Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 157

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

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Mr. Bell was twice married. His first wife was Persis, daughter of James Wood, who died of pneumonia on the 18th day after their marriage. On December 15, 1841, he married Rachel P., the youngest daughter of Joseph and Hannah Smith, a fine Quaker family, who came from Pennsylvania to Brownville in 1820. This family is most worthily represented by her two brothers, Levi and Hugh Smith, the former of whom was for many years postmaster at Water- town, and the latter a member of the New York Legislature in 1872.

By the latter marriage they had two sons, James Edmund Bell, who died in his 18th year, and Howard Parry Bell, a graduate of Yale College and of the Columbian College Law School, an attorney and counsellor, and now in active business at Arlington, N. J.

Mr. Bell's business enterprise at Dexter was successful, but incapable of any con- siderable extension, and he turned his atten- tion to the growing West. He purchased several thousand acres of government land in Northwestern Minnesota, and in 1867, in connectiion with Joseph Gaylord Smith (son of Levi Smith), established a bank at St. Cloud, Minn.

The rapid development of the West made

HON. JAMES A. BELL.

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WATERTOWN.

a profitable demand for land in this choice section (the Park Region of Minnesota), and also justified the increase from time to time in banking capital. The first National Bank of St. Cloud, of which James J. Bell is presi- dent, and J. G. Smith, cashier, now has a capital of $100,000, and a substantial bank building of great artistic beauty, second to none outside the three great cities of Minne- sota.

In public Mr. Bell has been an active and intelligent participant in village, town, county and State affairs. For several terms he held the offices of school commissioner and supervisor of the town of Brownville. In 1859, by an unexpected majority over his Democratic opponent, he was elected to represent his district (then the 18th, com- posed of Jefferson and Lewis), in the State Senate, wherein he served his constituents and the entire State with such distinguished ability and popular satisfaction, that he was returned for a second and a third time. Mr. Bell was about 46 years old on entering his Senatorial career, and the best 12 years of his life were given to the State. For this purpose he divided a profitable business with others, inviting J. G. Smith and O. M. Wood into a partnership, known as Bell, Smith & Wood, at Dexter.

Even in his first term, Senator Bell was honored by his associates, in being chosen President pro tem. of the Senate, and by his just decisions and impartial rulings he secured the confidence and esteem of all the members of that body. He was a member of the Committee on Insurance and on Canals (and later in his official life became the head of the canal system of the State); but his great work was as chairman of the Finance Committee-always a committee of first importance, but pre-eminently so in the Legislature of 1860-65, when issues of un- exampled magnitude, including the floating of great loans and supplying New York's quotas for the war, were pressing for wise determination.

From the firing on Sumter to the surren- der, Senator Bell was indefatigable in well- directed efforts to preserve the integrity of the Union. No man in the State, except Governor Morgan, did more to facilitate the enlistment of troops, and for their care and comfort in the camp and field. It was the high prerogative and duty of the Empire State to march at the head of the column in support of the National Government, and on the election of Governor Horatio Seymour (Democrat), to succeed the patriotic Morgan, it practically devolved upon Senator Bell, as leader of the war legislation, to keep New York at the front. The honor of the State in supporting the war, is the best brief com- mentary on our Senator's efficiency and suc- cess. His prominence in the Senate, and his favorable acquaintance with President Lin- coln, with great War Secretary Stanton and General Grant, who was stationed at Sackets Harbor in early days, led to his frequently

visiting Washington as the representative of the State of New York in its directed deal- ings with the United States, and enabled him to adjust and compose many serious complications. This extra Senatorial ser- vice grew in importance under the governor- ship of Seymour, whose hostility to the ad- ministration was so marked that he could not be induced to visit Washington, even upon special invitation from President Lin- coln, borne by the Senator.

Touching general statutory legislation, many of the reforms which he originated and secured the enactment of, were models of improvement, which have been adopted by many other States,. For instance, the act allowing State prisoners commutation of terms of sentence for good behavior; the act requiring the counties of the State to pro- vide suitable institutions for the care aud in- struction of orphans and the children of in- digent parents, outside of the poor-house ; the act requiring insurance companies to de- posit certain securities with the State Insur- ance Department for the protection of policy holders.

At the close of the war and of his Senatorial career, Mr. Bell had no taste for merchan- dising at Dexter, and Smith & Wood suc- . ceeded to the business. This step closed his business career at his old home, though he spent a portion of succeeding years there, and gave attention to business interests in the West and South. In Alabama, near Huntsville, he purchased a cotton plantation and cultivated it under the supervision of Mr. Samuel Gillingham, until prudence be- came the better part of valor-in Ku Klux days.

Senator Bell was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1867, his col- league being Hon Marcus Bickford. His thorough knowledge of State affairs was of great value, and highly appreciated by the members of that body, which included such men as William M. Evarts, Sanford E. Church, William A. Wheeler, Samuel J. Tilden and Horace Greeley.

In 1868 Mr. Bell relinquished his candi- dacy for Congress, and, at the earnest solicit- ation of Governor Fenton and many Sena- tors, accepted the appointment of Auditor of the Canal Department. The Governor and the Senate had gotten into a dead-lock, and two of the Governor's previous nominations had been rejected by the Senate. Mr. Bell was assured that his nomination would com- pose these differences, and in fact the Senate confirmed the same without reference or leaving their seats.

On entering the Canal Department, Auditor Bell found the canals in a deplorable con- dition physically ; the revenues running down every quarter, and the personnel of the service demoralized. There was need for a strong hand and a capable head, and Auditor Bell received unstinted commen- dation, especially from commercial people, for the rapidity with which he put the canals

742

THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

in good navigable condition, from which in- creased use and business promptly resulted, with gratifying increase in revenues.

Not a dollar of the many millions that passed through the Auditor's hands was lost or misapplied. Mr. Bell proved to be the right man in the right place in preventing any misappropriation of canal funds, at a time when the Hoffman-Weed regime came into power at the Capital. In fact the Auditor was the only Republican head of a department at the Capital at a time as criti- cal to the State as any in our generation. In 1874 Senator Bell became interested with others in a large number of building lots at Arlington, N. J., (a suburb of New York), and engaged in the erection of houses and buildings thereon, in part from a surplus stock of lumber cut from timber-lands which his company owned in Sullivan county, N. Y. This necessitated his removal to Arlington.

In politics Mr. Bell was a Republican of the Henry Clay school. He was one of the first to sign a call for the organization of the Republican party of Northern New York.

In church matters he embraced the faith of his parents, and united with the Presby- terian church in his 16th year, being ordained a ruling elder at 25.

Special mention should be made of the abiding interest Mr. Bell has taken in the welfare of young people. He has ever been ready to assist worthy young men to fit themselves for usefulness in life, and with means to engage in business. Many a young lady has been qualified for teaching and to secure other remunerative employment

through his timely assistance and counsel The cause of religion has received his con- stant attention and support. In addition to assisting several churches on our northwest- ern frontier to provide houses of worship, he built, almost entirely from his own means, a substantial brick church, capable of seating 300 people, at Dexter, and a stone church of like capacity at Arlington, N. J.

There are few men in Northern New York who have ever stood as high as James A. Bell. He was not a man who sought office, though he was an ardent partisan, for he believed in his party, and it trusted him. His reputation for truthfulness and ability made him an unusually desirable man to aid the country in the great struggle it was destined to pass through from 1860 to 1865- the years when he was at the height of his physical and mental powers, and he "fought a good fight." He was ever the friend of the soldiers, sympathizing in the sufferings of those in the field, whose condition he knew of by personal observation. Viewed in almost any light, as the sound and pro- gressive business man; as the grand, good citizen, alive to every good work or cause; or as the legislator who came very near being a statesman -- as the loving parent, the faithful husband, no man could have stood higher than Mr. Bell. It was well-nigh a public calamity when he left our county- but he sought a wider field, and he filled it surpassingly well-earning the same meed of praise abroad as was bestowed upon him in the county where he spent his youth and mature manhood. J. A. H.

ANDREW JACKSON FAIRBANKS

Is THE eighth generation from the founder of the name in America, dating from his ar- rival in this country in 1633, and is a lineal descendant, upon both father and mother's side, of the first settlers of Watertown, his mother being a Massey. Mr. Fairbanks has made himself familiar with the early and con- tinuous progress of events and biographies of persons by collections of documentary his- tory, and also by interviews with old resi- dents, many of whom have passed away, so that with a retentive memory and in the preservation of records, he now has a library both extensive and valuable. He has also accumulated a musuem of relics and mementos of past generations, curious and instructive. He has contributed to this History several interesting sketches relating to the past, and has furnished data regarding many important events. For his personal history we refer to page 228. His motive, aside from self infor- mation, in making these collections, is eventu- ally to donate the most important and rare of his very valuable collection to the Jefferson County Historical Society for preservation and for publication. This transfer will be made just as soon as the Historical Society

can obtain suitable secure quarters of their own.

Mr. Fairbanks is a veritable historian, pos- sessed of the rare peculiarities of that distin- guished "genus homo." He is surprisingly accurate in his descriptions, and as he was very early the companion of his distinguished father upon his journeyings up and down the county and into Canada, his fund of reminis- cences are remarkable and interesting. Mr. Fairbanks, with his three brothers, was edu- cated at the Montreal Catholic College, an institution of learning with a reputation ex- tending beyond the confines of America.

Referring to our previous remarks upon genealogical records, we still regard them as essential for the correct compilation of any history. Although only a century has elapsed since the first settlement of this Black River country, yet very few records have been secured relative to the pioneers and first settlers, of their ancestry or of their succes- sors. It is lamentable that such important in- formation has been lost to posterity With the exception of a few entries in old family Bibles, the record of those who have lived and passed away is a blank. In England,

WATERTOWN.

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ANDREW JACKSON FAIRBANKS.

France and Germany genealogical records are preserved by law, and thus ancestry may be traced back for centuries. In some of the New England States, notably in Massachu- setts, vital statistics are by law compiled in duplicate by the town clerk of each town- ship, one copy retained and its duplicate filed with the State authorities, becoming a part of the archives of the State. At intervals these records are printed in book form for the information of the general public. This valuable compilation has been carefully going on since colonial days, even prior to the French and Indian war, and the War of the Revolution. The value of such records cannot be overestimated ; from information derived from such files many sequestered estates have been restored, lost wills traced, and missing relatives and friends located. This subject is worthy of the investigation and

study of the present generation. It would become a duty, pleasing and instructive, and not so difficult as may be imagined. A per- son of New England ancestry, if able to indicate the locality whence his forefathers emigrated. can procure by correspondence a list of past generations of their name, com- prising births, marriages and deaths, as far back as the landing of the Pilgrims. As an example we have been shown a complete genealogical record compiled by Mr. Fair- banks, relating to his own ancestry, com- mencing with the founder of the family in America, who landed on these shores in 1633, with his subsequent successors of lineal de- scendants, comprising their names, the date of their births, marriages and deaths, even down to the present day, comprising 10 gen- erations, and covering a space of 262 years- the present family finishing the line.

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

JOSIAH HUCKINS,

WHOSE face will be readily recognized by many of the older residents of Watertown, was born November 20, 1806. He was the son of Josiah and Polly (Duch) Huckins, who emigrated, at an early date, from New Hampshire to Canada. The father, Josiah, died when his son was but three years of age. When about 15 years old, Josiah, the subject of our sketch, came to Franklin county, and later to the town of Watertown. He was educated at the common schools, and was a carpenter and contractor. He was interested in, and helped erect, nearly all the public buildings, and many of the private residences of the city of Watertown. He was a member of the Arsenal Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and when it was divided he was the contractor for the

State Street Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1849, and remained a member of the same, and was an official member until he removed to Carthage in 1874.

He was four times united in marriage. His first wife was Arabella Welch, of Rod- man, who died May 5, 1836. His second wife was Fanny Woodruff, daughter of Ben- jamin Woodruff, of the town of Watertown, who died March 14, 1847. They had one daughter, Sarah, who died at eight years of age. His third wife was Sophia Wood- ruff, sister of his second wife, who died April 11, 1872. For his fourth wife he mar- ried, June 9, 1874, Marie H .. only daughter of William and Polly Fuller, of Carthage.

Mr. Huckins was an invalid for many years, and died from consumption, December

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WATERTOWN.

10, 1878, in Carthage. Although not physi- cally strong, he always took a deep interest in all pertaining to public affairs, and the improvement of the home of his adoption.

The author of this History was for several years a member of the State Street M. E. Church congregation when Mr. Huckins was class-leader and trustee. To him and to Joshua Hemenway, Judah Lord, J. W. Weeks, Thomas Baker, the Johnsons, the Butterfields, A. J. Peck and his brother Willard, and to others, " their names forgot-

ten or remembered," that progressive church owes much of its stamina and later growth. Mr. Huckins was naturally a Christian, for his mind was without frivolity, his ideas of morality became fixed in early life, and he showed to all whom he knew that his pro- fession was not a matter of mere form, but an earnest and pervading conviction. He was a good man, and his widow, who sur- vives him, has shown her affection for her husband in rescuing his name and character from oblivion by the printed page.

JUDAH LORD,

FOR many years a prominent mechanic and citizen of Watertown, was born in 1802. He first came into the county from Connecticut, settling in Brownville, where he had been preceded by his brother, Colonel William Lord. Judah remained at Brownville some six years, and then removed to Watertown. In 1825 he married Miss Almira Smith, daughter of Benjamin Smith, who came from Vermont. Mr. Lord's first business venture was in manufacturing mechanical

JUDAH LORD.

tools. This proved a profitable investment, and he continued it until he was induced to return to Brownville, where he remained nearly five" years, the business he was en- gaged in proving unremunerative, and in- volving him in debt. In 1841 he returned to Watertown and accepted a position with George Goulding as a pattern-maker, having as a companion in the shop, Theodore T.

Woodruff, his brother-in-law, afterwards in- ventor of the sleeping-car.

About 1847 Mr. Lord became a partner with John Ransom in his former business- the manufacture of carpenters' tools, and so continued until finally, after years of labor and struggle, he became partner with his nephew, Gilderoy Lord, and they built up a large and remunerative business on Beebee's Island. In this business Judah Lord was the inventive head; his mechanical genius, joined to his extraordinary ability as a prac- tical mechanic, rendered his services un- usually valuable. He was the inventor of the Young America mowing machine, of several improvements upon the plow, as brought out by Gethro Wood, and many other mechanical devices intended to lighten and facilitate labor.

As a mechanic, Mr. Lord had no superior in this vicinity. He was a remarkably modest and unassuming man, but possessed rare ability, and an industry that was never satisfied without doing all in his power. He was never a robust man, but kept on untir- ingly almost to the end of his life. He died in 1876. His widow survived him nearly nine years. They reared five daughters, three of them now living: Mary, wife of James De- Long; Frances A., wife of Judge Ross C. Scott, and Miss Lydia, who makes her home with her sister, Mrs. Scott. They are all devoted members of the Methodist Church, and have been such almost from infancy, maintaining the faith of their ancestry with a persistency and zeal that knew no abate- ment for many years.

DANIEL BRAINARD, father of O. V. Brain- ard, came to Watertown from Whitestown, Oneida county, about 1805, and married Miss Lorraine Hungerford, sister of Hon. Orville Hungerford, in 1806. He practiced medicine in Watertown, joined the Medical Society in 1807, and died the 27th day of January, 1810. O. V. Brainard, his son, was long and inti- mately associated with the business of Water- town and the county at large, he having been for over 20 years cashier of the Jefferson County Bank. He was an intelligent citizen and an honest man.

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

REV. WILLIAM DIXON MARSH.

AMONG the preachers of Watertown who have made a marked impression upon. the public, as well as secured the affectionate regard of his own congregation, is the Rev. Mr Marsh, in the second year of his pastorate at State Street M. E. Church. He was born at Potsdam, N. Y., in 1854, the third son of Samuel and Hannah Marsh. His father was killed in the battle of Gaines' Mills, Va., June 27, 1862, at the head of his regiment. He was lieutenant colonel of the 16th N. Y. Volunteer Infantry, one of the best regiments in the gallant Sixth Corps of the Grand Army of the Potomac. When this regiment was marching through Baltimore to the front a few days after the Massachusetts regiment had been fired upon, a crowd of rowdies on

the sidewalk demanded of the colonel, "Where is your music?" "In our cartridge boxes," was the prompt reply. This is the regiment so graphically spoken of on page 101-2 of this History, and in which Major- General N. M. Curtis and our beloved Captain Parker once commanded companies.

The death of his father occurred when William Dixon was only eight years of age. He attended the district school at Potsdam, and afterwards worked three years in Geo. B. Swan's sash and door shop. These years at handicraft gave him an insight into the wants and aspirations of working men, and has made him especially the champion of labor through all the years of his pastorate. He graduated at Potsdam State Normal

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WATERTOWN. ·

School in June, 1874, in the classical course. He was principal of Gouverneur Graded School one year, 1874-5. He then entered Syracuse University, from which he gradu- ated as A. B. in June, 1879. He was called to the chair of mathematics in Potsdam Nor- mal School, in February, 1879, and occupied it until June, 1881. He then entered the Theological School of Boston University, finishing the three years' course in two years, graduating B. D. in 1883. In June, 1882, he received the degree of A. M. from Syracuse University.

September 5. 1883, he married Miss Lilian Church, of Morristown, N. Y. In 1872 he was soundly converted at a revival conducted by the distinguished Phoebe Palmer and her husband during the pastorate of Rev. L. D. White. In 1875 he was licensed to exhort by Presiding Elder Bramley. During his college and teacher's life he preached more or less, and has always, since his conversion, been ready, in season and out of season, to do his Master's work. In April, 1883, he joined the Northern New York Conference at Watertown. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Warren, in 1882; elder by Bishop Foss, in 1887, at Little Falls. His appoint- ments have been: 1883-84, Parishville ; 1885-88, Norwood ; 1888-93, Malone; 1893, State street, Watertown.

Mr. Marsh's great forte is his earnestness. His manner is always argumentative and im- pressive, and at times rises into unusual eloquence. His command of language is ex- ceptionally fine, and this, added to his per- suasive and sympathetic manner, makes him the typical Methodist minister. He has

always been popular in the charges he has served, as evidenced by the following extract from the Potsdam Palladium of April 20, 1893 :

Rev. W. D. Marsh has been asked for by Gouver- neur and by Watertown. It is, of course, not certain that the Bishop will send him to either place, but his friends here hope that his own preferences may gov- ern in the matter. He has been in Malone the full five years permitted by the rules of his church, or his people here would never think of relinquishing their claim upon him. They appreciatively recog- nize his exceptional abilities in fostering the church's material interests, value his social qualities, admire his independence, courage and intellectual endow- ments, and profoundly respect the intensity of his convictions and intolerance of anything that bears even a semblance of compromise with wrong. In- deed, this latter characteristic seems to us the strongest side of Mr. Marsh's nature, and it compels regard and almost veneration, even when in disagree- ment with him. In all his works he is open, aggres- sive, manly, striking brave blows and reaching out always for ends that he at least believes right. The esteem in which he is held is far from being con- fined to his own parishioners, but is shared by all societies, as has been testified in various ways many times during these closing days of his service in Malone. The Womans' Christian Temperance Union tribute last week was one evidence of it ; a Christian Endeavor social on last Friday evening was another, and the great union service of the Baptist, Congrega- tional and Methodist Societies on Sunday evening last to hear his farewell sermon, was a third and per- haps the most striking of all. The auditorium of the Methodist Church was crowded, even to its aisles. The words that Mr. Marsh spoke reflected the mind and heart of the speaker-dwelling most of course, on the theme of temperance, which always calls out most of his earnestness and fervor. The discourse can not but interest every one concerned for Malone's welfare, and we give it to our readers in a supple- ment sent out with this issue of the Palladium. Wherever Mr. Marsh may go, the respect and love of hundreds into whose hearts he has grown while in Malone, will attend him, and kindly, sympathetic wishes will be with him that health, happiness and rich results in his labors may be his portion.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 157

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