. The number of children of school age was 878; the number attending school, 630; the averageattendance, 326; the amount expended for school purposes, 85,355.09; and the value of school houses and sites, $6,955.
MARTINSBURGH (p. v. ) is situated east of the center, on Mar- tins Creek, about three miles above its month, and is four miles south of Lowville. It is a pleasant, healthy village of about 500 inhabitants. and contains four churches. (Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian and Union, the first and last being closed,) the Martin Institute,* a printing office, ( The Boys' Journal) about seven stores, a fine grist mill and a good temperance hotel. Standing on an elevated terrace of Trenton limestone, as high, perhaps, as any point in the County, the village affords an admirable view of the surrounding country, and the scenery toward the east is especially attractive. The medical and legal professions have each but one representative in the village, a fact which speaks well for the healthfulness of the latter and the good morals of its people. The county seat which was formerly located here was removed to Lowville by act of the legislature passed Mar. 10, 1864.
WEST MARTINSBURGH (p. v.) is situated near the center of the north border, about three miles south-west of Lowville, and contains two churches, ( M. E. and Second Advent) a school house, hotel, two stores, two blacksmith shops, two cooper shops, a cheese factory,f about thirty dwellings and 150 inhabitants.
GLENSDALE, (p. o.) located in the south-east part, on Whet- stone Creek, contains a grist mill, ¿ cheese factory, cooper shop, two carriage factories, two blacksmith shops, fourteen dwellings and about seventy inhabitants.
* This institution was named in honor of the late Charles L. Martin, who donated to it bis one-fourth interest in the building aud premises it now occupies, and which were purchased of hoirs of Gen. Walter Martin, the money for that purpose being raised by subscription. Until the removal of the county seat the building was used as a court house, for which purpose it was built and prevented to the County by Gen. Martin, (who Was one of the first settlers in the town, and the principel lend hohier therein,) with the proviso that when it crassd to be used for the purpose designated it shoul ! revert to the donor. About $ 1.500 have been expended in making necessary repairs and changes, by which the building was adapted to its present purpose, " in a manner that scarcely ad: its of improvement." The school $ how in succes-ful operation and has had as many axninety studente at a term. "The success of the Institute," says our informant. "may, iu a measure bo attributed to its location and other circumstances connected [there- with. ] Martinsburgh being regarded as a healthy pince, and free from the prominent vices with which most villagea and larger towns are afflicted. It is a temperance community, Do liquor being sold in the village ; it is also free from other grosser immoralities, ren- dering it a desirable and cafe pince for parents to send their children to be educated."- From written statement of Abram 1. Miren.ess of Martinaburgh.
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