History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 13

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) 1n; Lewis, J.W., & Co., Philadelphia
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 922

USA > New York > Clinton County > History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 13
USA > New York > Franklin County > History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 13

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WINDMILL PT."

VERMONT & CANADA R.R

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

to New York stopped the first night at Plattsburgh, started at two A.M., breakfasted at Keeseville, and slept at the famous hostelry of Lanyon, at Chester, left there at two A.M., and reached Albany on the evening of the third day ; a ride of two more days completed the trip. What a revolution in modes of travel since the old stage-coach days! Now, in- stead of a tedious ride of five days in an uncomfortable stage-coach, the passenger has only to take a seat in the railway-car and at the expiration of fifteen hours is landed safely in the heart of the great metropolis.

There are also several plank-roads operated in Clinton and Franklin Counties. The Saranac River plank-road was organized in about the year 1850, and its charter ex- tended in 1879. This road extends west along the north bank of the Saranac River through West Plattsburgh, Cady- ville, Saranac, Moffittsville, and Redford, to the forks of the river near Clayburgh.

The Western Plank-Road Company was organized in 1850, and its charter extended in 1879. This road leads from Black Brook to MeLenathan Falls, in Franklin County. A branch runs to Taylor's Pond. In addition to the above there is a private plank-road which extends from Peters- burgh about one mile up the north branch of the Saranac ; one built by the State, which extends from Elsinore to Dannemora, and thence over the Dannemora Mountain to the outlet of Chazy Lake. A branch extends to the hotel on the east side of the lake, and another branch runs along the east line of the town of Ellenburgh to Dannemora Sta- tion, on the Ogdensburgh and Lake Champlain Railroad. There is also a plank-road leading from Moffittsville to Bel- mont, Franklin Co., passing between Lyon Mountain and Chazy Lake to Lyon Mountainville, past the north end of Upper Chateaugay Lake.

THE OLD MILITARY TURNPIKE.

In 1811 a law was passed requiring the managers of the lottery for the purchase of the botanic garden to raise five thousand dollars to be expended for the improvement of the road between Plattsburgh and the town of Chateaugay, under the direction of Peter Sailly, Jonathan Griffin, and James Ormsbee, and the year following another act was passed authorizing the State treasurer to advance the money in anticipation of the drawing of the lottery. The small amount thus furnished was found inadequate for the construction of a passable road. Yet nothing further was done until 1817, when the road was improved by the United States troops then stationed at Plattsburgh. This work was commenced in August of that year, at a point three miles west of the village (Thorn's Corners), by a de- tachment of the 6th Regiment, under command of Lieut .- Col. Snelling, and was continued from ycar to year, to the great disgust of the offiecrs and men, until twenty-four miles of the distance had been completed. In March, 1822, the sum of seven thousand dollars was appropriated by the Legislature, to be expended "in extending and completing" the road to Chateaugay, a distance of fourteen miles. One- half of this sum was to be raised by the counties of Clin- ton and Franklin, and the residue was to be furnished by the State. By an aet passed Feb. 14, 1823, the judges of the Clinton Common Pleas were authorized to erect a toll-

gate " at or near the dwelling-house of Benjamin H. Mooers, eighteen miles west of Plattsburgh village." From that time the road was improved and kept in good repair by the tolls. It was an avenue of travel of great importance and benefit to the inhabitants of Clinton and Franklin Counties, and until the completion of the Ogdensburgh Railroad was the principal route of communication between Lake Cham- plain and the towns in Franklin County and the eastern portion of St. Lawrence County.

STEAM NAVIGATION ON LAKE CIIAMPLAIN.

The history of steam navigation on Lake Champlain is doubly interesting from the fact that on these waters plied the sceond successful steamboat ever built, and that the development of the country lying on both sides of the lake is largely due to the establishment of steam transportation.

In the Lansingburgh, N. Y., Sentinel, under date of Oct. 8, 1787, appears the following notice :

"FOR ST. JOHN .- The sloop ' Nabby Hannah,' about twenty tons burthen, will positively sail from Whitehall Landing (formerly Skeensborough), for St. John's, in Canada, the following days, viz. : Sept. 18, Oct. 6 and 25. Said sloop has good accommodations. For freight or passengers apply to Daniel Gilpin, Whitehall, Sept. 1."

It will be seen from the above that a trip of about three hundred miles required three wecks, and this was the state of affairs on the lake until 1809, when the first steam craft moved over the blue waters of the noble Champlain.

This boat was built by John and James Winans, two brothers, who lived at the foot of King Street, in Burling- ton. The keel was laid in 1807, in 1808 she was launched, and in June, 1809, made her first trip, " Icaving the dock (a small one !) amid the wondering gaze and cheers of a great crowd of people, some sanguine of her success, others ominously shaking their heads and predicting her speedy ' break down.'" Thus to Burlington, Vt., is ascribed the honor of building the first steamboat on this lake, and the second in the world.

John Winans was the first captain of this craft, and Ziba Manning the first pilot. The new boat was christened " Vermont," and in shape resembled Fulton's " Clermont," but was longer, canal-boat in form, having a flushed deck, no guards, no pilot-house, her engine and all under the deek, only the smoke-pipe appearing above it. Her engine, a second-hand one, made and procured at Albany, was of twenty horse-power, cylinder twenty inches, and threc-feet stroke. It had a " side-lever bell-crank," and a balance- wheel ten fcet in diameter. A single cabin below, twenty- five by eighteen feet, with side-berths, served for both dining- and sleeping-rooms. She was without statc-rooms or upper deck.

The " Vermont" was one hundred and twenty feet long, eight feet deep, twenty fcet beam, one hundred and sixty- seven tons burden, and was painted black on her sides. The pilot stood at the stern, and steered the little pioneer steamer by a tiller. The engine was " high pressure," and its noisy puffs were heard a long way off, and all knew when she was coming. Some wags at Rouse's Point nicknamed her " the old saw-mill," from the faint resemblance her blustering " coughs" had to the strokes of the saw.

But few wharves were prepared to receive the new craft,

HISTORY OF CLINTON AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

and at the northern end of the lake none were built until 1816. She would lie off the shore at a convenient place and send a small boat to land and receive passengers.

Her owners, in the Northern Sentinel, a Burlington paper, advertised her as having been built and fitted up at " a great expense." She cost twenty thousand dollars, and was cried up as a boat of "safety and dispatch," and was expected to make the circuit of the lake-one hundred and fifty miles-in the short time of twenty-four hours. But she often consumed the better part of a week in a single trip to and from St. John's. A heavy wind would send her at once in port. Sometimes the lake sloops would easily pass her, and the crews of the former would " hurrah" at the victory of wind over steam. The " Vermont" is set down as having a speed of four miles an hour, her utmost speed was not over five miles an hour. At times, during favorable winds, a sail was spread to the breeze to accelerate her speed. Gideon King was the famous builder and owner of sailing vessels on the lake. He lived at Burlington, and won the title of " Admiral of Lake Champlain." Jealous of the little steamboat, lie sought to break down her rising influence, beat her off the lake, and control navigation with his sloops and schooners. Admiral King did not succeed, but lived to see other steamboats that would distance his sailing craft. The " Phoenix," built at Vergennes in 1815, had a speed of eight miles an hour. The "Vermont" per- formed during the war of 1812 patriotic service.

Compelled to suspend her trips to St. John's, she was at times employed in transporting troops to the frontier, land- ing them at the mouth of the Big Chazy River, for service in quarters at Champlain. At one time she narrowly escaped capture by the enemy. This occurred in May, 1814. The British fleet, under Capt. Pring, had procecded up the lake, and opened fire on the American batteries at the mouth of Otter Creek. On the return, May 16th, three gunboats lay in ambush close under the shore of Providence Island, opposite Cumberland Head, intending to chase the steamer, then plying between Burlington and Plattsburgh. The gunboats were covered all over with green bushes and quite hidden from sight. During the night one Duncan McGregor, a citizen of Alburgh, Vt., then engaged in smuggling goods from Canada, while con- cealed on the island overheard the conversation between the enemy's crews, and silently and alone, in a small boat with muffled oars, proceeded in the dark to intercept the steamer and inform the commander of the plot. Capt. Winans gave his earnest informer ten dollars, and then headed the bow of his steamboat towards safe quarters under the guns of the batteries of Plattsburgh. And so Alburgh saved Bur- lington the disgrace of having her novel steam-pct fall into the enemy's hands. When the war ended the " Vermont" resumed her trips to St. John's, Oct. 15, 1815. After ex- periencing a great many break-downs, she met with her final disaster. While coming up the Richelieu, at Bloody Island, three miles below Fort Montgomery, that stands at the outlet of the lake, the connecting-rod became detached from the crank, and before the engine could be stopped the rod was forced through the bottom of the boat, which shortly after sunk, and the engine and machinery were sold to the Lake Champlain Steamboat Company, chartered by

New York, March 12, 1813, who put them into another boat, the " Champlain," the third boat built on the lake, from which they were finally transferred to the first steam- boat built on Lake George, in 1817. Vermont was so well pleased with the success of her first steamboat that on the 10th of November, 1815, she granted to John Winans, A. W. Bowman, C. P. Van Ness, and E. D. Woodbridge the sole and exclusive right of building and navigating vessels on the Vermont waters of Champlain "by the force of steam" for a term of twenty-three years.

THE CHAMPLAIN TRANSPORTATION COMPANY.

This company was organized by a charter granted Oct. 26, 1826. The first steamer, the " Franklin," was landed at St. Alban's Bay and made her first trip Oct. 10, 1827, under command of the new company's first captain, Jeha- ziel Sherman. The first annual meeting for the election of nine directors, held at Burlington, Jan. 31, 1828, with Wil- liam A. Griswold president. Such was the beginning of " The Champlain Transportation Company." Little by little and year by year the old companies that had ruled these waters gave way before the energy and enterprise of the newer and growing association, and the year 1833 (February 22d) saw the latter owner of the real estate at Shelburn Harbor, together with both the old " Champlain Steamboat Company's" boats, viz., the "Phoenix" and " Congress." On Jan. 27, 1835, they purchased the " MacDonough," owned by the " Champlain Ferry Com- pany" (chartered Oct. 21, 1821), and the " Water Witch" and " Winooski," owned by the "St. Alban's Steamboat Company" (chartered Nov. 4, 1826), and becoming sole owners of all the lake steamers, now existed without a rival. The next step was to enlarge the " Congress" and name her the " Burlington," which was done; the next, to buy off Peter Comstock, who was building an opposition boat at Whitehall, which was also promptly done, and the new " Burlington," in charge of the famous Capt. Richard W. Sherman, and the new " Whitehall," in charge of Capt. Dan Lyon, took their places in the line respectively in 1837 and 1838. Four years later they built the "Saranac" to take the place of the " Winooski" as a ferry-boat.

The indomitable Peter Comstock, however, was not so easily put down. His " Francis Saltus" first rode the waters in charge of the bold Capt. Tisdale, in 1845, in smart oppo- sition. She made matters exciting, but found her match in the " Saranac" and Capt. Davis, who by conveying pas- sengers through the lake at fifty cents a head, while her rival to meet expenses was compelled to charge one dollar, drove off the opposition ; and when, in 1847, came the " United States," the first steamer on the lake having state- rooms on her upper deck, she so far eclipsed all others that that year the " Francis Saltus" gave up beat, and Peter Comstock retired from the contest.

Then, in 1851, the " Boston" was built for the company. In 1852 the company was owner for a short time of the " Ethan Allen," which it soon sold to the Northern Trans- portation Line. It was not until 1848 that they first estab- lished a day-line each way through the lake, running four boats. In 1852 the line steamers ceased their trip to St. John's, and Rouse's Point was made the northern terminus.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

That year the company, while reserving their franchise and corporate rights, sold their steamboats to the Rutland and Burlington Railroad Company. Two years later they pur- chased back all they had sold to the railroad company, save the " Boston" and " Francis Saltus," and also bought the steamers " America" and " Canada," built by other parties. The opening season saw the Champlain Transportation Company in possession of a majority of the best and swiftest boats on our blue waters,-the " America," Capt. William H. Flagg, and the " United States," Capt. William Ander- son. The " America" was not broken up until 1867, and the " United States" ran till last year, when she followed the fate of her old companion. The company still owns the " Andrew Williams," built in 1870, and used as a ferry- boat, and the magnificent boat " Vermont," built in 1871.

We here give the names of the company's steamers, also the periods of their commencing to run : "Franklin," 1827 ; " Burlington," 1837; "Whitehall," 1838; " Sara- nac," 1842; " United States," 1847; " Boston," 1851; "Canada," 1853; "Montreal," 1855; "Adirondack," 1867 ; and " Vermont," 1871. The above were built for or by the company, who have also purchased or leased the follow- ing : The "Congress," 1818; " Phoenix," 1820; " Mac- Donough," 1828; " Water Witch," 1832 ; " Winooski," 1833; " Francis Saltus," 1844 ; "Ethan Allen," 1847 ; "Oakes Ames," 1868 (changed to the " Champlain" and sub- sequently wrecked); "R. W. Sherman" and the " A. Wil- liams," 1870. It will be seen that this company have been of all others most instrumental in preparing new and first- class steamers for the lake, and in making improvements in speed, comfort, luxury, and safety in steam navigation for the accommodation of the public. In this line they have won a reputation which the loss of the " Champlain" can- not tarnish or destroy.

It was as high a dignitary as Sir James Lucuzthm, Lord Provost of the city of Glasgow, who declared, on experi- ence, the old steamboats to be " as splendid as a ducal pal- ace, everything on board like clock-work, and the discipline equal to that on a man-of-war." And it was no less a per- sonage than the celebrated Charles Dickens who affirmed them to be "superior to any other in the world !" But what were the " Burlington" and " Whitehall" of 1843 thus lauded, without a single grand upper deck, or hall, or state-room, with only an awning above the lower deck, all the wood-work in an ordinary finish, almost without orna- ment, to the " Vermont" of 1880, with its palatial style within and without, with almost twice the tonnage, twice the horse-power and speed, and three times the cost ?

Since its organization the company has had seven presi- dents, viz. : Luther Loomis, 1826 to 1827 ; Julius Hoyt, 1827 to 1828; William A. Griswold, 1828 to 1846 ; Henry H. Ross, 1846 to 1850 ; Oscar A. Burton, 1850 to 1860 ; Lemuel H. Tupper, 1860 to 1864; and Le Grand B. Cannon, from 1864 till the present.

The number of commanders have been thirty-five. Who

docs not remember or know Capts. Sherman, Lathrop, Davis, Lyon, Mayo, Flagg, Anderson, Chamberlain, etc .? Flagg died in 1874, much lamented and honored, after having been in the company's employ since 1837. Mayo sailed with J. Sherman fifty years ago, and has been cap- tain since 1834. Anderson has been in the service of the company forty-five years, all of which time he has been captain. Rushlow has been on the lake since 1843, and a captain since 1870. The scdate, calm demeanor, and long experience of Mayo, the wide-awake and intense manner of Anderson, who watches both the weather and every inch of his boat as closely as a sentinel watches on his beat, the affable and courteous temper of the junior Captain Rush- low, added to the existing fire system, and good discipline always maintained among the subordinates, all conspire to make the traveler feel assured and at home while under their care. These gentlemen in charge are tried and true, faithful and competent.

Elijah Root has been chief engineer of this steamboat company ever since the first year of its existence. Per- sonally, every week while the boats are in service, Mr. Root inspects the engines and charges the engineers. His fidelity and skill are unquestioned, and no better word can be said in his favor when we have spoken of his fifty-three years' unbroken service.

In a period of nearly half a century the Champlain Trans- portation Company has controlled some twenty different steamers on Lake Champlain. In this long series of years various mishaps and accidents have befallen the boats. They have from time to time injured parts of their machin- ery, run aground, been befogged, broken wheels in the ice, etc. The " MacDonough," valued at twelve thousand dol- lars, was wrecked on a reef in Panton Bay, Nov. 16, 1841 ; the "Adirondack"* took fire on the broad lake in 1870, and got considerably scorched ; and the " Champlain" went to pieces on the rocks in 1875 ; but in all the record of loss there were no human lives sacrificed. We think few com- panies have been so fortunate in preserving their steamers, and fewer still in securing the perfect safety of the millions who have taken passage in them. Their record in this respect is a proud one, especially when it is known that the steamers are conveying full one hundred thousand passen- gers each season, which number would doubtless hold good in each and every year since 1827.

The officers of the company for 1879 are as follows : President, Le Grand B. Cannon ; Vice-President, I. V. Baker ; Treasurer, Vernon P. Noyes ; Clerk, P. W. Barney ; General Superintendent, P. W. Barney ; Chief Engineer, E. Root ; Directors, Le Grand B. Cannon, of Burlington ; I. V. Baker, of Comstock's Landing, N. Y .; Vernon P. Noyes, of Burlington ; John B. Page, of Rutland ; Geo. B. Chase, of Boston ; Z. V. K. Wilson, of Rutland ; Alvin L. Inman, of Crown Point, N. Y.

# Sold and taken off the lake in 1879.

HISTORY OF CLINTON AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES, NEW YORK.

CHAPTER XV.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS-(Continued).

The First Steam Railroad Train in America-The Mohawk and Hudson-Opened in 1831-Seventeen Miles in Length-Miles of Road in Operation in New York in 1845-Location-Miles of Road in Operation in New York in 1880-Cost of Construction and Equipment- Early Struggles for a Railroad on the West Shore of Lake Champlain-First Steps towards Securing an Out- let-First Discovery of Iron Ore-First Railroad Company-A Covered Railway from Boston to Ogdensburgh-The Great North- ern Railway-State Aid Solieited-Rivalry between Ausable and Saranac Faetions-A Fierce Struggle-Yankee Cunning-More Complication-Plattsburgh Discouraged-Five Mountain Ranges Lying in the Way-First Dawning of a Great Enterprise-Another Railroad Fever-Disaster and Defeat-A New Awakening-New Allies-An Old Enemy Appears-New Project-The Old Enemy Sweeps the Board-" Wheels within Wheels"-The Shadow of Coming Events-The Whitehall and Plattsburgh Lost to View- No Compromise-The New York and Canada Railroad Company -Vermont Central Surrenders-Smith M. Weed-The Chateau- gay Railroad Company #-Malone and Bellmont Railroad.

THE first railroad company incorporated in the State of New York was chartered April 17, 1826, under the name of the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad Company, and under its charter the first link of what is now known as the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad was constructed (seventeen miles) from Albany to Schenectady.

It was opened for traffic in 1831, and was operated by inclined planes, and partly, it is believed, with stationary engines. There were no Westinghouse air-brakes or other modern appliances for checking the momentum of the cars ; brakesmen used the simple hand-lever bolted to the truck, and operated by pressing downward with the hands. In 1831 a locomotive-engine weighing four tons, and named the " John Bull," was imported from England, and in the same year the first steanı railway passenger-train in America was run over this road. Its coaches were old-fashioned stage-coach bodies, and were suspended over the trucks by leather thorough-braces. These coaches had seats inside and outside. The first train over the road had two of these coaches, containing fifteen passengers.

The following description of this train is given by the venerable Thurlow Weed, wlio was among the passengers :

"The first train of steam-cars ever run in America was on the old Mohawk and Hudson Railway, the first section of the present New York Central. It then extended from Albany sixteen miles to Sche- nectady. The trial trip was made on the last day of July, 1831. For a train two ordinary stage-coaches had been shorn of their bodies, which were placed on single four-wheel trucks adapted to the track. Nothing could be conceived more primitive, as compared with the present stately locomotives, than the ugly and clumsy engine which was imported from England at an expense of five thousand eight hun- dred and fifty-five dollars and sixty-three cents. There was no cab. The engineer, who wore a silk hat, had behind him on a single-truck fender a pile of fagots and two flour-barrels filled with similar fuel. There were fifteen passengers, eight in the first coach and seven in the second (one passenger being on the box and one in the boot of each coach).

"I remember the occasion very well,-they hadn't discovered the engineering tricks of railroading in those days. The road was six- tcen miles long. But instead of going around an obstacle in the shape of a hill, as they would now, they went over it. They did not understand the principle of overcoming steep grades. The first half- mile out of Albany was vory steep, as was also the first half-mile

out of Schenectady. To pull the train up these steep inclines station- ary engines were used, with drum and cable, the engines being placed on the summits. Between these two hills, a distance of fifteen miles, the grades were very easy, and the locomotive carried us along at a rapid rate. If I remember aright, we traversed the fifteen miles in less than an hour,-remarkably good time, all things considered. I know the train was carefully timed, and we all had our watches out.

"The passengers were all men of some prominence either at Albany, Schenectady, or New York. Ex-Governor Yates was in the ear or stage with mc. John Townsend, a prominent merehant and formerly mayor of Albany, sat by my side. Billy Winne, the penny postman, as he was called, sat in the boot. Other passengers were Lewis Bene- diet, of Albany, John I. De Graff, mayor of Schenectady and once member of Congress, John Meigs, chief of the Albany police, and Jacob Hayes, of the New York poliee.

" A Philadelphia gentleman named Brown, who stood looking on when the train was about to start, and who was very expert in cutting silhouette likenesses, cut out the profile of the train and the passen- gers in blaek paper."

The enterprise proved a success, and other links in the road, from Albany to Buffalo, were soon after constructed, and in 1845, fourteen years after the opening of the first road, there were about six hundred and sixty-one miles of railway in operation in this State, viz., from Albany to Buffalo via Auburn, Syracuse, Rochester, and Batavia ; Lockport to Lewiston ; Buffalo to Lewiston ; Troy to Mas- sachusetts State line via Chatham ; Troy to Saratoga via Mechanicville and Ballston ; Troy to Schenectady ; Sche- nectady to Ballston ; Brooklyn to Greenport; New York to White Plains; Piermont to Middletown; Ithaca to Owego; and Painted Post to the Pennsylvania State line.

From this period the railroad interests developed with almost marvelous rapidity, until, at the present time, the State is traversed with a net-work of railway, embracing about five thousand three hundred and sixty miles, costing in its construction and equipment five hundred and ten million dollars.

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History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 13

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) 1n; Lewis, J.W., & Co., Philadelphia Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 922

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) 1n; Lewis, J.W., & Co., Philadelphia
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 922