Geographical gazetteer of Jefferson county, N.Y. 1684-1890, Part 91

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 91

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Bruce Dempster was born in Scotland in 1794, and in 1812 immigrated to Sackets Harbor. He married Mrs. Betsey Cleveland, widow of James Greene, who bore him five children,-four sous and one daughter,-viz .: Andrew J., Adelbert B., Eugene M., Jane, and Wallace W. Mr. Dempster died in 1870. Wallace W., soon after he attained his majority, married Ida, daugh- ter of Martin V. Shaw, by whom he has three children,-two daughters and a son, -namely: Cora J., Lulu L., and Earl A. He resides on a farm.

Martin Reese came from Herkimer County in 1839 and located in the town of Le Ray. He married Amy Paul, of Herkimer, by whom he had 13 children, three of whom died in infancy, and six sons and three daughters survive, viz .: Wellington W., William H., Emogene, Lucias E., Martha E., Martin H., John A., Elva E., and Evlyn P. James E. served in the late war, was wounded in front of Petersburg, and died on the battlefield at the age of 22 years. Evlyn P. Reese, at the age of 20 years, was thrown upon his own resources. After three years' service in the Union army he returned home, and two years later married Jane A., daughter of L. L. Timerman, now of Le Ray. He subsequently bought the Timerman farm where he now resides. He has four sons and two daughters, namely: Milton P., Will- iam E., Herman L., Edna M., Ina M., and Arthur D.

John Johnson came from Middlesex, N. Y., with his family of 10 sons and nine daughters, all of whom attained mature years and were married. One son, John, married Eveline Her- ring, of Mohawk, and located in the town of Clayton. He had born to him 10 children, seven of whom attained mature years, viz .: Catherine, Francis, Jacob, John, Elijah, Silas, and James. The latter, at the age of 15 years, left home and went to work by the month, for several years engaged in the lumber business in St. Lawrence County. In 1871 he married Lydia, daughter of Lyman Bowker, of Potsdam, St. Lawrence Connty, by whom he has three sons and two daughters, viz .: James H., Silas L., Berton L., Dora B., and Vina A., all of whom reside on road 57.

John C. Relyea enlisted in the 10th N. Y. H. A., and was first assigned to garrison duty at New York city. He was then transferred to Washington, and subsequently went to the front, where he was promoted to third sergeant for brave and meritorious conduct. He participated

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in numerous battles, and was mustered out at the close of the war, June 23, 1865. His brother Levi T. enlisted in Co. A, 94th N. Y. Vol. Inf., October 25, 1861, was wounded in a charge in front of Petersburg, June 18. 1864, dying July 2, of the same year, and was buried in the- National Cemetery at Arlington, Va.

Wesley Ellsworth was born in Orleans County, and at the age of nine years came with his brother to the Black River country. He married Susan, daughter of Coonrod Waltz, of Pamelia, by whom he had three sons and three daughters, namely: Cortland, Nelson, Margaret, Isabel, Lucinda, and William. The latter, at the age of. 22 years, married Clarissa, daughter of Thomas Liscomb, of Brownville. In 1873 he purchased the farm upon which he now resides. He has two sons and one daughter, viz .: Frank, Fred, and Susan.

Amos Gillette came with his five brothers from Vermont about 1800, his brothers locating. in the town of Lorraine and Amos in Clayton, where he purchased a farm of 300 acres, upon which he built a residence. He served in the War of 1812, in the battle of Sackets Harbor, and was commissioned captain. He married a Miss Arnold, by whom he had three sons and three daughters, namely: Sophronia, Alonzo P., Eli, Deliah, Phœba, and Solon. The latter was for many years a commercial traveler for Stephen Kelburn, of Adams, and sold wooden chairs in the United States and Canada. In 1839 he married Rebecca, daughter of Stephen Kelburn, and afterwards located in Clayton. His father gave him a farm of 40 acres, upon which he erected a fine residence. He had three children, namely: Mary E., Levi K., and Stephen L. The latter was educated in the schools of his native town, and in the High School at New London, Ohio. He returned home and engaged in farming, and subsequently became a sailor on the lakes, serving three years and attaining the position of second mate. At the age of 26 years he married Libbie M., daughter of Henry Brant, of Brownville, and they have- two sons, Ernest S. and Solon H.

Christopher Fox came with his family from St. Johnsville, N. Y., in 1826, and purchased a farm near Three Mile Bay, in the town of Lyme. He married Nancy Snell, and they had four sons and three daughters, namely: Christopher, Jacob, Mary Ann, Elizabeth, Laura, John, and Simeon. When the latter attained his majority he married Ruth, daughter of James Cole, and located near Three Mile Bay. They had one son and two daughters, viz .: Isabel, Emmelia, and Christopher S. When the latter was nine years old he moved to Perch River village, in Brownville, and there remained until he was 21, attending the public schools. Soon after attaining his majority he married Belle, daughter of Franklin Mitchell, now of Pamelia, by whom he has one daughter, Rutha.

Richard Haven immigrated from England to Massachusetts in 1617, and located in Lynn. He had a son, Nathaniel, and since then every generation has furnished a son bearing that name. Nathaniel Haven, grandfather of Dexter W., of this town, was born in 1779, and in 1800 mar- ried Mary Coolidge, by whom he had five sons and four daughters, namely: Dexter, Hepsibah, Mahala, Newel, Isaac E., Mary, Asenath, Charles W., and Nathaniel. The latter resided with his parents until he was 21 years old. In 1831 he bought 45 acres adjoining his father's farm, and in 1832 married Elizabeth, daughter of Nathan Wightman, of Rodman, by whom he had two children, Charles G. and Dexter W. The latter remained at home until he attained his majority, and in 1854 married, first, Jane Wait, of Rodman, who bore him two children, Lans- ing W. and Coolidge D. His wife died in 1860, aged 28 years. In 1862 he married Harriet A. Wait, a sister of his first wife, and they have had three children, namely: Clifton E., Lib- bie O., and John N. T. Clifton E. died in 1877, at the age of 13 years, and Libbie July 16, 1886. For many years Dexter W. Haven has held various positions of trust in the town. He was assessor three years, and supervisor seven years. He now resides on the homestead farm, to which he has added other lands by purchase.

Leroy S. Rogers, at the age of 12 years, came with his father from Vermont, in 1831, and settled in the town of Antwerp. He purchased a small farm, and by industry and economy added to it until he accumulated 300 acres. He married Pamelia, daughter of Darius Burtch, who was one of the first settlers of Antwerp. They had three sons and two daughters, viz .: Jennie, William, George P., Marriett, and Alleu L. The latter, at the age of 20 years, married Mattie L., daughter of Giles Bannister, and they have one daughter, Bertha. In 1883 Mr. Rogers purchased a farm in this town, a few miles distant from the city of Watertown, where he now resides.

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TOWN OF PHILADELPHIA.

PHILADELPHIA.

P HILADELPHIA was erected from Le Ray, April 3, 1821, with its present limits, the territory originally forming a part of Brownville, from which Le Ray was erected in 1806. The name of Elizabethtown* had been chosen, but there being one already in the state, the present name was selected by citizens who had lived in or near the city of Philadelphia. Some proposed to name the town Benezet, after the benevolent Quaker of that name. The town is rectangular in form, its length, lying nearly northwest and southeast, being about one-quarter greater than its breadth. It is bounded on the northwest by Theresa, on the northeast by Antwerp, on the southeast by Wilna, and on the southwest by Le Ray. It comprehends 54 "great lots" of tract No. 4 of the Macomb purchase, being six ranges of nine lots each. In the southern and western portions of the town the surface is rolling, and in the opposite parts, towards Antwerp and Theresa, it becomes rough and hilly. Its waters are the Indian River, entering from Antwerp and flowing nearly west across the town into Le Ray ; Black Creek, entering near the ·southern corner from Wilna, flowing in a general northern course, and join- ing the river above the village of Philadelphia; several small streams which fall into these from the east ; and Otter Creek, which passes westwardly through the northern corner of the town into Theresa.

The first town meeting was held at the house of Harvey Hamblin, in Philadelphia village, March 5, 1822, at which the following officers were chosen: Alden Bucklin, supervisor; John Strickland, Jr., clerk ; Thomas Bones, Alden Bucklin, and Abial Shurtleff, assessors ; William Bones, collec- tor ; Cadwallader Child, John Townsend, and Abial Shurtleff, commissioners of highways; John Strickland, Jr., David Mosher, and James Bones, com- missioners of schools; James Bones, Cadwallader Child, and J. R. Taylor, inspectors of schools ; and William Bones, constable.

At the first general election held " November 4, 1822, and the two suc- ceeding days inclusive," Joseph C. Yates, for governor, received 48 votes, Erastus Root, for lieutenant-governor, 31, and Henry Huntington, for same office, 16.

Since the organization of the town the supervisors have been Alden Buck-

* In the early survey bills of roads surveyed in the town of Le Ray, when the location of the present village was mentioned, it was called Elizabethtown, until, in survey bill No. 35, under date of February 20, 1810, for the first time, it is spoken of as Friends Settlement, by which name, and as corrupted, Quaker Settlement, the village was for many years very commonly designated, and by old citizens of the county is even now sometimes called by those names, or, for short, The Settlement.

39*

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TOWN OF PHILADELPHIA.

lin, 1822; Harvey Hamblin, 1823-26; John R. Taylor, 1827 ; Benjamin Jackman, 1829-31 ; Hiram Hinman, 1832 ; Henry W. Marshall, 1833 ; Jesse Smith, 1834-36, and 1841 ; Miles Strickland, 1837, 1839, and 1842 ; William Skinner, 1838 and 1851 ; George Walton, 1840 ; John F. Latimer, 1843 ; Azel W. Danforth, 1844-46 ; Lyman Wilson, 1847 ; Smith Bockus, 1848-49 ; George Frazier, 1850 ; Alden Adams, 1852-53 ; Seth Strickland, 1854-58, and 1866 ; John Allis, 1859-61 ; Lansing Becker, 1862-63 ; John S. Peck, 1864-65; Loren Fuller, 1867-72 ; George E. Tucker, 1873-79 ; A. C. Com- stock, 1880; Silas Monroe, 1881; G. E. Comstock, 1882 ; Charles O. Roberts, 1883-89 ; Albert W. Oatman, 1890.

Spafford's Gazetteer of 1813 says :-

" In 1811-12, at 'The Settlement,' there was a grain and a saw-mill, and a Quaker meet- ing-house."

The same author in 1824 says of Philadelphia in 1821 :-

" The Indian River and its branches supply mill sites, only two of which are yet occupied, with one grist-mill and one saw-mill. The population is included in that of Le Ray in the last census, and is computed at 55 families. There is a small society of Friends, or Quakers, who have a meeting-house for worship, the only one in this town."

After the erection of the town in 1822 the school moneys, of which one- half was collected by the town collector and one-half paid by the county treas- urer, were apportioned among the three school districts as follows: District No. I had 40 children and received $10.20; district No. 2 had 25 children and received $7.42 ; and district No. 3 had 41 children and received $9.50. In 1830 eight school districts reported, from which it appears there were 367 children taught that year, for which there was paid of the public moneys $99.48, and from local taxes $385.75. Cadwallader Child, Amos Eames, and George Morgan were commissioners.

In 1880 Philadelphia had a population of 1,750. The town is located in the second school district of Jefferson County, and in 1888 had 10 school dis- tricts, in which 13 teachers were employed 28 weeks more. There were 360 scholars attending school, and the aggregate days attendance during the year was 35,356. The total value of school buildings and sites was $6,850, while the assessed valuation of all the districts was $814,537. The whole amount raised for school purposes was $3,533.57, of which $2, 122.16 was received by local tax. Truman C. Gray was school commissioner.

PHILADELPHIA (p. o.) village was incorporated in 1872, the boundaries being described as follows : " Beginning at a point in line between great lots Nos. 610 and 644, 15 chains from corner of great lots Nos. 609, 610, 643, and 644; thence N. 39º E., along said great lot line, 80 chains, to a point one chain beyond corner of great lots Nos. 611, 612, 645, and 646 ; thence N. 51º W., parallel with great lot line, 80 chains; thence S. 39° W., 80 chains, to stake near bank of Indian River ; thence S. 51º E., 80 chains, to place of be- ginning ; containing 640 acres of land. Surveyed by Martin E. Aldrich, Dec. 4, 1871." The first meeting was held at the office of Bennett F.

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TOWN OF PHILADELPHIA.

Brown on the evening of March 4, 1872, for the purpose of completing the organization of the incorporation. D. H. Scofield was the first president; Seth Strickland, Orrin A. Cross, and George E. Tucker, trustees; Asa E. Macomber, clerk ; and James Barr, street commissioner. At the second meeting, March 22, 1872, the by-laws were adopted and approved. The vil- lage is situated on Indian River, and is a station on the R., W. & O. and Utica & Black River railroads, 18 miles from Watertown, 182 from Albany, and 224 from New York. It has telephone, telegraph, and American Express offices, a state bank, a weekly newspaper, three churches (Baptist, Congre- gational, and Methodist), a graded school, two hotels, two general stores, one music store, a drug store, dry goods and clothing store, variety store, jewelry store, two boot and shoe stores, hardware store, a general and drug store, two furniture stores, three stove and tinware stores, two grist-mills, one tannery, two groceries, a drug and grocery store, a bakery and restaurant, two black- smith shops, a sash, door, and blind factory, a meat market, marble dealer, livery stable, harnessmaker, two millinery shops, two barber shops, two shoe- makers, and about 1,000 inhabitants. The postoffice was established at Philadelphia in 1822, with Edmund Tucker as postmaster, under whom the office was located in his brick house at the north end of the settlement, the present residence of George E. Tucker.

STERLINGVILLE is a post village and station on the R., W. & O. Railroad, in the southern part of the town, on Black Creek. It is 22 miles from Watertown, 179 from Albany, and 321 from New York. It contains an American Express office, two stores, one grocery, two blacksmith shops, one saw-mill, one hotel, two churches (Roman Catholic and union), and about 40 dwellings. The postoffice at Sterlingville was established in 1839, George Walton being the first postmaster.

In 1850 a postoffice was established at WHITNEY'S CORNERS, on the Evans Mills and Ox Bow plank road, in the west part of the town. The first post- master was Carey Z. Eddy, who served one year, when he was succeeded by W. M. Whitney. This office was discontinued soon after the opening of the railroad.

POGELAND, on the Antwerp and Sterlingville plank road, was established as a postoffice in 1852, with Daniel Smith, postmaster. Mr. Smith soon after died, and the office was discontinued for a short time, when it was reëstab- lished, with Theodore Cane as postmaster. The office was finally abolished about 1855.

The Bank of Philadelphia was organized under the general banking law, March 12, 1888, with a capital of $25,000. The present officers of the bank are Daniel H. Scofield, president ; William Roberts, vice-president ; H. O. Gardner, cashier ; W. A. Markwick, assistant cashier and book-keeper.

William Roberts's lumber mills, at Philadelphia village, were established by the present proprietor in 1882. They consist of two saw-mills, a planing and shingle-mill, and lath-mill. They are run by water-power and two 60-horse-

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power steam engines, give employment to 70 men, and manufacture about 10,000,000 feet of lumber annually.

Joseph Essington's saw-mill, at Sterlingville, was bought by the present proprietor in 1880. It is operated by water-power furnished by Black Creek, and has the capacity of cutting about 800,000 feet of lumber annually.

The Philadelphia cheese factory, on road 19, corner of Sand street, near the bridge at Black River, is owned by William S. Keyes. It has a patron- age of about 450 cows.

The lands composing the present town of Philadelphia were included in Le Ray's purchase of January 4, 1800. On February 16, 1804, Le Ray " entered into an agreement with a company composed of Abraham Stock- ton and Charles Ellis, of Burlington, N. J. (then Le Ray's place of residence), and Mordecai Taylor, Thomas Townsend, John Townsend, Robert Comfort, Cadwallader Child, Moses Comfort, Israel Knight, Benjamin Rowland, David Evans, John Jones, and Jason Merrick, of the counties of Philadelphia, Mont- gomery, and Bucks, in Pennsylvania,-all of whom, save the last named, were Quakers,-to sell them 16 lots (7,040 acres) at the rate of $3 per acre, payable in five installments, with six per cent. annual interest, and 10 per cent. was to be discounted for cash. In consideration of the sale they were also to receive, as a gift from Le Ray, a central lot (440 acres) ' for the pro- motion of religion and learning ; that is to say, for the purpose of erecting thereon and supporting a meeting-house for the society of people called Quakers, and a school or schools for the education of children in useful learn- ing, to be under the care and direction of said society, and of a monthly meeting of said people, when such meeting shall be there established.' It was stipulated that these lands should be of a quality equal to the four lots Nos. 629, 630, 631, and 632, near Le Raysville, which had been purchased the pre- vious year by Joseph Child, Sr., and Moses Comfort, whose favorable accounts of the advantages of the section in soil and climate had brought about the present purchase. In case these lands should not, in the opin- ion of Richard Coxe, Jacob Brown, and Jonas Smith, prove equal to those named an additional quantity should be given to make good the deficiency. The seller also agreed to make a wagon road from the St. Lawrence River, running through the conveyed tract to the post- road at Champion, before the first of the following December. The purchasers were required to agree on a division of the lots among themselves before the 25th of the next April. This being done the lands were conveyed to them by deed from Le Ray in May, 1804.

" The central lot, donated for religious and educational purposes, was No. 611, embracing the present village of Philadelphia, and all the water-power of the river at that point. The lots sold were Nos. 539, 540, 542, 543, 575, 576, 578, 579, 643, 644, 646, 647, 674, 675, 677, and 678. Eight lots were reserved by the proprietor, viz .: Nos. 541, 577, 609, 610, 612, 613, 645, and 676. All the above named lots, 25 in number, together formed a

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rectangular tract five lots in length, and the same number in width, of which tract lot 611 was the exact territorial center ; the conveyed lots lying in four blocks of four lots each, one in each of the four corners of the tract, while the reserved lots lay between these in the form of a cross.

" All that is now the town of Philadelphia was at that time a wilderness, in which no blow of white man's axe had been struck, except by the surveying parties of Brodhead ; and it was to explore this and to examine their pur- chase that Cadwallader Child and Mordecai Taylor started northward in May, 1804. In their company came Samuel Evans, who had visited Le Raysville and vicinity in 1803. On leaving Albany they traveled on horse- back to Brownville for a conference with Jacob Brown in reference to pro- jected roads, after which, early in June, Mr. Child, with Michael Coffeen, Solomon Parker, Robert Sixbury, the hunter, and another assistant, but with- out Mr. Taylor and Mr. Evans, who remained at Brownville, set out for Le Raysville to follow Brodhead's marked lot-lines towards his objective point, lot 611. He struck it at the south corner, then followed down Black Creek to its junction with Indian River, and down the latter to the falls, where his party made a halt and built a rude cabin as a base of operations, near the spot where the Philadelphia flour-mill now stands. From here he soon pro- ceeded to explore and survey a route for a road to the St. Lawrence, which he reached at a point above Alexandria Bay, and, passing down the river, noted the advantages of that place as an eligible site for a settlement, and for the river terminus of the proposed road." Returning to lot 61 1 he pro- ceeded thence to continue his road survey to the great bend of Black River, after which he began a clearing on his lot No. 644, described in his biographi- cal sketch further on.

Towards the end of the same year John Petty, who had settled in 1802 or 1803, in the present town of Le Ray, removed thence with his family to lot 672 in Philadelphia, he thus being the first actual settler in the town, and the only one who remained through the winter of 1804-05. The land had been purchased by him in 1803, and was afterwards embraced in the farm of John T. Strickland, at Strickland's Corners, near Sterlingville. Daniel Coffeen commenced improvements on a tract adjoining or near Petty's during the same fall, removing upon it early the following year.

" On the first of February, 1805, a meeting of the persons who had been named as trustees of the central lot was held at the house of Israel Knight, in Pennsylvania, at which meeting it was agreed and directed 'that a part of the said tract be laid out in lots of ro acres each, and that any person, or persons, on condition of settling or clearing the same, and building a log or frame house of 18 feet square on each of the lots within the term of four years, shall be entitled to the said lot for the term of ro years as a compensation for their improvements; and it is likewise agreed that the whole transaction of the business relative to the aforementioned tract be intrusted with Robert Comfort, Cadwallader Child, Thomas Town-

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send, John Townsend, and Jason Merrick, who are to act for and on behalf of the whole.' And it was especially agreed that Thomas and John Town- send should have the use for 20 years, rent free, of a tract of 15 or 20 acres, sufficient to cover the falls of the Indian River, and for the erection of the necessary buildings, upon the condition that they should erect thereon a mill for the general benefit of the prospective village and surrounding country.

"In the spring of 1805 the Townsends arrived upon the lot, prepared to commence operations. With them came Robert Comfort, Josiah Walton, Thomas Coxe, Benjamin Gilbert, Thomas Gilbert, and Daniel Roberts. Walton and the two Gilberts were in the employ of the Townsends, as were also Warren Foster and his brother Andrew, who had arrived about the same time. With this force they set to work, made a clearing at the site of the proposed mill, built a dwelling house on this clearing, commenced work on the dam, and built a bridge across the river, some 20 rods below where it is now spanned by the iron bridges. During the summer and fall they com- pleted the saw-mill and grist mill,-both being under the same roof,-and also built a log house for John Townsend, nearly where the Eagle Hotel now stands. The millwright employed in the construction of the mills was James Parker. The grist-mill had one run of stones, manufactured from stone quarried in the vicinity.

" Robert Comfort built a log house on the bank of Indian River near the easterly end of Townsend's bridge, and this he opened as a house of enter- tainment,-the first public house in the town,-which he kept until 1807. Josiah Walton purchased on the reserved lot No. 645, upon which he em- ployed John Hover and John Coffeen. of Le Ray, to make a clearing at a point near the north corner of the Curtis farm, and upon this clearing Cad- wallader Child sowed wheat the same fall (1805). Another piece of wheat was put in by John Townsend, and it is not known which of these two were first sown, but Mr. Child's was the first harvested in town (July, 1806). Mr. Child, in addition to his 440, took eight acres in the center lot, upon the rise of ground embracing the spot where the postoffice now stands. Upon this he caused a clearing to be made and a house of hewed logs to be erected in the spring and summer of 1805, intending to make this his residence ; but his plans were soon after changed, and he sold the improvement to Silas Walton. The block-house which he (Child) had built was sold to Thomas Townsend, who removed and reërected it upon a spot now directly in front of the residence of George E. Tucker. To this he moved his family early in the following year. Upon the improvement purchased from Mr. Child by Silas Walton the latter erected a small building from lumber cut by the Townsend mill. It was the first frame building in town, and stood near the spot now occupied by the store of Martin E. Aldrich & Son. John Town- send moved his family in the same autumn, and these, with the family of Robert Comfort, Walton, Roberts, and the men in the employ of the Town -

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Geographical gazetteer of Jefferson county, N.Y. 1684-1890, Part 91

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