Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 81

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 81

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GEORGE W. SMITH,

OF Herkimer, N. Y., was born at Salisbury, Herkimer county, September 12, 1823. His ancestors lived in Norway, in that county, and his father, Samuel Smith, died at Salis- bury in his 94th year. He is a descendant, on his mother's side, of Alexander Mc- Donald, who came from Ireland and served in the British army, and after the war settled in Trenton, Oneida county. The subject of this sketch received an academic education at Fairfield Academy, and, during his early years, was engaged in farming, lumbering, tanning and shoemaking. From 1844 to 1847 he studied law in the offices of Capron & Lake, in Little Falls, and Ezra Graves, at Herkimer, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. In 1845 he was editor of the Herkimer Journal, and continued its editor for three years. He was for two years one of the pub- lishers. In June, 1848, he assumed the edit- orial charge of the Northern State Journal, and in September of that year became one of its proprietors, it being published one year under the firm name of Smith & Noble. The succeeding year, Mr. A. W. Clark having purchased the interest of Mr. Noble, the Journal was published by Smith & Clark. Mr. Smith subsequently sold his interest, but continued as editor until September 10, 1857. He is well remembered in Watertown as

one of the ablest writers of the county, much superior to his contemporaries. On the recommendation of Thurlow Weed, he was offered the position of editor of the Wiscon- sin State Journal, but declined the position on account of ill-health. He has been a Democrat since 1868, and previous to that was a Whig and a Republican. In 1850 he represented the county of Jefferson in the Whig State Convention, which was sharply divided on the question of sustaining Mr. Seward's course in the Senate. Resolutions were reported which endorsed President Fill- more without alluding to Senator Seward. The report of the committee was unanimous with a single exception. Through the efforts of Mr. Seward's friends, the report was tabled, and finally resolutions from an en- larged committee, of which Mr. Smith was made a member, approving Mr. Seward's course, were introduced and adopted by a vote of 75 to 49, when the opposition, among whom were the President, Francis Granger, and his Silver Gray associates, left the hall. Mr. Smith took a leading part in the conven- tion on behalf of Mr. Seward, and the Senator soon after sent him a letter of thanks for his aid at a time which he characterized as the most critical period of his public life. In January, 1852, he engaged in the practice

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

Norge W. Quithe

of law at Boonville, N. Y., and was success- ful, as indeed he has generally been, for he is a man of fine mind and many resources.

In 1853 he directed public attention, by articles in the Boonville Ledger, to the pro- ject of connecting the Mohawk Valley with the St. Lawrence by railway, with Herki- mer as one of the termini. Largely through his influence and exertions, a company was formed to build a railway from Herkimer to Clayton, but it was subsequently abandoned. In 1854 he was actively engaged in the cele- brated Congressional contest in Oneida county, between Matteson and Huntington, supporting Matteson by his pen and on the stump, and Mr. Matteson was elected In 1854 he was for several months the principal editor of the Utica Morning Herald. In 1855, on the formation of the Republican party, it held a convention at Rome, at the same time that the conventions the Matteson and

Huntington factions of the Whig party met at that place, the purpose being to unite upon a joint ticket, and Mr. Smith was nominated for State Senator by the Republi- can and Matteson conventions, but being bitterly opposed by the Huntington men (who embraced almost the entire body of the old Whig leaders) on account of his action the year previous, a compromise became necessary, and his name was withdrawn. The same year he was nominated by the Republicans and Whigs for member of Assembly from the fourth district of Oneida county, but was defeated, receiving, how- ever, the same vote that was given Preston King, the Republican candidate for Secretary of State. Mr. Smith, in his canvas of that year, formulated and advocated the same platform which was adopted by the Republi- can party in 1855.

In 1856 he spent much time in the Fre-

AHSANYER LAW OFFICE

OFFICE

AGRICULTURAL

THE AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE CO.'S MAIN OFFICE, WATERTOWN, N. Y.

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CITY OF WATERTOWN.

mont canvass, addressing numerous Repub- can meetings. In 1859 he was elected county judge of Oneida county, and was re- elected in 1863. On the breaking out of the war, he addressed numerous meetings in the central and northern counties of the State. In the fall of 1863 he canvassed the western part of the State at the request of the Re- publican State Committee, and was assigned by that committee to canvass the State of New Hampshire in 1864. From 1866 to 1869, inclusive, he contributed largely to the Democratic press, in support of the policy of the Democratic party. In 1866 he was a candidate (and defeated) for Congress in the Herkimer, Otsego and Schoharie districts. In 1868 he was actively engaged in the can- vass in favor of Horatio Seymour; in 1872 for Horace Greeley; in 1876 for Samuel J. Tilden, and in 1880 for Winfield S. Hancock. In 1876 he was the Democratic candidate for representative in Congress from the 22d district. He made 60 speeches in that cam- paign. The district was strongly Republi- can, and he was defeated, but received a much larger vote than had ever been cast in that district for any preceding Democratic

cundidate. In 1880 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention at Cincin- nati, and gave the first vote in the State dele- gation for the nomination of General Han- cock. In the year 1882 he was elected to the Assembly by a majority of 121 over A. M. Ross (Rep.), who was elected to the preced- ing House by a majority of 969. Mr. Smith was, in 1883, chairman of the canal com- mittee. He the first Democratic Assemblyman elected from Herkimer county since 1855.

As a writer and public speaker, Mr. Smith has few equals, scarcely a superior in the State. He is aggressive, though not rash, and whenever he takes the platform or ap- pears in print, his opponents are never left in doubt as to his position or intentions. When in the Legislature, he made a most classic and able speech in favor of the State's preservation of the Adirondack wilderness. But it is as a lawyer that Judge Smith stands almost without a superior. His astute mind readily grasps every legal subject presented with the facility which shows the trained intellect originally well grounded in the law, and therefore readily adapted to practice.

AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE CO.

In connection with the fine view of the main office of the Agricultural Insurance Company, shown on preceding page, the present space may most appropriately be de- voted to a notice of the printing office de- partment of that company, they having found that they could do their own work more satisfactorily and promptly by having an office of their own, than by trusting to outside parties.

The name of the firm conducting the busi-

ness is the Printing Department of Agricul- tural Insurance Company. They began in 1878. While their business generally is printing supplies for the Insurance Company, the manager received orders for other work. The capital invested is about $15,000; they consume about $7,000 worth of paper, ink, etc., and employ 12 hands. The value of the output is about $18,000 per annum, and their work is of a superior character ; they are well patronized.

IRA ROWLSON

WAS born in Adams, his mother having been warned away from Sackets Harbor when threatened with attack from the British forces in 1812. His father had a small farm in Adams, and there the family were removed until after the prospective battle, in which the father participated and was wounded. Ira was born upon their farm during the family's brief stay. He was the son of Rial Rowlson, who was born in New Haven county, Conn., and married Elizabeth Law- rence, a native of Wallingford, Conn., in 1800. He was a lumber dealer at Sackets Harbor, and a very early settler of Hounds- field, having a son born to him there in 1802, and he was the first white child born in Houndsfield.

Ira attended the common schools, finishing his education at the Union Academy in Belle- ville. At the age of 16 he was regularly in- dentured as an apprentice to the tailor's

trade with David Harmon, at Oswego. He completed his trade, and at the end of six years was a regular journeyman tailor. In 1836 he came to Watertown, and accepted a position with James M. Clark, then a leading merchant tailor. In 1838 he went to Sackets Harbor and entered upon the tailoring busi- ness upon his own responsibility. He re- mained at the Harbor less than a year, and returned to Watertown, beginning business for himself in the old Gilson Hotel; and later occupying the Marvin store, which is now the entrance to the Arcade. Subsequently he had a store in Paddock's Arcade, being one of the very first to occupy a place there. From there he removed to the store where is now the Adams drug store. When he located in that part of the then unfinished Woodruff House, the edifice had not been named. As Mr. Rowlson wished to make as great a spread as he could over his removal

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

IRA ROWLSON.

to new quarters, he had a cut made of the building, and rather audaciously named it the Woodruff House, after its owner and builder. This name was at last adopted, and is continued to the present time.

In 1855 Mr. Rowlson removed to Indian- apolis, Ind., and afterwards to other places in the West, finally returning to Pulaski, N. Y., after a four years' residence at San Jose, in California, where he was moderately successful. He remained in Pulaski two years, returning finally to Sackets Harbor, where he continued in business until the fire of August 11, 1889, which utterly destroyed his store and dwelling.

In 1838 Mr. Rowlson married Miss Marcia Carpenter, daughter of Reuben Carpenter, and they reared three children. She died in 1856; and for his second wife he married Miss Anna McBain, a cousin of Sir John Mc-

Donald, for many years Premier of Ontario. This union has brought four children. Five of Mr. Rowlson's children are now living.

Mr. Rowison is now with the Wanamaker & Brown clothing establishment, in the Bur- dick block. His experiences in Watertown cover very many years. He has seen the small village of 1833 develop into the fine city of 1894, and has been for many years a part of that growth and development. He has been an active citizen and first-class mechanic, and was one of the first of those now in the trade who witnessed the gradual introduction of ready-made clothing, a branch of trade that has developed into very large proportions in Watertown. Many predic- tions were made as to its ruining the journey- men tailor's vocation, but it has improved it instead, several leading houses now dealing in it almost exclusively.

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CITY OF WATERTOWN.

GEORGE WILLARD KNOWLTON.

A LONG and wonderfully well-balanced life came to an almost unexpected end, on October 18, 1886, when the subject of this sketch passed away. He was a man whom all our people felt a deep interest in, for he stood for many years as the almost solitary link that bound the present to that far-away time when the pioneers of this new land boldly ventured all, and dared all, to found a second New England-a land of churches, of school houses, and of a profound respect for law; in- deed, manifesting a sort of fear or dread of it, as something not to be handled or approached without serious reflection, and never without a just cause. Viewed in any light, Mr. Knowlton was an unique character, almost a remarkable one. He was calm amid the fiercest turmoils, and only deeply aroused

when some great moral question affecting the public weal, or patriotism, called from his placid breast words that he seldom felt called upon to utter. His mind and habits of life may be well compared to some very smooth, deep current. Slight breezes do not ruffle it, nor high winds control or baffle -it responds only to a cyclone of force, which affects it only for the passing hour, and then it moves on in its accustomed course. His mind was peculiarly receptive. He was content to learn and reflect. He was satis- fied with himself and his environment-a very desirable condition of mind, and its possessor greatly to be envied.

He was born at Newfane, Vt., in 1795, almost at the very beginning of that year. His father, Calvin Knowlton, was a lawyer,

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

and his grandfather was Judge Luke Knowl- ton, one of the original settlers of Newfane. He represented his town in the Legislature of Vermont, in the years 1784, 1788 and 1789; was a member of the Council from 1790 to 1800; a member of the Constitutional Con- vention in 1793, and a judge of the court of Wyndham county from 1787 to 1793. His father died when he was but five years old, and he was early left to his own resources.

In 1811, and during the war of 1812-13, he was employed in General Jenks' distillery at Warehouse Point. This was before the days of temperance societies, and he often counted it as one of the things to be thankful for that he had not grown up a drunkard.

In 1816, when he was just of age, he be- gan business for himself in a general store at Brattleboro, Vt., in which he was fairly successful. In 1824 his uncles (Holbrook & Fessenden, of Brattleboro), had become the owners of property in Watertown, which they had taken to secure a debt. They wished to sell, and it was finally purchased by Mr. Knowlton and Clarke Rice, a young print- er, who was then employed by Holbrook & Fessenden. Mr. Rice came to Watertown at once, and Mr. Knowlton in the following year, 1825.

Their purchase consisted of a book store. bindery, printing office and two paper mills, These were of course hand-mills, and made about 125 pounds of paper each per day. It was difficult to collect rags enough to keep the mills running; people then wore less cotton clothing than now, and the facili- ties for collecting rags were few. But, if it was hard to get rags, it was still harder to sell any considerabje quantity of paper, and much of it found no market until they turned it into school books, blank books and even miscellaneous books for public-school libraries, until the name of Knowlton & Rice was familiar to every school boy in several neighboring counties. In 1854 Mr. Knowl- ton retired from active business, and has lived quietly and happily since then, fond of gardening so long as he had strength for it, and interested in all that was going on about him. Aside from deafness, he has retained his faculties to a remarkable degree. He took pleasure in long walks, and always read his daily paper with interest.

Mr. Knowlton was one of the original

members of the Second Presbyterian, now Stone Street Church, and was elected an elder of that church in 1832, which office he held till his death.

In August, 1830, he married Elizabeth Carroll, by whom he had five children. Three daughters, Elizabeth, Sophia (Mrs. Charles Perkins), and Maria (Mrs. John H. Rice), are dead, while his two sons, John C. and George W., survive him.

While Mr. Knowlton was not one who made many intimate acquaintances, he was yet well known, and his retiring disposition appreciated and respected. He performed every duty devolving upon him with the strictest fidelity. He was one who attended to his own affairs with scrupulous care, and left to others their own freedom to do the same. The city never had a better citizen, nor a more patriotic one; he was always ready to do his full share towards every public improvement. It is very doubtful whether he ever had an enemy, and if by chance any one disliked him, it was because he did not know the man.

He hated wrong and oppression in any form. He imbibed that wholesome principle with his mother's milk. Consequently he was an Abolitionist, and still later a Republi- can, for the logic of fate would not permit him to be anything else. This logic also made him an ardent supporter of that illus- trious Lineoln who was not permitted, as Mr. Knowlton was, to witness the full fruition of all his hopes in an united, great nationality, truly "multum in parvo," many in one. In a few years more of life he would have been a hundred years old, and that is the age of the settlement of this wonderful Black River county, a land unique, set off by itself, of peculiar richness in natural resources, and the birth-place of many great and good men. Mr. Knowlton helped to make it what it is, to improve its literature, its morals, its solid growth, and as such a helper he goes into history. The writer of this sketch is proud to say that this superior gentleman, this able citi- zen, this devoted Christian was one of his earliest and most beloved and respected friends, who counted it " gain " to extend a helping and appreciating hand to a poor man's son.

SALMASIUS J. BORDWELL

WAS the son of Salmasius and Polly (Swift) Bordwell, who were residents of Washington county, N. Y., and had emi- grated from Vermont, though he was born in Massachusetts. In 1816 Salmasius, Jr., was born in Washington county. He had the benefit of the common schools of that time, working on the farm summers and at- tending school winters-completing his scholastic education in the High School at

Kingsbury, Washington county. When 17 years of age he became clerk in a store at Hebron, Washington county, where he re- mained a year, and then went into a store at Troy, N. Y. Here he received a thorough mercantile education, remaining 10 years. In 1844 he began business for himself at Den- mark, keeping the usual miscellaneous assortment of a country store. He remained at Denmark about six years, losing all of his

CITY OF WATERTOWN.

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SALMASIUS T. BORDWELL.

capital. He came to Watertown in 1850 and became a clerk in the store of Mr. Truman Keeler, a very popular merchant, and one of the most original dealers of the town. Mr. Keeler having sold out his mercantile busi- ness to Candee & Winslow, Mr. Bordwell be- came a clerk with that firm until he pur- chased the interest of Mr. Candee, and be- came a partner with Mr. Norris Winslow. After four or five years, Mr. Bordwell sold his interest in the firm to Mr. Winslow. He then became an employe of the Water- town Steam Engine Company, in a responsi- ble position, continuing for several years.

Mr. Bordwell has held several town and city offices. He has been assessor and street commissioner for a number of years, and was one of the original trustees of the Henry Keep Home.

In 1845 he married Miss Diadema Powers,

and their 50th wedding anniversary will occur March 6, 1895. Mrs. Bordwell was the daughter of Leonard Powers, of Den- mark, and her brother is Isaac P. Powers, a well-known citizen of Watertowr.

Few merchants in the city have so exten- sive an experience as Mr. Bordwell. He has seen Watertown grow from a small village to its present proportions, and has been all that time a part of, and participant in, its development.

The Civil War found himself and partner with a large stock of goods, which rose rapidly on their hands. Mr. Bordwell has accumulated a fair competency, and is en- joying it in his mature age. There is no more popular man in Watertown, and no one more deserving of popularity. His acquaintance is extensive throughout the county, and his friends are legion.

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THE GROWTH OF A CENTURY.

SOME COUNTY OFFICERS.

EDGAR CLARK EMERSON, the present judge of Jefferson county, was born in Brownville, January 27, 1850. His parents were Alfred Emerson and Margery (Luther) Emerson. The ancestry upon the father's side were Massachusetts Puritans. The Judge's maternal great-grandfather was a Green Mountain boy-a soldier in the Revo- lution. His maternal grandmother was of Mohawk Dutch. He received a common school and academic education, beginning in his 17th year to teach a common school, working on his father's farm in summer. When 19 years of age he began to read law at home, using such law books as he could borrow in Watertown. This he continued for two years, and in a most studious man- ner.

In the fall of 1870, he attended the Albany Law School, graduating in 1871, when he entered the office of Judge O'Brien, in Watertown, as a clerk and student. There he continued until 1874, beginning practice in 1876, when the firm became O'Brien & Emerson, which continued until 1886, when Judge O'Brien was elected Attorney-General of the State. Since then Judge Emerson has practiced alone. He was city attorney in 1878, elected district attorney in 1880, serv- ing three years, and re-elected in 1883.

One of the celebrated cases which occurred during his term of office, was that of David Angsbury, who shot three men in the town of Pamelia in 1881. Augusbury was con- victed of assault with intent to kill. An appeal was taken to the General Term, where the conviction was reversed. Judge Emer- son appealed the case to the Court of Ap- peals, where the decision of the General Term was reversed, and the original convic- tion affirmed by an unanimous decision.

Another case was that of William Stokes, indicted for poisoning his wife. He was con- victed of murder in the second degree. This verdict, hower, was subsequently set aside.

A third murder case was that of Charles Higham, indicted for the murder of Freder- ick W. Eames, in which Higham was ac- quitted.

Another important case was that of Arthur M. Duncan, indicted for murder. In Sep- tember, 1884, one Van Schaick disappeared very mysteriously from the place where he was at work in the town of Adams. On the night of his disappearance, he had an inter- view with Duncan, selling him a horse and buggy, and taking Duncan's note in part pay - ment. Duncan and Van Schaick were last seen together that. night at the barn where Van Schaick worked, hitching up the horse. About a week afterwards, Van Schaick's trunk was found empty in an out-house, about half a mile from where he worked. The neighbors organized a thorough search- ing party, and during the search they sent for Duncan, he being the last person seen in

company with Van Schaick. Duncan told the searchers there was no use in searching for Van Schaick, as he had got into trouble and had gone West. The searchers then dis- banded. About a week after this, a brother of Van Schaick received a letter, mailed in Syracuse, purporting to come from his brother; the letter contained the note which Duncan had given for the horse, and direct- ed the brother to collect the note and send the avails, along with his clothes, to Sturgis, Mich. The brother forwarded the trunk of clothing as directed, but it was returned as uncalled for. In the spring of 1885, some little children playing near a school house, about two miles from where Van Schaick worked, found some flowers growing up through a brush-heap, and on going to pick the flowers, discovered beneath the brush the skeleton of a man. The school teacher was a sister of Van Schaick, and on going to the brush-heap she identified the clothes as those of her brother. Judge Emerson was at once apprised of the finding of the body, and he forthwith telephoned to Adams to have Dun- can arrested, and it was done promptly. An investigation developed the fact that on the day the letter was mailed at Syracuse, Dun- can was in that city, and that he had himself procured the writing of that letter. He was indicted for murder in the first degree, tried and convicted of murder in the second degree. He was defended by able counsel, the trial occupying over four weeks, and 200 witnesses were sworn. The case attracted wide interest among the lawyers, one of the ablest of whom, declaring it the finest case of circumstantial evidence he had ever seen tried. Duncan is now serving a life sentence in Auburn prison.

Of the six cases appealed while Judge Emerson was district attorney, he was sus- tained in all of them, with a single exception.

He was elected county judge in the fall of 1892. He became a candidate in June of that year, and although there were several able men in the field, the nominating convention placed him upon the ticket by acclamation.

Judge Emerson was married in October, 1878, to Miss Louise M. Wood, of Rodman. The reside at 46 Arsenal street, Watertown.

In politics Judge Emerson is a pronounced Republican, and a recognized leader in his party. His legal attainments are of a high order, being one of the young men now in active legal practice who will undoubtedly leave a lasting impression upon the com- munity. He is also high up in Masonry, and enjoys the confidence of all his acquaint- ances. Viewed in the light of contempor- aneous experiences, it can be truthfully said that the county officers now serving the pub- lic, are fully equal to those who have at any time preceded them. They have learned to "serve" the public, a trick many officers never appear to understand until once defeated.

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Growth of a Century : as illustrated in the history of Jefferson County, New York, from 1793 to 1894, Part 81

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