USA > New York > Lewis County > History of Lewis County, New York; with...biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 56
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
Caleb Lyon of Lyonsdale, widely known as a poet, lecturer, traveler and politician, was born in this town about 1821. He was educated at Norwich, Vt., and in Montreal, and at an early age be- came knownin this county as a lecturer, while his poems and essays rendered his
429
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LYONSDALE.
name familiar in literary circles through- out the country. He was commissioned as consul to Shanghai, China, February 15, 1847, but entrusted the office to a deputy, and in 1848, he removed to Cali- fornia, where, after some months spent in the mines, he was chosen one of the secretaries of the Constitutional Con- vention. One of the first duties of this body was the adoption of a State Seal, and the design offered by Mr. Lyon was adopted September 2, 1849. He was paid $1,000 for the design and seal .- (Journal of Convention, p. 304, 323.)
In 1850, he was elected to Assembly. He resigned April 26, 1851, to run against Skinner for the Senate, and was elected. In the fall of 1852, he was elected to the 33d Congress. Soon after the expira- tion of his term, he visited Europe and extended his travels to Turkey. Egypt and .Palestine, from whence he returned with many souvenirs of foreign lands. In 1858, Mr. Lyon was defeated at the Congressional election. In each instance that he has appeared before the public as a candidate he has been self-nominat- ed and has always canvassed the dis- trict, holding frequent meetings by ap- pointment, and discussing the public issues of the day with his views of the policy which should be pursued with regard to them. Mr. Lyon was a popu- lar lecturer upon subjects relating to history and the fine arts, as well as upon Egypt, the Holy Land, Italy and Southern Russia, and his manner of delivery was animated, earnest and often eloquent.
Upon the formation of the Territory of Idaho, he was appointed in February, 1864, its first Governor, but did not re- main long in office, and after his return he never again appeared in official life. About 1860, he settled at Rossville up- on Staten Island, where he continued to make his residence until his death in September, 1875. His house at Lyons-
dale was burned by an incendiary, Sep- tember 28, 1861, at about the time of his removal, and he was afterward only an occasional visitor in the county.
Mr. Lyon will be remembered as a man of decided but erratic genius, and of a certain kind of talent that few men possess; but he was lacking in stability of purpose, and did not meet the expec- tations of his friends, in the various of- fices to which he was elected by their votes, nor did he give satisfactory at- tention to the interests that he was ex- pected to look after when he was elect- ed. As the result, he was never chosen a second time to the same office. As for his administration of offices to which he was appointed, it was not of a kind that could last long.
Mr. Lyon was the author of many short poems, but they have never been collected; and although he gave some attention to ceramic art, and other sub- jects with the view of publication, they were left unfinished, and not in condi- tion to be completed by others.
He left one son, who is a physician, and bears his name, and one daughter.
Mr. Christopher Gould, an early set- tler in this town, was born on Long Island, June 30, 1790, and died August 7, 1882. On the 26th of February, 1880, he celebrated his "Pearl Wedding," having passed 65 years in married life .* George Pinney, who settled in 1825, died August 7, 1859, aged 66 years. Hezekiah Abbey, another settler of the same year, was born in Windham, Con- necticut, January 31, 1786, and died March 5, 1858.
This town has suffered at various times, from forest fires. The saw-mill of Thomas Rogers, on the east side of
* His wife Catharine, was 90 years old December 30, 1882. Gordias H. Gould, a son of Christopher Gould, and father of the Honorable G. H. P. Gould of this town, was born in Albany county, September 12, 1818, and died August 6, 1882, only a few hours before the death of his father.
430
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
the river at Port Leyden, was burned from a woods fire in July 1849.
One of the principal routes of visitors to the wilderness, by way of the Fulton chain of lakes, leads from Boonville, and one from Port Leyden, both crossing the town, and uniting near its eastern border.
It is understood that a steamer is to be placed upon these lakes, to facilitate travel, but it may be questioned wheth- er the '" tramps" who resort to the wil- derness on their summer vacations, to hunt and fish, would not prefer their canoes, even though it became necessary to carry them across the portages,to the most stylish steamers that could be got up.
The New York Legislature having recently enacted a law forbidding future sales of land in the wilderness, it remains to be seen what effect this will have in preventing this region from being cleared up, and its wild natural beauties from being destroyed.
Above the tanneries upon the Moose river, an effort was made by Mr. John Brown, about 1795, to establish settlers in what is now Herkimer county, but it failed entirely. In 1812, Charles F. Herreshoff, a son-in-law of Brown, un- dertook to establish a sheep farm on what he called "The Manor," but that also failed. He afterwards built a forge and attempted to open a mine but fail- ing in this also, he ended his life by sui- cide, December 19, 1819. He was bur- ied in Boonville village, in a cemetery that occupied the place of the present railroad depot, where a stone marked his name and the date of his death, but we are not aware that any trace now re- mains, or that in removing the remains any care was taken of them.
It is said that Mr. Brown once vis- ited the settlement which he was form- ing in the wilderness by going through, over the road he caused to be opened
from Boonville. He was a man of great energy, and abundant means, but neith- er of these could carry him through the enterprise. The road grew up with bushes, and his clearings were abandoned although sometimes used a little for pas- turing young cattle, from the settled portions of the county, west of the river; and of " The Manor," and its belongings, no vestige remains.
A bridge was built below Port Ley- den in 1820, at first by Mr. Lyon, and afterwards repeatedly rebuilt by the town. It is known as the "Davis Bridge." In 1836, a bridge was built over the High Falls, and in 1842, and 1849, it was rebuilt a little above by the town. It has since been assumed and is now maintained by the State, having been recently rebuilt and the timbers pro- tected by sidings.
The settlement of the town was for many years limited to the western bor- der, and it was not until the lumbering and tanning industries were established in recent years, that it began to fill up with settlers. These, in fact, still con- stitute the principal wealth of the town. They may be described in the order of their occurrence, as we ascend the Moose river, as follows :-
THE LUMBER ESTABLISHMENT OF G. H. P. GOULD.
We have already alluded to some of the industries of this town. They may be noticed historically as follows :-
In 1848, Henry S. Shedd and Mar- shall Shedd, Jr., began the erection of a gang saw-mill upon the lower falls on Moose river, about a mile from its mouth, and near the head of navigation from the canal. The stream there has a descent of about 45 feet. Their mill had a gang of 32 saws, and was run by them till 1865-'66, when it was sold to Newton Northam and Emory Allen. It
431
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LYONSDALE.
afterwards passed into the hands of Lyman Howard Lyon, and of Ward & McVickar, who run it for some time. It was afterwards in the hands of Isaac Norcross of Boston, and Charles V. Gregg of Newark, New Jersey, but they did not carry on an extensive business from want of a supply of logs. In 1874, Lyon & Gould acquired the property, the Lyon name being represented by members of the family, (the daughters, Mrs. Julia DeCamp, Mrs. Mary Fisher and Mrs. Florence Merriam), and after being run two years, G. Henry P. Gould, of this firm, acquired their inter- ests, by leasing the real estate, and has since run the business alone. It consists at the present time, of a lumber mill, chiefly using pine, spruce and hemlock, and machinery for the manufacture of broom-handles,* lath and paper pulp, with a planer and matcher for making flooring and other stuff. The pulp-mill is supplied from the slabs and edgings of the saw-mill, and uses the Outterson & Taylor Patent. It runs upon spruce only, the bark and knots being taken out. By this process the wood is first sawn into lengths of about a quarter of an inch, and then passed twice between iron rollers for crushing down the grain. It then passes through a conical machine in which the inside of the cone, and the outside of the revolving part within, that nearly fills the space, are furnished with points for tearing apart the fibers of the wood. It is then ground between stones with water, something as grain is ground in a common mill, and finally, the pulp is taken out of the water by a paper machine, and delivered in market in sheets, tied in bundles, of one hundred pounds each. It is sent off still damp, and in this condition contains but about
40 per cent. of dry pulp. The yield is about 1,400 pounds of dry pulp to a cord. The saw-dust goes in with the pulp to some extent but is found not to improve its quality. At present there are four run of stone in the pulp-mill.
Pulp Mill of the Herkimer Paper Co., (Limited.)-This establishment was start- ed about 1869 by Miller & Churchill, and has been running under its present name since 1875. It uses the mechani- cal process patented by Völter, and has now eight stones with a capacity of grinding sixteen tons of wet pulp in a day and night. Of this product about 40 per cent. would be dry pulp,-the rest being water. It has three cylinder machines, and uses spruce and poplar wood. The mill employs about thirty men in summer and twice that number in winter, and runs day and night through the year, excepting Sundays.
There were formerly thirteen stones, but with present improvements more work is now done with eight than was formerly done with thirteen. By this process the wood cut in lengths equal to the breadth of edge of the grinding stone, is pressed down by screw pressure up- on the stone that is running with great force and speed, with a stream of water fed upon it. The wood is in some cases first steamed, and in other cases boiled before grinding. The product is a strong- er but darker pulp. Experiments have been made with pine, hemlock and other woods. The pine makes a smooth, strong pulp; hemlock a dark colored kind; balsam dark, and hard to work without steaming,and basswood a brittle quality. The pulp is sent off from day to day, chiefly to Herkimer, where it is mixed with rag pulp and made into paper.
Shue Brothers' Paper Mill .- The next establishment as we ascend Moose river is the paper mill of Shue Brothers, mak- ing news and manilla paper, and certain
* These are made only out of the waste lumber. About five car loads a year are sent off, each having from 36,000 to 40,000 pieces. They are sold in Amster- dam and Schenectady. At steady work, about 1, 200 are made in a day.
1
432
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
grades of wrapping paper. Some straw is used at this mill, the remainder being rag stock.
Joel W. Ager's Paper Mill .- Above this, and a short distance below Lyons- dale is a mill at which Joel W. Ager has for many years manufactured printing and wrapping paper, and some manilla, using chiefly rags as stock. It was com- menced in 1848, by Ager & Lane, and has been run under various partnerships continuously since. At present we be- lieve the partnership is Ager & Mosher. They employ some three or four hands.
Outterson Brothers' Pulp Mill .- At Lyonsdale, and on the site of the former grist mill, there was built in 1881, a mill for grinding wood pulp by the Outter- son Brothers,* using the Outterson & Taylor Patent, and in general following the method described for Gould's estab- lishment, excepting that the wood is sliced across the grain instead of being sawed. The works are still new, and not perhaps under full operation.
In the building erected for a grist- mill at this place, Eugene B. Woolworth and the Willard Brothers, from Low- ville, had for some years a manufactory of stocking-yarn, which was burned. The establishment went under the name of "E. B. Woolworth & Co.," and we understand the business is still carried on at Oriskany Falls, Oneida county.
Saw Mills above Lyonsdale .- James Hy- land and Henry Brown are owners of saw mills upon Moose river, using cir- cular saws.
Moose River Tanneries .- In 1866, Lyon & Snyder, (L. R. Lyon, H. D. H. Snyder, Jr., and Augustus B. Snyder,) began the erection of a tannery, upon the Moose river, upon Township 1, of Brown's tract, and about a mile west of the coun- ty line. The firm was dissolved in 1871, and the tannery was run in 1872-'73,
under a lease by Todd & Kennedy. It was then sold to Chester J. Lyon and Henry J. and George M. Botchford, who run it under the firm of C. J. Lyon & Co., till 1874. It was then bought by H. J. Botchford & Co., (the firm consist- ing of Charles W. Hersey of Boston, and the two Botchfords,) until the death of Henry J. Botchford in the spring of 1882. It has, we believe, about 200 vats. A new tannery was built in 1879-'80, about a hundred rods further up the river, with 150 vats. Both of these tan- neries are now in the hands of Hersey & Co., the Company consisting of Charles W. Hersey and W. F. Wyman, both of Boston.
This completes the Moose river in- dustries, as they existed in August, 1882.
Some attention has been given to the project of a "Silver Mine" in this town, of which we have no information beyond the fact that it is known as the "Fall Brook Mining Company," on the town assessment roll, paying taxes upon the lots, of 543 acres in all, and upon $600 of property.
The town is wholly underlaid by primitive rock, of gneiss by so called, which whenever it is exposed, consists of a series of highly inclined and often contorted strata, of quartz hornblende and feldspar, with occasional particles of magnetic iron ore, the latter being separated by disintegration and assorted by washing, forms lines of black sand in the margins of the streams.
It is not improbable that small depos- its of bog iron ore may occur in the swamps, but no deposits of this mineral have been hitherto worked east of the river, south of Watson.
The soil of this town is, in most parts, a light sandy loam. Many years since, Dr. Simeon Goodell undertook to dig a well in coarse gravel, alternating with hard fine sand. The latter often indicat- ed water, but failed to afford it in quan-
*Andrew Outterson, Jr., and F. E. Outterson, from Pulaski, and Jas. T. Outterson, from Sandy Hill.
433
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LYONSDALE.
tities, and the shaft was sunk 116 feet before reaching a full supply. A neigh- bor, the next year, in digging a post hole, found durable water; and a well twelve feet deep, not twelve rods from the deep well, gave an abundant sup- ply.
THE " BUDGE TRAGEDY."
On . Sunday morning, December II, 1859, Mrs. Priscilla, wife of Rev. Henry Budge, a Presbyterian minister, then living on the river road about a mile be- low the Falls, near the present line of Greig, was found dead in bed, with her throat cut and a razor in her hand. The blood had not spattered, but flowed out from the ends of the wound and down under her back. The incision was a clean one, severing every thing down to the bone, and there had apparently been no movement after it was made.
Mr. Thomas Rogers, the coroner, was called, and a jury brought in a verdict of suicide. This was a surprise to many and led to a second inquest some weeks after, with a verdict of murder. Budge was indicted, and the trial was had at Rome, it being thought that a fair trial could not be had in the county. The case was discontinued by the Judge, without going to the jury, and before all the evidence had been given.
At about the time of the second in- quest-or a little before-a ballad was read in town meeting in Greig, in which Budge was accused of murder. After his release, he sued Caleb Lyon, of Ly- onsdale, for libel, and the trial was held in Herkimer county. Mr. Lyon admitted that he caused the ballad to be printed, (although he denied the authorship) and undertook to justify himself by proving the murder. The suit resulted in a ver- dict of $100 damages to Budge, all but one juryman being, (as was reported at the time) in favor of a verdict "no cause of action."
Mr. Budge went off about 1862, and was for a time at Beverly, New Jersey. He at one time lived at Whitby in Can- ada, where it is said he again married. He preached at Burr Oak and at Bu- chanan in Michigan and at some one or more places in Ohio. Toward the end of 1875, he arrived at Melbourne, Austra- lia, from England, in the steamship Northumberland, and has been since for short periods at various places in Aus- tralia and Tasmania; but the story of his wife's death in Greig has followed him everywhere,-and his own conduct in the places where he has lived, has made him enemies who were only too willing to make his antecedents known, wherev- er he appeared. The latest information from him is found in a newspaper dated at Hobart, Tasmania, under date of March 23, 1882, in an article signed by John Gellie, and ending as follows :-
* * A friend, a few months ago, wrote hurriedly from Victoria, asking me to send a pamphlet on the 'Budge Trag- edy,' to a gentleman there to whose sister 'Budge ' had proposed marriage. I sent it, to arrive an hour or two before the lady was to give her yes or no. After its perusal, you may surmise her answer was not ' yes.' If any one has a sister, or even the most distant relative, whom that specimen of humanity(?) may wish to 'Budge' from single bliss, and will give me timely notice, I will send a "Budg-et ' that will quickly resolve her to give an emphatic and indignant NO ! whatever she may add besides."
The " budget " alluded to, may have been a pamphlet printed in Tasmania, growing out of a controversy with the Rev. John Storie, then of Launceston, in that colony, but now a retired mission- ary, living upon a pension, in Scotland. That pamphlet contained the substance of the Lewis county evidence, and much besides. We have seen newspapers from New Zealand, and elsewhere, giving long recitals of these affairs, and it is reason- ably certain that this man will be watched
434
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
and followed by those in that region who have taken an interest in the sub- ject, wherever he goes.
The late Rev. Joseph Brainerd, D. D., of Philadelphia (formerly of Leyden,) who gave this man full support while here, had his convictions changed by events at Beverly, and wrote a full apology to some with whom he had formerly differed. The strong sympa- thy he received from those of his de- nomination, has now with many been reversed, while others would prefer to have the whole forgotten.
Dr. John Swinburne, of Albany, who was strongly convinced that the case was one of murder, and whose testimony before the second inquest had great weight-has since, from time to time, been gathering facts bearing upon the case in a strictly surgical point of view, and would be able to publish, and per- haps some day will, a very full history of the whole transaction. When at Edinburgh in the summer of 1881, the author had an interview with the Rev. Mr. Storie, and learned many facts not given in his pamphlet. Mr. Budge had taken an active interest in revivals of re- ligion in the colony, and had in that line, a kind of talent, that was wonderfully well calculated to make an impression very different from that left by further acquaintance.
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
A Presbyterian church was formed at the house of George Pinney, Feb. 13, 1826, consisting at first of five males and seven females. An effort was made in 1852 to erect a church, but no legal
society was formed by this sect until Aug. 29, 1854, when the "Trustees of the Forest church, in connection with the Presbytery of Watertown," were in- corporated by their own act, the first set being D. G. Binney, E. Schoolcraft, Hezekiah Abbey,* Edmund Holcomb, Lyman R. Lyon, Henry S. Shedd and Cyrus W. Pratt. A neat gothic church was built of wood in the forest, on the point near the junction of Black and Moose rivers soon after, at a cost of about $3,000, including a bell worth $200, and dedicated Aug. 6, 1854. Of this sum, the Rev. Thomas Brainerd, of Philadelphia, formerly of Leyden, raised $700 abroad.
For some years this church has been under the same pastor as the one at Port Leyden. The first pastor under this arrangement was the Rev. Erwin S. Barnes, from Boonville (formerly at Martinsburgh,) who began Nov. 5, 1854, and remained four years. In 1859, he was succeeded by the Rev. Henry Budge, who left in 1862. On the 11th of October, 1862, the Rev. James B. Fisher began his services as pastor, and remained till April 14, 1867. On the Ist of April, the Rev. Lewis Williams began as pastor. It is now a separate charge, and under the Rev. A. M. Shaw, from Clinton, N. Y.
The Catholics have a small church named "St. Anthony of Padua," at the "French Settlement," in the east- ern part of this town, which dates from Sept. 5, 1878.
* Dea. Abbey was born in Windham, Ct,, Jan. 31, 1786 ; settled in Greig in 1825, and died in this town March 5, 1858.
435
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LYONSDALE.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
LITTLE
[G, HENRY P. GOULD. ]
G. HENRY P. GOULD.
Christopher Gould, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born on Long Island in 1790. In 1825, or 1826, he came to Lewis county, settling in the town of Greig, where he followed for years the occupation of farmer, and carpenter and joiner. He was a sol- dier in the War of 1812, and in 1813 he married Catherine Van Valkenburg, who was born in Albany county in 1793. He died in Lyons Falls, Aug. 7, 1882.
His son, Gordias H. Gould, was born in Albany county, N. Y., Sept. 12, 1818, and came with his parents to Greig. He learned the trade of millwright, and built the first steamboat on Black river. He was active in business and politics, but never an office seeker. He married, in 1847, Mary, daughter of Ebenezer Plumb, who was born August 26, 1825. Their children were :- H. Anna, Minnie E., Sarah M., Katie M., and Henry, the subject of this sketch.
436
HISTORY OF LEWIS COUNTY.
Gordias Henry P. Gould was born in Lyons Falls, June 10, 1848. His early life was passed in the vicinity of the place of his birth. He was educated at Fairfield, Herkimer county, and at Low- ville Academy, and afterwards was en- gaged for three years with the firm of Snyder Bros., tanners at Port Leyden, as book-keeper. In 1869, he engaged in business for himself in the manufacture of lumber at Moose River, where he re- mained until 1874. He then formed a copartnership with the heirs of Lyman R. Lyon, in the same business. They purchased the property formerly owned by Marshall and Henry Shedd, located near the junction of Moose and Black rivers, and the copartnership continued till 1877, when Mr. Gould leased their half interest in the property and con- ducted the business in his own name. In 1880, he built a wood-pulp mill and began the manufacture of wood pulp from the forests of spruce abounding in that vicinity. The capacity of this mill is 750 tons per year of dry pulp. The saw-mill has a capacity of ten million feet per year. Mr. Gould has taken
quite an active interest in political issues, though not a politician in the commonly accepted sense of the term. In 1877, he was elected Supervisor of the town of Lyonsdale, and has served the town in that capacity each year since. In the fall of 1881, he was elected to the Assem- bly on the Democratic ticket, and served during the term of 1882. His opponent was Charles A. Chickering, and Mr. Gould's majority was 43, the vote stand- ing 3,441 to 3,398. During that session he was chairman of the Committee on Game Laws, and member of the Com- mittee on General Laws, Canals, and Claims. In every year since 1873, Mr. Gould has been on his party ticket in the town and county, which shows the esteem in which he is held by his friends and the public.
On the 15th of September, 1870, he was married to Elizabeth Pritchard, of Boonville, who was born in Steuben, Oneida county, in 1846. Their children are :- Lua E., born Aug. 15, 1871 ; Harry P., born July 22, 1873 ; and Anna C., born May 12, 1880, and died March 6, 1881.
437
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF LYONSDALE.
JOEL WHEELER AGER.
Joel W. Ager, was born in Warner, New Hampshire, August 20, 1820. His father, Eliphaz Ager, was of Scottish descent, and was a native of Arlington, Vermont, born March 7, 1800. The family is descended from two brothers who came to America at an early date, and who originally spelled the name Eager.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.