USA > New York > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 41
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FIRST ROADS.
The road as first opened, about 1799, to Turin, was through what was termed the "eleven-mile wood." The first road northward was the East road, which was probably run out the same year. In September, Stow hired Joseph Crary, of Denmark, to survey out a line to Town- ship 3 (Rutland), which has ever since been known as the "Number Three road." John Bush, Peter Swinburne, and Silas Weller, were first settlers on this road. The West road was laid out
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
about 1801 or 1802, and runs from the north line of Turin, and not far from the foot of Tug Hill, through the richest and fairest part of the county, to Copenhagen and beyond, but in the northern part under another name.
The street leading from Lowville to "New Boston," (so called,) was settled west of the West road, about 1805-'06, by Roswell Waterman, Nathaniel Be- ment, Malachi Putnam, Sacket and Alvin Dodge, and about a dozen others in Harrisburgh. It is said that at the time of the war, there were about seventy men on this street in the two towns liable to military duty, but not a single family of these first settlers resided there twen- ty years ago. The State road from Low- ville to Henderson Harbor, was after- wards located on this road.
SETTLEMENT UPON STOW'S SQUARE.
The first settlement upon Stow's Square, was begun in the fall of 1797, by Moses Waters, who came on with a back load of provisions, and stayed while this lasted cutting off in this time a small clear- ing. Jesse and Roswell Wilcox, Charles and Billa Davenport, Dr. William Darrow, Daniel Porter, Joel and William Bates, Isaac Perry, Jacob Apley, Fortunatus and Mayhew Bassett, James Bailey and Absalom Williams, were among the first settlers of Stow's Square. A store, church, inn and postoffice, subsequently gave the settlement upon the State road within this tract some claims to the ap- pellation of a village, but the loss of all these, has occasioned the locality to be regarded as only a thickly settled farm- ing neighborhood.
Some notice of these pioneer families properly belongs to the history of the early settlement of this town.
Jesse and Roswell Wilcox, were broth- ers, sons of Adam and Esther Wilcox. Going back another generation, it is
found that Adam was the son of Joseph and Rebecca Wilcox. Adam was born April 1, 1734, and Esther (Post), Feb. 22, 1739. The children of this family were : Reuben, born Sept. 20, 1764, died March 25, 1770; Elisha, born Oct. 2, 1768, died in Leyden; Rebecca, born Sept. 1770, (Mrs. Moses Waters); Jesse, born June 8, 1774, died in Stow's Square in recent years, at an advanced age-he was the father of David Waters, late of Low- ville, who died Dec. 10, 1880, aged 77 ; Roswell, born June 22, 1778, died Oct. 1, 1851. The family came from Killing- worth, Connecticut.
The Davenports of this town are de- scendants of Thomas D., who settled at Dorchester about 1640, and died, Nov. 9, 1685. His third son, Jonathan (born, March 6, 1658, and died, Dec. 1, 1680), had seven sons, the youngest of whom named Benjamin, was the father of the emigrants named in the text. He was born Oct. 6, 1698, and died about 1785, at Spencertown, N. Y. His family con- sisted of four sons and three daughters, viz :-
Samuel, who died in Sheffield, Con- necticut ; Hannah, who married - House ; Billa, who settled in this town, and had two sons and four daughters- John the eldest son, settled in Delaware county, and gave name to the town of Davenport, he died wealthy-Billa set- tled in this town; Charles, born April 15, 1751, married Elizabeth Taylor in 1778, and died, Dec. 12, 1812. [His chil- dren were, Benjamin, born Nov. 15, 1778, died in Turin, Feb. 19, 1860, Ira, born May 9, 1787, died May 19, 1819, Sally, born Nov. 7, 1782, died -, Betsey,
born Nov. 17, 1791, Charles, born Oct. 23, 1784, married May, 1814, to Anna Cole, died July 28, 1855, Alexander, born Oct. 25, 1780, died Jan. 20, 1851, Roxanna, born Aug. 1, 1796, married Rev. J. Blodget, Ashley, born Feb. 11, 1794, removed to Copenhagen in 1825,
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
and died there Feb. 10, 1874, aged 80 years ;] John B., born Feb. 18, 1798, died in Indiana in 1819; Jonathan, married a Culver; Sally, married a Clark ; Zer- phiah, married a Bliss.
Captain Isaac Perry, was originally from Rhode Island, but had settled in Hancock, Mass., from whence he re- moved to Granville, Washington county, then to Palmerstown, (now Northum- berland), Saratoga county, thence to Westmoreland, Oneida county,and finally to Lowville, where he arrived June, 1799. He settled upon a farm a little south of Stow's Square, upon a line of road which was afterwards removed further east- ward, to avoid the hills, in going towards Lowville village, having the year pre- vious located land. One of his daugh- ters married Fortunatus Eager, the first merchant ; another a Buell; another Isaac W. Bostwick. He had served in the Revolution. and was related to Com- modore Perry. His death occurred November 19, 1840, at the age of 81 years.
In the legal controversy resulting in the defeat of the trustees of the Lowville Academy in attempting to hold the be- quest intended to be given them by Mrs. Hannah Bostwick, her heirs at law, con- stituting the living descendants of Cap- tain Isaac Perry, acquired the property, and the official record of these proceed- ings would show their names and resi- dences at a recent date.
The Bassetts we believe were origi- nally from Martha's Vineyard, Mass., and the two of this name above men- tioned were brothers. They came from Montgomery county to Lowville.
THE FIRST MILLS.
In .1798, Daniel Kelley built a saw-mill, on the south side of the creek, in Low- ville village, just below the present bridge, and his first log hut built the
same year, stood against a huge boulder, adjacent. A grist-mill was raised the next year, with the aid of settlers sum- moned from all the country around, and got in operation September 22, 1799. Its stones were dressed from a boulder of gneiss rock by James Parker, the well known mill-stone maker of Watertown, and the gearing was done by Noah Dur- rin and Ebenezer Hill, millwrights. It is noted by Mr. Stow that this mill, on the 24th of October, about a month after its completion, had ground two bushels of wheat well, in seventeen minutes. Previous to this, milling had been ob- tained at Whitestown and sometimes in Turin, the boys being generally detailed for this service. A day was usually con- sumed in going to Turin and returning, and the sun never went down on their way home, if the young pioneers could prevent it by a forced march through the obscure bridle path, for there were stories of wolves and bears in the woods, that still covered the whole of what is now the town of Martinsburgh, and it was not a good thing to miss the path in the dark, or to wander and get lost in the woods.
The lower mill in Lowville, a large gambrel-roofed building, that stood on the site of the mill now owned by Rea & Mills, was first built by Stow about 1810. In 1803 or 1804, John and Ozem Bush built a saw-mill on Sulphur Spring creek, near the Number Three road, which they sold to Solomon King, who erected the first grist-mill at that place.
As the name of Daniel. Kelley is asso- ciated with the beginning of settlement in Lowville, a notice of this pioneer and his family is entitled to a place in this connection.
He was born in Norwich, Conn., No- vember 27, 1755, and was the son of Daniel and Abigail Kelley. He married Jemima Stow, a sister of Silas Stow,
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
June 28, 1787, at Middletown, Conn., and from this marriage there were six sons, viz : Datus, Alfred, Irad, Joseph R., Thomas M., and Daniel. By trade he was a clothier, although he did not en- gage in this business in Lowville.
They removed from Middletown to Lowville in the winter of 1798-'99, and arrived at a time when there were but two families in town, viz: those of Ira Stephens and Jonathan Rogers. He built a rude log-house, against the side of a large granite boulder, on the south side of the mill-stream, a little west of the location of the present village bridge,and resided there the first two or three years. He purchased the farm afterwards known as the Henry farm, now owned by Will- iam Arthur, and sold to Silas Stow. He built and occupied the large framed house, since known as the Henry House, but for many years past owned by Charles H. Curtiss, the present occupant. His grist-mill was located nearly on the site of Morrison's grist-mill, the present building having been erected by Stephen Leonard.
Judge Kelley was one of the first trustees, and an active friend of the Lowville Academy, and we believe for a time, President of the Board of Trus- tees. He was the first Judge of the County Court of Common Pleas. He removed to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1814, where he became Postmaster and Coun- ty Treasurer, and died there August 7, 1831, aged 76 years. His wife possessed in full degree, the extraordinary mental and physical vigor that characterized the Stow family. Her various excel- lences of character were long remem- bered by the older inhabitants with affection and gratitude. She was an in- telligent and skillful nurse, and an ex- cellent midwife, freely bestowing her time and services, wherever they could be given, without fee or reward.
Datus Kelley, the oldest son, became
wealthy, and was the proprietor of Kel- ley's Island in Lake Erie, where he died June 24, 1866, aged 77 years.
Alfred Kelley, the second oldest son, resided at Columbus, Ohio, where he died December 2, 1870. He was among the most distinguished and valued citi- zens of Ohio, and perhaps rendered the State more valuable service than any one who had before lived in it. He re- moved to Ohio in 1810, and opened a law office in Cleveland. His command- ing talents soon brought him into the public service and for twenty-one years he was a member of one or the other Houses of the Legislature, where he had few equals and no superiors. He origi- nated the laws for constructing the State canals and some of the first railroads, as also various revenue and tax laws, and an excellent banking system. For the period of ten years, and during the construction of the Ohio canals, he was Acting Canal Commissioner, and the moving spirit of the enterprise. He was afterwards, and at the same time, Presi- dent of the three most important and successful railroads in that State, and for eleven years, covering the period of their construction, he was their act- ing and principal financier. His posi- tion in the history of the State of Ohio, may be justly compared with that of Governor De Witt Clinton, in connec- tion with the canals of New York.
Irad and Thomas M. Kelley became wealthy citizens in Cleveland, and the latter President of the Merchant's Bank. He became Judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas, and was for several sessions a member of the Ohio Legislature. We find the following incident of his life in Lowville, recorded in Judge Stow's Diary, under date of May 20, 1799 :-
" At Kelley's, his child Thomas fell into his saw-mill pond, and lay there, as near as we could judge, at least a quar- ter of an hour. Every appearance of
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
life and heat was gone. After much pains we restored him to life. He lay floating on the pond."
THE SUCCESSORS OF MR. STOW IN THE LAND AGENCY.
Mr. Stow was succeeded in the agency of this town by Morris S. Miller, about 1802. Mr. Miller had been the private secretary of Governor Jay, and married a Miss Bleecker of Albany. He removed from Lowville to Utica, where he resid- ed till his death, November 16, 1824, aged 44 years. He was a member of the 13th Congress, and held the office of First Judge of Oneida county, from 1810 till his death. He was a gentleman of fine manners and extensive acquire- ments, but his brief residence in this section scarcely allowed him to become generally known to our citizens, and there is probably no person now living who had any personal acquaintance with him while a citizen of this town. His son, Rutger B. Miller, was a well- known lawyer of Utica.
Mr. Miller was succeeded by Isaac W. Bostwick in 1806, and the latter re- mained in this station till near the end of his life, the business of the proprietor being then almost entirely closed up.
Isaac Welton Bostwick, a son of All- drew Bostwick, was born in Water- town, Connecticut, March 6, 1776, and in early childhood removed with his parents to New York City, but in two or three years returned to his native place. After attending several years a school taught by Mr. Punderson, he re- moved with the family to Roxbury, and in a school taught by the Rev. Mr. Can- field, prepared for the high school at Williamstown. After two or three years attendance at the latter, he under- took his own support by teaching, at first in a public school in South East, and afterwards as a private tutor in the
family of Mr. Livingston, of Pough- keepsie.
He here became acquainted with a brother of Judge Jonas Platt of Whites- town, who induced him to remove in 1797, to Oneida county, where he en- tered the office of Platt & Breese, and in 1801, he was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court, having for a short time previous served as Deputy County Clerk under Mr. Platt. In 1804, he re- moved to Turin, and began the practice of the law, residing two years in the family of Judge Collins, and in 1806, he came to Lowville, the scene of his fu- ture career, with no resource but his profession and a steady reliance upon his own energy. He became Low's agent in Lowville, Harrison's in Harris- burgh and Denmark, and Pierrepont's in Martinsburgh, in which he earned the implicit confidence of his employers. A notice of Mr. Bostwick occurs in the diary of James Constable, under the date of August 7, 1806, which indicates the impression made at that period up- on Messrs. Constable and Pierrepont :-
" During the last evening and this morning, we had much conversation with Mr. Bostwick, the agent of Messrs. Low and Harrison in this quarter. He appeared to be a very intelligent, well- informed young man, and very suitable for an agent. He showed us the instru- ments used for Mr. Low, which we thought well of, and should at once adopt, but our rule hitherto invariable of requiring part of the payment down, is not contemplated, and we therefore reserve our determination."
These landholders on their return, August 23d, from the St. Lawrence country, further remark :-
" Renewed our conversation with Mr. Bostwick, respecting the agency of Town No. 4, which he now showed, as well as formerly, a great desire to un- dertake, but the commission which we proposed, of 432 p. c. for collecting and remitting he thought too low, and dur-
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
ing the day it appeared as if he would give it up, stating that it was a lower rate than had yet been given in the country, and would be no object to him. Our answer was, that if the rate was lower the produce would be greater, as a considerable part of the town would soon sell at $6 per acre, and 41/2 p. c. on that price would be much better than 5 or 7 at $3, at which most of the preced- ing agents had sold, but he did not agree, though he could not reply to such reas- oning. He spoke at large of the labors and difficulty in such business, a subject so familiar to us, that we soon convinc- ed him the commission was a full com- pensation. The subject dropped for the day without coming to an agreement.
"24TH .-- Next morning early we pre- pared a letter to him, in which the commission was the same as verbally, and after a few words he declared him- self perfectly satisfied, and that he would exert himself to the utmost for our interest. We enjoined upon him as one of his first measures, to acquire a personal knowledge of each lot in town, which he promised to do: and recommended him to be mild and con- ciliatory with the settlers, as they were apt to be apprehensive of an agent of the legal profession. He had before dis- claimed all idea of making money as a lawyer, through his situation as an agent, and said he had so expressed himself to Mr. Low and Mr. Harrison, when they employed him ; and to prove his aver- sion to harrassing settlers, he told us several anecdotes of his having on his own account, bought in their property at low prices, and delivered it to them. We proposed to him to accompany us to the township, which he accordingly did, and we introduced him to such of the settlers as were there, being nearly the whole, informing them that he had full powers as agent ; that the price of $7, for lots on the road, and those of the first quality in that quarter of the town, and $6 for the remainder ; the credit, five years for the first payment, interest on the whole to be paid in one year, one- quarter of the principal with the inter- est in two years, the same in three years, the same in four years, and the same in five. They appeared to be well satis- fied, and we left them."
We have extended this quotation for the double purpose of embracing the facts, and of showing the business habits of the parties. He continued Pierre- pont's agent until 1834, for No. 4, and part of No. 5. Mr. Bostwick's subse- quent life vindicated the sincerity of the intentions, thus early declared, of mildness towards settlers, and his uni- formly kind and conciliatory manners, have endeared his memory to multitudes in the towns of Lowville, Harrisburgh, Denmark, Adams, and Watertown, which were mostly sold and settled under his agency.
Although he continued the practice of law many years, his land agencies occupied a large part of his time, and after having been in partnership at dif- ferent times with Ela Collins, Samuel A. Talcott, Cornelius Low and Russell Parish, he finally withdrew from the profession altogether, and devoted his entire care to his own ample estate, and his land agencies.
He was appointed Surrogate upon the organization of the county, and held this office ten years. On the 29th of Sep- tember, 1812, he was married to Miss Hannah Perry, daughter of Captain Isaac Perry, a pioneer settler. She was born in Palmertown, now Northumber- land, Saratoga county, and died in Low- ville September 13, 1866, aged seventy- one years.
Mr. Bostwick was several years Pres- ident of the Lewis County Bank, and first president of the Bank of Lowville. Having held the office of Trustee of the Lowville Academy many years, he was elected their President in 1840, and con- tinued in that station till his death, ever taking a deep interest in its welfare, and finally leaving to its library a munificent addition to its literary treasures. He was an active and consistent member of the Presbyterian society and church, liberal in all matters of public improve-
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ment, prompt, energetic and efficient in business, and of integrity without stain and above reproach. He died at Low- ville, January 3, 1857, at the advanced age of eighty-one years, universally respected for his great moral worth.
Mr. Bostwick resigned the agency of the Low estate in 1854, and was suc- ceeded by Russell Parish, who lived but a few months after. It then was given to Nathaniel B. Sylvester, then of Low- ville, but now a lawyer in Troy. At present there is probably nothing lett to care for by an agent, as the whole of the town was taken up and the lands paid for years ago. Mr. Bostwick stated frequently with great satisfaction, that he had remitted to the proprietor more than five times the amount of the original purchase money, and that he left contracts exceeding the said original sum. This is to be remarked alike to the credit of proprietor, agents and set- tlers, that in the large amount of busi- ness transactions between them, no occa- sion arose for an appeal to the courts of law.
THE BEGINNING OF BUSINESS IN LOWVILLE.
Early Inhabitants.
The building of Mr. Kelley's mills, the erection of an inn by Jonathan Rogers, and a store by Fortunatus Eager, deter- mined the location of Lowville village, which sprang up mostly on the farm of Rogers, who cleared the site of its na- tive growth of timber.
The first framed building in the vil- lage, was the house of Captain Rogers, and the second was Eager's store. The second inn was built about 1805, by Pre- served Finch, in the upper part of the village, and was kept by Daniel Gould, and afterwards by Melancthon W. Welles.
The village of Lowville early became a prominent point in the county, from its academy, the spirited efforts of its merchants, and the location of several influential citizens within the first fifteen years of its settlement. This early pres- tige has been maintained, and while Lowville village is the only one in town, it is the largest in the county, and affords to the man of business or of leisure, one of the most eligible places of residence in Northern New York.
NOTICE OF SOME OF THE EARLIER CIT- IZENS OF LOWVILLE, ENGAGED IN BUSINESS OR PROFESSIONAL DUTIES.
Subsequent to the settlement of Eager and Card, already noticed, James H., and Stephen Leonard came to reside in the village, and during many years conduct- ed an extensive business.
The Leonard families of this town emigrated from West Springfield, Mass., and are descendants of John Leonard, who settled in Springfield in 1639. Abel and Josiah, probably sons of John, set- tled on the west side of the river, in 1660, and died in 1688 and 1690. James and Henry Leonard, sons of Thomas, and supposed to be related to these, removed from England before 1642, and built the first forge in America, at Taunton, Mass., in 1652 .- Mass. Hist, Coll., I., Series iii., 170.
The descendants of the latter were re- markable for a kind of hereditary at- tachment to the iron business, which led to the remark that " where you can find iron works, there you will find a Leon- ard." The name is somewhat common in New England, and in 1826, twenty-eight had graduated in the colleges of that sec- tion, of whom twelve were of Harvard.
The first emigrants of this name to the Black River country were sons of Elias and Phineas, sons of Moses Leonard. The sons of Elias Leonard were James
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
H., Rodney, Loren and Francis Leonard, and those of Phineas Leonard were Stephen, Chauncey, Phineas and Reu- ben.
James Harvey Leonard was born at West Springfield, September 22, 1780, and first visited Lowville, in 1804, with Stephen Leonard. They came on horse- back from Skaneateles, where they had been employed as clerks, with the inten- tion of settling, and crossed from Rome to Talcott's. The roads were so rough and the settlements so rude, that they began to have serious doubts about find- ing a place that offered inducements, but as they reached the brow of the hill overlooking Lowville, the neat newly painted mansion of Judge Stow, and the thrifty settlement beyond, gave a cheer- ful aspect to the spot and determined . their future course. They were on their way to Chaumont, but did not get nearer that place than Brownville, and returned through Redfield. J. H. Leonard began business in Lowville, September, 1804, and in January, 1805, was joined by Stephen Leonard. Before this they had leased four acres, at what is now the city of Auburn, for 100 years, at $4 per acre, and James H. Leonard had leased 50 acres, at $5, for 30 years. The latter lease failed from a refusal of Harden- burgh, the proprietor, to execute the papers, and the former was sold for $150 before a payment was made. James H. Leonard continued in the firm of J. H. & S. Leonard, just a quarter of a cent- ury, and remained in business here till his removal, in 1839, except one or two years at Skaneateles. This firm became widely known throughout northern New York. Theysupplied rations to the troops passing through the country, and in em- bargo times were largely engaged with business connections in Canada. They held during the war, a contract for sup- plying 40,000 gallons of whiskey for the navy, and owned one-half of a like con-
tract of Allen & Canfield, making 60,000 gallons, at $1 per gallon, to be delivered at Sackett's Harbor. A change in the movements of the fleet, occasioned a transfer to New York, where most of it was finally delivered.
Mr. James H. Leonard was public spirited and benevolent, and was always among the foremost in every measure of public utility. He was an original trus- tee of the Academy, and an elder in the Presbyterian church until his removal from the county in 1839. He was also postmaster at Lowville, many years. He became deeply interested in the culture of the mulberry for silk, after his re- moval, and died at Syracuse, March 14, 1845. His remains were interred at Low- ville. Mr. Leonard, in May, 1805, mar- ried Mary, sister of Russell Parish, who died in Lowville, May 19, 1871, aged 86 years. His brother Rodney, died in West Martinsburgh, August 13, 1852, and brother Loren, in Lowville. Francis Leonard, the youngest brother, lived in Brooklyn, where he died February 28, 1875, aged 82 years. Cornelius P. Leon- ard, was many years cashier of the old Bank of Lowville, and died October 17, 1863, aged 50 years. James L. Leonard, former president of the Bank of Low- ville, and Francis K. Leonard, of Low- ville, were sons of James H. Leonard.
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