History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 31

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 31
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 31

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Fourteen years have now elapsed since the close of the Rebellion, and we find our country a united and prosperous people. Sectional strife is rapidly passing away, and the same hand strews flowers alike on the graves of the Blue and the Gray.

" No more shall the war-cry sever, Or the winding rivers be red ; They banish our anger forever When they laurel the graves of our dead

" Under the sod and the dew, Waiting the judgment day ;

Love and tears for the Blue, Tears and love for the Gray."

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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS.

"O a wonderful stream is the river of Time, As it runs through the realm of tears, With a faultless rhythm and musical rhyme, And a houndless sweep aud a surge suhlime, As it blends with the Ocean of Years."

ONLY one brief century ago but a faint wave of civiliza- tion had broken upon the primeval forest surrounding the waters of Lake Champlain. Only was heard the fierce howl of the wolf and the savage sa-sa-quan of the Indian war- rior. The circling smoke arose from many an Indian wig- wam ; the hunter bounded through the forest after the deer and the moose ; beavers, otters, and martins were in abun- dance ; the salmon smoked at every camp-fire; the waters of the lake were parted by the birchen canoe; and the dripping oar of the Indian glistened in the sunlight. Here was the red man in all his glory, and, as far as his unsophis- ticated vision extended, this sweet dream of peace was destined to remain.

The first white man who passed over the soil of Clinton County, as noticed on a previous page, was Samuel Cham- plain, in 1609, and one hundred and fifty-four years later came the first permanent white settler. This pioneer was John La Frombois, and he located on what is now known as lots Nos. 70 and 72, Dean's Patent. He built a house on No. 72, and remained there until 1776, when he was driven off by the English and his home burned. Another pioneer in the town of Chazy was Joseph La Monte, who located near La Frombois in 1774.

The first settlement in Plattsburgh was made by Count Charles de Fredenburgh, some time prior to 1769. He erected a dwelling on the south bank of the Saranac, near its mouth, and also a saw-mill at the rapids, three miles above, still known as " Fredenburgh Falls."

The pioneer of Peru was William Hay, who located on Stewart's patent, opposite Valcour Island, in 1772. He soon after removed to Canada, but at the elose of the Revo- lution returned, and settled permanently a short distance south of Salmon River, near the lake-shore.

Beekmantown was settled in 1783, by Gen. Benjamin Mooers, who brought witli him to his wilderness home Francis Monty and son, Z. Peasley, Pierre Boilan, Charles Cloutier, Antoine Laran, Joseph Lelouran, Antoine La- sambert, P. Aboir, and John Fassie.

The first settlement in Au Sable was made about the year 1794, by John, Jehial, Beverly, and Emanuel Brinds- ley, Norman Bull, Gen. Shafner, ete.

The pioneer of the town of Moocrs was Joshua C. Bos- worth, who located in 1796, on what is now known as the " flats," near the Sheddin Mills, in Mooers village. Here

he erected a log cabin, and was joined soon after by his brother, Ichabod E. Bosworth.

To the Canadian and Seotch refugees history must in- scribe the honor of having been the first white settlers who penetrated the northern wilderness and planted the standard of HOME within the boundaries of the present town of Champlain. They settled soon after the Revolution. The first permanent American settler was Pliny Moore, in 1787.

The first permanent settler in what is now Schuyler Falls was Ezra Turner, in 1794.

The pioneer of Altona was Simeon Wood, originally from Shoreham, Vt. He had for a number of years re- sided in Plattsburgh, and in 1800, with his wife and nine children, removed to this locality.

The first permanent settler in Ellenburgh was Abner Pomeroy, who came from Vermont, in 1803, and located near Ellenburgh Corners. Previously, however, it is stated that James Hanchett came into the town, but left soon after, -probably in 1796.

The pioneer of Saranae it is believed to have been Taylor Allen, an eccentric individual, who lived in a log shanty on premises subsequently occupied by Nathaniel Lyon. Dr. French, in his Gazetteer, published in 1860, says the first settlement in this town was made by Russel Case and Eze- kiel Pierce, in 1802.

The pioneers of Clinton came into the town about 1817, and located along the Military Turnpike. Among them were Asa Smith and family, Ebenezer Gates, Gen. Peters, etc.

The first settler in the town of Blaek Brook was Zeph- aniah Palmer, who located some time prior to 1825, on what is known as " Palmer Hill."

Dannemora was the latest-settled town in Clinton County. The pioneers were Phineas Hooker and wife, who located on the present site of the village in 1836.

Mrs. Hooker still resides in the village at the advaneed age of cighty years. (For details of early settlements see town histories.)

CHAPTER XXVII.

ORGANIZATION OF CLINTON COUNTY.

Albany County-Organization-Washington organized as " Charlotte County"-Settlement of Boundary between New York and Vermont -Organization of Clinton County-Organization of Towns-First County Office-First Court of Sessions-The Pioneer Grand Jury -Indietment of its own Members-County Buildings-The First Court of Oyer and Terminor-First Trial for Felony-Public Exe- eutions-Conrt Ceremony in the Early Days-Jail Limits-Ex- traordinary Sympathy of tho Loeal Judgos.

THE county of Albany was formed on the first day of November, 1683, and embraced " the manor of Rensselaer- wick, Schenectady, and all the villages, neighborhoods and

117

118

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Christian plantations on the east side of Roeloffe Jansen's Creek, and on the west side from Sawyer's Creek to the outermost ends of Saraghtoga."

By subsequent enactments the county of Albany was made to comprise all that territory within the province of New York north and west of its present limits, and also included the entire State of Vermont.

March 12, 1872, Washington County was set off from Albany as Charlotte County, named in honor of Princess Charlotte, eldest daughter of George III. Its present name was substituted in 1784. The original bounds of Washington were as follows: All that part of the State north of the present county of Saratoga, and of a line extending from the mouth of Stoney Creck, 510 chains east ; thence south to the Balten Kil, and along that stream to the south line of Prineetown, and thence to Cumberland County. Its west line was the west line of Saratoga County, continued to Canada, and its cast line the west line of Cumberland and Gloucester Counties, Vt. These limits embraced the west half of Vermont north of the Balten Kil, and the present counties of Warren, Essex, Clinton, and a part of Franklin.

Clinton County was erected from Washington, March 7, 1788, and the act of incorporation described the boundaries as follows: " All that part of the State bounded northerly by the north bounds of this State, easterly by the county of Gloucester, southerly by the county of Washington, and westerly by the easterly line of Montgomery, which is the line of the county of Albany that runs north from the Mohawk River, continued to the north bounds of the State."

Until 1790 New York claimed the territory lying on both sides of Lake Champlain, and the county of Glouces- ter, referred to above, was in that State. By an act dated Oct. 7, 1790, the territory on the east side of the lake, including numerous islands, was ceded to Vermont, and in 1812 the boundary between the two States was finally set- tled by a commission consisting of delegates from each State. The New York delegates were Smith Thompson, Simeon De Witt, and George Tibbitts.

Essex was set off from Clinton, March 1, 1799, and on the 3d of April, 1801, the western boundary of Clinton was extended to the St. Lawrence River, and embraced a large portion of the present county of St. Lawrence. Thic annexed territory was described as follows : " All that part of this State bounded southerly by the county of Essex and Totten and Crossfield's purchase ; casterly by the cast bounds of this State; northerly by the north bounds of this State ; and westerly by the west bounds of this State, and the division line between great lots No. 3 and No. 4, of Macomb's purchase, continued to the west bounds of the State."

St. Lawrence was organized March 3, 1802, and Frank- lin was set off from Clinton, March 11, 1808.

Clinton County, as at first organized, consisted of four subdivisions, viz., Champlain, Plattsburgh, Willsborough, and Crown Point.

The county embraces at present fourteen towns, viz. :

Altona, formed from Chazy, Dec. 2, 1857.

Ausable, formed from Peru, March 29, 1839.

Beekmantown, formed from Plattsburgh, Feb. 25, 1820. Black Brook, formed from Peru, March 29, 1839. Champlain (original town), formed Mareh 7, 1788. Chazy, formed from Champlain, March 20, 1804. Clinton, formed from Ellenburgh, May 14, 1845. Dannemora, formed from Beekmantown, Dec. 14, 1854. Ellenburgh, formed from Mooers, April 17, 1830. Mooers, formed from Champlain, March 20, 1804.

Peru, formed from Plattsburgh and Willsborough (Essex Co.), Dec. 28, 1792.

Plattsburgh (original town), organized April 4, 1785. Saranac, formed from Plattsburgh, March 29, 1804.

Schuyler Falls, formed from Plattsburgh, April 4, 1848.

The first county officials were as follows : Judge, Charles Platt, appointed 1788; Surrogate, Theodorus Platt, ap- pointed March 7, 1788; Clerk, Melancton L. Woolsey, appointed March 7, 1788; Sheriff, Benjamin Moocrs, ap- pointed March 7, 1788; District Attorney, John Palmer, appointed June 11, 1818; Treasurer, Benjamin Mooers, appointed March 7, 1788; Abraham Bemam, Stephen Taylor, and Zacheus Peaslec were the first deputy sheriffs ; John Fontfreyde and John Stewart, the coroners; Peter Sailly, William McAuley, Pliny Moore, and Robert Coch- ran, first associate justices ; Kinner Newcomb, the first de- puty clerk ; and Charles Platt, Theodorus Platt, William McAuley, Pliny Moore, Murdoch MePherson, William Beaumont, George Tremble, Robert Cochran, and Charles Hay, the first justices of the peace. These officers, with the exception of the district attorney, met at Plattsburgh and took the oath of office June 8, 1788, renouncing alle- giance to "all and every foreign king, prince, potentate, and state in all the matters ecclesiastical as well as civil."

The first Court of Sessions was held in October, 1788, Judge Platt presiding, assisted by Theodorus Platt, Pliny Moore, Peter Sailly, William McAuley, and Robert Coch- ran, associate justices. A jury of seventeen, four consta- bles, and the coroner, besides the clerk and sheriff, were in attendance. Sixteen of the jury were sworn in, and one was set aside " for refusing to take the oath of allegiance." This jury closed its labors by indicting two of its members for official misconduct. They were subsequently tried, when one was acquitted and the other was convicted and fined.

In 1789, one year after the county was organized, a block- house, intended for a jail, was erected on the lake shore. It was subsequently enlarged and used as a court-house .* The town records of Plattsburgh for the year 1795 show that $40 were voted by the town for the completion of the court-house, and Benj. Moocrs, Theodorus Platt, and John Addams were appointed to receive the money and complete the building. Judge Palmer, in the Northern New York Historical So- cicty Papers, says the court-room was completed in 1796, but the building was not completed until several years later, for at the annual town meeting in 1799 a tax of £25 was voted to " complete the court-house," and Charles Platt, Benjamin Mooers, and John Stevenson were appointed a committee to receive the funds and finish the building.

Courts were held in this building-except the June term

# Religious meetings and schools were also held in this building.

119

ORGANIZATION OF CLINTON COUNTY.

of 1797-98 *- until 1803, when a eourt-house and jail was ereeted on the site oeeupied by the present eourt-house, at a eost of $2751. The records of the town show that, in 1813, $7 were voted by the town "to be expended in digging stumps in front of the court-house." In this liall of jus- tiee, for a period of ten years, justiee was administered, we are led to believe, by an impartial hand, and many of those who subsequently beeame noted for their legal talent praetieed at the bar of this old eourt-house.

The building was destroyed in 1814; by hot shot from the American batteries. It was destroyed by order of Gen. Macomb, while this portion of the town was occupied by Sir George Provost.

A movement was immediately started for the ereetion of a new court-house, and at the special session of the board of supervisors, held in 1815, the following resolutions were adopted :

" Resolved, That the court-house and jail be built of bricks, with stone steps in front, and the building be of the same size of the former court-house.

" Resolved, That Peter Sailly, Martin Winchell, and Nathaniel Z. Platt be, and they are hereby appointed, commissioners to superintend the erection of said building."

The building was completed in 1816, and was again de- stroyed by fire in 1836, and the present one was ereeted on the same site. The present eourt-house is a two-story briek building, pleasantly located on the corner of Court and Margaret Streets, and, in addition to the court-room, eon- tains the offices of county judge and sheriff. It was ereeted at a cost-together with the jail in its reart-of $8000. The sheriff's residenee, located on Court Street, was com- pleted in 1853.

The ereetion of the first elerk's office was eommeneed in 1825, and March 31, 1826, was completed and accepted by the county. It was 28 by 16 feet inside, and the size of the windows were 24 lights, 8 by 10 glass. This building at length beeame inadequate to the wants of the county, and in 1853 the present neat and substantial brick structure was ereeted.

In those early days the courts were prompt and fearless in the discharge of their duties, and there are many instanees on record where eonstables and jurymen and associate jus- tiees were fined for " not attending at court the first day." There is one old man still living in Plattsburgh, who re- members that he was indieted in 1828 for the crime of holding stakes at a horse race! In 1828 Andrew Clark was indicted " for inveigling a misdemeanor."

THE FIRST COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER in this eounty, was held in August, 1796, Judge Egbert Benson presiding. Subsequent terms were held by Judges John Lansing, Jr., James Kent, Morgan Lewis, Smith Thompson, Ambrose Speneer, William N. Van Ness, Joseph C. Yates, James Platt, and John Woodworth. Reuben H. Walworth held his first eircuit in this eounty in June, 1823.

# The June term of 1797 and 1798 was held "at the Block. House in Willsborough."

In 1816, Clinton County received $8000 from the general govern- ment for the destruction of this building.

į Up to this timo the court-house and jail had been in one.

THE FIRST TRIAL FOR FELONY.

The first trial for felony in this county before the Oyer and Terminer was in 1797, with Judge Lansing on the beneh. David Smith was tried, eonvieted, and senteneed to ten years' imprisonment at hard labor. It is evident that the courts were fearless, and eriminals found but little merey, for in June, 1808, Judge Smith Thompson presid- ing, Thos. Munsall, David Ransom, and William Barnes were convicted of counterfeiting, and senteneed to States prison for life, and David Langley was senteneed to four- teen years' imprisonment for attempting to pass counterfeit money.

" In olden times," says Judge Peter S. Palmer, " the administration of the laws was attended with more eere- mony and parade than at the present day. The presiding judge was eseorted from his rooms to the court-house by the sheriff and his officers, the attending deputies and eon- stables bearing long white wands, or white staves tipped with black. As the judge, with measured step, picked his way through the dust or mud of the unpaved streets, the surrounding erowd would wonder, as did the eitizens of 'Sweet Auburn,' when they looked upon the well-filled head of the village master. Although many of the forms and ceremonies of those early days were not in harmony with the republican eharaeter of the people, there was much to admire in the refined and educated dignity of the bench and the courteous tone and manner of the bar.

" I eannot here omit a remarkable instance of the eare manifested by the local judges for the comfort of imprisoned debtors. The records of the Common Pleas show that im- mediately upon the completion of the new eourt-house an order was made that ' a passage from Caleb Nichols' tavern to the new court-house be added to the jail-yard and liber- ties.' The debtors, however, had reason to complain of one elause of the order. The passage was confined to a space of three feet in width, and was to be in a straight line. This order remained in foree until May, 1805, when the limits of the jail were extended to a line ' one half of a mile from the court-house, in all directions,' and from that time debtors, like their more prosperous neighbors, eould use both sides of the street when returning from the tavern. §

" Another instance of the sympathy of our local judges for the distressed, occurred in 1805, in the ease of The People against Charles Langley. The defendant had been indicted for horse-stealing, and let to bail. Subsequently he had re- moved from the State on proceedings being instituted against him by the town authorities, on account of his being the puta-

¿ The jail limits, established iu 1804, indicate the buildings in the vicinity of the court-house at that time : " From the court-house south to the house of Abraham Travis, and from there to the houses oecu- pied by Caleb Nichols, Marinas F. Durand, John Nichols, George Marsh, Theodorus Platt, Jesse Kilburn, Benjamin Wood, and the new house owned by said Kilburn (corner Broad and Margaret Streets), and the brew-house (opposite the present post-office) ; also, north from tho court-house, to includo the house lately occupied by Chauncey Fitch, and now by Kilney Grey : and thence castwardly, to the houses occupied by David Broadwell, Abraham Beeman, Peter Sailly, James Savage, and Charles Parsens, Jr." On the cast they included " tho forge, mills, and buildings belonging to the works on the north side of the forgo ditch, also the fulling-mill and shop, and Israel Green's house and lot, and the saw-mill on the river, uear the bridge, and the grist-mill and dam."

120

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

tive father of an illegitimate child. On application made by the bail to be released, the following order was entered in the minutes of the court :

" May 7, 1805. The defendant having heen committed on suspicion of stealing a horse, was, on appearances of favorable circumstances, admitted to bail, and found sureties in $50 for his appearance at this court ; but being afterwards threatened in consequence of an amour, he was forced to fly. The court thereupon discharge the sureties from their recognizance, hut order it continued against the principal. Court then rose till two o'clock in the afternoon."

Could a court be more tender of the feelings of a prisoner or of the pockets of his sureties; and can we wonder that after such an exhibition of its sympathy the court adjourned for refreshments ?

PUBLIC EXECUTIONS.

In the ninety-one years since the organization of Clinton County there have been six public executions within its borders. Five of these were by the sentence of a civil court, and one by a military court- martial.

Although crime prevailed in the early days, it received a prompt arraignment and speedy punishment. The first person executed for murder in this county was John Dough- erty, a soldier who was convicted of the murder of John Wait, a resident of Salmon Falls. Wait was killed while returning from Pike's Cantonement. He was tried in 1813, Judge James Kent presiding, and sentenced to be hung August 6th, and his body was directed to be delivered to the Clinton County Medical Society. He was executed on the " Boynton Road," near the lake shore.

The next execution was that of William Baker, a ser- geant in the 103d Regiment British Infantry, who was hung as a spy .*

When Col. Murray raided Plattsburgh in 1813 he re- leased two prisoners, Francis de Alert and his father, who had been committed to jail charged with the murder of one Peter Miller, at Champlain. They fled to Canada, and in 1816 Francis chanced to cross the line into Champlain, when he was immediately arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hung, but cheated the gallows of its victini by hanging himself in his cell.

March 18, 1825, Peggy Facto, an infanticide, was hung on the arsenal lot on Broad Street. She was sentenced by Reuben H. Walworth for the heinous crime of murdering her own infant child, which she first strangled by a cord around its neck, and threw it into the fire.

March 23, 1834, Alexander Larabee was publicly exe- cuted on the arsenal lot on Broad Street, for the murder of Leander Shaw, his son-in-law ; and November 16, 1847, Joseph Levert, a wife murderer, was hung in the jail-yard.

In 1854, Joseph Centerville, who had been convicted of the murder of his sister-in-law, Margaret Rock, was hung in the court-house yard. This was the last execution in the county. There have also been several trials for murder where the accused has been acquitted, the last being that of William H. Houghton, of Chazy.

GEOLOGICAL, TOPOGRAPHICAL, GEOLOGICAL, ETC.

Clinton County is located in the extreme northwestern part of New York, between latitude 40° 32' 30" and 45° 0' 40" north, and longitude 3º 3' and 3º 42' east from Washington, and is bounded as follows : On the northi by the Province of Quebec, Canada ; on the east by the waters of Lake Champlain, which separate it from Vermont; on the south by Essex County ; and on the west by Franklin.

The area of Clinton County, including that portion of Lake Champlain belonging to it, is 1092 square miles, and, exclusive of the lake, 1036 square miles.

The surface of Clinton is generally hilly and broken, and in some parts mountainous. The western and south western portion is mountainous, being traversed by the Clinton Range of the Adirondacks, the principal peaks of which are Lyon Mountain, Averill Peak, Duncan, Catamount, Leggett, and Silver Lake. Other peaks of lower altitude are Ellenburgh, Johnson, Ferry, Atna, Bovee, Daniels, Ellis, and Dannemora Mountains, and Rand and Burnt Hills.

The principal peaks of the Clinton Range are wild, broken, and rocky, and are all covered with a stunted growth of forest, except Lyon Mountain and Averill Peak, which are covered with a dense forest. The highest of these peaks along the west border attains an elevation of from 3000 to 4000 feet.

The uplands decline towards the north, and along the north border of the county is a large tract nearly level. Along the lake shore the surface is generally level, which rises gradually to the summits in the interior.

The geological formations of the county are briefly given. The mountainous region in the southwest, including about one-third of the county, is occupied by the primary rocks, while the Potsdam sandstone extends around the primary region, reaching nearly across the county from south to north, showing itself at the Au Sable Chasm, at Cadyville, at the flat rock in Altona, and in various other localities.

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History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 31

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