USA > New York > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 48
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The next day after reaching New York, he was robbed by a fellow passen- ger,and left in the streets without a cent of money, or a friend. The lad wan- dered from place to place, seeking in vain for employment, until pressed with hunger, he could scarcely go further. At length he found service in delivering par- cels for a tea store. The pay was small, but it kept him from starving. It was an arduous employment, and on Saturdays especially, it extended into the night.
It was at this time, that by living in the same house with some cigar makers, he picked up their trade. A few months after, a manufacturer from Hadley, Mass., came to New York to hire jour- neymen in this business, and he engaged to go. He spent about a year there, and was obliged to take lower wages when the others learned that he had not passed an apprenticeship. He was still able to earn twice as much as they did, and he put all his earnings into books.
From Hadley he returned to New York, and arriving just as our late war was beginning, he enlisted as a private in what was to be a Scandinavian regi- ment, but was merged with the Ist N. Y. Volunteers. He served through his term, was taken prisoner at Bull Run, and was reported as killed, in a list printed in a Copenhagen newspaper, from a Danish correspondent. In prison he was taken sick,-was exchanged and lay in hospital at Annapolis for some time, where he barely escaped death. When recovered and discharged,-he had traveled far and wide, in the West and North, working now and then a lit- tle, earning rapidly, and spending easily, but always for books. He traced the be- ginning of his disease to a day of expos- ure and hardship in the army, at Harri- son's Landing, Va., since which he had never felt well. He knew that he must die, and had studied medicine, and heard lectures, chiefly to learn his own case, which he knew was without hope, and while in a Western city, he had studied the maps to find a place to die. He thought that Albany was such a place, being far inland but still upon tide- waters, and upon that theory alone, he had made the journey where we first met.
Referring to his family he said that his mother was an English woman bearing the name he had assumed, and that she had died before he left Denmark. He utterly refused to allow us to write to his father during his life; but without his knowledge we did so, enclosing the letter in one to our Danish minister, a citizen of Albany, whom we personally knew. The end at length came, and we brought his remains to Lewis county,- at first burying them temporarily in Turin, but on the opening of the Low- ville cemetery, he was the first one bur- ied there. In due time, but after his death, the answer came from the corres-
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
pondence. The father was uncertain as to the identity-for he believed him dead long before-still there was a linger- ing hope mingled with doubt, and after thanking us most warmly for the kind- ness shown to his son, if it proved to be so, he added a letter in the Danish lan- guage that would gladden his heart, if he lived to read it. We had this letter translated, and it was full of a father's love and forgiveness.
From his papers we learned another page of the mystery. They spoke of a little cousin, Cora by name, two years younger than himself, and of their loving childhood, like that of Paul and Virginia. When they grew older, this affection strengthened, nor had he a doubt but that it was fully reciprocated, but nei- ther told the other the secret that both knew full well. Still there were reasons that forbade its continuence, and with- out a fault of either, they must part. He had come to America, and had seen and heard of her no more.
Some weeks before his death, we had pursuaded Mr. " Emerson," for so we had learned to know him, even after we knew better, to have his portrait taken. It was an excellent likeness, and after his death, we sent it, and his papers to his father, with a letter of many pages, minutely describing the last year of his son's life, and the incidents of his death and burial. At the end, we stated the deep interest that his case had excited, and expressed the wish to know more of the early history of his son-if it could be given without impropriety, but express- ly said that we asked for no secrets of the family that should not be known.
We received in return his own por- trait, with that of his daughter, and a lengthy letter, in which after stating his full assurance as to his identity, and the most heartfelt thanks for our attentions, he added-that nothing that we could ask would be denied.
The child was born when he was at sea, and was eleven months old when he returned. As he entered the room, the infant addressed him with, " Good day, dear papa!" He could already speak distinctly, and had evidently been prepared for this salutation.
When he was three years old, think- ing to teach him written characters, he found the child already able to read them fluently. He had in some way picked them up, or studied them out without his knowledge. When six years old, he was sent to the public school, one of the best in the city, and he there soon learned every thing they could teach him. He was there the schoolmate and comrade of the son of the Crown Prince who afterward became Otho I, King of Greece.
As the father was much of the time at sea, the over-indulgent mother would supply the boy with money, which he immediately spent for books. He ran- sacked every place where books could be found, and read all that he came across. He especially delighted in books upon history and the sciences, and if he came across something he could not un- derstand, he would spare no labor in overcoming the difficulty, no matter what it was. In fact, this thirst for knowledge became a mania beyond con- trol, and the very bane of his life.
As the boy came to an age for employ- ment, he was found an humble place in a telegraph office,-but here he quickly mastered the science and the practice, rising by a rapid promotion to the high- est place of trust. But the thirst for knowledge, and the greed for books, could never be satisfied. The boy would spend all his own earnings and all that his mother gave him, and run his father in debt for more. Remonstrance would bring promises of reformation which were soon forgotten, until emigration became the last and only alternative.
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
During the last year of his life, we had evidences continually of this thirst for knowledge, and this want of discre- tion, in the facility with which the earn- ings of a month were spent in a day. At length we felt it a duty to tell him firmly but kindly, that while his wages would be continued, and every want supplied, he must not have further control in their disbursement. A cloud for a moment came over his countenance, but quickly taking our hand in his feeble grasp, he confessed his folly, and thankfully ac- cepted the conditions.
Compelled for years to associate with those infinitely beneath him, he had passed through life since leaving home, without knowing the sympathies of a friend; and it was only when sinking with disease, by slow but helpless stages, that he found the first opportunity for showing what he might have been, had his most wonderful talent been duly bal- anced, or a field for its exercise been fully allowed.
Upon a journey in the summer of 1881, in visiting Copenhagen upon official business, we sought the family of this interesting young man. It was in a quiet and respectable part of the city, adjacent to public gardens and well-kept grounds. In the lady who appeared at the door we recognized the sister of our young friend, from a portrait received some years before. She was then just coming to womanhood, but was now a matron with several small children by her side. Upon glancing at our card, she at once recognized the name; but though she could not speak a word of English, there was an enthusiastic wel- come in her beaming countenance, that told more than tongue could express. Leading us into the parlor, she hastened away to call the father, who presently entered, and extended the most earnest and cordial welcome. As he could speak but a few words of English, a messen-
ger was dispatched, and presently two English-speaking ladies of their acquaint- ance arrived, who were well qualified as interpreters for the occasion.
In the meantime, he managed to say, that he understood English better than he could speak it, and he had learned the time of our arrival, the object of the journey and many other little items of interest. During the hours of conver- sation that followed, a multitude of questions were asked and answered, and the most unbounded gratitude was ex- pressed for the care bestowed upon the friendless and dying son and brother. The little children were brought in and introduced, their wondering eyes scarce- ly comprehending what it meant, as they were told to take a good look at their American friend, whom they might might never see again.
THE WEST LOWVILLE RURAL CEME- TERY ASSOCIATION.
This Association was incorporated February 20, 1871, with Chester Chad- wick, Lucius Bickford, Horace W. Stevens, Orren F. Bowen, Alonzo Elmer and Farnum J. Bowen, as first trustees. Among those interred in this cemetery are the following, some of whom will be recognized as early settlers and promi- nent citizens in their day, in the west part of the town :-
Allyn, James, died Oct. 3, 1871, aged 59. Babcock, Caleb, died Sept. 28, 1861, aged 86. Bickford, Charles, died April 6, 1867, aged 61. Bickford, Levi, died Dec. 23, 1830, aged 50. Bowen, Horace, born Sept. 2, 1816, died Oct.
27, 1847.
Bowen, Jacob, died June 6, 1869, aged 82. Bowen, Levi, died March 30, 1871 ; Mrs. Maria Bowen died Feb. 12, 1882, aged 80.
Boom, Andrew, died June 20, 1855, aged 73. Boshart, Jacob, died Nov. 9, 1876, aged 73.
Bostwick, George W., born Oct. 24, 1816, died Feb. 5, 1853.
Brown, Simon, died March 10, 1876, aged 73.
Burnett, Robert, died Aug. 13, 1828, aged 67 years and 6 months.
Cartter, Isaac, born Oct. 20, 1784, died Sept. 9, 1872.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
Cartter, Col. Zeboim, born Jan. 15, 1772, died April 22, 1853.
Chadwick, Chester, died Aug. 31, 1872, aged 47.
Chadwick, Joseph, died Feb. 27, 1867.
Chadwick, William, died Aug. 15, 1851, aged 90. Dingman, William, born Jan. 31, 1792, died Oct. 18, 1867.
Dodge, Eld. Amasa, died Aug. 13, 1850, aged 82. Dodge, Amasa, Jr., born Sept. 4, 1800, died April 17, 1875.
Dodge, D. Franklin, died May 21, 1881, aged 50.
Ellsworth, Eunice, died May 29, 1857, aged 93. Elmer, Isaac, died July 11, 1852, aged 74.
Farnum, John M., died Nov. 25, 1864, aged 43 years and 5 months.
Garnsey, Levi, died June 23, 1869, aged 78. Green, Curtis H., died June 8, 1861, aged 58 years and 6 months.
Goutermout, Jacob, died Dec. 7, 1847, aged 40. Goutermout, Jacob, died Sept. 17, 1872, aged 68.
Holten, Amos D., died Dec. 17, 1865, aged 55. Jackson, George, born Sept. 20, 1780, died May 15, 1854.
Jackson, George, Jr., died Sept. 2, 1875, aged 69 years and 5 months.
Kisner, William, died Feb. 5, 1849, aged 92. Knight, Israel, died Ang. 11, 1851, aged 63. Lanpher, Clark, died May 22, 1866, aged 74. Lanpher, Pardon, died Dec. 31, 1881, aged 93. Lanpher, Paul, died Jan. 6, 1879, aged 75.
Lanpher, Samuel, died April 5, 1876, aged 77. Lewis, Joel, died Aug. 2, 1853, aged 84 years and 8 months.
Livingston, John, born June 23, 1799, died March 17, 1868.
Livingston, Richard, died Nov. 4, 1865, aged 92 years and 8 months.
Livingston, Stephen, died Dec. 2, 1874, aged 7 1. Mason, Dexter, died Sept. 26, 1850, aged 78. Philleo, Willis, died June 23, 1873, aged 64.
Searl, Quartus, born Oct. 22, 1793, died June 12, 1859.
Simmons, Cornelius, died Dec. 18, 1877, aged 53. Simmons, William, died May 14, 1873, aged 74. Snell, John F., died March 17, 1856, aged 61. Staring, Jacob, died May 16, 1869, aged 49. Stevens, John, died Dec. 22, 1864, aged 74. Stevens, John A., died April 25, 1873, aged 65. Stevens, Joseph, died March 25, 1847, aged 63. Windecker, Jacob, died Nov. 24, 1831, aged 73.
Windecker, Jacob, died Sept. 28, 1874, aged 69.
Young, George, died July 16, 1870, aged 74.
Reuben Bickford, one of the pioneers on the western side of the town, was born in Northfield, N. H., June 27, 1779,
came to Lowville about 1800, and died in Clayton July 31, 1860.
LOWVILLE WAR RECORD.
The official records of this town show the following proceedings :
1863. The sum of $2,500 voted to pay bounties, with interest from August 14, 1862, and $80 to Alsan D. Carly, Alva B. Carly, and Hiram M. Clark, of Diana, and $45 to volunteer Carloss Thomas.
December 18th, a special meeting was held to provide for quota under call for 300,000 men. Simon Brown was chosen chairman, and Ansel Foster, Levi Bow- en and Hiram Porter were appointed a committee. Voted $200 besides $100 to be raised by the Supervisors. A com- mittee consisting of the Supervisor, J. L. Leonard, Simon Brown, L. C. Daven- port and H. E. Turner, was to disburse this money.
1864. The sum of $200 each voted to James French, Charles A. French, Geo. Swan, Franklin B. Simends and John E. McCauley, who had been credited to the town quota.
April 4th, a special town meeting was held, and $8,109.45 voted for bounties.
June 15th, at another special town meeting, $300 was voted to be paid to each man credited to the town, either as a substitute, or to drafted men, and a committee consisting of Rufus L. Rog- ers, Charles P. Leonard, George D. Brown, James L. Leonard and E. A. Brown was appointed to raise money temporarily.
July 28th, another special meeting was held, (to provide for the call of July 18th, for 500,000 men,) and the sum of $300 was voted for one year, $400 for two years, and $600 for three years. A war committee was appointed, consisting of the Supervisor, K. Collins Kellogg, Will- iam H. Greeley, Russell J. Easton, Geo. D. Brown and Nelson H. Reed. All
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
veterans credited to the town were to be paid $300, and those procuring a recruit were to be paid a sum which with the government bounty would equal the pay of a substitute.
August 11th .- A further sum of $100 above the county bounty was offered for three-years' men, and Kellogg, Easton, Greeley and Reed, above named, were with E. M. Van Aken to see that the quota was filled. James L. Leonard was to go to Albany and to Watertown, and ascertain what number should be cred- ited to the town. Charles P. Leonard, Farnam J. Bowen and C. D. Daven- port were to see that names of persons exempt from the draft, were stricken from the rolls.
The committee of the town of Low- ville appointed August 11, 1864, to have charge of filling the quotas, reported February 15, 1865, that they had ascer- tained the quota under the call of 500,000 men to be forty-six, and that an excess of sixteen men had been furnished. The following persons had procured substi- tutes, viz: C. D. Adams, E. S. Merrell, D. C. West, R. J. Easton, L. C. Daven- port, F. M. Easton, S. P. Uhline, S. A. Sixbury, G. E. Searl, C. D. Davenport, M. J. Wilcox, N. H. Reed, H. J. Sher- wood, W. L. Babcock, E. M. Van Aken, Charles M. Campbell, H. A. Babcock, Clinton A. Foster, G. S. Smith, J. C. House, Henry E. Smith and O. F. Bow- en. These substitutes had been cred- ited to the naval service. The princi- pals had received $500 each from the county, and $100 from the town.
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.
Post Guilford D. Bailey, (G. A. R.) was first formed at Lowville, in March, 1880, but did not at that time maintain its or- ganization. It was re-organized Sept. 21, 1882, by Colonel Cantine, of Rome, and the following officers were elected :-
Commander-Henry E. Turner.
Senior Vice-Commander-Warren L. Scott.
Junior Vice-Commander - C. Frank Smith.
Post Adjutant-James O'Donnell.
Officer of the Day-William D. Parker. Officer of the Guard-Charles M. Ock- ford.
Sergeant Major-Charles Tarcott. Q. M. Sergeant-Luman H. Carter.
At a subsequent meeting Dr. H. S. Hendee, formerly of the 153d N. Y. Vols., was elected surgeon, and Rev. J. Edward Pratt, formerly of the 25th Conn. Vols., was elected Chaplain.
As this volume is going through the press, a circular is received from the officers of this Post, presenting a project for the erection of a soldiers' monument in memory of those from Lewis county who fell in the service of the govern- ment in the late war. It proposes to ex- pend $3,500 for this object.
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
On the 29th of November, 1799, a Mr. Cinney, preached in No. 11, and from time to time other traveling preachers visited the settlement, among whom were-Hassenclever, Joseph Willis, and Lorenzo Dow. The latter passed through to Canada in September, 1802, and preached at Noah Durrin's house near the Landing. Judge Kelley was an oc- casional exhorter of the Free Will Bap- tist sect, and held stated meetings in the absence of regular preaching. His meet- ings were held as early as 1798, and fre- quently at Stow's Square. He was ac- customed to take a text, and conduct the services methodically. Judge Stow was an Episcopalian, and is said to have some times read the service to his neighbors upon the Sabbath.
Congregational and Presbyterian Church- es .- On the 3d of December, 1803, the Rev. Ira Hart, a missionary from Con-
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
necticut, organized a Congregational church at Stow's Square, consisting of Mather Bosworth, Benjamin Hillman, David Wilbur, Philip Shaw, David Scott, and their wives, Rebecca Waters, Esther Wilcox, Sarah Bates, Abigal Sex- ton, Lydia Bennet and Sally Richmond. Bosworth and Wilbur served as deacons till their deaths in 1850, and 1859 re- spectively. It belonged to the Black River Association until 1819, when it united with the St. Lawrence Presby- tery upon the Plan of Union. The First Presbyterian Society of Lowville, was formed at Stow's Square December 8, 1818, with Levi Brownson, Bela Buell, and Thaxter Reed trustees ; and in 1819, a church edifice was built by Ezra Brainerd. The Society was assisted by the United Domestic and the Western Missionary Societies.
The ministers who have preached here more or less, were Messrs .-
Lazel, James Murdock, Royal Phelps, Nathaniel Dutton, James Ells, William Vale, Isaac Clinton, (March, 1808, to Feb- ruary, 1816,) Daniel Nash,* (November, 1816, till November, 1822,) Adam W. Platt, (June, 1823, till September, 1823,) Phineas Camp, (May, 1824, till July, 1828,) Abel L. Crandall,t (January, 1829, till January, 1832,) Lewis A. Wicks,} (May, 1832, till May, 1836,) Henry Jones, (June, 1836, till December, 1837,) David Dick- inson, (1838,) W. W. Wolcott, (October, 1840, till October, 1842,) Charles Bowles, (June, 1843, till May, 1846,) Calvin Yale, (July, 1846, till February, 1847.) In 1833, the church numbered 160 members. A Sabbath school was begun in 1820, and continued for a long period. Revivals
* Mr. Nash was from Onondaga county. He died at Vernon, Oneida county, about 1829, and his remains were brought to Stow's Square for burial.
+ Mr. Crandall died at Willett, Cortland county, New York, November 3, 1855, aged 68 years. He was born in Thetford, Vermont, in 1787, and was an early settler in Champion.
# The Rev. Lewis A. Wicks, was born at Hyde Park, New York, December 8, 1809, joined the Black River Association June 10, 1842, and died in 1850.
occurred here in 1816-'17, 1822-'23, 1828-'29, and 1832, at which about 500 were supposed to have been converted, of whom 70 were counted on the first ; 200 on the second ; 32 on the third ; and 90 on the fourth of these occasions. Meetings were discontinued in 1847, and the church, after falling into decay, was taken down in 1862, and the timber used in framing the Free Will Baptist church on Dayan street, in Lowville village.
The Lowville Congregational Society was formed September 7, 1805, and was the earliest legal church society in town. Jesse Wilcox, Solomon King, Philip Shaw, Abner Rice, Jr., Elihu Morton, Jr., and Mather Bosworth were named as its trustees. They resided chiefly at Stow's Square, and effected nothing.
The First Congregational Society, of Lowville, was organized September 18, 1807, with six trustees, of whom three were to reside in the village and three upon the Square. The first named were Benjamin Hillman, James Harvey Leon- ard, Isaac W. Bostwick, James Stephens, Jonathan Patten and William Darrow. The plan of a church between the two places was tried and failed, and although re-incorporated December 8, 1808, this organization was given up. On the 22d of November, 1820, the Lowville Pres- byterian Society was formed, having Chester Buck, Daniel Williams, Lemuel Wood, Ella Collins, Melancton W. Welles and Stephen Leonard first trus- tees. The old Academy was purchased May 1, 1826 for $390, and arrangements were made for the erection of a church upon its site, when a fire, December 26, 1827, consumed the building,
A new wooden edifice was built upon its site the next summer, 44 by 64 feet in size, with a spire 90 feet high. There were 48 slips on the lower floor, and it had a gallery 6 feet wide on the sides, with one row of seats. It was built by
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HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
Ezra Brainerd and cost $3,500. This edifice was dedicated January 15, 1829, the Rev. Samuel C. Aken of Utica, preaching the dedication sermon from I Chronicles xxix : 30. It was burned Jan- uary 3, 1830. The present stone church at the head of Main street, was built upon the site, and after the plan of the former in 1831, and at a cost of about $4,000, and dedicated September Ist, of that year, the Rev. George S. Board- man, of Watertown, preaching the dedi- catory sermon.
Mr. Ezra Botsford, of Martinsburgh, in an account of religious events in the county, elsewhere more fully noticed, mentions an incident that occurred in the raising of the timbers of the Stone church, in this village, that came under his own observation. We give the ac- count in his own language :-
** * * When they were ready to begin, all gathered near the front, some ladies came forward with hymn books, an appropriate hymn was sung, and Father Clinton offered prayer. * * * Then came the raising. They had a gin- pole with the upper pulley-block made fast at the top, and all very nicely ar- ranged but the control of the boys; they wanted to mix some play with the work. In raising the first timber, so many took hold of the rope and pulled so hard and unsteadily, that it broke near the lower head-block. And now a remarkable thing occurred. With the breaking of the rope, there was apparently nothing to prevent the heavy timber from pre- cipitating itself upon the heads of the defenceless crowd beneath. But the very rapidity of its descent, jerked the broken end of the rope so violently, that it flew up and caught between the upper head- block and the gin-pole, and held the tim- ber suspended in mid-air. Had this not occurred a score of men might have been killed, as that number or more were un- der it. The timber was propped so as to prevent its further fall, the rope was spliced, and the work went on without harm or any further danger. Some thought that the incident amounted to a miracle. * *
* It is not probable
-
that such a thing ever occurred before, or will again."- The Country Church, (printed at Albert Lea, Minn.,) p. 16.
The church proper, was formed July II, 1822 .* Mr. Clinton was succeeded by D. Nash as above, from 1816 to 1821. His successors were: David Kimball, (October, 1821 till October 19, 1830,) James D. Pickand, t (January 1, 1831, till July 1, 1833,) Austin Putnam, (August I, 1833, till August 1, 1834,) Dexter Clary, (November, 1834, till March 16, 1835,) Thomas L. Conklin, (October 18, 1835, till May 1, 1836,) Rufus R. Deming, (Au- gust 1836, till August, 1837,) Thomas Bellamy, (December, 1837, till March, 1838,) A. L. Bloodgood, (December, 1838, till April, 1839,) Moses Chase, (Decem- ber, 1839, till -,) R. M. Davis, (May 18, 1840, till November 14, 1840,) George P. Tyler, (December, 1840, till Septem- ber 1853,) N. Bosworth, (October, 1853, till August, 1857,) William H. Lockwood, (November, 1857, till February, 1865,) Gerrit L. Roof, (February, 1865, till the end of 1878.) He was succeeded by the Rev. Joseph H. France, D. D., who has remained since the latter date.
A session room was built in 1853, and a parsonage in 1848.
In July, 1877, a very fine organ was placed in this church, at a cost of $2,800.
Methodist Episcopal Church .- About 1801,two ministers attended Mr. Kelley's meeting, and requested the privilege of explaining the creed of the Methodist Episcopal church. This led to the or- ganization of a church, and about 1805, the first house was erected in this town
* The first members were Garret and Revera Bost- wick, Timothy P. and Florella Shepard, Mrs. Elizabeth Burke, Mrs. Maria Collins, Mrs. Mary Neif, Mrs. Mary Rogers, Mrs. Mary Spafford, Mrs. Abigal Welles, Mrs. Hannah Williams, and Seymour Gookins.
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