History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 18

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 18

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also the present territory of Jefferson, was taken from Her- kimer and organized, a court-house ordered to be built at Rome, within one mile of old Fort Stanwix, and a jail pro- vided for in 1800. Mareh 14, 1800, Watertown was taken from Mexico and erected into a separate town, and the first town-meeting direeted to be held at Asher Miller's dwell- ing. The area of the town included what was known as townships 1, 2, and 3, in a tract belonging to Henry Cham- pion and others, and was bounded on the north by Blaek river, west by Hungry Bay, south by townships 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the same tract, and east by township 4. The town of Champion was also organized at the same time, from Mexico, and included township 4, and part of town- ship 5, of same tract, and bounded north by Black river, east by Deer creek, west by township 3, and south by townships 9 and 10, and the first town-meeting was to be held at the house of Joel Mix. On April 1, 1802, the town of Brownville was organized from territory included in Leyden, and was bounded as follows : " Beginning at the northwesterly corner of the town of Champion ; thence north 45° east to the southwest bounds of St. Lawrence county ; thence northwesterly along the line of said county to the river St. Lawrence; thenec southwest up said river and Lake Ontario to the mouth of Black river ; thence easterly up Black river to beginning." The first town- meeting was ordered to be held at the house of Jacob Brown, afterwards General Brown. The town of Adams was also organized on the same day from Mexico, being townships 7 and 8, bounded northeast by Watertown. The first town-meeting was ordered to be held at Eliphalet Ed- mons' dwelling. Rutland was also organized the same day from Watertown, being that part of the same designated as township 3, and David Coffeen had the honor of having the first town-meeting held in his house. February 22, 1803, the town of Ellisburg was organized from a portion of the area of Mexico, and included in its boundaries the townships on the State map of the surveyor-general known as Ellisburg and township 6, the latter township being known as Henderson and Minos. The first town-meeting was held at the house of Lyman Ellis. March 24, 1804, the town of Harrison was organized from territory ineluded in Adams, known as township 8, and Simeon Hunt aecom- modated the electors of the new town with a place wherein to hold their first town-meeting. The name of the town was, April 6, 1808, changed to Rodman. On the same day the town of Malta was organized from Mexico, and the name changed to that which it now bears,-Lorraine. All of the above towns were organized as constituents of Oneida county, but the next important act was that of

THE ORGANIZATION OF JEFFERSON COUNTY,

which was effected on the 28th day of March, 1805.

Such had been the rapidity of settlement of the Black river valley within five or six years from its opening, that the necessity of a division of Oneida county, which ineluded this valley within its boundaries, became apparent, and local interests began to operate to secure the advantages expected from the location of the publie buildings. Each section had its advocates. Nathan Sage, in Redfield, Walter Martin, in Martinsburg, Silas Stow and others in

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Lowville, Moss Kent, Noadiah Hubbard, and others in Champion, Henry Coffeen, in Watertown, and Jacob Brown, in Brownville, were each intent upon the project of a county-seat. Many were for having but one new county, in which case Champion had the fairest prospects of success, and indeed such had been the chances, in the opinion of several prominent citizens, that they had located there. Among these were Moss Kent, a brother of Judge James Kent, Egbert Ten Eyck, etc. To obtain an expression of public opinion on this subject, three delegates, chosen at town-meetings, from each town interested in the question,. met at the house of Freedom Wright, in Harrisburgh (Denmark), November 20, 1804. Many went with the intention of voting for one new county only, but strong local interests led to the attendance of those who so in- fluenced the voice of the delegation, that, with but one exception, they decided for two new counties, and the eon- vention united upon recommending the names of the exec- utive officers of the Federal and State governments, then in office, from whence came the names of JEFFERSON and LEWIS, from Thomas Jefferson and Morgan Lewis, both men of national celebrity. Application was accordingly made to the legislature, and on March 4, 1805, Mr. Wright, then in the assembly, from the committee to whom was referred the petitions and remonstrances from the inhabitants of the county of Oneida relative to a division thereof, reported " that they had examined the facts stated as to population and extent of territory in said county, and the inconvenience of attending county concerns, and find the same to be true." A division was deemed necessary, and leave was granted to bring in a bill, which was twice read the same day, and passed through the legislature without opposition .*

Said act is as follows :

" AN ACT ERECTING LEWIS AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES, PASSEN MARCH 28, 1805.

"1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, repre- sented in Senate and Assembly, That all that part of the county of Oneida contained within the following bounds, to wit, Beginning at the southwest corner of the town of Ellisburg on the easterly shore of Lake Ontario, and running along the southerly line of said town ; thence along the casterly line thereof to the southwest corner of the town of Malta ; thence along the southerly line of said town of Malta, and continuing the same course to the corner of townships number two, three, seven, and eight; thence north along the east linc of tho town of Malta aforesaid to the northeast corner thereof; thence in a direct line to the corners of the towns of Rutland and Cham- pion ; thenee along the line between the said town of Champion und the town of Harrisburgh, to Black river; thence in a direct line to the bounds of the county of St. Lawrence to intersect the same at the corner of townships numbers seven and eleven in Great Tract number three, of Macomb's purchase; thence along the westerly bounds of the said county of St. Lawrence to the north bounds of this Stato; thence westerly and southerly along said bounds, including all the islands in the river St. Lawrence, in Lake Ontario, and in front thereof, and within this State, to the place of beginning, shall be, and hereby is erected into a separate county, and shall be called and known by the name of JEFFERSON.

" 2. And be it further enacted, That all that part of the said county of Oneida contained within the following bounds, to wit, Beginning at the southeast corner of the county of Jefferson aforesaid ; thence southerly along the westerly line of the town of Turin to the south-

west corner thereof; thence easterly along the south line of said town to the southeast corner thereof; thence north sixty-two degrees east along the southerly line of the tract of land known by the name of Macomb's purchase to the line of the county of Herkimer ; thence north along the said last-mentioned line to the bounds of the county of St. Lawrence; thence along the southwesterly line of said last- mentioned county to the line of the county of Jefferson; and thence along the southerly and easterly bounds thereof to the place of begin- ning, shall be, and hereby is erected into a separate county, and shall be called and known by the name of LEWIS.

"3. And be it further enacted, That all that part of township number nine which is comprised within the bounds of the said county of Jefferson shall be annexed to and become a part of the town of Harrison, in said county, and that all that part of said township number nine comprised within the bounds of the said county of Lewis shall be annexed to and become a part of the town of llarrisburgh, in said county.

" 4. And be it further enacted, That there shall be held in and for the said counties of Jefferson and Lewis respectively a court of common pleas and general sessions of the peace, and that there shall be two terms of the said courts in each of the said counties respectively in every ycar, to commence and end as follows, that is to say : the first term of the said court in said county of Jefferson shall hegin on the second Tnesday of June of every year, and may continue to be held until the Saturday following, inclusive; and the second term of said court in the said county of Jefferson shall begin on the second Tues- day of December of every year, and may continue to be held until the Saturday following, inclusive." (The courts were ordered to be held in Lewis county on the first Tuesdays of June and Deeem- ber, with the same limitations as to number of days of session.) " And the said courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace shall have the same jurisdiction, powers, and authorities in the said counties respectively as the court of common pleas and general sessions of the peace in the other counties of the State have in their respective counties : Prorided, always, That nothing in this act con- tained shall be construed to affect any suit or action already com- inenced, or that shall be commenced, before the first terms to be held in the respective counties of Jefferson and Lewis, so as to work a wrong or prejudice to any of the parties therein, or to affect any criminal or other proceedings on the part of the people of this State ; but all such civil or criminal proceedings shall and may be prose- cuted to trial, judgment, and execution as if this act had not been passed ; And further provided, That the first of the said courts in each of the said counties shall be held on the second Tuesday of December next.

"5. Aud be it further enacted, That three commissioners shall be appointed by the council of appointment, who shall not be resident within the western district of this State, or interested in either of said counties of Jefferson or Lewis, for the purpose of desiguating the sites for the court-houses and gaols of the said counties respectively ; and to that end the said commissioners shall, as soon as may be, pre- vious to the first day of October next, repair to the said counties respectively, and, after exploring the same, ascertain and designate a fit and proper place in cach of said counties for erecting the said buildings ; and that until such buildings shall be erected, and further legislative provision be made in the premises, the said courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace shall be held at such place in cach of the said counties nearest and most contiguous to the places designated as the sites for said buildings us the said commis- sioners, or any two of them, shall determine and fix upon ; and the said commissioners, or any two of them, are hereby required, as soon as they have designated the places for creating the said buildings and determined upon the places for holding the said courts, to make ont and sign a certificate certifying the place designated for erecting the said buildings and places fixed on for holding courts in each of the said counties, and to transmit one of the said certificates to each of the elerks of the respective counties, who are required to receive and file the same in their respective offices : and that the said commis- sioners shall be entitled to receive, each, the sum of four dollars per day for the time necessarily employed in executing the trusts reposcd in them by this act, the one moicty thereof to be paid by each of the said counties.

"6. And be it further enacted, That the frecholders and inhabitants of the said counties respectively shall have and enjoy, within the same. all and every the same rights, powers, and privileges as the free-

# Hough's History of Jefferson County.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

holders and inhabitants of any other county in this State are hy law entitled to have and enjoy.

"7. And be it further enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for all courts, and officers of the said counties of Jefferson and Lewis, re- speetively, in all cases, civil and criminal, to confine their prisoners in the gaol or gaols of the county of Oneida, until gaols shall be pro- vided in the same counties respectively, and the said counties paying each the charges of their own prisoners.

"8. And be it further enneted, That in the distribution of repre- sentation in the assembly of this State, there shall he three members in the county of Oneida, and one in the counties of Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.

"9. And be it further enacted, That no circuit court, or courts of oyer and terminer, and general gaol delivery, shall he held in either of the said counties of Jefferson and Lewis until the same shall, in the opinion of the justices of the supreme court, become necessary.

"10. And be it further enacted, That the said counties of Jefferson and Lewis shall he considered as part of the western district of this State, and also as part of the fifteenth congressional distriet, and that as respects all proceedings under the act entitled 'an act relative to district attornies,' the said counties shall be annexed to and hecome a part of the district now composed of the counties of Herkimer, Otsego, Oneida, and Chenango.

" 11. And be it further enacted, That as soon as may he after the first Monday of April, in the year 1806, the supervisors of the said counties of Oneida, Jefferson, and Lewis, on notice heing first given hy the supervisors of the said counties of Jefferson and Lewis, or of either of them, for that purpose shall meet together hy themselves, or hy committees appointed hy their respective hoards, and divide the money unappropriated, helonging to the said county of Oneida, previous to the division thereof, agreeable to the last county tax- list.

" 12. And be it further enacted, That the votes taken at the elee- tion in the said counties of Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence shall he returned to the elerk of the county of Oneida, to he hy him esti- mated and disposed of, as is directed by the statute regulating elections.

"13. And be it further enneted, That all that part of the town of Leyden remaining in the county of Oneida shall be and remain a separate town, by the name of Boonsville, and the first town-meeting shall he held at the house of Joseph Denning ; aud all the remaining part of the town of Leyden which is comprised within the bounds of the county of Lewis shall be and remain a town by the name of Ley- den, and the first town-meeting shall be held at the dwelling-house oť Hezekiah Talcott.

"14. And be it further enacted, That as soon as may be after the first town-meeting in each of said towns, the supervisors and over- seers of the poor of said towns of Leyden and Boonsville shall, hy notice to be given for that purpose hy the supervisors thereof, meet together, and apportion the money and poor of said town of Leyden, previous to the division thereof, according to the last tax-list, and that each of said towns shall thereafter respectively maintain their own poor."

Dr. Hough further says : " The relative limits of Jeffer- son and Lewis counties have been three times changed. It will be noticed by reference that the present town of Pinckney, in Lewis county, organized February 12, 1808, then a part of the town of Harrison, in Jefferson, was then divided by a line that was a continuation of the west lines of townships 8 and 3, of Boylston's tract ; and that from the line between Champion and Denmark, on Black river, the division ran straight to St. Lawrence county, where the line of townships 7 and 11, of tract III., touched the county line. On the organization of the town of Pinckney the whole of township No. 9 was included in Lewis county. On April 5, 1810, the line east of the river, beginning, as before, at the east corner of Champion, ran thence to the southwest corner of a lot in 11 west and 21 north ranges, subdivisions of No. 5; thence east, between 20 and 21, northern ranges, to the southwest corner of a lot in 10

west, 21 north range; thence north, between 10 and 11, to south line of lot No. 4; thence cast to lots 808-9 ; thence along 808-9 to lot 857; thence to the southeast corner of 857 and 809 to the northeast corner of 851; thence west, on line of lots 851 and 850, to southwest corner of 850; thence northeast, along line of lots, to St. Lawrence county.

The present line between the two countics was estab- lished April 2, 1813, by which this county received con- siderable accessions from Lewis county, in the town of . Wilna, organized then from the towns of Le Ray and Leyden. By an act of March 17, 1815, the several islands within the limits of this State, in the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, lying in front of this county, were at- tached to it. By several acts the sovereignty of small tracts on Stony point, Horse island, Galloo island, Tib- bet's point, and Carlton island * has been ceded to the United States for the purpose of erecting lighthouses, the State retaining coneurrent civil and criminal jurisdiction therein.

The town of Henderson was organized from territory- township No. 6-included in Ellisburg, February 17, 1806, and on the same day Hounsfield was erected, and included township 1 on the surveyor's map, being a part of Water- town, and the first town-meeting was directed to be held at the house of Joseph Landon. On the same day also Le Ray was formed from a part of Brownville, being that part of said town lying east of Penet's Square; and that line extended south to Black river and north to the St. Law- rence; and the first town-meeting was held at the house of Abiel Shurtleff. The first town-meeting in Henderson was held at the house of Reuben Putnam. Antwerp was taken from Le Ray, April 5, 1810 ; and Wilna, as before stated, from Le Ray and Leyden, April 2, 1813; Lyme from Brownville, March 6, 1818; Pamelia from Brown- ville, April 12, 1819; Alexandria from Brownville and Le Ray ; Orleans from Brownville; and Philadelphia from Le Ray ; the last three on April 3, 1821. Clayton was taken from Orleans and Lyme, April 27, 1833, The- resa from Alexandria, April 15, 1841; Worth from Lor- raine, April 12, 1848; and Cape Vincent from Lymc, April 10, 1849, which completed the roster of the towns of the county as they at present are constituted, excepting the erection of the city of Watertown in 1869.

Simeon De Witt, in his map of the State east of the pre-emption line, published in 1802, adopted the following names to the towns in the county :

Penet Square, now in Clayton and Orleans, PENET.t Great tract No. 4, CASTORLAND.

Purchase of the French company, CHASSANIS.

Black River tract No. 1, now Hounsfield, HESIOD.

2, now Watertown, LEGHORN.

3, now Rutland, MILAN.

4, now Champion, HOWARD.

6, now Henderson, HENDERSON.

7, now Adams, ALEPPO.

8, now Rodman, ORPHEUS.

" No lighthouse has heeu erected on Carlton island as yet.

t A manuscript map of 1798 gives the name of Peuet's Square as Richland.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

Town of Ellisburg, MINOS.

Boylston traet No. 1, now Lorraine, ATTICUS. 66 No. 2, now Worth, FENELON.

But one of these, Henderson, has sinee been preserved.

THE COURTS.

The judicial system of the State of New York traces its genealogy directly from MAGNA CHARTA. When the mailed barons of England wrested from King John, at Runnymede, A.D. 1215, that memorable document, they builded better than they knew. They forced from a despot rights of which he and his predecessors of the Norman line had despoiled the order of nobles, and, al- though the great charter recognized certain rights and exemptions inuring to the benefit of the tradesmen, crafts- men, and " villeins" (serfs) of the realm, yet these were in- cluded in the charter, more for the selfish purpose of attaching these classes to the barons in the defense of their own chartered rights than for any real humanitarianism dwelling among the nobility. But the privileges thus gained, slight as they were, gave the lower classes a taste of the sweets of liberty. These classes, having obtained a foothold on the steps leading to the temple of Liberty, kept steadily pressing their advantage, until at length they stood within the sacred fane itself, free and equal before the law. And from this source-the great charter-has flowed the stream whereat millions, as well at home in that empire " upon whose dominions the sun never sets" as in lands then unknown, are quaffing generous draughts which are making, slowly perhaps, of one kin "all nations that dwell on the earth."

The Charters of Liberties granted to the colonists of New York by the Duke of York in 1683* and 1691, and after- wards repealed by the crown in 1697, contained several clauses almost identical with some of the provisions of Magna Charta in point of phraseology, and really so in intent and purpose. For instance, the principle of the broadest humanity in that great charter is thus expressed : " We will not sell, we will not defer or deny to any man justice or right ;" and the charters of libertics of the colony express the same thing substantially. Again, the great charter exempted from forecd sale and distress for debt, or a penalty, the tools of a craftsman, the goods of a merchant, and the " wainage" (cattle, plow, and wagon) of a "villein ;" and the provision of the colonial charter corresponding to this, in its quaint phraseology, reads, " Thatt a ffreeman shall not bee amerecd for a small fault, butt after the manner of his fault; and for a great fault after the greatnesse thereof, saving to him his ffrechold, and a husbandman, saving to him his wainage, and a mer- chant likewise saving to him his merchandize; and none of the said amerciaments shall bce assessed, butt by the oath of twelve honest and lawful men of the vieinage ; provided the faults and misdemeanors be not in contempt of courts of judieature."+

By Magna Charta the right of dower was put upon the foundation on which it rests to-day, and the colonial charter

has this provision : " No estate of a ffeme covert shall be sold or conveyed, butt by decd acknowledged by her in some court of record; the woman being secretly exam- ined, if she doth itt freely without threats or compulsion of her husband." The homestead rights of the wife, after the death of her husband, were also fully defined. Jury trials and a grand inquest for the presentment of criminals were provided for, and the courts instituted by it had no jurisdiction over the freehold without the owner's consent, except to satisfy debts by execution or otherwise. The following elauses in the colonial charter are also derived directly from its famous predecessor : "No ffrecman shall bee imprisoned or disseized of his ffreehold or libertye, or free customs, or bee outlawed or exiled, or any other wayes destroyed, nor shall be passed upon, adjudged or condemned butt by lawfull judgment of his peers, and by the laws of this province. No man of what condition or estate socver, shall be putt out of his lands or tenements, nor be taken nor imprisoned nor disinherited, nor banished nor anywayes destroyed without being brought to answer by due course of law. All lands in this province shall be free from all fines and lycences upon alienacous, and from all heriotts, wardships, liverys, primier seizins, year, day, and wast escheats and forfeitures, upon the death of parents or an- eestors, naturall, casuall, and judiciall, and thatt forever, cases of High Treason only excepted."}

Notwithstanding the distinguished parentage of the ju- dicial system of New York, the English did not first intro- duce the courts into this colony, but rather the Dutch, who first settled at New Amsterdam, as they ealled New York. The cities or corporations of New York and Albany (then called New Orange) had tribunals known as the mayor and aldermen's courts, and the stout old Knickerbocker govern- ors themselves were judges and held adjudieations. In their articles of capitulation (1664) the Dutch stipulated that the public records should be preserved and the decisions of former courts respected, and that the inferior civil officers and magistrates should continue to execute their official duties until a new election, and then new ones should be chosen by themselves, the new incumbents to swear alle- giance to England.

The first court of record of English creation in the colony we have note of was one established in 1674, called the Court of Assizes, § which had both law and equity jurisdic- tion. Town courts and courts of sessions were also held by order of the governor. The Court of Assizes was abolished in 1684. On October 29, 1683, the General Assembly passed the first act regulating courts of justice, which act provided for the following tribunals:

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History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 18

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