Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 44

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

USA > New York > Jefferson County > Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894 > Part 44

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

Certain it is that portions of the tract were disposed of for milling and mechanical pur- poses ; for we find that in 1803 Jonathan Cowan erected a grist mill near the site of the Union Mills, and a little later (in 1807) Gurdon Cas- well built a paper mill and commenced the manufacture of paper.

Previous to 1805 it was not satisfactorily determined that the territory selected by the Masseys, Mr. Coffeen and Mr. Butterfield was the most eligible one for the founding of a village. It was at one side of the town proper, and the stream was so large that the settlers had doubts if it could ever be dammed. So there were rival settlements at Burrville, at Watertown Centre, another known as Field's Settlement, and there was a large gathering of farmers on Dry Hill, which competent judges declare to be one of the most fertile regions on the American continent. Watertown vil- lage was not then, by any means, nor until years afterwards, conceded to be the business centre.

William Smith was in Watertown as early as 1803, and became a resident of the village in 1804, or thereabouts ; he was the father of George Smith, long a resident of Watertown, After 1804 the hamlet that in 1894 is known as the city of Watertown, began to attract settlers, but nevertheless there was considerable rivalry between Watertown and Burrville until the organization of the county in 1805, and the former had been designated the county seat, after which Judge Foster, Orville Hungerford and others, who had located in Burrville, came to Watertown to reside. William Smith and John Paddock opened a store in 1805, A school-house was erected about where the Uni- versalist Church stands, in which the courts and supervisors held their sessions, and other buildings began to go up in various parts of the settlement. A dam was erected on the south branch of Black River, at Beebee's Island, about 1804, and a second one was built a few years later by Bailey & Clark, and was situated near the one now belonging to the Taggarts, which that firm purchased from Gen. W. H. Angel.

Jasan Fairbanks came here from Massachu- setts in 1808, and Calvin Mcknight about the same time. Gurdon Caswell, as has been pre- viously stated, built a paper mill about where the Knowlton paper mills stand in 1807. Ma- rinus W. Gilbert and Egbert Ten Eyck were likewise among the early settlers. Mr. Ten- Eyck was at one time first judge of the county, was elected to the Legislature in 1812, and in 1824 he was elected to Congress. Joshua Beals was an early comer, and was one of the side judges. Orville Hungerford undoubtedly came here with Judge Foster, for he was a clerk in that gentleman's store while in Burr- ville, and in 1805 that store was removed to Watertown. David W. Bucklin, a lawyer of ability, was admitted to practice in 1811. Samuel C. Kannady was a prominent lawyer and surveyor, and opened one of the first law offices in the county. He was afterwards agent of Le Ray in the sale of his lands. Daniel .Brainard came here from Oneida county in

1805 and engaged in the practice of medicine. He married a sister of Orville Hungerford and died in 1810. He was the father of O. V. Brainard, so long and honorably connected with the Jefferson County Bank. Paul Hutch- inson was admitted to the practice of medicine in 1809, and became one of the physicians of Watertown. In the same year Dr. Amasa Trowbridge became his partner, and he spent the remainder of his life in Watertown. Dr. Trowbridge was one of the most eminent sur- geons of his time, having seen service in the war of 1812.

Samuel Whittlesey came here in 1807, was a lawyer by profession, and district attorney of the district composed of Jefferson, St. Law- rence and Lewis counties from 1811 to 1813. Jonathan Cowan's grist mill in Watertown went into operation in 1805. Henry Coffeen and Andrew Edmunds are said to have built the bridge at the foot of Court street in 1803. Two years later one or more saw mills were put in operation on the north side of the river, one of them having been erected by R. T. Potter. Shortly after, a grist mill was added by Seth Bailey and Gersham Tuttle.

For its Public Square, Watertown appears to have been indebted to Jonathan Cowan, Henry Coffeen, Zachariah Butterfield, Jesse Doolittle, Medad Canfield, Aaron Keyes, Hart and Isaiah Massey, who owned adjoining property. For this a monument should be erected to their memory. Washington street was made the broad street that it is by some of same parties, and Mr. Coffeen, not to be outdone by the above named gentlemen, had a wide street laid out in front of his premises which he styled Madison street.

It has been stated that Mr. Coffeen proposed to donate the piece of land between Court, Massey and Coffeen streets, fronting the old court-house, to the village for a park, but as that most liberal offer was not promptly accepted, the proposition was withdrawn and the land put in market and soon covered with buildings. This at least is true: The late Colonel George W. Flower, when mayor of Watertown, suggested the purchase of this ground by the city, and the removal of the buildings with the view of converting it into a public park, but the Council did not second the idea and the thing was dropped.

In the meantime the county of Jefferson had organized, Watertown being made the county seat after an animated struggle with the village of Brownville. As a sort of com- promise the county buildings were located upon the bluff at the head of Massey street (then called Madison). The first court-house was built upon a spot north of the present jail and midway in the street that now runs from Coffeen to Court street. The architect and builder was Wm. Smith. The location of the county buildings upon that site had a tendency to advance the growth of the village in that direction, and it is noticeable that the pro- perty in the vicinity of the court-house was rapidly built up, and the rest of the village had enjoyed something of a "boom". Streets had been laid out, a considerable number of

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dwellings, blocks and mills had been con- structed, and the general appearance of the village had changed entirely.

A newspaper had been started (this was in 1809), and had some one possessed sufficient forethought to have preserved files of the same, he would have rendered a great service to the historian. But so far as known there is not a copy in existence, and there is nothing to show just when it was started. However, it lasted several years, and until the materials were levied upon by the sheriff, perhaps be- cause its publisher found he had more credi- tors than subscribers, when one of the Abbeys happened along and purchased it, and, chang- ing the name of the publication, ran it several years, though without taking the trouble to keep files. The paper was in existence in 1812, under the editorial charge of Jairus Rich, father of the late Capt. Henry D. Rich.

The streets had been planned as follows: Public Square, Washington, State, Court, Columbia (now Arsenal), Woodruff (now Franklin), Coffeen, Mill and Sterling streets as they are to-day, except that Mill street only extended from the square to the river. Madi- son street (now Massey), was laid out wide like Washington street, and extended only from Arsenal to Coffeen street. The street now called Lepper was laid out, but not named. Main street extended from the bridge westward, there being no streets or houses on the north side of the river east of LeRay street at that time.

From 1812 to 1824 the growth of Water- town was constant, though not rapid. The village at the date last named contained 1,220 inhabitants, 149 dwellings and 170 families, 35 mechanic shops, 18 stores and groceries, 7 offices, one cotton and one woolen factory, one planing mill and two saw mills, three paper mills, one furnace and one tannery, one machine shop and one distillery; one fulling mill and carding machine, one plow factory and four chair factories, one tin shop, two churches and a third in the course of erection three school houses, viz: On Sterling street, Arsenal street and Factory street; and six taverns, kept by Sewall Brintnall, B. Ranney, Stanton Brown, Eliot Makepeace, Dexter Hungerford and Jairus Rich.

The tin-shop was carried on by Norris M. Woodruff, the fulling mill by Winslow Part- ridge, the distillery by Mr. Foster, the machine shops by George Goulding and Nathaniel Wiley, the tannery by Jasan Fairbanks, the furnace, which was on the extreme lower end of Beebee's island, by William Smith. One of the paper mills was under the manage- ment of Knowlton & Rice.

North Watertown at this time contained 157 inhabitants; one school house on Bradley street, a flouring mill (Foster's), one saw mill, a fulling mill, a distillery and a plow factory.

The settlement on the north side of the river was at one time called Williamstown. Dexter Parker built the first dwelling house (standing to-day) between Jewettville and Pamelia, long before any bridge was built on the north side of Beebee's Island,

The aggregate population of both sides of the river in 1824 was 1,377.

Few people died in 1824, or the intelligence did not get into the Freeman. Only two deaths were recorded: Joseph Otterson lost a child and the death of Benjamin Eddy is announced. This Joseph Otterson was the father of B. Cory's apprentice, Frank, who rose to be night editor of the N. Y. Tribune.

The village of Watertown was incorporated April 5th, 1816, and the first village election held in the May succeeding, David W. Bucklin presiding, when the following officers were elected: Timothy Burr, Egbert Ten Eyck, Olney Pierce, Marinus W. Gilbert and Norris M. Woodruff, trustees; Reuben Goodale, William Smith and Orville Hungerford, assessors; Micah Sterling, treasurer; Seth Otis, collector; Jabez Foster, Samuel Watson, Jr., Rufus Backus, William Fletcher, Joseph Henry, fire wardens.

From this date to 1824 these same gentlemen, with others, officiated as village trustees. The list embraces the names of Isaac Lee, Silas Marvin, William Tanner, Andrew Newell, Jasan Fairbanks, Orin Stone, William Smith, Chauncey Calhoun, Reuben Goodale, Dyer Huntington, David W. Bucklin, James Q. Adams, Charles E. Clarke, Calvin McKnight, Adriel Ely, John Sigourney, Loveland Pad- dock, Orville Hungerford. They were evi- dently and are well remembered as the lead- ing men in the village, possessing excellent business qualifications, and were undoubtedly selected without reference to their political affiliations, though even then politics were quite liberally discussed.

The centre of the Square was as low as the depot grounds now are, from which it is evi- dent that a vast amount of earth has been used to level it up and make it the beautiful .one it now is. There were bluffs at both the west and east ends of the park. The ground at the American corner and on the upper end of Court street was six or eight feet higher than at present; the corner where Washing- ton Hall stands was a dozen or more feet higher, and the ground where the Baptist and Universalist churches stand was on a level with the Peck place, removed to make room for the new Smith block. From this it will be seen that the site of our present Public Square was decidedly uneven at the outset. It was a good place for the boys to slide down hill in winter, and it was improved in that way for a quarter of a century after the settle- ment of Watertown was begun.

The American corner was always occupied as a hotel until it was purchased by the Keep estate a few years ago. The first hotel was built of logs. It was succeeded by a wooden structure, of which Mr. R. H. Huntington has a sketch, painted by his father. This was followed by the old Wheeler House, which lasted until the fire of 1849, when it was burned, and the present building erected by Thomas W. Wheeler.

The Universalist church, completed in 1825, was a stone building and stood upon a level with Franklin street. When the Square was

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

filled, those who attended that church had to climb forty-nine steps. People went up from each side on a circle. The hill at the east end of the Public Square was at an early day occupied by Clark Rice as a dwelling. The next building west of the Universalist church was the residence of Mr. Moody. Next across Franklin street was a brick dwelling belonging to Abram Jewett, 20x40. Adjoin- ing it was the brick store of William Smith, 67x40, and the next was the hotel property, corner of Washington and Public Square, about 70x35. Adjoining this property on Washington street was a brick block 82x40, three stories high, belonging to Hart Massey. About a quarter of the building was occupied as a part of the hotel, and the remainder as stores and offices. Olney Pearce occupied one of the stores, Wm. Smith & Co. another, and the third was used by Dr. Massey and the Masonic fraternity. They had a hall in the upper story. Next was the wooden dwelling of Dyer Huntington, 35x40; then an alley and then his drug and paint shop, 30x50. Then came the dwelling of Silas Marvin.

On the opposite side of the street was an engine house, where the Jefferson County Bank stands. On the corner of Washington and Stone streets, was Gideon Wells' saddle and harness shop, 30x40. Next was O. Hungerford's store, 34x40. Next S. Marvin's hat store, 15x40. Next was a store belonging to the estate of John Paddock, 48x40. another 28x40, used as a tin shop, Next was Jabez Foster's store, and the next was the hotel on the corner of Washington and Arsenal streets. These buildings were all brick except the hotel, and were two and three stories in height.

At a later period Knowlton & Rice occupied one of the stores in the Washington Hall block. On the front of the building over their store was a sign painted in large letters "FAUST BUILDING." This was no doubt the work of Clark Rice, who, it is well known, was a practical printer, and thus honored Faust, who was the inventor of printing.

A two-story stone building on the corner of Washington and Stone streets was occupied by the Jefferson County Bank until it went into the building it lately occupied, which was built by the Fourierite Association, that flourished at one time in Watertown. The building vacated was afterwards occu- pied by Messrs. Symonds as a store, and at a later date by Wooster Sherman's bank and by J. C. Sterling as a book store. A building over the driveway east of Perkin's hotel, was occupied by Washington Genet as a barber shop, when he first took up his residence in Watertown.

Charles E. and John Clarke, who were among the foremost lawyers in Watertown, had their office in Massey's block, south of Perkins' tavern. The office was entered by a stairway either adjoining the hotel or further south.

The streets of Watertown in 1824 were: State (now Court), Court (now Coffeen),

Madison (now Massey), Arsenal, Washington, Sterling, Factory, River, Mill, the State Road (now State street), Water (now Huntington), Woodruff (now Franklin), and Weaver (now High) street.

Coffeen street is one of the oldest in the city. It was known as Court street as late as 1824. It was the most direct way of reaching the Court House from the Public Square when that building stood where it was first located. But people have been slow in set- tling upon it. There were something like half a dozen buildings on it in 1804 and in 1812. Arsenal street school-house stood where it now does, but was a small affair. Thomas Hall, afterwards a prominent business man at Sackets Harbor, taught school there in 1819, which was attended by our townsman, the venerable Mr. Weeks.

Originally River street was much higher than at present, and the bridge from the mainland to Beebee's Island was below the falls and the mills. The street was nearly upon a level with the ground upon which the freight house stands, and there were several dwellings upon it facing the river.

James P. Robbins, a printer, resided here and was doubtless the same man that pub- lished the " Black River Gazette," at Martins- burg a year or two, which was established in the spring of 1807, and who is said to have carried a bundle of paper from Utica to Watertown on his back.

On Beebee's Island there was a stone build- ing of considerable dimensions, and a smaller wooden one, but just how they were used cannot be stated with certainty. William Smith had an extensive foundry there, and J. Holt had a tannery on this island at one time. There were two dwellings upon the island, and Doctor and Avery Thomas resided in one of them ere they had dreamed of achieving fame and fortune.

Factory street was the same as it is to-day, extending as far as Sewall's Island (then called Factory Island), and was well occupied by residences, there being thirty-eight build- ings on the street in 1824. There were no streets between Factory and State streets, ex- cept Weaver (now High street), which ex- tended about as far up as the foot of Jefferson street. Factory Square and Fairbanks street (then called Water street), were laid out as they are to-day

At the risk of contradiction, we announce that in all probability Factory street was never dedicated for public use. It was bought for $200 from the adjoining owners by the Water- town Woolen and Cotton Manufacturing Company, in order to get to their lands pur- chased from Jewett.

The late G. W. Knowlton took up his resi- dence on High street in 1840, his house stand- ing upon the corner of High and Jefferson streets. Some of his neighbors were N. Wiley, father of Mrs. A. J. Fairbanks; Ed. Skinner, Wm. Padget, Mr. Perkins, and Cromwell Clark, carpenters by trade; Jere Kimball, Mr. Marshall-but how many of them lived upon the street previous to 1824 is

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not known. Mr. Sewall had a store on one corner of High and Factory streets, and Aus- tin Skinner a shop on the other, but this was at a later day. The lot in the rear of Mr. Knowlton's residence was his cow pasture, and he raised a fine crop of wheat there one season. He opened Jefferson street from High to Mechanic, owning all the land be- tween the two. The paper mill of Knowl- ton & Rice stood upon the property now covered by the H. H. Babcock Company works. Wiley's foundry and machine shop were above it, and Fairbanks tannery below.

In 1822 the Factory Street school was taught by the late John Clarke, and attended by Joseph Mullen and Jasper Gilbert, both subsequently judges of the Supreme Court, by Alonzo M. and Samuel Watson, afterwards lawyers of repute, by Charles F. and George Smith, and by the late Charles Crossmon and Charles F. Symonds.

Away back in 1824, State street was known as the State road, running from Utica to Sackets Harbor, and the lower portion of it to the Public Square was on a level with the ground upon which George Hooker's house stands. It was afterwards excavated and the dirt was used to fill up the Public Square, a portion of which was more than ten feet lower than it is to-day. There were only eight buildings on State street at that time.

Starting at the Public Square and continu- ing along the north side of State street, the first building was Jasan Fairbanks' tannery, located about where the residences of V. S. Hubbard and Mrs. Pool now stand. This tannery was fed by a stream of water which run down the hill upon which the Hadcock residence stands, and across the road into the tannery. A man named Martin lived in the next house, which is standing to-day, located next to the residence of the late J. G. Har- bottle The brick house now occupied by by Dr. J. W. B. Smith was then standing, being the home of James Farwell. Next came the house of Thomas Peck, located just west of the residence of J. C. Streeter, which was built in 1827, and the only other struc- ture on that side of State street at the date, was M. W. Symonds' house, which occupied the site of the High School building.

On the south side of State street there were no buildings east of Union street. J. Far. well's dwelling stood about where John Lee resides, and Farwell's stone blacksmith shop was located west of his house. The only other building on that side of the street was Albro's house, which was located opposite the Fairbanks tannery. Both Stone's distil- lery and Fairbanks' tannery originally stood on the State road, and were removed to Water street about 1823-24.

Franklin street was then known as Wood- ruff street. There were seven buildings on Franklin street in 1824, all located on the south side, and extending not further than where Sterling street intersects. First came a brick building situated upon the site of the present Hubbard block. It was occupied by the Jefferson County Bank, which was then

the only banking institution in Jefferson county. William Smith's house came next, his yard occuping a part of the site of the Burdick block, and he owned the next dwelling. The dwellings of William Smith and Abra- dam Jewett came next in order, and were situated just west of Goodale street. Further up the street was a two-story white house built by Theophilus Redfield, and just beyond this house was the residence of the late Luther G. Hoyt, who there established the first bakery in Watertown.

In 1824 Sterling street extended from Washington to Franklin street, and there were eight dwellings located upon it. Starting in at Washington street and going along the north side of Sterling street, the residence of Gideon Wells, a saddle and harness maker, is first passed. It was located where N. Wins- low now resides. The residence of Dr. Reu- ben Goodale came next. It was a two-story frame dwelling. Goodale's lane was not opened at that time, and the only other house on that side of Sterling street was the resi- dence of Joseph Goodale, located about oppos- ite A. Bushnell's house.

On the south side of Sterling street there were five dwellings. The site of A. Bushnell's residence was occupied by a house owned by Harvey Meigs, long a tiler to the Masonic lodges, a cousin of George Smith, of the Sav- ings Bank. Further west was the residence of Deacon Patrick, and Henry Bronson lived in the brick house now occupied by Fred Seymour. The frame dwelling west of this brick house was probably the home of Love- land Paddock.

It appears that Weaver street was so named because the party who settled upon it when first opened was employed in weaving bed- ticking. His name was Elder, and he was the father of Mrs. S. G .. Greaves and of James Elder, formerly the leader of a band in Water- town. Mr. Elder was an immigrant from Ireland and had been a weaver in the old country, so he resumed the occupation after his arrival here. He had 50 cents a yard for weaving. So the cost of this description of cloth could not have been less than $1.00 or $1.25 per yard, whereas it may now be obtained at from 10c. to 20c. The father of the late Judge Mullin was likewise a weaver in Ireland, and when he came to Watertown he took up his residence with Mr. Elder, and the two families lived together in the small tenement on the left hand side of Weaver street, the second or third house from the corner. The house stands just where it did 75 years ago. Mr. Elder and the elder Mullin both worked at weaving in a shop on Fair- banks street, but the exact date is unknown, probably about 1818-20.

It is now known that the father of Avery and Dr. A. R. Thomas, Colonel Azariah Thomas, occupied one of the dwellings on Beebee's island in 1824. He came to Water- town in 1821 and engaged in the manufacture of wooden ware by machinery, and probably took up his residence on the island at once. At all events Doctor A. R. Thomas was born

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there the 3rd of October, 1826. It is there- fore not impossible that one of the buildings on the south bank of the river, near the site of what was once Van Doren's shop, was Col. Thomas' manufactory, and the other the tan- nery of J. Holt. Both the Col. and Mrs. Thomas were members of the Baptist church.

Lest our History may prove tiresome we will not further describe Watertown in its infancy. It had a vigorous and a steady growth, often threatened with destruction by serious fires, which are described in their place; but the little town has emerged into a city of nearly 20,000 people, ranking with the first in the State for its beauty and complete- ness, not less than for the virtue and intelli- gence of its people. We may almost say that its general progress as an entirety may be justly compared with what has been done upon the Public Square, now surrounded by fine brick blocks, and one of the central elypses surmounted by the handsomest soldiers' monument in the State; while that Square was once a side-hill development where mud- holes, dead cats and decaying vegetation were quite prominent in summer, and the cross- walks (such as they were) only wide enough in winter to indicate the trail.

The reader, as he intelligently follows the different threads in our history of the village and city of Watertown may perchance notice some repetitions of incidents and allusions, for in the early settlement it was first a town- ship, out of which grew the village, and from it the city-and so town, village, city become at times mixed in giving their records chrono- logically. The "town" of Watertown will be found treated with the rest of the townships in its alphabetical order-coming last before Worth.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 44

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