USA > New York > Warren County > Queensbury > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 18
USA > New York > Washington County > History and biography of Washington county and the town of Queensbury, New York > Part 18
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The slate interests of the town of Granville are of importance. Slate was discovered in 1850, near Middle Granville, and the Empire Slate Company was soon formed, but went down before 1860. The Middle Granville Slate Company was formed in 1860, the Pen- rhyn Slate Company about the same year, and the Warren Slate Company at Granville about 1864. The quarries produce large quantities of the finest quality of roofing and school slates, and an article excellent for marbleized work.
CHAPTER XII.
VILLAGE OF HARTFORD, AND TOWNS OF HARTFORD AND HAMPTON.
VILLAGE OF HARTFORD.
Pleasantly situated in the central and eastern parts of the town of Hartford, chiefly on lot 48, and partly on lands once owned by De Witt Clinton, is the village of Hartford, formerly known as North Hartford. The village is on elevated gronnd, with some beautiful scenery surrounding it, and has a branch of East creek near it. Col. John Buck is said to have been one of the earliest settlers of the place.
Ethel Cummings kept the first tavern, Col. John Buck had the first store on the site of the Hiram Swain house, and William Covel operated the first saw and grist mill, which was east of the village, on a branch of East creek. Nearer the village clothing works and carding machines were next started by Joel and Samnel Downs, and close to them were bnilt Hoffman's distillery and Higby's tannery.
Soon after 1800 business increased rapidly at the village, and many new houses were
erected. In 1807 the postoffice was estab- lished, and Aaron Norton became the first postmaster. A few years later Amasa Rug- gles opened an extensive hat factory, Parks & Carlisle started a shoe factory, and Nathan Hatch and others engaged in the cabinet man- ufacturing business. The first physician was Dr. Cutter, and the first lawyer was Slade D. Brown.
A bank of exchange was started in 1850, and in a few years became a bank of issue, under Charles Wesley and brother, who after- ward moved it to Buffalo, New York.
Since 1850 the village has gradually in- creased in wealth and population, and is now well supplied with stores, shops, mills and churches. The population in 1880 was three hundred and ninety-two.
The Baptist church of Hartford was organ- ized abont 1787, in a barn near the present church building, as the Baptist church in West- field. In 1789 Rev. Amasa Brown, of Swan- sea, Massachusetts, was chosen as the first settled pastor. In 1830 the church took ex- treme grounds against Masonry, and eighty of its members withdrew to organize the South Baptist church.' The seceders called Rev. B. F. Baldwin as their pastor, built a meeting house and existed as a separate church until 1843, when they reunited on a satisfactory basis with the old church and sold their meet- ing house to the Methodists. The present Baptist church edifice stands on a lot deeded for church purposes by DeWitt Clinton.
The Methodist Episcopal church of Hart- ford was legally organized in 1844, and pur- chased the lower Baptist church through the efforts of Rev. Ensign Stover, then on the circuit to which the Hartford class belonged.
TOWN OF HARTFORD.
This town was erected March 12, 1793, from Westfield, now Fort Ann, and was named for Hartford, Connecticut. The town of Hartford is bounded on the north by Fort Ann ; on the east by Granville and Hebron ; on the south
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by Argyle, and on the west by Kingsbury. It has an area of twenty-seven thousand five hundred acres, of which twenty-two thousand seven hundred and thirty-two acres were im- proved in 1875.
The soil on the hills is slaty, producing good wheat and grass, and in the valleys are found dark loams and heavy clays noted for their fertility and productiveness.
The general surface is uneven. In the south- east and northwest are the highest hills, some of which are seven hundred feet above Lake Champlain. In the south exists a cedar swamp, extending into Argyle and containing peat deposits.
The drainage is westwardly to Wood creek by East creek and its small tributary streams. Several calybeate springs have been found in the town.
The town of Hartford was formally organ- ized at the first town meeting, held April 1, 1794, at the house of Daniel Mason, near South Hartford. At that meeting Daniel Ma- son was elected supervisor ; Asahel Hodge, clerk, and Ezekiel Goodell, collector.
The town of Hartford is embraced in the Provincial patent granted May 2, 1764, to the following twenty-six officers of the New York infantry: Peter Dubois, William Cockroft, Bernard Glazier, Charles Le Roux, Michael Thody, George Brewerton, sr., George Brew- erton, jr , Robert McGinnis, Peter Middleton, Isaac Corsa, Joshua Bloomer, Tobias Van- Zandt, George Dunbar, Barak Snethew, Jona- than Ogden, Richard Rea, Verdin Ellsworth, Barnaby Byrne, Cornelius Duane, Abraham De Forest, Joseph Bull, Tennis Corsa, Thomas Jones, David Jolinson, Henry Dawson and Alexander White. Each officer received one thousand acres, and the patent was surveyed in 1764, into one hundred and four lots con- taining three hundred acres, more or less.
The earliest settlement in the town, it seems, was not made until after the Revolu- tionary war. It is probable that Col. John Buck was the first settler. He located on lot 9a
31, and at the same time Manning Bull settled on lot 43. Other early settlers were : Stephen, Laban and Wanton Bump, on lot 89; Aaron and Eber Ingalsbe, in 1782, on lot 87 ; and Lt. Nathaniel Bull, on lot 6. David Austin was the agent of DeWitt Clinton, and came to the North village at an early day. Jabez Norton was an early settler, as were : John H. Kincaid, Ezekiel Goodell, Daniel Mason, Daniel Brown, Asahel Hodge, Jona- than Wood, Dr. Isaac W. Clary, Calvin Townsend and Thomas Thompson, whom tradition says settled near South Hartford in 1776.
The town of Hartford has three main vil- lages, Hartford (already described), South Hartford, and East Hartford.
South Hartford village dates its first settle- ment to 1790, when a man named Foster made an improvement, and commenced the erection of a grist mill. Foster sold to Daniel Brown, who completed the mill, and in 1810 trans- ferred it to William Covel, who added a saw mill. The place then was known for many years as Covel's mills. Below the village, distilleries, saw and grist mills, a carding ma- chine and a woolen factory was erected at different times between 1800 and 1850, but most of theni have been destroyed, or are in ruins.
While Daniel Brown was at South Hart- ford he built a tannery, which he sold about 1800 to Calvin Townsend, and which in 1846 became the property of Levi Hatch. A plaster mill was in existence for a time, and on its ruins a planing mill was erected. Various mechanic shops have been built and oper- ated until the present. Maj. Caleb Brown in 1797 opened the first tavern. In 1800 Daniel Brown and John P. Webb opened tav- erns. The first stores were kept in 1795 by Caleb Brown and Daniel Mason, and the first physician was Dr. Isaac W. Clary. The post- office was established in 1820, with Joseph Harris as postmaster.
The First Congregational church of Hart-
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ford was legally organized September 18, 1810, although it seems to have been in existence since 1800, and a church building had been erected in 1805, which, enlarged and improved, was in use in 1880. This church is now asso- ciated with the Hudson River conference.
The First Universalist society of Hartford was formed at South Hartford, June 20, 1834, with forty-six members. In 1838 a plain brick meeting house was erected, and services were held until about 1870, when the society went down.
Hartford academy was established in De- cember, 1865, in the lower part of the Congre- gational church at South Hartford. Lewis Hallock was the first principal, and the school became prosperous.
East Hartford is a small village, but was settled at an early day. Laban Bump put up a saw mill, Hezekiah Mann built a grist mill, and John Park commenced the tanning busi- ness about 1800. Early stores were kept by Fred Baker and John Carlisle.
The earliest school in the town of Hartford of which there is record, was at North Hart- ford in 1790, with Thomas Payne as teacher. The present public schools are such as to re- flect credit on the town.
Agricultural pursuits have always been pre- dominent in the town, and of late years the dairying interest has been pushed forward toward the front. The oldest cheese factory in Hartford is the old Hartford factory, erected in 1869. The South Hartford cheese factory was built in 1878.
Bee keeping as a paying industry of Hart- ford, was commenced by John H. Martin, of North Hartford.
TOWN OF HAMPTON.
The town of Hampton is bounded on the north by the State of Vermont ; on the east by Vermont ; on the south by Granville, and on the west by Whitehall. The area of Hamp- ton is twelve thousand six hundred and sixty- four acres, of which eight thousand five hun-
dred and eighty-three acres were improved in 1875.
The western part of Hampton is mountain- ous, while in the east are hills and small val- leys, and along the Poultney river are alluvial flats. The soil is well adapted to potatoes and grass, and all of the cereal grains are raised.
The drainage in the central and northern parts of Hampton is by the Poultney river, and in the south principally by the tributaries of the Pawlet river.
The town of Hampton was organized by act of legislature, March 3, 1786, having been previously called Greenfield by the early set- tlers. The first town meeting was held at the school house near Col. Gideon Warner's, May 2, 1786, and Capt. Lemuel Hyde and John Howe were elected as supervisors ; James Kellogg as clerk, and Asa Tyler as collector.
The north part of the town embraces about two thousand acres of " Skenc's Little pat- ent," and the remainder of the territory is largely included in patents granted to pro- vincial officers after the French and Indian war.
The early settlers of Hampton were mainly from Massachusetts, and some came from Connecticut. They settled as early as 1781, if not carlier. Among the early Massachusetts settlers were: Col. Gideon Warner, Capt. Benjamin C. Owen, Jason Kellogg and Shubal Pierce, From Connecticut came in pioneer days, Rufus Hotchkiss, Abiather Millard and Col. Pliny Adams. Other early settlers were: Ashbel Webster, William Morris, Elisha Kil- bourne, Enoch Wright, Samuel Waterhouse, Samuel Hooker, William Miller, Squire Sam- uel Beaman, Major Peter P. French, Mason Hulett, and Squire Jason Kellogg.
The town of Hampton, from its location and the nature of its surface, was not a very favorable locality for inhabitation or military movements on the part of the pre-historic peoples of this country. In the Revolution it largely escaped visitation by the English or Indians.
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The town contains two villages, Hampton Corners and Low Hampton.
Hampton Corners is in the southeast, on the Poultney river, and one mile west of Poultney, Vermont. Solomon Norton built a saw and grist mill on the Vermont side of the river at an early day, and this led to the es- tablishment of the village. Col. Pliny Adams kept the first store, and a distillery was built about the same time by Miner Webster.
Christ's Episcopal church of Hampton was organized in 1798. A church building was erected between 1798 and 1800, on land given by Col. Gideon Warner. Among the early supporters of the church were Major French, Squire Samuel Beaman, Jason Kellogg, and Col. Pliny Adams.
The Methodist Episcopal church of Hamp- ton was formed in 1841, when the Methodists of Hampton withdrew from the Poultney so- ciety. The first pastor was Rev. Mr. Cooper, and the first church edifice was erected in 1842. A Methodist society in Hampton had been organized prior to 1773 by Philip Em- bury and Barbara Heck, and to it, at Hamp- ton Hill, Bishop Ashbury preached when he visited New York.
Low Hampton is a small village on the Poultney river, and five miles above Hampton Corners. A store and a woolen factory were established there a number of years ago.
The Baptist church of Low Hampton was organized prior to 1799 by Elder Elnathan Phelps, and its first pastor, Rev. Elisha Mil- ler, served from 1799 to 1821. A majority of the church, in 1845, followed William Miller, the celebrated Adventist, and were expelled from the Baptist denomination. This left the minority too weak to continue their organiza- tion, and the church disbanded.
The Second Advent church was organized September 11, 1850, with thirty members, and Elder Leonard Kimball as pastor. A church edifice was built in 1848, but in a few years the society went down.
William Miller was a minister in the Hamp-
ton Baptist church from 1832 to 1845, and in a biography of him, Lossing says : "The au- thor of Millerism, familiarly known, like the founder of Mormonism, as The Prophet, was William Miller, a plain, uneducated, religious zealot, who was born in Pittsfield, Massachu- setts, in 1771. Of his early life we have no important record. He seems not to have been distinguished from his fellow men by anything remarkable, except that he was an honest man and good citizen. When war between the United States and Great Britain was kindled in 1812, Mr. Miller was captain of a company of volunteers on the northern frontier, and did good service at Sackett's Harbor, Wil- liamsburg and Plattsburg. When peace came he resumed his farm labors, and we hear noth- ing more of him until about 1826, when he be- gan to promulgate his peculiar views concern- ing prophecy. It was not until 1833 that he commenced his public ministry on the subject of the approaching millennium. Then he went forth from place to place throughout the northern and middle States, boldly proclaim- ing the new interpretation of Scripture, and declaring that Christ would descend in clouds, the true saints would be caught up into the air, and the earth would be purified by fire, in 1843. No doubt the aged zealot was sincere. He labored with great fervor ; and during the ten years of his ministry he averaged a sermon every two days. As the time for the predicted consummation of all prophecy approached, his disciples rapidly increased. Hundreds and thousands embraced his doctrine, with- drew from church fellowship, and banded to- gether. Other preachers appeared in the field. The press was diligently employed ; and an alarming paper, called The Midnight Cry, was published in New York, embellished, sometimes, with pictures of hideous beasts, and the image seen by the Babylonian Em- peror in his dream; at others with represen- tations of benignant angels. The appointed day passed by. The earth moved on in its accustomed course upon the great highway of
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the ecliptic. Full thirty thousand people cm- braced the doctrine of Miller, and had un- bounded faith in his interpretation of all prophecy. In the course of a few weeks the excitement subsided, and soon the rushing torrent of delusion dwindled into an almost imperceptible rill. Mr. Miller acknowledged his error, and seldom preached about the millennium. He died at Hampton, Washing- ton county, New York, on the 29th of Decem- ber, 1849, at the age of seventy-eight years."
The manufacturing industries of Hampton commenced with the establishment of iron in- dustrics at an early day in the northern part of the town. The Leonard, Carver, and Smith forges ran on iron ore brought from the west side of Lake Champlain. The Quackenbush & Steere powder mills were built about 1850 .. Low Hampton had a woolen mill, and all the slate factories of the town are situated near Hampton Corners. The Hampton Cheese Manufacturing Company was organized in May 1869.
The public schools are in good condition, and the earliest report to be obtained was made in 1849, when there were six districts in the town.
CHAPTER XIII.
VILLAGE AND TOWN OF FORT ANN.
VILLAGE OF FORT ANN.
The old and historic village of Fort Ann was incorporated March 7, 1820, and since then its boundaries have twice been enlarged. The first village election was held May 9, 1820, and the following officers elected : William A. Moore, president ; Lemuel Hastings, William A. Moore, Henry Thorn, George Clark, and John Root, trustees; Amos T. Bush, treas- urer, and Charles McCracken, collector. In 1867 the corporation became a separate road district, and on September 11, 1873, the char-
ter was rescinded and the village incorporated under the general law passed on April 20th of that year. Fort Ann had its postoffice estab- lished in the year 1800, with George Clark as postmaster. The village has built up princi- pally on its mercantile trade. Stores, shops, and a hotel were started at an early day. A tannery, bank, and other enterprises were started later, and in 1865 a cheese factory was erected.
The village has a station on the Rensselaer & Saratoga railroad, and the Champlain canal passes through its corporate limits. Well situ- ated on the great water-way from the Hudson to the northern lakes, and being on the line of a main railway from New York to the Domin- ion of Canada, increased size and prosperity are only questions of time.
The history of the old Fort Anne from which the village is named, has been given in the general history, as well as the battle fought near it in 1777, and needs not repetiton here.
The Baptist church of Fort Ann village was organized June 12, 1822, with twenty-seven members. The first settled minister was Rev. Bradbury Clay. The congregation first wor- shipped in the school house, and afterward helped build a union church, which they pur- chased entire in 1836.
The Methodist Episcopal church of Fort Ann was formed some time prior to 1826, in which year they helped build a union church. After 1836, when the Baptists bought the building, they held services for a time in the old Presbyterian church and in the hotel ball room. Their present church edifice was ded. icated March 8, 1838.
The Presbyterian church of Fort Ann was organized about 1823, but some years later the membership was so small that the church became extinct, and their building was taken down and removed to Kingsbury.
A Universalist church was in existence at Fort Ann in 1826.
A northern suburb of Fort Ann village is Kane's Falls, where Major Skene built mills
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before 1773. Charles Kane purchased the mills and manufactured iron and cables. Woolen mills and the Bridgeport Wood Fin- ishing Company's works are located there.
TOWN OF FORT ANN.
Fort Ann, the largest town in the county, is bounded on the north by Dresden and Whitehall ; on the east by Dresden, White- hall and Granville ; on the south by Hartford and Kingsbury ; and on the west by Warren county, from which it is partly separated by Lake George. The town has an area. of fifty- six thousand three hundred and eighty-six acres.
The soil varies from a sand to a clay loam on the hills and in the valleys, but in the mountains is sterile. The surface in the south consists of rolling and level land, while the remainder of the town is divided by three mountain ranges, between which lie two fer- tile valleys. These mountain ranges coming from the east are Fort Ann, Putnam and Pal- mertown. The valleys are Tuttle or Welch, and Furnace. The highest peak is Buck mountain, which is two thousand five hundred feet above Lake Champlain.
Drainage is by Wood, Half-Way and Fur- nace creeks. Half-Way creek was formerly known as Scoon creek or Clear river. Numer- ous ponds are in the western valley, and Kane's Falls are in Half-Way creek, a mile above the village of Fort Ann.
Iron ore is found in the mountains, and the Mount Nebo mine was worked from 1825 to 1877.
The town of Fort Ann was formed March 23, 1786, under the name of Westfield, and included its present area and the territory of Hartford, Dresden and Putnam. In 1808 the name was changed from Westfield to Fort Ann in honor of the old Fort Anne named for Queen Anne of England. By some strange freak of fortune the spelling of Anne was , changed to that of Ann. At the first regular town meeting of Fort Ann, on April 4, 1786,
Stephen Spencer and Silas Childs were elected supervisors ; Isaiah Bennett, clerk, and George Scranton, collector.
The town of Fort Ann embraces the Artil- lery patent, part of the Lake George tract in the west, part of the Saddle mountain tract in the northeast, and the Westfield, Fort Ann and Ore Bed tracts in the central part.
The territorial history of the town prior to its settlement, is a record of nearly all the expeditions of the Indian, inter-colonial and Revolutionary wars that crossed Washington county. Beside the great military road from Fort Edward to Whitehall that passed through the town, there was another military road from Fort Ann to Queensbury, and a trail from that post to South Bay. The story of Fort Ann as a military post and the desperate struggle on its near-by battle-field, is history of such importance that fort and battle-field will never be forgotten.
The record of early settlement is meagre. Prior to 1773 Major Skene erected mills at Kane Falls, and in that year the Harrisons and Braytons settled in the town. The Revo- lution then checked all further settlement until the winter of 1781, when Joseph Hen- negan, Isaiah Bennett, Hope Washburn, Ozias Coleman, John Ward, Joseph Bacon, George Scranton, Caleb Noble, Josiah Welch, Samuel Ward and Samuel Hurlburt came on the Artillery patent as actual settlers. They were joined in 1784 by Silas Tracy, Elijah Backus, Andrew Stevenson, Joseph Kellogg and James Sloan. In 1785 Medad Harvey, Nathaniel Osgood and Zephaniah Kingsley came to the Artillery patent, and in the suc- ceeding year were joined by Silas Childs, Al- pheus Spencer, Samuel Wilson, Elijah Bills, Israel Brown and Samuel Chapin. Among other early settlers who became prominent in the town were: Ephraim Griswold, Jacob Van Wormer, Benjamin Copeland, Thaddeus Dewey, George Wray and Daniel Comstock.
The unincorporated villages of Fort Ann are West Fort Ann, South Bay, Comstock's
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Landing, Griswold's Mills and Kane's Falls, which is a suburb of Fort Ann.
South Bay, in the northern part, has a church and store, and is headquarters for lumbermen. The church is the Second Bap- tist, organized January 10, 1810. The first pastor was Rev. C. H. Swain, and the church edifice was built in 1868. .
West Fort Ann, once Van Wormer's, is in the southwestern part of the town, and has some manufacturing establishments. The place was started about 1800 by Jacob Van Wormer, who built the first saw mill there. Stephen Palmer built a grist mill about 1815, a forge was erected in 1827, and Kingsley's tannery was built in 1843. The Methodist Episcopal church of West Fort Ann was formed about 1820, and fifty years later was incorporated under the name of the " Evan- gelical Union church of West Fort Ann." Their present church structure was built in 1833 as a Union church, but the Baptists, Presbyterians and Universalists, who aided in its construction, have used it but little of late years. The Protestant Methodist church formed at Fort Ann about 1830, went down in 1858, and their church building was torn down in 1872.
Comstock's Landing is named for Daniel Comstock, who settled near the place about 1790. The postoffice was established in 1832 with Peter Comstock as postmaster. A hotel, store, Baptist church and numerous dwellings constitute the place. The First Baptist church of Fort Ann has been at Comstock's Landing since 1858, when the present church edifice was built there. The church was or- ganized in 1789, and Rev. Sherman Babcock was the first pastor. The first church was three miles east of the present house, and the second building was at Polley's Landing.
Griswold's Mills are in the southwest, and were founded about 1791 by Ephraim Gris- wold, who put up a grist mill the next year. A pottery, woolen mill and furnace were after- ward built and run. The postoffice was es-
tablished in 1833, with Elisha M. Forbes as postmaster.
It is said that Podunk brook takes its name from the eastern Indians called the Podunk tribe. A remnant of this tribe was in the Furnace Valley for several years.
CHAPTER XIV.
TOWNS OF DRESDEN AND PUTNAM.
TOWN OF DRESDEN.
Dresden, the first of the two peninsula towns of Washington county, is bounded on the north by Putnam; on the east by Lake Champlain ; on the south by Fort Ann; and on the west by Lake George. Dresden has an area of thirty-one thousand two, hundred and thirty-six acres.
The soil of the arable lands along the lakes is a hard clay, mixed in places with gravelly or sandy loam. It is a productive soil and well adapted to grazing and stock raising. The general character of the surface is rough and mountainous, and the chief occupations of the inhabitants are lumbering, farming, and boating.
Dresden was originally a part of Westfield. In 1806 it was set off as a part of Putnam. On March 15, 1822, it was organized as South Bay, but on April 17 of the same ycar it was re-named Dresden. In 1823 Isaac Boomer was elected supervisor, and Doty Allen clerk. In 1875 all the town records up to that year were burned.
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