USA > New York > Warren County > Queensbury > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 17
USA > New York > Washington County > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 17
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sonage was built about 1860.
The Methodist Episcopal church of West Hebron dates back to a class organized in 1859 with nine members, as a part of the Belcher church. The third chapel of the Ashgrove church was bought and moved in 1859. This class separated from the parent church, and was formally organized under the name of the Methodist Episcopal church of West Hebron, November 29, 1869. Rev. Cyrus Meeker was the first pastor, and in 1874 a new frame church was erected, the old build- ing becoming a hall. The new church struct- ure is a handsome frame building, costing over seven thousand dollars.
The West Hebron Classical school was char- tered March 22, 1855, by the regents of the university of New York. The school build - ing was erected during 1855, and the institu- tion was opened with Prof. G. D. Stewart as principal ; Miss Harriet Rowan, preceptress, and J. K. McLean, assistant. Ten years later it was found expedient to change it into a union free school, but the academical depart- ment was retained.
TOWN OF HEBRON.
Hebron is bounded on the north by Hart- ford and Granville ; on the east by the State of Vermont ; on the south by Salem, and on the west by Argyle and Hartford. The town has an area of thirty-two thousand six hundred and fifty-three acres. The soil is a "slaty gravel " loam, of a porous nature, easy of cul- tivation, well calculated to stand extremes of weather, and very productive of potatoes and most of the cereal crops. Potatoes are the chief article of production for export; white corn, oats, buckwheat and rye are raised.
A broad mountain range extends through the center, and a series of high hills running through the eastern and western sections are separated by the valleys of Black creek and other streams.
The drainage of the town is mostly to the south and southwest by Black creek and its tributaries.
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From its location the territory of Hebron escaped being either a war-path or a military road, and its inhabitants have never been dis- turbed by raid or battle, only being annoyed and distressed in the Revolutionary war when Burgoyne lay at Whitehall and at Fort Ed- ward.
The town of Hebron is largely embraced in the Campbell, Kempe, Munro, DeForest, Lin- tot, Blundel, DeConti, Farrant, Sheriff and Williams patents. The Campbell patent'of two thousand acres was first granted to Lieut. Nathaniel Mccullough, who sold to Duncan Campbell in 1765. Kempe's patent of ten thousand two hundred acres was granted to John Tabor Kempe, May 3, 1764. Munro's patent of two thousand acres and the most of the other patents named were granted about 1764.
The early settlements in the northern and eastern parts of the town were made by New Englanders, while those in the southern and western parts were planted by Scotch and Scotch-Irish.
The first settlement was made in 1769-70 by David Whedon, John Hamilton and Robert Creighton. In 1772 John and Joseph Hamil- ton, Robert, Thomas, James and John Wilson, and David Hopkins, of Rhode Island, settled on one-half of the Campbell patent, lying be- tween the old pike and Chamberlain's mills, which was purchased the preceding year of Duncan Campbell, for four hundred pounds, by Capt. John Hamilton and Robert Wilson. Amos and Samuel Tyrrell, of Connecticut, came in 1772, and in that year also came James and Robert Wilson, and Hon. David Hopkins, from Rhode Island, and Jedediah Darrow from Connecticut.
Hon. Alex. Webster came from Scotland in 1772, and settled north of West Hebron, and settlers were coming in rapidly when the Rev- olution stopped all emigration.
From the fragment of a tax list, whose date must have been between 1780 and 1786, we find at the time it was made out that the fol-
lowing families were in Hebron: The Afleshs, Bellowses, Cases, Cluffs, Cutlers, Crossetts, Clarks, Coltons, Cummings, Duncans, Dicks, Dickinsons, Fowlers, Fosters, Hamiltons, Harveys, Hopkinses, Gears, Gambles, Gettys, Gibbses, Kinneys, Lyttles, Millses, More- houses, McKnights, McLeods, McDonalds, Munsons, Osgoods, Parrishs, Pecks, Rays, Rosses, Robinsons, Shipherds, Smiths, Stew- arts, Tyrrells, Websters, Whedons, Wades, Wilsons, Wilcoxes, and Whittemores.
Hebron was known as the district of Black Creek until 1786, when the town commenced its existence under its present title of Hebron, named for the town of that name in Connecti- cut.
The first road in the town was the one cut by Major Skene from Whitehall to Salem, and passed through the town close to North Heb- ron and Chamberlain's Mills to the south boundary line. It was known as the "Skene Road." The next road on record was from David Whedon's to the Granville line, in 1783, followed soon after by a road from the Provincial line to Lytle's mills.
The villages of the town of Hebron are : West Hebron (already described), East Heb- ron, North Hebron, or Munro's Meadows, Slateville, Belcher, and Chamberlain's Mills.
East Hebron is in the southeastern part of the town, and on the old turnpike. Dr. David Long opened a store there before 1800. The first postoffice under the name of Hebron was established at East Hebron about the com- mencement of the present century, and Wil- liam Porter was the first postmaster. Jacob Braymer had a tannery, in early times, two miles north of the place. The Methodist Episcopal church of East Hebron was organ- ized August 2, 1847, under the pastoral charge of Rev. B. O. Meeker.
North Hebron, or Munro's Meadows, was founded by the Rev. Harry Munro, an Epis- . copal minister and chaplain in a Highland Scotch regiment. In 1774 he laid his grant of two thousand acres of land here, and
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settled on it six Highland families. Of these Highlanders were John McDonald, Norman and Donald McLeod, and John Duncan. A marsh of twenty-five acres was on the center of the tract, and Munro set high store by this marsh as being fit to be made into fine meadow land. Munro married, for his second wife, a sister of Governor Jay, and went to England, and his son afterward sold the tract to occu- pants and others. The old Skene road passed near it, and in 1833 the postoffice was estab- lished by the name of North Hebron, with William Reynolds as postmaster. A store and shops are there, and if there were sufficient water power, manufacturing establishments could be built and operated. The Baptist church of North Hebron was formed January 1, 1818, and the first pastor was Rev. W. P. Reynolds. The present church structure was built in 1826, and remodelled in 1873.
Belcher is in the western part of the town, and derives its name from Belchertown, Mas- sachusetts, the early home of many of its pio- neer settlers. The village grew up around the junction of several roads, and although having no water power to develop manufacturing in- terests, yet has made substantial growth. There are stores, a hotel, shops, and numerous dwelling houses. The Methodist Episcopal church of Belcher has had an interesting his- tory, as from it has grown three other churches. It was organized in 1836, when a fifteen hun- dred dollar house was erected. Growing strong, Argyle and Hartford charges were taken from it, and later West Hebron church was organized from its members. In 1875 the church building was moved to the village and repaired. The first pastor was Rev. Mr. Brey- ton.
Slateville is a small hamlet in the northeast that owes its existence to the efforts of the New York Slate and Tile Company to operate slate quarries in that section.
Chamberlain's Mills is a short distance west of East Hebron, and its valuable water power was utilized at an early day. The first build-
ings were erected in 1778, and Asa Putnam built a cloth dressing mill prior to 1800.
In noticing these villages we find an account of all the churches in the town except two, the United Presbyterian and the East Presby- terian.
The United Presbyterian, once the Associ- ated Reformed church, was organized about 1780, as the result of the preaching of Dr. Clark and others. The first members were : Hon. Alex., George, Alex. and JamesWebster ; John Francis, Joseph, William, Robert, Sanı- uel, Benjamin and Mary Livingston ; Adam, Robert, John, David and Ebenezer Getty ; Alex., James and William McClelland ; Sam- uel, William and Isaac Lytle; Edward, Wil- liam and Oliver Selfridge; Stephen and James Rowan ; Daniel and John McDonald ; John Wilson, Isaac Gray, Andrew Proudfit, Thomas Gourley, Robert and John Qua, Boyd Donaldson, Samuel and William Cros- set, James Flock, sr., and James Flock, jr. The first meeting house was built in 1792, and stood until 1855, when a new church edifice was erected at a cost of three thousand dollars.
The East Presbyterian church was formed February 24, 1804, as the outgrowth of a re- ligious society organized ten or fifteen years earlier. The first house of worship was built about 1790, and the first minister was Rev. Walter Fullerton, who served from 1805 to 1809. In 1846 the old house was replaced by a second and larger church structure.
Sheep raising in Hebron has been, to some extent, limited by the development of dairy- ing. Among the cheese factories started, are : North Hebron, West Hebron, East Hebron, Valley, and one near West Pawlet.
The schools of the town of Hebron are in good condition, and in 1877 the school com- missioners' report showed seventeen districts with seven hundred and ninety one children. In higher education the West Hebron clas- sical school and the North Hebron institute are the pioneer institutions.
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CHAPTER XI.
VILLAGE AND TOWN OF GRANVILLE.
VILLAGE OF GRANVILLE.
Granville, in the beautiful valley of the Paw- let river, and the farthest eastern and one of the more important villages of the county, had its beginning in the closing years of the Revo- lutionary war.
Drawn by the beauty of the spot and im- pressed with its future importance as a busi- ness center, John Champion Bishop settled on the site of Granville in 1780, and built a house on the site of the Marcus Allen residence. Be- ing a man of energy Mr. Bishop soon opened a store, and was joined by Eliphalet Petty and other settlers. A saw mill, grist mill and full- ing mill were erected at an early day. Mr. Bishop was succeeded by his son, Isaac Bishop, who changed the business part of the village from the west to the east side of the river, aud secured the construction of the shun pike through Granville. Isaac Bishop had for mer- cantile partners his brother Arch., Wadsworth Bull and Howell Smith. An early merchant was Reuben Skinner, from 1811 to 1830, who was also a manufacturer. Other early mer- chants from 1825 to 1850 were : Jonathan Todd and Col. L. T. Rowley, Rufus Graves and Dr. McClure, William Graves, Rufus G. Fordish, Joseph Allen, Morgan Duel, and Samuel Smith.
The Bishops had an ashery and afterward a foundry on the site of the Burdick property, and an early hemp mill was replaced in 1840 by a woolen mill, which was afterward con- verted into a knitting mill. Charles Kellogg kept a hotel in 1800 on the site of the Central house, and the early small shops so common in villages in the first quarter of the present century were well represented at Granville.
A partial incorporation of the village to se- cure adequate protection from fire was made,
but in a later election the friends of the cor - poration measure were defeated.
The population of Granville in 1880 was one thousand and seventy one.
The National bank of Granville, was organ- ized April 21, 1875, and the first officers were : Daniel Woodard, jr., president ; Edwin B. Temple, vice-president ; George R. Thomp- son, casliier, and D. D. Woodward, teller.
Granville was the headquarters for the Mu- tual Insurance company of Washington county from its origin until it retired from business.
The religious interests of the village of Granville are well cared for by several church organizations.
Trinity Episcopal church of Granville was organized July 15, 1815, of Episcopalians re- siding there and in the adjoining towns of Pawlet and Wells, in Vermont. Rev. Stephen Jewett was the first rector, and the first church structure was erected in 1815. It cost three thousand dollars, and was taken down in 1850, when a frame edifice, costing five thousand dol- lars, was commenced. The second edifice burned in 1854, and the next year another five thousand dollar edifice was erected on the site of the first church structure.
On June 15, 1843, the Wesleyan Methodist church was organized by Rev. Lyman Prin- gle, on the grounds of decided opposition to slavery, intemperance, and secret societies. The congregation met in the school house but never built a church, and went out of exis- tence shortly after 1850. Its membership was formed largely of seceding Methodists, Epis- copalians, and Congregationalists, who had become radical upon the slavery question.
The Methodist Episcopal church was or- ganized in 1827, and the first pastor was Rev. Joseph Ames. A house of worship was built in 1832.
The name of Mettowee City has been sug- gested from Mettowee, the Indian name of the Pawlet river, as a more romantic, historic and beautiful designation for the village than that of Granville.
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TOWN OF GRANVILLE.
The town of Granville is bounded on the north by Whitehall and Hampton; on the east by the State of Vermont ; one the south by Hebron ; and on the west by Hartford and Fort Ann. It contains thirty-three thousand one hundred and forty-three acres, or nearly fifty-two square miles.
The surface of Granville is undulating and hilly, and " there is a quiet pastoral beauty, very attractive and charming, in the natural scenery of the town." The soil is a slaty, gravelly loam, specially adapted to potatoes, which are raised in large quantities for expor- tation. This soil is also well adapted to every product of this latitude. Roofing slate is abundant, and brick clay has been found in many places.
The drainage is to the north and northeast, by the Pawlet or Mettowee river and its trib- utaries. A large amount of water is furnished by the river and its main branches, which are clear and limpid, and are fringed by alluvial meadows.
No trace can be found of the year of the organization of Granville as a district, but it is presumed that the district was organized twelve or fifteen years prior to the first town meeting of which we have record. The lat- ter was in 1787, one year after the forming of the town by legislative enactment. At the first town meeting, held April 2, 1787, Capt. Daniel Curtis was elected supervisor, Gurdon Johnson, clerk, and Daniel H. White, collec- tor.
Alexander Menzies, on September 11, 1764, received a patent for two thousand acres of land in the northern part of the town, and the same day his brother, Thomas, received a patent for an equal amount in the same part of Granville. John Maunsell, on March 7, 1771, was granted five thousand acres in the northeastern part. On September 5, 1764, Erick Sutherland obtained two thousand acres, and on March 2, 1775, John Watkins received two thousand acres northward of the site of 9
North Granville. The other patents in the town were the Berry, Byrnes, Farquar, Suth- erland, Dupason, Hutchinson, Atlas, Camp- bell and Grant. It is doubtful if any of the patentees ever settled on their manorial tracts. It is said that these patentees were captains and lieutenants in the French and Indian wars, and that their tracts, passing into the hands of land jobbers, retarded settlement until the close of the Revolution.
Many of the early settlers being New Eng- landers sided with Vermont in the contest of that State with New York for supremacy over the territory of Washington county. These settlers afterward returned to their allegiance, and asking both pardon and protection, were called submissionists.
On April 4, 1782, the following submission- ists petitioned the New York authorities for immunity of past offences : Moses Sawyer, Daniel Curtice, Asaph Cooke, Henry Watkins, Benjamin Baker, David Doane, Gideon Allen, Eliphalet Parker, Aaron Smith, Micah Grif- fith, Peter Harrington, Moses Powers, Joseph Barker, Thomas Griffith, Josiah Mix, Samuel Harnden, James Covel, Isaiah Bennett, Theo- dorus Norton, Jon. Harnden, Ebenezer Walker, Ichabod Parker, John Bateman, James Otis, Peter Grover, Abraham Van Dursee, John Grover, John Barnes, David Blakeslee, John Walker, John Spring, Solomon Baker, Tlos. Grefes, Joseph Herrington, Ebenezer Gould, Jesse Atwater, and Hein Williams. Many of these submissionists were among the pioneer settlers.
Among other early settlers were: Nathaniel Spring, Timothy Allen, David Skinner, Chris- topher Potter, Gurdon Johnson, Maj. Thomas Convers, Capt. John McWhorter, Lt. Henry Watkins, Capt. Seth Wheeler, Daniel H. White, Benjamin Wait, Joseph Wait, Zach. Loomis, Richard Barns, Timothy Case, Jos- eph Andrews, Joseph Woodworth, Joseph Northup, Joseph Cook, Elijah White, Amos Beard, John Champion Bishop, Coomer Ma- son, Lewis Hatch, and Noah Day.
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Asaph Cooke, who supported the claims of Vermont, was an early resident, and one of his grandsons was Jay Cooke, the noted finan- cier.
Of the aboriginal history of the town of Granville, there is but little to be found. The Saint Francis Indians of Canada give it as the tradition of their people that their ancestors for ages hunted and fished on the Mettowee river, and also at the site of Granville had one of their favorite camps and best places for making their stone hatchets and arrow heads.
During the Revolution nothing occurred of special military interest in the town.
The principal villages of the town of Gran- ville are : Granville (already described), Middle Granville, North Granville and South Granville.
Middle Granville, the earliest business point in the town according to tradition, was founded by Capt. David Rood, who built the first house and erected a saw mill on the site of the present paper mill. Capt. Abraham Dayton and William Hollister were early tan- ners, who carried their leather to Canada, where they received gold coin for it. Capt. Cowan had another early tannery, and a trip- hammer and blacksmith shop were run by a Mr. Kingsley, while the Goodrich grist mill was then standing on the site of the present Ellis mill. In 1800 Asa Rood had a saw mill, a cider mill and a clothier's shop, for which latter he refused five thousand dollars offered him by Roger Wing. Rood afterwards put a carding machine into his clothier shop, but did not realize a fortune. A cotton mill was next built and operated until 1847, when it was burned. Paint works and a flax mill suc- ceeded the cotton mill, and the flax mill was changed in 1868 into a paper mill. Of late years the carding machine factory was changed into a cheese box factory. Middle Granville lies between Granville and North Granville, and has sufficient manufacturing facilities, if utilized, to give it importance and
prosperity. The flourishing Union school there was opened in 1868, with Prof. Edward C. Whittemore as principal, and three assist- ant teachers.
The Congregational church was formed in 1860 under Rev. Griffith Jones, and the same year the congregation erected a good church edifice.
The Catholic church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was established in 1867. A church edifice costing five thousand dollars had been built in advance, and Father W. B. Hannet became the first pastor. A pastoral residence worth seven thousand dollars was added to the church edifice, and both are fine structures.
North Granville, including the hamlet of Truthville, which is but a suburb of the village proper, lies in the northwestern part of the town. Benjamin Baker kept an inn at Nortlı Granville in 1790, and five years later a Mr. Jenks opened a store. The manufacturing in - terests are represented by two saw mills, a hub factory, two grist mills, a cotton bat fac- tory, and a cough syrup manufactory.
The North Granville Baptist church was formed August 18, 1784, at the house of John Stewart, with twenty-two members. Rev. Richard Sill became the first pastor. The first house of worship was erected in 1802, at a cost of seven hundred dollars. The church suffered from divisions over Masonry in 1829-30. Nearly a thousand members were received by letter and baptism into the church during the first century of its existence. The deacons from 1784 to 1876 were: Joseplı Calkins, Benjamin Baker, Jolın Savage, John Leonard, Samuel Standish, Truman Mason, Zach. Waldo, Coomer Mason, Linas R. Ma- son, John B. Brown, William Nelson, Sardis Otis, Silas Beecher, and William A. Grimes.
The Presbyterian church at North Granville was organized February 22, 1810, as a Con- gregational society. Thirteen years later it became Presbyterian. The corporate name of the society was " The Fair Vale Religious so- ciety," and its first members were Sylvanus and
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Charity Cone, David Martin, Joseph and Esther Chandler, Peter and Esther Parker, Joseph, Asenath, Benjamin and Hannah Town, David Graves, Obediah and Elizabeth Archer, Butler and Hannah Beckwith, Ichabod, Anna and Sally Morse, Triphena Huggins, Susanna Leavins, and Elizabeth Cady. The first regu- lar minister of this church was Rev. R. Robin- son, and the organizing minister was Rev. Nathaniel Hall.
The Methodist Episcopal church of North Granville was formed in 1860, and a house of worship costing five thousand dollars was com- pleted the same year. The first class was formed under the leadership of Peter Grant, and consisted of twenty members.
Saint Patrick's Catholic church of North Granville was founded about 1852, although meetings had been held for several previous months at the house of Miles Cahoes. The present church edifice was built in 1866 at a cost of four thousand dollars ..
Fairville academy was established in 1807 at North Granville, and under the celebrated Salem Town did the work of normal schools for many years. This academy was continued until 1870, when the building was purchased by the school district. The North Granville Ladies' seminary was established by the re- gents in 1854, and buildings were erected in the same year which were afterward burned. W. W. Dowd rebuilt and sold the seminary building in 1876 to Prof. Wallace C. Wilcox, who started the present North Granville Mili- tary school, where a president and five pro- fessors constitute the corps of instructors.
The North Granville bank commenced busi- ness in 1871.
South Granville is a pleasant little village in the southern part of the town and has a postoffice, school house, cheese factory, church, some shops and several dwellings.
A Methodist Protestant church was organ- ized at South Granville April 18, 1830. They had a meeting house on the hill southwest of the village, but meetings having been discon-
tinued about 1870, the house was taken down two years later.
The Welsh churches of the town of Gran- ville came into existence by the settlement of Welsh immigrant miners, who came to the slate works between 1850 and 1870. Mr. Davies and John Pritchard formed a union society, but an addition of Presbyterian Welshi immigrants in 1860 led to the founding of two churches, the Welsh Presbyterian church, and the Welsh Congregationalist church.
The Friends' society of Granville was or- ganized in 1800 by John C. Bishop and others, with twenty-six members. The first meeting house was built in 1806. In 1828 another so- ciety of Friends was formed a mile south of Granville, and a brick meeting house erected. In 1872 this last society dissolved, and the meeting house was sold for school purposes.
There were log school houses and fair schools in the town of Granville as early as 1784. The Friends at a very early day estab- lished a school, and their present school of an academic character was started about 1873, with Lulu Trump, of Baltimore, as principal. The present free school system in Granville has been brought up from its crude state in 1813, to an efficient condition at the present time.
The Mettowee Valley Agricultural society was formed at Granville April 4, 1874, and provided for the holding of annual fairs. The Union Musical association of Granville was organized in December, 1861. The North Granville National bank, that commenced. business in 1871, was originally the Farmers' bank of Washington county, and was first or- ganized at Fort Edward in 1855.
Of late years the sheep husbandry of the town has not increased, but the dairy interest has made marked progress. Cheese factories are at Granville, Middle Granville, and South Granville, and are a manufacturing center for a large surrounding territory in other towns and in Vermont.
Commercial facilities are within reach of
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every section, as one railroad running the en- tire length of the town in the east with two stations, and a canal and railroad within easy reach from the western boundary afford near markets to the farmer, the tradesman, the merchant and the manufacturer.
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