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 81
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THE MASONIC LODGE,
No. 344, F. and A. M., was instituted July 10, 1822, by Isaae Lee, installing officer. A petition was made to the Grand Lodge of the State of New York in December, 1821, and was signed by sixteen residents, among whose names was that of Count Real. The Masters of the lodge until 1831 were as follows: J. B. Esselstyn, elected 1822; Z. Converse, 1823 ; Philip P. Gaige, 1825 ; D. W. Sloeum, 1826 ; G. S. Sackett, 1827 ; Zebulon Converse, 1828; C. Wright, 1830. The last meeting of this lodge was held May 26, 1831. Lodge No. 293 was formed July 28, 1853, with ten charter members. The Masters have been : Zeb- ulon Converse, elected 1853; A. J. Smith, 1859; Z Con- verse, 1862; D. B. Owen, 1864; S. Bickford, 1866; H.
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
A. House, 1868; G. R. Starkey, 1873; L. O. Woodruff, 1875. The present lodge has an active membership of about sixty-cight persons. The present officers are : L. O. Woodruff, W. M .; J. A. Scobell, S. W .; L. R. Dczen- gremel, J. W .; P. Judd, Treas .; W. J. Grant, Sec .; R. S. Scobell, S. D .; W. T. Ebbs, J. D .; Thomas Mason, S. M. C .; Albert Lennon, J. M. C .; A. H. Millen, Tyler. The officers are annually chosen, and some of the Masters, as seen above, have been continued in office several succes- sive years.
THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
This sketch cannot be closed in a better way than by adding the account of the Centennial festivities of the town- ship, written at the time. The writer said :
" At Cape Vincent, July 4, 1876, the Centennial anniversary of American Independence was celebrated with appropriate ceremonies in a manner and to an extent befitting the occasion. Promptly at twelve o'clock midnight of the 3d, the village was alive with wide- awake citizens, young and old, who, from that time until broad day- light, kept up an incessant noise. Steam-whistles shrieked, all kinds of horns hlew, church-hells, dinner-bells, tea-bells, and sleigh-bells chimed in their mixed melodies. Tin pans and tin pails, brass kettles and brass gongs assisted in the music of their appropriate parts. Altogether, it was such an ushering in of the 'glorious Fourth' as, the Revolutionary Adams wrote to his wife, immediately after the signing of the Declaration, would be appropriate. At sun- rise the brass gun, transported from the barracks at Sacket's Harbor especially for the occasion, belched forth her thirteen notes,-a salute in honor of the original thirteen States. Early in the day, upon all kinds of land and water conveyances, and on foot from the immediate country, came flocking in men and women, hoys and girls, the oldest and the youngest alike full of enthusiasm to ' celebrate' the first, and in all human probabilities to them the last, Centennial. Long hefore ten o'clock A.M., the hour advertised for starting the procession, the trains and steamboats having arrived and poured out their crowded loads to swell the already gathered multitudes, the streets and public places of Cape Vincent were literally thronged. At ten o'clock, as advertised, and in the order named iu the bills, the procession formed, by the direction of G. W. Warren, marshal of the day, and under his lead, aided by assistants Davis, De Salia, and Bishop, proceeded to the railroad depot, the main portion marching down and filling the traveled thoroughfare of Broadway, the two other portions each ac- companying marching down and filling the broad pavement on the sides of the street. The depot, with capacity to seat three thousand people, was filled to overflowing long before the procession could get in. The exercises at the depot were opened by a few very appropri- ate and well-timed introductory remarks made by the president of the day, Brevet Major-General D. B. Sacket. The Rev. G. G. Per- rine, pastor of the Episcopal church at Cape Vincent, then led in prayer. The prayer concluded, the Centennial choir, under the leadership of Charles I. Gardner, assisted by F. C. Braun at the organ and the voices of Mrs. Gardner, Perrine, Eichlebergher, the Misses Buckley, Howard, Moore, and HIinekley, Messrs. Howard, Van Schaick, Carey, and Hilts, favored the vast audience with a distinct, intelligent, and sensible rendering of the national song.
" The Declaration of Independence was then read by R. W. Hig- gins, Esq., of Chaumont, in a very able and eloquent manner, and to the entire satisfaction of the most critical listener in that large audi- ence of decply-interested hearers. At the close the reader was warmly applauded. This was followed by the Cape Vincent brass band play- ing the national airs.
" An able and eloquent oration was then delivered by M. E. Lee, Esq., of Cape Vincent. The expression of thought was suited to the Centennial celebration, and the orator dwelt largely upon the achieve- ments of our forefathers in the great work of the Revolution, and during the formative period of the American Republic, giving them also full credit for the results as enjoyed by us at the end of the cen- tury. They had planted the seed, nourished and fertilized it in its incipient growth; their descendants had cultivated the crop, and were enjoying the rich products of their sowing and early husbandry.
The immensity of the yield after only a century of advancement was pointed out by the orator. The bright prospects of the golden har- vest before us, if we continue wise husbandmen, were briefly adverted to. The orator closed by saying, 'While we have all this glory yet to win we will never forget, fellow-citizens, that our forefathers have left us so much to hold.' .
" At the close of the oration the Centennial choir sang the national anthem ' America.' At the request of the president of the day, and in accordance with the programme, all the assemblage that could sing joined with the choir. Immediately upon the close of the singing, the foregoing Centennial history of the town was read by the historian ap- pointed for the occasion, Rev. E. H. Pratt, pastor of the First Pres- byterian church at Cape Vincent. Though the exercises up to this point of time had been lengthy, and somewhat wearisome, as evi- denced by the tendency to uneasiness on the part of some in the crowd, the related incidents of the history, so deeply interesting to a large part of the audience, soon put the assemblage at ease and in good humor, eager to listen to the 'well-told tales' which the histo- rian had so aptly compiled into a Centennial history of their own town. The memories of the aged were quickened to 'ye olden times,' and the cars of the younger were anxiously opened to hear of what the fathers had done. From the ' symptoms' when the historian con- cluded to stop in his delivery, it was apparent the audience would have gladly heard the whole.
" After the history, music ; a generous vote of thanks to the reader, orator, and historian; and then, to close, benediction by Rev. O. P. Pitcher, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Cape Vincent. The gun boomed out Federal and National salutes. The procession reformed and marched to public square for dinner.
" The afternoon was spent in a yacht regatta and athletic sports, with yachts from the Dominion as well as northern New York. At sundown was fired a national salute.
" The day of celebrating the Centennial Anniversary of American Independence was closed at a late hour in the night by the finale of a grand display of fire-works."
The population of Cape Vincent in 1850, the next year after its formation, was three thousand and forty-four.
E. H. PRATT, A.M.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
JOEL AND LEVI TORREY.
These brothers were born in the town of Chesterfield, New Hampshire. Joel was born in 1785 and Levi in the ycar 1789.
They both came into this country at the same time, and settled in the town of Lorraine, in what was called the Done neighborhood, before the War of 1812. During this war Levi received a commission and had command of a com- pany of men, and was at different points on the St. Law- rence river, from Cape Vincent to Ogdensburgh, in which he served his country with honor. We think at or near the close of the war he received the commission of colonel ; and we presume there are persons yet living in this county who served under him. Some time after the war closed, in the early part of his life, he taught school in different parts of this county ; and as a teacher he was very success- ful. He finally settled in the village of Brownville. Was a brick-maker by trade, and made the brick for his house, which stands yet on the upper side of the village, the walls, to appearanee, as unbroken as ever. While living here he had born to him, by his first wife, five daughters, all of whom survive him. He filled many places of honored trust,
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
and his integrity in doing business was never questioned. He was employed by John La Farge to survey Penet's Square, which was a tract of land ten miles square, the greater portion of which lies in the town of Orleans. In this business he was very sueeessful, and his name is in our County Clerk's office perhaps more times than any other man that ever lived here; and we believe he was the first surveyor in this eounty that ran his line by back-sights, thus overcoming loeal attraction. He was very particular and precise, as every one knows that ever earried chain for him ; strictly honest in this as in all his business, he aimed at justice to all parties, and owing to this he was ealled upon to settle a great many disputed lines.
We think it was in the year 1832 he lost his most aeeom- plished wife by cholera, which blow fell heavily upon him. It was a sickly time, and he took his children and went to visit his brother, Joel, who had a year before moved into the woods, in the then town of Lyme. His health being recruited, he returned to Brownville. Afterwards he married the second time, and the same year moved into the Warren Settlement, where his sixth daughter was born. Here he owned fifty acres of good land, which, with his surveying, furnished a good living until the year 1857, when he, with his two sons-in-law and his entire family, except one, moved into Adams county, Wisconsin, where he was chosen as county surveyor. He resided there until three years ago, when he went with his second widowed daughter, Mrs. Elvira Hill, to Minnesota, to visit some of his children ; and here, at their solicitation, he remained and elosed his long and eventful life, October 18, 1875, at the residence of his son- in-law, Hon. L. Cook, after an illness of twelve days, at the advaneed age of 86, leaving his second wife and all his children to mourn liis loss.
In his polities he was an old-line Whig, inclined to the Silver-Grays, opposed for some time to any movement against slavery. But when the first Republiean platform was made lie stepped square upon it, and labored with all his influenee to see its noble principles carried out and maintained. In the early years of this eounty he was one of the most useful and reliable men ; he was cleeted con- stable six years in suecession. Such was the confidenec the people had in his ability and honesty that he was intrusted with the finances of many of his neighbors and acquaintances. He possessed a very social nature ; he would take and give a good joke with as mueh pleasure as any person we ever knew, and his square, hearty laugh must be well remembered by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance.
His religious belief was in the universal salvation of all mankind; that all wicked persons would be justly punished for their sins, and in the end be restored to the favor of God. He lived constantly in this faith. He was one of the most tender-hearted of men in all his relations in life.
JOEL TORREY,
as before stated, was born in the State of New Hampshire, county of Cheshire, town of Chesterfield, August 31, 1785; was married to Eddy Howard, January 17, 1811; moved into Jefferson County, town of Lorraine, in 1811, where, November 13, 1811, their first child, John Spafford Torrey,
was born ; afterwards they had five sons and five daughters born to them. He lived at Lorraine at the time of the battle at Sacket's Harbor, and was held as a minute-man, and when the alarm was given through this vicinity, he, with his neighbors, started for the seene of aetion, went to the arsenal, proeured a gun, and went to the battle-field, and took his place in the ranks of our army that had com- meneed firing on the advancing foe. In this fight he en- gaged with all his might, and became so absorbed that he continued until he saw the enemy retreating and our men being drawn off the field ; about this time a ball passed through his hat, brushing the hair on the top of his head. He tarried a little on the field of blood to see the wounded, and the sight was such as to cause him to say he would never use the deadly weapon against his fellow-men. It was during this war that he made briek in this city where the Winslow Bloek now stands. From here he moved to Saeket's Harbor; started a boarding-house that would ae- commodate 300 persons; this was in 1815, just before peace was deelared. Failing in this, he went to work for Abraham Jewitt, in Jewittsville, making brick summers and eoopering winters. His mechanical genius was first- elass. At this time all pails, tubs, and buekets were made by hand, and he invented a jointing-machine that was a perfeet sueeess, and aided greatly in the making of pails, buckets, and wash-tubs ; but he was poor, and before he could get it patented the pail-factory was started. Could he have had means when he first invented it he could have become wealthy. In 1826 he moved to Watertown, and for four seasons earried on a brick-yard for Edward Massey, where the railroad junction buildings are now. He.turned off from two to three hundred thousand bricks in a season. There must be in the old buildings in this eity a great many thousand bricks that passed through his hands. He pos- sessed an iron constitution, and we think there are but few men that performed more hard labor in this eounty than he did. With all the hard labor and discouragements he never lay down in the furrow; full of hope for the better time eoming, his courage was equal to his physical strength.
In the fall of 1830 he went into the northern part of town of Lyine, now Cape Vineent, and took a contract of fifty aeres of land, all woods, at $3 per aere; built a log house, and the 1st day of Mareh, 1831, moved from Water- town into what was then ealled the Tuttle and Warren settle- ment, they having settled there six years before. He took with him all of his family except his second son, Levi, who stayed in Watertown and attended school. Here he lived eight or nine years, eleared up the fifty acres, and took a contract of 220 aeres adjoining him ; and then sold an un- divided half of the whole to Allen Cole, and at the close of a lawsuit with Cole lie eame in possession of 109 aeres of said farm.
It was while living in this neighborhood that he and his wife were most useful to the world around them. There was a great deal of siekness, and many a day and night they left their large family to go and help their neighbor that was siek. He was strietly honest in his deal, and he never would take the advantage of his neighbors' neeess- ities. One very dry season he cut some twenty tons of
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
beaver-meadow hay ; the next spring he could get $20 per ton, but he sold it to his neighbors for $10. It was a rule with him to do to others as he wished them do to him ; his religious ereed was the Bible.
In polities he was an old-line Whig, but he was among the first to vote the anti-slavery tieket. He was always in the front rank in every moral reform. He used all the influenee he had against whatever he thought wrong, in church or state; for this cause he had some bitter enemies,
but his friends were true and warm-hearted. He aimed to satisfy his own conscience, whether he pleased others or not.
In 1846 he sold his farm of 59 acres to his son, G. R. Torrey, and moved to Illinois, in 1847, remaining there three years ; a few years afterwards he moved to Geneva, Wisconsin, where his wife died in her 73d year. He then moved to Minnesota, where he spent the last year of a long and eventful life. He died about a year ago, in his 89th year, at the residence of his son, F. O. Torrey.
ELISHA P. DODGE.
MRS. ELISHA P. DODGE.
ELISHA P. DODGE
was born on Black island, in the State of Rhode Island, May 10, 1800. When he was three years old his father moved with his family, and settled in Exeter, and remained there until 1817, when they removed to Jefferson County, and settled on Carlton island. At this time Elisha com- menced life for himself, and, in company with his brother, embarked in the lumber trade. This partnership continued four years, when he accepted the position of foreman for A. Lewis, an extensive lumberman. This situation he held four years, and subsequently he engaged to other parties in the same business until 1832, when he turned his attention to farming.
On the 17th of September, 1833, he married Olive Twin- cliff, and settled on the farm now owned by Gilbert Rob- bins. The result of this union has been seven children, namely, Eliza R., wife of Henry Fox ; Edwin T., died in 1876; Mary A., wife of Henry Clark, died in 1867 ; Elisha L .; Adelaide, wife of Nicholas Schell; Flora, wife
of Isaac Cross; Imogene, wife of Fayette Millen. They moved on to the farm where the widow now resides in 1832, where he lived until his death, which occurred Feb- ruary 14, 1864. He commenced life a poor lad, but by industry and perseveranee he succeeded in surrounding himself with all the necessary comforts of life, besides having a very fine farm of 210 acres. In polities he was a Republican, but never sought or accepted office, being of a retiring disposition. He was a elose observer of men and things, and his opinions and judgment were always respected. He was a true, good man, charitable, hospitable, and benevo- lent, and when he died he left behind him an untarnished reputation.
We find Mrs. Dodge still hale and hearty, though having passed the allotted threeseore ycars and ten. She is a kind-hearted, generous lady, one whom it is an honor to know, and one who is entitled to a prominent place among the pioneer ladies of Jefferson County.
.
HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
331
DAVID C. SHULER
is the son of John and Hannah Shuler, and John the son of Lawrence Shuler, who was a native of Germany, who, on landing in New York, was sold to pay his passage. David C. was born in Montgomery county, New York, January 27, 1800. He worked on his father's farm until he became of age, when he married Penilla, daughter of John and Eliza- beth Butler, of the same county. They commenced life on a rented farm, and continued working farms on shares until 1836, when they decided to move to a newer county, where they could purchase and cultivate their own land. They arrived in Jefferson County, March 27, 1836, and located on the farm where Mr. S. now resides. The family then consisted of five children. He purchased fifty acres of land,-timbered, with the exception of about fifteen acres,-on which was a small house, aptly designated a " shanty." He has added to the farm by subsequent pur- chases until he now possesses 150 acres, under a state of good cultivation. They had a family of nine children, of whom six survive, who are all settled in life, namely :
Ann, wife of John Beeker; Caroline, wife of William Becker ; Jeremiah, now living on the old homestead, and is one of the most successful farmers in the town ; Han- nalı, wife of George H. Klock; Sarah, wife of Theron Klock ; John, now engaged in farming in Texas. One of
the deceased daughters, Lydia, lived to be twenty-two years of age, and lier demise was lamented by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Mrs. Shuler died on the 29th of August, 1840; and her death cast a gloom over the family, for she was a dutiful wife and a kind and affectionate mother.
Mrs. Shuler united in marriage with his present wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Loadawick, March 2, 1843. She is a lady of excellent houseliold abilities, and has been a good mother to the children. He is a man who has attended strictly to his business,-that of farming. Has had little to do with politics, and less with outside speculations. He has ex- perienced the usual hardships of pioneer life, and being now in his seventy-seventh year, and having an excellent memory, he can tell those experiences and incidents of his life in a very interesting manner. He crossed the St. Lawrence to Kingston in 1836 to buy seed, and he avers that there was only about enough water in the river to form the ice for a sleigh to run on. He never saw the water so low since. He can also remember when he sold No. 1 winter wheat in Watertown for sixty cents a bushel, payable in merchandise, money in those days being diffi- cult to procure. He is a man of excellent judgment, un- usual intelligence, and indisputable integrity,-in fine, a man who is an ornament to his town and a blessing to humanity.
CHAMPION.
THIS town, embracing township No. 4 of the eleven towns, was formed from Mexico, by an act of March 14, 1800, including all that part of the present town of Den- mark north of Decr river. It received its name from Gen- eral Henry Champion, of Colchester, Connecticut, who was one of the early proprietors of this town, and also very ex- tensively interested in lands in Ohio and in the western part of this State.
The supervisors elected since the organization of the town have been as follows: 1800-14, Noadiah Hubbard ; 1815, Wilkes Richardson ; 1816-17, .Stowell Warner; 1818-20, N. Hubbard ; 1821, Eseck Lewis; 1822-26, N. Hubbard; 1827, Samuel Dean. At a special town-mect- ing in October, Escek Lewis was chosen to fill a vacancy ; 1828-29, Henry D. Cadnell; 1830-33, Otis Loomis; 1834-38, Richard Hulbut; 1839-40, David Smith ; 1841-43, John Pool, Jr. ; 1844, E. Lewis; 1845, James C. Lynde ; 1846, David Smith ; 1847, John Pool, Jr. ; 1848, William Vanhosen ; 1849, D. Smith ; 1850, Wm. Vanhosen ; 1851-53, Benajah A. Lewis; 1854-55, A. S. Babcock ; 1856-58, Nelson Rulison ; 1859, Joel A. Hub- bard ; 1860, William J. Bentley ; 1861-63, Daniel Potter ; 1864-67, Wesley Barr; 1868, John F. Peck; 1869-70,
Frederick H. MeNitt; 1871, Albert W. Hadsall ; 1872- 74, Minor C. Merrill. At a special town-meeting in March, 1874, James Sterling was chosen to fill a vacancy ; 1875- 77, James Sterling.
The town officers elected at the first town-meeting, April 1, 1800, were Noadiah Hubbard, supervisor ; Eli Church, clerk ; Timothy Pool, David Coffeen, and William Hadsall, assessors ; Ephraim Chamberlain, constable and collector ; John Ward and Reuben Rockwood, overseers of the poor ; Solomon Ward, Amaziah Parker, and Elihu Jones, com- missioners of highways; David Coffeen, William Crowell, Timothy Pool, and Moses Goodrich, overseers of highways ; Levi Barnes, fence-viewer ; Bela Hubbard, pound-master.
The following is a record of the first school-meeting in town, as it occurs on the records iu the town clerk's office :
" Champion, Oct. 23, 1800 .- At a regular meeting of the inhabit- ants of the town aforesaid it is resolved, that there shall be a house erected near a spring, on the road running from Noadiah Hubbard's to Daniel Coffeen's, in said town; and likewise resolved, that said houso shall be built with logs, sixteen feet one way, and twenty feet tho other way. Also, resolved by said meeting, that Daniel Coffeen and Noadiah Hubbard shall act as trustees of said school.
" Attest, ELI CHURCH, Town Clerk."
Champion was surveyed by Moses and Benjamin Wright,
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HISTORY OF JEFFERSON COUNTY, NEW YORK.
in 1797, the former subdividing, and the latter surveying around it; the area, according to M. Wright, was 26,703 acres, and by B. Wright 25,708 acres. It was subdivided into lots of 500 acres each.
This town was the first one in which actual settlements were begun in the county, excepting, perhaps, Ellisburg, which was explored with the view of settlement at about the same time. The following advertisement appeared in the Western Sentinel, June 7, 1797 :
" LAND FOR SALE, lying on Black river, in the county of Herki- mer, and State of New York. Forty lots of land laid out into farms, containing from 100 to 240 acres each. On Inman's Patent, so called, in this township, there is about forty actual settlers, and a good grist- mill within one mile and (illegible . . . ) on said land. This land is of an excellent soil, and the situation convenient and pleasing for set- tlers. The subscriber will remain on the land the most of the ensuing summer and fall. Terms of payment will be made to accommodate purchasers. Also township No. 4, lying on and adjoining Black river, about thirty miles from Boon's Mills ; this township is of an excellent soil; twenty actual settlers will be on this township this summer. For terms please to apply to the subscriber, who will re- side on Inman's Patent, or to Captain Noadiah Hubbard, of Steuben, who is making a settlement on said township No. 4.
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