History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 4

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

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these lofty terraces, it also communicated with the bay of New York by way of Lake Champlain and the Hudson river, and by way of the valley extending from the southeast angle of Lake Ontario via Rome and Utica, and down the Mo- hawk to the Hudson, and that the primitive region of New York (the Adirondacks) was then a great island in the sea.

EARTHQUAKES.

Earthquakes have several times occurred in this section of the country. One is recorded in Canada, February 5, 1663, and is related as most terrific and awful. The ice in the St. Lawrence was broken up, the earth was violently shaken, houses thrown down, and such was the tumult of the elements that many believed that the end of the world was coming. Several times since the settlement of the country slight shocks have been felt. On the 12th of March, 1853, at two o'clock A.M., a shock oceurred that was felt in parts of Lewis and Jefferson counties. It com- inenced with a rumbling sound that lasted about a minute and a half, and was attended with a deep rolling thunder. It is credibly related that in Champion the snow, then covered by a strong crust, was found broken into fissures by the movement.

The New York Reformer of November 8, 1860, de- scribes an earthquake felt on the 26th of October, 1860, at seven P.M., in Ellisburg, Henderson, and Adams, ac- companied by a heavy, subterranean, rumbling noise, last- ing ten seconds. The sound and agitation passed from south to north, and buildings were considerably shaken during its continuance.

VALLEYS-DRIFT AGENCIES.

Several remarkable valleys occur in the county, that must be attributed to causes that have long since ceased to operate. That of Rutland hollow, parallel with Black river, has been noticed .; It is continued across the towns of Watertown, Hounsfield, and Henderson, by way of Smith- ville, to the lake, having both of its sides composed of Trenton limestone. It was probably formed by the same agencies that have removed the Trenton from over the lower limestones, north of Black river; transported vast quantities of loose materials from the distant primary regions, and deposited them as bowlders, gravel, hard-pan, sand, and clays, promiscuously over the other formations. The surface rock often presents a polished and grooved appearance, and at no locality is this more wonderfully shown than at the railroad bridge below Watertown village. The grooves are here widened and deepened into troughs, that obliquely cross the bed of the river, having their sur- faces polished and scratched, showing that the rock was then as firm and unyielding as now. These furrows are from one to three feet deep, and from five to ten feet wide.

MINERAL LOCALITIES.

Anthracite has been observed in minute quantities, glazing the surface and lining the cavities of fossils, in the Trenton limestone at Watertown. In minute quantities

# The author is indebted to C. V. R. Horton, of Chaumont, for these inquiries .- Dr. Ilough.

+ This is most probably one of the abandoned beds of Black river. -Ens.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

and thin seams it has also been noticed in Utica slate, in the southwestern border of the county.

Apatite (phosphate of lime) is rarely found in small crystals near Ox Bow, in white limestone, with pargasite, etc. On Butterfield lake it occurs massive. It is also found near Grass lake, in Theresa. A most remarkable locality of this mineral occurs in Rossie, near this lake. When in quantity, it is prized as a fertilizing agent, being in chemical composition analagous to burnt bones. . It is also used in assaying gold and silver.

Azurite (blue carb. copper) occurs with the green car- bonate on an island in Muskelunge lake, Theresa.

Caleite (carbonate of lime), besides forming a principal constituent of white and secondary limestone, occurs, often crystallized in groups of great beauty, at Ox Bow, and on the banks of Vrooman lake. Huge crystals, some nearly transparent, and tinged of a delicate pink, were found on the farm of Mr. Benton many years since, and the locality here still affords many interesting forms. Veins of white spar are common in fossiliferous limestones, and the cavi- ties of fossils are very often lined with crystals. It occurs also in minute veins in shale. Tufa is found in a few limestone springs, and agaric mineral abounds in the caves in Pamelia, opposite Watertown. Marl occurs in Pleasant lake, Champion. Satin spar occurs near Ox Bow, not far from Pulpit rock.

Celestine (sulphate of strontia) is said to occur in Tren- ton limestone, in disseminated nodules. The quantity must be small, and its existence is somewhat uncertain.

Chalcodite .- Under this name has been described, by Professor C. U. Sheppard, of New Haven,* a mineral which had previously been considered eacoxene .; It occurs in minute globular and stellar groups, on surfaces of specu- lar iron ore, of a yellow color, fibrous texture, and so slightly coherent as to be easily broken by contact with a solid body. Surfaces covered with this mineral are fre- quently obtained at the Sterling iron minc, in Antwerp, at which locality alone, in this section of the State, it has been found. It is interesting for its rarity more than its splendor.

Chondrodite has been observed in small quantities, with spinel, in Antwerp.

Chlorite has been detected in bowlders, but is not com- mon.

Copper pyrites has been found at several localities in Antwerp, adjacent to Vrooman lake, and near the Ox Bow, and also about three miles from Natural Bridge, in Wilna, where it was wrought to some extent, late in the fall of 1847, by a Boston company. This mineral has not hitherto been found in sufficient quantities to pay the cost of mining in this section of the State.

Dolomite occurs often disseminated in white limestone, where, from its ability to resist solution, it remains in relief upon the weathered surface, in prominent masses. Pearl spar is found at Ox Bow, coating erystals of calcite. An- kerite has been attributed to the iron mines of this county, but we have never been able to distinguish it from spathic iron.

Epidote, in granular masses, disseminated in bowlders of greenstone, is of frequent occurrence. It has not been found in situ in the county.

Feldspar (orthoclase), besides forming a common ingre- dient in gneiss, often occurs, highly crystallized, in Ant- werp and Theresa, near Grass lake, etc. Porphyry occurs in bowlders and trap, and greenstone both in bowlders and dikes. The latter oceur with peculiar interest and variety in Antwerp, between Vrooman and Muskelunge lakes. Dikes of great width are observed in the neighboring town of Rossie.

Fluor Spar .- The most remarkable locality of this mineral in the State was discovered about fifteen years since, on the east bank of Muskelunge lake, in Theresa, in a vein of considerable width, with calcite and heavy spar. Cubic crystals, a foot in diameter, quite transparent, and yielding by cleavage an octahedron, were procured here. With heavy spar, in Adams, green crystals occur of small size, and it is more abundantly diffused in a massive state. Rarely, cavities in fossils in the Trenton limestone are lined with small crystals of this mineral.

Garnet is common in bowlders, but otherwise does not here oecur.

Graphite (black-lead) occurs in minute scales, to a small extent, in the white limestone of Antwerp.

Heavy Spar (sulphate of barytes) .- One of the most interesting localities of this mineral in the State oeeurs on Pillar Point, in Brownville, on the shore facing Chaumont bay and Cherry island. It occupies a vein in Trenton lime- stone from one to two feet thick, and is chiefly interesting for the delicate alternations of color, in zones and bands, which become apparent upon the polished surface. It has been wrought to a considerable extent as a material for lithie paint, but has lately (1854) been purchased from its supposed importance in indicating the existence of metallic ores, although none have hitherto been observed in its vicinity.

In Antwerp, about a mile cast from the Ox Bow, on the farm of Robert Dean, occurs an interesting locality of this mineral, in a cavity or vein of white limestone. The cavi- ties often present globular surfaces, studded with crystals. The mineral is much stained with the yellow oxide of iron ; but where it has not been exposed to the weather it is sometimes white. No metallic associates have been noticed here.

In the town of Theresa, an interesting locality of highly crystalline heavy spar, which has been suspected to contain strontia, occurs. The banks of Muskelunge lake afford small but elegant crystals. In Adams, near the north border, and about two miles northwest from Adams Centre depot, on the farms of Calvin Warrener, H. Colton, and others, is a very remarkable locality of this mineral. A ragged and very irregular vein has here been traced more than a mile, nearly east and west, in a hill of Trenton limestone, that rises on three sides to a commanding height, and overlooks the country north and west to a great distanee. About 1845, it came to the notice of a paint-manufacturing com- pany in Brownville, and about fifty tons have been removed for that purpose, on a ten years' lease, giving fifty cents per perch tribute. A perch when prepared makes two thousand

# Proceedings of American Association, Albany, 1851, p. 232.

{ N. Y. Geological Rep., 1840, p. 110. Dr. Beck's Min. Rep., p. 402. Dana's Mineralogy, 3d ed., p. 232, etc.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

five hundred pounds of paint. The mineral in Adams is much mingled with the limestone, through which it sends thin veins, and detached masses of the latter frequently occur imbedded. Its structure is compact, color white or flesli-colored, and inclined to assume the peculiar waved and contorted appearance common at the Pillar Point locality. Heavy spar has been extensively used, at Brownville, to adulterate white-lead. This manufacture has been aban- doned, and will not probably be resumed.

Hornblende .- Besides being a common constituent of gneiss, numerous varieties of this rock occur in bowlders and rocky strata, among which are the following : Amphibole (basaltic hornblende) is found in bowlders in crystals, firmly imbedded in trap and greenstone. Tremolite is found in bowlders of white limestone, and occasionally in small quantities in Antwerp and in Wilna, near Natural Bridge. Diallage is rarely found in bowlders of chloritic slate. Par- gasite, in beautiful green crystals, occurs in white limestone at numerous localities near Ox Bow, and in a neighborhood known as New Connecticut, in Antwerp, near the Ox Bow. It is commonly found with apatite, crystallized feldspar, and sphene. The crystals are small, but usually well defined, and sometimes occur in radiating clusters. Amianthos and asbestos are found in minute quantities in bowlders of ser- pentine. The latter also occurs half a mile from Theresa village. Besides these varietics, hornblende is found in bowlders, coarsely crystalline, slaty, and compact, and of the latter a variety containing grains of garnet is extremely tough. This mineral does not of itself occur in rocky masses in our county, and the source from whence these bowlders arc derived must be distant.

Idoerase, in small brown crystals, oecurs occasionally on the banks of Vrooman lake, near Ox Bow. It has been found in larger crystals, in bowlders, in Antwerp.

Iron Pyrites (sulphuret of iron ) occurs in the iron mines of Antwerp, in Wilna, Theresa, Alexandria, and, more rarely, in thin veins and grains in Trenton limestone. Its most interesting form is where it is found replacing the substance of organic remains, which, when first removed, possess the lustre and color of brass, but soon decompose in the air. From the character of our geology, this mineral can scarcely be expected to occur in profitable quantities for the manufacture of copperas, alum, or soda ash, in the county. It has been found in veins of spar, in Trenton limestone, in nodules with a radiating fibrous texture. This is the mundic of Cornish miners.

Labradorite (opalescent feldspar) is occasionally found in bowlders, but less commonly than in St. Lawrence county.

Limonite .- Bog iron ores are common in swamps in Wilna, and adjacent to the river above, where they have been extensively used in making iron. They occur in the form of an carthy loam, coarse granules, and solid masses, the latter often containing the forms of roots and leaves, which have had their substance replaced by this orc. Ochre occurs in Champion and other towns, in small quan- tities.

Magnetite .- Magnetic iron ore, in crystalline blades, dis- seminated in gneiss, has been observed in the town of Alex- andria in sufficient abundance to lead to the belief that it might be wrought with profit. It is a common ingre-

dient in that rock, and its disintegration affords the black magnetic writing-sand frequently met with on the banks of rivers and lakes. When abundant, this is one of the most valuable ores of iron. The primitive region of Alex- andria and Wilna may perhaps be found to contain it in profitable quantities.

Malachite (green carbonate of copper) is found in small quantities, investing other minerals, at Muskelunge lake, Theresa.

Millerite (sulphuret of nickel) was first noticed by the author* ( American Journal of Science, 2d series, vol. ix., 287), in 1848, at the Sterling iron minc, in Antwerp, oc- curring in delicate needle-shaped prisms, in cavities of iron ore, associated with spathic iron, chalcodite, and iron py- rites. This delicate and very rare mineral is crystallized in hexagonal prisms, the largest of which are one-sixtieth of an inch in diameter, and about half an inch long, usually radiating from a central point in tufts, like the down of the thistle, and it has the color and splendor of gold.

Museovite (mica) occurs rarely in bowlders of granite.

Naphtha .-- While excavating the wheel-pits of the Jef- ferson cotton-mills at Watertown, the limestone was found in one place to contain in a cavity about a gill of a yellow- ish, oily fluid, which emitted a strong bituminous odor, and burned freely. Other instances have been mentioned, but on uncertain authority, and in no case has an opportunity occurred of applying decisive tests.

Phlogopite .- This mica occurs frequently in the white limestone, but not in sufficient quantity or in plates of a size that give it interest or valuc. It is found on an island in Mill Seat lake in small quantities, and at a few localitics ncar Ox Bow. At Vrooman lake a highly crystallized va -. riety occurs, in which sharply-defined prisms and groups of crystals are found in great abundance. These crystals pre- sent, by transmitted light, a dove-brown color, but they are seldom found transparent of any considerable size. By some strange accident the town of Henderson has been often quoted as a locality of mica. None can occur here, as it is entirely underlaid by Trenton limestone. The white limestone is seldom found in quantity without con- taining this mineral.

Pyroxene is common in our primitive rocks. On Grass lake, in Theresa, it is found white and crystallized, in groups. Near Ox Bow it has been found in small quantities, and near Natural Bridge in large black crystals, with sphenc, etc. Coecolite occurs in the same vieinity, imbedded in Wollastonite, and rarely in bowlders.

Quartz .- This abundant mineral, besides forming the greatest proportion of primary rock, and almost the sole material of sandstone, is rarely found crystallized. On But- terfield lake, and at several localities in Antwerp, it is found in crystals. At Natural Bridge chalcedony occurs in nodules in white limestone. Flint is a common associate of the Black river limestone. Agate in small quantities is found in Wilna, near Natural Bridge. Jasper and basanite are very rarely found as pebbles in the drift formations.

Scapolite is rarely found in detached crystals, imbedded in white limestone, in Antwerp. Adjacent to, and perhaps

» F. B. Hough.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

within, the town of Wilna, near Natural Bridge, the variety Nuttallite, in fused crystals of a pearly gray color, occurs with pyroxene and sphene. It is sometimes massive, and admits of cleavage. A mineral named terenite by Professor Emmons,* and by him attributed to Antwerp, is since con- sidered but a variety of scapolite. We are not aware that it has been found by any one but himself. It was said to be associated with calcite and foliated graphite in a vein of white limestone.

Serpentine is of frequent occurrence in nodules, in white limestone, in Antwerp, but it is far less abundant than in St. Lawrence county. It is various shades of green, and its weathered surface becomes white. It has not hitherto been found in this county of sufficient quantity and quality to be of economical value, and it is chiefly interesting from the crystalline form which it sometimes assumes. It is said to thus occurt two miles southwest of Ox Bow, but we have not been able to learn the precise locality. A mineral allied to this, and named by Professor Emmons Rensselaer- ite,¿ but by later authors considered steatitic pseudomorph, occurs in great abundance in Antwerp and Theresa, where it assumes colors varying from white, through gray, to black, and a texture from finely granular to coarsely crys- talline and cleavable. It has been made into inkstands and other ornaments, and from the ease with which it may be wrought, and the facility with which it receives a polish, it has been thought that it would prove available as an orna- mental marble. An extensive locality of the jet black and fine-grained variety occurs on Butterfield lake, and a com- pany was a few years since about to be formed for working it, but the projector having been accidentally drowned, nothing further was donc. It is doubtful whether, from its softness, this mineral could be turned to a valuable account as a marble. It is seldom that there occurs so wide a range of color and texture as in this mineral. It sometimes is crystallized in forms imitative of scapolite, ser- pentine, etc.§ It was denominated by Professor Beck steatitie pyroxene, from its hardness being like one, and its cleavage and crystallization like the other.

IRON ORE.

Specular Iron .- The red oxide of iron constitutes the principal ore of this metal in Antwerp, Philadelphia, and Theresa, and may be said to be the principal orc of north- ern New York. It is invariably associated with a brittle, variegated mineral, which has been named dysyntribite, || but which recent analyses T indicate to be a rock of indefi- nite composition, closely related to agalmatolite, and vary- ing much in its proportions of alumina, magnesia, lime, and the alkalies. In the geological report of Professor Emmons ** it is named serpentine. In some form or other this mineral is associated with the ore in every loeality where the latter has been notieed in this county, as if it were a necessary

associate, and sometimes in such quantities as to displace the ore, to the serious loss of the miners, who have to re- move large masses of it. Besides this nondescript mineral specular ore is associated with calcite, spathic iron, chalco- dite, quartz, Millerite, and, more rarely, heavy spar. In richness it varies from ten to fifty per cent. in the large way, and it is seldom found to work well in the furnace, requiring a mixture of bog ores or limestone, or of ores of different quality, to reduce with the greatest advantage. In Theresa this ore was procured during the working of the furnace near Redwood in considerable quantity. It has been found on an island in Muskelunge lake, with heavy spar, and green and blue malachite, but too much mingled with iron pyrites to be useful.

In the edge of Philadelphia, adjoining Theresa, and on farms owned by Loren Fuller and Abial Shurtliff, there occurs a body of specular iron ore between the gneiss and Potsdam sandstone, which has been used to the extent of several hundred tons at Carthage, Antwerp, Redwood, and Sterlingville. When wrought alone, it makes an iron known to founders as cold short, and from its mixture with lime is found to be very useful as a flux in assisting in the reduction of other ores. It is associated with calcite in botryoidal conerctions, rarely with crystals of sulphate of barytes, and abundantly with the serpentine-looking min- eral. These mines have been traced a considerable distance, but have been only partially wrought, the first operations having commenced about 1838. It is now principally used as a flux to the ore of the Sterling mine.

The mines which have been wrought with most profit in northern New York are the Kearney mine, in the extreme southwest corner of Gouverneur, and the mines of George Parish, adjacent, in Rossie.1; In this same range, about a quarter of a mile from the county line, in Antwerp, and but a short distance from the line of the Potsdam and Water- town railroad, there was discovered, in 1837, a deposit of iron ore, which has been wrought by Mr. Parish with much profit. It is the only mine of the specular ore in northern New York in which the excavations have been continued beyond the light of day, rendering lamps necessary. As the ore descends obliquely, the overhanging masses of rock are supported by huge masses of ore left as pillars at suit- able intervals. The mine has been drained by an adit, and the thickness of the stratum at right angles to its plane varies from six to thirty fect. Several attempts have been made to reach the ore by sinking shafts, but hitherto with- out success, and it is now raised by being drawn up an in- clined plane by a rude horse-power. The ore has proved of an excellent quality, and has been exclusively used at the Rossie iron-works. Adjacent to, and forming a part of this, is the Thompson mine, on the farm of Hiram Keene, where ore was observed before it had been detected on the adjoining premises. Not being covered by a min- eral reserve, this mine became the property of Mr. Keene, who sold his right to other parties, and it subsequently be- came a subject of litigation in the county courts under the belief that it was worthless.

In 1849 about one thousand tons had been taken from

# Assembly Doc., 1837, No. 161, p. 154.

+ Beck's Mineralogy of N. Y., p. 274.

į Assem. 1837, No. 161, p. 154.

¿ Beck's Min. N. Y., 277, p. 297.

| Report of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, vol. iv. p. 311.

" American Journal of Science, 2d ser., xvi. p. 50.

## Geology 2d District, p. 376, etc.

++ History of St. Lawrence and Franklin counties, p. 683.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

it. The mine dips at an angle of about forty-five degrees below the sandstone. The ore is of a good quality, and has been worked both in furnaces and forges. The most exten- sive iron mine now worked in the county is ealled the -Ster- ling mine, from its owner, James Sterling, in the same range and geologieal relation as the last. It was discovered about 1836, and mining operations were soon after eommeneed, and have been sinee continued with but little interruption, principally for supplying the furnaces at Sterlingville and near Antwerp. Subsequently, it was taken to Louisburg, and these three furnaces are now principally supplied by this mine. It furnishes a greater variety of minerals of seientific interest than any other in this section of the State. We have not been able to procure reliable statisties of the amount of ore produced by this mine. Half a mile far- ther south there was opened by Mr. Parish the White ore bed on the premises of Mr. Guy White, in August, 1848. It has sinee been wrought for the furnace of Messrs. Skinner and Blish, at Wegatehie. No mineral associates of interest have been observed here. About a mile from the village of Antwerp, and in a relation corresponding with the others, there has been opened within the last year* still another mine, on the land of Mr. Ward, but it has not been sufficiently explored to afford a knowledge of its extent or value. There are thus seven or eight mines in a range, in- cluding those in Philadelphia, apparently eoeval in age and produced by a common eause, and it is in the highest de- gree probable that there will hereafter be opened other mines in this region of equal if not superior interest. About two miles from Ox Bow, in Antwerp, and near the plank-road to Evans' mills, oeeurs the Weeks ore bed, be- longing to Mr. Parish. It has been principally used at Rossie as a flux, and is considered of but little richiness by itself. It has no mineral associates of interest, is of a dull red color and slaty texture, resembling the ore of Phila- delphia.t

Sphene (seileeio-caleareous oxide of titanium) is found in white limestone with pargasite, in Antwerp, near Ox Bow. It also oeeurs in large, finely-formed erystals, near Natural Bridge. In Diana, near the county line, oeeurs one of the finest localities of this mineral known. It has been defined as Ledererite, but is considered but a variety of this mineral.

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History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 4

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