Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 47

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

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VIEW IN BROOKSIDE CEMETERY.

THE FLOWER MEMORIAL CHAPEL AT BROOKSIDE.

For a long time the need was felt for a mortuary chapel at Brookside, where funerals of strangers and non-residents could be held. The daughters of Mrs. Cadwell, the grand- children of Norris M. Woodruff and wife, thought it would be a fitting commemoration of the regard they felt for Colonel Flower and his wife, whose wards they were for many years, to erect a chapel that should be free to all who desired to use it, in holding the last sad rites of sepulchre over their dead. This beautiful memorial was erected by their liberality, and is a most useful and fitting tribute to one who was soldier, citizen and a man of affairs.

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living (T. H. Camp and Hon. Willard Ives). We append the names of those who at- tended and participated in the first meeting: Orville V. Brainard, Augustus P. Peck, Geo. C. Sherman, J. Henry Dutton, James S. Van Buren, Randolph Barnes, Adriel Ely, Eli Farwell, Edmund Q. Sewall, Orin C. Utley. James K. Bates, Charles Goodale, Ralph Rogers, Isaac H. Fisk, Frederick W. Hub- bard, Wm. B. Farwell, Peter Snyder. Elisha S. Sill, Charles B. Hoard, Samuel F. Bates, Abner Baker, Lysander H. Brown, James R A. Perkins, Peter Horr, Talcott H. Camp, Frederick B. Sigourney, Charles Clark, Robert Lansing and Joseph Mullin. Nearly all of these sleep in Brookside.

At the first official meeting of the trustees Hon. Joseph Mullin was made president; Hon. Willard Ives, vice-president; Dr. James K. Bates, treasurer; and F. H. Sigourney, secretary.

THE PRESENT OFFICERS.

The trustees and their officers on January 1, 1894. were as follows: George W. Wiggins, President; H. H. Babcock, Vice-President; A. L. Upham, Secretary and Treasurer; G. C. Sherman, A. R. Flower, Geo. A. Bagley, J. M. Tilden, D. S. Miller, R. L. Hungerford, G. R. Hanford.

ITS GROWTH.

The growth of Brookside at first was slow, as is the case with all new cemeteries. The monument to Norris M. Woodruff was the first important addition to the northern part of the grounds, and the beauty of its design -our blessed Saviour with extended hands invoking a benediction and a welcome-at- tracted much attention when first erected, and is yet a fitting testimonial of the love of wife and children. Other monuments of lesser im- portance, but not less in loving remembrance, soon came in, until at last the enterprising spirit of the leading citizens was aroused, and now the visitor beholds many noble evidences that love of kindred is not by any means a lost nor a lessening sentiment among this commercial people, whose patriotic and home-loving sentiment is apparent, and does them honor.

We will not attempt to even name the many superior works of art which make Brookside so attractive, but a native citizen who has been absent 35 years, and on his re- turn wanders through the avenues of that silent city, feels his heart swell with varied emotions when he reads upon those monu- ments the names of so many whom he re- members of walking the streets of Water- town when he went away. Those early ones who did so much to make Watertown what it is to-day, what citizen can look upon their graves without emotion ? Woodruff, Ster- ling, Massey, Streeter, Ely, Farwell, Part- ridge, Rice, Hungerford, Goodale, Munson, Mullin, Moulton, Tubbs, Safford, Paddock, Walter Woodruff, T. T. Woodruff, Lamon, Ives, Fairbanks, Mather, Scott, Copley, the Lords, the Bates families, Holcomb, Sewall, Bacon, Winslow, Lansing-these be historic

names, once borne by persevering men who raised Watertown from a mere hamlet to be- come a beautiful city. And then those not less worthy ones who came after these first " heroes of discovery," and some of whom are yet alive-Hubbard, Starbuck, Joshua Moore, Beach, Mundy, Gen. Pratt, Emerson, the Flower family, Charles Smith, Henry Keep, the philanthopist, Dr. Munson, the Cooks (donors of that beautiful monu- ment upon the Public Square, which fills every soldier's heart with a thankful pride), Howell Cooper, Wardwell (who died so young and so much beloved), Sweeney, Dewey, John A. Sherman (who gave Wash- ington Hall to the Young Men's Christian Association), Colonel Flower, Campbell, Brayton, Dewey, Dr. Hannahs, Hayes, Stears, Rev. Pitt Morse, Levi H. Brown,- these are also names that Watertown will not willingly let die. Their remembrance is sweet and wholesome, for their lives form a part of that aggregation of mental and moral worth which, as King Solomon said, "exalteth a people."

One of the happiest things at Brookside is to mark how its honored President and his able superintendent have developed superior lines of beauty from the most forbidding portions of the estate. The many springs and the constant erosion of water upon the sand and gravel, had left the bed of the two creeks a swampy, fever breeding waste. But persistent labor has cleared out the bed of these sluggish water courses, made them into little lakes, by suitable dams developing many glistening and pulsing waterfalls, and where once was mire and ooze and decaying trees. are now artistic footways over little cascades, and sloping banks of green, not neglecting plentiful shade after cutting out the surplus growth. At first the higher land was select- ed as offering the most eligible sites for monu- ments, but these later improvements have added many desirable lots to the Cemetery Company's possessions. Looking towards the south from the Keep Mausoleum, one of these improvements is brought right before the eye, forming a scene of peaceful beauty worth going a day's drive to look at.

Brookside is a beautiful spot. The obser- ving traveller sees nothing to surpass it. Its combination of rural beauty, with the many tasteful and elaborate evidences of man's in- ventive brain and skillful hand, make it a charming resort, and the aged or infirm who are looking almost daily for a glad release from earth's lengthened pilgrimage, must surely feel a throb of pleasure as they reflect that they, too, may sleep in Brookside, and forever become a part of its budding foliage, its joyful waterfalls, its ennobling monu- ments, and of its glorious rest.

SOME NOTABLE INCIDENTS.

In Brookside there are erected several memorial stones that have a peculiar interest to me Among these was that erected for Rev. Homer B. Morgan, my beloved class- mate, who went in his early manhood to

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Syria as a missionary. The tablet also com- memorates the names of his little children, who died in that distant land where he also rests from his labors.

Another interesting stone is that erected to Rev. James Brown (father of Mrs. Wiggins), a devoted preacher in the Methodist Church for many years-one of that grand body of saints on earth, who thought it great gain to travel on horseback amid the ruder settle- ments of a primitive era, and preach the gospel of our Lord without pay, to those who, but for such as him, would have had no food for their souls, which were "an hungered" amid the isolation and solitude of their lives. The memory of such a man is a perpetual and grateful fragrance to those who remember the peculiar hardships of those early days, when a log school house or a poor private dwelling seemed to be holy ground whenever one of these men of God came to declare the Truth. Peace be to him and to all such.

A stone to commemorate Rev. Pitt Morse, who preached so long in the old Universalist church, contains more truth than is usually found upon a tomb stone. It reads: "He began to preach in Monroe county, N. Y., in 1818; was ordained in 1820, and removed to Watertown, where he labored for 40 years as a faithful minister of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of pure life and an acute and well cultivated mind, of sympathetic heart and persistent zeal, he commended the fullness of the Gospel of Christ to his fellow men, and his persua- sive voice reached the hearts of thousands, bringing them into the light, joy and comfort of the kingdom of God."

Peculiarly touching is the noble monument erected by Major General Joseph Hooker, in memory of his aged father and mother, the filial tribute of a hero and a noble man to his parents who reared him and loved him. The General himself expected to be interred in Brookside, a spot very dear to him, but he sleeps by his wife in Cincinnati.

In Justice to the late John A, Sherman, some account should be given of his labors while President of the Cemetery Association, which position he held at his death. He was always in favor of the kind of work now being completed at Brookside, in using the water course as the great central attraction, the carrying out of which plan has so much improved the grounds. About two years be- fore Mr. Sherman's death, there were nearly $20,000 in the treasury of the Association. There was a movement to expend a large part of this money to improve the roads leading up to Brookside, but Mr. Sherman opposed such a diversion of the funds which he believed should be expended in beautifying the grounds. Yet an improved road was greatly needed, and Mr. Sherman appealed to Gov. Flower, who quickly responded with an offer of $10,000 provided Mr. Sherman would raise $5,000 more. This he quickly raised, and so the motive power in that movement was John A. Sherman. In addition to the road being cut down and greatly improved, it was first

laid out in such a way as not to antagonize the farmers through whose lands it passed, and that, too, was a benefit to the Association, for it thereby placated opposition, and made friends of neighbors. J. A. H.

THE OLD TRINITY CHURCH CEMETERY.

After so honorable a record as is made in describing Brookside, it is humiliating to be compelled to notice the desecration which is now (June, 1894), apparent in one of the old- est cemeteries in Watertown. We make ex- tracts from an article published in the Daily Times of June 7, 1894:

"When the land for the old Trinity church burying ground was conveyed to the trustees of the village of Watertown and their successors by Henry Coffeen, February 12, 1819, (see Jefferson county deed book P. page 355), it was definitely granted to them " so long as the same shall be occupied as a burying ground, the same now being used as a public burying ground " -- (we quote the words of the deed). Of course the city's title to the land, after it has been in any manner diverted to any other use, at once fails. In June, 1894, the writer went to those grounds to ex- amine a date, when he found the graveyard nearly all obliterated, only six of the ancient tombstones re- maining, the place used as a dumping ground for city refuse, a public highway running through the plot, and one of the old grave stones nearly covered with stable manure. It was a pitiful sight, producing the most intense indignation. The Jonathan Cowan family are buried there, and their headstones and one other are all that are left-but they are open to the public road, liable to be rooted over by the swine from the streets. The historical student will recall the fact that Jonathan Cowan was one of the three men who gave to Watertown the lands for the Public Square, now so important and valuable to the city. But even that gift has been perverted from the uses contemplated by the donors, their con- veyance reading that the said lands were granted for the use of the people "as a public mall (or open space) for the exchange of commodities," that is, a place where any farmer might come with his hay or wood, or whatever he had for sale, and exchange or sell it The writer understands that such a use of the Public Square would not now be permitted.

It seems that when the Trinity church property, which fronted the old burying ground, was sold and the new Trinity erected, the graveyard became very soon neglected, and in a measure open to the public. The fence doubtless became gradually obliterated, and the graves that were unprotected by iron railing at last were left wholly without defence. The city officials, not heeding the law which would cause a re- version of the property if used for any other pur- pose than a "public burying ground," entered upon possession, and began to use the sacred place for storage purposes, and that abuse has been continued until this day. The place is now a wood-yard, a stor- age place for stone and tools, and the dumping ground for street and stable offal. The city has built a public vault there for temporary use in winter when Brookside is inaccessible; the grounds have been levelled, the graves obliterated and the legend- ary grave stones taken away and used in building, or otherwise destroyed.

What makes this wholesale desecration more piti- ful is the fact that the graves of the old and powerful Sherman family, around the place of sepulchre of whose ancestors there is an iron fence, have been re- spected-but the poor and defenceless have been ploughed under and their graves obliterated.

It is hard to understand how such an abuse of a public trust could have been tolerated amongst an intelligent and Christian people such as are those of the city of Watertown. Those " heroes of discovery" who founded Watertown were anxious to protect their dead, as is evidenced by the terms of their grant. It is a painful subject, rendered more annoy- ing when we reflect that even savage tribes revere and hold sacred for all time the places where their dead are buried.

OLD TRINITY CHURCH, COURT STREET, WATERTOWN.

Erected after the great fire of 1849. Abandoned after the new Trinity Church was dedicated.

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CITY OF WATERTOWN.

SOME INTERESTING REMINISCENCES

RELATING TO WATERTOWN, PERSONAL AND OTHERWISE.

Watertown has ever been fortunate in hav- ing among her citizens not a few who could write intelligently and concisely upon any subject they handled. Nor were these writers by any means confined to the news- paper editors-indeed, having been one of these for many years, I am free to admit that the newspaper people were only a fair average of the writing capacity of the more educated men of the town." In early days George A. Benedict, who had no connection with any newspaper here, was an agreeable and forci- ble writer, and when he settled at Cleveland, O., became one of the ablest editors in that State. George C. Sherman, the eminent lawyer, was a good writer, and so was Thos. C. Chittenden, but they were too busy to write much. James F. Starbuck, coming down to the forties, was an exceptionally able writer-and one of the most aggravating criti- cisms I could hear upon my own editorial productions, would be to have some friend remark: "John, that was a pretty good article in your last paper. Did Starbuck write that ?" This was in reality a compli- ment, though not intended as such, and filled me with anger and disgust. James R. Sweeney was a good writer, and would have excelled as a newspaper man-for he had the Irish appreciation of wit and humor, and could say smart things himself. Luther J. Dorwin was and is a forcible writer. I will not speak of Hon. Lysander H. Brown in this connection, for he was long a newspaper editor. By far the most interesting articles prepared for the local press have been those written by Solon and Marcellus Massey, both products of the early schools of Watertown, and both " to the manor born."

Samuel and George R. Fairbanks wrote often and well for the village papers.

William Ruger was a lawyer in Watertown for many years; was State senator one term, a man of remarkable modesty. His command- ing presence easily obtained the respect of all with whom he came in contact. Like many others of the particularly bright and able men who have risen to prominence in Jefferson county, he began life in Watertown as a school teacher. Marcellus Massey wrote that he was the best teacher of his day, hav- ing a private school, for our grand system of common schools was not then fully devel- oped. Mr. Ruger also served as postmaster of Watertown. He was the author of several school books published by Knowlton & Rice, among the rest a grammar and an arithmetic; this last having a great run, and was probably one of the best primary mathematical works ever printed.

Alvin Hunt, for many years a newspaper editor, was quite a writer, though he had none of the advantages of an early education, and was in many respects unfitted for news- paper work. He was an intense and bigoted partisan, hesitating at nothing that would aid

the Democrats or disconcert the Whigs, and, aside from its political leanings, printed a newspaper of very little importance. He was a fair man, boarded his office boys, and they had no occasion to complain of unkindness. Considering the length of time he was a newspaper editor, and the opportunities he had for leaving a name for ability to impress himself upon the public mind through his newspaper, he left the least enduring mem- ory of any of his contemporaries. He was for several years the mail route-agent between Rome and Cape Vincent, though he had pre- viously sold his interest in his paper to Mr. J. W. Tamblin.

Mr. Tamblin was for a long time a resident of LeRay, coming to Watertown about 1845. He was twice State senator-a man of pecu- liarly turgid mind, apparently unable to dis- criminate between small affairs and large ones. As a writer he was even below medi- ocrity, but he was a good citizen and amiable man-one of those who by accident sometimes find themselves placed in positions they fill but poorly, yet condoning for any lack of adaptability by an amiability that was per- ennial. He was one of those who illuminated by his opaqueness the last days of the old Jeffersonian.

Mrs. Gladys May Gillette, born in Salis- bury, Vt., a former resident of Watertown, is regarded as a versatile and industrious writer. Her style is descriptive, in which she excels, as is well illustrated in her piquant and telling articles relating to New York city gatherings of club people. She was one of the reception committee for the Actors' Fund Fair held two years ago, when $150,000 was raised to aid poor actors and their dependent families. She is a lady of fine mind and superior character.

Among the present well-known but imper- fectly understood residents of Watertown, we have made the acquaintance of Mr. D. S. Marvin, a gentleman whose eccentricities de- tract much from the reputation he honestly deserves. He has a superior cabinet of curios, is possessed of much geological, archaeologi- cal and literary ability ; is a devoted botanist and is delighted with practical horticulture, yet his abilities are discounted by eccentricity of manner. Such men need the attrition which intercourse with others can only give in rendering men adapted to social life. A really great man may so seclude himself as to leave no impression upon his contemporaries or the world in which he lives, and to which he surely owes fealty and some slight service.

Among the unique characters of Water- town, perhaps none was more prominent in his characteristics than Dr. Reuben Goodale, after whom Goodale's lane is named, because it led from Franklin street to Sterling, termin- ating near the Doctor's residence. He was a triumphant, ever hopeful and emphatic Whig, the devoted admirer of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, ever ready to give a reason for the faith that was in him-a man universally respected for his professional skill and the integrity of his character. He reared a large family. His brother Joseph

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was the village druggist, father of L. J. Goodale, of Carthage, and of Judge Augustus Goodale, of Watertown. Joseph was also a Whig, formerly a Federalist, a man of learn- ing and ability.

An own brother of Thurlow Weed is remembered by the author as at one time a journeyman in the employ of Knowlton & Rice, in their book-bindery. He bore marked resemblance to his more distinguished and really able brother.

Luther G. Hoyt, a dry goods merchant on Court street in 1833-36, was a character worthy of remembrance. He was a man of fair mind, very congenial; an honest, conscien- tious citizen, for many years justice of the peace-a place he filled most acceptably, for every one had faith in his integrity and judicial fairness. He passed away universally regretted, leaving to this day his widow, who is an accurate and interercsting historian.

Among the many prominent men whom the writer knew in Watertown from 1833 to 1865, none was more interesting than William Smith. He was an unique character, because he knew so much and could do so much. He could lay brick or stone, or mix and carry mortar, or he could do the work of an hy- draulic engineer; he could draw and make models and patterns; he could run a lathe in a machine shop, and make nearly any com- plicated machine that was needed in those early times. When Mr. Beebee came on to build his great cotton factory, now only a memory, he gave over all his plans to Mr. Smith, went away, and never saw the work until the building was ready to receive its machinery. Some of the walls of that build- ing had to be undermined before they would fall even after the building was burned in 1833. We have not space in which to do justice to Mr. Smith. He was a helpful man in many ways. His workmen stayed with him for long periods, which showed him to be a just man. His manners were mild, his tem- per agreeable, his modesty and self reliance remarkable. Viewed in any light, he was a strong character-a man to lean upon in any hour of trouble. Those who knew him best loved him most. To the writer he always appeared one of the most wonderful men he ever met, fit to be a companion with Webster and Clay, whom he knew well during the three winters he spent in Washington.

Mr. Smith came from Nova Scotia, whither his parents had removed at the beginning of the Revolution, they having remained loyal to King George. At that time our subject must have been a mere youth. His only daughter married Mr. Samuel Fairbanks; one of his sons is still living in Watertown, an honored citizen, and another son is a dis- tinguished civil engincer, long a resident of Florida.

The oldest cemetery in Watertown is that one in the rear of where once stood Trinity church, a cut of which church is shown in this history as well as cuts and a description of the noble structure of that society on Benedict street, largely the gift of two gen-

erous and public spirited citizens, Anson Ranney Flower, of New York city, and Gov- ernor Roswell Pettibone Flower. Mrs. Whittlesey ran across that burying plot when she started for the river to drown herself. I think her remains rest there with her child. In connection with the article upon Ceme- teries in Watertown, will be found a notice of the corporation's desecration of these grounds.

Adriel Ely was another man of marked individuality in Watertown. He was a mer- chant, United States pension agent, and a manufacturer of potash-his old "ashery " standing on the north side of Factory street, close to the bank of the river. For many of his late years of merchandising he occupied the stone building lately demolished for the new bank building, in the second story of which James F. Starbuck, Luther J. Dorwin, Lotus Ingalls and John A. Haddock were law students in 1841 -- 43, with the distinguished firm of Lansing & Sherman.

Clarke Rice, junior member of the firm of Knowlton & Rice, among other evidences of ability was a practical printer. He and his partner, George W. Knowlton, came to Watertown from Vermont in 1824, and promised to open a book store in 1825. They began in the Fairbanks block on Court street, in a space now represented by the Atlantic Tea Company. This firm was a thoroughly reliable one from the outset, for it rested upon the basis of integrity. At first they merely sold books, but soon became publishers. Their printing establishment was originally on Washington street, and to that locality their bookstore was also removed, the printing office being transferred to the build- ing in front of their later paper mill, which building is yet standing, and is now used as a store house by Knowlton Bros, In that building the author set type many months. Although entirely unlike in their make-up the most agreeable relations existed between these partners, each having his distinct branch of the business to attend to. Mr. Knowlton was heard to say, after he had retired from busi- ness, that while the operations of his partner sometimes kept him in hot water, he owed much of his success to Mr. Rice, who never lost a chance to make a strike, for his disposi- tion was adventurous, his desires progressive. He was largely instrumental in building the railroad to Rome. While many others, who possessed more means, were slow in subscrib- ing to stock, Mr. Rice was prompt and de- cided, and deprived himself of needed rest and sleep to push forward that enterprise. To him, and to Orville Hungerford and Col. Wm. Lord, William Smith, Norris M. Woodruff, and the late William Dewey the road most likely owes its existence. Mr. Rice, in his late years, manifested a genuine affection for the business of his youth, and set type in the Times office for a long time before his death. It was to him that Samuel Haddock came, after his two elder sons had become appren- tices to the "art preservative of arts," and with a piece of chalk on a clean-swept space in his blacksmith shop, demonstrated by rough

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 47

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