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 70
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The institute was opened May 20, 1861, with J. M. Manning, a graduate of Brown University, in charge, and two assistant teachers. During the following year three teachers were added. The number of students in attend- ance was about one hundred and twenty. Under Professor Manning's administration, the school was successful in the matter of instruction, but it failed to pay expenses. In 1863, a proposition was entertaincd to transfer the property to the State, for use as a normal school. The commissioners having the matter in charge visited Ant- werp, but nothing was effected. At this time P. D. Foster, now of Washington city, then secretary of the board of
trustees, left Antwerp, and a resolution was passed stating that " in the opinion of the board the citizens of Antwerp are more indebted to him than to any other person for the completion of the buildings."
In the winter of 1865, a proposition was made to change the institute to a graded school. During the summer of 1866, Rev. J. Winslow was engaged as principal. He had preached as a city missionary in Watertown for several years, and for a portion of the time had held the office of school commissioner. In 1868 a proposition was made to lease the property to the Protestant Episcopal society, but the conditions on which that society would accept it were not agreed to. Rev. L. Clark afterwards submitted an offer, on behalf of the Black River Conference, to take the school. The conditions upon which they would lease it were presented by Rev. I. S. Bingham, at another meeting of the stockholders, held July 25, and were accepted unani- mously, and during the next session of the legislature the name was changed to the Black River Conference Seminary. In 1870 the erection of a boarding and ladies' hall, con- structed of stone, 72 by 43 feet, and four stories in height, was commenced. It was finished two years afterwards at an expense of about $16,000. The buildings, as thus com- pleted, are not only imposing in appearance, but afford accommodations and facilities not surpassed by any institu- tion in this part of the State. In 1873 it was resolved by the trustees to place the institution forever beyond the pos- sibility of failure by raising a fund of at least $30,000. Hon. Willard Ives immediately headed the subscription with the sum of $8000. At the ensuing season of the Northern New York Conference, Rev. E. E. Kellogg was put into the field as agent to raise the money, the subscrip- tions to become binding when the sum of $20,000 was reached. For two years he continued the work of securing subscriptions, obtaining about $26,000. At the conference in 1875, however, it was thought that the expense of an agent might be saved, pledges being secured from the preachers to raise the amount required. The result has been that the $30,000 is nearly secured, leaving an endow- ment, after all debts are paid, estimated at $13,790. The entire value of the property, buildings, securities, etc., owned by the institution at the present time reaches up- wards of $50,000.
At the suggestion of Dr. E. O. Haven, an amendment to the charter was obtained April 21, 1874, changing the name to "Ives Seminary," and granting to the board of trustees the power to elect their successors. At about this time, also, an arrangement was effected by which the semi- nary was adopted as Gymnasium C, of Syracuse University, students graduating from it being admitted there without re-examination.
Following is a list of the principals and of the officers of the board of trustees at Antwerp, so far as the names can be obtained, a portion of the records being inaccessible :
PRINCIPALS .- Rev. G. G. Dains, 1868-69 ; Rev. E. C. Bruce, 1869-71; Prof. S. M. Coon, 1871-72; Prof. J. R. Gordon, 1872-73; Rev. G. G. Daines, 1873-75 ; Rev. M. A. Veeder, 1875.
PRESIDENTS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES. - Jonas S. Conkey, 1865; John P. Ellis, 1857; J. H. Conklin,
L.S. WELLER ANTWER P.
ASHER LEWIS
PHOT. OY L.S. WELLER ANTW
MRS.NANCY M. LEWIS
OLD HOMESTEAD
MR . ASHER LEWIS
OF
A.G. S. DEL
RESIDENCE of C. G. HALL, ANTWERP, N. Y.
HIRAM T. NUTTIG.
MRS. MARY ANN JUTTING .
MIRS. SARAH JUTTING.
( PHOTOS BY. L. S. WELLEF.)
FARM AND RESIDENCE OF HIRAM T. NUTTING, ANTWERP, N. Y.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
1861; Almon Buel, 1862; G. S. Sawens, 1867 ; Rev. J. S. Dewey, 1870; Rev. I. S. Bingham, 1873; Hon. Wil- lard Ives, 1874. Secretaries .- P. D. Foster, 1855 ; John P. Ellis, 1863; J. M. Beaman, 1868; Rev. Wm. Watson, 1870; Rev. S. Dewey, 1875; Rev. C. H. Guile, 1876. Treasurers .- L. II. Bailey, 1855 and 1858; John M. Green, 1857.
OX BOW.
This little village is located on the left bank of the Os- wegatchie, at the southernmost point of the great bend in that river. It lies due north of Antwerp village seven and one-half miles, and its communication with the latter place is over an excellent turnpike-road. Ox Bow, at the present time, contains a post-office, one hotel, four stores, one phy- sician, one drug-store, one wagon-shop, three blacksmithı- shops, one harness- and saddlery-shop, a good school-house, two churches, and about 300 inhabitants.
That the first settlement on this ground was made nearly three-fourths of a century ago by Peter Vrooman from Johnstown, New York, we have already seen ; and we have also seen how, for several years, it was hoped and believed by the earliest settlers that Gen. Lewis R. Morris, the first proprietor, would remove his family hither and make this his permanent residence. Such an idea was probably never entertained by him, though he did eause a sinall clearing to be made and a log house erected. He not long after sold a tract of forty-one lots of land-about 18,000 acres, including the site of this village, and extending eight miles towards Theresa-to Silvius Hoard and others. This be- came known as the " Cooper Tract," from having been purchased in 1817 by Abraham Cooper, then of Trenton, New York, who may properly be called the founder and father of the village of Ox Bow. He came here in the spring of 1818, and entered upon the business of merchan- dising in the " old yellow store," which he crected on the main street a short distance below the present hotel and square ; this being the first store in that portion of the town of Antwerp. The first physician of the village, Dr. Abner Benton, one of the prominent citizens of Ox Bow, also came in 1818; and the first white child born in the village, or in that portion of the town, dates his nativity to the same year. This was Nicholas Cooper, son of Abra- ham, now one of the best-known and most respected in- habitants of the town of Antwerp.
In the following year Abraham Cooper built the stone store which is now the Methodist meeting-house. It was a solid building, with a quadrangular (hip) roof, which seemed a large one for so small a place ; but his trade was large in the goods which he sold and the produce which he purchased, and so his new store was always well filled.
The second store in Ox Bow was opened in 1825 by John J. Gilbert and Rufus H. King, two of Mr. Cooper's clerks. This stood on the main road, directly opposite the yellow store where Mr. Cooper commeneed business in 1818.
About 1820, a brick building twenty-five by forty feet was built by Mr. Cooper, solely at his own expense, de- signed as a school-house and place of religious worship. The use of this building he gave to the publie for these pur-
poses without remuneration for ten years ; and about 1830 he sold it to the Presbyterian society. For many years this was the only place in Ox Bow or vicinity where religious meetings were regularly held. It has been stated that in the early days Pulpit Rock, a short distance out from the village, was used as a place of religious incetings, and it is told that a sermon preached there from Matthew xvi. 17 : "And upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," was peculiarly ~: impressive. This, however, was probably upon the occa- sion of some rural religious festival, and it is not likely that meeting there for religious services was ever a common practice. This Pulpit Rock is situated about a half-mile from Ox Bow, on the Evans' Mills road. It is a high, per- pendicular precipice of rock, in the face of which, at con- siderable distance from the ground, is a niche or hole, or rather a section of such cavity, which has the appearance of having been worn by the long-continued rolling of stones in a pool of water. From a fancied resemblance of this cavity to a pulpit, the rock obtained its name. The pub- lished descriptions of its height and sublimity have gener- ally been greatly overdrawn.
The public-house at Ox Bow-a part of the present hotel-was built by Mr. Cooper in the year 1819. Its first landlord was Solomon Loomis. After him camne Lucas Gillett, John Pierce, Enos Brainard, 1834 to 1850, and Charles S. Green ; the last-named being the builder of thic huge southern wing which fronts on the village square. Other landlords of the house have been Geo. W. Wheeler, John Dodge, and Ransom Howe. At this house, for a long period of years, the town-meetings were held alternately with Antwerp village ; and here for a still greater number of years the mail-coaches made their halts for change of horses and refreshment of passengers. Abraham Cooper, in addi- tion to his other enterprises, was for a long time proprietor of the stage-line from Denmark to Ogdensburgh, passing through this village. Vrooman's tavern (which in its best days was but an insignificant affair) was discontinued at a very early day, and his lands were purchased by Abraham Lewis, who kept no public-house, and who afterwards sold and removed to Somerville, where he died.
The post-office at Ox Bow was established in 1819, the first postmaster being Dr. Abner Benton. The office was first kept in Cooper's store ; afterwards removed to the store of King & Gilbert. After Dr. Benton, the appoint- ment as postmaster was given to Rufus H. King, who held it for a long term under Democratic administrations ; then followed Enos Brainard, Elias F. Cooper, and Martin Brainard. The present postmaster is Earl B. Green.
Soon after his settlement at Ox Bow, Abraham Cooper donated to the public a lot of land, forty by seventeen rods in extent, lying on the south side of the main road, to re- main vacant forever as a village green. This gift was prompted by public spirit and good judgment, but the plat has not been properly cared for. The two churches and the hotel stand fronting upon this ground.
There is no water power on the Oswegatchie at this point ; a want which was much lamented by Mr. Cooper, who at one time had in contemplation the purchase of a site upon the river some two miles above, and the erection
282
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
there of a dam, from which to bring the water in an artifi- cial head-race to the village; an enterprise which could not have failed to greatly promote its prosperity ; but this scheme was brought to an abrupt ending by the death of the party with whom he was negotiating for the purehasc.
In consequence of this lack of power there are no mills or manufactories within the village. A short distance to the westward, however, upon the shore of Vrooman's lake, and near enough to be regarded as belonging to Ox Bow, is the steam saw-mill of Mr. Roselle Payne, built in 1850, chiefly with view to the cutting of hemlock plank for the plank-roads which were then in process of construction. It was carried on for a few years by John Frazer, until destroyed by fire, after which it was rebuilt by Mr. Payne, and is still operated by him.
STERLINGBURGH.
On the southern bank of Indian river, about one mile above Antwerp bridge, is a cluster of buildings which, though hardly entitled to the appellation of village, is col- lectively known as Sterlingburgh, from James Sterling, who was its proprietor for many years. It consists of an excellent grist-mill, a saw-mill, and a few dwellings, besides several large buildings, relies of past enterprise, now in disuse, and some in actual decay.
The water-power is better here than at Antwerp village, and it is difficult to understand why, in view of this and other natural advantages, the latter should have beeome the more important placc. It was not long after the con- clusion of his great purchase before the attention of Mr. · Parrish was directed to these facts, and late in the autumn of 1816 he commenced preparations for the damming of the river, and the erection of a forge at this point. Dur- ing the early part of the following year he completed thesc, as also a large house and a road to the works; but the enter- prise proved unprofitable, and by the opening of the year 1820 it was abandoned. No vestige of this old forge has now been visible for many years.
In 1824 the erection of a distillery was commenced here for Mr. Parrish, under the supervision of William McAl- laster, his agent. Other buildings were also erected to be used in the fattening of cattle and swine from the refuse of the distillery. This enterprise was intended to furnish to those who had purchased lands from Parrish an opportunity to pay for them in grain and cattle, thus affording a good and convenient market, and, at the same time, benefiting the proprietor by hastening payments on the lands which he had sold to them.
This establishment continued in operation for thirteen years (with the exception of a partial suspension during 1829 and 1830), and in that time it consumed 72,114 bushels of eorn, 42,444 bushels of rye, 5086 bushels of malt, 108 bushels of barley, and 4900 pounds of hops, from which it produced 15,700 barrels of proof whisky, and more than a thousand head of cattle, and a large num- ber of swine were fattened from its refuse.
In 1834, Mr. Parrish erected a grist-mill near the distil- lery, taking the water from the dam which he had built in 1816-17 for use of the forge. This mill still stands, and is in successful operation.
In 1846 the distillery, mill, and water-power were pur- chased of Mr. Parrish by James Sterling, who erected a furnace upon the property. This he kept in operation, principally upon ores from the Sterling mine, until 1858, when its fires went out forever. The old building and stack may still be seen, in a most dilapidatcd condition, near the river-bank; and the stone buildings of Mr. Parrish-dis- tillery and cattle barn, all of stone-are yet there. In one of these Mr. Sterling carried on a foundry before 1858. In later years the still-house was for a time used as a cheese- factory, until the crection of the new one at Antwerp vil- lage.
In 1859, Sterlingburgh was sold by James Sterling to Alexander Copley, whose sons, Alexander and Eugene Copley, are its present proprietors.
A mile above Sterlingburgh, upon Indian river, is an extensive forge, built in 1870, by A. P. Sterling and Edgar Peckham, upon the site of an old saw-mill formerly owned by George A. Hoard. The cost of this forge was $20,000, and it employed one hundred men. Mcssrs. Sterling & Peckham operated it upon ores from the Sterling mine and from Lake Champlain. The works had been built by them under a long lease from Alexander Copley, to whom the entire establishment was afterwards sold, It is now owned by A. & E. Copley, the proprietors of Sterlingburgh.
SPRAGUE'S CORNERS
is the name given to a cluster of buildings lying partly in Antwerp and partly in St. Lawrence county, at a point nearly half a mile southeast from the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburgh railroad, at Keene's Station, which name is often applied to the village.
The first settlers here were William Vebber and Moses and Robert Parkinson, brothers, from Massachusetts, who came in from the southwest, guided by marked trees and by the lines of lots, before the existence of a road to this point. Israel Sprague was another of the earliest settlers here, and it was from him that the settlement was named. Both he and Vebber lie in the grave-yard on the hill at the westerly end of the village. Mr. Burge, the father of Moses Burge, was also one of the first who located here.
The village consists of a school-house, two churches (mention of which is made elsewhere), three stores, two blacksmith-shops, one wagon-shop, and about one hundred and fifty inhabitants. The post-office of Shingle Creek is also located herc, but is in the county of St. Lawrence, as is also the greater part of the business of the place, the main street being also the county line, dividing the village between St. Lawrence and Jefferson. A public-house, the " Keene Station Hotel," is located a short distance from the village, near the railroad track. This was built about 1859, by A. C. Ellis, now of Michigan, who also for a time carried on a general store in connection with it. The rail- road from Watertown was opened to this place in the autumn of 1855. Colonel H. B. Keene was the company's agent for eleven years, and it was for him that the station received its namc.
STEELE'S CORNERS
is the designation of a neighborhood about one mile south- east from Sprague's. Formerly there was a hotel at this
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
point,* built and kept by Ebenezer Gillett, and a store by William Skinner, Esq., in partnership with - Pierce. This was afterwards removed to Sprague's Corners. The . hotel died a natural death. There was once a church of the Baptist denomination at this place, mention of which is made in connection with the Free Baptist church of Sprague's Corners. At present Steele's Corners is but an ordinary country road-crossing.
BENTLEY'S CORNERS
is now but an agricultural neighborhood in the westerly part of the town. Some years ago, before the opening of the railroad, this was the location of a post-office bearing the same name, and it also had a tavern, by Clark Willard.
NAUVOO
consists of a small cluster of dwellings, with a saw-mill and shingle-mill and a school-house, all located on Indian river, in the southerly portion of Antwerp, and very near the town line of Wilna. Neither of the three places last mentioned has any village pretensions.
THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF ANTWERP was organized in July, 1819, by Rev. Isaac Clinton, then principal of the academy at Lowville.
The event took place in Copeland Hall, upon the site of the present Proctor House. The original members were William Randall, Percival Hawley, Edward Foster, Elijah Hoyt, Hosea Hough, Mrs. Hawley, Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Frances Eaton, and Mrs. Polly Copeland. It was agreed beforehand to employ either a Presbyterian or a Congrega- tional minister, as might be most convenient, and to allow him to choose the polity of the organization.
Mr. Clinton being a Presbyterian, the church took that forın of government, and so remained for many years. In 1838 a newly-elected deacon could not conscientiously sub- scribe to that portion of the ordaining ritual that requires " approval of the government and discipline of the Presby- terian Church in the United States," and it was accordingly omitted. In 1840, several others chosen to that office, and to the eldership, expressed the same scruples and requested that the same omission be made in their ordination. The minister who was to officiate learning of this fact, refused to performn the ceremony, and they were not ordained. The conflict thus begun became more intense, and continued till the peace and prosperity of the church were destroyed. For years it was in a state of chaos, having no settled form for administering its internal affairs or enforcing discipline. It seems to have been in doubt even as to its own identity. Its elders resigned and its session disorganized June 29, 1849. At the same time it was voted that a certain appli- cant for admission should be received " after the Congrega- tional order." Some regarded these acts and usages as a change to Congregationalisın ; others, as virtual disorganiza- tion ; others, still, thought the church Presbyterian without elders. Affairs remained in this state of confusion till June 3, 1854. At this date a vote was passed unanimously, botlı males and females voting, " to adopt the Congregational form
of government." Thus was the long strife ended, and harmony once more restored. For years, however, it re- mained without rules for the election of officers or the transaction of business. It was this divided and belligerent condition of the church that did much to render so many years of its history inefficient and unfruitful in good.
We have no record of the doings of the church for the first three years ; probably none was kept. Tradition is the only source of information. From this it is known that Mr. Clinton preached every alternate Sabbath for a year ; Revs. Dearborn and Wellington a few months each ; and Rev. C. Wait from the fall of 1821 till the spring of 1823. Then for a third of the time during the next twelve months Rev. James Sandford, of Ox Bow, supplied the pulpit. From the beginning of his ministry the minutes of the church have been preserved. Several long intervals, how- ever, are passed over without entry.
Rev. Charles G. Finney labored during July, August, and September, 1824, and the whole village and surrounding country were moved by his powerful sermons. There were a large number of conversions, and forty-one were added to the church. This was the first religious awakening of any moment that ever occurred in the town.
The only persons now identified with the church that belonged to it at that time are Mr. Japhet Chapin and wife, both past eighty. They joined by letter under Mr. Finney. On February 21, 1825, this entry was made in the minutes : " The whole amount of members, infants included, is as follows : adults in communion, 56 ; infants, 45 ; total, 101." From this it appears that baptized infants were regarded as members of the church. It would seem also that there . were but six accessions before Mr. Finney came,-these being during Mr. Sandford's ministry. This is probably the reason there are no entries of an earlier date. Nothing was done, and, of course, there was nothing to record. Rev. R. R. Demming was supply during 1825, and Rev. J. D. Pickands through 1830. In the interval of the year following there was preaching only a few months at a time by different clergymen. The additions to the membership during these seven years were twenty-seven.
For a long time the church owned no house of worship, and was greatly embarrassed in consequence. It was ex- cluded from the brick church built by Mr. Parrish, now owned by the Catholics, because it would not hire a min- ister to suit all classes. In 1830 it was voted at a school- meeting that no religious gathering should be allowed in the school-house. This illustrates the opposition the church encountered and the difficulties it had to contend with in its early history.
In the summer of 1831 the church began to build its first meeting-house, and completed it the following year. It was a plain frame structure of small dimensions. Mr. Japhet Chapin, a carpenter by trade, and an elder in the church, did most of the work, trusting in God for pay, and was amply compensated, even temporally, for the year was a prosperous one for him. Mr. L. A. Wickes, a young theological student, who was supplying the church that season, did much to help the work along, laboring with his own hands with great zeal. In January, 1832, Rev. A. L. Crandall began his ministry, which lasted for three
# Just over the county line in St. Lawrence.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
years. Ju antumu the new building was dedicated and occupied. The Spirit came down in great power, and numbers were converted. There were constant accessions under Mr. Crandall,-sixty-four in all, forty-one by profes- sion. Rev. Henry Jones succeeded him in January, 1835, remaining till July, 1836. The results were forty-five additions, thirty-two from other churches. He first agi- lated the anti-slavery question in the pulpit. Rev. L. A. Wickes comes next. During his third and fourth years sixty-two joined the church. The growth of the church was constant and rapid. His first report (February, 1837) showed one hnudred and thirty-two in its communion ; his last (in February, 1841), two hundred and one. During the five years of his labors one hundred and ten were taken into its fellowship. The gains were to the losses as two to one. He resigned July 4, 1841. Rev. H. H. Waite was ordained and installed pastor in March, 1842, having begun his labors in November preceding. In his second year, assisted by Rev. C. B. Pond as evangelist, he held a series of meetings with marked success. On May 7, 1843, fifty- six connected themselves with the church ou confession of faith. The next annual report ( February, 1844) gives the membership at two hundred and thirty-three,-the largest in its history previous to 1876. Seventy-four were the total additions during this pastorate. Mr. Waite remained three years, leaving in the fall of 1844. The next five years were utterly barren. For more than half the time the society was withont preaching or public service. Revs. John Thompson and S. Williams cach preached a twelve- month. Rev. C. B. Pond's ministry followed, commencing May 1, 1849, and continuing to May 1, 1857. This, like the preceding, was a period of conflict and transition from Presbyterianism to Congregationalism, and was character- ized by death and desolation in spiritual things. During four years of the time there are no entries made in the minutes ; ouly fifteen names are recorded as additions to the church. Mr. Pond, however, labored faithfully for the prosperity of the society and the town. He was one of the leading movers in the building of the Antwerp Acad- cmy. Through him, also, in 1852, the church was indneed to ercet its second house of worship,-the one now known as the "old Congregational church." It cost about six thousand dollars, and was considered an elegant structure for the day and place. The pulpit was next filled by Rev. Mr. Mosher for a few months, Rev. R. T. Conant from August 1, 1858, to August 1, 1860, and Rev. H. II. Waite a second time, from September 1, 1860, to Septem- ber 1, 1864. There were five accessions to the church under Mr. Conaut's charge, and twenty-four under Mr. Waite's. Rev. Jesse H. Jones began his labors June 1, 1865. This was the beginning of new life and prosperity in the church. A thousand dollars were expended in re- pairing the church edifice, a parsonage was purchased at a cost of thirteen hundred dollars, a manual of church order and polity was adopted, and for the first time was the Con- gregational organization completed and set in motion.
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