USA > New York > Jefferson County > Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894 > Part 29
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the 685,000 acres thus conveyed, to Boylston, Angerstein and Inman, he reconveyed Feb. 27, 1793, the remainder to Constable.
On the 21st of May, 1794, Boylston gave a deed of trust of eleven townships to George Lee, George Irving, and Thomas Latham, assignees of the firm of Lane, Son & Fraser, of London, and they conveyed them to John Johnson Phyn, of that place, (June 2, 1794), in whom, by sundry conveyances and assur- ances in the law. the title became vested. On the 10th of April, 1795, Phyn appointed Wm. Constable his attorney, to sell and convey any or all of the Boylston tract, who accordingly sold, July 15, 1795 (at $1 per acre, one quar- ter down and the balance in five installments, with mortgage) to Nicholas Low, Wm. Hen- derson, Richard Harrison, and Josiah Ogden Hoffman, a tract of 300,000 acres, since known as the " Black River Tract." This pur- chase comprised Houndsfield, Watertown, Rutland, Champion, Denmark, Henderson, Adams, Rodman, Pinckney, Harrisburg, and Lowville. On the 1st of April, 1796, Phyn confirmed this title. The tract was found by measurment to contain 290,376 acres, to make up which deficiency, Constable, in 1796, con- veyed town No. 2(Worth) excepting 948 acres in the southeast corner, which he reserved to himself. On the last mentioned date, Phyn conveyed to Constable, 401,000 acres, being the remainder of the Boylston Tract. The present town of Lorraine is in this convey- ance.
Wm. Constable gave to his brother James, a power of attorney to sell lands, March 16, 1798, and, to secure the confidence of Europeans, and others in the validity of his title, he pro- cured from Alexander Hamilton, Richard Har- rison, J. O. Hoffman (attorney general of the State) Danicl McKinnen, and other eminent lawyers, a certificate, that they - had examined his conveyances, and believed them perfect.
On the 22d of March, 1797, Constable con- veyed to Marvel Ellis of Troy, the town of Ellisburg, in accordance with an agreement, dated April 11, 1796, except 3000 acres, con- veyed March 17, 1797, to Robert Brown, and Thomas Eddy, in the southwest corner of the town. This tract was long without a resi- dent agent. In June, 1804, Brown and Eddy sold half of the tract to George Scriba, and the latter to Wm. Bell. The remainder was exchanged for a farm in New Jersey, by Lord Bollingbroke. Ellis's Purchase, according to Medad Mitchell's survey of August, 1795, was 51,840 acres, but by a subsequent survey of B. Wright, it covered 52,834 acres. part of No. 10 (Sandy Creek), was conveyed Nov. 16, 1796, to Mrs. H. M. Colden, for the Earl of Selkirk. Ellis, on the day or his purchase, mortgaged it for the payment, and in 1801 he became insolvent. In January, 1802, Constable filed a bill in chancery, against Ellis, and his creditors, to foreclose for equity of redemption. On the 22d of May, 1803, Wm. Constable died, and his ex- ecutors, James Constable, John McVickar and Hezekiah B. Pierrepont, were advised that the title was perfected by the answer to
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the bill in chancery, but, to put all questions forever at rest, they deemed it advisable to proceed to foreclose. It was accordingly ad- vertised, and sold, under the direction of Thomas Cooper, master in Chancery, at the Tontine Coffee House, N. Y., March 1, 1804 to Daniel McCormick. On the 2d of March, the executors of Constable conveyed the town to McCormick, and on the 3d. the latter reconveyed to the executors. On the 26th of April, 1819, a deed of release from the heirs of Wm. Constable, was executed to H. B. Pierrepont, from whom the title of the unsold portions passed to his son, Wm. C. Pierre- pont, who in like manner acquired the title of Lorraine from Constable.
The eleven towns were divided by ballot between the company, August 5, 1796; Har- rison and Hoffman receiving numbers 1, 4. 5, 8 and 10, or, Houndsfield, Champion, Den- mark, Rodman and Harrisburgh, and 1,283 acres of Constable's, No. 2. (Worth), which had been added to make up the amount pur- chased, and was used in "making change." Low received 2, 7 and 11, or. Watertown, Adams and Lowville, with 1,576 acres of the present town of Worth ; and Henderson, 3, 6 and 9, or, Rutland, Henderson and Pinck- ney, with 649 acres in Worth.
These proprietors disposed of their towns as follows : No. 1 was sold, the north half to Henry Champion and Lemuel Storrs, June 30, 1797, and the south part (15,913 acres), to Peter Kemble and Ezra Houndsfield, for $4,000, March 10, 1801, who sold to actual settlers through the agency of E. Camp. Nos 2, 7 and 11 were sold by S. Stow, M. S. Miller and I. W. Bostwick, of Lowville, agents for Low. No. 3 was first partly conveyed to act- ual settlers by Asher Miller and Abel French ; when the remaining interest of Henderson was conveyed to Dr. Isaac Bronson, of Green- field, Ct., who gave its agency to his brother, Ethel Bronson, with whom it continued till death, when it was transferred to George White, who completed the settlements with settlers. No. 4 was sold to Champion and Storrs (with the north half of 1), and by N. Hubbard and A. Lathrop, agents, it was sold to settlers. No. 6 began to settle under the same agents as 3. In 1806, Jesse Hopkins was appointed agent, and continued about 15 years. Certain lots, amounting to 5,716 acres were sold to Isaac Bronson, June 10, 1807, for $10,003.44, and settled by the agents of the latter. No. 8 was settled for the pro- prietors by I. W. Bostwick, agent at Low- ville. Harrison and Hoffman continued ten- ants in common of 5, 8 and 10, until May 1, 1805. In July, 1809, an instrument was ex- ecuted, securing certain interests of Hoffman, to Thomas L. Ogden and Abijah Hammond, and on the 5th of January, 1810, Hoffman conveyed to Harrison his interest in these towns.
The greater part of township 2 (Worth) fell to the share of Harrison and Hoffman. It was laid out by Medad Mitchell in 1795 ; and, December 23, 1797, these proprietors made a partition, and Harrison conveyed the north
half to Hoffman, who, July 16, 1798. made a conveyance to Daniel McCormick and Charles Smith, in trust, to sell and convey, and to keep the money until certain debts were paid. Several subsequent transfers were made, which we have not deemed of sufficient pub- lic interest to trace. The title to the south part remained with Harrison many years, and was in 1848-52 opened for settlement.
The islands in the St. Lawrence and lake were included in the original contract of Ma- comb, with the State, of June 22, 1791, but, from the uncertainty about the boundary, they were not patented till long after. The claim of Macomb passed to Daniel McCormick, and was recognized by the Commissioners of the Land Office, Jan. 28, 1814, when they direct- ed the surveyor general to survey such islands as were clearly within the limits of the State at the expense of the owner, and a release of damage was to be granted, should the lands so laid out hereafter be included in Canada, upon the running of the boundary. McCor- mick sold his interest to D. A. and T. L. Ogden, which was also sanctioned by the commissioners, May 14, 1817 for running the boundary agreed upon by the treaty of Ghent, General Peter B. Porter was appointed commissioner, and Samuel Hawkins, agent, for the United States, and John Ogilvie, com- missioner on the part of Great Britain, who met at Regis, and after careful ascertaining the line of 45º north lat., by a series of as- tronomical observations, proceeded thence in two parties, one on Lake Champlain, and the other up the river. In 1818, the latter had reached Ogden's Island, and in 1819 their labor was completed. Patents were issued for the islands, as follows :
All the islands in the State, beween a line drawn at right angles to the river, from the village of Morristown, and a meridian drawn through the western point of Grindstone Island were sold to Elisha Camp, February 15, 1823. These islands contained 15,402.9 acres; Grindstone Island contained 5,291, Well's Island 8,068, and Indian Hut Island 369 acres, with several smaller ones without names. Patents were also issued to Camp on the same date to Stony Island, 1,536 acres ; Calf Island 34.8 acres ; Little Galloo Island 48.8 acres ; the most of Galloo Island 2,216.2 acres ; and Willow Island 12 acre. A patent to the United States, for 30.75 and 5 acres on Galloo Island, was issued Dec. 11, 1819, and to Melancton L. Woolsey, Nov. 3, 1823, for Gull's Island 6.5 acres, and Snake Island 1.4 acres. Cherry Island, in Chaumont Bay, 108.4 acres ; Grenadier Island 1.290 acres, and Fox Island 257.5 acres were patented to Hezekiah B. Pierrepont, and others, Oct. 1, 1824. 500 acres on the western part of Carl- ton Island were patented to Charles Smyth, Oct. 2, 1828. A partition deed was executed between Pierrepont, and Joshua Waddington and Thomas L. Ogden, Nov. 10, 1824, by which the former received Grenadier and Cherry Islands. They were sold, Feb. 19, 1825, for $7.000, to Wm. and Gerardus Post of New York; these islands had been occupied
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many years by squatters, who with great re- luctance yielded possession.
The jurisdiction of a part of Galloo Island was ceded by the legislature to the United States for a lighthouse, by an act of April 21, 1818 ; that of Tibbets Point (about three acres) Jan. 25, 1827 ; that of Horse Island April 26, 1831, and of a part of Carlton Island June 21, 1853. In these cessions the State retains con- current civil and criminal jusisdiction.
The details of these many conveyances, some of them covering and re-covering the same lands, have been most tedious and un- interesting, but are demanded at the hands of
a faithful historian. These lands, once an unbroken wilderness, are now farms, villages, and a city. The titles by which they have been transferred from one to another, are dry de- tails, but really the most important records of the county, and upon their accuracy and un- assailable genuineness rest to-day values which would be hard to estimate. And any question of their faithfulness would agitate society worse than an epidemic of disease. We make these remarks to justify in the eyes of the student of history, our devoting so large a space to a subject so uninteresting to the general reader.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. PUBLIC BUILDINGS, ETC.
The current of immigration and settlement having been directed into the Black River valley, near the close of the last century, the country filled up in the space of a few years with a rapidity that has been seldom equalled and it soon became difficult to meet the de- mands of justice, without the erection of new counties.
Such had been the rapidity of settlement within five or six years from its opening, that the necessity of a division of Oneida became apparent, and local interests began to operate to secure the advantages expected from the location of the public buildings. Each sec- tion had its advocates, Nathan Sage, in Red- field, Walter Martin, in Martinsburg, Silas Stow, and others, in Lowville, Moss, Kent, Noadiah Hubbard and others in Champion, Henry Coffeen in Watertown, and Jacob Brown in Brownville, were each intent upon the project of a county seat Many werc for having but one new county, in which case Champion had the fairest prospects of success, and indeed such had been the chances, in the opinion of several prominent citizens, that they had located there. Among these were Moss Kent, a brother of Judge James Kent, Egbert Ten Eyck and others. To obtain an expression of public opinion on this subject, three delegates, chosen at town mectings, from each town interested in the question, met at the house of Freedom Wright, in Har- risburgh (Denmark), November 20, 1804. Many went with the intention of voting for one new county only, but strong local inter- ests led to the attendance of those who so in- fluenced the voice of the delegation that, with but one exception, they decided for two new counties, and the convention united upon re- commending the names of the executive offi- cers of the State and Federal governments then in office, from whence came the names of Jefferson and Lewis, from Thomas Jefferson and Morgan Lewis, both men of national cele- brity.
Application was accordingly made to the legislature, and on the 4th of March, 1805, Mr. Wright, in the Assembly, from the com- mittee to whom was referred the petitions and
remonstrances from the inhabitants of the county of Oneida, relative to a division there- of, reported, "that they had examined the facts stated, as to population and extent of territory in said county, and the inconven- ience of attending county concerns, and find the same to be true." A division was deemed necessary, and leave was granted to bring in a bill, which was twice read the same day, and passed through the Legislature without oppo- sition, being as follows :
Act erecting Lewis and Jefferson counties, passed March 28th, 1805.
1. "Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That all that part of the county of Oneida, contained within the following bounds, to wit: Beginning at the southwest corner of the town of Ellisburgh, on the easterly shore of Lake Ontario, and running along the southerly line of said town ; thence along the easterly line thereof to the southwest corner of the town of Malta ; thence along the southerly line of the said town of Malta, and continuing the same course to the corner of townships No. 2, 5, 7 and 8 ; thence north along the east line of the town of Malta aforesaid, to the northeast corner thereof ; thence in a direct line to the corner of the towns of Rutland and Champion ; thence along the line between the said town of Champion and the town of Harris- burg, to Black river ; thence in a direct line to the bounds of the county of St. Lawrence, to intersect the same at the corner of townships Nos. 7 and 11, in Great Tract No. 3, of Macomb's Purchase ; thence along the westerly bounds of the said county of St. Lawrence to the north bounds of this State ; thence westerly and southerly along said bounds, including all the islands in the River St. Lawrence, Lake Ontario, and in front thereof, and within this State to the place of beginning, shall be, and hereby is, erected into a separate county, and shall be called and known by the name of Jefferson,
2. And be it further enacted, that all that part of the said county of Oneida, contained within the fol- lowing bounds, to wit: Beginning at the southeast corner of the county of Jefferson aforesaid, thence southerly along the westerly line of the town of Turin to the southwest corner thereof ; thence easterly along the south line of said town to the southeast corner thereof ; thence north, sixty-two degrees east along the southerly line of the tract of land, known by the name of Macomb's Purchase, to the line of the county of Herkimer ; thence north along the said last mentioned line to the bounds of the county of St. Lawrence; thence along the southwesterly line of the said last mentioned county to the line of the county of Jefferson ; and thence along the southerly and easterly bounds thereof, to the place of begin- ning, shall be and hereby is erected into a separate county, by the name of Lewis.
3. And be it further enacted, that all that part of
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township No. 9, which is comprised within the bounds of the said county of Jefferson, shall be an- nexed to and become a part of the town of Harrison, in said county, and that all that part of the said township No. 9, comprised within the bounds of the said county of Lewis, thall be annexed to and become a part of the town of Harrisburgh, in said county.
4. And be it further enacted, That there shall be held in and for the said counties of Jefferson and Lewis, respectively, a court of common pleas, and general sessions of the peace, and that there shall be two terms of the said courts in each of the said counties respectively, in every year, to commence and end as follows, that is to say : The first term of the said court in the said county of Jefferson, shall begin on the second Tuesday of June in every year, and may continue to be held until the Saturday follow- ing, inclusive, and the second term of the said court in the said county of Jefferson, shall begin on the second Tuesday of December, of every year, and may con- tinue to be held until the Saturday following, inclu- sive. And that the first term of the said court in the county of Lewis shall begin on the said first Tuesday of June, in every year. and may continue to be held un- til the Saturday following, inclusive, and the second term of the said court in the said county of Lewis. shall begin on the first Tuesday of December, and may continue to be held until the Saturday follow- ing inclusive ; and the said courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace, shall have the same jurisdiction, powers, and authorities, in the same counties respectively, as the court of common pleas, and general sessions of the peace, in the other counties of the State have in their respective counties; Provided always, That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to affect any suit or action already commenced, or that shall be commenced, before the first terms to be held in the respective counties of Jefferson and Lewis, so as to work a wrong or pre- judice to any of the parties therein, or to affect any criminal or other proceedings on the part of the people of this State, but all such civil and criminal proceedings, shall, and may be prosecuted to trial, judgment and execution, as if this act had not been passed ; and further provided, that the first of the said courts in each of the said counties, shall be held on the second Tuesday of December next.
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5. And be it further enacted, That three commis- sioners shall be appointed by the council of appoint- ment, who shall not be resident within the Western district of this State, or interested in either of the said counties of Jefferson or Lewis, for the purpose of designating the sites for the court houses and gaols, of the said counties respectively, and to that end the said commissioners shall as soon as may be previous to the first day of October next, repair to the said counties respectively, and after exploring the same, ascertain and designate a fit and proper place in each of the said counties for erecting the said buildings, and that until such building shall be erected, and further legislative provisions be made in the premises, the said courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace, shall be held at such place in each of the said counties, nearest and most contiguous to the places designated as the sites for said buildings, as the said commissioners, or any two of them shall determine and fix upon ; and the said commissioners, or any two of them, are hereby re- quired as soon as they have designated the places for erecting the said buildings, and determined upon the places for holding the said courts, to make out and sign a certificate, certifying the place designated for erecting the said buildings and places fixed on for holding courts, In each of the said Counties. and to transmit one of the said certificates to each of the clerks of the respective counties, who are required to receive and file the same in their respective offices, and that the said commissioners shall be entitled to receive, each, the sum of four dollars per day, for the time they may be necessarily employed in executing the trusts reposed in them by this act, the one moiety thereof to be paid by each of the said counties.
6. And be it further enacted, That the freeholders and inhabitants of the said counties respectively, shall have and enjoy, within the same all and every the same rights, powers and privileges as the free- holders and inhabitants of any other county in this State are by law entitled to have and enjoy.
7. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for all courts, and officers of the said counties of Jefferson and Lewis, respectively, in all
cases, civil and criminal, to confine their prisoners in the gaol or gaols of the county of Oneida, until gaols shall be provided in the same counties respect- ively. and the said counties paying each the charges of their own prisoners.
8. And be it further enacted. That in the distribu- tion of representation in the Assembly of this State, there shall be three members in the county of Oneida and one in the counties of Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.
9. And be it further enacted, That no circuit court, or courts of oyer and terminer, and general gaol de- livery, shall be held in either of the said counties of Jefferson and Lewis, until the same shall in the opinion of the justices of the supreme court become necessary.
10. And be it further enacted, That the said counties of Jefferson and Lewis, shall be considered as part of the western district of this State and also as part of the fifteenth congressional district, and that as respects all proceedings under the act, entitled "an act relative to district attornies," and said counties shall be an- nexed to and become a part of the district now com- posed of the counties of Herkimer, Otsego, Oneida, and Chenango.
11. And be it further enacted, That as soon as may be, after the first Monday of April, in the year 1806, the supervisors of the said counties of Oneida, Jeffer- son and Lewis, on notice being first given by the supervisors of the said counties of Jefferson and Lewis, or of either of them, for that purpose shall meet together by themselves, or by committees appointed by their respective boards, and divide the money unappropriated, belonging to the said county of Oneida, previous to the divison thereof, agreeable to the last county tax list.
12. And be it further enacted, That the votes, taken at the election in the said counties of Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence, shall be returned to the clerk of the county of Oneida, to be by him estimated and disposed of, as is directed by the statute regulat- ing elections.
13. And be it further enacted, That all that part of the town of Leyden, remaining in the county of Oneida, shall be and remain a separate town, by the name of Boonsville, and the first town meeting shall be held at the house of Joseph Denning, and all the remaining part of the town of Leyden, which is com- prised within the bounds of the county of Lewis, shall be and remain a town by the name of Leyden, and the first town meeting shall be held at the dwelling house of Hezekiah Talcott.
14. And be it further enacted. That as soon as may be, after the first town meeting each of said towns, the supervisors, and overseers of the poor, of said towns of Leyden, and Boonsville, shall by notice to be given for that purpose, by the supervisors thereof, meet together, and apportion the money and poor of said town of Leyden, previous to the division thereof. according to the last tax list, and that each of said towns shall thereafter respectively maintain their own poor.
The relative limits of Jefferson and Lewis counties have been three times changed. It will be noticed by reference, that the present town of Pinckney was then divided by a line that was a continuation of the west lines of towns 8 and 3, of Boylston's Tract ; and, that from the line between Champion and Denmark, on Black river, the division ran straight to St. Lawrence county, where the line of townships 7 and 11 of tract III. touched the county line. On the 12th of February, 1808, the whole of No. 9 (Pinckney), was in- cluded in Lewis county. On the 5th of April, 1810, the line east of the river, beginning as before at the east corner of Champion, ran thence to southwest corner of a lot in 11th west and 21st north ranges, subdivisions of No. 5 ; thence east between 20 and 21, north- ern ranges, to southwest corner of lot in 10 west, 21 north range ; thence north between 10 and 11, to south line of lot No. 4; thence east to 808-9; thence along 808-9, to lot 857; thence to southeast corner of 857 and 809, to
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northeast corner of 851; then west on the line of lots 851 and 850, to southwest corner of 850; thence northeast along line of lots to St. Lawrence county. On the 2d of April, 1813, the present line between the two counties was established, by which this county received considerable accessions from Lewis, in the town of Wilna. By an act of March 17, 1815, the several islands within the limits of this State, in the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, lying in front of this county, were attached to it. By several acts, the sovereignty of small tracts on Stony Point, Horse Island, Galloo Island, Tibbet's Point and Carleton Island has been ceded to the United States, for the pur- pose of erecting light houses, the State retain- ing concurrent civil and criminal jurisdiction therein.
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