USA > New York > St Lawrence County > Gazetteer and business directory of St. Lawrence County, N.Y. for 1873-4 > Part 17
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+ The Gouverneur Water Works Company was incorporated April 17, 1868, with a capital of $20,000, in shares of $100 each, with the privilege of increasing it to $30,000. The corporators and first directors were, Chas. Anthony, Augustus E. Norton, Edwin Dodge, Peter Van Buren, Stephen B. Van Duzee, Lyman Litchfield and Chas. E. Clark. The works were constructed in 1867, though but three-fourths of a mile of street mains are
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Gouverneur Hose Company No. 1 was organized under an act of the Legislature passed April 29, 1868, and consists of thirty- five active members. It is equipped with hose carriage and hose and hooks and ladders for fire purposes. Water is sup- plied by the water works. A. Burt, Jr., is foreman.
Gouverneur Cornet Band was organized in 1866, and has ten members. H. C. Fosgate is leader.
The Y. M. C. Ass. of Gouverneur was organized in February, 1871. The reading room is upon the third floor of Egert's Block and is free to all .* /
The Gouverneur Agricultural and Mechanical Society was formed and held its first annual fair in 1859. The receipts that year were $130 in excess of the expenditures, which were $470. It now owns twenty acres of land, worth $300 per acre. The buildings, cattle sheds and track are in good repair. The re- ceipts for the past few years have been about $3,000 per year. There has been a great improvement in stock, farm and dairy products within its circle since its formation, much of which can be traced directly to its influence.
NATURAL DAM, one mile below Gouverneur, is the seat of an immense lumbering business. Its water-power is one of the best in the county. In 1867, Messrs. Weston, Dean & Aldrich commenced the erection of buildings for the transaction of an extensive lumber business. They have a saw mill, 65 by 115 feet, capable of sawing 12,000,000 feet of lumber in eight months, and 25,000 lath and pickets per day ; a shingle mill, 30 by 45 feet, containing two machines, capable of cutting 22,000 shingles per day ; and a planing mill 45 by 90 feet, containing two machines, and a clapboard saw and slitting saw. A tract of timber land containing 45,000 acres and owned by the com- pany supplies these mills. An average of 100 persons are em- ployed. There are some twenty houses and shanties in addition to the mills.
LITTLE BOW CORNERS is a hamlet west of the center, about two miles north-west of Gouverneur, and contains a school house, cheese factory, ten dwellings and fifty inhabitants.
OLDS MILLS (formerly known as Smiths Mills) is a hamlet on the Oswegatchie in the north-west part, and contains a school
laid. Immediate extensions are anticipated. The officers are, Edwin Dodge, President; Chas. Anthony, Secretary and Treasurer; and A. B. Cutting, Superintendent.
* Dr. S. L. Parmelee is President; Geo. S. Miller, Vice-President; Wm. Whitney, Recording Secretary; A. J. Holbrook, Corresponding Secretary; and J. H. Rutherford, Treasurer.
. + This factory receives the milk of 500 cows.
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house, saw mill, blacksmith shop, grocery, eight dwellings and about forty inhabitants.
A cheese factory, known as Cream of the Valley, situated six miles north of Gouverneur, and owned by E. Kelsey, receives the milk of 600 cows.
Settlement was commenced by Dr. Richard Townsend, agent of G. Morris. Dr. Townsend was a native of Hebron, N. Y., and although he studied medicine and was qualified to practice it he never did so, except in cases of emergency. In the summer of 1805, he, with several of his neighbors, viz: Isaac Austin, Willard Smith, Pardon Babcock, Ambi Higley, John Alden and Morris Mead, the latter a surveyor, visited the town to make arrangements for its settlement. They traversed the wilderness from the head of Lake George, with the aid of a map and compass, and as they started with only three days provisions, and the journey occupied seven days, they suffered somewhat from hunger before reaching their destination. They were much exposed to danger from wild beasts, and Dr. Hough relates an incident which occurred one night, while they slept within a circle of fires, as a protection from moles- tation by these animals. Before retiring they suspended from the branches of a tree, much elevated from the ground, some fish caught in the morning, which, when they awoke in the morn- ing, were gone. Appearances indicated the presence of one or more large panthers. They were led by the sound of a bell attached to an ox to a clearing in the Smith settlement in DeKalb, where several men were chopping. One of the party amused himself by demanding compensation from the aston- ished choppers for pretended damage done by the latter's cattle in breaking into his cornfield. The party proceeded thence to Gouverneur, just below the present village, and after a short stay proceeded by way of the Black River country to their homes, having been absent about three weeks. Townsend, Austin, Smith and others again visited the town late in the fall. They came by way of the Black River country and reached their destination about the middle of October. Col. Edsall, of . Waddington, was employed and surveyed several farms, upon which slight beginnings were made, when the party returned home by the route they came. The following February, Pardon Babcock, Willard Smith, Eleazer Nichols and Isaac Austin came with their families, which were left at Antwerp, while the men proceeded to erect a temporary shelter and provide accommodations in their new home. The wife of Austin was an invalid and was carried the entire journey in a cradle, to which she was confined with rheumatism and a spinal affection more than thirty years. At that time there
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was only one house at Antwerp, that of Jershom Matoon, which was used as an inn. "It was," says Dr. Hough, "a very humble log cabin, with but one room, which served every purpose of bar room, bed room, parlor, kitchen and dining room, was without a chimney, and destitute of every accom- modation so called." Uninviting as was this rude habitation, the one to which they were welcomed on reaching their destination-an open shed covered with boughs-was still less so. But these pioneers doubtless found in the change a welcome relief from the anxiety to which separation from those they loved rendered them a prey, for home hath charms to soothe the aching heart, and lull the fears which absence doth impart. "The next day," says Dr. Hough, "a flat roofed log shanty, open on one side and covered with wooden boughs, was erected; and soon after another, facing the first, but with a space between of a few feet, which served the purpose of a door, as well as a chimney; and at each side a pile of logs was laid at night, and set on fire, for the triple purpose of light, warmth, and a defense against wild beasts. This cabin furnished a common shelter for several weeks, until the several families had provided for themselves separate huts." Isaac Morgan, from Orange Co., Vt., joined them the last of March, and during the summer Dr. Townsend employed John Simmons of Brownville to survey into farms the lands around the village. The first birth, that of Allen Smith, in the family of Willard Smith, occurred May 8th of this year. Dr. John Spencer,* who was the first practicing physician and for
* The following incident, which occurred in December, 1807, is related of Mr. Spencer in Hough's History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties: "Dr. Spencer had set out in the morning, on foot, to visit a patient beyond Antwerp, guided by a line of marked trees, and an obscure path through the woods, which extended but a part of the way. A light snow, followed by rain and frost, had fallen, which rendered the tread of man and animals audible to a great distance, and the air was chilly and uncomfort- able. When he had proceeded about three miles, he was aroused by a rustling sound, and presently a deer pursued by a black wolf, [passed] swiftly by him. He dropped behind a log to see the chase, without inter- rupting it, when he heard a louder sound behind him, and on looking back saw eleven other wolves in a pack, which gave up the chase for the deer and stood gazing at the new game they had discovered. " He jumped up, and with loud shouts and threatening gestures, endeavered to frighten them away, but without success, for they retreated but a few paces, and then turned to eye him narrowly. A short distance beyond, on the ground now covered by the house of M. G. Norton, stood the body of a log house and his first thought was to run for that, in hopes that he could defend himself at the door, but upon second thought it was evident that but little hope of escape could be expected in flight. He next thought of climbing a tree, but then the wolves might watch him till he, was exhaust- ed with cold. At last, finding that shouting and gestures were of no avail, he laid down his pill bags, overcoat and hat, and cutting a green beech stick, of sufficient size to be easily wielded, and of a weight that would give effect to a blow, he rushed at them swinging his weapon, and making
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several years the only one within many miles, came from Wind- sor, Conn., in April, 1807, being preceded, in addition to the families before mentioned, by those of Dr. Townsend, Daniel Austin, Stephen Patterson, Benj. Smith, Israel Porter and Stephen Smith. Roads were opened to communicate with Richville, in DeKalb, and Antwerp, and in 1808 a bridge was built, the funds therefor ($500) being raised by private sub- scription, to which the Austins, Drs. Townsend and Spencer, Babcock, Porter and Morgan were the chief contributors. In August of this year occurred the first death, that of Emily Porter, a child two years old, in the family of Israel Porter. Mrs. Martin was the first adult who died in the town, and Stephen Patterson, who was crushed while stoning up a well, the first adult male. The first school was taught by Miss Elizabeth S. Sackett, (subsequently Mrs. John Parker of Fowler) in the fall of 1808, the shanty occupied by the work- men on the bridge being the first school room. A school was subsequently kept in a shop built for mechanical purposes, and was taught by Sylvester McMasters, the first male teacher. This building was relinquished upon the erection of a log school house in 1811. In 1808 the first inn and store were opened, the former by Israel Porter, who exhibited much en- terprise in public improvements, and the latter by John Brown. A clearing of eighty acres was made near Natural Dam, in 1809, by Joseph Bolton, for Mr. Morris, and a grist and saw mill were erected for him by Mr. Austin. In 1809 the follow- ing additional families were residing in the town, viz .: Wm. Cleghorn, Wm. and J. S. Colton, Henry Welch, Elkanah Partridge, James and Rockwell Barnes, Joseph Bolton, H. Smith, Caleb Drake, Benj. Clark, James Barnes, Calvin Bul- lock, Ephraim Gates, Timothy Sheldon, Colburn Barrell, Reuben Nobles, Ephraim Case, Richard Kemble, John Hoyt and Medad Cole. The following, mostly single men, were either living in the town at that time, or came in soon after, viz. : Wm. Canning, Sela Coleman, Alfred Cole, Harvey Black, Charles McLane, James and John Parker and Josiah Waid. In 1812, the settlers, impelled by fear of hostile incursions by Canadians and Indians, commenced the erection of a block house, but it was never finished, and the timbers were used in the construction of a dam in the village, in 1814, and in build-
all the uproar in his power, by beating the icy bushes until they were scattered, when losing that confidence which numbers had given them, they fled in different directions. His first thought was to return back, but dreading the jeers of his neighbors, who might say that he bad been scared by a wolf, he kept on his course. Before out of hearing, he distin- guished the cries of the pack, as they were mustering, but he saw no more of them.
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ings soon after erected. In common with the other towns, Gouverneur's growth was checked by the war, but this retar- dation was only temporary, for in 1816 the town had a popula- tion of one hundred and fifty families, and the village of two hundred persons. A little later -- 1816-18-several families from Johnstown, Fulton county, located on the road leading to the Little Bow, a circumstance which gave it the name of Johnstown Street. The first settler upon this road was Jeremiah Merithue, in 1810.
The first religious services were held at the house of Isaac Austin, in July, 1806, by Elders Nichols and Pettingill, mission- aries of the Baptist persuasion from Connecticut. Sunday services were occasionally held by Rev. Mr. Heath, a Methodist, living at Rich's settlement in DeKalb. The home of Austin appears to have been the pivot around which the religious sentiment of the community revolved, for there some form of divine worship was persevered in until the erection of a school house, when the meetings were held there. There all who felt the inspiration of religious emotions felt it a privilege to worship in true spirit, without questioning the convictions of his neighbor. The 'meetings of these devout worshipers were practically free from the harsh sectarian distinctions which now prevail to such a lamentable extent-distinctions engendered by an irrepressible antagonism between those faculties which ally us to the brute creation and those which distinguish us from them, and which crystallize into sectional and selfish interests. In them it may be said this divine recognition of human equality was more the result of necessity than choice, but charity impels us to believe otherwise. Be that as it may it teaches a lesson which the intervening years have not en- abled us to learn and apply. We may well question when the force good men exert will be applied directly to the removal of evil, and the amelioration of man's condition; instead of being wasted, as now, in combating dogmas and forms to which an unwarranted significance is attached.
The First Baptist Church of Gouverneur was organized with eighteen members by Rev. A. Brown, and T. Atwood and E. Carrington, Feb. 18, 1811. Their first house of worship was erected about 1820 ; the present one, which will seat 400 persons, in 1850, at a cost of $4,000. The first pastor was Rev. Jonathan Payne; the present one is Rev. J. W. Putnam. The present number of members is 209. The Church property is valued at $1,500 (?) .*
* This is the value of Church property as stated in data furnished by Deacon Thomas M. Thayer, but it is evidently a mistake and should more likely have been $15,000.
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· The First Presbyterian Church of Gouverneur was organized with six members by Rev. Nathaniel Dutton, May 24, 1817. The first church edifice was erected in 1820; the present one, which will seat 612 persons, in 1843, at a cost of $6,500. It was enlarged and reconstructed in 1870. Rev. James Murdock was the first pastor; Rev. N. J. Conklin, our informant, is the present one. The Society numbers 230 members. The Church property is valued at $21,500.
The First M. E. Church, at Gouverneur, was organized with six or eight members, by Benj. Dighton, in 1822. The first church edifice was erected in 1863; the present one which will seat about 500 persons, in 1871, at a cost of $13,500. Rev. Lyndon King was the first pastor, Rev. John T. Hewitt, our informant, is the present one. There are 146 members. The Church property is valued at $15,500. There is a gradual in - cre se in the congregation and a corresponding one in the mem- bership, which indicates a prosperous future.
Trinity Church, (Episcopal) at Gouverneur, was organized in April, 1866, by Rev. J. Winslow, the first rector, with one male and five female communicants. A house of worship was erected the same year. It cost $6,000, and will seat 250 persons. The Society numbers about seventy communicants, who are ministered to by Rev. Wm. M. Ogden. The Church property is valued at $7,500 .*
HAMMOND, was formed from Rossie and Morristown March 30, 1827.1 The line bordering on Morristown was changed May 2, 1837. A part was annexed to Macomb April 11, 1842, and a part to Rossie Feb. 7, 1844. It lies upon the St. Lawrence, in the angle formed by that river and the south- west boundary line of the county, and contains 35,815 acres. It includes several islands in the St. Lawrence, which are a portion of the Thousand Islands, the last of which lie opposite this town. This group of islands, so well known to the tourist and traveler of the present day, commence at the outlet of Lake Ontario, and extend along the entire river front of
* Information furnished by A. B. Cutting.
+ Named from Abijah Hammond, a merchant and speculator of New York, and former proprietor. It embraces the township of Hammond and a small portion of Somerville in Great Lot No. III. of Macomb's Purchase, and a portion of Hague of the Ten Townships.
¿ The first town meeting was held at the house of Asa Baker, May 8, 1827. Sylvester Butrick was elected Supervisor; Roswell Ryon; Town Clerk; Lewis Franklin, Charles Sigourney and Ebin Leonard, Assessors ; Orrin Brown, Collector; Benj. Franklin and Wm. Scott, Overseers of the Poor; Loren Bailey; Ebenezer Marvin and David Nickelson, Commis- sioners of Highways; Orrin Brown and Alfred B. Childs, Constables; Benj. Franklin, Charles Sigourney and James T. King, School Commis- sioners.
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Jefferson county. They consist principally of gneiss rock which rises above the pellucid waters in an almost infinitude of pleasing varieties, ever evoking profound admiration from the beholder. Their varied size, shape and physical appearance- some being almost infinitesimally small (comparatively) and presenting a rugged and sterile aspect from their naked rocks, while others, covering an area of many thousand, acres, and clothed with the verdure of cultivated fields or the varied hues of the primitive forests-afford a vast fund of instructive amusement. The surface of the town is generally level, being broken on the north and south borders by low ridges of gneiss and white limestone. A level terrace of sandstone, forming a continuous and regular mural elevation, extends from the north shore of Black Lake through the center of the town into Jefferson county. ' Chippewa and Black creeks flow through the town in parallel, but opposite directions, the former through the north part to the St. Lawrence, and the latter through the south to Black Lake, extending through a stag- nant swamp bordering upon the sandstone terrace. Upon Cross-Over Island, above Oak Point, is a light house, connected with the keeper's house, with a fixed light visible at a distance of twelve nautical miles. It was built in 1847, and refitted in 1855. The tower is twenty-five feet above the base, and the light thirty-seven feet above water. It is fitted with a No. 4 lens. The soil is a deep, fertile loam, and amply rewards the labor bestowed in its cultivation. Though the town does not at present possess railroad communication with other points, it is reasonably certain that the Black River & Morristown R. R. will soon afford this advantage. The grading for this road is now in progress through this town.
The population of the town in 1870 was 1,757, of whom 1,345 were native, 412, foreign and all, except one, white.
During the year ending Sept. 30, 1872, the town contained thirteen school districts and employed thirteen teachers. The number of children of school age was 587; the number attend- ing school, 455; the average attendance, 225;' the amount expended for school purposes, $2,954.41; and the value of school houses and sites, $3,300.
HAMMOND (p. o.) is a pleasant and thriving village, situated a little east of the center, and contains three churches, (M. E., Presbyterian and Universalist,) one hotel, two stores and a -
cabinet shop.
CHIPPEWA (p. o.) is situated upon Chippewa Bay, near the mouth of Chippewa Creek, and about the center of the west border. It contains one hotel, two stores and a blacksmith shop. Much of the lumber manufactured in the town seeks a
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market by way of the St. Lawrence from this point. The waters of the bay are too shallow to admit vessels of heavy draft.
NORTH HAMMOND (p. o.) in the north part, contains a store, blacksmith shop and shoe shop.
OAK POINT is a hamlet upon the St. Lawrence, in the extreme north part.
SOUTH HAMMOND is a hamlet in the south part.
The first settlement in the town is said to have been made by Wm. McNeill, from Vermont, several years previous to 1812. He made no attempt to clear land, but lived, like a hermit, in a niche in the rocks at Chippewa Bay, and subsisted upon game and fish. The first clearing was made by Wm. Wiley from Vermont, in the summer of 1812, on the site of Hammond village. A Mr. Barker, from Rossie, moved in the following year and settled a mile south of Wiley, where he opened a tavern. At this tavern, in 1814, a party of fifty or sixty Canadians under Duncan Fraser, attempted the capture of a refugee, who had rendered himself obnoxious to his Canadian neighbors by repeated depredations committed in revenge for real or supposed injuries; but being advised by the family of their presence, the pursued fled half dressed to the woods, narrowly escaping a shower of balls aimed at him, and eluded his would-be captors. Sept. 12, 1814, David Parish purchased of Abijah Hammond 28,871 acres, and under his liberal management the settlements increased. No titles to land were taken in the town by actual settlers until after this purchase, the first contract being taken by Wm. Wiley in July, 1818. Loren Bailey came into the town as the agent of Mr. Parish, July 31, 1818, and located on Chip- pewa Bay, and from his advent its material growth may be dated. Several Scotch families who immigrated to this country between the years 1818-21, without any particular destination in view, were met by the agents of Mr. Parish and induced to settle here. The favorable representations of those persons led others of their friends and neighbors to join them, and thus the town early experienced a healthy growth and activity from this frugal and industrious class of people, who by their enlightend exer- tions have amassed considerable wealth and have proportionately enriched the town. These persons settled principally between Hammond and Chippewa, where they and their descendants still reside. John and David Gregor, John Baird, Peter Allen, - Cowan and John and James Hills, all of whom, except the last two, were married, settled in 1818; Thomas Caswell, Wm. Nickol, James Rodgers, Robert Morris, Robert and Andrew I
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Shields, John Mercer, Thomas Dodds and Wm. Burke, the latter an Englishman, several of whom were single, in 1819; and John Brown, in 1821. Samuel Webster and Wm. Tappan, from Vermont, made the first settlement on the military road in the south part in 1819, and were joined the next year by Jonathan King, of Herkimer county, who opened an inn. Mr. Cowan was killed by the fall of a tree in the winter of 1818, and Mr. Parish, with characteristic' liberality, paid the expenses of his widow's return to Scotland. A school opened in the Scotch settlement in the winter of 1819-20, and taught by Dr. James Scott of Lisbon, is believed to have been the first school in the town. Abram Cooper, settled at Chippewa soon after Mr. Bailey and commenced improvements there. The first settlement at Oak Point was made by George Elliot. In 1824 he was followed by - Cowan, who opened a small store. Earl Atwood, Abram Schermerhorn, from Trenton, N. Y., and Matthews and others came soon after.
The town of Hammond furnished 162 men for the Union army in the war of the Rebellion. Of this number nine were wounded and seventeen died of diseases contracted while in service .*
* The following commissioned and non-commissioned officers enlisted from this town :-
David McGregor, Capt. Co. A, 14th Regt., enlisted Aug. 4, 1863, and was mustered out June 14, 1865.
Thomas Hobart, Capt. Co. C, 60th Regt., enlisted Sept. 10, 1861, and was mustered out July 17, 1865.
Frank Mann Buss, Capt. Co. B, 142d Regt., enlisted Aug. 13, 1862, and was discharged July 18, 1865.
James Royal Whiting, 1st Lieut. Co. D, 92d Regt., enlisted Nov. 11, 1861, and was discharged Jan. 11, 1865.
Wm. H. Morris, Lieut. Co. D, 16th Regt., enlisted in April, 1861, and was mustered out in July, 1865.
Geo. Densmore Powell, Lieut. Co. B, 160th Regt., enlisted Aug. 24, 1861, and was discharged June 1, 1865.
Robert Biddle, 2d Lieut. Co. B, 106th Regt., enlisted July 21, 1862, and was discharged Oct. 1, 1863.
Samuel Milton, Sergt. Co. I, 16th Regt., enlisted April 25, 1861, and died of typhoid fever Dec. 21, 1861.
Anthony Weaver, Sergt. Co. C, 60th Regt., enlisted Nov. 11, 1861, and was discharged Jan. 11, 1865.
George Clink, Sergt. Co. C, 60th Regt., enlisted Sept. 10, 1861, and was discharged Aug. 29, 1865.
George M. Cowan, Sergt. Co. F, 60th. Regt., enlisted Feb. 22, 1862, and was discharged July 24, 1865.
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