USA > New York > Franklin County > Historical sketches of Franklin county and its several towns > Part 50
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Mr. Manning, or at least enjoy a benefit under his will. The jury not only returned a verdict of not guilty, but were at pains to file a state- ment with the court declaring that they had no doubt of the entire innocence of the accused. The presiding judge announced from the bench that he concurred entirely in the jury's view. While the case was neither a murder nor an attempt to kill as thus decided, the charge and the trial occasioned so much interest, and the community was so divided in opinion as to the guilt or innocence of Miss Davis, that it seems to demand a place in this recital. Miss Manning recovered her health, was married, and moved to a suburb of New York city. Miss Davis went to New England, and five or six years later a report was published that she had attempted to poison a wealthy man of Hart- ford, Conn., for whom she was housekeeper; and there were innuendoes that suspicious deaths had occurred in other families where she had worked in that section.
A child's ball bounded into a culvert on Rennie street June 4, 1887, and the child pursued it. Ten or a dozen feet from the culvert's mouth the child stumbled upon the body of a man, and naturally gave a panic alarm. Investigation by elders determined that the body was that of Eugene Van Ornam of Saginaw, Mich., who had been at work as a lumberman at Buck Mountain or Brandon, in the town of Santa Clara. It was learned further that Van Ornam had come to Malone on his way home four days before, and had been accompanied to 'a hotel by George King, a village tough, who had worked with Van Ornam for a time at Buck Mountain, but who was then employed here as a farm hand. King stated at the hotel that Van Ornam " had lots of money ;" but while King was absent momentarily from the office, and unknown to him, Van Ornam deposited $142 with the proprietor for safekeeping. In the evening the two men visited a house of ill repute, but returned to the hotel at an early hour. A little later King was heard to pro- pose going out again, but Van Ornam declined, though afterward con- senting to go for half an hour, and the two left the hotel together, and were afterward seen on Rennie street. Van Ornam never returned to the hotel, and except for the chance loss of the child's ball his body might not have been discovered for weeks. The amount of money that he had when he left Buck Mountain was ascertained with certainty, and it was thus calculated that he must have kept in his possession forty-odd dollars after making the deposit at the hotel; but when the body was recovered there was no purse, watch, not even a penny in money, nor any identifying article whatever on it. King returned to
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his place of employment the next morning, pleaded indisposition as an excuse for not taking up his work, and then sneaked away. An acquaintance who met him remarked that he "looked scared." At the inquest one witness testified that in the carly evening, and in the immedi- ate presence of Van Ornam, who was deaf, King made a proposition to rob him. Photographs of King were sent out by hundreds, a reward of a thousand dollars was offered for his apprehension, and an expert detective was put on the case, but nothing was ever heard of him from the hour of his departure. Two or three men were arrested by reason of suspicion of participation in the crime, or at least of guilty knowl- edge concerning it, but no certain evidence could be procured to justify proceeding further against them.
James McGee of White's Station in Canada, aged about fifty years, was found in a dying condition near the railroad machine shops June 30, 1894. One arm had been severed near the elbow by a car or locomotive. and there was a severe injury on the head, apparently caused by a blow. He recovered consciousness, and told that the night before he had started with two well known characters of the town to visit a disorderly house in the vicinity of the place where he was found, but determined to give up the plan, and turned back, when he was struck. Apparently he had been robbed, and left upon the railroad track so that he might be run over by a train, and thus his death made to appear accidental. He died the following night. Two of our village toughs were arrested upon this statement, and the coroner's jury charged them with murder ; but the grand jury was of opinion that the available evidence did not justify the finding of an indictment.
The body of Adelor Fish, a young man, was found in the Horton mill pond June 21, 1902. His head had been crushed, and physicians testified that death had preceded the entrance of the body into the water. Fish had lived in the village, and four or five days before the body was found had started from his father's home with declaration of intention to go to a lumber camp in the southern part of the county for work. He was known to have $17 in money at the time, but when found none of it was on his person. It was proven that he had spent the day about town, drinking, and a hard character who was seen with him has always been believed to be the murderer. The same night that he was last seen alive this man assaulted and robbed another man on Amsden street, for which offense he was convicted and sent to prison for a term of seven years.
Barney Campbell, who had been giving song and dance exhibitions
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in the saloons of Malone and vicinity, was shot and killed August 11, 1902. in the saloon and shooting gallery on Catherine street - the same building which became the Hotel Wilson -that was known as Zeb Coon's. Campbell was a rod or more to one side of the target, and, observing to a companion that the shooting was wild and reckless, was about to withdraw when a bullet pierced his heart. First excited reports of the affair represented that there had been a quarrel between the man who fired the shot and Campbell, but later testimony was to the effect that the gun was in the hands of one of the proprietors or of one of the help when it was discharged, or was in the act of passing from one hand to another's. There came to be acceptance of the theory that the affair was wholly accidental, but the proprietor was neverthe- less arrested upon a charge of criminal carelessness. He was not convicted.
On March 13, 1909, Charles Devlin, Jr., was invited by Henry Brooks to accompany him on a drive from Bangor to Malone. Accepting the invitation, Devlin stopped at his home for a moment, and procured a hatchet, which he concealed under his coat. When the distance to Malone had been half traversed Devlin suddenly assaulted Brooks, and, abandoning the rig, the men had a fierce struggle in the road. Brooks's head was horribly cut and bruised, and the skull cleft with the blade of the hatchet. Devlin came on to Malone, proceeded at once to the jail, and demanded to be locked up - adding that he had killed a man. He seemed altogether self-possessed and calm, and later talked about a conspiracy against him and of a secret concerning him which Brooks knew and which he feared that Brooks intended to reveal. Devlin was undoubtedly insane, was so found by a sheriff's jury, and was com- mitted to Matteawan, where he still is. Both men resided in Bangor. were day laborers - Devlin twenty-five years old, and Brooks twenty- one - and they had been particularly good friends. Neither was mar- ried, and Devlin was of intemperate habits.
CHURCHES AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
So far as known, the first religious service in Malone preceded any church organization by about three years, and between the date of such first service and the forming of a religious society there was occasional preaching by one or another New England missionary in a barn owned by Captain John Wood on Park street -afterward the S. C. Wead and now the H. A. Putnam place.
Then, in the spring of 1807, Rev. Amos Pettingill of Champlain and
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Rev. Ebenezer Hibbard of Brandon, Vt., visited Malone, and effected the organization of the First Congregational Church and Society at the house of Abijah Abbott (which was the "tavern house " so called, that stood on a part of the site of the present Howard House). The original members numbered twenty-seven, and for one year, though how often we do not know, Noah Moody's house, now the site of the court house, was their place of worship. The early ministers who served the charge were a Mr. Robinson for three months during the winter of 1808, then Rev. Holland Wicks for ten weeks, followed by Rev. Simeon Parmelee for three months. In 1809 Rev. Ashbel Parme- lee came from Vermont to Malone to marry Lucy Winchester, and from that visit a call resulted for him to become the pastor - a relation which continued unbroken for thirty-six years, and which, according to the testimony of men much older than the writer, had inexpressibly important fruitage. Writing in 1885, Dr. Bates referred to Mr. Parmelee as "a man whose impress still remains upon the town, and ever will continue ; " Vice-President Wheeler that "his influence, ever running with the coming ages, will alone show its rich fruitage in eternity ;" and Martin L. Parlin, differing with him radically in religious belief, that " no other man has done so much in laying the foundations of our prosperity, or has left so large and lasting an impress upon our town." Again quoting Mr. Wheeler, "I often think of him, as St. Paul said of himself. 'as one born out of due time.' He belonged to the days of Cromwell, born under the dark
shadow of Calvinism, and his life and teachings were pervaded by its peculiar tenets. His aggressive nature and intense convic- tions of duty impelled him to ferret out evil of every nature, and, once found, he gave it no quarter." It requires to be added that for years he dominated the thought of the community and practically dictated to it what might and what might not be done or attempted in the way of indulgence in amusements, in regard to the walk of individuals, and as to religious observance: and all this he accomplished because his forceful personality ereated a public opinion that frowned upon the things that he disapproved, and made it a stigma upon any one to practice them. Mr. Parmelee's salary initially was four hundred dol- lars a year, payable one-third in money and two-thirds in grain : and never did his compensation exceed six hundred and fifty dollars annually, except that donations were given to him once a year. No parsonage was furnished. Nevertheless he supported on this miserably small stipend a family consisting of one son and seven daughters, and
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kept open house for visiting clergy, agents for Bible and tract societies, music teachers, temperance and abolition lecturers, men in search of engagement as school teachers, and many others who imposed upon his hospitality.
Mr. Parmelee was ordained and installed February 8, 1810, in the academy. His life thereafter for many years was of intense activity and prodigious labor. Besides serving his own church, he engaged in missionary work in adjoining counties, acted without pay as army chaplain and attended the soldier sick in the war of 1812, felled the trees with his own hand on the lot where he built his home, and him- self erected the structure.
From 1813 to 1828 the court house was the society's usual place of worship, though the academy was doubtless occupied on the Sabbaths when the Baptists or the Methodists were in possession of the former quarters. In 1817 the church affiliated with the Champlain Presbytery, and in 1823 the first Sabbath school was organized. In a historical sermon in 1883 Rev. C. S. Richardson, the then pastor, divided the life of the church into three periods, the first of which closed with 1825, and during which few matters of special importance occurred addi- tional to the birth of the organization, the engagement of Mr. Parmelee as pastor, the demoralization incident to the war, a great revival in 1816, and the organization of the Sabbath school; or at least so runs the chronicle as it was written by one of the pastors - meaning, as I take it, that no other single incident or action stands out as of great moment. But the sum of the society's activities and influence in its earliest days must have been incalculable. Conditions of thought and society at that time, with the readiness of men and women to accept religious discipline, and the disposition of the organization to exercise it, made the church a factor in individual affairs as it never has been since. nor will ever be again. Thus I find in the Articles of Agreement in the record for 1822 that if any member walked erringly every brother having knowledge of the offense should, previous to consulting with any one, "go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone; " that " we deem it improper for brother to go to law with brother;" and that "we will restrain our children from attending balls or other amusements." Among the obligations imposed by The Covenant were engagement to hold family morning and evening prayer, to keep careful watch over each other, and to submit to the discipline of the church. Then follows the record of procedure under these provisions, which shows debts collected by the church after having heard the evidence,
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and of disciplining of those who had violated rules of conduct. Com- plaints by one or another without really personal grievance, but as a matter of general concern, appear frequently in the record against offending brethren for breach of the Sabbath ; for failure to observe the family practice of prayer or for non-attendance upon the stated meet- ings of the church; for misrepresentation or lack of care to speak the truth; for engaging in fighting; for intemperance and occasionally for actual intoxication; for taking wolves from the traps of others; for holding conversation and partially concluding a bargain for the rental of a house on the Sabbath; for an inn keeper permitting a ball to be held at his tavern, and, in one case, for calling a brother " an infamous liar "- which characterization, by the way, the accused established as having been justified, while the accuser afterward apologized and besought forgiveness for his sin. The instances were infrequent where the charges were not held to be well founded, after which it was cus- tomary to serve a letter of admonition upon the offender, who, if con- tinuing contumacious, was then excommunicated. It is to be noted, however, that in only two or three cases did the accused fail to accept the church's finding, to express contrition, and to entreat forgiveness by the brethren and by God.
Procedure to-day of the sort outlined could hardly prove salutary, and would perhaps make conditions worse by reason of resentment arising from a sense of unwarrantable intrusion upon private concerns, but in the time under consideration, when the dicta of a pastor and of the congregation carried dread and terror, it can not be doubted that the methods in question operated to make men generally more seemly and correct in conduct, and to establish better conditions outwardly at least in the community as a whole.
As further disclosing the practices of this early time, it is interesting to note that the week-day prayer meetings were held commonly in the afternoon, and that where members who were in any way derelict with regard to the obligations imposed by the Articles of Agreement or by The Covenant requested letters of dismission because of contemplated union with a church of another denomination, such requests were denied.
In 1825 it was determined to erect a church building. A lot for it on Webster street had been given as early as 1810 by Richard Harison, but all of the public buildings having been on the west side of the river it was thought to be but just that the church should be on the east side, and accordingly it was located at the corner of Clay and Main streets,
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with the front so far to the north that it actually encroached upon the highway. The corner stone was laid May 30, 1826, and the edifice was dedicated February 7, 1828. It was of stone, had a spire of consider- able height, and cost $8,000. The pews were along either side of the auditorium, were square with high backs and uncushioned seats, which were on three sides ; and the pulpit, in the north end, was reached by a winding stairway of a dozen steps. The members numbered 136 at the date of dedication.
The anti-Masonic furore threatened to disrupt the church in 1829. A considerable number of the most prominent and most highly respected members were Free Masons, but the majority were in bitter opposition to the order. Because of the belief and attitude of these latter, four- teen members of the church who were Masons, including the pastor, engaged in a formal written announcement to procure dismission from the lodge, upon the principle that "if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh." But they made no declaration impeaching the character of Masonry, nor confessed contrition because of former affiliation with it. This course appeared to satisfy most of the con- gregation, but a few were irreconcilable, and refused to attend the serv- ices unless and until the Masons should beg forgiveness and avow peni- tence. Failing to obtain compliance with that demand, these with- drew and united with the Baptist church, the leading ministerial rep- resentative of which in Northern New York was a pronounced anti- Mason of crusader type.
In 1840 a revival added one hundred to the membership of the church, and in 1841 the custom of standing during prayer was changed to sitting or kneeling.
The third period in the life of the organization is listed as having begun in 1851, when portions of the church building being in danger of tumbling down it was demolished, and the erection of a new house of worship commenced. During the period of building services were again held in the court house. The membership had increased to two hundred, and the new structure - of brick above a stone basement - cost $9,000, inclusive of an organ, and answered the needs of the society until 1883. Its auditorium being the largest in town, it was used not infrequently for lectures, for war meetings from 1861 to 1865, for musical conventions, and for the academic graduating exer- cises. The final service in it was held April 5, 1883, after it had been voted to erect the present imposing and majestic structure, during the building of which Lawrence Hall was occupied. The cost to the society
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of the present building and furnishings, inclusive of the organ, but not of the fine memorial windows, was $46,000, but to the contractor it was considerably more. There is no finer church edifice in Northern New York, and it was a source of particular satisfaction to the members that at the date of dedication it had been paid for. The members then numbered nearly four hundred, though many who were inactive or who had removed from town were included in the count. The actual, live membership in 1917 was 375.
A chime of nine bells was hung in the church tower in 1886, a gift by Eli B. Smith.
The First Baptist Church of Malone was founded December 12, 1807, with twelve members, but not legally incorporated until Septem- ber 28, 1831, when Asaph Watkins, Asa Hascall and Nahum Whipple were elected as the first trustees. Unfortunately all of the records of the church for the first eighteen years of its existence have been lost, if any were kept, and also those for a number of years since 1825. Thus everything touching the period of the infancy of the church, with the single exception of its birth, is a blank. Not one name of those who must have been its preachers has been preserved, nor a line about its growth, or whether it had a sustained activity from the first or merely languished for a time. It is generally accepted, however, by those who have sought for the facts that Nathaniel Colver, whose life is sketched in the chapter on Fort Covington, and who was a man of tremendous force and remarkable eloquence, was the first formal pastor, serving from 1825 or 1826 to the spring of 1827, and serving also at the same time his own charge at Fort Covington. Mr. Colver was followed by a Mr. Smith for a short time, and the pastorate was then vacant for about two years, but has been filled continuously since except for occasional periods now and then of weeks or possibly a few months each. We know from the Congregational church records of date two or three years prior to 1825 that there must have been Baptist activity then, as occasionally a Congregationalist avowed belief in baptism by immersion, and Congregational and Baptist committees were in conference concerning occupancy of the court house as a place of worship. The Sabbath school was organized in 1833; a little earlier the building of a church edifice had been undertaken, and in June of that year the first service was held in it. The structure was of stone, located on Webster street, and the main auditorium was on the second floor. It was remodeled and redecorated in 1853. The basement was used for school purposes while the new academy was in course of con-
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struction, and in 1881 the building was purchased by the county for an armory. A new church building of brick, with ample basement accom- modations for business and prayer meetings, etc., was begun in the spring of 1870, and was dedicated September 8, 1874. It cost $34,000, which exceeded by about $3,000 the pledges and payments in hand. Six years later this debt had increased to $5,000, but was then extin- guished after a money-raising campaign of three months. In 1917 the church steeple had become unsafe, and had to be taken down. During the winter of 1918 a service water pipe burst under the church floor, and the escaping water undermined the foundation walls of one of the towers and also a part of the wall of the main edifice. The damage is thought to be between six and eight thousand dollars. The present membership of the church is 433, though that figure includes a con- siderable number of non-residents. Rev. J. B. Webster, who had been pastor for a number of years, resigned in 1917 to "do his bit" in the war as a chaplain. Rev. Ivan Rose is his successor.
The Methodist Episcopal church was not incorporated until May 2, 1835, when the name "The Malone Methodist Episcopal Church " was adopted. At that date the conference records credit the society with having 310 members. In the autumn of the same year Oliver Brewster gave the organization a lot on the corner of Main and Fort Covington streets, where the Franklin House now is, and the erection of a church edifice was begun. It had a stone basement with a frame superstruc- ture, and was finished, at a cost of about $3,000, in 1838. It was known as Hedding Chapel, the eminent bishop of that name having presided at the dedication. The services of the church prior to its possession of a home of its own had been held in the court house, at the academy and other school houses, and perhaps occasionally in the cotton factory. Two years earlier than the incorporation the first leaders' meeting had been held, and in a paper prepared by Frank Bigelow a few years ago he noted interestingly that it was provided that if any member should be absent from a meeting a fine of not less than six nor more than twenty-five cents should be imposed, and for similar neglect by the president the fine should be not less than twelve nor more than fifty cents. A like rule to-day enforced would probably fill the church's treasury to overflowing. An account of the remarkable revival of 1836 is given in subsequent pages.
Nothing especially eventful appears to have occurred between 1838 and 1866, though, as Mr. Bigelow suggests in his historical sketch pre- pared in 1902, great changes were in process, but were wrought so
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gradually as hardly to be perceived. In 1863 it had come to be felt that Hedding Chapel was no longer adequate to the society's needs and that its finish and general appearance were not quite all that the house of worship of a strong and thriving organization ought to be. Accordingly a lot was purchased on the corner of Main and Brewster streets, and in 1866 construction of the present brick church was begun. The cost was $40,000, exclusive of organ and bell, which were the gift of Warren L. Manning, and cost about $3,000. Dedication occurred August 21, 1867. The undertaking imposed a large indebtedness, which bore burdensomely upon the members, and wrote a dark page in the church's history. The present membership is about 600, and there are numerous subordinate auxiliary organizations, manifesting zealous interest and helpful activity. The name was changed in 1818 to Centenary Metho- dist Episcopal Church of Malone.
So much is authenticated by the local records. Of earlier conditions. while Mr. Bigelow was unable in 1902 to gather anything, it is my good fortune to have obtained data from the conference records begin- ning with 1818 and continuing to the present. In that year the con- ference report gave this church sixty members. which suggests con- vincingly that it must have been of still earlier organization : and, indeed, Dr. Hough, who wrote in 1850 when first-hand trustworthy oral information was obtainable, stated that the Malone cireuit was formed in 1811 with sixty-one members. as a part of the Champlain district, with John T. Adams as minister. and a correspondent of the Palladium wrote in 1857 that the church (probably as distinguished from the circuit) was organized between 1810 and 1818. While Mr. Bigelow conjectures that some Methodist meeting must have been held here as early as 1802. because of the known circumstance that a mis- sionary or circuit rider labored in Burke that year and would likely visit Malone, the suggestion would seem to be negatived by the gen- erally accepted fact that the first religious service in the town was held July 4, 1804.
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