USA > New York > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 49
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+Mr. Pickand was from Philadelphia. He was eccentric and peculiar in his manners, and removed West, where he ran a strange career at Akron, O., as a Second Advent preacher. He was many years Secretary of the Board of Trade at Cleveland, and died at Marquette, on Lake Superior, about 1876. After the failure of his predic- tions as to the second coming of Christ, he renounced his religious faith and became a skeptic.
365
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
expressly for religious worship. It stood west of the village, near the house of Jesse Hitchcock, above the present poorhouse, and continued in use until 1822. At a quarterly conference held June I, 1822, at Martinsburgh, Daniel Tiffany, Abner Clapp, Henry Curtis, Francis McCarty, Abel S. Rice,* Wm. R. Allen, Luke Wilder, Rodney Leon- ard and Russell Hills were appointed to ascertain when the people in Lowville might safely attempt to build a church at the village. The decision was favor- able, and a society was formed under the statute, July 25, 1822, with Russell Hills, Luke Wilder, Daniel Tiffany, Henry Curtis, Levi Weed, Elias Wood, Abel S. Rice, R. Bassett, and Rodney Leonard, trustees. The first brick church was built in 1823, and the parsonage about 1838. In 1861, the present church edifice was built by George Perkins, of Rome.
The succession of clergymen stationed upon the Lowville circuit, is given on a preceding page in this volume.
The Lowville Baptist Church + was formed from the Line church, Septem- ber 8, 1824, to include all south of Moses Waters', upon Stow's Square, inclusive ; Elder M. E. Cook, moderator, Palmer Townsend, clerk ; seven united by letter and one by profession. A society was legally formed October 6, 1824, with Moses Waters, Richard Livingston, and Calvin Batchiller, first trustees. On the 18th of December they resolved to build a church of wood, 40 by 50 feet, which was done in a central part of Lowville village in 1825. It was thoroughly repaired in 1852, and a parsonage was purchased at about that time, upon Shady Avenue.
The clergy have been :- John Blod- get, (December 1, 1825, till March 4,
1832,) George Lyle, (March 11, 1832, till March 11, 1833,) Charles Clark,* (March 14, 1833, till October 20, 1835,) Orrin Wilbur, (March 20, 1835, till June 28, 1840,) Harvey Sillman, (October I, 1840, till August 28, 1842,) George Lyle, (No- vember 20, 1842, till March 1, 1845,) Charles Graves, (March 7, 1845, till Feb- ruary 10, 1849,) Lyman Hutchinson, (April 7, 1849, till February 1, 1850,) Daniel D. Reed, (February 9, 1850, till February 7, 1852,) Conant Sawyer, (Jan- uary 7, 1853, till May 31, 1856,) William Garrett, (September 14, 1856, till Sep- tember 19, 1858,) James M. Ferris, (Jan- uary I, 1859, till October, 1861,) S. T. Livermore, (May, 1862, till January, 1868,) S. W. Culver, (June, 1868, till July, 1871,) David R. Watson, (September, 1871, till March, 1876,) Thomas Bick- ford, (July, 1876, till May, 1878,) and F. L. Knapp, (since August, 1878.)
A Free Communion Baptist church was formed October 12, 1816, and Am- asa Dodge t was ordained April 4, 1818. The society was small, and gradually be- came extinct without having legally or- ganized or built a church edifice.
A society was formed June 19, 1860, in Lowville village, the first trustees be- ing David Waters, Warren Salmon, Paul B. Maxon, John O'Donnell, Sanford Peebles, S. H. Folts, and Lewis Wilcox.
It erected a church on Dayan street, which was dedicated March 20, 1861, and for several years had a regularly settled pastor. The succession has been
# Mr. Rice died April 3, 1871, aged 81 years.
t The Regular " Close Communion" Baptist, as often called.
* The Rev. Charles Clark was a son of Elijah Clark, of Denmark, where he was born December 29, 1805. He joined the church at 19, studied at the Lowville Academy and read theology with Elders Warner and Blodget, and was ordained at Boonville, September 1830. He preached at that place two years, at Martins- burgh one, and at Lowville three. While here he la- bored in an extensive revival at Copenhagen. He after- wards preached at Watertown, Adams, and Rome with efficiency. During 24 years he was absent-from the sanc- tuary but a single Sabbath. He died at Rome, New York, October 16, 1852, and was buried at Lowville.
+ Elder Dodge came to Lowville in 1806, and lived on the West road till his death, August 13, 1850. He was well known throughout the Baptist churches of this re- gion, and remarkable for his loud preaching.
366
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
as follows: The Revs. M. H. Abbey, G. H. Ball, - Van Duzee, - Moore- house, - Randlett, G. C. Waterman, Perry, and - Walden.
On the 22d of June, 1874, the society was re-organized with Sidney A. Six- bury, George F. Galloway, George R. Barrett, Albert H. Waters, and John O'Donnell as trustees.
Trinity Church, (Protestant Episcopal.) -Bishop Hobart visited Lowville in August, 1818, confirmed several persons and reported the prospects for the speedy formation of an Episcopal church as auspicious. The Rev. Joshua M. Rogers, of Turin, occasionally officiated here, but after his removal to Utica, ser- vices were only occasionally performed by clergymen who chanced to be pass- ing through.
Trinity church, Lowville, was legally organized September 24, 1838, with Kent Jarvis * and George Lyman, wardens, Leonard Harding, L. S. Standring, Al- bert Strickland, George D. Ruggles, Henry Butler, Samuel Wood, Ambrose W. Clark and Merritt M. Norton,t ves- trymen. The Rev. Edward A. Renouf became the first rector.
An edifice was built in 1846, and con- secrated in November, of that year. The society received, we believe, the sum of $750 from the Low family. A tower and bell were added in 1853, at a total cost of about $2,000. A rectory was built in 1857, during the rectorship of the Rev. John Bayley. The first wooden church was replaced by the present elegant brick edifice with the exception of the spire, in 1864, at a cost of about $12,000, and it was consecrated in that year.
In 1864, upon the rebuilding of Trinity
church, the old frame building was re- moved to Shady Avenue, near the pres- ent railroad, by Moses M. Smith, and fitted up as an armory. It was bought by the Supervisors, but subsequently sold under a general act.
The Rev. Mr. John Bayley resigned in March, 1867, after a rectorship of ten years.
His successor was the Rev. William N. Irish, who remained about five years.
The Rev. Alonzo B. Allen took charge of the Parish July 1, 1873, and retained it until August 1, 1879. His rectorship covered a period of marked prosperity. An old debt that had long been a heavy load was discharged, the church steeple was built and paid for, and other great improvements made upon the church property.
A very excellent and expensive organ was donated to the church in 1878, by Messrs. DeWitt C. West, and Alburn and Ansel Foster, the first named gen- tleman contributing one-half of the pur- chase money, and each of the others one- quarter. At the close of Mr. Allen's rectorship the church property was val- ued at $22,000. It was through his ex- ertions that St. Peter's Chapel was erected, in Watson, at a cost of about $1,200, and consecrated December 2, 1877. He also performed a vast amount of missionary labor at Greig and House- ville, and elsewhere in the county.
The Rev. J. Edward Pratt, the pres- ent rector of Trinity church, was elected October 6, 1879, and entered upon his duties November Ist. The number of communicants is 127.
The vestry is at the present time con- stituted as follows :-
M. J. Murray, and Ansel Foster, war- dens ; E. S. Merrell, H. C. Northam, A. H. Crosby, M. D., F. P. Kirley, F. C. Doig, F. C. Schraub, C. D. Moore, F. S. Easton, vestrymen.
* Mr. Jarvis came to reside at Lowville in July, 1828, and remained until February, 1840, when he removed to Massillon, O., where he afterwards resided. He was a merchant and took a leading interest in public affairs. + Died October 17, 1846, at Brattleboro, Vt. He was a merchant.
367
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
The Catholic Church in Lowville .- The first parish in this part of the county was formed in the Diocese of Albany, in December, 1866, including Lowville, Watson, Martinsburgh, Harrisburgh, Pinckney and Worth, the Rev. J. H. Herbst being the first pastor. He was succeeded December 8, 1867, by Rev. Joseph Fitzgerald, and the latter by Rev. William B. Nyhan. For a time, services were held in the court house.
St. Peter's Church was organized Oc- tober 3, 1869, and a house of worship erected the next year on the eastern border of Lowville village, at a cost of $5,000, and with a seating capacity of 500. In May, 1872, this county was placed in the Diocese of Ogdensburgh. In 1869, Pinckney and Harrisburgh were taken from this parish. The churches at Maple Ridge, in Martins- burgh and in Watson, are in the Low- ville parish. A pastoral residence was erected in 1876, and an organ costing $460 was placed in the church in 1878.
Society of Friends .- The Friends held meetings at private houses soon after the war. They were set off from the Le Ray Monthly Meeting, January 3, 1826, and Lee was set off from Lowville soon after. A house was bought for meetings in 1819, and afterwards ex-
changed for a site south of the creek, and east of the present railroad crossing, of which they received a deed February IO, 1825. Their meeting house was built that year. These belonged to the Orthodox class of Friends. The Hick- sites held meetings for a short time in this town. The society having dwin- dled down to one family, the meeting house became his dwelling. We believe that Mr. John Tuttle was the last mem- ber. He died January 3, 1880, aged 84 years.
OTHER DENOMINATIONS.
An Evangelical Lutheran Society was legally formed October 6, 1827, with George D. Ruggles, Peter Lowks, John Guthermute and Marks Petrie, trustees. It never erected a house of worship or became permanently established.
An Old School Baptist church was or- ganized about 1834, in the north part of the town, under the Rev. Martin Sal -. mons, but was given up a few years after.
A small chapel was built near the river on the road towards Dayanville a year or two since, under the auspices of the Young Men's Christian Association, and services are held there occasionally by various Protestant denominations.
368
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
WILLIAM L. EASTON.
William Lyman Easton was born in the town of Hancock, Berkshire county, Mass., on the 13th day of March, 1806.
His parents were Elijah Easton and Hannah Locke, who came from an old and distinguished family; the early Locke ancestors having first settled at Woburn, near Boston, from whence the different branches of the Locke family came.
Elijah Easton died in 1815, and very soon thereafter his widow came with her children, to live at Cedarville, Herkimer county, N. Y. William L., being one of the youngest of a family of eight children who were dependent upon a mother for support, and hence he was able to attend only the common schools existing at that time. At the early age of fourteen years he went to Little Falls, in this State, and apprenticed himself to learn the trade of printer, working in the office of the Little Falls Courier.
His elder brother, Henry L. Easton, having traveled through Lewis county, was pleased with the surroundings of Lowville, to which place he induced William L. to go and establish himself in the printing business. He accordingly came to Lewis county on the ioth of October, 1825, where, in Lowville in that year he established the neutral jour-
nal known as the Black River Gazette. Nearly three years later, or on the 5th of February, 1828, he was married to Emeline Henry, daughter of James Henry, by whom there were born thir- teen children, eight of whom are now living, namely : James Henry and Will- iam Lyman, of Decorah, Iowa ; Charles Locke, of Chicago, Ill .; Frederick Shaw, of Lowville, and the following daughters -Emma H. West, Mary E. Crawford and Amelia C. Norcross, of Lowville, and Ella Rulison, of Watertown, N. Y. Mr. Easton was succeeded in the pro- prietorship of the Gazette by Joseph Farr, when the paper advocated the elec- tion of Wirt for the presidency.
He then embarked in mercantile busi- ness, in which he continued with slight interruptions till his death. As a mer- chant he was successful. From the small beginning of nearly half a century ago, at his death the house in which he was a partner (De Witt C. West & Co .. ) was one of the largest in Northern New York.
In 1839, when the Bank of Lowville was organized, he was one of its incor- porators, and was for eighteen years a director thereof, and held successively the offices of cashier, vice-president, and president of that institution. He held also for some twenty years the position of trustee of Lowville Academy.
369
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
In 1840, he was appointed by Gov- ernor William H. Seward to the office of Surrogate of Lewis county, which position he filled acceptably for four years. In the year 1852, he was chosen as delegate to the National Whig Con- vention at Baltimore-the last Whig National Convention ever held-that
which business was afterward conducted by his son, James H. Easton, under the firm name of William L. Easton & Son, now the First National Bank of Decorah.
In all the varied avocations of his eventful life, Mr. Easton comprehend- ed in their fullest extent the duties and responsibilities entrusted to him.
A LITTLE
[WILLIAM L. EASTON.]
nominated General Winfield Scott for the presidency. In that year he was also one of the presidential electors.
In 1855, on account of failing health, and the consequent necessity of seeking a change of climate, he went to Decorah, Iowa, intending to locate, but decided not to move his family away from the advantages of Eastern associations. At that point he established the banking- house of Easton, Cooley & Company,
As the youthful compositor and edit- or, his journal was sold for the concise- ness and force of its editorials, and the high moral and religious tone of the miscellaneous departments.
As a leading and prominent merchant, he acquired a reputation such as can be earned only by men of the strictest in- tegrity, largest comprehension and keen- est discrimination.
In disposition kind, yet firm and de-
370
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
cided in all his dealings with men, he was prompt in the fulfillment of all his obligations, and exacted no more of oth- ers. In all local and public improve- ments he evinced energy and interest. From the inauguration of the Black River Canal enterprise, he was one of the original and firmest friends of that measure. In the public press of the county he manifested much interest, often aiding in the local and literary de- partments, and contributing greatly by his sound advice to the success of the county journals.
Though not an office seeker -- yet often urged by his friends to permit his name to be used-he wielded a power in the political world ; his influence over men through forty years of active life, was almost magnetic, and to his honor it can be said that, in successes or in re- verses, his friends found him ever true and faithful.
He rarely failed in what he sought to accomplish, for his counsel followed, in- variably led to successful results. Even his political opponents were ofttimes struck with admiration at his well or- ganized and admirably executed plans, and many of them who sought him in times of need, remembered with grati- tude the lessons of advice and counsel that fell from his lips.
His friends "he grappled by the soul with hooks of steel," and when, on the 7th of March, 1865, they learned of his death, they felt that there had passed from this earth the spirit of one of God's noblest works-an honest, capa- ble, upright man.
DEWITT C. WEST.
The father of the subject of this sketch, Hon. Eli West, M. D., who for nearly half a century was a prominent citizen of Jefferson county, was born in Hampton, Washington county, July 26, 1792. Before he reached his legal ma- turity, the second war with Great Brit- ain came upon the country, and young West, just entering upon his profession- al studies, joined the New York con- tingent. During the short struggle he was an ardent soldier, and distinguished himself in the victory at Plattsburgh.
Upon the conclusion of peace, he re- sumed his medical course, and was in due time licensed to practice. His first experience as a physician was in a small Canadian village. In 1816, seeking a broader field and more profitable pa- tients than he found among the thrifty French habitans, he made his way over the border again, and settled in Car- thage, with which place he was identified as the leading physician-and for many years the only resident one-until his death. Growing in reputation with the development of the neighborhood, his practice extended even beyond the bounds of the county, and he was, in middle life, not only one of the most widely known practitioners, but one of the most highly respected citizens of that section of the State. Without po- litical aspirations, though a man of pro- nounced opinions, his townsmen trusted him with nearly every responsible office in their gift. For fourteen years he was one of the Supervisors, being Chairman of the Board most of the time. The office of Superintendent of the Common
De The Go West
371
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
Schools, President of the Board of Trus- tees of the village, Commissioner of Deeds, and School Commissioner, were filled by him for continuous terms. He was Justice of the Peace for forty years. He received his original commission from Governor Clinton, as Brigade Sur- geon, and for a long period was Master of the local Lodge of Free Masons. In politics, he adhered to the Democratic school of the period, and was twice elected by that party to the Assembly, serving in 1834 and 1844, with general acceptance. When the Civil War was precipitated upon the country, he gave all his sympathy to the Union cause, taking a decided stand for the National Administration, and was Chairman of the first war meeting held in Carthage, on the 4th of May, 1861, at which he was one of the first and most liberal in subscriptions to the volunteer subsist- ence chest.
Dr. West was a man of broad views and generous enterprise. His intelligent appreciation of local necessities was il- lustrated by his active participation in all public efforts to improve or develop the resources of the section of the State in which he lived.
Dr. West died on the 23d of June, 1866, having three years previously, through the general disability of old age, given up his professional practice.
DeWitt Clinton West was born at Carthage, February 14, 1824. He was educated at Watertown Academy, then one of the best schools in Northern New York, and at a French College in Montreal. After teaching for a time as was then the custom, in the public schools
of his native village, he established himself at Mobile, Alabama, with two of his early friends, in the cotton commis- sion and forwarding business. In 1848, he returned to Carthage, and formed a partnership with William A. Peck in general merchandise. The success of this enterprise was largely due to the fine business abilities of young West, which would have won him success in any field. He had intended to enter the legal profession, but an injury to one of his eyes, received while sporting, pre- vented. It was an injury which troub- led him all his life, and finally resulted in the removal of the eye in August, 1879, by Dr. H. D. Noyes of New York. In 1852, he was pursuaded to take part in public affairs, and was elected on the Democratic ticket as Member of Assem- bly. Horatio Seymour, was Governor, the late Chief-Judge Sanford E. Church was Lieutenant-Governor, William H. Ludlow was Speaker, and Ashley Dav- enport and Seymour Green of Lewis county, were respectively Senator and Member of Assembly. De Witt C. Lit- tlejohn of Oswego, and Arphaxad Loom- is of Herkimer, were Members of the Lower House. The Legislature of that year was notable for the number of its able men, who subsequently became dis- tinguished and filled important positions. The friendships that he made at this ses- sion were strong and life-long. The young member was accorded by his own party the prominence and influence his ability, integrity and force of charac- ter merited.
He was respected. by his political op- ponents for these very qualities, and his
372
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
fairness. He was made Chairman of the Canal Committee, at that time a very important position, and usually accorded to an old and experienced member. In discharging the duties of this respon- sible and difficult position, he won the esteem and confidence of the members of both Houses, without distinction of party-a triumph sufficient to gratify the laudable ambition of any member. As such Chairman, he advocated and carried the policy of improving, at con- siderable cost, the lateral canals, which included the Black River canal, in which Northern New York was greatly interested,and of which his distinguished father had been one of the original pro- moters, and requiring generous appro- priations for its development. Mainly through his well-directed efforts and able arguments, the canal from Oswego to the Erie was brought up to its pres- ent capacity of usefulness. He ably and successfully advocated the contin- ued patronage of the State to its inter- nal water ways.
His excellent record led to the tender of a re-nomination the next year, in the belief that he had entered upon a long, honorable and useful career of official life. Notwithstanding he was pressed in the most urgent manner by his friends, he delined the re-nomination, and never after held a public office, except that of Elector. During the sessions of the Leg- islature of which he was a member, he was married to Emma H., daughter of Hon. William L. Easton, of Lowville, one of the early settlers and dis- tinguished men of Lewis county. At the close of his Legislative term, Mr.
West dissolved his business connection at Carthage, and formed a new one at Lowville, with William L. Easton and his son, James H. Easton, (now of Decorah, Iowa,) under the firm name' of West & Co., in which firm he contin- ued until 1873, when he retired, with an ample fortune, the prosperous business he had built up being continued by Wa- ters & Easton. Though he had deter- mined not to hold office, he continued his interest in all public questions and improvements, and in politics, and more than any other man in all Northern New York, has left marks of his influence, abilities and industry. He was a dele- gate from his district to all the Demo- cratic National Conventions, after he was Member of Assembly, up to 1880, and to most of the State Conventions. He was often a member of the State Committee, and was Presidential Elector in the years 1868 and 1876. He stood high in the Councils of the Democratic party. His executive ability, sagacity, independence and determination not to take office, gave great weight to his views on questions of political policy and political principle. His influence was really much greater than that of many others, prominent through official titles and position. At the Charleston Convention he saw and appreciated the danger threatening the Union, and shortly after the nomination of Mr. Douglass, published in the "Lewis Coun- ty Banner," a series of articles upon the " Impending Crisis," which, though de- rided by his neighbors at the time, turned out to be almost prophecy. With the first news of the assault on Fort
373
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LOWVILLE.
Sumter, he proposed that a company be raised in the village for the defence of the Union. It was raised as soon as the President's proclamation was made, and was one of the earliest in the field. From this time to the close of the Re- bellion, he spared neither time, labor nor money to advance the cause of the Union. In this patriotic duty he was a central figure in the northern part of his State. In 1876, he was desired by his friends to accept the Democratic nomi- nation for Governor of New York. His prominence in the party would have easily brought him the nomination, but he declined to have his name used. Ho- ratio Seymour was nominated without consultation and declined. The conven- tion re-assembled at Saratoga, and Mr. West was again desired to allow his name to be used, and was pressed to con- sent, but refused. Lucius Robinson was nominated and elected. The Utica and Black River railroad connects Utica, on the Central and Hudson River railroads, through the Black River valley, with Sackett's Harbor, on Lake Ontario, the Thousand Islands at Clayton, and Morris- town and Ogdensburg on the St. Law- rence below the Thousand Islands. Be- fore 1868, the Utica and Black River railroad had been constructed to Boon- ville, a distance of thirty-five miles. The extension of the road and the accom- plishment of these connections was moved. Mr. West entered into the project and gave it his best exertions and abilities. He was elected Director, and subsequently in 1873, President of the road. Money was raised by bonding towns, the road was extended to Car-
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