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 36
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).
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
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alarm, a body of armed men from Canada, rushed on board, crying "cut them down, give no quarter ;" no resistance was made on board the boat; all who could do so, escaped to the shore. Five persons were known to be killed.
The boat was cut from her moorings, towed out into the stream, set on fire, and suffered to drift down the river, and over the falls. It was supposed that several persons were on board at the time she went over the cataract. This outrage produced great excitement on the frontier, and had well nigh involved our government in a war with Great Britain.
VILLAGES. LOCKPORT, the county seat, is a large and busy village in the town of the same name. It was founded in 1821, and incorporated in 1829. The Erie canal here descends, by five massive double locks, sixty feet. Before reaching these locks, in its progress eastward, the canal passes, for several miles, through a deep cutting of limestone, where the walls of rock, on either hand, rise twenty or thirty feet above the level of the canal .. The descent of the canal furnishes an im- mense water power, which is partially improved. The village has a great variety of manufactures. Several very large flour mille are in operation. Population, 6800. :
Niagara Falls Village is a beautiful and thriving place, deriving much of its importance from its proximity to the cata- ract. It has been proposed to devote the waters of the Niagara at this place, to manufacturing purposes, but it is to be hoped that such a project may never be carried into execution. Popu- lation, 1000.
Lewiston, in the town of the same name, has considerable trade with Oswego, and other ports on Lake Ontario. Here is also a ferry across the Niagara river, to Queenstown. It is the head of steamboat navigation on the river. Population, 900.
Youngstown is a thriving little village in the town of Porter. It has a good steamboat landing, and is connected with the vil- lage of Niagara, in Canada, by a steam ferry. Population, 700.
Middleport, in the town of Royalton, is a village of some im- portanee.
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XLIV. SULLIVAN COUNTY.
Square miles, 919. Organized, 1809.
Population, 18,727. Valuation, 1845, $1,468,283.
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1. Mamakating, 1793. 7. Bethel, 1809.
2. Lumberland, 1798.
8. Fallsburgh, 1826.
3. Nevisink, 1798.
9. Cochecton, 1828.
4. Rockland, 1798.
10. Forrestburgh, 1838.
6. Liberty, 1807.
Mountains. P. Shawangunk mountains.
Rivers. H. Delaware river. R. Nevisink. a. Collikoon. e. Mon- gaup. g. Bashe's kill. k. Beaver kill. i. Little Beaver kill. Falls. On the Mongaup and Nevisink, Fallsburgh and Forrestburgh. Lakes. h. White Lake. 1. Long Pond. m. Round. n. Sand. Canals. Delaware and Hudson canal.
5. Thompson, 1804.
11. Collikoon, 1842.
Villages. MONTICELLO. Bloomingsburgh. Wurtzborough. Falls- burgh. Cochecton.
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SULLIVAN COUNTY.
BOUNDARIES. North by Delaware and Ulster counties ; East by Ulster and Orange; South by Orange county and the Dela- ware river; and West by the Delaware river.
SURFACE. Hilly and mountainous. The Shawangunk moun- tains occupy the eastern section of the county. The western face of these mountains is precipitous, but they descend by a gentle declivity on the east. The remainder of the county has an ele- vated surface, divided into numerous ridges, by the streams which intersect it
RIVERS. The Delaware forms the south-western boundary of the county ; the other principal streams are the Collikoon, Mon- gaup and Nevisink rivers, Bashe's, Beaver and Little Beaver kills.
LAKES. The county abounds with small lakes, among which are White Lake, Long Pond, Round Pond, and Sand Pond.
CANALS. The Delaware and Hudson canal passes through the valley of Bashe's kill.
CLIMATE. Cold but healthy. Vegetation is about two weeks later than in Ulster and Orange counties. In some parts of the county frost occurs every month.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. This county comprises several geological formations of interest. The western half, and a por- tion of the northern section, belong to the old red sandstone formation, or Catskill group; the central and southern portions are composed of the Chemung sandstone and shales; as we proceed eastward we encounter successively the limestones of the Hamilton group, the Helderberg limestones, the gray Sha- wangunk sandstone and grit, which forms the largest portion of the surface rock of the county ; and the Hudson river slate.
The number of minerals is not large. In the vicinity of Wurtzborough, and in other parts of the county, mines of lead ore have been opened, which promise to be productive and valuable. Crystallized iron and copper pyrites, sulphuret of zinc, and quartz crystals of great beauty, have been found in connection with the lead at these localities. The red sandstone affords, in some places, a fine building material.
Son, AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil of the uplands is fertile and well adapted to the production of the grasses and more hardy grains. In the valley of the Delaware it is cold and wet. The county is well adapted to grazing. The timber con- sists principally of pine, hemlock, beech, maple, linden, oak and tulip tree. But little more than one tenth of the soil is under cultivation.
PURSUITS. The people of this county are mostly devoted to agriculture. But little grain is raised, and that principally corn, oats and buckwheat. The products of the dairy receive considerable attention.
Manufactures. Leather and lumber are extensively manu-
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factured. The latter finds its way to market by the Delaware river.
Commerce. The Delaware and Hudson canal furnishes an easy mode of transportation for the produce of the eastern cec- tion of the county. The Delaware river is navigable in the spring, and immense quantities of lumber are rafted down it.
Mines. There are lead mines near Wurtzborough, in the town of Mamakating.
STAPLES. Oats, corn, butter, beef, pork, lumber and leather.
SCHOOLS. In 1846, there were in the county, 118 district school-houses, in which 6328 children were instructed at an ex- pense for tuition, of 88793, The schools were in session an average period of eight months each. The district libraries contained 10,379 volumes.
There were also eight select schools, with 178 scholars, and one academy with thirteen pupils.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, Baptiste, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, and Friends. Total number of churches. twenty-eight ; of clergy- men, twenty-three.
HISTORY. In 1777, or 1778, several persons having been killed by the Indians in Rochester, Ulster county, the commander of the garrison at Honkhill, in Wewarsing, who had two or three hundred troops under his command, determined to intercept the Indians on their return, and punish them for their barbarities. He accordingly called for volunteers, and Lieutenant John Gra- hams offered his services. They were accepted, and with a lieutenant's guard, consisting of twenty men, he made his way to a place since called Grahamsville, in the town of Nevisink.
Unpracticed in the arts of Indian warfare, they were no match for their wily foes. The Indians decoyed them from their posi- tion, induced them to waste their fire upon a single Indian, and then shot them down, and scalped them. But three of the num- ber escaped to carry to the garrison the intelligence of the loss of their comrades.
The town of Mamakating belonged to the Minisink patent, and was settled by the Dutch at an early period. The remain- der of the county belonged to the Hardenburgh patent, and was not occupied till near the commencement of the present century. The emigrants, with the exception of those who located at Mamakating, were mostly from the eastern states. The county was named in honor of General Sullivan, of revolutionary memory.
VILLAGES. MONTICELLO, in the town of Thompson, was found- ed in 1804, by Messrs. S. F.and J. P. Jones, and made the county seat at the organization of the county in 1809. Population, 700.
Bloomingsburgh is a pleasant village, in the town of Mama-
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Rating. it is in the midst of a fine agricultural country. It has an academy. Population, 600.
Wartzborough, in the same town, is a flourishing village, named after the projector of the Delaware and Hudson canal. Near the village is a lead mine of considerable importance. Population, 500.
Liberty, Fallsburgh and Cochecton, in the towns of the same names, are villages of considerable importance.
XLV. SCHENECTADY COUNTY.
Square miles, 186. Organized, 1800.
Population, 16,630. Valuation, 1845, 02,739,421.
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1. Schenectady, 1684.
4. Neskayuna, 1809.
5. Glenville, 1820.
6. Rotterdam, 1820.
Rivers. A.A. Schoharie kill. F. Mohawk river. a. Norman's kill. Lakes. e. Maria.
Cities and Villages. SCHENECTADY. Duanesburgh. Rotterdam.
BOUNDARIES. North by Montgomery and Saratoga; East by Saratoga ; South by Albany and Schoharie; and West by Scho- harie, counties. -
SURFACE. The surface of Schenectady county is agreeably diversified with hills, plains and valleys. Flint hill extends 16*
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2. Princeton, 1798.
3. Duanesburgh, 1801.
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through a part of the southern section, and a spur of the Kaya-' derosseras range passes through the town of Glenville, nearly to Schenectady. On the banks of the rivers are extensive flats.
RIVERS. The Mohawk, Schoharie kill and Norman's kill, are the principal streams.
LAKES. Lake Maria is a small body of water in Duanesburgh. CANALS. The Erie canal crosses the Mohawk near the east- ern line of the county, and passes along the south west bank of that river.
RAILROADS. It has four lines of railroads, the Mohawk and Hudson, Troy, Saratoga and Utica railroads, all centering in the city of Schenectady.
CLIMATE. The climate of this county is mild and salubrious, but subject to considerable extremes of temperature.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. The Hudson river group, consisting of grits and shales, or slaty rocks, is the prevailing surface rock of this county. The Utica slate makes its appearance in the neighborhood of Glenville. The whole county is overlaid by clay and gravel, to the depth of from fifty to one hundred feet. | Bog iron ore occurs near the line of Albany county. There are several local- ities of calcareous spar, one of which resembles arragonite. Quartz crystals and common jasper are also found in the county.
SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil is various. The extensive alluvial tracts along the Mohawk and other streams, are exceedingly fertile. The hills and plains are either a light sandy or clay loam, less fertile, and sometimes barren.
Pine and oak are the principal forest trees.
PURSUITS. Agriculture is the leading pursuit of the inhabit- ants. Wheat and barley are extensively raised. - The rearing of cattle occupies some attention.
Manufactures are quite limited. Flour, cotton goods, iron and leather are the principal articles.
Commerce. By means of its canal and railroads this county enjoys ample facilities for the transportation of its produce.
STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. Oats, potatoes, corn, barley, rye, buck- wheat, wheat, butter and cheese.
SCHOOLS. This county had in 1846, seventy-five common schools, with 3614 pupils. They were taught an average pe- riod of eight months, at an expense of $4960. The district libraries numbered 7115 volumes.
There were two select schools, with twenty-two scholars; an academy with 108 pupils, and a college, with eleven professors and 242 students.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Dutch Reformed, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Universalists, Roman Catholics and Friends. The whole number of churches is twenty-four, of clergymen, thirty-four.
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SCHENCOTADY. COUNTY.
HISTORY: This county was one of the first settled in the state. Previous to the year 1620 several Dutch traders estab- lished themselves here, to traffic with the Indians for furs.
The first grant of lands was made in 1661, to Arendt Van Corlaer and others, on condition that they purchased the soil from the natives. The deed was obtained in 1672, and signed by four Mohawk chiefs. It comprised a part of the present city of Schenectady.
In November, 1665, Governor Nichols granted to Mr. Alex- ander Lindsay Glen, a Scotch gentleman of ancient and noble. descent, a tract lying on the Mohawk, and comprising most of the present town of Glenville. Mr. Glen resided for a number of years in Albany and Schenectady, and in 1690 removed to. his patent, where, in 1713, he erected a country seat, which he named Scotia, and which is still standing.
According to tradition, Neskayuna was settled in 1640. A patent for land in this town was granted to Harmon Vedder, in 1664.
On the eighth of February, 1690, the village of Schenectady, then containing sixty-three houses and a church, was burned, and sixty-three of its inhabitants murdered, twenty-seven car- ried captive, and others perished, from the severity of the sea- son, in the attempt to escape.
The marauders who thus rushed upon the sleeping and de- fenceless inhabitants, like wolves upon the sheep fold, were a party of 200 Frenchmen and about fifty Indians, from Canada, who had nearly perished from hunger and cold in their murder- ous expedition.
Having plundered and destroyed the village, they commenced their return, but were pursued by the Albany militia and the Indians friendly to the English, and twenty-five of their number killed.
In 1748, the Canadian Indians made another hostile incursion into the county, and killed a Mr. Daniel Toll, who had gone about three miles from Schenectady, in search of some stray horses. On receiving intelligence of his murder, about sixty young men, from Schenectady, started in quest of the enemy. They were soon surprised by a party of Indians in ambush, and more than half their number were killed. The remainder suc- eeeded in reaching a house near by, where they kept the enemy at bay, till the Schenectady militia came to their aid, when the Indians fled and returned to Canada. Thirty-two young men, of the best families of Schenectady, fell in this affray.
The county was, with few exceptions, settled by the Dutch, and remained a part of Albany county until 1809.
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CITIES AND VILLAGES. SCHENECTADY city, the seat of justice for the county, is situated on the south branch of the Mohawk river, fifteen miles northwest of Albany. As has been already stated, it was founded at a very early period.
Previous to the construction of the Erie canal, it was a place of very considerable business, as goods intended for the western trade were shipped upon the Mohawk at this place. After the completion of the canal, most of this trade was transferred to Albany ; but the numerous railroads which now center here, have given it a new impulse, and its business and population have materially increased within a few years past.
The city has some manufactories-the principal are flour, paper, cotton goods, iron, leather, tobacco, malt liquors, &c. Population 6555.
Union College, which is located here, was founded in 1795, and received its name from the fact that its founders were mem- bers of different religious denominations. It has a corps of eleven professors, and three principal edifices, two of brick and one of stone. Its apparatus is very complete, and its library large and valuable. It is amply endowed, and has property to the amount of $450,000. Attached to the college building is a tract of land, 250 acres in extent, a part of which is laid out in walks and pleasure grounds. Its situation is highly picturesque.
Rotterdam is a small manufacturing village, in the town of the same name.
Duanesburgh is a village of some importance.
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XLVI. PUTNAM COUNTY.
- Square Miles, 916.
Organized, 1812.
Population, 13,958. . Valuation, 1845, 02,929,318.
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1. Kent, 1788.
4. Patterson, 1795.
2. Philipstown, 1788.
5. Southeast, 1795.
3. Carmel. 1795.
6. Putnam Valley. 1838.
Mountains. FF. Highlands. U. Taghkanic Range.
Peaks. c. Anthony's Nese. d. Sugar Loaf. e. Bull Hill. f. Break- neek Hill.
Rivers. C. Hudson River. S. Croton. b. Peekskill.
Lakes, &c. Mahopack Pond. i. Shaw's Pond.
Villages. CARMEL Cold Spring.
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BOUNDARIES. North by Dutchess county; East by the state of Connecticut; South by Westchester county, and West by the Hudson river.
SURFACE. Putnam is one of the most mountainous counties in the state. The hills are not, however, generally abrupt or precipitous, but rounded and susceptible of cultivation almost to their summits. It is well adapted to grazing.
The Highlands extend across the western part of the county. The range commences at the river, in the southwest corner of Philipstown, and takes a northeasterly course, extending into Dutchess county. In Philipstown there are several considera- ble peaks, the most prominent of which are. Anthony's Nose, Sugar Loaf, Bull Hill, Breakneck Hill, and High Peak. The highest of these peaks is 1580 feet above the level of the Hudson ..
In the eastern part the Taghkanie range extends through the county, from north to south.
RIVERS. Beside the Hudson, which forms the western bound- ary of the county, the Croton river and its branches, and the Peekskill, are the only streams worthy of notice.
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LAKEL. Mahopack and Shaw's ponds, in the town of Car- mel, are the only bodies. of water of importance. The first is nine miles in circumference, and has two islande; the other is much smaller in extent.
THE CLIMATE is healthful, though cool.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. This county belongs to the south- eastern primitive district of the state. Granite, gneiss, and primitive limestone are the principal rocks. In the town of Pat- terson, and at several other points in the county, beds of trans- ition limestone occur. They are, however, of small extent.
The principal minerals of this county are iron ore, of the magnetic and hema- titic varieties, in great abundance, and of superior quality ; copperas, arsenic, copper ores, chrome iron ore, serpentine, asbestua, dolomite, tremolite, pyroxene, scapolite, epidote, zircon, aphene, albite, graphite, peat, and phosphate of lime.
SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. As might be expected from its geological character, the timber is principally oak, chestnut, ash, maple, hickory, &c. The soil is perhaps natu- rally sterile, but treated with plaster, produces luxuriant crops of blue grass, herds-grass, and clover. The appearance of the farms indicate that the owners are possessed of competence.
PURSUITS. Agriculture is the principal pursuit of the inhab- itants. Considerable attention is paid to the dairy, and to the rearing of cattle, sheep, swine and fowis. Much of the pro- duce exposed for sale in theNew York markets is brought from this county.
Manufactures receive some attention.
The West Point foundry, at Cold Spring, is the largest in the United States, and employs more than four hundred men. There are one or two other foundries in the county. The other manufactures are of comparatively little importance. There are iron mines in Philipstown, Putnam Valley and Southeast.
Commerce. There is but one good landing on the Hudson in this county, that of Cold Spring. Some commerce is carried on from this point.
STAPLE PRODUCTIONS. Butter, beef, wool and mutton are the principal staples. Calves, lambs, fowls, &c., are also car- ried to the New York market in large quantities.
SCHOOLS. There are in the county sixty-three public schools. In 1846, these schools were taught on an average nine months; 3345 children received instruction, at an expense of $6562. The libraries of the district contained 8618 volumes. There were also, ten private schools, with 124 pupils.
RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. Methodists, Baptists, Presbyte- rians, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics and Friends.
HISTORY. This county was settled at an early period, but re- mained attached to Dutchess till 1812. At the base of the Sugar
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Loaf, in Philipstown, stands Beverly house, formerly the resi- dence of Col. Beverly Robinson, a loyalist, who, during the rev- olution, went with his family to New York, and thence to Great Britain. His estate was confiscated by the legislature, and his family banished. This house was the head quarters of General Putnam, General Parsons, and the traitor Arnold. It was here that Arnold received the intelligence, that his treason was re- vealed, and from the landing on this estate he made his escape on board the British sloop Vulture.
From the foot of the peak called Anthony's Nose, to Fort Montgomery, a chain and boom were stretched, by order of the continental congress, in the autumn of 1776, for the purpose of obstructing navigation, and preventing the enemy from ascend- ing the Hudson. This chain was broken the same year, by the British.
In 1778, Captain Machin, the engineer who had constructed the former chain, superintended the making of another, of twice its diameter, which extended from West Point, to a battery at Constitution Island. This was never broken by the enemy, but was taken up every autumn, and replaced in the spring. It weighed 186 tons.
VILLAGES. CARMEL, in the town of the same name, is the seat of justice for the county. In picturesque beauty, and healthful- ness of situation, Carmel is surpassed by few villages in the state. Declining gradually to the shore af Shaw's lake, a beau- tiful sheet of water, it presents one of the loveliest landscapes on which the eye can rest. `Population 350.
Cold Spring, on the bank of the Hudson, in Philipstown, is a thriving village, supported mainly by the mammoth iron foundry, about a mile from the landing. Population 1500.
Southeast is a well watered and fertile town. Joe's Hill, a noted eminence, extends west from Connecticut, into the centre of the town.
Iron ore is abundant in this town, and of good quality. There are several ponds of considerable size.
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XLVII. WARREN COUNTY.
Organized, 1813.
Population, 14,908. Valuation, 1645, 0076,431.
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1. Queeneburgh, 1708.
8. Luzerne, 1792.
3. Athol, about 1800.
4. Bolton, about 1805.
5. Johnsburgh, 1805.
6. Hague, 1807.
7. Chester, about 1809.
8. Caldwell, 1810.
9. Warrensburgh, 1813.
10. Horicon, 1838.
Mountains. EE. Kayaderosseras. HH. Clinton. m. Luzerne. Rivers. C. Hudson. e. Jessup's Creek. f. Schroon Branch. Lakes. X. George. 1. Schroon. d. Brant.
Falls. k. Hadley. n. Glen's. o. Baker's.
Battle Field. Caldwell.
Fort. Fort George.
Villages. CALDWELL. Glen's Falls.
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WARREN COUNTY.
BOUNDARIES, North by Essex; East by Washington; South by Saratoga, and West by Hamilton county.
SURFACE. This county, with the exception of a small portion on the south, has a very elevated and rugged surface. The Lu- zerne or Palmertown range of mountains traverses the eastern section, the Kayaderosseras the central, and the Clinton range the western portion of the county. Many of their summits at- tain an altitude of from 800 to 1200 feet. The towns of War- rensburgh and Luzerne, are comparatively level.
RIVERS. The Hudson, Schroon Branch and Jessup's creek, are the principal streams. They have a southerly direction through the county.
FALLS. Hadley, Jessup's, and Glen's falls, are on the Hudson. LAKES. Lake George, which has already been described, and Schroon lake are the most important.
CLIMATE. Cold but healthy.
GEOLOGY AND MINERALS. With the exception of a small bed of Trenton limestone, in the valleys in the southeast part of the county, the whole county is primitive-composed of gneiss, with some hypersthene, granite and primitive limestone. Serpentine is also found in veins between the predominant rocks.
Iron is considerably abundant. The magnetic ore is frequent, but does not occur in large masses; porcelain clay, black marble of very fine quality, (from the vicinity of Glen's Falls,) verd antique, black lead or graphite, and peat, are the most important of the useful minerals. Besides these, fluor, zircon, pyrites, mes- sive feldspar, tourmaline, rutile, rhomb spar, quartz crystals of great beauty, And calcareous spar occur in several localities.
SOIL AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. The soil of the greater part of the county is sterile. Some fertile land, however, is found in the narrow valleys, and in the level portions above mentioned. A heavy growth of timber covers its hills, consist- ing of pine, spruce, fir, cedar, oak, maple, beech, elm and ash.
PURSUITS. Agriculture is the leading pursuit; but the settle- ments are sparse, and in many sections the gigantic timber is not yet felled. Many of the inhabitants are engaged in pre- paring lumber for market. The county seems to be very well adapted to grazing ; corn, oats and potatoes also succeed well.
The manufactures are those common to a new country ; lumber, leather, potash, flour and fulled cloths. At Glen's Falls, marble is also largely manufactured. The quantity of lumber sent to market from this county is very great.
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