USA > New York > St Lawrence County > Gazetteer and business directory of St. Lawrence County, N.Y. for 1873-4 > Part 12
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+ Great Lots Nos. II. and III. were divided, the former into eighteen and the latter into fifteen townships. Those in No. II. were named, (in the or- der in which numbered,) Sherwood, Oakham, Mortlake, Harewood, Jamestown, Piercefield, Granshuck, Hollywood, Kildare, Matildavale, Wick, Riversdale, Cookham, Catharineville, Islington, Chesterfield, Grange and Crumack; and those in No. III., Hammond, Somerville, Dewitt, Fitz William, Ballybeen, Clare, Killarney, Edwards, Sarahs- burgh, Clifton, Portaferry, Scriba, Chaumont, Bloomfield and Emily- ville.
¿ The islands in the St. Lawrence were not patented with the lands op posite which they lie; nor were they included in the jurisdiction of the towns, (the uncertainty of the national boundary rendering that unad- visable,) until March 17, 1815, when they were declared to be a part of the respective towns opposite which they lie. They were purchased by D. A. and G. Ogden in 1823.
§ French's Gazetteer of New York, p. 574.
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than apparent. The embargo of 1807, which preceded that war and resulted from the same cause, necessitated the presence of troops at Ogdensburg in 1809 to enforce non-intercourse. Con- gress anticipated the war April 10, 1812, by a call for 100,000 men and an appropriation of $1,000,000. Active preparations were made in this vicinity by mustering men and supplies, for which Ogdensburg was made the depot. The troops arrived the last of May and were quartered a few days in the court house. The declaration of war was made known in June by the arrival of Major Darby Noon, who came to erect temporary barracks, which were situated a little below the village. With Major Noon came several merchants from Oswego, with armed men, to attempt the rescue of eight vessels which lay wind-bound at Ogdensburg at the opening of the war. The vessels started in company on the 29th of June for Lake Ontario, but were in- tercepted near the foot of the Thousand Islands by a company of Canadian volunteers under the command of D. Jones of Maitland, an active partisan. Two of the vessels, the Sophia and Island Packet, were taken without resistance, as they were without armament, and, after the removal to an island of the crew and several emigrant families, with their effects, were burned. The remaining vessels were returned to Ogdensburg by their crews. Apprehensions were constantly entertained that the presence of these vessels would provoke an attack upon the place to effect their capture. Several plans for their capture were laid, but none were put into execution. As a further means for their security they were taken above the bridge, and during an armistice effected that summer, they were got up to the lake. The night of July 23d was fixed upon for the execution of a plan for the destruction of the Duke of Gloucester, a British vessel, mounting ten guns, which, in company with the Prince Regent, of ten guns, and the Earl of Moira, of eighteen, lay in the vicinity of Prescott, but before night the vessel changed position, and the attempt was not made. July 29, Gen. Brown despatched the schooner Julia of the navy, armed with one 18 and two 6 pounders, and laden with military stores, to Ogdensburg. She was commanded by Lieut. H. W. Wells of the government brig Oneida, and accom- panied by Capt. Noadiah Hubbard with a rifle company, in a Durham boat. At 3 o'clock on the 31st, she met the. Earl of Moira, opposite Morristown, and a bloodless battle of three and a quarter hours duration ensued, in which but little damage was sustained by either vessel. Near dark the Earl of Moira withdrew to Brockville, and her guns were taken out and placed in battery upon shore. The Julia proceeded to Ogdens- burg, opposite which place she lay until the 5th of September.
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About the middle of September a party under Capt. Griffin left Ogdensburg in company with a gunboat to attack a number of bateaux laden with stores, which, it was learned, were lying near Toussaint island, opposite the town of Lisbon. They ar- rived at that island late at night and secured the only family living upon it, except the man, who escaped and gave the alarm. The provincial militia were hastily rallied, and a sharp firing soon began. After a loss of one killed and another wounded Griffin and his party abandoned his boat, which was secured by the enemy as it drifted toward the foot of the island, where the gunboat lay. About sunrise the gunboat came to anchor, and was immediately fired upon. Five of the eighteen men on it were wounded at the second discharge, but before the third was made the gun was brought to bear, and the regu- lars who accompanied the bateaux were soon dispersed. The party returned without having accomplished its object. The loss of the enemy was reported as two killed and several wounded. On Sunday, the 4th of October, an attack was made upon Ogdensburg by twenty-five boats and two gunboats, which, in company with fifteen other boats, were observed to pass up the river on the second, but it was repulsed without loss to the Americans, except that resulting from property and buildings injured by the enemy's shot. The loss sustained by the Brit- ish was admitted by an English author to be three killed and four wounded. One of their gunboats was also disabled. Capt. Forsyth, (to whose rifle company and a small detachment of Capt. Kellog's artillery company the defence of Ogdensburg was entrusted during the winter,) having been informed that a large number of American prisoners, who were confined at Brockville, were treated with severity, and that some who had become American citizens were claimed as British deserters, and would be executed as such, resolved to attempt their re- lease. On the 6th of February, 1813, his company and citizen volunteers, to the number of about 200, started about nine in the morning, crossed the river at Morristown, and having ob- tained possession of the village, released from prison all who were confined there, except one who was accused of murder, numbering forty-five, besides six officers. A quantity of stores was secured, and some prominent citizens brought back to Ogdensburg as prisoners. On the 22d of the same month a retaliatory attack upon Ogdensburg was made by the British, which resulted in its capture and pillage after a stout resist- ance, and the taking of 52 prisoners, many of whom were citi- zens, and all of whom, except those found in arms, were paroled. The barracks were burned, all the military and ma- rine stores taken and much private property wantonly de-
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stroyed. Capt. Forsyth made as gallant a resistance as was prac- ticable with the forces at his command ; but the number of the enemy was vastly superior, and when further resistance ap- peared useless he ordered a retreat. The American loss, as stated in his communication to the secretary of war, did not exceed twenty killed and wounded. The British evacuated the place the same day ; having extended their plunder to every house in it except three, and liberated all the prisoners in jail upon their assertion that they were confined for political of- fences, but upon a true representation being afterwards made, many were recaptured and given up to the sheriff. After the withdrawal of Capt. Forsyth's troops no defence was maintained at Ogdensburg during the war. This exposure occasionally subjected its citizens to insult, " and in May, 1813, some de- serters having come over from the enemy, an officer was sent across with a flag, with a threat to commit the village to flames if they were not restored. Judge Ford, with his usual prompt- ness, replied that they would do no such thing, for no sooner should he see them landing, than with his own hands he would set fire to his own house, rally his neighbors, cross the river with torches, and burn every, house from Prescott to Brockville." The British officer subsequently apologized for his conduct. On the 11th of October, 1813, the enemy, becoming suspicious at the large number of persons in the village, who were in at- tendance upon court, which was then in session, and the pres- ence of Col. Luckett's regiment, which was sent to examine the country in advance of Gen. Wilkinson's army, opened a can- nonade, which did no injury, except to buildings. The pro- ceedings of the court were interrupted for the day by the with- drawing of a juror, and after discussion, it adjourned. The grand jury, who had received their charge, and retired, also adjourned upon hearing the cannonade, and the room was scarcely cleared, " when a twenty-four pound shot entered the room, shattering an end beam in the house, cut obliquely across the seats, but a moment before occupied by the jury, and lodged in the partition beyond."
On the evening of the 5th of November, 1813, the army of Gen. Wilkinson, for the reduction of Canada, arrived at Morris- town, by way of the St. Lawrence, from Sackets Harbor, and on the following day, to within three miles of Ogdensburg, where preparations were made for passing the fort at Prescott. The ammunition was conveyed thence by land, under the cover of night, and beyond the reach of the enemy's batteries. The army, except so many as were necessary to navigate the boats, also debarked and proceeded by land, to avoid useless exposure to the enemy's cannon. Gen. Brown, to whom was entrusted the
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passage of the flotilla, thought to effect it about 8 o'clock P. M. under cover of a heavy fog, which it was believed would con- ceal them from the enemy's view. The order was given for the army and flotilla to move forward, but a sudden change in the atmosphere exposed to the enemy's view the general's gig, which led the van, and drew his fire. The troops on shore were dis- covered by the gleam of their arms, and were assailed with shot and shell, but without injury. Gen. Brown halted the flotilla until the moon had set, when it was again got in motion, and although it was discovered and under fire for a space of three hours, it passed the fortress without the loss of a boat, and with only one man killed and two wounded. Two vessels loaded with provisions, artillery and ordnance stores were grounded near Ogdensburg, and the fire of the enemy rendered it difficult to extricate them, in doing which half a day was consumed. The further progress of the army was only interrupted by in- considerable skirmishes with infantry posts established along the north bank, at difficult passages in the river, (to dislodge whom it was necessary to debark a detachment of troops to move in advance of the flotilla,) until the 11th, when it arrived at Chryslers field, where a disastrous engagement ensued be- ween 1,600 to 1,700 Americans and a similar number of the enemy. The losses sustained by the Americans in this engage- ment, as shown by Gen. Wilkinson's official report, were 102 killed and 339 wounded. Among the latter was Brig .- Gen. Leonard Covington, who subsequently died, and fifteen other commissioned officers. Many wounded and prisoners remained in the enemy's hands. The battle was not continued the next day, and the flotilla proceeded down the river unmolested. On arriving at Barnhart's Island, where he expected to meet the forces under Gen. Wade Hampden, which were in the vicinity of Lake Champlain, Gen. Wilkinson received a letter from that officer declining the junction at that place. A council was immediately convened and it was decided to abandon the attack upon Montreal that season. Accordingly the army was crossed to the American side, and went into camp at French Mills. The weather soon became intensely cold, and owing to this, the insufficiency of clothing and other protection, the scarcity and bad quality of provisions and the absence of suit- able medical stores, the sickness and mortality among the troops was very great. The country in the vicinity of French Mills was a wilderness, and suitable supplies could not be readily obtained, adequate to the needs of so great an army. The sup- plies just began to arrive when orders to evacuate the place were given on the 9th of February, 1814. One division under Gen. Brown moved up the St. Lawrence to Sackets Harbor ;
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the other under Gen. Wilkinson proceeded to Plattsburgh. This retrogade movement was followed by the enemy, who captured the stores remaining there and in the vicinity, and much that was in transit.
With the close of the war emigration was again attracted here, but was again diverted on the opening of the fertile lands in the west . for settlement, by the completion of the Erie canal, and a corresponding depression was felt in the price of lands. The opening of railroads through the county tended to pro- duce a steady and healthy growth, and lands soon reached a value double that at which they were previously held.
The frontier in this county was again somewhat disturbed by the Patriot War of 1837-40, which was precipitated by a party in Canada which labored to effect certain reforms in govern- ment, prominent among which was an extension of the elective franchise. The movement elicited much sympathy, but more perhaps among the Americans than those in whose direct in- terest they labored; and though the objects sought to be at- tained were not devoid of merit, the means employed were reprehensible, or at least imprudent. The numbers actively engaged in the emeute reflect disparagingly upon the sincerity of the leaders. It is fair, however, to presume that the govern- ment reforms soon after instituted were due in a measure to this outbreak. As might be expected the country upon the Canadian frontier suffered somewhat from the harsh and illegal measures of the Patriots and the counter-measures of the Canadians. The only considerable engagement which occurred was that at the Wind Mill, on the north bank of the St. Law- rence, about one mile below Prescott, of which the Patriots had gained possession. On the 13th of November, 1838, the British made an attempt to dislodge them, and as they did not have guns of sufficient caliber at Prescott to reduce the massive walls of the mill, the infantry were ordered to advance upon the posi- tion, but in less than two hours the effort was abandoned. The Patriots, who were strongly fortified, lost in' the action five killed and thirteen wounded, and fifty-two of their number who essayed to pursue the retreating forces, were scattered, pursued and captured in detail. The loss of the British, as officially reported, was thirteen killed and sixty-seven wound- ed, though it was generally believed to have been much greater. The number of the patriots did not enable them to take advan- tage of this success, and they had not sufficient provisions and ammunition to maintain their position any length of time. The British resolved to confine their efforts to preventing the escape of the Patriots until guns of heavier caliber could be ob- tained, and the United States government prevented re-erforce-
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ments or supplies reaching them. On the 16th the British had received guns of sufficient weight to reduce the mill, and in the forenoon of that day the unconditional surrender of the Patriots was made. The prisoners, who were mostly young men and boys, were taken to Kingston for trial. The sight of the pris- oners so enraged the Canadian militia that the presence of the regulars alone restrained them from perpetrating the most brutal outrages. Of the 160 prisoners taken, nearly one-third were under twenty-one years of age. Most of these were par- doned through the solicitations of friends and deputations of citizens from various places, including Ogdensburg. Not less than 114, and probably more, were residents of the United States, and many others were of foreign descent. The number sentenced to be hung was 132, but only twelve were executed. The number transported was 57, of whom some died, but many were subsequently pardoned. Three were acquitted ; 18, re- leased without trial; 2, sentenced to seven years in the peniten- tiary; and 57, pardoned. *
During the Rebellion, Ogdensburg was made the principal rendezvous for the troops enlisted in St. Lawrence and Frank- lin counties. Active measures were taken to promptly fill the quotas of this county under the different calls ; and the whole of the 106th, the major part of the 16th, 60th, 92d and 142d and parts of the 18th, 96th, 164th and 193d volunteer infantry reg'ts, part of the 6th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 16th, 20th and 26th cav- alry regiments, and part of the 1st and 14th artillery regiments, were enlisted in this county. The 60th, 106th and 142d infan- try regiments were organized at Ogdensburg, and the 92d, at Potsdam. The 92d and 142d were composed of troops from St. Lawrence and Franklin counties. Companies D and I, and parts of E, F, G, L and M, of the 16th cavalry, were raised in this county.
* We are indebted to Hough's History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties for data relative to the war of 1812 and the Patriot war. Fuller details than the scope of this work admits will be there found by those de- sirous of perusing them.
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BRASHER.
GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
BRASHER* was formed from Massena, April 21, 1825,- and a part of Lawrence was taken off just three years later. It lies in the north-east corner of the county, south of Massena, and contains 55,294 acres. The surface is generally level, being gently rolling in the west. The streams are St. Regis and Deer rivers and Squeak and Trout brooks. The St. Regis, the prin- cipal one, enters the town in the south-west corner and flows in a north-east direction through the town, a little west of the center. Deer River discharges its waters into the St. Regis from the east, at Helena, and Squeak Brook from the west, a little above that village. Trout Brook is a tributary of Deer River, with which it unites near the south line of the town. The soil in the north is a productive clay loam; in the east it is light and sandy, and in the west, stony, with a mixture of sand. Bog iron ore is found in the east, where the sand is un- derlaid by deposits of clay.
The population of the town in 1870 was 3,342, of whom 2,511 were native, and 831, foreign, and all were white.
During the year ending Sept. 30, 1872, the town contained nineteen school districts and employed nineteen teachers. The number of children of school age was 1,354; the number at- tending school, 1,019 ; the average attendance, 432; the amount expended for school purposes, $3,836.45; and the value of school houses and sites, $5,525.
* N'amed from Philip Brasher, who, by purchase and marriage, became part owner. The town embraces Townships Nos. 17 and 18, or Grange and Crumack, of Great Lot No. II. of Macomb's Purchase.
+ The first town meeting was held at the house of Benj. Nevin, June 6, 1825, and Benj. Nevin was elected Supervisor; David McMurphy, Town Clerk; Wm. Stowell, Jehiel Stevens and Benj. Watts, Assessors; John Burroughs, David Richardson and Peter Corbin, Commissioners of High- ways; Benj. Watts, Constable and Collector ; Francis Nevin and David Richardson, Overseers of the Poor; Luman Kibble, Jehiel Stevens and Francis Nevin, Commissioners of Common Schools ; and David McMur- phy, Benj. Nevin and Wm. Stowell, Inspectors of Common Schools.
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BRASHER FALLS,* (p. v.) located upon the St. Regis, one mile below the station on the O. & L. C. R. R., in the south- west corner of the town, contains three churches, (M. E., Presb. and R. C.) eight stofes, a hotel, a manufactory of carpet sweepers, grist mill, saw mill, cabinet shop, foundry and ma- chine shop, pump factory,; starch . factory, two blacksmith shops, four shoe shops, a chair factory, several carriage shops, a shingle mill, tub factory, woolen mill,§ and had, in 1870, 450 inhabitants. The St. Regis affords an excellent water privilege, which is only partially utilized.
BRASHER IRON WORKS, | (p. v.) located on Deer River, two and one-half miles above its mouth, is eight miles north-east of Stockholm depot, and contains a church, store, hotel, school house, a manufactory of thrashing machines and other farming implements, such as plows, harrows, light and heavy wagons and scrapers, and horse and dog powers, a blacksmith shop and saw and shingle mill. The population of the village in 1870 was 250.
HELENA T (p. o.) is situated at the confluence of St. Regis and Deer rivers, and contains one church, store, hotel, grist mill, saw mill, shingle mill, two blacksmith shops, a shoe shop and wheelwright shop, and had, in 1870, 150 inhabitants. St. Regis River is here spanned by an iron bridge, which is 284 feet long, and was built in 1871, at a cost of about $10,400; and Deer River, by a wooden bridge, 145 feet long, which was built in 1866, at a cost of about $5,500.
BRASHER CENTER, located on the west bank of the St. Regis, about five miles below Brasher Falls, contains a school house, store, blacksmith shop, two shingle mills, two saw mills, eight houses and sixty inhabitants.
Brasher Center Lodge, No. 640, I. O. of G. T. was organized June 12, 1868,with twenty-six members, by J. A. Vance, of Potsdam .** There are now eighty members.
* The Indian name for this place was Tiohionhoken, meaning "where the river divides," referring to the east and west branches of the St. Regis.
+ From 4,000 to 5,000 pumps are manufactured annually.
¿ From 30 to 50 butter tubs are made per day.
§ About 25,000 yards of cloth can be made here per annum.
Il The Indian name was Tsitkarestonni, meaning "where they make iron."
T Known by the Indians as Oiekurontne, the same as Deer River. It received its present name from Helen, daughter of Joseph Pitcairn, of New York, who formerly owned a large tract of land in the town.
** The first officers were Ira Bell, W. C. T .; Maria Dawson, W. V. T .; N. W. Stearns. P. W. C. T .; T. Kinney, W. S .; Miss S. Wright, W. A. S .; T. Jennings, W. F. S. ; and Jerusha Wright, W. T.
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BRASHER.
The first settlement in the town was made near Helena, March 17, 1817, by several families under Russell Attwater, of Norfolk, who was agent for Joseph Pitcairn, although a saw mill was erected on Deer River in 1815, by G. B. R. Gove. Attwater erected a saw mill in 1817, which afterwards con- tained a grist mill with a single run of stones. He was suc- ceeded in the agency by Benj. Nevin, in May, 1819 at which time the inhabitants of the town consisted of the families of Wm. Johnson, Amos Eldridge, Jeremiah Schoff, Enoch Hall and - Brown, and a young man named Francis Nevin. Jeremiah Schoff came from Essex county, Vt., in 1817, and settled on the site of the Cottage Hotel in Helena. His son, Joseph P. Schoff, who is now living in the north-east part of the town, and was born Nov. 14, 1818, was the first white male child born in the town. It was the intention of Mr. Pitcairn to make Helena his home, and he had erected west of the vil- lage a large stone dwelling with that view, but domestic afflic- tions prevented the consummation of this plan.
The bog iron ore in the east part of the town, of whose ex- istence Mr. Pitcairn was aware, induced settlement in the vicinity of Brasher Iron Works. In September, 1825, Stillman Fuller, having previously examined the ores in this locality, at the instance of the proprietor, and determined their reduction practicable, was induced to erect a furnace, which was 31 feet square, and of the same height, with an inside diameter of seven feet, and was got in operation and the first casting of iron made October 29, 1826. By a contract of ten years' du- ration, Mr. Fuller was granted the exclusive right to dig the ore in Pitcairn's tract, upon payment of twenty-five cents per ton. Until 1843, much of the iron made here was exported, but about that time a machine shop was erected, and it was manufactured into various articles upon the premises. The property has undergone various changes in ownership, and has several times been wholly or partially burned, once by an ex- plosion, to which furnaces in which bog ore is reduced are liable .* Running fires devastated the surrounding country in 1849, and in 1857 nearly the whole village was destroyed by the same terrible agency.
The settlement at Brasher Falls was commenced by John Crapser, Sept. 2, 1826. He built a dam and saw mill at the falls, and was prepared to saw boards in December of the same year. Two or three houses were erected the following spring. But little further improvement was made here until 1839, in the fall of which year, Calvin T. Hulburd, of
*This explosion occurred in September, 1843, and so burned one of the firemen that he died within a few hours in the greatest agony.
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BRASHER.
Stockholm, purchased 600 acres of land, lying on both sides of the river and including the site of the village. In 1841 he built a grist mill and dwelling, and a woolen factory was soon after erected. The improvements instituted by Hulburd in- augurated an era of growth and prosperity. Other improve- ments rapidly followed and to-day this is by far the largest village in the town. Its splendid water-power and accessibility invite capital and mechanical enterprise, and suggest much greater prosperity.
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