Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 79

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

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HON. AZARIAH H. SAWYER.

JUDGE SAWYER, so long a resident of Jeffer- son county, and so favorably known upon the bench and at the bar, was born in Potsdam, N. Y. He was the son of Rev. George Saw- yer, a prominent minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, whose long itinerary em- braced charges like Malone, Sackets Harbor, Ogdensburg, Pulaski, Lowville, Rome and Weedsport. He was also presiding elder for several terms. Full of years and of honors, he died at Syracuse in 1880. He was a Royal Arch Mason, and was chaplain of Fulton Lodge and Chapter for many years, while residing there. His wife was Miss Mary

Richardson, daughter of Major Samuel Richardson, of the war of 1812.

The Rev. George Sawyer traced his lineage back to a family which came from England in 1640, and at a later day to men who served in the Revolutionary army. His grandfather, Manassah Sawyer, was captain of a company of scouts, whose principal duty was to har- rass and annoy the British troops, and ap- prise his superior officer of the enemy's movements, a position we now see filled by the cavalry videttes, who are designated as " the eyes of the army." Captain Manassah Sawyer and his faithful wife (a Miss Howe),

369

CITY OF WATERTOWN.

HON. AZARIAH H. SAWYER.

are buried at Potsdam, N. Y., where they lived much respected, dying early in the forties-he aged 84 years.

The father of Rev. George Sawyer, also named Manassah, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and during most of a long life, resided at Potsdam. but died while residing with his son at Fulton, N. Y. While his father was stationed at Lowville, and when only 14 years of age, Judge A. H. Sawyer was impressed with the idea that he ought to be a printer. He built, after a plan of his own, a small press upon which he was able to print a 6x9 inch circular. This was a favorite release from his studies, which he had pur- sued with so much earnestness as to impair

his health, and eventually prevented his graduation from college. Upon completion of his scholastic education, Mr. Sawyer studied law with Hon. Amos G. Hull. of Ful- ton, N. Y. He came to Watertown in April, 1857, to attend his examination, as a law student. Mr. James F. Starbuck was chair- man of the committee appointed by the court to conduct the examination, and his atten- tion was especially attracted to young Saw- yer by the character of the examination passed by him, and a partnership was the re- sult, which continued for 23 years, or until Mr. Starbuck's death, in 1880. This firm was one of the oldest and most prominent in this part of the State, and earned a reputation

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

which extended far beyond the limits of the county and its vicinity. Indeed, their prac- tice was almost as large from outside the county as within.

Important as have been his achievements in the line of his profession, Judge Sawyer was yet able to confer upon the community in which he has so long resided, distinguished service in connection with the Civil War.

Before commencing his residence in Water- town, he had taken an important part in the politics of Oswego county, where DeWitt C. Littlejohn was then the leading manager of the Republican organization. Judge Sawyer's connection with the Republican party dates from its first organization as an active op- ponent of slavery and its further encroach- ment upon free territory. When he came to Watertown he had resolved not to take any very active part in politics, for he realized how much such action would encroach upon his valuable time. But the firing upon the Star of the West, which had been sent by President Lincoln to provision a starving gar- rison of United States soldiers in Charleston harbor, settled with the Judge, as with so many others, all doubts as to his imperative duty. He at once offered his services in any capacity where he could do the most good. He was elected a delegate to the first Union State Convention in 1861, and during the campaign which followed was chairman of the county committee, in which position he served throughout the war. During the second year of the war, the Union League of Jefferson county was formed, embracing 500 very reliable and intelligent men. Of this organization he was made president, and so continued until the organization was disband- ed, at the close of the war. The gavel he used so long as presiding officer is a priceless possession, treasured in memory of those days when Northern men did so much to save the country from dismemberment.

In 1867 Judge Sawyer was unanimously nominated, without any previous canvassing, as the Republican candidate for county judge, and at the expiration of his term was

again nominated under the same conditions. He held the office of judge for 10 consecutive years.

Since the death or Mr. Starbuck, Judge Sawyer has practiced alone. His law busi- ness began to be so pressing, and its demands so imperative that he relinquished his judicial position at the end of his second term. He is general counsel for the Agricultural Insur- ance Company, of Watertown, and is also vice-president of that well-known company. His office is in the company's building on Washington street.

During the past 10 years the Judge's busi- ness has drifted almost entirely into corpora- tion law, particularly in the line of insurance. In this department of practice he is an acknowledged authority. As a lawyer, his judgment has great judicial weight with the profession. His practice is extensive and im- portant.

Judge Sawyer is a man of many sterling traits of character. He has not been unmind- ful of his duties and responsibilities as a citizen. We have already spoken of his efforts in behalf of the Union cause; and he has always been identified with educational advancement. For nine years he was a mem- ber of the school board of Watertown-being president of the board for two years. He was at one time president of the Watertown National Union Bank, and has served as a director for a long time in that institution. He has also been a director in several other business enterprises, such as the Davis Sew- ing Machine Company and the Eames Vacuum Brake Company, his mind being especially practical, with a decided leaning towards mechanics. He is Past Master of Watertown Masonic Lodge No. 49, and Past Commander of Watertown Commandery, Knights Temp- lar. He has been warden of Trinity Episco- pal Church for many years, and is a member of the standing committee of the Diocese of Central New York. He has long been a use- ful and honored citizen, who has shown his desire for friends by being friendly to all.

WOOSTER SHERMAN,

THE founder, organizer and treasurer of the Watertown Savings Bank, was born at New- port, N. Y., April 28, 1809. His father, Phineas Sherman, was born in 1773, at Brim- field, Mass. On reaching his majority he re- moved to Providence, R. I., where he was engaged for several years in mercantile pur- suits. In 1797 he married Amy Thornton, a descendant of the Thornton and Waterman families, of Johnston, R. I. They removed to Herkimer county, N. Y., about the year 1808. In 1810 this family came to Water- town, and the elder Sherman succeeded Gor- don Caswell in paper making, upon the plant now occupied by Knowlton Bros., in Water- town. He died there in 1813, at the age of 40 years, leaving a widow with six children,

viz: Russel, George C., William, Angela, Wooster and Morgan Lewis, all of whom have passed away except the subject of our sketch, who has been the only survivor for the past 31 years. Young Sherman, after receiving a common school education, in his 15th year served as a merchant's clerk in the stores of Eli Farwell, of Watertown, and William S. Ely, of Brownville.

In 1825, in his 16th year, he entered the law office of Bucklin & Sherman as a student, and the next year, while pursuing his studies, he was appointed deputy county clerk, which position he held for five consecutive years, a portion of the time acting as clerk of the Supreme and County Courts. In 1828 he acted as clerk of the Circuit Court on the trial

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CITY OF WATERTOWN.

371

Worsten Sherman

of Henry Evans for the murder of Rogers, who was convicted and hung August 22, of that year. The death warrant, signed by Mr. Sherman as deputy clerk, is on file in our Historical Society, of which he is an honor- ary member.

After resigning his position as deputy county clerk, he resumed his studies in the law office of Hubbard & Dutton, and in May, 1839, was admitted to practice law. On May 28, 1832, Mr. Sherman married Wealthy S. Dickinson, daughter of Frederick Dickinson, of Northampton, Mass., where she was born August 28, 1812. They had nine children, William W., Frederick D., Emma M. (now the widow of the late Ambrose J. Clark, re- siding with her son Wallace S., in Schenec- tady); Cornelia F., who married the late Col.

Robert M. C. Graham, of New York; Henry J. and J. W. (twins); Grace (the wife of Francis E. Hunn, of New Haven, Conn.); Wealthy and John Jay-the only survivors being Mrs. Clark, Mrs. Hunn, William W., (the present deputy collector of customs at Cape Vincent); and Frederick D. (State bank examiner, residing in Brooklyn). Their mother died at Watertown in February, 1882. Mr. Sherman's other descendants are five grandsons, eight granddaughters, two great- grandsons and five great-granddaughters-a very respectable retinue, upon which the old gentleman may justly pride himself.

In the spring of 1833, having lost three brothers and his only sister by consumption, he made a voyage to the Straits of Belle Isle, on the coast of Labrador. From Marblehead,

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

Mass., he took passage in an 80-ton fishing schooner. He spent nearly four months in these northern regions, returning to his home the latter part of September, completely re- stored in health, gaining 41 pounds in weight.

In the fall of 1839, when in the practice of his profession as an attorney, he was appoint- ed cashier of the old Bank of Watertown, of which the late Loveland Paddock was presi- dent. Hon. Willard Ives, Henry D. Sewall, William H. Angel, Stephen Boon, Benjamin Corey, Samuel Buckley and others, were directors, all of whom have passed away ex- cept ex-Congressman Ives and Wooster Sher- man, who, after two years' successful manage- ment of the institution, resigned his position, and in the fall of 1841 established the first private or individual bank with circulating notes, under the general laws of the State, an example that was afterwards followed by Luther Wright, of Oswego, John D. Judson, of Ogdensburg, Henry Keep, of Watertown, N. Merriam, of Courtland, and others. " Wooster Sherman's Bank " started with $10,000 capital, which was afterwards in- creased to $50,000, and its circulation to $60,- 000. After a successful career of a quarter of a century, in which Mr. Sherman accumu- lated a fair fortune, the passage of the National Banking Law by Congress, taxing State bank circulation, necessitated the call- ing in of his circulating notes, which were regularly redeemed.

Mr. Sherman, in 1854, built the handsome residence now occupied by George W. Knowlton, on Clinton street, where he resided for 25 years. He also built the banking house now occupied by the Watertown National Bank, and made other valuable im- provements. He has been for many years a member of Trinity Episcopal Church. Always a Democrat, he held in his younger days many important positions in the gift of his party, and at one time was its nominee for Presidential elector.

In the exciting bank panic of 1857, when nearly all the banks in the country tempor- arily suspended payments, Mr. Sherman declared publicly his determination to meet every liability which should be demanded of him, offering gold in redemption of his circu- lating notes, and the same country bank notes to his depositors by which they had made their deposits, or in sight drafts on New York, where he kept a large balance. The

effect was fairly electrical, and but few demands were made.

In 1858, upon the recommendation of Mr. Sherman's Albany correspondent (the New York State Bank), he made an arrangement with the Phoenix Bank, of Hartford, for an unlimited amount of their circulating notes, on 30 days' time without interest, by which he was enabled to profitably extend accom- modations to his customers; and when William H. Angel, then doing an extensive flouring and distilling business in the present Taggart bag and paper mill, wanted $50,000, he was told by Mr. Paddock that Mr. Sher- man was the only banker in a position to furnish it; and his notes at 60 days were dis- counted for that amount. He also gave large "lines" to other parties-$50,000 to Edwin White for the purchase of butter and cheese; $35,000 to Garret Ives for a cargo of wheat, and $25,000 to Eldridge G. Merick, of Clayton, a heavy dealer in timber, lumber and grain.

The fourth generation of the Sherman family in America was represented by Rev. John Sherman, born in 1613, an eminent New England preacher, who had six children by his first wife and 20 by his second. In a recent correspondence with Senator John Sherman, of Ohio, he states that he has a copy of this family tree which shows him and his brother, Tecumseh, in the same line of descent, claiming the prolific Rev. John as their respected ancestor.

Wooster Sherman is an energetic and thorough-going business man. In his youth he had the entire confidence of such prominent, wealthy and respected citizens as Norris M. Woodruff, Loveland Paddock and John Clarke, the two last named gentlemen offer- ing to join him in establishing the largest bank in the city.

The transactions with the Phoenix Bank, although amounting to several hundred thousand dollars, was promptly closed with- out the loss to either party of a single dollar, thus showing the young banker to be a shrewd and capable financier. Few men of his advanced years are as well preserved or as capable of correct methods of banking. He is a gentleman of the old school, faithfully de- voted to the best interests of the Savings Institution he so ably represents. His services are justly appreciated by his associ- ate trustees and the patrons of the bank.

JEFFERSON W. BROCKWAY.

WHEN the author of this History con- ceived the plan of making composite pictures, showing the faces of the leading men who controlled the business and editorial writing of the two daily newspapers in the city of Watertown, the name of Jefferson W. Brock- way was omitted through an inadvertence, which we are culpable for, if any one is.

The man whose persistency, energy and foresight introduced the first double-cylinder

press, the perfecting press and type-setting machines into Jefferson county, is deserving of more than a passing notice in this History. In the history of printing, the cylinder press superseded the hand press; then came the double-cylinder to meet the wants of the daily papers, and now the perfecting press, which prints from a continuous roll of paper.

Jefferson W. Brockway was born in May- ville, N. Y., November 17, 1840, and may be

373

CITY OF WATERTOWN.

JEFFERSON W."BROCKWAY.

said to have been brought up in a printing office, his father, the late Hon. Beman Brock- way, owning the Mayville Sentinel when J. W. was a small boy. He was taught the printer's case at the same time he was learn- ing the alphabet, and when 11 years of age was considered a fair compositor. He came with his father to Oswego county, and was there when the war broke out. He enlisted as a private and served three years under Col. Jacob DeForest, having been promoted to a lieutenancy. After returning from the war he went to Albany to help the State census, and acted as secretary for Franklin B. Hough until the work was completed. Afterwards he was chief clerk for the canal appraisers, a position which he held for five years. He then entered the printing house of Weed, Parsons & Co., where his skill as a printer soon won for him the formanship, a position

he held until he embarked in business for himself. While occupying this position he had charge of the printing of the Constitu- tional Convention, and was openly thanked and praised for the expeditious manner in which the work was performed. A resolu- tion to that effect was spread on the minutes of the session.

He sold his office to the Press and Knicker- bocker people and became foreman of that office, which position he held until his father asked him to come to Watertown and help float the Times. At that time (1874), the Times establishment was in a floundering condition, and was even shown in court to be virtually bankrupt. The superintendency of the office was placed in the hands of Jefferson W., who believed the way to succeed was to deserve success. Instead of curtailing ex- penses, he believed in winning more busi-

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

ness. It was mainly through his efforts that the firm was induced to put in a double- cylinder press to get out a paper quickly with the latest news in it. It was a time-saver. People got their papers earlier, with much later news. It was a stroke of genius, and from that time the Times forged ahead. Then came the enlargement of the paper, the put- ting in of a perfecting press and the introduc- tion of type-setting machines, all the sugges- tions of Mr. J. W. Brockway, who, when he undertook to make a change for the better, persistently advocated it until the other

members of the firm were won to his way of thinking. It was under his supervision that the Times' present model printing house was planned and built.

For several years Mr. Brockway served as a member of the old New York State Associated Press, and when the Brockway Sons Com- pany was organized he was the first presi- dent, and continued in that office until he sold his interests in the establishment in 1893, for which he received $30,000, after having drawn out of the business over $20,000.

J. A. H.

JOHN D. HUNTINGTON

WAS born in the town of Watertown, near Burrville, February 11, 1827. His father, William Huntington, came into the Black River country from Connecticut, in 1804, in company with his father's family, consisting of six brothers and one sister, the late Mrs. Joseph Kimball. The well-known Dyer Huntington was the second son of this family. The grandfather of Dr. Huntington located on a farm on the Gotham road, now known as the Taylor and Ball farms, adjoining the farm of A. P. Sigourney's father. The grandfather, William Huntington, Sr., after the war of 1812, moved to the place now known as Huntingtonville, where he engaged extensively in manufacturing and milling.

In 1835, William Huntington, jr., removed to Geauga county, Ohio, where, in the panic of 1837, he lost his entire property, consisting of a farm and bank stock. In 1838 he re- moved to Caldwell county, Mo., then the extreme Western frontier of civilization. In 1840 they returned to the east side of the Mississippi river, and located at a place called Commerce, 50 miles north of Quincy, Ill. This place being afterwards selected by the Mormons as their future home, the name was changed to Nauvoo.

In July of 1840, the mother died of malaria, and the home being broken up, the subject of this sketch was apprenticed to the proprietor of a country newspaper, where he served an apprenticeship, beginning with the use of the old Ramage press and the "ball- bats" for inking the type.

Through the death of his mother and the sickness of all the other members of the family, during the terrible epidemic which raged at Nauvoo during the summer of 1840, he became a member of the household of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon religion. During a protracted illness and convalescence, an opportunity was afforded for a thorough study of the spiritual and tem- poral workings of that strange delusion known as Mormonism, and afterwards brought young Huntington in contact with most of the first leaders of the Church of Latter Day Saints, such as Joseph and Hiram Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Orson Hyde, John Taylor, Willard Richards, Heber C. Kimball, Brigham Young, and many others of less notoriety.

About 1870 Dr. Huntington's progressive nature induced him to make a thorough in- vestigation of the materializing phenomena of modern spiritualism through some of the most noted mediums of this country, and by a careful comparison of the modus operandi of producing the Joe Smith revelations and our modern spiritual communications, is to him positive proof that they were all produced through the same, but partially understood, law governing the human mind, by some scientists termed the " psychic force."

At the time of Smith's appearance before the public as a prophet, nothing was known of what is termed spirit manifestations, and all things unaccountable were thought to emanate from either God or the Devil-the latter working through witches, etc.

Smith's methods of writing his Book of Mormon and Book of Revelations, were almost identical with the operations of the modern trance mediums, only that in the case of Smith, this influence said, "I, the Lord thy God, hath chosen you, my servant Joseph, to be my prophet and seer ;" while the modern influence more modestly styles himself the spirit of Andrew Jackson or John Smith.

His father having died of malarial fever in 1846, and having no relatives in that section, John D. returned to Watertown, his native place, in the fall of 1848. After the great fire here in 1849, he assisted the author of this History in relaying and regulating his new office (the Jefferson County Union) in the Cory block, as also the plant of Smith & Noble (the Northern New York Journal), which was located temporarily in the Wood- ruff block. In 1850 he took charge of the Sackets Harbor Observer, edited by O. H. Harris, and in 1853 he leased the office and changed the name of the paper to the Jeffer- son County Farmer. After publishing it one year he sold the lease and removed to Water- town, where he engaged in putting names on the streets and numbering the houses of the village of Watertown, preparatory to publish- ing several editions of the business and resi- dence directory of Watertown, between 1854 and 1860.

Having practiced the art of wood-engraving for many years in connection with printing, and having in charge the entire telegraph

375

CITY OF WATERTOWN.

JOHN D. HUNTINGTON.

business of Jefferson county from 1856 to the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861, he was compelled, by the great increase in telegraphy incident to the war, to relinquish his charge of telegraph lines, and it was then he took up his present profession of dentistry, in which he has been eminently successful, retaining his first and present location in Washington Hall block for over 32 years.

As early as 1847, Dr. Huntington espoused the temperance cause by uniting with the Sons of Temperance in Quincy, III. During the Maine Law campaign of 1855, which re- sulted in the election of Myron H. Clark as Governor of this State, he took an active part, and he is now best known politically as an

active and uncompromising Prohibitionist. He has been a member of the State Prohi- bition Committee for the past 12 years, and has been a delegate to every National Pro- hibition Convention since 1884. His position with the organization has been of the highest character all through.

He was one of the organizers of the city of Harriman, in East Tennessee, 80 miles north of Chattanooga, and 40 miles . west of Knox- ville. This is to be an important and profit- able enterprise.

In 1851 Dr. Huntington was married to Miss Adelaide L. Danks. They have reared two sons, who are both practical dentists, the youngest being a partner with his father,

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

under the firm name of J. D. & J. F. Hunt- ington.

During the Doctor's connection with the Prohibition party, he has twice been their nominee for mayor of Watertown, and was once their nominee for Congress.

In 1875 Dr. Huntington was president of the 5th judicial district Dental Association, comprising the counties of Jefferson, Herki- mer, Lewis, Oswego, Oneida and Onondaga.

He has always been a progressive, pushing citizen-a hard-worker always, and unusually successful in whatever he has undertaken. His success in his chosen profession, in which he studied and was graduated near middle life, shows his tenacity of purpose-itself almost a sure guaranty of success by its pos- sessor. The Doctor's childhood experience among the Mormons would fill a large book. He knew the men who originated that mon- strous attempt at a religion, and places

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 79

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