History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 14

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 14

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6. {Henderson.] The south land of this town is exceedingly good land, and is timbered with maple, beech, bass, ash, elm, oak, and hickory ; near the mile tree on the south line, there is a swamp of cedar, and some pinc, ash, etc. The east line is timbered with maple, beech, bass, elm, ash, birch, etc., very fine soil, and pretty level, some swamps, but all good, and will make excellent meadow, and are filled with valuable timber. The north line is a pretty level country, some gentle ascents and descents, and some oak, chestnut, hickory, ash, beech, maple, and pine on it. Along the Hungry bay there is a very handsome beach, and fine land the whole distance around, until you pass a peninsula, when the shore is a perpendicular rock, of from 30 to 80 and, in some places nearly 100 feet. The land does not appear to be very good near these rocks, and no streams whatever. A cedar swamp lies along on the top of the bank for a considerable distance. After you are at Stony Point you will find the lake-shore of flat rocks, and the appearance of the country to be pretty good ; some marshes and some cold hemlock land. Where the shore is not rocky, there are very large stones. The largest stream in this town is Stony creek, which has a pond abont three miles up, of 400 acres, and a dead cranberry marsh around the pond. There are some fine mill- seats on Stony crcek, below the pond, hut none above. The marsh around the pond is very poor and very miry. To speak generally this is a pretty good town; has a good harbor. On the southwest part is Stony Creek bay.

7. [Adams.] This is a very good township. On the south line, it is a very fine country, and very handsomely timbered with maple, beech, bass, ash, clm, birch, and butternut. Along the east line there is pinc timber, and all the soil is fine; the timber in general is maple, elm, bass, ash, beech, birch, ironwood, and butternut. It is a pretty level country, some undulations, and some excellent swalc land. On the north line there is very fine soil, and handsome timber of maple, bass, ash, beech, birch, elm, butternut, and ironwood. The prin- cipal streams are Stony creek and the north branch of Big Sandy creek. This branch is a large stream of one chain eighty links width in general, and has some very fine interval, and is almost all flat rock bottom. There are some appearances of mill-scats on this branch, and, I suppose, good ones, but I have seen nothing of that kind. Some fine springs of water are scattered over the town, and are of good quality. To speak generally, the town has every good quality. Mill-seats, springs of excellent water, pine, timber, limestone, clay, maple, beech, bass, ash, butternut, birch, ironwood, pine, oak, and chestnut timber, gentlo ascents and descents, fine soil, black mould, and loam in general.

8. {Rodman.] The north line of this town is a very fine soil, and in general pretty level; some hills and gentle ascents, all of which are very fine. It is timbered with maple, bass, ash, elin, beech, birch, butternut, and hemlock, which are near the banks of the streams. There is some pine on this line, but not a plenty. On the east line there is a pretty good country, excepting it is much cut to pieces with the streams, all of which make large gulfs from forty to one hundred and fifty feet deep. On the south liue is a pretty good country, finely watered with streams. The timber in general is maple, becch, bass, elm, hemlock, spruce, ash, birch, soft maple, and iron- wood. On the west line there is fine land, which is timbered as the rest. The north branch of Big Sandy creek passes through near the northwest part, and makes very fine intervals along its course. This is a fine mill stream, and has a sufficient quantity of water for all seasons. There are also other streams, which run through this town, on which are fine mill-seats. Some pine timber, but not in abundance.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

These notes close with the following comparison of the probable relative value of the several towns :

Nos. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 are very little to choose in point of quality ; 6 is best situated, but 7 is most excellent; 5 would be ealled best by those New England people, on account of the luxuriance of the soil on Deer ereek ; 2 is an execeding good town, but is not so good as 7; 8 and 9 are very good towns; 10, the north part is exceedingly good; 11, the west part is excellent; 7 has the preference for quality and situa- tion together, and 6 for situation only of the whole; No. 1 is well sit- uated, but I fear has not good mill-seats on it; 8 has exeellent mill- seats, and 9 also, but is some broken ; 10 is bad in the south line, and 9 also is eold and hemlocky.

TITLE OF THE ISLANDS.

The islands in the St. Lawrence and lake were included in the original contract* of Macomb with the State, June 22, 1791, but, from the uncertainty of the boundary, they were not patented till long after. The claim of Macomb passed to Danicl McCormick, and was recognized by the commissioners of the Land Office, January 28, 1814, when they directed the surveyor-general to survey such islands as were clearly within the limits of the State at the ex- pense of the owner, and a release of damage was to be granted should the lands so laid out hereafter be included in Canada, upon the running of the boundary. McCormick sold his interest to D. A. and T. L. Ogden, which was also sanctioned by the commissioners, May 14, 1817. For run- ning the boundary agreed upon by the treaty of Ghent, General Peter B. Porter was appointed commissioner, and Samuel Hawkins agent for the United States, and John Ogilvie commissioner on the part of Great Britain, who met at St. Regis, and, after carefully ascertaining the line of 45° north lat., by a series of astronomical observations, proceeded thence in two parties, one to Lake Champlain and the other up the river. In 1818 the latter had reached Ogden's island, and in 1819 their labor was completed. Patents were issued for the islands as follows :

All the islands in the State, between a line drawn at right angles to the river, from the village of Morristown, and a meridian drawn through the western point of Grind- stone island, to Elisha Camp, February 15, 1823. These islands contained 15,402.9 acres, of which Grindstone island contained 5291, Wellesley island 8068, and Indian Hut island 369 acres, with several smaller ones without names. Patents were also issued to Camp on the same day to Stony island, 1536 acres; Calf island, 34.8 acres ; Little Galloo island, 48.8 acres ; the most of Galloo island, 2216.2 acres ; and Willow island, half an acre. A patent to the United States, for 30.75 and 5 acres on Galloo island, was issued December 11, 1819, and to Melanch- thon L. Woolsey, November 3, 1823, for Gull's island, 6.5 acres, and Snake island, 1.4 acres. Cherry island, in Chau- mont bay, 108.4 acres ; Grenadier island, 1290 acres, and Fox island, 257.5 acres, were patented to Hezekiah B. Pierrepont and others October 1, 1824. 500 acres on the western part of Carlton island were patented to Charles Smyth, October 2, 1828 .; A partition deed was executed between Pierrepont and Joshua Waddington and Thomas L. Ogden, November 10, 1824, by which the former re-

ceived Grenadier and Cherry islands. They were sold Feb- ruary 19, 1825, for seven thousand dollars, to William and Gerardus Post, of New York. These islands had been oc cupicd many years by squatters, who with great reluctance yielded possession. Incidents, connected with surveys and titles, will be given in our account of the several towns, and, in their place, sketches of several of the characters who figured in these transactions.

The jurisdiction of a part of Galloo island was ceded by the legislature to the United States for a lighthouse, by an act of April 21, 1818; that of Tibbets point (about three acres), January 25, 1827 ; that of Horse island, April 26, 1831 ; and a part of Carlton island, June 21, 1853. In thesc cessions the State retains concurrent civil and criminal jurisdiction.

CHAPTER V.

CASTORLAND.+

Early French Settlements-Chassanis-Brunel-Journal of French Explorers in 1793-Notes from the "Castorland Journal," 1794- First Mill at Carthage, 1795-Death of M. Pharoux-Earliest Set- tlements in the various Towns.

ON the 31st of August, 1792, William Constable, then in Paris, sold to Peter Chassanis, of that city, 630,000 acres of land south of great tract Number IV., and bc- tween the Black river and a line near the 44º N. latitude. Chassanis in this purchase acted as agent for an association, and the lands were to be by him held in trust for Constable until paid for. The State reservations for roads, etc., were stipulated, and a deed for 625,000 acres having been made out, was delivered to René Lambot, as an escrow to take effect on the payment of £52,000.

The purchasers immediately set to work to perfect a scheme of settlement, and in October, 1792, issued a pam- phlet embodying a programme of colonization, under the auspices of a company organized under the laws of France, by the name of La Compagnie de New York. Like many transcendental schemes of modern times, it appeared very beautiful upon paper, and the untried experiment promised every advantage which associated capital and active indus- try could claim, or the most ardent hope promise. Simon Desjardines and Peter Pharoux were chosen from among the shareholders as commissioners in America. They lost no time in executing their mission, and leaving France July 7, 1793, arrived in just two months in New York, with the design of proceeding upon the tract to explore its boundaries, and take possession in the name of the com- pany. At Albany they met one of their countrymen, a political exile, who, although but twenty-four years of age, had already become known by his ingenious mechanical constructions, and who has since justly claimed to rank with Franklin, Brindley, Herschel, and Watt, by the bril- lianey of his inventive genius and his magnificent monu- ments of constructive art. This person was Mark Isambart Brunel, since celebrated as the founder of the machine- shops of the Royal Navy Yard at Portsmouth, England,

# Land Office Minutes, vol. ii. p. 192.

t See our account of Cape Vineent.

Į For additional information, see " History of Land Titles," ante.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

the builder of magnificent railroad structures in England, and the engineer of the Thames tunnel. Bruncl was pre- parcd for any adventure, and accepted with eagerness the offer made him by the commissioners, not only of receiving him into their company, but of appointing him their cap- tain on this remote and difficult service. These three Frenchmen hired four natives of the country, making a party of seven men. They spent two months in the au- tumn of 1793 upon this service. In the spring of 1794 they returned, and commenced improvements upon their tract.

A journal was kept by the party, which was carried by them to Paris. This journal, the most interesting portions of which relate to their labors at the High Falls and at Carthage, was found by Mr. William Appleton in a second- hand bookstore, in Paris, and purchased by him for a tri- fling sum. A copy of the journal was placed by Mr. John Appleton in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, which has since been translated by Dr. F. B. Hough, of Lowville, New York, who expects to publish the same at some future timc .*

The following is an extract from the journal kept by one of this party in the fall of 1793, beginning during the voyage on Lake Ontario en route from Oswego to the mouth of Black river :

# # # " To avoid passing the night in the open lake and to gain the shore, we, at a quarter before five, steered N. N. E. nearly in the direction of the upper highland, which we took to be that of Steu- ben,t according to the opinion of M. de Zeny, and directed our course towards a point which appeared to be the mouth of a ereek, rowing hard until about seven o'clock. Luckily, the bright moon supplied the light of day ; but, when near the land, we saw a heavy surf, which we feared would throw us upon a desolate shore and pre- vent us from finding the supposed opeuing. We therefore resolved to keep along the coast till we found a place where the waves were less rough and a landing-place more certain. After going a full mile we availed ourselves of a place, not as shallow as the rest, to run the breakers and throw ourselves upon the shore of fine white sand ; and, there being no trees, we thought it must be the mouth of a ereek. We sprang into the water to push the bateau up the bank beyond the reach of the waves. Having with some difficulty placed it in a safe place, we kindled a fire and went to explore the coast, while our men pitehed the tent and gathered drift-wood for fuel. We had to climb a saud-hill, which appeared entirely formned by the winds, and, on reaching the top, we were surprised to see on the other side a con- siderable sheet of water, aud beyond this the woods upon the true bank of the lake. The sand-hill was even steeper in the rear than towards the lake, and appeared like those that form bayous along the sea-coast. It extended further than we could see towards the north, and south. We returned to the landing, and, having dried our eloth- ing before a fire of red cedar, which shed a most agreeable perfume, took supper, and then resolved hy the bright moonlight to follow the sand-hills in search of the mouth of Great or Little Sandy creeks, which the maps located near this place. But, after going a long dis- tance, we found nothing but the same banks of sand and the samue sheet of water behind them. .

" Friday, October 18, 1793 .- While our effects were being reladen and the bateau launched we again sought to find the ereeks marked on the map, and M. Desjardines, on going northward, came to the mouth of Little Sandy ereek, which is only an opening in the sand-

hills where the water within finds an exit to the lake. It is not twenty toises wide, and very shallow. We saw in the sand tracks of animals and even of men. M. Pharoux, who went southward, saw only a continuation of the sand-hills, and, on climbing one, saw on the other side the water within and an Indian with his wife in a bark canoe; there were two dogs on the bank crying after them. Upon making signs to the Indian he came to the shore, but to the questions addressed to him in English and French he answered only in his own language,-which M. Pharoux could frot understand,-at the same time pointing towards the north with his finger. We embarked at seven o'clock, an l, with a south wind, coasted along to gain Point Traverse. At eight we observed an opening which we took to he that of the Great Sandy creek. The sand which forms the shore is very white quartz, and suitable for foundry-wouldings, the scouring of utensils, or the sharpening of cutlery. At half-past nine we sheered off from a point, and some breakers which indicated a reef of. rocks, and steered northwest. The shore here changes its aspect, and instead of steep sand-hills the bank is low and finely timbered. The wind having arisen the waves also increased, and the bateau made rapid progress with the sail alone. The pilot, on nearing the dangerous passage, took so heavy a draught of rum that he knew not what he did, and steered directly towards the breakers. Upon this, M. Brunel seized both the helm and the pilot, when the major fell drunk at the bottom of the boat. M. Pharoux and Desjardines then tood each a corner of the sail-to hold it firm to the wind or relax it in moments of danger-to the great dismay of the men, who would have run the risk of being thrown upon the shore rather than of en- countering the open lake ; yet this was our only safety, and the boat was sufficiently sound. M. Brunel steered so skillfully that we did not ship a single wave ; but our main safety depended upon the mast, which bent with the force of the wind. One of our men was so fright- 'ened at the condition of affairs that he opened his knife to cut the halliards of the sail, but luckily was seen by M. Brunel, who, with- out letting go of the helm, gave him such a rap on the head with a hatchet that the fear of present danger overcame that of more distant peril, and he returned to duty. Had he suceceded we would have been lost, as there would have been no means of steerage, and we would have been dashed upon the rocks without a chance of safety. Our third boatman behaved a little better, as he was in the how and the sail cut off his view of the danger. He aided hy watching for reefs and in notifying us of what he saw before him. Having passed the reef of rocks we observed a small bay, at the head of which is a stream called by the English, 'Stony creek,' and on the French maps La Riviere de l'Assumption. The wind heing quite fresh we soon gaiued Point Traverse, but prudence would not allow us to turn too soon on account of the breakers. We continued on a mile in this course, and passed midway in the channel between the point and the Galloo islands. We had scarcely passed this treacherous point when the water became smooth, heing sheltered from the winds by islands and the high land of the point. We soon landed in a cove formed by the shore, half a mile within Point Traverse. We landed at noon, built a fire to dry our clothing, aud drew our pilot from the boat where he lay asleep. He was surprised to find himself again on land and alive. Having thoroughly dried we begun business. Point Traverse being the beginning of the great bay ealled hy the English ' Hungry bay ;' by the French, ' Baie de Nivernois;' and by the In- dians, ' Naioure.' MM. Pharoux, Desjardines, and Bruuel proceeded to locate the point 'A' on the map with compass, by taking the bearings of the Galloo (Galoup ?) islands and the shores of the bay. Point Traverse is quite elevated, and is composed of heavy masses of roek in horizontal strata. From the point the shore is nearly direct for a long distance and of the same appearance, resembling an im- inense wall, and quite high in some places. From the steepest part large masses of rock have fallen, and from among these evergreens have grown. The top of the bank hears also trees of the same kind; and at the base of these natural walls the waves have worn cavities, leaving an infinite number of irregular pillars upon which the rock above seems to be supported.

" Left at half-past one. The shore is steep as far as to point ' B, ¿ and covered with evergreen-trees, the water being everywhere of good depth, allowing barks to come near the shore. We steered

# This traet of country the French company named Castorland (the name having reference to the abundance of heaver) ; and a town named Castorville, calculated to be the chief town of the colony, was laid out on the Beaver river, a few miles from its junction with Black river.

t These elevated plateaus were the upper limestone terraces of Jefferson County.

į Point de la Traverse was evidently Stouy point, or the one next north in the western part of Henderson.

¿ The map referred to is not given in the journal.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

towards the point of the peninsula 'C,' which was covered with trees ; but it seemed to us that the interior had been cleared, from tho dry trees, and the small number that we saw. The isthinus of this peninsula was entirely bare of timber, and appeared only a beach of sand, across which the Canadians usually drew their canoes to avoid the risk and labor of passing around the shore. This narrow place hides from view a part of the shore of the bay. Fur- ther on it appeared that the clearings were caused by the violence of the winds, which had uprooted the trees. We doubled the point ' C' with the wind northwest, and by the help of oars passed the points ' K' and ' E,' landing at ' C' and ' E' to take observations. We then walked along the beach, which was composed of a reddish granite, rounded, broken, and worn to the size of peas, forming a very pleasant view. We gathered on the shore some shells of fine color, of the mollusk kind. Having re-embarked, we rowed until half-past four, and passed some shoals covered with birds; but the sky becoming overcast we sought shelter at the point ' O,' where we landed and pitched our tent. The shore from ' K ' to ' E' is quite steep, with coarse gravel at the base; but at ' E' the landing is casy. The bottom of the shore is composed of horizontal strata of lime- stone, and the outline here resembles a bowl. Our landing-place being rather steep, and the wind increasing in the night, we heard our bateau pounding upon the rocks, which led M. Brunel and one of the men to go and draw it into a little nook which they found not far off. It was fortunate that we were awake, for by morning we should have found only the wreck of the bateau.

" Saturday, October 19 .- We had promised ourselves to sleep this night on the hanks of the Black river, but M. de Zeny knew no moro about the country than we did, and the maps were all so unre- liable that we resolved to follow the windings of the bay as the snrest means of not passing it, while we could at the same time obtain an exact chart of the bay itself.

" We did not leave until half-past seven, on account of the rain, and then steered for the point ' L.' Finding that there was no river at the head of the bay, we proceeded towards ' M,' where the shore was rather steep, and from thence towards ' N,' with the same kind of shore and a good landing. We coasted along from this point southeast, an.1, having passed it, found ourselves in a wide chan- nel, like the entrance of a great river. After advancing a mile, the passage was still wide and deep, and the shores lined with marshes. It then diminished in depth and width till we had but three feet of water, with a muddy hottom, and it was so narrow that we were convineed it could not be the object of our search. We, however, landed at an Indian hut, as they frequent this place to hunt and fish ; but we reached the shore with difficulty through the marshes and muud.

"Our explorers returned, having found nothing but some billets of wood and brands of a fire before a bark hut They had also found a brook at the head of the wide entrance, and heard the noise of a fall which it made a little way up. We had great need of patience, and, embarking again at half-past nine, we reached the point ' P' at ten. The kind of false entrance which the English call 'Muddy river' justifies this title. We landed, got breakfast, and rested. At eleven we started again, and sailed round to point ' Q,' and then to ' R,' where we found ourselves in a little hay full of marshes and shoals, where we could scarcely enter. The raiu now began to interrupt our ob- servations, and tho wiuds and waves increased so that it was neces- sary to find shelter.

" From this point we could see on our course the point of the false bay, und an Indian's hut, shaped like a tent, with two canoes on the heach. The shore here formed a wide bay, bounded with limestone and loose massos of granite, and where the soil was washed by the waves it was full of thin, flat stones, of a calcareous variety. There was a sand-bar on which we struck, and M. de Zeny, observing that the weather was threatening, did not wish to run the risks by turning tho point 'S,' that lay before us; so he gave orders in English to his men to run ashore,-a welcome command, which was executed before we could prevent it. We had only time to leap into the water to steady and check the bateau, so as to keep it from being filled by the waves, hefore it was landed. It was fortunate that our second shock, like the first, was upon fine saud, so that nothing was injured. While some were husy with the bateau and the others were kindling a fire, M. Desjardines, by going along the shore, found behind point 'S' a little bay, where we could haul out the bateau very easily. Still seeing a stretch of water on his right, he continued on, till he 5

found that the point ' T' was a peninsula, which only joined the main shore by a tongue of gravel six feet wide, and beyond this he found the mouth of Black river, distinctly marked by its two banks receding in the distance from the bay. Ile hastened to announce his discovery to MM. Pharoux and Brunel, and led them to the spot, but took care to say nothing to M. de Zeny, whom they proposed to bring to the Black river on the morrow without notice, while he had all along been promising to lead us thither; but, in fact, he began to doubt where we were, or in what way we should go. Behind the beach where we landed there was a marshy plain, and we returned to the boat through a wooded place. Our fire had drawn an Indian, his wife, and two children to visit us. They were all clothed in woolen blankets fastened with belts, and the father had a good gun, which he leaned against a tree a few paces from us. This family understood a few words of English, and in reply to questions in French, said that they were Missisagnes, a tribe living north of the lakes Ontario and Erie. We gave them some peas and lard, which they accepted, and after asking for tobacco, they left us showing signs of satisfaction.

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History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 14

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