Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 155

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

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TOWN BOARD OF WATERTOWN.

Frank M. Parker, supervisor; Charles Richardson, town clerk; Byron W. Gray, Thos. E. Beecher, Wm. C. Baker, assessors ; Philo T. Hammond, highway commissioner ; Albert Gurnee, Geo. G. Wilder, Wilbur F. Chidester, Dwight L. Bailey, justices of the peace; Thos. L. Losee, collector; Wm. Her- bert Sawyer, Fred. T. Mott, Harvey C. Rice, William W. Luther, inspectors of election.

EARLY DISCOVERIES.

IT is not generally known that to citizens of Jefferson county are traceable several of the most important discoveries of the century. Dr. Guthrie was the discoverer of chloro- form as early as 1832, and he thereby became one of the grand benefactors of the human race. It is difficult to estimate the value of such an invention, for it has saved thous- ands of lives and ameliorated the sufferings

of millions. The Doctor at the time of this discovery, had his laboratory and residence at Jewettsville, one and one-half miles east of Sackets Harbor.

He was also the discoverer of percussion powder, the method of striking fire by simple impact or blow. This also may be classed as one of the great chemical discover- ies of the age, for it has cheapened the cost of firearms, has simplified warfare, and in many ways benefited mankind.

To these great chemical discoveries we may add the manufacture of cheese by the use of steam in raising the milk to a desired temperature. It is calculated that this dis- covery in Jefferson county alone effects a saving of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and, in addition, giving a uniform quality to the cheese, of itself an important factor in marketing the product.

In Jefferson county, by Theo. T. Wood- ruff was thought out the plan of the sleep- ing car, an invention which, in nearly all civilized lands, has done so much to make travelling easier, and to render it possible for the sick to be transported long distances Here, also, by this same genius, before he was 21, was invented the first feasible plan for a mowing machine. Young Woodruff did not press his invention, because abler and older mechanics assured him that, although his invention was ingenious and novel, it had no practical utility, and he dis- missed the subject from his mind. It was reserved for McCormick to adapt the common grass-cutting machine to the work of reap- ing, and then the world had a machine that has become the farmer's greatest and most reliable friend, rendering the cultivation of large fields feasible, by the celerity with which the grain can be cut and cured.

In this same connection we may be par- doned if we introduce a few words to illus- trate the strange methods by which history repeats itself, and the imperfect manner in which early engineers made allowance for the growth of cities.

Mr. N. P. Wardwell, cashier of the Water- town National Bank, has kindly loaned us a copy of the Watertown Jeffersonian, of the date December 3, 1844, almost exactly 50 years old. Mr. Hunt was the editor.

The leading editorial in this number of the Jeffersonian has a strange parallel and relevancy to the present day, this same Tariff question being then, as now, a bone of contention between the two parties, Whig and Democratic-Henry Clay having then just been defeated for the Presidency. He ran as the distinctly Protective candidate, and the editor of the Jeffersonian tries to mitigate the effects of that defeat of the Protection policy, then as now, marked by the stopping of mills and general hard times. He says :

Defeated in their expectations of electing Mr. Clay, and of securing to the Whigs the prom- ised advantages which were to flow from the

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WATERTOWN.

protective policy, the Whig leaders are assiduously engaged in creating a panic, and, as a consequence, general derangement of business pursuits. Having predicted that the election of Mr. Polk would destroy public confidence and lead to widespread ruin and distress, his opponents find no other resource than a panic to bolster their tottering reputation.

All beyond what is necessary for consumption must be unprofitable to the producer. Let the market be overstocked, and dull sales and low prices inevitably follow. On the other hand, when the market is but barely supplied, sales are brisk at fair prices. This, as a general principle, will hold good the world over, and until new wants spring up or new markets are discovered, commercial affairs will move on much as usual. The merchant will pur- chase what he can readily sell at remunerative prices, the manufacturer and producer will prosecute their business with a view to the probable demand of their articles. The wants of the consumer must regulate the supply, for it would be worse than folly to extend any branch of business beyond proper and healthful encouragement. People must be clothed and fed, because their comfort and existence de- mand it ; but it does not follow that they must con- sume more than is reasonably necessary merely to ac- commodate avaricious and greedy producers.

These facts should be allowed their proper influence over the minds of men, especially when the effort is making to create a panic and unhinge the order of business. And such journals as parade columns of accounts of projects abandoned, of the curtailment of business operations, labor to destroy public pros- perity and to weaken public confidence in the institu- tions and laws of our country.

At the time this number of the Jeffersonian was printed, Mr. Timothy Dewey, a distin- guished engineer (father of Hon. Wm. Dewey, who died at Ashland farm, in Lyme, upon the property now owned by Mr. John P. Douglas), was publishing his ideas relative to a system of waterworks for what was then the village of Watertown. Mr. Dewey was the engineer who constructed the first gas-works of the city of New York, and the writer remembers him as a very intelligent gentleman. His ideas seem quite puerile when we consider the amount of water he estimated would be needed when Watertown should have reached a population of 20,000 souls. He says :

"The force pump should be eight inches in diame- ter, with three feet stroke, which with a suitable water wheel, will raise 200,000 gallons in 24 hours, sufficient to supply 20,000 inhabitants with 10 gallons each daily. I have estimated the work large enough to supply that number, believing that it is much more economical to build the work large enough at first, rather than be compelled in a few years to re-build at a great additional cost, as has been the case in many cities and towns I have visited. It is not unreasonable to expect that the population of this village will amount to 20.000 in less than 25 years."

Perhaps Mr. Dewey would be surprised to know that the daily pumping of the present waterworks is 4,000,000 gallons daily, instead of 200,000, and that the consumption per capita, instead of being 10 gallons, is 200 gal- · lons per day. He goes on to say :

"Besides, there will be a great saving of soap, as well as hard labor in washing ; more than one-third of the cost of soap will be saved, and one-quarter of the time bestowed in the necessary occupation. What security have you against the destruction of your houses and property against fire? Scarcely does a week pass without the public papers recording the loss of property in towns and cities, as well or better supplied with water than this. And how can you ex- pect to escape so great a calamity.

"How much longer shall it be said that the luxury of a bath, in the health-preserving and invigorating element, cannot be obtained in Watertown ; that the element which the saint and savage, the Turk and

Christian almost adore, shall remain a stranger in the place? Shall the hands and the face only receive a small share of the blessing, and the vital organs take care of themselves as best they may? Every family should have its bath house, and every one would, was it known here, as in many other places, how greatly bathing in pure water contributes to the promotion and preservation of sound health. Why may it not be soon said that Watertown, with its Public Square, with its spouting fountains, its "Liter- ary and Scientific Institute," its fine and well-filled churches, its moral and energetic population, its in- exhaustable water power, is the most desirable resi- dence in the northern part of this splendid Union?"

Another evidence of the march of engineer- ing ability, as developed by the present ele- vation of the water reservoir, is shown by the recommendation of Mr. Dewey that the reservoir should be placed "upon the eleva- ted ground between the First Presbyterian Church and the Academy." That elevation would admit of sending a stream of water about up to the second story windows of Washington hall.

Coming from soap to some more charmingly suggestive themes, the old gentleman at last gets on to the right key, and his closing com- pliments express the honest sentiment of all who were born or have resided in beautiful Watertown. Travellers say, "See Paris and die." We say, "See Watertown and live there."

One of the minor curiosities of history developed by an examination of the census statistics of Jefferson county in the past, is the fact that in 1814 there were 30 negro slaves in this county, distributed as follows : Brownville one, Houndsfield 18, LeRay four, Watertown five, Wilna two. In 1820 the number of slaves had been reduced to five. Antwerp had four and LeRay one. These facts bring up curious reflections, and ought to make all our people lenient in their judg- ment of the South, who originally derived slavery from the same source as our people here. But we found slavery unprofitable ; the South made it pay, and made it the basis upon which rested all their productive capacity.

The census of 1814, taken in pursuance of an act passed April 15, of that year, gave the following results :

Total population in the 13 towns 18,564

Electors, with freeholds of the value

of £100. 1,039

Electors, with freeholds worth from £20 to £100 107

Electors, not freeholders, renting tenements worth 40s. per annum 1,641 Free white males, under 18 years of age 5,367

Free white males, of the age of 18 and under 45. 3,376

Free white males, of 45 years and up- wards 716

Free white females, under 18 years .. 5,204

Free white females, of the age of 18 and under 45 2,954

Free white females, of 45 years and upwards 700

All other free persons 217

732

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

The national census of 1820 gave the fol- lowing returns :

White males, under 10. 5,592

White males, from 10 to 16 2,459

White males, from 16 to 18

700

White males, from 16 to 26, includ- ing heads of families .. 3,831

White males, from 26 to 45, includ- ing heads of families

4,143

White males, 45 and upwards, in- cluding heads of families

1,574

White females, under 10

5,521

White females, from 10 to 16 2,397

White females, from 16 to 26, includ- ing heads of families. 3,005

White females, from 26 to 45, includ- ing heads of families 3,040

White females, of 45 and upwards, including heads of families. 1,250

Foreigners not naturalized. 787

Persons engaged in agriculture 134

Persons engaged in manufactures 1,603

Colored males, free

Colored females, free.

Doubtless the large number of slaves in Hounds- field is accounted for by the fact that Madison Bar- racks are in that town, and the army officers often owned slaves, especially those who married Southern girls.

RELIGIOUS EXCITEMENT.

The following episode may throw some little light upon the times that are now past, and it would not be presented to the public in this History but for the lesson thereby inculcated. Grotesque as this convention may appear to us now, as the effort of a few free-thinkers and agnostics to express their disapproval of what they denominated "whirlwinds of moral desolation," it was more than equalled lately in the city of Watertown when a Labor Day demonstra- tion had in its procession a fully-rigged bar- room, with tempting decanters, sparkling glasses and appetizing liquors. Now if the rum-drinkers who patronize such places and favor such a show as an illustration of the dignity of labor, would call a convention and pass resolutions denouncing temperance, a parallel would be found to the anti-religious resolution which we copy below. To carry still further the awful grotesqueness of the Labor Day parade alluded to, how would it do to have in next year's parade an opium-joint in full blast, with male and female partici- pants and every conceivable accompaniment ? Surely that would set people to thinking. But to our convention. We quote from an article prepared by the ablest Historian of Jefferson county, the late Dr. Hough :

"The prevalence of religious excitement through- out the county meeting the strong disapprobation of a portion of the citizens, led to a convention at the Court House, July 2, 1831, at which Curtis G. Brooks presided and Russell Sherman was secretary. The meeting was addressed by Joseph C. Budd, T. C. Chittenden and others, and a committee, consisting of J. C. Budd, J. B. Ryall, Geo. White, Norris M. Woodruff, Alvin Hunt, and Wm. Coffeen, was ap- pointed to draft resolutions 'expressing an opinion relative to Modern Revivals of Religion, as they have

been popularly denominated, which are now raging to a greater or less extent in different parts of our county.' In these, a conscientious approval of pure religion was avowed, but the popular excitements of the day were denounced as whirlwinds of moral desolation,' making mankind the slaves of fear, in- vading the sacred sanctuary of domestic happiness and sowing discord in families. On motion of Joseph Goodale, Alvin Hunt and John Clarke were appointed to draft an address to the citizens of the county on the subject of these excitements, which was pub- lished in the county papers. In this it was said : 'We regret that in the prosecution of any inquiry or investigation, it should be taught that Reason should be silenced and that any system, doctrine or faith should be established on other ground than a convic- tion of its truth and propriety ; and should the very large and respectable meeting who instigated this address thereby incur the imputation of being en- emies of Religion, it will be because in their consider- ation of this subject they consulted 'that still small voice' which is not heard in the 'whirlwind ' of fanaticism, or discovered in the 'fire' of religious bigotry. Moral and religious sentiments lose none of their force in being expressed in good language, in a temperate manner, and at a suitable time and place, and we believe that the poet who put into verse the following, one of the finest passages of Biblical eloquence, could have had no reference to the religious demagogues who infest this country, who creep into the sacred desk with no title but suffrance, and, by a peculiar kind of ranting, boister- ous declamation and coarse theatricals, bring re- proach even upon the high vocation to which they aspire :

'How beautious are their feet Who stand on Zion's hill, Who bring salvation on their tongues And words of peace reveal.'"

To think how the aesthetic souls of Norris M. Woodruff, Alvin Hunt and Joe Budd must have swelled with honest indignation at those "whirlwinds of moral desolation," seems to the writer peculiarly afflicting ! These resolutions and the "whirlwinds " aforesaid so unmistakably pointed to Method- istic efforts at revivals, whereby many sin- ners were turned from their sinful ways, that no guide-board need point the reader to the right solution. This convention, consid- ering the men engaged in it, and their solemn platitudes, appear to the writer as really one of the very funniest things he has unearthed in his researches after novelties in good old Jefferson. J. A. H.

THERE are several general subjects which would be proper to take up in connection with the town of Watertown. It is a large and important dairying farm as well as a grain-producer. We had prepared an ex- haustive and very interesting article upon cheese-making, introducing a description of the improved methods formulated by Mr. Harris, the great authority upon that subject. But we have been forced to shut out that article, so great has been the pres- sure to insert matter that could not well be dispensed with. As will be seen, we have gone quite largely into biographies and per- sonalities in this History, as indeed, we promised to do at first-but there is this to be said, such sketches are really a part of the personality of our times. We have inserted several on the following pages, which would have gone in the towns where the subjects resided, had they been received in time. They are all worthy of an attentive perusal.

MR. H. WALTER WEBB,

3d Vice President N. Y. C. & H. R. R. R.

733

WATERTOWN.

H. WALTER WEBB.

SOME writer for a New York newspaper, under date of August 18, 1894, lets himself loose in the following style :

" While Doctor Chauncey M. Depew is dividing his time in Europe between talking horse and diplomacy with Lord Roseberry, Rhine wine and yachts with the German Kaiser and anarchy and politics with Presi- dent Casimir-Perier, of France, his job as the president of the New York Central Railroad and authority on almost everything pertain- ing to railroads is being held down by a young man who is not so well known as he, but who is thought by men who know to be an altogether better president of railroads than the talented Dr. Depew. Dr. Depew's 'sub' is about twenty-five years younger than himself, and he can probably outrun and outbox his superior and do a lot of things that the doctor's stiffened joints would not possibly permit him to undertake. He is very much quieter than the doctor, and while he may not have as many friends, those who talk with him every day say that he can give his chief points in the line of 'hustling.' Although he was not altogether unknown four years ago, it was not until then that his genius as a railroad manager brought him prominently before the public. Mr. Depew was then, as now, in Europe hobnobbing with the big guns over there, while Cornelius Vanderbilt, who owns most of the New York Central Road and who hires Mr. Depew at a fancy salary, was somewhere in Africa."

This screed reads well, and desiring to know more of this man who has proven himself able to "hold down" the great Chauncey's seat, we have taken some pains to make inquiries about him. We are told that in the spring of 1890 the directors of the New York Central railroad determined to make some changes in the organization- changes which involved promotion of some of the abler officers of the road. Among other things which they voted to do was the creation of a new department, the head of which was to be elected third vice-president of the system, and to have supreme direction of the traffic of the road, both passenger and freight. He was to be held, in short, re- sponsible for the management of such busi- ness as was offered to the company. The choice for this responsible office fell upon H. Walter Webb, and only a few weeks later this young man found himself face to face with a strike which was more threatening than any that had occurred upon the road, perhaps in its existence, certainly since the great strike year of 1877.

Two years later Vice-President Webb was called to face another emergency of the same sort, and these two experiences fixed atten- tion upon him as one of the great railway managers of the United States. Men who do not know Major Webb are asking one

another something about his personality and his intellectual qualities, as the generalship he displays not only in strike crises, but in those more silent but in some respects equally desperate battles which railroad com- panies as competitors of other railroad com- panies are constantly fighting.

In New York Major Webb is well known, but elsewhere, although he has gained wide repute, there is little knowledge of the man- ner of man he is. The story of his career contains much that is instructive and very interesting.

Major Webb is one of the sons of that dis- tinguished politician and editor, of the time when the Whig party was fighting its battles, Gen. James Watson Webb. Great as were Gen. Webb's achievements in the political world, when he came to old age he took greater pride in the promise which was already beginning to be fulfilled, of raising a family of boys who would gain distinction perhaps equal to that which was gained by the famous Field or Washburn or Wolcott families.

Walter Webb in his youth showed some taste for engineering, and he was placed in the Columbia College School of Mines, which is the scientific department of that institu- tion, and was at the head of his class some twenty years ago. After graduation, how- ever, young Webb felt some inclination toward a career at the bar. He gratified it to the extent of studying, being admitted and hanging out his shingle for a brief time. His legal education was of value to him, though only in other achievements toward which he began to drift soon after he opened his office. An opportunity opened for him to go into the banking and brokerage busi- ness, and for some years he was busy in studying the mysteries of Wall street, and in learning the market value of the securities there dealt in.

Almost incidentally he drifted into the rail- way business. His brother, Dr. Seward Webb, who married one of the daughters of William H. Vanderbilt, became interested in the Palace Car Company which the Vander- bilts controlled, and when Webster Wagner, the president of that company, met his sud- den death, having been crushed between two of his own cars in a railway ccilision, Dr. Webb became president of the company, and invited his brother to accept an official post in connection with it. Walter Webb had not been in the railway business a month be- fore both he and his employers discovered that he had peculiar qualifications for this business. It seemed to fascinate him. He was no pompous official, fond of sitting in richly carpeted rooms, and issuing orders with heavy dignity. He was everywhere. He studied the science of railway car build- ing ; he skirmished around among the shops ; he was not afraid of dirt, nor of putting on a

734

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

jumper and a pair of overalls, if necessary, and as a consequence he soon had not only mastered those duties he was employed to perform, but being full of suggestions and devoted to his avocation, he was rapidly pro- moted. He served really, while an officer, an apprenticeship, working harder than any other employe, never thinking about hours or salary, but only bent on learning the business.

In the railway business such a person moves rapidly toward the top. The history of railway corporations in the United States furnishes many such instances. Social in- fluence, political pulls, as they are called, family prestige, count for nothing in the development of railway men. Nothing but fidelity and capacity has any influence with directors in the selection of executive officers. Any other course would be perilous.

Therefore, when the time came for this corporation, one of the greatest in the world in railway management, to place a competent man at the head of its traffic business, Maj. Webb was selected, and so thoroughly has he justified that choice that at the time when President Chauncey M. Depew was consider- ing the invitation of President Harrison to become the successor of Mr. Blaine, as Sec- retary of State, it was understood in railway circles that Maj. Webb would be chosen president of the New York Central, in case Depew resigned that office.

Chief among Maj. Webb's qualifications for this work is his devotion to business. His college training as an engineer has served him well, and his legal knowledge has been of great value to him in the two great emergencies which he was called of a sudden to face, when many of the employes of the road went out on strike. He lived not five minutes' walk from his office, and he is fre- quently there as early as 7 o'clock in the morning. In the summer, when he is at his country place, he takes the first train into the city, while the bankers and brokers, and professional men who live near him, do not follow until two or three hours later. He rarely leaves his office before 6 o'clock, and sometimes is there until late at night. His office is a place of comfort, but not of lux- ury. Maj. Webb is democratic in his rela- tions with men, and none of the red tape which prevails in some of the great corpora- tion offices annoys visitors who desire to see him. If a delegation from the engineers or switchmen or from any of the other employes call, Maj. Webb receives them in a manner which does not lower their self-respect. There is neither condescension nor haughti- ness in his relations with them. Maj. Webb will receive hard-handed employes, and within an hour be in association with a group of millionaires, fellow-directors of his in the great bank which is located near his office, and his manner is the same in each case. He treats everybody in a business-like way. He is quick-spoken, prompt, decisive, without being curt or brusque.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 155

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