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 55
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In 1800 he came to Watertown, whero ho purchased ninety acres of land fronting on Washington street, to which he soon added one hundred aeres adjoining, and on the ground of the present railroad depot. The western part of the city, from Washington street to u line beyoud the railroad, was his farm, and was tho theatre of his ue- tive and laborious lifo. Ho crected his first cabin on tho present site of the Arcade, simultaneously with Henry Coffeeu and Zachariah Butterfield.
He removed his family to this now home, in tho Black river vicinity, in the spring of 1801, March 7. The first religious meet-
ings in the vicinity were held at his home the first Sabbath after the arrival of his family. On the 13th of July, 1808. he was ap- pointed colonel and inspector, having previously held the office of quartermaster in Colonel Abijah Putnam's regiment, and adjutant to Colonel Gershom Tuttle. He held the office of collector of the port and district of Sacket's Harbor during the embargo and non-inter- course period and the War of 1812, when the whole frontier of the country was to be watched, and in the exereise of this trust was sub- jected to peculiar trials and difficulties, from the opposition of those who, from the violence of party spirit, deemed it meritorious to evade the laws and embarrass the operations of government in the prose- cution of measures to which they were opposed.
At the elose of his services as collector he retired to private life, but always eviueed a lively interest in whatever tended to the im- provement of the town and county, and was particularly active iu founding and supporting the county Agricultural Society, of which ho was for several years the president.
In educational and religious matters he was also an efficient actor. On several occasions he was appointed to minor county offices, and in 1820 was made county judge. In these various capacities he won the respect and esteciu of tho publie, and proved himself the pos- sessor of a sound and vigorous mind. He lived to a good old age, and was enabled to contrast the advanecd state of the county, in its agriculture, mechanical arts, facilities for locomotion, religious and educational privileges, with the time when he east his lot among the heroic band who undertook, fifty years before, to carve out a fortune for themselves in these northern wilds.
His third child and second son, Stillman, mentioned above, now in his seventy-eighth year, being born April 10, 1800, on account of sickness eommou to children when only three years eld, which caused deafness, has led a vory quiet life as a farmer, which occupation he followed until he was sixty-two years of age. Since then he has lived in the heart of Watertown eity. Ilis golden wedding was ecle- brated on the same location where he was a babe on his mother's knee. and during the latter years of his life he has written many incidents relative to the carly settlement of Watertown, which have been pub- lished, and received favorably by the public. He married Miss Almira Ingalls, who still livos to ehcer her husband, having livel together fifty-one years.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
SOLON MASSEY
was born in Reading, Windsor county, Vermont, July 29, 1798. He was one of three children comprising the family of his father, the late Judge Hart Massey, who came to Watertown in the spring of 1801. His early education was such as was afforded by the village schools of Water- town, with the exception of six months at Fairfield Aead- emy. His school drill was confined to the common English branches, reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and Eng- lish grammar. His easy, graceful, and correct use of the English language proves that his early advantages were well improved. His school education elosed at the age of fourteen ; from that time until he was eighteen he worked on his father's farm summers, and taught school during the winters.
His first experience in teaching school was at the age of fourteen, when, during the two-weeks' absence of the teacher, he took charge of a large school of eighty pupils, ranging in age from five to twenty-one. It is quite likely his mental discipline, and knowledge of men and things, was acquired as mueh by teaching as by attending school. When he was nineteen he taught the primary department at the Aurora Academy, in Cayuga county, for one year, and at the close of the year received the thanks of the trustees, and a cash present of thirty dollars over and above his stipulated wages. It was here he formed the acquaintance of Miss Esther Mary Boalt, who afterwards became his wife.
After his marriage, in the fall of 1818, he removed to a farm on the Sacket's Harbor road, two miles from Water- town. Here he lived for seventeen years, and here were born his seven children. In 1835, in consequence of a severe injury received some years before, which disabled him for farm work, he removed to Chaumont, and engaged in mercantile business. Here his wife, who had been an invalid for some years, died, and he afterwards married Alathea, daughter of Captain Seth Bailey, of Watertown.
In 1846 Mr. Massey was the candidate of the old Whig party for county elerk ; but the party proved to be in the minority. He was also nominated for member of assembly in 1849, when he was defeated by Alfred Fox, of Clayton.
He removed to Watertown in the fall of 1849, and was appointed Loan Commissioner in 1852. In 1850 he was invited by Alvin Hunt, editor of the Jeffersonian, to write a series of articles for his paper, descriptive of the pioneers of Watertown and vicinity. Accordingly, under the sig- nature of " A Link in the Chain," he wrote biographical sketches of many prominent men and women of this eounty, most of which were published in the New York Reformer.
In 1856 he entered into a eopartnership in the milling business with the late Peter S. Howk, of the Eagle Mills, which continued for three years.
In 1860 Mr. Massey was elected Police Magistrate (an office answering to that of Recorder under the city eharter),
215
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
in which capacity he served until November, 1865, when he resigned the office, and soon after removed to Osborne, Ohio, to spend the remainder of his life with his children there, his wife having died in March, 1865.
In 1829 the First Presbyterian church of Watertown eleeted Mr. Massey as one of its ruling elders. He also served as ruling elder in each church with which he was afterwards connceted.
While on a visit to his former home and friends, in Jef- ferson County, he was taken siek at the house of his son, Dr. W. P. Massey, in Brownville, New York, and died August 12, 1871.
A biographical sketch, written soon after his death, by one who knew him well, pays the following just tribute to his character :
" Solon Massey was fortunate in his birth and training, for he was the beloved son of pious, exemplary parents. He was essentially a fair man, although he loved a good joke, because he eould appreciate all bright, attractive things, yet judgment was the predominant characteristic of his mind ; and this, added to mueh reading and a taste nat- urally refined, made him the accurate historian and the ready writer. His mind was formed from no school, nor after any model. He was a simple, unpretending Christian gentleman, pure in life and with a kind word for all."
Another, who was intimately associated with him for many years, said :
" He was a man in whom a large measure of goodness dwelt, and his life was as near blameless as often falls to the lot of mortals to live. But one chief beauty of his character was, that he was not content to live a merely blameless life. His whole course in life was marked by active benevolence. His time, his talents, his means, were given ungrudgingly to every effort that gave hopeful prom-
ise of shedding blessings on the pathway of mankind. He was one of the most unselfish men, where good was to be done, that it has been my lot to know. No sacrifice seemed too great on his part to carry forward and to give vigor and strength to those enterprises that embraced in the reach of their benevolence man's whole nature, covering the life that now is and that which is to come. He had a heart that could be touched by human want and human woe, whether that want or woe related to body or mind, and if he did not extend relief, it was because his hand was not as large as his heart. His Christian sympathies were wide and far-reaching, embracing the whole man and man in every condition, and they were of the working rather than the weeping kind. In some of the official trusts committed to him he was brought much in contact with the criminal classes and the outeasts of society. Here his quick insight of human character, his great kindness of heart, his fath- erly, Christian counsel, his wise commingling of justice with merey, wrought great good in many instances.
" Into whatsoever field he entered, he songht to become of practical use there, identifying himself at once with every good and noble work for God and humanity."
Another said : "The epitaph upon his tomb should be, ' He was a Christian,' for this is the key to his benign and graceful old age, his kind and endearing manner, his sym- pathy with all good work, and his earnest labors for the personal and spiritual welfare of every member of the circle in which he moved. The example he has left us is our richest legacy."
EDWARD SWAIN MASSEY.
The subject of this sketeli was born in Watertown, Oeto- ber 18, 1806. He was the son of Hart Massey and Lucy Swain, who settled in Watertown in the year 1800, at which time there were only three log houses, constituting a village in the wilderness. At the entrance of Paddock's Areade Hart Massey, with his wife and three children, Mary, Solon, and Stillman, located in a log house, and in that log house, on the first Sabbath it was occupied by the family, the neighbors being invited in, was held the first publie religious service ever enjoyed in Watertown. Of his father's family were ten children, of whom Edward Swain was the fifth child and fourth son.
In this large family Edward grew the centre of the group, and did his full share of labor necessary to convert a wilderness into a garden village. He lived at home until he was twenty-one years of age, and the same year, May 28, 1828, married Miss Naney Kilbourn, of Champion. To them were born two children, Fred. K. and Emma S. Massey. His wife died April 17, 1832.
For his second wife he married Miss Esther Bragg, daughter of Jairus Bragg, of Newport, Herkimer county. By his second wife he had six children, Maria E., George B., Mary E., J. Edward, Albert P'., and Annie M. Massey. All are living except the eldest.
Edward Swain Massey was the first child born in Water- town, and received such impressions from parental training while young as fitted him for his subsequent career of useful- ness. The year after his marriage, assisted by his father, he built a residence on what is now Massey street, in which he lived until his death, and which is now occupied by his devoted wife and children; an engraving of which, with its surroundings of trees planted by his own hands, will be found on another page of this work, under his portrait.
During his day he engaged, besides his regular occupa- tion as a farmer, in building, and ereeted several fine resi- denees in the city. He was also superintendent in the erection of the First Presbyterian church. When only twenty-one years of age he united with the Presbyterian church, and continued faithful to his profession through life, and his life was the Christian epistle known and read of all. He contributed liberally for the support of church and all other enterprises benefiting mankind, and looking to the establishment of good society in his village and town. Ile died March, 1873.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
EDWIN A. HOLBROOK
was born in Madrid, St. Lawrence county, in the year 1817. He studied medicine in his native town, but relinquished its practice in consequence of an impaired constitution. He became a resident of Watertown in the year 1852, sinee which time he has been a success- ful practitioner in the art of dentistry, devoting a portion of his time to literary pursuits, writing for public journals, and public speaking. In 1875 he published an original volume of over five hundred pages, entitled " Life Thoughts," containing some four hundred and thirty- eight pages of poems on a variety of subjects, the remainder being a short biographieal sketch of his life, essays, etc. The work muet with a ready sale. At the time of the compilation of this history he had material for another volume as large as the one published. His poems are very rapidly written, being almost a spontaneity.
Below will be found two of his poems on themes the most attractive afforded by nature and art in Jefferson County.
WATERTOWN.
Synonym of blessings! euphionious name! In beauty adorning the fair page of fame ! As the weird stream of life down the ages descending, Its lights and its shadows iu harmony blending, Thy beautiful river flows onward the same !
For her countless life-favors a tribute I bring, To her murmuring cadence in harmony sing; Where now the waves flowing in rhythmical measure That break on the shores of the green isles of pleasure, Are kissing the lips of the green buds of spring.
Where scorning her fetters, and breaking away, Down cataracts leaping and bursting in spray, I heed the wild song without rhythm or measure, As from the loud tumult the God-given treasure Of wealth is distilling that knows no decay.
And rising aloft, above hamlet and liill, I catch the wild cadence that comes from the mill- From the hammer and anvil in deep chorus ringing- From nature and art as a breath of thanksgiving, But never a breath from the worm of the still.
Health, beauty, and wealth, like a goddess divine, Preside at this fountain of nature's pure wine, From genius and labor pure blessings distilling, The sweet cup of plenty and happiness filling, More precious to mortals than gold from the mine.
And I look through the shadows, the blessing and cheer, Far back, ere the days of the first pioneer ; When the hum of the wheel was unheard on the river, When the Indian untamed, with his rude bow and quiver, Pursued on the track of the wolf and the deer.
When the cabin was reared by the fearless and bold, And the white man made claim to his rights on the wold, And the sound of his axe broke the stillness of morning That proved to the native the signal of warning, The time had arrived when his tent he must fold.
What hardships they braved, with their forms bent to toil, That we might inherit a more willing soil. "Iis well we remember the blessings they brought us, And profit withal by the lessons they taught us,- To live hy true labor and not by its spoil.
We grieve for the absent, and miss each fair form, Their faces so cheerful in sunshine and storm. They sleep well in Brookside, adorned by their lahors. O ! sadly we miss them, tbe true friends and neighbors : Our hearts for the brave pioneer still beat warm.
Those landmarks how few who still with us remain ! And the fell blow that severed the "Link in the Chain" Reminds us of histories still left unwritten, That the last name will soon from the record be stricken Of those who have labored that others may gain.
O'er their mouldering ashes still green he the sod, And hallowed the fields where their busy feet trod. We trust that their spirits in glory bave risen, And wait on the shores of the bright streams elysian That flow by the fields and the gardens of God.
Hail, noble Black river ! so swift and so free, The pride of a people thon ever shalt be. Thou holdest the prize, honest labor requiting, Thy strength and thy heauty the stranger inviting, A prosperous town owes its good name to thee.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Hail, city of foliage and ever-green trees! Hail, sweet hum of industry borne on the breeze ! Thou new-born of eities the fairest of daughters, Mature in thy years, yet the child of the waters. Thy name is baptismal, thy mission, to please. June, 1876. E. A. H.
RIVER ST. LAWRENCE.
I stand on thy shore, where rude sentinels hoary Have guarded through ages thy course to the sea ; And thy hright sparkling waters refleet back the story, That likens the tide of all being to thee: Flowing forever, Faltering never, Beautiful river, On, on, to the sca!
Here calm in their beauty thy waters are sleeping, As the trill of the waves ripple soft to the shore, And evergreen shadows night-watches are keeping, And stars of bright promise look down evermore : Beautiful river, Faltering never, Rippling forever, Soft, soft to the shore!
Now o'er thy blue surface soft zephiyrs are straying, And all dimpled with smiles, as youth blushing and free, And the stars and the shadows like naiads are playing, And nature's green foliage seems daneing with glee : Onward forever, Faltering never, Beautiful river, All blushing and free !
As streams of affeetion, thy bright waters meeting, Flow onward together, away and away ; Now severed by islands, now rushing, now greeting, Down cataracts, foaming and bursting in spray : Lingering never, Wonderful river, Rushing forever Away and away ;
So the river of life has flowed down through the ages, Now placid, now rushing, as wave after wave Has recorded the epoelis on time's rocky pages, Engraven in granite, in coral and cave : Mystical river, Lingering never, With rhythm forever, In wave after wave !
Still onward thy flow tow'rd the mystical ocean, Forever replenished by brooklet and stream ; Here mirror of beauty, there whirled in cominotion, Like the river of rivers, the pride of my theme- On flows this river, Tow'rd the All-giver, Replenished ever By brooklet and streanı !
Flowing forever, stream, brooklet, and river, River of life to the ocean of love ;
From cataract's foam to the green isles of pleasure, Reflecting the beams from the brightness above: Flowing forever, Wonderful river, Baek to the Giver- The ocean of love !
HENRY W. SHEAD.
Among the prominent and well-known business men of Watertown none occupy a more exalted place in the gen- eral estimation of the people than does Henry W. Shead. He is a native of Jefferson County, having been born in the town of Champion on the 11th of April, 1819.
In 1862 he embarked in the milling business at Water- town, having purchased the old Union mills, which, under the efficient management and sound business integrity that characterizes all his operations, have acquired a reputation
as enviable as it is wide-spread. Nor is his partner, Mr. I. A. Graves, behind him in the general qualifications of a successful business man.
On the 9th of September, 1855, Mr. Shead united in marriage with Miss Caroline L. Carpenter, of Watertown, who, after twenty-two years of happy wedded life, on the 9th of June, 1877, died, leaving a bereaved husband, three inter- esting children, and a host of friends to mourn her loss. The family consists of Mary G., Henry N., and Caroline L.
218
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
nem mondo
The subject of this sketch was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, September 7, 1792, and was the eldest of two sons and one daughter of Roswell and Lois Patterson Woodruff, of families which were among the carly settlers of that State, and were of English extraction.
About the year 1805 he came with his father's family to Jefferson County, who located near Sanford's Corners, in the town of Le Ray, and purchased a thousand acres of land, the farms of Captain Thomas Jewett and Octavo Blanc now being a part of the purchase.
During the war of 1812-15 he was called out to serve in a cavalry regiment, and engaged principally on picket duty on the northern frontier.
When he became of age or soon after (about the year 1816) he came to Watertown, before it became a village, and commenced a business that grew to large proportions before he resigned it. This was the tin, hardware, iron, and stove trade.
In his clear-headed business way he carly saw that the necessities of the new-comers of this then newly-settled country could not afford to go a two-days' journey or more to procure the common necessaries in his line of trade, so he organized a system of having his teams deliver them at their homes and selling them at fair prices, and taking in return such commodities as they produced in payment. This trade extended over not only all the northern counties of this State then settled, but took in the western counties as far as Buffalo. In several instances his teams
went into the State of Ohio, and made regular trips to much of the then settled portion of Upper Canada.
Under his skillful management this was made profitable. Among the salesmen who sold his manufactured goods in this way were Hiram Converse, of this city, Augustus D. Butterfield, now in Illinois, Harlow Herrick, Solomon Childs, and many others.
October 5, 1817, he was married to Roxana T., daughter of Eli and Roxana Terry Bush, both natives of Connecti- cut. Mrs. Woodruff was born in Oneida county, this State, and was a woman of comely person, and more than ordinary intellectual ability and force of character.
To Mr. and Mrs. Woodruff were born nine children, all of whom became adults, viz. :
Horace W., married to Maria A. Osgood, and now resides in New York.
Lois P. married Howell Cooper, and is now a widow, residing in this city.
Maria D. married Pearson Mundy, and died May 10, 1871.
Frederick B. married Helen Frazell, and both have been dead many years.
Emma A. married Henry Kcep, who died July 30, 1869, and she some years after was again married, to Judge Wil- liam Schley, of Savannah, Georgia, but still resides in New York city.
Mary M. married Henry Cadwell, of Erie, Pennsylvania, and, in a few years, became widowed, and a short time after- wards followed him to the final resting-place.
WOODRUFF HOUSE.
WOODRUFF HOUSE" (ERECTED IN 1851.)
"
HENRY KEEP
HOME BUILDING.
ARC
ADE.
A.G.S.DEL
219
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
Norman W. died at St. Louis, unmarried, aged about twenty-five.
Abbie A. married Allen C. Beach, and died in her early womanhood, September 8, 1856.
Sarah M. married Roswell P. Flower, and their residence is about equally divided between Watertown and New York city.
Soon after his marriage came the time when people could afford better buildings, and Mr. Woodruff's hardware and stove business was largely increased. The old-fashioned open wood-fire was abandoned, and the wood cook-stove took its place in the kitchen, the then principal living-room.
Then, as our new county began to develop, and enlarged houses became a necessity, requiring hardware to enrich and complete, and new rooms to be furnished with modern heating apparatus, he kept pace with the demand and with his enterprise supplied it. In order to do this, he drew upon Albany, Troy, and other points when his goods had to be hauled from these distant places by teams in winter and summer, for then there was no Erie canal or railroad.
His business well established, he commenced acquiring real estate on the north side of the Public Square, as well as other places, until he owned about three-fourths of it. He always had full faith in the future of Watertown, and as it grew up he was ready to make improvements on his prop- erty to meet the demand. First, he built the Woodruff block, of three stores, and afterwards the iron block, of five stores, all in the then advanced modern style. The railroad being secured, he then, with his sons-in-law, Howell Cooper, Henry Keep, and Pearson Mundy, connected with him, erected the Woodruff House, which to-day is a fitting monument to his sagacity and enterprise.
Upon his entrance into Watertown he became identified with all its interests. After the village was incorporated he served as trustee and president many terms. He was chosen among the first by the firemen to be their chief engineer, and held it as long as he would, although he was -pleased with its duties. This was before the days of the water-works, and when wells and cisterns were relied upon to extinguish fires. The by-laws required every house- holder to have leather buckets according to the size of house or building, which the occupant was to take to the place of the fire on the alarm ; and all the citizens were liable to be ordered into the ranks to carry the water from the resources to the engine. Others, and often women, aided to hand back the empty buckets. On the occasion of a serious fire, if any able-bodied looker-on refused to get into line and do duty, the chief would order him to do so, and, if he still refused, whether rich or poor, the chief would apply his whip to him until he did so, always with the approbation of the firemen and the public. He always appeared on horseback, and it was a matter of wonder how, in the dead of night, he could get up, saddle his horse, and be among the first on the ground. He was very fond of the saddle, and, with his favorite horse, would make long journeys in it. An instance of it was when an agent came here to sell a large traet of land located in Alexandria, Theresa, and Antwerp, which he stated he was required to sell at once and for ready cash only. He applied to several parties and then to Mr. Woodruff; made the price one dollar per acre,
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