Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 144

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

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The present Union Church was built in 1838. It was erected by the Baptists, who owned one-half, and the Methodists and Uni- versalists, who each owned one-quarter of the plant, and was occupied by them in pro- portion to their ownership. In 1871 it was thoroughly repaired, the Baptists having withdrawn their interest and erected a new structure. The first resident Methodist clergyman was Rev. B. S. Wright, in 1844.

THE CEMETERY .- About the year 1811, the present cemetery was purchased of Mr. Lathrop. Previous to this date interments were made at the south foot of the knoll on which stands the residence of George W. Smith, and two or three graves still remain there. Lathrop failed to give a deed of the lot, and it was included in the boundaries of lands sold by him to Fred Tyler, who refused to recognize the Lathrop transaction, and was proceeding to put his plow into the lot, when it was again purchased and a deed given in the name of Henry Warren and Am- brose Miller. Mr. Warren built a board fence around the yard in 1821, which was renewed some 25 years later, and which, in turn, has recently given place to one of wire, the red cedar posts of the first structure, after being in service 70 years, being intact.

SCHOOL-HOUSES .- The first school-house was built of logs, and was erected on the top of the Cramer hill, east of the familiar land- mark, the old birch. At that time the high- way ran between the Webb and Oakes farms, some 30 rods west of the present road. In 1809 a brick school-house was erected. Among its teachers were Dr. Woodman, 1815 ; Elder Danielson, David Smiley, 1820; Ora C. Bloss, 1831 ; Orlin C. Woodruff, Lu- cius Wright, Clark Adams, 1838 ; and Miss Cerene Barney. In 1838 Simeon Oakes, as trustee, built the red school-house a few rods to the northeast of the brick building, and fronting on the present highway. Its first teacher was Henry Knox. He was followed by the late Gilbert S. Woolworth. James A. Paris and John Sheldon were both wielders of the birch in this house in the forties. In 1858 the present house was erected. For several years Reuben G. Webb taught a most successful select school, pupils coming from a distance to avail themselves of his in- struction. Among them was the well-known Jacob Stears, Jr., so long clerk of the board of supervisors.

As illustrative of how little the temperance sentiment had been developed 60 years ago, the Rev. Mr. Winslow informs me that he was one of a military company of boys whose captain was a son of Fred Tyler, the hotel keeper. They carried wooden guns, painted red, and their hats trimmed with cockades

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made of geese feathers tipped with scarlet, and at every training, before disbanding, they were marched to the hotel, where the captain's father brought out the whisky and treated the company.

Of the stories told by the early settlers, two will bear repetition. One of these re- lated to the wonderful skill as a marksman of a brother of the narrator. One day while hunting he shot a humming bird through 60 rods of dense brush, and did not shoot half as straight as he could. The second story is of a wonderful cow, that gave fabulous quanti- ties of milk and who never had a calf, and

ing Coffeen's mill at Watertown, or the mill at Burrville. This mill is now abandoned as a grist-mill. The front has a face of ham- mered stone, and is apparently in as good condition as when completed in 1822. The dwelling house must have been, when built, the best stone dwelling in Jefferson county. Built in 1837, its pure style and substantial construction at once attract attention. It is two and a half stories, with a beautiful front of hammered stone, the window caps and sills being of the fine Gouverneur marble. These buildings are grand tributes to the memory of John Felt, their builder, who was

THE OLD GRIST MILL AT FELTS MILLS.

the singular fact connected with it, is that the cow's mother was equally famous as a milker, and, like the daughter, never had a calf. R. A. O.

FELTS MILLS VILLAGE.

The visitor of to-day at Felts Mills is filled with curiosity at the sight of two venerable- looking stone buildings, one of them the mill of the late John Felt, and the other his resi- dence, embowered in stately trees. We give a view of the mill, which is the lineal de- scendant of the very first grist-mill upon Black river, dating back to 1801, and preced-

for so many years the leading business man of that section.

The village of Felts Mills was first settled in 1800. A grist-mill was commenced that year and finished the year following. This was the pioneer mill of Jefferson county, and David Coffeen received 10 acres of land from the proprietor of the township as a reward for erecting it. [For more complete details see biographical sketch of John Felt, p. 685.]

The first blacksmiths were James Bentley and Phineas Wiswell. All the old settlers of Jefferson county can remember the Wis- well axes and the large P. W. marked thereon.

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

The first school taught was in an old house which stood just below the residence of J. C. Cross, and was continued there until a house was built on the present site, which gave way to an eight-square stone school house, in 1832. In 1852 the old stone house was torn down and the present school house built. The school district, in 1828, was divided, and a new district formed from this and parts of other districts. It was the year General Jackson was elected President, hence the name "Jackson" school house, and the Jacksonville district.

John Felt started a distillery in 1813, and ran it almost uninterrupedly to the spring of 1833. Within the circle of two miles there were four distilleries, viz : John Felt, Ashbel Symond, Jacob Fuller and Elisha Yeomans, Jr. It is said that when the church at Francis Corners, in Champion, was erected, quite a number of people paid their subscriptions in whisky.

The first merchant was Jenison Clark, who kept a small assortment of goods ; after him came William Brown, who kept but few goods on his shelves. Since 1828 there have been dry goods and grocery stores up to the present time.

John Felt came to Felts Mills in 1813. There were then but seven dwellings, one grist- mill, one blacksmith shop, one carding ma- chine, one tannery, in the course of erection by Elisha Parsons, who subsequently sold out to James and Hezekiah Morris.

SECRET SOCIETIES.

COURT JEFFERSON, No. 1430, Independent Order of Foresters, was organized at Felts Mills in 1893, and consists of 40 members. Loren F. Ritter, C. R.

THE I. O. G. T., of Felts Mills, is in a flourishing condition.

The public school at the village of Felts Mills is in district No. 7. R. W. Nunez, sole trustee. The names of the teachers are Howard McComber and Nettie Parker.

THE BUSINESS HOUSES OF FELTS MILLS.

W. S. Cooper & Son, dealers in dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, hats, caps, hard- ware and medicines.

Moses Bassett, boot and shoe maker. Henry Hart, general blacksmith.

S. W. Foster, dealer in general merchan- dise, flour, feed and meat market.

Henry Marshall, glove manufacturer.

S. H. Slack, station and express agent.

Arthur H. Tucker, justice of the peace.

M. McAndrews, proprietor of the Central House.

M. M. Parker, dealer in choice groceries, dry goods and general merchandise, also operator at the Central telephone office, and postmaster.

A. Z. Drake & Son, dealers in groceries, flour, feed and grain, salt, garden seeds, etc.

Taggart's Paper Company, Island Mill, office Watertown (see p. 190).

Huron Westcott, proprietor of the Maple View Hotel.

BLACK RIVER

Is an incorporated village, pleasantly located on both sides of Black river, in both LeRay and Rutland. In the early days it was known as Lockport. It is a station on the R., W. & O. Railroad system. The greater part of the business is done in the town of LeRay, and is treated of in that connection. [See LeRay.]

HENRY HOPKINS

WAS born in Stratford county, Connecticut, February 10, 1804. He was a son of Joseph Hopkins, of Waterbury, Conn., and the grandson of Joseph Hopkins, a lineal de- scendent of a family who, in 1620, emigrated from England on the ship May Flower, and settled in the State of Connecticut. His father and uncles served in the Revolutionary army. After the close of the Revolution, his father, being unfortunate in his shipping business, removed, about the year 1805, to Bridgeport, Conn., and in the year 1808 came to the town of Rutland, Jefferson county, then almost an unbroken wilderness. He began clearing off the forest and render- ing the land tillable. He died when Henry, the youngest son, was 26 years of age. The farm of 225 acres had been purchased by Henry the year previous, and the same year of the death of his father he married Miss Celestia Tyler, daughter of David and Chloe Tyler, of Rutland. In connection with farm- ing he carried on the produce business, buy- ing butter, cheese and pork, and shipping

to New York via Sackets Harbor and Os- wego. He is said to have paid the first ready cash for butter to ship to market ever paid in Jefferson county. In the year 1839 he entered into partnership with John A. Sherman, and the firm of Hopkins & Sher- man was the most extensive buyers in the county, largely controlling the trade for many years.

Mr. Hopkins was a man of uncommon ac- tivity and enterprise in every department of life. His frank and upright character and his deep moral convictions made him a man of mark and of strong mental and physical powers. Early in life he became a sincere and devoted member of the Congregational Church in Rutland, in which he was always a pillar and a leader, giving largely of his money and his time to its support. He reared a family of five children, and gave them all a liberal education. For many years he was a liberal supporter in his own neigh- borhood of one of the first schools in the county, it being the celebrated "Eames Dis-

HENRY HOPKINS.

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trict " school. Three of his children are liv- ing. Miss Catherine Hopkins, his eldest daughter, died in 1865, while acting principal of Mt. Holyoke Seminary, South Hadley, Mass., probably the most prominent young ladies' school in America. His second daugh- ter, Martha, wife of H. P. Dunlap, of Watertown, died a year later. Mr. Hopkins

died suddenly, February 4, 1880, at the age of 76. He was the last member of a family of 11 children, now all gathered to their final rest and reward.

Mary, another of the daughters of Henry Hopkins, married Mr. E. H. Thompson, for the past 37 years a prominent merchant of Watertown.

THE EAMES FAMILY.

MOSES EAMES, an unique character, was born in Rutland, March 19, 1808. His father, Daniel, came to Jefferson county from Hop- kinton, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1801, and settled in Rutland (then known as town No. 3), where he took up 160 acres of land and built a log house. This house stood on the site of the old home- stead, which was burned February 18, 1887. Daniel Eames died September 15, 1855, aged 88 years. His wife (who was Mollie K. Wight,) died February 4, 1842, aged 74 years.

MOSES EAMES.

They raised a family of 13 children, , of whom Moses was the 12th child. Moses was married June 7, 1837, to Delia A. Howk, of Rutland. He was a prominent agriculturist, and twice received premiums for the best farm-garden in the county. He was a direc- tor of the Agricultural Society, and in 1849 was made its president. For 24 years he was engaged in cheese-making, and in 1848 discovered and applied the heating of milk and the scalding of curd by means of steam introduced into the water in a chamber be- neath the milk, thus developing the portable

engine as a factor in manufacturing cheese. Mr. Eames kept a daily record, since 1830, of the weather, amount of rain-fall and of the principal events, which is very valuable for reference. He introduced into the county the first mowing-machine in 1852, and the first drain tile in 1857. In 1855 he was elected a member of the Legislature. He died June 7, 1892, in the city of Water- town (on the 55th anniversary of his mar- riag), aged 84 years. He was long known as a philanthropic, well-read farmer, emulous of doing good, a most lovable and well-re- membered man. It was he who erected, at his own expense, the iron fountain on the public square, where a thirsty horse may stand and drink without difficulty. If horses could vote, the late Moses Eames would be elected to a high seat in Heaven.

CLIFT EAMES, son of Daniel Eames, be- came the owner of the homestead, on which he lived all his life. He received a good En- glish education, and before he reached his maturity was engaged in teaching, and for a short time was engaged in lumbering down the St. Lawrence; but on coming of age settled down to the life-long occupation of a farmer. In October, 1826, he married Miss Harriet Webb, who died January 29, 1831. In the year following he married Lucy A. Tyler.

FREDERICK EAMES, the celebrated inventor and mechanical engineer, was a nephew of Clift and Moses Eames, and was killed at Watertown several years since as the result of his attempt to take forcible possesion of what he regarded as his own property. His invention of the patent air-brake has made his name known throughout the civilized world. His son, Lovett, aged about 18 years," was killed by lightning in the State of Maine.

JOHN B. VISSCHER, son of William B., and grandson of Col. Frederick Visscher, of Revolutionary fame, who was afterwards judge in Montgomery county, was born in Fairfield, Herkimer county, in 1826. In 1851 he married Lydia, daughter of Jerry Rowley, of Fort Plain, and located in Lowville, where he resided until 1869, when he removed to Tylerville, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits there for 15 years. He was post- master at Tylerville (South Rutland p. o.) for 14 years, was also notary public, and justice of the peace. In 1886 he removed to the farm he now occupies.

JONATHAN TRUMBULL, Efquire, CAPTAIN-GENERAL, AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF, of the STATE OF CONNECTICUT, in AMERICA.

To SAMUEL FELT, JUN., GREETING :

YOU being by the General Assembly of this State appointed to be First Lieutenant of a Company now ordered to be raised, and to join the Continental Army, reposing especial Trust and Confidence in your Fidelity, Courage, and Good Conduct, I do, by Virtue of the Laws of this State, Me thereunto enabling, appoint and impower you, the said Samuel Felt, Jun., to be of said Company; you are there- fore carefully and diligently to discharge the Duty of a First Lieutenant, in leading, ordering and exercising said Company in Arms, both inferior Officers and Soldiers, in the Service aforesaid, and to keep them in good Order and Discipline, hereby commanding them to obey you as their First Lieutenant, and yourself to observe and follow such Orders and Instructions, as you shall from Time to Time receive from me, or the Commander in Chief of said State, for the Time being, or other your Superior Officer, according to the Rules and Discipline of War, ordained and established by the Laws of this State, pursuant to the Trust hereby reposed in you.

Given under my Hand, and the public Seal of said State, at Hartford, the 2d day of December, Anno Domini, 1776.

[ SEAL. ]

By His Honor's Command,

George Wyllys, Secry

[A fair counterpart of one of Lieut. Felt's Commissions in the Continental Army.]

South Trumbull.

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THE FELT FAMILY.

Alban

JOHN FELT.

JOHN FELT was born in Somers, Conn., May 11, 1781. His father, Captain Samuel Felt, served in the French and Indian wars, and took an active part in the War of the Revolution. By the courtesy of his great- grandson, Samuel Felt, of Watertown, we are enabled to give a fac simile copy of one of the commissions held by this Revo- lutionary patriot. [See preceding page.].

John removed with his parents at the age of 13 into the then unbroken wilderness of Madison county, N. Y., where for 13 years he shared with parents, brothers and sisters, the perils and privations incident to pioneer life at that time.

In 1806, some misunderstanding having

arisen with his brothers in regard to division of property, with characteristic self-reliance he suddenly left them and his own share of the property and sought his fortune in the newly-opened up Black River country, locating in the town of Leyden, Lewis county.

In 1808 he married Polly, daughter of Oliver and Elizabeth Ackley, of Haddam, Conn. This was a fortunate alliance for both parties. Their 60 years of married life were such as to bring forcibly to mind the oft quoted simile of the sturdy oak and clinging vine.

In 1811 Mr. Felt removed to Great Bend, Jefferson county, and two years later to a

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

new settlement two miles lower down the river, where he purchased some 350 acres of land, comprising three subdivisions of Great Lot No. 2 of the town of Rutland, except- ing five or six building lots situated in the hamlet at the junction of Mill Creek and Black river, where the pioneer grist-mill of Jefferson county was then in full operation. This mill and a saw-mill were subsequently purchased by Mr. Felt, and thenceforward the place was known as Felts Mills.

In this first year of his residence at Felts Mills, he served as a private in the war then waged with Great Britain, and took part in the battle of Sackets Harbor. About 1814 he erected a distillery, and for many years carried on extensively the four-fold business of lumbering, milling, distilling and farm- ing. Distilling was discontinued in 1834, and merchandise added in 1841.

In 1821, needing more water-power than Mill Creek afforded, he purchased of Vincent LeRay the island in Black river opposite the new settlement, and the same year built dams across the two branches of the river. He gave this work his personal attention; but he was forced to lose one day from the job, caused by nearly severing a great toe with an adz. This day was employed in hollow- ing out and fitting a wooden shoe for the in- jured foot. The next morning found him in the water with his helpers as before.

The year following (1822), he erected a stone grist-mill. The power was water, both from Black river and Mill Creek, united in one pond. In 1823-24 he built the first saw- mill on his newly-purchased island. The second and larger mill was built in 1842. In these mills were four gangs of saws, several circular saws, a shingle machine, planing- mill, and at one time a threshing machine, believed to have been the first threshing machine set up in Jefferson county.

From time to time Mr. Felt made exten- sive purchases of pine timber and land in the towns of Wilna and LeRay, and in 1834 built a saw-mill on Black Creek, in the former town, some seven miles from Felts Mills. From two to three million feet of pine lum- ber, of most excellent quality, were annually shipped from these three mills to Troy and other Eastern markets.

In 1827 he erected the fine stone mansion in Felts Mills, in which his three surviving children now reside.

It may be of some, historical interest to many to learn that the first railroad in this State, that from Albany to Schenectady, was furnished with its bed-rails by Mr. Felt in 1834 or 1835. The material, Norway pine, was floated in the log to the Hunting- tonville saw-mill, there sawed into plank six or seven inches wide by two inches thick, and passed into the Elisha Camp ditch to be floated therein to Sackets Harbor, to go thence via Lake Ontario, Oswego and Erie canals, to place of destination.

But those beautiful and extensive groves of pine could not long stand before the remorse-

less onslaught of the lumbermen, made "all along the line." In 1851 Mr. Felt sold his island property and mills at Felts Mills, and seven years later the stone grist-mill, busying himself thereafter with farming at Felts Mills, and managing and disposing of sundry tracts of land in the town of Wilna, and a tract of some 9,000 acres in the counties of Lewis and Herkimer.

In character Mr. Felt was a sturdy, reso- lute, high-minded and honorable man ; a stranger to fear and discouragement ; a good neighbor and warm friend, and a public- spirited, patriotic citizen, whose sympathies and influence were ever on the side of sound morality and public virtue. In habits he was strictly temperate, being opposed alike to the use of intoxicants and tobacco. He took a deep interest in political affairs, though never an aspirant to office, the only office held by him being postmaster at Felts Mills and su- pervisor of the town of Rutland.

The children of John Felt were : Oliver A., born in Leyden, Lewis county, in 1809 ; went with his parents to Felts Mills in 1813. With the exception of a residence of four years in Wilna, he spent his life in Felts Mills. He married, in 1836, Elizabeth Bolt Weed, of Saratoga, N. Y. His earlier years were spent in the lumber and mercantile business, and later he became a conveyancer and small farmer. He held the office of justice of the peace about 16 years; he was notary public the last 10 or 12 years of his life. He died May 6, 1885, aged 76.

Polly Felt was born in Felts Mills in 1815, and married John T. Copeland, in 1834. She died in Watertown in 1844.

Samuel Felt was born in Felts Mills, June 20, 1817. He married Pamelia, daughter of Denton O. and Tryphena (Colton) Losee, in 1843. Until the last 10 years of his life he was engaged with his father and brothers in an extensive lumber and farming business at Felts Mills. The last few years of his life were passed in Watertown. He was a man of sterling integrity, sound judgment, strong attachments and kindly impulses. He died in Watertown, April 3, 1888.

John Felt, Jr., was born in Felts Mills, October 30, 1821. He began teaching at the age of 21, and followed that occupation, with short interruptions, till about 51 years of age. He graduated from the State Normal School at Albany in 1847 ; married Harriet Adelaide, daughter of James F. and Hannah Angel, at Clayton, N. Y., in 1851. He taught in the Albany Normal School from September of that year till February, 1854, and resigned at that date to accept the principalship of the Liberty Normal Institute, at Liberty, Sulli- van county, N. Y. He gave up teaching in 1858, on account of impaired health, but soon returned to that business, teaching in Felts Mills, Carthage, Brownville and Watertown. To Mr. Felt more than to any one person, Watertown probably owes the adoption, in 1865, of its present school system, and he was chosen by the first Board of Education to

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serve as its clerk, and inaugurate the new system. The course of study for the differ- ent grades then written out by him and adopted by the school board was in use with- out essential change for some 15 years.

He now resides with his sisters, Harriet and Maria, on the old homestead at Felts Mills, carrying on the farm cleared up by his father over 80 years ago.

Harriet Felt was born at Felts Mills in 1825, and since the age of two years has always resided in the old Felt mansion at

that place. Although quite infirm in body she has a clear mind, and is noted for her re- tentive memory. It is believed by those who know her well that she has not forgotten a single important fact, event or date that has ever engaged her attention.

Maria Felt was born at Felts Mills in 1828, and has always resided in the paternal man- sion, in which she and her sister are joint owners. These two maiden ladies are be- loved and respected by the community where their lives have been spent.

FAMILY SKETCHES.

WASHINGTON BEECHER, who died in De- troit, Michigan, in 1894, and was buried at Tylerville, was a native of the latter place, where he was born 84 years ago. His father was one of the earliest settlers of that part of Rutland, and was one of the stockholders in the cloth mill established there in 1812. Among the employes of this mill was the late Alvin Hunt, for many years proprietor of The Jeffersonian, now published as The Re- Union. Hunt was a writer of considerable force and originality, and married for his first wife a sister of Mr. Beecher. With the early days of the pioneers, their 'hardships and amusements, Mr. Beecher was familiar. He lived when the gaunt wolf prowled at the back doors of the log cabins, and the county paid a bounty of $15 for the carcass of each. For over 50 years he was the vil- lage sexton. He gave his time gratuitously and ungrudgingly, in rain or shine perform- ing his office with unvarying tact and kind- ness. On over 150 coffins he thrice sifted the mould which symbolized the re-absorption of the flesh into the earth which had nourished it ; and for all this long and wearying labor he received, as spontaneous remuneration, the sum of $15, the largest single item of which was a pig valued at $3.

Mr. Beecher was four times married. His first wife was Miss Polly Patten, mother of George Patten Beecher, of Watertown. By his second wife, Miss Lydia Seaman, he had a son, Marshall W. Beecher, now a successful business man of Detroit, Mich. But few octogenarians have a cleaner record than the subject of this sketch. He was an abso- lutely honest man, and notwithstanding King David, an absolutely truthful one. It is said that there are no lines so barren as those of an obituary, but the writer can attest that as neighbor and friend, as husband and father, he had no superior.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 144

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