USA > New York > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 39
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296
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
To HIS town was formed from Mexico, Oswego county, March 14, 1800, at first embracing, besides its present lim- its, that part of Denmark, south of Deer river. This part was taken off in the formation of Harrisburgh in 1803. Red- field, Watertown, Turin and other towns were formed by the same act. It embraces No. 11 of the Eleven Towns, and is the only one of that number that retains the name given upon the Sur- veyor-General's maps of 1802 and 1804. At an early date it was known as " Num- ber 11," and a few legal writings drawn here, are dated in " Mexico." It was within the memory of those living when our first edition was published, that a tax-collector came through the woods from Oswego county, upon an official errand, before the town of Lowville was erected. The first town meeting was ordered to be held at the house of Silas Stow, at which the following town offi- cers were chosen :-
Daniel Kelley, Supervisor ; Moses Coffeen, Clerk ; Charles Davenport, Jonathan Rogers and Benjamin Hill- man, Assessors; Ehud Stephens, Con- stable and Collector ; Billa Davenport and Aaron Cole, Overseers of Poor ; Isaac Perry, James Bailey and Benjamin Hillman, Commissioners of Highways; Ehud Stephens, David Cobb, Asa Newton, Daniel Porter, and Zadoc Bush, Path Masters; Jonathan Rogers and Elisha Stephens, Pound Masters and Fence Viewers ; and Adam Wilcox, Benjamin Hillman, Jonathan Rogers, Daniel Kelley, Asa Newton and John Bush, a committee to select convenient places for burial.
Supervisors .- 1800-'04, Daniel Kelley ; 1805, Silas Stow ;* 1806-'07, William Dar-
row ; 1808, D. Kelley ; 1809-'10, Benja- min Hillman; 1811-'13, Ela Collins; 1814, Solomon King; 1815, Benjamin Hill- man ; 1816-'17, Heman Stickney ; 1818- '22, Benjamin Davenport; 1823, Chester Buck ;* 1824-'26, Charles D. Morse; 1827, E Collins ; 1828, Benjamin Davenport ; 1829-'31, E. Collins ; 1832-'33, Chester Buck ; 1834, Daniel T. Buck ; 1835-'41, Chester Buck ; 1842, John Buck; 1843, Curtis G. Lane ; 1844, Chester Buck ; 1845-'46, Curtis G. Lane ; 1847, Phincas Leonard ; 1848-'52, Curtis G. Lane ; 1853, Jess Brown ; 1854-'55, Curtis G. Lane ; 1856-'57, Joseph A. Willard ; 1858-'61, Curtis G. Lane ; 1862, Rutson Rea ; 1863, James L. Leonard, (resigned); Edward A. Brown, (from March 22d); 1865, Ches- ter G.Lane; 1866, Rutson Rea (resigned); Henry E. Turner, (from October 30th) ; 1867, H. E. Turner ; 1868-'70, Curtis G. Lane ; 1871, Amos B. Smiley ; 1872-'82, Charles D. Boshart.
Clerks .- 1800, Moses Coffeen; 1801-'05, William Darrow ; 1806, Daniel Gould ; 1807, Daniel Kelley ; 1808-'09, William Darrow ; 1810-'16, Robert McDowell ; 1817-'18, Charles D. Morse ; 1819-'23, Charles Dayan; 1824, Russel Parish ; 1825, Andrew W. Doig ; 1826, Palmer Townsend; 1827-'34, Orrin Wilbur ; 1835 -- '38, William L. Easton; 1839, Am- brose W. Clark ; 1840-'41, Edwin Jarvis; 1842-'44, William Thompson ; 1845-'46, Ambrose W. Clark; 1847, Francis B. Morse ; 1848, William A. Chase; 1849- '51, Francis B. Morse ; 1852-'54, George S. Chase ; 1855, Francis N. Willard ; 1856-'58, Loren M. Brown; 1859-'71, Mar- cellus J. Murray ; 1872, William Worth Dewey ; 1873-'82, Hiram Porter.
The town meetings were held for many years at the old academy on the
* At a special town meeting, held one month after, Solomon King was chosen supervisor.
* Mr. Buck came from Lanesboro in 1811: He rep- resented the county in Assembly in 1822 and 1840, and took an active part in public affairs. Superior breeds of sheep were first introduced into the county by him. He died July 3, 1847, at his residence on the West road, aged 56 years.
297
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
site of the Stone Church. Some idea of the poor expenses of the town, for a series of years before the erection of a poor-house, may be learned from the fol- lowing statement :-
1810. Poor money on hand, $435.31, of which $48 stood to the credit of the county.
1811. on hand.
$522.49
1812.
do
617.09
1813.
do
697.30
1814.
do
749.91
1815.
do
775.95
1816.
do
718.49
1817.
do
318.90
1818.
do
326.23
1819. do
408.81
1820.
do
228.04
1821.
do
121.24
Notes from the Town Records .- In 1809, 1810, 1812 and 1814, fines were voted for allowing Canada thistles to go to seed.
In 1817, Stephen Leonard and Heman Stickney were appointed a committee to confer with a committee from Martins- burgh about building a poor-house. It will be noticed that this was about ten years before one was built.
In 1830, it was proposed to build a town house, and $300 was voted. In 1832, a resolution was passed to apply for a law allowing $500 to be raised for a town. house. William Shull, Isaac Bailey, John Stevens, Stephen Leonard and Chester Buck were appointed to superintend the building. A petition was presented in Assembly March 15th, and referred to Messrs. Doig, Skinner and Moulton, but no further legislative action appears upon the journals. It is not improbable that the idea here presented was the same as that some twenty years afterwards of the ultimate removal of the county-seat from Martinsburgh, a measure that the citi- zens of Lowville never lost sight of, un- til it was finally accomplished in 1864.
At a special meeting, July 7, 1832, the town voted $100, besides the $150 previously raised, to build a draw in the Black River bridge, to allow the steam-
boat then building at Carthage, to pass. The town of Watson also aided in this improvement, which was accomplished.
In 1833, voted $150 for the Illingworth bridge, if enough to finish it be raised by other means. This is the bridge on the road to Dayanville.
In 1836, resolutions were passed ask- ing for a law to tax the town $500 an- nually for five years, to aid in rebuilding the Academy. This will be further no- ticed in our account of that institution. A committee, consisting of Chester Buck, Charles Bush, Luke Wilder, George D. Ruggles and Benjamin Davenport, was appointed under these resolutions.
In 1843, the town protested against the tax in this town, for the Carthage and Lake Champlain road, and the next year, against a county tax for the Tiffany bridge, or a new County Clerk's office.
In 1851, voted to borrow $1,950 from the State Treasurer, under resolution of November, 1850, to aid in building Black River bridges.
This town, with Adams and Water- town, fell to the share of Nicholas Low in the division between the four pro -. prietors of the Black River Tract, Aug. 5, 1796.
SKETCH OF NICHOLAS LOW.
Nicholas Low, the fifth son of Corue- lius Low, and Margarette, his wife, was born near New Brunswick, on the Rari- tan, N. J., March 30, 1739. His grand- father Cornelius Low, was born at Kings- ton, Ulster county, in 1670, and his father Cornelius Low, in the city of New York, in March, 1700. His mother was a daughter of Isaac Gouverneur, and a descendant of Governor Jacob Leisler, of the early English Colonial period. Of his boyhood we have no trace, but it may be assumed from the position and easy circumstances of his parents, as well as from his character in after life, that he received careful training. He en-
298
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
tered at an early day upon the career of a merchant, in the city of New York, where his eldest brother Isaac had made himself conspicuous. In 1786, his store was at 218 Water street, New York. Both brothers, at the commencement of the dispute between Great Britain and her colonies, embraced the American cause. Isaac Low, in 1774, was chosen by the city a member of the Committee of Public Safety, and also one of the Dele- gates of the Continental Congress of that year, having for colleagues, John Jay, John Alsop, James Duane and Philip Livingston, but as the quarrel became embittered, Isaac Low adhered to his allegiance to the Crown, while Nicholas cast his lot in with his countrymen,* and when the British troops entered New York, he abandoned it and only re- turned after the peace. He then re- sumed business there as a merchant, en- joying the confidence and friendship of the most eminent men of the nation- Washington, Jay, Hamilton, Gouver- neur Morris, Rufus King, the Living- stons and others.
Mr. Low was alive to all the great political questions which agitated his countrymen, and taking such part as he deemed obligatory upon every good citizen, was ever averse to political life, and office he never sought. He was nevertheless sought out by his fellow citizens on occasions of moment. He was a member of the convention that adopted the Federal Constitution, and in 1788 and 1789, was in Assembly. His political sentiments were then of the Federal party, as inaugurated under the
auspices of Washington, but he was of too independent mind and habits, ever to be a mere partizan.
Late in life, Mr. Low married Alice Fleming, widow of S- Fleming, and by her he had three children-Cornelius, Nicholas and Henrietta. The latter be- came the wife of Charles King, a broth- er of Governor John A. King, and at the time of his death, President of Colum- bia College, in the city of New York.
In 1796, he made the purchase of the Black River Tract with others, as we have elsewhere related. He had inher- ited from his father a considerable amount of landed estate at Ballston, Saratoga county, which town, in the early part of the century, became a place of much summer resort, by reason of its medicinal springs, and Mr. Low built there, for the accommodation of this travel, a large hotel known as “Sans- Souci."
When the embargo of 1807, and war of 1812, cut us off from the supply of manufactured goods usually received from England, Mr. Low conceived the project of a great manufactory of cotton at Ballston, and accordingly with his accustomed energy and decision of character, went to work at the enter- prise, investing very large sums him- self, and inducing friends to do likewise. For the brief period of the war, the un- dertaking was remarkably successful, but with peace came ruin to home man- ufactures, and those at Ballston did not escape the common lot. The capital in- vested was almost a total loss, and Mr. Low soon after sold all his property at Ballston, of which as a watering place moreover the glories had been eclipsed by the neighboring Saratoga Springs.
With declining years Mr. Low with- drew from business, occupied himself mainly with the care of his estate and in the society of his family and of attached friends, exempt, until within the last year
* Isaac Low withdrew to England in 1783, having been attainted and banished by an act of the Legisla- ture in 1779. He died in that country in 1791. IIe was one of the first members of the Chamber of Com- merce in the city of New York, and a member of the first Provincial Convention that was held, to give ex- pression to the grievances of which the Colonies com- plained. But he was in favor of reconciliation, and not of separation, and when the latter became inevitable, he adhered to the government party, and shared its mis- fortunes, as stated in the text.
299
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE
or two of his life, to a remarkable degree, from bodily suffering, though with eye- sight and hearing somewhat impaired, yet with mind unclouded, he passed serenely on to death, November 15, 1826, being then in his 83d year.
In personal character, Mr. Low was distinguished for sterling qualities. With a clear head, great self-reliance and independence, much observation and knowledge of men and affairs, he combined a high sense of honor, the most scrupulous integrity, and the most exact justice and truth. His yea was always yea, and his nay, nay, whatever might betide. He was a consistent member of the Episcopal church, and for many years a warden of Grace Church in the city of New York. In personal appearance he was of compact and robust frame, with a full head, broad forehead, clear, steady blue eyes, fine complexion and an expression indic- ative at once of great kindness and great firmness. His manner was courte- ous and polished, yet very direct. He was the very type of an independent, upright, honest gentlemen.
Mr. Low was accustomed to visit the town annually upon business during many years. His son, Cornelius, was appointed, in 1818, agent with Mr. Bost- wick, and remained at Lowville a law partner with him until the death of his father. He died June 30, 1849, aged 54 years. Nicholas Low, the second son, died in New York in the fall of 1859.
As noticed elsewhere, the Low family afforded some aid to the town by a loan to the Academy, secured by a mortgage, running indefinitely and without inter- est, so long as it remained an institution upon its then existing plan. They afford- ed also some assistance to Trinity church in the beginning, but otherwise they have left no memento deserving of no- tice beyond the name.
We find the same name applied to
postoffices in the States of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and conject- ure that in some, if not in all of these cases, it was borrowed from this town, which has at least priority of date, and prestige in importance.
SILAS STOW, THE FIRST LOCAL AGENT.
Soon after the division of the Eleven Towns among the four proprietors of the Black River Tract, Mr. Low ap- pointed Silas Stow, as his agent. . A short account of Mr. Stow is proper in this connection.
He was born in Middlefield. Connecti- cut, December 21, 1773, and was the youngest of a family of eight children. His three older brothers, Elihu, Obed and Joshua, were all in the Revolution, and his father, a zealous patriot, rendered all the material aid that could be spared from his farm, and from principle, re- ceived continental money at par for everything he had to sell for the army. He was a farmer in very moderate cir- cumstances. His wife was a woman of remarkable energy and devotion to the interests of her family. Mr. Stow was often heard to speak of her with tender- ness and respect, and to her were her children largely indebted for whatever distinction they afterwards acquired. He received only a common school edu- cation, and his further acquirements were due to his mother's care and his own enthusiasm. He studied law at Middletown, but before settling in prac- tice, became concerned in the agency of Leyden, and in 1797 was appointed by Low, agent for his towns on the Black River Tract. He came on with the first settlers, and on the 26th of July, 1801, he married Mary Ruggles, of Boston, a sister of General George D. Ruggles, formerly of this town. We will relate an incident of the courtship and mar- riage of Mr. Stow, of which there can
300
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
be no doubt, as we have it in part from those who knew the circumstances, and partly from his own diary.
Before coming into the county he had become acquainted with Miss Ruggles, of Boston, and had agreed to marry, but during his absence in the Black River country, she changed her mind, and without giving him notice, married a Doctor Dix. In his diary at Lowville, June 17, 1790, is the following entry :-
"This day is one year since 1 heard of M. Ruggles' marriage, and I have de- voted it to serious reflection and prayer. For three days after the news, I felt in- describable distress, but since that I have thought of it with a kind of solemn satisfaction. I consider it as one of the many evident manifestations of a Divine Providence, which I have witnessed, and an additional proof of what I have long believed, viz :- that infidelity in love is always punished in this life. This day I have received a letter from Daniel Hirshaw, announcing Dix's death, after flying from his wife and treating her with the greatest abuse. If this should ever fall into the hands of any person but myself, he may know that the writer believed that there is a God mindful of the affairs of men."
The mention of the death of Dr. Dix, in the above extract, anticipates some- what the thread of the narrative which we will now resume :--
The course of love did not run smooth with Mr. and Mrs. Dix-in fact, he at once abandoned her, and she lost all trace of his whereabouts. But meeting a sea-captain of her acquaintance, one day, he told her that her husband was living at the Island of St. Thomas, in the West Indies. She took passage in his vessel for that place, and almost the first person she met upon landing, was her husband. He affected pleasure at meet- ing her, but as they were passing along, he entered a building under pretext of business, and left her standing in the street. This was the last she ever saw
of him, and search being unavailing, she returned to Boston.
On the 10th and 11th of August, 1799, following, we find notice of his meeting Mrs. Dix, in Boston, and this time we may presume, the " indescribable dis- tress " was on her side. About two years after this he married her, as above mentioned, but their married life was not a happy one-his habits having got the better of his judgment, long before the end ; and at a time when, under the influence of liquor, he was overheard to say, " I married you to punish you." He was sometimes, when intoxicated, even abusive, and seemed to watch for oppor- tunities to humble her feelings in the presence of others.
Mr. Stow was appointed a Judge of Oneida county, January 28, 1801, and was elected to the Twelfth Congress, (1811-'13) from the tenth district, by the Federal party. Following the principles they advocated, he spoke and voted against the declaration of war with Great Britain. In 1814-'15, he held the office of Sheriff, and from 1815 to 1823, that of First Judge of Lewis county. Although educated to the law, he never practiced at the Bar, but was regarded as a sound and judicious lawyer, and a man of great native talent. He was succeeded in the agency by Miller, in 1802, and an un- fortunate land purchase in Malta (Lor- raine) resulted in a pecuniary disaster, from which he never recovered. He died January 19, 1827, at the house of Lemuel Wood, aged 54 years. His re- mains are buried in the old town grave- yard, on the East road, opposite the vil- lage of Lowville, where a humble head- stone marks the place of his rest.
Judge Stow had three sons, Alexan- der W., Marcellus K., and Horatio J., all born in Lowville, and men of much talent. They were all of them educated at the Lowville Academy, but did not, we believe, receive a collegiate education.
301
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
Alexander W. Stow was a brilliant but erratic genius, and when quite a young man, without the knowledge, much less the aid of his family, made a tour through Europe. He had been absent a year from home without any knowledge as to his "whereabouts," when one day there came by mail a letter covered with strange foreign marks, that had been started at Rome, in Italy. After his return, he studied law, and his fine personal address and distinguished tal- ents enabled him to attain a high posi- tion as a lawyer. He settled in Roch- ester, and in 1841, in Wisconsin, while it was still a Territory, and was for some years Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of that State. He died at Mil- waukee, September 14, 1854.
Horatio J. Stow settled as a lawyer in Buffalo. He was a man of distin- guished talent, and was for several years Recorder of that city, in which position he displayed judicial talents of a high order. He was an influential member of the State Constitutional Convention of 1846, and in 1857, was elected to the State Senate, in which office he died at Clifton Springs, February 19, 1859. During several of the later years of his life, he resided at Lewiston, where he was engaged extensively in farming.
Marcellus K. Stow settled at Fond- du-Lac, Wis., where he was engaged in merchandise. If we are rightly informed, he is not now living.
Some anecdotes are related of Silas Stow, that may tend to illustrate some points in his character :-
He had a strong antipathy against hunters; and as a resolution was about to be adopted in town meeting, giving a bounty for the destruction of wolves, the Judge addressed the Chairman of the meeting, as follows :--
" Mr. Chairman-I am opposed to that resolution; if it is adopted, there will be a great increase in the number
of hunters. Sir, I do not know which is the worst,-a hunter or a wolf."
Of a citizen of Lowville, who expend. ed all he could earn, and more than he could afford, upon any ornamental thing that he came across, he said :- " If that man had made the world, instead of God Almighty, he would have peopled it with peacocks, instead of rational human beings."
The Judge seldom attended religious meetings, but one Sunday he attended Parson Kimball's meeting. The minis- ter had a habit of saying trite things, and then raising his spectacles to his forehead, would repeat them in a way intended to be very impressive. On the Sunday in question, as the con- gregation were dispersing, the parson, in passing through the crowd in the porch, said in a patronizing way to the Judge, " How do you do, Judge Stow? am glad to see you at church-don't often have the privilege," etc. The Judge, a little intoxicated, and nettled at having attention thus drawn upon him, said, " Parson Kimball, I like to hear you preach occasionally, but want to ask you a question. It's this: When you've said a d-d foolish thing, what the d-l do you want to repeat it for?'"
LOCAL TITLES AND SURVEYS.
On the 20th of April, 1798, Low deeded to Silas Stow, for $8,000, a tract of 4,168 acres in the central part of the town, excepting 168 acres in a square in the northwest corner. This tract has from this cause been known as Stow's Square, and may be classed among the best farm- ing lands of the county.
" Number Eleven " as Lowville was called by the first settlers, was surveyed around its border, in May, 1796, by Ben- jamin Wright, who reported that "this town is very good, especially in the south
302
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
part, the soil excellent, and timber, bass, maple, beech, birch, ash, elm and butter- nut and some few hemlock. Along the river there is a fine intervale in many places, which has very fine soil, and is exceedingly handsome." He also noti- ces the swamp along the river and a medicinal spring in the north part, "which may perhaps be of some considerable importance when properly examined." The area reported in this survey was 24,453 acres, and in another made by him in subdividing the town into lots the next year as 24,615 acres. Wright's survey of 1797, divided the town into 40 lots of from 154 to 693 acres. It was further surveyed by John Frees in 1802, J. D. Hammond in 1804, Robert Mc- Dowell * in 1808, and by others. The swamp near the river extending into Denmark (3,329 acres), was surveyed into 41 lots, of from 72 to 120 acres by Mc- Dowell in 1808.
A reminiscence of this town extends back to the Revolution, and is supported by very good verbal testimony, to the effect, that a party of Tories and Indians having captured a Mrs Roseburgh and her little boy Henry, in the Mohawk set- tlements, conducted them through the woods to the High Falls. They had here left concealed a birch canoe, in which they came down the river with their prisoners till on arriving at a place above " Smith's landing," they left the river and came up to some flat rocks near the present East road and encamped. They had at this place made caches of corn, and here they spent the night. They proceeded on the next day to the Long Falls, and from thence to the Brit- ish Post on Carleton Island in the St.
Lawrence, where Mrs. Roseburgh a few weeks after added one to the number of the captives. Henry was adopted by the Indians, but some time after was stolen away by his relatives. The child born in captivity, afterwards married in this county.
Mr. Low having confirmed the title and caused the survey of this town, ap- pointed as already noticed, Silas Stow, a young man twenty-four years of age. who had previously been employed in the settlement of Leyden as his agent, and in 1797, the lands were opened for sale, A strong tide of emigration was then setting from New England, and the cen- tral and western parts of this State were being explored by small parties in quest of new homes. One of these companies from Westfield, Mass., consisting of Enoch Lee, Russell Pond, Ehud Ste- phens and Jonathan Rogers, was return- ing from a tour to the Genesee country, where it .was found sickly. At Whites- boro they met Mr. Charles C. Broadhead, who had but recently been employed in surveying lands on the Black river. He turned their attention to that region, and crossing the Mohawk, set them on a line of marked trees that led to the future homes of three of their number. Mr. Stow, the agent, was then stopping in Leyden, but spent much of his time upon Number II, and from him Stephens took the first contract in this town, June 2, 1797, for Lot 38, at $3 per acre. Rog- ers, Pond, Daniel Kelley, Moses Waters, and perhaps others, selected land during the summer and fall of 1797, began slight clearings and put up one or two rude shanties, a little south of the lower mill, for the families that were to come on in the following year.
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