History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 5

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 5

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Spinel, of a pale red color, and erystals sometimes half an ineh in diameter, has been observed at Vrooman lake, near Ox Bow, and four miles from that place towards The- resa. It is accompanied with chondrodite in small quanti- ties. This mineral resembles, in many respects, the ruby and sapphire.

Tale is sometimes noticed in bowlders in small quantities. Tourmaline is occasionally found in gneiss in Antwerp and Theresa, and is found occasionally in bowlders ; but the finest locality in northern New York exists on Bald island, about three miles from Alexandria bay, where it exists in huge striated prisms, in sueli quantities as to convey the belief that it would lead to eoal, and indueed the eom- meneement of mining operations under eireumstanecs that

the slightest acquaintance with geology would have dis- eountenaneed.

Wad (earthy manganese) has been noticed in swamps, in Watertown and elsewhere.

Wollastonite (tabular spar) oeeurs with augite and eoc- eolite, at Natural Bridge. Delicate fibrous varieties have been found in bowlders in Wilna.

METEOROLOGICAL.

The only observations made in this eounty were by the academy in Belleville, in pursuance of the requisition of the regents of the university, during the nine years between 1830 and 1844. They gave the following results : Mean temperature, first half, 44.74 ; mean temperature, second half, 46.64; highest degree observed (July 10, 1834, and August 5, 1839), 98° ; lowest degree observed (Deeember 16, 1835), 35° ; extreme range in nine years, 133° ; mean monthly range, 74.40 ; greatest monthly range, in Marelı ; least monthly range, in July ; dryest month, Mareh ; wet- test month, September. Total fall of rain and snowt in . nine years, 22 feet 11.99 inches. Mean direction of winds, S. 59º05 W .; per cent. of this direction, 26; days, mean direction, 7.98.

This station is situated in the valley of North Sandy ereck ; the surrounding country is undulating, with 110 high hills, and is but little sheltered from the winds of the lake, which probably influenee its temperature and other features of its elimate.

THE MEMORABLE TORNADO

of September 20, 1845, which swept through the great forest of St. Lawrence, Franklin, and Clinton counties, originated in the town of Antwerp, but did not begin to do much execution till it entered the town of Fowler.§ On the 9th of September previous, a tornado of less extent, having a parallel course, passed over Lewis eonnty. The great tornado was attended by an earthquake on the north shore of Lake Ontario.

CHAPTER IL.

PRE-HISTORIC.

The Mound-Builders-Aborigines-Indian Relics-Mounds and Re- mains-Aboriginal Names.

IN common with various portions of the United States territory, Jefferson County contains many evidences of its occupation by an ancient raee, but where it originated or whenee it eame, and in what manner it finally disappeared, are questions apparently unsolvable by the present genera- tion. That this people spread over a large portion of the country east of the Mississippi river is eertain, for their remains are found in various forms from Lake Superior to Arkansas, and from New England to Missouri. That they were a homogeneous and permanently located people is quite probable, as their extensive system of mounds and

# Written about 1853.

+ For additional information of these mines sce history of town.

Į Reduced to water.

¿ Sce History of St. Lawrence and Franklin countics, p. 698 .- Hough, 1853.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

earthworks indicate. The central and most densely popu- lated region oeeupied by them appears to have been the upper valley of the Mississippi from Memphis to the north line of Illinois, and the valley of the Ohio throughout its whole extent.

Their largest work seems to have been the immense mound at Cahokia, near St. Louis, in the State of Illinois, said to be seven hundred by five hundred feet in dimensions, and having, when first seen by Europeans, a height of ninety feet ; and their most extensive system of fortifications at Marietta, Ohio, where they cover a tract from two to three miles in length by a half-mile in breadth.

When the country was first settled by Europeans, the Mingwe and Lenape, or Iroquois and Delaware, Indians had traditions of an ancient race which their forefathers conquered and drove out of all the country lying east of the Mississippi (which they called Nama Sepee, or river of sturgeon) " many moons ago."

It is conjectured by some writers that this raee was iden- tical with the Aztec and Toltec races of Mexico and Cen- tral America, and that the Pimos and other peculiar natives of New Mexico and Arizona are the degenerate fragments of this once powerful and numerous people.

The following remarks, with descriptions of all the promi- nent works known to exist in the county, together with accounts of various discoveries of skeletons, improvements, ete., ete., are from Dr. Hough's History, and are believed to be very full and accurate :

" A passing tribute to the memory of a race who have left but few traces of their sojourn in the territory now em- braeed in Jefferson County, may not be deemed inappro- priate before entering into the details that make up our authentic history. There are probably few who have not dwelt with peculiar interest upon the glimpses we cateh through the mists of the past of whole tribes of men that have vanished from the earth, leaving no heirs or represen- tatives to inherit the richer blessings of our age ; of nations whose part in the great drama of human life must always be the theme of conjecture ; whose sages are forgotten, and whose warriors sleep unhonored in the dim obscurity of oblivion. Few are the monuments we may interrogate, and doubtful the interpretation of the eniginas which the scat- tered traces of their existence offer, nor can these furnish the basis of a well-founded conjecture of the people, or the period, or in some instances the object, with which they were related. At most, we can but offer a few facts, and leave the field of conjecture open to those who may have more ample means of comparison, and the leisure and talent to devote to this deeply-interesting field of inquiry. The general inference which has been reached by those whose researches have been especially devoted to this study, is that none of the remains of art in this section of the State can pretend to the antiquity that belongs to the mound- builders of the Ohio valley ; that they indieate at most but a slight attainment in civilization; that they denote no further object than self-defense, or simple sustenanee; and that they evinee no general plans, no organized system, beyond what the necessities of the moment suggested. Further than this we know nothing. The inclosures here- after described exhibit that similarity that leads us to

believe them the work of the same race, for a common object, -- protection against a contemporary foe ; thus show- ing that wars are, if not inherent in human nature, at least coeval with the first dawnings of eivilization.

" In the town of Le Ray, a short distance below the village of Black River, and on the road to Watertown, was formerly the trace of a trench inclosure. The work was irregularly semicircular, inclosing about one and a quarter acres of ground, and a short distance from the bank of Black river, the side towards which was open, the ends of the embankment extending a short distance down the slope, and curving inward ' as if to prevent the flank from being turned by an enemy.'* A portion of the bank and ditch outside may still be traced in the road, but the greater part has long been leveled by cultivation. In the fields adjacent are the traces of hearths, numerous fragments of rude pot- tery, bones of animals, and stone ehisels.} Human bones have also been found in the vicinity. Although the banks have been mostly leveled, yet their locality may be traced without much difficulty.

" About a mile north of this is another and larger one, which, like the first, contains in and around it the usual Indian relies. It oceupies a plain but little elevated above a flat that was onee flowed by a beaver dam, making a shal- low pond several aeres in extent. The remains of the dam may still be traced on West creek, which has its source not far distant.

" Two trench inclosures formerly existed near Sanford's Corners, in Le Ray, but no trace of the original works re- mains. When first seen, the bank, measured from the bottom of the ditch, was six feet high. An unusual amount of relies have been afforded by the adjacent fields, and several human skeletons, all buried in the sitting posture, have been exhumed. Like most others, they were built near the banks of a stream of water, and had at irregular intervals gateways or passages. The ground within and around was formerly a pine forest, which extended many miles in the direction of Carthage.

" On both sides of Perch lake and on Linnel's island in an adjacent swamp, there were, when the country was first explored, a great number of mounds or barrows, supposed by some to be burial-places. They present much uniformity in appearance, being eircular, from two to four rods across, from two to four feet high, and uniformly having a depres- sion in the eentre, as if a vault had formerly existed there, which has since fallen in. When dug into, they are said to contain burnt stone, charred corn, broken pottery, etc. ; but no opportunity was afforded to the author to examine their structure. Most of them have been plowed down, but a few are said to remain on the west side of the Pereh lake in their primitive state. In Hounsfield, on the shore of Black River bay, between Muskelunge ereek and Storrs' harbor, is said to have existed formerly a trench inclosure of the ordinary form. We have not learned whether it is wholly or in part preserved, nor is its extent known. Some of the largest trees of the forest grew upon and within the

# Aboriginal Monuments of New York, by E. G. Squier. Smith- sonian Contributions, vol. ii. art. vi. p. 23, pl. 3.

t See Third Annual Report of Regents of the University on the Condition of the State Cabinet, p. 101.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

bank. In Watertown, on lot No. 29, about two and a half miles southwest from the village, may still be seen in an open wood, and in a fine state of preservation, the outline of a work consisting of a bank thrown up from a surround- ing ditch, and evidently intended as a defensive work. It is on the summit of a gradually sloping terrace of Trenton limestone, and commands a delightful prospect. Elms three fcet in diameter are found growing upon the bank, and the decaying remains of otliers still larger, within and upon it, carry back the date of its construction to an ante-Columbian period. In the same range and lot, on premises owned by Anson Hungerford, Esq., and about forty rods east, there was formerly another inelosure, with gateways, the position and extent of which cannot now be ascertained, as the bank has long since been leveled by cultivation. The one first mentioned is semicireular, the open side facing upon the bank .*

" Half a mile east of Burrville, on lot No. 31, was formerly a defensive work, consisting of a mound and diteh, running across a point between two streams near their junetion, and forming, by the aid of the natural banks, a triangular in- elosure. The plow has long ago filled the ditch and leveled the bank, leaving no trace of the work. The soil has afforded a great abundance and variety of relics, and the vicinity indicates that it had been occupied as an Indian village. Within the inclosure is a bowlder of gneiss, worn smooth and coneave in places by the grinding of stone im- plements. On a point of land opposite the author found an iron ball weighing eight ounces,f and others have been picked up in the vicinity, indicating that the place must have been passed, at least, by those who knew the use of small ordnance; probably the French, on some of their ex- peditions against the Iroquois.} Mr. Squier, in his work on the ancient monuments of New York, mentions the trace of an Indian village a mile northeast of this.

" Near Appling post-office, on the land of D. Taleott, in Adams, near the line of Watertown, is still to be seen the trace of a work of great extent and interest. It is on the brow of the upper terrace of Trenton limestone, overlook- ing a vast extent of country to the west and north. The bank has an average height of three and base of ten feet, with an external ditch of corresponding dimensions, and there were about seven gateways or interruptions in the work, which had an elliptical form, one side bordering upon a beaver pond, and bounded by an abrupt bank, about thirty feet high. Upon and within the work, trees of an enor- mnous size are growing, and the decaying fragments of others carry back the origin of the work several hundred years. A great number of small pits, or caches, occur where pro- visions were stored for concealment ; as shown by quantities of parehed corn. Several skeletons have been exhumed here, which had been buried in a sitting posture, and its relics are the same as those above mentioned.

"Near the northwest corner of Rodman, on lot No. 2, on the farm of Jared Freeman, was formerly an interesting

work, of which no trace remains§ except a bowlder of gneiss, worn smooth by grinding. Before the place had been cul- tivated, it is said to have shown an oval, double bank, with an intervening crescent-shaped space, and a short bank run- ning down a gentle slope to a small stream, one of the sources of Stony Creek, that flows near. Several hundred bushels of burnt eorn were turned out over an area one rod by eight, showing that this must have been an immense magazine of food. On the farm of Jacob Hcatlı, on lot No. 25, near the west line of Rodman, and on the north bank of North Sandy creek, a short distance above the con- fluence of the two main branches of that stream, there formerly existed an inclosure of the same class. It included about three acres, was overgrown with heavy timber, and furnished within and without, when plowed, a great quantity and variety of terra-cotta, in fragments, but no metallic relics. Under the roots of a large maple was dug up the bones of a man of great stature, and furnished with entire rows of double teeth.

" On the farm of Wells Benton, half a mile from Adams village, was an inclosure similar to the others, and affording the usual variety of relics ; and another trace of an ancient work of a similar character is mentioned in Adams, two miles north of the village.

" On the farm of Peter Durfey, near Bellville, in Ellis- burg, is still another, which, from the description given by those who have examined it, does not differ in age or general appearance from others, having gateways at irregular inter- vals, and being guarded on one side by a natural defense.

" The present cemetery, a little above Ellis village, pre- sents the trace of a work that was crescent-shaped, and, by the aid of the natural bank on which it was built, formed an irregular inclosure of about two aeres. On the south bank of South Sandy ereek, three miles from its mouth, was a similar work, defended on one side by an abrupt bank, and now entirely leveled by tillage. A considerable number of places occur in Ellisburg, which must have been inhabited by. the aborigines. The fertility of the soil, ex- eellence of water, and vicinity to valuable salmon fisheries and extensive hunting-grounds, must have afforded many attractions to the savages. Probably several traces of an- eient works in this section of the country may have been leveled by tillage, without exciting suspicion of their nature. Besides these, one is mentioned as having oeeurred near Tylerville, and another in Hounsfield, two miles from Brownville.

" One of the most eonelusive evidences of ancient military occupation and conflict occurs in Rutland, near the resi- dence of Abner Tamblin, one mile from the western line of the town, and two miles from the river. It is on the sum- mit of the Trenton limestone terraee, which forms a bold escarpment, extending down the river and passing across the southern part of Watertown. There here oceurs a slight embankment and ditch irregularly oval, with several gate- ways; and along the ditch, in several places, have been found great numbers of skeletons, almost entirely of males, and lying in great confusion, as if they had been slain in defending it. Among these bones were those of a man

# Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, vol. ii. art. vi. p. 20, fig. 2, pl. 2. See also N. Y. Senate Doenment No. 30, 1851, p. 105, plate 7.

t Probably grape-shot.

į Senate Document, 1851, No. 30, p. 105, where a plan is given.

¿ Senate Document, 1851, No. 30, p. 105, where a plan is given.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

of colossal size, and, like nine-tenths of the others, furnished with a row of double teeth in each jaw. This singular pe- culiarity, with that of broad, flat jaws, retreating forehead, and great prominence of the occiput, which was common to most of these skulls, may hereafter afford some elue to their history. There is said to have been found at this place, by excavating, hearthis or fire-places, with bones of animals, broken pottery, and implements of stone, at two different levels, separated by an accumulation of earth and vegetable mould from one to two feet thick, as if the place had been twice occupied. So great has been the length of time since these bones have been covered, that they fall to pieces very soon after being exposed to the air. Charred eorn, bones, and relies oecur at both levels, but more abundantly at the lower. At numerous places not exhibiting traees of forti- fications are found fire-places, accumulations of chips, of flint, and broken pottery, as if these points had been occupied as dwellings. In several places bone-pits have been found, where human remains in great numbers have been accumu- lated. One is mentioned as occurring near Brownville vil- lage,* where, in a space of ten or twelve feet square and four deep, a great number of skeletons were thrown. Another deposit of bones occurs in Ellisburg, nearly opposite an ancient work on South Sandy creek, near a house now occupied by J. W. Ellis, where, in digging a cellar in 1818, bones in great numbers were found. In 1842 there was found in Rutland, three miles from Watertown, under a pile of stones about three feet high, which rested on a eir- cular, flat stone, a pit four feet square and two deep, filled with the bones of men and animals, thrown together in great confusion. These exhibit marks of teeth, as if they had been gnawed by animals. This, with the charcoal and charred corn in the vieinity, has been thought to indicate ancient massaerc and pillage, in which an Indian village was destroyed and the bones of the slain afterwards collected and buried by friends. It was estimated that thirty or forty skeletons were buried here, besides parts of animals that may have been killed for food. A custom is said to have prevailed among some Indian tribes of collecting and bury- ing at stated intervals the bones of their dead, and some of these depositories may have thius originated. The pottery found around these localities was of the coarsest and rudest character, externally smooth, except where marked by lines and dots in fantastic and ever-varying combinations of fig- ures, and internally rough from the admixture of eoarse sand and gravel. There was no glazing known to these primitive potters, who possessed, nevertheless, a certain degree of taste and skill, and sometimes attempted, on their pipes and jars, an imitation of the human face and fantastic images of ser- pents and wild animals.

" Rarely, metallic relics of undoubted antiquity are found. A chisel of copper before us is of this elass ; and the metal from which this, and other relics of this kind were made, was doubtless procured from Lake Superior. A fragment of a sword-blade, around which the wood of a tree had grown, was found by the first settlers of Ellisburg. Mus- kets, balls, hatehets, knives, and other implements of metal,

have been at various times turned out by the plow ; but none of the articles of undoubted European origin can claim an antiquity prior to the French and Indian wars.}

" There was found several years since, in the sand, at a deep cutting of the railroad, near the poor-house, an oval ball, about three inches long, which for some time was used by children as a plaything. From its lightness and hard- ness, it excited curiosity, and it was cut open, when it was found to contain a strip of parchment and another ball ; this latter also contained another ball and strip of parch- ment, in all three. One of these is preserved, and is three- fourths by eleven and three-eighths inehes, containing, written on one side, four lines of Hebrew characters, with- out vowel points, quoted from Deuteronomy xi. 13 to 21 inclusive. The case containing these was apparently made of hide, and it had been doubtless used as an amulet by sonie traveling Jew, or had been procured by the Indians as a charm, at a period not prior to the French era of our history. This section of the State, at the carliest period of authentic history, was occupied by the Oneidas and Onon- dagas, as a hunting-ground ; and one or two trails were perceptible when surveyed in 1796. Occasionally the St. Regis Indians would find their way into our territory, but oftener the Massasaugas from the north shore of the lake. The Oneidas considered them as intruders, and the latter seldom allowed themselves to fall in their way, from which reason the visits of the natives were stealthy and unfre- quent, and nothing would fill the foreign Indians with ap- prehensions sooner than being told that the Oneidas were in the neighborhood. After the war nothing was seen or heard from them. Of our aboriginal names of places in our country but few are preserved. Mr. L. H. Morgan las given on a map, accompanying his work entitled 'The League of the Iroquois,' the following, as they are known in the Seneca dialeet :

" Lake Ontario, Neagha. Tecarneodi.

" Sandy creek, Tekudaogahe.

" Black river, Kahuahgo.

" Sacket's harbor, Gahuagojetwaraalote.

" Wolf island, Denwokedacanauda.

"St. Lawrence, Ganowogeh. Guhundu.

" Indian river, Ojequack.

" On an ancient French map in Yale College library, Carlton island is designated Cuhihououage ; a town at the mouthi of Black river, Otihanague. The St. Regis Indians name Black river Nikahionhakown, or Big river. In Mr. Squier's work on the 'Antiquities of the State,' it is called Kamargo ; French creek is by the St. Regis called Atenharakwehtare, the place where the fence or wall fell down. The Ox Bow of Oswegatchie river they name Onontohen, a hill with the same river on both sides."

# Smithsonian Contributions, ii., part vi. p. 25.

+ Third Report of Regents on Cabinet, 1850, p. 102.

į It is possible that they date baek to the year 1615, when Cham- plain led an army, composed of a few Freneh soldiers and a great number of Huron-Algonquin Indians, on an expedition against the Iroquois.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.

CHAPTER III. CHAMPLAIN AND FRONTENAC.

North America-Early Discoveries-French Occupation-Samuel De Champlain-Wars with the Iroquois-Troubles with the English Colonists-Count Frontenae and other Governors of Canada- Fortifieations-Carlton Island.

THE first European, so far as known, who visited the region now included in Jefferson County, was Samuel De Champlain, justly called the " Father of New France." The visit . occurred in the autumn of 1615, when Cham- plain, at the head of an army composed of a few French and a great number of Algonquin-Hurons, crossed the lower end of Lake Ontario in a fleet of canoes, and landed probably in what is known as " Hungry bay," south of the mouth of Black river. Hiding their canoes, the savage swarm proceeded by land around the southeastern ex- tremity of the lake, crossing the Onondaga river, and, after a march of several days, reached the Seneca towns lying towards the Genesee river. The expedition returned by the same route, and thus twice visited Jefferson County within a few weeks.

As the earliest posts and settlements of the French were commenced on the lower St. Lawrence, and thence grad- ually spread inland and up the valley of the great river, a condensed account of the early voyages and explorations is deemed appropriate in this connection, as necessary to a correct understanding of the eauscs which eventually led Champlain into this region.

Although the French were not permanent oceupants of what is now northern New York, yet they made the ear- liest visits (1609, 1615) to the country, and gave the world its first knowledge concerning the regions adjacent to Lakes Champlain and Ontario.

But for the bigotry of the times, which, in Champlain's day, forbade the Huguenots settling in New France, the subsequent history of the present United States of America might have been radieally different; and, instead of English occupation, the whole vast region, from the inhospitable wilds of the north to the Mexican gulf, might very proba- bly have been at this day inhabited by descendants of the hardy Protestants of France.

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History of Jefferson County, New York, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 5

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