Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 124

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 124

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My strongest memory of those early days cling to a peculiar and most popular char-

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

acter, who was known as "Uncle Tom " Spicer. In his youth he doubtless had not the opportunities which many others enjoyed, but it could with truth be said of him that he made good use in his mature years of all the natural talent bestowed upon him by his Maker. I remember him as a tall and dark- skinned man, in the prime of life in 1832, when he was the father of a large family of boys and girls, some of whom were grown up. Whatever his early life had been, at the time I write about he was the most fearless and pronounced Christian in all those parts. In the public and social religious meetings he was a power, but in everyday life he was as joyous and companionable as any child. Other men were respected and feared, but " Uncle Tom," as he was affectionately des- ignated by young and old, was the one be- loved. Entirely companionable, full of mirth, and with a constant flow of good humor, if I were to make a journey round the globe he would have been the one I would have se- lected for companion. There was a licensed exhorter, named Gardiner, who resided in Jericho, a very earnest, devoted Christian man, and much beloved. He was generally in attendance at the weekly prayer meetings at my father's house, as was also " Aunt Abby," Mr. Spicer's wife, a woman of great sweetness of disposition and renowned as a singer, having a peculiarly fine soprano voice. My mother was also a good singer. When Brother Gardiner gave the exhorta- tion and " Uncle Tom " prayed, and "Aunt Abby " and my mother sang, a meeting was in progress that was well calculated to make sinners tremble. Many conversions followed these revival efforts, and the influence of these unpretending Christians led to a better observance of the Sabbath in that neighbor- hood, and may have been the means of im- planting fixed impressions for good in many a soul that otherwise might have gone the wrong way. At these meetings, as well as on all occasions where he offered up public prayer, Mr. Spicer had a way of pounding the seat before him with his clenched fist, which gave a peculiar character of earnest- ness and force to all his petitions, but it must have been hard on the fist. I remember that while he was praying I had no difficulty in keeping awake, but was fain to fall asleep while less earnest petitions were being of- fered up. Peace be to his ashes! There was no one to take " Uncle Tom's " place in our hearts when he died. full of years and Chris- tian hope. His religion made him tender of heart, watchful over his own life and kind to all. Such appears to me to be the right kind to have. "Uncle Tom " was prominent in the battle of Sackets Harbor, and it was said that after the battle was won and the British troops began to sail away he ran up on the hill west of the town and made de- risive gestures at the enemy. History does not state what was the effect upon the Brit- ish, but they were already on the run.

The town of Houndsfield was formed from Watertown, February 17, 1806. It embraces No. 1, or "Hesiod," of the " Eleven Towns," and was named in honor of Ezra Houndsfield, who, with Peter Kemble, purchased the south part of the town (15,913 acres) from the proprietors, March 10, 1801. It is situated on Black River Bay, on the west border of the county, has an area of 27, 790 acres, and is bounded on the north by Black river and the bay of that name, which separate it from Brown- ville, east by Watertown, south by Hender- son and Adams, and west by Henderson Bay and Black River Bay. Galloo, Little Galloo, Stony and Calf Islands, which lie in Lake Ontario, also belong to the town of Houndsfield. The surface of the town is somewhat diversified, though in the main it is level, and the soil is a clayey and sandy loam. Through nearly the center of the town flows Mill Creek, which rises in the town of Watertown and discharges into Black River Bay. A branch of this streani from the north rises in a long strip of low land, originally a swamp, filled with tama- rack, black ash, ceder and elm, and other varieties of timber peculiar to such a locality, and running almost to the city of Water- town. Much of this land has been re- claimed and cleared, and the stream, during the summer, becomes nearly dry.

The waters of Black River Bay were early regarded as an eligible place for a com- mercial point, and in a work published in Paris in 1801, the following description of it is given under the name Niahoure :

At the bottom of this gulf Black river empties, forming a harbor sheltered from the wind and surges of the lake, which, during the prevalence of the southwest winds, roll like those of the ocean. The land on the right or south side of this bay is ex- tremely fertile, and is a grove more fresh than can elsewhere be seen. That on the left, i. e., the country that extends to the north of the Bay of Niahoure, as far as the St. Lawrence, and east to the Oswegatchie, is not less fertile, and the colonists be- gin to vie in settling it.

Much discussion has obtained regarding the location of La Famine, or Hungry Bay, and the question of its exact location has never been definitely settled to the satisfac- tion of all. On Charles C. Broadhead's map of Macomb's purchase, made about 1791, and published in Documentary History of New York, vol. III., the name of Hungry Bay is given to the waters comprised within Six-Town Point, in the town of Henderson, and Point Peninsula, in the town of Lyme. Guy Johnson's map of the country of the Six Nations, including part of the adjacent colonies, made in 1771, and published in Documentary History of New York, vol. IV., gave the name Niourne Bay to the above waters, and located Famine Bay near the mouth of Sandy Creek, in the present town of Ellisburgh. Famine Bay probably received its name from the want of provisions and sickness, which

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decimated De la Barre's expedition. De Meneles, in a letter to the minister, says that the camp at La Famine was made "in places never inhabited, entirely surrounded by swamps." Ellisburgh is the only town in this county having a lake shore which can furnish such marshes. They exist at the mouth of Big Sandy Creek.

This town is a part of the original Bolys- ton Tract, and in common with 10 other towns in Jefferson and Lewis counties, com- prising an area of nearly 300,000 acres, be- came the property of Nicholas Low, Wm. Henderson, Richard Harrison and Josiah Ogden Hoffman, July 15, 1795. These eleven towns form what has since been known as the Black River Tract. On the division of this tract Houndsfield fell to the share of Hoffman and Harrison, who, on July 14, 1797, conveyed to Champion and Storrs 11,134 acres in the northern part of this town, with the town of Champion (15, 708 acres), for $58,333.33. On the 14th day of November, 1798, Champion and Storrs sold a portion of the above to Loomis and Tillinghast, receiv- ing two notes for $6,000 each, which, with a mortgage upon the premises not being paid, the tract was sold by a decree of chancery, at the Tontine Coffee House in New York, June 20, 1801, and bid off by Augustus Sacket, of that city, who received a conveyance from Champion and the assignees of Loomis and Tillinghast. While the sale was pending, Mr. Sacket, having heard of the location, and inclining to purchase, made a journey in 1801 to the place, and was so struck with the great natural advantages for a port which the place presented that he hastened back, and having secured the purchase, returned with a few men to commence improvements. In the second and third years he erected an ample and convenient dwelling, and the little colony received the accessions of mechanics and others.

At the first town meeting convened at the house of Ambrose Pease, and from thence adjourned to the house of Joseph Landon, March 4, 1806, Augustus Sacket was chosen supervisor ; William Warring, clerk ; Amasa Fox, William Barker, Samuel Bates, Jr., Theron Bates, assessors ; Ambrose Pease, Robert Robbins, commissioners of highways ; Jotham Wilder, John Patrick, overseers of the poor; Jeremiah Goodrich, collector ; J. Goodrich, William Galloway and John Root, constables. At the same meeting it was

"Resolved That the inhabitants of this town, who shall hunt any wolf or panther in this town (though he should kill such wolf or panther in any other town) shall be entitled to $10 bounty."

The meeting also appointed Theron Hin- man, Augustus Sacket and Amasa Fox, dele- gates to a general meeting of the county to nominate a suitable candidate for the Legisla- ture at their own expense. The first meet- ing was warned by Amasa Fox, Esq.

SUPERVISORS .- 1806-8, Augustus Sacket ; 1808 (special meeting), Elisha Camp; 1809-18, E. Camp; 1819, Hiram Steele; 1820-23, E.

Camp ; 1824, Daniel Hall, Jr .; 1825, E. Camp ; (special meeting to fill vacancy), Wm. Baker ; 1826-27, Daniel Hall, Jr .; 1828, F. Camp; 1829-41, Daniel Hall; 1842, Seth P. Newell, Jr .; 1843, Benjamin Maxon; 1844, D. Hall ; 1845, Augustus Ford; 1846-7, B. Maxon ; 1848-50, Jesse C. Dann; 1851, Samuel T. Hooker ; 1852, J. C. Dann; 1853, Edgar B. Camp.

For complete list of supervisors from 1854 to 1894 see pages 337-344.

This town derives its name from Ezra Houndsfield, a native of Sheffield, in Eng- land, who, about 1800, came to New York as agent for his brothers, John and Bartholomew Houndsfield.

In 1890 Houndsfield had a population of 2,651. The town is located in the first school district of Jefferson county, and in 1888 had 17 school districts, in which 14 teachers were employed 28 weeks or more. There were 667 scholars attending school, and the aggregate days' attendance during the year was 65,316.

Probably the first settler was Amos Fox, about 1800, who located near the present "Maskolunge burying ground," on great lot 36. He is given the credit of having made the first improvements in the town, and his name appears prominently upon its early rec- ords. None of his family now live in the neighborhood, and he himself has long since closed his life's labors and laid down to his long rest.

The arrival of settlers was quite rapid up- on the nature of the country becoming known, and as early as September, 1802, a traveller reported about thirty families living in town- ship number one. Before the breaking out of the War of 1812-14 the town had become comparatively well filled. As timber was abundant, and ashes commanded a greater price than anything they could raise at that time, the manufacture of pot and pearl-ashes was extensively carried on, nearly every man receiving a share of profits from the traffic in those articles.

Several years previous to the War of 1812, five brothers, Solomon, Robert, Asher, Aus- tin and Joshua Robbins, came from Berk- shire county, Massachusetts, and located at what is now known as the Robbins Settle- ment, in the southwest part of the town. These men were the first settlers in that lo- cality, and made the first improvements.

William Rowlson was the first white male child born in the town of Hounds- field, at the Harbor, September 18, 1804. His father, Rial Rowlson, was one of the first settlers at the village, having located there about 1802, from Connecticut. Squire Reed, a native of Rhode Island, also came from Connecticut to this county in 1802, first lo- cating in the town of Adams, whence he re- moved to Sackets Harbor in 1806 or '07, and became prominently identified with the af- fairs of that village. He served in the Revo- lutionary War. After the breaking out of the War of 1812 he removed to Brownville,

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where he died. His son Daniel, who came to this county with his father, was a captain on the lakes for many years. Daniel De Wolf was a blacksmith in the navy yard at the memorable battle which took place on May 29, 1813.

Ira Inglehart, a native of Canada, removed to St. Lawrence county previous to the War of 1812, and settled near Ogdensburg, after- wards coming to Philadelphia, Jefferson county, and next to Watertown. He served in the American army during the war, par- ticipating in the Sackets Harbor fight, and in the fall or winter of 1815 made a final set- tlement in Houndsfield, where he owned a fine farm. His son, C. W. Inglehart, was a resident of Sackets Harbor for many years, and over 60 years an inhabitant of the town. He died at Sackets Harbor.

In the southern portion of the town set- tlements were also made quite early, more especially towards the eastern boundary, in the neighborhood of Stoell's Corners. Na- than Baker was among the early comers, lo- cating some time previous to the year 1807, near the south line of the town.

The villages of Brownville and Dexter, on Black River, lie partially in Houndsfield. In addition to these are the hamlets of Stoell's Corners, Field's Settlement, Camp's Mills, Jewettsville and Robbin's Settlement, which are simply clusters of dwellings around localities where early settlements in the town were made.

The Gull, Snake, Great and Little Galloo, and Stony Islands lying in Lake Ontario, west of this town, are considered as belong- ing to it, although they all are nearer the shore of Henderson. On Galloo island, is a light-house.

The Maskolunge Burial Ground Associa- tion of Houndsfield, was formed March 31, 1849, with Frederick M. Livermore, Samuel Wilder, Thomas W. Warren, Richard Hooper, John Hunt, Chauncey Smith, trustees.

NONE but the older inhabitants of the county can properly understand the great difference between the means of transporta- tion in the early days and the present. When the earth was bare of snow, the lumber wagon, hauled over roads poorly keept, was the only vehicle in use for handling the freight which is now so easily dragged by steam in all sea- sons over iron rails, at the rate of thirty miles an hour. In winter the freight of course usually took an easterly direction, Utica and Rome being the objective points towards which it gravitated during the months when Lake Ontario was not navigable. The charges for hauling goods from Rome or Utica were then necessarily very high as compared with our present freight bills. The first power printing press ever landed in Northern New York was brought for the writer from Utica on a wagon, at an expense of about $40, or nearly 80 cents per hundred. This condition of the country should be understood when we write about Sackets Harbor, which was

for so many years the main depot for receiv- ing and forwarding the surplus crops of Jef- ferson and the western part of Lewis county. Until the railroad reached Watertown, the village of Sackets Harbor was one of the busiest places in the country for seven months of the year, and its business men ranked sec- ond to none in enterprise, ability and com- mercial rating. Long lines of loaded wagons filled its main street from March to Novem- ber, delivering the butter, cheese and grain that was seeking a market, and carrying homeward the salt, cement and merchants' goods needed in the interior. I have seen over 100 wagons a day passing through Wa- tertown on their way to Sackets, and 500 loaded wagons have been waited upon in a single day at that place. This made lively times. But there came a day when all this was changed. The railroad diverted nine- teen-twentieths of this trade to other centers, and Sackets Harbor as an important shipping point ceased to exist. Many of her promi- nent business men removed to the West, where they quickly came to the front among able competitors. Some remained and clung with loving tenacity to the old town where they were born and where their parents slept in the village cemetery. Two of the promi- nent men of Houndsfield, representing the different individualities which made up the earlier population, we name below :

COL. ELISHA CAMP

Was a remarkably handsome man, with a countenance that revealed every emotion of his soul. He stood over six feet in height, weighing never less than 200 pounds. When I was about nine years old I first saw him at Stoell's Corners. To my boyish mind he seemed a king. He was then in the full de- velopment of his manly beauty, the peer of any man in Jefferson county. It was elec- tion day and the Colonel was a candidate for Congress or the Legislature. He drove up to the polling place, drawn by a team of beautiful grays, and raising his hat, bowed with a courtly grace to the crowd, who cheered him to the echo. He seemed to carry everything before him, for he was a Whig, and Houndsfield was always Whig in politics. I have not space to enlarge upon the charac- teristics of this remarkable man. His life was always laborious and useful. Full of personal magnetism, he was a natural leader of men. He was identified with Houndsfield from its earliest settlement, and was a sharer in all of Sackets Harbor's pros- perity as well as in its decline. His great ef- fort to develop manufacturing there by di- verting a portion of the waters of Black river through several natural waterways and excavated canals, would probably have been a great success and a public blessing had it not been for the selfish opposition of certain jealous opponents at Watertown. While they retarded the work and compelled the Colonel to tap the river some two miles above where he had intended, thereby greatly en-

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hancing the cost of the "canal," the pro- ject was measureably successful, though not to the extent desired and expected.

Colonel Camp was a heavy loser by both of the disastrous fires at the Harbor, and they swept away a large share of the means he had spent so many years in accumulating. Through his whole life no man was more re- spected. Not one of his townmen was his equal in public spirit and in progressive ideas. Had he been in early life an actor upon a larger theatre, and been brought in contact with enterprises commensurate with his abilities, his name might have ranked with that of Vanderbilt or George Law or Edwin D. Morgan. It was my privilege to serve through the Civil War with his two youngest sons-one a captain and quarter-

COL. ELISHA CAMP.

master in the regular army, and the other a captain in the 35th N. Y. Volunteers, and for a long time in command of the soldiers' depot at Washington They were both meritorious officers, deserving well of their country.

BENJAMIN MAXON.

One of the most enlightened, prosperous and reliable farmers of Houndsfield from 1830 until his death, was Benjamin Maxon, whose large farm was nearly south from Stoell's Corners, taking in a large slice of what was known as the " beaver meadow." Like Colonel Camp, he was a man of large stature, of commanding presence and of pleasing address, very domestic in his man- ner of life, respected and beloved by all who were privileged to enjoy his society. While

a very able he was a very modest man, averse to show or ostentation, perfectly con- tented with his position as a farmer, never soliciting office-indeed it might almost be said of him that he spent as much time in declining offices as some men did in seeking them. His farm was a model of thrift and large practical returns; his stock was always superior and his surplus products always brought the highest prices. He loved and raised fine horses-which recalls to my mind the story of his "bluffing" the somewhat overbearing Norris M. Woodruff, of Water- town. Mr. Maxon had a fine young horse which Mr. Woodruff wanted. The price was $200. Woodruff offered $175, but couldn't get him. He rode away, but re- turned the next day, ready to give the $200. The price was then $225. This roused Wood- ruff up to using some rather harsh language, and he again went home without the horse. The next day he returned, and Mr. Maxon being absent, left word with his wife that he would take the horse at $225, and for her husband to bring him down to the village and get his money. Several days having elapsed and the horse not arriving, Woodruff again called. Mr. Maxon was at home, and when asked why he had not brought the horse, replied that when he sold stock he always delivered it in his own barnyard, not at some distant point. "Besides," said he, "Mr. Woodruff, you cannot have the horse; I shall keep him for my own use." Wood- ruff was almost paralyzed at such a spirit, and rode away much disgruntled. This anecdote illustrates the independent spirit of the man. There never was a kinder neigh- bor nor a better friend, but he would not brook dictation from one who thought him- self superior. It was of such material these earlier settlers were made up. Mostly of New England stock, their fathers and grand- fathers had fought through the long and try- ing Revolution, and they regarded inde- pendence as a principle which was worth all it had cost, so they were quick to resent any- thing that savored of dictation. It is not too much to say of Benjamin Maxon that he had abilities that would have graced even the gubernatorial office, yet he was possessed of such straightforward ways and such sim- plicity of manner that a little boy like my- self felt at home in his presence. His eldest daughter, Sophia, married Hon. Jay Dimick, whose untimely death from fire occurred in December, 1894.

SACKETS HARBOR.

Sackets Harbor village is a port of entry and a military post situated on Black River Bay, and is the terminus of the Watertown branch of the U. & B. R division of the R., W. & O. Railroad, 11 miles from Watertown, 193 from Albany, and 335 from New York. It has telegraph, telephone and express offices, a daily stage to Smithville. four churches (Presbyterian, Methodist Episcopal, Pro- testant Episcopal and French Roman Catho-

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lic), two hotels, a foundry and machine shop, saw and planing-mill, grist-mill, two general stores, four groceries, one hardware store, two drug stores, a merchant tailor, and about 1,200 inhabitants. The post-office at Sackets Harbor was established just previous to the War of 1812, and Ambrose Pease was ap- pointed first postmaster. [See business list.]

The village of Sackets Harbor, comprising great lots number 52 and 54, and sub-division lots one and two, in great lot number 52, of Houndsfield, was incorporated April 15, 1814. Elections of seven trustees were to be held on the first Tuesday of June, annually. Not less than three, nor more than five assessors were to be elected annually, together with a collector, treasurer, and as many fire wardens as the trustees might direct. A president was to be chosen by the trustees from their number, and some proper person for clerk.

The bounds of the village were curtailed April 18, 1831, by the detachment of all that portion north and east of the Pleasant, or Mill Creek, which was exempt from the op-" eration of the former act. On the 9th of May, 1840, the act was further extended.

Augustus Sacket began the first settlement at Sackets Harbor village. He built a saw- mill, wherein was sawed the lumber used in the construction of the first permanent house and other buildings put up at that time. The saw-mill was on Mill creek, where were also erected a grist-mill by Samuel Luff, the first one in the neighborhood, and a cotton factory by Solon Stone. In 1804 came Mr. Elisha Camp, a brother-in-law of Mr. Sacket, who settled at the village, and was appointed resi- dent agent, under whom the estate was sold, the last of the business being closed up about 1848 or 1849.

In 1805 several English families settled at Sackets Harbor, among whom were Samuel Luff and sons Edward, Samuel, jr., Joseph and Jesse, David Merritt, William Ashby, John Root, Henry Metcalf and George Slow- man. Besides these, John and William Ev- ans, Squire Reed, Amasa Hollibut, Charles Barrie [or Berry], Uriah Roulson [or Rowl- son], Azariah P. Sherwin, and others. Dr. William Baker settled in 1803, and was the first physician in the town. Ambrose Pease and Stephen Simmons were early inn-keepers, and Loren Buss and Hezekiah Doolittle, merchants.

On the 5th of March, 1809, Sacket con- veyed 1,700 acres, the present village of Sackets Harbor, to Cornelius Ray, William Bayard and Michael Hogan for $30,000 in trust, and a few days after Ezra Houndsfield and Peter Kemble conveyed to the same parties their interest in the tract. In a dec- laration of trust subsequently made, the par- ties concerned in this purchase appear to have been C. Ray, W. Bayard, M. Hogan, Herman Le Roy, James McEvers, Joshua Waddington, James Lenox, William Mait- land, William Ogden, McLeod, Benja- min W. Rogers, Duncan P. Campbell, Sam- uel Boyd, Abraham Ogden, David A. Ogden,

and Thomas L. Ogden. The first three named were trustees of the others, and Mr, Elisha Camp was appointed the resident agent, under whom the estate was sold.

In 1808 Charles Barrie (or Berry), a Scotch- man, opened a small store on the lot adjoin- ing the one now occupied by the Eveleigh House, and he was the first merchant in the village. Barrie sold out to Loren Buss, who continued the business.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 124

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