Geographical gazetteer of Jefferson county, N.Y. 1684-1890, Part 112

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- [from old catalog] comp; Horton, William H., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers and binders
Number of Pages: 1384

USA > New York > Jefferson County > Geographical gazetteer of Jefferson county, N.Y. 1684-1890 > Part 112

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In 1807 Sewall, Salisbury & Co. detailed their clerks, Henry Devereux Sewall and Arthur Tappan, the latter a brother of the junior partner in the firm, to go to Portland, in the district of Maine, and open a branch store under the firm name of Tappan & Sewall; but after doing business in Port- land for two years they became discouraged by the ill effects produced by Jefferson's embargo, and in 1809 transferred the mercantile establishment to Montreal. There they were quite successful. Merchants and traders in Central and Northern New York were at that time among the principal cus- tomers of the Canadian capital city. It was there that Mr. Sewall formed acquaintanceships with Watertown merchants that shaped his course later in his career. The War of 1812 coming on, all Americans residing in Canada were required either to swear allegiance to the British Crown or to quit the country. Being patriots, and the descendants of patriots, our young traders chose the latter alternative, although to the ruin of their business, and in 1813 broke up their establishment. Mr. Tappan went directly to New York, be- coming afterwards the leading dry goods merchant in that city, and a dis- tinguished philanthropist. Mr. Sewall devoted his attention to the settling of matters of the late firm, and the collection of their outstanding debts.

Mr. Sewall's father dying in 1814 he spent a considerable part of that year in settling the estate, and early in 1815 established himself in New York in the foreign shipping and commission business, in partnership with John R. Hurd. This business proving but moderately remunerative, Mr. Hurd ac- cepted an offer in 1823 to take the presidency of a marine insurance com- pany in New York, and Mr. Sewall, under the advice of his uncle Joseph, the merchant in Boston, undertook a commission agency in New York in part- nership with Edmund Q. Sewall, a son of Joseph, for the sale of domestic goods in connection with the foreign commission business. Joseph Sewall at that time had the agency in Boston of most of the few manufactories of cotton and woolen goods in New England, and through his intervention the firm of H. D. & E. Q. Sewall became the first in New York to undertake a similar

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agency in the latter market. It was thus that Mr. Sewall established an inter- course with Gilbert & Sigourney, the managers of the cotton factory at Watertown, and the latter concern becoming largely indebted to the New York house, the larger part of this indebtedness was finally transferred to property in and about Watertown.

In the financial crash of 1827 Mr. Sewall's firm in Boston, being com- pelled to succumb, carried down with them the house in New York of H. D. & E. Q. Sewall ; and the junior partner, in the latter, dying, and the outlook for future business in New York seeming discouraging, Mr. Sewall coucluded to remove with his family to Watertown, and managed the property there acquired through the intercourse with Gilbert & Sigourney, which firm also had been compelled by the extreme financial pressure of the time to with- draw from active business. He had likewise a view to the further extension of manufacturing at Watertown, and had always nourished a preference for a country life. Mr. Sewall, with the valuable assistance of those excellent men, well known to old citizens of Watertown, John Sigourney and Josiah W. Baker, carried on the old cotton factory and store from 1829 to 1834, when, the charter expiring, the factory and appurtenances were sold. In 1828-29 he constructed the dam on the Black River at the upper end of his island, built his residence on the island, then a beautiful spot, constructed or bought and afterwards sold a saw-mill and a tannery on the north side of the north branch, opposite the island, a paper mill and a machine shop on the lower point of the island on the north branch, a flouring-mill on the main branch, south side, just below the island, an extensive saw· mill at Dexter- all between 1829 and 1833 ; and in 1834, with the assistance of New York and Boston capital, he erected an extensive woolen factory on the south side of the river opposite the island, and in 1834, '35, and'36 built several brick stores on the east side of Factory Square, as well as a number of dwelling houses on Factory street, and in the neighborhood of the woolen-mills; and during the same period contributed largely to the erection of the first academy in the village (of which the late Judge Mullin was the first principal), and in 1832-33 furnished the greater part of the means for and himself attended to the construction and fitting up of the first Episcopal Church in the village, the pred- ecessor of the present church on Court street Later he built another flouring- mill, below the woolen factory. Mr. Sewall, in connection with Merrill Coburn, held, in 1833, the contract for furnishing the ties and sleepers for the Utica & Schenectady Railroad, the first railroad in the state of any length (the only previous ones being the short Mohawk & Hudson, and the Harlem, not going north of Harlem at that time); and, to carry out the contract, put up the extensive saw-mills at Dexter, and, as the sleepers were required to be of yellow pine, the contractors secured all there was of that timber along the Black River. The flood of 1833 swept all the logs into the lake at heavy loss to the contractors. From 1835 to 1843 Mr. Sewall was chiefly occupied with the business of the woolen factory, which, partly from want of sufficient skill

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in the manufacture of the fine goods for which the works were designed, partly from insufficiency of funds, and partly from the reduction of the tariff, did not prove ultimately profitable.

In the early spring of 1843 Mr. Sewall was badly injured by the upsetting of the Utica stage coach while on a journey to the eastward, from which time his health failed, and his business career practically closed, his death in June, 1846, being caused by the paralysis resulting from the injury.

Mr. Sewall married, in January, 1816, Mary Catharine, daughter of Birdsey Norton, of Goshen, Connecticut. They had nine children, of whom the first seven were born in New York and the youngest two in Watertown. Among them are Mrs. Mary Goodale, widow of Dr. Charles Goodale, and Edmund Quincy Sewall, both residing in Watertown. The late Mrs. Ann Elizabeth Camp, wife of T. H. Camp, of Watertown, was his second daughter. Of the two other survivors at the present time (1889), one son, Henry, resides in New York, and another, Walter, in Springfield, Mass. Mr. Sewall was a man of fine intellectual culture and moral worth, who is remembered with high regard by the older inhabitants of the county.

HON. BEMAN BROCKWAY.

Hon. Beman Brockway, son of Gideon and Nancy (Williams) Brockway, was born in Southampton, Mass., April 15, 1815. He descends from Wols- ton Brockway, who, December 3, 1659, " bought housing and land of John Reynolds," in Lyme, Connecticut, and became a permanent settler, and a man of consideration and substance. The line of descent is Wolston1, William2, William3, Gideon4, Isaiah5, Gideon6, Beman7. He also has kinship with the Bridges, Pratt, Comstock, Beman, and Williams families, all conspic- uous in New England history.

Coming thus of sturdy New England stock, and of parents who inherited honesty, industry, and self-reliance, and transmitted it unweakened to their children, his home surroundings were most admirably calculated to give a good " fitting-out " for a life of respectability and usefulness. Gideon Brock- way was a farmer in an obscure part of an isolated town ; a man of rigid in- tegrity, unyielding will, advanced and liberal ideas ; hard-working, and, after the New England manner, a great reader and independent thinker ; a Dem- ocrat and an Universalist. He was athletic and vigorous. Mrs. Brockway, a woman of loving heart and Christian principle, "lived solely to make her friends happy."

In the home circle, and not from school education, did Beman Brockway acquire the character and habits which have been the foundation of his suc- cess ; and in the rough, hard labor of the farm was formed that strong physique which has sustained him in his long life's able work. Three summers and three winters in the "back-woods " district school was all the " educa- tion " he received. A natural student, however, he seized every opportunity

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of adding to his store of knowledge. From a very early age his aspiration was to be a " printer "; and, in 1830, he answered an advertisement for an appren- tice to the printing trade, and from that time to the present this has been his vocation, and every grade and position has been thoroughly mastered and successfully occupied. In 1833 he came to this state, and, in the spring of 1834, became a journeyman in the Fredonia Censor office. The next fall, while on a visit to New York city, he formed the acquaintance of Horace Greeley, then conducting the New Yorker.

The Democratic leaders of Chautauqua, about this time, established the Mayville Sentinel, and Mr. Brockway, whose sympathies were strongly Dem- ocratic, secured a position in the office and aided in getting out the first num- ber. In a short time he became publisher. He was then 19 years old. Much of the editorial work devolved on him, but Judge Osborne, an able writer, wrote the political articles. This arrangement continued two years, when the owners of the paper, to reward the diligence with which Mr. Brock- way had applied himself to their interests, proposed that he become the pro- prietor. He accepted the offer. He now had to be his own editor, and it was a great responsibility to the young man, as he considered himself indifferently qualified in education, experience, or culture. But his practical common sense came to his aid. He " wrote only what he felt compelled to write, said what necessity seemed to require in the fewest possible words, and stopped when he was through." His articles were approved, and his conduct of the Sentinel met with success. He remained 10 years in Mayville, then sold the office and shortly after purchased the Oswego Palladium, taking possession in June, 1845. In 1852 he established the Daily Palladium. In the spring of 1853 he sold the paper, removed to Pulaski, and took charge of the Democrat until October, when he was offered and accepted an editorial position on the New York Tribune. This paper then presented a rare array of talent, and was in its palmiest days. The " chief " was Horace Greeley; the managing editor Charles A. Dana; associates, James S. Pike, William H. Fry, George Ripley, George M. Snow, Bayard Taylor, F. J. Ottarson, Will- iam Newman, Beman Brockway, Solon Robinson, and Donald C. Hender- son. With this brainy corps of associates, and in this congenial society, Mr. Brockway passed two years as day editor and general writer for the Tribune. His terse, rugged style was in harmony with the strength displayed in its col- umns, and had circumstances favored his longer stay he would doubtless have become one of the leading editorial writers of the nation.

His wife dying, Mr. Brockway, in 1855, returned to Pulaski, where he could better oversee the education of his children. Here he purchased flour- ing-mills, which he conducted for three years. In 1859 he represented his district in the legislature, there introducing and becoming the father of the first registry law of the state. During these years he made valuable contri- butions to the Tribune, Troy Times, Albany Journal, etc. One article pub- lished in August, 1859, in Hunt's Magazine, on " Our Canals and Railroads,"

Rthackway

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attracted much attention from the leading men, was copied extensively by the press, and demonstrated that he was not only an able financier, but a far- seeing statesman. In the spring of 1860 he purchased an interest in the Watertown Reformer. From this time he has been connected with this journal and the Daily Times, which was established in 1861.

The anti-slavery sentiments of Mr. Brockway had brought him into com- munion and fellowship with the Republican party at its formation, and he gave his ablest utterances in its service. Strong personal friendship for Reu- ben E. Fenton did not tend to relax his efforts for the party in the campaign which made that gentleman governor, and his great knowledge of political affairs and men of the state caused Governor Fenton to select him for his private secretary and confidential adviser. In April, 1865, he was appointed canal appraiser and continued in office until January, 1870.

Mr. Brockway's loyalty to his old friend Greeley attached him to the Liberal Republicans during the campaign of 1872, and he accepted the nomination for member of Congress tendered him by that party, although it was evident that a "Greeley man " stood no chance of an election. He received 12,899 votes, and was much gratified by such an endorsement, and he considers that in supporting Mr. Greeley he did not deviate from true Republicanism.

In May, 1870, the firm of Ingalls, Brockway & Skinner was formed to conduct the Times and Reformer, and for general printing. In 1873 the interest of Mr. Ingalls passed to Mr. Brockway, and the next year he became sole proprietor. In 1880 his sons were associated with him, and the firm became as now-Brockway & Sons. In its new building, with its model equipment and arrangement, the Times office has no superior.

Mr. Brockway is one of the oldest and ablest editors in the state ; he has had more than half a century's experience, and enjoys the esteem and vener- · ation of the fraternity. He has ever been very careful in his statements ; has always clothed his ideas in words intelligible to any ordinary mind ; and has never been charged with ambiguity, nor could his readers ever be in doubt concerning his positions. He has spoken his thoughts in an original, simple, and concise manner ; going directly to the pith of the subject in a way pe- culiarly his own. His writings have been filled with thought, and impressed with their power both friend and foe. He has always been industrious, eco- nomical, energetic, and, although tenacious of his rights, carefully respects those of others. As a mere boy, in a strong opposition county and a small country village, he made the Mayville Sentinel the acknowledged leading paper of the county. In Oswego he found the Palladium weak and declining, infused into it vigor and life, and soon made it a " paying " sheet and an oracle in the section. It is not too much to say that but for his energy, common sense, and business principles the Times would have long since ended its career, and that his sagacity, push, and practical ability have made it the power in journalism it is to-day. His business has been the object of his efforts, and he has proven himself a successful "newspaper man " in every sense of

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the word. Honors have come to him, but always unsought, and their accom- panving duties have been conscientiously discharged. He is interested in all matters tending to elevate and improve humanity, and liberally contributes to their advancement ; he has done good service in the causes of education and historical research, and has been president of the Jefferson County His- torical Society from its organization. His connection with Odd Fellowship began in 1846, and from that time he has been an active member. He was district deputy of Oswego County for several years, and has been frequently, and now is, a member of the Grand Lodge. Mr. Brockway is a forceful and effective speaker. His lectures are original, spicy, and valuable. On the platform he attracts attention by the vigor of his presentation and logical reasoning. His love of fun and dry jokes comes out to relieve both his spoken and written arguments.

Mr. Brockway has been twice married, first, May 23, 1837, to Elizabeth Allen Warner, who died September 10, 1854. Their children are Jefferson Warner, Elizabeth Gertrude (Mrs. H. L. Lamb), of Lansingburgh, and Henry Allen. October 22, 1855, he married Sarah Warner Wright, a cousin of his first wife, and, like her, a niece of the celebrated Professor Warner, of Am- herst College, Mass.

Mr. Brockway possesses a strong personality. A man of the people, he resembles Abraham Lincoln in many parts of his make-up; and, like him, has a way of his own for whatever he does, great persistency, untiring energy, a rare insight into character and motives, and is quick in drawing inferences. He is straightforward, not serpentine, in his methods, and tells the truth as he sees it, let it hit where it may. His standard of honor and truthfulness is high, and duplicity and deceit are abliorrent to him. His nature, sometimes apparently brusque, is kindly and sympathetic, and he makes friends with congenial natures readily, and does not relinquish them easily. His life has done credit to the family name, and we trust his vigorous pen may push its pungent truths home to his readers for long years to come.

FREDERICK W. EAMES.

Frederick W. Eames was born in Kalamazoo, Mich., in November, 1843. His father, Lorett Eames, was descended from hardy New England stock, and, like his son, was one of those inventive geniuses who have done so much to beneut the world. His mother, Miss Lucy C. Morgan, was the daughter of Rev. Elisha Morgan, a man of marked ability, unusual balance of judg- ment, strong convictions, and conscientious devotion. His daughter inherited these characteristics, and intensified them by an increased mental activity. Miss Morgan was married to Lorett Eames about 1835, and removed to Kalamazoo, where her husband had already taken up his residence. There Frederick W. was born, passing his early years in an intelligent Christian home, and enjoying the superior educational advantages of his native village.

Fred H, Games

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He had scarcely entered upon his college course when the Rebellion began, and President Lincoln called for volunteers to protect the threatened life of the nation. The subject of this sketch, then scarcely 18 years of age, was the second man to enlist in the first company raised in his own town for defence of the old flag. Captain Charles S. May, who commanded this com- pany, thus writes of him: " He was one of the gallant and patriotic band of young students in Kalamazoo College who enlisted in my company, at the very first call to arms in 1861 ; and during the time I served as his captain I remember him as a good and brave soldier, bearing himself gallantly and unflinchingly in the early battles in which we were engaged ; and though but a mere boy in years, always showing that native energy and shrewdness for which he was afterward distinguished." He was subsequently mustered out of the Second Michigan Infantry to accept a lieutenancy in another Michigan regiment. In 1863 he was honorably discharged by General Grant from this regiment, and appointed aide in the revenue service and served on the Mis- sissippi until the close of the war. He was subsequently appointed govern- ment detective, and was instrumental in unearthing and destroying a danger- ous gang of counterfeiters in Michigan. In 1870 he was married to Miss Mattie Shilling, of his native state. Two children were born to them ; only the elder, named for his grandfather Lorett, survives. Mr. Eames seems to have inherited from his father a passion and genius for invention. His insight of possible mechanism, and his resources in mechanical devices, was phenomenal, and the difficulties in the way but stimulated his enthusiasm and augmented his energy. Like an eagle which soars upward on the very breast of the storm that beats down all feebler birds, he was always at his best when obstacles were thickest and greatest. His conceptions of the desired end of an invention were clear and strong ; his knowledge of all the condi- tions, comprehensive and balanced ; the mutual relations of these conditions clearly seen, all possible complications stripped off, and the end sought with a persistent grappling with obstacles, and an opulence of resources which soon made him master of any problem. I know of no man who, in his peculiar field, was a better illustration of the truth that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line-simplicity and efficiency were the two objective points in all his devices. Beside all the inventions which enter into his power brakes for railroad trains, plain, automatic, and duplex, he invented an auto- matic governor and cut-off for engines of ocean steamers, a steam pump, and a multitude of other mechanical devices.

In perfecting and securing patents for all these inventions in the United States and foreign countries, and in seeking their application to the indus- trial arts, he repeatedly crossed the ocean, spent months and years in Eng- land and on the continent, and did it all handicapped by inadequate capi- tal, financial embarrassment, and costly litigations with powerful antagonists, backed by millions of money, with whom his inventions came into compe- tition. As a man he was loved most by those who knew him best. His

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friends were ardent, while his enemies feared, sometimes hated, but never de- spised by him. His whole life was an intense struggle, and therefore the rugged side of his nature was toward the world, but those who shared his- confidence knew that no man ever had a more ready appreciation of kindness, a more open hand, or a more open heart than Mr. Eames. It is deeply to be regretted that while defending his rights, and securing his property from those who sought to wrest it from his grasp, his useful life was suddenly ter- minated by a bullet from a pistol in the hand of a man whom he had be- friended. He was thus killed, in the spring of 1883, at the early age of 39 years. What he might have done, if life had been spared, it is impos- sible to say ; but certainly his great genius and indomitable energy gave promise of the largest results. H. C. T.

BANKS.

The earliest movement towards the establishment of a bank in Jefferson County was made in 1807. A petition was sent to the legislature praying for a loan to the county of $150,000, on good landed security, in bills of credit to be made a legal tender. This was not granted, upon the ground that the constitution of the United States prohibited state governments from making anything but gold and silver coin a legal tender.

The Jefferson County National Bank was organized in 1816, with a cap- ital stock of $50,000. The bank commenced business at Adams, but in 1821 was removed to Watertown. The building now occupied by the insti - tution was erected about 1840. The changes made in the capital stock are thus noted : In 1816, $50,000 ; 1821, $80,000 ; 1836, $200,000 ; 1844, $148,800. Since the latter date the capital has remained the same. The surplus and profits are (1890) $318,500. In 1865 the bank was reorganized and made a national bank. Its presidents have been Frederick White, 1816 and '17 ; Jabez Foster, 1817 to 1820 ; Ethel Bronson, 1820 to 1824 ; Jabez Foster, 1825 ; Perley Keyes, 1826 to 1832; Micah Sterling, 1832 to 1834; O. Hungerford, 1834 to 1845 ; N. M. Woodruff, 1845 to 1855 ; Robert Lansing, 1855 to 1856; and Talcott H. Camp, elected in 1856, who continues in that position at the present time, and is the chief financial officer. The cashiers have been James Wood, 1816 to 1820; O. Hungerford, 1824 to 1833 ; O. N. Brainard, 1833 to 1866; Myers Thompson, 1866 to 1871 ; and S. T. Woolworth since the latter date. During the long period while Mr. Hungerford and Mr. Brainard were con- tinued as cashiers, they were the chief financial officers. Since the death of Mr. Brainard, in 1865, T. H. Camp has uninterruptedly held the office of president, and has been the chief financial officer during all those years.

The history of this venerable institution has been marked by a career of usefulness to the public and to the growing prosperity of Jefferson County. It has pursued a wise policy of helpfulness and encouragement to its customers.

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By its able and conservative management it has won the confidence of the public, who are well assured of its ability to fulfill its obligations.

TALCOTT HALE CAMP .- This genial and well-known gentleman, now at the age of 73 years, may regularly be found at his desk at the Jefferson County National Bank of Watertown, attending to his duties as president of that in - stitution, which responsible position he has held for 34 years, for 25 years having had the entire management of its financial operations, under advice of an able body of directors. He has discharged his trust with conspicuous ability and success, and may well derive satisfaction from the knowledge that during these years the policy of the bank has been helpful, by its finan- cial aid and personal encouragement, in developing the resources of Jeffer- son County ; the stock-holders, meanwhile, having received regular and liberal dividends.

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Geographical gazetteer of Jefferson county, N.Y. 1684-1890, Part 112

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- [from old catalog] comp; Horton, William H., [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers and binders Number of Pages: 1384

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- [from old catalog] comp; Horton, William H., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers and binders
Number of Pages: 1384