History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 91

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 91
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 91

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

William Buchanan, Co. F, 96th Regt .; enl. March 31, 1864.

Jones Ransom, Co. F, 96th Regt .; enl. Nov. 4, 1861 ; pro. to sergt.

John P. M. Ransom, Ist licut., Co. F, 96th Regt. ; enl. Nov. 4, 1861.

James Scarlett, Co. F, 96th Regt. ; enl. Nov. 18, 1861; re-enl. Co. L, Ist Eng., March 1, 1865.

Jolın Scarlett, Co. F, 96th Regt .; enl. Nov. 18, 1861 ; pro. to sergt .; re-enlisted. Richard Scarlett, 2d sergt., Co. F, 96th Regt .; enl. Nov. 28, 1861 ; re-enl., Co. L, 1st Eng., Jan. 1, 1864 ; died, Jan. 14, 1864, at Fortress Monroe, Va.

Stephen K. Manning, Co. G, 153d Regt .; enl. Aug. 31, 1862 ; died, Dec. 22, 1862, at Alexandria, Va., of disease.

Isaac Blackman, corp., Co. G, 153d Regt .; eul. Aug. 31, 1862; pro, to sergt., September, 1862.

Richard D. Parks, Co. I, 118th Regt .; enl. Aug. 8, 1862; killed at Drury's Bluff, June 16, 1864.

llenry Myres, Co. H, 60th Regt .; enl. Sept. 13, 1861; re-enl. in same company and regiment, Dec. 24, 1864.

Julius Branch, Co. G, 153d Regt. ; enl. Sept. 28, 1862.

Charley Branch, Co. G, 153d Regt .; enl. Sept. 28, 1862.

Robert Robertson, Co. B, 96th Regt .; enl. Aug. 17, 1861; died, July 26, 1862, at . New York City.

Frank Stone, Co. K, 16th Regt .; enl. May 15, 1861; re-enlisted.

John W. Angell, 1st sergt., Co. G, 118th Regt .; enl. Aug. 8, 1862 ; pro. to 2d lieutenant.

Richard Angell, drummer, Co. L, Ist Eng .; enl. October, 1861 ; re-enl. March 10, 1863.

Melvin Welch, Co. K, 16th Regt .; enl. May 15, 1861.

James Barcomb, Co. I, 16th Art. ; enl. Oct. 16, 1863.

Stewart H. Phinney, orderly sergt., Co. G, 153d Regt .; enl. Oct. 18, 1862; pro. to 2d lieut., 1864.

Lyman C. Holhrook, 2d lient., Co. I, 118th Regt., Aug. 18, 1862.

Moses Menett, Co. E, 124th Regt .; enl. Sept. 15, 1864.

Joseph Stone, enl. Sept. 20, 1864,

Charles Palmer, Co. C, 16th Cav .; enl. July 21, 1863; pro. to 2d lieut., July, 1864, 1st lieut., September, 1865.

Rufus Palmer, Co. C, 16th Cav .; enl. July 23, 1863.

George Brandon, Co. G, 153d Regt .; eul. Oct. 18, 1862. IIenry Myott, Co. C, 16th Art. ; enl. Sept. 20, 1863.

John Miller, Co. C, 16th Art .; eul. Oct. 16, 1863. Andrew Nefs, Co. C, 16th Art .; enl. Oct. 16, 1863.

PHOTO. BY HOWARD & CO.

GEO. HALLOCK.

RESIDENCE OF HON.GEORGE HALLOCK, PERU TP., CLINTON CO., N. Y.

339

TOWN OF PERU.

CHAPTER LXI.

PERU.

Geographical and Deseriptive-Deseription of the Town in 1813- Early Settlement-Settlers and Incidents-Taverns-Stores-Phy- sicians-Roads-Men of Prominence-Civil Organization-First Town-Mecting-Town Officers-Statisties-Ear-Marks.

GEOGRAPHICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.

THIS town was formed from Plattsburgh and Wills- borough (Essex County) on Dec. 28, 1792. A part of it was annexed to Willsborough in 1799, and the towns of Ausable and Black Brook were taken off in 1839. Its present boundaries are, on the north the towns of Saranac, Schuyler Falls, and Plattsburgh, on the south the towns of Ausable and Black Brook, on the east Lake Champlain, and on the west the town of Black Brook. The superficial area of the town is seventy-nine square miles, and the pop- ulation as given by the census of 1875 is 2832. Ten years prior to that date it was 3087. The town derives its name, from the mountainous character of some portions of it, after Peru, in South America.

NATURAL FEATURES.

The surface of the town is rolling in the centre and east, and inclines gently towards the lake. In the west it is broken and mountainous. The Salmon River drains the northwest part of the town, the Little Ausable the central, and the Great Ausable drains and forms the boundary of the southeast corner.

A strip of land two miles wide, extending along the lake, has a soil composed of clay and clay-loam. West of this is a plain four miles wide, covered with sand and inter- spersed with swamps. In the west the soil is a light, sandy loam.

Terry Mountain, in the northwest corner, is a ridge, ex- tending about four miles in a southwesterly direction, and is almost encircled by the head-waters of the Sahnon River. From its summit, which is nearly bare, a wide range of view is obtained, rendering a peculiar charm to the blended beauties of nature and civilization which are spread out before the eye. Mount ÆEtna is a smaller elevation, lying southeast of Terry, and is sometimes called Huckleberry Hill, from the fruit indigenous to that locality. The eastern side is jagged and precipitous. On the west the slope is gradual to the summit. The seenery from this point is also very fine. Here civilization seems to begin and end. On the west appears the mountain wilderness, on the east can be seen cities, villages, and towns; the contrast between the abodes of men, on the one side, with the wild and weird face of Nature, on the other, is very striking.

Valcour Island, lying opposite the northern seetion of the town, partly belongs to this town. It was formerly known as Valeur Island, after the French frigate that car- ried the news of the battle of Ticonderoga to France. It is a large island, about two miles long and one wide, is rocky in the central and southern part, but contains good land in the north and along the shore. Garden Island lies south of Valcour, and is a small island, which was used by the English for a garden-spot, the remains of which are still visible. A large, low island lies in the month of the

Ausable River, and is included between the two branches of that river. It is chiefly valuable for the raising of grass. An United States light-house stands on the westernmost point of Valcour Island, in latitude 44° 37' 25" north, longitude 73º 25' 36" west from Greenwich.

Davis Pond, au enlargement of the Salmon River, is a handsome body of water lying across the north line of the town. Military Pond, lying partly in Peru and partly in Black Brook, is a small but attractive sheet of water.

The inhabitants of the town are chiefly engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. The town is one of the best in the county for that purpose, and the soil readily yields the or- dinary productions of the climate, under cultivation.

The following description of the town, published in Spafford's " Gazetteer," in 1813, will prove of interest :

"Peru, a post-township at the south end of Clinton County, 130 miles north of Albany, according to the postmaster's estimate, on the route by Caldwell, but I compute the distance at 150 miles : bounded north by Plattsburgh ; east, by Lake Champlain or the State of Ver- mont ; south, by Essex County; west, by Franklin County. The river Au Sable forms about balf of the southern boundary; the Sar- anac crosses the northwest corner; and there are several branches of these, with smaller streams also that ruu into the lake, wbich, alto- gether, supply a great abundance of mill-seats. Little Au Sable is wholly iu this town, and supplies many good mill-seats. The surface of the east 10 miles is eitber level or but moderately uneven, and the soil of this part is good for farming. West of this is mountainous or hilly, and the land of little value. There are some small ponds. The land is principally held in fee-simple. There are in this town .3 or 4 eorn-mills, 18 saw-mills, a fulling-mill, earding-machine, 2 bloomerics for making bar-iron, a rope-walk, 4 tanner's works, aud a distillery of grain and fruit spirits. The roads are pretty good, and - the inhabitants are remarked for babits of industry, temperauce, aud economy. It was first settled about 1789, principally by farmers from the county of Dutchess. A pretty large proportion of the inhabitants are Quakers, who bave a meeting-house in Union village, as have tbo Methodists also in that of Hackstaff's Mills. There are in all 22 school-houses. The trade of this town is principally to Canada, the distance to Montreal being 70 miles, to Quebee 230, and St. John's on the Sorel River about 50 miles by water. It is supposed by a well- informed correspondent tbat $60,000 worth of produce was conveyed to Canada from this town in 1810. Aud my correspondents state that various articles of foreign growth or manufacture may be had bere from Canada about 30 to 50 per ceut. cheaper than by the way of Albany. There are 2 small villages : Union, with about 45 houses and stores, and Hackstaff's Mills, 35 houses and stores, 2 uniles northeast of the former. The post-office is in Union village, which is pleasantly situated on a handsome plain 3 miles north of the bigh bridge aeross Au Sable River. The whole population of this town in 1810 was 1933, when there were 162 electors. Valeour Island, in Lake Champlain, is attaebed to this town."

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

One hundred years ago the towu of Peru was an un- broken wilderness. William Hay, a Scotchruan, was the first white man who attempted to settle within the present limits of the town. He located on Stewart's Patent, oppo- site Valeour Island, in 1772, and soon after removed to Canada, but returned about 1785, and settled permanently a little south of Saluon River, near the lake-shore. His daughter Mary married Lott Elmore, in 1788, and this was the first marriage in the town.

Hay is said to have been on intimate terms with Bene- diet Arnold, and to have witnessed the naval engagement that occurred opposite Valcour Island on Oct. 11, 1776. Henry Cross settled near Hay about the same time.

The town, when formed from Plattsburgh in 1792, em-

340

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

braced the present towns of Ausable and Black Brook, and the principal settlement in the town was made partly within the present boundary of Ausable, called the " Union." This was for many years the only village of importance in the town. Edward Everett, John Keese, Peter Halleck, Caleb Green, Daniel Jackson, Gilbert and Gerrit Thew, John Haff, Elisha Arnold, and John Stanton settled near and in the " Union" about the year 1790. John Cochran, George Hayworth, and John Hackstaff settled near the present site of Peru village about the year 1800. Cochran built a grist-mill, and Hayworth and Hackstaff a factory, which soon made Peru village a successful rival to the " Union," and in time the capital of the township. Their early associates in the village were Abijah Ketchum, Lott and John Elmore, Isaac Finch, and Silas and Robert Cochran.

A large part of the primitive forest was composed of white pine, and an extensive lumber trade was carried on for many years with Montreal and Quebec; and after the completion of the Champlain Canal, with Troy, Albany, and New York. Oliver Keese, Josiah Fisk, and Amos All- son were the principal persons engaged in rafting lumber to the ports on the St. Lawrence River.

The Rogers road, leading from the Union nearly due north across the town to the western settlements in Platts- burgh, was in early times the favorite track of travel, along which the carliest improvements in the town were made.

The first settlement in Peru by " Friends" was made on Zephaniah Platt's 17,983-acre location, situated on the west side of Lake Champlain, 442° north latitude, surveyed by Josiah Thorp, and completed Aug. 6, 1787. It com- priscd lots of 412 acres each, the south line commencing near the terminus of the Little Ausable, at the lake-shore, running due west to Elkanah Watson's Patent.

Zephaniah Platt's second location of 12,000 acres was bounded north by the south line of the first location, the south line running through Keeseville westward. It was surveyed by William and John Keese, of Dutchess Co., N. Y., in 1788, who also made later subdivisions of the tract.

One of the first settlers of the town was Edward Everett, a relative of the distinguished statesman and orator of the same name. He was a captain in the Revolutionary war, and a son was a drummer at the battle of Saratoga.

The Keese family appear to have been the most numerous and among the most influential and respectable of the first immigrants. In March, 1789, William Keese came on the ice from Whitehall to Peru Landing, with axe, gun, and some provisions, and built a log house on the " William Keese farm." He returned in the fall to Dutchess County, and married a wife in March, 1790, and returned at a later period to the town. Richard Keese came into the district in March, 1792, and found only one small clearing in the territory which afterwards constituted the town of Peru. A large family was born to him after he became a resident of the district. One of the daughters was Guilmina, wife of Silas Arnold, and a son among the list of brothers was Hon. Richard Keese, who was born in a log cabin Nov. 28, 1794. He was elected to the Twentieth Congress in 1826, at the age of thirty-two, and was subsequently appointed a judge of the Clinton County Court of Common Pleas.

John Kecse, himself an old man, came into town about this time, imparting augmented wealth and a power to the new community in the persons of five stalwart sons, Stephen, Richard, William, John, and Oliver, and two daughters, who respectively married Peter Halleck and Henry Green. This entire family settled in the vicinity of the Union, on contiguous lots, their farms bounding on cach other. Peter retained the old homestead. He replaced the old buildings with new, and built a large and imposing stone mansion near the old family dwelling. He also bought and demolished several decayed dwellings and buildings in that part of the Union near his estate.

Other Quaker immigrants rapidly followed, among whom were Abednigo Ricketson, Andrew White, whose wife, Amy, was a preacher, Henry Green, the Bencdicts, Bucks, Thews, Davises, Barkers, Bakers, Smiths, Shermans, Bankers, Jacksons, Woods, Fishers, Osborns, Nichols, Hoags, and David Osborne, Edward Halleck, and David Hoag.

The Friends early monopolized a greater part of the most valuable land in the section. They seemed to delight in clustering together, and but few interlopers from " the world's people" appear to have entered their circle. As an expression of the harmony and sympathetic feeling that united them, they loved to designate their settlement " The Union." This included the hamlet which-was known to the public as " the Union village," but did not exclusively designate it. " The Union" of the Friends referred to the locality extending from Halleck Hill to the Stoddard place, and spreading over the adjacent lateral highways. The " Union village" chiefly sprang up from the necessity of a central location for the convenience of public and private affairs. It comprised, besides private residences, two tav- erns, two stores, two blacksmith-shops, and ranged on both sides of the highway about a mile south of their sub- sequent meeting-house. Fifty years ago it was a pleasant and tranquil hamlet, but now hardly a vestige remains to recall its former existence.

Henry De Lord was born at Nismes, France, on July 29, 1764. He was a French emigrant, or rather a refugee from the blood and rapine of the West Indies, and emi- grated to this country soon after the Revolution. He opened a store at the Union in the fall of 1797, at which place he was postmaster. On the corner opposite the Friends' meeting-house he erected a mansion of large dimen- sions, but without elegance or ornamentation, which still stands, although beaten upon by the storms of almost eighty years. He was one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas from 1800 to 1813, and removed to the village of Plattsburgh to reside. In Plattsburgh, also, he was en- gaged in mercantile pursuits, and belonged to the firm of Bailey & De Lord. He suffered large losses by the pillage of the British army in 1813. He resided in a fine, and for that age elegant, dwelling-house on the northern bank at the debouchure of the Saranac River. It is the same which is now occupied by Rev. Francis B. Hall, whose wife is the granddaughter of Judge De Lord, and his only living descendant. The latter died March 29, 1825, aged sixty-one years.

Among the carly Quaker immigrants, Elisha Arnold be- came one of the most prominent. He arrived in the town

341

TOWN OF PERU.

in the year 1795, with all his worldly goods done up in a pocket-handkerchief, and located on the banks of the Arnold Brook. He subsequently owned a large farm of nearly 1000 acres, situated two miles north of the Union meeting-house. He was a man of prominence, wealth, and influence, and of uncommon intellectual attainments. He was a member of the Legislature in 1808, State Senator in 1812-15, and was the first judge of the county from July, 1819, to January, 1823. In the Senate he repre- sented the original castern district, which embraced nearly one-half of the geographical area of the State. Silas Wright subsequently represented the same constituency.

At Button Brook, Elisha Button bought out the first settler, and for many years was one of the principal public characters of the town. He kept a large hotel, had a store with considerable trade, built a large ashery, manufactured potash extensively, and besides engaging in farming, oper- ated to a large extent in the purchase and sale of real estate. He was elected high sheriff of the county, and for twelve consecutive years was a justice of the peace. 'His success in the latter position was more than ordinary, and many interesting and amusing anecdotes are related of his original, yet effective, way of administering justice. He reared a large family of children, nearly all of whom have passed with him beyond the reach of praise or blame.

About half a mile from Peru village, towards the Union, stands an antique house on the left, some poplar-trees on the right, and, as the road bends to the west, a substantial stone structure, spanning a streak of mud, kept moist by a slight flow of water from some unknown source. At this point, John Haff, or Huff, as he was generally called, settled in 1793. He purchased nearly one mile square of densely wooded land, lying between the Rogers road and the State road, running south from Peru village. Nearly half of the original purchase is now in the possession of his grandson, Schuyler Haff. Uncle John seems to have chosen this spot for his log cabin, on account of the beautiful stream of water which at that time flowed through the place. It was no inconsiderable brook then. Trout, from one to two pounds weight, sported in its cool and sparkling waters, moose and deer drank from the ever-flowing stream, the proud oak and sweet maple intertwined their branches upon its banks, while towards the north lofty pines lifted their heads up against the sky, and every description of small game abounded on every side.

The log cabin was just south of the present dwelling. The place was reached by a lane from the highway near the present residence of S. K. Smith. The original road from the Union to Hackstaff's Mills came up the bank near the residence of Mr. Holland, the old road-bed being still visible. John Haff moved to this place from Dutchess County with his wife and five children, the oldest under ten years of age, and settled in the midst of the dense forest that covered his whole purchase. He lived long enough to clear up and bring under cultivation one of the best farms in the town. He had, before coming to Peru, kept a hotel in Dutchess County, and was noted for his good cheer and his love for roast pigs and turkeys. Being of Duteh descent, his vrow understood the mysteries of Dutch cheese and buttermilk pop. Slapjacks and maple-

honey were a great favorite also in the log cabin. These were made in a long-handled frying-pan, from a batter well seasoned with eggs. An adept at the game of frying would, by a peculiar motion of the frying-pan, up and down, slap the jack over when half done. Indeed, a son of Haff once related that the acme in the art of slapjack frying was only reached when the operator could toss the half- cooked jack up and over the top of the huge chimney, and could catch it right side up at the outside door of the cabin !

Across the brook, on the opposite side from his house, Haff built a barn, which was the most noticeable feature on the estate, and known far and near as the " Dutch barn." It was four-square on the ground, and towered up to a double story at one corner over the barn floor. The highest part was like a barrack top, from which the roof sloped off at right angles to the north and cast. About fifty years ago the old barn was torn down, and no trace of it now re- mains, where for many years Unele John stored the rich products of his farm and stabled his noble steeds. He took an honest Dutch pride in his model barn, the like of which may never be seen again.

John Cochran has the honor of being the founder of the village of Peru, about the year 1795. He built a frame house on the site now occupied by the Heyworth mansion. He was attracted to the place by the fine water-power on the river opposite his dwelling at that period, forming a strange contrast to the slow, murky stream that can now be seen there. One peculiarity of the region was the large number of black bears and other wild animals that infested the woods near. "Bear Swamp," lying east by south of the village, embraced at that time a low, swampy, dense forest extending from the river cast of the village to that part of the town settled and occupied by Nicholas Barker.

The bluff on which Cochran built his house was bounded on the west by a stream with high banks, that came from the south, down which in time came the road leading from the Union to the settlement on the river. As soon as time and means would allow, Cochran built a grist-mill on the river opposite his dwelling. He also built a log house across the river, very near the store subsequently occupied by Robert M. Day. In this log house lived Thomas Morse, the miller, who for many years was the faithful miller of the place. Two houses and a grist-mill made quite a settle- ment in those days, and the place soon became known through all the country as Cochran's Mill. It was in re- ality the greatest public benefaction the town had ever ex- perienced. Previous to this the settlers were compelled to go to Plattsburgh for milling purposes.

The first pioneers following the Indian trail from the Indian Pass found themselves upon the brow of Halleck Hill. Among them was Edward Halleck. He settled just under the brow of the hill, and gave his name to it. From his house, and also from the Indian lodge to the north of it, could be seen the vast hunting grounds of the Indian, where, under the high branches of the forest of pine, oak, elm, beech, and maple, reposed the moose, deer, bear, and catamount, and through the best part of which flowed the Little Ausable, at that time a river of quiet beauty or of noisy merriment, as its course happened to lie.

342

HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

An Englishman, by the name of York, settled many years ago south by west of Huckleberry Mountain. His son now occupies the place.

The road leading north from the Union, and which was called the Rogers road, crossed, as it does now, the Little Ausable about half a mile west of Peru village. On this road about one-fourth of a mile north of the river lived John Stanton, one of the first settlers of Peru. He came with his wife from Dutchess County, about 1790. A goodly-favored maid of all work accompanied them, and they had come up with others to establish a home in the wilderness, and help develop the resources of the country. All went well until, in the course of nature, a serious diffi- culty arose between Stanton and his amiable spouse, which caused the latter to demand that Stanton should return her to her father's house in Dutchess County. It was the winter season, so placing his wife on a hand-sled, of his own handiwork, Stanton started on his journey. Proceed- ing by the most favorable route to the lake, he traveled up to Skenesborough (now Whitehall), thence to Fort Edward, and by way of the Hudson River to Dutchess County. After the lapse of five weeks he returned alone to his home, and to the maid-servant, the cause of the contention, and who had also become the mother of a child. Freed by his hand-sled divorce, Stanton married the servant, and as- sumed the responsibilities of a father to one of the first children born among the first settlers in the ancient bound- aries of Peru.

The road from the river up to the Stanton place was through a dense swamp of treacherous ground, where, in the legendary age, witches astride of broomsticks, with jack- o'lanterns, held high revelry on dark nights, during certain seasons of the year. Chemical science has since demon- strated that combustible gases, generated in decaying animal and vegetable matter, burns as it escapes into the common air, and gives a ghostly appearance in the dark.

Benjamin Smith settled at West Peru at an early day. He owned a mile square of land in that locality, and was a man of influence and prominence. During the war of 1812 he engaged largely in furnishing supplies to the troops, but, owing to military seizures and other contingencies of the war, he suffered heavy pecuniary loss, became broken in health and spirits, and finally died. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Stephen and Ruth Keese, in 1803, and had children,-Mary, Stephen B., Ruth, Abigail, Sarah H., Samuel, Thomas, Eliza, Hannah, and Benjamin F. Stephen B. is an old and esteemed resident of Peru at this time.

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History of Clinton and Franklin Counties, New York : with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 91

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