USA > New York > Warren County > Queensbury > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 13
USA > New York > Washington County > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 13
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by reinforcements to two thousand five hun- dred, when he moved down the river and helped to close up Burgoyne's northern ave- nues of retreat.
VILLAGE OF FORT MILLER.
Three villages in Washington county owe · their early prosperity, and much of their after- ward progress to the three most prominent pub- lic men in the county at the commencement of the Revolution. Major Skene founded Whitehall as Skensborough, General Williams secured for Salem its early prosperity and county seat honors, and Judge Durer devel- oped the early industries of Fort Miller, to whom his influence brought many settlers. Skene was the most ambitious, Williams the most successful, and Durer the least fortunate of these village builders.
Fort Miller was named for the defensive for- tifications thrown up opposite the site of the village on the west side of the Hudson, and named Fort Miller in honor of their builder, Colonel Miller, whose christian name has not been preserved by any of the early historians.
Nathaniel Gage was the pioneer settler, coming in 1762. In 1766 Noah Payne, Levi Crocker, and Timothy Buel, from Connecticut, came to the site of the village, and two years later, Judge William Durer purchased a tract of land including the falls and erected a saw and a grist mill, which he followed some time afterward with the erection of snuff mills and a powder mill.
William Durer was the son of John Durer, one of the King's council for Antigua, in the West Indias. He was born in England, March 18, 1747, and in 1765 became aide de camp to Lord Clive, governor general of India. After coming to Fort Miller, at the suggestion of Philip Schuyler, he became prominent and active in public affairs, and was elected a colo- nel of militia and a judge of the county court, which positions he held until the close of the Revolution. In 1776 he married Katy, daugh- ter of Lord Stirling, of New York city, and
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after some time spent at his spacious mansion at Fort Miller, he removed to Fishkill, and afterward went to the site of Patterson, New Jersey, where he erected the first cotton mill. Later in life he erected a cotton mill in West- chester county, and suffered heavy losses by speculations in public securities and military tracts of land. He died May 7, 1799. Judge Durer held several public offices, the most im- portant of which was that of assistant secre- tary of the United States treasury under Ham- ilton.
The improvements at Fort Miller seemed to have been made first at the lower falls, while the utilization of the upper falls for motive power for manufacturing purposes did not take place until 1822. The Wagman Thorpe & Co. paper mill was started in 1865, and about the same time boat building was com- menced on a small scale by G. W. Kingsley.
The early taverns were : the McAdou, Viele and Kittle houses. The pioneer stores were those of Jesse Patrick, Ashbel Meacham, and Thomas Carpenter. The first physician was Dr. John De Garmo. The postoffice was es- tablished in 1815, with S. G. Bragg as post- master.
The Reformed church of Fort Miller was or- ganized in 1822, with fifteen members, and the first minister was Rev. Philip Duryea. This congregation met in a union church built in 1816.
The Fort MIller Presbyterian church was or- ganized September 6, 1853, with twelve mem- bers. The first pastor was Rev. A. G. Coch- ran, and the church became extinct about 1868.
The Baptist church was organized in De- cember, 1858, as a branch of the Fort Edward Baptist church. They erected a house of wor- ship in 1868.
TOWN OF FORT EDWARD.
Lying on the west boundary of Washington county, Fort Edward is bounded on the north by Kingsbury ; on the east by Argyle ; on the
south by Greenwich ; and on the west by Sar- atoga county, from which it is separated by the Hudson river.
The surface is rough in the east, hilly in the center, and level in the west. The main stream of the town is the Moses Kill, which flows into the Hudson. The latter has five islands along the Fort Edward border : Muro, Bell, Taylor, Galusha's and Payne's. The Champlain canal runs the entire length of the town, and is joined by the Glen's Falls feeder near the northern boundary line. The Rensselaer & Saratoga railroad crosses the northwest corner, and passes into Saratoga county. Four-fifths of the town lies in the Schuyler and Bayard pat- ents, and the area of the town is six thousand three hundred and seventy-six acres.
While the red tide of battle never ebbed and flowed within the borders of the town of Fort Edward, yet armies of invasion and defense passed over her soil, and the greatest frontier fortress between Albany and the lakes was on her territory.
The town of Fort Edward was formed from Argyle on April 10, 1818, by an act of legisla- ture, but of the movement leading to its erec- tion we have no history. The first town meet- ing was held at the house of Solomon Emmons, on May 22, 1818, and the following officers were elected : Moses Carey, supervisor ; Wal- ter Rogers, town clerk; James Durkee and Daniel Payne, assessors ; Nicholas McIntyre, collector ; Noah Payne, jr., and David Bristol, constables ; and Alex. Gilchrist, overseer of highways.
The earliest settlements were at Fort Ed- ward and Fort Miller, and beyond the names of the pioneers given in the history of those places, but little can be gained of those who settled elsewhere in the town.
In addition to the churches described at Fort Edward and Fort Miller, there is one other church in the town, being the First Bap- tist church, at Durkeetown, whose organiza- tion was effected April 4, 1832. Rev. Calvin H. Swain was pastor until 1833, and soon
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after the organization a house of worship was built.
The public schools were opened about 1818, and have been in successful operation ever since.
Fort Edward has a clay soil, except a small, sandy area on the northeast, and while pro- ducing good crops of rye, oats, hay and pota- toes, is excellently adapted to grazing and dairying. A cheese factory, some years ago, was started at Durkeetown, and there were seven hundred and thirty three milch cows in the town in 1875, whose product of butter was nearly fifty-eight thousand pounds.
The county fair ground, in the northern part of the town, was laid out and the 'first improvements made on it in 1872.
CHAPTER V.
VILLAGE AND TOWN OF GREENWICH.
VILLAGE OF GREENWICH.
On the old-time southern boundary of Wash- ington county, and five miles up the Batten Kill from its confluence with the Hudson river, is Greenwich, one of the most beautiful and flourishing villages of its class in the State.
Greenwich, originally known as Whipple City, was incorporated March 2, 1809, as Union village. Its first president and clerk were Job Whipple and Jonathan K. Horton. Public opinion, in 1867, changed the name of Union village to that of Greenwich, as the growth of the place was principally on the Greenwich, and not on the Easton, side of the Batten Kill. The fact of its corporate limits being in two towns, led to the former name of Unionville. The village is hand- somely shaded and beautifully ornamented with shrubbery and statuary indicative of the fine taste of its citizens.
The earliest settler at Greenwich was a
Mr. Carbine, of Albany, who, in 1780, built a house, opened a store and built a saw mill and dam. Not having a strong relish for pioneer life he sold in 1791 to Job Whipple, an industrious and energetic Rhode Islander.
While Carbine was the nominal, Whipple and his son-in-law, William Mowry, became the real founders of the village. His first move was to make his water power a center of profitable industries, and to accomplish this he secured the services of William Mowry, an experienced operative and manager of Samuel Slater, the father of American cotton manufactures, at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Mowry left Slater because an increase of sal- ary was refused him, and engaged with Whip- ple, whose daughter he afterward married. He came to Greenwich and set up spinning frames there in the year 1800. His yarn was jobbed out for weaving, during several years, to the farmers' wives and daughters, some of whom came from a great distance. The enterprise became a success, a strong company was formed in 1812, and four years later Mowry sailed for Liverpool, England, with a Mr. Wild, who was a skilled mechanic, for the purpose of inspecting the improved cotton machinery then being introduced into that city. In de- fiance of all rules Mowry and Wild forced themselves into factories and spent a few moments by the machines they most desired to see, before they could be forcibly ejected. Thus Wild in a few seconds obtained such a clear idea of the double-speeder that, on their return, he successfully constructed at Green- wich the first one of those machines used in this country. The cotton manufacturing in- dustry brought prosperity to the village and flourished until 1845, when competition else- where led to the abandonment of the factory, then under charge of Henry Holmes, a son- in-law of Mowry.
Other industries in the meantime had been established, and ·new ones were soon to be inaugurated. Saw mills and grist mills were erected during the first quarter of the present
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century. Perry Miller opened a plow shop in 1800, and thirty-two years later Eddy, Reynolds, Langdon & Co. commenced the manufacture of the "Old Rough and Ready Wrought Iron Beam " plow. In a few years they built up a large business. The boot and shoe manufacture was carried on extensively from 1848 until 1870. Tea tray stamping was commenced in 1851, the Batten Kill Knitting works were erected in 1862 at the upper dam, and Ballou & Craig built the Angell, Safford & Company paper mill in 1863. In 1868 a third dam and a factory were built for the Greenwich Linen Company, which failed to operate thiem. In 1870 William Weaver opened the Greenwich Machine works for the manufacture of wood-working machines of his own invention.
Araspaes Folsom opened the first store in 1800, William Tefft, jr., kept one of the first taverns about that time, and the postoffice was established soon afterward, with John Har- rington as postmaster. Moses Cowan, Lewis Younglove, and Edwin Andrews had early stores, and David Whipple and John Bassett were hotel keepers about 1810. The first lawyer at Greenwich was Charles Ingalls, of Andover, Massachusetts; and the pioneer physicians were Dr. Hiram Corliss, whose son, George Corliss, was the constructor of the great centennial Corliss engine ; and Dr. Cor- nelius Holmes, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, who gave the first impulse to tree planting at Greenwich.
The fire department dates back to 1819, when a small engine was ordered, and in 1837 fire company No. I was formed. Rough and Ready Fire Company, No. 2, was organ- ized August 8, 1854, and a No. 3 Button and Blake engine was purchased in 1859. .
The banking interests of the village have always been well cared for by reliable banks. The Washington county bank was organized in 1838, with Henry Holmes as president. In 1865 this institution became the Washington County National bank. The Peoples' bank
ran from 1868 to 1872, and then disposed of its interests to other banks.
Soon after the establishment of the village we find that the Bottskill Baptist church pre- pared to erect a house of worship there. This church was established some time between 1767 and 1775. The first meetings were held at the house of Nathan Tefft below the Mid- dle falls. The Tefft, Rogers, Bentley, Rose, Tanner, Kenyon, Petteys, and Burdick famil- ies were among the early attendants of its ser- vices. With no ministers except an occasional visiting brother, the congregation kept up the organization for several years, and in 1783 built its first house of worship one mile south of Greenwich, where Elder Nathan Tanner, the first pastor, preached until 1794, having been ordained in 1782. The second church building was built at Greenwich in 1795, which was succeeded in 1866 by their present fine brick church structure. This church has al- ways opposed Masonry and other secret orders.
The " Reformed Church of Union Village " was formed in 1807, with Rev. Philip Duryea as pastor. The first house of worship was built in 1810, and five years later Rev. James Christie became the first regular pastor. The present fine church edifice was dedicated Jan- uary 29, 1874.
The Orthodox Congregational church of Greenwich came into existence March 15, 1837, with thirteen members : Daniel, jr., and Roxana Frost, Hiram and Susan Corliss, Wil- liam H. and Angelina G. Mowry, Charles J. and Abigail Gunn, John and Martha Clark, Roswell Grandy, James and Lydia Watson, Edwin Wilmorth, Beulah Downs, Elizabeth Horton, Mary F. Corliss (Cook), and Lucy Pattison. These members withdrew from the Reformed church upon the question of slavery. The first clergyman was Rev. R. A. Avery, and the church has always taken advanced ground on questions of humanity and reform.
Phineas Langworthy was really the founder of the present Methodist Episcopal church, in the town of Greenwich, and that was organ-
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ized April 20, 1818, at North Greenwich. - In 1838, on April 21, a society was formed at Greenwich. The first house of worship was built in 1839, and the present splendid church edifice was dedicated in 1870.
Saint Joseph's Catholic church was organ- ized in 1871 as the result of the labors of Father Waldron. The congregation purchased and moved the old Methodist Episcopal meet- ing house, which they changed into an invit- ing church edifice.
Saint Paul's Episcopal church was formed as a mission, under the care of Reverend Walker, in 1872, and worship was held for some years in the Congregational meeting house.
Good educational advantages are offered by the village. The Union Free school has taken the place of the old public schools, and in 1868 Greenwichi academy, that had been founded in 1836, was merged with it, but re- tained its individuality and academical de- partments.
TOWN OF GREENWICH.
Greenwich was taken from the town of Ar- gyle in 1803, and named after Greenwich, Rhode Island. The first supervisor was John Hay, and Araspaes Folsom served as the first clerk.
Greenwich is bounded on the north by Fort Edward and Argyle; on the east by Salem and Jackson ; on the south by Jackson and Easton; and on the west by Saratoga county, from which it is separated by the Hudson river.
The town of Greenwich has an area of nearly twenty-seven thousand acres of land. The surface is level, except in the east where high hills abound. Bald mountain, west of the center, which rises nine hundred and twelve feet above the surrounding plain, and contains one thousand five hundred acres of land. Drainage is principally by the Batten Kill, on which are the three remarkable falls described in the general history. In soil, the surface
varies from a sandy loam to a heavy clay, and is fertile and productive. Originally the town was covered with heavy forests of pine, hem- lock, and hard woods.
The hunting camp of the Indian was on the territory of Greenwich, and his bark canoe glided over its waters, but its soil had peace- ful rest until the battalions of Baum passed through on their way to Bennington, and even then fire and the Indian were not loosed on the affrighted town. Prior to human habitation, a straggling band or two of Indians may have passed southward to the destruction of Sara- toga, or on some other scouting raid along the Hudson, but no trails, no war paths, no great military roads were broken or cut through its forests.
The land in the town is nearly all embraced in the Saratoga, Campbell and Argyle pat- ents. The first known permanent settler was a desperado named Rodgers, who was on the Batten Kill as early as 1763. Alexander McNaughton, Archibald Livingston, Duncan Campbell and Rodger Reid, settled near the Batten Kill in 1765. William H. McDougal came about this time on the Argyle patent, and brought a few store goods from New York city. In 1766 settlement was commenced on the Saratoga patent by Judge Nathan Tefft, and his two sons, Stanton and Nathan, the latter of whom came into Greenwich and built the first saw mill on the Batten Kill at Middle Falls. The next year Captain Foster, from Rhode Island, came to the town, and a man named Bryant. Samuel Dickenson settled in 1769 near Center Falls, and by the commence- ment of the Revolution many families were residents of Greenwich. After the Revolu- tion, settlement was rapid and lumbering be- came quite a business.
At the present time Greenwich has good shipping facilities in the west by the Cham- plain canal, and enjoys first-class railroad ac- commodations by the Greenwich and John- sonville railway that extends from the village of Greenwich through the towns of Easton
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and Cambridge to Johnsonville on the Boston railroad.
There are several hamlets and unincorpora- ted villages in the town of Greenwich.
The village of Battenville, four miles from Greenwich, and on both sides of the Batten Kill, was settled about 1815, by John McLean, Pardon Tefft, Nathan Cottrell, and others. Saw mills were operated, and a cotton factory built that burned in 1868. The postoffice was secured about 1829, with Daniel Anthony as postmaster, and in 1872 the Phoenix Paper Company erected a mill whose products were soon in good demand. The Methodist church was formed in August, 1829, but its legal or- ganization was not effected till December 2, 1833. The population in 1880 was one hun- dred and forty-two.
Center Falls, two miles above Greenwich, was settled about 1790 by Smith Barber and Nathan Rogers. Saw mills, a grist mill, and a paper factory were built on the Greenwich side of the Batten Kill. The paper mill was burned in 1865. On the Jackson side a cot- ton factory and flax mill were built and after- ward destroyed by fire.
East Greenwich is a village on the Batten Kill near the Salem line, and ranks as one of the oldest places in the town. The first set- tlement was by Robert Reid. A dam and saw mill were erected in 1800, and millions of feet of lumber were sawed. The place was called " Slab City " at first. Other saw mills were built and two woolen factories have been op- erated as well as a grist mill and tannery. The postoffice was established in 1835, with Moses Robinson as postmaster. The United Presbyterian congregation of East Greenwich was organized May 30, 1849, with fifty-one members, most of whom had withdrawn from the South Argyle congregation.
Middle Falls is two miles below Greenwich on the Batten Kill, and its settlement was com- menced before the year 1789. A. G. Lansing built a house and mill in 1790, and about 1810 John Gale built flouring mills on the Easton
side, and the place was known as Galesville until 1875, when J. H. Reynolds got the name of the village and of the postoffice changed to Middle Falls, as the Hardscrabble falls were above and the Dionondohowa falls below. The falls here are forty-five feet high, and afford great water power. The postoffice was first established as Galesville in 1735, with Bryant Sherman as postmaster. Woolen factories, fulling and flouring mills, distilleries, and ce- ment and plaster mills have been built and operated at Middle Falls within the last cen- tury. The West Greenwich Baptist church was formed at Middle Falls June 10, 1837, with sixty members, mostly from the Bottsville church.
Clark's Mills is at the first water power on the Batten Kill above its confluence with the Hudson river, and was improved as early as 1731. A planing mill and store, and over twenty houses are comprised in the place.
Lake, nine miles northeast of Greenwich on Cossayuna creek and lake, is a place of some manufacturing importance. It was settled prior to 1782, and has produced some eminent men, such as Judge William Pratt, and Gov. John L. Beveridge, of Illinois. Saw, grist, and fulling mills were erected, and at the present time the place has several success- ful industries. The postoffice was secured about 1840, with R. W. Richey as the first postmaster. The Lakeville Baptist church is a branch of the Bottsville church, and was or- ganized September 10, 1834. Their house of worship was built in 1837, and enlarged in 1874.
North Greenwich is on the Argyle line, and was formerly known as Reid's Corners, from William Reid, an early settler there. The place was settled before 1800, and in 1825 the postoffice was established, with William Reid as postmaster. Stores have been kept since 1800. The Methodist Episcopal church was formed April 20, 1818, at school house No. 6, and in 1819 the first meeting house was built at North Greenwich. Near the village G. H. Wells
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planted an apple orchard of four thousand trees.
Bald Mountain village lies at the base of the celebrated mountain of the same name, and owes its existence to Robert W. Lowber. Scattering settlements had been made at the base of the mountain as early as 1785, and some lime burned. Limekilns were afterward erected, and a few houses built, but nothing of a village or a business was established until 1852, when Mr. Lowber purchased the quarries and much of the surrounding land. He built sixty houses, made a three-mile ma- cadamized road, at a cost of ten thousand dollars, to reach the canal, erected the largest and finest of kilns, and as a result had an annual shipment of one hundred and sixty thousand barrels of lime. In 1872 the Bald Mountain Lime company purchased Mr. Low- ber's plant, and as they were then operating kilns at Glens Falls, allowed the village and the works to go down, only operating one kiln there.
Below the State dam on the Hudson, Rich- ards & Company, in 1870, erected saw mills, which were purchased two years later by L. Thompson, who immediately enlarged the mills until they became one of the most com- plete plants of their kind in the county. Above the dam the Fort Miller wooden bridge, a thousand feet in length, had been thrown across the Hudson before the building of the Thompson mills. In 1790 it is said that seven mills were operated by the same stream in the town of Greenwich.
There is record of two hundred and thirty- one men furnished by the town of Greenwich for the Federal army, during the late Civil war, and it is said that over one hundred of tliese lost their lives in the service of their country. The town expended eighty-eight thousand seventy-four dollars and eighty-two cents for war purposes, and extended relief to the indigent families of soldiers in the service from November 15, 1863, to the close of the rebellion.
Several commissioned officers were from Greenwich, and one of the number was Lieu- tenant - Colonel Franklin Norton, who was mortally wounded at Chancellorsville by a \ Confederate sharp-shooter, while raising the flag of his regiment that had fallen several times in a few minutes by the fall of succes- sive color bearers.
Greenwich has partly on its northern border Lake Cossayuna, one of the finest sheets of water in the State, and capable of being made a first-class summer resort. To this lake the Massachusetts Indians resorted to fish, before the discovery of America, and their trail ran along the Cossayuna creek.
Of the early patents the northeast part of the Saratoga patent was in Greenwich, and adjoining it William Kettlehuyn and Cornel- ius Cuyler obtained a grant of one thousand six hundred acres on May 6, 1732.
The Campbell patent of ten thousand acres was north of the last two named grants, and was granted to General Donald, George, and James Campbell, and their sisters, Rose Gra- ham, Margaret Eustace, and Lilly Murray; and four others, Allan Campbell, John Camp- bell, sr., James Calder, and John Campbell, jr. General Donald Campbell was a whig, while his two brothers were tories, and after the Revolution all trace of the family disappeared.
The Argyle patent extended over the parts of the town not included in the patents named. The lots, owners and acres of the Argyle pat- ents in Greenwich were :
Lots. Names. Acres.
29. Daniel Clark . 250
30. Angus McDougall 300
31 . Donald McIntyre 350
32 Alexander McNachten. 600
33 John McCore. 300
34 William Fraser. 350
35 Mary Campbell. 250
36 Duncan Campbell, sr. 450
37. Neil McFadden. 300
38 Mary Torry. 250
39 Margaret McAllister. 250
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BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
Lots.
Names. Acres.
40
Robert Campbell, jr.
450
41
Catherine Shaw 250
42.
John McGuire. 400
43
Elizabeth McNeil . 200
44
Duncan McArthur 450
50.
John McGowan, sr
300
55
Ann Campbell. .
. 300
56
Archibald McCollum 350
57
Alexander McArthur 250
58.
Alexander McDonald
. 250
59
John McEwen. . 500
62 Mary Baine.
. 300
63
Margaret Cargyle · 300
64
Neil McEachern 450
69
Hannah McEven
. 400
70
John Reid
. 450
71
Archibald Nevin.
.35
CHAPTER VI.
VILLAGE AND TOWN OF ARGYLE.
VILLAGE OF ARGYLE.
Beautifully situated on an elevated plain on on the Moses Kill and a few miles west of the center of the town, is the village of Argyle, one of the important places of Washington county.
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