USA > New York > Geography of the state of New York. Embracing its physical features, climate, geology, mineralogy, botany, zoology, history, pursuits of the people, government, education, internal improvements &c. With statistical tables, and a separate description and map of each county > Part 35
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41
The private residences of the citizens are neat, and many of them elegant. Population 1500.
Homer, in the town of the sa ne name, is a beautiful and thriving village on the Tioughnioga. It has an old and flour- ishing academy of high reputation, with six teachers, and de- partments for both sexes. In 1846, a large and enthusiastic meeting of its alumni and friends was held, attended with ap. propriate exercises. .
The village is one of the most beautiful in central New York. It is considerably engaged in manufactures. The churches, four in number, and the academy, occupy a public square six acres in extent. Population 1400.
Truston and Virgil, in the towns of, the same names, are villages of some importance. The former has some manufac- tures.
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XLII. FRANKLIN COUNTY.
Square miles, 1557. Organized, 1808.
Population, 18,692. Valuation, 1845, $1,584,970.
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TOWNS.
1. Malone, 1805.
2. Chateaugay, 1805.
3. Constable, 1807.
11. Belmont, 1833.
4. Dickinson, 1909.
12. Bombay, 1833.
5. Bangor, 1812.
6. Fort Covington, 1913.
7. Moira, 1827.
8. Branden, 1828.
Mountains. GG. Chateaugay. g. Seward. h. Adirondack.
Rivers. a. Deer. b. Salmon. c. Trout, d. Chateaugay. e. St. Regis. f. Racket. j. Saranac.
Lakes. i. Upper Saranac. 1. Lower Saranac. k. Tupper. Forts. Covington.
Villages. MALONE. Fort Covington.
BOUNDARIES. North by Canada East; East by Clinton and Essex counties; south by Essex and Hamilton counties, and West by St. Lawrence county.
SURFACE. Elevated and mountainous, in the southern and southeastern sections, where the Chateaugay range crosses it; elsewhere it is undulating or level. Mount Seward, and the Adirondack group, are peaks of this range. Mount Seward has never been ascended, but its height is computed at about 5000 feet.
Numerous lakes are formed in the valleys of the mountain ranges.
RIVERS. The principal rivers are Salmon, Trout, Chateau- gay, St. Regis, Deer, Racket, and Saranac.
LAKES. Upper and Lower Saranac, Tupper, and numerous others of less importance.
CLIMATE. The high latitude, and elevated surface of this county render the climate rigorous. The winters are long and severe.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The mountainous district is prin- cipally of the primitive formation, and is composed of hypers- thene, granite and gneiss. The two latter, indeed, form the surface rocks of a large part of the county. The transition for- mation, however, extends over the northern slope of the county, and is mainly composed of the Potsdam sandstone, very fine specimens of which are quarried in Malone, Chateaugay, Moira, and Bangor. In the northeast corner of Franklin township, the calciferous sand rock makes its appearance.
The principal minerals are magnetic iron ore, found in Franklin, Duane, and Malone townships, purple scapolite, green pyroxene, graphite in six sided tables, bog iron ore, tufa, peat, and massive pyrites.
SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil of the north-
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13. Franklin, 1838.
14. Burke, 1843.
15. Harrietstown, 1843.
9. Duane, 1828.
10. Westville, 1829.
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ern towns is probably equal in fertility to any in the state. The southern townships are less productive. It is mainly a sandy loam, occasionally mixed with clay, and much of it encumbered with stone.
It is not well adapted to wheat, but grass, oats, barley, corn, and the esculent roots, thrive luxuriantly.
The forests, which cover the central and southern portions, are very dense, and consist of white and yellow pine, hemlock, oak, beech, birch, basswood, elm, and white cedar.
PURSUITS. Agriculture is the employment of the greater part of the inhabitants, and their attention is particularly directed to the raising of cattle, and the cultivation of summer crops. The preparation of lumber for market, is also the occupation of a considerable number of the citizens of the county. There is some commerce on the Salmon river, the only navigable stream, and a few mines. The iron ores already mentioned will eventu- ally furnish employment to considerable numbers.
STAPLES. Potatoes, oats, wheat, corn, butter and wool.
SCHOOLS. In 1846, there were 120 district schools in the county, in which 6190 scholars were taught. The schools were maintained an average period of seven months, and $6,041 ex- pended for tuition. . The district libraries contained 10,230 volumes.
There were also seven select schools, with seventy-four pupils, and two acade- mies, with 113 students.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Presbyterians, Roman Catho- Lics, Baptists, Universalists, Episcopalians, and Congregation- alists. There are twenty churches, and twenty-nine ministers of all denominations.
HISTORY. This county was the home of the St. Regis tribe of Indians, who, under the direction of the French, were so often engaged in hostile incursions upon the colonies of New England and New York, in the latter part of the seventeenth and commencement of the eighteenth centuries. The tribe have still a reservation of eleven miles in length and three in breadth, in the county, lying in the towns of Bombay and Fort Covington.
A daughter of Rev. John Williams, of Deerfield, Massachu- setts, who, with his family, was taken captive by this tribe in 1704, remained with the Indians, after her father's return, mar- ried one of the chiefs, and one of her descendants was a few years since chief of the tribe.
The first settlers were Canadians, who located at French Mills, now Fort Covington about the year 1800.
In April, 1804, Messrs. Benjamin Roberts, of. Winchester,
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Vermont, William Bailey, and Nathan Beman, commenced a settlement at Chateaugay.
Soon after, Mr. Nathan Wood, of Vermont, settled in Ma- lone. Constable was settled about the same time.
The first standard captured from the enemy, in the late war with Great Britain, was taken at Bombay, by Major G. D. Young, a native of Connecticut, on the 22d of October, 1812.
Major Young was commandant of a detachment of the Troy volunteers stationed at French Mills, (now Fort Covington,) and having learned that a party of the enemy had arrived at the village of St. Regis, and that more were shortly expected, resolved to surprise them before they could be reinforced. He accordingly marched a detachment in the night to the vicinity of the village, surrounded the enemy, and captured forty pris- oners, with their arms, equipments, &c., one stand of colors, and two batteaux, without the loss of a single man.
A skirmish took place on the 25th of October, 1813, at Cha- teaugay, between the British light troops and Indians, and a detachment of American troops, under General Izard, in which the latter were repulsed with the loss of fifty men.
In February, 1814, a detachment of British and Indians, num- bering about 2300 men, made an incursion into Malone, and penetrated as far as Chateaugay Four Corners, when, hear- ing of the approach of American troops, they retreated in great confusion, suffering severely in their flight, from a storm of snow and hail. Upwards of 200 men deserted during this retreat. -
Fort Covington, in this county, was erected during the last war, and a part of the army wintered here in 1813-14.
VILLAGES. MALONE, in the town of the same name, is the seat of justice for the county. It is situated on both sides of the Salmon river, which here furnishes a large amount of water power, and is surrounded by a fertile country. In the vicinity are extensive veins of valuable iron ore. The village has several manufactories of cotton goods, leather, scythes, pails, &c. The Franklin academy, located here, is in a flourishing condition. Population 1000.
Fort Covington, located at the head of navigation, on Sal- mon river, is a flourishing village, largely employed in the hum- ber trade, and has an incorporated academy and several manu- factories. The fort here was an important military post during the war. The village was then known as the "French Mills." It received its present name in honor of General Cov- ington, who was slain at the battle of Williamsburgh, Novem- .ber 13th, 1813. Population 1000.
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XLIII. NIAGARA COUNTY.
Square miles, 484. Organized, 1808.
Population, 34,550. Valuation, 1845, 84,926,089.
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TOWNS.
1. Cambria, 1808.
7. Wilson, 1818.
2. Hartland, 1812.
8. Somerset, 1823.
3. Niagara, 1512.
9. Lockport, 1824.
4. Porter, 1812.
10. Newfane, 1824.
5. Lewiston, 1813.
11. Pendleton, 1827.
6. Royalton, 1817.
12. Wheatfield, 1829.
Rivers, &c. M. Niagara River. a. Eighteen Mile Creek. b. John- son's. c. Tuscarora. f. Howel's. r. Tonawanda.
Falls. SS. Niagara Falls.
Lakes. J. Lake Ontario.
Battle Fields. Niagara.
Forts. Niagara. Schlosser.
Villages. LOCKPORT. Lewiston. Niagara Falls Village. Youngs- town.
BOUNDARIES. North by Lake Ontario; East by Orleans and Genesee counties; South by Erie county, and West by Niagara river. :
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SURFACE. Like most of the other counties lying on Lake On- tario, Niagara county is divided by the Ridge Road and the mountain ridge, into three terraces, of which the two northern- most rise gradually from the lake shore to the mountain ridge; while the southern declines almost imperceptibly toward Tona- wanda creek. The surface is therefore generally quite level, having no more than sufficient inequality to secure its effectual drainage.
RIVERS. The county is well watered. Besides Niagara riv- er, which forms its western boundary, the principal streams are Tonawanda creek, which divides it from Erie county, Tusca- rora, Eighteen Mile, Johnson's and Howel's creeks, falling into Lake Ontario; and Cayuga creek, a tributary of Niagara river.
FALLS. This county, conjointly with Niagara district, Can- ada West, includes the world renowned cataract of Niagara.
To portray fully the wonders of this stupendous waterfall, exceeds the powers of the human mind, and requires a language commensurate with its grandeur and magnificence. We shall therefore only attempt to describe the different elements which combine to render it the most extraordinary of natural wondera, and leave it to the imagination of the reader to group them into one harmonious whole, although nothing but an actual view of the falls, from several points, can give any adequate conception of its surpassing beauty and sublimity.
For a distance of three-fourths of a mile above the falls, the river, over two miles in breadth, hurries forward in a succession of rapids, whose roar, combined with that of the cataract, may sometimes be heard for a distance of twenty miles.
The descent accomplished by these rapids, is between fifty and sixty feet, and their imposing grandeur strikes the beholder with admiration and awe. As the waters approach the fall, the width of the river is compressed to about half a mile. Here it suddenly turns to the eastward, making almost a right angle in its course, and, immediately below the falls, is contracted to a width of only seventy- six reds. In consequence of this bend, the view of the cataract from the Ameri- can side is more in profile than that on the Canada side, where a short distance below the falls a front view is presented, giving the visitor at a glance an idea of its vast magnificence.
Just above the falls, in the middle of the river, lies Goat or Iris Island, half a mile long, and about one-fourth of a mile wide, containing seventy-five acres. This has been connected with several adjacent small islands, by bridges, and these again with the American shore. Iris island is heavily timbered, and has a num- ber of fine walks, and a large garden.
It extends over the cataract, and presenta a wall of perpendicular rock, sepa- rating the crescent or Canadian fall, from the American portion of the cataract. This latter is again divided by Luna island, a small islet. There are thus three distinct cascades, one on the Canadian, and two on the American side.
.The lower fall, or that nearest the American shore, is more than 300 yards in width, and 164 feet in height. The central fall, extending from Luna to Iris is- and, has the same height, but is only twenty yards in breadth. Both have a gentle curve in their outline.
From the comparative shallowness of the waters on the American side, they are constantly dashed into foam, ere they reach the precipice.
On the Canadian side of Iris island, is the great Horse Shoe or Crescent fall, over which pour seven-eights of the volume of water composing this mighty stream. It is about 700 yards in width, and 158 feet in height. The deep green of its billows is only relieved by the crests of white foam which surmount them. To the spectator, standing on Iris island, the cataract is veiled in a cloud of almost
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impenetrable mist, and all attempts to explore its apparently unfathomable depths seem futile. But in the clear sunlight, this mist is the source of new surprise and admiration ; the rainbow, "the crescent of the abyss," with its everchanging hues, spans the impenetrable cloud, and adds new beauty to the scene. The view from Table rock, on the Canadian side, is more distinct, and gives the spectator a better comparative view of the three falls.
Terrapin Bridge, 300 feet from Goat island, extends ten feet over the falls, and near its end, in the water, and upon the edge of the precipice, a stone tower, forty-five feet high, has been erected. The view of the fall from the top of this tower is very grand, but requires some steadiness of nerve.
The banks of the river below the precipice constitute an almost perpendicular wall, nearly 200 feet in height, requiring artificial means for descending to the water's edge. For this purpose, three staircases have been erected. The first is on the main land, on the American side, giving access to the ferry. Recently a railway, moved by hydraulic power, has been constructed, to facilitate the de- scent. The river is crossed in safety in a row boat, propelled by a single person.
A second staircase was erected in 1829, on the perpendicular face of Iris ist- and, at the expense of the late Nicholas Biddle. A rude but strong flight of com- mon steps leads down a steep declivity of about forty feet, to the head of the Biddle stair case, which is in the form of a hexagon, enclosing triangular steps, that wind spirally round a large and solid oaken shaft. The descent accomplished by these is about 80 feet. Paths lead from the foot of these stairs, to the river brink, to the verge of the British fall, and to the Central fall, and the Cave of the Winds behind it.
The third staircase is on the Canadian side, and conducts the visitor under the overhanging lodge of Table rock. Here he will find a path leading under.the Great Crescent fall, by which. if be chooses to venture, he may pass, for a dis- tance of about 150 feet, behind this vast mass of waters.
The depth of the river, a short distance below the cataract, is 250 feet. The quantity of water poured over the falls has been variously estimated. Dr. Dwight computed it at more than 100 millions of tons per hour.
About three miles below the falls, is a whirlpool, produced by the projection of a rocky promontory, against which the waters of the river have, for ages, hurled their angry billows in vain. In this whirlpool, timber and the dead bodies of men or animals, which have been precipitated over the cataract, are often retained for days, and sometimes for weeks, ere they pass the narrow outlet. About a mile below this is a deep ravine, where formerly there was another whirlpool, but the waters, after centuries of unceasing action, wrought out for themselves a more quiet passage. This gloomy dell was, some seventy-five or eighty years since, the scene of a fearful tragedy, which will be related in the historical sketch of the county. It is called " the devil's hole."
LAKES. Lake Ontario forms the northern boundary of the county.
CANALS. The Erie canal passes through the southeastern and southern poort ons of the county.
RAILROADS. The Buffalo and Niagara falls railroad connects Niagara falls with the lines of railroad from Albany. There is also a railroad connecting Lockport and Niagara falls with a branch extending to Lewiston.
CLIMATE. Owing to the vicinity of the lakes, the climate is mild and equable. It is considered healthful. Here, as in Erie county, fruits flourish in greater perfection, and vegetation is earlier than in the same parallels in the eastern counties.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The Medina sandstone is the basis rock of the county, and makes its appearance near the Lake
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shore; above this appears the Clinton group of limestones; the Niagara group forms the surface rock of the second terrace, and abounds in fossils ; the Onondaga salt group appears as the sur- face rock of the third terrace, and contains as usual large quan- tities of gypsum, and numerous brine springs.
Bog iron ore is found in various parts of the county ; copper, in minute quan- tities. has been discovered near Lockport; sulphate of strontian, calcareous spar, anhydrous sulphate of lime, selenite, pearl spar, and occasionally fluor spar, and sulphuret of zinc, are found at Lockport. Sulphur springs are numerous ; some of them have considerable reputation. The brine springs are too weak to be of much practical value. There is also a chalybeate spring, and one emitting car- buretted hydrogen gas, in sufficient quantity to maintain a steady flame. Shell mari is found in the swamps.
SOIL. AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil is highly fertile, yielding grains and grasses in abundance. Fruit is cultivated here in great perfection. The timber is mainly oak, beech, ma- ple, tamarack, ash, &c.
PURSUITS. A majority of the inhabitants are engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. The culture of wheat and the other grains, occupies the attention of most of the farmers of the county. Butter and wool are also produced in considerable quantities.
The manuf .ctures of the county are numerous, and constant- ly increasing in value and importance. Flour is manufactured in large quantities. Lumber, cotton and woollen goods, iron ware, potash and leather, are the other principal articles pro- duced. Their value, in 1845, wasnearly two millions of dollars.
Commerce. The commerce of the county is quite extensive, both on the lake and on the canal. Lewiston is the principal port on the Niagara river.
STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. Wheat is the great staple of this county. The other principal agricultural products, are oats, corn, potatoes, peas, butter and wool.
SCHOOLS. In 1846, there were in the county 158 district school-houses, in which schools were maintained an average period of eight months each. 11,919 children received instruc- tion, at an expense for tuition of $15,034. The number of vol- umes in the district libraries was 16,612.
822 pupils were instructed in twenty-nine select schools, There were also in the county one academy, and one female seminary, with 185 students.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Presbyterians, Bap- tists, Episcopalians, Friends, Congregationalists, Universalists, Dutch Reformed, Lutherans, and Roman Catholics. There are fifty churches and fifty-nine clergymen of all denominations, in the county.
HISTORY. In 1697, M. de la Salle erected a palisade fort at or near the site of Fort Niagara.
In 1712, the Tuscarora Indians removed to this county from
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North Carolina, and united themselves with the Iroquois con- federacy, which thenceforth assumed the name of " the Six Na- tions." They still hold a reservation of about 5000 acres, lying in the town of Lewiston. They are about 200 in number, and are mostly in prosperous circumstances. They have a church and school, both under the direction of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.
In 1725, the French erected a fort at the mouth of the Niagara river, in this county, in pursuance of their design of connecting their Canadian settlements with those on the Mississippi, by a chain of military posts.
Here their efficient emissaries, the Jesuit missionaries, won the affections of the simple hearted red men, by their ready compliance with their dress and customs; and extolling the power and grandeur of the French monarchs, incited them to deeds of aggression and bloodshed against the English. Not long after the erection of this fort, a stockade fortress, since known as old Fort Schlosser, situated about a mile above the falls, was also erected.
In 1759, Fort Niagara was captured from the French, by the British army, under the command of Sir William Johnson. It was rebuilt and garrisoned anew the same year.
During the revolution, it was held by the British, and from its time-stained walls, issued numerous bands of Indians and tories, bound on expeditions of bloody revenge, or lawless plun- der, to the hapless valleys of the Schoharie and Mohawk. To this place, too, they brought the prisoners and scalps they had taken, to claim the reward which a British ministry offered for these evidences of their own inhumanity.
In 1796, this fort was surrendered to the United States. At that time there was but one white family, beside the occupants of the fort, within the present limits of the county.
During the late war with Great Britain, the American garri- con, consisting of 370 men, were surprised by an unexpected attack from a force of more than 1200 British troops, who cross- ed the river, and after a brief but severe struggle, captured the fort. Sixty-five of the garrison were killed, and twenty-seven pieces of ordnance, with a large quantity of military stores, fell into the hands of the captors. In March, 1815, it was again surrendered to the United States. On the 14th of September; 1826, Morgan, of antimasonic notoriety, was confined in the magazine of the fort.
There can be no doubt that during its occupancy by the French, it was occa- sionally used as a prison for state offenders; and from that time to the close of the revolution, deeds of crime and blood were committed there, which the light of the judgment day alone will reveal.
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On the 17th of September, 1763, a company of troops, num- bering with the teamsters, about 175 men, were escorting a quantity of steres to Fort Schlosser, and had reached the ravine known as the Devil's Hole, on the Niagara river, when they were beset by a party of Sene :a I dia is who were then in the French interest, and all but two murdered, or dashed to pieces in their fall over the precipice.
One, a drummer, was saved by the strap of his drum being caught in the branches of a tree, in his fall; the other, a man by the name of Stedman, being well mounted, forced his way through the hostile crowd and fled, at the utmost speed of his horse, to Fort Schlosser. His clothes were riddled with balls, but he was unhurt. The Indians considered his escape as mirac- ulous, and gave him a large tract of land, embracing all that he had rode over in his flight.
In December, 1913, the British burned Lewiston, Younge- town, Manchester, (now Niagara Falls village,) and the Tusca- rora Indian village, alleging the burning of Newark, in Canada West, by the Americans, as an excuse for their barbarity.
Early in December, 1837, after the failure of the attack of the " Canadian patriots,".(so called,) on Toronto, Mckenzie and Sutherland, two of their leaders, who had escaped to the Uni- ted States, together with some twenty-five of their adherents, took possession of Navy island, in the Niagara river, above the Falls, and remained there nearly a month, bidding defiance to the British troops, who were congregated on the Canadian shore, to the number of 3000 or 4000 men.
The ranks of the "patriots" were constantly reinforced by volunteers from the American frontier, until they numbered about 600. The British fired upon them, and killed one man; the fire was returned, and preparations made to cross into Can- ada, when by the interposition of General Scott, the island was evacuated, and the patriot army dispersed.
It was during the occupation of this island, that Mr. Wells, . of Buffalo, the proprietor of a small steamboat, called the Car- oline, formed the project of running his steamer as a ferry boat, between Navy island and old Fort Schlosser, in order to accom- modate the numbers who wished to pass and repass daily.
Accordingly, on the 29th of December, the boat commenced running, and having made several trips during the day, was moored at night, beside the wharf at Schlosser. Numbers, who had been attracted by curiosity to the place, were unable to obtain lodgings at the tavern, the only dwelling in the vicinity, and sought accommodations on board the boat.
About midnight, the watch on board the steamer observed a boat approaching ; he hailed, but before he could give the
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