USA > New York > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 40
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Ehud Stephens, the first contractor for actual settlement, was a grandson of
* Mr. McDowell was an Irishman of good education and social manners. He removed from Lowville to Waddington, St. Lawrence county, where by the failure of D. A. Ogden, he was deprived of a farm, which had been mostly paid for in surveying. He afterwards taught school many years in Madrid and Ogdensburgh, and was living at an advanced age at the latter place, in 1852, with a daughter, in whose family we believe he died.
* She was Mrs. Peter VanAtter. Jacob Van Atter was an ensign in the battle of Oriskany, and an early settler. His wife died, aged 100 years.
303
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
Thomas Stevens, who was born in De- cember, 1692, emigrated to America, and died at or near Newgate, Conn., March 20, 1752. His sons were born as follows : Thomas, November 20, 1723, died October 17, 1783; Solomon, Feb- ruary 17, 1725 ; Jonathan, March 15, 1734, died in childhood ; and Rufus, February 17, 1740, who accompanied his son to Lowville, and died June 26, 1816.
The sons of Rufus Stephens were: Ehud, born February 17, 1771, died at Copenhagen, August 21, 1852, (his son Apollos was many years a merchant at Copenhagen, and died November 13, 1867, aged seventy-four years,-W. Hud- son Stephens, son of Apollos, is a law- yer at Lowville,-Harvey Stephens, son of Ehud, was a merchant at Martins- burgh, and an agent of the Pierrepont estate, he died April 7, 1845 ;) Truman, born October 20, 1782, settled in Low- ville in June, 1802, and died November 24, 1868, aged eighty-seven ; Ira, born November 29, 1777, settled in Lowville in 1801, and died June 21, 1852 ; Rufus, born November 20, 1779, settled in Low- ville in June, 1802, and died January 13, 1865, aged eighty-five ; Apollos, died in infancy.
His daughters were : Clarissa, married Barnabas Yale; Ruth, married Levi Adams, of Martinsburgh ; Electa, mar- ried Preserved Finch, of Turin ; Paulina, married Heman Stickney, of Lowville, and afterwards of Turin, died June 22, 1819, aged thirty-one.
Each of the above named, except Jon- athan (son of Thomas) and Apollos, be- came heads of families, and their descend- ants are numerous.
Ehud Stephens married Mercy, a daughter of Jonathan Rogers, of Bran- ford, Conn., who became the mother of the first white children born in Low- ville and Martinsburgh. She was born September 28, 1769, and died May 31, 1849. Mr. Stephens was appointed
sheriff in 1808 and 1820, holding the office, in all, about three years.
ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST FAMILIES.
Early in 1798, the first families in town left their homes in Westfield, Mass., and by slow stages, found their way to the last clearing in Turin. At the High Falls they borrowed a pit- saw of the French settlers, and with the aid of such tools as they had, undertook to build a boat of sufficient size to trans- port their families and goods to their destination. This craft was finished in about two weeks, and ready to launch as soon as the river opened. It was flat-bottomed, about twenty-five feet long by seven wide, and might have had a capacity of two tons. It was probably the first vessel larger than a log canoe that had floated on Black river, and may have been regarded by its non-professional boat-builders, as a model of its kind.
The ice broke up on the river on the 8th of April, and on the 10th, they launch- ed their boat, loaded it with farming uten- sils, bedding, grain and provisions, until its sides were scarcely two inches above the water, placed upon it their families, and cast off upon the swollen river, on an untried and somewhat perilous voy- age. The passengers upon this trial trip, were Jonathan Rogers,* and his
* Jonathan Rogers was a son of Jonathan, who was born December 12, 1715, and died at Westfield in March, 1805. His family consisted of :-
Eli, born November 14, 1740, settled in Martins- burgh in 1802, where he died, April 12, 1849, aged seventy-nine,
Lydia, born June 1, 1747, married --- Frisbie. Mary, born February 22, 1753, married Philemon Hoadley, of Turin.
Jonathan, born March 11, 1756, married Mercy Rogers.
Abigal, born November 9, 1758, married Samnel Danks.
Mercy, married Ehnd Stephens.
Captain J. Rogers, died in Lowville, April 16, 1841. He was by trade a blacksmith, but in this town chiefly devoted himself to inn keeping, and afterwards to farming. He was an exemplary member of the Pres- byterian church, and in the various relations of life was highly useful and generally esteemed.
304
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
children, Bela, Polly and Isaac; Ehud Stephens, his wife, Mercy, and his chil- dren, Clarissa, Apollos and Harvey ; Jesse Wilcox, Philemon Hoadley, Zebu- lon Rogers, and Elijah and Justus Woolworth .*
The craft was towed into the stream by some Frenchmen, but was soon caught in a current that drew it slowly around towards the falls, against the best effort that those assisting could make, when to save themselves, they cast off the line and rowed toward their own side of the river. Four of the men seized their oars, and by hard rowing, got within reach of the bottom, when B. Rogers and J. Woolworth jumped out and swam ashore with a rope, by which the craft was towed down below the eddy, and then rowed across to the French houses opposite. A part of the load was here taken off, and they again started a little after noon. Running down upon the swollen current,they ar- rived just before sunset, at the end of their voyage, as far up the Lowville creek as they could push the boat, and not far from the place where the late Luke Wilder had for many years a brick-yard.
The day was delightfully serene, and they were borne rapidly and pleasantly along, with no effort except to keep their craft in the middle of the . stream, and no danger but from overhanging trees, by one of which, Clarissa Stephens was swept off the boat, but soon rescued. They landed upon a tree that had fallen across the creek and prevented further progress, but were yet half a mile dis- tant from the shanty where they were to spend the night. B. Rogers and J. Woolworth started with a gun to look up the spot, and after some time lost in finding a marked line, the rest followed on with such burdens as they could con- veniently carry, and which would be
most needed for present comfort. Mean- while it grew dark, and the travelers could no longer see their route, but those who had gone on before, had kin- dled a pile of dry brush and logs, and by the sound of a horn, and the gleam of the cheerful fire, they were led to the rude but welcome shelter. A hearty supper was eaten with relish, and such as were entitled to hospitalities of the "roof" slept under it, while the rest made a couch of hemlock boughs, and lay down upon it.
Their provisions and furniture were backed up the next day. They had left a number of cattle in Turin to browse in the woods, but finding the spring farther advanced here, and the leeks and wild plants up fresh and green, while the snow still lay in the woods near the falls, some of the number returned in two or three days, and drove their stock down through the woods to Lowville. Two or three trips of the boat, brought the balance of their goods, when the craft was lent and kept running a long time after in transporting the families and goods of other settlers in this and follow- ing seasons. Hoadley and the Wool- worths had settled in Turin, whither they returned. Wilcox began clearing in June, upon the place he owned till his death, on Stow's Square. Mrs. J. Rogers came on the next week, and during the summer quite a number of families found their way into the town, took up land, and began improvements.
The usual landing place of those who came by water, was at Hulbert's, after- wards Spafford's landing, at the spot where the road from Lowville to Wat- son, first strikes the river. The Foot Bros. have a steam feed mill at this place at the present time.
Colonel John Spafford, from whom this landing was named, was a native of Connecticut, and one of the first settlers of Tinmouth, Vermont. During the
* As related by Jesse Wilcox, August, 1859.
305
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
Revolution he took an active part at the head of a company of militia. At the taking of Ticonderoga in 1775, un- der Allen and Arnold, he assisted with his company, and was directed to join Colonel Warner, in his attempt upon Crown Point. He reached that impor- tant place before the latter, and received himself the sword of the acting com- mandant, which remained with his fami- ly at the time of his death. He died, March 24, 1823, at the age of 71 years. His son, Horatio Gates Spafford, was author of the first and second Gazetteers of New York-Black River Gazette.
Mr. Horatio Gates Spafford resided in Waterford, and died of cholera at that place, in 1832. He never resided in this county.
During the first season of settlement, Rogers raised a remarkably fine crop of turnips. From two bushels of potatoe eyes, which were planted, he raised 300 bushels.
ANIMAL INSTINCT-AN INCIDENT.
An early incident was related to the author by the late Reuben Chase, as having been observed with wonder. Rogers brought a pair of fowls the first season, old Logan and his mate, and in due course of time a tender brood of chickens claimed a parent's care. The hen was killed by a hawk, when, with half reasoning instinct, Logan, perhaps thinking these the last of the race, as- sumed the nurse's care, clucked the half- orphan young around him, fed, guarded and sheltered them with the tenderness of a mother, and reared them to maturi- ty. This incident being mentioned in a conversation upon animal instinct, with a gentleman of Cincinnati, a few months ago, the latter had one still more remark- able, that had come under his own no- tice. A relative of his, living in Pots- dam, New York, owned a Brazilian
monkey, which was very domestic and affectionate in its way, and always went with the maid when the chickens were to be fed. A brood was left orphans by some accident when the monkey assum- ed their care. He kept them together, and would cuddle down, and as far as could be, sheltered them. If any went astray he would take the two corners of a little shawl that he wore and throw beyond them, to haul them in. He had seen the boys play with powder, and one day having got hold of a powder horn, he strewed the contents along the floor, lit a match and ignited it. He was so badly burned that he soon died.
This leads to another chicken story. A family in Leyden had a parrot that was the wonder of the neighborhood, from the faculty with which it learned, and the aptness with which it applied its learning. A hired man had used profane language in its hearing, which it began to repeat; and to break this habit they ducked the bird in the water, mak- ing him acquainted at the same moment with the cause. A half-drowned chicken was not long after brought in and laid upon a cloth near the stove. The par- rot reasoning from its own experience as to the cause, addressed it the re- proach :- " Been swearing d-m you !"
The land books of Mr. Low, show that the following persons took up farms in this town during the first four years of its settlement :-
In 1798, James Bailey, Jehoida and Nathan Page, Hulbert & Cooley, Wm. Darrow, and Moses Coffeen.
In 1799, Adam F., and Jacob Snell, Benjamin Hillman, Jacob Eblie, James Craig, John Shull, Jeremy Rogers; John Bush, Daniel Porter, George Bradford, Zadock Bush, Asa Newton, James Par- sons, Richard Livingston, Zeboim Car- ter, Noah Durrin, Ebenezer Hill, Sam- uel Van Atta, James and Garret Boshart, William and Benjamin Ford, John Kitts,
306
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
Hooper Boohall, Philes & Kitts, Fisk & Searl, and James Cadwell.
In 1800, Reuben Putney, Luther Wash- burn, Aaron Coles, David Cobb, Na- thaniel Durham, Pardon Lanpher, and Francis Murphy.
In 1801, Joseph Newton, Benjamin Zice, Jesse Benjamin, Elijah Parks, Z. Plank, E. Newton, David Rice, David Wilbur, Jabez Puffer, Samuel and John Bailey, Joseph Purrinton, Nathan Row- lee, Hezekiah Wheeler, Levi Bickford, Joseph Malby, Eliphaz Searle, Calvin Merrill, A. D. Williams, Benjamin Da- venport, Daniel Porter, A. and A. Si- gourney, Mather Bosworth, Loomis J. Danks, Edward Shepherd, Zuriel Water- man, Amasa Hitchcock, Ozen Bush, Simeon Babcock, Thaddeus Smith, Elijah Baldwin, Jonathan Hutchinson, Erastus Hoskins, Robert Barnett, Jesse Hitch- cock, Kent and Bull, John Delap, Na- thaniel Prentice and Lewis Gosard.
The first deed to actual settlers, was issued April 12, 1798, to Daniel Kelley, for Lot 37, of 250 acres, for $650, on the same day that the deed of Stow's Square was given. As an interesting subject for comparison the following list of deeds given during the years 1800, 'OI, '02, is given :-
Name.
Date
Lot.
Acres.
Price.
John Schull,.
..
June 30, 1800
18
150
$450.00
Benjamin Hillman,
July 1, do
38
300
1,029.00
William Darrow, ..
Aug. 20, do
701%
266 37
Jonathan Rogere, .
April 20, 1801
29
4121%
1,238.25
Jamee Bailey,
do
do
10
101
345.10
John Bush.
do
do
14
79
287.00
Ebenezer Hill,
do
do
13
101
353.50
Jacob Snell.
do
do
23
100
300.00
Samuel Van Atta,.
do
da
24
129
387.00
Noah Durrin,
..
do
do
39
1011
332.50
Ehud Stephens ...
do
do
38
239
690.00
Hooper Boohall,
do
do
9
259
971.25
Mather Boeworth,
do
do
9
187%
628.12
Zurlel Waterman,
do
do
4
28132
984.37
Among the purchasers by contract, in 1802,-were Zenas Case, Roswell Water- man, Henry Kitts, George Jackson, Philip Shaw, Silas Weller, A. Bates, Luke Winchell, Alexander Cook, Samuel and Levi Harvey, Job Little, David Riley, Silas Saunders, Enos Scott, Noah Phelps, Eben Page, Nathan Loveland,
Elijah Woolworth, Moses and William Chadwick, A. Gurney, G. Richmond and William Bates.
In 1803, the following persons received deeds: Zadock Bush, 10312 ; David Por- ter, 104; Simeon Babcock, 15472; Silas Weller, 51; Joseph Newton, 102; and Jesse Hitchcock, 50.
Mr. Stow hired a small piece cut off and a shanty built in 1797, and a log house, opposite the bridge, at the lower mill, in 1798. In the summer and fall of 1802, he built a house, still standing and familiar to many of our readers, on a beautifully chosen spot, a short distance south of Lowville village, and now owned by William Arthur.
Among the other families from Lanes- boro, were Peter and Henry Curtis, Jehiel Rice, Lemuel Wood, and Chester Buck.
James Bailey, above mentioned, was from Lebanon, Conn. He was the father of Daniel S. Bailey, long a prominent citizen of Martinsburgh. A part of his family settled in Antwerp. He settled a little north of Stow's Square, upon a farm afterwards owned by Dr. Ira Adams, and was for some years an inn-keeper.
Dr. William Darrow, was the first physician in the north part of the town, and lived upon Stow's Square. He was from Hebron, N. Y., was a Member of Assembly in 1812, and died January 8, 1815, aged 44 years.
Moses Coffeen, first bought on the East road, but sold in 1804, and bought 300 acres on the West road, from whence he removed to Jefferson county and died in Rutland, July, 1835. His brothers Henry, David and William, were pio- neers in that county.
Benjamin Hillman, died of paralysis, in Turin, about Oct. 1, 1834.
Jacob Eblie,from Montgomery county, died Dec. 15, 1857, aged 82 years.
John Shull, who was from Montgom- ery county, died March 27, 1827, aged 82
Adam F Snell,
do
do
23
100
325.00
Elijah Baldwin,
..
Aug. 20, 1802.
36
1271
381.75
307
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
years. Mrs. Abigal Shull died in Ant- werp, August 26, 1881, aged 95 years. Conrad Shull, died in Lowville, May 29, 1866, aged 84 years.
Richard Livingston, was from Johns- town, but was connected with the fami- lies of this town in Columbia county. He died Nov. 4, 1865, aged 92 years, 8 months.
He was the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Livingston, who was born in 1743, and belonged to the regiment com- manded by his brother, Colonel James Livingston. This regiment was made up of Canada refugees, who joined the American cause and assisted in the ex- pedition under General Montgomery, against Quebec, and in various other operations in the Revolutionary war. Mr. Richard Livingston, of this town, married Mrs. Charlotte Bush, (maiden name Peck,) and their children were :-- John, born June 23, 1799, married Nancy Standring ; Stephen, born August 22, 1803, married Anna Belcher, September 13, 1826; Richard Montgomery, born January 20, 1806, married Anice Humph- rey : Henriette E., born April 3, 1813 : Permelia, born July 17, 1815, married Otis Searl; Margaret, born November 2, 1820, married Wilson Phelps; Ed- ward, born September 30, 1822, married Amanda Curtiss; Edwin (twin brother of Edward), married Adaline Stoddard .*
Zeboim Carter, was from Westfield, Mass., and served as a Colonel in the War of 1812-'15. He died in this town April 22, 1853, aged 81 years.
Ebenezer Hill was born in Ashton, Ct., being the 3d child of Captain Squier and Dorothy (Walker) Hill, and grandson of Zacheus and Molly (Squier) Hill. He removed with his father to Wales, Mass., and from there to Bowman's Creek, in Montgomery county, about four miles south of Canajoharie. In 1799, he came with his brother-in-law Noah Durrin to
Lowville. Here he married Betsey Hurlbut, daughter of Joshua Hurlbut.
Noah Durrin, the second child of Oli- ver and Sarah (Ford) Durrin, was born in Litchfield county, Conn., August 25, 1774. His father died a prisoner of war on the Jersey prison ship, and he received such education as could be obtained in the common schools by a boy bound out by the town authorities; when about fifteen years of age, he was appren- ticed to a carpenter and millwright. In 1797, he married Elizabeth Hill, and re- moved with the Hill family to Mont- gomery county, N. Y., and from there removed to Lowville. He experienced religion under the preaching of Lorenzo Dow, and united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, from which he with- drew and united with the Methodist Prot- estant church. His wife, Elizabeth, died Dec. 14, 1841, and he married second Mrs. Hannah Pinney, Nov. 21, 1841. He died January 21, 1853. His only child Electa Durrin, was born- Oct. 8, 1799, married Adam Comstock Dec. 29, 1831, and died Dec. 10, 1836.
Their only son Noah D. Comstock, was born in Lowville, Nov. 22, 1832, re- moved to Calhoun county, Mich., in 1850, thence to Indiana in 1851, and from there across the plains to California, in 1853. He returned in 1855, and settled at Arcadia, in Wisconsin, where he now resides. He has held several important county offices, was in the Assembly in 1872-'74-'75, and '76, and was elected State Senator in 1882, as an Independent, receiving 3,224 votes against 1,711 for M. Mulligan, the opposing Republican can- didate, he being of the same political party.
James and Garret Boshart, were from the Mohawk settlements in Montgome- ry county, and were the heads of two of several German families who came from that section, among whom were Shull, Eblie, Snell, Herring, Van Atta, etc.
* Holgate's American Genealogy, page 187.
308
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
Mr. Garret Boshart, bought the farm on the slope north of Lowville village, and his smooth,ample and neatly fenced fields were long the model for whoever might be emulous of his success in farming. He died May 4, 1845, aged 76 years. His farm still belongs to the family, and the house that he built is the present resi- dence of his son Charles H. Boshart. James the brother of Garret Boshart settled upon an adjoining farm north of the one above mentioned.
Pardon Lanpher, the first settler of this name, removed from Westerly, R. I., in 1797, to Whitestown, and from thence to Lowville in March, 1800. He died Feb. 27, 1827, aged 82 years. He settled on the road between the Number Three road and the West road, still locally known as "Lanpher Street." His son of the same name, died Dec. 31, 1881, aged 93 years. Abel Lanpher, a consin of the latter was living a few months since, and we believe still, aged 94 years.
Mather Bosworth, was from West- moreland, and died May 17, 1850, aged 84 years. He resided upon Stow's Square. Fenner Bosworth, a son, died in Lowville village, about 1880, and his widow Electa, died March 14, 1881, aged 86 years. Constant Bosworth, father of Mather B., died June 21, 1826, aged 80 years.
David Wilbur, was from Worthing- ton, Mass., and died Dec. 27, 1829, aged 60 years. He resided upon Stow's Square.
Robert Barnett, died August 13, 1828, aged 67 years.
THE FIRST BIRTH AND THE FIRST DEATH.
The first birth in town was that of Harriet, (daughter of Ehud Stephens, and afterwards wife of Dr. James M. Sturdevant,) which occurred February
24, 1799. The first male born in town was Samuel, son of Jonathan Rogers, June 21, 1800.
The first. death is believed to have been that of a child of one Cooley, but the first of an adult, was that of Aaron Hovey, a young unmarried man of Johnstown. The circumstances of his death were looked upon, at the time, as particularly shocking, and among those trained in the religious faith of the early New England settlers, it is not surpris- ing that some of them regarded it in the light of a Divine retribution. Hovey had taken up a lot on the East road, but was then at work clearing land in the upper part of the village, near the resi- dence of William R. Adams. He was reckless and profane, and a little before, upon receiving some slight injury, had intimated that he would soon have a settlement with his Maker. He went out one Sabbath morning to fell a tree, foolishly placing a round stone in the notch, on the side the tree was to fall, and to see the tree thrown off from the stump. He was struck by the rebound- ing trunk, and instantly killed. He was the first person buried in the old ceme- tery on the East road, then a lonely spot in the woods, and long since discontin- ued as a place of burial, although still owned by the town, and kept enclosed as a burial ground. The first buried in the Stow's Square cemetery, was one Barber.
The first marriage intended to have happened in Lowville, was that of Lem- uel Leavenworth, of Whitestown, and Polly Rogers, in February, 1800. Through some mistake, the minister or magistrate did not arrive, and as they did not propose to have the ceremony adjourned, they went through the " eleven-mile woods " to Turin, and got spliced there. The first marriage on Stow's Square, was that of Moses Waters and Rebecca Wilcox.
309
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
INCIDENT OF INDIAN AND PIONEER LIFE.
A few straggling families of St. Regis Indians, occasionally stopped a short time to hunt in the vicinity of the early settlers, and for a time there were two Indian cabins on the spot where Isaac W. Bostwick built his mansion. One of these savages, named " Captain Joe," had brutally whipped his squaw one evening in a drunken fit. She escaped to Captain Rogers' house for protection, and was sent up a ladder into the garret, by Mrs. Rogers, who had then no other company but two of her children. The ladder was scarcely taken down and hid, before Joe came reeling along in quest of his victim, and was the first time deceived and sent away. He soon, however, re- turned with a torch, following a little dog, who was good on the track, and by snuffing and barking, soon convinced his master that the object of his pursuit was in the garret. The Indian sprang upand caught hold of a beam, when the woman and her children seized him by his legs, and brought him prostrate to the ground. They held him until the neighbors could be rallied, by a conch-shell, to their aid, and Joe was deprived of further power to injure until sober and penitent.
On another occasion, a camp of some twenty Indians, on the spot now occu- pied by the family of the late Morris D. Moore, became boisterous from drink, and a party came to Rogers' house, at which no man was present but Eli Kel- logg, his son-in-law. The Indians were extremely drunk and boisterous, when upon refusing to leave, they were knocked down with a club by the man, and dragged out by the woman.
TRAVELING IN THE EARLY DAYS OF SETTLEMENT.
In these primitive times, wheeled ve- hicles were little known, and had they been owned, could hardly have been
used without roads. Traveling upon horseback was then a common mode of passing from place to place-the woman often seated behind the man, with her arm around his waist. If a party was to go on a visit to some distant cabin, a rude sled, drawn by oxen, and cushioned with a few bundles of straw, afforded a slow, but safe and easy mode of con- veyance, nor was the guest less welcome to the coarse fare and rustic hospitality of the bark-roofed hovel. Distinctions founded upon the possession of a few more of the conveniences of life than one's neighbors were unknown, and the privations of the present, were relieved by bright anticipations of the future.
In the second summer of the settle- ment, Captain Rogers went to the Salt Springs, now Syracuse, for salt, of which he procured a load, and brought it to near Dexter by water, from whence it was drawn to Lowville on a dray made of a crotched limb of a tree. Fish and game were easily procured, and about 1805, two men from Lowville went over to Crystal creek, caught each a hundred pounds of fish, and returned the same day. Sixteen years after, an enormous moose was shot in this town, by a lad twelve years of age. His skin was pre- pared, and exhibited more than thirty years in the Albany museum.
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