Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 154

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

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Bartholomew had bought his land in Octo- ber previous (1799), and at the same time purchases were made by Simeon and Ben- jamin Woodruff, E. Allen, James, Rogers, and Thomas Delano. During the year 1800 the two Woodruffs, Jotham Ives, and per- haps others, came on and built cabins pre-

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

paratory to settlement; but the only man who remained through the winter in the present town was Deacon Bartholomew. The next year, Simeon and Benjamin Wood- ruff, with their families, their father, Jonah Woodruff, and their younger brother, Fred- erick, came on and located where the two first-named had built their cabin, a short distance northeast of Burrville, in what has since been known as the Woodruff neighbor- hood. Jotham Ives, afterwards one of the prominent men of the county, made a per- manent location in that year at the extreme western part of the town, in the district now called Field Settlement, as did also his brothers, Joel and Dr. Titus Ives, It is said that Jotham Ives raised the first wheat in the present town of Watertown. There were numerous other settlers during this year, for when Watertown had once been fairly dis- covered, and its advantages duly observed, it filled up with great rapidity. Among those who settled in the eastern part of town in 1801 and 1802, were William Sampson, Rev. Ebenezer Lazelle, Thomas and Job Sawyer, John Blevan, Abram Fisk, Lewis Drury, Sherebiah Fay, Aaron Bacon, Jonathan E. Miles, Jacob Stears, Seth Peck, Henderson Howk, Silas Howk, Job Whitney, and Caleb and Nathaniel Burnham. James Wilson set- tled in 1802, on "Wilson Hill," south of Burrville, cutting his own road from Adams. In the central part were Eli Rogers, Aaron Brown, Elijah Allen, James Rogers, and others; while in the west were Joseph Wadleigh, Bennett Rice, Thomas H. Bid- dlecom, John and Zebediah Buell, Friend Dayton, and others. We give also a further list of others who had purchased land in township No. 2 in 1800 : Silas Alden, Heman Pettit, David Bent, Luther Demming, Ira Brown, Calvin Brown, Abram Jewett, N. Jewett, Benj. Allen, James Glass, Henry Jewett, Ephraim Edwards, and John Patrick. All these purchases were made by contract, and it was not until August 20, 1802, that the first deeds in the township were given to Jotham Ives, Elijah Allen, David Bent, Ezra Parker, William Parker, Joseph Tuttle, and Joseph Moore.

Meanwhile Mr. Stow, as agent for the pro- prietor, seeing that the settlement was likely to be very rapid, made a contract with Hart Massey, under which a saw-mill and a rude grist-mill for grinding corn were to be built that season, Massey was to furnish three acres of land and erect the mills, while Stow was to contribute provisions, mill-stones, irons, and, in short, whatever cost money. The expenses were to be equalized when the work was done, and the mills to be owned in partnership by Stow and Massey.

The point chosen for these important struc- tures was on the branch of Sandy creek be- fore named, a few rods below the somewhat celebrated cascade upon it. This cascade is just within the present town of Watertown, on its eastern edge. The stream, coming from the eastward, pours in several separate

channels over successive ledges of rock, fall- ing some sixty feet in the course of a few rods. In high water, even at this day, these falls present an interesting view, and when the country was covered with woods the volume of the stream was such as to give promise of a valuable water-power. In this, as in many other cases, clearing up the forest dried up the water, and the more wheat there was raised the less power there was for grinding it.

The saw-mill was built according to con- tract, and the grist-mill was completed in 1801 or 1802. These were the first mills of any description in Jefferson county south of the river. In 1802 they were sold to Captain John Burr, who, with several sons, located there at that time, and remained for many years. One of the sons, Theodore Burr, was afterwards an eminent engineer and bridge- builder. From this family the place received the name of Burrville, which it still retains.

The first minister in the town, and perhaps in the county, was Rev. Ebenezer Lazelle, who came in 1801 or 1802, and, oddly enough as it sounds to modern ears, he owned the first distillery in town, situated at Burrville. He is supposed to have built it ; at all events, he owned it in 1802.

Immigration was very rapid, and in the fall of 1802 there were about 60 families in the present town. Clearings were appearing in every directiou, but the deer still bounded over the hills by day and the wolves howled dismally in the darksome glades by night. The latter seldom attacked men, but were considered dangerous if goaded by extreme hunger or excited by the smell of blood.

One of the earliest settlers, named Mat- thews, related to Mr. James Brintnall, who in turn repeated an account of his visit to the city of beavers in the day of its prosperity. Across the little creek was the dam, com- posed principally of logs ground down and dragged into place with immense labor by the tireless architects, filled out with moss and sticks, and finished with a heavy coating of mud. The meadow was broad and the water was less than a foot in depth. Above its surface rose the mud-huts of the beavers, with no opening visible to the eye, Mr. Matthews stealthily approached, and could hear the inhabitants busy within their man- sions, but an unguarded movement disclosed his presence, and the next instant he saw them rushing away through the shallow water, without any of them having appeared above its surface. Mr. Matthews determined to investigate the mysteries of beaverdom, and accordingly took off the top of one of the huts. He found a comfortable chamber above the surface of the water, well cush- ioned with moss and leaves, and evidently serving as both bedroom and parlor for the beaver family. There was neither door nor window, but in the floor there was an aper- ture through which the occupants could pass down into the lower chamber. This was nearly full of water, and had an opening into

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the pond beneath the surface. Thus, these intelligent and industrious animals had com- fortable rooms in which to dwell, and were, at the same time, safe against all ordinary assailants.

But bears, wolves, deer and beaver all fled before the swiftly advancing tide of immi- gration. It is doubtful if another town in the State was settled with more rapidity than were the fertile fields of Watertown, after work was once begun. The axes of the pioneers resounded in every direction, and the smoke of their cabins rose from every valley and hill-side, Of course the fateful dramas of birth and marriage and death were soon enacted in these lately untrodden wilds. The first birth was that of a son of Adam Bacon, at Watertown Centre. It was quite a common custom in those days for the first male child born in a township to receive the name of the proprietor, and to be presented with a lot of land by him. Tradition asserts that on the next visit of the proprietor of Watertown the jubilant father informed him that a son had been born to him (Mr. Bacon), and added, "I have named him after you." "Ah! have you ?" replied the person thus addressed, putting his hand in his pocket. " Well, here is fifty cents for him !"

The first girl born in the present town of Watertown, was Sally Rogers, daughter of Eli Rogers, who also resided near the Centre. The first death, so far as known, was that of John Arnold, residing on the creek below Burrville. We are unable to say what couple first led the way into the temple of Hymen (which, in this case, was doubtless a log cabin), so there is all the better oppor- tunity to imagine the pioneer bride and groom as surrounded throughout their united career with all the blessings which love and joy could bestow.

Captain Richardson was the first super- visor of the town, 1808-9.

In March, 1803, Tilly Richardson, com- monly known as Captain Richardson, an old Revolutionary soldier, located himself in the valley, about a mile and a half southwest of. Burrville, where he was long a prominent citizen. Joseph Sheldon came with Captain Richardson, and settled on "Dry Hill," in the south part of the town, where he was long a prominent citizen, and reared a reso- lute and numerous family.

We have mentioned the distillery at Burr- ville, owned by the Rev. Mr. Lazelle. In 1803 he sold it to Thomas M. Converse. In it the grantor is described as "Reverend Ebenezer Lazelle," and the distillery as being "near Captain John Burr's mill." Mr. Converse soon after became the proprie- tor of a store at Burrville (the first in the present town of Watertown), in company with Jabez Foster, the firm name being Foster & Converse. After Mr. Foster's re- moval to Watertown village, about 1807, Mr. Converse continued the business alone, also managing his distillery and an ashery, and being the leading man of the little vil-

lage until his death, in 1811. Orville Hun- gerford, afterwards one of the distinguished men of the State, was a clerk for Foster & Converse during their partnership. Timothy and Anson Hungerford were early settlers between Burrville and Watertown Centre.

The first church in town, and probably the second in the county, was the First Congre- gational Church of Watertown, organized at Burrville, in Caleb Burnham's barn, on the 3d day of June, 1803, by Rev. Ebenezer La- zelle. When Mr. Burnham wanted his barn to put wheat in, the church held meetings in divers places : in the ball room of Colonel Tuttle, in the wagon-shop of Deacon Saw- yer, in school-houses and private houses. There was no regular pastor, and the preach- ing was mostly by missionaries from other localities.

In 1805 the territory under consideration ceased to be a part of Oneida county, the new county of Jefferson being formed by the Legislature at that time. The county seat was fixed at the little village of Water- town, the growth of which rapidly increased, and the surrounding town of course had a considerable access of immigrants, who de- sired to be near such a promising market. Among those (it is impossible to give a full list), who located in the east part of the town, from 1803 to 1812, were Jonathan Baker, William Huntington, John Gotham, Seth Bailey, Doris Doty, Cyrus Butterfield, Cyrenius Woodworth, Levi Cole, Samuel Thurston, Captain Job Whitney, Anthony and Andrew Sigourney, William Fellows and Samuel Thurston. In the Centre Corlis Hinds, Reuben Scott, Benjamin Green and many others. In the west the most prominent settler was Elijah Field, of Wood- stock, Vermont, who, in 1805, purchased the Buell farm on the western line of the town- ship. He had no less than nine sons and three daughters, most of whom were of mature age, and settled near by, but over the line in Houndsfield. The whole district on both sides of the line has since been called Field Settlement. Among those in that part of the town, besides those already named, were Aaron Blodgett, Samuel Bates, Myrick Bates and Asaph Butterfield. In the north- west were Captain James Parker and others.

On February 17, 1806, the town of Houndsfield was formed from Watertown by the Legislature, corresponding in Lize to sur- vey Township No. 1, and reducing Water- town to the size which it retained up to the incorporation of the city in 1869. There was not much chance for anything but farms in the western part of the town. A distillery was early erected on the Wadleigh place, on Mill Creek, which was afterwards changed to a grist-mill, but this was long since abandoned.

Burrville was at this period quite a rival of Watertown. William Lampson had an axe-factory, with a trip-hammer carried by water, where he made edge-tools. James Mann built a tannery there about 1806. It

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afterwards passed into the hands of Theo- philus Redfield, best known to the old settlers as Deacon Redfield. He kept six or eight men at work in his tannery, and as many more in his shoe-shop. About 1809 a carding machine was built a little below the grist-mill. Afterwards a cloth dressing establishment was put up nearer the falls. There had been an hotel from the first, the earliest landlord whom any one remembers was Septimus S. Adams.

All these establishments, together with the store, ashery and distillery of Mr. Con- verse, made quite a lively little place. There was no organized church in Watertown vil- lage, and many of its people used to go on foot and on horseback to attend religious services at Burrville. Mr. Hart Massey made the journey very regularly ; he and his boys walking, and his wife riding on horse back, with her daughter behind her on a pillion. When there was no minister, ser- mons would be read by Dr. Brainard or Judge Strong.

But Watertown was all the while gaining ground, and the people did not like the idea of going five miles to church. It was pro- posed to build a church edifice at Watertown Centre (where there was a tavern and a few houses), for the accommodation of both vil- lages. In February, 1811, the "Religious Society of Watertown" was formed, with the view of carrying out that idea. The trustees were : Tilly Richardson, John Sikes, Thomas Sawyer and William Fellows, repre- senting Burrville and vicinity ; Hart Massey and Isaac Benedict, on the part of Water- town village; and Aaron Brown, the tavern- keeper, at the Centre. It was voted to build a church at the latter point; but nothing further was done, and the next year the breaking out of the war prevented all action in that direction for the time being.

Log school-houses, covered with "troughs" (i. e., half-logs hollowed out and laid in a row with the hollow part up, covered by another with the hollows down), were the first educational temples of the town. In these assembled not only great flocks of children, but the congregations which listen- ed to the inspiring words of the early preach- ers, as they made their toilsome way from one settlement to another. Among those who preached through this town, besides the Rev. Mr. Lazelle, already mentioned, were " Father Puffer," celebrated for his knowl- edge of the Bible, which a doubtful tradition asserts he could repeat from the beginning to end; Rev. B. Tyler, Rev. N. Dutton, Father Bliss, Rev. Libbeus Field, of Field Settle- ment, and Rev. James Brown, father of Mrs. George W. Wiggins. Rev. Hezekiah Field, another member of the same family, and Rev. David Speer ("Father Speer," as the latter was affectionately called), resided in Rodman, but he preached in Watertown in the pioneer days, beginning as early as 1805. He continued his services for more than 50 years, and died in extreme old age.

The principal physician in town was Dr. Craft P. Kimball, who began to practice at Burrville before the War of 1812, and con- tinued to do so till his death, in 1872. He left quite a number of descendants, one of his sons now residing near Burrville, a much- respected farmer. The manufacture of pot- ash was, of course, a most important busi- ness during the settling up of the town, for this would bring cash when hardly any other production of the country would pay the ex- pense of transportation to market. When the embargo was declared in 1808, stopping intercourse with Canada, and thus prevent- ing the exportation of potash by the only available route, numerous were the ex- pedients resorted to to facilitate the removal of the precious article.

The Folts Mills, on the road from Water- town to Brownville, was so called from a shrewd Mohawk Dutch farmer of that name, who lived there, and who was reputed par- ticularly expert in conducting the secret traffic in potash. Many a score of barrels of potash, either belonging to the surrounding farmers or purchased from them by William Smith, the Watertown merchant, was quietly forwarded by secret roads to the St. Law- rence, and thence to Canada, through the sharp management of the person referred to. Hart Massey, the collector of this district was well aware what Folts was about, and was constantly on the watch to detect him in some overt act, but without suc- cess. Once Folts himself thought he was caught. He had a lot of potash stored in his barn, waiting a good chance, and one dark night he was engaged with one or two assis- tants in loading it into the sleigh of a neigh- boring farmer, preparatory to starting for the St. Lawrence, by way of a secret road cut through the woods north of the river for this very purpose. Suddenly up drives Collector Massey in his cutter.

"Hello, men! what are you doing here?" cried the officer, dimly seeing through the darkness what was going forward. Folts was hard pushed for a moment, but his shrewdness did not desert him.

"Vell," said he, "Bill Smit, he got me to keep some potash for him till he can sent it to Utica, 'cause dis tam embargo won't let him sell it in Canada, vere it would pring somethings, and dese mens is just pringing it to my parn. Come poys, hurry up ; it is so colt as ter tuyvel !" and forthwith the men began to roll the barrels into the barn instead of out of it.

Massey watched them to the end, saw the barn door fastened and the team start for home, and then, as he could not prevent Folts from keeping potash in his barn on its way to Utica, he drove to the village. The smug- glers watched him till they were satisfied that he was safely housed, then returned and loaded up the potash, which was soon on its way to Canada.

By the time of the War of 1812, Watertown looked very much like an old settled country.

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On the principal roads more than half the houses were of frame, the trough-covered log school houses were abandoned for frame ones, and the whole town was being cleared up, except on some of the hills and along the river in the northeastern portion.

Among the settlers of 1809 were Anthony and Andrew Sigourney, brothers, who loca- ted in the Woodruff Settlement in the eastern part of town. Anthony Sigourney's son, Alanson P., born the following December, is still living on the old homestead, to whom we are much indebted for information regarding that part of the town.

As to the war on the frontier, we shall only refer here to a few matters pertaining especi- ally to the town of Watertown. Its militia belonged to the 76th regiment, under Col. Tuttle, and whenever there was considered to be danger of invasion, which was frequently the case, they were called out en masse. Old ladies told how, in their husband's absence, they took their children and some blankets into the wheat fields, night after night, and slept there, hoping thus to escape the toma- hawks and scalping knives of the Indians, should these terrible marauders seek their homes.

The first uniformed militia company in Jefferson county was the Watertown Rifles, formed principally in the eastern part of that town in the spring of 1813. William Sampson, of Burrville, was the first captain ; Jonathan Miles, who lived down the creek from Burrville, was the first lieutenant ; the ensign's name is unknown ; and John Gotham (afterwards Colonel Gotham) was orderly ser- geant. Most of the young men and middle- aged men of that locality were in it. Squire William Huntington had four sons in it ; there were five Delanos, three Woodruffs, two Woodworths, two Sigourneys, etc. The com- pany organization was kept up until 1846, when it was disbanded on the repeal of the old militia law.

When Sackets Harbor was actually attacked in May, 1813, expresses came galloping in hot haste through the county, and on every side the farmers were seen hurrying in hot haste, on foot and on horseback, with guns on their shoulders toward the endangered post. The Watertown Rifles turned out in full force. Benjamin Woodruff happened to be away from home. Arriving several hours later, he shouldered his rifle and started for the Har- bor, drawing powder to use from the Water- town Arsenal on the way. Finding it too coarse to prime his flint-lock rifle, he bought some priming powder at the store at Sackets Harbor while the battle was going on, and then took his place with his comrades. Four citizens of the western part of Watertown were captured in that affair and taken to Halifax. Two of them, Messrs. Ayers and Ingalls, died in Halifax ; Mr. Graves and an- other returned home. Meanwhile the women, children and old men listened with terror to the booming guns, often assembling in large numbers for sympathy and counsel. In the

Woodruff district they gathered on the highest point of Benjamin Woodruff's farm, whence the smoke of the conflict and the lake beyond could plainly be seen. All the men were gone except old Jonah Woodruff, the patriarch of the settlement. Long they list- ened with fast-beating hearts to the sounds of the conflict, but at length the noise died away, and they saw the British fleet, headed by the "Royal George," slowly sailing out of the harbor.

After the war the the church question, always a contentious one, came up again. Even during the conflict the people at the county seat had organized the "Watertown Ecclesiastical Society" for seculiar purposes, and by this time they were so strong that the Burrville folks evidently thought it useless to continue the struggle. In November, 1815, the regular place of meeting of the First Congregational church of Watertown was removed to Watertown village. The old re- ligious organization remained the same, but it was united for secular purposes with the Watertown Ecclesiastical Society, and two Burrville men were added to the board of trustees of the latter body. Six years later the church was changed into the First Pres- byterian Church of Watertown, by which name it is still known.

The tract between the State road and the river, in the northeast part of the town, was the latest considerable section to be settled. A man named White moved in there and made a clearing about 1820, and about 1821 William Huntington settled at the point now called Huntingtonville, built a dam across to Huntington Island, and erected a large saw-mill. Shortly afterwards a scythe fac- tory was built at the same point. This was followed by a shingle-machine and clover- mill, and Huntingtonville bade fair to be an important manufacturing village. But Watertown and high water proved too much for it. Between 1840 and 1850 the build- ings just named were carried off one after another by the impetuous floods of Black river. Finally the dam shared the same fate, and Huntingtonville, as a manufactur- ing place, ceased to exist. In 1828 an hotel was opened by Charles Tewell, on the State road, about four miles east of the centre of Watertown village. A public-house has been kept there ever since 1828, except between 1836 and 1844.

About 1825, Captain Sampson erected a blast-furnace at the top of the Burrville cas- cade. It was kept up only a few years, and was the last serious effort to establish manu- factures in that vicinity. Deacon Redfield moved to Watertown, the tannery passed through several hands and was finally aban- doned. The carding-mill, the cloth-dressing works, and, finally, the axe factory, all shared the same fate.

The town, which 40 years before had been an unbroken forest, had become, in 1840, one of the best cultivated and most fertile districts in the State. The village of Water-

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town, which was still a portion of the town, with its numerous manufacturing and mer- cantile establishments, furnished a ready market for the products of the surrounding farms.

In September, 1851, the Watertown and Rome Railroad was completed to the former village, running for about five and a half miles through the present town. In 1873 the Carthage, Watertown and Sackets Harbor Railroad company completed its road to the city of Watertown, two and a half miles being in the town proper. In 1874 the same road was extended to Sackets Harbor, which gives this town two and a half miles more of railroad. Both roads are now a part of the R. W. & O. system.

The principal business of the town is dairy- ing, though all kinds of grain can be raised with great facility. There are several cheese- factories within its limits, turning out near 100,000 pounds of cheese yearly.

The principal history of Burrville has already been given. Its business has nearly all been absorbed by Watertown. It now contains a grist-mill (the same erected in 1802), a saw mill, a harness-shop, a grocery, a hotel, a post-office, with a daily mail from both east and west, and about 30 houses. .

SUPERVISORS.

The records previous to 1805 were des- troyed: Corliss Hinds, 1805 to 1808, inclu- sive; Tilly Richardson, 1809 and 1810; William Smith, 1811; Egbert Ten Eyck, 1812 to 1819, inclusive; Titus Ives, 1820 to 1826, inclusive; Jabez Foster, 1827; Titus Ives, 1828; Daniel Lee, 1829; Henry H. Coffeen, 1830 to 1834, inclusive; Orville Hungerford, 1835-36-37; . Joel Woodworth, 1838-39-40; Orville Hungerford, 1841-42; John Winslow, 1843-44 45; Orville V. Brain- ard, 1846-47; George C. Sherman, 1848; Adriel Ely, 1849; Kilborn Hannahs, 1850; Orville Hungerford, 1851; Robert Lansing, 1852; David D. Otis, 1853-54. For balance of the list, 1854 to 1894, see pp. 337-344.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 154

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