History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 117

Author: Durant, Samuel W; Peirce, H. B. (Henry B.)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 862

USA > New York > Jefferson County > History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 117

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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

469

OREN BARNES.

The subject of this sketch was born in the town of Pamelia, July 15, 1819. He was the eldest child in the family of Asa and Dolly (Cronkhite) Barnes. The elder Barnes was a native of the town of Springfield, Otsego Co., N. Y., where he was born in the year 1795. In 1813 he emigrated with his family to Pamelia, and purchased 80 acres of land, where he lived until he died, at the advanced age of seventy-one years. He was widely known for his high social qualities, and sterling worth as a citizen. Promi- nently identified with the Methodist Episcopal church, none did more for its support, both financially and other- wisc.

Oren lived with his father until he was twenty-eight years of age, receiving what was considered at that day a good common-school education. At about this time he married Miss Maria L. Jewett, of Le Ray. He then pur- chased the farm on which he now resides, and commenced life for himself, and his success is evidenee of what can be done by industry, economy, and good management. About the year 1850 Mr. Barnes commenced his experiments in fruit-growing, which have been so eminently successful.

Previous to 1850 it was the opinion of "fruit-men" that fruit could not be grown successfully north of the Black river. Mr. Barnes held an opposite opinion, and commenced its demonstration. He went into the forest and studied the growth and character of forest-trees, and application was made of the results obtained. He first set out a small orchard of 50 trees. He has now of all varieties over 700 thrifty, bearing trees, and is considered by all as the pioneer in the fruit interest, and one of the best pomologists of the county.

He has written several very valuable articles on fruit- growing, which have been republished and extensively copied, and the Jefferson County Agricultural Society, in recognition of his services to the county as a fruit-grower, and the material aid rendered this important interest, have awarded him premiums on his fruit and orchards aggregat- ing over $200. Mrs. Barnes died Aug. 28, 1865. She was an estimable woman, beloved by all who knew her. He subsequently married Miss Jennie Spieer, of Perch river, daughter of Silas Spicer, Esq., one of the pioneers of Brown- ville.

470

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Paul Anthony

Hannah Anthony

PAUL ANTHONY,

one of the pioneer citizens of Le Ray, and subsequently an early settler of Pamelia, was born in Rhode Island in 1782. He removed to New York when twenty-one years of age, making the journey by foot, coming by way of Booneville, at which place there was but one log shanty. He settled in Le Ray, about one mile and a half from Evans Mills, on the old plank-road, and remained there until 1837, when he removed to Pamelia and settled on the farm now oeeu- pied by his son, Thomas H. Anthony. He had no oppor- tunity for securing an education, and was pre-eminently a self-taught man, learning to read, write, and cipher after he was married. In early life he learned the stone-mason's trade, at which he worked considerably for some years. Among the existing evidences of his handiwork we might mention the glass-works at Redwood, the large stone hotel at Brownville, the Catholic church at Gravel Point, and other publie and private buildings.

Mr. Anthony was united in marriage with Hannah Eddy, a native of Rutland, Vt., and daughter of Enoch Eddy, one of the first pioneers of the town of Rutland, this county. This union was blessed with six children, namely, Jerusha, Thomas H., Amy E., Willard E., Phebe, and Helen M .; of these, two, Willard and Phebe, are deceased. Mrs. Anthony was a kind-hearted, humane, and benevolent lady, always ready to assist the afflicted. Her serviees were in frequent requisition as a nurse, in which capacity

she was eminently successful. She was a true and loving wife and an affectionate mother. She died August 7, 1873, beloved and respected by a large cirele of friends and rela- tives.

Mr. Anthony's entire life was characterized by remark- able industry. Brought up amid seenes that required hard work and indomitable energy, he early inculcated the quali- ties most needed in a new country. He retained his facul- ties to the last ; and a few years prior to his death, which occurred Feb. 4, 1873, at the age of ninety-one, he, in company with his son, Thomas H., erected the largest barn in the county, and one of the largest in the State. Its di- mensions are 250 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 51 feet deep, and it has a capacity for 750 tons of hay. Both Mr. and Mrs. Anthony were consistent members of the society of Friends. In business, Mr. Anthony was upright and hon- est, and it is said of him that in the whole course of his long business career he neither sued another, nor was him- self sued. Being faithful to every trust, loving and affable in his domestie relations, true and honest in all his dealings, he enjoyed the esteem of all who knew him, and the respect of all who ever heard his name.

Portraits of this worthy couple and of their son, Thomas H., can be seen in this work, also an illustration of the old homestead, all eaused to be inserted by their son Thomas H. as a token of affectionate regard.

Those Anthony

LENGTH OF BARN 250 ft. WIDTH " 40

DEPTH . 51

RES. of THOS. H. ANTHONY, PAMELIA, JEFFERSON CO., N. Y.

MRS. E. WILLIAMS

E. WILLIAMS.

RES. of E. WILLIAMS, PAMELIA, JEFFERSON CO., N. Y.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

471

Q.S. Modul

The subject of this sketch was the oldest son of the late Benjamin Woodruff, a pioneer of Watertown, having pur- chased the farm upon which he lived and died in 1799. The father, with two brothers, Simon and Frederick, accompanied by their parents, moved into this town in the spring of 1800, and all located upon adjoining lands pur- chased the previous fall. Other settlers soon surrounded them, and the neighborhood soon became identified by the appropriate appellation of "The Woodruff Settlement." Here, in 1805, Col. Woodruff was born and received a good common-school education, which he made practically useful to himself and others by teaching. Educated a farmer, he spent several years teaching in the winter and farming during the summer. In both avocations he was eminently successful. He, however, abandoned the pro- fession, and engaged in agricultural pursuits for a perma- nent business. In harmony with this decision, he purchased the farm in Pamelia upon which he lived and prospered the remainder of his life. In 1824 he enlisted in the " Water- town Rifle Company," then commanded by Capt. Albert S. Massey, a company in which his father served his time, rendering essential service at the battle of Sacket's Harbor, in 1813, while comtuanded by the late Capt. Wm. Samp- son. The military acumuen of Col. Woodruff soon made him a favorite with his company, and he was speedily pro- moted until he became captain, from which position he was elevated to the command of the regiment. He was a thorough tactician and strict disciplinarian, and had the love and esteem of his officers and fellow-soldiers. As a farmer he took an active part in promoting progress in agriculture ; was an active member of the county agricul- tural society. As a man he was positive-acted upon re- flection -but was decisive in his convictions when reached.

Destitute of ostentation and vanity, he was of that class that must be known to be appreciated. He died Dec. 10, 1872. In 1832 he was united in marriage to Miss Julia Hale, of Rutland, who still survives him. One child was born to them-Frances J., wife of Reuben H. Fuller, Esq., of Pamelia. Mrs. Fuller was born, Aug. 30, 1843, upon the old farm, where she now resides, with two sprightly boys to gladden the hearts of their parents, viz., Orlin W., born Oct., 1865; Willie L., Sept., 1868.

With this slight tribute to the memory of this esteemed pioneer, we close this brief sketch.

JOHN L. PARRISH.

The Parrish family are of English extraction, the origi- nal ancestor having come from England previous to the War of the Revolution. In 1793 John Parrish, our sub- ject's grandfather, who was a Revolutionary soldier, settled in Washington county. John Parrish, father of John L., was born in Columbia county, in June, 1777; he lived with his father, who was a farmer, until he was twenty- three years of age, at which time he married Miss Ruth Farr, who was a native of Massachusetts, where she was born in July, 1783. In the spring of 1803 Mr. Parrish left his home in Fort Ann, Washington county, for Jeffer- son County, to locate upon his purchase previously made of 60 acres, of big lot No. 4, in the town of Pamelia. He started with his family, which consisted of his wife and two children, his household goods and two yoke of oxen con- stituting his worldly effects. Fifteen days were occupied in making the journey. His location was a very fortunate one, as there is to-day no better fartu in the town. Here his family were born excepting the two eldest, and here he lived and died. He was a successful farmer and a great hunter. He was a very active and zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his house was the rendezvous for all the itinerant Methodist ministers of the circuit. He was also a consistent member of the Masonic fraternity in the early days of that order. He was a thorough, energetic business man, and his name was a synonym for honor and integrity wherever known. Genial, whole-souled, no one loved a good joke better than he, and no one possessed to a greater extent the faculty of making every one about him happy. In December, 1842, his wife died, in her fifty-ninth year. She was an estimable woman, and all that is ex- pressed in the terms amiable and intelligent. She was the mother of ten children, two of whom died in infancy.

John L. Parrish was born May 1, 1819. His boyhood days were spent upon his father's farm. In 1841 he mar- ried Miss Eliza Ann, daughter of Ruel and Margaret Ran- dall, who were among the carly settlers of the town of Rut- land, where she was born February 19, 1819. Mr. Parrish has succeeded his father in the possession of the old farm, which has grown under his good management to 183 acres. He is regarded as one of the most thorough and successfn: farmers of the town, and his farm (a view of which, in con- nection with the portraits of his father, his wife, and himself, can be seen in another part of this book) bears evidence of its careful and judicious management. He is also ex-

472

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

tensively engaged in the manufacture of " Limburger" cheese, and for the last twenty years has been extensively engaged in the cattle trade. Mr. and Mrs. Parrish have five children : Oscar F., the eldest, was born October 24, 1843, and is a resident of Virginia City, Nevada ; Warren R. is with his brother, and was born July 19, 1846 ; Diana B. is the wife of Scott W. Blodgett, of the town of Lyme, and was born March 6, 1848; Albert W. was born March 5, 1850; George B. was born January 22, 1852. All are living but the youngest, who died September 4, 1877.

TRUMAN B. TOWNSEND.

Jonathan Townsend, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Columbia Co., N. Y., in the year 1765. In 1803, in company with his brother Josiah, he came to Jefferson County and settled in the town of Champion. Here he purchased a farm upon which he lived until 1812, when he sold it and removed to the town of Boonville, Oneida Co., where he purchased a farm, with some slight improve- ments. Upon this farm he remained about four years, in which time he built a house and barn and set out a large orchard ; but the land not being adapted to grain-raising, and hearing glowing accounts of the " Genesee Country," which was at this time considered the Eldorado of western New York, he resolved to satisfy himself in regard to the fertility of the soil and the advantages offered to settlers. He accordingly sold it, and spent the summer of 1816 in looking for land; but, like many others, he was disappointed, and returned to Jefferson County and purchased a small farm in the town of Le Ray. Shortly after the purchase he was offered $200 for his bargain. He accepted the offer, and bought the farm now owned by his grandson, George K. Townsend, which was known at the time as the " Mc- Ouiber Job." Here he resolved to make a home. He had settled upon six new farms, and had cleared with his own hands 160 acres of land, and, although a hardy, robust man, toil and privation had begun to tell upon him. In clearing these new farms, by the time he had begun to live com- fortably, the interest upon the purchase-money had so ac- cumulated that he was obliged to sell his " betterments" and begin again ; but each succceding sale left him better off than before, and by dint of energy and perseverance he was

able to hold this last purchase, which became one of the model farms, and was awarded two premiumns by the county agricultural society. Upon this farm he resided until 1853, when he went to live with son Truman. The following year (1854) he passed to a higher existence, with full faith in a blessed immortality. His worthy wife, who was all that is expressed in the terms amiable and intelligent, died in the forty-seventh year of her age. In 1820 he was again married, to Miss Mary Van Amber; she died in 1833.

Truman B., the subject of this sketch, was born in the town of Champion in 1806. His early life was spent upon his father's farm, receiving a limited education. After attaining his majority he purchased 35 aeres of land, which is a part of the farm he owns, a view of which, in connec- tion with these portraits, can be seen elsewhere in this work. January 2, 1828, he married Miss Sarah, daughter of Elisha and Betscy (Edwards) Allen. Having now secured a wife and a home, he commenced life with that zeal and energy which he has since evinced in every undertaking of his life. Having a natural adaptation for the trade of a car- penter and jo'ner, he carried on this trade in connection with farming until about 1860. Having always been an examplar of the scriptural injunction of " whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do it with your might," he has been successful not only in business, but in obtaining an enviable position in society and in the esteem of his fellow-citizens. Having no desire for political prcferment, he has avoided rather than sought office. He has, however, been called to fill several offices, and discharged his duties to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. Nov. 20, 1873, Mrs. Town- send died, iu her sixty-sixth year. Sept. 23, 1875, he was again married, to Mrs. Margaret Copeland, of Milwaukee, Wis. Mr. and Mrs. Townsend were blessed with five chil- dren,-two boys and three girls : Priscilla K., born Jan. 12, 1831, and the wife of J. W. Smith ; George K., born Nov. 28, 1832, and owns the old farm of his grandfather ; Eras- tus E., born Aug. 17, 1834, and died Feb. 28, 1844; Florence A., born April 6, 1845, and wife of A. W. Weeks ; Mary E., born July 28, 1848, and wife of Fred. Delong.

Thus concludes the history of one of the prominent fami- lies of Pamelia, a brief sketch of which is entitled to its place in the history of Jefferson County.

PHILADELPHIA.

THE territory embraced in this town-which, prior to February 17, 1806, formed a part of Brownville, and from that time until April 3, 1821, was included with the town of Le Ray-is rectangular in form; its length-lying nearly northwest and southeast-being about one-quarter greater than its breadth. On the southwest it joins Le Ray, and on the other three sides are Theresa, Antwerp, and Wilna.

It comprehends fifty-four " great lots" of tract No. 4 of the Macomb purchase, being six ranges of nine lots each. In the southern and western portions of the town the surface is rolling, and in the opposite parts, towards Antwerp and Theresa, it becomes rough and hilly. Its waters are the Indian river, eutering from Antwerp and flowing nearly west across the town into Le Ray; Black creek, entering near

RESIDENCE of OLIVER CHILD , PHILADELPHIA, JEFFERSON CO., N. Y.

RESIDENCE OF W. M. WHITNEY. PHILADELPHIA, JEFFERSON Co., N.Y.

473

IIISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

the southern eorner from Wilna, flowing in a general northern course, and joining the river above the village of Philadelphia ; several small streams which fall into these from the east, and Otter creek, which passes westwardly through the northern corner of the town into Theresa.

THE FRIENDS' PURCHASE AND FIRST SETTLEMENTS.

These lands being included in Le Ray's purchase of Jan- uary 4, 1800, that proprietor, on February 16, 1804, entered into an agreement with a company, composed of Abraham Stoekton and Charles Ellis, of Burlington, N. J. (then Le Ray's place of residenec), and Mordecai Taylor, Thomas Townsend, John Townsend, Robert Comfort, Cadwallader Child, Moses Comfort, Israel Knight, Benjamin Rowland, David Evans, John Jones, and Jason Merrick, of the counties of Philadelphia, Montgomery, and Bueks, in Pennsylvania, -all of whom (save the last named) were Quakers,-to sell them sixteen lots (7040 acres) at the rate of $3 per acre, payable in five instalments, with six per cent. annual interest, and ten per cent. was to be discounted for cash. In consideration of the sale they were also to receive, as a gift from Le Ray, a central lot (440 acres) " for the promotion of religion and learning; that is to say, for the purpose of erecting thereon and supporting a meeting-house for the society of the people ealled Quakers, and a school or schools for the education of children in useful learning, to be under the care and direction of said society, and of a monthly meeting of said people, when such meeting shall be there established." It was stipulated that these lands should be of a quality equal to the four lots Nos. 629, 630, 631, and 632, near Le Raysville, which had been purchased the pre- vious year by Joseph Child, Sr., and Moses Comfort, whose favorable accounts of the advantages of the seetion in soil and climate had brought about the present purchase. In case these lands should not, in the opinion of Richard Coxe, Jacob Brown, and Jonas Smith, prove to be equal to those named, an additional quantity should be given to make good the deficiency. The seller also agreed to make a wagon- road from the St. Lawrence river, running through the conveyed tract to the post-road at Champion, before the first of the following December. The purchasers were re- quired to agree on a division of the lots among themselves before the 25th of the next April. This being done, the lands were conveyed to them by deed from Le Ray in May, 1804.

The central lot, donated for religious and educational purposes, was No. 611, embracing the present village of Philadelphia and all the water-power of the river at that point. The lots sold were Nos. 539, 540, 542, 543, 575, 576, 578, 579, 643, 644, 646, 647, 674, 675, 677, and 678. Eight lots were reserved by the proprietor, viz. : Nos. 541, 577, 609, 610, 612, 613, 645, and 676. All the above-named lots, twenty-five in number, together formed a rectangular traet five lots in length and the same number in width, of which traet lot 611 was the exact territorial centre; the conveyed lots lying in four blocks of four lots cach, one in each of the four corners of the tract, while the reserved lots lay between these in the form of a eross.

All that is now the town of Philadelphia was at that time a wilderness, in which no blow of white man's axe had

been struck, exeept by the surveying parties of Brodhead ; and it was to explore this and to examine their purchase that Cadwallader Child and Mordecai Taylor started nortlı- ward in May, 1804. In their company came Samuel Evans, who had visited Le Raysville and vicinity in 1803. On leaving Albany they traveled on horseback to Brownville for a conference with Jacob Brown in reference to projected roads, after which, early in June, Mr. Child, with Michael Coffeen, Solomon Parker, Robert Sixbury, the hunter, and another assistant, but without Mr. Taylor and Mr. Evans, who remained at Brownville, set out from Le Raysville to follow Brodhead's marked lot-lines towards his objective point, lot No. 611. He struck it at the south corner, then followed down Black creek to its junction with Indian river, and down the latter to the falls, where his party made a" halt, and built a rude cabin as a base of operations, near the spot where the Philadelphia flour-mill now stands. From here he soon proceeded to explore and survey a route for a road to the St. Lawrence, which he reached at a point above Alexandria bay, and, passing down the river, noted the ad- vantages of that place as an eligible site for a settlement, and for the river terminus of the proposed road. On his way down he had passed a considerable distance to the southwest of the High Falls of Indian river, but on his re- turn he passed these falls, crossing the river where now is the lower bridge and dam in Theresa village. Here he ex- amined the immense water-power, marked it as a favorable site for the establishment of mills and the building of a vil- lage, and so reported it to Mr. Le Ray. Returning to lot 611, he proceeded thence to continue his road survey to the Great Bend of Black river, in accordance with the original plan agreed on between Le Ray and the thirteen purchasers. When this was completed, the season being then well ad- vaneed, he entered upon lot 644, which had been drawn* by him in the assignment of tracts, and here, with the as- sistance of Samuel Child (his nephew) and Thomas Ward (whose widow is still living, at Carthage), he made the first clearing and erected the first dwelling in the bounds of Philadelphia. This was but a small log cabin, and the clearing was about two acres, located about one and a half miles south of the present village, on the bank of the small creek now in the southern part of the farm of his son Oliver Child. Towards the end of the same year John Petty, who had settled in 1802 or 1803, in the present town of Le Ray, removed thence with his family to lot 672 in Phila- delphia, he thus being the first actual settler in the town, and the only one who remained through the winter of 1804-5. The land had been purchased by him in 1803, and was afterwards embraced in the farm of John T. Striek- land, at Strickland's Corners, near Sterlingville. Daniel Coffeen eommeneed improvements on a tract adjoining or near Petty's during the same fall, removing upon it early the following year.

On the 1st of February, 1805, a meeting of the persons who had been named as trustees of the central lot was held at the house of Israel Knight, in Pennsylvania, at which meeting it was agreed and directed " that a part of the said

# In the division of the purchase, the lots had been assigned to the different purchasers by ballots drawn at random from a hat.

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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

tract be laid out in lots of ten acres each, and that any per- son or persons, on condition of settling or clearing the same, and building a log or frame house of 18 feet square on each of the lots within the term of four years, shall be entitled to the said lot for the term of ten years as a compensation for their improvements; and it is likewise agreed that the whole transaction of the business relative to the aforemen- tioned tract be intrusted with Robert Comfort, Cadwallader Child, Thomas Townsend, John Townsend, and Jason Mer- rick, who are to act for and on behalf of the whole." And it was especially agreed that Thomas and John Townsend should have the use for 20 years, rent free, of a tract of fif- teen or twenty acres, sufficient to cover the falls of the Indian river, and for the erection of the necessary buildings, upon the condition that they should erect thereon a mill for the general benefit of the prospective village and surrounding country.

In the spring of 1805 the Townsends arrived upon the lot, prepared to commence operations. With them canie Robert Comfort, Josiah Walton, Thomas Coxe, Benjamin Gilbert, Thomas Gilbert, and Daniel Roberts. Walton and the two Gilberts were in the employ of the Townsends, as were also Warren Foster and his brother Andrew, who had arrived about the same time. With this force they sct to work, made a clearing at the site of the proposed mill, built a dwelling-house on this clearing, commenced work on the dam, and built a bridge across the river, some 20 rods below where it is now spanned by the new iron bridges. During the summer and fall they completed the saw-mill and grist-mill,-both being under the same roof,-and also built a log house for John Townsend, nearly where the Eagle Hotel now stands. The millwright employed in the construction of the mills was James Parker. The grist-mill had one run of stones, manufactured from stone quarried in the vicinity.

Robert Confort built a log house on the bank of Indian river near the easterly end of Townsend's bridge, and this he opened as a house of entertainment,-the first public- house in the town,-which he kept until 1807. Josiah Walton purchased on the reserved lot No. 645, upon which he employed John Hoover and John Coffeen, of Le Ray, to make a clearing at a point near the north corner of the Curtis farm, and upon this clearing Cadwallader Child sowed wheat the same fall (1805). Another piece of wheat was put in by John Townsend, and it is not known which of these two were first sown, but Mr. Child's was the first harvested in town (July, 1806). Mr. Child, in addition to his four hundred and forty acres, took eight aeres in the centre lot, upon the rise of ground embracing the spot where the post-office now stands. Upon this he caused a clearing to be made and a house of hewed legs to be erected in the spring and summer of 1805, intending to make this his residence; but his plans were soon after changed, and he sold the improvement to Silas Walton. The block- house which he (Child ) had built was sold to Thomas Townsend, who removed and re-erected it upon a spot now directly in front of the residence of George E. Tucker, Esq. To this he moved his family early in the following year. Upon the improvement purchased from Mr. Child by Silas Walton the latter erected a small building, from lumber cut

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History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 117

Author: Durant, Samuel W; Peirce, H. B. (Henry B.) Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 862

Author: Durant, Samuel W; Peirce, H. B. (Henry B.)
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 862