History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 33

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 33

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A company called the Sacket's Harbor and Saratoga Railroad Company was incorporated in April, 1848, for the purpose of building a road from the first-named point via Watertown, Carthage, and Castorville, and through the wilderness to Saratoga, and eventually to Boston, Massa- chusetts. A portion of the eastern end has been completed from Saratoga to Johnsburgh, in Warren county.

TELEGRAPH LINES.

The first line of telegraph was put in operation in 1850, under the name of O'Reiley's Merchants' Line, operating upon the Bain principle. It was erected along the stage- road from Oswego via Pulaski, Adams, Watertown, and Theresa, to Ogdensburgh, at each of which points offices were opened. The line was soon afterwards purchased by the Morse line, and operated under Professor Morse's prin- eiple. During the summer of 1853 a telegraph was built by citizens of Saeket's Harbor along the direct plank-road from Watertown to that place.

About 1860 the Montreal Telegraph Company estab- lished their lines on the south side of the St. Lawrence, and about 1870 bought out the United States Telegraph Company, then operating in Jefferson County ; and since that time have been doing business in this region. The principal office of the company is at Montreal, and they have a capital of two million dollars, and connect with all portions of the United States and with the cable companies throughout the world.

This company is connected with all the railway lines in the county except the Utica and Black River, and all the railway business is done by them, including the running of trains.

The Dominion Telegraph Company, whose headquarters are located at Toronto, commenced business in Jefferson County about 1872. Their lines generally follow the main turnpike-roads, and they have offices at all principal poiuts.

Both the Canadian lines make connections with Amer- ican lines at Oswego. The Utica and Black River Railway Company operate an independent linc.

124

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

THE BLACK RIVER AND CANAL.

Although this channel of communication has, sinee the era of railways, become of less importance than formerly, and may eventually be abandoned as a means of travel and transportation, yet its importance when first projected, and for some time subsequent to its completion, makes its history a necessity in this connection.

The chapter given in Dr. Hough's work, compiled from the State engineer's reports, and other authentie sourees, is so complete and exhaustive that we give it nearly entire :

"The incorporation of a company for improving the navigation of Black river to Brownville village has been noticed. The river was declared a public highway from High Falls to Carthage, by an act passed March 16, 1821, which also authorized road commissioners to forbid the crossing of bridges faster than a walk, witbin fifty miles of its mouth. On the 28th of March, 1828, the 'Black River Canal Company' was formed. This company organized, and caused a sur- vey of a canal to be made, from Rome to the High Falls, by Alfred Cruger, but did nothing more. This may be considered the first step towards the Black River canal. . . . The former act having expired, another was passed, April 17, 1832, incorporating the Black River company for the purpose of connecting, by railroad or canal, the Erie canal, at Rome or Herkimer, with Ogdensburgh, Cape Vincent, or Sacket's Harbor, including the improvement of Black river, from the High Falls to Carthage, for steam navigation. The capital was limited to $900,000, in shares of $50 each. . . . The persons named in the act were Vincent le Ray de Chaumout, Eli West, Samuel Allen, Ela Collins, John W. Martin, Jerre Carrier, Elisha Camp, John Brown, Abram Parish, Charles A. Mann, George Varigh, Ralph Clapp, John Felt, Isaac W. Bostwick, Homer Collins, James Mc- Viekar, Peter Schuyler, George Brayton, and Benjamin P. Johnson. This company was so far organized as to build a steamboat on Black river, at Carthage, which was called the ' Coruelia.' It was built, in 1832. by Paul Boynton, for the company, at a cost of $6000, with a keel ninety feet long, aud a breadth across the guards of twenty-two feet. She had two upright high-pressure engines of ten horse-power cach, built by N. Starbuck & Son, of Troy. Being found to draw too much water, one engine was taken out. The first trip was Sep- tember 22, 1832, to Lowville, where she grounded, and was got off with much difficulty. The boat continued to run the ensuing scason to the High Falls, with an hourly speed of six and one-half quiles, frequently getting aground, and proving to be too large for the river, and, eventually, nearly a total loss to the proprietors, of whom Mr. Le Ray was the principal.

" A thrilling incident occurred on the first trip of this boat to the Falls. The man at the tiller wishing to show the party on board and the spectators ou shore the qualities of his craft, steered up so near under the falls, that, as he turned, the spray from the torrent deluged the deck, and the boat itself came within a few feet of being brought under the fall. Fortunately there was a heavy pressure of steam up at the moment, and they escaped with a thorough drench- ing. This attempt proved the practicability of navigating the river forty-two and a half miles; but no subsequent attempt was made until the summer of 1853, when the ' Enterprise,' a canal-boat, tem- porarily fitted up by G. H. Gould for the purpose, with a stern-wheel, was rigged out at the High Falls, and made a few trips.

"On the 22d of April, 1834, an act was passed authorizing the sur- vey of a canal, from below the High Falls to the Erie canal, with a navigable feeder, and an improvement of the river to Carthage. Having ascertained the feasibility of this route, on the 19th of April, 1836, an act was passed providing for the construction of the Black River Canal, and Erie Canal Feeder, of which the river was to be a part. Work was soon after commenced, and more or less, except during the " suspension," prosecuted since, till at present wc almost realize this long-expected and long-deferred communication with the great markets, which, from being anticipated by railroads, will pos- sess much less importance than was formerly attached to it. Still, for the lumber and mineral products of a portion of the county it will afford a valuable exit, and will contribute to the public welfare.# " Many interesting topographical details have been obtained in the

course of these surveys which possess permanent interest. The fol- lowing is a concise description of the canals, as given in the report of the State engineer and surveyor for 1851 :

"' This canal diverges from the Erie canal at the village of Rome, Oneida county, following up the valley of the Mohawk river and its tributary, tbe Lansing Kill, to the summit level, a distance of twenty- three miles ; thence crossing tbe dividing ridge between the Mohawk and Black rivers, about two miles, to the village of Boonville ; thence descends into the valley of the Black river, and at the distance of ten and one-third miles it enters said river below the High Falls, in the county of Lewis; thence it follows the river, by slack-water navigation, a distance of forty-two and one-half miles, to the village of Carthage, in the county of Jefferson, making the whole length of the canal and river about seventy-eight miles.

"'A navigable feeder of ten miles iu lengtb is constructed from the Black river, entering tbe canal at the village of Boonville, which is designed for a feeder to the Black River canal, and also for the Erie canal. Add to the canal, river, and feeder two miles of navigation on the reservoir above the State dam, making in all ninety miles of navigation when the wbole work is finished.

"' From Rome to Boonville, a distance of twenty-five miles, there are seventy locks, overcoming an elevation of six hundred and ninety- three feet. . . . From Boonville to the High Falls, a distance of ten and one-third miles, there are located thirty-nine locks, with a de- scent of three hundred and eighty-six feet. . . .

"'On the whole line of canal, feeder and river, there will be one hundred and nine locks, five aqueducts, eleven waste-weirs, eighteen culverts, thirty-three road-bridges, thirty-six farm-bridges, three change and tow-path bridges, two guard-loeks, one dam and bulk- head, three dams, thirty-three lock-houses, six stop-gates, two draw- bridges, and the Delta feeder.'

" At the time when the work was suspended, in 1842, the section work south of Boonville was mostly done, except on five sections ; forty-seven locks were mostly finished, except framing and hanging gates, and a large amount of other work was more or less completed ; but during the five years that the labor was suspended, a great part of the timber was so injured as to become almost useless. North of Boonville, about six miles of section work had been let, of which two were completed, and the others well advanced. Two locks were nearly finished, and the feeder had been about half done. Two culverts were built upon it, and the materials in part delivered for the guard- lock and dam. The value of materials on hand, at that time, was $60,383.86, of which $20,000 worth were made available, and the remainder was a loss to the State. .

" In 1851, the canal bad been brought into use as far as Port Ley- den, and such is the forwardness of the remainder, that its completion to Cartbage appears not distant. During the dry season of 1849, all the water at the head of the feeder was used, and still there was a deficiency of 7000 cubic feet per minute. Tbis led to a plan for insur- ing a supply by constructing dams at the outlets of some of the lakes above this point, which receive the drainage of many thousand acres.

" The descent of Black river from the High Falls to Carthage is nine and one-quarter feet in low water, and twenty-three feet in high water ; as at such times the rise at the former place is twenty-two feet, and at Carthage but cight fect. The quantity of water passing the falls at its lowest stage is about 30,000 cubic feet per minute, and is not mua- terially increased until it receives the Otter and Independence creeks. Among the several plans that were proposed to improve the channel, that of constructing a dam and lock near Independence creek is said to have been decided upon. A dam is also to be built at the village of Carthage, above the present dam, where the river is about 700 feet wide, and from three to four feet deep in low water, with a rock bottom.t

" In 1837, the project of extending the Black River canal from Carthage to Ogdensburgh, or some point on the St. Lawrence, began to be discussed ; and in the fall of 1838 meetings were held at Water- town, Evans' Mills, Theresa, and other places. Petitions, memorials, and statistics were forwarded to the legislature, and on May 2, 1839, a bill was passed authorizing a survey of the several routes proposed. This labor was intrusted to Edward H. Brodhead, who, in the sum- mer of 1839, surveyed a route from Carthage to Clayton, from Car- thage to Sacket's Harbor, from Carthage to Ox Bow, and thence, by improving the Oswegatchie to Ogdensburgh, and another branch of

. # Written about 1853.

t This dam was afterwards constructed.

125

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

this route to Gouverneur, and thenee near the river to Ogdensburgh. By these surveys Carthage was found to bo 480 feet above the lake.

"These surveys created a lively interest throughout the central and northern parts of the county, and a convention from St. Law- renee and a part of Jefferson eouutics met at Gouverneur on the 27th of June, 1839, at which a series of resolutions were passed reasserting the claims of northern New York upon a share of the State patron- age, and the wants of this section for a cheap and dircet access to market. The report of Mr. Brodbead, with an accompanying map, was submitted to the legislature in 1840," and provision was made for the selection of one of the routes surveyed by three disinterested men from the 1st, 2d, 3d, or 8th senate districts; hut a change of policy in relation to the minor public works, which also suspended the larger, put an end to the discussion hy postponing it indefinitely. The experience at present had in relation to railways renders it prob- ahle that the subject of a canal beyond Carthage will never be revived.

" On the 12th of April, 1848, the ' Black River Steamboat Company' was chartered for fifteen years, with a capital of $25,000, to build one or more hoats to navigate the river, subject to such tolls as might he imposed. The persons named in the act were Aunos Buek, Harrison Blodget, Hiram McCollom, Dean S. Howard, Lyman R. Lyou, Alburn Foster, Alfred Lathrop, Walter Nimocks, Eli West, Charles Dayan, James Smith, Wm. F. Strong, Elijah Horr, and Reuben Rice. A subscription was circulated, but notbing was accomplished by this company.

"By an act of April 15, 1816, tho Oswegatchie was declared a highway from its mouth to Strecter's Mills, the present village of Wegatehie. Ou the 5th of April, 1853, Indian River was declared a publie highway for floating logs in Antwerp, Philadelphia, Le Ray, and Theresa, and the usual penalties were imposed for obstructing the channel.

LAKE NAVIGATION.

" From the earliest period of our existenee as a State, the St. Law- rence was regarded as a natural outlet for the great chain of inland lakes, for which it served, iu a great measure, as the channel of trade until the construction of the Eric canal. Both the French and the English bad huilt vessels on this lake while the supremaey of its waters was with them. A small hut thriving commerce had arisen before the war, and during that period a formidable naval foree sprung into existence that was opposed by a similar one fitted out at Kings- ton, and the hostile fleets upon Lake Ontario, at the close of the war, were increasing in number of sail and amount of force with a rapidity that has had few parallels in naval annals.

"At the conclusion of peace these fleets were gradually broken up or converted to commercial purposes, and almost immediately after t'ie application of steam to navigation, which had already assumed importance on the Hudson and other waters, began to be applied to the lakes.

"The subject having heen examined in the summer and fall of 1815, artieles of agreement were drawn up, dated January 2, 1816, between Harriet Fultou and Win. Cutting, of New York, executors of Robert Fulton, and Robert R. Livingston and Edward P. Livingston, of Clermont, owuers of the right and privilege of steamboat navigation in the State by special act of the legislature, on the one part, and Chas. Smyth, Josepb C. Yates, Thomas C. Duane, and David Boyd on the other part, by which the latter acquired the sole right to navigate boats and vessels (steamships and vessels of war excepted) by steam on all or any of the waters of Lake Ontario within the State of New York, and the full and exclusive right of employing such inventions and improvements, to which the grantors, or any of them, had, or hereafter might have, right or title by patent, etc.

"It was provided and stipulated that but one boat should be em- ployed at a time on any route to be established on the said waters, hy virtue of this contract, without the consent in writing of the grantors, and until the net proceeds of the one boat should exceed twenty per cent. per annum. One boat was to be built within two years. The grantees paid ten dollars on the execution of tho agreement, and covenanted to pay annually (deducting $1500 from the gross receipts of each year, and the current expenses of running the boat) one-half of all moneys received abovo twelve per eent. on the investment. The $1500 was to be withdrawn annually until it should amount to $12,000, which was to constitute a sinking fund for rebuilding the

hoat. Should the grantees acquire from the British government any privileges for the navigation of the lake, they were to he shared equally hy the contracting parties, and these privileges were not transferable. Application was to he made for the incorporation of an association, to be styled the ' Ontario Steamboat Company,' with a capital of $200,000.

"On the 6th of February, 1816, a petition from Charles Smyth, David Boyd, Eri Lusher, Abraham Van Stantvoord, John J. De Graff, and their associates, was presented, in which the essential facts, above stated, were given, and an act of incorporation solicited. A bill was prepared and passed the House, but did not become a law, in consequence of the early adjournment of the legislature. August 16, of the same year, Eri Lusher and Charles Smyth became, by as- signment of De Graff and Boyd, partners in the enterprise, and a boat was commenced at Sacket's Harbor the same summer, after the model of the ' Sea Horse,' then running on the Sound near New York. She was one hundred and ten fect long, twenty-four feet wide, and eight feet deep, measuring two hundred and thirty-seven tons. The boilers are said to have heen seventeen feet long and three and a half feet in diameter, with a cross-head engine, and eylinder of twenty inches diameter, and three feet stroke; wheels eleven feet four inches across, and capacity of engine, twenty-one horse-power."

An application was made to the State legislature for an act of incorporation, in December, 1816, but it did not succeed.

TARIO

First Steamboat on the Great Lakes, 1816.

" Early in 1817, the steamer ' Ontario' was completed and performed her first trip, being everywhere greeted with the most lively demon- strations of joy. Bonfires, illuminations, and mutual congratulations of friends hespoke the satisfaction with which this achievement was regarded, and the event was hailed as a new era in the ecommerce of the lakes. Weekly trips from Ogdensburgh to Lewistown were first attempted, but on the 1st of July, 1817, the owners advertised that, finding the trip of ahout six hundred miles too extensive to be per- formed within that time, it would be altered to ten days. The fare through was fixed at fifteen dollars. Captain Francis Mallaby, U. S. N., was her first master. The ' Ontario' continued to run, seldom ex- ceeding five miles an hour, until 1832, when she was broken up at Oswego.

" Tho monopoly of steam navigation on the waters of the State, grauted by repeated acts of the legislature to Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton, gave rise to mueb litigation ; aud in a suit of Ogden against Gibbons, commeneed in the Court of Chancery, Sep- tember 27, 1819, it was decided in favor of the grant.t

" An appeal was made to the Court of Errors,t and the ease was finally decided in the Supreme Court of the United States,¿ in Feb- ruary, 1824, that the act was ' repugnant to the elause of the Consti- tation of the United States which authorizes Congress to regulate commerce, so far as the said acts prohibit vessels, licensed according to the laws of the United States, for carrying on the coating trade, from navigating the said waters by means of fire or steam.'

" The ' Ontario' was the first steamer built on a water subjeet to a swell, and determined the interesting problem whether steamboats were adapted to the navigation of opeu seas, as well as sheltered

# Assembly Doeumeuts, 1840, No. 233. .

+ Johnson's Chancery Reports, iv. 148.

# Cowen's Reports, iii. 713.

¿ Wheaton's Reports, ix. 1.

126

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

rivers. The ' Frontenac' was built soon after, at Kingston, and tho first steamer appeared on Lake Erie in 1818.

" The 'Martha Ogden' was built in 1819, at Sacket's Harbor, and continued in use until lost in 1832, under the following circumstances : The boat had left Oswego on the afternoon of November 12, when she encountered a gale, and, being unable to regain the port, started for Sacket's Harbor ; but a leak having sprung, the fires were put out, and her sails were raised. The wind prevented her from doubling Stony Point. Both anchors were thrown out in eight and a half fathoms, which held from four till eleven P.M., when they separately parted, and she soon after struck and bilged in ten feet of water. There were on board six hands and twenty-two passengers. With much peril, a man at length reached the shore, eight rods from the boat, rallied the inhabitants, built fires, and in the morning a line was passed to the shore, and the whole company on board were safely drawn ashore in a three-bushel basket, rigged upon a line, with a Dutch harness. Captain Vaughan was the last one to leave the wreck, which went to pieces during the day. She was owned by S. & L. Denison, of Sacket's Harbor, and proved a total loss. This wreck occurred at Nutting's Bay, on the coast of Henderson.

" The 'Sophia,' 'Robbins,' ' Black Hawk' (afterwards the ‘ Dol- phin'), 'Brownville' (afterwards the ' William Avery'), ' Charles Car- roll' (afterwards the ' America'), and ' Paul Pry' were steamers on the lake and river, built at an early period, and previous to 1834.

"January 28, 1831, an act was passed constituting Joseph Denison and his associates a corporate body under the name of the ' Ontario and St. Lawrence Steamboat Company,' with a capital of $100,000, and limited in duration till May 1, 1850. The affairs of the company were to be managed by fifteen directors, of whom the first were to be Joseph Denison, Edward Benson, Gerrit Smith, Elias Trowbridge, Theophilus S. Morgan, Richard L. De Zeng, Horatio N. Walton, Josiah T. Marshall, John T. Trowbridge, Frederick Bushnell, Elisha Camp, Jacob Arnold, William Baron," John C. Bush, and Samuel Denison.

"The place of business of the company was to be fixed at Oswego, and its transactions limited solely to the navigation of the Ontario and river St. Lawrence. This company built at Ogdeusburgh the steamer ' United States,' which, for size and amount of accommodation, far surpassed any boat that had been previously run by Americans on this water. She was launched in November, 1831, and came out on her first trip July 1, 1832, under the command of Elias Trowbridge. Her dimensions were as follows: length, 142 feet; width, 26 feet beam, aud 55 feet over all ; depth of hold, 10 feet ; engines, low pres- sure, with a 40-inch eylinder and 8-feet stroke. Cost, $56,000. She continued running on the through line, from Ogdensburgh to Lewis- tou, till 1838, when, having become obnoxious to the Canadians from the use made of her at the affair at the Wind-mill, near Preseott, she was run upon the lake only afterwards, until 1843, when she was broken up at Oswego, and her engines transferred to the ' Rochester.' " The following boats have since been built on this lake :

"'Oswego,' at that place, 1833, of 286 tons. After running six years her engines were transferred to the 'St. Lawrence.'

"'Jaek Downing,' built at Carthage in 1834, by Paul Boynton, and drawn on wheels to Saeket's Harbor; very small. Afterwards a ferry-boat.

"'Oneida,' of 227 tons ; built at Oswego in 1836; owned by Henry Fitzhugh, of Oswego, E. B. Allen and G. N. Seymour, of Ogdens- burgh. In 1845 fitted up as a sail vessel, and lost on Lake Erie.

"'Telegraph,' 196 tons; built at Dexter in 1836; owned by parties at Utica, Watertown, and Sacket's Harbor; afterwards changed to a sail vessel, and burnt on Lake St. Clair.

"'Express,' built in Pultneyville in 1839. II. N. Throop first mas- ter and part owner. Laid up in 1850.

"' St. Lawrence,' 402 tons ; enrolled at Oswego in 1839; rebuilt in 1844, and increased to 434 tons; cost, $50,000. Laid up at Clayton in 1850. Length, 180 feet ; beam, 23 feet ; hold, 11 feet.

"' George Clinton' and 'Presideut,' small boats, built at Oswego about 1842.

"' Johu Marshall,' a small steamer, wrecked in a storm off the mouth of Sandy ereck, October 18, 1844. Several other boats of minor class have at various times run upon the lake and St. Law- renee river.

" The corporation that built the steamer ' United States' never at-

tempted any other boat. About 1842 the ' Ontario Steam- and Canal- Boat Company' was formed at Oswego, and in that year built the 'Lady of the Lake,' of 423 tons; used on the through line until 1852, when she was chartered as a ferry, from Cape Vincent to Kingston, in connection with the railroad. She was the first American boat on this water with state-rooms on the upper deck.

"'The Rochester' was built at Oswego by the same company in 1843; of 354 tons, and run on the through line till 1848, sinee which she has run from Lewiston to Hamilton.

"' The Niagara,' of 433 tons, built at French Creek by the 'St. Lawrence Steamboat Company,' which had been formed soon after that at Oswego. This boat is still in use in the 'American Mail Line ;' has a length of 182 feet; beam, 27₺ feet ; total breadth, 47 fect; depth of hold, 72 fect; wheels, 30 feet in diameter.t

"' The Cataract,' built at Clayton in 1847; measures 577 tons; length of keel, 202 feet; breadth of beam, 27} feet; across the guards, 48 feet; depth of hold, 10 feet; wheels, 30 feet in diameter.

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History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 33

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