Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 100

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823-
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman
Number of Pages: 1094

USA > New York > Jefferson County > Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894 > Part 100

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The Baptist Church, of Perch River, is not located at the village, but about three miles away, on the road to Watertown. The church at Perch River is known as the Union Church, because two denominations or more joined in its erection. It cost $1,800. Mr. Charles Avery took the contract for its erec- tion, and Colonel Erastus Wright, of Depau- ville, had the work under his direction. It was dedicated in 1852. From that time until the present, the church has been sup- plied with the pastor of the M. E. Church, at Depauville, and much of the time by the Lutheran Church at Orleans Four Corners,

these two denominations alternating. Rev. W. A. Haven is the present pastor of the M. E. Church at Depauville, but the Luther- ans have now no stationed minister. The first trustees were: Silas F. Spicer, Archi- bald Sterling, John Cole, Lewis Webb and Charles Avery. The first Methodist minis- ter was Rev. J. Zimmerman, who began his services in 1852.

A Baptist Church organization was formed on Pillar Point in 1838, and had 30 members in 1839. S. Howard, G. C. Persons, Hiram A. Reed, Solomon Ingalls, Elisha Harris and Samuel R. Campbell were the trustees.

ALL SAINTS' EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT DEXTER Was organized July 14, 1839, with John Bradley and Gilman Wood as wardens; and Edmund Kirby, Jesse Babcock, Ora Has- kell, Solon Stone, James A. Bell, Andrew Wood, Israel Griffin and Robert Anderson, vestrymen. They have a commodious church edifice, and services are conducted every Sunday by the Rev. B. Weeden, of Sackets Harbor. The parish has about 16 members.

The Methodist Church at Dexter is sup- plied by the pastor, Rev. George Ernst, of Brownville.

THE FIRST UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF DEXTER Was formed September 5, 1841, with the following trustees : Thomas Broadbent, John Maynard, David Baker, Eleazer Parker, Solon Stone and F. W. Winn. The church was built in 1842, and dedicated in Decem- ber of that year by Rev. Pitt Morse. It was extensively repaired about two years since. The present pastor (1894) is Rev. B. B. Fair- child, and the present trustees are E. S. Clark, John Lehr, A. Foster, W. H. Winn; clerk, George W. Winn. The membership is about 70, and 65 members in the Sunday school. The young people have a Young Peoples' Christian Union.

The Presbyterian Church of Dexter was organized July 2, 1839, with 18 original members, by Rev. Marcus Smith. The first pastor was the Rev. Dexter Clary. The Presbyterian societies of Dexter and Brown- ville have usually been supplied by the same pastor, he preaching alternately on Sunday at either one or the other of these churches. A brick church was built in 1843-46, which was extensively repaired in 1893. Hon. James A. Bell gave the society a parsonage in 1887. The present membership is about 85. The present trustees are : H. Binninger, George Leonard; treasurer, M. E. Casley ; clerk, Howard Leonard. The society is in a prosperous condition, under the resident pastor, Rev. A. R. McNaughton. The Sun- day School has about 120 members. The church has a Young Peoples' Society of Christian Endeavor of about 40 members, a Junior Christian Endeavor Society and a Mis- sionary Society. The Christian Endeavor Societies have become an appendage to nearly all the churches in this part of the State doubtless to influence the young people.

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

MAJOR GENERAL JACOB BROWN.

PROBABLY the most distinguished citizen of the town of Brownville, past or recent, was Major General Jacob Brown, a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1775. He was the fourth in descent from George Brown, an English emigrant, who had settled in the Province two years before the arrival of Penn. General Brown's mother was a daughter of Joseph Wright, a cele- brated Quaker preacher. She possessed a degree of intelligence and strength of mind seldom equaled-qualities that were de- veloped in her son at an early period. Samuel Brown, his father, possessed a con- siderable estate, and gave his family the benefit of such instruction as the vicinity afforded, and for one or two seasons Jacob Brown attended an academy at Trenton, but his main education was at the winter's fire- side, where he kept a small school for the instruction of the younger members of the family.

An unfortunate speculation had deprived his father of the means of affording him a finished education. At the age of 16 he be- gan to look out for himself, and conceived the idea of retrieving the fortune of his family. This he began assiduously to do. From 18 to 21 he was a school teacher in Crosswicks, N. J., and having qualified him- self for the duties of a land-surveyor, he spent one year in Miami county, Ohio, to which section his father had thought of re- moving. But in 1798 Jacob returned, and again took charge of a Quaker school, this time in New York city. That being a time of great political excitement, he frequently took part in these discussions, and in one of them he formed the acquaintance of Gouver- neur Morris, which subsequently ripened into a warm friendship, and may have had an important influence in shaping General Brown's future. About the same time he became acquainted with Rudolph Tillier, the agent of the Chassanis Company, who came to the senior Brown's house and con- cluded with him for the purchase of a large tract of land at $2 per acre. In February, 1799, having given up his school, he started for his future home in the Black River country, the exact location of which had not been definitely fixed. He came to the French Settlement, or Castorland, near the High Falls on Black river, between which place and Utica he made several journeys during the winter, and brought in a quan- tity of provisions preparatory to his final re- moval to a location he had decided upon, which was at the head of navigation of Black river. In March, 1799, as soon as the river was clear of ice, he launched a boat upon its angry waters, and floated down to the Long Falls (Carthage).

Thence, in company with Chambers, Thomas Ward and a few hired men, he took the route of the French Road, then newly

opened, and when he supposed. they had gone far enough, struck off towards the river, which he happened to reach at the present village of Brownville. He was here so impressed with the unexpected advantages offered by the fall at the mouth of the Philo- mel creek, then swollen by spring floods, that he resolved to make his stand here, where the water-power appeared sufficient for every purpose required, and the river, with some improvements below, could be navigated by boats. On May 27, 1799, he was joined by his father's family, who came by the tedious navigation of the Mohawk, Oneida Lake, Oswego, and Lake Ontario. He commenced at once clearing lands, and the next year erecting mills. In September and October, 1799, he, with his brother Samuel, surveyed the townships of Hague and Cambray, in St. Lawrence county, and, until the opening of a land office at LeRays- ville, in 1807, he acted as the agent of Mr. LeRay, in the settlement of his lands in Brownville and adjacent towns. As the opening of roads is one of the first and most direct methods of promoting new settlements, the subject early engaged his attention, and he was mainly instrumental in procuring the construction of the State roads, one in 1801, from Redfield, by way of Adams, and one from Utica by way of the Black River Valley. Of both of these he was appointed a commissioner for locating and opening, and he succeeded in getting them both to terminate at Brownville, where himself, his father and brothers had opened a store, built mills, commenced the manufacture of pot- ash, which found a ready market in Kingston and Montreal, and made extensive clearings for raising grain. In 1804, the question of forming one or more new counties from Oneida, became the absorbing theme, and a convention was held at Denmark, November 20, 1804, to decide upon the application, at which most of the delegates are said to have gone prepared to vote for one county, but from the influence of Mr. Brown, and Gen. Martin, of Martinsburgh, were induced to apply for the erection of two new counties. In locating the county seat, the most active efforts were made in each county, Martins- burgh and Lowville being the rivals in Lewis, and Watertown and Brownville in Jefferson, Mr. Brown was the principal advocate of the latter, but the mass of settle- ment was then in the southern towns, and the portion north of Black river was thought to be low, level and much of it swampy. The settlements that had been begun at that early day, at Perch River, Chaumont, and on the St. Lawrence, were visited by severe sickness, and the idea was entertained, or at least held forth to the commissioners who located the site, that it could never be in- habited. Mr. Brown next endeavored to procure the location on the north bank of the

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river, near Watertown, and made liberal offers of land for the public use, but the per- severance and intrigues of Mr. Coffeen suc- ceeded in fixing the site at Watertown.

After the opening of the land office at Le- Raysville, Mr. Brown continued for two or three years devoted to his private affairs, meanwhile having received, unsolicited, commissions of captain and of colonel of the 108th regiment of militia. His promotion in the line of military life is said to have arisen from his avowed aversion to frequent and expensive military parades in time of peace, calling off the inhabitants from their labors in the fields, and encouraging habits of intemperance, which in those days were too frequently the accompaniment of such gatherings. His views on the subject of military organizations approached quite nearly to our present system; and in select- ing him for office, the people were convinced that while he omitted nothing conducive to the public safety, he would cause them no needless expense of time or money for parades. In his public and private conduct and daily life, they saw him in possession of sagacity and intelligence, that led them to place confidence in his resources, should emergency call for their exercise, and the in- tegrity of his personal life convinced them that the public trusts with which he might be honored would be faithfully preserved.

On the declaration of war, General Brown was appointed, by Governor Tompkins, to the command of the militia on the frontier, from Oswego to St. Regis, and spent the summer in organizing and directing the military movements at Sackets Harbor, Cape Vincent, and various points along the St. Lawrence river; nor did this season pass without incident, to call into exercise those traits of decision, energy and tact, which were signally displayed at a later period in the war.

The plan which he proposed was, to take Prescott, and, by intercepting the communi- cations of the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa, to deprive Upper Canada of aid, and capture it in detail. His scheme was not adopted, and the expenditure of vast sums and much blood on the Canadian frontier, effected com- paratively nothing. On the 29th of May, 1813, General Brown was hastily summoned to defend Sackets Harbor from an attack which the enemy had planned against that place, in retaliation for our descent upon Little York. The successful result of his plans in this engagement, led to his pro- motion as a Major General in the regular service, and opened the way to that career of victory which in this and the following year, distinguished the American armies under his command on the Niagara frontier. Among all the men who came to the front during the War of 1812, Gen. Brown achieved the most enduring record.

A series of resolutions was passed by Con- gress, November 3, 1814, the first of which was as follows

"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representa- tives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the thanks of Congress be, and they are hereby presented to Major General Brown, and through him to the officers and men of the regular army and of the militia under his command, for their gallantry and good conduct in the successive battles of Chippewa, Niagara and Erie, in Upper Canada. in which British veteran troops were beaten and repulsed by equal or inferior numbers; and that the President of the United States be requested to cause a gold medal to be struck, emblematical of these triumphs, to be presented to Major General Brown."

Similar testimonials were voted to Generals Scott, Ripley, Miller, Porter, Gaines and Macomb.

This medal bears his profile (after a paint- ing by Sully) upon one side, and upon the reverse it commemorates the battles of Chippewa, Niagara and Erie. The New York Legislature passed a series of resolu- tions in December, 1814, expressing their ap- probation, and presented a sword to General Brown and to the several commanding offi- cers in those campaigns.

In the discharge of his official duties, Gen. Brown removed to Washington in 1821, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred February 24, 1828, from the effect of a disease contracted at Fort Erie. For some time previous his physical powers had been impaired by a paralytic stroke. His death was announced to the army by an order of the Secretary of War, and the burial ceremonies were performed with all the formality and dignity that his exalted rank demanded.

A monument has been erected by Congress over his grave, in Washington, having for its device a broken column, and upon the east side of the base the following inscription :

Sacred To the memory of Major General Brown, By birth, by education, by principle, Devoted to peace. In defence of his country A warrior. To her service he dedicated his life. Wounds received in her cause abridged his days.

In reviewing the life of General Brown, we are struck with the evidences of integrity and talent, and with the ability which he evinced in the various stations of public life he was called to fill. He left a name unsul- lied by any money-making or selfish scheme, and after handling millions of the public money, none of it was ever found adhering to his fingers.

The following are some of the inscriptions upon tombstones in the Brownville cemetery : Maj. Gen. Jacob Brown. (Buried in Washington, D. C.)

Pamela Williams, Wife of Maj. Gen. J. Brown, Born Dec. 13, 1785. Died April 14, 1878.

Col. Edmund Kirby, Born in Litchfield, Conn., April 8, 1794. Died at Avon Springs, N. Y., Aug. 20, 1849. He served in the Black Hawk War in 1832, and Mexican War, 1845-1848.

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Eliza Brown, Wife of Col. E. Kirby. Born Aug. 18, 1808, died Jan., 1864.

Brig. Gen. Edmund Kirby, Jr., Died May 28, 1863, from Wounds received at Chancellorsville, May 3. Aged 28 years.

William E. Everett, Born at Watertown, April 17, 1826; Died at Saratoga Springs, Sept. 19, 1881. In 1851 he was appointed Chief Engineer of U. S. Navy. Invented the machinery That laid the first Cable across the Atlantic.

Pamela W. Kirby, Wife of W. E. Everett, Born Jan. 9, 1831, Died January 23, 1878.

COLONEL EDMUND KIRBY.

AMONG the prominent eitizens of Brown- ville at an early date, was Edmund Kirby, afterwards Colonel Kirby.

He was a son of Ephraim Kirby, an officer of the Revolution, and afterwards judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut. Colonel Kirby was born at Litehfield, Connectieut, April 18, 1794; entered the army as lieu- tenant in 1812; served during the war on the Northern frontier ; joined General Brown as

aid in 1820; from 1821 to 1823 discharged the duties of adjutant-general; in 1824 was appointed paymaster of the army, and returned to Brownville, where he married Eliza, a daughter of General Brown. From 1832 to 1840 he was engaged in the Florida wars with the Indians; was chief of the pay department during the Mexican war; volun- teer aid to General Taylor at the storming of Monterey ; aid to General Seott at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Cherubuseo, Chapultepec, and the Mexican capital, always distinguished for courage and bravery.

In 1848 he returned to his home in Brown- ville; was enthusiastically received by the citizens, a large eavaleade going out to meet and weleome him on his approach to the village. The seeds of disease were im- planted in his system by the hardships of war in a tropieal elimate, which had so im- paired his health that he sought relief from the medieinal waters of Avon Springs, where he died August 20, 1849, aged 55. His re- mains were brought to Brownville, and laid in the village eemetery with fitting military honors. A plain shaft of Quiney granite marks his resting-plaee, and bears silent testimony to his heroie deeds. By his side in the village eemetery lie the remains of his gallant son, Brigadier-General E. Kirby.

COLONEL WILLIAM LORD.

THE undeveloped resources of this eounty, when new, offered at the beginning of this eentury, strong indueements to the indus- trious and enterprising New Englander. Among those attraeted hither from that land of steady habits, none was more enterprising and industrious than Colonel William Lord, born in Woodstock, Vt., in June, 1792. In the strength of his young manhood, with habits of economy and thrift, and with a body hardened by toil upon a rugged farm among the highlands of Vermont, about 1816 he eame into the Black River country. An unele of his having settled upon a farm near the village of Brownville, he was led to make that plaee his headquarters. The first winter he taught a country sehool in what is now East Houndsfield, and sueh was his in- dustry that after making due preparations for his sehool duties, he passed his evenings and holidays in making the wooden ploughs then used by farmers, as the iron or steel plough was not then invented. So skillful did he beeome that he gave up teaching, and erecting a shop in the village of Brownville, and gave his whole time to making plows. One of these primeval soil-disturbers is now preserved in the museum at Washington, D. C., alongside of some of the best modern steel instruments, to show by contrast the wonderful progress in the construction of tools. [See p. 253].

At this early day the only foundry for east- ing iron was at Watertown Centre, where

Mr. Bingham, with the blast of a blacksmith bellows, melted small quantities of iron, and cast a few plow points. This slow process did not suit Mr. Lord's wants and ideas of business ; so he ereeted a small foundry, the draught driven by a tube-bellows worked by horse-power. His business eontinuing to in- erease, he invited a skillful meehanie, Mr. Alanson Skinner, from New Hampshire, to join him; and they erected upon the bank of the river at Brownville, a large stone build- ing for a foundry and machine shop; and here (the east iron plow having been invent- ed), they supplied, under the firm name of Lord & Skinner, all this region with the best iron plows, stoves, and all kinds of cast-iron and machine work.

Appropos of Mr. Skinner's name, an anee- dote, showing Irish wit, is told. A Hiber- nian, who had beeome vexed with some of the chief business men of the place for what he thought their pieayune dealing, was met upon the outskirts of the village by a stranger, who inquired for the whereabouts of A. Skinner. Pat replied: "You go on over that bridge, and the first man you meet will be a skinner, and every other man you meet will be a skinner, bad luek to them."

The firm continued prosperous for several years. About 1837 the partners dissolved, and Mr. Lord took his oldest son, Gilderoy, as partner, and the business was continued with great energy and sueeess. The manu- facture of all kinds of stoves was earried on,

BROWNVILLE.

467

COLONEL WILLIAM LORD.

and a store was opened for the sale of stoves and all kinds of hardware. About 1845 the building of a railroad from Rome to this county was much discussed, and Mr. Lord, seeing at once the advantage of such a high- way, gave the subject such thought and study that he became one of its most enthu- siastic supporters, and at a public meeting at the court house, March 21, 1848, he offered a series of resolutions pledging the meet- ing to use all proper means for the con- struction of the road from Rome through to Cape Vincent. These resolutions were en- thusiastically adopted, and no doubt formed the turning point in this great project. Such was his enthusiasm that he became a most successful solicitor of stock, and with others secured sufficient to warrant the construction of the road. He was soon elected one of the directors, and surrendering his manufactur-

ing business to his sons, he served the road faithfully in whatever way he could be use- ful. He continued to serve as director until advancing years rendered his labors burden- some, and he resigned. He was always ready to aid in promoting education or liter- ary culture, and in his later years solaced his leisure moments in literary and poetical com- position, taking an active interest in the great events of the day, especially all that re- lated to the War of the Rebellion. His tastes were decidedly for military matters, and in his younger days he was colonel of the first rifle regiment raised in Jefferson county.

Soon after his settlement in this place, the War of 1812 was imminent, and from the proximity of the hostile Canadian dominions, some of the more timid settlers fled to their safer New England homes, or places farther

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

inland, and Mr. Lord was urged by some of his timid friends to leave also, but he replied that "the place for a man in time of danger was where he could best defend the country, and that he had come to stay, and the cowards might go."

He served some time in the militia called out to defend the border, for which service he was in after years given a pension, and it was in that service he became a friend and associate with Gov. John A. Dix.

In politics he was at first an ardent Whig, and latterly a Republican. In religion he was in his later years an active member of the Episcopal Church, serving as senior

warden in St. Paul's for many years. He was married in 1816 to Miss Charlotte Thomas, of Mather's Mills, near Belleville, and nine children were born to them: Gil- deroy, William, Pamelia, Elisha, Newton B., Nathan, Hiram and Fazetta. Of these, only two survive, Mrs. P. B. Bosworth and Mrs. Morrison.

Mr. Lord died April 9, 1874, reaching nearly the ripe age of 88 years; to the last his mind was active and clear, thus closing a long life of industry and good works. He was a man well known and universally respected. His industry was great, and his abilities of a high order.

FAMILY SKETCHES.

SAMUEL KNAPP was born in Litchfield, Conn., March 5, 1782. His ancestors were among the early settlers of Massachusetts. They came to this country about 1630 or '35. The subject of our sketch, in company with two brothers, John and Silvanus, re- moved from their place of birth to Lewis county, New York, about the year 1800. While he resided there he became acquainted with Miss Abia Thompson, to whom he was married April 28, 1808. About two years after his marriage, he, in company with his brother John, removed to Brownville, where he continued to live until his death, Decem- ber 18, 1862. He was a successful, enter- prising farmer, in which occupation he was engaged the greater part of his life. He was one of the founders of the Methodist Episco- pal Society, and also a member of the first board of trustees.

John C. Knapp, the only son of Samuel, was born in Lewis county, September 9, 1809. He followed the occupation of his father until a few months before his death, which occurred April 22, 1886. He was highly es- teemed by his neighbors for his sincere friendship and honest counsel in time of need. He was for years one of the principal mem- bers and supporters of the Methodist Episco- pal Society of Brownville.

ROSWELL BOSWORTH, from Massachusetts, settled near Smithville, in the town of Adams, about 1811. He was a farmer and a deacon of the Congregational church. He had eight children. Reuben S., son of Roswell, was born in 1819, and was educated in the Black River Literary and Religious Institute. Mr. Bosworth has been a lecturer on natural sci- ence, was a teacher in the Farmers' College, near Cincinnati, 10 years ; in the Normal School in Terre Haute, Ind., one year ; in the Watertown High School and in the Adams Collegiate Institute, 10 years. Presi- dent Harrison was one of his pupils in Farm- crs' (Indiana) College. Professor Bosworth married Pamelia R., daughter of Col. Wm. Lord, of Brownville, and they now reside in the Lord mansion. The professor is now a manufacturer of telescopes, and has for

several years been one of the most intelligent and respected citizens of Brownville. From his youth he took more pleasure in scientific pursuits than in the accumulation of money, being one of those brave souls who well understood the benefits of knowledge, and willing to pay the apparently high price de- manded for its acquisition. The Professor is not very closely engaged in the business affairs of life ; but his mind is very active, his judgment excellent, his general knowl- edge superior. His modesty has been his greatest drawback in life. Had there been more brass in his make-up he would have been as well and favorably known to the world at large as he is to the county of Jefferson. Mr. and Mrs. Bosworth reared one daughter, Miss Kittie, who was a great favorite, but died in her 20th year, greatly lamented.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 100

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823- Publication date: 1894 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman Number of Pages: 1094

Author: Haddock, John A. 1823-
Publication date: 1894
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : Sherman
Number of Pages: 1094